A Typical Wednesday

And by "typical" I mean walking to work (6.5km), doing some weights at lunch (just upper body stuff), and then running home on freshly fallen snow. Seems like once a week we get some snow, it always lands on Wednesday, and I always seem to have less than ideal footing for my run home. Oh well... The picture says it all.

Although that image is from last week's run home, it's been typical for pretty much every one this year. Today it snowed all day, but luckily none of it stuck! The sidewalks were wet, and I did have to navigate around quite a bit of black ice, but I'll take today's conditions over a slushy, snowy mess any day. I ran a total of 9km with the first 8.45 on my own and the last 0.55 with my five year-old since he wanted to "run with Daddy" and told anyone who would listen that that's what he was going to do. It was fun, naturally, even if a bit slow.

Where does the time go?

Man, I can't believe I went through an entire long weekend (Family Day holiday here in Ontario) and couldn't find a spare moment to update the bloggage on my running. Between the rather disappointing Opening Ceremonies, featuring the unique inferiority complex apologetic rhyming stylings of neckbeard man and the questionable dancing abilities of our First Nations, more Birthday Parties that the boys attended, skiing, doing work for work on a weekend (blah!), and house related duties the three days just went by and I woke up this morning wondering what the hell happened.

Anyway, as far as running went I managed 6km on the treadmill on Tuesday; I walked to work and then ran over to Owen's school at the end of the day for a total of 8.3km; and then I ran 8km on the treadmill last Friday. Both of the treadmill runs were at a setting of 6.8mph and at 2.0% incline, but the Friday run felt much easier than Tuesday's for some reason. I think I was overheating of Tuesday or something. However, by Friday night my right knee was not cooperating and I was pretty down thinking that my running "career" was in jeopardy.

I am over that little lull somewhat, but I still am wondering when this bloody joint will hurry up and heal already! On Saturday morning I was faced with the prospect of missing my run, but by the afternoon I talked myself into trying it out. For the first time since last Summer I wrapped up the knee (don't even know if it helped the knee, but my brain appreciated the extra support) and decided to run laps of the neighbourhood just in case I had to bail and crawl home. I ran super slow and gingerly four times around the same rectangle for a total of 11km and even though it was near walking pace I was happy to have finished it. The knee felt no worse afterward, so I took that as a good sign, and am now icing the sucker on a regular basis. Also, I am still on track to average 30km per week for the month of February since I managed to run 33.4km during this past week (32km the week before). I just hope I can run about the same amount this week, but with less pain.

Sunday we went skiing, but because of work that I had to prepare I decided to stay in the cabin while Monica and the boys hit the trails. Giving myself the first full day off since early January was a good idea given the knee, or so I consoled myself.

Monday I headed off to the gym and did my usual leg and upper body routine. The legs are definitely getting stronger, but I am still feeling less than confident that this will provide my knee with the support it requires to finally heal completely. I will give it another month, but if I am still feeling pain at my scheduled physical in the middle of March I will ask my doctor for a referral to a knee specialist of some sort. Maybe there is a tear or something that will never heal on its own? I sure hope not, and I hope I am completely pain free by then and this becomes a moot point.

Today I had meetings all day and could not fit in my usual treadmill run so I went out in the evening. Once again, I wrapped up the knee (and thought of buying a sleeve for the knee to give me support) and ran an easy 7km while Malcolm, Owen and Monica attended the annual Scouts pancake dinner (on Mardi Gras, so I suppose it fits). The idea of eating pancakes for dinner makes me ill and I was happy to skip the festivities. I ran nice and easy at the beginning, kind of feeling out the knee, but picked up the pace as I went along. It was fun, and really, that's the best thing one can say about any run.

Registered!

Today I took the plunge and registered for my first race of 2010. It's not for a while yet, but I am very excited to run (if all goes well) my first half-marathon! It will be during the Ottawa Race Weekend on Sunday, May 30th and I can't wait.

Well, I can wait because there's a lot that I have to do between now and then to ensure that this will be a fun and worthwhile experience. It's far enough away that I can continue on my present course of building a solid base and yet comes at the perfect time, just when the base building phase is finished and marathon training begins. I don't think I will be running this race with any specific time goal in mind, but the main objective is to run it strong and finish without any injury or problem. In short, it will be a nice solid reward after many months of diligent base building.

