Rub Some Snow On It (also, any blog suggestions?)

In this week's News of the Lame, my stress fracture started hurting again Tuesday morning. Like, three-weeks-ago, kind-of-limping-again hurting. I was going to try to get a little treadmill time that day, but as soon as the pain started I obviously nixed that plan. I tried to stay off of it as much as possible, but the pain never entirely went away until Saturday. It had never hurt during or immediately after my little interval runs, and it hadn't hurt on Monday, so I was kind of at a loss as to the reason.

Fortunately, I had an appointment with my PT on Friday, & his opinion was that it was just muscle pain from my Sunday run, since bone pain would have been immediate, not two days later. His theory has always been that the stress fracture was caused by muscle issues to begin with, probably partly by tight muscles putting torsional forces on the bone and partly by those same tight muscles becoming so tight after a certain amount of exertion that they basically stop working, which means they don't absorb force, which means more force is redirected to the bone.

So, I am likely not aggravating the healing bone by running, but I probably am re-aggravating the underlying cause. In theory the way to stop the cycle is just to grind the scar tissue out of that part of my calf muscle and continue stretching it as often as possible. Which kind of sucks, because ten minutes with the lacrosse ball & my leg is sore for two days. I am allowed to run on it even if it's a little sore, though he did caution me to pay close attention to what kind of pain it is and how bad is, and to err on the cautious side of running less often if I'm not sure.

He also reminded me that there are lot of other fun ways to be active & sporty in the world, so I took his advice & went up to Tahoe (ie, where they have winter) with Don over the long weekend to get some skiing in, which was AWESOME considering that I haven't been on skis since our trip to Breckenridge last March.

Kirkwood ski area in South Lake Tahoe. Kirkwood is awesome because in spite of being a fantastic mountain for just about all levels, it never gets crowded because it's so far away from all the bigger more touristy resorts. On Sunday, I never waited more than a minute in a lift line, & on Monday I don't think we ever waited more than maybe three minutes (which the staff were calling "really crowded").

Top of Buckboard run at the end of the day

Back side of Kirkwood at sunrise

Don at the top of Buckboard

Up on the summit somewhere

It's pretty amazing what hurling your body down a few black diamonds will do for your morale.

A brief cry for help: Lately, my favorite blogs keep doing one of the following:

• Dropping off the face of the earth
• Basically dropping off the face of the earth (ie, every post begins with some sort of apology for not blogging in six months)
• Turning into a litany of sponsored posts / giveaways (FUN FACT: the more sponsored / ambassador'd / brand name dropping / giveaway posts a blogger does, the more likely I am to delete them from my feed. I know people have their reasons for doing that stuff & there are plenty of people who enjoy reading about it; I'm just not one of them. It makes me feel like I am spending my precious precious free time reading ads, which is lame.)

Recently I went through my NetVibes & deleted every blog that hadn't had a new post with actual content in like 6 months (with a couple of exceptions), and BOY is it slim pickins.

So my question is, what are you reading these days that is interesting, funny, informative, well-written, updates more than once month, easy on the giveaway/sponsored stuff, and doesn't have a scary diet vibe about it? Five out of seven & I'll give it a shot! (In the right margin I have a list of the blogs I usually read semi-regularly for your perusal.)

(This is also the part where it is completely appropriate to be like, "Hey, I have a blog and it is AWESOME!" and I will probably be like "NEAT, I will check it out!")

* * *

Grand Total: 65.85 miles

* 31.2 easy (bike)
* 8 speed (bike)
* 11.25 tempo (bike)
* 14.5 elliptical

Monday:

Afternoon bike, 13.8 easy / evening karate.

Tuesday:

Bike - 3.4 warm up, 4 x (5:00 @ 5K effort / 2:00 easy), 2.4 cool down = 14.4 speed.

Tuesday was not the greatest day for a few reasons. First, that was when my leg starting hurting again. Second, I was up too late on Monday night, so when my alarm went off at 5:45 the next morning, my reaction was a swift and decisive "Oh heeeellllll no." I don't feel bad about trading 45 minutes on the elliptical for an extra hour of sleep. (Though that also meant I got to drive to work in commuter traffic, which is utter balls. That, I did kind of regret.)

Wednesday:

a.m. strength work / afternoon 7.5 elliptical / p.m. karate.

THE GOOD: Fastest forty-five minutes of easy elliptical ever? I will take it! Sick new bo kata to start learning at karate? Hell yes!

THE BAD: Leg pain. Thankfully it didn't hurt on the elliptical, but pretty much every normal walking step I took on Wednesday still had some amount of pain right in the outside upper left calf. It felt more like muscle pain than bone, but since I couldn't tell for sure, I didn't risk the treadmill.

