Better Than Expected

My 3-day conference in the Dells was surprisingly excellent - all three days were filled with fascinating speakers who actually taught me new information. I was stressed about having to be away from work for 3 days because I'm so busy, but as luck would have it (for me only), the County computer system crashed and was unavailable for 2 days, so I wouldn't have gotten much done. And since the conference was so good, I immediately forgot about how much was waiting for me at work, and was able to have a nice relaxed time. I made some good connections there too - one with the presenter on "Treating Trauma in The Woods" - a therapist who operates wilderness therapy programs (this is NOT a boot camp kind of thing) for traumatized kids and teens, which is something I'd love to explore. He has a hard time finding MSW level staff who also like to get down and dirty in the woods with troubled teens. This type of work has always been a dream of mine, so I'll be talking with him (his name is Steve Sawyer) and we'll see what comes about. The programs her operates sound phenomenal - here's the website if you want to know more about wilderness therapy: http://www.newvisionwilderness.com/

So, my conference was better than expected, and so was my run today. In fact, I had the best run I've ever had in my life. Seriously. And it occurred on the least expected day, cause who really wants to run in pouring 45° rain? Actually, running in the rain isn't so bad - the hardest part is forcing yourself out the door and experiencing the first drops on your head and the first puddles soaking your feet. I ran 7.5 miles and the whole thing felt easy mentally and physically. I never once felt tired, sore, out of breath, or overly focused on the run. Rather I felt energized, strong, limber, with controlled breath and heart rate, and free thoughts just rambling from thing to thing. Maybe this reflects the power of a dutiful two week recovery period :) I wish every run could feel this way! And Mr. Joe did excellent today with his 8 mile run. His fractured foot continues to look great - you can see the bones - there is no swelling, and he has no other body complaints. Next week will be super telling for him in his recovery and with his orthotics, when he takes on the 10 mile mark. Somewhere between 8-9 miles is where he has literally hit his breaking point in the past. I'll be doing 10 with him as we're both amping up for the Madison race.

Something About Everything

After a hectic work week where 10 hour days were the norm, I slept in 'til 8a.m., lingered over oatmeal with fresh raspberries, and took my time preparing for an easy 5 mile run. I love that I am to the point in my training where I can refer to and experience a 5 mile run as easy. Joe ran over 6 miles today, and both his Achilles and foot are okay.

Besides work being so time consuming, my post-work hours were eaten up as well - some with good things, like yoga and a post-race sports massage, and some with hassles, such as going to Toyota for the 2nd time in one week. Last Friday I took my car in for a brake inspection, as they'd been squealing a bit for a few months. The brakes were still nice and fat, but they did recommend the rear brakes be cleaned and adjusted for $60. Great! The next day, I'm driving to my half marathon and find that the car vibrates at freeway speeds. Damn! I take my car back this week, haggle with them over paying for this new problem to be fixed (I think they caused it and should fix it for free), and come away having spent another $60 (as opposed to the $110 they wanted to charge) to have the tires balanced. Awesome! Then yesterday I'm driving around and notice the car veering severely to the right. Fuck. Now I am pissed. I called to let them know about the problem, but won't be able to deal with it for another week because next week I'll be stuck in The Dells.

I've been deployed by my supervisor to a 3-day conference at The Wilderness in the Dells. This would make some of you very happy, but I am not a fan of the Dells, or of hubongous water parks hosting a ton of kids and families. I have too much to do at work to be gone for 3 days, I hate my routine during the week to be disturbed, I have to bring my own food cause there is nothing in any of the 6 restaurants at this hotel to eat, the gym in The Wilderness doesn't open 'til 7a.m.! and I don't like sleeping in hotels -I think of all the fecal matter, semen and boogers that are likely over everything! On the plus side, this conference, which is all about trauma, sounds pretty interesting.

Ultimately, all of this is complaining is petty and no big deal in light of the recent news that my Aunt Shirley, who I spent my high school years living with, has cancer. She is diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, which is cancer of the bone marrow. It's most prevalent in older obese black men, so it's laughable that as an older obese white woman, she has it (our family can joke about anything). The next step is to meet with an oncologist and determine how far along the cancer is, and what treatments would be best for her.

