3 Days and Counting

With the race kit pick-up beginning tomorrow at Aberdeen Pavilion, there are only 3 days to race day. This is the time where the training, rest and nutrition from the last 3 months all come together.

Training is a love hate relationship that every athlete must endure to meet their goal. As a training program -for running- progress' the levels of speed, distance and intensity all increase each week. There are recover days each week, of course, and more relaxed tempo paces. Obviously the idea of any training program is simple; to get better at a rate that is comfortable and within the abilities of the athlete. But this level of comfort will have to be challenged and pushed if the athlete is truly seeking higher performance.

No matter if you are in a marathon, bike race, or team sport you are constantly trying to improve something specific i.e. distance, speed, sprint, power and so on. If the program is followed properly each week you should be better then the last. There are many programs out there and can be found online or in books. Be sure to research and find a decent program that seems to make sense for your ability and time allotted for training. Runner's World to start, or Google.

The hate is obvious. Throughout any program you have days or weeks where you are exhausted or have muscle pains and fatigue. These are all things that need to be addressed with rest, proper diet and cross-training for injury prevention.

The love is harder to explain and unless you have felt a 'runner's high' yourself, there is really no way to explain it that does it justice. Essentially for me it is a surreal, enlightened feeling leaving the mind clear and focused. You feel relaxed but powerful at the same time with an overwhelming feeling of pure joy form your accomplishment.

This is an amazing feeling especially when you get it after completely destroying but simultaneously improving yourself physically. The most amazing feeling is hitting a high while in a long run and it carries you through to the end. And after a 16 or 20km run there isn't any better feeling as you assume you would be ready to just completely drop -which some days you are- but in reality you feel the opposite. Then of course a couple hours go by and your bed is screaming at you to get in there.

But this is if all goes well. Training has a huge hate more then fatigue or soreness. If an injury rears its ugly head it can be devastating and not only on the training but the athlete's psyche. When you consider the hours that you have put in, to have it all end with something out of your control, is a horrible feeling.

Training for me has been going well until Sunday and as the bitter weather came in Monday morning so was my temperament both Sunday and Monday.

The problem, shin splints. I have not been bothered by shin splints for years now. If you have ever suffered from severe splints you know just how much fun they are not, and how extremely painful they are. So for a couple days it was rest and ice. My only hope is that they don't come on in the race.

With most injuries the best practice is rest and ice. Get the ice on fast for 20mins every hour or so for the first 24 if possible. Then continue to ice when possible. When enough rest has been taken -a couple days or so depending on the injury- always ice affected area after any activity. This is honestly the only thing that you can do to make it better.

Well looks like it is time to rest, ice and eat.