Also, as I looked back upon the Friday treadmill run that left my right knee in a painful and worrisome state, I did some research on what the pace equivalents are on the treadmill based on incline settings. I realize that this is an issue perpetually to be debated, but I did find the chart at hillruner.com to be somewhat helpful in explaining why my knee balked. Turns out that at the 7.5mph, 2.0% incline setting that I ran at the peak of my pyramid the equivalent pact was not 8:00/mile, but rather 7:40/mile (not 5:00/km, as I believed, but the much more challenging 4:45/km). Anyway, I don't know how accurate this chart is, but I will use it to plan my treadmill runs in the future and hopefully avoid adding too much speed to my training before my body is ready for it.

Oh yeah, today at lunch I did a nice session of leg weights, and it was good! I'm slowly getting stronger, but still pathetically weak in the lower extremities. Tonight I plan on a moderate effort stationary bike ride for a half-hour, as usual.

The Week in Brief

It's been a typically busy week for me, even though I've been diligently sticking to my plan and making sure this was a recovery week for my wonky legs.

As such, I've still been going to the gym lots, riding the stationary bike now and then, and after skipping Tuesday (when I would typically go out for an easy 5k or so) I walked to work and ran home. The run was not too bad, but about a kilometre and a half from Owen's school I had to stop to wait through a red light and once I started up again my right knee decided to remind me that it was not fully healed. I felt a pretty bad twinge under the kneecap and had to stop to stretch and evaluate my options. I was very close to home and considered heading there, grabbing the car and using that to pick up Owen. Instead I decided to jog as gingerly as I could.

Perhaps that was a mistake, perhaps not. I finished the 8km run and walked home, a bit chilled in the wind and rapidly cooling winter weather. The temperature has since gone totally frigid and Toronto is finally feeling like Winter has arrived.

Anyway, Thursday I didn't run, but made it to the gym for some leg weights and then rode the stationary bike in the evening. My knee feels a bit better this morning and I am planning to do an easy 5-6k on the treadmill at lunch.

Here's an early summary of my January exercise exploits to date (because I do not have the time or energy to go into it in detail). The month is rapidly coming to a close and I enjoy seeing this calendar filled up with stuff. A surprisingly good motivator!:

Back on the 'mill

Had my first treadmill run in well over a year today, and it actually was fun! I remember dreading the treadmill, but that was when running outdoors was still a novelty. Now the novelty is the treadmill itself.

It was my first visit to the gym in well over a year as well, and now that I have a corporate membership prepaid for an entire year it will become a key part of my fitness routine. My main goal is to strengthen my legs for running, but secondary goals include strengthening my upper body and utilizing the treadmills to up my mileage.

With that in mind I hopped on and ran for a total of 30 minutes, completing 3.37 miles (or 5.4km) (works out to 5:32/km or 8:54/mile pace). It seems that all the treadmills are set up to work in miles per hour, so I will have to do the conversion to my more familiar metric units, but that doesn't bother me so much. I ran a bit of a pyramid this time, and I don't even know why, other than it was fun:

5 minutes at 6.2mph
5 minutes at 6.5mph
5 minutes at 6.8mph
5 minutes at 7.1mph
5 minutes at 7.5mph
1 minute at 7.0mph
1 minute at 6.8mph
1 minute at 6.6mph
1 minute at 6.4mph
1 minute at 6.2mph

Way more complex when it's written down than it was while I was running.

Afterwards I "familiarized myself" with some other equipment in the gym and did a few leg and upper body things that are not even worth mentioning. As I was moving around trying this and that I also realized that I don't work very well without some sort of plan. As such, I will have to devise some basic leg routines and upper body routines so that I don't walk around aimlessly wasting time wondering what to do next.

Tomorrow I have 10-12k on the books to complete, and I will run very slowly indeed. Sunday we are back at cross country skiing, this week hopefully to get more of a workout that last. Have a great weekend!

A Couple More

Managed a couple more of the same type of jogs in the last few days. On Friday I went out on my own after work and did the same walk, run a kilometre, walk, run thing for a total of 3km. It was a bit faster, though still definitely in the slow and tentative range.