A Hair of The Dog

I'm just home from yoga, need to eat and settle down for The Biggest Loser, so here's a quick blog note. Post race I suffered no lasting soreness. Sunday morning my legs felt loose and limber, but following the post-event recovery plan, I diligently rested Sunday and took it easy yesterday with some light cross-training. Today the plan said I could try running 2-3 miles. I ran 3 with no problems. It actually felt really good to be running again - as if my body was craving it. I've never experienced that before, but it was kinda cool, kinda like having a hair of the dog that bit ya!

Joe resumed running last week after a month off, and got a total of 15 miles in without damaging his foot. His left Achilles has been a little tight, but he iced it, rested and was up and running today, covering 4+ miles without incident. I'm feeling positive that he will be prepared to run a healthy half marathon next month.

I forgot to mention that with the completion of the South Shore Half Marathon I also hit 400 miles run since the start of the year. I think some kind of celebration should be held when I hit the 500 mile mark, don't you?

The South Shore Half Marathon

I awoke race day morning well-rested. The sun was shining with promises of taking the day from the 40's to the upper 60's, and a breeze to keep runner's from overheating was in place - it's as if a request for perfect weather was granted. The race course was absolutely beautiful - a bike path following the undulating contours of Lake Michigan. At times nothing separated us from the lake except rocks, or dried prairie grass, and at other times we ran through wooded parks before coming back to the shore line. Lake Michigan presented it's brilliant early spring palette of deep greens mixed in with vibrant blues, creating a dazzling canvas for the sun to dance upon. The race was extremely well-organized, replete with an aid station of volunteers dressed as The Village People, blasting YMCA from a car stereo.

My personal race ended up being a bit of a struggle. The first 2 miles or so of the race are tight. The path is narrow and there were over 800 racers vying for spots out of the start. I knew not to position myself in the front with the fast runners, but I was still too hemmed into the crowd to run at my own pace, thus the cardinal rule of racing was broken from the get go: don't start out too fast. I could see with my handy Garmin 305 that my pace was crazy fast for me. My first 3 miles were too fast, which resulted in my heart rate being too high and difficult to control for the remaining 10.1 miles. The physical affect of having my heart rate maxed out so early on included frequent side stitches and abdominal cramping, which forced me to walk several times, thus slowing my time down, but more importantly, making me feel close to ill (as in vomiting and dizziness) at times. In fact, at Mile 7, the turn around point, I stopped for a moment to slam some Gatorade at the aide station, and felt like I might faint. This terrified me, as I'd never felt so bad on a run in my life, and as I knew I had to run 6 more miles. I did pull myself together, and I wasn't even off my goal pace for the race, but then in the last 1.5 miles I started having swells of muscle cramps from lack of potassium. The day was warmer than expected, my high heart rate sucked up precious energy and nutrients, and my Camelbak had run dry, so I knew I was dehydrating and having my electrolytes fall out of optimal range. I've had muscle cramps before, but these were of a different variety. They would suddenly roll into my Achilles and calf like a wave rolling to and from the shore. It was beyond my control, and once again, required me to walk a few times in that last mile. I crossed the finish line 3+ minutes slower than my goal time, but that's okay. Joe was waiting at the finish line with a G2 and Silk chocolate milk for me. What an awesome sight that was :)

My race experience may sound awful to some of you, but trust me, it wasn't. I learned, once again, that I am strong and can push through physical discomfort. The sights were too beautiful to allow my mood to be dampened. I continually reminded myself of how far I've come in one year, I focused on the positives (my legs felt great - no heaviness, tightness, etc.), and began a tally in my mind of what I did right for this race, and what to improve upon for Madison.

WHAT I DID RIGHT INCLUDES: training and tapering perfectly, getting the sports massage 1 week before the race, having the right pre race fuel, taking the day off before the race, etc.

WHAT I NEED TO CHANGE FOR MADISON INCLUDES: starting the race at the very back of the pack, keeping my heart rate under 165bpm, preferably under 160, carrying more water, starting my Clif shot blocks sooner into the race (to prevent the muscle potassium deprived cramping).

I'm feeling good this morning. A tight left calf and tight hip flexors, but nothing significant. I'm in fine fettle after running my 2nd official half marathon. Six weeks now 'til Madison....

