20,000 Leagues of Running (comments welcome)

[avondale]

So glad that you've figured out what the issue is! That is a huge part of the battle. And you have a plan for it. That PT schedule isn't too bad at all.

 

[superchime]

Sounds like good news from your PT! That's great! Now the hard part (for me anyway), actually doing the exercises they prescribe. But isn't it wild how everything is connected and the place that hurts isn't really the source of the problem? Which is why it's best to do what you did and see a specialist to get things sorted before they get worse.

 

[Scootin'By]

Sounds like good news from your PT!

Definitely! She wasn't pleased with me today though. She asked if I had tried running on my knee yet. I said yes, I had a short 5 mile run because she told me to take it easy. She said, "That's not taking it easy!" Oops

Now the hard part (for me anyway), actually doing the exercises they prescribe.

Omg, yes! I always plan to do them first thing in the morning and then right before bed. Then I wake up tired and have to hustle to get the girls ready, walk the dog ,etc. And by the time I get to bed, I'm exhausted and just want to fall asleep. I count it as a success if I get 3 out of 7 days.

But isn't it wild how everything is connected and the place that hurts isn't really the source of the problem?

The human body is both amazing and extremely gross. My PT specialist was telling me today about how the hip joint swivels in the socket. Ewww!

And now for something completely different...
I think I'm getting close to the end of Hogwarts Legacy. This is good news. Not because the game isn't fun to play. No, it's the opposite. I've been staying up top late playing!

This is why I refuse to buy the new Disney Sims-like game. While it looks super fun, and definitely a nice way to get a quick Disney fix, I spent way too many nights in college sitting at my computer until 3am so that my Sim could get the next promotion at work. Nope, I'll stick to Zelda LOL

 

[jmasgat]

Definitely! She wasn't pleased with me today though. She asked if I had tried running on my knee yet. I said yes, I had a short 5 mile run because she told me to take it easy. She said, "That's not taking it easy!" Oops

Every time I get injured and every time I get new PT exercises and every time I am supposed to "start back running slowly" they hand out these sheets that inevitably say "Run 1 mile at most, then take a day off, then if it feels okay next time run 1.25 mile...." And every time, I shake my head and throw out the paper. I am all for following doctor's orders, but it seems like this advice is: Not thought of by runners/too conservative/not factoring in a runner's previous fitness.

Although I probably wouldn't have started with 5 miles. (Maybe 2-3!)

 

[Scootin'By]

"Run 1 mile at most, then take a day off, then if it feels okay next time run 1.25 mile...."

This would drive me up the wall! You'd never build up any distance.

Although I probably wouldn't have started with 5 miles. (Maybe 2-3!)

On Friday I went for a 3 mile run (that's short, right?). Since that one went okay(ish) I went for a longer run on Sunday. In my defense, I didn't get a sheet of paper with specific miles on it (although I too would have thrown that away). She just said that I should go easy, which is definitely wide open to interpretation.

it seems like this advice is: Not thought of by runners/too conservative/not factoring in a runner's previous fitness.

The funny thing is, my PT specialist was actually a runner in high school and college, but I'm not sure it counts because she was a sprinter. She actually told me she's a huge Disney fan so I told her all about runDisney. Course, then she tortured me with a stick and called it a massage, so ....

 

[Cabius]

Course, then she tortured me with a stick and called it a massage, so ....

I can't imagine being so sadistic that I would want to become a PT.

I mean, maybe some of them mean well, but in my experience they're about 2 steps away from the Spanish Inquisition

 

[Scootin'By]

Last week finally felt like a normal week. I got in two maintenance runs: one of 3.5 and one of 3.0. I stopped early on the second one because I was feeling some tightness near my knee and didn't want to overdue it. But, with a bit of icing, it felt fine the next day, so I think that's improvement.

Sunday I did a long run of 6 miles. The weather was beautiful for it, 40F to start. My Forerunner says that my run/walk time was 1 hour 3 minutes versus 2 minutes. That doesn't feel quite right, but whatever. It was a good run. I felt like I could have went further, but again, I didn't want to push it. Good boy, Scoot! *pats self on back* LOL

The weird thing for the week was the weather. Twice I went out into what I thought was cool weather and ended up being totally overdressed. One time I just sweat through it, the second time I went ahead and stripped down as much as I could. I'm looking forward to a bit more consistency, but I know we're no where near that yet in DC.

Overall, a good week. I felt like I was on a good path to recovery and making progress towards my 10 miler.

