A Blog About Running...Again

Long Beach City College - Veterans Memorial Stadium

About 3 weeks ago, I shared on social media that I did my longest run in years when I managed to finish an hour and 12 minutes which covered 6 miles and a pace of 12:01 minutes per mile. That was a proud moment for me since I haven't been able to run in recent years due to my permanent ankle injuries made worst by myalgia or pain on both my thighs caused by cholesterol medications. This often resulted in strained thigh muscles whenever I tried to run longer or if I increased my pace. My doctor has since discontinued my cholesterol medication for the past 3 months and prescribed the over the counter supplement called Omega 3-6-9 complex. We are going to re-evaluate this strategy on my next physical exam this coming October. As a result, my pain in my thighs have diminished. I can't do anything about the PTTD (posterior tibial tendon dysfunction) in my ankles because they are permanent injuries other than limiting my mileage and not try to push off my ankles to pick up the pace. Thus, I've had to make changes in my stride which makes it feel unnatural for me, namely, shortening it and keeping my feet lower to the ground to lessen the impact. Anyone who has run with me in the past know how noisy my natural stride is. Maybe nowadays they won't hear it as much due to the stride adjustment and the cushioned shoes. This has enabled me to run about twice a week the past couple of months with lots of recovery days in between runs. To take care of my thighs, I've been using a rolling pin to massage them and it seems to help.

Running at the Dominguez Gap

I haven't written about running in a while, years even maybe. Neither have I shared restarting it because I hate to jinx myself by getting reinjured and stopping again. But here I am writing about it and hoping that I can stay consistent without getting injured, even if it means just running twice a week.

I also reconnected with my former running partner Katherine, a neighbor whom I used to train for marathons with years ago. We have been running once a week from her house to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach City College. She would do repeats on the stadium steps while I jogged around the track, and the last time we were there, I managed to do 8 repetitions of walking up and down the steps. We were going to do the same thing today (June 23rd) but when we got there, a sign was posted saying that the stadium and track would be closed for maintenance and renovation for the next two months.

Katherine suggested that we run all the way to the Campfire Girls Lodge on the corner of Carson Street and Los Coyotes Diagonal. I said "what!?" my legs can't take me that far and still run back home! I said, why don't we try making it to the next intersection first (Clark Avenue) and then the next one, and the next one, then I'll tell her if I give up and ask to turn around. Well, we made it all the way to the lodge in 50 minutes so that meant that we had at least another 50 minutes of running to get back home, and I was already plodding before that. Remember, my longest run was an hour and 12 minutes and that really exhausted me. Oh my, what have I gotten myself into? With Katherine pulling me and me willing myself to reach the next intersection with hopes that we would hit a stop light, I kept plodding along which felt like I was running about a 12:30 per mile pace. A couple of weeks prior, I did a solo run which covered 5 miles at a pace of 11:31 and that was really pushing it based on my reduced stride and aerobic capacity.

I finally told Katherine that I was going to stop running when we reach an hour and a half then walk back the rest of the way, while she kept on running. When my watch ticked 1:30, I started walking and Katherine was nice enough to walk with me the rest of the way. After 12 minutes of walking, we made it back to her house. My goodness, that was only 2 minutes over our anticipated finishing time of 1:40! Did we manage a negative split up to the one hour and 30 minute mark despite what felt like a much slower pace going back home? Katherine said it was a 9 mile out and back course so I entered our time and distance on a running calculator and it spit out the results: 11:20 minutes per mile pace. What!? That even included the last 12 minutes of walking in the equation.

After the 1:12 run several weeks ago, my next goal would have been 1:15 or 1:20 to see if my legs hold up, so it was a shock to the system to go 1:30 suddenly. Hours after the run, my legs still feel ok although I expect them to be sore for a few days. I'll be doing the rolling pin massage as soon as I finish typing this. Wish me luck with hopes that I may be able to continue doing this exercise without further catastrophic injuries. This mainly means practicing self control because I tend to overdo it, hahaha!

BTW, Katherine can still probably push an 8:00 to 8:30 pace if she wanted to, so I was really thankful for her running ahead and pulling me all the way and talking to keep my mind off my heavy legs and heavy breathing :D

Philippines Vacation - Day 8 – Monday in Greenhills, Xavier, & Rockwell

Photo courtesy of Trip Advisor

Larry was still working for a couple of days before his schools' summer vacation began and he usually leaves home at about 4:30 a.m. to beat the traffic. I joined him Monday morning while he drove to Xavier High School in Greenhills. He showed me what building his office was in then drove me to Greenhills Shopping Center where I was going to spend my day before walking back to Xavier High School to meet up with him. I had to keep my eye on what streets I was on and where to turn to get back to Xavier from the shopping center.

Before dropping me off, Larry drove around the perimeter of the shopping center where a bunch of people came out every day to exercise. Then he left to go to work. I did some stretching then started a slow jog counter clockwise around the shopping center. To my right was a covered parking structure where music was playing and a couple of Zumba classes were going on. As I circled the area, I saw other runners, walkers, and run/walkers mostly going in the same direction as I was. After a couple of laps (which was approximately 1 kilometer in distance per lap or about 2/3 of a mile) I began to notice that despite of my slowness, I was proceeding at a steadier clip than most people and began to negative split each lap. I encouraged some kids who were running then slowing to a walk to go more slowly so they can run longer. I smiled at other exercisers and was enjoying the moment of being able to run on an even sidewalk and not have to dodge cars along the way.

I noticed a gentleman running at a steady pace which appeared to be the same as mine but he was running clockwise. So the next time I encountered him, I turned around, introduced myself and asked if I could run with him. He agreed and while we ran together I asked him if he was a marathoner because he appeared to have a very economical stride suited for long distance running. He replied that he used to do that in the past but not anymore. He then asked me how old I was and upon hearing that I was almost 59 years old, he looked surprised that I was still able to run the way I did and matched him stride for stride. But he was probably not more than 10 years younger than I am. So we ran and talked for a few more laps until on the last one, he did a sprint on a short straightaway that I didn’t match for fear of injuring myself. I increased my stride slightly until I caught up with him during his recovery jog. After his cool down jog, he had to go and I thanked him for letting me join him. I ran a few more laps until I reached 45 minutes (my goal for that day was just 30 minutes but because of the company, I was able to extend it), then walked for 15 more minutes.

While walking, I saw this pretty woman running but I had filled my running quota for the day and if I had done any more, I would have risked injuring my fragile ankles and legs. I bumped into that woman again later when she was done and as she walked back to her car with breakfast in hand, I asked her how many laps she did. She said “just 4”. I said that was better than most people, and it was then that I noticed her green eyes. I bid her a good day and went on my way. The green eyes? Well, they were probably contact lenses. It was fun interacting with other exercisers again. It what I mostly miss about not being able to run the way I used to.

Having started my workout at 6 a.m. and finishing at 7 a.m., it was another 3 hours before the shopping center opened. While I walked around, I saw a lot of security personnel in the area and they were conducting a hostage situation drill inside the still closed mall. Some pretended to be hostages hunched on the floor, others acted like they were injured, while others were rescuers carrying either another human being or a dummy from inside the mall to a triage area in the parking lot. In spite of the drill, the Zumba exercisers kept on dancing, the walkers kept on walking, and the joggers kept on jogging.