Today, Monica and I had an opportunity to run together and we did the same routine for another 3km. Things are feeling pretty good, and it would seem that the plantar fasciitis, which I've been battling for over a year, has finally healed. Those two and a half months of, over a week of which was spent in bed on account of the surgery, fixed that annoying issue I guess. Now I just have to be conscious of my foot so that it doesn't flare up again. That means doing some exercises.

I have also been doing more leg exercises as well, such as lunges and squats. The runner's knee on the right side isn't completely gone, but I can feel it getting better as my legs get stronger. I will not start upping mileage to any significant degree until I feel absolutely no pain.

I am also thinking of joining a gym around the corner from my office so that I have access to more weight training equipment than I do at home. It's a corporate deal thing that wouldn't start until the middle of January, but it would force me to work on something other than endurance. Also, if this does come to pass, I will be focused on lower body and core strength. As a former swimmer my abs are in pretty good shape, but the muscles that absorb shock as I run are poorly developed.

It's great to be back at running again! Slow and easy, but at least I'm back out there.

A Busy Busy Thursday

Today was super busy on my end, but I still managed to get some exercise in. This morning was spent with the younger son as he had an appointment that I had to take him to, and we had a lovely time. It's so nice to just hang out a bit sometimes, even if there is some other stuff that gets in the way. I really should just take a half vacation day here and there when there isn't some other pressing reason...

Then, after I dropped him off at daycare, I sped off to the pool for a swim before going into work. I was one of the first out on deck and got to swim through still water for a few hundred metres before others started jumping in. It was awesome! I managed 1500m in 22:31 and headed off to the office.

The afternoon was also quite busy as things at work have really ramped up recently. I am also studying for a professional certification exam at the moment, so time outside of work is tight as well. On top of all that I had my second baseball practice with the team this evening. It went quite well, the kids were happy, the parents were happy, and our first game is this Saturday.

This evening, as I watched the Jays win their fifth series in a row to start the 2009 season over the Texan Rangers I managed to do the old strength routine. 3X50 sit ups, 3X35 push ups, and 3X8 chin ups. I also did most of the ankle/foot strengthening routine, which I have to post about sometime. It's pretty involved and takes a long time to complete, which explains why I haven't had the time or energy to write about it. Some of the things I have to do are difficult to describe, so a camera and pictures will have to be involved. It will be time consuming to do this post, I can tell, but I'd still like to manage it.

Now, back to reading up for next week's exam.

T-Ball Practice for the Littlest One

This evening was Malcolm's first ever T-Ball practice, and it was a blast. I really hope he enjoys playing this year and has a great time while learning all the important things - sportsmanship, sharing, cheering, making mistakes, getting better, etc. He's so cute (though I recognize I am totally not objective here)!

(Gotta love that ready position!)

As far as my situation, the cold is almost gone. I say almost because it is lingering in that ultra-annoying stage where I feel like I am constantly in an airplane and my ears just won't pop. Even swimming this afternoon at lunch didn't seem to help much. I managed 1500m in 22:42, but the airplane seems to work under water for some strange reason.

After the T-Ball practice I managed another strength routine consisting of 3X50 crunches on the yoga ball, 3X35 push ups with the yoga ball, 3x8 chin ups without any yoga ball. This is a short and sweet routine that seems to be working pretty well for me. I absolutely have to involve some leg strengthening stuff, but given that I have a lot of exercises and stretching to try and cope with the plantar fasciitis and (to a lesser extent) the lingering hip and runner's knee I can't really start anything right now. Tomorrow I plan on heading out for a nice 5k and if my body cooperates I would like to pick up the pace a little bit for at least a small portion of it. Less than three weeks to go until the Sporting Life 10k, and even if I am running this one for fun only it would be nice to go a bit faster than training pace.

It's a Bit Hectic Right Now

Man, the time is flying by and I can't seem to find the energy to do much these days. Between the demands of two energetic boys and things really picking up at work there's not much time to cope with my foot pain, running, and all that stuff. I've been very diligent about doing my stretching and exercising and such and I hope that all of this will help the plantar fasciitis to finally start it's long awaited journey off of my right foot. I am sort of planning to do a post on what exactly I am doing in the next little while since I think it might be of interest to anyone who is either suffering from plantar fasciitis or this other thing I just learned about (and think I have) called sesimoiditis, but I simply don't have the time right now.

