Merry Christmas all!
Dear Santa,
Maybe I haven't quite been as good as I could have been, but I would really like a new left foot. Preferably one that's an exact mirror image of my right foot. One that's not shorter, smaller and weaker than the other one... one that will let me just get through more than 2 week of training at a time...
Sunday 12/24: 12.1 miles, 1:49:15 Palomar loop. Holy crap, I've lost the ability to do long runs at any sort of reasonable pace. Felt fine, L ankle more sore than I'd like. The pain has shifted from the inner top part of the foot, down to my inner arch, then to the heel/achilles and now has settled right under the base of the tibia on the outside. I thought, since it has gone full circle, it would go away from there, but its not.
Monday 12/25: Off. Christmas, yum.
Tuesday 12/26: 7 miles, attempted some tempo work, but it was abandoned after about 3 miles @ 7 minute pace. Pathetic. Ankle hurt quite a bit.
Happy Birthday Pat! =)
Wednesday 12/27: Off. It hurts to walk now. Something at the base of the tibia isn't sore anymore, its actively inflamed. Frick. I now don't know what the right decision for Carlsbad is. This sucks.
Thursday 12/28: 41.3 miles, 2 hours and 45 minutes, biking. Originally Mt. Wilson to Clear Creek, but brutal headwind the whole way... About 3 miles up the 2, the crosswinds picked up and made it almost impossible to 1) steer in any predictable direction and 2) stay on the bike at all. After almost getting hit by 3 cars, decided to turn back early.
Peeved about the shortened ride, so stopped on my way home to do (1 on, 1 off) x 3 Rose Bowl circuits, which were... extremely ugly. 9:30-ish a piece except for the last, which was... much slower. I suck.
Friday 12/29: Off. Too much work, and then it got too dark to ride. Meanwhile my ankle is sore again, even to walk. This is a disaster....
Saturday 12/30: 40.3 miles, Mt. Wilson to Clear Creek by bike. One lap of Rose Bowl detour with Ian. Good ride, but so cold and so slow. Complete opposite of running, felt aerobically strong, but legs just tired and killing me. I guess I don't really have any biking muscles left anymore.
Target Mileage: 45 miles
Week Actual: 19.25 miles
Last Week: 50.3 miles
Mostly biking this week to try to heal the mystery foot pain. meh.
Hoping for a clean and healthy start in the New Year.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Week of 12/17/2006 - 12/23/2006 (Base Phase)
I'm going cold turkey on the junk food.
Last week, the following items arrived at the office:
3 Gift Baskets, Godiva Chocolate
1 See's Candy Assortment
1 Christmas tin, popcorn and brownies
2 cubic feet of Mrs. Field's baked goods
1 frosted sheet cake
5 pounds and 5 stomach aches later, I've decided that developing adult onset diabetes is NOT the way to go for running fast. Complex carbs... I need complex carbs....
Sunday 12/17: 14 miles, 2:05:05 easy with Ian. Torrential downpour has cleared to a marvelous day. Ankle felt pretty strong despite the uneven ground. Stomach hurt on and off, felt a little bit like the inadequately oiled Tin Man, the slightest bit more exertion than usual to un-stick those joints. Sure is nice to crack the 2 hour mark though. Its been a whole lot of weeks since I've had an old school Lydiard style capillary growth stimulating long run.
Monday 12/18: 10.5 miles, 23 minutes of warm up, 10K tempo on the track (42:02.31), 21 minutes of cool down, jogging on the infield. Strangest run ever... alternately horrible and wonderful. Pissed off about the 2.31 seconds, but this actually is a new 10K PR.
It all started because of the darkness. Holiday hours apparently end at 7:30 pm, so that's when the lights went off at the track, and I had to run the entire workout in darkness. This made it extremely difficult to see my splits (press button to take split, then press "illuminate" button, then squint uncomfortably to see the tiny radioactive green numbers...) so after a mile or so, the pursuit was generally abandoned and I just tried to focus on relaxing and running on feel.
I was planning to do the default monday workout of 3 x 2 miles @ AT pace, but somehow I found a really great rhythm on the 8th lap, and so I just ran all the way through. I had only a vague idea of what was going on time-wise, so when I walked under the lamp to see my final time, I let out an involuntary "AAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!" Minutes and seconds are an arbitrary time unit in the end, but 2.31 seconds, how cruel. For some reason I've gotten the notion stuck in my head that the ability to do this workout in sub-42 at this point will equate to a sub-40 race in May, which is the irrational source of consternation over these 2.31 seconds.
I retrieved my mile splits out of my watch as soon as I got home: 6:58.35, 6:55.26, 6:45.81, 6:39.59, 6:34.12, 6:36.63, 1:32.55 (the 5K's come out to about 21:17, 20:45) I remember feeling really choppy and bad in those first 2 miles, but I didn't realize how slow they really were. Then it all cleared up mysteriously and those last 4 miles were possibly the best flat 4 miles I've ever run in my life. They just felt so fluid and smooth and easy like flying, I felt like I could just run that way forever and ever. It felt so, so, great I almost thought about running some more miles just to see how long it would last. I closed easily in 92 seconds, which in many cases would constitute the fastest lap I run in a 5K race. Interesting...
Tuesday 12/19: 6.2 miles, 53:53 easy jog Huntington up Oak Knoll. Felt great, except L achilles hurt on and off at the base of the heel... I know this is because my heel is maybe 1/4 inch lower in my shoe without the orthotic, but hoping it will eventually adjust with some stretching and icing.
