Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[avondale]

10 minutes in my closet

@Erika10021 you must have an amazing closet!

 

[Erika10021]

you must have an amazing closet!

It is a walk-in closet but for a long time, it was the best way to get in a couple moments of exercise. "I'm just going to change, I'll be right out" and then get in 10 squats and 10 push ups. Even the bite sized exercise helps!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Last week wasn't the week I was planning on having. It was my last full week leading up to my officially official plan for the 50k trail run, but life (and the weather) doesn't seem to care about that.

Sunday: 6mi/90min on trail. This was hard. It was by far the nicest day of the week....warm and sunny compared to how things have been for the last few weeks. I am having an issue where my soleus just locks up about 1mi into my trail runs and I have to stop and stretch (while muttering and whimpering) because it's really, really, really tight. Almost to the point of "I'm pulling the plug and turning back" tightness. And this has happened with all of my trail runs. I'm not sure if I need to warm up, or if it's the hills/trail surface, or if it's the shoes. Regardless, it's not a fun time but if I keep pushing through it does eventually get better. Also, I am getting some sort of allergy-type rash around my sock-line on my ankle after trail runs. I assume this is from the dirt/sand that is getting into my shoes during the runs. My forearms break out in a rash while gardening if I don't wash them off immediately after finishing up (I usually wear long sleeved shirts, or cheap arm sleeves to prevent this) so being "allergic to dirt" isn't a new thing. But it's really annoying to have itchy ankles after a run.

Monday: track meet, and volunteer parent-of-the-day at preschool.

Tuesday: I don't remember Tuesday. It was probably cold and rainy and windy and disgusting.

Wednesday: 4mi/60min run, plus 1 hill. This whole run felt awful. I was going to do 2 or 3 hills but the first one was so dreadful I just called it good and went back to the house. And then to yet another freezing-cold and windy track meet.

Thursday: yeah. I don't remember Thursday either. I think it rained again, and a bunch of stuff got cancelled.

Friday: another track meet? Where it was cold and windy? Of course! This one only took 7 hours. DS2 PR'ed in the 800m but missed automatically-qualifying for regionals by 0.6sec. So he went from being really happy to being really irritated. He also ran in the 4x800m relay, the 4x400m relay, and the sprint medley relay (another 400m leg.) He's been sick with some upper respiratory crud for about a week, so we are hoping he's on the right side of it at this point because he is quickly running out of time to qualify, and his 4x800m team that we thought would make it to state finals again this year is about 25 seconds off where they need to be and that's a LOT.
Weekend: the weather perked up some, and we got a lot of outside projects done. I was going to run on Sunday afternoon while DS3 was at open soccer, but the parent meeting before/during that ended up taking almost 2 hours, instead of the 20min that I assumed it would be. And by the time we came home from that I was completely over the idea of going for a run or even just a walk.


In MW-planning:

DH and I had a big discussion about flight prices, alternate airports, and had kind of decided to wait on prices for a little bit, but then this morning I found flights on SW out of Grand Rapids for 8500pts/person and booked them. Which means waiting lasted a whole 24 hours. United is still incredibly high for Monday flights, and American just didn't have much for options on the timeline we wanted. Delta is holding at about $185/person (one way) out of Detroit plus luggage, so we are looking at basically half the price and free luggage for what we booked. Plus, it's a small airport and lines at security are generally non-existent. We booked a studio at Riviera through a member on the rental section here on the boards for Monday night, and I'm excited to check it off my list of Disney resorts. I think we are down to just CR/BLT for deluxe that we haven't stayed in at this point...not counting the new FW cabins.

 

[The Expert]

But it's really annoying to have itchy ankles after a run.

Have you tried running gators? They always pop up on REI when I go looking for running deals. I've never tried them, but maybe they would help? Or maybe running a line of body glide around the top of your sock, if it's less about debris getting in and more about a skin sensitivity there?

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Have you tried running gators? They always pop up on REI when I go looking for running deals. I've never tried them, but maybe they would help? Or maybe running a line of body glide around the top of your sock, if it's less about debris getting in and more about a skin sensitivity there?

Or just longer socks?

I am having an issue where my soleus just locks up about 1mi into my trail runs and I have to stop and stretch (while muttering and whimpering) because it's really, really, really tight. Almost to the point of "I'm pulling the plug and turning back" tightness. And this has happened with all of my trail runs. I'm not sure if I need to warm up, or if it's the hills/trail surface, or if it's the shoes.

