Third Time Lucky

The Stats 7/22/12 - 7/28/12
7/24/12: 4.79 mi; 38'01"; 7'56" avg. pace
7/26/12: 3.00 mi; 27'40"; 9'12" avg. pace
7/28/12: 2.87 mi; 20'40"; 7'11" avg. pace

Well it felt extremely good to get out three times in a week again. I feel like that has been my baseline activity for running since 2009. That trend was interrupted for basically the entire month of June and most of July. Furthermore, all the runs were all pain free, though not free from the scorching heat. Tuesday's run was an attempt at hitting up a 10k. That distance proved elusive and I settled for a bit short of five miles. Energized by a lack of pain, I started at a pace in the low 7 minutes per mile. That turned into 8 minute miles on the third and fourth mile. I became sluggish, even on my flat neighborhood course, and figured walking out a cool down would leave open the rest of the week to training.
The recovery from Tuesday's run went well and left me ready to head out again Thursday evening. I met up with a friend, and her boyfriend's dog, for a run along the Kanawha. It was in the mid-to-upper 90s, temperature wise, so this run could was only going to last so long. I got in a little stair work, running up the steps between the two levels on the boulevard. Sometimes you have to make sure you can still climb. 10k organizers love to through hill sections into their routes. The dog needed periodic breaks in the river (and multiple pee stops), but easily outpaced us when running. Even at a more comfortable 9 minute mile pace, I was ready to shut it down after hitting 3 miles.
Coming back out Saturday morning was what capped this off as a good week in running. I needed some energy to get ready for a good friend's wedding later that evening. Although a touch shy of 3 miles, I kept a good pace around the 'hood in my new Newton's. The first mile clocked in at 6'55". I fell off slightly to 7'10" in the second mile, and the third would have been in the low to mid 7 minute range had I finished it. I attribute this boost in pace to significantly cooler weather. Still, it makes me feel like I can handle the Capital City Challenge and Pittsburgh Great Race, which are lurking around the corner in September. One month of training, a few more 10ks, a handful of rides, and perhaps a kayak outing in August will set the stage. Bring it!

Returning to Form

The Stats 7/16/12 - 7/21/12
7/17/12: 5.0 mi.; 45'00"; 9'00" avg. pace
7/21/12: 3.17 mi; 22'55"; 7'13" avg. pace

I made it out the door twice last week as the healing period continues. A reversion to the padded Nike Triax Structure shoes made it easier to trust my form. I kept my strides short and avoided pounding the pavement to keep the stress off of the knee joints. It paid off in the form of little to no pain following each run. Tuesday I managed to wake up early and run the boulevard with help from a friend who agreed to brave the early morning hour. Some talking and striding can help the miles go by without constant contemplation on form, breathing, etc. It's a reminder that if you're not having fun running, you're doing something wrong. Also, if you're willing to sacrifice an hour or so of sleep, the morning temperatures will reward you during the summer. Were it not for a bum knee, my summer might have been filled with morning runs. Beating the sun kept me relatively cool and it's always a great way to wake up. You get the feeling that if you can drag yourself out of bed and sweat out some miles, there is no challenge that can get you down the rest of the day. So that's my endorsement for morning running.
Saturday, which is usually a longer running day, I took it easy with a 5k around the neighborhood. I hadn't ran my full "go-to" route in a while without stopping due to pain. Thus, this standard run felt empowering. Wounds do heal if you stick around, have patience, and use good sense.

Tour des Chaussures

The Stats 7/8/12 - 7/15/12
7/10/12 (Cycle): 15.25 mi; 57'35"; avg. pace -15.9 mph
7/11/12: 1.5 mi; 11'17"; 7'07" avg. pace

To mix up the cardio, and because it's Tour de France month, I took the road bike for a spin on Tuesday. I kept to the flats and left the hills for a day when I'm feeling a bit more like Tommy Voeckler. The change up was a welcome relief to my knee. I can foresee sticking with cycling years after my joints cry out for mercy from all the road running. But while I still have the motivation and ability to run, I"m going to try to lessen the impact on those joints. That is part of the reasoning behind experimenting with a variety of shoe styles. In my desire to get the  most minimal feel, without looking weird, I picked up a pair of Merrell Barefoot Shoes (pictured below):