Happily, we spent most of karate destroying pads with boxing gloves, which pretty much involves just standing in one spot and not moving around a lot. Working on bo kata did involve some walking / stepping, but when you're just first learning the sequence, it's pretty chill, and that was only about twenty minutes anyway.

Thursday:

a.m. bike, 10 easy / p.m. 7 elliptical

Ugh. Straight out of bed, the leg was still not happy. Pain after many hours of rest usually indicates soft tissue and not bone, but then again when the stress fracture was at its worst around Christmas, it just hurt insanely bad at all times, so I skipped the treadmill again, just to be safe.

Friday:

Bike - 2.5 warm up, 32:00 @ marathon effort, 16:00 @ LT effort = 14.25 tempo = 14.25

PT in the morning, so no strength work. The bike could have been a longer workout, but I had friends to make Valentine's Day cocktails for, & you know where my priorities lie.

Cinnamon-infused bourbon, ginger liqueur, pomegranate juice / molasses, grenadine, blood oranges, Aphrodite bitters, & Thai chili bitters -- all clutch Valentine's Day cocktail ingredients.

Homemade grenadine = de rigeur.

Gin, Amaro Montenegro, Aperol, lemon juice,
grenadine, & egg white, with cinnamon for garnish.

Saturday: Rest / drive to Tahoe.

Sunday: Ski like a mad woman. (Okay, maybe like a mildly disturbed woman. Still. Skiing. Which has REALLY been needing to happen this year.)

How To Date (and not date) A Runner

Be still my beating heart, it's a Valentine's Day round up! FIRST, can we all just agree that this sounds like the worst idea ever?

Also, if matchey-matchey couples running outfits are now a
thing...maybe you could do me the courtesy of just not telling me about it.

It's one thing to run with your established significant other, or find yourself crushing on someone who just happens to already be a member of your regular running group. But that doesn't seem to be what this article is talking about. It seems to be referring to that early-on, you're-kinda-cute-and-nice-but-that's-about-all-I-know-about-you period, wherein you intentionally make plans with this person to go on a run together as a date. Why, oh why, would you put the object of your affection through such an ordeal??

Some people will be all, "But I'm a RUNNER, this is who I AM! S/he should know the ugly TRUTH about me right from the START!" To which I say, heeeellllllllllz no. No one wants to see all your warts up-front. They don't. I love to run, and I also love to run with friends. But the truth is, it's hard for me to put a date in the 'win' column if I'm kind of grossed out by the thought of touching you when it's over. See-ya-later-smooch? Not happening if you smell like a laundry hamper & taste like a salt lick. Is that really the impression you want us to leave one another with?

Frankly, I feel like Tip #5 says it all:

"DON'T spit or blow snot--even if that's customary
among your training buddies. You should control
whatever bodily functions you can."

If there is a number one rule-of-thumb for ruling out first/early date activities, concern regarding the control of bodily functions has to rank pretty high up on the list.

If we are just getting to know each other, I would prefer that you looked together and not winded and smelled nice and were able to speak easily in complete sentences and not kind of half preoccupied by your bodily functions. (And, honestly, I want those things for myself as well. If that makes me a diva, then bring me my tiara, darling.) Let's keep the mystery alive and save running together til the three-month mark, at least.

SECOND, as long as we're on running and dating--

I don't want to name any names but there is this one active lifestyle website whose mailing list I got on because they occasionally send out sweet coupons or race discounts. Realistically, though, I get about two of those kind a year, and twice a week or so I am treated to newsletter-type-emails telling me all about local endurance events I have no interest in, the most obvious/useless training tips known to man, and whimsical (I guess?) items that run the gambit from "utterly vacuous" to "someone got paid for this??" in terms of quality.

Recently said website published such a whimsical post informing us all about "How To Date A Runner." I thought maybe it was just a humor piece, but once I clicked through (COME ON I HAD TO), I realized that no, someone is *actually* trying to give us serious (or at least semi-serious) advice.

BEHOLD: How To Date A Runner (if you absolutely have to) (because seriously) (who would volunteer for that)

(Warning - I am about to give you all unsolicited relationship advice. I am qualified to do this because:

• I am a runner who has only ever been dated by non-runners.
• I have never had an argument with a partner over running.
• I have never had angstful passive-agressive unspoken non-arguments with a partner over running.
• I have never had a relationship end over running.
• This is the internet, why are we talking about qualifications.

What I'm saying is, I pretty much rock at this. You are welcome.)