I wonder if it could be a form thing? Like maybe your form changes between roads and trails? In that case, maybe your muscles just need a chance to get used to a slightly different motion and will adapt after a few weeks. If you have a foam roller, maybe that would help?

 

[Herding_Cats]

Or just longer socks?

all of my "running socks" are ankle socks. So I either have to experiment with new socks ($$) or risk blisters with my other socks.

I wonder if it could be a form thing? Like maybe your form changes between roads and trails? In that case, maybe your muscles just need a chance to get used to a slightly different motion and will adapt after a few weeks. If you have a foam roller, maybe that would help?

To be fair the trail I've been using has very, very little in the way of flat stretches; it's pretty much up and down in some manner the entire time, and I'm sure that's aggravating muscles that I'm not used to working. Also, from what I can tell, hiking shoes in general have less of that "rocker" shaped sole, and are quite flat in the mid-foot area for stability, which is also a change.


This is a 3.2mi loop. The "flat" area that's the low point is sections 2x6 boardwalk and rutted up muddy singletrack from mountain bikers. So even though it's flat, it's still pretty uneven to run on.

 

[avondale]

Also, I am getting some sort of allergy-type rash around my sock-line on my ankle after trail runs. I assume this is from the dirt/sand that is getting into my shoes during the runs.

I was also going to suggest gaiters (not named after the reptile LOL), but that may just move the problem up your leg. Maybe really, really light mesh-type tights would work? Let you stay reasonably cool while also keeping the dirt off?


The soleus issue is almost certainly a combination of form, different surfaces, and the shoe type. Trail shoes generally don't have much in the way of rockers in the soles because frankly, you don't want to rock over roots and rocks that may already cause you to trip and/or twist an ankle. So you're probably going to have to work into all of this.

Even things like power-hiking uphill is going to possibly cause problems - think of how your foot will be more dorsiflexed as you walk up a steeper surface, and that will affect the various calf and shin muscles.

 

[nancipants]

I found a reel of you on Instagram!

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Herding_Cats]

I found a reel of you on Instagram!

OK first of all, I thought this was going to be another race clip from the marathon.


But you don't even understand. After every trip he's all "I like going to Disney, and it makes you happy, but I want to vacation other places too."

And then I talk him into another MW (because BOOKS!) and then I make reservations, and then HE is all "well what if we went down a day sooner?" And "What is the earliest possible flight we can get on so we can do a park day on the first day?"

And at least half the reels he sends me are about Disney trips/parks/adults. And it's just like do you really mean what you say when you tell me you want to visit other places?

 

[nancipants]

OK first of all, I thought this was going to be another race clip from the marathon.


But you don't even understand. After every trip he's all "I like going to Disney, and it makes you happy, but I want to vacation other places too." And "What is the earliest possible flight we can get on so we can do a park day on the first day?"

And then I talk him into another MW (because BOOKS!) and then I make reservations, and then HE is all "well what if we went down a day sooner?"

And at least half the reels he sends me are about Disney trips/parks/adults. And it's just like do you really mean what you say when you tell me you want to visit other places?

He's a Disney adult in disguise and uses you as cover.

 

[michigandergirl]

The soleus issue is almost certainly a combination of form, different surfaces, and the shoe type. Trail shoes generally don't have much in the way of rockers in the soles because frankly, you don't want to rock over roots and rocks that may already cause you to trip and/or twist an ankle. So you're probably going to have to work into all of this.

I agree with this. My calves/achilles are always really tight and sore when I don't regularly trail run. I experienced this recently when I started trail running again after an entire year of only road running. I tried to just ease into the trail running and sprinkle it in with my road runs and the tightness got better after a few weeks. They were pretty sore again after my 10K trail race, but I think that's cuz I was pushing a little harder than I did in training.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Weekly wrap-up:

OK so something is definitely "going on" with my body because I was wiped out again a few days this week, and on the weekend. As in, I took DD grocery shopping (made 3 stops) and then came home and took a nap. And then on Mother's Day, I did 5mi (during which my avg pace was about 40sec slower than I expected), went out to lunch, and then came home and took a nap. This timing doesn't seem to be lining up with when I've had a lot of fatigue related to my cycle historically, so I'm not sure what's going on. I do have a physical at the end of the month, and I'll likely be going back through this journal to plot out the days/weeks I was unusually tired and talk to my doc about it. I could be peri, it could be mineral/vitamin deficiencies, a thyroid issue, or something else. It's pretty frustrating.

