RUN 5.8 miles in about 58 mins with TV at CCP
then another 4.2 miles in about 40 mins alone around BPW
Oooooh this was a messed up morning. My hip was still hurting, my stomach was unhappy, TV seemed off, and this was my 2nd run after last Sunday's illness. I just wasn't feeling it.
I suggested a short, easy, flat, non-technical trail, TV suggested CCP. I really dislike those trails, but to run the lake loop and some of those trails I could do. But I didn't want to run 10 miles of those trails, too much loop-back, tangled noodle, not-going-anywhere feeling on those.
Picked him up at 7, he seemed....off...? Just not himself. I didn't ask. We arrived to a very busy park! Walking and running groups all over! I enjoyed that, TV said he gets "protective" LOL. I joked that I could make him a fake bib so he could win the group run :) Oh and he WON his 5K yesterday at CCP! Whoop!
Oddly, like, really oddly, my hip does NOT hurt when I'm running! So I was eager to run. We did the lake loop (saw old friend BrianK!) and was really struggling for energy. I'm still not eating starches, just a piece of fruit and eggs so far, but that's not really that out of normal for me before a short 10 mile run. Either way, it felt like I was running 7 or 8 min miles when in fact we were doing only just under 10. Around mile 4 I started to burp up water. I whined a bit, said I just want to be normal, to be able to walk up to an aid station and enjoy an Orea. He pulled us aside to rest in a lake side gazebo.
This hurt my hip, so I wanted to keep going. We finished, and based on his eval of me we ended the run :(
Dropped him off, I did some stretching, and realized I was terribly unsatisfied with the morning. I wanted 10! So back out the door I went, now the temps were up to high 80's but I only needed 4.2 miles. Around BP, to TGP for a water fountain, and back, feeling much better!
And my hip stopped hurting?!? My left knee was very pained at the onset of the run, I though it was more like a taper pain and it quit once I'd gone a few mins. But the hip...WTF? The rest of the day it felt OK? No 100% good, but maybe 90%?
I'm doing 2 hip stretch sets a day, am and pm, but only started that ...Thursday or Friday?
NUMERICS
RUN 16 miles and a few bike commutes
No Strength
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Such a good Puppy
BIKE 9.5 commute and
14 miles, two Fo Pa loops
Stressed morning, took some thinking to figure out the stress. Or what might have been the cause. My left hip is hurting, really hurts to walk. As in, I don't wanna move around to walk the dog, around the house, nothing. It's a sharp pain, not a new one, but certainly bad right now. Also, I had an undefined morning. LOTS to do, from going to work to normal errands to errands long on the to-do list and household chores like mowing and laundry. And this is day 2 of my nutrition reset, so while I wasn't crashing on bad foods or having terrible symptoms, it's more of a disruption to my habits.
After walking the dog I just...lingered. Blerched. Kept munching food. My stomach was getting really upset, or I was anxious because my stomach was upset. Chicken and egg thing. Once I recognized all this I kicked myself out the door. I knew that once I started riding I'd feel better. Rode to work, included a Fo Pa loop before going in, and in the loop I started burping and feeling MUCH better. Just kept thinking, good dog....goooooood Puppy for helping me feel better :)
Did another loop on the way home. Gooooood Dog!
14 miles, two Fo Pa loops
Stressed morning, took some thinking to figure out the stress. Or what might have been the cause. My left hip is hurting, really hurts to walk. As in, I don't wanna move around to walk the dog, around the house, nothing. It's a sharp pain, not a new one, but certainly bad right now. Also, I had an undefined morning. LOTS to do, from going to work to normal errands to errands long on the to-do list and household chores like mowing and laundry. And this is day 2 of my nutrition reset, so while I wasn't crashing on bad foods or having terrible symptoms, it's more of a disruption to my habits.
After walking the dog I just...lingered. Blerched. Kept munching food. My stomach was getting really upset, or I was anxious because my stomach was upset. Chicken and egg thing. Once I recognized all this I kicked myself out the door. I knew that once I started riding I'd feel better. Rode to work, included a Fo Pa loop before going in, and in the loop I started burping and feeling MUCH better. Just kept thinking, good dog....goooooood Puppy for helping me feel better :)
Did another loop on the way home. Gooooood Dog!
Friday, July 29, 2016
First commute since sick, and SCD reset
BIKE COMMUTE! 9.5 miles
Another sign of back-to-normal is that I felt great enough to bike to work. I'm still a little on the weak side but not bad. Maybe 96% recovered?
My gut however is not recovered. Yesterday I had the painful, aching, heavy, hot-rocks feeling I used to get all the time. That was my normal. Hurt to run, drive, walk, think, live. So I started an SCD reset today, the first one I've really had to do in the 410 days since I started. I want to be healthy by the 100 miler, I want to thrive not just survive, and the next 3-5 days will work for this. So here goes with the pureed baby food veggies.
Another sign of back-to-normal is that I felt great enough to bike to work. I'm still a little on the weak side but not bad. Maybe 96% recovered?
My gut however is not recovered. Yesterday I had the painful, aching, heavy, hot-rocks feeling I used to get all the time. That was my normal. Hurt to run, drive, walk, think, live. So I started an SCD reset today, the first one I've really had to do in the 410 days since I started. I want to be healthy by the 100 miler, I want to thrive not just survive, and the next 3-5 days will work for this. So here goes with the pureed baby food veggies.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
First run since sick, and Dr M appt
RUN! 57 mins and 6 miles
Yay! I'm running again! I didn't think I'd be able to complete 2 or 3 miles, but EW and I ran together and through chatting and encouragement made almost the whole loop.
Gorgeous morning, high 70's and calm, such a switch from last weekend. I was still feeling wiped out and weak so I really didn't expect more than a run to the hill and back. And of course my ribs were hurting. But as we got going, warmed up, and chatting, we just kept saying "let's keep going, we can always turn up ahead", and this worked great.
EW and I had great conversation about being judgmental, about "come as you are" (ironically a song I've heard on the radio 3 times this week including the drive to run today...but it's not going on the songlist just yet), about the church and open-mindedness, and more. She explains the religious stuff really well, it's important to her and she does great with it.
Later in the morning was the Dr M appt. He can feel muscle fiber where the infraspinatus should be but it's not "building up" as would be expected with a muscle being used. Could take a total of 18 months, or 9 more, before we can really say it won't recover. The good news is that if I keep working it those muscle fibers could again turn into a real muscle, that I'm relatively functional, that my breaking of ribs isn't really a bone frailty issue at least to him, and no other concerns.
The 'hole' in my back is apparently pretty obvious, LC and IT, coworkers, and Dr M have no troubles seeing it. I need a better arrangement of mirrors I guess.
Yay! I'm running again! I didn't think I'd be able to complete 2 or 3 miles, but EW and I ran together and through chatting and encouragement made almost the whole loop.
Gorgeous morning, high 70's and calm, such a switch from last weekend. I was still feeling wiped out and weak so I really didn't expect more than a run to the hill and back. And of course my ribs were hurting. But as we got going, warmed up, and chatting, we just kept saying "let's keep going, we can always turn up ahead", and this worked great.
EW and I had great conversation about being judgmental, about "come as you are" (ironically a song I've heard on the radio 3 times this week including the drive to run today...but it's not going on the songlist just yet), about the church and open-mindedness, and more. She explains the religious stuff really well, it's important to her and she does great with it.
Later in the morning was the Dr M appt. He can feel muscle fiber where the infraspinatus should be but it's not "building up" as would be expected with a muscle being used. Could take a total of 18 months, or 9 more, before we can really say it won't recover. The good news is that if I keep working it those muscle fibers could again turn into a real muscle, that I'm relatively functional, that my breaking of ribs isn't really a bone frailty issue at least to him, and no other concerns.
The 'hole' in my back is apparently pretty obvious, LC and IT, coworkers, and Dr M have no troubles seeing it. I need a better arrangement of mirrors I guess.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Another day of recovery.
Last night before bed I put in "2 mile run?" into my morning planner, just to put the idea out there. Better than nothing, I figured. Even though I slept OK (woke up a lot still, tossing and turning) my gut was not on board for a run. It really felt like a 5lb rock sitting in there. Took about 20' to pass one "rock", shower, walk, then another LP rock. And then all day it seemed like it was there.
I'm able to eat and drink ok, still getting waves of gut cramps and nausea, felt OK with my blended veggie lunch smoothie and a can of sardines, but afterwards not so good with some kombucha. But it's improved! And I'm well hydrated.
But I still feel weak. I picked up my backpack to drive to work and something 'popped' in my right neck/shoulder. Hours later it's still there. My left hip is popping too, one pop leaves it hurting, another pop leaves it feeling normal, sometimes while walking it goes pop-pop-pop or click sometimes. This isn't new, I had it last week, but now it's a sharper pain when I walk. Oddly, it doesn't hurt while running!
My injuries from Sunday's fall are all doing great, the bruises are fading to a greenish yellow. The scrapes and scabs not healing over as fast.
Headachy and hard to focus my eyes. For the first time in weeks, I put on my eyeglasses!
TV and El Jefe think maybe the flu. TV says the heat exhaustion would be symptomatic while hot, not hours afterward.
And finally I drove all the way out to West Co this morning thinking I had an appt with Dr M. The woman behind the desk asked "you have an appt today?". Nope. Ugh. It's tomorrow.
I'm able to eat and drink ok, still getting waves of gut cramps and nausea, felt OK with my blended veggie lunch smoothie and a can of sardines, but afterwards not so good with some kombucha. But it's improved! And I'm well hydrated.
But I still feel weak. I picked up my backpack to drive to work and something 'popped' in my right neck/shoulder. Hours later it's still there. My left hip is popping too, one pop leaves it hurting, another pop leaves it feeling normal, sometimes while walking it goes pop-pop-pop or click sometimes. This isn't new, I had it last week, but now it's a sharper pain when I walk. Oddly, it doesn't hurt while running!
My injuries from Sunday's fall are all doing great, the bruises are fading to a greenish yellow. The scrapes and scabs not healing over as fast.
Headachy and hard to focus my eyes. For the first time in weeks, I put on my eyeglasses!
TV and El Jefe think maybe the flu. TV says the heat exhaustion would be symptomatic while hot, not hours afterward.
And finally I drove all the way out to West Co this morning thinking I had an appt with Dr M. The woman behind the desk asked "you have an appt today?". Nope. Ugh. It's tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Exhausted! Dangerously so!
NOTHING!
Around 10pm Sunday night I started feeling...off. I was resting in the recliner as planned, drinking and making sure I rested with my legs up as planned. I was texting with my sis, and told her it was 101F with heat index of 114. I couldn't cool down, and when I noted the dog panting I thought it would be prudent to run the AC at least on the first floor, so I decided to sleep on the first floor with her.