Greenhills Shopping Center swap meet

My legs got tired from exploring so I sat in one of the chairs in the taxi waiting area. Later on, I sent a text message to a real estate agent I had been in touch with for several months, to arrange for a meeting to look at some condos I was interested in. We agreed to meet on Wednesday in Cubao.

Before the mall opened, I noticed a badminton club on the third floor so I went up to check it out.  I used to play that sport competitively in my youth. There were a couple of middle aged guys and a couple of young guys playing, as well as a beginner’s class with about 5 students. I observed for a few minutes, then went back downstairs. Pretty soon the mall opened and was I glad to be finally indoors in the air conditioned building. The first floor had all sorts of merchandise and it reminded me of an indoor swap meet we have in Long Beach. In addition to jewelry, there were a lot of brand name merchandise like Under Armour, Nike, Birkenstocks, etc. When I did my calculation from pesos to dollars, they were remarkably cheap! Until I realized they were most likely fake. The second floor which Larry described to me earlier, was full of technical stuff like cell phones, cell phone accessories, tablets, etc. After experiencing the harrowing boat ride a few days before and almost getting my cell phone drenched in sea water, I bought myself a transparent waterproof case which cost about $6. I explored all the floors of the mall then went to a Smart phone store to have my cell phone checked out since I couldn’t get the 4G data to work. After a slight delay, the technician copied the Android settings from her own phone and my data plan started to work. I thanked the lady and gave her a fist bump before leaving.

I was getting peckish so I went around looking for a place to eat. There were plenty of course but I was looking for a congee place. Having found none, I found lomi (a type of thick noodle soup) in of all places, an eatery called Sizzler’s. Now, I don’t think it had any connections with the Sizzler’s in the U.S. but they also served steaks. So I ordered the noodles and while I was eating, Ninette texted me asking how my day was going and informing me that there was a bomb threat in her school – Ateneo De Manila. She was working from home of course. Anyway, there were not too many details yet since the situation was ongoing. She asked me to buy some bread floss from a shop called Bread Talk. Bread floss? She explained that Bread Talk was in a another building. When I paid for lunch, the waiter brought me my money back and informed me that a couple of my 20 peso bills were no longer in circulation. Those were the bills I got from the cashier at Solaire the day before! I paid with the proper bills then headed off to another building to look for the bakery that sold bread floss. It was in the building where the movie theaters were. That reminded me that I once took an ex girlfriend on a date in the old Greenhills Shopping center when the theaters were still located in a different area. Anyway, I went up to the third floor where the theaters were and found some benches to sit on while waiting for the time for me to walk to Xavier High School to meet my brother. When that time came, I went to the bread floss place and made my purchase. I thought it was a meat filled piece of bread but I later learned that the meat was actually the shavings of floss-like substance on top of the bread itself. That shows you how ignorant I am about these supposedly gourmet things.

So I walked back to Xavier on the usual irregular sidewalks with parked cars and having arrived a few minutes early, texted Larry that I’ll be waiting in the student drop off and pick up zone. He called security who escorted me to his work area. The faculty had an end of the school year party where they complimented each other, said goodbye to departing teachers, sang karaoke, and of course had some food which they invited me to partake. I respectfully declined since I felt I still had a bellyful of lomi. We excused ourselves shortly and Larry gave me a brief tour of the school. He would be transferring from the New Technology department back to his previous position of Athletic Director next school year.

Power Plant Mall in Rockwell Center

We left Xavier and headed to Ateneo Law School in the Rockwell area of Makati to pick up Robynne. While waiting for her, we walked around Power Plant Mall. Apparently this area was the location of a former power plant which I no longer remember. My goodness, I used to take jeepney rides there with another ex girlfriend whose family lived in that area in 1979! As I was to learn a few days later, my ex girlfriend’s mother still lives just one street away from the Power Plant Mall. When Robynne arrived, we went to an office supplies store where she had to buy some school stuff while I found myself buying 4 tri-color pens for about 16 cents each. Then it was time to hit traffic again on the way home. It was a full day for me. As you can see, it took 2 and a half pages to write about it.

The Hoka One One Tryout

       

The HOKA ONE ONE Bondi 3 and Rapa Nui 2

          I haven’t bought any running shoes for about 4 to 5 years mainly because I haven’t worn out what I already have due to infrequent running in recent years. In those 4 to 5 years of no purchase, the barefoot running movement had come and gone and in some cases swung over to extra thick soles in some shoes. When some of my running friends started posting pictures of their thick soled Hoka One One shoes, I became curious about them. I knew when they first came out that they were very expensive and cost $150! The shoes have a negative foot drop, a rocker sole, and due to its thickness, a cushioned ride. Being an overpronator with already damaged posterior tibilialis tendons, they were the exact opposite of rigid, motion control shoes I’ve worn for decades.

          I checked the prices online and found some closeout deals as much as 40 percent off on older models. The Bondi 3 was down to $83.99, still steep but considering the price of running shoes nowadays, more reasonable. So I ordered one just to try it out and see what the hulabaloo was all about. Maybe it would resurrect my running, maybe not, and if not then I can always wear them for walking or at work. The shoes arrived in less than a week and a couple of days later, it was time for a test drive.

          I started with baby steps and as slowly as I could jog. Any slower, I might as well have walked briskly. But I really wanted to feel the shoes. At first the cushioning made me feel like I was sinking a little instead of being propelled forward. But then again it could have been that my legs have lost muscle memory from infrequent running. I was expecting it to feel like the 1979 version of the Brooks Vantage which was very cushioned and bouncy when new and was rated best shoe by a running magazine at the time. It turned out Brooks paid the magazine for that rating. But I digress. Another thing I noticed is that it felt as if I was running more upright instead of leaning forward and on subsequent runs, my knees felt more underneath me instead of my usual overstride. Could this be due to the negative foot drop as opposed to the usual wedge shape of running shoes? But, back to this first test run which lasted a whole hour. I kept track of the mileage on Runkeeper and when the run ended, I checked the distance and pace. Heavens to Betsy! It was much slower than I thought! 4.94 miles in 1:00:54 at a pace of 12 minutes and 24 seconds per mile. The upside was that my ankles didn’t hurt and it felt like a good workout despite the utter slowness.

          Two days later, I went for another run but this time, I programmed Runkeeper to alert me to run for 2 minutes and walk for 1 minute. Another one hour run but this time despite the walk breaks, my pace was 11:14 per mile. This must have been a miscalculation by Runkeeper. Maybe the GPS didn’t connect until mid-run. The third run which was only 30 minutes yielded an 11:02 pace using my trusty old Garmin 305. Still no ankle pain.

          I went back to the website I bought the Bondi 3 from and looked for more closeout deals. I noticed the Rapa Nui 2 for 73.99 with an original price of 130. Mind you, these were trail shoes and I don’t run on trails but nobody cares what surface I’d run on them. I hemmed and hawed to myself but ordered it anyway. During the run test, I noticed that even though it was still rated as a cushioned shoe, it felt more like a stable shoe because it was a little stiffer than the Bondi 3. It actually felt like it was propelling me forward a little better and the 11:03 and 11:24 pace on the 2 minute run/1 minute walk intervals seemed to reflect that on the two workouts I tried them on. Either that or I was beginning to regain my running legs.

