[S]he Conquers Who Endures

Last threshold run until my 8k race on Sunday!!! Man, this one was tougher than last week. It was only a 30 min threshold run (shorter than last week), but I think all the partying this weekend for my brother's wedding wore me out a bit. I stuck it out and finished the workout at 6:55 min/mi pace for 4.4 miles. I am actually pretty happy I can hold that pace while in less than ideal shape. Plus, my calves are so sore and tight from my Saturday bridge run in my 4 mm drop shoes. I think I'll heal up nicely by Sunday. I'm doing a mini taper for this 8k, which may affect my Big Sur performance, but I don't care I want to hit this fast 8k pace and I'm not racing Big Sur. I'm so inexperienced at shorter races so my nerves are already getting to me!!

6 easy miles. I wasn't sure if I should do my normal medium-hard effort today (during taper week for 8k), but my calf decided for me! It's still bothering me really bad. I woke up and didn't know if I could even run it was so tight and painful. I heated the muscle with a heating pad then just decided to go out and see what it felt like. I used a higher drop shoe to take the tension off and that seemed to help a lot. It was mostly pain free and actually felt really good to get the blood flowing to the muscle. Averaged 9:05 min/mi pace and felt like I was going a lot slower. I know this is from trying to get into lower drop shoes too quickly so I think if I do a better job of rotating with higher drop shoes, I still have plenty of time for the tightness and pain to subside for race day on Sunday.

AM: 4 recovery miles with one tight, painful calf. Besides the calves, my legs were feeling pretty good, ready to run. AP: 9:05 min/mi

PM: 4 recovery miles along the St. Charles River during a beautiful sunset. Trying to loosen up the calf. The Nike Frees feel nice to run in. :) 

Last speed work on the treadmill before race day. I was planning between 5-8x0.25 mi repeats at 1% incline and 10 MPH/6:00 min/mi pace. My calf felt okay and like it could hold up. By the 3rd or 4th, I decided not to push it and stopped after the 5th repeat. I got curious what my desired 8k pace would feel like so I decided to throw in one more 0.25 mi repeat but at 6:39 min/mi pace (which is probably slower outside). It actually felt really, really good on my calf. I think the slower running was necessary but is more painful. Good news!!

First complete rest day from running since January!! I kinda didn't realize I was running so consecutively. Maybe I should be backing down to 6 days of running per week...

3 easy miles with my old running group in Chicago. Getting pretty worried, my calf is still bothering me and I was huffing and puffing running with the 9 min/mi pace group!!! Finished with my first set of outdoor 0.1 mile strides since December. Paces were: 5:44, 5:42, 5:41, 5:30 min/mi. Normally I run 6:00 min/mi on the treadmill at 1% incline because that's the fastest it will go!! I'm outgrowing my treadmill. Well, at least it's not mine, it's the apartment complexes, so maybe a good excuse to buy my own. ;)

After my humbling short run, I went to visit my PT for an injury screening and to make sure I am not being stupid by racing tomorrow. She said I have a calf strain and says I can run. I just need to drop out if the pain gets to 7 or 8 or if my gait changes. She dug around in some knots in my calf to try to get the muscle to relax, which kind of tightened it, but then stretching helped it a bit. We will see how this goes tomorrow! I guess this planned taper if anything prevented me from trying to run more on a bum calf. I want to race the 8k, but I also want to be able to run Big Sur at the end of the month! 

Ugh!!! I raced my race, my calf held up, I got the time I wanted, but my chip didn't activate at the start line!!!!!

Here are the splits the timing company says I ran:

Mile 1 8:34

Mile 2 6:38

Mile 3 6:51

5k 6:45

Mile 4 6:52

Finish 6:48

Basically, my chip fired at every pad but the start line, so they assigned me with a start time of day as the time when the elite corral started - I was a quarter of the way back in corral A. I don't know how this could be. Luckily, I ran with a friend exactly side-by-side from the start to the 5k. Her splits were the same as mine with the exception of her first mile being 6:35. 

Needless to say, I was pretty bummed - a lot of crying was involved. I contacted the timing company, so hopefully they will look into it. I worked so hard for this race and now it's posted for everyone to see this first mile time that is slower than my marathon pace, which is actually my fastest mile. Actually a 1 mile PR for me!! I'm trying to brush it off. My body went through this amazing workout. I pushed my limits today, it will reap the benefits of this and I will continue to run faster. I guess, in the end, if they don't change it my future race times will show the truth. 

Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. People, this is a 5 min PR on a 5 mile course in 1 year's time!! How about that hard work and consistency!! 

20 nice and easy miles at 8:28 min/mi pace, and now time to taper!!! This was pretty tough, but I ran with a friend who also raced yesterday. We made sure we kept the pace slow, which is a huge challenge for us. Hehe. 8:28 min/mi is still pretty impressive after running sub 7s yesterday. :)

Was going to do a 4 mile easy recovery run. I felt super, super sore in my glutes but thought the run would loosen things up. They started to loosen, but then my right knee started locking up and became painful. I stopped right away. This is the same injury I had in my left knee 2 times and had to stop running for 1-2 months. Hopefully I will recover in time for Big Sur, but now the trick is to do enough to maintain fitness but not too much to aggrevate my knee. I'm thinking I should nix my 10 miler through the Newton Hills tomorrow. :(

I think I'm becoming wiser. :)

I had planned 2 recovery runs yesterday after my mega workout Sunday-Monday (8k PR race, then 20 miler). My knee started hurting 0.5 mile into my recovery yesterday. Ordinarily I would have toughed it out. This time I shut myself down for the day!