Calf killers

These are the puppies I took for a test drive on Wednesday. They have a soft mesh upper and some rubber tread. There is no padding in the back or the heel, which is meant to encourage that more even foot fall that everyone is raving about. I intentionally tried to keep from heel striking for the first mile of the run. Unlike on most runs, I could feel my calves getting sore as I progressed. Near the end of the run, I resorted to heel striking to take the pressure off those muscles. Yes, it was pain free peace for the joints, but these shoes will tear your calf muscles to shreds if you run full force in them the first time out. Six days later I could still feel the residual soreness. Lesson learned: ease into minimalist running shoes. Not taking that advice basically had me couch bound for the rest of the week. That's not a bad place to be during Tour month though. The tv coverage has plenty of chateaux, countryside, and cows. Oh yeah, and cycling.

This Year Sucks (Mike)

Assuming you read the title to this post, you're aware it's not going to be full of a lot of ra-ra aint training grand and all my goals are in sight kind of talk.  It's not and all my year-long goals are now well out of reach.  Ah, but you knew that.  So, maybe, you're here to read about my misfortunes and revel in my demise.  For shame.

This year has been one of the most challenging of my thirty-three (yeah, I'm old - what of it?).  Working part of every week out of town has made me mix up and maintain a flexible training schedule....flexibility, something I lack physically and don't enjoy in my training.  I'm very routine.  I know...how boring.  But, I like to compare training data and find a good routine gives me more comparable results to test.  Yes, I get too involved in my numbers for a fat kid that sucks.  Now comes the cerise sur le gateau - I got the gout!  Yeah, gout.  For those who don't know what gout is:  it's a kind of arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in blood and causes joint inflammation.  It's a very painful condition that doctors equivalate on the pain scale to child birth.  Not fun.  I was down all last week and spent Thursday - Sunday on the couch essentially immobile.  I'm on medication now and improving, but likely out of action for several more weeks.  And it's the worst time of year to be down...July...Tour de France time.  So I sit and watch each stage of the Tour in agony wishing I could be out on my bike getting in some good exercise.  It makes me mad.  Side story:  when I was in my early teens playing baseball my mother was being an absolute annoyance one day at the ball field and I finally asked "what's your deal?"  Her response:  "you play better when you're mad."  Thanks mom...I think I hit two homeruns that day.  Well, I'm mad.  So when I come back from this bout of misfortune, expect a strong effort.  Like I said last week, I'm ready to come out of this thing like Lance Armstrong with one testicle...but with two.  I devised the training schedule posted below.  Most certainly, I will not keep to it as I always overshoot, but let's see how it goes.  I struggle to perform any cardio functions in the mornings, but hope I can mix in some short runs to get active and get my days going.  A good month for me is usally 20 miles running and 100 miles on the bike and now I'm trying to get all that running and 60% of the cycling done each week, plus a couple swim sessions!  Too ambitious.  Not realistic.  I at least need a rest day built in here somewhere....most likely I'll combine Saturday and Sunday and alternate with either a Long Ride or 10k Run and take either Saturday or Sunday off each week.  But, as I sit on the couch and dream of healthier days...any fraction of this schedule would be better than where I sit now.

To the healthy I say, get out and enjoy your good health.  It is a blessing and fortune.

