Running On, Feb 21-27

[colby]

Where's those race reports!! ;)

12 miles in my FiveFingers today (which is about my base long run mileage, but less than half of my total weekly mileage). Got a blister on the bottom of my feet between my big/second toes-ish, which is a similar location to where I get them in shoes. I think I have places where hard skin meets soft skin on the outside of my big toe that feel tender after a few miles and it changes how I plant my feet to put pressure on the first and second toes differently (rather than the tender skin). So, today I tried to spread my toes to put the pressure on the right foot the SAME as the left foot, but I should have started thinking that way sooner. Also, I need to get rid of whatever that tough skin crap is, it's been bugging me for a while.

Calves sore, of course, from all the ankle flexing. Also, the bottom of my feet had that feeling you get when you've been walking on pavement or standing for a really long time (walking on grass felt so good). However, my shins much prefer the FiveFingers, which is awesome. They used to be SUPER tender after a long run and hurt for days regularly, now they are fine. I also think my hip/knee/ankle system prefer them. Probably dropped 30 seconds/mile over the course of the entire run, but I started underfueled (bad, bad Colby).

[yellow]

Well, my race report is that I am on the road to recovery and doing really well. My surgery was last Thursday (2/18) and I was in the hospital for 4 days. It's nice to be home with my hubby and dogs.

The surgery went really well. The surgeon removed the few chunks (that's how he described it) of disk material that was left, put a plastic cage about the size of a dime in between L5 and S1, put some bone material in the cage, and then stabilized L5 and S1 with a plate that has 2 screws in each vertebra. The back pain was gone when I woke up in recovery. I have a little bit of nerve pain in my legs still and my back gets fatigued if I'm up for a longish time but that old familiar pain that I used to have is completely gone. Poof. Just like that. The 4" incision is what hurts the most, but that will heal. I am quite shocked that I'm not in more pain. I was expecting it to really suck, but it only mildly sucks, which is OK by me! I went into the surgery really strong, and that is really benefiting me right now.

So my long walks are about 3-4 minutes max right now, with several one to two minute intervals throughout the day :p Hope to work up to the end of the block and back (which would probably take about 5 minutes) by next week!

[OakLeaf]

That's great Yellow! Hope your recovery continues to go as smoothly.

I think this is the part where you start to get antsy... :p hope you don't go too crazy resisting the temptation to move more than you're supposed to!

[limewave]

Yellow--Glad your recovery is going well. I know how frustrating life can be after a surgery, so I'm glad you are feeling good and getting some walks in (even if they are brief).

I had 6.5 mile pace run on Sunday. I was supposed to run 10:15min/miles and I ended up averaging 10:30. However, I ran with a friend and we were talking the entire time, so I figured we did pretty good.

[Veronica]

That's great news Yellow. Now don't overdo it.


Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

heal up yellow!

I had a good/hilly speed workout this weekend. 6.5 miles in 1 hour and one minute. Then, I had to do it again at race pace, so I the same loop again in 50:30! Yippie! I feel like I am slowly getting stronger! Made for a nice 13 miles, and a lift in my confidence!

[Urlea]

Spent most of last week snowboarding in the mountains. My body handled the switch in training pretty well & I was encouraged that I could still get somewhat of a long run in on Saturday once we were home.

I spent so much time in stiff boots riding that I decided to go with the VFFs for this run. Ended up going 13.1 miles at close to race pace most of the time. Felt good! That's the longest I've run in the VFFs yet, a fresh dusting of snow was nice footing.

Colby- You may want to consider getting the book "Fixing your feet" by John Vonhof. I'm a chronic blisterer and there is a lot of good info on how to start preventing them in the book.

Yellow- Glad the surgery went well! Hope you continue to recovery goes just as well! :)

[WindingRoad]

Did 6 yesterday, hilly and cold out too. At least I'm pretty sure I did 6, my GPS died and I'm in the process of finding a replacement. Hoping the weather improves soon. Everyone get well and stay well! :)

[OakLeaf]

22 miles, and for the first time, I can totally envision 26.2. :)

And, I made it home before the big storm. :eek:

Kat, Grog, hope you both had great races - looking forward to your race reports!

