The I word

My week in running has not been quite so good as I had hoped. After my disastrous splat against The Wall two Sundays ago, I've been taking it a bit easy. This past Sat. I did my long run. I felt really good-- made it up The Hill twice with no problems. My time goal was 84 minutes, which I surpassed. My distance goal was 7.5 miles, which I made, finishing in 1 hr. 25 min. and 35 sec. My pace averaged out to 11.4 minutes per mile, about 1 minute per mile slower than my goal pace of 10.25 minutes for my "easy" long runs. I'm pleased because I stayed aerobic the entire time. Making progress!

BUT. Somewhere around 4 miles, I became aware of A New Pain. Something I haven't noticed before. My right hip was hurting. I probably should have stopped, right then, but I wanted to get to the water fountain at mile 5. I took a short break of a minute or two at the water fountain, which was, thank heaven, working for once. I sucked down as much water as I could. Then I went back to finish my run. When I got to the finish, I realized my hip had stopped hurting-- I hadn't even thought about if for that last 2.5 miles.

When I got home, I noticed my hip was sore. I've had some chronic soreness in that hip for ages, but it was a lot more painful than it has been. Oh, no. Don't even say it-- not the dreaded I word! Not now! I(njuries) are not allowed!

I took Motrin through the day. I checked my running book. It could be an ITB injury, which commonly causes pain in the knee but can cause pain in the hip. ITB stands for Iliotibial band syndrome, which is more common in women runners than in men. It is caused by inflammation of the Iliotibial band, a muscle that runs down the outside of the thigh to the outside of the knee.

The inflammation can be the result of overpronation, possibly caused by worn shoes; excessive downhill running; running on a cambered surface (where the middle of the road is higher than the sides), or overtraining. Climbing stairs is supposed to make it worse. (Unavoidable in my apartment, which is on 3 levels.) Recommended treatment is RICE-- rest, ice, compression, and elevation, along with a non-steroidal anti-inflammitory and stretching of the ITB, hamstrings, and quads.

I did this. I stretched throughout the day. I applied ice and compression by using an ace bandage to hold a bag of frozen peas on the sore spot. This reminded me of the scene from The Cutting Edge, where DB Sweeney is so sore from repeatedly falling on the ice that he's sitting at the dinner table with a large ice pack strapped to each hip!

(I loved this movie. I had the hugest crush on DB Sweeney. I'm definitely giving up my age now!)

On Sunday, the pain was pretty much gone. I took the next two days off from running just to be sure. Tuesday came, and I thought I should rest another day before doing my pace workout. I had planned to do it yesterday, but ended up running out of time. I did take Zelda for a short walk (2 miles). My hip has been more painful since then.

So, not sure if I will run anymore this week. I am not convinced it really IS an ITB injury. I've been thinking it could be a bit of arthritis, but the pain really does seem to be more muscular than in the joint. I'm really hoping to start my new training plan on Sat., but will have to see how I'm feeling. If it is still painful then, I will need to see a sports medicine doc ASAP.

Crash and Burn: The Wall

My running week did not get off to a very good start. I was just about to head out Saturday morning for my long run when DS's dad called. This was to convey the information, at 9:20 a.m., that he was unable to take DS to his 10 a.m. SAT prep class. On the other side of town. Oh yes, and he would not be able to pick DS up either.

I have to admit, I was annoyed. I knew by the time I had dropped DS off at his class and driven to the greenway, it would be getting TOO HOT to run. I had planned to leave the house by 9, but with one thing and another, didn't. I suppose that was really a good thing, because otherwise DS would have missed his class, since I usually don't carry my phone while running. (Too heavy.)

I'd planned to run 7 miles and just couldn't face the thought of doing so on the treadmill. So, I knew I would have to postpone my run until Sunday. As it turned out, I spent all day doing errands, not even pausing to eat until after I arrived home with DS around 4. Nor pausing to drink anything, either. This turned out to have been a bad mistake.

On Sunday, I started out my long run feeling really good. I ran the first 2 miles in about 21 minutes, and at the three-mile mark, my time was 32:50. Wow, was I stoked! That is a good 5 minutes faster than my best 5K time, and it was just an "easy" training run! However, I got slower and slower as time went on and the route got hillier.