I never really fell asleep. I had my podcasts, but just tossed and turned, my legs and hips started to ache. This set in motion a mild anxiety -- what if I broke something in them today?! Then my stomach started to ache -- got terribly nauseated, bloated, pained, sore, sick. Finally around 2am I threw up (surprisingly this didn't hurt my ribs, which by the way seem to have magically healed since the fall), and at that point my tummy felt better. The rest of my guts didn't. So I continued to toss and turn, aching, until about 5am when I woke up and passed what had to be 2 days worth of #2! But no diarrhea, only noting that for the lack of it.
Still never really fell asleep. Emailed JG to cancel PT at about 3:46am. Miserable, restless. When the day finally started I realized I could barely drive, couldn't eat, didn't want to move, and hurt enough to take the rx Ibuprofen once I had some food in my stomach. Everything that hit my stomach threatened to come back. So back to the chair, then the couch. Pretty much all day.
My hips and legs and back hurt. My injuries couldn't even compete. I was dizzy, mentally fuzzed. But I seemed hydrated, that was my main concern. Some googling led me to believe this wasn't flu, but rather heat exhaustion. Oh boy. My respiration rate was elevated, even seemed forced. My heart rate was 20 beats above normal at 59. I'd be cold then hot then cold then break out in a sweat.
I felt awake enough around 1pm to give the dog a bath, which led to me spraying and cleaning the deck for a little while. This wasn't good. WHAM back to the couch after a shower, from about 6pm to 6am the next morning. HR and breathing still elevated. Got to wondering, at what point do I call someone for advice or help? Who would I call? Besides though, urgent care would just hook me up to an IV, hell I can force water down before I lie there in a cold bright uncomfortable room while a friend sits with me and my stupidity. So I forced down water. My pee all day was colorless, after some hibiscus tea it tinged a darker yellow (but not dark yellow, just darker) and this continued into Tuesday. To be on the safe side, I stopped the hibiscus tea so I couldn't blame that. My abdomen continued to hurt, adding my broken bone anxiety, leading me to wonder if I had some gut damage from the heat?
Tuesday morning didn't feel much better. Like yesterday, I'd just sit in a chair, leaned over, in a daze, not wanting to move or think or do anything. Another Ibuprofen, then I started to perk up. Did some household chores. Around 1pm felt safe enough to drive. Currently at work typing this up.
I'm guessing heat exhaustion. Not funny!
Around 10pm Sunday night I started feeling...off. I was resting in the recliner as planned, drinking and making sure I rested with my legs up as planned. I was texting with my sis, and told her it was 101F with heat index of 114. I couldn't cool down, and when I noted the dog panting I thought it would be prudent to run the AC at least on the first floor, so I decided to sleep on the first floor with her.
I never really fell asleep. I had my podcasts, but just tossed and turned, my legs and hips started to ache. This set in motion a mild anxiety -- what if I broke something in them today?! Then my stomach started to ache -- got terribly nauseated, bloated, pained, sore, sick. Finally around 2am I threw up (surprisingly this didn't hurt my ribs, which by the way seem to have magically healed since the fall), and at that point my tummy felt better. The rest of my guts didn't. So I continued to toss and turn, aching, until about 5am when I woke up and passed what had to be 2 days worth of #2! But no diarrhea, only noting that for the lack of it.
Still never really fell asleep. Emailed JG to cancel PT at about 3:46am. Miserable, restless. When the day finally started I realized I could barely drive, couldn't eat, didn't want to move, and hurt enough to take the rx Ibuprofen once I had some food in my stomach. Everything that hit my stomach threatened to come back. So back to the chair, then the couch. Pretty much all day.
My hips and legs and back hurt. My injuries couldn't even compete. I was dizzy, mentally fuzzed. But I seemed hydrated, that was my main concern. Some googling led me to believe this wasn't flu, but rather heat exhaustion. Oh boy. My respiration rate was elevated, even seemed forced. My heart rate was 20 beats above normal at 59. I'd be cold then hot then cold then break out in a sweat.
I felt awake enough around 1pm to give the dog a bath, which led to me spraying and cleaning the deck for a little while. This wasn't good. WHAM back to the couch after a shower, from about 6pm to 6am the next morning. HR and breathing still elevated. Got to wondering, at what point do I call someone for advice or help? Who would I call? Besides though, urgent care would just hook me up to an IV, hell I can force water down before I lie there in a cold bright uncomfortable room while a friend sits with me and my stupidity. So I forced down water. My pee all day was colorless, after some hibiscus tea it tinged a darker yellow (but not dark yellow, just darker) and this continued into Tuesday. To be on the safe side, I stopped the hibiscus tea so I couldn't blame that. My abdomen continued to hurt, adding my broken bone anxiety, leading me to wonder if I had some gut damage from the heat?
Tuesday morning didn't feel much better. Like yesterday, I'd just sit in a chair, leaned over, in a daze, not wanting to move or think or do anything. Another Ibuprofen, then I started to perk up. Did some household chores. Around 1pm felt safe enough to drive. Currently at work typing this up.
I'm guessing heat exhaustion. Not funny!
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Greensfelder heat exhaustion, another fall
RUN 20 miles in about 4.5 hours, 100F temps!
I fully meant to start this run at 7am even though the park didn't open until 8am. But of course, I didn't get out of the house on time. So the run started just after 8am. Not sure if this would have made a difference at all for how this story goes.
My plan was two loops of the 10 mile DeClue to Dogwood loop, thinking that would give me a stop at the truck and practice at the feel of a 10 mile loop for the upcoming (11 weeks!) Farmdale. Ran this time using DeClue first. Last time I ran the oppo direction and fell on Dogwood within the first mile.
Why is it so hard for me to find the right trails on this?! Once again, mixed up at the myriad of crossings as DeClue branches from the other trails. Seriously, my sense of NS/EW on these trails is for nothing. Added on a small amount of mileage here, again. I need to get the Garmin downloaded and really look at this.
I had seen SK's TRR-stickered vehicle in a neighboring parking lot, and sure enough saw some of the runners I met Friday coming towards me on the trail :) It seemed everyone was going the opposite direction today, very few if any passed from behind.
Running good, enjoying it, it's how but I'm drinking all I can. Really though, the warm water in the Camelbak could have been better. But I had my mints, on the 2 mile/mint plan and even skipped some. Powerbar broken up into 4ths every 45-50 mins. Somewhere on Dogwood JCash came WHOOSHING down a hill superflyfast and I felt the breeze like a bike pack go by. Damn he's fast! I finished the first loop uneventfully at 11 miles and just over 2 hours. So far so good!
Foreshadowing...
Bathroom break, then the plan to was to run out at least 4.5 miles then decide on finishing the loop or turning back. I wasn't sure I wanted to be out here much beyond 20 miles and certainly not on the more rocky and technical Dogwood later in the day. It was somewhere only 0.3 miles into the 2nd loop that WHAM I went down AGAIN! This time I did not get up right away. I think I rolled, not sure, also not sure what I tripped over in the end. But I just sat there....thinking...cursing...wanting to cry. My right deltoid and shoulder were scraped, bruised, and swollen before I could even stand up again. My right knee/calf and hip were banged hard and scraped. My right wrist and Garmin took a hit too. I just sat...took a few breaths, then decided I'd have to hurt a LOT more than this to stop. I got up to at least walk for a bit.
My shoulder looked awful, the swollen knot had formed rapidly. Everything else seemed OK, so soon enough I was running again. Surprisingly, my pained right ribs weren't as loud right now, they took a mild hit and hurt but had lots of competition.
Continued on, now it seemed like I was stumbling over everything as if I wanted to fall again. But I was OK, kept rolling and when I got to mile 15 I walked up the long slow hill until my planned turn around at 15.5. Started to struggle right about here.
Was able to run the slow incline back, refueled on Powerbar, and felt actually pretty good the next few miles. In fact, it seemed mostly downhill until mile 18.65, at which point I mentally and physically just stopped. I was OK with this. I was suddenly stumbling a lot, it was rocky, and now uphill most of the way home. I was low on water, so I decided to walk it in.
Felt wiped and pained at the truck, but I've been there before. Took some cold water from the cooler, toweled my head off and took a short bath. Changed clothes, started drinking my recovery water, and drove home. Even stopped for a few errands on the way.
I was feeling OK that night, did my cook up. Tired but nothing terribly noteworthy. Yet. Keep reading into the next post.
I fully meant to start this run at 7am even though the park didn't open until 8am. But of course, I didn't get out of the house on time. So the run started just after 8am. Not sure if this would have made a difference at all for how this story goes.
My plan was two loops of the 10 mile DeClue to Dogwood loop, thinking that would give me a stop at the truck and practice at the feel of a 10 mile loop for the upcoming (11 weeks!) Farmdale. Ran this time using DeClue first. Last time I ran the oppo direction and fell on Dogwood within the first mile.
Why is it so hard for me to find the right trails on this?! Once again, mixed up at the myriad of crossings as DeClue branches from the other trails. Seriously, my sense of NS/EW on these trails is for nothing. Added on a small amount of mileage here, again. I need to get the Garmin downloaded and really look at this.
I had seen SK's TRR-stickered vehicle in a neighboring parking lot, and sure enough saw some of the runners I met Friday coming towards me on the trail :) It seemed everyone was going the opposite direction today, very few if any passed from behind.
Running good, enjoying it, it's how but I'm drinking all I can. Really though, the warm water in the Camelbak could have been better. But I had my mints, on the 2 mile/mint plan and even skipped some. Powerbar broken up into 4ths every 45-50 mins. Somewhere on Dogwood JCash came WHOOSHING down a hill superflyfast and I felt the breeze like a bike pack go by. Damn he's fast! I finished the first loop uneventfully at 11 miles and just over 2 hours. So far so good!
Foreshadowing...
Bathroom break, then the plan to was to run out at least 4.5 miles then decide on finishing the loop or turning back. I wasn't sure I wanted to be out here much beyond 20 miles and certainly not on the more rocky and technical Dogwood later in the day. It was somewhere only 0.3 miles into the 2nd loop that WHAM I went down AGAIN! This time I did not get up right away. I think I rolled, not sure, also not sure what I tripped over in the end. But I just sat there....thinking...cursing...wanting to cry. My right deltoid and shoulder were scraped, bruised, and swollen before I could even stand up again. My right knee/calf and hip were banged hard and scraped. My right wrist and Garmin took a hit too. I just sat...took a few breaths, then decided I'd have to hurt a LOT more than this to stop. I got up to at least walk for a bit.
My shoulder looked awful, the swollen knot had formed rapidly. Everything else seemed OK, so soon enough I was running again. Surprisingly, my pained right ribs weren't as loud right now, they took a mild hit and hurt but had lots of competition.
Continued on, now it seemed like I was stumbling over everything as if I wanted to fall again. But I was OK, kept rolling and when I got to mile 15 I walked up the long slow hill until my planned turn around at 15.5. Started to struggle right about here.
