Going With The Flow

45 minutes of elliptical/stairmaster combo then 30 minutes of strength training.

Sleeping is the best.

What a fantastic afternoon of powder skiing! I was able to skin ~2500ft today which is a marked improvement from several weeks ago. We skinned up Flagstaff Mountain, skied into Days Fork, skinned back up then down to the car. It's hard to beat the views of snow-covered mountains and blue skies.

AM - 30 minutes on the bike. 

PM - 30 minutes of strength training + new adductor strengthening plan.

So I went to Dr. Kirk last Friday as well as Dr. Cosgrave (as part of Comprehensive Orthopedics + Sports Medicine). Both did a thorough evaluation and could find nothing structurally or mechanically that stood out. We talked in detail about a new plan of action and decided - try another steroid pack, new physical therapist with focus on adductor and surgical sites, blood work, and evaluation of running mechanics to be done this Friday. I feel like this - 

AM - Fresh snow tracks with Jake, 5 miles.

PM - 30 minutes on the bike. 

AM - 30 minutes on the bike. 

PM - 30 minutes on the recumbent bike very easy.

AM - 45 minutes easy on the bike while on a conference call.

Treadmill Truths: Because there is alot of Crappy Myths being Laid Down this week on the net by the Gait Guys. 

A few miles before my gait analysis with the doctor. It turns out that I know more about gait biomechanics than he does, so it was not hugely beneficial. The only thing to note is that I have 10 degrees more hip extension on my left side than right side.

I also got my lab results back...everything was relatively normal except that my ferritin is 24ng/ml. This is significantly lower than the last time I checked and a bit surprising considering my lack of training and taking 100mg of iron almost every day. 

AM - Saucony shoe testing 2x1.5 miles. New Mirage 5s will be a great update to an already favorite training shoe of mine.

PM - 2 miles with Jake.

Powder day at Solitude...best day of the year!!

PM - 5.8 miles with Jake, nice and warm.

Athletes who sleep 8-hrs or more are 68% less likely to be injured than athletes who often sleep less. 

AM - 30 minutes easy on the bike.

PM - Wheeler Farm run with Jake in my parachute shorts.

AM - 3 miles with Jake, really pleasant weather.

PM - 30 minutes of strength training. Not feeling very good today...have some pelvic symphysis and IT band pain. I've had adductor and groin pain regularly but haven't had these other symptoms in a while.

Proof That Crash Training Doesn't Work:

"In the study, when runners did 24 hard workouts over an eight-week period, their fitness improved throughout, and they peaked with a 10% increase in VO2 max, a measure of aerobic capacity. In contrast, when runners did the same 24 hard workouts in a three-week period, their fitness declined during the training block, and improved only after almost two weeks of no running."

AM - 3.3 miles, a little with Jake. 

My hometown of Knoxville, TN got 8" of snow last night - the most since the "Blizzard of '93". There is soo much excitement for snow there...wish I was home right now! If only people were as happy when it was snowing here :)

AM - 3.5 miles with Jake. We matched almost perfectly and it was embarrassing.

PM - 30 minutes of strength training.

AM - 3.5 miles in spring-like temperatures. This week has been a nice break from winter!

AM - Three loops around Liberty Park with Allie and May, 4.2 miles. 

PM - Jake and I went to the climbing gym and climbed for ~2 hours - pretty fun stuff! My hands hurt now.

AM - 3.5 miles.

These 11 Charts Show Everything That's Wrong With The Modern Diet

Typical 3.5 mile loop. 

Jake and I both highly recommend this book by Steve Magness. We haven't read the whole book (it just came out yesterday!) but Jake spent quite a bit of time last night reading to me excerpts in the book that he felt were important, which ended up being about everything.  The Science of Running: How to find your limit and train to maximize your performance. Here is a description -

If you are looking for how to finish your first 5k, this book isn't for you. The Science of Running is written for those of us looking to maximize our performance, get as close to our limits as possible, and more than anything find out how good we can be, or how good our athletes can be. In The Science of Running, elite coach and exercise physiologist Steve Magness integrates the latest research with the training processes of the world's best runners, to deliver an in depth look at how to maximize your performance.

It is a unique book that conquers both the scientific and practical points of running in two different sections. The first is aimed at identifying what limits running performance from a scientific standpoint. You will take a tour through the inside of the body, learning what causes fatigue, how we produce energy to run, and how the brain functions to hold you back from super-human performance. In section two, we turn to the practical application of this information and focus on the process of training to achieve your goals. You will learn how to develop training plans and to look at training in a completely different way. The Science of Running does not hold back information and is sure to challenge you to become a better athlete, coach, or exercise scientist in covering such topics as:

· What is fatigue? The latest research on looking at fatigue from a brain centered view.
· Why VO2max is the most overrated and misunderstood concept in both the lab and on the track
· Why "zone" training leads to suboptimal performance.
· How to properly individualize training for your own unique physiology.
· How to look at the training process in a unique way in terms of stimulus and adaptation.
· Full sample training programs from 800m to the marathon.

AM - Ran over to the tempo loop to check up on Jake during his workout (make sure he wasn't just loafing around) then finished the rest of the run with him on his cooldown.

PM - 30 minutes of strength training.

AM - 3.5 miles around the neighborhoods with Jake. 

In the past month, I have gained 3-4 lbs...this is definitely a change! When I got hurt 19 months ago, my weight dropped way low to 113lbs, and I was unable to gain the weight back (despite the fact that I stopped exercising completely). I don't really know why this happened because my diet didn't change at all...my guess is that my body was fighting the injury and trying to protect itself. My normal weight is ~117lbs so maybe this is a sign that I am healing and gaining muscle mass again! Or maybe I'm just eating way too much food :)

AM - 3.5 miles, mostly with Jake. Relieved that it's finally Friday - almost the weekend!

