okay so I left you last after a really shitty run through the rapids in GR on a Sunday with my friend Jenn. Jenn smoked it. I did not- even though I made my time goal TO THE SECOND.
This week though, I was feeling the pinch of some major overuse in my left knee, despite wearing the strappy knee cap thingee. I was also feeling freaking exhausted, fatigued, fried- you name it. I was these. I think this is probably encroaching upon the dreaded burnout. Let's face it. I have been abusing my body for 17+ weeks now without fail, without a weekend off. And it was starting to weight heavily on me.
So I decided to go against my training book and rest up. No 5 milesx2 runs this week. Instead it was 2x2 miles running during the week, coupled with only one trainer session. After all, allegedly I was supposed to do some 22 miles run this weekend (Ack!).
So here's the low-down.
Monday: 0. Sleep. Try to work on grant. Oh yeah, I have a 1.7 million dollar research grant going in on Oct 5, followed by a 1 million dollar one on Oct 15. Did I mention that crap too?!
Tuesday. No trainer. She has to work her second job that night. So I went out for a 2 mile test run, as my knees were in terrible shape. It was awful! I was limping and wanted to cry for the first 5 minutes. Then I STFU and ran. Worked it out by the 2 mile mark, but stopped there. 11 minute mile. Fine. I'll take it.
Wednesday. No trainer. Bailed on my strappy class to go and try out knees again. Again, awful forst few minutes, followed by focusing on lengthening the stride, standing upright and S-ing TFU. Worked. I felt good after 2, and did them in a 10:30.
Thursday: Trainer. Decided to do the versa climber to give my joints a little break again as I was still a bit creaky. We're dropping the leg weights now too for the next few weeks, to give my muscles a little bit f a break. It's all good. I'm still getting my ass kicked, so no worries.
Friday: 0. Beers with a few other faculty after work. SCARFED down food later that night in anticipation of the 22 miles on Sat. Only to be
Sat: foiled by rain. foiled by science. I thought about it and I needed to crank out a full day and a half on the grant before blasting my body and mind with 4.5 hours of continuous exercise. So I worked, ran errands and rested everything. Also started the preemptive ibuprofen in the evening.
Sunday: here we go. I needed to be on the trail by 2pm, best I figured, since I was anticipating 4.5 hrs at an 11-12 min mile for 22 miles or so. I actually felt great. Lubed up, decided to run sans hat this time since I look awful in any picture where I am wearing a visor and I have been running (vanity, I know). I wear shades anyways, so it wasnt necessary. So I decided to run on the Tpwpath, along the river, on a stretch I have only done once. The plan was to run 10 miles out, 10 back, and do a 2 mile loop to finish up.
I started running and felt AWESOME> Rest and eating does a body good. I was enjoying the run on the unpaved trail (crushed limestone) and be careful not to steo upon any felled walnuts from the trees that lined the path. Apparently I wasnt careful enough as my left foot stepped right on a big fat green one; my left ankle turned outward and I went down on my left side HARD. "broke" my fall kinda with my left palm, losing a chuck of flesh to the trail. You dont WANT to know the language that came out of my mouth after I caught my breath (Jenn would have a good idea). I was so pissed, and when I tried to get up, it was obvious that I had sprained it. What did dummy here decide to do? Dammit- run another freaking 19 miles, that's what I did. The ankle blew up by mile 6, but dammit, I was getting this last run over with. As long as I did not stop, things were fine, as it's a very easy, non rolling motion, this running thing- when done right. So I just kept motoring at more like a 12 minute mile at first, which feels LIKE YOU ARE CRAB-WALKING. Eventually I brought it up to a n 11 min mile and I was happy again. The point of it was, if it doesnt hurt and get gradually worse, you didnt break anything therefore keep going. At least in my stupid world that's how it works.
So things learned on this long run:
1. if you're not first, you're last
2. if you can still move forward, shut up and do it.
3. Lube your triceps. You lose form at mile 19 and they rub against your boobs
4. Lube where ever your sportsbra touches your body
5. Drink more water between miles 10 and 17.
6. Tennis balls are awesome for moving fluid out of your resulting cankle.
and most importantly, AVOID WALNUTS LIKE THE PLAGUE!
Total for the week:
2+2+22=26 miles.
Well folks, it's on to the TAPER! I cannot wait. I have a few days to kinda take it easier on the foot, doing some crosstraining, and then hit a 6 miler this weekend to test out my blue and purple cankle.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Week 16: Since when is a 10 mile run a "rest up" week?
Okay, so when I left off, the knee pain was starting to kick in and I was employing the little knee strappy thingee, some drugs and some gumption to power through this mess. And power through that 18 ile training run I did. ANd the blessed 90 minute massage (all together now, ahhhhh)
This week was a hot mess on multiple fronts. One: I am three weeks away from submitting my first ever NIH R01 grant. It's a big sucker: 25 pages of research proposal, about another 50 pages of administrative junk. Basically it's a request for 700,000$ or so for 5 years worth of work. It's pretty difficult to project out 5 yrs, let alone 5 weeks! So the runs are kinda a nice break for me.
Now due to this craziness, I am actually very glad to be training during this time, as everyone I know loses it during this last push, usually resulting in weight gain. So at least I can hold steady during this time, due to the training. And I am keeping my neck muscle seizures to a minimum right now. They still creep up when I want to throttle people, but not as bad as 6 months ago, when they incapacitated me!