This was supposed to be my first week of formal training for my 50k, and it couldn't have fallen at a worse time for timing with the kids' schedules. I had 4 (!!!) track meets this week. Additionally, DD picked up a tick on her scalp at one of them (we are assuming since she was laying on the ground a lot while playing with some other kids) that I ended up taking her to Urgent Care when we discovered it the next day to have removed as I wasn't confident I could get the whole thing out on my own at home. Once pathology had ID'ed it she was given antibiotics to knock out any potential nasties that it may have been carrying. I can handle a lot of "gross" things, but ticks really gross me out.

Anyhow, training?

Monday: is a rest day every week. DH and I went for a short 2mi hike on the trail nearby after dinner. This was after attending DS3's track meet (1 down, 3 to go.)

Tuesday: 3mi the only day this week without a meet. Alas, there were many *other* things going on, and I never managed to get on the treadmill.

Wednesday: 4mi I remember Wednesday being really busy, but I cannot remember what exactly was busy about it at this point. I know I picked DD up early from school for DS2's conference championship meet, and we didn't finish that up until after 8pm. Our boys team finished 2nd, but our 4x400 relay team is figuring things out and have gotten a few seconds faster each time. DS2 ran at 2:07 split in the 4x800m relay, but couldn't turn that into a sub-2:10 in the open 800 (which would qualify him for regionals) for whatever reason.

Thursday: 3mi I was finishing up chores just before lunchtime when DD walked into the kitchen and informed me she had a bump on her head. Which ended up being the very engorged tick. So all of my plans for hopping on the treadmill for a quick 3mi before scooting off to DS3's track meet (which was an hour drive away) quickly disappeared.

Friday: rest well I had to do something at this point since I missed all of my other runs so far. I did 3mi easy, and then 1 down-and-up of the big hill on my road before changing my pants and picking DD up from preschool. DS1 was somehow not scheduled to umpire on this night, so he watched DD for me until DH finished baseball practice so I could attend DS2's track meet without having to pause every 3min and go oh my gosh where did she go?! about DD. Because she makes friends with everyone, talks to everyone, plays with everyone, and generally has 0 fear about strangers. DS2 ran a ton of events at this meet (they do a bunch of fun/silly 4x100m relays like the coaches' relay with 2 runner and 2 coaches, the canoe relay with large inflatable dinghies where 4 runners have to wear orange life vests and carry/hand off the dinghy AND the life vests, the shot-putters relay where the baton is a girls' shot, and the jumpers' relay where the baton is a pole vault pole) including the canoe relay, the 4x200m, the 800m, and the 4x400m relay, where he threw down a PR of a 53sec split. Of course, we didn't get home until 11pm, but it was still a fun day, and not freezing cold for once!

Saturday: 6mi easy DH, DD, the pup, and I went over to the trail nearby and walked about 2mi. Even with stopping and waiting a few times for DD and DH to "catch up" we almost kept my "last 10mi" goal pace for August. Of course, I had a dog dragging me along, but still. DH had been at a baseball tournament all day, and for some reason I was exhausted from grocery shopping?

Sunday: 4mi easy 5mi easy. At some point during the week I realized that my spotify premium subscription includes audio books, so I had just started on Kara Goucher's The Longest Race. I opted for this instead of my usual playlists (which I'm getting bored with, but they help with my pacing so much) and it was a nice change. I turned off my auto-lap back in January, and almost never look at my watch during runs at this point which is nice, but also frustrating when I finish up and see that my average pace was really slow during this run. As in, my Friday run was 1:10/mi faster. I could have come back from my run and face-planted on the bed and gone back to sleep. The kids got me some beautiful hanging baskets for Mother's Day, we went out for lunch at the new Indian restaurant (omg it was sooooo good!) and then I took a nap.



