Asleep at the Wheels
As you might imagine, it’s been a very busy few weeks for me.
I seems when I’m not at work, I’m cycling. When I’m not at work or cycling, I’m in the Running for Women class. When I’m not at work or cycling or in the RFW class, I’m playing softball. When I’m not at work or cycling or in the RFW class or playing softball, I’m pretty much asleep.
There just doesn’t seem to be time or brain power for me to keep this little blog updated on a consistent basis.
But, I imagine we’ll all survive this minor setback.
My most recent instance of the Beginning Running for Women class came to its conclusion last week. I waited until the very end of the very last interval to declare I had completed the entire course without the agonizing shin pain I had endured throughout the previous sessions.
I’ve yet to determine what, if anything, I did differently that allowed me to do the running portions without the lower leg pain. Don’t get me wrong – I still had some major issues. I had been so focused on the shin pain and when it may arise, I’d forgotten about the work the rest of me had to do.
All that breathing and stuff.
Not to mention the other muscles that had to take over and continue, where previously they’d been allowed to rest due to my stopping to relieve the pain.
I’m still a far from calling myself a “runner.”
However, Fleet Feet has now had the good idea (well, actually, our class repeaters complained enough that our coaches went to FF and suggested the idea) to have a maintenance class. This way, people who have completed the beginning class but don’t feel they are ready to move on to the intermediate class have somewhere else to go that might make the transition between the two a little more smooth.
The intermediate class begins with interval times relatively similar to where the beginning class ended. There are just more of them. The class is for those runners who would like to work towards a 10K or a half-marathon/marathon distance.
The new maintenance class is for people who have completed the beginning class and want to continue without making the jump to more intervals. For people who like to sort of ease in to stuff.
Previously, people like me would retake the beginning class. This meant going back to the run/walk times from the first week and working our way back up to where we are now again. With the maintenance class, we still get the pleasure of a group environment with coaches, but we don’t lose the momentum we’ve worked ourselves up to. Nor will we have the pressure of trying to do more than we feel we’re ready for or want to do at this time.
For me, I’m still fearful of when my shins will show their painful selves again. Leary, even.
I’m going to give the maintenance class a go and we’ll see how it works out. I’ve been enjoying the cycling/running cross training and I believe each sport has helped with the other. Perhaps that has helped keep the pain at bay. Regardless of the reason for the shin-pain-free running, I’ll take it!
With some of the weather lately, my time cycling has dwindled. It is unfortunate that this has come along just as our team has really started to ramp up the hill climbing, distance and time on the bike. I’m concerned by the time I get back out there I will have either not progressed or, worse, fallen a few steps back from where I was when I did my last training ride. I’ve been working hard at surpassing my personal status quo on a consistent basis.
Hopefully, we’ll get back to riding soon. We are now well into the journey towards getting around the lake, but there is still so far to go before we’re properly prepared. (By “we,” I’m not speaking of my selves, but of the Team in Training group.)