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injury

The agony of defeet

Mar 11th, 2010
by gazelle.
4 comments

The foot problem is not getting better. I ended up cutting my 5 miler short last night (although I still made myself finish four miles, because I am all about being miserable).

My right foot was hurting, and then I started getting stabby pains up & down my right shin, and THEN my right quad started cramping up (not in a “I ran fast on Sunday & my quads are a bit sore way” more like a “ARGGHHHH!!!! cramp in the middle of the night wakes you up & causes you to do bodily harm to your sleeping partner(s)” kind of way).

I turned around about 1.75 miles into the run (or, about .75 miles short of the planned turnaround), walked a bit, and ran back to the car (and then around in a big circle to get that last 1/2 mile). My leg isn’t sore today, but my foot is still really, really sore. I haven’t worn heels all week, and today I am wearing some orthopedic looking flats, and my foot still feels too big for the shoe.

I have two problems (okay, three problems) with this.

1. I have a hilly 15K this weekend that I must PR. I didn’t run the race last year due to an unfortunate combination of vomit & monsoon.

2. I have a marathon in 7.5 weeks, and last time I checked, feet are super important for completing marathons (I don’t think I can get the foot amputated, get a prosthetic fitted, get my photo taken for the cover of Runner’s World, and learn how to run on my faux-foot in 7.5 weeks).

3. I hate clunky flat shoes, and my feet look ridiculous. That is not a real problem, I know.

So, people – thoughts? Suggestions? New shoes? Go ahead w/ the amputation? Should I run tomorrow, or just not run until Sunday’s race? Should I resign myself to a life of no more running & just start eating cookies for the inevitable fattening?

A Tale of Two…Three…Five Blisters

Feb 15th, 2010
by gazelle.
2 comments

They were the best of feet, they were the worst of feet, it was the age of smart training, it was the age of stupid training, it was the epoch of bandaids, it was the epoch of Neosporin….this is super hard to continue with, blah blah – season of blood  blisters, season of long runs, spring of hope winter of despair, my feet freaking hurt, etc., etc.

When I first started this post, it was only a tale of two blisters. Since then (i.e. Saturday), the number of blisters has multiplied.

Blister #1 is the blister that nearly ruined my (running) life in 2008. Blisters 2-5 are the blisters that have mysteriously appeared on my poor sad toes over the last 11 days.

2008 was a strange year for me. I ran my first half marathon (yay!) and started training for my first marathon. But it turned into the year of injuries.

I fell off a crate & screwed up my knee.

I pulled my hamstring on a trail run when the screwed up knee did a bad weird non-knee thing.

But first – there was the blister.

I used to be part of a women’s workout group. The group met three times/week, and I paid to go twice a week. It was a pretty good group. First of all, I was one of the fastest women there – which, if you look at my race times in the sidebar, you know it’s pretty odd. Secondly, we did a lot of cool workouts – not just running, but yoga, pilates, plyometrics, stairs, trail running, hill running, speed work, etc. BUT, working out with that group made me push myself too hard. I was paying to be there, and I wasn’t going to NOT get my moneys worth.

So – one time, on a hill run through the NW neighborhoods, I got a blister. The blister grew & grew. I was over 3 miles from my car. I was part of the ‘lead’ group, which meant that I was doing the longest, fastest distance.

As the blister grew, I could tell that the pain was affecting my gait. So I slowed to a walk. And was gently mocked (honestly – if at this point, someone gently mocked me for walking off a big-ass blister, I’d just laugh & ignore them – I know myself so much better now). So – I ran the last three miles. By the time I got back to my car, I was limp-running. And my knee hurt.

My knee never really recovered, and I’m pretty sure that was the beginning of my summer of knee-problems, which lead, inevitably, to my fall of knee-hab.

So – last Sunday, when blister #1 was so awful & painful that I had to wear the flip-flops in PUBLIC, I knew it was bad. The next day, I couldn’t even get a pair of high heels on! I had to wear my running shoes to work. But I knew it would be fine by Tuesday. Tuesday – I still couldn’t wear anything but my Sauconys, and even that was painful.

So I skipped my run. And although that led to a big FAIL on my training schedule, I have no doubt that I made the right choice.

Currently I have 1 mysterious blood blister on the 4th toe of my left foot, 2 mysterious blood blisters on the 4th toe of my right foot, and 1 blister on each arch. This is not an auspicious beginning to marathon training – but at least I know myself well enough at this point to know when to take it easy & not screw up the remaining 11 weeks of training, right?

It is a far, far better training than I have ever done, it is a far, far faster marathon that I go to than I have ever run.

(I’d apologize to Darwin Dickens [my cat, Darwin, was helping me type this, but as far as I know he didn't actually write "A Tale of Two Cities], but I was never a big fan to begin with, so he can bite me.)

not sure if the run was a success….

Aug 22nd, 2009
by gazelle.
2 comments

Yesterday, the architect & I headed out for my first run since pulling that silly muscle over a week and a half ago.  About 1/2 mile into the run, I had to slow to a walk, because it HURT. It didn’t hurt to walk, so sped up again. At that point, I was about in tears (more from frustration than pain), and told the architect to finish the run without me. I was going home.

