Tattoo Numero Diez

A few months ago it dawned on me what my 10th tattoo should be - a runner. Running has become such a large part of my life, my personality and my essence, that it needed to be captured on my body, just like the other 9 tattoos that represent special and life-lasting meanings to me. I began searching for running images, not liking what I was finding. Lots of cheesy things such as the numbers 13.1, cartooney figures, winged feet, or real life images. In the evening hours after I'd gone to bed, Joe took up the effort, finding a stylized print that spoke to me. The image had no hands, which freaked me out, so Joe added hands. Thinking I would like to have this runner inked onto my leg in time to heal for the Canyonlands race, Joe scheduled an appointment with George (the artists of 50% of my tattoos) at the Waukesha Tattoo Company for today - an early birthday gift. This runner, who we shall call "Joy" (creative, I know), is on the inside of my lower right leg, above the ankle knob, between the achilles and the shin. It took about 30 minutes to complete and on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being most painful (Tomas, the hubongous snake on my thigh was about a 9.5 on this scale), this ranks a piddly 2-2.5.

Given the nature of my overtrained status, I am hoping that having taken the past 3 days off to rest, combines well with the auspicious nature of getting tattoo #10 on the weekend I need to run 10 miles, infusing my legs with freshness and strength to have a successful long run tomorrow!

OTS

OTS = Overtraining Syndrome

That demoralizingly slow long run I had last weekend? That was a sign of OTS setting in. My runs on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday were just as poor - with either a too slow pace or elevated heart rate, and legs feeling like lead. My training with Aaron felt more difficult than usual on Monday and my general feeling has been blah. Yesterday I mentioned this to Aaron and he guessed, correctly, that I was overtrained. Duh! I experienced this three years ago, and know all about OTS, so I was embarrassed not to have pieced the signs and symptoms together sooner.

OTS makes sense. I'm hitting life hard. In recent weeks, training has been a part-time job, consuming about 15 hours per week, burning 4,000-5,000 calories per week. I'm running longer distances, increasing my weekly volume, doing yoga, TRX, and 2 mega hard hours of Aaron-work each week. Throw in the normal everyday stress of work and life, and you sometimes arrive at this wayside called OTS. The cure? Rest. OTS happens when your body doesn't get enough rest and time to recover. To that end, Aaron and I spent an hour on dynamic range of motion stretching today instead of lifting, and I will sleep-in tomorrow, forsaking a 5 mile run and a 1-hour Spin class. Saturday I'll try to have a good 10-miler.

These are the top 10 signs of overtraining - the ones highlighted in red apply to me:

 Decreased Physical Performance: This is probably the first sign of overtraining that you will notice. Many runners are tightly tuned into their training and racing performance levels and are quick to notice any drops in performance. If you notice unexplained performance drops it may be time to take some needed rest.

 Heavy Legs: This one has a name – heavy leg syndrome. This condition is characterized by slugging, heavy legs and muscle soreness. It is not unusual for your legs to feel fatigued the day after a hard run or to be stiff when you first start running. If the sluggishness does not go away after 24 hours of rest you may be in the early stages of heavy leg syndrome. If muscle soreness or heaviness persists during your entire run or for more than 48 hours it is a sign that you need additional rest to ward off OTS.

 Increased Resting Heart Rate or Higher Than Usual During Exercise: If your heart rate is higher than normal in the morning or you feel like your heart is pounding when you get out of bed, it is a sure sign of overtraining, or if your heart rate is higher than it normally would be in a given work-out.

Increased Susceptibility to Illness: One of the reasons that running and exercise is so good for you is that it strengthens your body’s immune system. Overtraining has the opposite effect. It will depress your immune system. That is why marathon runners often become ill towards the end of their training. The high mileage they are running makes them more likely to suffer from overtraining. If you are getting sick more often your immune system may be taking a hit from overtraining.

Chronic Muscle Soreness or Fatigue: If your muscles do not get adequate rest they can become chronically sore and fatigued. This is your body trying to signal you to back off. Listen to your body and get some rest.

 Slower Recovery: One of best indicators of increased fitness is a decrease in the time you need to recover during interval training. Recovery time is also a good indicator of overtraining. If you find you need more time to recover between hard repeats at the track you are probably becoming overtrained.

 Increased Perceived Exertion:When you body is in top condition you will feel like you are floating easily and effortlessly, even during hard track repeats. When you are overtrained, even an easy run can seem difficult. If your training runs are feeling harder, it is time to go easier and take some rest.

