A break, a return, a wall

Soon after I was so excited about running all the sub 10’s in a row and hovering and even surpassing 9:30 consecutively I guess it was time for my psyche to take another break. Not a long one, but just over two weeks. And enough to crush my physicality gains. But that’s ok, I am used to coming back! And overall that is what I have done. Looking at my training center program I see I have run 7 out of the last 8 days. Many of them have been shorter runs and all of them have been slower than 10 min miles, but they felt good for the most part. Several of them have been a challenge to get through, but I managed with the exception of one.

First a break, then another return but in the middle of all this was “the wall”. On Sunday I decided to go for a run against my better judgement. I had rehearsal that night, I hadn’t really eaten the day before and I was an emotional wreck (big part of the reason for all the running.) About 2.5 miles in I could not go any further. No energy at all (ummm yeah, no food no sleep idiot). I could barely walk home. I tried to run again a couple of times and made it about a block before I just had to stop. This was the first time for me hitting that “wall” that runners talk about so much. in all my 60 mile a week marathon training days I never got there (close though with hallucinations!) like this. Just dead on my feet. And the feeling lasted for the rest of the day too. I ended up getting somewhat lucky as the rehearsal was cancelled after a two hour band meeting. But at least I didn’t have to play! Such a weird feeling.

I got a call yesterday from the university that is doing the exercise ms study that I participated in last fall, this will be the second round (I think it is three total trials) of wearing the step tracker for a week. The first time I didn’t run at all and was very sedentary. This next week should be different if I keep the running up which I have the best laid plans to do so.

One other thing. Several years ago I got into drinking green shakes which were comprised of spinach, bananas and yoghurt as a base and then a variety of other seasonal fruits. I loved them. They made me feel great and gave me a large boost of energy whenever I had them. I would have at least one a day, sometimes more. They look terrible especially when berries get mixed in with the spinach, yoghurt base, kind of a purplish grey. But are they ever good. So I stopped cause I think the seasonal fruits at one point were no longer any good. And I think I got lazy and the mess pissed off the household (though I always thought I was being careful when I made them.) So point, please. I decided that I need to add some decent foods to my diet and I have come to terms with frozen fruits! So away I go! Green drinks are back on the menu!

Rest days, rolled ankles and a quick return to running

As is often the case it has been awhile since I wrote here. It has been an interesting month or so of running or not running as the case might be.

At the start of the month I found myself taking several rest days in a row. Between laziness, weather and music I ended up not running for 12 days straight. I was surprised to discover it had been so long, I had figured it was 5-6 days at most a week. But the diary reveals all. So after a few false starts, I managed to go beyond just thinking about running and actually doing it. My first day back was a little rough but not that bad. I was slow and feeling sluggish, but I managed to push myself through it at a reasonable pace. The following day I got back on the horse and found myself running a pace close to 10 min miles, actually just over. I had initially intended to try to do four days in a row to get back into running form, but I ended up taking a day off before running back to back a second time. The second pair of runs was a lot better in terms of pace, well I should say the first one was, cause right at the start of the second run I…

Rolled my ankle.

It was pretty dumb actually. There were two cars coming towards me in the street. I was running on the asphalt to make life easier on my knees and staying close to the edge of the road to allow the cars to easily get by me. All of a sudden the front car stopped in the middle of the road. I kept an eye on them to see if they were upset I was running in their street or if they were just being a crappy driver, neither option was all that great. So distracted I managed to step right into a pothole and down I went. As soon as I face planted both cars sped away, it was weird. Not even a rolled down window to ask if I was ok or even to laugh at me. I tried to walk it off and decided I had better end my run (I hadn’t even gone a mile) so I turned around and headed home. About a block later the pain subsided and I foolishly decided I could finish my run. And I did without any problems or pain though I was a little gimpy. Pretty quickly after I stopped running my ankle swelled up nice and big. I strapped on an ankle brace and headed to band practice. I got around fine but by the time I came home and got the brace off my ankle was pretty angry, swollen and hot. The brace was a far infra-red brace that might have been partly responsible for the heat as that is what they are supposed to do (somehow, I don’t actually get it…) The next night I played a Go-Go show and though I didn’t dance, I was up and about on it until 4 in the morning, again swollen! For the next couple of days I took it easy and even though I really wanted to run I didn’t. But today, I couldn’t hold back any longer and I did…

A quick return to running.

