Our adventures big and small.
This year I'm trying to flourish more and languish less.
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
I would run 500 miles...
Yesterday, Wil asked me point blank: "Have you been running?" Busted! I have indeed been sneaking in a few runs when I can. See, it's important that Wil rest his foot for us to have the best chance on finishing the distances on race weekend. But it was also important to me to try and hit my goal of 500 Nike+ miles in 2009. I was really close -- I needed just over 18 miles as of Saturday night, so I got in an 11-miler on Monday, a 5.5-miler on Tuesday, and needed under 2 miles to hit 500. So before heading north to the naked lady spa, I went for a quick run around Green Lake. It wasn't the fastest run, nor the strongest, but it was fun to complete my goal today.
The path wasn't very crowded -- but there was a surprising amount of nature out. I think I saw three ravens, if that's even remotely possible. They were way bigger than just crows. Of course I saw a lot of crows (a murder of crows?). And I saw two great blue herons. And then there was the limping raccoon, that worried me a little. Hopefully he just hangs out at the lake until he feels better.
2009 has been a great, if challenging year. We ran our first marathon, a couple of half marathons, and have trained hard for the Goofy challenge. Hopefully we're up to it!
Not sure what 2010 will bring. First we just need to get through the next two weeks. Happy new year!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Turns out that I'm a Genetic Freak & a broken one at that!!!
Turns out that I'm a Genetic Freak & a broken one at that!!! (Thanks to Mum or Dad for the freaky mutation one of you passed down to me… :-))
My sesamoid bones are fig 8 shaped instead of being straight. The one in my right foot has snapped in half at the weak point.
Sport Doc said the broken bone has probably fractured & fixed several times throughout my life, (this explains the similar pain I had just before and during the Portland Half Marathon, which went away so I wrote it off as 'one of those things').
Nothing can be done, but no further damage will be done (other than continuing with ice baths and anti-inflammatory stuff). I have been referred to a different sports clinic next Tuesday to get a custom foot bed/strapping which will hopefully ease the amount of pain I have to endure during the races…
But one this is for sure; there is gonna be 40 miles of pain ahead!!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Well the Doc and the Physio gave some positive news.
Without my prompting the Doctor came up the the diagnosis of some bruising around the bones and the seamoiditis that I had thought sounded likely. And while it means I should hold off running for as long as is possible it does mean that as long as I can put up with any pain on race-day then I will not be doing myself any permanent damage. But I should defiantly consider doing as much walking during the race as is feasible.
We rushed out to see Toni the Physio (who luckily had a cancellation at 8am) we did get there a little late (oops sorry). She did a full analysis of the problem and tracked it back to a number of issues with how I carry myself, and the types of warm-up/warm-down and stretches that we do. My muscles are a little too tight in various places. This in turn leads to my feet, knees (and legs in general) not being a sideways flexible as would be desired.
All of this makes total sense as I currently tend to run or cycle for exercise, which is a very push pull without much of a sideways release of tension.
We went through a number of exercises which I need to do each day, and a whole new set of stretches and jiggles to release the straight line tension and therefore free up my feet to do their jobs in all directions and therefore not putting as much stress on the same repetitive tension building movements.
I also need to soak my feet in ice water for three ten minute stretches up to three times a day to reduce the swelling on and around the two little useless bones which seem to be causing the problems.
All in all a very positive morning, which was well needed after my last few days of gloomy doom feeling about the whole thing. The relief makes me feel like bursting out in tears right now, but still I need to bear in mind that this isn't going to be easy.
I need to keep up the exercises and stretches; missing out on the long runs, while taking it easy over the next few weeks, means I won't be fully prepared for the races. Races which will, more than likely, involve a lot more foot/toe pain than desired, but at least it will only be painful and not damaging...
I know that it's not good to wish your life away, but at this point I really can't wait until these three weeks are done, and there is no 39.3 mile obstacle looming.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Running sucks, and my Foot sucks!!! :-(
Saturday, December 19, 2009
10 Miler
A few amusing distractions: saw three different women twice around the loop; each time we smiled and waved. Also decided to try the mint chocolate Gu rather than the chocolate Hammer Gel. It's much denser than Hammer Gel -- more like frosting. It tasted great, but was hard to wash down. So I'll stick with the old standard.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Nike+
Make fun of me if you must, but I know at least some of you understand the question "If I run 8 miles but Nike+ doesn't add it to my totals, did I really run?"