Ugh, death by holidays! Two more chocolate baskets, one box of gourmet brownies and a pound cake arrived today. Apparently the etymology of a pound cake is because there's 1 lb of butter in it (!!!)
Wednesday 12/20: off. All day conference (got laughed at for use of word "ergo" during team building exercise...), got back late, achilles is still sore. Stretch, ice, bed.
Thursday 12/21: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon to Wilson Connector in the Frees again. 28:08 to camp, 46:04 to sign, 1:18:51 total. Mildly consterned. A little bit of soreness in L ankle/arch made it hard to get good leverage for the uphill, but that doesn't entirely explain the sub-par showing. Achilles soreness mostly gone though.
Regrettably, I'm also FAT. Put on a few extra pounds of holiday cheer in the past few weeks. Felt okay for the tempo, but clearly the extra weight is an accentuated liability on a hill climb.
Friday 12/22: 5.2 miles, 43:45 easy recovery jogging. Orange Grove at night again, legs felt great, but just couldn't find the right footstrike for my left side, shooting pains are gone, but ankle and arch are still sore. Its worse when it's cold...
Felt really impatient today. Legs and lungs are feeling good for the first time since being sick, but I still can't really test my body because my freaking left foot just won't heal (quickly enough). I'm still favoring the left side a lot of the time, which essentially means I don't push off of the left foot at full strength. It's been over 2 months now since I did my last long tempo run, and I'm dying to see where I am...
Saturday 12/23: 7.4 miles, 59:41 quasi-progression run through Upper Arroyo. Didn't eat anything all day before the run, thinking that may have been a bad idea. Legs felt strong, but everything else just didn't gel, like when your front shifter gets stuck in the little gear. Was supposed to be 3 miles easy, 2.5 miles base pace, 2 miles tempo pace... but the slow overall time makes me suspect it was more like 6 miles of easy pace followed by 1.5 miles of tempo pace. Oh, well.
Target Mileage: 50 miles
Week Actual: 50.3 miles
Last week: 39.6 miles
Woo hoo! I actually met my target mileage this week, how 'bout that.
Last week, the following items arrived at the office:
3 Gift Baskets, Godiva Chocolate
1 See's Candy Assortment
1 Christmas tin, popcorn and brownies
2 cubic feet of Mrs. Field's baked goods
1 frosted sheet cake
5 pounds and 5 stomach aches later, I've decided that developing adult onset diabetes is NOT the way to go for running fast. Complex carbs... I need complex carbs....
Sunday 12/17: 14 miles, 2:05:05 easy with Ian. Torrential downpour has cleared to a marvelous day. Ankle felt pretty strong despite the uneven ground. Stomach hurt on and off, felt a little bit like the inadequately oiled Tin Man, the slightest bit more exertion than usual to un-stick those joints. Sure is nice to crack the 2 hour mark though. Its been a whole lot of weeks since I've had an old school Lydiard style capillary growth stimulating long run.
Monday 12/18: 10.5 miles, 23 minutes of warm up, 10K tempo on the track (42:02.31), 21 minutes of cool down, jogging on the infield. Strangest run ever... alternately horrible and wonderful. Pissed off about the 2.31 seconds, but this actually is a new 10K PR.
It all started because of the darkness. Holiday hours apparently end at 7:30 pm, so that's when the lights went off at the track, and I had to run the entire workout in darkness. This made it extremely difficult to see my splits (press button to take split, then press "illuminate" button, then squint uncomfortably to see the tiny radioactive green numbers...) so after a mile or so, the pursuit was generally abandoned and I just tried to focus on relaxing and running on feel.
I was planning to do the default monday workout of 3 x 2 miles @ AT pace, but somehow I found a really great rhythm on the 8th lap, and so I just ran all the way through. I had only a vague idea of what was going on time-wise, so when I walked under the lamp to see my final time, I let out an involuntary "AAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!" Minutes and seconds are an arbitrary time unit in the end, but 2.31 seconds, how cruel. For some reason I've gotten the notion stuck in my head that the ability to do this workout in sub-42 at this point will equate to a sub-40 race in May, which is the irrational source of consternation over these 2.31 seconds.
I retrieved my mile splits out of my watch as soon as I got home: 6:58.35, 6:55.26, 6:45.81, 6:39.59, 6:34.12, 6:36.63, 1:32.55 (the 5K's come out to about 21:17, 20:45) I remember feeling really choppy and bad in those first 2 miles, but I didn't realize how slow they really were. Then it all cleared up mysteriously and those last 4 miles were possibly the best flat 4 miles I've ever run in my life. They just felt so fluid and smooth and easy like flying, I felt like I could just run that way forever and ever. It felt so, so, great I almost thought about running some more miles just to see how long it would last. I closed easily in 92 seconds, which in many cases would constitute the fastest lap I run in a 5K race. Interesting...
Tuesday 12/19: 6.2 miles, 53:53 easy jog Huntington up Oak Knoll. Felt great, except L achilles hurt on and off at the base of the heel... I know this is because my heel is maybe 1/4 inch lower in my shoe without the orthotic, but hoping it will eventually adjust with some stretching and icing.
Ugh, death by holidays! Two more chocolate baskets, one box of gourmet brownies and a pound cake arrived today. Apparently the etymology of a pound cake is because there's 1 lb of butter in it (!!!)
Wednesday 12/20: off. All day conference (got laughed at for use of word "ergo" during team building exercise...), got back late, achilles is still sore. Stretch, ice, bed.
Thursday 12/21: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon to Wilson Connector in the Frees again. 28:08 to camp, 46:04 to sign, 1:18:51 total. Mildly consterned. A little bit of soreness in L ankle/arch made it hard to get good leverage for the uphill, but that doesn't entirely explain the sub-par showing. Achilles soreness mostly gone though.