At about 4.75 miles I encountered The Hill. This is a shortish, but extremely steep hill. I managed to maintain my pace up the hill, but you know, that stuff catches up to you when you're done. Once I hit the flat on the other side, I was so completely out of breath I had to stop and walk for a while. This only slowed me down a little, because at 5 miles, my time was 55:11.

After this followed one of the most unpleasant running experiences I have ever had. I just could not seem to get my breath back, even by running reeaallly slowly. By the time I reached mile 6, I think I hit the dreaded "Wall." I have NEVER had this happen to me before. I felt dizzy and completely out of gas. I stopped and walked the next quarter mile very slowly.

Since I knew I only had a mile to go, I started running again-- slowly. But within a couple of minutes I encountered a small hill and was out of breath again. I was really determined to run that last mile. My body did not cooperate, however. At .75 miles, I just could not go any further. My time goal for the day was to reach 78 minutes, and at that point I had about a minute to go (not counting my walking time). I managed to keep going for that one last minute, and believe me, I was checking my watch about every 3 seconds! So, I didn't quite hit my distance goal of 7 miles, but got close: 6.75 miles.

I was so addled when I stopped that I kept on walking AWAY from the car instead of heading back towards the car, and my gatorade. It was a bit more than a mile to walk to get to the car, and it seemed like an eternity. By this time, it had started to get hot, so I grabbed my gatorade and went and sat in the shade to drink it. I felt a bit better after downing a pint of gatorade mixed with protein powder, but not much. I still felt so depleted I stopped on the way home and bought more gatorade-- and drank the entire quart in the car.

Well, I really learned my lesson. I am sure I was dehydrated before I even started my run, and it only got worse. I will be sure to hydrate well and take in adequate carbs the day before a hard workout. I also need to be more conscientious about carrying fluids with me on runs longer than an hour. I was so tired after my run that I had to lie down and take a nap, even though I immediately had a protein shake when I got home.

I did not run on Monday at all since I planned to do a pace workout on Tuesday, but when Tuesday came, I was feeling tired, so I skipped it. I didn't do it today either, mostly because I am out of protein powder and didn't have time to get more. (Food is kind of nauseating after a tough workout but I do fine with the protein shakes.)

Tomorrow I'm just going to do an easy run of 3 miles, and call it a week. I'm sure the extra rest this week will benefit me, and on Saturday, I'll be ready to hit the trail for my long run again.

This time, I'm absolutely confirming DS's transportation arrangements on Friday so I can get out and run early if I have to take him to class again. And making sure to eat and drink well on Friday, too!

Running Journal for week of 9/11

I made it through week 2 of my 5K training plan.

Week 2 Summary
Total mileage: 18.7 miles

9/11: Long run. 6.5 miles on the greenway. 72 minutes.
9/12: Easy recovery run. 2 miles on the treadmill. 24 minutes.
9/13: Rest day.
9/14: Pace workout, 3 miles. 1 mile easy; 4 X 400 at 8 min. pace, and finished with 1 mile easy.
9/15: Easy recovery run. 3.1 miles on the greenway. 36 min., 44 sec.
9/16: Hills. 4.1 miles on the greenway. I don't have the time, since Zelda came to an abrupt stop at about mile 3, which pulled on the leash in just the right way to press the "stop" button on my chronometer watch.
9/17: Rest day.

Today I ran 4.1 miles on the greenway with Zelda. I really haven't been running many hills and around here, any race courses are likely to be hilly. So, I need to start practicing on hills. I picked a route that would have a couple of long hills, getting on the Greenway at Maynard and running across Dynasty Drive to pick up the part of the trail I usually run on.

I started off easy, and the first mile was a breeze. I had not been on this part of the greenway in several months, and I noticed that the first mile was mostly downhill. Easy! However, knowing that what goes down must come up, I was kind of worried about how I would handle the climb at the end of the run, when I was fatigued.

