Wk of Nov 13--2006 Disney Half-Full Marathon Info/Training

[aladdinsgirl]

Sunny--So sorry that your doctor is a jerk and an idiot!! I think you need to send him a picture of you crossing the finish line, for the Disney and every other marathon you finish.

Krista

 

[TEK224]

Sunny - sorry you had to deal with a Doc who obviously isn't in to an active lifestyle. Don't doubt yourself. You CAN do this! Just take it as fast or as slow as your body tells you. Only you know how much discomfort you can stand.

If I never played sports because I had some pain, I never would played after the first year. I've had some minor knee surgery years ago and every now and then I get a little fluid on the knee. Not much, but enough to cause a "little" discomfort. Sometimes the fluid goes away by itself, sometimes not. Once, I went to my ortho to have it drained. He wanted to shoot cortisone in after draining it. I said "NO WAY". Well, he wouldn't drain it unless I let him put the med in. I left. Told him I could deal with the pain, it wasn't THAT bad. If I couldn't take it anymore I'd be back. I just don't want cortisone, peeriod. That was about 3 years ago. Haven't been back since.

Just goes to show the body will take care of itself.

Terri

 

[keenercam]

Thanks, Cam

I have to say, I thought of you and your heart surgeries. Driving back to work with tears down my face I said out loud "if Cam can do this, I sure as h*ll can!". I wanted to tell him about you (and all of us) and about how important all of this is, but I knew it would fall on deaf ears. You're right, he was definitely covering his butt. He supposedly is a sports med. guy.

Sunny

WOW! Now I'm crying. You amaze me. Keep on keepin' on, kiddo. I'll be there to cheer you across that finish line.

 

[gatorphipps]

DUDE! I hate that happened to you Sunny! You have come this far and I know you can do this! The race is the easy part! The training is the Hard part! Question?

He said “you running 40 miles a week now, 2 months out from the marathon, I don’t see how you can ramp up your necessary mileage to be ready if you’re already in pain.”

Are you running 40+ miles a week? If so, Why? I have to agree that the weights and the amount of running may be making the knee hurt. I know you can do this, but I would pull back on the weekly miles. I do about 30+. That Doctor won't comment on if you will damage yourself b/c he does not know and does not want that responsibility of telling you one way or the other. Good luck! Ice and ice!
I don't blame you for not telling family! Mine already think DH and I are crazy for running, swiming, and biking like we do. After my 18 mile run (and I had a 10 mile run the day b/4) I was a little stiff. My sis said that I was basicly stupid for doing what I did and deserve the pain. The family also told me (as I was taliking about my LRs) that it was great I could do this, but really noone cared! Big dis!

Melissa - Don't worry about missing a run or 2. You will be stronger for it. Cannot help if the boy gets sick.

I have been SO busy this week. Have run a total (get ready) of 2 miles! I know...that mileage is putting me in big status! Anyway...Bree and I officially signed up for the Charlotte Marathon today! We will take pictures and post them. Send for us December 3rd. DH is running the DOWD YMCA 1/2 Saturday to get a good time. He wants to move up corrals for WDW.
We run 8 tomorrow and 16 Friday (we are tapering for the Marathon - Love the taper! )
Later all!
CHrista

 

[MelRhoads]

Christa - I too went through the phase where my family was telling me I am running too much!!! Oh well... My mom was asking me about the goofy thing this weekend and I explained it to her. I told her i was running a 1/2 marathon on sat and a full on sunday. she said "just how many miles is a marathon anyway?" before I could get the ".2" part of "26.2 miles" out, she was already saying "YOU CAN'T RUN 26 MILES!" i just chuckled and invited her to come cheer me on at the finish line!

I figure this high mileage stuff isn't the smartest thing i've ever done, but it is one of the funnest!

 

[solotraveler]

Sunny- Yikes, that really stinks. Clearly your doctor must not be a runner at all. 40 miles a week is on the high side to be able to complete a marathon, for starters. I would, obviously, strongly advise a second opinion from another orthopedic, especially if you are looking at something that may be chronic. to you!!!

I learned something else today: While it is pretty, I can not run while it is actively snowing. Seriously. Much more difficult than I had anticipated. I am getting REALLY frustrated by the combination of the weather and my schedule and my inability to get runs in the past few weeks. Got to fight through it, though. 16 miler this Friday.. and then really do well these last seven weeks. I should be fine. I hope.

Oh, and I am beginning to the that the race packets are figures of our imagination. Maybe they are "magic" packets that we can't see in our mailboxes. Maybe Jafar stole them. Maybe they were redirected to Liberia. Does anyone have there's yet??? Clearly, our dancing did not work. Pretty soon, I'm going to start this-- to my mailbox.

