Solo run, Group run

With winter upon us (at least up here in the northern Midwest) a lot of us runners either take time off the heal old injuries (that has been me recently) or head for the treadmill.  After figuring out how to dress for cold weather running, I began avoiding treadmills and found running outside in the elements to be great.

Which takes me to the title of this section - during the winter we tend to do more solo running, simply because there are fewer crazy people willing to run outside.

I find group runs to be somewhat social events; there is a fair amount of conversation, I like that I can meet new people, and it makes the run go by fairly quickly.  I do learn some new things, but aside from getting my miles in, what did I get out of the run?

When I'm running solo, I'm constantly thinking about my form, the consistency (or lack of) my pace, and meeting the goals of my run. That doesn't happen during a group run.  During a group run, the goal is mostly about getting the agreed to miles in... Somebody sets the pace and away you go.

I believe that solo runs give me the opportunity to judge myself from a very particular perspective. I start out with a goal for that run, be it long or short, and then I measure myself against my progress towards that goal. I calculate and measure my splits, I try to be conscious of my form (are my feet landing under my hips, are my arms swinging in line with my motion, or am I flailing them around, are my hips forward, is my head up, etc). I'm not totally geeky about this 100% of the time, but I do try to run as efficiently as possible.

The other thing that I get out of solo runs, particularly long runs, is the confidence that I can do it on my own. At the end of the day, when I'm out there running a distance event, I know that it is all up to me and me alone. The support of a group is great, but in the end it will be my legs, my stamina, and my ability to persevere over whatever ails me that will get me across the finish line.

So even though I'm not a big fan of group runs, I have admit that it was by getting involved with a group that I learned that I could run at a faster pace than that which I had become accustomed to running.  During my first group run, I remember being shocked at what a quick pace the group trotted off at (in retrospect it wasn't that fast...but faster than I was accustomed to) but I kept up with them, albeit bringing up the rear. The route we were running went through a bit of downtown so we to deal with traffic lights, and I recall panting "red light, red light, give me a red light" so that I would have a chance to catch my breath (and catch up). I noticed after a while that the lead guy eventually started timing the lights in my favor - he must have heard me (or sensed some measure of my distress). Those traffic lights were the only way I made it through the run! We did 9 miles+ at the fastest pace I had yet to run, effectively pushing me into a new level. That may not of happened if I was only running solo. I had gained a whole new level of confidence because of it!

There was another time with a different group that we did trails - a totally new experience for me and something that I may not of tried on my own. Now I'm hooked on trials and would like to do more.

The point of all this is that I think that there is place for group runs and solo runs, and it is not a bad idea to do both. But for the winter, it will mostly be solo...

My feet hurt - and I'm sick and tired of it

[Edited and updated 12/4/14] The title pretty much says it all - I've been fighting plantar fasciitis in my left foot and the achilles tendonitis in my right. I had been able to get through a run but then paid for it afterwards, hobbling and limping around.

In my battles to help my feet I have/had established a regular routine which now (November 2014) includes some foot strengthening exercises - I will post something about this once I get a better feel as to what, how, and if anything works.

For the plantar fasciitis:
I think that I can pretty much say that I for me (PF is different for everybody) the magic key to relief of my PF simply involves stretching. Not just my feet themselves, but my calves, hams, and quads. My PF was symptomatic of other issues further up my leg.

• Heal drops and calf raises. Using a couple/three 1x4 boards I do very careful heal drops and calf raises - not to extremes, just enough to loosen up and warm up.
• Modified toe-touch. Standing with legs apart (roughly hip wide), bend knees slightly and touch the ground in front of my toes and then squeeze hams and butt cheeks out. Keep head down and breath easy for about 30 seconds. Release, and do it again a couple more times.
• Kneel on the ground (rug preferably) with the tops of my feet flat on the ground (toes pointing behind me). Breath easy and slowly and gently lean back so that my weight is supported on my feet (my butt is on my heals).
• From that previous position, now curl my toes so that they are under me and holding my weight (still on my knees though).  Hold that position for a little bit, breathing easy.
• Then roll back so that I am literally squatting but holding my weight on my toes.  Hold for a few.... and then stand up.
• Finally, some foam rolling - calves, hams, quads, IT bands.

What kind of helped, but was only temporary, were these:

• Lots of stretching and manipulation of the foot throughout the day, rolling a golf ball under my foot, or a frozen bottle (felt good because it basically numbed everything, but didn't solve the problem),
• Massaging the foot several times a day.
• I discovered a method of taping that has seemed to help some.  I simply did an internet search and watched 2 or 3 youtube videos, went out and bought some rolls of sports tape, and then taped myself up every day (but not for a run).  I wore the tape for 8-10 hours a day but did not sleep with it. A link that was forwarded to me is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jKGDhxcdtzE
• After a run, I iced for 10-15 minutes.
• I did not taking any anti-inflamatories or pain killers (they didn't seem to help and I'd rather not).

For the achilles tendonitis:

• Modest stretching, but no toe lifts, just enough to loosen it up some.
• Wearing shoes (I tend to like to walk barefoot when ever possible).  Shoes raise my heel up just enough to take some of the tension off the tendon.
• After a run, I ice for 10-15 minutes.

The good news is that I believe that I have the plantar fasciitis under control.  I no longer hobble as I get out of bed in the morning.  The incredible pain that I used to get as I try to make my first steps of the day is no longer there - so I see that as progress.

The bad news is that I'm realizing that I'm not going to fix the achilles tendonitis as long as I continue to run - So last Sunday, after aborting a run half mile into it, I made the decision to not run for a full week.  Then I'll ease my way back into it.  If it still feels tight, I'll back off again.  I have to get it healthy.  I read some scary things about popping the tendon and I don't want that to be me.

My feet have hurt so much that I had dialed back my mileage substantially - and the immediate effect that I've notice is that my weight has been going up.  I didn't realize just how much of a calorie burning action running was on me. My understanding was that, as a runner, I might burn 100 or so calories per mile, which isn't that much.  But apparently it makes a bigger difference than I imagined. So now I'm going to try to burn those C's on a bike or walking or doing upper body workouts.

Someone suggested that I stop drinking beer, but are they nuts?  C'mon man....