Anyway, this was a not very good week for the knees. After the weekend's exertions, Monday was a bad day for knees, but I had to go and test things out. I was supposed to do 5 miles or so, but I decided to do 4.2 in the back meadow again, so as to keep off the pavement. I cant tell you how much it hurt to start running for the first 2 minutes. I was kinda throwing my right (good) side around and hopping on the left side. The biggest problem was that my left knee is locking in the straight position on the back pushoff. It's basically trying to buckle backwards. Now, if I focus on form and LIFT MY KNEES, I can start to resolve these issues. But it's only working so much. I have screwed with my knees for so long now, this was bound to happen. I mean basically I have done 25k training before. But the longest run I do for those is a 12 miler, and I only do that once, along with a 10, a 9 and two 8s. This has been 12-18 miles like 8 times now! Anyway, with a little bit of run-walk, I slogged through the 4.2 miles in an 11 minute mile. Okay. I can deal with that. I iced my knees that night though, and drugged out on some ibuprofen.
Tuesday I had my trainer session and we backed off on leg extensions, which was good. Did a lot of upper body and hamstrings. I ran on the treadmill for about 3 miles, as we did linebacker for 60 minutes as a threesome, instead of the usual 30. It was rough. The circuit was treadmill, weights, versaclimber. I passed out that evening at 9pm.
Wed: I went to my strappy cardio strength training class. A lot of step aerobics to start, so I immediately felt like a 90 yr old woman. I slogged it out and got another great upper body and hip workout.
Thursday: No trainer today so I went and hit the meadow again for another 4.2 miles. This tie I did not walk any parts of it, and after pushing through a very uncomfortable 2 miles, decided to say screw it and kick it into a 9:30 for the last 2 miles. It kind of worked things out and my stride elongated and I was nt doing the Quasimoto shuffle any longer. I also diverted my attentions during this run by constructing a letter to Oprah in my head, cursing her for setting the bar at a 10 minute mile for the damn race. Curses Oprah, curses! Anyway, made it through, unscathed. Iced it up big time again when I got home.
Friday: not an off day. This was CUSTER DAY! Hurray! Custer is my FAVORITE mountain bike trail in MIchigan, where I am two-time defending champion (in my age group, and class, but pay no mind to the details). I love to go really fast at Custer as I have been able to memorize a good portion of the trail, and despite munching it BIG time there during a race, I still come back for more as it is a technically demanding trail. I took a half day from work (really should not have) and went to meet Graveels and Jenn. This was Jenn's inaugural ride at Custer and I think, despite her teeth grinding and mumbling, she likes it. I have never seen a 100lb person wipe out and kick up such a ginormous cloud of dust as Jenn. Anyway. Custer was what the Dr ordered. We did 8 miles or so- I would have liked to have done 15-20mi if I had the time, as it just worked out all the knee pain from the past week. It was unbelievable.
Saturday: Worked at my house digging crap up again. Didnt eat enough as usual. And then Graveels had a brilliant idea to make nachos for dinner. Mind you this is a pre-race dinner as I am in town to run the Bridge run with Jenn.
I
AM
Dumb
I was so hungry I scarfed it down, damn the consequences, which reared their ugly heads at 6am. I'll spare you the details.
Sunday: race day. An exercise in what not to wear. Like the long sleeved shirt. Dont wear the giant long sleeved shirt when running, just because it's 45 degrees at the start. Because you'll want to rip it off within 2 miles. Okay so here's where I meet Jenn and we jog to the start line from the stute. It's pretty pathetic since she is hurting from her Custer falls, and my knees have reawoken just in time for the race. We talked it over and were shooting for a 10 minute mile + pace. Apparently Speedy Gonzales had other plans- like an opening 8:45/mil pace. What the shit?! Well, we also discussed that if one was faster - just go. This was not a no-drop run. It was a race. So Jenn powered ahead and I kept looking for a damn portapot, as she convinced me that my full bladder would just go away once I started running. Ummm, no. Hit one at 6 miles finally, and came out, and the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I felt 15 lbs lighter!
I had promised myself to finish in 100 minutes, a 10 minute mile for 10 miles, and holy crap I finished in 100.00 minutes to the second! I am glad I did this race, although I gotta tell you, I was seriously flogged afterwards.
So our tally, going into the last huge training week prior to the taper...
Mon 4.2
Tues 3 + Xtrain
Wed Xtrain
Th 4.2
Fri 8 mile bike
Sat 0
Sun 10.
so run: 21.4 mi + 8 mi bike
And this was a back down week? WTF!
This week was a hot mess on multiple fronts. One: I am three weeks away from submitting my first ever NIH R01 grant. It's a big sucker: 25 pages of research proposal, about another 50 pages of administrative junk. Basically it's a request for 700,000$ or so for 5 years worth of work. It's pretty difficult to project out 5 yrs, let alone 5 weeks! So the runs are kinda a nice break for me.
Now due to this craziness, I am actually very glad to be training during this time, as everyone I know loses it during this last push, usually resulting in weight gain. So at least I can hold steady during this time, due to the training. And I am keeping my neck muscle seizures to a minimum right now. They still creep up when I want to throttle people, but not as bad as 6 months ago, when they incapacitated me!
Anyway, this was a not very good week for the knees. After the weekend's exertions, Monday was a bad day for knees, but I had to go and test things out. I was supposed to do 5 miles or so, but I decided to do 4.2 in the back meadow again, so as to keep off the pavement. I cant tell you how much it hurt to start running for the first 2 minutes. I was kinda throwing my right (good) side around and hopping on the left side. The biggest problem was that my left knee is locking in the straight position on the back pushoff. It's basically trying to buckle backwards. Now, if I focus on form and LIFT MY KNEES, I can start to resolve these issues. But it's only working so much. I have screwed with my knees for so long now, this was bound to happen. I mean basically I have done 25k training before. But the longest run I do for those is a 12 miler, and I only do that once, along with a 10, a 9 and two 8s. This has been 12-18 miles like 8 times now! Anyway, with a little bit of run-walk, I slogged through the 4.2 miles in an 11 minute mile. Okay. I can deal with that. I iced my knees that night though, and drugged out on some ibuprofen.
