Judging from the quantity and quality of foul substances my left sinuses are producing... I haven't quite kicked the sinus infection. However, the subsiding of headache, fever and facial pain meant that I embarked tentatively on my first run in just about 2 weeks.
Let's see how well I do for the rest of the days....
Sunday 03/02: 44:07, Monterrey to bridge loop, veeeeeeeerrrrrrry slowly. Didn't feel as terrible as I expected, but still felt kinda tired and out of breath. Legs sore towards the end, upper body/shoulder felt cramp-y. Also a lot of snot. Not really feeling that great, but it was such a nice day that I felt it would be a shame to not get out there. Did PT and abridged core strengthening afterwards. Really hard, its been a few weeks. L foot felt so-so. Taped it before the run, seemed to help.
Monday 03/03: Off. Working kicking my ass. Sinuses really bad today.
Tuesday 03/04: Off. Wanted to get up and run in the morning, but its not that easy when you are still a little sick and are get home from work at midnight. Came home a record early 8:45 pm today in order to make it to my Wednesday morning rematch with Slow Jogging.
Wednesday 03/05: 41:58, Monterrey loop again in the AM. Hard to get up, but glad I did. Feeling much less sick than earlier in the week. Ran a couple minutes faster to show for it. Breathing is still not great, but much better than Sunday. Felt like I really had to concentrate to keep my form, pace. Not a fantastic run by any means, but I'm encouraged by the improvement.
Thursday 03/06: Off. Allergy shot day. I'm thinking that the 5 day week is going to be inevitable for a while... at least until Minion needs less supervision... or I get promoted to the once a week shot schedule instead of the twice a week shot schedule. It's kind of a toss up as to which will happen first.
Friday 03/07: 40:55, Monterrey loop in the AM. It's damn hard to wake up after insufficient sleep, but its a really good feeling to run in the morning. I feel happy when I get to work. Running doesn't quite feel as natural or as relaxed after an extended layoff, but things are getting better. No soreness today. Feet hurt a bit, but I think it was because I wrapped the toes too tightly today. Wondering if I should wean myself off of that.
Saturday 03/08: 41:22, One trail perimeter of the RB at almost noon. Remembered that I do not handle warm conditions well. Just felt inordinately warm, but in retrospect, maybe it wasn't so hot, maybe I'm just out of shape. Felt like I ran really slow, but the overall run time wasn't disasterous. Nose sunburnt. Nuts.
A beautiful day for riding though, joined Peter for 5 laps of the RB veeeeeeeeerrrry slowly. Turns out it was perfect temperature for cycling, really nice and fun. Felt pretty weak though on the bike. Legs not liking this unfamiliar activity... wrapped the bad toe up really tight for the pedaling, which sort of cut off the circulation a bit unpleasantly, but my toe didn't feel sore and bruised afterwards which is the usual after-effect of cycling these days.
Felt good about this week. 4 days of running, my feet are still in one piece, my legs feel good, the breathing is still bad, but my sinuses are loads better than at the beginning of the week.
Target Training Time this week: I really don't know how I'll be feeling. If I run 3-5 days and get healthy, I'll be pleased.
Actual Training: 2:48:22, 63 minutes of riding
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Week of 02/24/2008 - 03/01/2008 (Dying Week 2)
Contrary to popular belief, being a boss if freakin' hard work.
Spent Sunday also entirely in bed, and tried very hard to be somewhat presentable for my new Junior Resource's (henceforth referred to as "Minion") first day. Did not succeed in that. It is very, very hard to retain the presence of a competent, individual that's got their shit together, when you are coughing violently, pale, and wheezing as we toddled up the one flight of stairs. Somehow, I got through the day and Minion still seemed enthused about coming back tomorrow. I guess I'll call that a victory.
Coughing gradually subsided over the course of the week, but the feeling of being perpetually out of breath took a while longer to depart. Towards the end of the week I felt optimistic about trying a run again, but then I acquired a sinus infection. Apparently my left side is cursed, because only those sinuses were affected. That is also the side with 1/2 an ACL, a metal plate holding my ankle together, and the bad toe.... wtf?
Unfortunately, the major symptoms of the sinus infection were fever, headache and radiating pain in the left side of my face, which also makes for poor running. I was starting to get pretty freaked out by Saturday, but was much improved after Herr Doctor Meinhold's mysterious voodoo remedy, the Chamomile Tea Inhalation.
Will the dying ever stop? No runs this week.
