Recovery

Still trying to recover from this injury that won't go away. I've started seeing a chiropractor to help me get through it as it appears that while I am resting it, it has been getting worse instead of better.

This morning I thought for sure I'd be giving up my Marathon hopes because of the lack of training, however after my visit with him today, I feel more optimistic.

I can walk fairly normally, only a slight limp. I can sit without extreme pain and I was even able to drive the manual car today without alot of discomfort.

I am going to remain positive that I will be able to run the 10 for Texas as well.

By the way, if you haven't registered for the Chevron Houston Marathon, you better do so now. It is over 90% full!

The Run that wasn't

No run today. No runs all week. The leg is still hurting and I'm afraid to make it worse by ignoring the pain.

So I slept in today and boy, did it feel good! I think it would have felt better to run though...

Praying that next week I'll be able to get back to at least a modified running schedule.

Tuesday Track

Not for me, but for Lem. We headed out to the Track so that she could get in a bit of running tonight. She has a touch of a cold, so she wasn't really her perky self. But true to her form, she didn't complain.

It was interesting being out there and watching from the sidelines. I wasn't the only injured person hanging around. Another gal, Denise, was there nursing a foot fracture. She came out for the same reason I did. To be around some runners. Some others who understand who desperately we wanted to be pushing ourselves to our personal limits. Funny how that is a common thread among the runners I've met along the way.

After track, we made a quick stop at Academy to purchase some new running shoes for Lem. I had planned to bring her to Luke's this past weekend, but that didn't happen and she really needed the shoes. Her ankles were bothering her and I wanted to be sure that we stopped that asap!

The best news is that my "Stick" seems to have come through again! I was still walking as though I was in my final days of pregnancy today. It was getting quite annoying honestly. I used the stick for a good 15 mins and was amazed that afterwards, I felt 100 percent better. No goofy walk, no pain.

I'm not going to push the envelope just yet. I'll be sure to take tomorrow off and perhaps try a gentle, short jog on Thursday morning.

Now the real question is, why can't I sleep?

Monday Run

NOT!
No run today. I probably will take the whole week off to rest the groin and hamstring. It's feeling much better but still not right. I continue to have a very "unique" gait which is quite comical to some.

Sooo, I'm looking at bikes. After all, that's how I came to begin running. I promised myself if I could run for 6 months, I'd treat myself to a bike. Well, on Weds., it will be an official year of running, so technically, I guess I can get 2 bikes!!

I have no clue what to buy, how to fit, what I want, etc. I just want to have a means to cross train with, have fun with. I will continue to run as I feel that running is my true passion now, but cycling is a close second. Secretly, I'd love to do a dualthon, but I have to learn how to ride a bike first. Yes, that's right, I don't know how to ride a bike.

Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, I know how to pedal and stay upright, but I have no clue about gear shifting and the like. I have a cheap Huffy that I bought at Target 16 years ago for 99.00. It has a 20 year old baby seat on the back. It makes weird noises when I try to shift gears, and I don't even know why I shift the gears. Is it to go faster, to pedal harder, to pedal less?

I am taking any advice that is offered, so feel free to contribute.

I'll head out to the track tomorrow night so that Lem can run. She is having a great time at the track on Tuesdays. It also provides us a short bit of 'mom and me' time. Something hard to come by around this place.

You have to be kidding me!

77 degrees and 51% humidity?? And I can't even walk, let alone think about running... uugghhh!



Sadly, I did not make it to Fish's first game, but my son, Foo, took lots of pictures and video for me. Fish had a great time and seemed to actually understand the game!


Fish is in the white shirt in the middle

Still pretty sore today. I'm wondering if I didn't get both the groin and the hamstring. One thing is for sure, I'll get all that laundry put away! LOL

Thanks for all of the well wishes. This is nothing compared to what other people deal with. I came upon this story yesterday and quickly counted my blessings and gave up the self-pity.

This guy's blog is great, but this story is unbelievable.

