My Slow Week

"But Tom, how is that different from your normal week?"

Well, it's different because this week I simply ran at a comfortable pace. I did not push myself to go faster like I usually do. I followed the plan, but the best part is that I truly enjoyed all my running this week, especially yesterday at Chino Hills SP and today at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Here's the background on this story: I was tired of having minor injuries that constantly re-locate themselves according to some mysterious pattern like musical chairs (left knee > left hip > right foot > left IT band > right shoulder > lower back > right hamstring, etc.). Typically, there was no pain while I was actually running, but I could sure feel pain the rest of the time.

My self-prescribed 3 weeks of therapy has centered around the "less is more" philosophy, cutting back on one element of running each week to give everything a chance to heal at the same time. Would it work? The first week, I cut out some hills. The second week, some distance. In this third and final week, I cut my pace.

Combined with ice, stretching and ibuprofen, I'm happy to report that my 3 week plan was very successful. At this moment I don't have any pain anywhere, which is such a nice feeling.

Happy running to all!