Today was one of those busy busy days, and the weather has been so crappy this week that it somehow makes things even more difficult to deal with. The gear I have to wear and trek around with in order to bike to work is such a hassle and I can't wait for those warm sunny days when I can just jump on the bike with short and t-shirt (and for the kids out there, a helmet of course), but for now it's a matter of staying warm and dry. I did manage to get myself back on the bike at lunch and jumped in the pool for a quick 1000m in 15 minutes. I wanted to do more, but had a prior commitment to sit on a panel on information policy for an old professor of mine who asked me to speak to her class. Crazy! I guess that makes me an adult or something...

Tonight I did the whole strength routine and managed a good amount of stretching and strengthening of the foot. Actually I am working on both feet since I figure if I fix one then the other will take its turn to kick me in the ass. Tomorrow I will try to get a short run in (5k range), though I have to attend a coaches meeting for the first of two baseball teams that I will be coaching this year. Just when I thought things might get a little less busy! Should be fun, though. I never played this sport, and coming from Eastern Europe baseball was a real oddity to me when my family arrived in Canada, but now I think it's great. BTW: the Jays had a nice comeback win tonight, so it's all good.

Month in Review

On this last day of March I thought it was worth a look back and take stock. As I started this month of running things were going pretty well, though my plantar fasciitis was once again flaring up and prompted me to make an appointment to see my physio to try and get to the root of the problem. As she was away my assessment had to wait until the 25th and so I had to run and manage as best I could on my own. I managed to up my long runs to 18k and 20k without any problems, but ran into some issues when I attempted 24k. Due to my lack of proper hydration and nutrition in the two days leading up to this milestone run I paid the price with major calf crampage that would pretty much ruin the last two weeks of planned training leading up to the Around the Bay 30k. After getting some massage therapy the calves loosened up just in time, but on the short test run before the race a new problem crept up in the form of hip/ITB pain on the left side. I didn't let this stop me and ended up making it to the starting line with the goal of just finishing the 30k, which I did despite some major pain. In short: mission accomplished! I'm also a little wiser for the effort.

I also managed a new monthly high in mileage by running 135.6km.

Now, a couple of days after the race, I am pleasantly surprised to find that my expected pain, which I though would be debilitating, is not that bad at all. The biggest thing still lingering from the race is my plantar fasciitis in the right foot, and the hip is feeling like it's pretty much back to normal. Is it possible that I shocked it back into shape? I don't know, but I really don't care.

Today I biked up to the pool at lunch and swam a pretty decent 1200m in about 18 minutes. It was interesting that my shoulders, especially the traps, were tight from the race. I guess when you run that long for the first time your whole body gets a workout at the end just to get you through.

Tonight I did another strength routine with the yoga ball consisting of sit ups, push ups, and chin ups. I'm comfortably doing sets of 40 sit ups and 35 push ups now so I think it's time to think about upping these as of next week. The chin ups are still a challenge, though I think that's partly because I do them after the other exercises, and I'm still stuck on sets of 8.

Tomorrow I am actually planning on heading out for a nice easy 5k, but will leave the final decision until the evening. My quads are tight, but I think with another night off and some stretching and such they will likely be ready for a short recovery run. Here's hoping I'm right! The foot is status quo and I should be able to manage the pain as long as I run slowly. I am working on my range of motion as far as dorsiflexion goes and have already improved on that front. When my range was measured by the physio I only managed 12cm on the right foot compared to 14.5cm on the left (measured from the wall to the longest toe while keeping ones heel down and touching the knee to the wall). Today I measured myself and have improved the right foot to measure 13.5cm! I hope that increasing this range of motion will eventually help the plantar fascia to heal.

I Hope It's Not A Mirage

This morning, after an evening spent either with a hot water bottle strapped to my calf, sitting in the tub, or rubbing Arnika Cream onto/into the affected area, I woke up with a hint less of pain than the previous morning. Could this be, or is this just a cruel mirage come to taunt me? I decided to let it slide and not think about it. After all, my physio appointment is tomorrow and I don't want to show up with nothing hurting for her to ponder and prod.

After another application of Arnika Cream and a morning of rushing the boys out the door on time to catch Owen's schoolbus, I biked down to work. When I got off the bike the calf continued to feel less tight than I expected. Again, I warned myself that wishful thinking will get you nowhere and tried to ignore the lower extremity. Perhaps this was one of those things that, if ignored, would simply begin to act properly in hopes of winning back my approval? Hmmmmm. Maybe.