After the first mile came the first long hill. Wow, it was REALLY hard! it seemed endless. Thankfully, there was a nice downhill on the other side that gave me a chance to get my breath back. After hitting my chosen turnaround spot, I noticed that I was on a kind of gradual climb, up to Dynasty Drive, where there is a short, steep hill.

At that point, I was facing that nice downhill, which was now an uphill, long hill #2. I was out of breath, so I decided to cheat a bit and recover for a while before tackling the long hill. I ran slowly in place until I had caught my breath. It's a good thing I did, because hill #2 was long AND steep. In fact, by the time I got to the top, I felt slightly nauseated from the hard climb. This disappeared immediately once I started the downhill on the other side.

Then, time to face my fears-- that one mile climb between Dynasty and Maynard. I was really not sure I'd be able to finish. But surprisingly, the gradual climb was very do-able. It didn't get steep until just before the end, and I was able to stay aerobic until then.

I was so pleased I was able to run my whole route! Zelda, not so pleased. She was pretty sluggish that last mile, and must have been tired. I haven't been as conscientious as I should be about taking her for a good walk on the days I run without her, so I think she has lost a little conditioning. Never fear-- perseverance will fix that, and the weather should start getting cooler soon. That will help.

Pace Workouts

Pace workouts, or, as we used to call them, intervals. Fun, fun, right?? Well, maybe not so much. However, if you wish to improve speed and endurance, the pace workout is your most important, and highest-quality workout, of the week. Pace workouts challenge your body to work better at your anaerobic threshold, as well as training it to switch to burning fat for energy as glycogen stores in the muscles become depleted. So, while they may not be big fun, pace workouts are key to improving performance.

When I first started exercising years ago, breathlessness was the thing I feared the most and tried to avoid at all costs. Over the years, I've become a lot more comfortable working in oxygen debt. Certainly I can run anaerobically for at least a couple of miles. I've realized that beyond a certain point it really doesn't get any worse, even though you're scared it might.

My expanded capacity to tolerate being above my aerobic threshold is largely due to Cathe Friedrich's DVD workouts. Thanks, Cathe!! Cathe Friedrich's (Cathe.com) workouts will definitely put you over the top, aerobically speaking, and you'll get used to working while breathing pretty hard.

Not only is Cathe a fabulous instructor with fun and innovative workouts, she has a great sense of humor, too. On one of her step workouts there is a long section where you do seemingly endless 360-around-the-board repeats. Just as you are certain you are about to gasp your last, Cathe says, " I can hear you breathin' at home there!" Quite. It always makes me giggle.

Heh, heh. Pace workouts definitely fall into that "hurts so good" category. I always feel such a sense of achievement (not to mention relief!) when I finish a good, hard pace workout.

Just how do you run a pace workout? You can either do them on a track or a treadmill. Give me the treadmill any day! On the track, I am never sure of hitting my target pace. Also, being able to see how much farther I have to go is daunting. On the treadmill, if I want to run a 400 at 8 min. pace, all I have to do is convert that into miles per hour (60/8=7.5 mph) and then figure out how long I have to run to make 400 meters (8/4=2 min.). Set the treadmill to 7.5 mph, and you have no choice but to hit your target pace. That is, unless you'd prefer to go flying backward through the wall! Then, I just focus and try not to look at the timer until I absolutely cannot stand it. Hopefully there will not be much time left to go at that point.

How do you know what pace to run? That depends on your current fitness level and goals. If you are training for a race, your pace workout speed should be the same as what you intend to race at. But of course, this speed is something you must to be able to maintain for all the intervals. I might want to race at 6 min/mile, but there is no way I could maintain that pace for very long at my current fitness level. Check out this handy pace chart at the Runner's World site.

How far should you run? A pace workout should not exceed 10% of your total weekly mileage. If you are running 15 miles per week, then your pace workout (the intervals) should be 1.5 miles. So, if you run 4 400's with a 200 recovery between each, that's perfect. 4 400's = 1 mile, plus 4 200's for recovery= 800 meters or .5 miles, totaling 1.5 miles.

Where can you find examples of pace workouts? I'm following the 5K training plans in Claire Kowalchik's book, The Complete Book of Running for Women. You can also find Pace Workouts and Charts at the Runner's World website, as well as 5K training plans.