Tuesday I had my trainer session and we backed off on leg extensions, which was good. Did a lot of upper body and hamstrings. I ran on the treadmill for about 3 miles, as we did linebacker for 60 minutes as a threesome, instead of the usual 30. It was rough. The circuit was treadmill, weights, versaclimber. I passed out that evening at 9pm.
Wed: I went to my strappy cardio strength training class. A lot of step aerobics to start, so I immediately felt like a 90 yr old woman. I slogged it out and got another great upper body and hip workout.
Thursday: No trainer today so I went and hit the meadow again for another 4.2 miles. This tie I did not walk any parts of it, and after pushing through a very uncomfortable 2 miles, decided to say screw it and kick it into a 9:30 for the last 2 miles. It kind of worked things out and my stride elongated and I was nt doing the Quasimoto shuffle any longer. I also diverted my attentions during this run by constructing a letter to Oprah in my head, cursing her for setting the bar at a 10 minute mile for the damn race. Curses Oprah, curses! Anyway, made it through, unscathed. Iced it up big time again when I got home.
Friday: not an off day. This was CUSTER DAY! Hurray! Custer is my FAVORITE mountain bike trail in MIchigan, where I am two-time defending champion (in my age group, and class, but pay no mind to the details). I love to go really fast at Custer as I have been able to memorize a good portion of the trail, and despite munching it BIG time there during a race, I still come back for more as it is a technically demanding trail. I took a half day from work (really should not have) and went to meet Graveels and Jenn. This was Jenn's inaugural ride at Custer and I think, despite her teeth grinding and mumbling, she likes it. I have never seen a 100lb person wipe out and kick up such a ginormous cloud of dust as Jenn. Anyway. Custer was what the Dr ordered. We did 8 miles or so- I would have liked to have done 15-20mi if I had the time, as it just worked out all the knee pain from the past week. It was unbelievable.
Saturday: Worked at my house digging crap up again. Didnt eat enough as usual. And then Graveels had a brilliant idea to make nachos for dinner. Mind you this is a pre-race dinner as I am in town to run the Bridge run with Jenn.
I
AM
Dumb
I was so hungry I scarfed it down, damn the consequences, which reared their ugly heads at 6am. I'll spare you the details.
Sunday: race day. An exercise in what not to wear. Like the long sleeved shirt. Dont wear the giant long sleeved shirt when running, just because it's 45 degrees at the start. Because you'll want to rip it off within 2 miles. Okay so here's where I meet Jenn and we jog to the start line from the stute. It's pretty pathetic since she is hurting from her Custer falls, and my knees have reawoken just in time for the race. We talked it over and were shooting for a 10 minute mile + pace. Apparently Speedy Gonzales had other plans- like an opening 8:45/mil pace. What the shit?! Well, we also discussed that if one was faster - just go. This was not a no-drop run. It was a race. So Jenn powered ahead and I kept looking for a damn portapot, as she convinced me that my full bladder would just go away once I started running. Ummm, no. Hit one at 6 miles finally, and came out, and the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I felt 15 lbs lighter!
I had promised myself to finish in 100 minutes, a 10 minute mile for 10 miles, and holy crap I finished in 100.00 minutes to the second! I am glad I did this race, although I gotta tell you, I was seriously flogged afterwards.
So our tally, going into the last huge training week prior to the taper...
Mon 4.2
Tues 3 + Xtrain
Wed Xtrain
Th 4.2
Fri 8 mile bike
Sat 0
Sun 10.
so run: 21.4 mi + 8 mi bike
And this was a back down week? WTF!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Week 15: Stairs suck. And other tales of life with crappy knees.
Okay so last week, I rocked my 17 miles run and did some crazy recovery biking and all. I crashed so hard that weekend, it was NOT EVEN FUNNY.
See up until now, being tired and hungry have been the only side effects of all this training. That's been fine. But then this week came along and my knees logged a pretty solid protest to what's been going on for the last few months. Truth be told, I have been surprised at the lack of vocalizations on the part of my knees, as they have been fairly cooperative until now. Well it seems I have a good old boring case of patellar tendonitis- basically from overuse during the weekly long runs. My tendon has been beaten up a little and my kneecap is tracking in weird places, causing inflammation. Well after icing and ibuprofen, things werent looking so good, until I said screw it! I went to the Walgreens and decided to give one of those knee straps a shot. Those things work by putting compression on the tendon, basically tightening things up so the kneecap stays in place. SON Of A BITCH it worked like a charm within the first hour of wearing it around the lab. I went for a short run with it on and no pain whatsoever. The real test would come later in the week, when I went for the longest run of my life- the 18 miler!
See up until now, being tired and hungry have been the only side effects of all this training. That's been fine. But then this week came along and my knees logged a pretty solid protest to what's been going on for the last few months. Truth be told, I have been surprised at the lack of vocalizations on the part of my knees, as they have been fairly cooperative until now. Well it seems I have a good old boring case of patellar tendonitis- basically from overuse during the weekly long runs. My tendon has been beaten up a little and my kneecap is tracking in weird places, causing inflammation. Well after icing and ibuprofen, things werent looking so good, until I said screw it! I went to the Walgreens and decided to give one of those knee straps a shot. Those things work by putting compression on the tendon, basically tightening things up so the kneecap stays in place. SON Of A BITCH it worked like a charm within the first hour of wearing it around the lab. I went for a short run with it on and no pain whatsoever. The real test would come later in the week, when I went for the longest run of my life- the 18 miler!