Loss of Enthusiasm for Running: There will always be those days when you aren’t especially motivated to do your training run, but if you go through a long stretch where you dread running you are definitely overtrained. This is your brain trying to tell you to stop running. It takes away the joy of running in an attempt to make you rest. It is time to pay attention and rest until your motivation and joy of running comes back.

Change in Sleeping Pattern: If you find you are having problems falling asleep at night you may have a touch of overtraining syndrome. Your body and mind are in overdrive because of the overtraining and your find it hard to relax. Take some time off and let your body slow down.

Loss of Appetite: One of the physiological aspects of overtraining is an increase of the production of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. Among other things those hormones tend to lower your appetite. Runners love to eat – so if your appetite is on vacation you should follow suit until you feel like eating again.

Quiet Week

I've waited all week for inspiration to write today's blog. No deep thoughts for consideration came to me - if they did, they were fleeting and inaccessible to me now. There have been no interesting or significant developments either, so this is a case of no news is good news.

Sure, I could tell you about my weird sudden bout of nausea that descended fast & furious in my Monday morning check-in meeting when we were being introduced to our new supervisor, Danielle (making me wonder if she was having that effect on me!). I could tell you how I bravely held the bilious emesis at bay (not wanting the new boss to remember me as the puker on her first day) until I returned to my cubicle, at which point I heaved and wretched into my garbage can, leading my co-worker's to force me home to rest. But that is dull news. I could spice it up more in telling you that this exact same nausea developed again Thursday morning at the exact same time, but without blowing chunks, and that I've deduced the gaggy protein powder I drink in the locker room following my weight training sessions with Aaron is the culprit, but still, this is boring.

I could talk about my disappointing long run today, sharing that I ran 9 miles slower than I have in nearly 2 years. I could go into expert analysis of my negative self-talk over my glacial pace, my fears of never getting back to the progress I was making late last fall, the major effort I put forth to supply positive rational thoughts with a plethora of plausible causes for my slow time, but I know I've posted those kind of blogs before. Bottom line: I am making progress. Today I was slow. So what? That does not predict next week or the week after. It's great that I can run 9 miles so soon (less than 2 months) after my hamstring injury.

At last, all I can come up with are tidbits about others:

• My mom and Marisa, frequent travel partners, are going to Ireland next week! The first time either of them have left this continent.


• My brother is having a good stretch - just moved to a nice new apartment, is enjoying a new girlfriend and is taking the long Amtrak ride to NW Montana next week to see our sister Barb, for his the first time, in her mountain wilderness.


• Our dear friend Susan, after living in bumblefuck, VA for nearly 5 years, has found a way to move back home, and will arrive in Milwaukee in less than a month!


• My new supervisor is a Virgo, so my Gemini/Libra fears are allayed! In my previous post I'd said it looked like we were of the same physique. Not. She is probably 6' tall and rather heavy. She used to be an athlete, lost her way in the business called life, woke up 2 years ago hating herself, and began a 100 pound weight loss journey. She's got more to lose, but feels great about taking control of her life, and had a transformative experience last fall when she backpacked the hardest route into the Grand Canyon. She seems super cool both as a person and as a supervisor. Time will tell.


• And I guess I do have one thing about me - I received a nice bonus and letter of recognition from the powers that be at the County for my "greater than effective" efforts of the past year. Money just in time for vacation :)

Change – The Only Thing That Never Changes

Time keeps ticking and life moves forward, always changing, forever evolving. I can’t believe our Canyonlands sojourn is only 35 days and 4 long runs away. I am beginning to regain my prior speed and endurance, attributing it largely to the work I’m doing with Aaron (lots of speed drills, plyometrics, strengthening and explosive exercise for the hips, core work, etc.) and natural adaptations that my body makes over time (more capillaries to carry oxygen, more speed mitochondria to move my muscles faster). As with any injury, there is an opportunity, if you grab it, so come back stronger than ever. I feel I have bolstered weak areas in my body that will help me prevent future injury, if I continue to train smart and not bite off more than I can chew. I will temper my over-doing-it nature with reminders of the disparate ratio of time spent out of running with the time spent to get it back – 6 weeks away from formal training did not translate into a 6 week to return to my previous level (it’s so unfair). Part of good training is taking your recovery weeks seriously, adhering to a scaled back plan to allow the body to absorb changes and recharge. This week has been my recovery week, and I’ve done it right. I’m feeling rested, strong and limber. Monday starts a 3-week ramp up, with 25-30 mile volume weeks, before we hit our taper and fly to Utah.

