Week #4: Searching for Good Tunes & Good News

Fighting an injury, searching for new training tunes, and thinking about running with a group, Team Arnicare crosses the one-month mark.

I think I jinxed myself last week when I said the hardest thing was to make it to the starting line! Guess who’s been rocking a knee brace since Friday night? Yep. That would be me. My knee was bothering me last week, so I knew something was coming, but I didn’t expect my kneecap to pop out. It’s been five years since my last knee injury, and I really thought this was a thing of the past. There’s only eight weeks left before the race, and depending on what the doctor says, I might be on the bench for too long. We’ll see. For now, I’m thinking positive and focusing on what I can do instead of what I can’t do. My gym has a swimming pool, so that’s one thing. I heard at a running conference I should take this as an opportunity to do some strength training, which I’ll do, as soon as a professional tells me what I’m allowed to do without causing more damage! And last but not least, I intend to make this my very last knee injury and do the best I can to strengthen those muscles that I’ve been ignoring for so long.  – Nathalie

Despite the weather, travel and life getting in the way, training keeps jogging along. I’ve been consistently getting in my long run on the weekends and one short training run during the week. I also wanted to get in one cross-training per week. Although shoveling snow for 3+ hours is not what I meant by cross-training, it seems to have done the trick because I finished my six-mile jog on Sunday feeling great. My biggest hurdle right now is, “What do I listen to while I run?” When I jog outsid,e I don’t listen to anything; I lose myself in my own thoughts, play games in my head that I made up during years of lifeguarding and recite soliloquies and speeches memorized years ago for a test I still can’t get out of my head. But inside, these mind games don’t do the trick. While I have a few favorites, my music is either too fast or too slow. This week, I listened to an awesome podcast, but it is only produced once a month, and I’ve already listened to them all. So fellow runner/joggers, I pose this question to you: What is your number one-get pumped-keep going song? I need a new playlist!  – Nancy

Let’s just scratch this past week, and blame it on more snow, poor time management, and lack of motivation. Every training plan has a few setbacks, and week #4 was mine. But I’m shaking my funk and getting my focus back this week. I’m also considering joining a local running group for my long weekend runs. However, I’m slightly intimidated–I think most of these runners are pretty hard-core and workout regularly together, but as my distance increases every week, I find myself craving company and new places to run. Any thoughts or tips on being the newbie in the group?  – Heather