track fan

1 hour deep water areobics + 30 mins water "sprinting" both with and without the floatation belt.

I have good news and bad news ... good news:  I CAN RUN!!!  bad news: It is still going to hurt!!! 

The the MRI came back negative for "stress fracture" ... but unfortunately, I have extremely severe (per radiologist) "medial tibial stress syndrome" (e.g., shin split).  Mine is not only severe in terms of "grade" but also because it covers the entire medial aspect of my tibia (from ankle to knee).   It is "correctable".  However, it was not "caused" by "too-much-too-soon" or other training mistakes and since the other tibia is also showing the beginning signs of the same problem (though it never hurt) I need orthotics.  This is not a problem, I will be fit for them next week (though I am not sure I will be able to wear my favorite shoes (Nike Free TRs) for a while.  What is a larger issue (to me anyway).  Is that it is unclear how long it will be until I don't run with pain ... John thinks that the orthotics will help with the pain.  While it is possible that I *could* be ready for Houston (since Dean, my coach and John think it will only take me ~ 3 weeks to get back into shape) - I am not sure that I will be where I would want to be for a marathon, so I am not sure if I will 1) defer my marathon entry to next year or, 2) run the half -- both are options.  Right now, I am leaning towards deferring my entry to next year --- but who knows, if I can get right up to where I was (due to my horribly boring but consistent cross-training activities and the fact that I have gained *0* weight) ... I might reconsider in a month or so.  But, I will start adding some runs tomorrow!  Yippeee!!!! 

I hope all of you getting ready for races this weekend have wonderful runs!!  And, those of you training for races, have excellent training runs.  And, enjoy your weekend everyone!

A little over 30 mins.  No pain in my leg (though I would not call this run "pain free" 3 weeks off is a looooong time)!!  YIPPEEE.

I can't wait to see the results from St. George, I know it was hot, I hope not too hot.

30` on the treadmill + 60` on the elliptical.

We got up super early to cheer for people running the Jim Click 8k.  The course is pretty much all on the U of A campus and the proceeds go to adaptive athletics program here.  There are a HUGE group of wheelchair athletes who train here in town.  As a matter of fact, most of the athletes from here travel and win most big races (the overall winner of the Bix 7 mile race this past summer is one of these athletes). These guys (and gals) are tough as nails.  Anyway, the McMillan elite group had a great day with the two top women from Gregs group taking the race (Jamie Winslow, nee Cantenberry, and Erin Bidell, running 29:23 and 29:33, respectively).  In the mens race, a local hero took the honors (~23:50) with an "ex-McMillan elite" Ian Burrell taking 2nd (24:00).  Then 3rd and 4th were some new McMillan Elite talent that just moved to Flagstaff , Scott Smith and Marco Anzures) -- there is a 13:36 5Ker that just joined the team, but he did not come down for the race, I would have loved to meet him (Aaron Braun - a 16 time All-American who won 6 national championships while at Adams State).

Fun morning!  Now I have to get back to work.  I hope you are having wonderful weekends, relishing in your family, your races and your dreams!!

60` on the elliptical ... what more can one say about this boring machine?

Good birthday ... although I guest lectured for 3 hours, and then taught my own class for 2 hours, and then tried to get work done while being interrupted by students every 5 mins ... but, this is my life after all ;-)

Tomorrow I am going to get my new orthotics.  Greg promised me that I would be frustrated by the first two weeks back -- his schedule for me is quite conservative ... but, I trust him, therefore I will do what he says.  And supplement with boring cross-training.  I think I might water run with a local standout runner who is recovering from labral tear surgery ... it will be the only time I can run with her as she is way faster than me ;-).  She used to live in Salt Lake City - some of you may know her, Paula Morrison?

Have a great day bloggers

36:52.

Off to Phoenix to get fit for my orthotics ... there was an awesome rain last night, thunder and heavy rain. All the saguaros are full of water today, they look plump and happy!

55 mins on the elliptical.  I did not go for an hour for two reasons, first, I was so not into it yesterday that it was all I could do to drag myself to the gym.  After I got there I was inspired to just "do something" and I thought ... 55 mins, I can do that.  Secondly, I had promised Dean I would be home by 8PM (I still did not make it, but it was because I was talking to John, our doctor ... more on that later). 

