Soul searching

Saturday, after the PT on Friday, my hammy really hurt. A lot. Like 2-3, maybe 4 at times, while racewalking 8k on the Jordan River Parkway. Ugh. It was terrible. I wanted to do 20K, then realized it was gonna be 10-12K, then had to stop at 8K.

Sunday night I picked up the pianist (and his mom, and two teachers) that we are hosting for the Gina Bachauer Junior Competition this week. Things got busier from there. I did take a rest day on Sunday, but it was busy getting ready for our guests.

Monday morning I went out for 6K, and it felt OK. But I was slow, and tired. Every time I pull my hamstring it shortens up my stride because I get paranoid about hurting it, and then I lose my toe-off, and then I'm really slow. I did 6:37/km. Oh yay.

Tuesday I was supposed to do 8K, but I was up late Monday night for the piano competition opening gala, and I was way too tired to get up and walk. So I didn't. I was angry about the hammy and frustrated and tired.

Wednesday I did the 8K, and it went OK; better than Monday but still sluggish. I did 6:32/km. I was talking with friends Wednesday night and journaling some and realizing that something has to give in my life. I'm too busy and it's not good for me or the kids or Loren or work or RW or anything else. But I don't know what to give up.

Today I was to do a 5K fartlek. I woke up tired with a sore throat and just looked in the mirror and said "I don't have to do this any more. Maybe I need to give competitive racewalking a rest." So I went to the gym and did the elliptical and did my PT - including all of the eccentric exercises. It felt OK during, but later, at work, my hammy hurt annoyingly any time I sat more than 15 minutes.

So, right now I'm thinking that I need to consider carefully whether I need a break or not. I'm thinking a break might help my hamstring to recover, though when I e-mailed my PT about that he said he thought I could continue training, albeit at a reduced volume.

I just don't know what to do.

But hey, at the moment I'm enjoying a Chopin Etude, courtesy of my 13-year-old guest prodigy. That's awesome at least.

6K

I racewalked today. It went OK. I was slow and cautious because of my hamstring, but it actually didn't hurt too much. Maybe 1-2/10, and mostly 1 with the occasional 2. I guess that's all right. 40:16 for slow 6:44/km with ave HR 142.

Then I had PT, and my PT was dismayed about my tweaking my hammy again :(. But he thought it might not be too bad. He is pushing me to do some more eccentric hamstring exercises daily, even if they hurt a little. The latest research shows that some eccentric load helps tendons heal faster. Seems to make sense. He had me do some exercises and they hurt 2-3/10; the ones that were 3 we stopped before they could get worse. I am feeling OK now, in the afternoon.

I might try a longer walk tomorrow. I don't know. I'm still tired and discouraged and trying to figure things out. I still need to stay in shape, and I still want to RW. But I wonder if I am pushing too hard for something that can't happen right now. My PT and coach don't seem to think so, so maybe I should believe them?
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more problems

First, I should catch up on workouts that I was actually able to do.

Friday: 6K, felt good; 6:25/km with ave HR 147.

Saturday: Was camping with Grace at Wasatch Mountain State Park and did 20K at altitude (1700m instead of my usual 1300m), in heat (started late-ish, and finished at about 10 am...it was 70 and sunny at the end, which I'm not used to), with hills...lots of hills. My legs were toast by 14km and hamstring got very whiny about the hills; 14.5km in I wondered if I should keep going but worked a lot on my posture and the pain didn't increase. Despite all that I managed 6:45/km for 2:15 which seems pretty good for that workout. Had a LOT of muscle soreness afterward - Sunday, and Monday too.

Sunday: rest day.

Monday: was to do 8K with 3x3' at 10K race pace, but my legs were DEAD. So I did 6K and called it good (or terrible, actually). So slow. 6:58/km, with HR only 133, so you can see the problem was my legs. Sigh...

To make matters worse, that afternoon while parking my bike in the garage (biking kids to summer camp these days now that school is out) I tripped over a pile of rocks we had delivered for our backyard, and caught myself poorly, skidding forward on my bad leg. My hamstring screamed in protest, and so did I. It hurt a LOT for 30-45 minutes, despite ice + acetominophen + naproxen. Oh yay.

So, yesterday & today I did elliptical. I did racewalk 3 laps on the indoor track today and it wasn't too awful. It hurt, but not horribly so. My last lap was 1:51 (6:15/km pace) and that felt OK-ish. But sitting at work today has been brutal (had a lot of time on the microscopes, confocal and compound) and I think I need one more day of cross-training. Maybe on Friday I can try 6km again and then Saturday longer assuming the hammy does OK.

I'm really bummed out. I am seriously considering finding a different sport. I have no idea what I'd do but I'm just done with this right now.