dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

While watching general conference today one of the speakers spoke about developing physical endurance and related it to the development of spiritual endurance.  Since this is a running blog I figured that mentioning this talk here specifically was relevant.  The speaker, Elder Maynes, mentioned that our testimonies, like our bodies, need to be in shape if we are to endure.  We will not be in good spiritual shape just from watching general conference, just as we will not be in good physical shape if all we do is watch sports on television.  The "price" that Elder Maynes said must be paid to develop spiritual or physical endurance is "dedication, perseverance, and self-discipline".  I feel like those words ought to be remembered by any runner who is striving to imrove and get faster, for it is impossible to do so without maintaining consistency in training and avoiding injury.  If we are dedicated and persevere we will out of necessity maintain that consistency in training that is required to develop strength and speed, while self-discipline can be employed to avoid the common pitfalls that cause many of us to become injured, etc.

I ran approximately 8 miles this morning in 1:01:43.  I ran about 5 miles with my running class, and then another 3 miles on my own after class was over.

I met Tyler this morning, and we ran together.  As I was running to meet Tyler I felt really sluggish, averaging slower than 8:40 per mile on the way to our meeting point.  After we started running together my legs seemed to really wake up, and the two of us sped up quite a bit.  At one point Tyler looked at his watch and it claimed we were running about 7:10 pace (we were out in the open so the gps was probably reasonably accurate).  After we got back onto campus I ran with Tyler towards his apartment for a few minutes before turning back and heading home.  Total of about 9 miles in 1:08:31.

I ran approximately 8 miles today in 1:03:44.  I did not get much sleep last night because of a school assignment so I felt really sluggish today.  My running class met at the ISU cross country course, and while there I ran the 5k course in 24:34.  There are a lot of hills on the course, and I could tell that my back was pretty stiff going downhill but otherwise my back actually felt pretty good.

On the other hand, my leg has not really been making any progress over the last week or so, which is frustrating.  I am becoming more and more convinced that there is some sort of impingement on the femoral nerve, as I feel clicking in my hips when I straighten my legs out while in a prone position, I have point sensitivity on one or two of the vertebrae in the lumbar spine, and the location I most frequently feel discomfort in the left quad is right where the femoral nerve exits from under the inguinal ligament.  The discomfort also has a distinctively non-muscular feel, more like a pinching feeling, and less like a stretching or compressive force, while on occasion the pain will radiate up through the iliac crest and into my back.  I feel like I am just about at the tipping point where I will go to see a doctor for this, as it has been 3 months since I started having problems with my leg, and I have tried just about everything that I know how to do to fix the problem. 

8 miles this morning in 1:03:07.  I ran about 4 miles with Tyler and ran the rest of the run alone. My back felt pretty stiff starting off, but it felt better after I got warmed.  My leg felt similar to my back, hurting more at the beginning and feeling better as I was able to relax more.

I ran the first 3.5 miles of the run today with my running class, after which I ran another 4.5 miles on my own.  Total of 8 miles in 1:03:09.  My leg was bothering me more than normal during the last mile or two of the run.

I ran 9 miles today in 1:06:14.  I have felt recently that when I stretch out my hamstrings after my runs that my quad hurts less, so today I decided to try stretching them out beforehand.  Results were mixed, as the quad and back still hurt, but they felt better than yesterday.  I stretched the hamstrings out again after I got home.