So, Dean had an MRI on Tuesday.  As a little history, Dean has not run since around Christmas last year, and before that he had not been able to run for over 6 months.  The first issue was a hamstring/hip issue that seemed to get "better" (although there was some evidence of a labral tear in his hip) and then *blam* something happened in his foot.  He had been able to run ~20` at a time a few days a week until about a month ago, and now he is in pain even walking around.  Dean has been a competitive runner since high school (and he ran in college).  The past two years have been very hard for him.  Well, the MRI found that he has Freiberg's disease, it is an avascular necrosis of the metatarsal head.  He also has capsulitis (which is probably the more painful of the two).  He needs to see a podiatrist, but surgery is indicated for both of these diagnoses, if all other treatment fails (which they likely will since he has not run for so long, it is unlikely that "rest" is going to be a treatment).  The good news is that he has, finally, obtained a diagnosis.  The bad news is, it is a freaky problem and the "fix" is not easy to determine.  It would be so awesome if we could do some thing (like surgery) and then rehab and then have him up and running again in a few months.  I have been really hard to deal with for the last month because I have been depressed about not running for a month ... Dean has been a rock even through his nearly 2 years of frustration.  

I hope you are all recovering well, running happily and enjoying your fall weather!

36:13 + 55 mins on the elliptical (1:30 of exercise total -- it was all the time I could manage).

Busy day ...

Have a good day bloggers!

1 hour pool running (with very cool waterproof MP3 player case) + 1 hour water aerobics.

This made me quite hungry.  The women of the water aerobics class are growing on me.  Most of them are somewhere in their 60s, maybe 70s.  They travel, and are mostly from the east coast (at least 3 of the 6 that were there today were from New York City.  One of them was a journalist for the New York Times.  She said, "McCain was in town this week.  I ran into him in Starbucks and I shocked him, he said, 'Jan?' and I said, 'hello John'" ... ha ha ha ... very cool.  Another woman is going to send me a copy of her electronic journal from her trip to Brisbane last year, we are going in February and she knows some great places to see and eat ...

I am in a much better mood today than I have been most of the week, maybe it is 2 days in a row of more than an hours worth of exercise ;-).

Happy Friday Bloggers!

Good luck Auntieem, April, and MichelleL on your marathons this weekend!!

I think it was longer than 4 miles -- maybe even 4.5 (big difference ;-)).  Then I came home and worked and later in the afternoon went down the to Y and did ~65` of water running and abs.

I wore my new compression sleeves today, really helped keep the swelling down, since I did not really walk around much, I can't tell if it helped the pain or not.  

So very happy for MichelleL!!  2:47:09 on a non-aided course bodes very well for her upcoming year and bid for an OTQ!

Looking forward to hearing about Auntieem and April's race tomorrow.

Have a wonderful evening.

44:27 (22:30/21:53).  WOW.  I was extremely happy about this run.  It was the first one I have done going on one of my "usual" routes.  I was surprised to see I was about 46 secs faster at my landmark than I used to be ... granted, I don't have as much stamina, but I am still rather surprised that I haven't lost more speed (I seriously expected to be 1-1:30 slower at the landmark).  

I could feel my leg, but it did not hurt like it did before, and it didn't hurt as much as my hamstring does in my other leg (?).  It is throbbing now though, so I will go ice.  I really do like my compression socks/sleeves.

Have a wonderful day bloggers!  I am sure April has finished her marathon, I can't wait to see the results!! 

One hour on my old friend the FE.

ho hum.

~41 mins running + 1:20 pool running.  I can't wait until I get my new(er) swimsuit this (new) one is boring me ;-).  Dean said that he might come with me to pool run on Saturday ... the couple that pool runs together ... ?

This week is all about testing running multiple days in a row (and hopefully checking out my orthotics if/when they get here).  Greg told me it would drive me crazy ... he was right. Luckily, I have my wonderful cross-training program zzzzzzz.  Funniest blog entry from Julia Lucas, she is SO right on the money!  (I LOVED Sno's blog link today too, I highly recommend it!).

So, Stephanie Rothstein was 4th in the USATF 10K championships yesterday, very happy for her, almost 30 secs faster than Cow Harbor!  Good job for Molly Huddle -- she is tearing up the 10K scene!!