This morning my ankle seemed quite a bit less swollen. The weird thing over the last couple of days is I had very little pain in my ankle. The swelling was occurring on the outside of my left ankle. IIRC my usual ankle problem area has been on the inside of my right ankle, which is my shorter leg (I’d always partly blamed the shortness on my past ankle sprains.) But this was on the outside of the ankle and didn’t really hurt to boot. I had found myself running after the dog in the front yard without even realizing it on several occasions. So I figured I could try a short run today to get back into things (once again). Well the short run started out really well, no pain or discomfort at all, so I extended it into a base run of 6.2 miles and it felt great. I didn’t push the pace so no major success on that end, but just running again so quickly and pain free after the roll was a success all on its own. And now after as I type I feel no extra pain or swelling.

Back at it once again

Today marked the end of a run free week recovering from a twisted ankle and six bee stings. It felt really good to run again, it has been disappointing not running this week, but kinda a nice break. But back to it I go. It’s funny I felt like a fair-weather Portland runner who stopped during our first rains. We’ve had the first rain of the fall this last week but I swear that isn’t why I stayed home. I actually like to run in the first rainy period to break the ice with the changing season. But now we are going to have a return to summer, so I will look even more like a sun runner.

Today I also took Fig with me for the first run since that pit bull incident. I add a caribiner between the halter and her collar to assure me she won’t back out of her collar again. We did a mile and she did ok for the first 3/4s then started to fade. I think she’ll get her fitness back pretty quickly.

After the mile with Fig I added on my 10k run. Had to give a reedie a share the path shoulder. Other than that it was pretty uneventful. I felt like I was dragging a little bit, but I also felt well rested. Nothing was very difficult, but it dragged on. I think for future junk runs I need to add on a five mile run to the dog mile which I could do by heading south through East Moreland and then up through the school and back. After the 7.4 miles I also added on a full stretching regimen with pushups and hang downs. I think I’ll add some more pushups tonight.

Tomorrow my plan is to run with Fig again and maybe I’ll try the 5 mile add on route.

Snowy run

More advice on returning to running after and unexpected hiatus: don’t make your first run a long one, and especially don’t follow that one up with an even longer one. It just doesn’t work well.

Today I took the bus downtown to meet a friend for a run around the esplanade. The loop is 3 miles and we did it twice. Its a flat run, but an interesting one as you cross two bridges over the Willamette and several raised piers on the east side. Being a Saturday it was really crowded down there, this despite it starting to snow right as I got off the bus. The snow spit a bit for the run, but it wasn’t bad at all. Just enough so you can say I went running in the snow! Amy brought her dog who will be a really good running dog someday, she’s really close. I only had to dodge her a few times.

So those of you doing the math are saying, what are you talking about this being a long run? Its only six miles? That’s less than your base runs! Well, six miles isn’t bad, nothing to sneeze at though. Where it got longer was when I decided not to bus home and instead run home which added another five miles to my day, and five miles uphill as well. I felt fine at first and I really didn’t feel like waiting for that bus (another 45 mins to get the one that goes close to my house and 15 to get the one that gets me about a mile away). The hill running really started to tax my hips, an area I have never had trouble with. I am sure it is the time away from running and the pushing it that are causing me grief. I went slow which was about the only good thing I did for myself on the run. I feel ok now, but I know it is gonna hurt tomorrow. No long run tomorrow, I swear.

One thing I did when I noticed the pain in my hips is I didn’t give in to a slouch (which is where I wanted to be) and instead focused on my posture and keeping my body aligned. This helped quite a bit. I also focused on my gait and foot strike, which also helped. Chi running to the rescue!

Snowy run

More advice on returning to running after and unexpected hiatus: don’t make your first run a long one, and especially don’t follow that one up with an even longer one. It just doesn’t work well.

Today I took the bus downtown to meet a friend for a run around the esplanade. The loop is 3 miles and we did it twice. Its a flat run, but an interesting one as you cross two bridges over the Willamette and several raised piers on the east side. Being a Saturday it was really crowded down there, this despite it starting to snow right as I got off the bus. The snow spit a bit for the run, but it wasn’t bad at all. Just enough so you can say I went running in the snow! Amy brought her dog who will be a really good running dog someday, she’s really close. I only had to dodge her a few times.

