I'm Back, Baby!

Well, I'm not trying to jinx anything, but my legs are doing alright since I've returned to training a week ago.

I saw a specialist a few weeks back and he is certain I have chronic compartment syndrome in both of my calves. He wants to confirm it by giving me a test that measures the pressure in each of the compartments in the posterior calf muscles before, during and after a run with big needles. This will tell the doctor if I am fine or redlining toward a serious problem.

When I was told the test was scheduled for Aug. 15th, I gave the Doc a call. I told him my concern about my symptoms. They had mostly disappeared and I was worried that the pressure readings wouldn't be accurate considering my inactivity. He agreed, and told me to get back to the marathon training and see if the same feeling returns. He said if I'm lucky that the pain may not return and I can simply cancel the appointment. If it does, then it's a date with the needles... I'm running again, and we'll see what happens.

For now, I'm back! I started this past week with 38 miles. I'm on a 12 week plan and I started that plan at the 10 weeks-to-go mark. I think about the possibility of overtraining in the near future, but I'm willing to take that risk with my lack of time left before race day. I'm stronger than most of my in-law family believes I am- who loves to jab me for being frequently injured in running. They never have asked about all of the things I've been able to accomplish uninjured in my life...

This past week went well, and my 15 mile run this morning was good. I finished the 15 at 1:55.38, a 7:42 pace. I ran it alone, which I do well when I have to focus and push myself. I'm excited to keep getting back into shape and prove to myself how well I can do after all of the adversity in the past month and a half.

I found a steal of a deal on a pair of Nike LunarFly+ 2s and they feel great. Keeping my fingers crossed! Next week is 43 miles.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.

The Good:

Friday's tempo run of 6 miles at 15k to half marathon tempo pace. I did 6 miles in 39:35, which is 6:35 per mile average. I actually felt great, and completely surprised myself that I was able to focus for that long. My 1.5 splits were 9:47, 9:50, 9:59, 9:46. I went out too fast, first 400 in 91, and realized my first loop would be fast but I just told myself to stay under ten minutes for the last 3 loops and ended up running way faster than I "felt like" I was running.

The Bad:

The heat and humidity are really pissing me off. I'm really not happy about having to wake up at 5 or 5:30 in the morning just to be able to run. I have also been sick this week, a minor cold I caught from Pete which he caught at his conference. It's almost gone, but my throat is still sore.

The Ugly:

My long run today. I was going for 20 miles at 7:30 pace. We got a late start, so it was pretty warm by the time we started at 7am. I felt really good though, and hit 51:55 for the first 7 miles. All of a sudden, about a mile later, my legs stopped working. By ten miles I felt really depleted, hot, dehydrated, and altogether just not good. I started going over the situation in my mind. I ran into Pete on the trail (he was doing 15 at a different pace) and he tried to help by telling me I was "almost done". I believed him for a split second, but then I did some simple math in my head and realized he was lying to me. Eventually I decided to stop my watch at 12 miles (it said exactly 1:30:00, which I thought was weird and maybe a sign?)gather my thoughts, i.e walk for a few, and then continue the last two miles back to my car. I recalled that my long run for next week is supposed to be 15 with 12 at marathon pace, so I'm just going to try for 20 again next Sunday and make up the 12 miles at marathon pace another time.

I've been through enough "bad days" to know that it's not a big deal to have to change your workout due to outside factors. You don't all of a sudden get out of shape or lose your talents. Sometimes your body isn't ready, and it's better to be smart rather than tough it out. I have felt this way before and I think I just need to do a better job of getting sleep, fluids, and more good food. I'm down to 125.2 as of this morning, which is 5 pounds less than I weighed at the beginning of the month. I don't want to get below 120, so I gotta eat (and drink) up!

This week:
Monday: off
Tuesday: 10 miles
Wednesday: 14 miles
Thursday: 5 miles recovery
Friday: 6 mile tempo, 11 total
Saturday: 6 (miserably hot and humid) miles
Sunday: 14
Total: 60 miles

Uh oh. It's Almost August.

I've had cross country on my brain a lot this week. That's the tough thing about coaching a fall sport; even though you have the summer "off", it's really just the month of July because fall sports in Virginia start August 1st. Well, it's been awhile, but when I was in high school in Averill Park, New York, we did not start practice August 1st. We started the week before school, at the end of August, and we still managed two state championships during my three years of cross country. Don't get me started on that third year scandal... we should have been three for three but we had some administrative issues (ahem).