Regrettably, I'm also FAT. Put on a few extra pounds of holiday cheer in the past few weeks. Felt okay for the tempo, but clearly the extra weight is an accentuated liability on a hill climb.
Friday 12/22: 5.2 miles, 43:45 easy recovery jogging. Orange Grove at night again, legs felt great, but just couldn't find the right footstrike for my left side, shooting pains are gone, but ankle and arch are still sore. Its worse when it's cold...
Felt really impatient today. Legs and lungs are feeling good for the first time since being sick, but I still can't really test my body because my freaking left foot just won't heal (quickly enough). I'm still favoring the left side a lot of the time, which essentially means I don't push off of the left foot at full strength. It's been over 2 months now since I did my last long tempo run, and I'm dying to see where I am...
Saturday 12/23: 7.4 miles, 59:41 quasi-progression run through Upper Arroyo. Didn't eat anything all day before the run, thinking that may have been a bad idea. Legs felt strong, but everything else just didn't gel, like when your front shifter gets stuck in the little gear. Was supposed to be 3 miles easy, 2.5 miles base pace, 2 miles tempo pace... but the slow overall time makes me suspect it was more like 6 miles of easy pace followed by 1.5 miles of tempo pace. Oh, well.
Target Mileage: 50 miles
Week Actual: 50.3 miles
Last week: 39.6 miles
Woo hoo! I actually met my target mileage this week, how 'bout that.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Week of 12/10/2006 - 12/16/2006 (Base Phase)
So, here's the conundrum:
Orthotics --> Mystery Ankle pain
Not Orthotics --> Shin Splints
I've managed to identify the source and cause of the persistent ankle pain as being an inflammation in some tendon in my inside arch of the left foot, which percolates up across the top of my foot until it manifests itself in a burst of sharp, shooting pain at the bend of the ankle where one normally ties shoe laces. I guess I've had this pain at a low level ever since I first started training in September, but it never became prohibitive until the middle of the Tiger Run 2 weeks ago.
Observations support the theory that 2 years of wearing orthotics have weakened the ligaments in my feet and that they are no longer stabilizing my foot in the correct way . Dr. Rossi says that the problem is manifesting preferentially in the Left Ankle because of the trauma from surgery 5 years ago. Taking days off seems to have minimal effect, since resting isn't strengthening the ligaments. I've seen marked improvement after every day of running without orthotics, but the increased pronation seems to be causing the beginnings of shin splints, the ailment for which the orthotics were originally procured. Every day with the orthotics, however, seems to re-damage the inflamed tendon...
Sunday 12/10: 6.5 miles, 52:13 Arroyo back on Orange Grove, easy in new shoes, Saucony Triumph 4, without orthotics. Had to scrap the Sunday long run because yesterday's jogging seems to have aggravated the left ankle/arch again.
Monday 12/11: 8.5 miles, orthotics. 21 minutes of jogging around South fields to warm up, 2 x 2 miles, 21 minutes of jogging cool down. 13:34 (6:48, 6:46), 13:34 (6:43,6:51) on 2 minutes of rest.
UUYYYYY... seriously a new low. I just don't know what went wrong. I felt pretty confident going on, ankle felt much better after yesterday's jog, was going at a quick clip on the warm-up. Definitely expected improvement over last week, but I knew within the first few laps that something was wrong. Breathing was short, coughing, something was pulling in L calf, couldn't find a stride or a rhythm, ankle hurt increasingly more as time went on.
Lay defeated across the starting line on the track after second one... feel tired and broken, even though I didn't even get a good workout. This is where all the dreams begin and end... well for runners of events that are integer multiples of 400m, anyways. I don't even know what I am... I'm probably a 10K runner (n =25), but it feels like my dreams have already been crushed.
Tuesday 12/12: 5.9 miles, 49:15 Arroyo short loop, no orthotics. Ankle felt seriously damaged from yesterday, it took the first 2 miles to find my stride, but felt okay towards the end.
Wednesday 12/13: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon Trail to Wilson Connector, 27:29 to camp, 45:02 to sign, 1:17:33 total. Psyched about new PR to sign post. Everything felt great. I was a little nervous about wearing the Frees on the trail for the first time, but turned out to be the best decision I've made all week. Ankle and arches felt awesome, felt calves working a bit harder than usual, but legs felt strong, breathing under control, pleasant warm breeze.
Finally, some answers. I feel pretty confident about my theory about the correlation between foot problems and orthotics. I also realized that I need to be more patient about where I'm at with my strength and endurance. It's not that I'm completely out of shape, but apparently I'm just not ready to handle a full load of training elements again. Last week I had a solid track tempo session, but then tanked the hill climb. This week I tanked the tempo work, but nailed the mountain run. As consterning as this is, I need to space out my hard workouts and keep the reduced mileage load until I can consistently log a long run, a tempo session and a hill climb without exhausting my body to the point that it compromises my next workout.
Thursday 12/14: 5.2 miles, 43:58 recovery jog up and down Orange Grove (no orthotics). Felt happy to be out running. Liking the warm weather, ankle felt a bit sore, but no shooting pains. I think its a good sign.
Friday 12/15: off. Usually Saturday is my normal off day, but due to the Girls on the Run 5K buddy-being tomorrow, today will be my off day. Probably good to let ankle rest a day too.