          Those short run/walk intervals seem to be working for me as an alternative workout to my stationary biking. I’m not looking to increase my pace or lengthen my run. I’m just happy that the Hoka One One appears to have rejuvenated my running. I’ve only had 6 workouts between the two shoes and I hope I can keep on doing what they have allowed me to do so far and not just a placebo effect of having new shoes.

          Unfortunately, two days after writing the above experience, I suffered a strained right thigh which had nothing to do with the shoes. Apparently 3 days a week of running was a little bit more than my body can handle. That's just the way my muscles react to running in the past few years. They can only tolerate about 6 weeks of running regularly before they break down again. Nevertheless, I'm still sold on the Hoka One One shoes. I'll start running in them again as soon as I heal.

Impromptu Run at Signal Hill

          For the past 3 years or so that I've been doing the Saturday morning walk at Signal Hill with the Long Beach and Palos Verdes Peninsula Walkers Meet Up group, I've either just walked the whole course, walked and ran it random intervals, walked with a 20 pound backpack, ran just the uphills, ran just the downhills, or ran just the flat portions. I even did a time trial walk last year which I wrote about here: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/07/signal-hill-time-trial-walk.html.  But I never ever ran the whole course until last Saturday, April 12th.

          I don't know what got into me. At the spur of the moment I decided to try to run the whole 6 mile course that we normally walk. It must have been all the sitting around and eating all week that made me feel the need to do this. The conservative plan was to run at least the first 30 minutes regardless of what part of the course it might take me, then walk the rest of the way. Except 30 minutes turned into 35, which in turn got extended until I finally decided to just keep on going since I was getting close to the finish anyway. My guesstimates on how many minutes it would take me to climb the hills were pretty spot on, and the downhills and the flats were run at pretty much the same pace as the uphills since I can't really stretch out my stride anymore without injuring myself. Familiarity with the course helped a lot in the pacing. There were 6 major climbs on the course.

          I knew the course to be exactly 6 miles based on using my GPS watch several times in the past, but which I did not bring last Saturday. Nevertheless, when I finally clicked off my chronograph at the finish, I was surprised to see that it took me exactly 1 hour and 12 minutes which meant 12 minutes per mile. Not bad for a hilly course from an occasional runner. I knew for sure that I would pay for it the next day in the form of delayed onset muscle soreness (D.O.M.S.), but as I write this about 30 hours later, it hasn't happened. Perhaps because the pace was too slow and I wasn't bounding downhills which creates most of the muscle damage. Better still is that my bad ankles survived it.

          On that day when I was invited to a church to celebrate the 40th day memorial for a relative who passed away too soon, I dedicated this impromptu run since I wasn't able to make it to the 8 a.m. mass.

Other notes about walking at Signal Hill: A few weeks ago I went to Kmart to look at the 20 pound weight vest they were selling. It was too wide and thus too loose for my torso. I also felt that the small sand bags had the potential to be torn open down the line due to stress fatigue or perhaps continuous rubbing against the pockets they were inserted in. So, I finally placed the sand I bought from Home Depot weeks ago inside plastic bags reinforced with duct tape, and placed it in my backpack to substitute the 20 pound weight plate I usually carried in it. I walked with the group and felt slower than usual, so when I got home, I weighed the backpack on a bathroom scale and saw that it was 24 pounds. I felt every extra ounce of those 4 pounds while walking up and down Signal Hill. If that wasn't bad enough, the following week, while putting the backpack in the trunk of my car, I pinched a nerve on the right side of my trapezius muscle, which radiated down my chest. If it wasn't on the right side and didn't feel muscular, I would have thought I was having a heart attack because of the radiating pain. I may have to switch back to the weight plates and be more careful when I mount the backpack on my back next time.

          Feeling thankful for being able to run a hilly 6 miles :-)

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Running Alzheimer's or Amnesia?

          It would be too easy to say that the only thing that runs in me is my nose, nor can I say that I like my eggs runny since I don't eat eggs anymore. In the past month since I've become unemployed, I've had the runs, or rather, I started running again. Not very much - just a couple of times a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, plus a walk/run at Signal Hill on Saturdays with the Long Beach Area Walking Club. The weekday runs only lasts between 30 and 45 minutes which are substitutes for indoor cycling the rest of the week. I'm able to try running again because even though I might overstretch my ankle tendons, I don't have to go to work and dodge potentially violent psychiatric patients. Here is what I found out: all the muscle memory from decades of running has developed Alzheimer's Disease or at the very least, amnesia. My body has forgotten how to run and it feels like I have tired legs all the time. You know - the way your legs feel the day after a very long run or a hard interval workout. When I was forced to stop running due to PTTD a few years ago, my aerobic capacity was way ahead of the slow pace my legs were capable of doing. Nowadays even when I force myself to run the slowest pace possible, it still makes me breathless and I don't seem to be able to get into a steady state anymore. Maybe if I run a couple more times a week, I might get my running legs back but twice is all that my muscles would allow due to my year long statin-induced muscle pain. I'm not sure whether it's only my muscles that can't go longer or if it is my brain that gets tired more quickly. The mental toughness I once had when training for marathons is also now gone. Am I complaining about losing muscle and mental endurance? It's certainly understandable for me to lament it, but since I wasn't expecting much, I'm pretty content on being able to do my 30 to 45 minutes of the slowest possible jogging that my body allows. I don't foresee myself running in races anymore or training with the AREC running club, but once in a while I might challenge myself with a very long walk like the birthday walks I do, or maybe in 2014, it might be a run/walk combination. In the meantime, I'll ride this running wave as long as I possibly can.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

A Few Runs Weeks Apart + Packing It At Signal Hill

          Two runs two weeks apart. Not bad for someone who doesn't run anymore. The first time was for just 38 minutes carrying a backpack to and from the grocery store to pick up some fruits and vegetables. The second time  a couple of weeks later was to deposit a $4.50 refund check from Charter Internet. That lasted a little bit longer  at 50 whole minutes. But wait, there's more. Two days after the bank deposit, I ran to and from Fresh and Easy market to check out how much they increased the price of the cheap wine I usually buy there (no, there is no more 2 buck Big Kahuna). These runs happen to be a big deal for me nowadays not only because I actually ran but because they lasted longer than my self- imposed at least 30 minutes a day stationary bike workouts.

          Now that I don't have a job which happens to be in a somewhat dangerous field, perhaps I should attempt to run slightly more. I've had to curtail runs in recent years because I had to avoid the pain from my injuries, which would have physically impaired me from moving quickly enough if I had to defend myself against potentially violent psychiatric patients. For now, I don't have to worry about that since I'm jobless.