My cross country team is what you might call a "developing program". I spend the entire season basically tricking them into running longer and faster, while keeping it fun and adding in some cross training for kids whose primary sport is not running. I do scavenger hunts, relay races, and workouts where you pick a card from a pile and do whatever is on the card. We do more tradititonal training too, but I always do my best to make it fun, if not an opportunity to build some character. Having an entire month of practice in the heat of August is not my idea of a good time, and I know my team agrees. So we are starting pre-season conditioning the second week of August, and "try-outs" start August 15th. I wish I could start later, but we have to have a certain number of practice days before our first race.

I think part of the reason I've been thinking about cross country so much is that I am wondering how I'm going to fit in all my training with what I have scheduled for my team. This is going to require some really annoying planning. I'll just put that off for now.

Training has been great this week, but I do have some minor shin pain. It's on both sides, just regular old shin splints, so I'm doing some ice baths and ice cups after my runs. I should be taking ibuprofen too, but I keep forgetting. Tuesday was 10 miles than I ran with Pete. It was supposed to be split up into two runs but we had dinner plans last night so I just did it all in the morning. Today was 14 miles, which I did in 1:48 (7:45 per mile). Finally my Wednesday runs are feeling good.

Brutal Week

But I made it through! And Pete finally got the clearance to run... so after he gets through this cold he caught from staying in the dorms at JMU he'll be reading to resume (slightly abbreviated) training.

Saturday was 7 miles and 10 x100. I ran 5 miles with Bella and then did an ins and outs type workout around my neighborhood so I could make sprints part of the rest of my run. It was pretty easy and I felt good. Later we met some friends for sushi and way overpriced drinks. The best part of the evening was that we stopped at a frozen yogurt shop called Sweet Frogs and got some serious sugar highs. I can't remember everything I put on mine, mostly peanut butter cups, oreos, and hot fudge. Pete's weighed twice as much as mine and I think he put one of everything on his. Fatty.

Sunday, ugh. I spent most of the time I was supposed to be sleeping in a fit of pain. I have never experienced the monthly curse as bad as this, and even though I haven't had children yet I swear it felt like labor pains. Luckily it went away after about three hours so I got 2-3 hours of sleep total. I woke up at 5am, got everything ready, and Pete and I drove to the oceanfront for our long run. Technically the park doesn't open until 7, but we were able to sneak in through a side trail and start running by 6. Overall, the run went well. I didn't bother to drink coffee in the morning so I felt pretty sluggish for about 5 miles, but I figured it was more important to hydrate due to the extreme heat and humidity. I did the run on an out and back 7 mile stretch so I could stop and refill my water. My only hiccup was when I finished my second 7 miles Pete was still out running on his own and I couldn't find where he put the water. I kept running until I finally found him and then we went to the car. I filled up with G2 instead, so it ended up being a good thing. The last three miles were pretty rough, although not as bad as some of my Wednesday runs have felt. I ended up running 2:42:22, which is about 7:42 per mile for 21 miles. I would have liked to be closer to 7:30, but considering the heat, the conditions of the trail, and the fact that it was my longest training run ever, I'm satisfied.

Afterward we walked to the beach and soaked in the ocean for a few. By the time we got home I was wiped out, and I slept for about three hours (after a shower of course). I spent basically the rest of the day on the couch watching movies. It was too hot to do anything outside, and I'm doing all of my chores today since I have the day off from running.

So that's it! Here's how the week went:

Monday: off
Tuesday: 5 mile tempo, 10 total
Wednesday: 14 miles
Thursday: 5 miles recovery
Friday: 11 miles
Saturday: 7 miles with 10 x 100 sprints
Sunday: 21 miles!
Total : 68 miles

I'll Huff... and I'll Puff... and I'll Blow Your House In!

I'm not even going to bore myself by writing about the heat anymore. I've been waking up early all week, and it sucks, but I'm hoping it's not going to be like this for the rest of the summer. I know if I can make it through 68 miles this week, I can pretty much make it through anything. In typical fashion, I slogged through Wednesday's 14 miles. I have yet to feel any better on these Wednesday runs. They flat out suck. Thursday was a recovery 5 miles which I ran with Bella. Today's run was 11, and I actually felt good! I did the first half in 44 min, and came back in 42 (the route is actually a little longer than 11 miles, which I was happy to find out a few weeks ago). While I was running back, I couldn't believe I was actually feeling better with each mile. That rarely happens in the heat, and it usually goes the other way. For some reason I started about that fairytale The Three Little Pigs, and the wolf who tries to blow their houses in. Couldn't get it out of my head. Maybe it was because I was huffing and puffing a lot, I don't know.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 7 miles and some sprints and Sunday's run... 21 miles! This is going to take some planning. I actually was thinking today that I need to get some handheld water bottles because the gatorade bottles I've been using are annoying to hold. I hate to buy gadgets, but I borrowed my brother Brandon's a few weeks ago and I actually liked it. I also might need to break down and buy some new running shoes, since I've been doing all of my training in Nike Free's and I probably need to get something with a little cushion. My poor feet and shins are kind of sore from all of the sidewalk running this week.

