Digits

Digits is referring to 3 topics for today's blog.

#1) NEW RUNNING MILESTONES. Joe and I hit the great outdoors for our long runs yesterday. Joe ran 7 miles, and I ran 10. It's been a long time since I ran 10 miles, and this was actually the first time I ever ran every inch of those 10 miles. In my previous running days I did a run/walk ratio of run 9 minutes, walk 1 minute, but in this incarnation I don't take walk breaks. The run felt strong until mile 8 at which time my legs began to feel like lead. The heaviness of my legs was probably responsible for me missing a large crack in the sidewalk, which sent me air born, with a near guarantee of face planting on concrete. And of course this happened in front of a million people on the Carroll College campus! I hadn't seen a soul in 8 miles, and then when I'm flying leftward, fighting gravity and looking like a drunken klutz, I'm suddenly surrounded by students and parents. But at that moment I wasn't thinking about how I appeared, I just kept thinking, "Falling is not an option. I cannot land my knees, hands or wrists on concrete. Not an option." I'd like to say it was a miracle that I did not fall, but I truly think I have to give props to my core muscles for pulling me into an upright position while halting my momentum. And why did my legs get so heavy at mile 8? I think it was the effects of concrete. Even though I've run 8 and 9 miles recently, it's been on the treadmill. The farthest I'd run outside to date was 7 miles, so jumping from 7 to 10 on pavement just drained my legs more.

#2) TOES. The second "digit" reference is about our toes. The toes of our right feet in particular (we're always so alike, aren't we???). You all know that last year Joe had 2 metatarsal stress fractures on his right foot (the top of the foot), and though healed, now that his runs are getting longer and his weekly mileage is increasing, he's finding some mild swelling and soreness with those right metatarsals. I don't think I've mentioned my foot woes, but for many months I've had a tender spot somewhat under the ball of my foot below the second toe. It hurts more after lots of impact, such as running or jumping, or when I'm in a hard flat shoe (i.e. boots). After much research, I'm 99.9% certain I have "metatarsalgia", which is an inflammation of the head of the second metatarsal on the underside of the foot, just before the second phlange begins. It's painful, but responds to ice, ibuprofen, rest and massage. Our feet will need TLC and monitoring to not become bigger issues.

#3) FEBRUARY 28th. This is the last "digit" of this posting. I loathe the month of February and am thrilled today is the last day of the month. Good riddance!

Boot Camp

For the past 7 weeks a group of 14 of us have endured Ben's Boot Camp every Friday morning at 5a.m. The class is 45 minutes, but feels like 2 hours. We crammed so much in in so little time, pushing beyond physical and mental limits, to reach a higher level of fitness. Many of the people in this class lost pounds, inches and/or body fat in 7 weeks.The shared hardship and gluttony for physical abuse bonded us, and made this a really fun experience. Ben will start this class up for another 7-week session in a couple weeks, and most people are taking it again, but I'll be bowing out, as I'll be busy with my final weeks before 1/2 marathon #1 on April 10th. I'm essentially ready now. This weekend I'll run 10 miles, next weekend 11, and I'll keep my weekly mileage between 25-30 miles.

(In case you can't find me, I'm in the pink tank, my friend Rosanna is next to me in the white t-shirt and black soccer shorts, Ben is directly behind me with the white hat and his head turned.)

What A Difference A Year Makes

One year ago today, my active recovery began. It was 2/24/09 that Dr. Kurpad told me I wouldn’t need surgery and that I could resume all previous activities. A week later I began my rehab program through personal training with Ben and the rest is history. I started with slack muscles, reduced cardio endurance, and a very tight left hip & leg. I had a left leg limp through May, an inability to engage my left hamstring muscle in certain movements until June, but by July all my efforts were paying off and I was fully restored to my previous level of strength and fitness. It was at this time I decided to run again, and have never regretted that decision. I’m a much better runner this second time around, and I’ve become better at overriding my OCD exercise tendencies in favor of prudence when my body gives me signs to take a break. I no longer take for granted all that I can do and am less judgmental of others with their limitations, though I have little patience for those who won’t try their hardest, push past their fears and challenge themselves. That being said, maybe I’m still a bit judgmental! :)

Where'd The Dogs Go?

