AKA – the week that became, literally, a pain in my butt. (Why is it always my butt??)

Monday – cross train. Swim 1600m. I woke up to fabulous phone call from my chiropractors office – they had a massage opening that morning! Ever since my last 20 miler (and actually probably since the half marathon) I’ve had some tightness/aching in my butt, but not the pyriformis like usual. My chiropractor said it was the top of my glute and usually isn’t something that flares up. Of course. So, I went in and (yet again) asked the massage therapist to rub my butt (because you know), hoping hoping hoping it would calm it down.

Tuesday – tempo run. 1 mile easy/ 5 miles @ 7:50. All I have to say about this is 5 miles at 7:50 isn’t easy. And unfortunately, made my glute flare up in irritation again. Stretch, epsom, stretch, epsom.

Wednesday – speed work. 1 mile warm up/ 1000m @ 6:53/2000m @7:06/2x 1000m @ 6:53, with 400m active recovery. It RAINED so our track workout was canceled and I had to do my workout on the treadmill that I love hate with most fibers of my being. I walked most of the recoveries and stopped to stretch briefly a couple times. This was the same pace as a recent set of 1200’s on the track, and the pace feels so much harder on a treadmill.

Thursday – cross training. Swim 1200m. My chiropractor said swimming will be most beneficial to increasing my range of motion, so I drove down for an extra swim day.

Friday – rest day. Butt ached more than usual. Boo.

Saturday – long run. 20 miles at 8:53,  15 miles @ 8:41. After much deliberation on what to do about my butt issue, I decided to go for the long run and play the distance by ear. I actually had only planned to do 10, then upped it to 12, and when we were done with the 12 felt fine so did 3 more. I probably could have done all 20 but felt like I was already pushing my luck at 15 so I stopped – I figured if I upped the pace a little that would make up a bit. Interestingly, my butt didn’t give me much of an issue while running at all. It was when I stopped and walked for a bit that I felt it more. At this point I’ve decided to take a few days off running to see if I can get this to go away completely. Although my pain has never been higher than a 3/10 and really never hurt running at all, if I want to meet this time goal, I’d rather have the issue gone. I am a horrible rester though because all I thought about the rest of the day was the 5 miles I didn’t do. Sigh.

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Sunday – cross train. 30 minutes bike trainer and 45 minutes yoga. I got on the bike first thing so I could get some cardio and wouldn’t be tempted to run. Yes, I’m nuts.

5 weeks to go, fingers crossed I can finish the training off and race injury free! (pretty please)

Still looking for donations to help start up Girls with Sole here in Charleston. Any amount is greatly appreciated! This will be such a fantastic program for at risk girls and I look forward to dedicating this race for this program!