The current week is a different story It's Tuesday night and I haven't had a maintenance run in yet this week. I really tried to get up early this morning for at least a treadmill run, but I just couldn't pull myself out of bed. Tomorrow's not looking good either. But, I'm taking Thursday off and front and center is a nice maintenance run! Woo hoo!

On another note, I weighed myself today. Ugh. I haven't weighed this much in over 10 years. I gotta make a change in my diet

 

[Naomeri]

The weird thing for the week was the weather. Twice I went out into what I thought was cool weather and ended up being totally overdressed. One time I just sweat through it, the second time I went ahead and stripped down as much as I could. I'm looking forward to a bit more consistency, but I know we're no where near that yet in DC.

I’ve been having the worst trouble with gauging the correct running clothes this whole winter because the temps have been weird and my brain can’t wrap itself around things like wearing short sleeves or shorts on March 2nd in Minnesota.

 

[superchime]

I felt like I could have went further, but again, I didn't want to push it. Good boy, Scoot! *pats self on back* LOL

That star doesn't seem big enough. Hang on.



There.

Seriously, though, good job! Stopping when you still feel ok can be really hard.

The weird thing for the week was the weather.

The weather here has been wild too. If it's this warm in winter, I'm nervous about the summer... which will be here soon because everything is already blooming!

On another note, I weighed myself today. Ugh. I haven't weighed this much in over 10 years. I gotta make a change in my diet

Right there with ya! It's rough.

 

[avondale]

Twice I went out into what I thought was cool weather and ended up being totally overdressed.

That happened to me a couple of times the past week or so, too! According to the temperature and wind chill, I should have been fine, but was definitely too warm.

 

[Scootin'By]

This week was mostly good. It was busy, but good.

I missed a maintenance run on Tuesday just because everything was so busy. I would have normally been able to make it up, but between work, kids activities, and life, I just couldn't. I was really tempted to force on in there, but I thought, "No, it's going to be okay."

Thursday I pushed myself a little bit and upped my maintenance run to 4.5 miles. This felt really good and I was tempted to push to 5, but I stopped at the right time. It was mostly good weather, but there was kind of a nasty breeze. I joked with someone that you had to do T&D-B.

Saturday I did my long run. It was a nasty day here in DC, with rains off and on all day. It was on when I was running and steady. I tried to avoid the puddles for about the first 1.5 miles, but after that I was just too wet anyways so I went splashing through. I feel like dodging puddles should count as cross-training LOL

The worst part was that when I started, like literally when I started my Garmin, I saw that the battery was down to 4%. Well, I wasn't going to delay my run 20 minutes to add some juice, so I went for it. It died about half way through. I managed 3.1 iles in 33 minutes (10:42 pace). When my watch finally died I hit the timer on my phone, so that I'd know at least how long I had been running. Running blind was sort of fun, but I think I ended up running too slow. I figured I needed to run another 35ish minutes to get my mileage in, but I wasn't sure. When I got to 39 minutes I was pretty tired, so I stopped. Later I tried to remember where I ran and plug it into a map my run kinda app. It said I only ran 3.37 miles after my Garmin died, which is a little slower than I had been running, but probably a good guess.

So, best guess for Saturday's night, wet, and challenging run is 6.47 miles in 72 minutes. I'll take it.

This week was also taking care of some pre-planning. Saturday was exactly 1 year out from the WDW HM, so I booked my campsite at Lake Louise ($84 for 3 nights, I'll take that too!). I'm pretty superstitious, so I'm hoping I didn't get jinx my chances of getting into the HM in a few weeks, cross your fingers for me! Right after I booked it my mother suggested making it a family camping event with my brother bringing his RV. I practically choked on my coffee and couldn't text fast enough, "Absolutely not!" I'm going to try to volunteer for the 10k, which means getting up at midnight, which also means I should be good and tired that night so that I can climb into my sleeping back around 5pm before getting up again at 2ish. Yep, planning my sleep schedule a year out LOL

I also went ahead and booked a hotel for another volunteer trip next year. That was more expensive, but it should be fun. Got a hotel just up the street from a Tim's, definitely a good way to spend a week!

All in all, a good week and on track for my 10-miler distance by the end of April.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Running blind was sort of fun, but I think I ended up running too slow.

No such thing! I mean, walking would be too slow, but for an easy run, it's hard to go too slowly. If I put your 28:11 5K into the Hansons calculator (which is the one I like best for easy/long run paces), it gives me a range of 11:49-12:49 for an easy run and 10:49-12:19 for a long run.

 

[Scootin'By]

If I put your 28:11 5K into the Hansons calculator (which is the one I like best for easy/long run paces), it gives me a range of 11:49-12:49 for an easy run and 10:49-12:19 for a long run.

