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Monday, August 5, 2013

Training Recap: Week of July 29-Aug 4


Runs this Week: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

Tuesday, July 30
Distance: 3.5 miles
Tunes: 10k Race Mix

Since I missed my long run over the weekend (family in town and Princess A's birthday), I was going to try to get in 7 miles on Tuesday...but that didn't happen either. This week was stressing me out a little schedule-wise. I needed to test out the knee pain though, and that only happens on longer distances. So I set out for 3-4 miles, running nearly the whole thing, rather than my 1:1 intervals. I did 3.5 miles and confirmed that the knee still hurt. At least I had my answer for my next PT appointment. She tried a new treatment on Thursday: low-light laser. I was really optimistic about this one. It took away at least 50% of the pain in touching the area. (The whole lower/outer part of my knee feels like a big bruise all the time, and hurts when running longer than a few miles.)

Did I mention I had knee surgery and have been in physical therapy since February? Well, I have. The surgery fixed the obvious problem, but the outer knee pain has continued on long runs. It seems like IT band-related pain, but I've been through 2 physical therapists and took months off of running to no avail. I've tried lots of other things along the way as well: KT tape, Leukotape, ultrasound, chiropractic, manual therapy, hot yoga, and Chi Running. So today I'm trying to schedule an appointment with my knee doctor and her soonest appointment is at a distant location and not for 6 weeks! *sigh* I was able to speak to someone else at the office who could squeeze me in 2 weeks from now, still at the distant location, and at 7:45 am. Eek! But at least I won't miss work...? (Trying to find that silver lining!)

Thursday, August 1
Time: 30 minutes
Tunes: I forget :P

A pretty good short run. I kept up with my goal intervals and did half marathon pace.

Sunday, August 4
Distance: 8 miles
Tunes: Another Mother Runner podcast (2+ episodes)
Woe is knee. (Forgive the pun, please.)
Again, I was hopeful about the laser therapy, but not altogether surprised that my knee acted up around mile 7. I was trying out the theory of running the first half of long run at 1-2 minutes slower than half marathon pace, with the second half either at pace or 30 seconds slower. To achieve that, I did intervals of run 1/walk 2 for a little under 4 miles, then 1:1 for the remainder. I had to add more walking in the very last mile due to the knee pain. I will be back at PT this week for some more laser and maybe to address the hip component to my knee issues. It's all connected... 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

#TBT Fall 2012 Overview

Here is a Throwback Thursday post!

Plagued with lots of little injuries on most long runs, I still kept on going with my training plan.

The highlight was the 2012 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon in November (Link to this year's event page: Run Disney Wine and Dine). It was also the first solo trip J and I have taken since Princess A was born (not counting work trips). We stayed at the All Star Music, which was great for what we need it for: inexpensive, Disney-provided transportation, and food court. The bonus was how pretty the outdoor areas were; I really liked that the landscaping was themed to the different types of music. We stayed in the Broadway section, and I enjoyed sitting on a bench in the mini imitation of Central Park, reading my book, resting up for the race.



This may have been the most relaxing race trip we have had. Being kid-free may have had something to do with it... ;) My parents have been great watching Princess A during other races, but juggling park time, meltdowns, and different sleeping schedules all add little bits of stress. Our schedule ended up like this:
  • FRIDAY - Fly to Orlando, check in to the hotel, go to the Expo, eat dinner
  • SATURDAY - Sleep in a little, visit a park, spend the afternoon at the hotel resting, RACE!
  • SUNDAY - Sleep in, enjoy the Epcot Food and Wine Festival *noms*
  • MONDAY - Fly home
I was conscious of my fueling during the race day, but I hadn't had any problems the year before, so I wasn't too concerned. I enjoyed a cider at lunch - I really wasn't planning on it, but Strongbow is hard to resist!

Getting ready was relaxing - this was the first race I haven't been really nervous. I was trained and knew my knee's limits. I bought some stickers at the Expo from One More Mile - I love their sayings. I stuck one with my race motto on the back of my shirt:


I felt really content in Corral C for this race (J was up in A, if I'm remembering correctly). I didn't lose too much ground on my walking intervals, and I was usually able to find some space to pass people on my running ones. I specifically took a picture of the Mile 7 marker because I was making good time AND no injuries were flaring up. Looking at my Garmin, I thought I had a chance at a PR (may have been bad math); I increased my speed on my run segments and decreased my photo stops. And that hope came crashing down just after the 10 mile mark. I remember another runner saying, "There's just a 5k left." And I thought, "Heck yeah! I got this! Put on the speed!" And my knee and ankle/calf/shin/foot decided very quickly, "Heck no!" The last section was challenging, but my high pain tolerance served me well enough to keep from slowing to a stroll. I finished in 2:49 - exactly halfway between my PR and my slowest half (2:40 and 2:59).

After finishing, I changed tops and stopped by an aid tent to get some ice strapped to my shin/ankle issue. It was a shifting pain, so it was hard to tell where it originated or what to do for it. I used my drink ticket for a sangria in a pouch that looked kind of like a Capri Sun. I entered the front gate of Epcot to get started on the after party. Since the last few tenths of the race went through Future World, there was a traffic jam of people who couldn't cross the course. The Disney cast members had a system, but there was still confusion until you got to the front of the mob. I decided to just go with the flow and cheer on the runners while I waited for them to allow crossovers. Maybe 5-10 minutes later I met up with J and we started our walk around the world for some snacky food. I wasn't feeling stellar - a wee bit queasy (though it didn't stop me from a few snacks and a drink!) and my feet/shins/somethings were ready to be done. We did one slow lap and went to find our bus back to the resort.

The next day, I was having a hard time at walking around the park due to the ankle/foot pain - sometimes it would get better and sometimes I just wanted to cry. The crazy thing is that about 2 days later, I was fine. I think I had inflamed everything by wearing my new Altras for the race. They are a zero drop shoe (not a barefoot-style shoe) and have an adjustment period. I followed the guidelines, but never wore them longer than 6 miles. Oops. I think I angered tendons and tiny muscles I didn't even know existed! I've since enjoyed my Altras on many training runs, but it was a tough lesson to learn about breaking them in.

All in all, a sweet race weekend, and we're signed up for the 2013 Wine & Dine!