Today, no knee pain!! I wanted to run 10 miles through the Newton Hills. But, reassessed my taper schedule for Big Sur. I decided it is too aggressive. The worst case is to go into one of the most challenging marathons overtrained or injured rather than maybe loosing a little fitness.

So, I got on the treadmill and did a moderate aerobic progressive run - that way I can shut it down immediately if I have any pain. I started at 8:27 min/mi pace, dropped the pace 0.1 MPH, until the last half mile which was at 7:51 min/mi pace. My knee was pain free!! 

I finished up with some weights, PT, and core work. I've had this issue with my other knee before, and 2x had to get MRIs, stop running for 1-2 months and go to PT. It has confounded all the people I have worked with. It's on my inner knee and it feels like a band is super tight and sometimes snaps over something.

I think it's a result of an imbalance - a super tight adductor in combination with weak/tired glute med and poor glute med firing. What helps is: shutting it down if it's acting up on a run, massaging the attachment of the adductor to the pelvis, and glute med work to wake those puppies up to start firing again. It makes sense my megaworkout would cause this. I think I pushed to the limits and backed off just in time!!! :)

2 mile warm up on the treadmill at 1% incline while making up my speed workout for the run. I really wanted to see what 5k pace would feel like so I decided on and ran 0.5 mile at 6:31 min/mi pace, 3x0.25 miles at 6:00 min/mi pace, 0.5 mile at 6:31 min/mi pace. The workout felt great and mixing in the faster repeats definitely taught me to be patient with the 5k pace. Cooled down at 8:29 min/mi pace.

4 mile easy run with 3x0.1 mile strides, 5:23, 5:47, 5:26 min/mi pace.

A little worried about this one. After walking in heels for a conference the end of the week, then walking around the race expo all day the day before the race, and hardly getting any sleep for several days, oh and after PRing in an 8k Sunday followed by a 20 miler Monday...yea, just a smidge of worry.

I had a nice 1.75 mile warmup to the start, jumped into the corral at the mid 6 min/mi pace section...shame on me. Once the race was started, I realized about 80% of the people in the 6 min/mi pace corral apparently are unaware they do not run 6 min/mi pace...in fact, I wouldn't even say they run 8 min/mi pace. About half a mile in I nearly ripped off my bib and quit because it felt like a joke. I probably have a bad attitude, but I am just ticked because I feel like it's dishonest and rude to line up at a pace you have absolutely zero intention of running.

Regardless, I stuck with it. My first mile 6:48, slower than my 8k AP. Then comes the water stop. A girl runs from the left side of the course where they are handing out water directly across the course to the right to get water...just after 1 mile! I ignored the frustration and just kept going, my second mile was 6:40. The crowd at this point has dwindled a bit. Mile 3 felt good even though it was the most difficult (small hills), 6:26! I see the finish line and just try to keep pushing to cross the finish and grab another PR. I was pretty happy about this. 6:26 is my knew 1 mile PR and happened at the end of the race! It goes to show you to stick things out cause you never know what will happen at the end of the race, even if it is short! I KNOW I could have run this faster, but am so happy with this amazing time, so that is a really cool feeling. Plus, it's over a 1 min PR in a 5k for me since December!!

Finished with a 1.7 mile cool down. Then hit the Minutemen Bike Path for 10 more miles to fill out my long run. AP 8:03 min/mi which just ended up being a progression run: 9:11, 8:51, 8:36, 8:10, 7:58, 7:43, 7:40, 7:27, 7:35, 7:18.

Now I'm ready to cheer on all the marathon runners!! Yay!!! See you at the top of HH. :) 

5.2 miles at the end of the course and 3.1 miles run to fetch the car. The most surreal run. A friend from Chicago was running the Boston Marathon with another friend. I was spectating with her sister at the top of Heartbreak Hill. She asked us to run us in, so we left all our valuables on the ground to help her BQ at Boston. It was the four of us running, which was really special because the four of us were on a Ragnar Ultra team last June. Right before my friend crossed the finish, her sister and I thought about hopping the fence to get out of the finish area. The volunteer told us just to finish. We all cried, said our congratulations, then when we were saying our goodbyes, we heard a bang. We just left anyway. Then on the train, we found out what that bang was. I still can't believe we were so lucky. We were 30 mins ahead of the explosions. If my friend and I ended up hopping the fence, we would have been waiting right at the spot where the first bomb went off. If my friend had a bad race, we could have crossed right at the wrong time. My heart goes out to all the spectators and runners, I cannot imagine what they have been through.

6 easy miles along Charles River in Boston with one heavy heart. There were a lot of nice things written in chalk on the path "Boston Strong" "Today is a brighter day", etc. Started feeling a little uplifted towards the end of the run. 9:07 min/mi pace.