At long last, I was scheduled for a "rest day" in my training. Rest days never mean a day of no activity, but are typically days of little activity. Heather and I had plans to meet at Veterans Park along the lake for a dog sled ride (as advertised in the Journal Sentinel) and an Indian lunch. It seemed to be the perfect day for dog sledding with warm temps in the low 30's and non-accumulating falling snow. But it was not to be. We walked and we walked and we walked, but found no sled dogs. Where the hell did they go? It was a disappointment, but we had a nice talk during our walk, and captured some pretty images of semi-frozen Lake Michigan. Lunch at Maharaja was chilly and intrusive as we were seated by the constantly opening and closing door, and next to the dessert table with a line of hungry diners, but that just fits perfectly with the aura of the day (with the missing sled dogs and all).

My day of rest included maybe a 2 mile walk, and 30 minutes of core work. My fatigue from the week is beginning to recede just in time for a 6 mile jaunt through the neighborhood tomorrow. Fortunately, our next snowstorm is holding off 'til tomorrow evening, so it won't interfere with our plans to pound the pavement.

Calories

With my increased mileage, and possibly with the aid of boot camp too, I’ve lost 5 pounds in the past two weeks. I’m not trying to lose weight, but like most women, I always welcome a shed pound or two! According to my heart rate monitor, which tracks many different things, I’m working out about 10 hours per week (with an additional 5-6 hours of stretching each week), and burning about 3500-3700 calories in that amount of time. And we all know that 3500 calories = 1 pound and that the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat.

This morning I hit a new running milestone: 9 miles! Did it on the treadmill at the gym with a good mountaineering book to pass the time. Guess how many calories that burned? (the answer will follow in a few sentences)The big news here is that I was able to run at a sustained faster pace (45 seconds per mile faster) while keeping my heart rate low in the mid 140’s. Keeping my heart rate down was key in me feeling strong during this run. In fact, I felt I could have run further, but adhering to the 10% increase rule, I did not. In contrast, my 8k on Saturday saw my heart rate soar into the 160’s, with fatigue setting in by the time I finished those 5 miles. The increased heart rate was wearing me down faster. In the 5-miler I burned 520 calories – more than 100 calories per mile. Any guesses, based on the clues in this paragraph, on how many I burned today? 740 – about 80 calories per mile. The reason I burned less running further connects directly to my heart rate. My lower heart rate also explains why I feel energetic today and felt tired Saturday after the high heart rate exertion.

EDUCATION TIDBIT: When your heart rate is in your lower zone you don't burn as many calories, but you're building cardio endurance and tapping into fat stores for your fuel. When you're working your heart in the high zone, you're burning mad calories from your glycogen stores, and you're training your body to use it's oxygen more efficiently. If you're working in the middle of your heart rate zone, or doing intervals where your heart rate goes up and down, you're burning a decent amount of calories, while strengthening your cardio health as well. And to get the ultimate bang for your dollar, you also need to build your muscles up, as muscle mass increases your metabolism, thus burning more calories.

Working Our Hearts

It seems fitting that for Valentine's Day weekend, we would take our hearts literally, waking them up and making them stronger by pumping blood from head to toe as we ran the Steve Cullen 8k. A sunny, 15° morning brought out hundreds of runners for this 5 mile race. The race course was accurately advertised as "pretty" (it was, with wooden foot bridges, creeks, and woods) and "challenging" (it was, with several long hills, and a brutal hill leading to the finish line). Joe and I ran our fastest 5 miles to date, so we feel good about that - especially since there was the added challenge of the significant hills. That said, our fastest was nothing special in the bigger race picture. We were obviously running with hardcore runners. All sorts of people show up for a 5k, cause they will just walk if they can't run, but an 8k only brings out solid runners. I'd say the majority of racers were completing 5 miles within 25-40 minutes, which is a blistering pace. My hat's off to them, and one of them was Joe. Joe finished just under 40 minutes, and had the pleasure of waiting another 14 for me :)