After 10 years with the same supervisor, Monday will begin a new era for our unit with a new supervisor. I have high hopes for her as #1, my boss selected her after a lengthy interview process (and my boss has excellent judgment) and #2, she comes highly endorsed by a current co-worker who had her as a supervisor in a different agency. I must confess after hearing positive things, such as she is fun, doesn’t micro manage, is single without kids and into fitness, I had to sneak onto FB to see if she was there. What I found was a woman about my age, with a similar physique and a photo album from a recent backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon. Young, fit, backpacker? This could be a great change for our unit and for me (unless she’s a Gemini or a Libra! – just kidding. Well, maybe I’m sorta kidding. Okay, I’m serious.) Time will tell….

And tomorrow we will say farewell to Uncle Tom, celebrating the life he lived, the person he was. http://www.eernissefuneralhome.com/obituary/80704/Thomas-Miller/

Uncle Tom

RIP Uncle Tom 11/15/47 - 2/5/12

A week after entering hospice, Uncle Tom is freed of his physical suffering, no longer part of our visible world. Tom was a salt of the earth kind of guy - never talked negatively about people, used his wit and humor to soften life's edges and relied on his love of family, faith and music to build a life of meaning and worth.

Tom, my maternal uncle, was the baby of four - my mom, the eldest and 6 years Tom's senior, followed by Aunt Shirley and Uncle Jim. Childhood reminisces describe Tom as inquisitive, always in motion, and sensitive. He was smitten with faith and thought of pursuing a life in the priesthood until he was bitten by love (and maybe some lust!) when meeting his wife-to-be, Diane, at UW-Milwaukee. Married in January 1972 (they just celebrated their 40th anniversary), they stood as witnesses for my parent's marriage in March 1972. Though Tom did not become a priest, he did follow his passion for music, teaching middle school students by day, and playing with his own band(s) by night (well, actually weekends). Tom and Diane raised Colleen & Eric, creating a tight-knit unit that has never drifted apart. Diagnosed with Parkinson's at 50, Tom took an early retirement at 55. In the remaining 9 years of his life, there was much good - he survived two heart surgeries, traveled, made music, saw both of his kids graduate college, get married and have grandchildren. When he was given his fatal diagnosis 4 months ago, he accepted it. He felt he had lived a good life, had been blessed in many ways.

I always had a special connection to Tom. He and Diane tried their hand at mock parenting with me before they had Colleen & Eric - taking me off my parent's hands for a day here or a weekend there. When I began playing flute at age 6, Tom was my biggest supporter - interested and encouraging, playing duets with me at family gatherings. He encouraged my academic success, and enlivened any interactions with fun wordplay - from the simple, such as saying one's name backwards (i.e., yoj for me and mot for him), to brain teasers that made my head ache with thought.

Thursday morning I awoke from a dream in which Tom was sitting in a diner with family (though they did not look like anyone I knew). I was looking in from the outside, like that famous Edward Hopper diner painting, and Tom looked happy and healthy - he turned and smiled at me. It felt peaceful. I wondered if he had died. Later in the day I learned that his breathing had grown labored in the middle of the night, necessitating a call from hospice to Diane to come in. It seems Tom and I connected on a different level of consciousness that night as he wavered between two worlds.

Yesterday afternoon Joe and I were able to visit Tom. He was not awake - had not had any lucid moments, food or water in several days. Swaddled in the hospice bed, oxygen cannula for comfort, he appeared gaunt (but not in the scary way I imagined one to look when dying), mouth open, eyes not fully closed. He moaned from time to time, and seemed to stir a bit when we (most of the family was there) touched him or spoke to him. When he grew more fitful, Diane's touch calmed him. Tears were shed, memories shared and laughter ricocheted. We left shortly after 5p.m.. Twelve hours later he took his last breath with Diane, his children, and brother Jim there to bear witness to his life and his death.

I dreamed about Tom all night, either knowing he was about to die or hoping he was about to die, or both. This mornings call was not a surprise, just a sad relief. He will be cremated and a memorial service will be held next weekend, which is the weekend of my annual Steve Cullen 8k. I run this race every year, and register for it far in advance. This year, for some reason, I never registered. Something was holding me back, and now I believe that on some cosmic level of understanding, I knew this would be the day of Tom's farewell.