[colby]

Hooray, Yellow!! Here's to a speedy (yet safe) recovery. :D

Thanks for the book recommendation, URLea, I'm going to pick it up. I could use the tips.

Congrats OakLeaf on your 22 miles. You're practically there. :)

[Grog]

Wow, Yellow, that sounds great! Now no headstands until the weekend, ok? :D

**

The weather was GORGEOUS yesterday - sunny skies, 2 Celcius at the start, just a bit of wind - but I had an okay half-marathon. Exactly on time, but not on 'energy budget'. To meet my time goal (1 hour 55 minutes) I had to run 5m27s per kilometer. However it's a very hilly course. I did 5 minute kilometers for a while until I started hitting the big hills, thinking I'd "save" a few seconds for later use. Well maybe that wasn't such a good strategy: I have been training for distance, not for speed, and I did not often run that fast recently. Moreover, the race was not that well organized and there wasn't enough water on the course, and I didn't bring my own, so I was pretty much unable to eat, having only two Clif bloks (maybe 60 calories???) over the whole distance.

At around 17 km I realized that I had more big hills and no slack if I wanted to meet my time goal. I "pressed the pace" (which by that time was quite relative) but it really wasn't fun. I love to finish a race feeling like I could still go five more kilometers, but really that was not the case yesterday.

Thankfully water and food were plentiful after the race, but by then it was a bit too late. They even had diluted tomato soup, which felt great.

Lesson: I will need to do a little bit of speed work as I prepare for my marathon. Not a lot, I need to focus on distance. But a little.

**

On a separate note: The race started and finished in some historic fort built at the beginning of the British Columbia colony (Fort Langley). In one of the historic building there was an exhibit containing the governor's diary from year 1828, opened at the week of February 18th or so. On the same date, 182 years ago, the weather was the same - crisp, beautiful views of the mountains, sunny - but much colder: the river in front of the fort was frozen over, although not so hard since some guy was recorded to have drowned when the ice broke under his weight. That river hasn't been frozen in a while...

[colby]

The weather was GORGEOUS yesterday - sunny skies, 2 Celcius at the start, just a bit of wind - but I had an okay half-marathon. Exactly on time, but not on 'energy budget'. To meet my time goal (1 hour 55 minutes) I had to run 5m27s per kilometer. However it's a very hilly course. I did 5 minute kilometers for a while until I started hitting the big hills, thinking I'd "save" a few seconds for later use. Well maybe that wasn't such a good strategy: I have been training for distance, not for speed, and I did not often run that fast recently. Moreover, the race was not that well organized and there wasn't enough water on the course, and I didn't bring my own, so I was pretty much unable to eat, having only two Clif bloks (maybe 60 calories???) over the whole distance.

At around 17 km I realized that I had more big hills and no slack if I wanted to meet my time goal. I "pressed the pace" (which by that time was quite relative) but it really wasn't fun. I love to finish a race feeling like I could still go five more kilometers, but really that was not the case yesterday.

Thankfully water and food were plentiful after the race, but by then it was a bit too late. They even had diluted tomato soup, which felt great.

Lesson: I will need to do a little bit of speed work as I prepare for my marathon. Not a lot, I need to focus on distance. But a little.

**

On a separate note: The race started and finished in some historic fort built at the beginning of the British Columbia colony (Fort Langley). In one of the historic building there was an exhibit containing the governor's diary from year 1828, opened at the week of February 18th or so. On the same date, 182 years ago, the weather was the same - crisp, beautiful views of the mountains, sunny - but much colder: the river in front of the fort was frozen over, although not so hard since some guy was recorded to have drowned when the ice broke under his weight. That river hasn't been frozen in a while...