Saturday 12/16: 6.5 miles, ~2 miles jog from California to Rose Bowl Parking Lot H, 5K around Rose Bowl with Savannah, then ~2 miles back to car. It started raining immediately upon getting back to the car, impeccable timing indeed. Savannah is one quick chick, 24:58 for a 5K off of no training, not bad for a 7th grader! Looking forward to working with her. I accidentally tripped her at the beginning of the race though... hope we're not off to inauspicious beginnings.
Target Mileage: 45 miles
Week Actual: 39.6 miles
Last Week: 39.7 miles
Dang, the lack of long run and the self imposed day off are totally killing me. The most important thing about this week though, is the break through about the orthotics. I haven't worn them for 5 days and I think my ankle is going to be okay, I won't have to take any more time off after all!
**Note: I did see various people's suggestions for the one foot with an orthotic thing, and I actually DID try a lot of these things, but it was just too weird, it felt like it threw off my center of balance and made my stride uneven. The problem is that the orthotics also pretty much prevent proper forefoot flexion. For right now I'm doing okay with a pair of soft spenco arch support inserts.
Orthotics --> Mystery Ankle pain
Not Orthotics --> Shin Splints
I've managed to identify the source and cause of the persistent ankle pain as being an inflammation in some tendon in my inside arch of the left foot, which percolates up across the top of my foot until it manifests itself in a burst of sharp, shooting pain at the bend of the ankle where one normally ties shoe laces. I guess I've had this pain at a low level ever since I first started training in September, but it never became prohibitive until the middle of the Tiger Run 2 weeks ago.
Observations support the theory that 2 years of wearing orthotics have weakened the ligaments in my feet and that they are no longer stabilizing my foot in the correct way . Dr. Rossi says that the problem is manifesting preferentially in the Left Ankle because of the trauma from surgery 5 years ago. Taking days off seems to have minimal effect, since resting isn't strengthening the ligaments. I've seen marked improvement after every day of running without orthotics, but the increased pronation seems to be causing the beginnings of shin splints, the ailment for which the orthotics were originally procured. Every day with the orthotics, however, seems to re-damage the inflamed tendon...
Sunday 12/10: 6.5 miles, 52:13 Arroyo back on Orange Grove, easy in new shoes, Saucony Triumph 4, without orthotics. Had to scrap the Sunday long run because yesterday's jogging seems to have aggravated the left ankle/arch again.
Monday 12/11: 8.5 miles, orthotics. 21 minutes of jogging around South fields to warm up, 2 x 2 miles, 21 minutes of jogging cool down. 13:34 (6:48, 6:46), 13:34 (6:43,6:51) on 2 minutes of rest.
UUYYYYY... seriously a new low. I just don't know what went wrong. I felt pretty confident going on, ankle felt much better after yesterday's jog, was going at a quick clip on the warm-up. Definitely expected improvement over last week, but I knew within the first few laps that something was wrong. Breathing was short, coughing, something was pulling in L calf, couldn't find a stride or a rhythm, ankle hurt increasingly more as time went on.
Lay defeated across the starting line on the track after second one... feel tired and broken, even though I didn't even get a good workout. This is where all the dreams begin and end... well for runners of events that are integer multiples of 400m, anyways. I don't even know what I am... I'm probably a 10K runner (n =25), but it feels like my dreams have already been crushed.
Tuesday 12/12: 5.9 miles, 49:15 Arroyo short loop, no orthotics. Ankle felt seriously damaged from yesterday, it took the first 2 miles to find my stride, but felt okay towards the end.
Wednesday 12/13: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon Trail to Wilson Connector, 27:29 to camp, 45:02 to sign, 1:17:33 total. Psyched about new PR to sign post. Everything felt great. I was a little nervous about wearing the Frees on the trail for the first time, but turned out to be the best decision I've made all week. Ankle and arches felt awesome, felt calves working a bit harder than usual, but legs felt strong, breathing under control, pleasant warm breeze.
Finally, some answers. I feel pretty confident about my theory about the correlation between foot problems and orthotics. I also realized that I need to be more patient about where I'm at with my strength and endurance. It's not that I'm completely out of shape, but apparently I'm just not ready to handle a full load of training elements again. Last week I had a solid track tempo session, but then tanked the hill climb. This week I tanked the tempo work, but nailed the mountain run. As consterning as this is, I need to space out my hard workouts and keep the reduced mileage load until I can consistently log a long run, a tempo session and a hill climb without exhausting my body to the point that it compromises my next workout.
Thursday 12/14: 5.2 miles, 43:58 recovery jog up and down Orange Grove (no orthotics). Felt happy to be out running. Liking the warm weather, ankle felt a bit sore, but no shooting pains. I think its a good sign.
Friday 12/15: off. Usually Saturday is my normal off day, but due to the Girls on the Run 5K buddy-being tomorrow, today will be my off day. Probably good to let ankle rest a day too.
Saturday 12/16: 6.5 miles, ~2 miles jog from California to Rose Bowl Parking Lot H, 5K around Rose Bowl with Savannah, then ~2 miles back to car. It started raining immediately upon getting back to the car, impeccable timing indeed. Savannah is one quick chick, 24:58 for a 5K off of no training, not bad for a 7th grader! Looking forward to working with her. I accidentally tripped her at the beginning of the race though... hope we're not off to inauspicious beginnings.
Target Mileage: 45 miles
Week Actual: 39.6 miles
Last Week: 39.7 miles
Dang, the lack of long run and the self imposed day off are totally killing me. The most important thing about this week though, is the break through about the orthotics. I haven't worn them for 5 days and I think my ankle is going to be okay, I won't have to take any more time off after all!