Happy training all!
Solotraveler

 

[lacool]

I am convinced that most people are eager to tell us what we can't accomplish rather than to encourage. That is why I come here for the advice and encouragement.

I couldn't agree more! With the notable exception of my DH and kids, my family has done nothing but tell me how crazy I am to be doing this. True, this is a long way from the out-of-shape person I used to be, but that is one of the reasons I am so determined to do it.

And hearing that I am not the only one getting that kind of feedback is actually very motivating. We all need to prove them all wrong! Over-protective mothers, cover-their-own-butt doctors, and Debbie-Downer-type people in general -- they all need to find out how strong we really are. I feel like I should go out and run one more time today, now! 4 miles wasn't enough!

 

[TiffJ]

Sunny- what a butthead!! I cannot believe he is a sports med Dr. What kind of athletes would want to listen to him. DO NOT DOUBT YOURSELF, YOU CAN & WILL DO THIS!!! You have come this far with the funky kneecaps. Although 500 lb leg presses Might want to slack up on that a bit. If they dont get better I would search for another sports ortho DR. I wouldnt tell my family either.

Cam- good luck tomorrow, we'll be thinking about you!

solo- DH keeps saying the same thing about the packets. He thinks they lied to me & there really arent any packets


O.k can I just say that treadmills SUCK

I have the same problem as Krista. I cannot go nearly as fast & when I got off (and only did 2 mi) I felt like I had been on the tea cups. It was hard to keep up with 15 min/mile & I can smoke that on the pavement. I should've done more but had to get DS to the DR. I hope I dont have to do any LR on them!!

 

[boolou]

I have been lurking again for the past few months, but I just had to post today. Sunny - listen to everyone here and forget that doc. With 40 miles a week, you are ready. You are ready for a marathon tomorrow. Just like Christa said, the training is the hard part. It's getting out of bed on a cold day to put in that 14 mile run, it's carving out time during a crazy week to get in a *quick one* and it's getting out the door some days when you are still a bit sore from the day before that is the real work. If there is one thing I have learned in my marathon training it is that I know my body better than anyone. I know what it is capable of. I know when it is a good pain, and when to worry. Trust your instinct, as long as you aren't doing any more damage, stick with what works for you personally.

I wanted to also update you guys with my info. I just (well 3 weeks ago) got back from the Marine Corps Marathon. I did it. I finished. I was so freaking out that last month of training/tapering, but it is all good now. It too me forever it seemed like, but I did it. I am starting to ramp up my training again for the Disney race now. I took 2 weeks off from running after the race (did some walking and Pilates) and I am back in the saddle again. I am finding it a bit hard to get re-motivated when it is so cold out here; I am not a fan of the snow. I am going to try to get more *plugged-in* to the forum right now, as I need all the help I can get.

 

[MelRhoads]

Welcome Jen!!!!!! Way to go on finishing the marathon!

 

[WDWFAN9]

I think Disney has sent the packets "pony express", taking a shortcut through China. Every day I keep thinking I will find them in the mail box, and every day I have been wrong. Maybe if I just try ignoring them they will show up!!

 

[xterratri]

Welcome Back Jenn(boolou)- I worked MCM as medical at Aid Station 6, past mile 16, it was a beautiful day and seemed to be a very well organized race.
Welcome to Honiebee!!
Sunny, you know your body the best. That physician(I bet he was an MD rather than DO too) doesn't understand where you are coming from on one hand and is too worried about covering his fanny on the other. There are very few absolutes in medicine because people are individuals but it still seems like he could have given you a better answer than what he did. I also second, third everyone else who is suggesting that you back off on the weight training as that is probably putting your knee under more stress than the benefit you are gaining from the strength training. From what you relayed from what he told you, you likely aren't going to damage yourself further just by running if it's congenital. May it predispose you to the development of arthritis? Maybe, but it would do the same thing if you were a couch potato. Worse actually because your athletic activities have helped you lose weight and the muscles that surround the knee are strong and therefore protective.

Treadmills suck!!!
Okay, I know other people are expressing the same sentiment. Due to other life activities, I had to run after dark today and the weather's kind of icky so I decided to run tonight's scheduled 40 minutes moderate/hard on a treadmill at the university. 4 miles in 36 minutes so I didn't have any problems with pacing, I wasn't working all that hard, but I was bored/ unmotivated/ ??? and just couldn't tolerate any longer. I was also soaked with sweat but didn't feel like that had affected my performance which is important because Disney is likely to be quite warm for us Northerners.

Good luck with training and PD for the aches and pains

 

[chimera]

Welcome Honeibee! You'll see a lot of these characters hanging out for 2007.

Welcome back, Jen! Glad your MCM was good!

Welcome back, Susan! Can we talk you into joining us Friday night at Trail's End? There's plenty of room!