I'm easing into pace workouts. Today I ran 4 400's at 8 min. pace. It was hard but do-able. A few weeks ago I could barely finish a 200 at 8 min. pace-- so I am really happy! You should always warm-up with some easy running and finish easy too. I did a mile at 12 min. pace to warm up. Then I ran my intervals. I was supposed to recover by running slowly for 200 meters between each, but I'm not quite ready for that yet. Instead, I walked until my heart rate dropped just below my aerobic zone before starting each 400. I finished up with another mile at 12 min. pace.

Uh oh. Next week I have to run at least 1 800 and maybe even a 1200. I'm not sure I can run those distances at my chosen pace. However, I remember that when I had to jump from running 3 minutes at a time to running 5 minutes at a time, I didn't think I could do that either, but I did. So I'll wait and see. I may surprise myself.

Recovery. That's always important, especially after a hard workout. You want to replace your depleted glycogen stores as quickly as possible, because the body will soak up those carbs best within the first 30 minutes following your workout. Sports nutritionists recommend consuming a "meal" that contains a ratio of 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein immediately after finishing your workout. Liquids are most easily assimilated by the body, so a shake, smoothie or drink is ideal. Silk Chocolate soy milk has the magic 4 carbs:1 protein ratio. Today, I had Gatorade (16 g of carbs) with 1 T of protein powder mixed in (4 g protein).

About an hour after that first recovery meal, you should consume a heavier meal with more protein. Protein intake enhances muscle recovery. Today, that was my usual "breakfast shake." I make it with 1 c. chocolate almond milk, a scoop of protein powder (20 g. protein), a banana, and some ice. If it's going to be a while before my next meal, I'll add a T of peanut butter too.

Dude!! I get to have a "milkshake" and call it sports nutrition? I'm totally in!

Monday, Monday!

Did you know that it is actually on your rest days that you get stronger and make fitness gains?



Last night, I was sleeping peacefully:

Until, at precisely 4:17 a.m., my eyes snapped open and I was awake. Wide awake.

Ugh, don't you hate that?? Of course, I never got back to sleep before my scheduled wakeup time of 6 a.m.

Not good, since I didn't get to sleep until midnight, and am fighting off a cold.
I have to do battle with my car today, too; twice in the last week it's been sluggish in starting. This means a trek to ye olde car repair shoppe where I will sit, bored, for a few hours. Is this Monday-ish or what?

I have a suspicion that one of my neighbors probably made a loud noise that woke me, since I heard subsequent loud thuds and crashes. No idea which apt. they were coming from, though.

I had planned to take Zelda out for a nice walk this morning since today is a rest day from running for me (thank goodness). However, my eyes are burning, my neck is aching, and I am wandering around in a haze of sleep deprivation. If I actually attempted to do anything requiring physical exertion, this would probably be the result:


I think it's sleepy time. Great way to waste half the day! I will have to call ye olde car repair shoppe later. Which probably means the whole thing will have to wait until tomorrow (meanwhile, I'll pray that the car will start if I need to use it again today). Thank the Lord (seriously), it started up without a problem when I had to take DS to school at 6:20 a.m.

Yesterday I did 2 miles on the treadmill at 12 min. pace. I felt pretty tired the first mile but then I perked up. Now, I think I'm going to take that nap. I am exhausted from head to toe. Got to rest up for my pace workout tomorrow. Nighty-night.

6 Mile

Today's run was my longest so far. I ran about 6.5 miles in 72 minutes on the greenway. My goal today was to run either 6 miles or 72 minutes, whichever came last.

Man, was I TIRED at the end. I seriously felt ready to drop dead. I started out easy, and from checking the quarter-mile markers, was running about a 12-min. pace for the first 1/2 mile or so. At some point, I guess I picked it up some. I passed the 5 mile mark at about 53 minutes-- I can't totally recall, I just remember groaning inwardly and thinking, OMG, I still have 20 minutes to go! I was definitely running pretty close to a 10 min. mile at the end.