Was able to run the slow incline back, refueled on Powerbar, and felt actually pretty good the next few miles. In fact, it seemed mostly downhill until mile 18.65, at which point I mentally and physically just stopped. I was OK with this. I was suddenly stumbling a lot, it was rocky, and now uphill most of the way home. I was low on water, so I decided to walk it in.
Felt wiped and pained at the truck, but I've been there before. Took some cold water from the cooler, toweled my head off and took a short bath. Changed clothes, started drinking my recovery water, and drove home. Even stopped for a few errands on the way.
I was feeling OK that night, did my cook up. Tired but nothing terribly noteworthy. Yet. Keep reading into the next post.
Friday, July 22, 2016
So of course, I ran
RUN 7.25 miles in ?1:30?
Don't really remember the time. Just remember that for some reason this threw me completely off schedule, off course, and off plan for, oh, everything. Got really...stressed isn't the right word...but the Mini Monster collab'd with the Devil to drive me to the point of being sick to my stomach. Driven to distraction actually.
The run was great, and I got to meet a bunch of runners :) TV and I usually don't run with others, and he kept wanting to take off to the front. He did eventually, and I ribbed him for wanting to win the group run, then I ran with an organic chemist and met a Tri Club member (recognized his SLTC bottle).
TV and I ran 2 miles out-n-back as a warm up, then the 5 mile loop with the group. He won the group run!
I was up until 12am from this, really messed me up.
Don't really remember the time. Just remember that for some reason this threw me completely off schedule, off course, and off plan for, oh, everything. Got really...stressed isn't the right word...but the Mini Monster collab'd with the Devil to drive me to the point of being sick to my stomach. Driven to distraction actually.
The run was great, and I got to meet a bunch of runners :) TV and I usually don't run with others, and he kept wanting to take off to the front. He did eventually, and I ribbed him for wanting to win the group run, then I ran with an organic chemist and met a Tri Club member (recognized his SLTC bottle).
TV and I ran 2 miles out-n-back as a warm up, then the 5 mile loop with the group. He won the group run!
I was up until 12am from this, really messed me up.
Will I or won't I run tonight?
BIKE COMMUTE 20 miles total
STRENGTH 1hr
So I've rested just one day since CMAR, if you take into account bike commuting and strength training. No, wait, maybe two days. Lemme check...yeah 2 days. The Sunday immediately after and the Wednesday a few days later. Otherwise, I've been gym'ing, commuting, and running.
So this accumulated fatigue can be easily explained! Along with the intense heat we've had the past few days, even more easily explained! What I can't explain is the continued desire to keep moving and not rest?
My left hip is hurting, even just to walk. In bed this morning and overnight it hurt, took time to get comfortable and I didn't even want to get up right away.
So why do I want to run tonight?! I know it's a rare opportunity for a night trail run (L&C) but ... but?!
STRENGTH 1hr
So I've rested just one day since CMAR, if you take into account bike commuting and strength training. No, wait, maybe two days. Lemme check...yeah 2 days. The Sunday immediately after and the Wednesday a few days later. Otherwise, I've been gym'ing, commuting, and running.
So this accumulated fatigue can be easily explained! Along with the intense heat we've had the past few days, even more easily explained! What I can't explain is the continued desire to keep moving and not rest?
My left hip is hurting, even just to walk. In bed this morning and overnight it hurt, took time to get comfortable and I didn't even want to get up right away.
So why do I want to run tonight?! I know it's a rare opportunity for a night trail run (L&C) but ... but?!
Thursday, July 21, 2016
OMG still hot and hurting
RUN 6.2-ish miles in just under an hour
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
The 'severe heat advisory' continues, but I can only blame that in part for how this morning went.
Yeah, you read that right. Didn't finish the loop. But let me explain. LC, IT, and I are all recovering. LC had triple bypass 2 weeks ago, and both of them had half-irons this past weekend. Even though both races were shortened for bad weather, still the effort and travel to recover from. So when EW and RE showed up just as we were heading out, I happily waited for them to catch.
Unlike yesterday in which my rib only kinda hurt, today it really hurt. No acute pain bad, but definitely distracting, and affecting my breathing and run form. Heck, I couldn't even talk. When I tried I was gaspy and voice shaky. Of course, I kept going.
BE talked Broadway and theater for the first 3.82 miles, then we stopped for a drink. Focusing on his voice is what kept me going, and I learned something today! I stopped the Garmin, forgot to restart it (which is how I know the mileage), and after the water stop ran with LC. BE and IT got ahead of us, and both of us just took it easy. But when we hit the cross walk in the last half mile, LC deemed it time to walk. When she feels the need to walk, then she really needs to walk. At first I though I could push us through the last 0.3 or so mile, but no. Not a good idea and I'm glad I didn't. Neither of us needed that 0.3 mile of running.
I felt miserable, hot, dehydrated, but happy to have it finished. In the parking lot prior to the run we were joking about the mental tricks we played to keep ourselves going. Mine was the "just run to the next crack in the pavement and you can walk". Haha, I used that in my first marathon! And I've used it since! But didn't use it today.
Rest of the day -- legs shaky, tired, but I'm awake and hydrating. Gotta get to bed early tonight as I have PT tomorrow morning and then 12 hours after that a night run with TV at L&C.
Oh, and I googled 'osteopenia & rib fractures'. Turns out ribs are one of the 'frailty' indicators. :(
And I have a sorta sharp pain in my upper back still, mostly feel it on the bike. Not sure if it's some damage (don't think so), some tight muscles, after effects of sleeping in the recliner?
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
The 'severe heat advisory' continues, but I can only blame that in part for how this morning went.
Yeah, you read that right. Didn't finish the loop. But let me explain. LC, IT, and I are all recovering. LC had triple bypass 2 weeks ago, and both of them had half-irons this past weekend. Even though both races were shortened for bad weather, still the effort and travel to recover from. So when EW and RE showed up just as we were heading out, I happily waited for them to catch.
Unlike yesterday in which my rib only kinda hurt, today it really hurt. No acute pain bad, but definitely distracting, and affecting my breathing and run form. Heck, I couldn't even talk. When I tried I was gaspy and voice shaky. Of course, I kept going.
BE talked Broadway and theater for the first 3.82 miles, then we stopped for a drink. Focusing on his voice is what kept me going, and I learned something today! I stopped the Garmin, forgot to restart it (which is how I know the mileage), and after the water stop ran with LC. BE and IT got ahead of us, and both of us just took it easy. But when we hit the cross walk in the last half mile, LC deemed it time to walk. When she feels the need to walk, then she really needs to walk. At first I though I could push us through the last 0.3 or so mile, but no. Not a good idea and I'm glad I didn't. Neither of us needed that 0.3 mile of running.
I felt miserable, hot, dehydrated, but happy to have it finished. In the parking lot prior to the run we were joking about the mental tricks we played to keep ourselves going. Mine was the "just run to the next crack in the pavement and you can walk". Haha, I used that in my first marathon! And I've used it since! But didn't use it today.
Rest of the day -- legs shaky, tired, but I'm awake and hydrating. Gotta get to bed early tonight as I have PT tomorrow morning and then 12 hours after that a night run with TV at L&C.
Oh, and I googled 'osteopenia & rib fractures'. Turns out ribs are one of the 'frailty' indicators. :(
And I have a sorta sharp pain in my upper back still, mostly feel it on the bike. Not sure if it's some damage (don't think so), some tight muscles, after effects of sleeping in the recliner?
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Dehydrated, tired, but happy
RUN 12.3 miles in 2:05, just over 10 m/m pace
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
One problem with writing up my posts before the day is over is that I can miss what happened afterward! Shortly before I left work yesterday RM called with some bad news on his knees, maybe won't be able to run anymore! This has been on my mind all day. But his call delayed me a few mins, which meant that I got to see MW biking by me on his way to TNW. We didn't chat much more than 30 seconds (I warned him of an upcoming pothole near the MoBot on TGA) but it was still fun.
And I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that while running along Wyo past BPI found 3 pennies, of course I stopped to pick them up! Shoved them in my handheld. Later in the day I found a 4th one, I'm gonna be rich here sooner or later :)
Also forgot to mention that yesterday was a full moon! With thunderstorms in the morning and the evening. Unfortunately these fronts didn't do much in the way of cooling things off, it was 75F at run start and I think 100+% humidity.
I was sort of dreading today's 12-miler, between my fatigue, the heat, and my ribs I had a few reasons to doubt it. Oh, and that niggle in my left foot, still here, but not hurting when I run. Can't help but wonder if it's a developing stress fracture?
Well anyway, I woke up at 430 to get out the door by 530 so as to beat the heat. I removed the Camelbak bladder and used it for the handheld and phone. And mints! This didn't bother the ribs like I expected it to, and in fact the ribs are much improved over even yesterday. I was able to sleep in bed last night (not the recliner, this seemed to antagonize my upper back) so that's improved too. The pain is not as sharp and today was mostly limited to hitting the area, carrying too much, or taking too deep a breath.
The route I mapped out took me on a 'parks' tour. Home to a park in TGS (that I forgot to visit in the end), to TGP, to Sublette, to Tilles, to YMCA, back to TGP, around MoBot to Shaw, to CHP, then home. I started out tired and ended even more tired. It felt like running underwater. As much as I wanted to walk, I didn't want to walk, but when downed tree branches blocked the sidewalk or when I came to street crossing I was happy for the break. The last 3 miles were heavy and long, just worn out!
And probably dehydrated, I was mentally fuzzed the rest of the day even with a carby recover meal. I was drinking fluids by the liter (really, bottles at a time!) but not peeing much yet. Even here at 4pm I'm still mentally fuzzed! And I've got to ride home yet.
As for nutrition, I've worked out a nice plan of a serving of rice at dinner so I can eat less the morning of the run. I like this, my stomach doesn't really get all that upset but the heat exacerbates the discomfort. And today's run was fueled in-run by 7 mints and 2 tootsie rolls :)
So even with all the concerns and worry, the run is done! Now looking forward to SLEEP and another run tomorrow. You'll note that I ran 0.1 and 0.3 extra yesterday and today. so by running just the 6.6 mile loop at group run tomorrow I'll have an even number. Ha!
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
One problem with writing up my posts before the day is over is that I can miss what happened afterward! Shortly before I left work yesterday RM called with some bad news on his knees, maybe won't be able to run anymore! This has been on my mind all day. But his call delayed me a few mins, which meant that I got to see MW biking by me on his way to TNW. We didn't chat much more than 30 seconds (I warned him of an upcoming pothole near the MoBot on TGA) but it was still fun.
And I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that while running along Wyo past BPI found 3 pennies, of course I stopped to pick them up! Shoved them in my handheld. Later in the day I found a 4th one, I'm gonna be rich here sooner or later :)
Also forgot to mention that yesterday was a full moon! With thunderstorms in the morning and the evening. Unfortunately these fronts didn't do much in the way of cooling things off, it was 75F at run start and I think 100+% humidity.