That's really cool, Grog. Well, the part about the beautiful weather and the diary. The part about being short on water sounds really rough. I'm glad you made it on time, though, and learned something.

Congrats! Now you earned some rest (and food). ;)

[Bike Chick]

Congrats on your half, Grog! It sounds like a really tough race--especially the limited water part.

Yellow, I'm glad your surgery was a success and you are doing so well. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself!

[OakLeaf]

Grog, good job meeting your time goal, especially under those conditions! Congratulations.

That stinks about not having enough water. That race looks big enough that it really should have been better organized. :mad:

Glad the weather was nice for you though, and the history sounds cool. Now enjoy your recovery!

[Grog]

Now where's Kat??

[Bike Chick]

We haven't heard from Kat, have we? I wonder how she did.

I'm out of town for work but am trying to stay on my half marathon schedule. My legs are so sore! Is this normal? I was supposed to do 4 miles tonight but could only eek out 3 with walking in between. Went back to my room and sat in a tub of cold water.

[Urlea]

BikeChick When I was training for my 1st half marathon my legs hurt/were tired quite a bit. Thankfully your body will adjust it just takes time. Hang in there!

[Bike Chick]

Thanks for the encouragement and feedback Urlea. It's good to know. I keep thinking I should be over the sore part by now but every time I step up my miles, I'm really sore for a few days. As long as I know this is normal, I will suck it up and push on.

[OakLeaf]

Sore is normal in a building phase, but be sure you can tell the difference between delayed-onset muscle soreness vs. the twinges of incipient injury.

Some things that help me - compression tights after a long or hard run; extra protein, especially in my recovery snack; LOTS of emphasis on stretching and myofascial release.

[indigoiis]

Am still dealing / healing with what has turned out to be a lower sprain in the ankle, so no Hyannis for me this weekend. It sucks, but DH is running so I will be his support team.

Yellow, I am glad to hear your surgery went well and as I say it to you I also say it to me: Patience is a virtue! LOL. ;) You will heal stronger if you let it happen.

To all - awesome runs this week - very inspiring and I can't wait to get back out there.

Indy

[OakLeaf]

I hope you're just taking some well-deserved rest and treating yourself to whatever you like best!

But if something happened that you're unhappy about, come back here for some sympathy. We've all had injuries, DNFs, times we haven't been happy with.

I know you did your best, whatever you did out there. And I'd love to hear about it.

[WindingRoad]

Hello all! Hope all is well on the running and recuperating fronts. It's going OK with me, just finished 5.5 in about a half inch of snow. It's amazing how much the snow kicks my butt. Just that little bit of slip wears me out fast. I wore my trail shoes too, which who knows since they are heavy maybe it was just the shoes?:)

BikeChick this is my second half and I had a LOT of pain when I first started running last year. I have historically only been a cyclist. I did tons of icing on my shins which works amazing, I highly recommend it. It's good too if you want/need to avoid ibuprofen. This year it isn't as painful but I'm still feeling those familiar creeks and twinges as I start to up my mileage. I think it just comes with the territory, but it's worth it.:D

[OakLeaf]

Just a mile barefoot today, out and back.

The second half felt amazing.

Yeah, I was on softer sand for the out-lap and a firmer part for the return half. Yeah, there was a 7 mph wind in my face going out, at my back coming home. But still. It was like I just found my stride, found what running is supposed to feel like, bare feet and all, and just felt like I was flying. Pace-wise, I was just around 5K pace for that last half-mile, so nothing brilliant, and I was breathing and sweating for sure, but it didn't feel like work. It just felt amazing.



Indigo, heal up quick. Too bad about this weekend :(, but good for you to knowing when to say when.



Edit, five hours later:

Okay, this is crazy. I can't remember the last time my calves felt this good. No tightness, no Achilles pain, even after I've been sitting for a while. I'm seriously tempted to whack the back of my heel against something just to see if it's as tender as it normally is. (No, I'm not really going to do it.) I felt like a freakin' Kenyan out there. For all of half a mile, a short, white, slow, pudgy Kenyan. :p But my calves, this is just crazy. I never want to put on shoes again...