**Note: I did see various people's suggestions for the one foot with an orthotic thing, and I actually DID try a lot of these things, but it was just too weird, it felt like it threw off my center of balance and made my stride uneven. The problem is that the orthotics also pretty much prevent proper forefoot flexion. For right now I'm doing okay with a pair of soft spenco arch support inserts.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Week of 12/03/2006 - 12/09/2006 (Base Phase)
Tuberculosis? Negative.
Now that I've been electronically fingerprinted, and deemed pulmonary disease-free, I'm cleared to work with the kids at the school. Woo hoo! (Though this does eliminate one explanation for the persistent cough that I've managed to retain...) Next up, surviving one 90 minute instructional period with the bigger, taller and tougher-than-me inner city LA kids. I don't suppose they are amused by Ligand Field Theory...
Sunday 12/03: 11.5 miles, 1:40:08 quality time with el Life Coach. Outing to Morro Bay was regrettably cancelled due to inclement weather up north, so nice run up the Arroyo to JPL and back, distance uncertain. Discussed training theories and life theories, great to have Dr. Rossi around. L ankle still feels tweaked from the race, but apparently there's nothing to be done.
In other news, Happy Birthday Mark! Ran your 22 miles a tad fast, eh?
Monday 12/04: off day, oh boy doesn't that feel good! Actually, worried about ankle, hurts to walk sometimes. Didn't have a rest day last week, so figured I'd cash in an injury time-out.
Tuesday 12/05: 10 miles, 3 x 2 miles @ AT pace - wow its been a long time. 2 miles warm up with Mark, ankle felt pretty shaky. 13:27 (6:43, 6:44), 13:22 (6:41, 6:41), 13:19 (6:40, 6:39) with 2 minutes of rest. 2 miles warm down in Nike Frees, which strangely alleviated a lot of the ankle pain.
I'm really hoping that this ankle thing goes away soon. The track actually hurts it the least which is why I chose to go through with this workout. Its been a really long time since I've been able to complete a set of 3 x 2 miles, so I'm not too worried about the slow-ness. Legs felt like they had so much energy left, but the breathing system felt out of whack. Suboptimal coughing.
Wednesday 12/06: 5.2 miles, 46:24 recovery shuffle, up and down Orange Grove, which is very surreal at night with those big globe lights. Just now realizing that I'm still kinda worn out in many ways from the Tiger Run, its not clear that my ankle is improving... but its not getting worse.
Thursday 12/07: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon to Connector Trail, 28:47 to camp, 47:52 to sign post, 1:21:08 total. meh, I hardcore suck. I know my body is tired and I didn't expect a particularly strong showing, but it shouldn't have been THIS (>2 minutes worse than last week) slow.
There was nothing *wrong* with the run, per se. It didn't feel horrible, it was just slow. They say that when you're getting back into shape, some days and weeks will feel great, but then you can't consistently recover and perform the way that you're used to. Last week felt almost normal, but then something's just been off this week. Its demoralizing to have those big swings, but I feel motivated to change this situation. Easy days for the rest of the week, gotta heal and rest before I can start the mileage ramp again.
Friday 12/08: Off, again. I feel like crap. Hurts to walk.
Saturday 12/09: 6 miles, 50 minutes easy. Random pasadena and track. L ankle/arch is still not really okay. Stretched and iced, felt better. My ankle strangely feels the best in the Frees, so I'm going to give Dr. Rossi's suggestion to lose the orthotics a shot. Stopped by Steve's, he seemed uncharacteristically happy to see me--didn't even charge me the "you're not a student so I don't like you" inflated price!
Target Mileage: 45 miles
Week Actual: 39.7 miles
Last week: 53 miles
Some weeks you just don't meet your goals. Apparently, some weeks you don't even crawl over the 40 mpw line. I think it was the right decision to rest the ankle on Friday, but I just don't know. Trying to fight that creeping depression that comes with partial training... it's just such an emotional no man's land. mehhhhhhhhhhhh...
Now that I've been electronically fingerprinted, and deemed pulmonary disease-free, I'm cleared to work with the kids at the school. Woo hoo! (Though this does eliminate one explanation for the persistent cough that I've managed to retain...) Next up, surviving one 90 minute instructional period with the bigger, taller and tougher-than-me inner city LA kids. I don't suppose they are amused by Ligand Field Theory...
Sunday 12/03: 11.5 miles, 1:40:08 quality time with el Life Coach. Outing to Morro Bay was regrettably cancelled due to inclement weather up north, so nice run up the Arroyo to JPL and back, distance uncertain. Discussed training theories and life theories, great to have Dr. Rossi around. L ankle still feels tweaked from the race, but apparently there's nothing to be done.
In other news, Happy Birthday Mark! Ran your 22 miles a tad fast, eh?
Monday 12/04: off day, oh boy doesn't that feel good! Actually, worried about ankle, hurts to walk sometimes. Didn't have a rest day last week, so figured I'd cash in an injury time-out.
Tuesday 12/05: 10 miles, 3 x 2 miles @ AT pace - wow its been a long time. 2 miles warm up with Mark, ankle felt pretty shaky. 13:27 (6:43, 6:44), 13:22 (6:41, 6:41), 13:19 (6:40, 6:39) with 2 minutes of rest. 2 miles warm down in Nike Frees, which strangely alleviated a lot of the ankle pain.
I'm really hoping that this ankle thing goes away soon. The track actually hurts it the least which is why I chose to go through with this workout. Its been a really long time since I've been able to complete a set of 3 x 2 miles, so I'm not too worried about the slow-ness. Legs felt like they had so much energy left, but the breathing system felt out of whack. Suboptimal coughing.