So those of you doing the math are saying, what are you talking about this being a long run? Its only six miles? That’s less than your base runs! Well, six miles isn’t bad, nothing to sneeze at though. Where it got longer was when I decided not to bus home and instead run home which added another five miles to my day, and five miles uphill as well. I felt fine at first and I really didn’t feel like waiting for that bus (another 45 mins to get the one that goes close to my house and 15 to get the one that gets me about a mile away). The hill running really started to tax my hips, an area I have never had trouble with. I am sure it is the time away from running and the pushing it that are causing me grief. I went slow which was about the only good thing I did for myself on the run. I feel ok now, but I know it is gonna hurt tomorrow. No long run tomorrow, I swear.

One thing I did when I noticed the pain in my hips is I didn’t give in to a slouch (which is where I wanted to be) and instead focused on my posture and keeping my body aligned. This helped quite a bit. I also focused on my gait and foot strike, which also helped. Chi running to the rescue!

23 degree return

It was so great to get back to running today, even with the 23 degree weather. I have to say, whenever you start up running being it from illness or injury, DO NOT decide to go for a longer run 1/3 into your run because you feel great. You will pay at 2/3s, I guarantee it. Still it was a fantastic run this morn, it was a bit hard on my lungs but I managed to make it through it just fine. It is actually the stopping that really kicks the lungs but (is there such a thing?) My breathing throughout was fine except for a little burning but not that bad.

The worst thing that happened on my run was my radio finally gave up the ghost. I have got to find a new one. My problem is I want AM and FM, of which there are less to choose from now days. Ultimately I want to find one that is weather resistant (don’t need it to be waterproof, though that would be nice) I want it to have preset stations so I can easily switch during all the commercials. The search is on.

It is so great to be back running, I’m not sure I will go tomorrow as I am running Saturday and snow shoeing for the first time on Sunday. Plenty of exercise to come!

On the ms front I have decided my reduction of dialantin (which I take for the seizures) has been a failure as they have sort of come back a bit. Not bad at all, but I can feel them happening. I was down to 3 a day when that happened, so I am going to try 3 and 4 and see if I level out. Unrelated I am sure, but my foot numbness has come back stronger. Feels like I am wearing shoes that are too small. Sort of a pedal (word?) version of the ms hug. One thing I have noticed is that marijuana seems to make the feeling subside a bit. Not sure if this is just that I didn’t notice it when I smoked or what. I don’t plan to do an everyday study, but I will see if the results are similar next time.

23 degree return

It was so great to get back to running today, even with the 23 degree weather. I have to say, whenever you start up running being it from illness or injury, DO NOT decide to go for a longer run 1/3 into your run because you feel great. You will pay at 2/3s, I guarantee it. Still it was a fantastic run this morn, it was a bit hard on my lungs but I managed to make it through it just fine. It is actually the stopping that really kicks the lungs but (is there such a thing?) My breathing throughout was fine except for a little burning but not that bad.

The worst thing that happened on my run was my radio finally gave up the ghost. I have got to find a new one. My problem is I want AM and FM, of which there are less to choose from now days. Ultimately I want to find one that is weather resistant (don’t need it to be waterproof, though that would be nice) I want it to have preset stations so I can easily switch during all the commercials. The search is on.

It is so great to be back running, I’m not sure I will go tomorrow as I am running Saturday and snow shoeing for the first time on Sunday. Plenty of exercise to come!

On the ms front I have decided my reduction of dialantin (which I take for the seizures) has been a failure as they have sort of come back a bit. Not bad at all, but I can feel them happening. I was down to 3 a day when that happened, so I am going to try 3 and 4 and see if I level out. Unrelated I am sure, but my foot numbness has come back stronger. Feels like I am wearing shoes that are too small. Sort of a pedal (word?) version of the ms hug. One thing I have noticed is that marijuana seems to make the feeling subside a bit. Not sure if this is just that I didn’t notice it when I smoked or what. I don’t plan to do an everyday study, but I will see if the results are similar next time.