Zippity Doo Dah - Running week of Jan. 18 2009

[Grog]

I had a horribly painful long run yesterday. I had planned to run 21 km, and did run 21 km in the end, but boy! how many plans did I do to stop my misery along the way. "I'll run to the university (17 km) and then take the bus back," or "I'll run to Granville Island and turn around if it's too painful," (10 km), "I'll take the bus back up the hill," (saving 2 uphill km) and so on. I hadn't run for more than an hour in recent weeks and my ankles and other joints had gladly forgotten about the constant banging of running. Plus, part of the run was on really terribly hard surface.

But! I did the run exactly as planned in the end. I walked for 1 minute every 20 minutes for five cycles and for the last 2 or 3 km I was running 5 and walking 1, cursing at myself for having so much willpower.

I was really sore and drained immediately after the run but it's much more bearable today, and I have no residual joint pain.

The decor for the run was very special though. For about a third of the route, the skies were clear and beautiful. For the other two thirds, I ran through a thick fog. Bizarre...

[emily_in_nc]

Good job on your run, Grog!

Yeah, the injuries really suck -- guess I'm in good company. I did a short (2-mile) trail walk yesterday (first walk in a week due to the knee pain), then walked just six minutes on the treadmill today before my knee started barking at me again, so I stopped. I sure hate hearing about how long you had tendinitis, Ruth. Hope it stays away from now on. And I hope that mine (quadriceps tendinitis right above my left knee) is short-lived. It's only been hurting a little over a week, and I already feel like a whiny baby. I'm trying to decide whether to make an appointment with a sports doc or just continue the icing and ibuprofen for awhile longer.

The silver lining is that b/c I can't run right now, I'm spending more time on upper body weight training, rehabbing an old rotator-cuff injury that is now almost all better, and Pilates. But I sure do miss my cardio!

Emily

[Aggie_Ama]

2.4 miles and faster than last run. The weather is spectacular for running right now, it was about 60 when I went out after work. I wish I could have this weather 10 months of the year, I like the hot for about a week.

[michelem]

Sunday, my brother emailed to ask if I want to run a half with him on March 15. I’ve cut way back on the running since the marathon (an easy 8-9 miles once a week on weekends, at the most) and have been concentrating on the bike and weights. But, my brother and I aren’t very close, and I feel honored that he’d ask me to do something like this with him. So, I pulled out my FIRST Half Marathon Training schedule and I’m trying to figure out how to squeeze it down from 18 weeks to eight! I mean, I could go out there and run/complete a half right now, but of course, I want to improve my time and have fun and not hurt and all that as well. 

So, last night I hit the treadmill for speedwork. The program called for 12 intervals of 400m (1/4 mi) at half marathon pace -75 seconds with 90 sec. rest intervals in between. Well, that didn’t happen. But, I do feel good about what I did. One mile warmup: .10 @ 4.5 mph (fast walk); .40 @ 6.0; .25 @ 6.5; .25 @ 6.9. Then intervals: 1 x 400m @ 8.0 mph; 1 x 400 @ 8.2 mph; 1 x 400 @ 8.4 mph; 2 x 400 @ 8.2 mph; 1 x 400 @ 800 mph. By that time my legs were feeling really fatigued. I did my rest intervals at anywhere between 4.2 mph (walking) to 6.0 mph. 1 mile cooldown from 6.9 down to 3.9 mph. Less than an hour, but I felt good and whipped afterward.

No side stitches, no aches or pains, so this was very good for me. I guess I’ll just have to lay off the lower body weights and any hard cycling for now. I just finished reading a really good article in Runner’s World about the aging marathoner. VERY INFORMATIVE (unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it is on their website; probably because it is in a recent issue). The key thing I took from it though is that recovery time is much more important the older you get. Unfortunately, I don’t like taking recovery time! But, I need to do it.


Continue to take care of those aches and pains everyone.

[rocknrollgirl]

Emily,
stretch, stretch, stretch that quad......so many knee issues are from being tight.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily,
stretch, stretch, stretch that quad......so many knee issues are from being tight.

Thanks, will do (and have been) -- I am icing at the moment. That helps too (for awhile), but it's even hurting at night in bed when I move around now. Sigh...

[OakLeaf]

Wow, sorry so many of you are injured! Here's some healing energy over the wires. ~~~~~~~~~~

I just did an easy 3 miles today, getting ready for the race on Saturday. I did three little bursts at race pace, about 1 minute each, just to keep the speed in muscle memory. I was out of time so I ran right to the yoga studio (only about a block and a half from my house) - I felt a little guilty about being all stinky for the class, but oh well. It was a good class, and my shoulder keeps getting better the more yoga I do.

[rocknrollgirl]

Thanks, will do (and have been) -- I am icing at the moment. That helps too (for awhile), but it's even hurting at night in bed when I move around now. Sigh...

I am so sorry...been there...too much. blech......

Go check out the link I just posted...there is a ton of good info on rehab and strength training and core...

FWIW, I have been having 30 min massage and trigger point work done on my bad side. It is really helping.