I can't tell if I'm just recognizing that I'm likely to come into my 50k undertrained, worried that I might come into my 50k undertrained, have imposter syndrome, or was just overly ambitious when I signed up. I'm not super excited about the idea of the race at this point, but I also just had a horrible run and that's probably coloring my feelings. I think I've done enough Dopeys that I know how much training I'm in for, and I just "don't wanna" right now. And I'm so tired. Things *should* start slowing down with the kids' schedules this week as their seasons wind down, a lot of the seasonal chores have been caught up on, but my motivation in general has been pretty low. I don't want to go on training runs by myself, but there's no one else in my house that wants to go, or would be near my pace if they DID go with me. I'm tired of running the same routes at home, but I don't want to deal with the time or expense of driving somewhere else to run 4 or 5 times a week.

 

[The Expert]

I think I've done enough Dopeys that I know how much training I'm in for, and I just "don't wanna" right now.

Definitely keep the timing in perspective! Once life calms down a bit and you figure out the fatigue issues, you'll have a much better idea of where you are prep-wise. Don't give up yet!

I do have a physical at the end of the month, and I'll likely be going back through this journal to plot out the days/weeks I was unusually tired and talk to my doc about it. I could be peri, it could be mineral/vitamin deficiencies, a thyroid issue, or something else. It's pretty frustrating.

Logging is a great idea. And have them run a blood panel. When I first started having peri symptoms, that's what finally nailed down which vitamins I needed to add and what dietary changes might help. It literally can still change day to day, but it can't hurt to get that information.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Logging is a great idea. And have them run a blood panel. When I first started having peri symptoms, that's what finally nailed down which vitamins I needed to add and what dietary changes might help. It literally can still change day to day, but it can't hurt to get that information.

She always runs a blood panel....ferratin, cholesterol, vitamin D, T4 (I think?), etc. All the usual things, plus iron and thyroid since I have personal history with the former, and family history with the latter. I asked about hormone stuff last year and was basically told that they don't really do anything unless someone is having serious, daily-activity-affecting symptoms.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Minor juggling of plan needed. My weekend long runs are supposed to be: longer run saturday, ~50% of that distance on sunday.

However, we will be gone for a track meet for probably 12 hours on Saturday (it's a 2hr drive each way, and DS2 will run in the first event of the meet...the 4x800m relay, and in the last event of the meet...the 4x400m relay.) So getting in my 2hr run on Saturday is not going to happen. I know it's super early in the plan, but I don't want to start making excuses to skip out on the b2b long runs already.

DH thinks he will have very short days on Thursday and Friday, so I could possibly move the weekend runs to those 2 days (in place of 4mi and a rest/lift day) OR I could do the 2hr run on Friday, rest Saturday, 75min run on Sunday.

I'm specifically asking about this because when (I'm speaking it into existence!) they qualify for State Finals on Saturday, this will happen again in 2 weeks.

 

[avondale]

Minor juggling of plan needed. My weekend long runs are supposed to be: longer run saturday, ~50% of that distance on sunday.

However, we will be gone for a track meet for probably 12 hours on Saturday (it's a 2hr drive each way, and DS2 will run in the first event of the meet...the 4x800m relay, and in the last event of the meet...the 4x400m relay.) So getting in my 2hr run on Saturday is not going to happen. I know it's super early in the plan, but I don't want to start making excuses to skip out on the b2b long runs already.

DH thinks he will have very short days on Thursday and Friday, so I could possibly move the weekend runs to those 2 days (in place of 4mi and a rest/lift day) OR I could do the 2hr run on Friday, rest Saturday, 75min run on Sunday.

I'm specifically asking about this because when (I'm speaking it into existence!) they qualify for State Finals on Saturday, this will happen again in 2 weeks.

I would go for the Thu/Fri. Partly because they are back-to-back like you want. Partly also because then you'll have it done BEFORE you have the big track meet on Sat...which may end up making you too worn out for a Sunday run like you planned.

But if you're moving up the weekend runs to Thu/Fri, something earlier in the week will have to give....maybe put that in for Sunday.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Did you know that if you've gained 20-25 pounds since purchasing your hydration vest (4 years ago) that it may no longer fit like you want? Yeah. Found that out today. Ran the whole time with the top strap unbuckled because I hated how it felt pressing against my sternum and it felt like it was restricting my ribcage expansion as well. The good news is that I didn't chafe at all with my adaptation.

 

[Herding_Cats]

A rather successful week, if I do say so myself. As a note, I will need to juggle my long runs again in 2 weeks as DS2 and his 4x800 relay team qualified for state finals (and may have qualified via time in the 4x400 if our 3rd runner hadn't gotten side-checked right after he received the baton and was basically forced to a full stop *sigh* I have pics and it makes me sad to look at them.)