Spent Sunday also entirely in bed, and tried very hard to be somewhat presentable for my new Junior Resource's (henceforth referred to as "Minion") first day. Did not succeed in that. It is very, very hard to retain the presence of a competent, individual that's got their shit together, when you are coughing violently, pale, and wheezing as we toddled up the one flight of stairs. Somehow, I got through the day and Minion still seemed enthused about coming back tomorrow. I guess I'll call that a victory.
Coughing gradually subsided over the course of the week, but the feeling of being perpetually out of breath took a while longer to depart. Towards the end of the week I felt optimistic about trying a run again, but then I acquired a sinus infection. Apparently my left side is cursed, because only those sinuses were affected. That is also the side with 1/2 an ACL, a metal plate holding my ankle together, and the bad toe.... wtf?
Unfortunately, the major symptoms of the sinus infection were fever, headache and radiating pain in the left side of my face, which also makes for poor running. I was starting to get pretty freaked out by Saturday, but was much improved after Herr Doctor Meinhold's mysterious voodoo remedy, the Chamomile Tea Inhalation.
Will the dying ever stop? No runs this week.
Week of 02/17/2008 - 02/23/2008 (Dying Week 1)
I think I ran once this week, right after coming back from Denver. Monterrey down to the bridge loop, for about 42 minutes. I remember that my chest felt kinda tight during this run, and coughing became worse after that.
The next day, blood clots were coming up with the cough, so I decided maybe I should lay off the exercising... Basically got worse and worse, peaking on Saturday, which I spent entirely flat on my back in bed. Dying. Literally.
The next day, blood clots were coming up with the cough, so I decided maybe I should lay off the exercising... Basically got worse and worse, peaking on Saturday, which I spent entirely flat on my back in bed. Dying. Literally.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Week of 02/10/2008 - 02/16/2008 (Pre-base week 14)
The Good: Peter and I hiked up past the old campground, and it seems that the blockage from last winter's storms has been cleared out of the Bailey Canyon trail. My favorite run has been restored yet again. Hooray!
The Bad: Toe and also supporting ligaments in the L ankle are feeling pretty shaky, particularly bad on the hike.
The Ugly: Everything to do with my fitness and running.
Sunday 02/10: 26:39, some jogging around the North Fields with KB, good company helped time go by... was feeling very crappy and exerted despite slow pace. Hiking in Bailey Canyon with Peter beforehand. Wanted to show him the running path, but didn't make it to the top due to lack of water and physical disabilities. Man, we are halfway to a wheelchair... seriously.
If I were a normal person, I would say that the plague has mostly gone away. Still some snot and etc. but its really only when I try to run or climb stairs or something that I still feel the respiratory ill-effects. From previous experience, it kinda takes a while for that to go away. Blech. Core strengthening starts again. Felt not as bad as I expected, but not pleased that the balancing leg lifts were wobbly.
Monday 02/11: Off. Interviewing potential minions. Whole body feels sore from hiking and core strengthening for the first time in a while.
Tuesday 02/12: 1:02:51, holy moly, longest run yet! Wasn't really planned, got on the track for some easy jogging in lane 6, joined by Markkimarkkonnen, gradually accelerated to about 15 minutes of cardiovascularly uncomfortable running, then some more jogging. Thankfully didn't really check a lot of lap splits, so no idea if horribly slow. Felt alright, first time in a while that running didn't feel like complete basura. Feet were okay during, but actually pretty beat up afterwards. Core strengthening at the gym afterwards.
Wednesday 02/13: Off. Unexcused absence. Bah. L foot feels pretty crappy, but taped it around the ball of the foot per KB's suggestion, which made walking around feel a LOT better!
Thursday 02/14: More slacking. Happy Valentine's day to all! Successfully managed to hire a minion, woo hoo! Had to get allergy shot, then started driving with Peter. Arrived in vegas around 1 am.
Friday 02/15: Driving all day. I guess this was alright bc of a random and crippling pain in my R heel. Almost fell down when I stepped out of bed, bc I was not expecting that sensation. Feet feel pretty crappy for having 3 days off. Mmrrrrghhhhh... Arrived in Denver around 1 am.
Saturday 02/16: 50:13, up and running again. Not liking this whole going to bed super late thing. Have not been sleeping well. Also very dehydrated and at altitude. An interesting adventure run. Found trailhead from street, and started off into the open space. Packed trail rapidly became narrow, extremely muddy with puddles and snow. Shoes almost sucked off repeatedly, rather intractable along several dimensions. Gradually, shoes accumulated mud weight and by the time I reached some packed snow, it felt like having lead weights strapped to both feet. Pretty slow going, but determined to make it at least 15 minutes out, I was rewarded for my perseverance by emerging out onto a nice, wide, packed dirt and gravel trail that wound up a steep little hill then off into the distance. Followed the trail out until its trailhead out onto a dirt road, then back the way I came. Wished I had more time on the bigger trail, liked the rolling hills. Feet not so great bc of the muddy sections, ankles kinda unstable didn't really handle all of that torque particularly well. Glad to get out there though, not a lot of running this week.
