Just thought I would run this by all of you since you have all been so helpful in the past. (I posted about my side aches...got feedback and I incorporated massage to my diaphram in my pre run stretching. If I do that... no side ache..if I forget.. side ach)
So I have always been prone to joint swelling in the heat. (visibly so.. like the ball joint in my ankle disappears and there is no definition to the back near the heel of my foot. Just one thick cankle) I do take something that has helped and prior to starting up running in the heat and humidity I had little to no swelling issues. Lately, my ankles and wrists have been swelling again. This causes a lot of pain to the joint (it is hard to walk on let alone run) I am not sure if there is some sort of stretch or drink or supplement or SOMETHING that would help. My ds who is a runner tells me I just need to stay better hydrated, but when I do increase my fluids, I just balloon more... then when the swelling goes down I am in and out of the rest room. Thoughts? I did manage to get through my run today... but my time was down a bit and instead of getting in 5 miles I came in just under at 4.89.
I think it is suspect. I had not even thought about that as a possibility. My doc took me off the medication because she felt I no longer needed it because of the running. So now I am wondering if it isn't some sort of diabetic thing. Maybe not... maybe it is just heat and salt and poor hydration. I should see my doc. I just hope she doesn't give me the same recommendation she did back then... "wear compression socks" 
Woooo - hoooooo!!! Congratulations!
Longest I've been able to run continuously is 1/2 a mile, so my hat is off to you!Freakishly HOT here in West-Central Florida.
I'm on track, but it's been rough.Two months from tonight!!
For sure - that sounds like swelling beyond what's to be expected with heat and exertion - better to get a handle on it than risk anything worse, right? 
How's everyone handling the heat? I swear, I didn't think it could feel any worse than it has the past couple months... I was wrong. 
I wan't LAST, which I am happy about. This race had me questioning everything: WHY did I think I could do this, WHY did I think a July race would be a good idea, WHY did I "think" I can run with all of these "real" runners, WHAT am I doing wrong with my training, I CAN'T do this....and so on for 6.2 miles! This was my 2nd race ever, with the first one being the Royal Family 5k, so I knew it would be "different" than Disney. 
(I'm not that fast) but later I looked at my watch and I was figuring I had dropped to 15 mins average. It was at that point, I was slowing down since I wasn't going to get a time to submit. All I wanted to do was finish it! I crossed the finish line at 1:20:45 I think. It wasn't a chip race, so I don't know which time they will use. (the picture my DH snapped shows 1:20:45 and a second timer on the ground with 1:21:44. I know I started about a minute-thirty after the first people crossed the start) I'm too new to races to know for sure what it end up being. The official results are posted yet. 
My race was hot and miserable!
90% of the people on the run were actually running ALL of it! I never saw anyone who looked like they were doing intervals, though there were a handful who did walk from time to time. I started off with running for 4 mins, since EVERYONE was running and there was no way I could stop to walk that early without being run over. From there, I did my 1:1 and did ok, for a bit. In hindsight, I probably should have done my gel before the 1/2 way mark, but I was worried about how it would affect me. In the end, I did two and I am not sure either one of them really did anything. I never felt "better" or "stronger" and on the way back in and I had to drop my intervals down to running for 30-45 seconds and walking for a minute. At mile one, my time was 11 mins
I still don't know what to do about my training. I felt like I had never run that distance before and I would just die! I actually ran the same trail and more last weekend and still struggled on the way back, dropping down to shorter runs, BUT I was running at 7:00am and ran 7.89 miles. I don't know if the heat was the issue or if I am doing something wrong. I'm just worried that 10 miles will kill me now.
One important thing I learned: Caffeine gels will NOT work for me! I was mentally and physically exhausted when I got done and really wanted to go to bed. I tossed and turned all night and it took forever for me to fall asleep! While this could be good for the ToT after party (me being awake), I don't want to miss the next day at the parks, so I will need to figure out what fuel will work and which one does not have caffeine.
2nd thing I learned from the race: warm, almost hot water is cruel to offer at the end of the race! Two guys were like, "here, take some water. Take two and pour one over your head, it will help." I took a swig as I continued past them and almost choked! It was hotter than the water I had been carrying on my belt!
So there is my race summary. I "think" my time will help me move up in the corrals, but am not sure. Any thoughts or advice from the experts? I welcome it!! I'm "off" today, but tomorrow I get to dive back into training.
when you said you ran it in 11 minutes that that was way fast for you...that combined with heat probably really wore you out. And then running more than you are used to in the beginning probably threw off the intervals your body is used to. I know it's hard, because I struggle with it to, but stick to your plan, no matter what anyone else is doing! If you train with certain intervals, stick with them! That was one of the things my trainer drilled into me before my first half...she said "you're gonna be so excited from the adrenaline that you're gonna feel like you can fly out of that corral and run the whole thing...DON'T! Don't look at what anyone else is doing and run your own race. Stay focused on your plan and stick to it...watch your pace and take your walk breaks from the very beginning!" She was right...as usual 
Stick to your training and it'll get better!
poohbear8 said:My race was hot and miserable!
90% of the people on the run were actually running ALL of it! I never saw anyone who looked like they were doing intervals, though there were a handful who did walk from time to time. I started off with running for 4 mins, since EVERYONE was running and there was no way I could stop to walk that early without being run over. From there, I did my 1:1 and did ok, for a bit. In hindsight, I probably should have done my gel before the 1/2 way mark, but I was worried about how it would affect me. In the end, I did two and I am not sure either one of them really did anything. I never felt "better" or "stronger" and on the way back in and I had to drop my intervals down to running for 30-45 seconds and walking for a minute. At mile one, my time was 11 mins
I still don't know what to do about my training. I felt like I had never run that distance before and I would just die! I actually ran the same trail and more last weekend and still struggled on the way back, dropping down to shorter runs, BUT I was running at 7:00am and ran 7.89 miles. I don't know if the heat was the issue or if I am doing something wrong. I'm just worried that 10 miles will kill me now.
One important thing I learned: Caffeine gels will NOT work for me! I was mentally and physically exhausted when I got done and really wanted to go to bed. I tossed and turned all night and it took forever for me to fall asleep! While this could be good for the ToT after party (me being awake), I don't want to miss the next day at the parks, so I will need to figure out what fuel will work and which one does not have caffeine.
2nd thing I learned from the race: warm, almost hot water is cruel to offer at the end of the race! Two guys were like, "here, take some water. Take two and pour one over your head, it will help." I took a swig as I continued past them and almost choked! It was hotter than the water I had been carrying on my belt!
So there is my race summary. I "think" my time will help me move up in the corrals, but am not sure. Any thoughts or advice from the experts? I welcome it!! I'm "off" today, but tomorrow I get to dive back into training.
I'll be lucky to make it to mile 5 the way my training is going. 
I'm still struggling to maintain an adequate pace for 3 miles let alone 10 but I'm not giving up and I'm still going to go out there and give it my all. My all just might end up being about 4-5 miles and I'm ok with that. 