At lunch I once more got on the bike and headed off to the UofT pool for a short and easy swim. I decided to just be satisfied with 1000m (it took about 15 minutes) and then use the rest of the time I had to stand in as hot a shower as I could handle while stretching a bit. This was a good thing and my legs felt a bit better afterwards. I massaged in more Arnika Cream and headed back to work. On the way I had the strangest feeling of warmth in my quads and inner thighs. I didn't put anything there and if anything I would have expected some sensation in the calves, but the whole quads thing was pretty weird. It was as if I was absorbing the rays of the Sun in this area only, like a cat taking a nap on a windowsill where the sun is only hitting one spot of fur. I wonder what the hell all that was about? Can a 34 year-ol guy get hot flashes in the thighs for some hormonal reason?

The afternoon at the office was spent working (duh!) and sitting at a desk (double duh!), which resulted in my calves tightening up again. I should have practiced some more office stretching, but alas my hindsight is myopic and I forgot my rear view glasses.

On a side not I'd like to thank NWGDC for leaving a comment on my last post re: Chi Running. It seems that absorbing the spirit of this technique, if not the letter of the law, has helped him to run injury free for the past year and a bit. This testament makes for a great boost as far as my running goes and perhaps there is hope that I too can learn how to run more efficiently, minimize injury to the point that will allow me to train for long stretches of time, make all my planned races, and have fun in the process.

In the evening I did another strength routine, this time upping the sit ups to 40 reps and the push ups to 35, all with the yoga ball. I'm still doing reps of 8 on the chin ups, but they are starting to get easier and easier.

Still Hurting

I am still recovering from my weekend of poor judgement (which is how I will refer to it from now on) and my legs are tighter than a Puerto Rican bongo drum. I actually have no idea if Puerto Ricans play bongos, or how tight they keep the skins if they do, but I'm watching the World Baseball Classic game between Puerto Rico and the US and the fans seem to fancy hand drums a lot.

I did swim a short distance at lunch today. 1000m in 15 minutes was enough for me. I was unable to go all last week on account of the Canadian National Swimming Championships taking up the pool, and just wanted to get a little swim in. This was all I could muster.

Tonight I did some more crunches, push ups, and chin ups. No squats though. I was afraid of tearing something south of the border...

On a nice note I received an unexpected email from my Uncle in Poland today, totally out of the blue! He's not my real Uncle (who seems to have disappeared down under in Australia a couple of decades ago), but as my Dad's best friend that's how we always refer to him. He told me that he's been following my blog and wished me well. Awesome! Thank you! Perhaps I will have to start writing this blog in two languages? Hmmmmm...

Acting Conservatively, Feeling Guilty

I'd say it's fair to place me left of centre as far as most things go, liberal if you will. So it is not in my nature to play anything on the conservative side (except when it comes to money, where I am ultra risk averse). Last night I was all set to go for my planned 6k run, had the Garmin primed to go, shoes lined up, the whole bit. Then, at the last minute, I totally bailed on the run on account of the soreness in my foot and felt appropriately guilty for the rest of the evening. Earlier in the day I called my physio and now have an appointment to see her, but not until March 25th since she is away for three weeks (bummer!). I could have run since the pain is what I would describe as manageable, but I didn't because I was worried that if I did run then my planned 20k this weekend would have been jeopardized. I am determined to keep running, whatever it takes (and I think it will take slowing way down).

Naturally I am a little depressed by this whole thing and hope that this wonky appendage fixes itself in short order. It is curious that I am left leaning in most things and that all my issues seem to be localized to the right foot/ankle. Shouldn't it be my left ankle and foot that cause all the issues since I am "leaning" in that direction? Anyway, I didn't run and hate that like you wouldn't believe.

Today I decided that another pool running experiment was in order and I headed over at lunch for a half-hour of struggling up and down the lane. It was fun, I guess, but as I "ran" I thought to myself that there was no way in hell anything approaching a "runner's high" was likely to occur when performing this type of exercise. I just hope it helps me get back to running.

Tomorrow I am planning on running home from work again, but will definitely make it super slow. I think I've been going too fast for this foot recently, even though my pace is nothing to write home about. That's why I have to see the physio to see what can be done so that I can start running faster and not just longer.

