Day 66 – Hard runs are hard

Today was my first run in April. And it’s still cold. 37F – still wearing winter running clothes and gloves. Sigh.

Wednesdays are my hard work out days. And if I’m honest I usually need to psyche myself up in order to leave the house. Why? Because they usually hurt. But you don’t get stronger or faster by not pushing yourself, right? Unless you all know some secret where I can just do easy runs and still get better?

Tempo day. First mile is downhill and a warm up to get my legs used to increased turnover – 7.40 mins. Then 3 miles around the local park – 7.11, 7.15, 7.18 pace. The first two miles felt OK but that third mile was hard. I was trying to figure out if my body or my mind that wanted to quit more. I’m pretty sure it was my brain but I just couldn’t convince myself to push any more. I was a little disheartened but then I decided that I was doing just fine and to just run at an easy pace back home. Total distance 5.3 miles at 7.50 min/mile pace.

It got me thinking about how running is much more than a physical task. How we really have to train our brains to keep going when things get hard and we want to quit. For me the hardest part of training is getting my mind and body on the same page. Running long training runs on your own definitely toughens me up.

Bonus: pain-free run! Woohoo!

April mileage: 5.3 miles/8.5 KM

ATWRBR mileage: 121.9 miles/196.2 KM

Day 56 – Double digits

Sunday is long run day. And today was my first scheduled double digit run since………………May last year! Yikes! I ran my first half marathon on May 18th 2013 and had a fall half scheduled for November 3rd. Due to injury that never happened and the longest I ran over the summer was a 15K in August. This was followed by injury number 2 so my running year was cut drastically short.

This half marathon schedule is a little more ambitious – an extra day running per week and overall higher mileage. My plan is to always run a little hard the day before my long run to get used to running on tired legs. We’ll see how that holds up on race day……

Lucky we’re having a burst of sunny weather – although it’s still pretty chilly in the mornings. It took two miles for my hands to warm up this morning. My route included a steady gradual uphill as I’m doing my best to prep for the potential nasty bits for my half marathon which is now just 4 weeks away. 10.02 miles at 8.33 min/mile pace. Mostly easy pace with a little twinge of my glut medius at about mile 8. You can bet I foam rolled that sucker when I got back.

Had my trademark fruit smoothie, granola and my new favorite – fried egg and avocado toasted sandwich for breakfast. Feeling good. Got my ProCompression calf sleeves on and waiting for them to do their magic!

Now I can just relax all day just have to put in a few hours at work before I can stuff my face with mac and cheese. Happy Sunday!

March mileage: 83 miles/133.6 KM

Weekly recap:

5 runs

Weekly mileage: 27.35 miles (highest mileage maybe ever?)

Longest run of the year: 10.02 miles

2 yoga classes

1 strength workout

1 climbing gym session

 

Day 46 – Find what you love and do that

Last night we has some homemade salmon cakes and veggies for dinner. I used a crazy amount of Trader Joe’s sweet chilli sauce. That stuff is so good. J went for Cholula hot sauce. We have a lot of condiments in our house.

Wednesday night has once again established itself as climbing night. We met some friends that we regularly climb with but also a friend who had never climbed before. So I was showing her the ropes (sorry………….not really! Ha!). She loved it and was about a million times braver and more confident than I had been on my first visit to the gym. It was also really fun introducing someone to a sport that you love. I felt like a little like a proud parent showing off my awesome kid. And it made me realize just how far I have come not only in the last two years but also in the last 10ish.

Growing up I was the nerdy girl who was never into sports. I was a little too anxious to play any kind of team sport (fear of being judged or being not good at something (hello Type A)). And as I got more unfit it became less appealing to even try to take up a sport. There were occasional forays to the gym and classes in college and grad school but nothing really stuck. Until I found sports that I really enjoyed doing. Ones that as soon as I finished I wanted to do again. For me, this is running, yoga and gym climbing. When I finish a run or a class I immediately plan my next session. I don’t dread going – I look forward to it. I even started a blog about it! And this is my key for being and staying active – find what you love and do that.

Bonus: Being active means pizza for lunch is just fine and dandy. Even better when it’s free and vegetarian.