Tempo Run

I woke up at 5 friggin 30 today to beat the impending sauna-like conditions (which will be around for the entire week, and this also coincides with my toughest week of training so far). Bullshiz. Unfortunately I will probably have to wake up at the same time tomorrow.

Drove to the park, warmed up 2 miles, stretched a little. I should probably start doing some more organized drills, but whatever. Like usual, my first 400 was way too fast so I just relaxed a bit and really I was feeling like crap anyway (I don't know if it was because of Sunday's run or the early wake-up or what). I came through the mile at 6:54, ummm not good. So I picked it up and ended up hitting my pace. I wasn't super encouraged by this workout, but I also haven't done a short tempo in a long time so I won't labor over it. Followed by a 3 mile cooldown shuffle, for 10 total.

My 1.5 mile splits:
10:13.20
9:58.87
9:56.45
3:07.65 (last 800)

Total: 33:16.17

6:39.2 per mile pace

Post script: After figuring out my pace, I feel a little better. I thought I had averaged 6:45, but it ended up being 6:39. Still not groundbreaking times but not awful either.

Mmmm... Blueberry Waffles for Breakfast...

Go USA in the Women's World Cup today!!

Yesterday Bella, Pete, and I did our 5 mile recovery run together. Felt much better than last week, even though Bella was on a tear the whole 5 miles. She wavered between 6:30 and 7:30 (this is just an estimate as I don't use those Garmin gadgets). We spent the rest of the day at the beach, but we left Bella home because she likes to kill crabs and bark at them the whole time. In fact, this morning she found a crab in the garage, tore it into pieces and rolled all over it on the kitchen floor.

Today's run was 15 with 10 miles at marathon pace. I don't actually know what my marathon pace is but I'm guessing 7:00 for now. I didn't time the whole run, only the 10 miles. Total time was 69:21. I stayed on 7 min pace basically the whole time, but my last mile was 6:35.
My 1.5 mile splits were:

10:27.63
10:19.24
10:28.31
10:33.96
10:25.12
10:34.31
6:35.49
Total 69.21

This week's summary:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 8 miles and 10x100 (9 total)
Wednesday: 12 miles
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: 10 miles
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: 15 miles
Total: 56 miles

PS- This was supposed to be a recovery week, but I needed to make up for the marathon pace run that I missed last weekend when I was being a pathetic lazy ass. Hopefully it won't affect this coming week.

Sweet Relief

67 degrees this morning... aaaahhh. My 12 mile run on Wednesday went well considering how hot and humid it was, much better than I felt last week.

Bella ran the whole ten miles with me today, and my 5 mile recovery run yesterday as well. She runs about 6:45-7:00 pace until she gets tired, and in cool weather she can keep that pace up for 8-10 miles or more. She's a good training partner, except for when she takes a sharp turn to go after a bunny or a squirrel. I ate it once last fall, but I guess my reaction time has improved since then.

The week has felt really easy, almost too easy. I just have 5 mile recovery run tomorrow and a 15-miler on Sunday. I may try to make up for the marathon pace run that I missed last Sunday (I ended up just running 18 at a regular pace because of the heat) and turning the 15 into a race pace run.

Not much else to report... pretty chill week, just enjoying the time off and getting settled into our house. Looks like a nice beach weekend ahead!

Week in Review

I've been lacking motivation lately, so I listened to some Mitch Hedberg stand-up on my iPod (I never run with my iPod, this was yesterday on my day off). I've heard his stand-up so many times I have it memorized, but he never fails to crack me up. Here's some motivation Mitch Hedberg-style:

I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later.

Last week:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 9 miles
Wednesday: 11 miles
Thursday: 8 miles
Friday: 9 miles
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: 18 miles
Total: 60 miles!!

So... I felt pretty awful this week. I skipped the marathon pace part of the 18-miler on Sunday because it was incredibly hot, but the effort was there. I ended up running 1:21:58 for the 18 miles, almost 4 minutes slower than last week. Of course, last week it was 60-something, overcast and raining. This week it was high 80's, sunny and very humid. I guess I have to wake up even earlier. Oh well, another lesson learned.