Finished up with some pushups, planks, and calf raises. 

Track workout outside on the 400m track...finally...with the girls. :)

Workout was going to be 12x400m, but I've been doing so many 400s for these shorter races these last couple of weeks I was happy to join the girls in some 1200m repeats. I was thinking I'd do 4 because it would be the same distance total as the 400s, but dropped the 4th repeat because I thought my legs felt too spent to push it and it's supposed to be taper anyway.

1200s were in: 4:53.6, 4:47.3, 5:01.1. The girls had me lead the 2nd repeat, hence, the speediness :) I didn't realize I was running so hard so pulled back and paced behind the girls for the final repeat.

Finished up with PT exercises and core work. 

5 easy miles with 5x0.1 mile strides. I'm not sure why but my knee pain has returned in full force. The pain goes completely away then comes back. Body, I understand you are tired, please just hold up for Big Sur then I promise you will have a break!!!

Stride paces were: 5:36, 5:13, 5:20, 5:16, 4:47 min/mi. The last stride was a stride PR for me. 

12 miles last long run. Taped the knee, but the pain still came and went. 8:13 min/mi AP last mile was 7:41 min/mi. The AP felt harder than it should!!!

6 miles on the treadmill at 1% incline. I was planning on 20:00 threshold, but after 2 weeks of racing, I felt like this would be unnecessarily pushing it for Big Sur. I held back to 15:00 at 6:53 min/mi pace. It felt harder than normal, but I think that's from coming off the racing. It felt really, really good to break a sweat and I felt a smidge of runner's high at the end. :)

I had a Dr's appt this morning after my run in Newton. I decided to take the scenic route and drive back to Cambridge on the marathon course. I'm glad I did because it reminded me of all the hill work I did there, getting up to run the Newton Hills at 4:30am in the middle of the week and long runs on the weekend. I started feeling a sense of pride and I'm happy to say my attitude is coming around and I'm starting to get excited for Big Sur! 

I found a sign posted at the London Marathon especially helpful to get excited for this marathon. It said "Run if you can, Walk if you Must, but finish for Boston". :) 

Oh no! My knee and foot were feeling really, really bad. I had to stop after 1 mile because my entire right leg locked up on me. I walked a quarter mile, then decided to try to run again. My knee felt better but my foot hurt the rest of the run. AP 9:18 min/mi

I went to urgent care, the orthopedic nurse practioner was convinced it is either a stress fracture or torn ligaments. This pain started as a sharp pain just when I woke up Monday. I don't understand how it could be ligaments because there wasn't an event to cause it, it was spontaneous. 

I went to a physical therapist, he said if he had to guess it's bone. My gut tells me it's a lot of muscle tightness. I have a tight spot in my quad, bruising on the outside of my knee, inner knee phantom tightness, and after looking at pics online, the main culprit is a tight extensor digitorium longus muscle. 

I'm injected with radioactive isotope now, heading back to the hospital in a bit to finish this bone scan. Hopefully, it's not bone. I really want to do Big Sur on Sunday!!! :( 

30 mins on bike while the radioisotope gets circulated for my bone scan! 

My results: I have a stress fracture. No Big Sur for me. I'm handling this better than I thought so far. It's bone, it will heal - things could be much worse.

The dr says I can only bike if I wear my boot. I don't know if I buy that. I read otherwise on the Internet. In the meantime, I am looking up trainers for my bike and searching for century rides and Ironmans! If I can hit a fast fall marathon, then why not knock IM off the list? 

PM: pumping some iron! Man, I am all trained up for a marathon I had the best training round of my life, hit the fastest paces, and the longest mileage but 3x1min wall sits really kicked my butt!! I found a weak spot to work. By the time I get this boot off, I'm going to be at 3x5mins wall sits mark my words!!! The Newton Hills won't have nothing on me then. :) 

My bike trainer is in the mail and I'm off to CA with my fiance!! It will arrive just as I get back. In the meantime, I found a pretty awesome century ride training program that correlates so closely with running (long rides, steady state, and threshold rides). I love this structure! I also read that rowing can be as aerobically intense as running. I'm not sure how it will be in my boot, but it's just one more option to try!!

I'm maintaining a great place mentally about this injury. Just in case my moment fades, I ordered a new plate to add to my road id bracelet. It says:

Resilient

Because everyday is an opportunity 

This stress fracture is my opportunity to explore new cross-training activities, give my body the break from running I couldn't bring myself to allow, and to fully be reminded of my love to run. It will be a re-invirogating thing, and I will come back with a vengeance!!

30 mins on the elliptical in my boot!!! ZERO pain!! I didn't want to push it for the first time. I will ramp up the time tomorrow as long as my foot still feels the same. :)

It was so nice to find a way I can break a sweat! And I discovered I can do planks no problem in my boot!! My world of working out is opening back up to me. I am very happy.

45 mins on the elliptical, no pain!!! I worked up a good sweat and pushed a little harder the last 2 mins to finish with a little huffing and puffing. 

Finished with 45 mins weights, core, planks and 3x1 min wall sits - uh oh, they are getting easier than last week!! :)