Had an awesome yoga class this morning: core-flavored power hour. And it’s beautiful and sunny out – so I’m doing the running home thing. Don’t be too impressed it’s 3 miles all downhill. Plus tomorrow is Friday. Win. Win. Win.

March mileage: 43.6 miles/70.2 KM

Day 26 – The wrong way to choose your running shoes

Rest day! But I hate to leave a blank space in my calendar so this morning started with a gym workout – PT exercises and core work. Emmeline at Run For the Pizza has a pull up and push up challenge. So I tried it out today and I managed to do my first (almost) pull up. I was on the assisted machine but had no weight selected. I was a little nervous to use the pull up rack that the buff bros (and ladies) use in case I fell on my face but next time I think I’ll put on my big girl pants and give it a go. Plus 21 push-ups! My goal was 1 pull-up and 50 push-ups. Let’s see how it goes.

Today I had to run some errands and got to go outside during the day for a change. It was sunny and beautiful. Bring on spring!

Leftovers for dinner last night and leftover pineapple for lunch.

Today I wore my retired Brooks Pure Cadence to work. These shoes got me through my first half marathon and a whole bunch of miles last year and they are so comfy! I also love cute socks.

So how did I choose my shoes? Well, I didn’t. For Christmas 2012, J got me my Garmin and these shoes. Lucky for me they both worked out well but after I got my first injury in August 2013 I thought it was time that I got fitted properly and headed to my local running store. You know, doing what every new runner SHOULD do when they start running and not 9 months later. They taped me running on the treadmill and then we watched it back on their iPad. It turns out that I’ve a pretty neutral footstrike with mild over pronation.

I spent the next 45 mins trying on a bunch of shoes. I didn’t want to go back to a more “normal” 8-12 mm heel drop so I stuck with 4 mm which left me with the Brooks PureConnect, Saucony Kinvara and Hoka. But none of them felt right.

The shoes that I had been running in where not what the sales assistant would have originally recommended but she suggested that I try on a pair and she would film me on the treadmill. I put them on and they felt great and didn’t affect my stride. After taking up about an hour of her time I came out with a pair of (on sale) PureCadence 2. So either J is a total running shoe psychic, or else I got incredibly lucky. I did everything wrong and got very lucky.

Day 19 – Happy Valentine’s Day!

This morning I went to the gym and did my usual strength training workout minus lunges, squats and leg-press. I came home to this.

The way to my heart is definitely through chocolate. You can keep flowers and sappy cards I want me some chocolate. Yum! And a surprise! After all this time (8.5ish years) he still melts my heart. Aww………

I also know it’s the real deal because last night when I was making dinner he spontaneously asked if I wanted a glass of wine at the exact moment when I was thinking “My God, I need a glass of wine right now”. True love.

Dinner was sweet potato and black bean enchiladas plus all the fixins’. You might guess by now that I love avocado and jalapenos. They go with everything.

I also like to keep my Garmin close by at all times!

Another bonus today – the new series of House of Cards is on Netflix. I loved the first season. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Kate Mara – the dream team. Can’t wait to start. Have to finish The Following first though – can’t have any unfinished business.

We’re pretty lucky in SLC that our weather has been pretty warm and mild – especially compared to the East Coast which has made running outside pretty pleasant. But we did get a weird hail/thunderstorm yesterday evening and just when I was leaving to catch the bus.

Biggest hailstones I’ve ever seen.

Today is a rest day from running and we have plans for a hike and then dinner with friends.  Enjoy your Valentine’s Day. My advice is to spend it with people that you love – whomever that may be!

Day 17 – Paying attention

Yesterday I left work at 5.20 PM and was greeted with this –

Daylight! Spring is coming. Longer days. Wearing shorts for runs. Wearing a hat – not to keep warm but to keep the sun of your face! I can’t wait. The snow is almost gone from the ground and our high today is around 50F – I’ll take it.

Last night I finally got to fulfill my craving for green curry. Tofu is a protein to keep going with meatless dinners. My mission right now is to load as many veggies as possible into each meal – carrots, mushroom, zucchini, green pepper. I also like to finish each Asian-y dish with chopped green onions, cilantro and chopped unsalted peanuts. It was good. Craving is satisfied.