Sunny...sorry about your experience. I think Krista's right...send him photos of you crossing the Disney finish line. I'm not an orthopedist, but with everything you've accomplished so far, I would imagine you've adequately compensated for your congenital defect. Unfortunately, we do have to practice medicine defensively these days and sometimes that translates into a little too much CYA.

I have to agree that treadmills bite! Funny thing is, last winter/spring, I couldn't imagine leaving the safety of my TM to train outside. Now I'm training outside in the dark just to avoid the evil TM

I did achieve some sort of interval nirvana this evening. I had to cut my pace way back on the W3/R2 because it had been so awful lately. Tonight was great! I stepped the pace back up and felt fine. I also finally programmed the Garmin to use the interval setting. It's pretty cool, but doesn't keep track of the mile splits with the intervals on. Thanks to Carrie for the suggestion (months ago, I think) to set the intervals for one more than you need to do...worked like a charm! So tonight's run was 3.52 at a 14:12 pace

Dancing harder...

 

[plutosmyfav]

Boy, everyone else is getting away with foul language so let me jump in...

Today SUCKED!

I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have you guys to help me through this bad encounter. I will definitely back off the weights. As far as the 40 miles goes, that seems about right according to several training schedules I check out But I would be more than happy to trade in some of those miles for the "never causing pain" elliptical trainer (even though it sucks, too )

Lynne-- Thank you! The question I meant to ask Dumb-dumb was about arthritis. My grandmother was crippled with arthriitis in her knees by the time she was 70 (also a source of my superstition). I've wondered if I was worsening my chances of it or not.

Really what this experience reminded me of is my guidance counselor in high school who told me "there's really no room for girls in physics, and ... you really don't have the aptitude... maybe you should consider accounting". She uttered those words with little to no thought and pretty much destroyed me for about a decade. (I went back to school at 29, majored in physics and graduated magna cum laude). So fast-forward to today and here's this dumb-dumb uttering words without any thought. THIS TIME I'M TOO SMART TO LET IT DESTROY ME!!!! (well, acutally, this time I have you guys ) It amazes me how peole in positions to impart major influence on others take it so lightly.

Tomorrow is a 10 miler with my speedy friend from the gym. Ice will promptly follow

Sunny (the runner briefly known as Grouchy)

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Sunny, sorry about non-runner doc. WISHing that you will have no trouble doing this. Is time an issue for you? If not, can it be slower yet finish? I know you have a really great pace going and all.

I'm feeling more discomfort in my back muscle than I would have expected. Every time I move I feel it pulling. Painful. I have not done anything all this week and am feeling sorry for myself right now.

Good news for me though! My Teddy is home! He came home (from New Orleans) in time for supper last night.


Everyone, I WISH you great training. Hope to be back on soon. I'm off to go find a comfy spot.

 

[TEK224]

Jen - Welcome back and congrats on finishing MCM.

Pat - those darn packets. I was off from work today and found myself checking the mailbox every chance I had. We'll have to have a cyber party when then come!

I went to the gym this afternoon for my elliptical workout (I like the ellip much better than the dumb TM). Did an hour. Leg was a little sore afterward. I came home and ate dinner and then jumped into an ice bath

If you could have heard me, you'd all be That water was so co-o-old.
I got my feet in, held on to the sides of the tub and started to do a reverse push-up to lower myself to a sitting position. Oh NO, no, no! As I was trying to sit down, I felt a little like the lion in the Wizard of Oz. Picture when he was in the haunted forest saying he DID believe in ghosts. Now I am trying to lower myself to sit down and all I can say is "I don't want to sit down, I don't want to sit down. I don't, I don't, I don't want to sit down!

Finally I made it. Sat there for 20 minutes and don't think the goose bumps ever left me.

My friends and family also think I'm nuts for trying the Goofy and even more so when I talk about the post-workout ice baths!

Hang in there everybody. Those packets are a-coming. I can just feel it!

Terri

 

[skfulkers]

Hey everybody! Haven’t posted in a looong time, so I thought I’d say hi. Glad everyone’s doing well. You know, it’s amazing—I remember reading these threads a few months ago and everyone was running long runs of 3 or 4 miles. Look at us all now!
Sunny, way to go on not letting that doctor get you down. I can’t believe he’s supposed to be a sports med doctor and still put such a negative spin on it. Like everybody’s saying, I know you’ll be fine. Are you doing goofy or the full? I can’t remember. I only ask because I’m just doing the full and right now my weekly mileage is around 33. Don’t know if that helps or not.
Yeah, I gotta agree with the general consensus here—treadmills DO suck. I did one run this week on the thing because of heavy rain and storms. It was a horrible run, and it was only 4 miles. Mel, I had to laugh at your comment about going from “treadmill junkie” to treadmill hater. I, too, ran most of the early spring on the treadmill and dreaded going outside. But tonight, I’m planning to do 8 miles in 20 deg weather with light snow just to avoid the treadmill. I don’t know if we’re just a crazy bunch or what??