(If you would like to leave a comment I've been told that it may be necessary for you to temporarily allow 3rd Party Cookies - it's not my thing... it's seems to be that a Google Blogger thing... For example, if you use Chrome, go to "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and select "Show Advanced Settings", select "Content Settings" in the Privacy section, and then un-select "Block 3rd Party cookies...".   I would not recommend leaving your settings that way, so be sure to reset it back to block 3rd party cookies.)

Running tired

I find that there is a point during a long run when I realize that I'm "tired", and yet it feels good, so good, to keep running.  There is no consideration of stopping.  It just suddenly occurs to me that I'm a little tired.  But it's a "good" tired.  It's a "I can go for a long time" tired.

It doesn't always hit me at the same distance; sometimes it happens around mile 4, mile 14, or mile 18.  It's a different feeling from a genuine fatigued feeling that is the result of not having gone through good endurance training.

That "good tired" is maybe the point at which I'm fully loosened up, I'm in the groove, and I'm just running...  It's an automatic flow and rhythm.  Things are in sync.

When I was doing my long, long runs during my marathon training, I remember that starting around mile 18 I would start thinking "don't stop running, don't stop running".  My legs might have been grateful for a stop in the action, but since that wasn't in the plan for the day, I wouldn't stop.  And that is definitely a different kind of tired.  I know that I was beginning to feel fatigue.  But of course the purpose of the training was to build up the endurance to run the distance without getting fatigued.

When I ran the Chicago Marathon, I don't remember getting tired.  And I chalk that up to the training and running the arduous miles prior to the event.  I remember being somewhat weary, like hey, I've been pounding the pavement for a long time, are we done yet?  But perhaps the difference was that I had already pre-decided that I would stop running AFTER I crossed the finish line.  Motivation and persistence are strong movers, but the training was key.

But I love that tired feeling, or whatever it is, that I get during a run.  It's relieving, it's refreshing, it's re-infusing.

Newton shoes - a skoosh faster

I can now reasonably and reliably attest that my new Newton Motion running shoes have made me a tad faster. 

At first I was skeptical of whether my times were a bit better because of the shoes or not, but after running a series of 6 and 7 mile runs, I am definitely posting faster splits.  I have a total of 60 miles on them now.  I had earlier thought that perhaps my better times were just attributed to the fact that the weather was cooler, making it more fun to run.  But I think that the combination of the shoes causing me to change my form ever so slightly (hips forward - land, lever, lift) and the concept of the shoes themselves has played a factor.

For my first time ever I ran the last 3 miles of a 7 mile run at a sub 8min/mile pace (avg 7:44).  That is big for me, since I'm usually holding any attempt at a sub 8min/m pace until the last mile.  And usually after running 6 miles, I'm actually pushing to even do anything in the 8min/m space.  During that particular run, mile 4 was a quick (for me) 8:14, and then to my surprise mile 5 was an incredible 7:34.  I remember that I felt good, felt smooth, and I was concentrating on my form.  I was not necessarily trying for speed - I was just trying to stay in the flow.  Admittedly I started to feel the fatigue setting in during mile 7 - I was definitely at my end.

But the Newton running shoes have also affected my feet in both a positive and negative way:  when running with them, my Plantar Fasciitis seems to abate, but I also developed Archelles Tendonitis in my right ankle.  When I first started running with the shoes, I immediately noticed the stretch in my upper ankle area, thus the short runs to get used to them.  But after multiple longer runs (6 & 7 miles) that right ankle area is not happy.  So I had to back off on mileage and do some running with my older "regular" shoes.  But this has aggravated my Plantar Fasciitis... I'm swapping back and forth with the shoes now, but I want my archelles tendon to heal, so I'm doing fewer miles with the Newtons for a bit.

For all intents, the Newtons are a success for me, although I do need to get my legs accustomed to them.  I love it when I find that sweet spot and am cruising.  It is the best feeling in the world.

Running errands (literally)

I’ve gotten into the habit of literally running my local errands, like to the nearby grocery store to pick up a few items, or the bakery, or the bank…. I’m able to turn it into a 4 to 5 mile run with no problem, and doing errands actually gives the whole running event a purpose.  I run with a small day-pack – it’s not very big, for obvious reasons; I don’t want to wind up buying more that I can actually carry.  Worse, I don’t want to wind up with an awkward load to run home with.

The first time that I did it I had to make sure that I packed the non-compressible items on the bottom of the backpack, so that the stuff that might get squished, wouldn’t.  And it did work out (nothing got squished), but it took about half a mile for the load to wiggle its way into some form of equilibrium.  At first things were pretty much wiggling around - not very comfortable.  After that, the backpack was fairly stable and I had a good mile or two of comfortable running..

I have to admit that I get some weird looks from people – first of all, I’m walking into the grocery store in obvious running clothes, and clearly I had gotten there running (I’m still breathing a little hard – note to self: take a few minutes to catch my breath before entering the store…), and then secondly, I’m walking in with a backpack.  The first thing that store security looks for is people with backpacks (shoplifters)…  but fortunately, I’m somewhat recognizable since I’ve only been in that store several thousand times, so they tend not to bug me.  But still….

Then after checking out I have to go to a little side area so that I can ‘pack my pack’ for the run home.  But once I’m all set, and I step outside, I’m back in running mode:  sun glasses in place, hat on, music on, let’s go.  

Going to the bank is interesting: I run up to the bank with my sunglasses, hat, and backpack.  The staff know me there as well, but I’m sure it looks interesting to other people as I get my receipts or whatever from the transaction that I did, stuff it into a zippered pocket on my backpack, step outside, do the sunglasses and hat routine and start running away from the bank….  It did occur to me that I should not be surprised if someone might call the cops to report a guy with a backpack running away from the bank….

But the best part of it is the fact that I feel that I’m actually accomplishing more than just going for a run; I’m paring down the list of things on my to-do list that I might otherwise have used my truck for.  I’ll try to do more of this – the trick is to make sure that where ever it is that I’m going, that it is ok to arrive a little sweaty…

Train hard to run hard

I read last week that if you are going to train, train hard.  Don’t just train moderately. Train like you mean it.  The article mentioned that most of us will think that we are going out for a “hard” run, but when we start to get fatigued, we back off – I know that I’ve been there.  Ok, we’re still getting our exercise in, and yes, we are probably doing more than the majority of the population, but if you are training, make it count.  And when it’s “hard” is when its beginning to count.