          To get out of the house, I went to Signal Hill for a walk with the Long Beach Area Walking Club last Saturday morning. There were only six of us who showed up but it was actually nice to be able to walk, talk, and breath somewhat heavily while on a walk with a group. How did I manage to accomplish it? By putting on the "equalizer". What is the equalizer you ask? It's just a plain backpack with a 15 pound weight in it. I've walked with it on a flat course before but it was the first time I tried it up and down Signal Hill with the walking club. It worked pretty well in slowing me down while still giving me an adequate workout, and enabling me to stay with the pack instead of walking way ahead at my own pace. Carrying the weight wasn't much of a problem other than the strain on the shoulders due to the backpack straps. And then offloading the pack after the walk, I was still hunched forward while walking as if the pack was still on my back. It was probably the first time during a walking workout that I got lost in conversation with others like it was when I was running with friends from my running club - AREC. Coincidentally, the woman I was talking with used to be a human resources manager and happened to know a little bit about Pacific Hospital. So for the hour and 50 minutes we walked together, that's what we talked about. Anyway, that's my new plan with the walking club -weigh myself down and start talking with the group. I may add another 5 pounds next time and hope the weights don't tear a hole in the bottom of my backpack.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Full Stride Moments

Recycled Pic From Several Weeks Ago

          This one is more than a week late because I didn't feel like writing anything due to health concerns going on with my family (Larry's Transplant and What Happened Next).
          Well, last week I was with the Long Beach Area Walking Club again at Signal Hill, a couple of weeks after I did the solo time trial (Signal Hill Time Trial Walk). This time I did my usual going ahead then coming back with the pack with no particular plan in mind. I ran short distances when I wanted to and walked to recover. There was more walking than running that day. I didn't even swing my arms vigorously during the recovery phases, and as I'll tell you later, that made a difference. For some reason, there were more Signal Hill police cars patrolling than usual. I also saw new sign in one of the trails saying the path was restricted due to people throwing rocks at the houses below. One of the other walkers also told me that boot camps were now banned so I didn't see any that day. There used to be at least 2 or 3 in the past that I've seen on Saturday mornings. I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but Signal Hill has a couple of radio antennas at it's peak and every time I approach the antennas, my FM radio would lose it's signal and all I get is white noise.
          Running nowadays consists of very short distances using very short steps which keeps the pain in my thighs from the statin myopathy under control. But last week, I saw some young whippersnappers running who looked like members of a high school cross country team, so I couldn't resist running with a full stride though still covering short distances, which felt really good. During those brief attempts at running hard, I was also running happy. All that walking and running back and forth enabled me to cover 8.5 miles in the time it took the rest of the group to cover 6 miles. Oh but those short and sweet full stride moments took their toll on my legs. My legs felt so tired and battered after those 8.5 miles and those full stride moments made for much longer recovery moments. It's been more than a week and I could still feel the soreness in my hips. At least the soreness didn't turn to pain.
          These past few weeks, I've been tracking my pace and I'm mystified by the inconsistencies. Let me bore you with the numbers. Last Saturday while walking and running, the average pace over 8.5 miles was 13:02. On those same hills, I covered 7 miles at 13:34 pace of plain walking during my time trial. Hmm, not much difference, right? A few weeks before that on flat terrain, my walking pace was 13:05 for 6 miles. Then there was that 11:25 pace walk/run on flat terrain for 9 miles with AREC, which was a whole lot better than the 11:32 pace I did during a 4 minute jog with 1 minute recovery walk I did a week and a half ago for 4 miles. So will I be correct to conclude that it is better to do random run/walks instead of timed intervals because I'm able to cover distances faster that way? To add to that, there is not much gain in pace while doing a run/walk up and down hills as compared to walking as fast as possible, although the running part stimulates the brain better. I find that faster arm swings make for faster walking. Well, no use being so anal retentive about it. I'll just walk or run as I feel no matter the pace.

In The Company of AREC Runners

This appears like I'm doing some sort of duck walk with my butt sticking out, however it just shows how difficult it is to do the heel to toe walking technique. Looks funny, doesn't it? Photo courtesy of Dave K.

          Last week AREC running club members received an email saying that new t-shirts were available for those who haven't received this year's beach towel for being a member. I picked up my towel a couple of months ago but it had remained unused and sitting in my closet. I sent a message to Kevin B. who was distributing the new shirts to find out if I could exchange my beach towel for a shirt and he said yes. Thus the reason for me showing up at the AREC training run last Saturday morning. Having done a jog/walk last Thursday, I thought I'd just do a very brisk walk with the club for the shorter distance of 6 miles just like I did 2 months prior when I was able to cover the distance at a 13:05 pace (my fastest walking pace ever).

          So there I was last Saturday morning with the club, a walker amidst all the runners of which about 115 showed up despite the 4th of July holiday weekend. Man, this club is really going strong! Before the pre-run talk even started, I began my walk so as not left too far behind when all the runners finished later. Like I said, I was only planning to walk but started inserting some short jogs in between walking intervals. This soon transformed itself to slightly longer jogs with shorter walk intervals. In the meantime, I kept looking behind me to check if the runners were catching up. I stopped at Stephanie's water station and drank some Gatorade and thanked her for being there, then continued my walk/jog (now a jog/walk). About a quarter of a mile later, I felt a tap on the back and the two leading AREC runners (Brian C. and Dylan B.) had caught up to my early start. They must have started later than usual because I was almost at 4 miles at that point. Pretty soon more runners were passing me (Johan D., Mike S., Kate R., etc.) and even though I couldn't run continuously, it felt good to be among the company of runners. I even saw Jennifer S. whom I ran with about 3 times last year. Oh, I forgot. Stephanie's water stop was supposed to be the turnaround point for the 6 mile distance but I continued on and jog/walked up 6th street hill before turning around. The longer distance for the day was 10 miles but I didn't want to go that far, so when I reached the corner of Bayshore and 2nd Streets, I turned left instead of continuing to Ocean Boulevard. Since I wasn't following the exact 6 or 10 mile route, I had to make adjustments so I could hit at least 9 miles by the end. One thing I noticed at about 3 miles and around Naples Plaza was how the numbers or the Sole Runners training group had diminished dramatically, while the AREC group has grown.

          When I reached 7 miles, I could feel my legs tiring which I attribute to the lingering effects of statin myopathy. Although my thighs and hips don't hurt as much, they still get tired more than usual. But at least they don't feel injured. It seem that the doctor reducing my Atorvastatin dose to 10 mg. three times a week has helped. At this point the duration of my jogs equaled the duration of my walks because my jogging stride started to deteriorate, and I did this until I reached the finish line.

          When I finally clicked off my GPS watch which I haven't worn in months until last Thursday, I didn't know what my pace was. I was thinking maybe around 12:30 because when I did a jog/walk on Thursday where I felt I jogged more than I walked (actually I jogged the first 2 miles and jog/walked the rest up to 4.69 miles), I ended up with 11:44 pace. So when I checked my average pace last Saturday for the 9 miles I finished, I was ecstatic to find out that I did an 11:25 pace, deteriorating stride and all! I would have never expected that and I can only attribute that pace to being in the company of the runners in my club. To tell you the truth, never mind the pace, after I finish these things, I still don't know how I'm able to cover these distances nowadays especially when they are over 6 miles. For that, I remain thankful.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Signal Hill Walk/Jog – June 29, 2013

I had plenty of time to kill before going to my Uncle’s 75^th birthday party so I joined the Long Beach Walking Club for their Signal Hill 900 calorie burn walk on Saturday. It doesn’t even come close to that calorie burn of course. Last time I used my GPS watch, it estimated my calorie burn to be only in the 400 range, while another walker’s Runkeeper app, estimated expenditure to be about 600, but then she was taller and heavier.