I was sort of dreading today's 12-miler, between my fatigue, the heat, and my ribs I had a few reasons to doubt it. Oh, and that niggle in my left foot, still here, but not hurting when I run. Can't help but wonder if it's a developing stress fracture?
Well anyway, I woke up at 430 to get out the door by 530 so as to beat the heat. I removed the Camelbak bladder and used it for the handheld and phone. And mints! This didn't bother the ribs like I expected it to, and in fact the ribs are much improved over even yesterday. I was able to sleep in bed last night (not the recliner, this seemed to antagonize my upper back) so that's improved too. The pain is not as sharp and today was mostly limited to hitting the area, carrying too much, or taking too deep a breath.
The route I mapped out took me on a 'parks' tour. Home to a park in TGS (that I forgot to visit in the end), to TGP, to Sublette, to Tilles, to YMCA, back to TGP, around MoBot to Shaw, to CHP, then home. I started out tired and ended even more tired. It felt like running underwater. As much as I wanted to walk, I didn't want to walk, but when downed tree branches blocked the sidewalk or when I came to street crossing I was happy for the break. The last 3 miles were heavy and long, just worn out!
And probably dehydrated, I was mentally fuzzed the rest of the day even with a carby recover meal. I was drinking fluids by the liter (really, bottles at a time!) but not peeing much yet. Even here at 4pm I'm still mentally fuzzed! And I've got to ride home yet.
As for nutrition, I've worked out a nice plan of a serving of rice at dinner so I can eat less the morning of the run. I like this, my stomach doesn't really get all that upset but the heat exacerbates the discomfort. And today's run was fueled in-run by 7 mints and 2 tootsie rolls :)
So even with all the concerns and worry, the run is done! Now looking forward to SLEEP and another run tomorrow. You'll note that I ran 0.1 and 0.3 extra yesterday and today. so by running just the 6.6 mile loop at group run tomorrow I'll have an even number. Ha!
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
If the ribs hurt this much on a 6-miler...
RUN 6.1 miles in 1:01, 10 m/m pace
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
...how much are they gonna hurt on tomorrow's 12-miler? Or maybe I should be more concerned with the weather forecast which shows forecast run humidity of 92% in the am (temps at 76, but as they say it's not the heat...). Or maybe just focus on the niggles of pain in my left foot, in which a tarsal bone hurt this morning pre-run, nothing in the run, a toe joint after the run, then more nothing, then under my big toe later in the day.
I'm sure I'll find something to worry my head about, there's plenty of time in 12 miles to switch back and forth and even come up with new ones! And do I have a route yet? No.
Today's original (and overly optimistic) plan was to at least try a speed workout. I knew within a few blocks of the house that today was not a good day for speed work. Between every step hurting the rib, the increase shoulder movement needed to go a little faster, and the fact that I couldn't breath any deeper without discomfort had me doing a simple "just get it done" run today.
On a good note, I'm better able to stand on the bike as long as I don't pull hard on the handlebars! The ribs are getting better and I'm sleeping better too. Granted, I'm still sleeping in the recliner and not in bed.
Trying to sketch out a route for tomorrow. Guess I should have a goal in mind first? I mean besides "just get it done". Where do I want to go? Let's do parks, that way I get to see some green and maybe get some water. I have something mapped out!
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
...how much are they gonna hurt on tomorrow's 12-miler? Or maybe I should be more concerned with the weather forecast which shows forecast run humidity of 92% in the am (temps at 76, but as they say it's not the heat...). Or maybe just focus on the niggles of pain in my left foot, in which a tarsal bone hurt this morning pre-run, nothing in the run, a toe joint after the run, then more nothing, then under my big toe later in the day.
I'm sure I'll find something to worry my head about, there's plenty of time in 12 miles to switch back and forth and even come up with new ones! And do I have a route yet? No.
Today's original (and overly optimistic) plan was to at least try a speed workout. I knew within a few blocks of the house that today was not a good day for speed work. Between every step hurting the rib, the increase shoulder movement needed to go a little faster, and the fact that I couldn't breath any deeper without discomfort had me doing a simple "just get it done" run today.
On a good note, I'm better able to stand on the bike as long as I don't pull hard on the handlebars! The ribs are getting better and I'm sleeping better too. Granted, I'm still sleeping in the recliner and not in bed.
Trying to sketch out a route for tomorrow. Guess I should have a goal in mind first? I mean besides "just get it done". Where do I want to go? Let's do parks, that way I get to see some green and maybe get some water. I have something mapped out!
Monday, July 18, 2016
Motivated Monday
BIKE COMMUTE 20 miles total
STRENGTH 1:00 upper body
After a few days of 'bleh' mornings I made it a focus today to get up get moving and come on shake that body.... OK sorry, bad song I know but it just flowed out!
Slept in the recliner and I think that helped? The rib pain gets better each day, still not sure if bruised or broken but definitely 2 or 3 places that hurt. Reclining still the worst, although I haven't tested crunches and abs work that would surely be 'worse'.
PT was in the morning at 6am instead of the evening. so up at 4:30 with a plan to ride 5 LP loops to get some aerobic work done. PT included a warm up of air squats, 15# kettlebell swings, and pushups - modified on knees for ribs. Then lots of front and back shoulder work. In the end an easier workout, don't expect to be sore after this.
5 nice loops around LP, that gives me 10 miles to/from the gym then another 9.5 miles work commute, plus a bonus trip to Walgreen's to look for a hummingbird feeder. I saw a hummingbird in my yard yesterday, gotta capitalize on that! No luck at W, will keep looking. Might get more miles doing that :)
My stomach has been out of sorts since the race, just not "ideal" so I gotta get some focus on that so the problem doesn't linger or get compounded.
I'm pretty seriously thinking about doing the Evergreen 51 miler in Sept, and I'm gearing up for my upcoming 10x10 miles challenge in early August. So I'm eyeballing my training plan, mapping out the rest of my recovery, and planning!
STRENGTH 1:00 upper body
After a few days of 'bleh' mornings I made it a focus today to get up get moving and come on shake that body.... OK sorry, bad song I know but it just flowed out!
Slept in the recliner and I think that helped? The rib pain gets better each day, still not sure if bruised or broken but definitely 2 or 3 places that hurt. Reclining still the worst, although I haven't tested crunches and abs work that would surely be 'worse'.
PT was in the morning at 6am instead of the evening. so up at 4:30 with a plan to ride 5 LP loops to get some aerobic work done. PT included a warm up of air squats, 15# kettlebell swings, and pushups - modified on knees for ribs. Then lots of front and back shoulder work. In the end an easier workout, don't expect to be sore after this.
5 nice loops around LP, that gives me 10 miles to/from the gym then another 9.5 miles work commute, plus a bonus trip to Walgreen's to look for a hummingbird feeder. I saw a hummingbird in my yard yesterday, gotta capitalize on that! No luck at W, will keep looking. Might get more miles doing that :)
My stomach has been out of sorts since the race, just not "ideal" so I gotta get some focus on that so the problem doesn't linger or get compounded.
I'm pretty seriously thinking about doing the Evergreen 51 miler in Sept, and I'm gearing up for my upcoming 10x10 miles challenge in early August. So I'm eyeballing my training plan, mapping out the rest of my recovery, and planning!
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Post CMAR: Thursday through Sunday
Thursday BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
Friday STRENGTH 1:00 and BIKE COMMUTE 20 miles
Saturday BIKE 27 miles in about 1:45
Sunday RUN 7 miles in 1:16, a 10:30 m/m pace
Recovery from CMAR was slow! Didn't help that the right ribs were hurting and my sleep was poor. Most of all my motivation was really lacking. While listening to my Journey to 100 podcast Thursday before the group run I heard the coach say that he plans 5 complete days of rest after an effort like this. So even though I'd dressed to run Thursday morning, it didn't leave me feeling guilty when in the end I didn't run and instead met LC for brekkie. IT joined us after his 4 miler, felt wonderful to sit and chat with them!
Friday I did go to the gym for training, all the focus on the legs. After Tuesday's felt-worse-afterwards lesson we adjusted the focus. I asked 3 specific questions: what is the next phase, what can we incorporate that is trail running specific, and what to do with my new spirulina powder? ha!
Saturday was a mentoring ride out of CCP, rode to Pitman and back with a few extra miles tacked on. It really felt great to be on the bike, except for the fact that I still can't stand up or breath deep without rib pain. Somewhere around mile 21 I was getting miserable but I pulled through the mental low. But no brick run. Ugh, not yet.
Sunday's run was tough but I did feel good that I did it. I was having a really low motivation morning and ended up propping myself up on some mint candies before the run. Was the mental or physical? Not sure. My plan was for 4 miles but it turned into 7, I take that as a good sign, it means I'm getting back into my normal. But after my stretch (following my new rule of 1 mins stretch per 1 mile run), hydrating, and a shower I actually napped in the recliner for 30-some mins! I don't think I fully slept but I did stop moving and rest. I need more of that I think to get through this recovery.
Not counting it as a workout, but biked to LP for dinner at T and K's. :) Ate LOTS of carrot and chicken. Good for my brain and body, not great for my tummy though.
Friday STRENGTH 1:00 and BIKE COMMUTE 20 miles
Saturday BIKE 27 miles in about 1:45
Sunday RUN 7 miles in 1:16, a 10:30 m/m pace
Recovery from CMAR was slow! Didn't help that the right ribs were hurting and my sleep was poor. Most of all my motivation was really lacking. While listening to my Journey to 100 podcast Thursday before the group run I heard the coach say that he plans 5 complete days of rest after an effort like this. So even though I'd dressed to run Thursday morning, it didn't leave me feeling guilty when in the end I didn't run and instead met LC for brekkie. IT joined us after his 4 miler, felt wonderful to sit and chat with them!
Friday I did go to the gym for training, all the focus on the legs. After Tuesday's felt-worse-afterwards lesson we adjusted the focus. I asked 3 specific questions: what is the next phase, what can we incorporate that is trail running specific, and what to do with my new spirulina powder? ha!
Saturday was a mentoring ride out of CCP, rode to Pitman and back with a few extra miles tacked on. It really felt great to be on the bike, except for the fact that I still can't stand up or breath deep without rib pain. Somewhere around mile 21 I was getting miserable but I pulled through the mental low. But no brick run. Ugh, not yet.
Sunday's run was tough but I did feel good that I did it. I was having a really low motivation morning and ended up propping myself up on some mint candies before the run. Was the mental or physical? Not sure. My plan was for 4 miles but it turned into 7, I take that as a good sign, it means I'm getting back into my normal. But after my stretch (following my new rule of 1 mins stretch per 1 mile run), hydrating, and a shower I actually napped in the recliner for 30-some mins! I don't think I fully slept but I did stop moving and rest. I need more of that I think to get through this recovery.
Not counting it as a workout, but biked to LP for dinner at T and K's. :) Ate LOTS of carrot and chicken. Good for my brain and body, not great for my tummy though.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Took Wednesday off too
Took if off entirely. I was going to do a 10 mile run, then changed that to a bike ride to the dentist for a long commute, then realized that nothing would be better than anything.