So I did yesterday’s 4M run with the intent of running hard, but smart, and with the goal of doing the last mile as consistently fast as I could.  What would I experience, what line would I cross – if any…

it was an interesting experience for me – so much so that I’m going to try to articulate it here.

At a minimum, I was curious as to what would happen and how I would feel.  My goal was to start as I always do, slow and steady to get loosened up and in a groove, then move it up to a nice cruising pace, and then finish the last mile as hard as I could, with the emphasis on not giving up during that last mile.  I was thinking that I would do my first mile at a 10m/m pace, miles 2 & 3 at around a 9m/m pace, and then my last mile would be somewhere around 8-something.   I wound up doing 9:58, 9:12, 8:05, 7:11.

The temperature and weather were perfect for having a good run – mid 50’s, slight breeze, and sunny.  A beautiful morning.  For fuel prior to the run I had some peanut butter on toast with a coffee chaser.  I took the time to stretch and loosen up.   Music queued up.

The first mile was nice and easy.  The first half mile was at something like an 11m/m pace, pretty typical for me, and by the next half I was up to a 9m/m pace – averages out nicely to a 10m/m pace.  I know that my first half mile will always be slow – it just is; my body is just not ready to flow and it takes 5 minutes or so to get my juices going.

The second mile has a few small hills, nothing significant, but enough to throw me off a steady pace, but I tried to remain consistent.  Netting out a 9:12m/m pace was very satisfactory to me.  I had been thinking that I would do something more along the lines of 9:30.  Around mile 1.5 I noticed that I was feeling a sugar low, so I sucked down a goo, knowing that it would not hit until after mile 2-2.5.

Mile 3 is ever so slightly downhill.  There is probably, maybe, a 10 foot drop in the entire mile, but the net result is that it makes for easier running.  I even lucked out at a major crossroads and barely had to break my pace to get across the intersection.   I had a good pace going and I knew it.  My half mile split was indicating that I was running an 8-something pace.  By now the goo was kicking in and I was concentrating on my form and posture.  As soon as I crossed the street and was back on the trail I know that I subconsciously was turning on the juice – it’s that “we’ve turned the corner and I can see home from here” thing…  I was pretty amped when I saw that my mile 3 split was an 8:05 !

As soon as I got to the start of mile 4 I was in full stride.  I was trying not to over stride, hips forward, making my mid foot land below my hips, pushing forward with my quads, and breathing – always breathing.  I knew that I was moving faster than I usually did, but even so, I felt under control.  As I passed someone walking the other way I was able to say “good morning” easily and without wheezing and gasping the words out – I thought that was a good sign.

I also started thinking about where my mile 4 end point was going to be – clearly it was not going to end at my house; I would have to overshoot the house by maybe half a mile.  That’s not a problem in of itself -  it’s more the psychological aspect of “where is the finish line?”  I was not going to be able to “see” it.  I would be done when my GPS said that I got to Mile 4.  It is an interesting way to push oneself.  Very abstract.

I got lucky again in crossing the road, easily avoiding traffic and powered into my neighborhood.  As I pushed my way down the boulevard I started to dwell on “where is the finish line going to be???”  At the half mile split my watch noted 3:40, or the equivalent of a 7:20m/m pace.  Cool – and all I’m thinking at this point is if I could run at this pace for another 3 minutes and 40 seconds.

I tried counting in seconds but found that I was way off – I was counting too fast.  I concentrated on pushing my quads to power me forward, using my arms to help my momentum.  I was trying so hard to land mid foot and spring off.  And keep moving, keep moving.

But I was getting tired – particularly since  I had no idea where the finish line was.  I had stopped looking at my watch.  I was definitely in an anaerobic state and my calculations were not making sense to me, so I just tried to focus on running hard and NOT SLOWING DOWN for anything.

I got to a point where I know that I was reaching a breaking point – a point where I normally would have said “ok – that’s enough - time to throttle back”, but I kept thinking about the whole thing of “training hard to run hard”.  It’s not like I was seeing spots before my eyes, but I know that I was definitely crossing a new line.  I think I lost a little speed while all of this was going on, but the important part is that I kept going as hard as I could – again just wishing that I knew where the finish line was…. I kept saying “how far, how far….”

And then suddenly it was there in my ears:   “Distance - four point zero zero miles”.  Heaven.  I touched the split button on my watch and pulled off to the side of the road to walk and breathe. And then I looked at my split:  7:11.   I read it, but I didn’t comprehend it.  I don’t run a 7:11 mile.

I then checked my GPS thing on my phone – it confirmed 7:11.  Whoa, this is huge.

Even better, as I walked back to my house, my breathing was good, my heart rate was normal (fully recovered), and my legs felt great (nice to be walking).  “Wow” I thought.

According to my logs, it was my fastest 4th mile, but not my fastest 4 miles.  In February of this year I somehow managed to do a 4 mile run about a minute faster.  Notwithstanding, I met my goal of finishing hard and running the last mile consistently hard.  And yes, I was wearing my new Newton running shoes, now with a grand total of 34 miles on them.

I crossed a line, both mentally and physically.  I understand the concept better now. I’ve crossed lines during an event, particularly towards the end of the race.  But the fact is that I was always unprepared for it – I never knew what would happen.  I’ve heard the saying “training day stud, race day dud”, so I’ve almost always eased back when things got hard.  But the reality of the fact is that if I want to run fast, if I want to run hard, I have to train fast, and I have to train hard. Theoretically, the line keeps moving, meaning that I should have the opportunity to get better and better.

The trick now is to extend this concept into my training routine.  Woof

Running with Newton's - continued

I've done 3 successive 6 mile runs in my Newtons, and I think that I really like the shoes.  My legs feel good, I feel the development of different muscles, and in my last 6M run, I was comfortable enough to sprint the last mile.  And yeah, I think my times are a skoosh better.

But the shoes do take getting used to - my last 6 mile run was a little hilly - not a lot, but some - and I felt the effects of the run in my right achilles tendon area that afternoon and the next day.  I was walking pretty stiffly for a bit, but it worked itself out.

The other good news is that the plantar fasciitis in my left foot seems to be diminished.  I can't determine if it has been because of the Newtons or all the stretching and massaging that I've been doing, or both, but the bottom line is that it feels better (today anyway).

So with that in mind, I'm trying to get into a half marathon later this month (in two weeks), even though registration for the event is closed.  That will be a good test!