Target training time this week: 3-4 hours, its gonna depend on the moving trip
Actual training: 2:19:42
The Bad: Toe and also supporting ligaments in the L ankle are feeling pretty shaky, particularly bad on the hike.
The Ugly: Everything to do with my fitness and running.
Sunday 02/10: 26:39, some jogging around the North Fields with KB, good company helped time go by... was feeling very crappy and exerted despite slow pace. Hiking in Bailey Canyon with Peter beforehand. Wanted to show him the running path, but didn't make it to the top due to lack of water and physical disabilities. Man, we are halfway to a wheelchair... seriously.
If I were a normal person, I would say that the plague has mostly gone away. Still some snot and etc. but its really only when I try to run or climb stairs or something that I still feel the respiratory ill-effects. From previous experience, it kinda takes a while for that to go away. Blech. Core strengthening starts again. Felt not as bad as I expected, but not pleased that the balancing leg lifts were wobbly.
Monday 02/11: Off. Interviewing potential minions. Whole body feels sore from hiking and core strengthening for the first time in a while.
Tuesday 02/12: 1:02:51, holy moly, longest run yet! Wasn't really planned, got on the track for some easy jogging in lane 6, joined by Markkimarkkonnen, gradually accelerated to about 15 minutes of cardiovascularly uncomfortable running, then some more jogging. Thankfully didn't really check a lot of lap splits, so no idea if horribly slow. Felt alright, first time in a while that running didn't feel like complete basura. Feet were okay during, but actually pretty beat up afterwards. Core strengthening at the gym afterwards.
Wednesday 02/13: Off. Unexcused absence. Bah. L foot feels pretty crappy, but taped it around the ball of the foot per KB's suggestion, which made walking around feel a LOT better!
Thursday 02/14: More slacking. Happy Valentine's day to all! Successfully managed to hire a minion, woo hoo! Had to get allergy shot, then started driving with Peter. Arrived in vegas around 1 am.
Friday 02/15: Driving all day. I guess this was alright bc of a random and crippling pain in my R heel. Almost fell down when I stepped out of bed, bc I was not expecting that sensation. Feet feel pretty crappy for having 3 days off. Mmrrrrghhhhh... Arrived in Denver around 1 am.
Saturday 02/16: 50:13, up and running again. Not liking this whole going to bed super late thing. Have not been sleeping well. Also very dehydrated and at altitude. An interesting adventure run. Found trailhead from street, and started off into the open space. Packed trail rapidly became narrow, extremely muddy with puddles and snow. Shoes almost sucked off repeatedly, rather intractable along several dimensions. Gradually, shoes accumulated mud weight and by the time I reached some packed snow, it felt like having lead weights strapped to both feet. Pretty slow going, but determined to make it at least 15 minutes out, I was rewarded for my perseverance by emerging out onto a nice, wide, packed dirt and gravel trail that wound up a steep little hill then off into the distance. Followed the trail out until its trailhead out onto a dirt road, then back the way I came. Wished I had more time on the bigger trail, liked the rolling hills. Feet not so great bc of the muddy sections, ankles kinda unstable didn't really handle all of that torque particularly well. Glad to get out there though, not a lot of running this week.
Target training time this week: 3-4 hours, its gonna depend on the moving trip
Actual training: 2:19:42
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Week of 02/03/2008 - 02/09/2008 (Pre-Base Week 13)
Oh, the calamities of life... all I'm saying, is that if you're even THINKING about making a snide comment about the Event That Shall Not Be Mentioned, then don't even think about it. Or, better yet, just pretend that you made your comment and then read my response below:
FUCK YOU.
(if you don't know what i'm talking about, its better that way. just ignore, and proceed below)
Now, onto running. Sports with balls are stupid anyways.
Sunday 02/03: 55:35, about 6.5 miles up to the aquatic center and back on Orange Grove from house. Second "long" run accomplished. Felt similarly to the one on friday, felt kinda groggy in the beginning, but just ran slowly enough to feel comfortable, then picked it up towards the end as I felt better. Held 8:30's again, so slowly and painfully I am approaching acceptability. Soreness in L toe kinda came and went throughout the run, still trying to figure out if that is a result of the new shoe, or the new therapy or something else.