My legs are vastly improved, but my right side rib injury is worse! The strength session yesterday maybe? It's settled into a dull constant ache that seems like it's in the muscle or underlying tissue. Sleeping is the worst, walking the dog and opening doors and coughing the next worse. I have to force myself to stand up straight. But I can breath, still don't want to take pain meds, and so along with some depressive-like fatigue I'm taking the day off.
But still busy. Woke up to the race results, I'm in disbelief and waiting for the corrected version to come out. SECOND PLACE!! And Purple wasn't in my race?! I'm confused on that, so I'm waiting to see if she gets added in and I move to third.
Had a miserable sore morning, while driving to the dentist I get a speeding ticket, then I get a cavity filled. What else today?
Adding in some news. The work Steps Challenge has ended, I got to 3,575,298 steps netting me 7th place in the campus wide competition in which I think roughly 2200 peeps did. Too bad CMAR couldn't be included - haha! For all my hard work I got a duffel bag, which will make a wonderful drop bag for my next race :)
My legs are vastly improved, but my right side rib injury is worse! The strength session yesterday maybe? It's settled into a dull constant ache that seems like it's in the muscle or underlying tissue. Sleeping is the worst, walking the dog and opening doors and coughing the next worse. I have to force myself to stand up straight. But I can breath, still don't want to take pain meds, and so along with some depressive-like fatigue I'm taking the day off.
But still busy. Woke up to the race results, I'm in disbelief and waiting for the corrected version to come out. SECOND PLACE!! And Purple wasn't in my race?! I'm confused on that, so I'm waiting to see if she gets added in and I move to third.
Had a miserable sore morning, while driving to the dentist I get a speeding ticket, then I get a cavity filled. What else today?
Adding in some news. The work Steps Challenge has ended, I got to 3,575,298 steps netting me 7th place in the campus wide competition in which I think roughly 2200 peeps did. Too bad CMAR couldn't be included - haha! For all my hard work I got a duffel bag, which will make a wonderful drop bag for my next race :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
CMAR recovery
Sunday: Nuttin'
Monday: BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
Tuesday: BIKE 10 miles, to PT then around LP 5 times
STRENGTH 1hr
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
Sunday I was sore as expected in the quads, the ribs also sore but that mostly made for awful sleep. My left hip didn't hurt as I expected it to. Did some stretching and made sure to break for a walk during the drive back to STL.
Monday I was really sore and tight in the quads. Did 30 mins of stretching but wasn't ready for foam rolling yet. On the bike I had zero power it seemed. And having the rib pain -- every freaking bump went right into the rib cage. I'm kinda convinced its bruised not broken. Oh and the headwind on the way home.....
Tuesday I surprised myself by going to the gym for training. I debated canceling to recover, but a part of me knew I could do it, and I did. In fact, I felt better afterwards, still pained but a little more flexy and less stiff. We did lats and mostly rows, a few new cable-pulley and row machines. Kept the focus on the upper body even though some lower body might not have been a bad idea. JG joked that I was still moving too quickly between sets, that not even pain slows me down, lol!
I also noted that this past weekend I barely thought about my left side as "weak" or "injured" at all, like I'd finally broken through that mental barrier of limitation. Which brings me to what my goals should be for the next few months of PT, as I'm now down with the 3 months I'd originally planned for and now I expect I'll continue for at least another month or so.
Overheard while at the gym - Everclear's Santa Monica
Yes, shake away the disease of feeling weak and injured and sick!
Based on the race, I think my gluts needs some strengthening to keep the hips strong. What else? Plyometric type stuff?
Monday: BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
Tuesday: BIKE 10 miles, to PT then around LP 5 times
STRENGTH 1hr
BIKE COMMUTE 9.5 miles
Sunday I was sore as expected in the quads, the ribs also sore but that mostly made for awful sleep. My left hip didn't hurt as I expected it to. Did some stretching and made sure to break for a walk during the drive back to STL.
Monday I was really sore and tight in the quads. Did 30 mins of stretching but wasn't ready for foam rolling yet. On the bike I had zero power it seemed. And having the rib pain -- every freaking bump went right into the rib cage. I'm kinda convinced its bruised not broken. Oh and the headwind on the way home.....
Tuesday I surprised myself by going to the gym for training. I debated canceling to recover, but a part of me knew I could do it, and I did. In fact, I felt better afterwards, still pained but a little more flexy and less stiff. We did lats and mostly rows, a few new cable-pulley and row machines. Kept the focus on the upper body even though some lower body might not have been a bad idea. JG joked that I was still moving too quickly between sets, that not even pain slows me down, lol!
I also noted that this past weekend I barely thought about my left side as "weak" or "injured" at all, like I'd finally broken through that mental barrier of limitation. Which brings me to what my goals should be for the next few months of PT, as I'm now down with the 3 months I'd originally planned for and now I expect I'll continue for at least another month or so.
Overheard while at the gym - Everclear's Santa Monica
I do believe I'll find myself a new placeI don't want to be the bad guyI don't want do your sleepwalk dance anymoreI just want to see some palm treesI will try and shake away this disease
Yes, shake away the disease of feeling weak and injured and sick!
Based on the race, I think my gluts needs some strengthening to keep the hips strong. What else? Plyometric type stuff?
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Cry Me A River 50K Race Report: No Crybabies!
RACE: 33 miles in 8:28. 6100' of elevation gain!
2nd female out of 18 finishers. 8th overall out of 39 finishers.
2nd female out of 18 finishers. 8th overall out of 39 finishers.
Overall, a TOTAL SUCCESS! And the hardest 50K I've raced and probably the hardest trail I've run on. So this will be a long report to get all those wunnerful details in.
Thursday and Friday were total rest days. The bulk of driving was Thursday afternoon, then Friday evening I drove to park. Lots of sitting, unfortunately, which is restful for the legs but not for my head. Lots of think time.
Friday Pre-Race: Start/Finish and camping all at Camp Wokanda, and packet pickup was everything you want it to be in a race like this. "Hi, pre-registered? Here's your bag" and all that's in the bag is a timing chip, t-shirt, and race bib. I set up the tent in a secluded quiet area next to a couple with a cute clementine-loving dog named Manu. Turns out the runner of the couple is also running the Evergreen Ultra. I took a brief 15 min walk out onto park of the trail. Found a pretty, shaded overlook (photo above) and meditated on my goals for the race.
1. Walk the uphills
2. Stick to the nutrition plan, don't get behind on food and water
3. Keep a "nose breathing" pace, no red-lining
4. Don't get injured
5. Pace so the last 10 miles are strong, not a trudge-fest
Later on while I worked on a sudoku my other tent neighbors showed up with a dog named Wilbert. Turns out the runner of that group is running Farmdale. So I've just met some friends at both of my next races! However this second tent neighbor was a bit of a negative type, her plan for CMAR is to fast-hike the first 20 miles Saturday, sleep, then do the last 10-13 miles Sunday. That's fine, but don't spend the conversation with me and your friends complaining about your lack of training, how you can only hope you'll finish, how terrible the hills are, how awful you think you'll feel, how you don't know if you'll survive, blah blah blag about the negatives. Geez just SHUT UP. So I disengaged and went back to my sudoku and the perfect camping weather under all the stars. Before I forget: meal was 1 serve of white rice and 2 eggs in a pancake form, some clementine oranges. Lunch was bigger with some chicken and veg.
Saturday Pre-Race: Woke up at 4:45am to see the 100 mile start at 5am. Ate my pre-race brekkie of 200g russet potato, 1T butter, and 2 poached eggs. Got dressed in Craft shorts, Cascadia 9's with BodyGlide and tape, 2XU compression socks, wrist bands, visor. Packed the Camelbak with my baggie of treats (15 mints, 2 powerbars, and 3 gels). Unfortunately my new Sparkle Skirt did not arrive in time for this race, but I did have my gold-painted left thumbnail. Bathroom business as planned but longer than expected, something to keep in mind for the next races.
I still had more than enough time so I packed up the tent and gear so I wasn't doing it later. This was a good idea in the end. We lined up for the start, brief meeting to our small group of 10K, 13.1M, and 50K runners. Discussion at the start was about the hills in the first loop, long and slow. And about how there are "not bats in the Route 6 tunnel". Sarcasm noted. Good to know!
I still had more than enough time so I packed up the tent and gear so I wasn't doing it later. This was a good idea in the end. We lined up for the start, brief meeting to our small group of 10K, 13.1M, and 50K runners. Discussion at the start was about the hills in the first loop, long and slow. And about how there are "not bats in the Route 6 tunnel". Sarcasm noted. Good to know!
RACE!
Trail conditions dry and soft. Weather sunny, mid 80's, dry, light winds. In other words, perfect.
Miles 0-11, two mile loop then out to Detweiler Park. The race started with a 2 mile loop around Lake Wokanda. And yes, there were hills. Long, short, shallow, steep. Oh and steps! Plenty of those. Uneven, rugged, big, thankfully with a handrail. Based on how long it took the 100 milers to finish the loop I knew this would take about 30 mins, and it did. It's harder to pick your own pace when you're in the cha-cha line of runners on a single track trail, but it's helpful because it limits running too fast too early. After 30 mins, back through the start/finish area and out towards Robinson Park and Detweiller. Here the pack thinned out as the 10K runners went for two more loops.
Soon we passed my meditation perch from last night, I'm glad I did this as it reminded me of my goals and how peaceful those quiet moments felt. I carried them forward into the next 30 miles. More hills, more steps. In fact, that about sums up the entire course: Hills, more hills, even more hills, punctuated by steps and waterbars. I stuck to my goals of walking the uphills, and quite honestly there wasn't much other choice, they pretty much weren't runnable anyway. If racing the 13.1M race, you could try to run as you could afford the muscle fatigue over the shorter distance. For me? Nope. Walk 'Em. The first aid station was unmanned at 4 miles and I didn't stop.
This next segment was the hilliest part of the trails, constant hills. Shortly after Robinson, I stumbled over a root and fell (of course I did, that's my pattern this year). Took a hard hit to the right side, rolled, PAIN, and immediately my mind is racing....what did I break??!?! GETUPBEE GETUPBEE GETUPBEE WALK WALK WALK Got up, took a deep breath, let 4 runners that came up behind me pass, deep breath, evaluate the damages. Elbow had some bleeding on the outside and immediate bruising on the inside. Knee scraped. Hip hit but OK, The major problem -- another hard hit to the ribs with my elbow. My elbow hit the buckles and clips in the Camelbak -- that's the bruising - but my rib was starting to complain. Walk!