Here's the thing about running 18 miles- you get bored when you do it by yourself. And you get bored of your music, your trail ( I ran the meadow a few loops to preserve joints, and to keep known water and bathroom sites near). And your mind starts running in all directions about how this sucks, you are slow, you look fat, why are you doing this, your hips hurt., etc. It's just kind of an attn deficit disorder nightmare of non focused thoughts. My naive dreams were that I would take that time to think about stuff and work out problems from experiments, or garden design from my house, or whatever. It just doesnt work like that for me if I run on my own. So it's more like running with a three-year old. Only that three year old is you.
Another thing you learn when you are running for 3.5 hrs straight (yup, no run-walk, only running with 4 or 5 minutes of down time for water/bathroom/stretch) is what foods your body can handle while running. I tried carbo loading this week again, after that massive bonk last week and it consisted of two servings of ziti on Thursday and a big bowl of rice on Friday. Basically it made me feel uncomfortably full, like a bad Thanksgiving overload. I went into food coma and fell asleep. This is not the way to do it for me. I need to do some loading at lunch, and by loading they say to have an extra roll, but without butter, or an extra bagel, no cream cheese. Pretty much it's going to be about an extra 300 calories for me- that's it- according to their little calculator. I guess for me, it's more about rest and eating on the fly, than it is about stuffing my face a few days out. Oh and addressing the former, it's all about the sportbeans now, instead of powerbars. These things are awesome, the choking hazard not withstanding. It's just a matter of being talented enough to run and get them out of the package without tripping yourself up!
Lastly, you get good kharma when you run these distances. I saved a MAssiVE praying mantic from getting squished on the trail. THe thing was HUGE. Very cool. dont know quite how I picked that out from the trail when I was on mile 14, but was alert enough to zoom in on her. So I saved her so she can rip the head off her mate later that week.
Anyway, no real repercussions from my run, just soreness in the knee. Nothing major in the muscles. That is until after I got my 90 minute massage on Sunday. My masseuse abused my back and legs with her elbows. I was wincing the whole time, but walked out on a cloud of air when she was done. I have to admit though, my back is sore today (mon) from her breaking up all the knots and adhesions in my back. What can I say, I am a trainwreck all around.
So let's tally this up:
Monday: 5.0 miles
Tuesday: 3.3 miles
Wednesday: crosstraining strap crazy-tricep destroying class 45 min
Thursday: personal trainer 30 min with 1.5 miles running, then 60min cross training strappy tricep-destroying class part II
Friday: off. pass out.
Sat: 18 miles
Sunday: epic massage
total 27.8 miles
ONE MORE LONG TRAINING RUN TO GO UNTIL RACE DAY. I hope everything hold together for the taper...
Monday, September 7, 2009
Week 14: Why put off till tomorrow what you can do in one insane-o day?
Okay so it was beerfest when I last left you. And that was a blast of boots and brats and sunshine and wind. It was a fine excursion except for the part where Carrie and Dave got lost in the Toledo Hood without a gps or a map. oops. And believe you me, the T-hood is not a nice place to be at 9pm whilst driving your big old minivan!
Sunday we all went for a hike along the river where we saw a hawk in the brush, about 5 feet away from us, ripping up this small rodent for lunch. It was crazy nasty and awesome at the same time!
Carrie and I went for a 2 mile run to work things out- kind of a delayed recovery run from the 15.5 miler. Mostly my hips were very tight from that long run and then sitting in the beerhall. Our run was a good one along the river and downtown. we had a good dinner at home and then I kicked their asses to the curb by 10am on Monday. I took Monday off from exercise- passing out at 9pm.
Tuesday: 3 miles running + 30 min personal trainer
Wed: no running today. I decided to do a crazy class at the Y called TRX strength training. It's straps hanging from the ceiling and you do all sorts of strength moves using your body weight as resistance. I gotta tell you the worst was the pushups while your legs were suspended in the straps. HOLY CRAP. I got 15 of them cranked out, and I had to take a break due to my arms being like spaghetti.
Thursday: ran 3 miles, then did 1hr cardio/strength training TRX again. It was really difficult. but good.
Friday: I went to my MI house to clean up the yard. Busted my ass for 5 hrs out in the sun. Went hot tubbing in the evening at the hotel with Cassie and Paul.
Saturday: Okay so here it goes. I decided to crank this day out, as I wanted to be back in Toledo for the evening. So last minute I decided to do my long run on Saturday up in GR. Did a mapmyrun and found a decent run through Ada and Cascade on the newer off street paths. I left at 8am and got back at 11am. The run was good except for the fact that I started to bonk at mile 12. I really did not eat enough through the week and then again on Friday after working so hard. I basically ran out of steam and the one powerbar I had with me simply did not cut it. Top that off with nearly choking on my powerbar at one point (I needed to stop to basically give myself the heimlich maneuver) and it was an okay run. I have to do a beter job eating the days leading into a long run (this week will be an 18-19 miler so that will be good practice!). But at least I know how to push through a shitty 5 miles. Thats right folks- 17 miles! Officially, that's the most I've ever run. But did I stop there? Nope. Got back to the hotel for a fast shower and chill and headed out at 2p to go for an 8 mile mountain bike ride with ARt and Wicked Pete. This turned out to be a fantastic idea- for real- as I felt great, not tired or sore, and I think it help me to work out any lactic acid or tightness. After all that, NO MUSCLE SORENESS. NADA! NOTHING! Even after driving 3 hrs home 2 hours after biking, it was all good. This was very encouraging. And the reward- I got to sleep in on Sunday. Well that is I got to go back to sleep after waking up at 6am with RAGING HUNGER. I had to scarf a bagel and immediately went back to bed until 10am. It rules. this was my best plan evah!
