64 and out

Running Streak (11/07/2009 - 01/09/2010) RIP

So, I suppose it is safe to say that it actually MAY be an utterly asinine assertion that there exists a causal relationship between posting my runs on the internet, and acquiring injuries... however, superstitions being somewhat of a placebo effect as it is, I had stubbornly resisted posting my running until, alas, injuries were acquired, albeit without the intervention of the internet.

The rules of the game are simple: Run every day, where "run" is defined as an honest effort of 5 or more miles.

I started because I wanted to reclaim my identity as a runner, I ended because of a strange numbness/swelling in the proximity of my 3rd metatarsal (L foot). It was an awesome experience with a range of emotions attached, some expected, some not. I got a lot out of it, including but not limited to feeling like running was a natural part of my day, and getting to the point where I could modulate the fatigue and enjoy most of my runs. I am injury prone, so I don't know if I'll start another streak, but I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested. For the record, I know multiple people who've run every day for many years... this streak may pale in comparison, but it's the culmination of my personal struggle to overcome the past 3 years of injuries.

64 Days of Running

Day 1 (11/07/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:03 (8:30 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
First day back, and I feel almost as if the 6 weeks of semi-running I've done in the past two months never happened! Mostly reflected in heavy breathing, legs actually feel okay.

Day 2 (11/08/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:43 (8:49 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Exactly the same as yesterday, except slower and legs feeling much more tired. It was also warmer than I'd like bc I ran later in the day than usual. Slogged through.

Day 3 (11/09/2009): 6 miles, 49:46 (8:22 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Pavement is always a lot faster for me, but don't let the improvement in pace deceive you... I'm still feeling like my legs are really weak under me, and the breathing just won't settle down. I'm sort of in that state where my fastest pace and my slowest pace are one and the same.

Day 4 (11/10/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:04 (8:30 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Feeling a little bit better, run time was about the same as Day 1, but the difference was that I started out more conservatively and held up a little bit better coming back. Somehow that made me feel like I'd made some sort of an improvement... even though it doesn't make that much sense.

Day 5 (11/11/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:01:11 (8:37 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
I'm no longer struggling quite as much as the first few days, so naturally, I started feeling somewhat obliged to try a run that was a little bit longer. I hung in there for 7 even though I was feeling a little bit tired and sub-optimally warm. It turned out not as badly as I expected.

Day 6 (11/12/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:55 (8:29 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Good times! This is the first run that's genuinely felt easy. Felt a little groggy at first, but felt progressively better. I'm really glad that the "weak" feeling in my legs has gone away, it finally feels like I'm getting back into the swing of things (well, relatively speaking).

Day 7 (11/13/2009): 6 miles, 48:35 (8:10 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Evening run today due to allergy shots in the morning. Maybe the extra 12 hours of rest did me good--this was a super pleasant run with a favorable effort/speed ratio. Feeling really pleased today, maybe my fitness may return quicker than I thought!

Day 8 (11/14/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:25 (8:23 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Easy and good again, despite slightly less rest this time around. Funny observation is that I run the first half of this out and back run at approximate the same pace every time... all variations in total run time occur on the way back. I can't really figure out why.

Week 1 (+ 1 day) Musings: In general, this feels like a relatively normal first week back, with some rough spots at the beginning, and some brighter ones towards the end. I'm going to add some hindsight commentary by saying that when I started, I was not fully recovered from this hip flexor injury that had been plaguing me for the past 4 weeks, despite 2 weeks essentially off. It hurt a lot even walking around Days 1 -3, but I nuked that sucker with some creative rehab exercises and disciplined good form running. Against all odds, my hip steadily improved over the course of this week and hasn't bothered me since. And we're off to an excellent start!

Day 9 (11/15/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:12 (8:43 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Hmmmmm... here's about where my body is totally expecting a nice rest day, which it didn't get. Nope, keep going. Felt lousy. In my log I noted that I didn't understand why I felt lousy, but I'm pretty sure its because this is the juncture where I'd normally have had a recovery day.

Day 10 (11/16/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:02:14 (8:46 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Feel tired? Clearly the answer is... more mileage! I was determined to tough out this run, for some reason, I just can not quell the desire to combat tiredness with more effort. I think this still stands as my slowest running of this route this year. Legs just feel thrashed... it was also warm out. I'm slightly discouraged that the fatigue is setting in so soon.

Day 11 (11/17/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:38 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
A vaguely acceptable run after a few days of lousy. That thrashed feeling in my legs started to dissipate a little bit on the second half of this run, and I was able to pick it up a little bit.

Day 12 (11/18/2009): 6 miles, 48:18 (8:07 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Legs still feel like lead, it was sort of a chore to keep putting them in front of each other, but breathing was basically steady and the pace was a nice break from an extra slow few days. The pavement days kind of feel like my "recovery" day these days... I'm not exactly sure why its so much easier than the trails.