Tonight I also did another strength routine. I think I have to up the reps on the sit ups and push ups, but the chin ups are still pretty hard. The squats are not difficult, but I am afraid of doing too much too soon given the whole wonky appendage issue(s).

A New Activity

Today I went for what was supposed to be just another regular swim during lunch. I was planning to do at least 1500m, but was also holding out hope that I would have enough mental stamina to endure the boredom and crank out a full 2000m. Once I managed to get out of the office and made it to the pool I must admit that my motivation was seriously waning. Standing in the nice warm shower rinsing off prior to going on deck I almost totally bailed on the whole swim idea. I'm glad that I didn't for otherwise I would never have had the chance to try...

POOL RUNNING!

When I got out on deck and saw all those people swimming laps I was not interested in just doing the same old thing. I thought back to a comment that was left on one of my posts a few months ago when a chiropractor (and fellow blogging runner) recommended I try this while my foot kept me off the road. Last night my wife made the same suggestion, for the same reasons.

Well, lo and behold the rack of floating belt thingys caught my eye and I stood there for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. Part of me felt a little weird contemplating the pool running thing. I'd never gone to a pool and voluntarily gone in the "slow" lane. I am a pretty strong swimmer and am usually the fastest in the lane. Running would pose many challenges, not the least of which was my fear that I would get in people's way and piss them off.

However, that didn't stop me and I strapped on a floating belt and went to work. Almost immediately I noticed that this was harder than I thought it would be as my heart rate jumped up and I started breathing harder and harder. Technique is not a word I can use to describe what I actually did, but I had a lot of fun. It was difficult to stay upright and keep my shoulders relaxed, that's for sure. I think my traps got more of a workout than I expected.

Although it took me somewhere between 4 and 5 minutes to do each 100m (two laps of the 50m pool) I still ended up passing two or three people. My fear of getting in their way was unwarranted. And no, the people I passed were NOT pool running. Swimming? Perhaps...

I "ran" for almost 30 minutes and will likely do this again. Any tips on technique would be much appreciated as I don't want to create new problems doing an activity that is designed to fix an existing one.

This evening I did another strength routine that consists of the following:

• 3 X 25 crunches on a yoga ball
• 3 X 25 push ups with feet up on the aforementioned ball
• 3 X 15 squats against the wall with the ball
• 3 X 8 chin ups (no yoga ball as I've yet to figure out how it can be incorporated)

Then I did some more hip flexor exercises and stretched for a while. I hope the foot lets me run tomorrow night, but I am fully prepared to skip it if I have to.

And lastly, I loaded up my Garmin stats into BIMactive and will check out how this site works. Thanks Marcy for the tip! I do like the statistics summary for my year-to-date running, and they look like this:


Don't know what the whole difficulty level thing means, but I am worried that my competitive nature would use this for evil rather than good, and end up with more injury, so I will try to curb my curiosity for the moment.

Newbie To Hydration, Oldie to Swimming

Not much to report today really, just a “business as usual” kind of day. I swam at lunch for a total of 1500m in my usual time of 22:30, and it was fine. My left shoulder hurt a bit from the allergy shot I got just before going swimming, but nothing to worry about. I would have probably swam another 500m, but I had to get back to work and didn’t have time.

Speaking of not having time, today just didn’t work out to go headphone shopping. I also have to buy some Gatorade powder or some such thing for my long runs now that they are well over an hour in duration. This is uncharted territory for me and I know absolutely nothing about powders, gels, beans, gu, bars, or any other such thing designed to keep you going long and strong. I guess this will be a trial and error type of thing until I come up with something that works for me, but I must admit that I do not look forward to the process in the least. Therefore, my plan is to start by mixing a pretty dilute Gatorade and water solution since I find Gatorade on its own way too sweet. Is there something other than Gatorade powder, or a specific type of Gatorade powder, that is recommended? I’m shamelessly looking for advice on this since, as explained, I KNOW NOTHING!

This evening I also did a bit of a routine of strength training (or a fair representation thereof) using a yoga ball and some exercises that I took from the RunnersWorld website. It was ok (situps, pushups, squats, and chinups), but I lacked energy. I'll try to do something strength related twice a week as that part has been suffering lately in favour or running.