Running with Newtons

After running unhappily for 6 months in shoes that had bad karma, I decided to explore the world of Newton running shoes – and so far I’m glad that I did.  I wound up selecting what Newton calls a “Motion Performance Trainer” (the blue one’s with the yellow sole), for the princely sum of $175.  These are by far the most expensive shoes (of any kind) that I have ever bought (I’m not a big “shoe” kind of a guy).   Newton will allow you to return any shoe within 60 days for a full refund, no matter how many miles you’ve put on them… That little option is what finally convinced me to give them a try.   I’m also not sure why Newton designates all of their shoes as “Trainers”…  what’s up with that?

So far I have a grand total of 12 miles on them and I really like them.  Per the advice of a customer at the store that I bought them at (MyTriGuys on 5 Mile in Livonia, MI, www.mytriguys.com), I have been “easing” into them starting with short runs and adding distance slowly, and I could immediately understand why that was important.  In my case, I could feel the shoes stretching and manipulating the muscles in my calves and hamstrings, along with the ligaments and tendons to my ankles.  The design of the shoes has a way of changing my running form just a tad, with two (hopefully positive) effects: 1) I believe that I’m making better use of my muscles, and 2) I think that I’m a little bit faster!  The latter point will be made more evident for fact or fantasy as I put on more miles.

During my first 1.5 mile run I could feel muscles in my hamstring (specifically the muscle area closer to my knee) working differently and after the run I felt the result of new stretching in the ligaments and tendons towards the back of my ankle (in the area of my Achilles tendon).  Subsequent runs, each one a bit further, have resulted in the same feeling in both areas.  It’s not a bad feeling, just different.

While running I can’t help but be conscious of the “knobs” on the bottom of the shoe – it’s not that I feel them so much as I know that they are there and I should be using them to my advantage.  Which forces me to focus on my form: keep my hips forward, lean into the run just a tad, land (lightly) on my midfoot, and release without pushing off with my toes.  When I concentrate on that form, I have been able to post better times per mile that I have in the last 6 months.  For three runs in a row, I have averaged a 7:20 min/mile pace in my last mile (I like to finish harder than I started…  it’s just my thing – I know that most coaches won’t approve, but I’m 55 and it’s what I do…).  That is compared to a mid to low 8 min/mile average with other shoes.  For all I know I’m subconsciously pushing myself, but like I said, fact and fantasy will be borne out as I put more miles on.

This of course is causing me to develop and exercise slightly new muscle groups, so I am now slowly building up mileage with the result of pretty much putting my attempt at the Grand Rapids Marathon out of the picture.  I'm still fighting and dealing with the Plantar Fasciitis thing and I have 5 weeks to go to the event. I can't see any realistic way that I’m going to be ready.  I am very bummed about it, but I don’t want to run it just to run it – I want to have a good time doing it.  I think that if I pushed myself I could actually finish the event, but I don’t want to just finish it – I want to do reasonably well, and I want to have a fun time doing it. (Which takes me to my next thought – someone asked me how could anyone possibly “have fun” running 26 miles?  I didn’t have an answer for the guy – there is just no way to explain it in a way that he would get it…)

(If you would like to leave a comment I've been told that it may be necessary for you to temporarily allow 3rd Party Cookies - it's not my thing... it's seems to be a Google Blogger thing... For example, if you use Chrome as a browser, go to "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and select "Show Advanced Settings", select "Content Settings" in the Privacy section, and then un-select "Block 3rd Party cookies...".   I would not recommend leaving your settings that way, so be sure to reset it back to block 3rd party cookies.)

running and roadkill

I'm back in MI and ran this AM along a fairly busy road that connects a couple of towns.  And I forgot about the choice smells that are part of country roads, i.e. road kill that is beginning to get nice and ripe.  Ran by a couple that really got my attention:  one was a skunk and the other was a raccoon.  The skunk of course, smelled like skunk, and the raccoon just smelled like dead stuff that wants to make you gag.

Naturally, your first inclination is to hold your breath, but when I'm running, I'm pretty much counting on getting as much oxygen into my system as possible - and that means having to breathe at a regular rate.  I could walk instead of run, but then of course it would take me longer to get past the sucky smell - so I keep running - and try not to breathe - much.

Today the skunk came first and I could smell it before I saw it, so I was a little bit prepared and started taking short breaths and holding it for a bit before exhaling and "sipping" a little bit of air at a time.  The funny thing about skunk stink is that you can smell it without breathing - which is really aggravating. I'm dying to take a fresh breath, but I know that if I do I'm going to suck in "skunk stink" - and eventually (not too long actually - its a matter of seconds) I have to take a breath and make it a short one - and of course its not close to being enough air to satisfy my oxygen depleted lungs.  And eventually, after what seems like an eternity, I am past the skunk and the stink.... phew...

About a half mile later I came across the dead, and nicely ripe, raccoon.  He probably got hit the night before and now with the sun beating on it was becoming nice and smelly.  The problem though was that, unlike the skunk stink that I sort of eased into, I suddenly saw the raccoon, guts and all, and was overwhelmed by the ripe smell of opened gastro-intestinal fumes.  It's one of those smells that almost immediately make you gag and want to hurl. It's like hitting a wall of bad, bad pungentness, the likes of which you can't imagine was once a living creature.

And of course I had just exhaled and was taking a deep breath when I got to the raccoon - a double whammy.  And yes, I did hold my breath for as long as I could before taking as small a breath as possible to test the air.  Obviously I got through it and lived to write about it.

But this just goes along with the joys of living on the edge of the country along with all the creatures that live there.

Plantar Fasciitis and running

I've been struggling with plantar fasciitis in my left foot for months now and its really affecting my training for the Grand Rapids Marathon.  The part that is uncomfortable is the pain on the bottom of my foot, just forward of my heel, kind of in the arch of the foot.  It always hurts more in the morning as soon as I put weight on it.  And it always hurts after a run, although I never seem to feel it during a run.  But it hurts enough that I think that I should not be running as much.  In the meantime however, I need to get my long miles in.

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the connective tissue between the heel and the forward part of the foot.  There is no quick fix for it.  All you can do is stretch, massage, maybe use orthotics....  One doctor friend offered to give me a cortisone shot, which I quickly declined (I have heard that it really, really hurts - a friend of mine did it and seriously thought that he'd rather have his foot amputated).