Luckily a steep uphill was next, and I walked behind the runners who passed me. Things hurt, but it was too early and I was too endorphined to know the full damages. Kept walking and ignored it for now. In this section I met Orange (never got her name), a woman runner wearing an orange shirt that I leap-frogged with for many miles today. We didn't talk at first, but finally I broke the ice and we chatted awhile. This helped distract me and passed the time faster. She's thinking about trying for a 100 miler! The next aid station was around 7.5 miles in Green Valley Camp. This would also be the turn around for my second loop, but for now it was a pit and bathroom stop at about 2 hours. In and out. Chatted with a volunteer in a Captain America shirt -- he said "You're leaking!" and I thought he meant my water pack. Nope, he meant the elbow. Now for the segment to Detweiller.
Guess what, more hills! But some really flat areas in cooler creek beds that I cruised on. The trails jumped more here, with road crossings and trail switches. Now all this time I knew that sooner or later I'd start seeing the 50K runners heading back towards me and I could get a sense of my place in the pack. I really had no idea if Orange and I were first, fifth, tenth, in the women's field. Here I learned -- we were 4th and 5th. At Detweiller a volunteer refilled the bag, asked if I needed first aid and deemed my elbow 'superficial', I recognized the RD's voice for the Hennepin 100, and ate some warmed steamed russet potatoes (Oh my those were so good!!), and finally paused to evaluate my injuries. I was OK to run, but the ribs was aggravated by the Camelbak, especially once fully loaded. The straps hit exactly over the injury. This got the attention of the volunteers who wanted to know full rib symptoms -- can I breathe, where does it hurt -- and gave me a chance to send a message to my potential crewing crowd. I asked for ice and sent a time update to Mom, then ran out behind Orange to had back to Camp Wokanda.
So far, I was on schedule with water and nutrition, enjoying my mints every 2 miles, a third of a powerbar every 45 minutes, and a bonus Tootsie Roll every 10 miles!
Miles 11-20. Or 12-21 if you ask the Garmin.This section seemed to go by fast, as I was now on the "inbound" and I kinda knew what to expect with the flatter creek bed sections. I got ahead of Orange here and focused on not focusing on the rib, successfully learning to ignore it and adjust my breathing. Lucky for me I had a 3 hr run recently in which I practiced my pain meditation. So more of that here. Breath in and gather up the pain into a small ball; roll it around until ready; Breath out and expel it; Repeat as needed. Were you to watch me run, you'd see my hands helping me mentally process this ball of pain.
As I got closer to the Green Valley camp station, I came up behind Purple, another woman who was in 3rd place earlier. Purple never seemed to walk, she had a slower steady pace, not like my run/walk strategy. Seemed to be working for her. Orange and Purple stopped at the station while I kept going - I didn't need to stop and I wanted to get away from other competitors so I could focus on my pace and my race. I didn't want to be distracted so much by "how far ahead am I" and "is she catching me" because those stupid thoughts were already filling my head. Not my goal to win anything! But once I realized I might be in 3rd place I couldn't shake the idea.
As I got closer to the Green Valley camp station, I came up behind Purple, another woman who was in 3rd place earlier. Purple never seemed to walk, she had a slower steady pace, not like my run/walk strategy. Seemed to be working for her. Orange and Purple stopped at the station while I kept going - I didn't need to stop and I wanted to get away from other competitors so I could focus on my pace and my race. I didn't want to be distracted so much by "how far ahead am I" and "is she catching me" because those stupid thoughts were already filling my head. Not my goal to win anything! But once I realized I might be in 3rd place I couldn't shake the idea.
Mom and I texted back and forth in this area, chatting with her woke me up and motivated me. She seemed worried that I was hurt and said Dad was here! Yay! But he wasn't sure if he was in the right area, this distracted me good and bad. Wondering and worrying about him kept my mind off the run but also kept if off the run. I needed to focus so I didn't trip and fall again. So between wondering where Orange and Purple and Dad were, this section cruised by. I also had an idea at this point that the Garmin was off distance. Dang it. Under the tunnel (no bats), through Robinson, and back to Wokanda in 5 hours.
I knew from Mom that Dad should be here, so I dropped the Camelbak and the aid station and went looking. Found him! Hit the bathrooms (not drinking enough), felt bad that he was going to have to wait in the heat much longer than the initially estimated 7 hours, talked a bit, then headed back out. Orange was at the aid station and I wanted to stay ahead of her. Turns out she fell too, her knee was messed up. Felt bad, but ran out quick, buoyed by seeing Dad and knowing I'd see him again in just 30 mins.
Quick review of systems: other than the fall injuries I had lots of quad pain. My left hip was starting to squawk, nothing new but I didn't know how much longer it would last today. No known foot blistering. Hydration kinda low, fueling on track and good. This was a big jump in distance and time for me, so feeling this good at 20 miles and 5-some hours made me happy.
Quick review of systems: other than the fall injuries I had lots of quad pain. My left hip was starting to squawk, nothing new but I didn't know how much longer it would last today. No known foot blistering. Hydration kinda low, fueling on track and good. This was a big jump in distance and time for me, so feeling this good at 20 miles and 5-some hours made me happy.
Miles 20 to 27, or 21 to 29 by the way the Garmin flies. From here on out, every step I took was the longest I'd run so far in 2016. I came into this race having only run one 20 miler, and that was weeks ago. This time around I knew the course, two mile loop then out to Green Valley and back. Soon I came up behind the woman I thought was in 2nd place wearing Black. So guess what I call her in this report? She had fallen too, and was walking. Didn't feel bad though as I passed here. While we chatted, she said another woman was 10-15 mins ahead of us, and at my pace I could catch her. Not my goal, and I didn't think that time estimate was correct as I'd spotted the first place woman waaaaaay ahead of us earlier (note foreshadowing). Found Dad as I descended the hill back into the aid station, briefly chatted while looking over my shoulder for the women behind me, then off to Green Valley camp to the last turn-around.
There were some mile markers in the first miles, and from these I found the Garmin was accurate at least here, so I looked forward to using these markers as my Almost Done signposts. But that's for later, not now. I had time estimates from my previous loop here so I knew what to expect, and counted the minutes until I'd see my cheering section. When I came into the Robinson unmanned station, I didn't see his truck right away and got worried. But nope, I could see the truck further up in the shade. It really did help to have him to look forward to, I'd think of things to tell him that I'd forget to mention. He said the funniest thing here -- was I running a lot of hills? Because driving here was all uphill! LOL!! This had me laughing for miles, I needed that :) Oh yeah, there were some hills.
I guestimated that I'd reach Green Valley in 35-45 mins, but I was running behind that estimate. I'm not sure if I slowed down or just had a bad guess. I think the latter. I was eating less and noting the drop in mental energy more. I wasn't needing to pee much, so noted the potential for dehydration. The other runners I was passing, especially the 100 milers, were commenting on how the heat was getting to them. I didn't really note the heat until then, as I like warm weather, but yes the day was heating up. So I dialed back the effort, focused on nose-breathing pace, sent a text to Mom that I was behind schedule. I started anticipating the aid station too much, and this was a mental drain. But soon enough I could here talking, see the white tent, and saw Purple on her way out of the station!?!? WHAT? Apparently she passed me while I was talking to Dad back at mile 20. I was OK with this, but it was a surprise. I thought (needlessly as it's not a goal!) that I was maybe running in second place. Now I had to wonder, third? Still respectable, and still not my goal!
Captain America refilled my pack and talked about Cloudsplitter 100, I chatted with Dad, grabbed some potato chips for salt, skipped the bacon they were cooking. Capt America (who also had a tree of Gondor tattoo...) said I should be at mile 27 with 6 miles to go. Before leaving, I got to see the train car mentioned at the pre-race briefing. Missed it the first time though here.
Miles 27-33. AKA 29-35. Last segment! Now I was chasing Purple and looking for Orange and Black. The other women in the field were so far behind us that unless I fell or got lost or really sick I didn't need to wonder about them passing me. Orange was a few solid minutes behind me, but close enough. But I never saw Black, did she quit the race with injuries? Run dang it, forget about this! Oh, and don't eat those potato chips, eh, they don't sit so good in the tummy.
Ooooooh the hills in this section. My quads and calves were starting to feel the burn, and the big steps were getting harder and harder to descend on tired legs. Left hip still talking, little louder now. Additionally, the more tired I got the less I could ignore the rib that complained on every deep breath and every step down.
Ooooooh the hills in this section. My quads and calves were starting to feel the burn, and the big steps were getting harder and harder to descend on tired legs. Left hip still talking, little louder now. Additionally, the more tired I got the less I could ignore the rib that complained on every deep breath and every step down.
But even though I was getting tired, I never wanted to quit running and walk. Sure, I walked the uphills I had enough energy and momentum and focus to run the flats and downs. This was a great sign, and what I'd hoped for in my goals. The trail was so quiet and empty now, only the 100 milers and 50K runners were still here, and most of them were walking. This was another good sign - that I could self-regulate to a pace that lets me keep moving steady and not fade late in the race. But oh my gosh, this was taking way longer than I thought it would. I was now estimating an 8.5 hour finish. All previous 50Ks were 6-6.5 hours. So not only was today's run my longest mileage in 2016 but also the longest run time since June of 2015. Luckily I was handling it OK, had enough fuel on board, and stayed confident that I wouldn't burn out get an overuse injury. But still, 8.5 hours!?
Met Dad again in Robinson, mmmmmm the shade he was sitting in looked so good, and he mentioned Purple. Said she was minutes ahead of me and I probably won't catch her. This was good to hear, if I had the idea that I might catch her, I'd burn so much energy trying to do so that I'd ruin my race goals. So happily I set out for the last miles, and of course looked for Orange over my shoulder as I did.
Two more miles, and I had landmarks to look forward to. The only wet-mud spot on the course. The bridge over the huge ravine. The flat grassy areas with field maps for hikers. And my mile signposts! Once I'd realized I had extra miles (thanks garmin) I started saving mints so I could carrot myself though these last miles. Can't believe I did that, but I did. I pushed it in to get done under 8:30, crossed the bridge, rounded the final corner looking for dad, and DONE!
Post-Race. While I had a few moments of "why do enjoy this?", overall this was a fun race and I told the RD as much. It's a terribly wonderful compliment to call a race like this a Fat Ass and I'm glad he agreed. Otherwise....
I walked a bit and noted I was stiffening up fast. Another race perk was on-site showers, so once that was done I went for my recovery meal which unfortunately did not survive the hot day. So no food! Happily the RD suggested a good place to eat and I bought by crew a big double-beef patty topped with pulled pork and garlic sauce and cheese crackers. Oh my that looked good! But my beef patty with bacon and egg was too :) Never had burgers as a post race meal, usually I focus on carbs. I took care of those once I got home.
Summary, evaluation of goals, and NEXT TIME!
1. Nailed this run! Hit most all my goals and really feel great coming out of it. I treated it as a training race, and didn't reduce my mileage over the entire week, so this ended up being a 54 mile week for me. I re-arranged my schedule to taper, but still high volume. Win!