Monday 02/04: Off. Allergy shots. Trying to establish a routine. Driving to Disneyland on a school night is a bad idea. Remember to vote tomorrow!!!
Tuesday 02/05: 40:42, my weekly dose of discouragement: 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops, with the middle one run hard (13:52, 11:37, 13:50). Did not get very much sleep due to sore throat, woke up feeling very poor. Somehow dragged my sorry ass to work, drank a LOT of tea, and felt moderately better. Left early to go vote and run. Pretty much same deal as last week, jog, run, jog. This week I forgot the HR monitor though, so I'm pretty sure the run part was just at a higher exertion level than last week and doesn't really represent any improvement. Tried to force myself to breathe out of my mouth, as it occurred to me that this may be making it harder at higher HR levels to run faster.
Took a lot of zinc tablets, but not sure if I'm going to be able to dodge this round of the plague. Sucks. I also really dislike that feeling where it becomes really hard to breathe prior to there being muscular exertion in your legs. Yet to feel any lactic acid, but felt like drowning anyways. Its frustrating to know that there's so much more power in your legs that can not be tapped without further acquisition of fitness. Also, L toe hurt on the jogging laps but not the running lap. Weird, weird, weird.
Wednesday 02/06: 42:29, Monterrey to bridge and back. First time in a while, its always delightful when you learn that absolutely NO improvement has been made since a month ago. I don't even care anymore... its never going to get better, so I'm just going to go ahead and get really, gloriously, fat. Still having a lot of trouble sleeping due to sore throat, congestion, etc. Really cantakerous today.
Thursday 02/07: 41:06, one trail perimeter around the RB. Super slow. Felt fine except for the very unpleasant feeling of air against a raw sore throat. Felt ratchety. Also very odd pain in the space between the ankle bone and heel on the inside of my foot. Not sure exactly what the source is, went away gradually as the run went on. Forgot to do Andre's PT. Having the plague kinda sucks.
Friday 02/08: 34:55, Monterrey to rock and back the same way. Was supposed to be the full loop around the bridge, but just felt so much like crap in every imaginable way, decided to call it a short day. Dry cough has kinda cleared up, but now there's a lot more mucus to be expelled, and that's not so hot either, for running... its also mysteriously hot out these days, which also feels crappy on top of the semi-head-achey, muscle-achey state. Jury's still out on doing a harder run tomorrow.
Saturday 02/09: 44:20, Huntington via Virginia.... unnnngggghhhhh.... felt very terrible and labored. Coughing. Throat felt much worse afterwards. This state feels like it will never end. Every day I think I feel possibly a bit better? But as soon as there's any little exertion, I feel really, inordinately oxygen deprived. Also very very hot and dry and ozone-y. Blech.
On a happier note, Caltech meet today, had to take times so didn't get to socialize much, but saw some neat old-timers from my days here. Pinkberry with Kamalah afterwards! Drinks and tacos at Margaritas with Peter, KB and Ian :).
Target Training time this week: 4:15
Actual training: 4:19:07
FUCK YOU.
(if you don't know what i'm talking about, its better that way. just ignore, and proceed below)
Now, onto running. Sports with balls are stupid anyways.
Sunday 02/03: 55:35, about 6.5 miles up to the aquatic center and back on Orange Grove from house. Second "long" run accomplished. Felt similarly to the one on friday, felt kinda groggy in the beginning, but just ran slowly enough to feel comfortable, then picked it up towards the end as I felt better. Held 8:30's again, so slowly and painfully I am approaching acceptability. Soreness in L toe kinda came and went throughout the run, still trying to figure out if that is a result of the new shoe, or the new therapy or something else.
Monday 02/04: Off. Allergy shots. Trying to establish a routine. Driving to Disneyland on a school night is a bad idea. Remember to vote tomorrow!!!
Tuesday 02/05: 40:42, my weekly dose of discouragement: 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops, with the middle one run hard (13:52, 11:37, 13:50). Did not get very much sleep due to sore throat, woke up feeling very poor. Somehow dragged my sorry ass to work, drank a LOT of tea, and felt moderately better. Left early to go vote and run. Pretty much same deal as last week, jog, run, jog. This week I forgot the HR monitor though, so I'm pretty sure the run part was just at a higher exertion level than last week and doesn't really represent any improvement. Tried to force myself to breathe out of my mouth, as it occurred to me that this may be making it harder at higher HR levels to run faster.