Day 13 (11/19/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:37 (8:32 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Felt lousy on the way out, then good on the way back. The whole lousy feeling resolving on the second half of the run continues. It is true that the way back is slightly downhill and the way out is slightly uphill, but I also kind of think its an indication that I'm starting to come out of the really fatigued state... because days DO exist when both ways suck. Unclear

Day 14 (11/20/2009): 5.2 miles, 44:10 (8:30 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Denver, after my evening flight. Dark, cold, snow and ice on the ground. Honestly it wasn't that cold... or dark... and the snow wasn't too slippery so I kinda ended up feeling cheated out of some "hardcore" factor here. (21:56/22:14) second lap slowdown kinda bugged me, but generally felt pretty good for the altitude, just took it easy and it was actually a fairly pleasant run.

Day 15 (11/21/2009): 5.2 miles, 44:34 (8:34 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Got up again in the morning and did the same run. The daylight made things worse, because the snow had started to melt and the footing was much worse than yesterday. (22:05/22:29) felt a little tired, but not gonna sweat it. Not significantly slower than yesterday adjusted for terrain.

Week 2 Musings: Yikes, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore... this is new territory. I was definitely hoping that the fatigue from lack of off days would not set in until at least a few weeks in, but it's definitely hit me hard this week. It's also harder to absorb life circumstances, like visiting Peter in super cold super de-oxygenated Colorado... I'm trying to keep the 'argh' under control though, just gotta power through this or I'll never see what's on the other side.

Day 16 (11/22/2009): 5.2 miles, 45:15 (8:42 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Gahhhhh, I'm getting sick of this run... and I felt super extra lousy today. (22:22/22:53) I just could not hold it together the second lap. Aren't you supposed to start feeling BETTER after a few days to adjust to the altitude?

Day 17 (11/23/2009): 5.2 miles, 44:58 (8:39 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Okay, the lousiness isn't resolving as quickly as it might at sea level. (22:44/22:12) Felt pretty much as lousy when I started as where I left of yesterday, but when I saw the first lap split, I decided that I had to put my foot down somewhere, at this rate + the usual second lap slowdown, I was going to log a 23+ minute lap if I didn't put a stop to this. Dug deep and pulled out a semi decent second lap... and I'm done! Oxygen, here I come!

Day 18 (11/24/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:49 (8:34 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Back in Pasadena. I've got all of 10 hours here between my flight in from Denver and my flight out to Boston. Squeezed in a run in the glorious warmth and sunshine in the interim. I wasn't exactly feeling the amazing restorative effects of oxygen... but I may also have been in a bad state due to traveling, lack of sleep, dehydration etc. I also experienced my first seriously disturbing ache/pain so far: about 35 minutes in, I started feeling a stabbing pain in my R arch, followed by the sensation of popping or tearing. I was so terrified I stopped and took off my shoe to see if I had ruptured my plantar fascia. Upon poking and prodding, I decided that nothing had ruptured, at least not yet... so I rubbed it out and limped a little bit more slowly back the rest of the way. The arch started to feel a little bit more normal after 10 more minutes, so I picked it up a little bit at the end.

Day 19 (11/25/2009): 5.3 miles, 43:51 (8:16 min/mile) Smallest River Loop from house
Boston, for Thanksgiving week. Run after no sleep on the red eye. The river paths are mostly pavement, so I got a good clip going, but to be completely honest my R arch is killing me. I'm really afraid that my streak is over, and also that I've torn my plantar fascia. Crap. Okay, I'll give it one more day, if it hurts tomorrow, I gotta call this thing off...

Day 20 (11/26/2009): 6.8 miles, 56:07 (8:15 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
It's Thanksgiving, and I gotta run before I turkey! Peter's here too, and its a big day because the fate of my continued running experiment rests on this run. In a fit of inspiration, I remember the correct way to tape an arch, so I break out the athletic tape and my foot feels loads better. Felt so much better, I went a little farther today and felt like I was going decently fast. There's a huge hill on the way home, which is why this speed is not reflected in my average pace. Happy Thanksgiving! I'm grateful, in addition to various other things, that my streak is still going strong.

Day 21 (11/27/2009): 6.8 miles, 58:30 (8:36 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop backwards
My turkey hasn't fully digested yet by morning, but its time to run again... gahhh... Felt lousy and hard to move the legs. Decided to go backwards to avoid seeing how far off from yesterday's splits I am. The super super lousy feeling dissipated slowly over the first 15 minutes or so, which inspired me to do the longer loop, but it was still slow. The hill was extra painful today.

Day 22 (11/28/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:34 (8:47 min/mile) Smallest River Loop
Lousiness continues... wtf? I'm grouchy though, so I'll blame the weather, the wind and why is there this bigass hill always in my way??? On the upside, my feet are doing pretty well with the taping.

Week 3 Musings: I find myself struggling internally about the nature of running every day. I'm tired, I haven't had a "great" run in a while, and I'm resenting that all of this travel hit before I'd gotten a chance to work through the fatigue from Week 2. The altitude in Colorado, then the hills in Boston are pissing me off. It's not fair to them though, because if I were in shape, I'd be loving it. Since when didn't I love hills... why am I doing this again?



Things improve after this week, but I can't transcribe all 64 days in one sitting, so I'll post some more installments later.