Wednesday 12/06: 5.2 miles, 46:24 recovery shuffle, up and down Orange Grove, which is very surreal at night with those big globe lights. Just now realizing that I'm still kinda worn out in many ways from the Tiger Run, its not clear that my ankle is improving... but its not getting worse.
Thursday 12/07: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon to Connector Trail, 28:47 to camp, 47:52 to sign post, 1:21:08 total. meh, I hardcore suck. I know my body is tired and I didn't expect a particularly strong showing, but it shouldn't have been THIS (>2 minutes worse than last week) slow.
There was nothing *wrong* with the run, per se. It didn't feel horrible, it was just slow. They say that when you're getting back into shape, some days and weeks will feel great, but then you can't consistently recover and perform the way that you're used to. Last week felt almost normal, but then something's just been off this week. Its demoralizing to have those big swings, but I feel motivated to change this situation. Easy days for the rest of the week, gotta heal and rest before I can start the mileage ramp again.
Friday 12/08: Off, again. I feel like crap. Hurts to walk.
Saturday 12/09: 6 miles, 50 minutes easy. Random pasadena and track. L ankle/arch is still not really okay. Stretched and iced, felt better. My ankle strangely feels the best in the Frees, so I'm going to give Dr. Rossi's suggestion to lose the orthotics a shot. Stopped by Steve's, he seemed uncharacteristically happy to see me--didn't even charge me the "you're not a student so I don't like you" inflated price!
Target Mileage: 45 miles
Week Actual: 39.7 miles
Last week: 53 miles
Some weeks you just don't meet your goals. Apparently, some weeks you don't even crawl over the 40 mpw line. I think it was the right decision to rest the ankle on Friday, but I just don't know. Trying to fight that creeping depression that comes with partial training... it's just such an emotional no man's land. mehhhhhhhhhhhh...
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Week of 11/26/2006 - 12/02/2006 (Base Phase)
PC Load Letter.
3 trips to the garage, 1 box chocolate covered raisins, and 5 USB connections later, we've successfully installed all of our lovely new start-up hardware, and learned that no, the fax machine can't "talk" to the the line outside due to the phone system at our host company. I love my warm and fuzzy school related job... but IT problems make me feel like I'm on the set of "Office Space". If I were a character in the movie, I'd be that Indian guy.
Sunday 11/26: 12 miles, 1:45:xx easy with Ian in the arroyo, distance uncertain. Learned new arroyo entrance near Monterrey. Body still feels kind of out of sorts, like the running motion isn't smooth and easy, but didn't fixate on it.
Monday 11/27: 8 miles, botched attempt at 3 x 2 mile @ anaerobic threshold (AT). 2 miles jogging on grass as warm up, 13:15 (6:40, 6:35), 13:28 (6:44, 6:44) on 2 minutes of rest, 2 miles jogging in Nike Frees as cool down.
The ideal progression for my current level of fitness would have been: 13:30, 13:20, 13:10. Its really hard to hold back on the first one, especially because I haven't run fast in so many weeks and I'm just so frustrated. Key learning for today, strength and speed's okay, but endurance is shot. I cheated on the second one, ran the last lap ~8 seconds faster than the second to last lap, driving into oxygen debt which, ofcourse makes it not really an honest AT effort. Decided race week was not the time to gut out the third one. Will resolve to redeem myself next monday.
Tuesday 11/28: 7 miles, ~1 hour easy. Stayed up too late reading Enders Game, slept through morning running time. Turned out okay though, ran Huntington followed by laps on South field with Mark. I love talking about running.
Wednesday 11/29: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon to Connector trail--27:42 to camp, 45:47 to connector, 1:17:51 total. Felt loose and relaxed, but pushed hard up last 400m scramble to the sign post. Took the first 25 minutes in the beginning for breathing to settle down but felt pretty good. I love this run so much.
Thursday 11/30: 5.9 miles, 50:18 easy. Felt good, legs unusually fresh post-wednesday Hill Climb day. Unclear as to if this is an extended effect of 4 weeks away from serious training, or if the reduced Sunday/Monday mileage burden is allowing my body to recover more completely between training elements. Pending more research.
Friday 12/01: 4.4 miles, 38:30 pre-race. Jogged real easy through time trial loop B, a bit more coughing than ideal the past few days, but the 'system' feels good. Strangely I feel calm and prepared for tomorrow...
I've fought both my doubts and my instincts these past two weeks, but in the end I feel like I've finally made some rational decisions for the first time, possibly in my career as a runner. My weakened body would not have withstood 2 full strength training weeks, and trying to "make up for lost time" would only have delayed my recovery. By scaling back intelligently, I think I've put myself in the best possible position to cope with a race situation. It may not be pretty, but I still intend to win tomorrow.
Saturday 12/02: 6.2 miles, 43:37 Tiger Run, 10K. ~3 miles between nervous warm up and random cool down with the gang. Title defense, successful! Tactical error in 6:24 first mile, but other than that, felt like I ran a strategic race that allowed me to go hard in the last mile, instead of last year's dead legged shuffle. It was a good day, had fun. Great to have everyone there, seriously. SPHS kids cheered for me :)
My goals for this race have admittedly fallen, from 41:24 6 weeks ago (maybe this was just too unrealistic for this year and this course), to 42:45 after the hip injury, and then to "just any sort of sub-7 minute miles". I was really close to the last goal (7:02 pace). Uncharacteristically, I feel okay with this. There's already a part of me that's planning for next year, planning for next race. Every goal you don't meet is an opportunity to do better. For now, it just feels good to run fast again. The past 5 weeks of training haven't turned out the way that I wanted, but I feel excited and hopeful for track.