This race was also a positive for us because earlier in the week we were nursing sore right knees. Isn't it something that we get the same injuries and the same sore spots? What's up with that? We were prudent to take time off and nip any knee issues in the bud. Joe took 4 days off from running, and his knee is good as new. I took 2 days off from running, while still cross-training, and my knee problems dissipated as well. Post-race everything still feels fine.

And hey! This week I hit my 200th mile (done over the course of 12 weeks).

A Slow Down

A wonderfully dull weekend was had by all. And by all I mean me, Joe & Dio :) And by dull I mean we blissfully had no social plans or other obligations to keep us from having some much needed R&R. Of course a hilly 5.5 mile run Saturday morning may not sound restful, but believe me, that was the extent of our weekend exertion. Joe planned the route, and it was a good one with many twists and turns to keep our minds engaged (both from having to remember where to turn, but also from changing up the view every couple blocks, as long straight-aways, such as 1 mile down the same street, can get demoralizing). The hills were great for training, but they did slow our times down by about 5 minutes each.

After our run, I padded around the house in my new Vibram 5 Fingers (VFF). What? Did Joy just say she has a pair of VFF’s? You heard right! I snagged a pair of KSO’s (stands for “keep stuff out”) in my size (38) from Laacke & Joy’s (see my feet pictured below). They feel awesome, and I can’t wait to try running a smidge in them on the treadmill. As the weather improves, I’ll take them to the streets as well, but for now, I’d rather not get them full of salt and crud. I also plan to use them around the house, for walks and for yoga. For those of you who don’t recall my other blog post about these shoes, you can go to this site and learn all about the VFF’s – what they’re for and why anyone would want to wear them: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/24271966/Beginners-Guide-to-Five-Fingers

Additional weekend highlights include sleeping 10-12 hours per night, having time to read 100+ pages in one sitting, losing 4 pounds, homemade tofu-spinach lasagna, homemade peanut butter ice cream, letting my hair air dry and then not having to straighten the frizzy/wavy locks, and staying in jammies all day Sunday!

Runner's High

Hello February :)

As predicted in my last post, my knee was all better with the onset of February (which gave my knee less than 24 hours to get with the program!). I think everything from the ball of my foot on up to my hip flexor seized up and caused the knee pain. It was smart of me to stop running right away and immediately treat the knee. The old Joy would have pushed the final mile of the run and caused real damage. Monday was a recovery work-out with Spinning and the knee seemed okay. Tuesday I tried running 3 miles in my new Asics and my knee was fine. And the shoes were fine. This gave me confidence to run 8 miles today. I was tired of aiming for 7.5 miles - with the obstacles that have popped up in the past 2 weeks preventing me from reaching that goal, I decided it was an unlucky distance and bumped it up to 8. I felt strong the entire 85 minute run, kept my heart rate in the lower target zone for distance running and managed to read 63 pages in my riveting book. I used 6 Clif Shot Blocks before and during the run to provide for the glycogen stores I needed to perform well. I was also able to run the last 2 miles at a faster pace - in part I was motivated to do so to be free of the overpowering odor of the mothball smelling man on the treadmill next to me! In the locker room I refueled right away with Silk chocolate milk and a banana before being assaulted by some nasty brittle hair - the chlorine damaged hair blowing free from a lady's head as she blow dried her hair in my direction. Disgusting. Those of you who know me well know I'm grossed out by loose hair. Anyways, I think I have experienced my first runner's high as well. All day my mood and energy levels have been high. If that's what a runner's high feels like, I will seek it more often!