I woke up with a weight of 115.8 pounds so there was no need for me to workout too hard especially with the heat wave that day. I thought I might just walk with the group easily throughout the 6 mile course. That didn’t go as planned because as soon as we hit the first hill just 100 meters from the start, I felt the need to huff and puff so I could get high. A young kid of about 15 ahead of me was bounding up Hill Street while I shuffled along keeping as steady a pace as possible that would bring me over the top. It worked! I’ll leave the bounding to the young whipper snapper. As I mentioned before, I had time to kill since the party wasn’t until 1 p.m. so I backtracked to the group and walked uphill with them. Oh, I forgot to mention that the group was larger than usual – there were at least 10 of us. That was the most people I’ve walked with at Signal Hill ever since I joined them 3 years ago. There was this one lady who asked me if I was Filipino, then she mentioned that her kids are half Filipino. She also asked me why I was walking so fast and I told her that I was pre-burning my calories in anticipation of the overeating of Filipino food later at the party. She asked me if I was planning on eating a whole lechon (roast pork). Due to my cholesterol problems, I couldn’t do that anymore (not that I can eat a whole pig).

So back to the walk. I did what I usually do with the group which is walk ahead of them, then do short jogs on the uphills, then walk back to the group, which increased my distance more than the measured 6 miles, my workout time, and of course the calorie burn. Because it was a hot day, it was the first time ever that I wore a tanktop while working out with this group. On one of the slight downhill portions, I was walking at my fastest pace and almost caught up with a man who was jogging. If he didn’t make a right turn, I would have. At another flat portion, I convinced a couple of the women to jog with me for a couple of minutes and then one of them on an uphill portion. And so it went until the group arrived at the end of 6 miles having covered the distance in about 2 hours. In that same amount of time, I covered about 8 ½ miles walking and jogging with all the back and forth I did.

Remember I said I woke up with a weight of 115.8 pounds? When I rechecked it post workout, I was down to 111.8 pounds. Whoa, that’s a little too much fluid loss. It must have been the hot day that caused that 4 pound loss. I hydrated and replenished my lost fluids over the next couple of hours.

Still, I had about 3 more hours to kill before the party so aside from rehyhdrating, I also lifted some weights while I finished reading the day’s newspaper. After pre-burning the calories and starving myself for so long, it was time to go to the party and commit the sin of gluttony. Oops, I meant so I can replenish my glycogen and protein stores.The fare: palabok, sisig, empanada, lumpia shanghai, crabs in coconut milk, chicken salad, beefsteak, baked Alaska, kulma, pizza, leche flan, cheesecake, and ube birthday cake. I confess to almighty God that I committed gluttony. I hope the 2 hour walk/jog beforehand was enough for my penance.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Statin Myopathy, Cholesterol Level, Diet, AREC, and Running

          

Photo courtesy of David K. - AREC President

          Normally, I'm overly excited about rejoining AREC's Long Beach Marathon training, but due to my most recent muscle problems, this time, I'm just elated at making it there at all.

          Backtracking a little bit to give you some history: I had to start taking Lipitor again three months ago because my cholesterol level went up when I stopped taking the medication due to muscle pains as a side effect. How bad have the pains been? Well, if I do the same type of workout two days in a row, let's say for example- using the recumbent bike, my leg muscles are more likely to hurt. Giving myself a few months break while taking Coenzyme Q-10 supplements relieved the pain and enabled my muscles recover somewhat. Even though I only took half the dose of the Lipitor (20 mg.) and only 3-4 times a week this time around, I began experiencing the muscle pains again after just 3 months, mainly on both thighs. So I requested a cholesterol level test from my doctor before visiting him and later found out that even the lower dose of medication taken roughly every other day decreased my cholesterol level from 220 to 178. More importantly, my LDL also dropped and my LDL/HDL ration remained good. So the good doctor recommended that I further reduce the dose of the Lipitor to 10 mg. three times a week in hopes that my muscle pains would disappear. By the way, I walked from home to the lab and back for my blood draw and that made for a six mile workout :-) We shall see if the doctor's recommendation is effective in a few weeks.

          A couple of days after the doctor's visit, I showed up at AREC marathon training not necessarily to train with them but mainly to pick up the beach towel which is what we get for being a member this year (last year it was a windbreaker). How often do I go to AREC runs? Well I saw a woman with her husband carrying a baby last Saturday. I never even saw that woman pregnant last year! Anyway, the workout for the day was either 4 or 6 miles and I opted for the longer distance, thinking it would take me about an hour and a half to cover it. Of course a few people after seeing me walking asked if I was recovering from an injury and all I can say is that it's just SNAFU (situation normal, all fu.... up). Nevertheless, my pace felt pretty brisk but since I was the only walker who was doing 6 miles, I was in last place. So much so that when I reached the turnaround point where the water station was, I suggested to Tina and Rosie that they could probably start packing up the supplies because I was the last one . About a mile down the road, good old Dave, the club president was still taking pictures and waiting for the last person. Thank you Dave, for being such a caring president :) I wended my way through the streets of Naples (Long Beach) in the last two miles until I reached the finish area at Joe's Crab Shack. When I clicked off my stopwatch, it registered 1:18:32. Hmm, that seemed quite fast for 6 miles but I couldn't calculate pace per mile out of the top of my head. See, I haven't been using my GPS watch lately. I had to wait to get home to plug in the numbers in a pace calculator before finding out that I had walked at an average pace of 13 minutes and 5 seconds per mile for 6 miles! My goodness, I've never walked that fast before, with or without muscle pain! That was pleasantly surprising since if I'm not mistaken, my previous fastest pace was about 13:40 per mile. I haven't exactly done any roadwork lately other than my futile attempts to jog a few weeks ago before my thigh muscles began being affected by the statins again. I guess those treadmill hill walks must be helping. And I should probably also thank AREC and it's members for the motivation they provided. And to think that I even forgot to bring coughdrops which I suck on during workouts to keep my mouth moist. Maybe not carrying 2 to 3 pieces of candy lessened my load which enabled me to walk faster :) Now if I can only learn proper racewalking technique...

Always appreciating Dave's photos :)

          Going back to my battle with cholesterol - taking psyllium and fiber gummies weren't working by themselves. In addition to the lower dose of Lipitor, I also had to do other things like cutting the cheese from my diet, bringing my own turkey sandwiches to work instead of eating the ham and cheese they give out for snacks, substituting fat free sherbet for ice cream, and using imitation crab meat or tofu instead of meat for my barley and vegetables concoction. Other things I've cut out are hamburgers, hotdogs, fried chicken, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches except for an occasional jelly sandwich. One thing I can't let go completely though are the sweets, which is my guilty pleasure, and some of you may have already seen my dessert photos on Facebook.

          So two things to be happy about: being able to walk faster and lowering my cholesterol to healthy levels. To end this post, I decided to just focus on the things that I can do (like walking at a good pace) and be thankful for them rather than lament what I cannot do (like running).