Last Sunday (as mentioned above): 5mi easy

Monday: I did 21min of strength. I did the first "round" of the exercises from Little Obsessed Total Body Core, and then did some chest presses, chest flies, rows, and deadlifts. Just enough to recognize I'm going to have to be really intentional about my weight choice as I'm not as strong as I used to be, but also enough that I could feel it the next day. Not in a regretful way though.

Tuesday: 4mi "easy." My HR would disagree with the easy statement, but this didn't feel terrible.

Wednesday: 4mi easy I took this day off. Kind of a crappy and rainy day, and I wasn't in the mood to treadmill. DH and I made a trip down to a greenhouse to pick up a few things for our railing boxes and some tomato plants since the cold spring has given us issues with our seedlings.

Thursday: 8.23mi of agony. Normally it's really hard for me to get in runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but DH is kind of in-between jobsites right now, and only had a short service-call in the morning. Of course, when he and DS1 (who works for him in the summer) walked in they announced that if I was planning on running outside, I should get it done soon because it was supposed to be **80** out. They weren't wrong. I drove to the nearby trail I've been running on, and placed my 20oz bottle of liquid IV to the inside of my car tire to keep out of the sun. I shrugged into my hydration vest (I was planning on this taking around 2hrs) and headed down the trail. I quickly discovered that one effect of my weight gain over the last few years is that my vest fits significantly more snugly than it used to. I improvised by just leaving the top clip unbuckled as I felt like it was too tight on my chest to breath properly, and this didn't really cause any issues. Annoyance, yes. I did the 3.4mi trail loop and it suuuuucked. It was hot. So hot. The trees aren't fully leafed out yet, so the canopy allows a lot of dappled sunlight on the trail and it's hard to see what's a root/shadow from a root and what's *just* a shadow. No trip-and-falls, but a couple of close calls. (I did set up my "incident alert" on my garmin before going on this run so DH will get a text if I fall and don't prevent the push-notification from going out.) After I finished the loop I wanted to call it off and finish the run at home in my much cooler basement on my treadmill that won't make me fall or run up and down hills. Instead, I drank about 1/3 of my liquid IV (this helped a LOT) and ran the campground loop (about 2mi) which is much flatter. Then it was time for a bathroom stop, another 1/3 of the liquid IV, and I somehow convinced myself to go back out on the hilly loop again, telling myself if it really sucks you can just take one of the early loop cut-throughs and just go back to the car. But I gutted it out. Ended up walking almost all of it, but that's OK. I should have brought fuel with me, and possibly put electrolytes in the soft flasks I have for the front of my vest, but I underestimated how not-heat-acclimated I am and paid the price. I had stashed an applesauce pouch in a pocket "just in case" and even though it doesn't have a lot in it for calories or carbs, it was enough of a boost to get in the prescribed mileage.

Friday: 1hr (4.27mi) at home. I squeezed this in while DD was at her half day of pre-school. I did some estimating and figured out where I thought I could turn around and then run back past my driveway and down the big hill on my road and have it be 2mi when I got back to my mailbox. I was only 0.15mi off after the first loop so I decided that was close enough. The hill kicked my butt, as usual, but it was nice to have a break between ascents instead of just running down-and-backs on it.

Saturday: Regional track meet where it felt like upper 40s with wind a spotty drizzle. Conditions sucked a lot. We spent a few hours sitting in the car between the 4x8 relay and when DS ran again in the 800.

Sunday: 4mi easy 3.45mi hike with DH on the trail. Was it annoying that he walked along behind me crunching on sunflower seeds? Yes. Yes it was. But it was also nice to have someone along with me, even if I did have to push the pace so we could do the entire loop in our allotted time so he could get to his golf outing on time. My pace was "only" about 2min/mi slower than Thursday, but my avg HR was 30bpm lower, and we were pretty close to being "on pace" for the maximum I could do for the entirety of the 50. And it felt really easy (minus immediately after one of the uphills) so I'm feeling good about that.



And now that I'm thinking about it, my calf muscles did not scream at me nearly so loudly this week. So things are coming around for trail muscles!

 

[Herding_Cats]

The wildflowers are starting to peek out


We've had enough wind that this tree is down across the trail, and things are in that fun lime-colored spring phase


There are a few really big beech trees in the woods. They're my favorite.