The Eve of The Race

Hola Blog Readers,

It is the eve of the South Shore Half Marathon. I am so excited that I'm running another half marathon - that I did not let anyone tell me what I can and cannot do. I'm grateful I was raised in a family that valued the questioning of authority. How many of us look to doctors as experts and take what they say to heart? Think of how devastating this is for many people when you're told you can't or shouldn't do this or that anymore, and you don't. Or on the scarier side of things, you're told you're going to die within a certain time frame - do you buy into that? I was advised to never run again. I went with that for a time, but couldn't buy into to it. I did my own scientific, as well as soul, searching and made the decision to run again. Many of you who are not doctors, but care about my well-being, silently (though some of you were vocal!), thought I was nuts and worried about the demise of my back!

As I prepare to make my comeback official, I wanted to remember exactly where I was at in my recovery last year at this time. My blog entry for April 10th 2009, the same day I will be running 13.1 miles this year, talked about how my left leg was still weak and limpy when I walked for more than 1 mile. I noted that day that Joe had done a 7+ mile long run (preparing for the Cheesy Half Marathon), while I "aggressively" walked 2.5 miles. At the end of that 2.5 mile walk, my left leg was dragging despite my willing it not to. Now I will run 13.1 miles (with no walk breaks) without a limp or a hitch in my step. My gem of wisdom to you is to not underestimate the power of your mind and of your will. Whenever possible, the body will follow both. More tomorrow after the race...

Ward 27

When I arrived to vote for Waukesha Mayor a larger voter turn-out then expected had occurred and the poll worker's were running low on paper ballots. They were asking people if they would use a touch screen to vote instead, and of course I was game for that. Though I didn't need assistance, there was a person at the touch screen to help (primarily little old ladies, I think). If you've not used one of these before it's kinda cool. After you've cast your votes you push the all done button, the screen shows you all the choices you made, and if you're still agreeing with it, then you hit submit. When you hit submit, a paper scroll much like a large receipt, rolls along the side of the screen under a plastic shield. You view the paper copy one last time, and if you're still happy with the way it looks, you submit that as your ballot. Well, while casting my votes I heard a poll worker say that our Ward, 27, is the most politically active ward in Waukesha County - that this ward casts the most votes and has close to 100% turn-out. I find this amusing, because I'm assuming that Ward 27 is primarily conservative, and I wonder to myself, "What are the odds that Joe and I would move to the most conservative ward in the most conservative county in Wisconsin?" No matter, it makes me happy to know that people care enough to go out and vote regardless of their political beliefs.

Guess what? I've given up Ibuprofen (IB). I've long been a fan of IB, and have bought and used it in bulk (with my doctor's blessing and assurance that if taken with food I would not damage my stomach or organs) since my herniation. I have recently learned that using IB after a grueling work-out to prevent soreness, which is the result of inflammation, can hamper the muscle rebuilding period. After heavy physical activities, such as weight lifting or running, your muscles are damaged and begin to break down. Inflammation sets in while things are breaking down and being carried away. The inflammation is the first part of the muscle rebuilding process. Muscle cells are smart, and they begin to regenerate muscle mass with a keen eye for the sport you are using them for. If you interfere with the inflammation process, you're essentially dumbing down your muscle cells, and you won't rebuild as expertly as you would without IB. Since I'm all about doing things well and doing things right, I'm off the IB for the most part ... while reserving the right to use it for special occasions such as a bad headache, or after a race ... such as my half marathon that is only 4 days away!

Feeling Good

Last night I had an awesome, and by awesome I do mean painful, sports massage. Sports massage is deep tissue work with specific approaches to strip the muscles down and free them up for the optimal use in whatever your sport is. This means Angie spent an hour on my legs, finding typical runner tight spots that I wasn't even feeling bothered by (yet). For example, I've had no IT band issues, but boy were they TIGHT! She had me lying on my side in a flamingo position - right leg straight, left leg bent at 90° and crossed flat on the table over the right leg. Then she used her sizable mass and strength to crush all the bumpy spots on that muscle out with her formidable forearm. I nearly saw lights and had to practice Lamaze breathing to get through it all. She did similarly deep work in my hips, butt, inner thigh and hamstrings. I loved every moment cause I knew it was for the greater good. I was greatly surprised this morning that I didn't have black and blue marks!