2. This was my first race on the new diet. Every other race of this time effort left me bloated, cramped, and in pain. Not today!! Holy cow, I might have fixed this problem!
3. Having a crew/cheering section/ability to text made a huge difference. I knew I could contact other people when I was feeling down or lonely. Messages of support from another friend also helped, so I'll plan to bring my phone more often in races like these.
4. Speaking of the phone, I didn't listen to my headphones the entire time. I thought I'd want them late in the race, but the woodpeckers, bird songs, babbling creeks were too pretty to block out.
5. Oh my goodness the bucket of warm steamed chunked russet potatoes at the Detweiller aid station were my favorite aid station food. Definitely want more of those in the next race. How could I manage that? The bacon at Green Valley did not smell good to my surprise, and the baked potato chips upset my stomach too much. Lessons learned.
6. All gear, clothing, and planning came together. Nothing I'd change there next time.
7. As for the injury, I'll heal. Frustrating to have happened, but I'm happy that I got up and kept going without sitting there bemoaning the situation. That's what I wanted to do!
Overall, a success!
Post-Race. While I had a few moments of "why do enjoy this?", overall this was a fun race and I told the RD as much. It's a terribly wonderful compliment to call a race like this a Fat Ass and I'm glad he agreed. Otherwise....
I walked a bit and noted I was stiffening up fast. Another race perk was on-site showers, so once that was done I went for my recovery meal which unfortunately did not survive the hot day. So no food! Happily the RD suggested a good place to eat and I bought by crew a big double-beef patty topped with pulled pork and garlic sauce and cheese crackers. Oh my that looked good! But my beef patty with bacon and egg was too :) Never had burgers as a post race meal, usually I focus on carbs. I took care of those once I got home.
Summary, evaluation of goals, and NEXT TIME!
1. Nailed this run! Hit most all my goals and really feel great coming out of it. I treated it as a training race, and didn't reduce my mileage over the entire week, so this ended up being a 54 mile week for me. I re-arranged my schedule to taper, but still high volume. Win!
2. This was my first race on the new diet. Every other race of this time effort left me bloated, cramped, and in pain. Not today!! Holy cow, I might have fixed this problem!
3. Having a crew/cheering section/ability to text made a huge difference. I knew I could contact other people when I was feeling down or lonely. Messages of support from another friend also helped, so I'll plan to bring my phone more often in races like these.
4. Speaking of the phone, I didn't listen to my headphones the entire time. I thought I'd want them late in the race, but the woodpeckers, bird songs, babbling creeks were too pretty to block out.
5. Oh my goodness the bucket of warm steamed chunked russet potatoes at the Detweiller aid station were my favorite aid station food. Definitely want more of those in the next race. How could I manage that? The bacon at Green Valley did not smell good to my surprise, and the baked potato chips upset my stomach too much. Lessons learned.
6. All gear, clothing, and planning came together. Nothing I'd change there next time.
7. As for the injury, I'll heal. Frustrating to have happened, but I'm happy that I got up and kept going without sitting there bemoaning the situation. That's what I wanted to do!
Overall, a success!
Gonna brag this race to my running friends, so close to St Louis and such a challenging race.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Easy Weds run
RUN 6.2 miles in 56-57 mins
BIKE COMMUTE 9.6 miles
Note the extra 0.1 in the bike commute. Rode an extra block to look for the Earbud I lost walking the dog. Triathletes....
Goal today was easy 6 miles with a few pickups. I'm skipping tomorrow's group run, might swim instead, that leaves me resting until Saturday's 50K. It was an easy pace, but dang it was hot and humid. More bothered by the humidity (how's that saying go again...it's not the heat...lol) as I was dripping with sweat in just a mile or two. And of course I didn't bring my handheld so I just targeted every water fountain in TGP instead. Felt good, but kinda sloppy like my form wasn't clean and perky. Makes sense, that's why I'm resting.
The right Earbud thing still bothering me, only that ear falls out and it probably doesn't help that I'm sweating so much. So I took the right one out in the last 2 miles, then when walking the doggie I lost it! But I had an idea of where it would be -- where I pulled the phone out to pick another pod -- and successfully recovered it on my commute. Luckily it's a bright green and stood out in the sidewalk weeds!
My commute in was not like the run, already the temps dropped from 88F to 77F with a front moving in. I had an eastern tailwind! Not sure I get many of those ever! Rain most of the afternoon and happily little to none of it hitting Peoria at the race site.
BIKE COMMUTE 9.6 miles
Note the extra 0.1 in the bike commute. Rode an extra block to look for the Earbud I lost walking the dog. Triathletes....
Goal today was easy 6 miles with a few pickups. I'm skipping tomorrow's group run, might swim instead, that leaves me resting until Saturday's 50K. It was an easy pace, but dang it was hot and humid. More bothered by the humidity (how's that saying go again...it's not the heat...lol) as I was dripping with sweat in just a mile or two. And of course I didn't bring my handheld so I just targeted every water fountain in TGP instead. Felt good, but kinda sloppy like my form wasn't clean and perky. Makes sense, that's why I'm resting.
The right Earbud thing still bothering me, only that ear falls out and it probably doesn't help that I'm sweating so much. So I took the right one out in the last 2 miles, then when walking the doggie I lost it! But I had an idea of where it would be -- where I pulled the phone out to pick another pod -- and successfully recovered it on my commute. Luckily it's a bright green and stood out in the sidewalk weeds!
My commute in was not like the run, already the temps dropped from 88F to 77F with a front moving in. I had an eastern tailwind! Not sure I get many of those ever! Rain most of the afternoon and happily little to none of it hitting Peoria at the race site.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
I'm a day off, it's not Monday!
BIKE COMMUTE total of 15 miles
STRENGTH 1:00
Monday was the holiday and even though I came to work for a bit I'm a day off. Today is Tuesday!
It's not helping that I did a long run yesterday, had PT today even though it was morning and not evening, I didn't run this morning and rested like a Monday, or that I'm generally confused to begin with!, and my week is already messed up with leaving town for the upcoming race.
PT felt good, very focused on one exercise at a time. JG asked how I'm feeling now compared to how I felt 3 months ago when I started. Thought about it, and said I feel more confident in my body, that I'm not hesitant to open a door or move something hefty, that I've learned that strength training can be a part of an endurance athlete's life. Didn't say this, but I've also learned that it's fun to talk nutrition and motivational strategies with a like-minded person, I enjoy learning about new foods (like today's taro chip conversation during leg press), and enjoy the laffs we get from The Others.
The cold weather spell has passed, getting back to hot and muggy. A peak into this weekends weather in Peoria for CMAR looks like some rain that way mid week but not the 90+ temps that are expected here. I'm waiting to see the final weather later this week before I get concerned, but it doesn't look like heat will be terribly much of an issue. And mud will depend on how much rain they actually get, again gotta see what happens in reality this week.
STRENGTH 1:00
Monday was the holiday and even though I came to work for a bit I'm a day off. Today is Tuesday!
It's not helping that I did a long run yesterday, had PT today even though it was morning and not evening, I didn't run this morning and rested like a Monday, or that I'm generally confused to begin with!, and my week is already messed up with leaving town for the upcoming race.
PT felt good, very focused on one exercise at a time. JG asked how I'm feeling now compared to how I felt 3 months ago when I started. Thought about it, and said I feel more confident in my body, that I'm not hesitant to open a door or move something hefty, that I've learned that strength training can be a part of an endurance athlete's life. Didn't say this, but I've also learned that it's fun to talk nutrition and motivational strategies with a like-minded person, I enjoy learning about new foods (like today's taro chip conversation during leg press), and enjoy the laffs we get from The Others.
The cold weather spell has passed, getting back to hot and muggy. A peak into this weekends weather in Peoria for CMAR looks like some rain that way mid week but not the 90+ temps that are expected here. I'm waiting to see the final weather later this week before I get concerned, but it doesn't look like heat will be terribly much of an issue. And mud will depend on how much rain they actually get, again gotta see what happens in reality this week.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Foggy 15 in FoPa
RUN 15 miles in 2:25
I've restructured my schedule for the upcoming Cry Me A River 50K (CMAR50K) to have a big build weekend now and a lot of rest during the week. It wasn't the original intent but in the end I've run 16 miles in the past 3 days. Soon I get to run 31+ miles in one day! Yikes.
This was another rice powered run, successful plan I think for the upcoming race. I eat an extra serving of rice after dinner, with egg whites and butter, this time with raisins and cinnamon. Then for brekkie pre run I'll have half a 200g tater with 2 eggs and butter. I save the other half for after the run. This is working.
I wasn't terribly excited for the run, but it's not like I didn't want to do it. I think I just wasn't excited because I didn't have an exciting route and I'd be running alone. We've had 3 days of rain now, so the trails weren't a good idea. I had to get to work after, so lots of driving wouldn't help any. TV was busy with holiday schtuff (it's the 4th of July!). So I grabbed 8 mints (1 per 2 miles, I'm liking this!) and drove to FoPa. I parked at work since the park was closed off for Fair STL.
Took off feeling good, ran out to Wyd, ran south on BBend, wandered in some of the private 'hoods, out to Hanley, back to park, up to VC, then back around and up Skinker. In the end, a relatively flat route, but I got the soft surfaces I wanted.
I didn't eat anything but the mints in the run, and only ate 6 of them. I forgot my handheld bottle (distracted by playing with the last of my EFS stock...) but figured I'd have enough water fountains to survive. Sort of ironic that I was wearing the Camelbak, took the bladder out and just carried my phone and mints.
The run was great, some ups and downs of energy but I finished feeling good. And the last few miles felt strong too, so I'm pretty dang happy with this. Especially after seeing another 15 miler in TP.com while looking for my latest swim and saw I ran that in 2:26. That was probably a 2015 run. Either way, pretty happy and ready to rest.
I've restructured my schedule for the upcoming Cry Me A River 50K (CMAR50K) to have a big build weekend now and a lot of rest during the week. It wasn't the original intent but in the end I've run 16 miles in the past 3 days. Soon I get to run 31+ miles in one day! Yikes.
This was another rice powered run, successful plan I think for the upcoming race. I eat an extra serving of rice after dinner, with egg whites and butter, this time with raisins and cinnamon. Then for brekkie pre run I'll have half a 200g tater with 2 eggs and butter. I save the other half for after the run. This is working.
I wasn't terribly excited for the run, but it's not like I didn't want to do it. I think I just wasn't excited because I didn't have an exciting route and I'd be running alone. We've had 3 days of rain now, so the trails weren't a good idea. I had to get to work after, so lots of driving wouldn't help any. TV was busy with holiday schtuff (it's the 4th of July!). So I grabbed 8 mints (1 per 2 miles, I'm liking this!) and drove to FoPa. I parked at work since the park was closed off for Fair STL.
Took off feeling good, ran out to Wyd, ran south on BBend, wandered in some of the private 'hoods, out to Hanley, back to park, up to VC, then back around and up Skinker. In the end, a relatively flat route, but I got the soft surfaces I wanted.