Well, I need to go do some work, but I just had to check in with you all since I’m only averaging about one post per month. Usually, Krista is very good about posting will keep everyone updated about the happenings in our lives, but I’ve noticed recently that she mentions me less and less (Krista, you know you’re a punker. ).

Happy training, all! Can’t wait to see everyone in January! (and I REALLY can’t wait for these stinkin’ packets to arrive!)

Steve

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Ok, I’m only going to speak of this once. And then its back to my code of silence when it comes to my knee.

I went to the orthopedic guy today and they took x-rays of my knee. There is no injury. My kneecap is deformed. He said it is a developmental problem where the cap didn’t fully fuse at the top (that’s the best I can remember).

He was a jerk. After viewing the x-rays and asking me some questions he launched into a little lecture that started out “not everyone was built to run marathons…” I didn’t hear much after that until he got to “you may still be able to run this marathon, but…”

WHAT!?!?!?!?! Still run this marathon? Woah, I don’t think we’re on the same page here.

So spending the better part of my brain power in fighting to keep my composure I asked “so, if I am really careful and ice and all that, I can run as long as I don’t have a lot of pain, right? I won’t damage it further, right?” He said “you running 40 miles a week now, 2 months out from the marathon, I don’t see how you can ramp up your necessary mileage to be ready if you’re already in pain.” So we went back and forth on this “pain” idea for a while at which he got a tad bit irritated and told me about a patient he has who had a fracture and ran through the pain and literally broke her leg in half. So I came back to “if I’m not in excruciating pain, is it safe to say I’m not damaging my knee?” He wouldn’t commit to that but he did lighten up a little when I told him my current LRs are 16-18 miles and I’ve run a 20 without excessive pain.

He obviously isn’t a runner. He threw out that “don’t run the marathon” statement like he was telling me not to wear plaid.

He said the 500 lb leg presses are definitely out but I could let the pain be my guide as to how much to do.

I tried many times to get him to say whether or not I might seriously damage my knee and he just kept referring back to the pain as an indicator of what I can and cannot do. Well, if I went by that I would have never played sports in high school or spent years roller blading, or spent this past 4 years being insanely active. So, I’m not going to worry about it. I won’t push it when its painful, but its not painful all the time or even most of the time.

I’ll tell you, the last thing I needed right now was another reason to doubt my ability to do this. I’m not telling my family or friends. You are the only ones who will know my secret.

I guess my “superstition” was based on an intuition that there really is something wrong and unfixable about my knee. I would have been better off not finding this out.

OK, I’m done acknowledging this whole stupid thing.

Signed,
Grouchy (the runner formerly known as Sunny)
(just kidding )

Wow--I"m so sorry to hear about that. Anyway you can insist on an MRI to rule out any unusual buggars that could be adding to the problem?

I'll give you a bit of good news--if all that will happen is pain....i.e. you are not further injuring yourself...then it is all about pain management.

I know someone who just did ironman (hawaii) and she has arthritis (don't know which kind). She had pain for a long time and when she finally got diagnosed it ended up being a good thing b/c as long as she can manage her pain--she can compete.

Oh--and she finished Ironman in something like 12.5 hours.

YOU CAN DO IT, SUNNY!

ETA: Ironman is: 2 mile swim, 112 mile bikeride (I think??), and then finish it up with a MARATHON.

Find a sports--specifically runner friendly ortho and tell the other one to take a hike!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I think Disney has sent the packets "pony express", taking a shortcut through China. Every day I keep thinking I will find them in the mail box, and every day I have been wrong. Maybe if I just try ignoring them they will show up!!

Perhaps we should sic the sweeper mail truck on them.

 

[wtpclc]

Sunny - What everyone else said, especially Cam. Plus, do you want me yt o go beat him up for you??? Jerk.

LLP - Seeper mail truck? Thanks for starting my day with a laugh!

solo - Yesterday was not snow, if that's what you were referring to. It was ice being shot at you from bebe (sp?) guns.

honibee - welcome!

Steve - Good to see you again!

MelR - A couple skipped runs might do you some good. You've been pushing pretty hard, let your muscles recover a bit.

Mel - Woo hoo on the nirvana!!!

LKily - SO sorry about your back.

Well, for those of you who hate treadmills, you're one oup on me. I would have given anything for one of those yesterday. The above description of ice being shot at me was what I had last night. Dh cut us short. I was actually kind of bummed, but the wind and ice really hurt my face. Hopefully, it will be better tonight.

ANyone know where to find inexpensive reflective jackets? (not mesh vests). The only ones we found were $70 to $80. Love this free sport.