This is good. According to the pace chart in my handy dandy The Complete Book of Running for Women (by Claire Kowalchik), if I want to finish a 5K in about 25 min., I should be running my easy long runs at a 10:14 pace. I also should be doing pace workouts at 8:08 pace. Looks like I am inching my way towards that 10:14 pace!

I am really just so pleased and thrilled with my progress. 10 years ago, I started running and ran pretty seriously (if slowly) for about a year and a half. My running career ended abruptly with a case of Achilles tendinitis I could not get rid of. Back then, running even a 10 minute mile was just a dream. I ran a very consistent 12-min mile. I should add I was near my all-time highest weight ever back then. I'm a good 35 lbs. lighter now. But I love it-- I'm 10 years older and in BETTER shape than ever!

Oh, I am so excited. To think a 25 minute 5K might be within my grasp is amazing! I used to finish at about 37 min., so just finishing in under 30 would be incredible for me.

I think I owe my improvement to Zelda. When I got her back in March, I made a commitment to walk her for at least 45 min. every day. And I did. Before long, we were walking 5 miles every single day. That really improved my stamina and conditioned my legs-- leading me to HOPE that running again might be possible.

Wow, not only is it possible, but I am BETTER than ever! In May, I started my come-back. I made it through the initial 10 week program to build up to running 30 minutes without a single injury. I WAS sidelined for a couple of weeks with bronchitis, but I came right back with no loss of fitness. Oh, I am so excited. I actually can't wait for my pace workout on Tuesday to see if I can run 400s at 8 min. pace.

My distances on the greenway are frustratingly hard to figure out. My route is kind of funny, because I don't start at either terminus. The trail from the parking lot to the greenway provides entry right by marker 8. So I run from marker 8 down to the "end", then turn around and run past 8 to the "head" of the trail and then back to marker 8. However, there are only quarter mile markers for 1.75 miles of the trail. Between marker 8 (1.75 miles) and the "head" of the trail, there are no markers, so I have to guesstimate.

It took me a while to realize that from marker 8 to the "end" of the trail, there are only 7 markers, the first one at the end being marker 2, which, instead of being .5 miles from the end of the trail, is actually only .25 miles from the end. Logically, you would think that if you start running at marker 8 and run to the end, it would be 2 miles. But no. It's 1.75 miles.

The Town website says the length of the greenway is 2.5 miles, so on the other end, the distance from marker 8 to the head of the trail must be .75 miles. (1.75+ .75 = 2.5) It seems a lot longer! I guess this is because there is a HUGE, steep and winding hill just before you get to the trail head. That hill is what is just killing me-- I get anaerobic there and pretty much stay that way! Fortunately, by that time I'm somewhere around mile 4, so not too much further to go.

Running Journal for Week of 9/4

My running has been going really well! I am so thrilled. I've started doing an easy 8-week training plan for running a 5K. My training times are pretty slow, but I have noticed it's getting easier to run that slow pace.
I'm starting to see some other results too. I can at last get my size 4 denim mini skirt up over my hips and fasten and zip it. I'm not saying I can walk in it or heavens, sit down-- but at least I can put it on now! Woo-hoo!

Zelda, wishing she could go for a run.


Zelda says, Time for run NOW? The door is THIS way!

You can see Zelda had "bald thigh syndrome," which is common in racing greyhounds. This photo was taken not long after we brought her home. Her hair has grown in pretty well now.

My Running Journal for this week:

Total mileage: about 15.5 miles. This is where I had hoped to be to start my 5-K race training.

Woo-hoo!! Made it through all 5 training sessions.


Sat. 9/4: Long run. 5 miles on the treadmill. 1 hr.
This was a great run-- I had originally planned to do just 3 miles, but I felt so good I decided to go ahead and start my training week with a long run, like I always used to do. Long slow distance-- it felt great, though I was getting tired the last mile. Ran inside due to heat.

Sun 9/5: Easy recovery run. 2 miles on the greenway. 24 min, 22 sec. Tired.
I ran with Zelda and we encountered several other people with dogs, so I was fighting her half the time. In fact, she got snarled up under my feet at one point and it's a miracle neither of us went down. I guess that's why I was slightly off my 12 min. pace! There were so many people near the front half of the trail I decided to just keep going, rather than turn around after one mile. That meant Zelda and I had to walk back about 1.75 miles to get to the car. It was hot, and we were both tired. Not the best run.