I turned and walked towards home. Then I walked a little faster. Then I jogged. I could feel the muscle, but it wasn’t painful. So I kept going. I knew at this point I wouldn’t be able to catch the architect (I certainly wasn’t interested in turning my first recovery run into speedwork), but I also had our housekeys, so I didn’t want to just wander off & leave him locked out, so I crossed my fingers that he was going to do the same loop he & I usually do together, and ran to intercept. Other than a brief pause for traffic when doing a street crossing, I jogged for the next 1.5 miles. My first mile (with all the walking) came in at about a 12 minute mile. My second was 10:45 – just where I want to be for my slow/easy runs. I took a 0.1 mile break at mile 2, and then jogged for another little bit with the architect.

My total mileage yesterday was 2.25 miles in about 25 minutes. I could’ve gone further, I think, but I didn’t want to push it too much. My leg was pretty sore last night, though. However, the pain has been getitng lower & lower – and now is 100% in my knee – the same knee that I injured last year. The knee that gave me problems off & on all last fall & winter. The knee that maybe, just maybe, I stopped doing my PT exercises for a few months ago after I declared myself cured.

So – it’s not breaking news that I’m a dumbass – we covered that earlier this week – but I think my PT was right when she said “run three days a week & do those damn exercises for the rest of your running life”. Today I’m going to go dig out all those exercises & start adding them back to my routine.

Tomorrow, I’m going to try to run 15 miles. I will, however, walk if there’s pain. My plan right now is to run the first 5 without stopping & then do a 0.9/0.1 run/walk for the last 10.  Also, I definitely need to pay  more attention to warming up before starting running – that is something I always used to do, but have lately stopped doing. When I walk 1/4 – 1/2 mile before running, things usually work better.

So – today is a swim & a bike (leaving soon for the pool – I have homework!) and then stretching & icing. I’m just hoping that I can recover from my own idiocy and still have a good marathon. In six weeks. ACK!

“Realizations” or “How Amy is a Dumbass” or “Maybe the PT Knows Best”

Aug 19th, 2009
by gazelle.
12 comments

So, I was going back through my training records (because I keep them. meticulously), and realized that every time I’ve dealt with any kind of leg injury in the past year, it’s always, always been when I start running four days a week. The first week of August, I ran Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Sunday. It was a great week. A 32 mile week. I felt so awesome & strong. And then I did my track work the very next Tuesday & pulled a muscle.

My PT told me (repeatedly is probably  not emphasizing things too much) that I shouldn’t run more than 3 times a week – at least not if I wanted to have a long running career.

And, every time I run more than 3 times/week, I get injured.

But, see….the deal is that I don’t care that there are a ton of people that run faster than me. That doesn’t bother me. I am just excited about how much faster I am now than three years ago. BUT, I am jealous of the people who can run more than me. I don’t necessarily want to run 50+ mile weeks, but I would like to run 5 days/week.

Apparently, at this point in time, anyways, that is not a realistic goal. I need to remember that I run for me, and if I want to keep running for me, I need to run smart.

So – I am currently revising my running schedule for the next 45 (eek!) days leading up to the marathon. I am going to run smart and strong.

After the marathon, I am taking six months to build up a good, strong base. In that six months, I am going to concentrate on my swimming & biking, and running will be for maintenance only.

I probably won’t hit 1,000 miles this year, but that’s okay – because if I run SMART, that means that I can try for 1000 miles next year, or the year after, and every year after that until I’m dead, right?

I haven’t finalized my plans post marathon (and of course everything is subject to change), but I really want to work on strength training, weight loss, and (as mentioned) swim & bike. Because I really want to do more tri’s next year. Maybe even a 70.3. Maybe. And I don’t want to be plagued with injury throughout that training.

In GOOD news, my pulled muscle is no longer really bothering me, although it starts to twinge if I sit too long (so I’ve been trying to get up & move around more than usual). I had GREAT swimming lessons with The Ambitious One on Monday. She’s a great coach, and I’m already feeling more confident & stronger in the water.  Pretty soon, I’m going to learn another stroke! And then I’ll be all fancy!

Last night, I went for a bike ride with the architect. We did about 11.5 miles at an average 12 mph pace (i.e. slowish, even for me, and practically standing still for the architect). I wore my bike shoes for the first time in a LONG time – I had a few accidents in them last year – not being able to get my feet unclipped in time – and am afraid of them. BUT, with a seat adjustment, and the shoes, and pedaling in the largest front chainring, I felt that I was biking much more efficiently.

I feel pretty good about having such great swim & bike resources. The running (when I’m not being stupid) is something I feel comfortable/confident about already, but the swimming & biking are challenging – although becoming less so.

And, in keeping with the “Amy is a Dumbass” theme, last week, I bought a mandolin slicer. I have wanted one for a long time, because the slicing! Is fancy! and mine also juliennes! The architect made some funny jokes about how many times I would use the slicer before slicing myself.

Answer: twice. Ladyfingers anyone?

Continuing this week’s theme

May 7th, 2009
by gazelle.
11 comments

I haven’t run since last Friday. My neck turns on its own today (well, not on its own, it still needs me to order it to turn, but it doesn’t need outside assistance – we have no Exorcist issues going on) and very little discomfort.

I haven’t done ANYTHING this week. My weekly training program is a bunch of ‘not dones’. And honestly? I’m almost okay with it. I’m a little nervous that my week off will impact my ability to run on Saturday, but I also know I trained WAY harder this year than last. I’m also more cognizant of what happens when you ignore illness/injury & keep running anyway (torn hamstring & 3 months off running, in case you were wondering), so I think I made the right choice.

I know I’ll be back on track next week, but right now I’m just looking for reassurance that I won’t have somehow forgotten how to run in 7 days. And that I won’t have to walk my half marathon and then end up collapsing in a blubbering pile of fail at mile 8. Reassure me, please…..