Took a lot of zinc tablets, but not sure if I'm going to be able to dodge this round of the plague. Sucks. I also really dislike that feeling where it becomes really hard to breathe prior to there being muscular exertion in your legs. Yet to feel any lactic acid, but felt like drowning anyways. Its frustrating to know that there's so much more power in your legs that can not be tapped without further acquisition of fitness. Also, L toe hurt on the jogging laps but not the running lap. Weird, weird, weird.
Wednesday 02/06: 42:29, Monterrey to bridge and back. First time in a while, its always delightful when you learn that absolutely NO improvement has been made since a month ago. I don't even care anymore... its never going to get better, so I'm just going to go ahead and get really, gloriously, fat. Still having a lot of trouble sleeping due to sore throat, congestion, etc. Really cantakerous today.
Thursday 02/07: 41:06, one trail perimeter around the RB. Super slow. Felt fine except for the very unpleasant feeling of air against a raw sore throat. Felt ratchety. Also very odd pain in the space between the ankle bone and heel on the inside of my foot. Not sure exactly what the source is, went away gradually as the run went on. Forgot to do Andre's PT. Having the plague kinda sucks.
Friday 02/08: 34:55, Monterrey to rock and back the same way. Was supposed to be the full loop around the bridge, but just felt so much like crap in every imaginable way, decided to call it a short day. Dry cough has kinda cleared up, but now there's a lot more mucus to be expelled, and that's not so hot either, for running... its also mysteriously hot out these days, which also feels crappy on top of the semi-head-achey, muscle-achey state. Jury's still out on doing a harder run tomorrow.
Saturday 02/09: 44:20, Huntington via Virginia.... unnnngggghhhhh.... felt very terrible and labored. Coughing. Throat felt much worse afterwards. This state feels like it will never end. Every day I think I feel possibly a bit better? But as soon as there's any little exertion, I feel really, inordinately oxygen deprived. Also very very hot and dry and ozone-y. Blech.
On a happier note, Caltech meet today, had to take times so didn't get to socialize much, but saw some neat old-timers from my days here. Pinkberry with Kamalah afterwards! Drinks and tacos at Margaritas with Peter, KB and Ian :).
Target Training time this week: 4:15
Actual training: 4:19:07
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Week of 01/27/2008 - 02/02/2008 (Pre-Base Week 12)
Time to pull it together. An injury week can either kill you... or, if you're very very lucky, you can trundle on forwards, starting several steps behind where you used to be.
L toe feeling almost back to where it used to be, feeling like it may be possible to resume some running. Rolling out my arch actually helps a lot more than I thought it would. Going to try the new PT regimen, to see if running can be managed without accumulating damage. Gotta focus on making good decisions this week.
Sunday 01/27: 38:41, short, very very chill run to test the waters. 4.4 mile loop around the neighborhood, made the call to deal with some pavement over the mushy mud that is likely to be in the Arroyo. Also tried a new shoe, an older model of the Gel Nimbus--while Asics and I haven't always gotten along, this shoe was so nice and cushy, I thought it would be better than my aging pair of Triumphs. Mostly a good run, the L foot had some rough patches, but felt alright by the end, otherwise very nice and easy, but felt surprisingly smooth and light on my feet. Was also pleased to see that easy hasn't reverted back to like 10 minute miles.
Monday 01/28: 41:27, Huntington back via Virginia. Rolling out my arches and looking forwards to this run all day. Not sure what the inspiration was, but did a real run for the first time in what feels like years... with a real "running" stride instead of a joggers shuffle like I've been doing for the past 3 months. Felt SO GOOD, just like heaven. Legs just felt so free, it felt like I was running for the first time ever, the movements felt so unfamiliar after so much trundling.
Felt good. Core strengthening at the gym afterwards. Then weird new PT for the toe, rolled out my arches some more. Hoping that nothing hurts tomorrow.
Tuesday 01/29: Off. Resting foot, lots of work. Kind of feeling like a stress (basket) case lately. Still waiting on the verdict for the new PT, though I have to say that the part that Andre worked on last week feel... really great. Arches are feeling not stellar bc I ran without the foam orthotics on Monday. The squishy spenco ones have considerably less support. Brought a tennis ball to work to roll out my arches during the day, but so busy it didn't get much use.
Wednesday 01/30: 41:49, 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops (14:00, 11:53, 14:39) plus jog back to car. Tried the short segment of higher HR running again today, and remembered why I didn't want to leave the jogging only phase. No one likes to confront their own incompetence... my characteric "trundle" is currently optimized to about a HR of 165 and corresponds to 8:45 - 9:30 pace depending on the surface. Excursions too far from that range result in a disproportionate amount of cardiovascular discomfort... which is both unsettling and demoralizing. It's like one day you wake up and realize that you're a running "baby" again... everything's hard and consterning.
