Sunday, November 21, 2021

LOOK I'M TRYING OK?

OK, so. Attempting to revive the blog is definitely reminding me of some of the reasons why I gave up a couple years ago! I've probably started five or six posts since the last one, but I have so little time for it that by the time I next sit down to write, my most recent draft feels woefully outdated. Then there is the fact that we went on A FOR-REAL, ACTUAL VACATION for these last three weeks, so obviously there wasn't much happening in the way of running or blogging. We actually booked this vacation two years ago, before it was rescheduled twice. Things were not looking good in Portugal in the spring, but then by late summer the Portuguese government managed to work some kind of miracle, and by the time we left for our trip the country was ~90% vaccinated.

[Related: AMA regarding international travel in These Unprecedented TimesTM.]

A colorful sunset in the town of sintra--trees, palaces, and mountains in the background.
Sunset in Sintra, Portugal

Don standing in a large cobblestone plaza in a downpour, holding an umbrella with rainbow polka dots.
Caught in a downpour in Lisbon
The city of Porto in the afternoon sun, the Rio Duoro in the foreground, a small sailboat loaded with port barrels sailing down the river.
Porto & the Rio Duoro
A steep, tiered, valley vineyard in fall with fall colors, a blue sky, and a white winery building in the background with a red tile roof.
Quinta do Noval in the Duoro Valley wine region
A colorful grape vineyard in the fall at sunset.
Quinta da Pacheca in the Duoro Valley
A river at sunset, with two boats docked. Mountains covered in vineyards in the background.
Sunset on the Duoro
A blue sky with clouds; a rectangular flower garden with red and yellow flowers planted in intricate patterns; other green plants and flowers in the foreground
Lisbon Botanical Gardens
A cobblestone path along an island coast; steep mountains covered in vineyards on the right, the ocean on the left, and palm trees in the foreground; a small white winery in the background.
Tour of a coastal vineyard, followed by wine tasting & lunch on the beach
A lush green mountainside with a walking path carved into the side; dramatic clouds in the background and water droplets in the foreground.
Madeira levada walk over Funchal
Don standing on a trail cut into the side of a mountain; dramatic clouds and cliffs in the background.
Mind-blowing hike to Madeira's highest peak

Re: blogging -- In general, I have a feeling that I am probably trying to take on too much with each post (WHAT ME NEVER!), so instead I'm just going to try to post *literally something*, even if it feels short and incomplete.

[Exhibit A: It took me 4 days to write & post even this. 😬]

FIRST, I've been dealing with this recurring hamstring/entire right hip thing that I just can't shake. It kind of started in February, then I hardcore strained it at the end of May, then spent the summer hiccuping through PT, rehab, and false starts. It was okay enough to race a few short things in in July and August, but then in September I managed to strain it again badly enough that I needed to take several weeks off from running.

I HAVE done a few 3- and 4-mile runs over the last month and it seems like the hamstring itself is fine, but there are definitely some other things going on in my right hip/lower back that aren't 100%, so I am being super cautious about it right now and definitely prioritizing being able to run literally any amount frequently and comfortably over pushing speed or distance.

SECOND, and related: Woo-hoo, fresh start! Sometimes it actually feels really refreshing to kind of start over with running "from scratch," as it were--no looming goals or races, no key workouts or crucial long runs on the schedule; just a nice, easy, casual, low-stakes-kind-of-relationship with one of my favorite activities. If a 20-mile long run or 12 miles of intervals is six weeks of backpacking together in the wilderness, a lazy half-hour jaunt around the neighborhood where I don't even look at my pace is grabbing coffee. No pressure!

This phase is also resetting my gratitude meter a bit; it sounds a bit cheesy but any time I haven't been able to run for a while, I'm reminded that any day when I am able to run comfortably at all, even just a few easy miles, is a gift. If I can jog for even 20-30-40 minutes with no pain, it's a 100x better day than when I can't.

Is there a small part of me that wants to jump right back in to running every day? A wee voice saying "OK look I did a week of alternating easy 3-4 milers with rest days, let's knock out a nice juicy 10-miler"? Of course there is. I absolutely want to set 2022 race goals and be able to run farther and faster without pain and/or injury risk. But nine months is a long time to be, if not completely out-of-action, definitely not fully-100%-IN-action, and I know the quickest way to get there from here is just to keep enjoying my little 3- and 4-mile jaunts, doing my PT and rehab and strength work, and seeing how my leg responds. In the past I've definitely let myself get sucked into an attitude of "This sucks and I hate it here, life isn't really living until I am crushing double-digit track workouts," but one of the great things about getting older is developing just a tiiiiiny bit more perspective. Like, there are still a lot of pretty great things in my life, AND being able to jog a comfortable 3-4 miles several times a weeks IS STILL ONE OF THEM.

Two regal looking cats in an exquisitely decorated Victorian living room. In the foreground, a tabby cat sits on a horizontal cat scratcher, while in the background, a tortoiseshell cat lounges on a champagne-colored Victorian sofa.
Great things such as: these two furry idiots
A perfect, beautiful, orange, yellow, and red fall leaf on cobblestone, shot from overhead; below, a pair of gray abd turquoise hiking boots.
Perfect fall days in foreign countries, sometimes
A coral-colored egg white cocktail in a coupe glass, garnished with a small yellow flower, sitting on the bar menu, with a margarita in the background.
Tasty cocktails with friends *inside* a bar, which is a thing you can have in relative safety in San Francisco if you are fully vaccinated
Table of contents of an academic journal, including a recent paper by my team.
My current big study got its first big paper published!

OK It's tempting to keep prattling on but it's taken me four days to even get this far, so I think I'll stop while this is kinda-sorta complete and not-out-of-date! 🤣 Hope you are all safe and well!

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2 comments:

  1. RunningChickNovember 23, 2021 at 7:14 AM

    Glad you are still out there running and blogging. Hope your injury heals up soon. Maybe try some cycling as cross training? It is much easier on hamstrings, provided your bike fit is good. Boy, your pictures of Portugal make me want to travel! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. AngelaDecember 2, 2021 at 11:37 PM

      Ah, if only I owned a bike. Or lived somewhere bike friendly. Or was not terrified out of my mind by the idea of biking. 🤣🤣 I am still doing quite a lot of weight lifting and prehab/rehab focused on my hip, so there is that. It seems to be mostly behaving now so fingers crossed.

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