Always try to look good when you see a photographer :)

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

SYTYCR - So You Think You Can Run

Apologies to the TV show So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD).
          I have been taking CoEnzyme Q-10 supplements for several months to counteract the myopathy caused by taking Atorvastatin for high cholesterol and thought that my thigh muscles had recovered enough to try running again. After a few weeks of dabbling on this running or plodding workout, I have come to either an assumption or conclusion. It's not a new one because I've been arriving at the same result for at least the past two years. I've already been content with my exercise routine in recent months without running, but for some reason I keep getting drawn back to give it one more try, not in the hopes of returning to previous capabilities, but just as another workout option. It worked for about three weeks, then not surprisingly, my muscle imbalances and statin related myopathy came back to spank my butt. As if it wasn't hard enough trying to run again.
          How did it happen this time? Was the cause due to restarting the Lipitor three months ago and the effect the return of myopathy even with the coenzyme Q-10 supplements? Or was the cause due to restarting running and doing 2 minute pickups too soon with the effect as being too much too soon? More likely, it is the combination of both. My muscles were already achy from just three weeks of running 2 to 3 times a week and the pickups just took it over the top. It didn't take very much - just 3 pickups in the last 10 minutes of a 40 minute run, but that's all it took to trigger the pain on both hips. I have already chopped my stride to lessen the impact but with the pickups I unintentionally extended the stride which I think started the pain. My hips don't lie when they say they're hurting. How do I know if it's really a bad injury? When I descend down stairs, it hurts like the dickens (I really don't know what that means). I have to hold on to the rails to keep my balance and so I don't fall. It's not the kind of pain that can be relieved by analgesics either. Believe me, that's based on experience and research. Would you believe the feeling of utter depression actually overcame me the day after and it lasted for several hours? Being debilitated made me feel that way. Fortunately I got over that funk the next day.
          So it's back to no running (or plodding). Is it safe to assume that I should stop making these comeback attempts? When something that give you most pleasure also gives you the most pain, then is it definitely time to stop forever? The problem with running is that it's like heroin which from what I hear, the detox and cravings are intense. Nevertheless, getting high on running even just for three weeks was worth it. SYTYCR? I cannot, or rather , should not. Until the pain dissipates and/or the cravings start again...
          How I wish someone had developed a training plan for people with myopathy, perhaps something similar to a beginner's guide to running. As far as Do I Think I Can Dance? HA! Let's just say that Elaine on Seinfeld dances much better!

Getting a Little High Then Overdosing

          Darn it! I was editing a draft of this post when the Polaris Office word processor app crashed and took all the edits with it, and just as I was getting in a flow. Unfortunately, it didn't autosave the work so I have to start all over. Believe me, that lost document was much better than this.

          Puff, puff, pass. If only it were that. It's feels more like huff, and puff, and pass out. Running can feel so rough when you haven't been doing it for awhile. Waking up with what are now daily aches and pains doesn't help any. I had one of those days and even considered not running that day, even though I had been looking forward to it in the days preceding.  But hey, I figured I ran three days ago in the afternoon after working 2 night shifts, I should be able to at least try running again after having the night off. So I laced up my running shoes and got out the door just planning on putting one foot in front of the other for what I hoped was at least 30 minutes. After all I had to work off the overdose of red velvet cookies I had the night before. That was my first overdose (darn it Von's, stop putting those things on sale!!!).

          Well, it was one of those runs that the body never got out of warm-up mode. The muscles and joints never loosened, the breathing was labored all the way, and hitting a good stride never happened. You've heard of a working stiff? Well, I looked like a plodding stiff. Remember when running used to be called jogging? Can I claim to have discovered a new aerobic workout named plodding? How can you look good while running very slowly? Right now there is no way and it's just plain running ugly. Since when did a gentle rise in the road not feel so gentle anymore? I used to attack those things. Attacking hills or even the flat road doesn't exist in my running vocabulary anymore due to a certain amount of fear of getting injured. I would have to be constantly in a 'protect mode'. While on this plodding workout, I saw a school bus full of children who were probably thinking "gee mister, you're so slow". Heck, I didn't care. After all, I was out plodding. And a tough plod it was. I should train my brain to think that every run is a good run regardless of how tough it is. If there is one advantage of running at glacial pace, it is that I am reaching distances much shorter than before, so it doesn't take long before I have to turn around and run back home.

          Hard days and easy days? Ha! They are all hard days. If I ran any slower, I'd be as good as stationary. My arm carriage is so high, it's like having a permanent shoulder shrug. Not very efficient or loose at all. Even with all that difficulty, I went out plodding again two days later and lasted for a full hour! What a hard way to get high. But it wasn't that which made me high, although it helped. It was checking my exercise log and seeing that I had done three runs in the past week. Hard to believe that I was capable of doing that anymore.

          Persistence, or lack thereof is probably one of the reasons people give up when they first try a new exercise program. For me, this plodding workout might as well be a new exercise program. Despite the difficulty I am having now, barring injury, I will persist until it starts becoming a habit again rather than a chore. For now, persistence is having managed to do three very slow runs last week.

          Apart from getting a runner's high and overdosing on red velvet cookies, I had a second OD last week which was caused by too much caffeine. I had such a tremendous buzz from overcaffeineation that it took more than 4 hours to come down from it. I needed some help from a little vino to come down and lots of water to decrease the caffeine concentration from the body, and so I could excrete it through urine. So how does one get overcaffeineated? The darn Gevalia coffee tasted so good, I kept sipping it without regard to the consequence. It was one of those times when I brewed it to perfect proportions as far as taste was concerned, but apparently too strong for my body to handle. If I were still able to run long distance, I might have finished a marathon on that buzz.
       
          So there it is - three high inducing runs, I mean, plods, two overdoses, and lots of persistence. You can't get any much higher than that. Anybody wanna join me start a new plodding boom? Then I can rename this blog -Thoughts About Life and Plodding.

Surviving The Loss of Running Muscle Memory

Well here I go again trying something I had not done since last December. I would like to say that I have given up running altogether because of my ankle tendon problems and myopathy stricken thighs due to Atorvastatin, but I broke that non-running habit again last Thursday. Any semblance of running nowadays may be worth writing about because of the glaring absence of it in my exercise logs. So this is what happened last Thursday: I jogged to the bank and back home. Not like what I did a couple of weeks before when I jogged 1 minute and walked 1 minute, but one continuous, non-stop jog other than stopping to withdraw money from the ATM and for stop lights. One might call it a slow jog but jogging already implies slow, so perhaps it was more like shuffling my feet forward and backward. Nevertheless I thought it was faster than my fastest walking pace. So how did it feel? Hmm, very, very different. It felt like I had never ran before because the muscle memory that I had  from decades of running had developed Alzheimer’s disease. The unfamiliar strides I took were the shortest I had ever taken, which was probably helpful because I landed less heavily. What was surprising to me was that I was anticipating for the myopathy to act up, but it never did, so I just kept on plugging along.

Another surprise awaited me on the way home. I ran into Katherine with her dog who also happened to be running to and from her bank. The muscle memory might be gone but at least I remember my neighbor Katherine whom I trained with for years. I may have mentioned her before in one or two of my posts and I'd like to lay to claim that I contributed to her marathon PR in L.A. (correctly or otherwise), because of the workouts we did together especially the ones on the track in Long Beach City College. For two people who supposedly don’t run anymore, it was funny to have met on the street while running to and from different banks. We separated ways after exchanging a few pleasantries.

A couple of blocks from home, I had to do a double take in a strip mall because I noticed that the video store I used to rent DVD’s from had closed down, no doubt due to lack of customers who have probably since switched to Netflix, Red Box, or at worst, illegal downloading. I was sad to see it go. I was there so frequently in recent years that the managers knew my membership number by heart. Another thing that tells you is that I haven’t exercised outdoors much so it was the first time I noticed the video store was gone. A few more minutes later, I was back home from the unexpected 42 minute jaunt through the neighborhood with not much or any permanent damage done to both muscles or tendons.