So to help myself I have been doing a lot of stretching and flexing for my foot and perhaps these things will help someone else:
- while sitting, grab my toes and towards me with my hands or a belt and really stretch out my arch.
- stand and point my toes back and so as to stretch the top of my foot (oddly enough, it makes my arch, where it hurts, feel good).
- stand on a 2x6 or a door jam or a step and do heel drops.
- while sitting, I will bend my foot in every possible direction, holing it stretched out in place for a few seconds.
- I find that walking barefoot makes it feel really good too.
- before I get out of bed in the AM I manipulate my foot for a few minutes, kind of like waking it up.  Apparently the tissue tightens up while I sleep, so stretching it out and "waking it up" makes a big difference and makes it significantly less uncomfortable when I take my first steps.  I've learned that I don't want to just jump out of bed.  I need to prep my ankle before doing so - makes it a little tough whenever one of my dogs has to go outside in the middle of the night, but oh well....

The more I do those things, the better it feels, but of course the problem is that I keep getting out of a steady routine of doing it.

I don't remember feeling any discomfort while running, but for all I know I'm adjusting for it and don't even realize it.  But I definitely feel it afterwards, not horribly, but it hurts. Sometimes, I'll even take an ibuprofen to take the edge off - but that is not a habit I want to get into - and besides, I'm not sure that it really provides much relief.

My big issue is that I don't want to permanently hurt myself by continuing to run on it, which is why I've been limiting my miles.  But at the same time, I really, really want to run that marathon.  So the answer to that is to pay more attention to my stretching...  Like they say, "just do it..."

My bigger worry is that it's not clear to me from all that I've read that I'll ever really rehab myself out of this issue!  Everything that I read says "temporary relief" - what good is that?

hot Florida running

I'm still in FL with a side trip to Vegas.  In FL it's just hot and humid.  In Vegas it's roasting oven hot.  That is a heat that just beats you down like a sledge hammer.  In FL it's the humidity that knocks you down.  I'm not sure that I'm crazy about either of them.  Fluids, and plenty of them, are mandatory.  And preferably early, very early, morning runs.

After the funeral I had to go for a run - I couldn't sit.  Even though it was 7PM, I hadn't eaten well all day, and I'd had several rums...  I had to run to release the tension.  What started out as a 3-4 miler turned into a 10 miler.  I got 5 miles out and then realized that I should probably turn around and head back.  Not only that, but the sun was close to setting.  I was actually very comfortable beating the crap out of myself (it was hot and humid) and releasing the tension of the day felt good. I did find new energy when I turned around - I guess the subconscious thought that the "end of this madness is near" kind of helps.  But I do have to admit that I was pretty bagged during that last mile.  I was done.  I did not have another mile in me.

During my cool down and stretching I could tell that I came really close to over-doing it.  My leg muscles were doing their twitchy thing and feeling weird.  But the best part is that "spent" feeling after a hard workout that just feels so good.  The odd part is that I only did 10 miles ("only"), yet it felt like 20 - mostly I am sure because of the heat/humidity and the fact that I ran in the PM without having prepped myself food-wise - and I'm sure that the rum didn't help.  It had also been a really weird day.

My left foot (plantar fasciitis) hurt like a bad bitch after I finished running and stretching. I don't remember it bugging me during the run, but after... oh yeah.....  After my shower and eating something, I could barely stand to walk. I even took 3 advil (something that I rarely do).  I was seriously worried that I had totally over done it and I would not be running again for a long time.  But in the AM it was actually more or less ok.....  go figure...  Granted I took the time when I woke up to stretch and manipulate my ankles before popping out of bed - and even then, my first steps were very ginger.  It was tender, but didn't hurt as much as I expected it to.

Discretion being the better part of valor, rather than run today, I did a 3 mile walk.  And during my walk I committed to exploring new running shoes.  Something just isn't right with my shoes and I am convinced that I just need to find the right shoe to go with my orthopedic inserts...  jeesh - there goes another $100...

But I'm not getting my long miles in - I need to be in the 16-18 mile range right now with a 20 miler coming up soon, and I'm not even close.  I'm worried about being conditioned enough to run the marathon.  ugh.

13 weeks to Grand Rapids Marathon and Plantar Fasciitis

13 weeks to go to the Grand Rapids Marathon.  And a new injury of sorts to slow me down.  I've developed plantar fasciitis on/in my left foot.  Plantar fasciitis is a fairly uncomfortable inflammation of the connective tissue on the bottom of the foot and is apparently more common than I realized.  There is no real fix for it; I'm told that not running would really help it get better faster, but that's not going to happen.  Aside from that, the fix is a lot of stretching.

But I've got 13 weeks to go, I need to amp up my miles, and once again I am behind.  I'm behind because I've been baby'ing my foot a bit.  I had a good 11 mile'r last week, and I need to get a 16'er in this week.  I'm in FL right now and it is hot and very, very humid. I did 3.5m last night and then 8m this morning (it was so humid that by the time I was done I was absolutely and totally soaking wet with sweat).  My foot is sore as hell now, but I know that it will pass. 

I'm in FL because my Dad passed - and the runs seem to be very therapeutic. I've had long conversations with myself about my dad, conversations with my dad, or sometimes just I just ran mindlessly.  The last two runs, the 3 and the 8 miler seemed to go by so fast...  At one point on one of my runs I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I missed a turn and wound up confused about where the hell I was.  Once I realized that I had missed a turn I backtracked my route and obviously made it home.

13 weeks to go... I haven't signed up for the marathon yet.  Am somewhat worried about being able to go the distance.  We'll see.  I'm not sure when I'll sign up (or not), but we'll see.  I hate not being 100% healthy.  it sucks.  But maybe that's part of the test.

Dexter Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Half Marathon

It is now mid-June, 3 months since I re-injured my calf.  I've gone through extensive PT, run the Dexter-AnnArbor HM, and the Ann Arbor HM portion of the AA Marathon.  Because I was unable to run the miles, I had to bail out of the AA Marathon.  As it was, I only  barely squeezed in a 12 mile training run a couple of weeks before the DexAA HM.  That barely got me ready for that event.  Then I had all of two weeks in between the DexAA HM and the AA HM - I did a short 5 miler in the week in between.  The good news is that my calf is all good and I'm very happy with that.  Plus I've learned a lot of cool and interesting techniques for stretching and exercising my legs. I've also done some biking for cross training.  Out of a bad experience I've picked up some good things, so all positive there....