This has been the longest "week" in the history of my worklife. At least today felt productive, if LOOOOONG.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Nike-
Again, the run down to Golden Gardens was fine -- it was just that, upon turning around, we had a headwind blowing off the water that was bitterly cold. We ran on the trail side of the road this week, rather than directly along the water, but it didn't really help much. So we'll see how it goes next week.
Feeling a little grouchy because my Nike+ sensor -- though it read the run, gave me a result, etc., didn't seem to "save" the run... bearing no record of it, and therefore it didn't add to my mileage for the year. I'm still quite a ways from my 500 miles in 09 goal (with the sensor), so today's 8 would have been useful. Oh well, we'll see how it goes... the important thing, of course, is that I ran it and felt okay. :)
(Must admit that I have a bit of pain in my right leg... perhaps from too much skipping yesterday?)
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Girls on the Run 5K!
Gathered with coaches, other running buddies, and our girls in the FREEZING COLD. The girls were given hand warmers, thankfully, so I didn't have to worry about my buddy getting TOO cold. I recognized Morgan by her rainbow gloves. She gave me a hug and we did the warmup stretches together. I met her mom, very sweet brother, great aunt, and grandmother. Nice to see that she had a lot of support. Coach Carmen had tiaras for the girls to decorate... I loved that Morgan didn't want to make a tiara. Not her style at all.
As we walked to the starting line, Morgan said that it didn't matter if she came in first or came in last -- that the important part is just going out and having fun. (Go girl!) The organizers had balloon arches at the start and finish -- nice touch. It was a little crowded right at the start, but we were able to keep up a pretty good clip, alternating between running, skipping, and walking. We actually ran more that I thought we would -- certainly more than in the practice 5K. We talked about Christmas, her new kittens (they got three!), camping, books, how pretty it was there, and even running. I told her the "leave nothing in the tank" story, which she liked.
She was getting pretty tired at the end of the run, and said she wasn't sure she had very much in the tank. But we decided to sprint from the 3-mile mark to the 3.1-mile finish line. She took off pell mell -- really fast! -- but we remembered to smile and wave at her family as we sprinted past.
Her family were very sweet, even her 13-year old brother who ran up to her and said "I'm so proud of you!" That made me almost want to cry. Hooray for sweet boys! Coach Carmen gave Morgan her very cool medal and bracelet that they made with the beads they earned in the program.
We stood and cheered until everyone finished, which was great. Then I said goodbye to Morgan and her family, along with the other running buddies and coaches. It was a really nice event, with lots of cheering. Oh, and the goody bags were better than the ones we'll get at Disney World. Ha!
Another nice touch -- everyone was given bib number 1. Sweet!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
pre-work treadmill
Warmed up for 5, then ran 55, then cooled down for 5. Managed to squeeze out 6.36 miles overall. Got a funny "note" from Joan Benoit Samuelson; "Congratulations! You've just recorded your fastest mile." But I figure that's because I have a new sensor so every run is a new distance, a new speed, etc.
Next run ... the Girls on the Run 5K! Where I'll be doing more skipping than running... perhaps in the snow?!?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
treadmill are okay when it's freezing outside
Monday, December 7, 2009
An Icy Run Cut Short
L Yesterday's run was officially horrible.
I tend to be warmer so underdress (and Sunny, rather sensibly, tends be colder so makes sure she is warmly dressed). I was so happy yesterday that she had a 'spare' fleece vest.
The 18 miler was going to be mentally challenging, but well within our fitness level, so I thought that a nice run up to Sunset park, then take the road route down to Golden Gardens, and out until the path turns into beach. Then back along the Burke Gilman, through the missing link til we hit Fred Myer (often our starting place) and then an out and back on the Burke Gilman proper.
The run down to Golden Gardens was great, and in my mind it felt like a pre-amble to the 'proper' run (even better mentally). Calculations/guestimates, started make it look like we would hit 8 miles as we got to our usual Start point. Meaning just a 5 mile out and a 5 mile back, Yay!!! No further than the University district!!! Superb!!! Mentally the run was no long going to be any challenge at all.
And then we hit the end of path/beginning of beach and turned around.
I hadn't noticed any wind so far, as we had been running with it. We turned around, and the wind off the sound was icy. Really icy. Saturday's run was cold and icy underfoot, but the bright sun had kept us warmed up, on Sunday there was no sun just a thick blanket of cloud.
Still, no worries we would just run through it, then after about a mile I had a sharp (skin level) pain in my chest. I wondered whether I had somehow cut myself, and how I could possibly have. We got to a walk break and I checked, there was no cut. A brief one minute walk with no pain, then started to run, and there was the pain again.