I didn't eat anything but the mints in the run, and only ate 6 of them. I forgot my handheld bottle (distracted by playing with the last of my EFS stock...) but figured I'd have enough water fountains to survive. Sort of ironic that I was wearing the Camelbak, took the bladder out and just carried my phone and mints.
The run was great, some ups and downs of energy but I finished feeling good. And the last few miles felt strong too, so I'm pretty dang happy with this. Especially after seeing another 15 miler in TP.com while looking for my latest swim and saw I ran that in 2:26. That was probably a 2015 run. Either way, pretty happy and ready to rest.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
I WENT TO THE POOL!!
RUN 5 miles in 46 mins, easy but bound up the hills
SWIM 800y in about 30 mins, just whatever
OMG I went the pool! And it was nowhere near as bad as I though it would be! Lots of funnies with it though, see if I can capture how this went.
First off, I just looked to see when I last swam. Scroooooolllled through trainingpeaks.com, I thought it was February but it turns out it was January 26. And the post I'd prepped in my head to type out for today could almost be a copy/paste of that post! Edited for space:
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Well it's about time I saw a pool again
NUMERICS
10 hours, not counting my commutes
SWIM!!!! 800 yards in 30 mins
BIKE none this week
RUN 45 miles as per goal
COMMUTE all bike, 53.5 miles
STRENGTH 2 hours
SWIM 800y in about 30 mins, just whatever
OMG I went the pool! And it was nowhere near as bad as I though it would be! Lots of funnies with it though, see if I can capture how this went.
First off, I just looked to see when I last swam. Scroooooolllled through trainingpeaks.com, I thought it was February but it turns out it was January 26. And the post I'd prepped in my head to type out for today could almost be a copy/paste of that post! Edited for space:
-----------------------------------
Well it's about time I saw a pool again
SWIM just under an hour, 2050y
I didn't realize that I haven't been to the pool since Dec 19th! Had to scroll back through TrainingPeaks to find that.
I almost didn't go. Of course it's so easy at 430am to think "oh what's another week" ..
I didn't realize that I haven't been to the pool since Dec 19th! Had to scroll back through TrainingPeaks to find that.
I almost didn't go. Of course it's so easy at 430am to think "oh what's another week" ..
I did mostly pulling towards the middle of the session because my back wasn't happy.
The pull buoy didn't make it any happier though! I could feel a tight 'ping' under my right shoulder blade.
But otherwise the swim felt good.
Didn't time anything, didn't want the pressure after having not swam for so long.
Even though I didn't realize just how long!
I bought new goggles...oh... a few weeks ago now? Finally tested them.
I bought new goggles...oh... a few weeks ago now? Finally tested them.
SOOOOOO much better than the previous, but a bit too tight.
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Today's swim came after a cold (YES COLD, it's 65F!) rainy run. I stopped by the Y desk to check my membership. I had called on the 29th to inquire about suspending my membership for injury since I knew the first of the month would bring another monthly charge. But I didn't cancel, I knew that if I did it would only give me more excuse for not swimming. My hands were cold and it took awhile to fill out the form.
Grabbed a towel, headed to locker rooms looking for what's new and different. Not much it turns out, except the locker room now has a 'wood' floor instead of that carpet. Nice! I unzipped my big old swim bag and started pawing through it, thinking it would be like a mission of rediscovery. It was. I honestly forgot I had a purple swim cap, what race was that from...unroll... B2B!! More pawing, found my swim suit, yellow and black I knew but not the brand. Tyr. Pawed for goggles. Found a pair in a nice case, for got I had! They must be the ones I mentioned in January? Didn't use those, couldn't get the dang box open and I was already moving too slow.
Finally get to the deck, still acclimating. Each lap lane had a swimmer, but one was staying to sides and looked serious. I wasn't big on putting myself next to a fast agressive swimmer to highlight my own feeling of weakness, but I did it anyway just because of that. I probably knew this swimmer, she had nice tattoos and was pounding away on a long steady interval.
Grabbed a kick board. Putzed around some more. Hung my legs into pool -- cold! Putzed more...finally hopped in and pushed off. To my complete surprise, freestyle felt good. Immediately I was reminded of water bubbling over my face, splashing into my ears, the feeling of creating a small wake as I move forward. Oh my, I'm swimming!
25y then 50 y. Mixed up the kick board, then grabbed a Finis yellow/black pull buoy (I think I owned one of these at some point? A yellow/black one?), and focused just on arms for the next few laps. I was careful to pause as needed, be mindful of pains and imbalances, yet didn't really sense any. Things were certainly weak, lots of slipping and problems that were obvious even to me, but oh my I'm swimming!
Somewhere around lap 11 I remembered this thing called backstroke! LOL! So I did a few of those, also felt good. I had a few moments of short and sharp pain but that was in both arms. I hit my goal of 16 laps and hopped out. Dashed to the shower (cold!) and pawed through my bag for the shower stuff. I had water in my ears but my EtOH tube was empty. Mixed up the bath gel and shampoo. Marveled at how much stuff I kept in my swim bag, when I finished 2014 swimming was such a habit, I was spending so much time at the pool that I was happy to invest in a nice towel, toys, and shower gear. The habits came back, the little things I did to make a pool trip quick and slick. Maybe it will soon become a habit again?!
NUMERICS
10 hours, not counting my commutes
SWIM!!!! 800 yards in 30 mins
BIKE none this week
RUN 45 miles as per goal
COMMUTE all bike, 53.5 miles
STRENGTH 2 hours
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Indian Camp trails
RUN 16.3 miles in just a few mins over 3 hours.
And since I'm not diligent about stopping the Garmin when we pause, it's probably 3 hrs. We TV and I talked goals early in the run, I said at least 3 hours. He really stuck us to this, didn't want to go further.
This was an "excursion run" idea hatched at our Weds lunch. These are usually my favorite runs, where we drive extra to see something we wouldn't normally get to see. This wasn't terribly that far away, not like Buford or Berryman, but far enough. And although the trails were wonderfully smooth, well biked, wide, clean, and all over really nice, they're not that exciting given the drive. And we had to repeat and repeat again to get mileage.
So like I said the park is really nice! We left early and hoped to get done before the rain got heavy. I was feeling great after testing my new night-before meal of extra rice. I'm hoping that eating the night before means I can eat less the morning of, and save my stomach that heavy feeling I get in these long runs. I can say this worked today! I joked that I was a rice rocket.
I felt great, good energy, and of course mints! And half a powerbar, that was it. At 2:15 in when I asked if we would go longer than 3 and he said 'no' (he was getting bored with the repeating trails), I didn't eat another serve of powerbar like I normally would have. So even though I wanted to hit 20 miles by the time we hit 13 I was getting run down and disinterested.
ETA: Had aura in afternoon.
The rain was light and got steadier later, but we did get some pleasant light rain in run :)
And since I'm not diligent about stopping the Garmin when we pause, it's probably 3 hrs. We TV and I talked goals early in the run, I said at least 3 hours. He really stuck us to this, didn't want to go further.
This was an "excursion run" idea hatched at our Weds lunch. These are usually my favorite runs, where we drive extra to see something we wouldn't normally get to see. This wasn't terribly that far away, not like Buford or Berryman, but far enough. And although the trails were wonderfully smooth, well biked, wide, clean, and all over really nice, they're not that exciting given the drive. And we had to repeat and repeat again to get mileage.
So like I said the park is really nice! We left early and hoped to get done before the rain got heavy. I was feeling great after testing my new night-before meal of extra rice. I'm hoping that eating the night before means I can eat less the morning of, and save my stomach that heavy feeling I get in these long runs. I can say this worked today! I joked that I was a rice rocket.
I felt great, good energy, and of course mints! And half a powerbar, that was it. At 2:15 in when I asked if we would go longer than 3 and he said 'no' (he was getting bored with the repeating trails), I didn't eat another serve of powerbar like I normally would have. So even though I wanted to hit 20 miles by the time we hit 13 I was getting run down and disinterested.
ETA: Had aura in afternoon.
The rain was light and got steadier later, but we did get some pleasant light rain in run :)
Friday, July 1, 2016
Thought finding mints would be helpful. Not yet anyway.
BIKE COMMUTE total 15 miles
STRENGTH 1 hr
Wonderfully cool day, started out cloudy and 78F! Feels a bit of a waste to sleep in but I needed it. If waiting until 530 really counts as sleeping in.
Took a scoby to JG today. During warmup he asked about Whole30, and the rest of the session was nutrition -- paleo vs SAD vs W30 etc. Lots of talking, maybe too much! It wasn't a terribly hard or inspired workout.
Stopped by Walgreen's to get a prescription, and while there looked into whether they sold my new favorite mints like the website said. And they did! Not only peppermint and cotton candy, but a bucket of assorted?! OMG, I almost bought these online! SCORE!
Or so I thought. Of course, I couldn't wait to try one of my flavors and this was distracting. I'm biking home and fighting the stupid urge to pull over and get another out of the bucket. I get home (without stopping) and munch a few more, probably a total of 6. So that's much sugar, but it was HOW I was craving the sugar. Driven to distraction over it!
The rest of the morning I was distracted, discombobulated, unfocused, clumsy. What causes this?! Can't be the sugar, so I think it's the MENTAL effect of it. Hours later I'm still trying to work myself out of this hole.
In other shopping, I ordered my June Reward this morning -- a yellow Sparkle Skirt! Also this week bought a new RoadID band (other broke) and two more pairs of the Adrenaline 15's. Found them for $78. New 16's are $120 each, got these two for total of $155.
STRENGTH 1 hr
Wonderfully cool day, started out cloudy and 78F! Feels a bit of a waste to sleep in but I needed it. If waiting until 530 really counts as sleeping in.
Took a scoby to JG today. During warmup he asked about Whole30, and the rest of the session was nutrition -- paleo vs SAD vs W30 etc. Lots of talking, maybe too much! It wasn't a terribly hard or inspired workout.
Stopped by Walgreen's to get a prescription, and while there looked into whether they sold my new favorite mints like the website said. And they did! Not only peppermint and cotton candy, but a bucket of assorted?! OMG, I almost bought these online! SCORE!
Or so I thought. Of course, I couldn't wait to try one of my flavors and this was distracting. I'm biking home and fighting the stupid urge to pull over and get another out of the bucket. I get home (without stopping) and munch a few more, probably a total of 6. So that's much sugar, but it was HOW I was craving the sugar. Driven to distraction over it!
The rest of the morning I was distracted, discombobulated, unfocused, clumsy. What causes this?! Can't be the sugar, so I think it's the MENTAL effect of it. Hours later I'm still trying to work myself out of this hole.
In other shopping, I ordered my June Reward this morning -- a yellow Sparkle Skirt! Also this week bought a new RoadID band (other broke) and two more pairs of the Adrenaline 15's. Found them for $78. New 16's are $120 each, got these two for total of $155.
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