A couple of days later, I logged another run, but this time it was on the treadmill, which lasted 50 minutes. It almost felt like my running muscles were slowly regaining their memory.  I'm so glad the Press Telegram fixed their Android app (there was a problem with it for a couple of weeks) and it made for better reading while running on the machine.  Okay, this can't be right. What's this showing up in my workout log? Two runs for the week? Highly unusual nowadays. My body has learned to live without running but after a couple of these recent experiences, I'm feeling the craving again. It's like a damn drug! Is that normal?

From that running high came the downer two days later – the tragedy of Boston Marathon 2013. WHY???!!!

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

A Warmer Signal Hill Walk

         What, you may ask, does a picture of a sandwich have anything to do with a walking workout? Read on and you shall soon find out.
          On Saturday, January 19th, a week after my frozen fingers/insomnia walk at Signal Hill with the Long Beach Area Walking Club, I joined them again, but this time with a little bit more sleep and 10 degrees or so warmer. The cold wave that descended upon Southern California in the past week when early mornings hit mid-30 degrees, had finally abated. As I mentioned in my post last week, I had three layers of clothing: a thin base layer, a technical fleece layer, and a mid-weight jacket, plus cotton gloves. Last Saturday, I only needed the base layer, jacket and gloves.
          I got to the location earlier than usual and managed to put in a 25 minute warm up. Then I started the scheduled walk with three other members. Someone new came a little late but she caught up with the group at the top of the first hill. I did my usual advancing ahead then retreating, and (gasp!), I even did a little bit of running. My excuse for that is because I had to burn off the footlong sandwich from Subway I ate the previous day. Based on news items the past few days, it may have only been an 11 inch sandwich. I wonder how many calories that missing 1 inch is? I don't usually eat there, but someone gave me a Subway gift card for Christmas and I had to use it somehow.
          So with all the dipsy do's, short jogging attempts, and the slightly warmer weather, my gloves were off and jacket half zipped by the time we hit midpoint on the course. I was able to walk/jog another hour and 35 minutes with the club for a total of 2:05 which was 5 minutes longer than the previous week.Despite the cold, I lost three and a half pounds of sweat, which was hard to believe. Heck, I haven't lost that much fluids in a very long time during a workout! I must have really put in a good effort to incinerate that Subway footlong/11 inch chipotle chicken sandwich. Maybe next time I'll just have the 5 1/2 inch sub so I don't have to work so hard.
          Last Saturday, I didn't avoid the dirt trail near the end. Instead, I jogged that portion of the course because I felt that I was more unlikely to slip when jogging than trying to walk fast on the dirt and gravel. Because of the effort I put in, I took the next day off and walked easily for an hour to and from the grocery store to buy some jalapeno peppers. Peppers - now that's one way to keep you warm...if only in the mouth.

Return To Work and Workmen’s Compensation

It was back to the asylum this weekend

Just as my body was adjusting to reporting for work on the day shift (albeit sitting in a classroom for days), the occupational health doctor, the third different one I’ve seen in the three times I went to that clinic, took me off modified duty and returned me to full duty.

Well, it’s back to the old grind for me this weekend. As I reported for work Saturday night, I felt a slight apprehension, but as soon as I started doing the routine stuff, it was as if I wasn’t gone for almost two weeks. I guess the doctor was right. I was getting better despite the headaches. The problem with taking so many nights off from work was that I had to catch up with making chart packs for new admissions since others can’t seem to find the initiative to pick up the slack when I’m gone. Same thing happened when I left for the Philippines. Oh well, at least it’s good to know that they still need me for something.

Before I went to work Saturday night, I was back in Signal Hill that morning walking with the Long Beach Walking Club. I was in for a surprise. There were actually five of us with similar paces instead of just Cheryl and I. We were joined by Kelly, Kristy, and Victoria. Finally, a pack of sub 15 minutes per mile walkers. I managed to do some running too, doing so on all the uphills, while walking the downhills and the flats with the rest of the group. I ended up with an extra half mile with all the backtracking I did to stay with the pack. It made for a great workout for me because I was able to run short distances. According to my exercise log, the last time I ran was on October 4^th (40 minutes) and prior to that it was in September while I was still in Zamboanga (30 minutes). See, that’s how irregular running has been for me that I don’t consider myself a runner anymore. My butt and hips were actually sore after all that running uphill. Running and working made for a good weekend.

                And then there are these workmen’s compensation forms I have to fill out. They are asking me about my medical history for the past five years, where I was treated, and what the diagnoses were. Another portion was asking to list whatever disabilities I had the last five years, and another asking for how many miles I traveled for treatment of my present injury, so I can be (hopefully) reimbursed for it. The form didn’t say how much they are paying per mile though or if it included just my trips to the doctor's clinic, or it also counts my trips to the modified duty classes. I included both. After trying my best to remember the purpose of my doctor’s visit for the last five years, I mailed the forms back. I guess I have to prove to them that my head injury is not a preexisting condition. Hopefully, I gave the correct responses. If not, I’m sure I’ll hear from the claims adjuster.

                Boring stuff, I know…well, except for the walking and running J

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Three Weeks Missing

Yipee! After a 32 minute hill walk on the treadmill at 10% incline, I ran for 18 minutes on 1% incline thus completing a 50 minute workout last Thursday morning. It has been about three weeks since I injured my left thigh while out for what was supposed to be 12 mile run (http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2012/07/arec-training-7-7-12-oops-something.html). My very conservative rehab plan was not to start running again until the pain was gone, but sometimes plans go awry. A week after the initial injury, I tweaked it while exercising on the recumbent bike when I tried pedaling on a heavy gear. A week later the thigh felt as if was healing pretty well until I did a weight training workout called the clean and press. Wait, is that weight training or dry cleaning? Anyway, on the fourth set of the clean and press lift which of course involves the legs too, I felt a violent spasm on the healing muscle and fell backwards because of the pain. Fortunately my bed was right behind me and it made for a soft landing. With that spasm, it brought me back to square one. I had my thigh wrapped at work all night and developed contact dermatitis from it. With luck, we didn't have to chase any psych patients around that night.

I started hill walking on the treadmill just a few days ago as part of my rehab.  Previously I could only do the recumbent and spinning bikes on light gears and couldn't even use the stairstepper because of the pain. Today the pain is almost gone but still lurking. I can now do slow non-jerky squats on body weight. I might try running on pavement in the next few days and see how it feels and hope I don’t aggravate the muscle again. For now, I’m still missing from AREC training. Darn, I couldn’t even chat with my newly met running buddies L.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

What Has Gotten Me Running Again

So what has been going on in the past two years as far as running is concerned? Since I reached 10 miles last Saturday, what had I done differently? This is a brief accounting of what has happened. It was just two years ago when I gave up running and I actually bought a road bike to try to make cycling my main aerobic workout. Now and then I would make a foray into running but inconsistently. I even joined a walking club but they walked too slowly and I couldn’t find someone with the same pace as mine. After a summer of cycling in 2010, I didn’t take the bike out again because I found spinning indoors or using the recumbent bike, and even just walking uphill on the treadmill made for a more efficient aerobic workout and didn’t take a lot of time like riding on the roads did. During the times I tried running again, I always felt that my fitness level for the activity was close to what it was before and I tended to push the pace to reach that level. The result of course is making the condition of my ankle tendons worse. It was a vicious cycle.