Enjoy this beautiful day, everyone.

Thinkin'

Thinkin' I am so mad at myself right now! I can't believe how stupid I was today! A few factors have played into this injury and after reading through Kim's talk today, (thanks, Bill!) I know I needed to hear every word she had to say.

1. I have had a stomach thing going on for a few days, but still got up and ran on Thursday and again today.
2. I slept about 2 hours last night. I had no business running today, but I didn't feel tired and figured I could take a nap later in the day if I needed to.
3. I felt a slight twinge early in the run which I chose to ignore and thought I could run through. If fact, I did think I ran through it because it didn't bother me at all after the 2nd mile until I got off the hills at 7 miles.

So, I probably could have prevented this mess if I had only listened to my body. But I didn't. And now, who knows if this muscle pain is a big injury or a little one that will only need a few days of rest. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Another thing I was thinking about... How many of us that are running on either the Battling Bloggers team or the Texian Road Warriors are going to be running the Ten for Texas? I am betting there will be several of us and perhaps we can all get together for a quick hello either before or after the race. Any takers?

Off to practice some more RICE...

Woodlands Fit - Eleventh Week

I am sitting on the couch with an ice pack strategically placed where no woman (or man for that matter) would honestly like to have one placed. The last mile, I felt a pull on the left inside (groin) and it got bad fast. I had to walk immediately and if I tried to run, the pain shot down the leg to the knee and to the back. Crap. The run was going so well. I was able to run my favorite route, Flintridge, with the hills. I love running those hills, but I must have done something wrong either run them too fast or something, I'm just not sure. I cut the route a bit short and limped in the last mile.

I am afraid to stretch it right now as it feels like I could make it worse.

The really stinky part is that I was really, really looking forward to hearing Kim Hager's talk today. She is such an inspiration and I was hoping to glean any information that I could from her. I hope I can get a chance to hear her again.

The other stinky thing is that Fish has his first basketball game today and I hope I can walk. It was an interesting ride home trying to step on the clutch with my leg in the shape it is in right now.

Say a prayer that this is short-lived. I've been doing so well for 11 weeks, I don't want to sit on the sidelines.


Total Miles: 7.90
Total Time: 1:26:20
Avg. HR: 172

Avg Pace: 10:57 (even with walking in the last mile)

Mile 1: 10:06
Mile 2: 9:46
Mile 3: 10:11
Mile 4: 10:53
Mile 5: 10:18
Mile 6: 9:50
Mile 7: 10:39
Mile 8: 15:07 (walking)


Total Miles for the Week: 17.5 miles

Weight 124.0

Thrusday's Tempo Run

Ok, it's official, I am NOT a fan of the tempo run. I've tried, really I have, I've tried to like it. Even just a little bit, but to no avail. I don't. Perhaps if I could find someone to run it with I'd enjoy it more, but for now... Yuck.

For some reason, each time I get out to run on Thursdays, I feel like my legs are attached incorrectly. I can barely feel a good stride at a slow pace, never mind 15 - 20 mins straight of a tempo pace. And I am still not convinced that I have the correct tempo pace for me. According to my last 5K and runner's world calculator, my pace should be 9:30. Sometimes this feels way to fast, other times way to slow. All in all, I am sure all of this inconsistency and self-doubting is from lack of experience. Maybe by the time I hit 50 I'll have it figured out, or not.

Yesterday's run was going to be tough because I am battling some stomach thing again. Not sure where it's coming from, but I've had enough of it.

I decided that I would run slow for 10 mins, then tempo for 15, then cool down for 10. That would hit my 35 min. run. The first 10 mins felt like 30. My legs were made of lead and my stamina was nil. I felt better picking the pace up a bit, but could not hold it for a steady 15 mins. I decided to break the 15 mins into 3 intervals of tempo pace followed by 90 secs. of recovery.

Here's what it looked like. I'm not sure that this qualifies as a tempo run, but it's what I did...