Zelda, after our run today:


So tired! Exhaustified!

I love the little foot splayed out here and her "snaggle tooth" look.


Mon. 9/6: Planned rest day. Didn't do squat. Had planned to walk Zelda with DS on the greenway, but time got away from me.

Tues 9/7: Pace workout. 3 miles on the treadmill. 1 mile easy; 4X400 at 9 min./mile; recover for 200 between each; 1/2 mile easy.
My first pace workout! The 400s at 9 min pace felt great-- I didn't go anaerobic until the last 20 seconds or so. I should probably go out faster next time. Maybe I'll try it at 8:30/mile. Not sure I can last for a whole 400 at 8 min. pace! It was so funny, I ran my first mile at 12 min. pace and it felt fast! But after my intervals at 9 min., that last half-mile at 12 min. pace felt like I was just crawling! It's all relative, I guess.

Wed 9/8: Easy Recovery Run. 2 miles on the greenway. 24 min, 12 sec.
I ran with Zelda, so we had a little bit of dog drama, which may have slowed me down. She's a good girl mostly, but sometimes wants to challenge the dogs we run into on the path. I felt like I was going SO slow today. I was tired from not getting quite enough sleep the last 2 nights. The greenway has lots of gentle inclines, which I really felt today, but was able to stay aerobic the whole time despite the "hills." A couple of them actually are a bit steep. I realized that I didn't feel like I was dying the whole time, only almost dying, LOL! I felt a bit better when I saw a young, skinny runner going just as slow as I was. OK, she hadn't even broken a sweat and I was dripping, but she probably has 30 years and about 40 lbs. on me! Getting older is not for the faint of heart!

I was listening to my Glee CD on the way to the greenway and No Air (Chris Brown) was playing. The lyrics seemed a bit too appropriate while I was running:

Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air.
Can't live,
Can't breathe with no air.
That's how I feel when I know you ain't there.
There's no air,
No air.

Thurs 9/9: 3-mile Run. I think I ran about 3.5 miles on the greenway. 37 min. 36 sec. Felt pretty good.
This was supposed to be an easy 2-miler but I really hate to run less than 30 minutes-- it makes me feel like I am going backward in my training. I say I think I ran 3.5 miles because I had to stop because a work crew was cutting down tree branches less than a quarter mile from the end of the trail, my usual turn-around spot. I ran in place for several minutes waiting for them to clear the path, and finally gave up and turned around. Since I didn't know how much distance I'd lost, I ran all the way back to my starting point (marker 8) instead of stopping at marker 6 as planned. From my starting point at marker 8 to my turn-around at the end of the trail is 1.75 miles, so a total distance of 3.5 miles if I ran the whole thing.

I felt pretty good, even though it was not quite as cool as I'd hoped because I got a late start. Zelda was with me and she was pretty sluggish the last half-mile or so. I definitely ran negative splits on this one! The first half was pretty slow, I started out nice and easy. I was so irritated at having to stop that I started picking up the pace on the way back, especially the last mile. I really opened it up the last quarter and ran that in pretty close to 2 minutes, just a bit over (I didn't get a really good look at my watch at the last quarter mile marker but I know my time was somewhere around 35:20. I could have gone out faster but Zelda was not having any! By then she was trailing me by the entire length of the leash.

She got quite irritated with me during my cool-down walk because I passed the turn-off to the parking lot twice without heading to the car. "NO, Mommy, the car is THIS way!" Zelda indicated her displeasure by becoming The Dog Who Barely Moves. Meanwhile, I was thinking, "Zelda, Mommy's heart is going to jump out of her chest if we don't keep walking!" Once I get beyond 6 miles on my long runs, I will have to leave her at home on those days. Though as the weather gets cooler, her stamina may improve some. I was definitely anaerobic that last mile but it really felt good to run faster even so!

Friday 9/10: Rest day.
Hope to take Zelda for a nice walk. Eventually I'll do some cross-training on these rest days.