[Susan Otcenas]

11 miles this morning. In the rain. In the dark. Aaaahhh, life in Oregon. :rolleyes:

[colby]

Edit, five hours later:

Okay, this is crazy. I can't remember the last time my calves felt this good. No tightness, no Achilles pain, even after I've been sitting for a while. I'm seriously tempted to whack the back of my heel against something just to see if it's as tender as it normally is. (No, I'm not really going to do it.) I felt like a freakin' Kenyan out there. For all of half a mile, a short, white, slow, pudgy Kenyan. :p But my calves, this is just crazy. I never want to put on shoes again...

I feel that way about my shins, I was never able to run as many miles without pain in my shins as I have with the five fingers. I laughed out loud with the whacking something against your heel, that's precisely how my shins are. Around 25 miles a week with a 12 mile long run there is NO WAY I could run my fingers up and down my shins without discomfort like I can now. I've had the "where have you been all my life" moments, too, and I am trying to stay cautious but optimistic about it. I was always a barefoot kind of kid, so I feel almost like I'm getting away with something wearing them, and the dream of freedom will come crashing down. ;)

I don't want to be the barefoot messiah because as with everything it's probably not for everyone and you have to be careful how you approach it, but it's been really interesting.

[spindizzy]

Nice race Grog!

Yellow- all that talk about cages and screws, sounds like your talking about a hockey helmet- not vertebrae

Treadmill Tabata tonight, 10%grade, 7mph. Short and sweet. Then CrossFit.

[Bike Chick]

BikeChick this is my second half and I had a LOT of pain when I first started running last year. I have historically only been a cyclist. I did tons of icing on my shins which works amazing, I highly recommend it. It's good too if you want/need to avoid ibuprofen. This year it isn't as painful but I'm still feeling those familiar creeks and twinges as I start to up my mileage. I think it just comes with the territory, but it's worth it.:D

Thanks Winding! I've been icing AND ibuprofen and they both help. DH even talked me into an ice bath---I hated it but I had to admit that it sure helped.

[limewave]

11 miles this morning. In the rain. In the dark. Aaaahhh, life in Oregon. :rolleyes:

12 miles last night. In a snowstorm. In the dark.
:) Life in MI.

[Urlea]

Had a lot of difficulties falling asleep last night so when I set off at 4:35 am to meet up with the Thursday running group I only had 3.5hrs of sleep to go off of. I just kept telling myself to get out there as it's good training for the ultras when I'll be running thru the night anyway.

Despite the windchill of -17F & my fuel freezing toward the end it went surprisingly well. Having the company of other runners definitely keep the mind off the cold. Between the mileage I logged running to/from the meet-up site and the miles w/ the group I got 13.3 this morning! :D

Now I need a nap.

Susan & Lime: Way to HTFU thru those conditions and get the runs done! Always makes race conditions seem better when you can compare them against crummier weather in training.

[limewave]

Urlea--you are one tough chick.

I was looking forward to that 12 miler all day yesterday. We had gotten so much fresh snow. Big, fat, wet snowflakes. It was gorgeous. And I mapped out a route that took us through the State Park and up to Lake MI. It was beautiful and peaceful.

I LOVE running in weather.

[Susan Otcenas]

12 miles last night. In a snowstorm. In the dark.
:) Life in MI.


You definitely have me beat! ;) Despite my grumbling about the rain, I'm really grateful to live someplace where it snows so rarely and the temps are so mild. I'm AMAZED by the conditions some of you run in. !!

[Susan Otcenas]

Despite the windchill of -17F & my fuel freezing toward the end it went surprisingly well.


See, this is what I'm talking about. Urlea probably reads "11 miles in the rain" and thinks "Heck, I could do that with my eyes closed! " :D

[rocknrollgirl]

Six in the snow for me this morning at 5 am...it was actually kinda nice....