I hope you are all having fun, enjoying the fall and behaving yourself ;-)

36:xx in the AM and then a fun 50 mins on the elliptical in the PM.  

Today I got to run with a huge coyote! He crossed in front of me, literally within about 2 feet of me and  then he ran on one side of the road and I ran on the other.  He was the biggest coyote I have ever seen, he was almost as large as my 85 lb dog ... he was in a really good condition too, not skinny.  Truly a beautiful animal. 

Have a wonderful hump day bloggers!

80` pool running while listening to a Sherlock Holmes mystery, "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".  Cute lifeguards today, too young to be my son's even, but cute nonetheless.

We have termites.  They are of the "subterranean" variety (fairly common out here in the desert).  I found them because they are building "mud tubes" in the ceiling in one of our rooms -- I won't go into too much detail other than to say, "yuck".  Ahhh, the joys of home ownership. 

I hope you are having a wonderful day.

44:40 (22:32/22:08)  nice day, 75F and party cloudy -- then I went to the gym and did 50` on the old FE (supposedly 5 miles -- I wanted to keep my heart rate up as much as possible so I kept the strides to 200-220/min, it was pretty good).  My goal this week is to try burn about 1000 cals/day ... hard to do when you are only running as few miles as I am ... but I am getting pretty close to that so I am happy.

I wanted to go to the pool and pool run today, but I am super busy at work and today is Dean's birthday and I need to leave work on time tonight -- no 9-10PM night for me.  So, I ran and fe'd instead.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday and have a great weekend!!!

1:01:43.  Nice run, a little warm but tolerable (I waited until Nan finished her marathon before leaving).  I was surprised how well it went ... tiny bit of pain, but nothing horrible, hills were fine.  I can still manage to pace myself properly, the last two miles were the fastest, even with the big hills.  Came home and Dean and I went to the Y and pool ran for an hour.  Then got some "breakfast" (burritos) - at 1:30 pm.  Good times.  The time did go by quickly with company!

So very happy for Nan - third place and a 2:45:49 -- an A standard by 3mins and 11seconds!!! what a rock star!!

 Have a wonderful weekend bloggers!

1:05 of fun on my friend the elliptical.  Greg says by  the end of next week I will be back to where I was mileage-wise ... this will be good!  I am thinking that I will go back to Nashville to visit with some friends and run a very cool 1/2 marathon there in March and maybe jump into some local races here and there the rest of the winter-spring ...looking forward to running more (and fe'ing less)!

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

no watch - I assume 36 mins or so + 50 mins elliptical.  sigh.

Happy Monday!

~40 mins.  Ran pretty hard ... no pain in the leg so that is good!  1:25 pool running ... listening to a VI Warshawski novel ... it was pretty fun actually (although believe it or not, I was chilly this morning getting into the pool - YEA!).  

Happy Tuesday bloggers!

40:51.  I took yesterday off from feing.  It was the first day that I did not run/cross-train since I have been injured.  I decided I needed a mental break ... cross-training is seriously difficult on my psychie and overall feeling of well-being - regardless on how happy it makes me that I have not gained weight.  Anyway.  I ran today in my new orthotics, felt weird, kind of like running with huge rocks in the arch of my foot.  By the end of the run my feet hurt, but I could definitely feel a difference in my stride, and  hence my quads and hamstrings, my leg muscles felt pretty good  ... we'll see how this translates later when I am running more miles.  Lucky me, I get run 75` this Sunday!

Now I am off for my 80`+ of pool running.  It will be chilly today in the pool, it is 55F outside, they say the water is 81, but I tell you what, it does not feel like it.  The pool is covered, and two sides have full walls, the other two sides have 1/2 walls - so it can actually get pretty cool (or hot I bet in the summer).  It was 49F low last night, which means if it continues for about 5 more days I can run on my trail again (have to give it a couple days for the snakes to get in hybernation  mode -- one of my friends said that he ran on a local trail for 30 mins and saw 12 snakes!).

Happy Thursday my fast blogging friends.

~40 mins (I did not wear a watch).  I have a huge blister on my right foot from my orthotic.  It is not uncommon, but it makes it hard to tell whether the pain I feel wearing them today is from the blister or more "sinister" (boooohaaahaaa).  I guess I will have to call or go see John to discuss.