So the run tally:
Sun: 2
Mon: 0
Tues: 3
Wed: 0
Thurs: 3
Fri: 0
Sat: 17 run + 8 mile bike.
so running for the week: 25 miles. Count the biking and we're at 33. Not bad!
Sunday we all went for a hike along the river where we saw a hawk in the brush, about 5 feet away from us, ripping up this small rodent for lunch. It was crazy nasty and awesome at the same time!
Carrie and I went for a 2 mile run to work things out- kind of a delayed recovery run from the 15.5 miler. Mostly my hips were very tight from that long run and then sitting in the beerhall. Our run was a good one along the river and downtown. we had a good dinner at home and then I kicked their asses to the curb by 10am on Monday. I took Monday off from exercise- passing out at 9pm.
Tuesday: 3 miles running + 30 min personal trainer
Wed: no running today. I decided to do a crazy class at the Y called TRX strength training. It's straps hanging from the ceiling and you do all sorts of strength moves using your body weight as resistance. I gotta tell you the worst was the pushups while your legs were suspended in the straps. HOLY CRAP. I got 15 of them cranked out, and I had to take a break due to my arms being like spaghetti.
Thursday: ran 3 miles, then did 1hr cardio/strength training TRX again. It was really difficult. but good.
Friday: I went to my MI house to clean up the yard. Busted my ass for 5 hrs out in the sun. Went hot tubbing in the evening at the hotel with Cassie and Paul.
Saturday: Okay so here it goes. I decided to crank this day out, as I wanted to be back in Toledo for the evening. So last minute I decided to do my long run on Saturday up in GR. Did a mapmyrun and found a decent run through Ada and Cascade on the newer off street paths. I left at 8am and got back at 11am. The run was good except for the fact that I started to bonk at mile 12. I really did not eat enough through the week and then again on Friday after working so hard. I basically ran out of steam and the one powerbar I had with me simply did not cut it. Top that off with nearly choking on my powerbar at one point (I needed to stop to basically give myself the heimlich maneuver) and it was an okay run. I have to do a beter job eating the days leading into a long run (this week will be an 18-19 miler so that will be good practice!). But at least I know how to push through a shitty 5 miles. Thats right folks- 17 miles! Officially, that's the most I've ever run. But did I stop there? Nope. Got back to the hotel for a fast shower and chill and headed out at 2p to go for an 8 mile mountain bike ride with ARt and Wicked Pete. This turned out to be a fantastic idea- for real- as I felt great, not tired or sore, and I think it help me to work out any lactic acid or tightness. After all that, NO MUSCLE SORENESS. NADA! NOTHING! Even after driving 3 hrs home 2 hours after biking, it was all good. This was very encouraging. And the reward- I got to sleep in on Sunday. Well that is I got to go back to sleep after waking up at 6am with RAGING HUNGER. I had to scarf a bagel and immediately went back to bed until 10am. It rules. this was my best plan evah!
So the run tally:
Sun: 2
Mon: 0
Tues: 3
Wed: 0
Thurs: 3
Fri: 0
Sat: 17 run + 8 mile bike.
so running for the week: 25 miles. Count the biking and we're at 33. Not bad!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Week 13: There's a giant penis chasing me. And some running too.
Okay so I'll get to the title in a few moments, so just indulge me.
This week was a decent, quieter week for me, after hosting my friends Amy and Jenn the previous weekend. I was freaking flogged from the get go this week though- this running gig is really taking it's toll on my sleep I tell you.
Well this week I was gearing up for another round of visitors for ...
BEERFEST! see my facebook page for details and video.
So I had to plan accordingly and get the cleaning, shopping, laundry done, not to mention crap at work and all the running. I started the week off right by taking the rest of Sunday off and taking a 2 hr long nap. Lordie I needed it after ditching those crazy ladies.
Monday I had one long-assed day at work, but that did not stop me from getting in a slow recovery run. Only did 3 miles at a slow clip, but it was all good. I tell you the first damn mile made me feel like an 80 year old woman as I just needed to work out the aches and pain. See, I havent taken ibuprofen but once or twice over the last 13 weeks. From what I understand it impedes muscle repair, which is good, and I honestly havent felt like I have needed it yet. A few aches is about it for me thus far, and so I'll just walk, or in this case, run it off.
Tuesday: I decided to go run a 5-er on the trail in Maumee, part of my usual Sat run. I had a blast on this run, mostly because I ran so damn fast due to the fact that my bladder felt like it was going to explode. The trail was a bit busy, otherwise I would have ducked behind a bush! The bathrooms were at the midway point. Needless to say my last 2.5 miles were 3 minutes faster than the first after a visit to the commode. Cranked a ~9:30 for this run. <48 minutes. No trainer session today as my trainer called out today.
Wed: I actually had fun on Tuesday's run, so I decided to do a repeat, only seeing if I could better the time. Busted it out and back in 46 minutes for a 9:20 average. Even I was impressed with myself. Nevermind that I crashed by 10pm that night.