[katluvr]

[QUOTE=Bike Chick;493382]We haven't heard from Kat, have we? I wonder how she did.QUOTE]

Hi!
Just posted my race report. Been busy!

Hope to be posting a few runs here in the near future. In fact I need to read some to get caught up on what everyone is doing.

K

[OakLeaf]

Nine miles with shoes on, then one barefoot.

It didn't feel like yesterday, but with the fatigue, I wasn't really expecting it would. Definitely some tiredness and even a little muscle soreness in the arches and lower ankles. Everything felt good though - another beautiful day. :)

[colby]

Hill repeats today, 6x30s ALL OUT UPHILL BATTLE with 4min recovery. That last one I did up to about 45-60 seconds, oh my. It was probably about 4 miles of actual running, all told, I didn't get a chance to download.

I ran them in my VFFs. Lesson learned: relax the ankles. Running in the VFFs has made all those muscles I tried to grow during PT for my hip feel stronger (and even sore). Today, running those hill repeats really made my glutes and outsides of my upper legs/quads sore. My ankles and calves are tired, but feel really good (relaxing the ankles helped).

Next stop, long run on Sunday. I am traveling next week and debating doing part or all of the long run in shoes so I can do my Tues/Thurs runs on the treadmill both in the VFFs. It will be nice to not carry heavy (by comparison) shoes, if so. ;)

[limewave]

4 maintenance miles. Very cold, windy, snowy, and icy today. Felt like I was continually being stung by 100's of little bee's for 40 minutes.

But, it's done! And I feel great.

[limewave]

A lot less rubbing of the thighs on this run! Yay! The decreased friction alone has to be shaving seconds off my pace :)

[skhill]

Yesterday's run was interesting. There was an inch or 2 of fresh snow on the ground, and I took a looping course through my neighborhood. It was really interesting when I came back around to where I'd been before, and could see my footprints as clear as anything. Looks like my right foot turns out slightly more than my left (just a little bit). And on my second pass down that stretch of sidewalk, my stride was definitely longer (maybe because I was warmed up by then, or maybe because I'd relaxed a little when I was confident there was no ice lurking under the snow).

[OakLeaf]

9 x 1 minute intervals in shoes, then 1.2 miles barefoot after a bit of a cool-down.

A little bit chilly and cloudy here today... it was actually nice to have my feet a little bit numb for my 1/4-mile walk barefoot back home on the road. :cool: Toughening my soles up little by little.

skhill, yeah, it's the same with running on the beach, really instructive to be able to see footprints!

[spindizzy]

4k trail run in 6 inches of snow (we finally got some....) with CrossFit buddies. it was hard, fun..perfect.

[skhill]

Today, I was planning to go 13 miles or so, but my right hamstring has been barking for the last few days. So I changed my route, winding my way through town, with many opportunites to bail early and head home if it got worse. Thankfully, it didn't-- but it never really loosened up, either. I ended up doing a slowish 10.5 miles, and could have gone a couple more, if it weren't for a full bladder (I finally hydrated enough (or too much)).

At 35 miles, this was my highest milage week of 2010. And I only need to do 2 on Sunday to bring Feb. to 115. Not bad for an unusually cold and snowy winter!

[Urlea]

18.7 for me today. Was shooting for 16miles, but I've decided that most runs for me end up with Rachel-miles which are about 3 miles further than the intended allotment. :) Knees felt pretty weak today, which was a little tough with how icy the sidewalks were & the piles of snow at the intersections, but my will to enjoy the run and log the miles overcame that.

[rocknrollgirl]

4 easy for me yesterday, I tried to get on the trails...no way, not yet, so I am embracing the road running as best I can. Do what you have to do.

[yellow]

I was so proud of my bad self yesterday. :p I walked in total a little over a mile. My longest single walk was 0.5 mile with my pack (hubby and dogs). I got passed by a toddler, but I got over it. Felt good to be outside.

[OakLeaf]

Yay Yellow! Little by little...