Warm up: 10 mins/11:22 pace
5:40/9:12 pace
90 sec recovery
4:51/9:29 pace
90 sec recovery
4:50/9:28 pace
Cool down: 10 mins/10:29 pace

AVG HR 83% (zone 3, but it felt like much higher)

There, see. I stink. It's no secret. I just don't have what it takes YET to put together 15 mins of tempo. Soon, though...I hope!

Runner's Toe

Thank you for the hearty welcome to the "official runner" world! LOL I have read quite a bit about the subject and can confirm two things...

1. My shoes are already a half-size larger
2. My nails were trimmed to less than short before this happened

So, I need to find out what caused this to prevent it in the future, though it may not be possible to figure it out. According to Jeff Galloway's article, just the mere pressure applied to the toe when running fast can cause the bruising. Also running in the heat and/or an increase in mileage can cause the same thing. I have experienced all of these things of late so who knows which caused it.

Honestly, it isn't so bad tonight. I'm kind of proud of it actually...LOL!

Though my vanity will probably win out and I'll paint the nails before too long. Something about ugly looking toes, I just can't handle it!

Howard! What kind of rest program does TENNIS fall under?!?! My goodness, I hope you heal quickly. Let's find another activity for you, hmmm, any ideas anyone?

I haven't really been able to catch the weather reports so if there is torrential rains in the morning, my run might have to be moved to a treadmill at the Y. Otherwise, I'll enjoy a cool, wet run at 5 am. Better get off to bed so I can wake up in time!

Tuesday Track

After a brief warm up of about a mile, I ventured into my first real track workout. I thought it felt great!

Coach Bill is always so kind to explain things to me, and tonight was no exception. I may not completely understand everything, but I know he does, and he'll guide me the right way.

I wasn't sure how to log tonight's workout, so I thought I would just hit the lap feature for every 200 I did.

The goal was 8 X 200. I made the 8 and felt pretty good at the end. I forgot to hit the lap for the first 3 - 200's, so my total time for those, including my slower 100's was 4:48.

The next 5 were as follows:

#4 - 6:59 pace
#5 - 7:00 pace
#6 - 7:30 pace
#7 - 7:12 pace
#8 - 7:00 pace

My avg. HR was 193 (zone 5 - so I was over the suggested zone 4 by a few points)

Coach Bill instructed us to keep our pace a bit slower than what our time trials came out to be last week. My pace was 8:00, so I should have run a bit slower, I suppose. But I honestly felt great at this pace. I don't know if I could have held that pace for 800's though.

One really neat surprise was that I saw a former neighbor who came out to the track with the TNT group. His wife passed away about 2 years ago from Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, leaving 3 beautiful little girls and an adoring husband. Amber was very young. I don't think she was even 30. She was a fitness fanatic and just glowed with life. Seeing Brad out there tonight in honor of her was truly inspirational. I hope to see him more often.

One not so nice surprise was the purple toe I discovered once I removed my shoes tonight! Ouch! It has been hurting the last 2 or 3 runs, but now it has an actual bruise under the nail. I guess I need to read up on how that happens and how I can prevent it in the future. I have the most sensitive feet and toes. Oh, and I am a big baby when it comes to pain. waa, waa, waa....

Monday Morning

After dreaming about running most of the night and seeming to wake up every few minutes to see if it was time to go run, I finally got up and headed out the door at 5:20 or so. Humidity was about 90% or so.

Total Mileage: 3.75 miles
Total Time: 41:07
Avg Pace: 10:58
Avg HR: 159 (70% -stayed in my zone for recovery!)

Nice easy run to start the week. Beautiful starry sky out there this morning.

Woodlands Fit - Tenth Week

I had a pretty cruddy week as far as trying to get my runs in. Putting tile in the house ourselves (I am not doing anything, Mark's doing the work) through me off on Monday. Tuesday we did a track work out which was great, but lacking in mileage. Thursday, I didn't finish up my work day until after 7:30 and I was completely exhausted. I attempted a run Friday morning, knowing I had to keep it easy, and it was a hard run to do. The humidity seemed extremely high and my lungs weren't loving it at all.