Today started with a 3.5ish mile run at a medium pace – 8.32 min/mile. I’m surprising myself right now with my ability to get out of bed at 6. I still need at least one snooze but such a big improvement compared to last summer.

My run would have been pretty uneventful if I had actually been paying attention to where my feet where going. Right at the one mile mark I fell – for the second time this winter. This time I couldn’t blame it on a slick patch of ice just an uneven sidewalk that I have run on about a hundred times already. This time I didn’t do as much damage – a small scrape and teeny bruise on my right knee.

Which brings us to…………my right knee. Today was a check-up with the PT. She looked very confused when I told her about my new injury – right knee instead of left hip. But after she “massaged” (this definitely stretches the definition of this word) my right quad it was pretty clear to her what was wrong. Overcompensating with my dominant right leg – tight right quad – inflammation above right knee – and pulling my knee cap of track. Isn’t it amazing how the cause of an injury is usually not where your actual problem is – isn’t the human body amazing/annoying?

I’ve been prescribed foam rolling, knee icing, continuing with glute strengthening exercises. I’m OK to run (yay!) but no speed stuff and I must pay attention to keeping my knee straight. This might also prevent unwanted trips to the ground!

Day 13 – My 22 min mile

Yesterday I picked up groceries straight after work and found this on sale. Friday night sorted.

It was J’s dinner choice last night – burgers and fries. Lucky for me he’s on board with healthy eating so it was black bean burgers with avocado and chipotle mayo, oven-baked potato wedges and zucchini, tomato, feta and cilantro skillet fry. Yummy comfort food. Paired with some homebrewed IPA. Perfect Friday food.

We watched the first two episodes of The Following. It was a little silly but good fun.

Today was long run day. I got to run in daylight (!) and even saw other runners. For the first time ever my Garmin was acting up – I had run almost 3 miles by the time it registered my first mile. A new record of 22.28 min/mile. I’m hoping it was just a blip. I had planned out my route and wasn’t too worried about pace so I kept going and plotted my route on Runkeeper once I got back. 6.46 miles at 8.42 pace – I’ll take that. Bonus – it started raining about 2 minutes after I finished my run. Perfect timing.

On the plus side my hip is totally fine. Unfortunately, my right knee (opposite side) was twingey. Not painful but the last thing I wanted to happen. I mean the PTs are meant to fix me right, not give me a new injury. I think my body hates me a little. Will take it easy -tomorrow is a rest day. Vitamin I. And have it assessed at my PT appointment on Wed.

For this run I figured I might be out for about an hour so I decided to bring my handheld water bottle and try out one of the Nuun flavors we got at the Park City Trail Series last summer.

Purple means Grape. And I found it not very grape-like and a little sickly sweet. I’m not sure if this is true for every electrolyte powder but it didn’t sit well in my stomach. More experimenting I think.

Breakfast was a feast – homemade pumpkin granola with Greek yoghurt and honey, my weekend homemade smoothie and homemade soda bread with as much jam as possible.

After breakfast I went to the local climbing store and got these bad boys.

My last pair went missing after a trip to the climbing gym in December so I’m ready to get back to my usual Wednesday night climbing!

I have a yoga class planned for this afternoon. It’s a new class – half core and half restore. So you work your butt off for 30 mins then get to stretch it out for the second half. Then tonight we’ll put on our fancy pants and head to the Utah Symphony! Happy Saturday.

Day 9 – Rest Day!

Day 9 – so far so good. I have a follow-up appointment with the PT to check up on my glutes and running form. I can’t really believe how much better I feel compared to just a week ago. I still have to think about why legs (and knees) when I’m running (trying to minimize knee touching) but it’s starting to feel more natural. Doing the PT exercises it’s still clear that my left leg and glutes are way weaker than my right. Asymmetry is bad. And who would have known it was so painful to lie on the ground and move your leg in circles? The burn. Oh. My. Lord. I hope it gets easier.

Last night I had a craving for some roasted broccoli. It’s one of my new faves – especially with some Parmesan. I also made some buffalo-style chicken which got the thumbs up from J.

Probably still need to cut down on my carbs.

But I am loving my cast iron skillet. Everyone should have one.