Mountain Escape

The Stats 7/1/12 - 7/7/12
7/7/12: 3.00 mi; 24'08"; 7'52" avg. pace

Thanks and welcome to Krystle for getting in on the run blogging excitement last week! I checked the blog stats afterwards and saw a huge spike in page views from her friends, so that's encouraging. The family is planning on Pittsburgh's Great Race being our next joint 10k race, which should be fun as the Pirates could be making a push for the MLB playoffs in September. Hey, anything is possible.
I had another relatively tame week. The pain in my knee has almost completely vanished, but between having no power at my house until July 4th, car problems, staggering heat outdoors, and the Tour de France on tv, there has been precious little incentive to run. However, I did manage to clock one run for the week after making the trip up to lovely Snowshoe Mountain for their Homegrown Arts and Music Festival. I broke out the Newton's once again to try to continue strengthening my feet and calf muscles. Oddly, I put more stress on the middle of my left foot than my right when running in zero incline shoes. My stride differs between feet apparently; I can even see it on the treads of my Nike's where the right foot turns inward and thus wears out the tread on the outside of the shoe. The left shoe displays a more evenly spread wear pattern. Anyway, I hit up a 3 miler on the mountain from Top of the World parking lot past the Village and back. It was an undulating run, but I left the drastic inclines that stretch down to Silver Creek and back for another trip. Below is a graph showing my pace dropping with the inclines after a steady first mile and a half. The pace bottoms out near the end of the run due to a lack of recent training and a slight pain in the left knee (I hate you knee joint!).

It was good to breathe in the mountain air and escape 100 degree heat during the run. In the morning it was below or around 80 degrees with a slight breeze. I don't think we'll sniff temperatures like that in Charleston for another month or two. It wasn't the best run, but it got the endorphins flowing, which is nice. So that's the story for now: no glory, no returning to form, a lot of waiting and hoping to get back to 3 or 4 runs a week. Oh, and some fireworks:

Pop, pop!

From Smoker to Avid Runner (Krystle)

Good morning to the blogging world – I guess it’s about time that I add my story to the family running blog. I’m cousin to Matt – the founder of the blog – and I owe my introduction to running to his charming sister, Emily. In short, this will be a brief story on how I went from smoker to avid runner in the course of a few short years.

A couple of years ago, around 2008, if you asked me to join you for a run or to participate in a foot race, I simply would have told you that “running is against my religion.” I hated running and saw no purpose to it. But that was all soon to change. I was, at that time, a light smoker, though I am ashamed to admit it. I moved to Charleston, WV the summer of 2008 and happened to get extremely ill – in part to my disgusting habit. Saving the gruesome details, that included but are not limited to a spinal tap and a bronchoscopy, I opted to quit smoking and attempt a healthier lifestyle. Emily was completing a rotation in Charleston at this time and she suggested that I join the cousins and aunts in their newest endeavor: to run a 10K in every state. Frantic to give anything a try that would prevent such a harrowing experience from occurring again, I told her that I would join. To keep me to my word, she kindly informed me that there was the Richmond, VA Monument Ave 10K the following March and I could either “train and do well, or not and be miserable,” but I was running the race regardless. I took her advice to train, which proved rather difficult with my recovering lungs.

On March 31, 2009 I completed my very first 10K with a bib time of 1:16:34. Since this race, I have ran four more 10Ks (still needing to catch up on some states that were run before I joined the group), and until recently this was my best time. I did not take training seriously, and honestly I still hated running. Instead of being something that I saw as pointless, it came to signify the improvement my lungs had made since that fateful day on July 22, 2008. And yet, I was still not a fan. I slowly made my way through three more 10Ks, trying to convince myself that maybe it wasn’t all that bad. I trumped up my lack of training to being “too busy in graduate school” to take the time out to run - the excuse “I have a thesis to write” came out of my mouth more than I care to admit.

But then my outlook changed in March 2012. The history department at the University of Kentucky hired a new staff member, Bridget Ash, who happened to be a dedicated runner. I had a slight habit of marketing myself as a runner, despite my clear dislike of it and lack of actual runs. I, of course, did not hesitate to inform her of my imaginary status. At this time, I had already signed up for the Cleveland Experience 10K (as described in Matt’s post), and decided that maybe I should actually *try* to run the whole race. I told her my goal for the 10K and she offered to train with me. I put it off and put it off, constantly claiming that my time was much too slow for her. She finally roped me into running with her one evening after work. She assured me that I was faster than I thought because surely all the swing dancing I did put me in good shape. Well, as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. We went out and did four miles at a pace that was two minutes faster than my best recorded time. I continued to train with her, keeping my new 9:30 pace, and became more and more determined to run the Cleveland race in its entirety. Eventually, Bridget convinced me that if I could run the 10K in its entirety, then what’s to keep me from training for a half marathon. At this point, I thought, “What the heck?! If I can do this, LET’S train for a half!”