Today's run felt pretty good, but by mile 6.5, I was feeling it. I pressed on and was at about mile 8 when I started to feel energy again. I almost ran out of hydration, but thankfully, was able to find a water station to grab a few drops.

Everyone seemed to think today's run was a bit extreme, so I felt better that it wasn't just me. I keep telling myself that cooler weather will come soon and I will be happy that I have put myself through this training.

I did monitor my RHR this week. One reason I skipped the Monday run was because the RHR was at 70. My normal is 54. I thought it best to take another day off to help keep the RHR in check.

By Tuesday, it was down to 54, so obviously, my efforts paid off, but the down side was that I missed a day of running. I'm not sure that I can miss too many runs without ill effects on the rest of my training.

My plan for this week will have me getting my runs in before 7 am. This way, I can't let the day's activities get in the way of my training. I am also hoping to begin some weight training this week, but that may be a bit too ambitious right now. I am doing some basic isotonic/isometric exercises at home, but it isn't enough. I just hate going to the gym.

By the way, Howard, I missed seeing you today, but you are doing the right thing taking this time to heal. You can start training again once that calf heals. Cindy told me that you may try to run the 10 for Texas. I'll look forward to seeing you then!

Total Miles: 10.06
Total Time: 1:40:59
Avg. HR: 175

Avg Pace: 10:02

Had a Gu before I started out.

Mile 1: 9:54
Mile 2: 9:24
Mile 3: 9:37 Had a gu
Mile 4: 10:20
Mile 5: 10:21
Mile 6: 10:31 Another gu, walk break, I was really feeling the run at this point.
Mile 7: 10:39
Mile 8: 9:51
Mile 9: 10:06 Should have had a gu, but forgot to bring another one.
Mile 10+: 9:41


Total Miles for the Week: 14 miles (much less than I had planned, only 67% of my goal.)

Weight 125.0

First Track Workout

Lem asked if she could go with me tonight as I headed out the door for my first track workout. I had no idea what to expect, but with Coach Bill at the helm, I knew it would be a great experience.

I won't pretend to understand what we did, but I did run hard for 6 mins. This translated to setting my speed workout pace at 8:00.

Lem was so cute running right behind me. Her pace came in at 8:25. I enjoyed having her there. I hope the other runners don't mind her tagging along. She really wants to run more, but it's been so hot and she is so little.

She has already told me that she wants to run the 1/2 marathon in 2009. She is amazing! I wonder if they'd let a 10 year old run it.

I look forward to seeing how all of this translates into my training. So much to learn, so much to improve upon. But for now...sleep.

HR Zones

Barbara asked if I could post my zone percentages. I received these last week at Woodlands Fit from Kim Hager who is sponsored by Timex. There are some major differences here, Barbara. This bears further investigation.

Here are Barbara's zones:

Zone 1: 60-70%
Zone 2: 71- 80%
Zone 3: 81-85%
Zone 4: 86-90%
Zone 5: 91-100%

Here are the ones Kim/Timex suggest:

Zone 1: 50 - 60% (light exercise)
Zone 2: 60-70% (recovery run)
Zone 3: 70-80% (long run)
Zone 4: 80-90% (tempo run)
Zone 5: 90-100% (long interval pace)

Using the Timex zones, I am usually in Zone 4 or 5 most of the time. Today, running as slowly as I did, I still managed to spend a majority of the run at 78% of my HR which would be officially in Zone 3, yet my Garmin shows only 13 mins in Zone 3, the rest in Zone 4. And referring to Barbara's zones I'd be in Zone 2.

Going on perceived exertion, I would say that I felt fine for today's run and really expected to see a lower HR.

I am totally confused! Of to do some more research...

Woodlands Fit Week Nine

Today is Fish's birthday. He is 6! And let me tell you, he is very excited about being 6!!