I pushed harder against the discomfort than ever before in the past few months, getting to about 185-195 range depending on uphill or downhill for the middle lap for a whopping 7:45 pace across about a mile and a half. Piece of cake for my legs, but the rest of me was feeling very "whoa, wtf?". It can't even imagine how I used to run 10, 12 miles at this pace. I've become this weird, slow, blobby thing that I don't really want to recognize as myself.
The former approach to such situations was to put my head down and grind through as many grueling sessions of ultra high intensity mileage until the paces started to come more easily... but such things are no longer possible for me, nor are they really the best way to gain fitness, as I am now told. I think that the reason I used to do things that way is because I AM mentally equipped to handle those physical battles lasting but a few weeks, but right now the majority of what I'm facing are psychological battles... making good choices for my sub-optimally healthy body in the face of slow progress and training discontent. And that, I'm not so good at doing.
Thursday 01/31: 43:09, Sierra Madre to an abridged Eichenlaub Grassy Special. Did not get out until pretty late, felt averse to running around the field, so drove out to Lombardy and Sierra Madre grass median. Felt pretty tired and not really enthused about this run, cold and stressed. Had a lot of trouble with footing early on in the dark, but managed an epic tumble off of curb at Oak Knoll, turning the right ankle (the good side, argh!) pretty bad. Lucky to have avoided doing a faceplant into oncoming traffic, but took a few minutes to get back on my feet again. Jogged really slowly back, but coming back up Sierra Madre, fell into rut in the grass and hyper-extended R knee. At this point did not care about pain, HR or form, just hurried back so as to make this godawful run end as quickly as possible.
Friday 02/01: 53:06, Huntington, the real one up Oak Knoll. A new month, time to re-group. Iced the ankle, get the swelling down as much as possible to be able to shove back into a shoe. Right side rubs a bit uncomfortably against the sore part, but mostly okay. Didn't feel that great overall, but ran comfortably for my longest run in almost a year. Felt better towards the end coming up Oak Knoll, was mostly pleased with 8:30's on low effort. Could have been worse.
Saturday 02/02: 30:12, around the CMS fields with Carl, then a few more laps on my own. You'd think a couple of races would tire Carl out, but not so. Felt pretty beat, L foot didn't feel great either. Watched CMS alumni meet with Peter. Good to see everyone, but wished I could race. On a positive note, the sprain continues to improve.
Target Training this week: 3 hours? Basically anything I can manage without deteriorating the condition of my left second toe is fine for this week.
Actual training: 4:08:24 (not too bad, actually)
L toe feeling almost back to where it used to be, feeling like it may be possible to resume some running. Rolling out my arch actually helps a lot more than I thought it would. Going to try the new PT regimen, to see if running can be managed without accumulating damage. Gotta focus on making good decisions this week.
Sunday 01/27: 38:41, short, very very chill run to test the waters. 4.4 mile loop around the neighborhood, made the call to deal with some pavement over the mushy mud that is likely to be in the Arroyo. Also tried a new shoe, an older model of the Gel Nimbus--while Asics and I haven't always gotten along, this shoe was so nice and cushy, I thought it would be better than my aging pair of Triumphs. Mostly a good run, the L foot had some rough patches, but felt alright by the end, otherwise very nice and easy, but felt surprisingly smooth and light on my feet. Was also pleased to see that easy hasn't reverted back to like 10 minute miles.
Monday 01/28: 41:27, Huntington back via Virginia. Rolling out my arches and looking forwards to this run all day. Not sure what the inspiration was, but did a real run for the first time in what feels like years... with a real "running" stride instead of a joggers shuffle like I've been doing for the past 3 months. Felt SO GOOD, just like heaven. Legs just felt so free, it felt like I was running for the first time ever, the movements felt so unfamiliar after so much trundling.
Felt good. Core strengthening at the gym afterwards. Then weird new PT for the toe, rolled out my arches some more. Hoping that nothing hurts tomorrow.
Tuesday 01/29: Off. Resting foot, lots of work. Kind of feeling like a stress (basket) case lately. Still waiting on the verdict for the new PT, though I have to say that the part that Andre worked on last week feel... really great. Arches are feeling not stellar bc I ran without the foam orthotics on Monday. The squishy spenco ones have considerably less support. Brought a tennis ball to work to roll out my arches during the day, but so busy it didn't get much use.