After my lovely (it was so nice this morning) run, I went and fe'd for another 55 mins ...

Happy Friday bloggers.

85` of pool running, 60` with Dean and another 25 just me and my mp3.  

My feet hurt really bad.  I guess I wasn't supposed to just jump into using my orthotics.  John told me to wear them to work/home for 2 weeks (no barefeet for me he said) and then try 10` for running and build up.  He said 2 weeks is generally how long it takes, but it might take 3 for me since I have such huge blisters from them now. hmmmm, who knew?  ;-)

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend so far!!

at least 8.5 -- I did my old time 8 mile loop and added on (it was longer than 1/2 mile, but I don't know by how much). I really pushed the hills, it hurt but I did it.  I felt a couple of twinges here and there, but even though it was tough it was 10000000000000 times better than the fe so I sucked it up.

Happy Sunday bloggers! 

41:17 (21:04/20:13).  Ran down to near the track and back, it is much easier to run up this hill home when I haven't done a track workout.  Tonight I will do another 50 glorious minutes on the elliptical.  Should be a good week this week, I run 3 days in a row (supplemented with 50-105` of elliptical or water running to make sure I get 90 to 2 hours workout total) and then 4 whole days in a row after a day off from running (I am not sure yet whether or not I will take a day off from cross-training, it depends on how bored I am with it ;-)).

Did not sleep well last night - we were woken up at 2AM with a chorus of coyotes (at least 20 of them -- maybe even more).  They were right outside our house and across the street in the wash, it was pretty cool.

Have a wonderful start to the week bloggers. 

59:03 (+ 1 hour of pool running).  Tough run, but fun. I am back to the trails!!  I ran about 35 mins and then hit a series of trails near the track.  I ended up bushwacking it a little, but it was ok.  An easy introduction back to trail running.  I LOVED it.  No snakes, no falls, just me and the beautiful fall weather.

I was famished after my pool run.  I ate my lunch a little early because of it ... hopefully my banana and apple will hold me over until dinner!

~45 mins + 1:05 pool running in my new "aqua running shoes" - supposedly they increase water resistance by 20-30% ... it was a little harder, but not "that" much different.

I have been a good semi-injured runner - I have been wearing my orthotics (not when I run) all week (which means I had to wear real shoes and not my birkenstocks ...), so far so good, I guess.  I don't feel any different, but I have only had a slight "twinge" of the old pain so I guess it could be working.  

It has been about a year-and-a-half since I wrote this on my blog, but I since I had another basal cell carcinoma removed today I will say it again:  wear your sunscreen bloggers.  Even though this one was not actually on a "sun-exposed" part of my body, I still think that prevention is important, so I just want to remind you all.  (if you saw how ugly the scars are after they remove these little buggers it might inspire you even more ;-)).

59:32.  Very nice run, very hilly, very hard, but very enjoyable.  I can't wait until I can feel this good after running 70 mpw again.  

No cross-training -- bye bye elliptical (until next Monday?).

Have a good Friday bloggers.

No watch, just an easy run on a beautiful day.  I got out late (because I was watching the rally to restore sanity/fear) -- and now I am on my way to do some water running (hopefully 1:20 mins to make 2 hours for the day, but I am getting hungry so I am not sure I can make it that long).

Have a great day bloggers! 

1:10:44 ... yes sireee ... the same route as last week nearly 5` faster.  I basically ran easy with the idea being I wanted to run the second half faster than the first half.  It is a loop course (very very hilly), and the only part of the run that is the "same" is the last 2.x ... so, it took me 18:21 to hit the landmark on the way and 16:43 to run from the landmark home, I am very happy.  When I am running more miles I run the first part in about 18:45-18:50 (sometimes 19 if I have had a particularly hard week of running) -- so it is encouraging to find that I haven't lost too much leg strength!!  And I am very happy that I can still run 8 min pace pretty easily.  I guess I can't be too hard on the ol' ellipse after all -- between it and the many many hours pool running, I have managed to keep in ok shape.  

It is still in the 80s here, but there is a faint cool breeze so it doesn't feel bad (well, that and I was only out there for 70 mins anyway).