Target mileage: 45 miles
Week actual: 53 miles
Last week: 39.9 miles
One could view this as a potentially precipitous increase from last week, especially in light of 30 the week before and 15 three weeks ago. I never thought I'd struggle with keeping my mileage DOWN. The bulk of this week's mileage have been "easy" miles, though, so I'm not too worried. Proceed with caution.
3 trips to the garage, 1 box chocolate covered raisins, and 5 USB connections later, we've successfully installed all of our lovely new start-up hardware, and learned that no, the fax machine can't "talk" to the the line outside due to the phone system at our host company. I love my warm and fuzzy school related job... but IT problems make me feel like I'm on the set of "Office Space". If I were a character in the movie, I'd be that Indian guy.
Sunday 11/26: 12 miles, 1:45:xx easy with Ian in the arroyo, distance uncertain. Learned new arroyo entrance near Monterrey. Body still feels kind of out of sorts, like the running motion isn't smooth and easy, but didn't fixate on it.
Monday 11/27: 8 miles, botched attempt at 3 x 2 mile @ anaerobic threshold (AT). 2 miles jogging on grass as warm up, 13:15 (6:40, 6:35), 13:28 (6:44, 6:44) on 2 minutes of rest, 2 miles jogging in Nike Frees as cool down.
The ideal progression for my current level of fitness would have been: 13:30, 13:20, 13:10. Its really hard to hold back on the first one, especially because I haven't run fast in so many weeks and I'm just so frustrated. Key learning for today, strength and speed's okay, but endurance is shot. I cheated on the second one, ran the last lap ~8 seconds faster than the second to last lap, driving into oxygen debt which, ofcourse makes it not really an honest AT effort. Decided race week was not the time to gut out the third one. Will resolve to redeem myself next monday.
Tuesday 11/28: 7 miles, ~1 hour easy. Stayed up too late reading Enders Game, slept through morning running time. Turned out okay though, ran Huntington followed by laps on South field with Mark. I love talking about running.
Wednesday 11/29: 7 miles, Bailey Canyon to Connector trail--27:42 to camp, 45:47 to connector, 1:17:51 total. Felt loose and relaxed, but pushed hard up last 400m scramble to the sign post. Took the first 25 minutes in the beginning for breathing to settle down but felt pretty good. I love this run so much.
Thursday 11/30: 5.9 miles, 50:18 easy. Felt good, legs unusually fresh post-wednesday Hill Climb day. Unclear as to if this is an extended effect of 4 weeks away from serious training, or if the reduced Sunday/Monday mileage burden is allowing my body to recover more completely between training elements. Pending more research.
Friday 12/01: 4.4 miles, 38:30 pre-race. Jogged real easy through time trial loop B, a bit more coughing than ideal the past few days, but the 'system' feels good. Strangely I feel calm and prepared for tomorrow...
I've fought both my doubts and my instincts these past two weeks, but in the end I feel like I've finally made some rational decisions for the first time, possibly in my career as a runner. My weakened body would not have withstood 2 full strength training weeks, and trying to "make up for lost time" would only have delayed my recovery. By scaling back intelligently, I think I've put myself in the best possible position to cope with a race situation. It may not be pretty, but I still intend to win tomorrow.
Saturday 12/02: 6.2 miles, 43:37 Tiger Run, 10K. ~3 miles between nervous warm up and random cool down with the gang. Title defense, successful! Tactical error in 6:24 first mile, but other than that, felt like I ran a strategic race that allowed me to go hard in the last mile, instead of last year's dead legged shuffle. It was a good day, had fun. Great to have everyone there, seriously. SPHS kids cheered for me :)
My goals for this race have admittedly fallen, from 41:24 6 weeks ago (maybe this was just too unrealistic for this year and this course), to 42:45 after the hip injury, and then to "just any sort of sub-7 minute miles". I was really close to the last goal (7:02 pace). Uncharacteristically, I feel okay with this. There's already a part of me that's planning for next year, planning for next race. Every goal you don't meet is an opportunity to do better. For now, it just feels good to run fast again. The past 5 weeks of training haven't turned out the way that I wanted, but I feel excited and hopeful for track.
Target mileage: 45 miles
Week actual: 53 miles
Last week: 39.9 miles
One could view this as a potentially precipitous increase from last week, especially in light of 30 the week before and 15 three weeks ago. I never thought I'd struggle with keeping my mileage DOWN. The bulk of this week's mileage have been "easy" miles, though, so I'm not too worried. Proceed with caution.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Demons
"What do your demons make you do?"
"About sixteen, eighteen miles a day."
In the beginning, there was one thing: NEUROSIS
Miles, not enough. Pacing, sub-optimal. Terrain, too flat, too much concrete. What will I change tomorrow, what will I change next week, what will I change next season? Everything, absolutely everything matters. What you eat? When you sleep? How much stress? Which shoes? Orthotics? Frees? Vitamins? I'm a believer in "all in", you put a half-ass in, you get a half-ass out (Goldhammer, John. later works, circa. 2003). Some people think the neurosis is bad, but the reality is just that I like to think about it all, constantly, obsessively, like a crazy person.
Neurotic, never satisfied, always think I'm 1-2 minutes faster than I really am. The day that I cease to have this blind faith in my potential, will be the day that I cease to race, because no one else can believe for you. Demons. I don't have a plan for how it all ends. I'm not looking for times, or awards or accomplishments anymore. There are goals along the way, but I'm training for only one race. One race that I don't know when it will be, what distance, against whom or what the outcome will be... but it will be the race of my lifetime. When it comes, I will be ready.