Wednesday 01/30: 41:49, 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops (14:00, 11:53, 14:39) plus jog back to car. Tried the short segment of higher HR running again today, and remembered why I didn't want to leave the jogging only phase. No one likes to confront their own incompetence... my characteric "trundle" is currently optimized to about a HR of 165 and corresponds to 8:45 - 9:30 pace depending on the surface. Excursions too far from that range result in a disproportionate amount of cardiovascular discomfort... which is both unsettling and demoralizing. It's like one day you wake up and realize that you're a running "baby" again... everything's hard and consterning.
I pushed harder against the discomfort than ever before in the past few months, getting to about 185-195 range depending on uphill or downhill for the middle lap for a whopping 7:45 pace across about a mile and a half. Piece of cake for my legs, but the rest of me was feeling very "whoa, wtf?". It can't even imagine how I used to run 10, 12 miles at this pace. I've become this weird, slow, blobby thing that I don't really want to recognize as myself.
The former approach to such situations was to put my head down and grind through as many grueling sessions of ultra high intensity mileage until the paces started to come more easily... but such things are no longer possible for me, nor are they really the best way to gain fitness, as I am now told. I think that the reason I used to do things that way is because I AM mentally equipped to handle those physical battles lasting but a few weeks, but right now the majority of what I'm facing are psychological battles... making good choices for my sub-optimally healthy body in the face of slow progress and training discontent. And that, I'm not so good at doing.
Thursday 01/31: 43:09, Sierra Madre to an abridged Eichenlaub Grassy Special. Did not get out until pretty late, felt averse to running around the field, so drove out to Lombardy and Sierra Madre grass median. Felt pretty tired and not really enthused about this run, cold and stressed. Had a lot of trouble with footing early on in the dark, but managed an epic tumble off of curb at Oak Knoll, turning the right ankle (the good side, argh!) pretty bad. Lucky to have avoided doing a faceplant into oncoming traffic, but took a few minutes to get back on my feet again. Jogged really slowly back, but coming back up Sierra Madre, fell into rut in the grass and hyper-extended R knee. At this point did not care about pain, HR or form, just hurried back so as to make this godawful run end as quickly as possible.
Friday 02/01: 53:06, Huntington, the real one up Oak Knoll. A new month, time to re-group. Iced the ankle, get the swelling down as much as possible to be able to shove back into a shoe. Right side rubs a bit uncomfortably against the sore part, but mostly okay. Didn't feel that great overall, but ran comfortably for my longest run in almost a year. Felt better towards the end coming up Oak Knoll, was mostly pleased with 8:30's on low effort. Could have been worse.
Saturday 02/02: 30:12, around the CMS fields with Carl, then a few more laps on my own. You'd think a couple of races would tire Carl out, but not so. Felt pretty beat, L foot didn't feel great either. Watched CMS alumni meet with Peter. Good to see everyone, but wished I could race. On a positive note, the sprain continues to improve.
Target Training this week: 3 hours? Basically anything I can manage without deteriorating the condition of my left second toe is fine for this week.
Actual training: 4:08:24 (not too bad, actually)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Week of 01/20/2008 - 01/26/2008 (Pre-Base Week 11)
Struggling with the whole consistency thing lately. Another crappy training week following a good one. This week's prognosis actually looks pretty poor as well.
Feeling alternately frustrated with life and then with myself. Obviously its my own responsibility to make time for the things that are important to me... but increasingly, I'm aware that "adulthood" forces you to admit the possibility that there are more important things in life than running. In my worse moments I highly resent that fact, and I resent the choices that I made that lead to wasting the years I had of lesser responsibility that could more wholly be devoted to running.
I always thought that it got better after tech, that you had more freedom, more time, more choices. Anything could be further from the truth... several years later, I find that while my life may less be confined by school work, but newly conceived notions of financial, professional, personal and social responsibilities have risen to take its place. In my current situation, I'm coming up against the fact that prioritizing training over absolutely everything else is selfish and ultimately untenable.
I guess if I were a better person, I would be okay with all of this... but apparently I've still got some personal growth to do...
Sunday 01/20: Off. More apartments. We aren't really excited about living in a planned living community. Gah.
Monday 01/21: XC ... skiing that is. Somewhere in the Rockies, about 2 hours out of Denver. You would think that it would be harder to fall down on a flat surface, but I managed to fall over in 2 hours more times than I've fallen downhill skiing in like 5 years combined. Took a bunch of getting used to, but fun towards the end. Good cardiovascular workout. Unfortunately this destroyed my L foot--per the pivot point for moving forwards approximately falling at the ball of your foot... it was actually a lot more stress to the bad joint than running. L forefoot grossly swollen for rest of day, hurts to walk.