On the down side, since my training has been so limited, my speed and endurance has suffered.  I barely completed the DexAA HM - I started cramping coming up the hill and pushed hard to finish. My time was so-so: 2:00:31, a full 1:38 off last year.  The AA HM was going well for me, but the humidity got to me around mile 10 and I got very hot and started cramping - so I slowed way down to take care of myself so that I could be sure to finish (I didn't want another "Milford incident").  Even so, I was bull headed enough to push hard at the end and suffered cramps started after mile 12, first in one thigh and then the other (fortunately not both at the same time).  I found that I could sort of run by grabbing the upper part of the cramping thigh with my hand and sort of hobble along.  It was very uncomfortable, and I know that I made for quite a sight, but I made it.  The good news there is that I recovered very quickly - I was seemingly just fine moments after I crossed the finish line and stopped running!  My time for the AA HM was a dismal 2:09:01.  That included a 13:35 minute mile between mile 10 and 11.... (that's 4:30 race minutes off my intended pace of 9:00 min/mile that I was not going to make up!).  Oh well.....

I had flirted, briefly, with the notion of doing the full AA marathon - I'm glad that I had the good sense to back off of it.  That would have made for an ugly day.

As an aside, I noticed in the annarbor.com article about the event a lot of not-kind comments from very unfriendly locals about the event.  I'm hoping that these people are not the majority or that they don't sway any decision to not have the event again.  While I'm not crazy about the route, I think that it is great that AA has it's own marathon and I'm hoping that it becomes a much bigger event.

I am still hoping to run the Grand Rapids Marathon in October.  I need to figure out some logistics (hotel), but I'm aiming for that as my next big event.  17 weeks to go.

Calf problems

It all started with the fact that I had to buy new running shoes. My current ones had 350 or so miles on them and were beginning to feel flat. So I did. With the help of the helpful folks at Tortoise and Hare I selected the new Nike "Lunarlon's" out of three or four others. I spend a day just walking around in them, and after a rest day did a short 3 miler. I loved them. But after the run I could feel a new tension in my calves, particularly my right calf. So I did what most people are inclined to do: I tried to stretch it out. Bad idea. Left calf ok. Right calf, I felt the pop. And I immediately panicked. I had a 10K race the next day that I was so looking forward to. And come that morning, after waking up at 5:30am to see if how felt, I ultimately had to bag it and not do the race.

That was last week... Since then I've been very carefully taking care of my calf. I took two full days off, and then slowly ramped up my routine: I did run/walks, running a quarter mile, and then walking a quarter mile. The next day I tried running just a bit further and walking less. And finally on Friday I did 5 miles without walking. After each run I would ice my calf for 20 minutes. All in all it felt great.

On Saturday (yesterday) I did a 2.5 mile walk instead of running. And today, with absolutely perfect weather, I got up early with the anticipation of doing 10-12 slow and easy miles. I even picked a fairly flat route that would not stress out my calf. It was going to be a great run. But around mile 4, my calf suddenly started twinging to the point that I had to stop. I walked for a bit, hoping that I could work out whatever was stressing it, but eventually realized that today's run was over.

I turned around and started to hobble home. About a mile into it my calf was substantially uncomfortable. The walking was not helping, and I could not find a comfortable gait or way to place my foot to releve the tension in my calf. I finally had to call AnnDee to come pick me up (that's one good argument for having a cell phone... I've been considering ditching my iPhone and using a wrist gps device. Not anymore.)

So now I'm on the couch, icing down my calf, and I'm disappointed and worried about my training.i have 12 weeks until the AA Marathon (10 weeks until the DexAA HM), and I am officially behind in my miles. If I have a micro-tear in my calf, as I did a year ago, that could side line me for several weeks. This is a problem as it will be difficult to build up the endurance for the marathon in a very short time span. (note that I said difficult, not impossible). The important part right now is to make sure that I am as healthy and as strong as possible so that I can.

As I sit here in my frustration, my plan is to take a shower, not run for a couple of days, do whatever PT I can think of or read about on my calf, and take a new look at things on Wednesday. Absolutely worst case is that I don't run the AA Marathon and train like a bastard for the Grand Rapids Marathon.

10 weeks to the DexAA HM
12 weeks to the AA Marathon
30 weeks to the Grand Rapids Marathon

nutrition really matters

This week I had a bad run day and a good run day.  And I think that it all centered around being nutritionally ready to run.  On the day prior to the bad run, I didn't fuel myself properly and I definitely did not fuel myself as I should have on the day of.  And I could really tell that I didn't have any juice.

On Wednesday I had a goal of doing 12 miles - but due to other commitments I was going to have to split it into two runs.  I also had the idea that since I was splitting up the run that I would do more than 12.  But for reasons that I can't fathom, on Tuesday I didn't eat balanced meals (carbs/proteins).  In fact, for some reason I was very protein intensive (but I did end the day with some totally awesome, over the top good, smoked ribs compliments of my neighbor!) .  Prior to my Wednesday run, I did a goo pack and took off with a goal of doing 7 miles prior to breaking for an appointment.  But despite the fact that it was a beautiful day, cool, no wind, sunny, I never found my rhythm, I was constantly struggling for juice.  At mile 2, I sucked down another goo and forced myself to finish 5 miles.  And to make matters worse, I felt totally fatigued for the rest of the day.  I never made it to the second part of the run.  This was bad because I was slightly behind in my training schedule for the AA marathon.

But the one thing I did on Wednesday was eat. In fact it occurred to me that I was eating more than usual. Small portions, and all leaning towards carb-heavy.  But I ate. I even went out and had a few beers that evening (I had taken myself off beer because I thought that it was adding pounds on me that I didn't need).

Thursday morning I had a whole wheat English muffin and after 90 minutes hit the road.  And I had a great 10+ mile run.  I did 5 miles on flat terrain, goo'ed up, and then did 5 hilly miles.  The hills were hard, but the work out felt great.  And I felt strong afterwards.  I even toyed with the idea of doing an extra 2 hill miles, but decided that sanity needed to take charge.  Let's not get ahead of myself....

Bottom line:  pre-run nutrition is so important.  And it's not just the day-of, it's also about the day-before.  And the day before that, and so on.  I'm slowly figuring it out.