So what changed this year? Let me think… pace, that’s it! Letting go of the pressure of trying to run as hard as I can. Accepting that being slow is ok, that running slowly is better than none. That and decreasing the number of times I run per week to two so the ankle tendons can recovery over 3 or 4 days. An evolution in stride change also helps. After making a conscious effort to alter it, I can now sometimes subconsciously run with a new but slower stride. Whenever I find myself going back to my natural stride, I pull back because that is the one that causes my ankle tendons to overstretch. It’s the push off of the foot that does it. My new stride is shorter and pulls from the front. Those explanations may be simplistic but it took a long time realizing them and those are what work at the present time.

I can’t assume that everything is now hunky dory because I was able to complete 10 miles. There are no hard and fast answers. With stage II and III PTTD (posterior tibialis tendon dysfunction), disaster can strike at any time with a tendon rupture just by taking an unfortunate misstep. I’m only taking it one run at a time – a midweek short run and the AREC training run on the weekend. Not an ideal training schedule and not something you will find in any training program. Well, that’s okay because I’m not training for anything anyway. It’s just exercise.

Other notes on the past 6 or 7 weeks of being able to run: A happy consequence of this twice a week activity? I noticed in the shower that I was  getting my running tan lines again. Since I’ve had these injuries, I no longer have balance if I try to stand on one leg. Whenever I put pants on, I have to hold on to something or lean on a wall. My stride, if you can call it that, feels more like a quarter lunge.

So everything was going well from mid-May to the first week of July when this happened: Oops, Something Happened On The Way to 12 Miles

I’m off the roads again trying to make my left thigh muscle recover. So far I can only do light gears on the stationary bikes without pain. Well, it was a good 7 weeks while it lasted.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

AREC Training 7-7-12: Oops, Something Happened On The Way To 12 Miles

Still OK past 1 mile

Well, I was writing about how I got back on the road and started running again the last few weeks, eventually culminating with a 10 miler last weekend, then as suddenly as I seemed to be getting better, disaster struck on the way to 12 miles this week, perhaps jinxed by what I was writing about. So what happened? Did I tweak one or both of my perpetually injured ankles? Did that developing knee pain from last week get worse? No and no. I consider this more of a freak injury and the same type on the left leg that stopped my every day running streak of 21 years several years ago. It seems to be a deep tissue muscular strain on the outer left thigh just below the hip that happened for no apparent reason. I wasn’t pushing the pace, or pounding the ground too hard, or bounding up 6^th Street hill at about 3 ½ miles when I felt it. I was actually having a decent run up to that point. One moment I’m telling pregnant Ellen “walking pace, right?”, and urging the walking Kenny (or Tenny) to continue running up the hill, then the next moment pain struck. A normal or sane person would have stopped and walked at that point but since I’m neither, I continued running hoping to work the kink out. Based on previous experience though, I knew it wasn’t going to happen, but still I pressed on until the pain became too sharp and unbearable at about 6 ½ miles. So I sputtered and walked back to the finish using a short cut on the course.

Just smiling for the camera at about 5 1/2 miles but I was already in excruciating pain

Since AREC training started this year, I’ve been running with other people, but last Saturday I did not.  In retrospect, I should have stayed back and ran with someone rather than going on my own. There was just too much separation between me and the next runner ahead that I should have pulled back and made the pace a lot more conservative.

So how bad is it? The thigh hurts even just pressing on the clutch while driving and it’s going to hurt like the dickens when I do my cycling workouts. Certainly it will keep me off the roads for at least 2 to 6 weeks. It almost never surprises me any more when I get injured because that’s been my history in at least the last 5 years. It surprised me more that I ran 10 miles last week.

The Aftermath: Thigh bound in elastic bandage and ankles braced.

 Despite the protracted run and the weeks of rehab ahead, I’m still I’m grateful to have had 6 or 7 good weeks of running and met new people in the process. Old and new running buddies, please forgive me if I’ve gone missing and you don’t see me on the roads any time soon, but like a bad rash, I’ll be back.

p.s. I’ll post the blog about my running comeback (the one that caused the jinx) after this one.

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

AREC Training 6-30-12 : Elation At 10 Miles

I’m Sexy Happy and I Know It - LMFAO

Can I run 10 miles? Should I be running 10 miles? I don’t need to run 10 miles.  I just ran 10 miles. For long distance runners, 10 miles is just a medium distance run. For a perpetually injured former long distance runner, 10 miles is more than what I can imagine being able to do. Heck, I’m not even training for any long distance race. So why did I run 10 miles? For the simple reason of being with people who enjoy the same thing I do.

I  was  very wary going out on Saturday’s run. Two years ago, the last time I ran 10 miles, I injured my right calf and was laid off from running for weeks. Last year, I didn’t even make it to 10. After running 9 miles, my ankles were shot and didn’t recover for awhile. After last week’s 9 miler, I felt some pain behind my left knee which migrated to the front a couple of days afterwards. It felt as if my knee had gone off track. Although I didn’t feel any pain during my sole mid-week short run, it still felt wobbly all week. Saturday’s run was going to be another test of my new strategy of not pushing the pace with my altered stride.

 I wore the singlet (tanktop) that I bought last week and ran in it for the first time. There were seams in the chest area and I was hoping that once the sweat starts flowing, it would lubricate the area and not cause chafing. It did not. That was one less thing to worry about. Before we started, I told Jennifer that we should pace with Bhavanna but she took off at the start and by the first mile Jen and I were already at least 45 seconds off her pace. We didn’t catch her until mile two and that was not because we picked up the pace but because she slowed down. Perhaps she just started out too fast. Ah, these young'uns are gonna learn pacing soon enough.

I hadn’t eaten anything substantial since 4 p.m. the day before so I felt I was not fueled adequately for the run, so I resolved to at least take some energy drinks at the water stations. Meanwhile, Jen was training herself in consuming energy gels while on the run. She is training for her first half marathon but she is already following the full marathon training distance (half marathoners were only supposed to do 6 miles). Her husband Mike who is supposed to have arthroscopic knee surgery in a month’s time had to make do with a 6 mile run/walk. Jen told me he usually runs around 8:40 pace. So we chatted about running, work, mom, life in general, while I gasped for breath after every other sentence. Oh, I shouldn’t forget to thank Tam P. and Jaymi C. for doling out water and Powerade at the 7 mile water station. I partook of their offerings coming and going. That helped a lot in refueling me. I don’t know the name of the lady at the 3 mile water station, but thanks to her too. It was about 7 miles that I felt my left knee hurting a little (the one that was not tracking properly all week), and a mile thereafter I started feeling the strain of the extra distance on my bad ankle tendons. I began to question my sanity for even thinking of attempting to cover 10 miles. With Jen providing a steady pace, I pressed on somewhat comforted with the fact that in slightly over 20 minutes, we would be done. I’ve done this course countless times in the past and I know for a fact that it’s slightly short of 10 miles. We had to rely on Jen’s new GPS watch at the end and ran another 2/10^th’s of a mile past the finish line to complete the full 10 miles. On one hand it’s exciting to be able to run that far, on the other, a concern arises on what further damage it may have done on the ankle tendons and the left knee. We shall find out how I recover in the next few days. In the mean time, please allow me to revel in my unforeseen achievement. Next week it’s supposed to be 12 miles. Oh my…

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!