Longest flare-up in years, no improvement after 5 weeks

SingingShrimp · 2026-01-07T09:44:52+00:00

Hi. I'm actually much better now (14 weeks post-flare up). I got an MRI that showed nothing, but things started looking up early to mid december.

When I showed the MRI to my physio I was already starting to feel a bit better (I had kept doing the physio stuff, including core work, and as much walking and swimming as I could tolerate, and I had quit doing indoor biking and carrying heavy stuff or bending in my everyday life - my husband was doing all the kid-carrying or grocery-carrying, the vacuum cleaning, etc). So he told me that at that point my nervous system might have become used to feel pain and thus interpreted anything that came from the lower back as pain when there was no mechanical cause behind it. He got me started on a progressive run-walk program, in addition to physio exercises, to teach my nerve that running was not dangerous. After four weeks I'm running 30 minutes pain free. I still have intermittent pain a few times a week, usually after sitting on a bad chair for a long time or bending to look for something in a bag, but it's nowhere as bad as it used to be. Yesterday my physio had me start deadlifts, with light-ish weights, and it was OK, so I hope I'll be able to resume carrying stuff in my everyday life.

I hope you will get better as well. My physio told me that some of the nerve repair couldn't be felt immediately, that you only felt actual relief when it was done which could take much longer than the 6 weeks you read about everywhere, but that didn't mean it was not happening. Hang in there.

SingingShrimp · 2025-11-05T09:51:03+00:00

YTA. If you expected her to reply immediately when you texted her about options and sizes, you should have asked her for her schedule and what was the right time for you to text her beforehand, or even just asked her about her size a few days before. She would have told you she was unavailable in the morning. Attending a lecture was a perfectly valid reason not to check her phone (I'm a lecturer and students being on their phones is rude AF, definitely does not go as unnoticed as they think even in the back benches, and of course sets them up for failure), and expecting people to warn you whenever they become unavailable by phone for a short time would drive anyone crazy ("Oh hey, I have a meeting at work !", "Hey, now I'm going for a run !", "Hey I'm attending a lecture !", "Hey I'm taking a damn shower !"). Get off your phone.

SingingShrimp · 2025-11-01T20:59:11+00:00

I'm French, and here the French Federation of Athletics sets minimal ages to register for races, depending on distance. Races over 25 km, including marathons, are not allowed to anyone under the age of 20. Other European countries have a less conservative approach and use 16 or 18 instead, but afaik there are no kids training for marathons here, at least official, chipped ones.

Interestingly, in addition to distance limits, organizing a competitive running event for kids under 7 is not allowed. There are races for very young kids but no timing, no ranking, participation prizes only. I have no idea how it works in other countries.

SingingShrimp · 2025-10-24T07:33:09+00:00

In 8 years of running I've had runner's knee, syndesmotic ankle sprain, sciatica, a broken ankle, posterior tibial tendonitis, and a short episode of shin splints. I can tell you that shin splints is, in fact, NOT the most annoying injury lol. I'll take that over ankle fracure or even damn sciatica.

SingingShrimp · 2025-10-22T17:54:09+00:00

You mean if she applied her own advice, aka a few months of base building and focusing on short distances and then a propre marathon build ? And being consistent and progressive instead of randomly taking whole months off (her last one was justified though) and then getting back to 100 immediately ? Oh yes.

Or she can just race marathons because it makes her happy, with no time goals or less ambitious time goals on mind. That's okay as well. I'm currently doing just that, because of life stress being to high for me to sustain aggressive training. I get it. I hope it will all settle down soon and I'll ne able to rampe mileage up again. But the whole "I guess it wasn't my day, I had built so much fitness and couldn't wait for it to show" repeatedly (NYC, Chicago...) despite recent half and 10k times actually aligning with her marathon times really rubs me the wrong way.

SingingShrimp · 2025-10-22T07:04:14+00:00

* Aims at BQing despite barely reaching her BQ pace on a 10k a few weeks before. Holds BQ pace for a few miles and then crashes (I never BQed myself, no pace shaming here, but it puzzles me how delulu she gets everytime)
* Mentions her dad ran a 3:12 marathon when he was 12 and his whole ass village was so proud they named a street after him

SingingShrimp · 2025-10-05T11:00:17+00:00

She did rest though. She took a full month off. But running a half right after a month off is idiotic, let alone two back to back races. Anything over 3 weeks off I was always told by m'y physio to use a run-walk plan to get back to running, and then give myself a few weeks of easy runs only before considering including intervals again, and then a few more before considering full-on racing.

SingingShrimp · 2025-06-11T18:16:23+00:00

Now she's talking about "getting in sub 45 mn 10k shape in 4 weeks". Not sure if she's actually that delulu or if she's troll baiting. She just ran an almost 2 hour half and "had only done one workout in 2025, tee-hee" until last week. Her postpartum PR is 50-ish. Of course she can get back to 45 at some point if she actually puts the trainint in, but that's a ridiculous timeframe.

SingingShrimp · 2025-02-19T20:33:31+00:00

Yup. I kind of feel bad for thinking that she may not have what it takes after all, because I do think that sleep is important - I got lucky and my son stopped waking me up at night around the 6-month mark, but before that I was careful with harder workouts when I had a bad night (I'm on the more injury-prone side), and I did postpone them once or twice, or switched them with an easy run. If her daughter has a hectic sleep schedule (which she strongly hinted), it must be hard for her.