This weekend is the Sham-Rock 10K
10 weeks to the DexAnnArbor HM
12 weeks to the AA Marathon

Hamstring fun

While doing speed intervals a week or so ago I managed to aggravate my right hamstring.  Everything was going well in my routine:  warm up, and then quarter mile fast/slow repeats. During my fourth repeat, instead of just doing a quarter mile fast, I decided to try for a half mile.  I felt good endurance-wise, nothing hurt, and even though I was tired, I felt like it was a good goal.  I finished the half mile fast no problem and then did my quarter mile recovery at a slow jog.  But when I went to start my next fast period something did not feel right at all with my right hamstring.  So I quickly abandoned the run and walked and massaged my ham.  I find that if I run my fingers up from the back of my knee up the middle of my ham towards my glutes, that it can often release what ever pressure or knot is in the muscle.  It helps, but of course, some kind of damage has occurred and it needs to repair itself.  I sort of jogged the last quarter mile home, but I was very concerned about what just happened.

I took the next couple of days off, massaging and stretching my legs.  I followed that with an easy 3 miles - ham still a little tender.  The following day I did 5 miles, and that was pretty scary.  At about 3.5 miles, my right ham felt very weird, like it was about to give out, so I walked it and massaged it for a bit. I also noted that my left knee was feeling weird, no doubt due to the fact that my left leg was probably compensating for my right. I did finish my 5 miles, but did so very carefully and took the next 2 days off.

By the time day 3 dawned, I was beginning to feel like I was behind in my training plan, so I naturally had to get out there and put some miles on.  I did 8+ miles.  The first 4 were very careful and I slowly upped my pace, while modifying my stride in order to help stretch out different parts of my ham and quads.  By mile 6 I'm guessing that my ham finally warmed up because it suddenly felt great.  It felt so good that I finished the last 2.5 miles at nice clip.

So what happened?  Was it the change in my stride that helped?  Did it take 6 miles for my ham to "warm up" and get loose? Both?

I iced my ham afterwards and for the rest of the afternoon it was very stiff.  Actually both of my legs were stiff.  I'm sure that my left leg was out of sorts for having to compensate for my right.  That night Amy showed me some Yoga moves that really helped. (way to go Amy!)   I worked through them and a few others this morning and things feel a bit better.

I have a long run (10 miles) to do this week, followed by 11 miles the following one with the St Patty's day 5K that weekend.  I need that ham to get right.

hill work

Hills.  I need to do more hills or else I will absolutely die doing the AA marathon (17 weeks from now).  The marathon course doesn't have any huge or horrible hills, but there are a lot of them.  And historically so far, its been hills that tend to knock the crap out of me (the Milford 30K, the 22 mile Tortoise and Hare training run), so I need to make sure that I build the necessary endurance to manage, if not survive, the whole race.

I've been picking routes that have hills and I will also work in doing hill repeats (up and down the same hill - which is kind of boring for me..).  I prefer doing hill repeats at the Arb if for no other reason than it is scenic and its a dirt path, vs asphalt or cement (easier on my feet), but if it's been raining it make the path somewhat difficult.  My goal in doing hill repeats is to be able to do them while keeping my heart rate within a reasonable range.  But I don't always wear a heart monitor (too fricking unreliable) so its just a "feel".

I recently read a quote in Runners World by Mark Remy where defined treadmills as "designed to destroy one's mind through sensory deprivation and monotony" - and while I agree with the sensory deprivation and monotony and I avoid treadmills now as much as possible, I never would have gotten started with running were it not for treadmills.  Running on a treadmill basically gave me the confidence to hit the road and a safe place to run in the winter.  Interesting how a perspective changes...

St Pat's run in 3 weeks.
10K run in 4 weeks.
DexAnnArbor run in 15 weeks.
Ann Arbor Marathon in 17 weeks.
Grand Rapids Marathon in 35 weeks.

New day, new run

Yesterday I did a measly 3 miles - and struggled through every friking yard of it.  Today I did 4 miles and enjoyed every inch of it.  What was the difference?

Yesterday was partly sunny, in the high 20's, and windy, making for a nice wind chill factor.  I know that I was not happy about the wind.  Today on the other hand, is cloudy, light snow, and enough breeze to make the snow come down at a 45degree angle.

I had no mojo yesterday.  My last run was 4 days prior, a good but hard 8 miles.  Then it got really cold out and on Saturday with plans for another 7-8 miler, I crawled back into bed when I saw that the temp was 9degrees with a 15mph wind.  Forget about it.  I really don't need to put up with stupid weather conditions...  So yesterday, with the weather more or less reasonable (it was, less the wind) and having not run in a few days, became one of those days when I feel that "I really need to get out there".  My legs were heavy, my breathing was labored, my pace was out of sync - not a damn thing was right.  Plus I almost got run over by a car in my neighborhood; my fault since I wasn't paying attention and literally running (shuffling, stomping - not really running) in the middle of the road.  My bad.

But the bottom line is that I felt like I had no juice.  Was it lack of fuel?  Possibly the wrong kind?  I had had something for breakfast; something very healthy:  greek yogurt with blueberries and a spoonful of granola. Plus a hard boiled egg.  Sounds like a nice balance...?  But then after the run, I felt crappy.  I also didn't feel that "ahhhhh" feeling that I'm supposed to get after a run.

Today I started with a simple piece of whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter.  An hour later I pushed off for my run and I felt great.  I had a good, if not a great, run. Light snow, some breeze, the path was totally covered with snow and only a couple other footprints.  Nice.

Was it the pre-run fuel?  the wind?  other mojo affecting bs?

There is one thing that I am very proud of.  During my sucky run yesterday I had several opportunities to cut the run short, i.e. trim it down from 3 miles to 2.5, 1.5, or even just 1 mile.  But I put my head into it and I did the miles that I intended to run from the start.  I don't know if that is good or bad - I don't know if I benefited physically from having pushed myself to do the entire run or if, since I was not into it, if it was actually detrimental, but mentally it was very rewarding.  While in the shower I remember thinking "I did it anyway", with a smile...  For that reason alone I'm glad that I did it.  Even better that the following day was a great run day.

What winter?

First week of February and we're having winter-not-so-much.  Good run today.  Odd thing was that I ran without my usual cap, just with a skull-cap kind of thing to keep my head warm/covered.  For some reason I felt lighter and faster.  I trucked along pretty quick, taking a full 6 minutes off my previous run of the same length.  Was it the cap?