Thursday: I had personal training again, with a different trainer, as Denise was out again. Holy legs and arms Batman. She killed me on bicep curls and then leg presses with 300lbs for 1 minute, followed by walking lunges with 30lbx2 barbells for 2 minutes. Ran another 1.5 miles here.
Now to Friday. I have to work all day. And it's a busy day. And my friends are coming to town that night. So I need to split from work at 5 and go directly into a 15.5 mile run so I can make it back in time to clean up my self and my house before guests arrive at 9pm. Problem is, it's pissing down rain for the majority of the day and I am also FLOGGED. Well I finally see a clearing at 4pm, and check the local radar, where a giant band of rain shaped like a big ole penis is roaring its way right at Perrysburg (where I live). So now I have to wait until the schlang passes before I can go, as it's a bad storm. I drive home as the storm is hitting, park the car in the garage, turn it off, and PASS OUT COLD in the drivers seat for 20 minutes. I mean head didnt even hit the pillow pass out. Guess I was tired, ehh. That and I could barely pick up my damn arms and legs still from yesterday's trainer session would explain that pass out.
woke up and storm was just finishing, so I decide to make a run for it, literally. I hit a new route on the east side of the river this time. It was a decent run on the road, despite the fact that there was a very narrow shoulder. But people in their cars were cool, even when the rain kicked in again. Crossed the River at mile 7 and hauled back along my more familiar route. Ate twice during the run (half powerbar each time) and, most importantly, never took a walk break, hearing Jenn's voice in my head calling me a wimp. Well I pulled it in just at dusk, finishing my 15.5 in 2 hrs, 38 min, a little over a 10 min mile, which was WAAAAY faster than I should have run that. But I was fine- a little creaky in the hips from the road running, I presume. and my arms were still very sore as you really do use them a lot during the run too. But dammit now I was done running or the week and could now take Sat for beerfest!!!
So the tally for the week:
Sunday: nada
Monday:3
Tues: 5
Wed: 5
Thurs: 1.5
Friday 15.5
Sat: 1.5 hike followed by copious beers
31.5 miles!!!! I have now cracked my first 30 mile+ week and I am mostly functional (just tired). I might be on to something folks!
This week was a decent, quieter week for me, after hosting my friends Amy and Jenn the previous weekend. I was freaking flogged from the get go this week though- this running gig is really taking it's toll on my sleep I tell you.
Well this week I was gearing up for another round of visitors for ...
BEERFEST! see my facebook page for details and video.
So I had to plan accordingly and get the cleaning, shopping, laundry done, not to mention crap at work and all the running. I started the week off right by taking the rest of Sunday off and taking a 2 hr long nap. Lordie I needed it after ditching those crazy ladies.
Monday I had one long-assed day at work, but that did not stop me from getting in a slow recovery run. Only did 3 miles at a slow clip, but it was all good. I tell you the first damn mile made me feel like an 80 year old woman as I just needed to work out the aches and pain. See, I havent taken ibuprofen but once or twice over the last 13 weeks. From what I understand it impedes muscle repair, which is good, and I honestly havent felt like I have needed it yet. A few aches is about it for me thus far, and so I'll just walk, or in this case, run it off.
Tuesday: I decided to go run a 5-er on the trail in Maumee, part of my usual Sat run. I had a blast on this run, mostly because I ran so damn fast due to the fact that my bladder felt like it was going to explode. The trail was a bit busy, otherwise I would have ducked behind a bush! The bathrooms were at the midway point. Needless to say my last 2.5 miles were 3 minutes faster than the first after a visit to the commode. Cranked a ~9:30 for this run. <48 minutes. No trainer session today as my trainer called out today.
Wed: I actually had fun on Tuesday's run, so I decided to do a repeat, only seeing if I could better the time. Busted it out and back in 46 minutes for a 9:20 average. Even I was impressed with myself. Nevermind that I crashed by 10pm that night.
Thursday: I had personal training again, with a different trainer, as Denise was out again. Holy legs and arms Batman. She killed me on bicep curls and then leg presses with 300lbs for 1 minute, followed by walking lunges with 30lbx2 barbells for 2 minutes. Ran another 1.5 miles here.
Now to Friday. I have to work all day. And it's a busy day. And my friends are coming to town that night. So I need to split from work at 5 and go directly into a 15.5 mile run so I can make it back in time to clean up my self and my house before guests arrive at 9pm. Problem is, it's pissing down rain for the majority of the day and I am also FLOGGED. Well I finally see a clearing at 4pm, and check the local radar, where a giant band of rain shaped like a big ole penis is roaring its way right at Perrysburg (where I live). So now I have to wait until the schlang passes before I can go, as it's a bad storm. I drive home as the storm is hitting, park the car in the garage, turn it off, and PASS OUT COLD in the drivers seat for 20 minutes. I mean head didnt even hit the pillow pass out. Guess I was tired, ehh. That and I could barely pick up my damn arms and legs still from yesterday's trainer session would explain that pass out.
woke up and storm was just finishing, so I decide to make a run for it, literally. I hit a new route on the east side of the river this time. It was a decent run on the road, despite the fact that there was a very narrow shoulder. But people in their cars were cool, even when the rain kicked in again. Crossed the River at mile 7 and hauled back along my more familiar route. Ate twice during the run (half powerbar each time) and, most importantly, never took a walk break, hearing Jenn's voice in my head calling me a wimp. Well I pulled it in just at dusk, finishing my 15.5 in 2 hrs, 38 min, a little over a 10 min mile, which was WAAAAY faster than I should have run that. But I was fine- a little creaky in the hips from the road running, I presume. and my arms were still very sore as you really do use them a lot during the run too. But dammit now I was done running or the week and could now take Sat for beerfest!!!