Unfortunately, the week of the race, I did something stupid. Very stupid. In a fit of idiocracy, I decided that it was a very good idea to attend a swing dancing aerial practice, and instead of keeping to a move that I was sure I could tackle (it’s similar to one I already know), I attempted one that was beyond my abilities. When I was supposed to do a round-off over the lead's head, I did a cartwheel causing me to land on my ankle in a not-so-pleasant manner. I heard the “pop” and just sat there angry with myself. My ankle was wrapped for the days to follow and I could not move it very well. To say that I sprained it may, in fact, be an understatement. I iced it every chance I got, kept it wrapped, and took it as easy as possible, which for someone as active as me is hard to do. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to run the race that was a mere four days away.

Well, May 20, 2012 came as surely as the dawn. I had spent the previous day judging how well I could walk and move my ankle. By this point, it only hurt if I flexed it in one particular manner, which I did not think would happen in the race. I admit with pride that I am a very stubborn person, and I refused to give up on this race. At the start line, I remember thinking “Oh no, my ankle is still a little stiff.” But as soon as I heard the starting gun, I was off. I finished the race with my fastest 10K time (59:42:00) and my fastest recorded mile (9:07). I even beat Mike (just don’t let him know I’m still bragging)!

This was only the beginning. I returned to Lexington and started on my half marathon training. I decided that I would set my first half a year out, aiming to participate in the Derby City Marathon and Half that is held in Louisville, KY every year as part of the Kentucky Derby celebrations. This plan lasted a few weeks. As I started training more and more (with Bridget’s kind assistance), I talked myself into moving the date of my first half up six months. I am now signed up to run the Iron Horse Half Marathon in Midway, KY on October 14, 2012.

Thus far, my training has been right on schedule. Lucky for me I have beautiful landscape to help me through the long miles. Yesterday, Sunday, July 1, I ran my first consecutive 9 miles. Bridget and I started our route in the parking lot of Keeneland Horse Park and continued out the back gate to the terrain of secluded country roads and beautiful horse farms. Today and tomorrow will be spent as “rest days,” which are built into my schedule, and I will use them to help me prepare to race the Bluegrass 10K on Wednesday, July 4. Hopefully I will be able to post with new record times.

Until then, I hope you all enjoyed my long-winded story. Chao.

Storms Behind, Storms Ahead

The Stats 6/24/12 - 6/30/12
6/25/12: 2.51 mi; 18'34"; 7'23" avg. pace
6/27/12: 2.04 mi; 15'04"; 7'22" avg. pace
What started as a promising week with two runs in the first three weekdays turned into another rather restful week. It may be what is required to get this $#@# knee back to health, but it's frustrating and stressful not to be able to release some energy via running. Monday's run was the first in my new Newton's. The shoes held up well, and while I could tell the extra cushioning upfront is trying to make me run more on the front of my foot I still reverted to a flat strike for most of the run. It's difficult to undo years of heel striking with heavily padded shoes. As for the knee, it still twinged throughout the run and prompted a shutdown before reaching my standard 5k mark for training runs.
The recovery period on Tuesday was much better than last week. No residual pain in the left knee and minimal soreness in a healthy right leg signaled it was okay to plan on another run later in the week. I took the rest of Tuesday easy and came back after work on Wednesday to try again. Another 5k attempt was crushed by growing weakness in the knee. Just when I thought it was nearing total health it let me down in the middle of yet ANOTHER training run. I was being asked to run the YMCA Corporate Cup 5k on Saturday so I knew to pack it in for the rest of the week. Thursday and Friday proved nice and easy on the legs and I was set to give the 5k a try Saturday morning.
And then the storm came. Friday night featured one of those rare end of the world moments in the Ohio Valley when hurricane force winds ravaged the hillsides, displacing trees and anything else that was planted tens of feet underground. Cars hurried around, wind whipped and trying to find order with the stoplights deciding to turn off. I ended up sleeping in an office building, as my house, along with several hundred thousand others on the east coast, was bereft of power. I say all that to say, of course Corporate Cup was cancelled and no more runs were logged for the week. Barring a zombie apocalypse, I'll be back out on the streets again next week, trying to make sense of this wacky world, or at least forget about its wackiness for a moment.