• Registered for the Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon for June 3, 2012 (http://dxa2.com/).  16 weeks out.
• Registered for the Ann Arbor Marathon, for June 17, 2012  (http://theannarbormarathon.com)  18 weeks out.

I'll also probably sign up for

• the local St. Patricks Day 5K run on March 11 (http://runshamrocks.com/).  This is more of an excuse to drink beer than a real race.  Was fun last year....
• A 10K St Patricks run in Plymouth on March 18  (http://www.shamrocknrollrun.com/)
• Hoping to do the Big House Big Heart 10K on April 15, but I may be out of town...

I'm also wanting to run a fall marathon, either Grand Rapids, Air Force (at Wright Patterson AFB), or Chicago again.  I probably need to make a commitment soon (like now), but for some reason I'm dragging my feet.

Cold, windy, and snowy

Winter has arrived.  Last few runs have been in sub-30's (that's degrees Fahrenheit), bit of rain and snow making the roads and paths slippery.  I notice that my gait is different to offset potential slippage on ice.  Today's run was in the mid 20's (closer to 20 actually), with a 10-15mph wind (making it colder), and snow.  At times the snow looked like it was coming down sideways.  I seemed dressed ok including a neck/head hoodie thing that allowed me to cover my mouth.  But with the wind the snow would accumulate around the edges of my hoodie thing against my cheeks, eventually icing up and being very uncomfortable (ice against my cheeks).

At times I noticed drivers looking at me as I beat my way against the wind and snow, and I'm sure that they all thought that I was nuts.  Oddly enough, as ugly as the weather was, it didn't seem that bad.  I guess I had the mindframe that I was out there to battle against the elements and it was going to be ok.

I have to admit that the first mile was the toughest (seems like it always is) and I kept wondering if I should make it very short run.  But once I got into it I kept saying "further, further"...  After about 3 miles or so the snow/ice build up on my hoodie thing against my cheek was uncomfortable enough for me to want to turn around and head back.  On the way back, with the wind on the other side of me, now my other cheek started to freeze up - so we sort of balanced out the discomfort.

One thing that I find interesting is that I wore four layers to cover my torso, but only one for my legs.  How is it that my legs don't get cold?

7 things I’ve learned about running

A recent article prompted me to think about what I’ve learned about and while running… and it boils down to 7 things:

1. I always feel better after a run than beforehand – Regardless of whether I’ve had a good run or a bad one, this is always true.  If I’ve had a bad run (hard time getting going, not breathing right, out of rhythm, sucky weather, etc), just the fact that I went out and did it anyway makes me feel better.  And if I’ve had a good run, it’s the cherry on top of the whipped cream.  It is a weird feeling, that good warm sensation that comes after a run, but it always happens.  And ultimately, when I’m feeling lethargic about getting out there, knowing that I’m going to get that feeling it’s what gets me out there to run.
2. Pay attention aches and pains  – Certain aches and pains need to be reckoned with, while others can be ignored.  The ones affecting my ankles, knees, and certain muscles (like my hamstring and calves) are the ones that I especially pay attention to.  Why?  Because I want to make sure that I can run again tomorrow.  Running “through the pain” can be counterproductive (unwarranted damage that will take much longer to heal).
3. Breathing really helps – Or put more correctly:  “breathing properly” really helps….  If I’m not breathing smoothly I simply don’t run well and I wind up having a shitty run.  I wind up struggling for the entire period and simply never get to the point where I feel I’m able to enjoy the experience.  But if I can manage my breathing and get into a nice rhythm, I almost always will have a great run.
4. Thin layers are the way to go – With summer nothing but a memory, I’ve learned how to dress for different cold/cool weather conditions and “thin” layers are the way to go.  No more sweat shirts or hoodies, at least for now (I’m sure that there will be a cold blustery day when I’ll go out with a hoodie….).   But the point of the thin layers is that: a) they are light weight, and b) each layer traps heat.  And then as I or the day warm up, I can lose a layer and easily carry it.  For example, aside from almost always wearing full length stretchy pants when it’s below 40 degrees, for mid to high 30’s I might wear two long sleeve layers.  If it is definitely in the high 30’s, I’ll do a long sleeve and a short sleeve layer.  Between 20 and 30 degrees, I’ll go with three layers, and perhaps top it with a windbreaker.  The wind can be a killer, and will make a big difference in the “feels-like” temperature – thus the windbreaker.  I’ve also learned to wear a skull cap – I lose a lot of heat up there.  I haven’t tried running when it’s below 20, but I’m sure I will soon.
5. Don’t go for a distance run without having fueled up beforehand – I did it once and I won’t do it again.  I had intended to do a very reasonable 6-8 mile jaunt, but events in the morning got away from me causing me to not start my run until almost noon.  At that point my only nutrition was 2-3 cups of coffee since 6-ishAM.  Realizing that, I sucked down a pack of GU and took off, only to feel the effects of not having any juice left to run literally just 3 miles out …. Fortunately, I had another pack of GU with me and I managed to stumble home.  Bottom line:  If I’m going to do more than 4 miles, I make sure that I get some fuel in me at least 2 hours beforehand.
6. Shoes make a big difference – It really is all about the shoes.  If your feet don’t feel just right, your ankles, knees, hips and all the associated muscles, tendons, and ligaments won’t work right.  It’s so worth the $100 for good shoes and so worth trying different brands and models.  Good sox too (no cheepies...).
7. I don’t always need to run with music – Oddly enough, sometimes I find that I get more pleasure out of my run by just running and listening to myself.  I wind up listening to the cadence of my steps and my breathing and letting my mind wander.  It is definitely a different running experience.  I get why the hardcore runners don’t run with iPods… But on the other hand,  I really like listening to my music.

There are more, but these'll do for now....

January running (it's like Spring!)

Quick notes:

• January and very un-winterish weather. Little or no snow, and not that cold.
• Working up weekly mileage, up to 20 miles per week for two weeks in a row.
• Stretching, massaging, and icing my left ankle regularly after each run. The ankle is feeling good.
• Focused on building my endurance.
• Signed up for the Ann Arbor Marathon, June 17. Not crazy about the course, but it's a hometown event, and I should give it a go. Actually, I think that it will be pretty hard for me - the course has some hills. In comparison, the Chicago Marathon was a pretty flat run, so this will be interesting. The other downer is that it could be, will likely be, hot. So I'm not counting on a PB.

More later.