So the tally for the week:
Sunday: nada
Monday:3
Tues: 5
Wed: 5
Thurs: 1.5
Friday 15.5
Sat: 1.5 hike followed by copious beers
31.5 miles!!!! I have now cracked my first 30 mile+ week and I am mostly functional (just tired). I might be on to something folks!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Week 12: Lots of Daveshit. And some running too!
Okay so this week, I was traveling back from CA, and also having my first "back down" weeks where I do about 70% of the previous long run. It's a technique to basically prevent injury as well as burnout. Only problem is, it left me feeling like a loser since my miles for the week were so much less. Maybe this running gig is growing on me. Or not. Or maybe.
Okay so I did my 14.1 miles along the beach between LaJolla and DelMar. Pretty friggin hard to beat that as it was just phenomenal! So I woke up from that run, after scarfing down my el gigante burger from room service the previous evening and I was, gasp, fine. I could walk, bend over and touch my toes, hips were good, etc. It felt strange to be in good enough shape to have survived that run without any stiffness or soreness. So I decided to go out for a while with my friend Art and his family to check out the Hale Observatory with an enormous 200 inch mirror on its telescope. If you are a science nerd, that's kinda crazy to think about. So here it is. Take 6 yard sticks, out them end to end and then construct a perfectly polished continuous piece of glass that is several inches thick. Then transport that Bitch up a 5000 ft elevation with gnarly switchbacks (mind you, it's like 1930 when you are trying to do this), then install it without breaking it! Pretty impressive. If that werent impressive enough, the signs for "Rattlesnakes! Beware!" had my gourd running in circles too.
Traveling sucked as usual, with teeny tiny seats on the airplane. I paced the aisle barefooted like a mental patient, reading my book "Pride, Prejudice and Zombies", garnering freaky looks from many a folk. Eh, screw you. Turn the tv off bozos and pick up a book. ANY BOOK, cause reading is fundamental. So there went my entire Tuesday.
The rest of the week passed rather quickly as stuff seems to implode when I go away from the lab. Damage control.
By Friday I am ready for my friends Amy and Jenn to come into town the next day. Jenn is coming in to do the longest run of her life (9mi) with me, while Amy is tooling around on the bike, acting as the water wench. The run went great- meadow trail again. This time there were tons of deer out and about, particularly this pair of twin bucks with their antlers all fuzzy. They were about 5 pointers, At first, Amy wanted to shoot them, but I think she warmed up to them after a while. Of particular note was that Jenn and I smoked the run in less than a 10min/mile.
We decided to go for some Indian food as a reward, but I completely picked the place with good food, yet the WORST service ever. This was compounded by the fact that we were VERY HUNGRY from our run and it took about an hour just to get Naan. I think this took some wind out of our sail as we made off for the Village Idiot Bar a mile or so from my house. I have been meaning to try this place out and I am glad we did. Very hot, friendly and dry witted bartender that had the hots for Amy and more Simpsons stuff than one knew what to do with. They even had a tap with Milhouse on it!!! And they had Oberon. I like this place. We hung out for while, doing some Daveshit.
Okay, so if you've gotten here from Facebook you are now mystified by this term Daveshit. No we are not doing drugs. It is now an all encompassing term for anything you do. You see I was describing the antics of my cousin Dave down in Mexico like 10 years ago and my friends asked me what he was doing, towit I answered " I dont know- Daveshit". Bam. Another Kate-ism is born, along with my friend Pete's fav "outerior" where my brain couldnt quite parse out exterior or outside and it came out as "outerior". So no drugs. Just Daveshit.
So here is the lowdown then on this week of Daveshit...
Mon: hike 2 miles
Tues: airplane ride from hell. Pacing at 35k feet does not count in the training methinks.
Wed: 4 mi HARD run at 9:20/mi
Thurs: 3 mi + personal training
Fri: off
Sat: 9 mi
So in this backdown week of 18 miles, I now have this weekend of BEERFEST, friends and a 15 mile solo run to look forward to. Another week, more daveshit.
Okay so I did my 14.1 miles along the beach between LaJolla and DelMar. Pretty friggin hard to beat that as it was just phenomenal! So I woke up from that run, after scarfing down my el gigante burger from room service the previous evening and I was, gasp, fine. I could walk, bend over and touch my toes, hips were good, etc. It felt strange to be in good enough shape to have survived that run without any stiffness or soreness. So I decided to go out for a while with my friend Art and his family to check out the Hale Observatory with an enormous 200 inch mirror on its telescope. If you are a science nerd, that's kinda crazy to think about. So here it is. Take 6 yard sticks, out them end to end and then construct a perfectly polished continuous piece of glass that is several inches thick. Then transport that Bitch up a 5000 ft elevation with gnarly switchbacks (mind you, it's like 1930 when you are trying to do this), then install it without breaking it! Pretty impressive. If that werent impressive enough, the signs for "Rattlesnakes! Beware!" had my gourd running in circles too.
Traveling sucked as usual, with teeny tiny seats on the airplane. I paced the aisle barefooted like a mental patient, reading my book "Pride, Prejudice and Zombies", garnering freaky looks from many a folk. Eh, screw you. Turn the tv off bozos and pick up a book. ANY BOOK, cause reading is fundamental. So there went my entire Tuesday.
The rest of the week passed rather quickly as stuff seems to implode when I go away from the lab. Damage control.