I noticed that it wasn't a cut, it was the sweat patch on the front of my jersey which was being pushed against my skin and was painfully biting cold. I felt the cold of my skin even through gloved hands. Still I figured I would warm up. (Mentally this run was getting harder again, as I started over analyzing what points of my body were the most cold).
I was wearing a single layer jersey and a double layer pair of shorts, my legs were starting to turn a bluey red. Hmmm... Not good. Having to hold my shirt away from my chest to avoid scalpel-like pain.. Not good. Pain where any moisture was on my face… Not good.
At that point I found myself shivering while running, again, not good..
not good + not good + not good + not good = mentally really bad.
And at that point I started wondering whether we should stop at Kavu where I could buy a shirt/vest to keep on running. That would be a waste of money; we could easily detour back up to the house adding two miles and thus shortening the out and back (as the run was basically a right angled triangle with the out and back at the right angle.)
We talked and at that point decided that it would be an even more sensible idea to run home and abandon the rest of the run. Our faces were feeling chapped and sucking in the cold air wasn't feeling good.
Sunny gave me her fleece vest, which was fantastic, and quickly stopped my shivering. At this point I was getting a bit too keen to get back to a warm house and into a warm shower. So I kept losing track of my pace and racing off. We decided that a steep hill would be the best way of being slightly sheltered from the wind and the uphill would help to get warm blood to our iciest bits…
The whole run home I was feeling guilty that I had robbed a layer from Sunny and her preparedness L. But super thankful for that extra layer (and she reassured me that her body heat wasn't too uncomfortable.)
We got home in good time. Stretched inside, stretching felt odd, as muscles weren't 'warmed-up' even after 9 miles of running.
Today I checked the hour by hour weather for yesterday. 34F (just 1 Celsius), then at the time of our run there was a peak in the wind speed (so maybe on our run down to the beach there really hadn't been any wind). The wind speed went from 5 mph to 17, (which I don't think we got the full brunt of). Either way that would have been static speed. We were moving at 6 mph into it. So let's put a realistic estimate of 15 mph windspeed while running.
The BBC wind chill table puts the actual temp (inc wind chill) as below freezing, between -2.5c and -4.8c (27.5F and 23.36F) (The table doesn't have a figure for 1c just 0c and 2c). And that's not accounting for the drop in temp from the wind coming straight off the water.
Brrrrrr… Not the sort of temp to be outside in a pair of shorts and a sweat dampened tech jersey.
I feel really bad about abandoning a run, but figure that at least we were sensible, and no-one got hypothermia...
Lesson learned – It's time to layer up and wear running tights (and maybe even a neck/face gater) for long runs. And shift short runs to the dreaded treadmill.
congratulations Lindsay!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
c-c-c-c-cold
One nice thing I noticed on these runs this weekend is how friendly the (few) other runners seem. Everyone smiles and waves. I mean, I never wave or smile at other runners. I'm too focused on just getting my miles in and not tripping on the broken sidewalks of Ballard. (ha!) But everyone is waving, saying hi, smiling... no, wait, maybe that's just the rictus of cold...
One less nice thing I noticed -- spending over an hour outside makes your face hurt. I have a windburn/chapped cheeks/whatever on my face. I'm sure there is something one can do to help soothe this? Let's just say I am going to look awesome for the next few days.
Finally, super big ups to my girlfriends Lindsay, Jen, Melinda, and Brenda, for running the Las Vegas Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon this morning -- I have total race envy! Next year I have sworn to run in an Elvis outfit. Hold me to this. :)
So... not the greatest start to this month's running. I take some comfort in hearing from others in Goofy training that they're in training funks as well. I'm writing this down -- NEVER AGAIN. After January, no matter what happens, I will not do another Goofy's challenge in Florida. It's too far to go, it's the wrong time of year for us northern types, and the half+full back to back is, well, Goofy. I don't regret signing up for it, and it will be just absurd enough to do this crazy thing, but it's just not for me.
I'm not ruling out another marathon -- I would still love to run the NYC Marathon, maybe even the Chicago Marathon -- because I love the idea of a big-city, big-crowd race. (I would also love to run the London Marathon, but that's just not going to happen.) But I think that next year -- unless we get in to the NYC Marathon -- I'd like to focus on the half marathon. It's a very nice, very do-able distance. In the working list of events for post-Goofy 2010, I've plotted out 4 half marathons (Eugene, Seattle RnR, Disneyland, Vegas), a couple of big local runs, and maybe even a triathlon (we'll see). It just seems more... sensible...