Racing like a test subject

I have to admit that I don't feel much like a runner these days.

Last week I had medical appointments every day. I saw the second physiotherapist, who believes that my treatment plan needs to focus more on flexibility issues than on building core strength. He felt that a 10K was a reasonable goal for later in the year.

Part of me agrees with his idea to focus on flexibility, but a big part of me doesn't. I agree with it because I am clearly inflexible. I've never been able to touch my toes. Ever! Most people are amazed by how inflexible I am. But it's never been a problem until now. Which is why I don't necessarily agree. I spent 8 years dancing several times a week. It was a high impact sport that had a similar force exerted on my body as running (if not more). In the last few years, I danced for a minimum of an hour 3x a week, if not more. The worst injury I had was shin splints. I was the same weight I am now, so that's not a factor. I would say I am in the same physical shape now as I was then.

I think ultimately it's something wrong with my back. I saw the doctor on Friday and had x-rays done. I will likely need an MRI. My primary PT believes there's scar tissue in my back from my previous back injuries in 1999 and 2008, and that this scar tissue is putting pressure on my nerves.

I've considered just giving up running altogether. But I love running. I really do. I've invested 2 months of time and money into PT... I'm not ready to give up this fight just yet.

When to throw in the towel

I had originally scheduled my 6K run for Wednesday night. After running 3K on Monday and a rousing game of Ultimate on Tuesday (complete with wind sprints to the endzone), my legs felt like Jell-O on Wednesday. I recognized that maybe my 6K run wasn't such a good idea. Even 3K sounded daunting. So I put the run off until today.

Honestly, I can't say that the extra 12 hours of rest really helped. My legs still felt like lead 2K into the run. I wanted to throw in the towel right then and there. But no, I kept going. I figured that I'd dragged my behind out of bed an hour earlier for this God-forsaken exercise, so I was going to finish it! I ended up having to walk twice and I also had to watch my breathing because of a sidestitch that started at 3K. My legs felt dead at the end of the run and they are already sore.

I wondered... when is it okay to throw in the towel? Not every run is a golden run where everything lines up perfectly. And running when the alarm bells of nagging injuries, tiredness or sickness are ringing is always a bad idea. When should I leave my pride on the trail and abandon a run for a better day?

I thought that completing the run was the best idea for today's case. After all, I was running and out-and-back (run a distance out, run the same distance back) and it was at the 2K mark once I'd thought about quitting my run. This meant that I was going to have to run a total of 4K no matter what. And, an additional 2K really isn't that much more in grand scheme of things.

Then there were the other factors, such as the fact that I was out at 7 a.m. when I didn't need to be. I didn't know when I'd manage to fit in the extra KMs into my schedule. It's too hot right now to run during the day or before 7 p.m. And, I wasn't really hurting—my legs were just plain tired.

Was I right to keep going? Or was I pushing it too hard? I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I realize how sore I am.