We went to the beach Sunday afternoon (I made a big effort to re-hydrate though), and when we came back I was toast... didn't get much accomplished yesterday either because I felt like crap. Today's run started off pretty rough, but I felt great by the end. I love running really fast (tell me again, why am I running a marathon?) so today was fun, only 8 miles and then 10 x 100 meters, which I rocked.

I wonder what my new neighbors think when they see me sprinting back and forth in front of my house?

Doc, Can We Speed This Up?!

Wow, the world of medicine seems to operate at a snails pace sometimes, doesn't it?
It's been a full three weeks since my last post, mentioning my calf injury and what I had done to pursue an answer to getting healthy. My physician-visiting journey is hopefully drawing to an end today.

Here's a quick catchup on the past three weeks:
Week 4- 28 miles (3 days of rest)
Week 5- 14 miles (5 days of rest)
Week 6- 24 miles (3 days of rest)

My PT sent me back to my PCP almost positive I was experiencing Chronic Compartment Syndrome in my lower legs. My PCP referred me to get an MRI on both legs. Now, a week later I'm bringing the MRI film to a sports med. specialist for them to review and diagnose my problem. This process has taken 4 weeks and the pain began 5 weeks ago.
The pain does seem to line up with the increase in my mileage in training, but why the compartment syndrome? Why not just soreness and fatigue? Hopefully I'll come away with my answers this morning.

The time off of running has sucked. I'm behind in my training. The rest has been good on the calves and they feel better now when I begin my runs, but I can still feel them lingering slowly beginning to bother me. At least now the feeling is not so strong and I can focus on other things during my run! Wish me luck.

Close Call

Thank you to the lady in the POS Cutlass Supreme who stopped in the middle of the crosswalk to shove a doughnut in her mouth. You could have easily stopped before the crosswalk and let me continue running, especially because there were no cars coming in either direction. I understand that doughnuts taste good, but in the future you may want to wake up 30 seconds earlier and eat that at home since you can't seem to handle driving, chewing, and turning your head at the same time.

That happened yesterday, but it really bugged me. Any close calls I have ever had while running have involved people at fast food establishments. For some reason, they get so excited by their purchases that they forget to check for pedestrians or other cars.

Wednesday's run was supposed to be 14, but I could only get in 11 before my dentist apptointment (no cavities!) unless I skipped the shower (ew). I should have just done my scheduled recovery run yesterday, but I wanted to make up the mileage I had missed so I ran 8 miles instead of 5. Today I woke up feeling like garbage and contemplated skipping my run altogether, but Bella was really hyper so I decided to run 3 with her and see how I felt. It was really humid and almost 11am by the time I finished, but I got in 9 miles. Pretty slow and I feel awful now, but at least it's done!

Not much else to report, just laying low and doing a lot of work on our house. We're having a mini-cookout tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a nice weekend!

13 Weeks To Go!

Last week was a short week because of our vacation. I somehow managed to squeeze in 40 miles in 3 days. After Lake Placid, we drove to my hometown in upstate NY and stayed with my sister and brother-in-law. From Thursday afternoon until yesterday afternoon we basically slept, ate, ran, and laid out by the pool. It was fabulous.

I jumped back into training on Friday with an 11-miler and Saturday with the same distance. Sunday's 18-miler turned out much better than I had hoped. Pete rode the road bike next to me and Brandon ran the first 9 miles with me as well. I had planned to go about 75 minutes per loop to end up with about 2 hours and 30 minutes for the run. It was warm, but rained (heavily at times) for most of the run, and I think the overcast skies made the very hilly loop seem easier than usual. We ended up running the first 9 miles in 70 minutes. I felt really good until the beginning of the second loop (after about 5 minutes it's straight uphill for a mile) but I ended up pushing myself to hit the same time as the previous loop. My final time was 2:17:17, well under the time I was trying to hit. Marathon training is starting to work it's magic.

Monday was a rest/ travel day. It sucked having to leave NY on the Fourth of July. A lot of my cousins were up for my sister's baby shower, the weather was perfect, and we had such a good time seeing everyone. Unfortunately we had to bite the bullet and take off at 2pm. Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, so we got good sleep last night. This morning I picked up Bella from the boarders and ran part of my 9 miles with her. I think those rest days paid off because I'm feeling really good and looking forward to this week!

Friday: 11 miles
Saturday: 11 miles
Sunday: 18 miles
Total: 40 miles