Tuesday 01/22: Off. Feet mangled, body sore from waist down. Too much other crap to do. Got first allergy shot. Apparently you can't exercise for 4 hours prior and 4 hours after the shots, which I have to have twice a week... this is going to make scheduling running time even harder.
Wednesday 01/23: 15 minutes of ellipticizing, after which I decided that this sucked, so I tried the treadmill but it started killing my L foot after 5 minutes, but by that time, my elliptical had been taken... so 30 minutes of stationary biking, which made my feet (both) numb. Felt stupid and annoyed. Core strengthening afterwards, not a good day.
Thursday 01/24: 1 hour of ellipticizing, so as to avoid yesterday's mistake. Tried to do super high cadence. Did not feel like running. 165 HR never felt so bad. I was thinking, well at least it didn't hurt my foot... but the first step I took off of the machine was searing pain... not really sure how this happened, but it really irritated the bad toe again.
Friday 01/25: Off. Drinking off a crappy week.
Saturday 01/26: Went to the legendary Andre van Commenee to get my foot assessed... confirmed my suspicion of extensor tendonitis... which is apparently very very rare in this sort of manifestation. He did say that this was theoretically curable though, and was much preferable to joint damage. Felt cautiously optimistic about some exercises and home therapy to try over the next few weeks. Foot actually feeling not half bad this morning. Core strengthening at the gym with Peter in the PM.
Target training time this week: if I can get 2 ellipticizings and 2 runs in without pain, I'll call that a win.
Actual training: 50 minutes of assorted cardio, 1 hour of ellipticizing, some core strengthening
Feeling alternately frustrated with life and then with myself. Obviously its my own responsibility to make time for the things that are important to me... but increasingly, I'm aware that "adulthood" forces you to admit the possibility that there are more important things in life than running. In my worse moments I highly resent that fact, and I resent the choices that I made that lead to wasting the years I had of lesser responsibility that could more wholly be devoted to running.
I always thought that it got better after tech, that you had more freedom, more time, more choices. Anything could be further from the truth... several years later, I find that while my life may less be confined by school work, but newly conceived notions of financial, professional, personal and social responsibilities have risen to take its place. In my current situation, I'm coming up against the fact that prioritizing training over absolutely everything else is selfish and ultimately untenable.
I guess if I were a better person, I would be okay with all of this... but apparently I've still got some personal growth to do...
Sunday 01/20: Off. More apartments. We aren't really excited about living in a planned living community. Gah.
Monday 01/21: XC ... skiing that is. Somewhere in the Rockies, about 2 hours out of Denver. You would think that it would be harder to fall down on a flat surface, but I managed to fall over in 2 hours more times than I've fallen downhill skiing in like 5 years combined. Took a bunch of getting used to, but fun towards the end. Good cardiovascular workout. Unfortunately this destroyed my L foot--per the pivot point for moving forwards approximately falling at the ball of your foot... it was actually a lot more stress to the bad joint than running. L forefoot grossly swollen for rest of day, hurts to walk.
Tuesday 01/22: Off. Feet mangled, body sore from waist down. Too much other crap to do. Got first allergy shot. Apparently you can't exercise for 4 hours prior and 4 hours after the shots, which I have to have twice a week... this is going to make scheduling running time even harder.
Wednesday 01/23: 15 minutes of ellipticizing, after which I decided that this sucked, so I tried the treadmill but it started killing my L foot after 5 minutes, but by that time, my elliptical had been taken... so 30 minutes of stationary biking, which made my feet (both) numb. Felt stupid and annoyed. Core strengthening afterwards, not a good day.
Thursday 01/24: 1 hour of ellipticizing, so as to avoid yesterday's mistake. Tried to do super high cadence. Did not feel like running. 165 HR never felt so bad. I was thinking, well at least it didn't hurt my foot... but the first step I took off of the machine was searing pain... not really sure how this happened, but it really irritated the bad toe again.
Friday 01/25: Off. Drinking off a crappy week.
Saturday 01/26: Went to the legendary Andre van Commenee to get my foot assessed... confirmed my suspicion of extensor tendonitis... which is apparently very very rare in this sort of manifestation. He did say that this was theoretically curable though, and was much preferable to joint damage. Felt cautiously optimistic about some exercises and home therapy to try over the next few weeks. Foot actually feeling not half bad this morning. Core strengthening at the gym with Peter in the PM.
Target training time this week: if I can get 2 ellipticizings and 2 runs in without pain, I'll call that a win.
Actual training: 50 minutes of assorted cardio, 1 hour of ellipticizing, some core strengthening
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)