We ran from Skeeter's today. They talked about how these were real nature trails, so I got very excited about finding real trails close to home. I debated about whether or not to wear my regular shoes or my trail shoes. I finally made the decision and donned my trail shoes.

One of my socks was bugging me before I even left the house, so I turned it inside out. The other one felt fine so I left it alone.

I ate a Gu (triple berry) before leaving the house. I noticed today that this one had caffeine. I don't do caffeine because I am a lunatic when it is in my system. But, I took it anyway because I didn't have any other choices and I figured I'd run the stuff out of my system pretty quick.

We started the run after a talk from Rich about slowing our pace down and remembering what we had learned about HR training. I had already decided that I was slowing way down today. I need to slow these long runs down. As we headed out, the usual crew was running their usual 8 something pace. So much for the talk. I did get a bit frustrated because I knew if I was going to run properly, I would be running alone. I didn't join this group to run these long runs alone, not so much because I want to talk with someone, but more for safety. It's dark when we start and I don't know the routes, not to mention, it's not safe to be running these trails alone. If I am going to run the marathon at a 9:30 or so pace, I would think my slow runs would need to be a bit slower than that. maybe 10:00 or 10:30 according to what I've been reading. Not too mention the HR thing. Slow runs should be run in Zone 3 and most of mine have been in Zone 5. These other folks are running quicker than a 9 min pace on the slow runs which is great for them, but they probably aren't really a yellow group runner. I think this is why so many yellows moved down to the red group.

So I dug in and decided that I would just run the best I could, if I got lost or nervous about being on the trails alone, I would head to the street and just run the familiar paths. I'll be running the marathon alone, so I need to get used to that.

I ate another Gu at mile 3 and then ran into Ruth. She had run a 20 miler on Tuesday and was having a rough run. I walked with her and realized that she really didn't know where she was going either. I figured between the two of us, we could handle these trails together. We finally found the trail and wouldn't you know it, it wasn't a dirt nature trail, it was a concrete path just like all of the others I run on around here. So much for the trail shoes. What a dork! It was a pretty secluded trail and very pretty, but I could have easily gotten lost if not for the map.

Ruth needed to walk quite a bit, so I stayed with her. She told me to go on ahead, but I couldn't. To me, safety is more important than my pace. Besides, if I left her alone, I'd be alone too and these trails could hide a weirdo just about anywhere.

We hung in there and at mile 6 or so I ate my final Gu. We came close to the finish but it wasn't quite 9 miles, so I continued on and ended up tacking on .44 miles etc.

It was a nice run. My HR was in Zone 3 longer than usual, but I did hit Zone 4 for most of the run. I think this is because did the first 3 much faster than I wanted to.

And the sock situation? Well, the one that was turned inside out felt great. The one I didn't turn has a rubbed area on the toe. I guess I'll be turning my socks for my longer runs now.

I felt great at the end of the run. I actually think I could have run the 2 miles home. Probably to do with the Gu and caffeine.


Ruth also told me about Surfside Marathon which I know Barbara ran last year. I may consider running this. We'll see about dates and how it will fit in with preparing for TIR.

Total Miles: 9.44
Total Time: 1:40:30
Avg. HR: 169

Avg Pace: 10:45

Ate a Gu

Mile 1: 9:53
Mile 2: 9:54
Mile 3: 12:54 (Ate a Gu and then met up with Ruth and walked with her. She had run a 20 miler this week and was having trouble. I am a firm believer in not leaving someone behind, especially a woman)
Mile 4: 10:16
Mile 5: 11:55 (walked with Ruth some more)
Mile 6: 12:13 (same as above, plus we were trying not to get lost! Ate another Gu.)
Mile 7: 11:22
Mile 8: 10:26
Mile 9: 9:26 (Was able to run ahead of Ruth since we were on the main road again and there were others around)
Mile .44: 9:04

Total Miles for the Week: 20.8 miles

Weight 124.0