It's been a little less than two weeks since Spartan Race. Most of my cuts and scrapes have healed. My strength is starting to come back and I started running again earlier this week. As I mentioned in my last post, I seem to have injured my back. I have been training around it and taking it easy. I feel better, but I'm still not back at 100%.
I realized that I began my taper too early and I lost some strength. While my body was healed and ready to go, it would have been nice to have that extra boost. It's a mistake I've learned from and that I don't intend to repeat for my next two races. I do have my eye on a few other events, but I haven't committed to anything yet. I want to just try to get my back feeling right and get through my next races without further injury. I've decided that there a few things I want to try to do differently in training this time around to see if it helps with my performance.
One of the new training elements I'm going to add is more trail running. Thanks to my lovely wife, I found a series of off road trails near my house that are ideal for running. It works out really well. I did my first run there on Monday. The trails are about two miles away. I ran there and back and did two miles off road. It was a lot of fun, there was a nice steep hill that let me get a little bit of resistance training in. I ran through a small stream and got wet and I fell off of a log trying to jump over it. All and all, it was a good first run back and I look forward to exploring these trails more while the weather stays warm.
Trail running is definitely something I would encourage to help break up the monotony that can sometimes occur with your regular running routine. Running, while a good form of exercise, can easily get pretty boring. Your body gets into a rhythm and you basically just try to hold that same rhythm and tempo for the duration of your run. With trail running, you can't do that. There are constant barriers and variations that you have to watch out for. Trail running requires more mental focus and you have to watch your foot placement with every stride. I've also found that this increased focus on foot placement has improved my form and made me more aware of how my foot strikes the ground.
I'm still a heel striker (I don't think anything is ever going to change that), but my stride and foot placement has improved. This improved form also helps keep the stress off of my knees, ankles and shins. Trail running is also better on your joints overall anyway. As I'm sure most of you are aware, there's a constant pounding everytime you go out and run on blacktop or cement. That constant pounding definitely takes its toll. While proper shoes and form will help mitigate a lot of that, running on dirt and grass minimizes that impact.
Plus, trail running is just plain fun. It's like going on an adventure. Running and jumping over logs and trying to traverse difficult terrain is fun. It takes away some of the speed elements, but it replaces that with a return to youthful activities. It's like going back to your childhood and playing outside and getting dirty. It really is a good time. Like I said, I really look forward to getting out on those trails again. So, until next time, as always, train hard, have fun and be safe.
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