By Friday I am ready for my friends Amy and Jenn to come into town the next day. Jenn is coming in to do the longest run of her life (9mi) with me, while Amy is tooling around on the bike, acting as the water wench. The run went great- meadow trail again. This time there were tons of deer out and about, particularly this pair of twin bucks with their antlers all fuzzy. They were about 5 pointers, At first, Amy wanted to shoot them, but I think she warmed up to them after a while. Of particular note was that Jenn and I smoked the run in less than a 10min/mile.
We decided to go for some Indian food as a reward, but I completely picked the place with good food, yet the WORST service ever. This was compounded by the fact that we were VERY HUNGRY from our run and it took about an hour just to get Naan. I think this took some wind out of our sail as we made off for the Village Idiot Bar a mile or so from my house. I have been meaning to try this place out and I am glad we did. Very hot, friendly and dry witted bartender that had the hots for Amy and more Simpsons stuff than one knew what to do with. They even had a tap with Milhouse on it!!! And they had Oberon. I like this place. We hung out for while, doing some Daveshit.
Okay, so if you've gotten here from Facebook you are now mystified by this term Daveshit. No we are not doing drugs. It is now an all encompassing term for anything you do. You see I was describing the antics of my cousin Dave down in Mexico like 10 years ago and my friends asked me what he was doing, towit I answered " I dont know- Daveshit". Bam. Another Kate-ism is born, along with my friend Pete's fav "outerior" where my brain couldnt quite parse out exterior or outside and it came out as "outerior". So no drugs. Just Daveshit.
So here is the lowdown then on this week of Daveshit...
Mon: hike 2 miles
Tues: airplane ride from hell. Pacing at 35k feet does not count in the training methinks.
Wed: 4 mi HARD run at 9:20/mi
Thurs: 3 mi + personal training
Fri: off
Sat: 9 mi
So in this backdown week of 18 miles, I now have this weekend of BEERFEST, friends and a 15 mile solo run to look forward to. Another week, more daveshit.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Week 11: Welcome to the land of Hill training.
I am in sunny California this week at a science conference. But does this prevent me from ticking off my training runs, including 14 miles along the coastline. HELL TO THE NO. Dedication? Stupidity? Addiction? You be the judge... here's how the week went down in CA, with a few surprises throughout the week.
Sunday: My family was in town visiting and so I chilled with them, doing a 3 mile hike along the Maumee Bay State Park trail system, where Maumee River meets Lake Erie. It was about 93 degrees outside and a 100 degree heat index. But heat be damned! We hit it and saw some great sights, including the 3ft Eastern Watersnake that slithered right in front of my Mom and I while we were walking.
Monday: Sent my family packing and went to work to sort shit out there. Since it was still so hot, I ran on the treadmill inside. Did another 3 miles and then had to call it quits to go get some sleep.
Tuesday: Personal trainer (1mi on treadmill) + 2 miles inside. Had to cut it short so I could pack for my trip.
Wednesday: Travel Day. I hate those little seats and the large men that are in front of you that put their seat back and the little kid behind you that kicks your seat. I could barely walk after that. throw in the 3 hr time difference and I am flogged. But that shan't stop me from body surfing with friends. We hit the ocean at Torrey Pines State park with the boogie boards for 2 hrs. Lets call that cross training.
Thursday: Conference. Ate sushi in the sunshine with peers. Sat on my ass for 8 hrs at conference. Got in a quick 2 miles to relieve stress.
Friday: Got up at 6am, hit the UCSD campus loop. Holy hills! Did 4.2 miles around the campus, checking out their sculpture collection, and running through the pines. It was a bit unlike what I have been doing, as it was non-stop hills so my quads got hammered. Recovered pretty fast though and after sitting on my ass again at the conference, went with friends down to the beach below Salk Institute. The clothing optional beach. We descending a cliff to get down there, which was quite a workout. We were rewarded with a beautiful surf and schlangs in our faces every which way you look. You see this was a mostly gay nude beach, apparently reserved for overweight men in their 50s and 60s. It was a little awkward, but you got over it pretty fast as no one seemed to care. Except for the man wearing what we will refer to as "The Apparatus" starting talking to our friend Kiki (name changed for privacy). Kiki was sitting on the beach whilst apparatus man stood above her, wearing a button down shirt and the apparatus, his member making a guest appearance hear and there during the course of Kiki's conversation with him. Talk about creepy. Kiki handled it well. Needless to say we packed it up soon afterwards and climbed up the cliff. We will just call this a cross training day of the eye opening kind.
Saturday: Off. Had to give a talk at the conference and couldnt sneak out. This is my normal long run, but that is being delayed until Sunday.
Sunday: LOng run along the Coast line. Ran along Torrey Pines Golf Course, skirted the ghekkos and various lizards in the desert trail, descended another cliff again (via runnable switchback) and ran along the beach up to DelMar. Turned around and met a local lady, with whom I ran for 6 miles. She told me about some trails I needed to hit in my last day in CA. The run was great, sunny, 70 degrees and fantastic surf. The only problem was I had to ascend that switchback cliff. It was, for my GR friends, like 20 Hall hills or Michigan hills strung together. It felt like a 1000ft ascent over 0.5 miles, but ended up being a 400ft ascent over 0.7 miles. It was insane to do my tip toe sprints up that. I did have to stop and walk a little, as my heart was pounding. Kicked that hill's arse and kicked it into a 9:30 for the least 3 miles of my run. Got back to my swank hotel on the oceanfront and PASSED OUT. 14.1 miles total.
So totals: 3+3+3+2+4.2+14.1=29.3 miles.
So tired. Got one more relaxing day in California before I head back to reality
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