1 Week Until Kaiser Half!

Sweet Jesus, friends, we are now just ONE WEEK (less, technically) out from Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon and SOMEHOW all my parts are feeling PRETTY WELL intact, all hail Beyoncé our lord and savior.

It’s probably been a while since I’ve mentioned it but I am cursed by this race. It was my second-ever half marathon back in 2010, then in 2011 I ran the 5K (which was actually 3.2 miles, like, officially), and after that, ONLY CURSES. In 2014 I had a stress fracture. In 2015, I hurt my foot the week before the race. In 2016, I was still working my way back to running from stress fracture #2. In 2018 I attempted the half as I was recovering from a similar issue in my right hip as I have now but had to quit at mile 4 because it still hurt too much. In 2019 and 2020 I was able to run the 10K (officially 6 miles in 2020, wtf), but I am still pretty excited to return to the half.

Kaiser Permanente 5K 2012!

I’d been hoping to be in shape to really race this race, but it was not to be. Too many ill-timed injuries and of course running away to Europe for 3 weeks, which yes, technically, is my own fault, BUT STILL! The timing, she has not been my friend.

So earlier this month, I turned my focus towards just building up from 3-4 miles (the most I’d run at once since early December, thanks to a calf strain) to a 13.1-mile long run and being able to solidly finish the race.

Was I totally sure this was feasible in 4-5 weeks? NO!

Do I advise the progression below as a half marathon training plan? ALSO NO!

Mid-Jan Kaiser Half Update

Hello friends. I hope you are still safe and healthy as we all ride out this stupid omicron wave. Not much happening lately that's super photo worthy so please enjoy this shot from last August when I went to Seattle for work and took the opportunity to bust out 10 carefree miles around Lake Union.

I am over here getting a GREAT start on 2022 Injury Bingo. Just two weeks into the year (not even!) and I've already been struck down by tendonitis in my left foot/ankle. As man know if it isn't one thing then it's something else.

Of course, this has meant scaling back on running just as I was starting to get into the swing of it again. Several great-feeling 3-5 mile runs during the first week of the year! Then, waking up Saturday morning 1/8 unable to put weight on my left foot. It felt a little better Sunday morning so I gave my scheduled seven-mile run a shot and knew two miles in it wasn't happening. So, four it was, and the tendonitis a little bit worse as a nice bonus. (The next time you hear someone say, "It can't hurt to try!," punch them in the neck for me.)

I took Monday 1/10 through Wednesday 1/12 off running but did my Monday morning weight training as usual. Thursday 1/13 it was feeling much better so I decided to test it out by running to the gym (about 1.25 miles), thinking worst case I could just walk. While it's clearly not 100%, it felt MUCH better, just a little discomfort still. All in all I ran to the gym plus a bit more, then back home after for a total of three miles. The next day (Friday 1/14) I ran another 3 miles; I had a tiny bit of discomfort after but was totally pain-free the next morning (Saturday 1/15) so I went for 5 miles. And, success!

StoryGraph! + January 2021 Books

Hi friends. Your favorite topic I know, of course, is running, BUT I have learned over the years that your *second* favorite topic is books. It's been a while since I’ve felt motivated to keep track of what I’m reading/want to read, but I’m feeling the urge again.

I’m going to see if I can keep it up this year, so if you want to follow, join me on StoryGraph*!

With a little sleuthing (and trawling through various book-related accounts I have in different places) I think I’ve managed to mostly reconstruct last year’s list, so before we get into this year, please enjoy: Books I Read in January 2021.

(1) Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell (2018, 359 pages). In 2020 I really came to adore Lisa Jewell. This domestic crime/mystery/drama alternates between ten years ago, wherein Laurel’s brilliant teenage daughter Ellie suddenly disappears one day without a trace, and the present, where Laurel–still searching for her missing daughter–finds herself falling in love with charming Floyd. Things get weird, though, when Laurel meets Floyd’s young daughter Poppy–who is the spitting image of Ellie. What does it mean??? I really loved this book. It was both well-written and engrossing but also just so heartfelt and earnest in a way that could have fallen flat had it not been so skillfully done.

(2) The Dark Forest (The Three-Body Problem #2) by Cixin Liu, translated from Chinese (2008, 512 pages). It’s hard to say much about this series without getting into spoilers, but what you will very quickly figure out is that some folks on Earth have kind of accidentally found themselves in communication with a race of aliens called the “Trisolarans,” so called because their planet is part of a three-star system whose chaotic gravitational interactions mean the planet experiences unpredictable seasons of pleasant climate (in which civilization thrives) and extreme cold/darkness or catastrophic heat and dryness (in which civilization is destroyed). In desperate need of a stable home world, they are now coming for Earth.

PRESENTS + Kaiser Permanente Half Update

Hello friends! I hope you and your loved ones are having a joyous, fulfilling holiday season and staying covid-free.

Just a quick update on my goal to complete the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon at literally any pace. I had been starting to build back up after getting back from vacation at the end of November in hopes that my right hip/hamstring would cooperate. And, woo-hoo, it really had been! I slowly worked my way up to ~5 or so days a week of short runs and a "long" run of 6 miles. And then one day, 3.5 miles into a six-miler, my left calf seized up to the point of cramping. I tried walking it off and seeing if I could jog a block here and there (seeing as I was now 2.5 miles from home) but it only got worse. I tried again after a full week off, but I didn't even make it two miles before my calf was seizing up again.

A visit to my sports chiro revealed some weakness in my lower legs and ankles on both sides, which isn't a smoking gun exactly (it seems to me there rarely is), but it certainly isn't helping, so I've been diligently doing my calf/ankle/foot strengthening exercises over the the holiday break. And in each of the past two days, friends, I have been rewarded with a painless three-mile run through my neighborhood! (Well; three one-mile loops so as to never have to walk back more than half a mile should something feel off.)