The Capital Curse Strikes Again!
“Well shoot.”
Those were the words of my running coach when I informed him of my hamstring injury a few weeks back. Or I think Coach Ives said something to that effect.
I strongly suspect that I said something a tad harsher when I realized that the "Capital Curse" had struck again.
It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. After going over a year between races due all the drama with my torn meniscus last year, I hadn’t considered falling victim to another injury and having to miss this race yet again.
Strange as it sounds, this latest mishaps actually makes some degree of sense. And it’s why I'm not as frustrated about it as I’ve been in past years.
Capital Curse?
One of my favorite races is the Capital Pursuit. It’s a well-organized ten-miler taking place each year in mid-September. Unfortunately, it’s a race that I’ve only ran three times in the past nine years. Most of those have been due to injury - typically a hamstring. All of which prompted a previous post about this curse.
However, if I’m honest with myself, missing the exciting race this year is less about a supposed curse and has much more to do with me. Specifically, how I’ve handled my return to running these past couple months.
Bad Rick! Bad Rick!
As some of you who’ve followed my trials and tribulations this past year know, when I was given the “green light” to resume a return to running, I followed every recommendation as though they have been carried down from Mt. Sinai by Moses himself. I adhered to every precaution, tapering expectations and demonstrating near saint-like patience.
And once I was allowed to return to running five days a week?
To hell with that caution! I wanted to test my speed and make up for lost time by scheduling every race I’ve typically ran for the rest of 2026!
Fortunately, Coach Ives kept me somewhat in line. But I know my enthusiasm got the better of me on too many occasions during what are supposed to be my “easy” runs.
Don’t get me wrong. It was a kick to run six or seven miles at a pace twenty or thirty seconds per mile better than I’d done with that bum knee last summer. But doing so had a cost.
Damn you, Cadence!
One of my greatest challenges as a runner is my cadence. Oh, it’s not an issue when I race or do speedwork. Unfortunately, during my easy runs, my stride tends to be longer than it should be. Shortening my stride is an easy way to correct this. Only when I do so, I tend to also pick up my pace.
Where I’m going with this is I’d decided that late July was somehow the perfect time to start focusing on improving that cadence. Nor was my approach to seeking that improvement one centered on minor, incremental modifications. Of course not. I found myself capable of making more notable improvements. Ones that were also picking up my pace for what were supposed to be my easy runs.
Combine running more miles than I’ve run in months with doing so at an increased pace and I can all but guarantee my body will let me know it’s unhappy with me. Experience tells me that’s most often voiced through my left hamstring.
Do the Math
It’s hardly a curse but more careless on my part. Check out the previous times my left hammie has said “enough’s enough.”
July 2018 - first year of serious running in decades where I often ran seven days a week
April 2020 - coming off a successful racing in 2019 by pushing harder every day for even faster paces
August 2022 - several months after I convinced Coach Ives to let me run six days a week with longer mileage
It doesn’t require much to see a common theme between those instances and my current struggle. But unlike those other three examples, I’m feeling better about it.
A New Perspective
Don’t get me wrong. I am disappointed to miss this year’s Capital Pursuit - as well as October’s Des Moines Half Marathon. Still, this ain’t my first rodeo with that annoying muscle. Past practice tells that at some time around six to eight weeks after that injury, I’ll turn a corner where the hamstring feels better. From there, it’s not long before I resume my speedwork.
Part of my calm is that after everything I experienced last year, six to eight weeks isn’t all that bad. It’s also a valuable lesson. If I want to race again in peak condition, I need to train properly and intelligently go get there. If I don’t reach that level this year, then there’s 2027.
In the meantime, one change. In the past when I could not participate in a race, I tended to punish myself. I would never pick up the swag for that race - even though I'd paid for it. I'd also delete the playlist I’d meticulously prepared for that race, remaining down on myself over my misfortune. That’s not going to be the case going forward. In lieu of that, I plan to go out a nearby park where I can run six or seven miles with a slightly revised version of that same playlist. I will maintain an easy and comfortable pace, returning home with the knowledge that while I could not participate in that race, I still had an enjoyable run associated with it.
I'm not the most religious individual, but I continually think of the phrase, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Life happens. In the scheme of things, this is a speed bump at most with a good lesson re-learned. And dammit, next year I will run in the Capital Pursuit!
Coming Up Next
I'd like to conclude this post by inviting all of you to my next one in two weeks where I will discuss the serious topic of safety for women runners. Having reached out to and received responses from a number of runners that were both informative and disturbing, I hope to have a post that is worthy of this important issue.
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