This is good to know. I'm definitely in that range!

 

[Scootin'By]

I really hate busy weeks. Oof. It was a struggle just to find time to run!

Monday I got my first maintenance run in. This was actually the easiest, right after work, but before school pickup. I even managed a bit over 4.5 miles. This was a good run!

Tuesday I had to go downtown, so I got a bike ride in twice - cross training!! They were short, but it still counts ;P Wednesday was a mess with lots of stuff going on, same for Thursday. Friday I just went ahead and made myself get up early to go running. It was dark and I was tired, it was not ideal. I managed 4 miles, but my hip/knee started to hurt, so I stopped early and iced it well.

Saturday was an absolute disaster of a day running from errand to errand to ballet to birthday parties. Holy cow! (Yep, I know, I'm milking it and all of this is very cheesy. Moooove along!)

Sunday was a bit better. Managed to get church in, then a run while my oldest was at a birthday party. This run was fantastic! I was able to start strong and stay strong for almost the whole run, which was my longest yet at 7.8 miles with an average pace of 10:45! Whoop whoop! The weather was perfect, just about 65 with a slightly cool breeze and scattered clouds. If all races could be like that, I'd be in heaven! I did have three stops. The first time there was a really long red light. Grrr. The second time there was a bathroom break (had to go at mile 4). Then just about mile 6 my knee and shin started to hurt, so I had a slow walk followed by some stretching and that helped. Managed to finish my run with no more discomfort and a bit of extra wind even. For just a second I thought about running to 8, but didn't want to over do it on a training run.

ETA - Anyone know if there was a ForeRunner sticker for St. Patty's Day?

I was a little nervous about running for approximately 80 minutes. I thought I was going to be really bored. But, I just kept listening to music and puttering along. One mile turned into 3, which turned into 6, and then I was done. Hopefully my 10 miler is just as easy

Final Thoughts
I'm feeling really good. My 10 miler is in about 5 weeks and I feel like I'm in a good place. I think I'm taking a rest week next week while I'm out of town. No long run, just a few maintenance runs in SC. Then when I get back, I'll do either 7.5 or 8 on March 31 to stay on track. We'll see how everything goes, but I figure with where I am now, the worst thing that might happen is I walk more than expected, but still finish. I can deal with that!

On the down side, DC is getting hotter. Ugh!

 

[jmasgat]

Anyone know if there was a ForeRunner sticker for St. Patty's Day?

I looked when I came back from my run yesterday....nope.

 

[avondale]

Fantastic long run for you!

 

[superchime]

Sounds like a good week! I'm so jealous that you can ride your bike downtown.

Saturday was an absolute disaster of a day running from errand to errand to ballet to birthday parties. Holy cow! (Yep, I know, I'm milking it and all of this is very cheesy. Moooove along!)

Udderly silly, but still amoosing.

 

[Scootin'By]

So this week actually ended up being okay. I was worried at first because I didn't get off t for my first run until Wednesday, but after that I managed to get out every other day.

I was prepping for a big presentation at work that involved a lot of extra work, including lunches and after hours. Wednesday I finally pulled myself away from my desk for a run just to clear my head. It's amazing what a 4.5 mile maintenance run will do for energy and productivity.

With the presentation over, Friday was a lot better. I decided not to push it and just run 4 miles today, which felt good. But, I did start too fast. I was running at a 9:30 pace and after a few miles I had to take a few extra walk breaks to gain back my rest.

I tried a new Gu flavor on Friday. The cake batter is good, but it's too sweet for me to have more than once per run. With my runs getting longer I wanted another flavor. Amazon to the rescue! I found out Gu has a s'mores flavor. It tastes pretty much exactly as you'd expect. If you imagine just the inside goo from a Poptart s'mores that's about the taste. I think its a bit more viscous than the cake batter, definitely less chewing needed. I like it!

Spent all day Saturday in the car driving, so I definitely needed a good run Sunday. After a really good breakfast, drove over to Shem Park in Mount Pleasant and managed to get 5 miles in. With mostly flat roads, it felt a lot easier than at home. The neighborhood was beautiful to run through. Old homes from the 18th and 19th century, lots of history (ran past the house where Charleston surrendered to Lord Cornwallis in 1780). I definitely could have run further, but its supposed to be a rest week.

Personal accomplishment - this is the first time that I've run on vacation. It felt really good! Yay me

 

[superchime]

Yay for vacation running!

 

[azrivest]

My husband doesn't like that I go running on vacation, since it means a lot more luggage to bring But it is definitely fun!