AM - Ran with a good crew on their warm-up for the SLC Winter Series 15K then was on camera duty. I was really disappointed to see that the organizers decided not to have heat lamps today...so I got in about 2.5 hours of shivering as well. Here is a link to photos (end of the album).

AM/PM - Ski tour in the Pink Pine area ~2500ft. We haven't been to this area in a long time, so it was great to be able to ski there again! The views were amazing and snow was variable - deep powder to slushy to crusty. 

PM - I couldn't resist the 60 degree temperatures in the valley, so I ran 3.2 miles with Jake after a short break from skiing.

AM - 3 miles. 

PM - Strength training for 30 minutes at lunch. Then, 2.7 miles on the grass at Murray Park with Jake after work. 60 degrees again! 

Wow, talk about drama - The Inside Story Of Gabriele Grunewald’s DQ. This whole situation is really sad to me.

AM - 3.7 miles, met up with Jake halfway through the run.

PM - 3 miles. Got a tan!

I am headed to Bend, OR this evening to see Jay Dicharry of REP Oregon tomorrow morning. He was recommended to me by the Saucony lab, and I like his fundamental approach in the book Anatomy for Runners. In his email exchange with me, he wrote -

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this, pubalgia rehab can be complex. It takes very targeted rehab in very specific movement patterns. I've seen a lot of success in people who have taken proper time and energy, but it comes a bit more slowly, as these structures are under such great load."

This gives me more confidence in him because this rehab is very complicated. I have spent ~10 hours a week the past year learning about this injury, rehab, movement patterns, gait analysis, etc and am tired of seeing therapists that know less than I do in a subject that I am a novice. I hope that this trip will be worthwhile, but it's a chance that I'm willing to take. He will spend 2-3 hours with me to try to identify the incorrect movement patterns and set me up with a program to follow.

AM - 3 miles on the golf course in Bend, OR. It was freezing and foggy, but I saw ten deer and two skunks! Then went in to see Jay Dicharry and ran another mile on the treadmill. I spent a solid 4 hours at the lab....more on that tomorrow.

PM - 3 miles with Jake in the SUN! 

AM - 3 miles. I was going to wait until the afternoon, but I woke up early and didn't want to run in the rain this afternoon. 

My visit with Jay Dicharry was worth every penny - there's definitely a reason why he's considered one of the best running biomechanics specialists. Even more impressive was the fact that he broke his jaw in 5 places, fractured his skull, and lost ~4 teeth from a really bad fall last week...poor guy's entire right face was swollen and looked to be painful, but he was there to evaluate me nonetheless. Anyway, I am confident in him and his rehabilitation approach. It is significantly different from any other therapist that I have seen (and I have seen a lot!)...in many cases I have been told to do things WRONG for a long time. I wish I could just move to Bend, OR for the next 6 weeks to work with him, but he gave me an evaluation report, DVD with my rehab program exercises, and other handouts. Here is a section of Jay's review that sums up my problems and what I need to work on.

•    You’ve got right leg stability issues caused by instability of your spine and pelvis. Your want your deep core muscles to maintain your posture as you run, however, you over-dominate with your flexors. These muscles are not postural, will fatigue, and then you’ll flop into the opposite of flexion, which is excessive extension – which will INCREASE compression in the back – not good! The muscles in the pelvis that stabilize your hips originate at your pelvis become inhibited and weak when the core is not stable. (this is why we see your right leg internally rotate and adduct more than it should. Another reason we see this is that you naturally have a little bit of toe out. Nothing is wrong with this. But you’ve tried to adopt a standing and running posture that keeps your feet pointed straight……which causes more internal rotation in your hip! – let your feet point slightly out ad stop the madness. 

•    What to do? Fix the PROBLEM. The problem is poor stabilization of your deep core muscles. You need to spend quality time on improving this imbalance. Ensure you are feeling SPECIFIC activation of the CORRECT muscles. Its not so much the exercise, its how you perform the exercise that really matters. 

•    Fix your posture – mom tells us not to slouch, but she didn’t say to cheat your low back position to avoid looking like you are slouching. The taping we did today will make an imprint in your brain to slide your shoulders back along your ribs – that’s how you keep your shoulders where they should be. With this in place, it will be easier to find a better position for your low back.

•    Fix your hip mechanics. Your foot contacts way too far in front of your body. Let’s repeat what we said today: A Very high rate of loading placed on an unstable system = disaster. Because you have posture issues, you lean slightly forwad with an extended back (slight toilet bowl of doom posture). This forces you to contact too far forward, which dramatically elevates your loading rates. You are in the 8100 Newtons/sec range. You should be less than half this.  How do you fix it? Again, first, spend time stabilizing your spine. When you are ready for phase 2, it will emphasize good hip dominant mechanics. This combined with the C-skip and Treadmill hip extension drill will make a huge dent in you understanding how to get the right muscles involved, and how to do this when running (both easy, tempo, and fast runs).

I have Phase 1 and Phase 2 exercises that will probably take the next 2-3 months to master. Then I will most likely go see him again for a re-evaluation. â€‹His closing remarks to me - 

Getting your better movement is key. Your running form is an issue, but you can’t make good pasta sauce out of rotten tomatoes. Spend some quality time fixing your body, and lay a foundation. Sure, It will take some work and patience on your end, but nothing that you shouldn’t be able to clear up 100% and make this a thing of the past.

AM - 4 miles with Jake. It is a lot harder to enjoy running when constantly thinking 'light feet, good posture, engage core' but hopefully that will come natural in the next several weeks.

Heading to Phoenix this afternoon...since when is it supposed to rain in the desert?!