Last night we watched Mitt on Netflix. It follows Mitt Romney from 2008 until election day in 2012. I’m not a citizen so can’t vote here – and probably wouldn’t have voted for him anyway but it was interesting to get a taste of behind the scenes on a presidential campaign. I don’t know why anyone would put themselves through it. He seems like a good guy though. I liked that he picks up his grandkid’s garbage and makes sure all the lights are turned off before he leaves his hotel room. Maybe he’s a closet environmentalist. (Spoiler Alert: He loses (!)).

We got more snow this morning 2-3″. I was having my “Do I really want to get out of bed and go to the gym? I could just go later.” argument this morning. I know I never regret getting up and going and I always seem to regret staying in bed so I got up. I figure if I can get out and do this in the middle of winter I should have no problem in the summer.

Did a 45 min strength workout. Feel a little tired but I think that’s just because it was 6 AM. More snow due for most of this week but still hoping to run outside as much as I can. And maybe go skiing!

Day 4 – Mindful running

When I first started running I thought about a lot of different things while I was actually running:

Oh my God this is so hard

I think I might die

Try not to vomit in front of people

Ugh a hill – how am I going to do that?

One thing I didn’t ever think about was HOW I was running? How my legs were moving forward. What my arms were doing. If my back was bent over. How my feet were touching the ground.

Running is easy, right? You just put on your shoes (and clothes obviously) and go? Well it turns out for me, that running isn’t that simple. Last year I had 8 months of injury-free running followed by 4 months of not being able to run pain-free. Now I have to think about running and how to stop getting these recurrent (and totally frustrating) injuries.

So this morning I went for a run. And I thought about my body for the whole run. Trying to keep my spine tall. Making sure my legs were going straight and my knees weren’t touching. Trying to keep my arms closer to my body. I’m not going to lie the first 1.5 miles was pretty hard. I had to think about every step. It was like I had been given someone else’s legs to try out and I didn’t know what I was doing.

However, the second half of the run felt more fluid. Like I had been given my legs back. I felt fluid. I know changing your gait and stride will take time and practice but I have a destination now. I’m not just running and waiting for an injury to happen. I’m running away from my injuries and towards being a better runner. It was a good run.

3.58 miles (I don’t round up!) at 9.28 min/mile pace. It snowed here last night – just a little. And I know this will sound weird for non-Utahns but the snow was really wet. Normally, our snow is light and fluffy, which is the main reason why are snow is so good to ski on. So for the first time ever I came home with wet socks.

Day 3 – A visit to the physical therapist

Today started with a 8.00 AM visit to the physical therapist. Luckily I got a next day appointment with someone who specializes in running and is in charge of the running (I guess you could say she runs (!)) clinic at our local orthopedic center.

I had sciatica and hip bursitis in my left hip (AKA stupid left hip SLH) and have been feeling a slight pain in SLH as I’ve been increasing my mileage. I really wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on biomechanically and fix it once and for all. Well it turns out my bottom is exactly whats at the bottom of all my injuries – specifically my gluteus medius.

So she pinpointed my pain to this area and then watched me running on the treadmill. I was filmed from every angle and the treadmill measured my force of impact, cadence and a whole bunch of other things. For a scientist like me, it was nice to see bar charts of everything.

I knew already that my running form isn’t perfect – but watching a 360 view of you running really shows up all your faults. There were some plus points.

Positives:

Strong core

Good cadence

Negatives:

Tight hips

Overstriding

Knees collapsing together

Weak glutes

Left hip collapsing

Arms out too wide

Taking everything together she came up with a plan.

I really like the cartoon drawing!

The good news is that I don’t have to stop running. I just need to think about where my legs are going when I run. And hopefully I should be pain free in a couple of months. I think I’ll celebrate with a couple of easy miles. Although, it’s surprising how much more of an effort running becomes when you have to think about what you’re doing. But I’m hopeful that this will solve my major issues and help me train for all my races this year.

In other news the course for my April half was finally released. It’s a little different from previous years – with a couple of hilly sections. The mile 8 marker is right by my house so I can always reevaluate then. Joke – I’m going to finish. Probably. I don’t think it’ll be a PR run. Not when combined with injury rehab.

But I’m feeling pretty positive. I know what the problem is now and how to fix it – and that’s more than I can say for the last 3 or 4 months. Things are looking up!