Today was my last long run, which was actually a short run at 6 miles. Rosanna, who was scheduled for a 6 mile run too, came over and we hit "Ye Olde 12-Hill Route" - a gnarly 6-miler Joe created a couple months ago, that has 12 unforgiving hills. There was no luck for the Irish and the Sicilian - heavy rain started shortly before we started our run, and promptly ended after our run! But you know what? We learned that running in 50° rain ain't too bad. Nothing but ice or sub-zero windchills will stop this runner :)

Next week is my second taper week, which will be pure bliss - no weight lifting, minimal cross training and little running (4 miles Monday, 3 Tuesday, 2 Wednesday, 0 Thursday, 1 Friday). After this first taper week I'm feeling really good.

Joe has taken a month off from running to heal his metatarsal stress fracture. The swelling is gone, and though it's tender to push off of his foot, he is mindful of the need to start running again to be ready for the Madison 1/2 Marathon which is 8 weeks away. He ran 2 miles in his orthotics on the treadmill yesterday and has no ill effects this morning. No swelling, no new pain. He plans to run 3 miles three different times next week on the treadmill since it's a more forgiving surface, and if that goes well,he'll aim for a 4 mile run outside next weekend. The other thing to mention about Joe is that he bruised a rib last weekend bending over an outside wall to cut down an unwanted tree growing up through some bushes, so he's got that to contend with as well. As Joe often says, "It's always something" and "It can never be easy."

Coming Up For Air

My frenetic life at work continues to amp up and at times I truly have to remind myself to stop and breathe. Busy cannot describe my days, but fevered scribbling of notes, pressured phone calls to find resolution to situations, mad dashes to the bathroom before my bladder bursts, and frequent deep sighs can paint the picture of a day in the life of Joy. In addition to the new and interesting job duties I'll be taking on, I've got more client crises occurring, which is taking up a lot of my time, as well as more meetings to sit in than ever before. Meetings seem to be evil. A terrible concept invented by someone who likes to have a lot of mindless discussions without seeking swift solutions. Oh, and just to make April a little more crazy, my boss is sending me to a 3-day conference in the Dells - more time away from getting my runaway to-do list under control.

While work is going haywire, my training is slowing down. This is Week 1 of my 2 week taper period. This means I start running and weight lifting less as I let my body absorb all the pounding it's received. During the taper period your body regroups and becomes stronger, so that you are well-rested and at the peak of fitness by race day. This taper week has me feeling more energetic, less tired, and strong. My tweaky inner knee/leg issue from my recent long runs is dissipating, and I'm feeling like my half marathon next weekend will be awesome. To add to the benefits of the taper period, I had my monthly chiropractic tune-up yesterday and will have a special sports massage tomorrow - a massage that specifically engages the muscles in the best possible way for optimal performance. This week my mileage has dropped from 30 to 22, and next week it's only about 10 before the actual event.

It has come to my attention that my mom believes my OCD is taking over my life with regards to running. She thinks this because of the amount of time I spend with running, collecting and assessing my running data, etc. She thought my new Garmin Forerunner was over the top and asked why not run for fun and forget about pace and all that jazz. If these are her thoughts, they may be yours as well, so I'd like to briefly address them before signing off.

#1. Yes, it is true I have OCD proclivities in all aspects of my life, but it is not to the point of impairing my daily functioning. In fact, my OCD is an asset most of the time, allowing me to be organized and prepared.

#2. All the consistent runners I know are somewhat obsessed with their running, and can spend hours discussing it with other runners. This may include tracking stats on pace, time, weather, types of runs (i.e. long, sprint, tempo, interval, etc.) and so on, as ways to measure progress. Consider running like any other hobby - how 'bout the Star Trek geeks or train collectors or bird watchers who track and discuss every tidbit of their interests?

#3. Most runners you talk to would not describe running as "fun". While there are exceptions to the rule, most runners run for the fitness benefits and/or to race. For both fitness and racing purposes it's helpful to know your stats so you can get better. If it's not fun, you can only stick with it because you see the improvements being made - improvements could be you're getting faster, running is becoming easier, you can run farther, you're losing weight, your resting heart rate has lowered, your blood pressure has lowered, or any other number of benefits.

I hope this gives you some insight into the runner's world, and if it seems crazy to you, that's fine. Not everyone has to be a runner :)