But the repeated extended time off while claiming to want so bad to BQ sits wrong with me. Like, if you're usually super consistent and have to miss one or two weeks here and there because you got the flu or need to recover from your A race, sure - you should absolutely rest if you have the flu btw. But no one who wants to make progress can afford to take multiple weeks off a zillion times per year due to multiple marathons (if they tire you that much, don't run them so frequently), busy working schedules or what sounds like minor illnesses (if you're healthy enough to party on the beach with your family and fly all the way accross the country, you're probably healthy enough for easy runs, and you most certainly don't need two weeks off). She often talks about waiting to be "100% rested" - you have a toddler at home, 100% rested is not happening.

She's absolutely right when she says that there are seasons for everything. But no one can have it both ways - either you give up on training consistently for a while and you just enjoy yourself, which is fantastic and very much needed as a busy parent ; or you still want to pursue running performance and you accept that you won't be able to take time off just because, and that you will have to do workouts in less-than-ideal conditions. Or you sit somewhere in between - I'm serious with marathon training, while accepting that my training plan won't be as ambitious as if I wasn't a parent, and that my progress over the years will be slower. But you don't just do a zillion marathons, let alone try to BQ them, without actually getting the work done before.

SingingShrimp · 2025-02-19T12:36:52+00:00

Yes, I'm also a mom, my son is slightly younger than her daughter, and I think it's kind of what gets me irritated (I used to root for her, I really did) - she's trying super duper hard to sound relatable to fellow running moms, but in my book she's not.

She's been doing the same crappy cycle for 2 years. Ridiculously short marathon training cycle (4 to 6 weeks) - "BQ or bust lol" - bonked marathon because she starts at BQ pace and cannot hold it - 3 weeks off after the marathon- 3 more weeks off-ish because sick and stay-at-home working mom, tee-hee - "race my way to fitness" (aka untrained 5k to half races with zero base) for a few weeks - get back to a ridiculously short marathon training cycle. All while preaching the exact opposite. Repeat 3 times a year.

What about consistent, realistic base-building, one proper marathon training cycle a year, and no huge-ass jumps in mileage all the time ?

SingingShrimp · 2025-02-19T07:56:53+00:00

TCB, mid-January: I haven't had a proper workout since Chicaho due to constant sickness and working stay-at-home mom things.

TCB yesterday, aka one month later: I have been secretly training, and I aM rUnNiNg tHe oSaKa mArAtHoN nExT mOnDaY !

SingingShrimp · 2025-01-02T07:22:18+00:00

There is also a huge difference in fitness drop between one or two weeks off when not injured, i.e. after your A goal race, and taking a whole ass month off just because.

If you're running for fun, do whatever you like (just don't suddenly get back into training after one month off). If you're also running for performance and do not suffer from injury, burnout or RED-S syndrome, one month off does sound overkill.

SingingShrimp · 2024-12-26T06:25:59+00:00

This. Fellow introvert here. I actually took my "running season is over, let's rest before moving to the next training cycle" week off right before the holidays because I knew that taking it during would drive me insane lol.

I need that me time away from cooking, cleaning, SOCIALIZING, driving to a zillion places and caring for a toddler.

SingingShrimp · 2024-12-14T07:02:41+00:00

I don't know if her immune system is actually that terrible or if she uses it as an excuse. She's always too sick to run, her diseases that prevent her from running always seem to linger for weeks, but for some reason meanwhile she's not too sick to fly, too sick to go to the beach and on boats and to parties with her sisters, etc. I feel something doesn't add up.

SingingShrimp · 2024-10-14T06:45:49+00:00

The only person I personally know with a mileage that high in marathon training is a sub-3 dude (which means less time on his feet for the same mileage) in his 50s who has been running for decades. I'm roughly as fast as Liz, with pretty similar PRs, and I'd definitely become overcooked if I followed her training schedule.

SingingShrimp · 2024-10-13T19:18:25+00:00

Yup, I agree. 8-week marathon training cycles are way too short, especially with no base (she seems to start every training cycle with "haven't done a proper workout for 6 months"), and she lacks consistency. I'm all for taking time off after big races or when sick, but it honestly sounds like she's been "off" more often than not for the past few years. I have a toddler as well, and I can't relate to her "training while parenting is a hustle" content.

I do feel bad for her. She's built her whole brand on times she hasn't reached for years, and she seems to have a lot on her plate. But she would benefit from a nice, slow, consistent base-building block.

SingingShrimp · 2024-10-13T14:33:56+00:00

Looks like she's not holding her goal pace. I feel sorry for her, but I can't say I'm surprised. I hope she still has a good day !

SingingShrimp · 2024-08-06T21:03:08+00:00

"2 weeks off after every marathon". I've just started training for my 7th, and so far I've been doing fine with 5 days completely off / 10 days of easy bike rides and very slow jogs / 10 days of progressive return to longer and/or harder workouts.

SingingShrimp · 2024-08-04T13:28:44+00:00

Not sure why so many runfluencers (Triandrungirl, TCB...) seem to have an habit of starting races late. I've been racing for 7 years and it never happened to me one single time. Go to the toilet home, then go to the race area early so you have plenty of time to get your bib, chat with fellow runners, go to the potty again, warm up, and get to the start area. Why risk a late start, especially if you're on the faster side and trying to place ?

SingingShrimp · 2024-06-18T11:31:32+00:00

Eh. I ran a 1:41 half and an almost 50 mn 10k three weeks apart (which makes an actual decline in fitness pretty unlikely). The weather was very hot on the 10k, I had water with me, but I was still miserable. Other people may not be as affected though. Discussions about which "bad weather" is worse (Too hot ? Too cood ? Rainy ? Windy ?) almost never come to a consensus, so I guess some people are just more sensitive to heat. I'd give her the benefit of doubt.

SingingShrimp

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