Today though, today is 45:47 (Bailey Canyon to the Wilson Connector, 3-4 miles, 2000 ft elevation gain). Not a bad start to El Comeback Tour, Take 2, Week 2. Despite the illness and the injuries, I'm not too far off of my PR here a month ago, 45:09 courtesy of The Brain himself. Not even a twinge of knee pain on the slow shuffle back down--I can't remember the last time that happened.
The air was cold and crystalline like December in New England, and higher on up were patches of unmelted snowflakes. The woods had turned to winter for sure, leaves and branches frozen into a finely tuned tension that would have shattered to pieces with an errant poke. It reminded me of icicles hanging from the roof at home, a long long time ago. When the mountain cleared away on both sides at the very end, the city of LA emerged with unusual brightness and clarity-- little clusters of buildings like toy cities. Downtown where I work, Century city where I used to work... and smaller, farther clusters keeping the 101 company, winding up the coast and disappearing under distant cloud cover.
*PLOT SUMMARY* (for our new viewers)
This is Day One, in some frame of relativity. I am starting again, though not from scratch. I've been running since fall of 2003, and running for Caltech that first year was rough. I showed some early promise in XC 2004 and Track 20005 on my own as an unattached runner following that, but both of my seasons were cut short by injury just as I was making what felt like a breakthrough. Driven almost to insanity by my own perception of unrealized potential, I made a series of critical training errors that made both XC 2005 and Track 2006 into demoralizing disasters, that left me slower than the previous year and crushed and broken, both physically (ask KB about the toe :)) and mentally.
Armed with new research, new training ideas, a comprehensive new plan and a renewed passion for running, I started XC 2006 with a fresh new start. For a while it seemed that my new plan too, was failing, but I had a breakthrough in my last race at UC Riverside, and have been making steady progress. After handling a minor hip injury, I was back on the ball until I was felled yet again, this time by el virus unit, The Cold. Despite 84 zinc lozenges, it was to be a particularly long and severe illness, that finally left me with only 2 weeks to train for the South Pasadena Tiger Run 10K, which was to be the crowning achievement of my shortened fall season--the event about which I had dreamed every dream for every day that has passed since late August when I began my comeback. This log begins in the second of those two weeks, the week of my race.
"About sixteen, eighteen miles a day."
In the beginning, there was one thing: NEUROSIS
Miles, not enough. Pacing, sub-optimal. Terrain, too flat, too much concrete. What will I change tomorrow, what will I change next week, what will I change next season? Everything, absolutely everything matters. What you eat? When you sleep? How much stress? Which shoes? Orthotics? Frees? Vitamins? I'm a believer in "all in", you put a half-ass in, you get a half-ass out (Goldhammer, John. later works, circa. 2003). Some people think the neurosis is bad, but the reality is just that I like to think about it all, constantly, obsessively, like a crazy person.
Neurotic, never satisfied, always think I'm 1-2 minutes faster than I really am. The day that I cease to have this blind faith in my potential, will be the day that I cease to race, because no one else can believe for you. Demons. I don't have a plan for how it all ends. I'm not looking for times, or awards or accomplishments anymore. There are goals along the way, but I'm training for only one race. One race that I don't know when it will be, what distance, against whom or what the outcome will be... but it will be the race of my lifetime. When it comes, I will be ready.
Today though, today is 45:47 (Bailey Canyon to the Wilson Connector, 3-4 miles, 2000 ft elevation gain). Not a bad start to El Comeback Tour, Take 2, Week 2. Despite the illness and the injuries, I'm not too far off of my PR here a month ago, 45:09 courtesy of The Brain himself. Not even a twinge of knee pain on the slow shuffle back down--I can't remember the last time that happened.
The air was cold and crystalline like December in New England, and higher on up were patches of unmelted snowflakes. The woods had turned to winter for sure, leaves and branches frozen into a finely tuned tension that would have shattered to pieces with an errant poke. It reminded me of icicles hanging from the roof at home, a long long time ago. When the mountain cleared away on both sides at the very end, the city of LA emerged with unusual brightness and clarity-- little clusters of buildings like toy cities. Downtown where I work, Century city where I used to work... and smaller, farther clusters keeping the 101 company, winding up the coast and disappearing under distant cloud cover.
*PLOT SUMMARY* (for our new viewers)
This is Day One, in some frame of relativity. I am starting again, though not from scratch. I've been running since fall of 2003, and running for Caltech that first year was rough. I showed some early promise in XC 2004 and Track 20005 on my own as an unattached runner following that, but both of my seasons were cut short by injury just as I was making what felt like a breakthrough. Driven almost to insanity by my own perception of unrealized potential, I made a series of critical training errors that made both XC 2005 and Track 2006 into demoralizing disasters, that left me slower than the previous year and crushed and broken, both physically (ask KB about the toe :)) and mentally.
Armed with new research, new training ideas, a comprehensive new plan and a renewed passion for running, I started XC 2006 with a fresh new start. For a while it seemed that my new plan too, was failing, but I had a breakthrough in my last race at UC Riverside, and have been making steady progress. After handling a minor hip injury, I was back on the ball until I was felled yet again, this time by el virus unit, The Cold. Despite 84 zinc lozenges, it was to be a particularly long and severe illness, that finally left me with only 2 weeks to train for the South Pasadena Tiger Run 10K, which was to be the crowning achievement of my shortened fall season--the event about which I had dreamed every dream for every day that has passed since late August when I began my comeback. This log begins in the second of those two weeks, the week of my race.
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