Tip #1:

Advice: I am sorry you are dating someone who has never been in an adult relationship and has therefor not yet learned about things like "boundaries" and "priorities" and "not being a one-trick bore all the time." Goals / discipline / work ethic / etc. is one thing, but at some point you really just have to be able to say "Seriously, can we have like ONE CONVERSATION A DAY that is not about running??" If s/he has trouble with that, maybe tell your honey to get a blog & vomit their obsession onto the internet where only willing volunteers have to hear about it? (I am convinced that this blog has played no small part in why I still have a functional relationship as well as many happy friendships with non-runners.)

Or, hey, if you only need to see your S.O. a few hours a week and can totally deal with spending most of the time you spend together nodding and smiling while s/he drones on blissfully un-self-aware, again, more power to you.

Tip #2:

Advice: If you need reassurance from the internet that "No, really, dude, she is TOTALLY NOT AVOIDING YOU" and earth-shattering advice like "If x thing about partner is bothering you then you should probably talk to partner about x," you may have some other issues you need to work out. As for your self-centered, neglectful partner, see above.

Tip #3:

Advice: I like that this one ends with a period AND a question mark. It's kind of like the writer was like, "You should definitely maybe do that. I guess? Maybe.?" Since the author seems uncertain, here's an actual tip. If partner is like, "Let's totally do X!! X would be the coolest!!" and you are like, "X sounds like an utterly miserable waste of time to me!!" then you have some choices.

Choice 1: "X is not really my plate of tamales but you should totally go have an AMAZING time without me & we will do something AWESOME together when you get back!"

Choice 2: "I am not totally stoked about X, but since it's so important to you, I can hang." (If you go this route, you have to *actually* be able to hang, not be miserable and passive aggressive but keep saying it's fine. Basically you're accepting that this trip is about your S.O. & not you, so anything fun or cool you get to do is a bonus--no expectations.)

Choice 3: "I am not too sure about doing X because [reasons], can we discuss / maybe do [compromise thing] instead this time?"

This is called not having a dysfunctional, passive-aggressive relationship.

Also, what's with the weird assumption that the S.O. has to accompany his/her runner love to every race-related event? If it were me, I'd happily go along, but I definitely would not let myself be dragged along to the expo or press-ganged into being a one-woman pit crew for three/four/five hours. Hell no. I'd happily meet the conquering hero at the finish with a snack & a dry change of clothes, but that's about as far as my spously devotion extends. (I certainly don't expect my boyfriend to do more than that--and even then, only for a marathon--& he's put up with my running obsession for over six years now.)

Tip #4:

Advice: Firstly, massive side-eye at the OMG LADIES ARE DELICATE FLOWERS THEY ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE ACTUAL BODILY FUNCTIONS WITH ACTUAL SMELLS, DISGUSTING!!! vibe happening in this "tip." We're all human. We all have metabolisms and personal biomes. I feel like most athletes I know are self-aware enough to realize when we're emitting eau de long run & jump into the shower before foam rolling getting in some core lounging on the couch with a recovery smoothie beer. But if on some days we're a little more brain dead (it happens), just be a grown-up and use your words. "Oof, girl, u ripe!" works as well as anything. My boyfriend is also fond of, "What's that homeless smell?" If your honey bursts into tears over this, well....you've got bigger problems in your relationship to tackle than post-run funk.

Tip #5:

Advice: Is there advice in here somewhere?

Tip #6:

Advice: This pretty much boils down to, "She likes a thing. A LOT. Which is not that weird because maybe there is a thing you like a lot too?" I feel like running websites & magazines would have us believe that we runners/endurance athletes are unique and special in how much we love our thing, and if you are not a runner, CLEARLY you can never have ANY IDEA what it's like to care about something SO MUCH, because running is *definitely* the only thing in life that people ever get really overly-invested in & obsessed with committed to. If you really never have been super duper into something, maybe work on a hobby or two before you get into a relationship with an actual adult human.

Tip #7:

Tip #8: So....this started out like the world's most obvious fact, transitioned into laundry advice (which I think is bullshit, btw), and finished with a healthy dollop of sexism.? Good times.

I don't know what the big deal about running laundry is. Drape it over the edge of the hamper for a day til it's dry. Then throw it in the hamper. (I do all my laundry pretty much every Sunday religiously, and seven days in the hamper has never created enough of an odor to notice unless you're sticking your nose directly in it.) Wash with the rest of your lights & darks as needed. I promise it will not melt/soil your normal clothes. Throw in half a cup of baking soda if you're concerned. Sports bras should probably air dry but honestly I don't see what's so special about wicking material of shorts, tops, etc. that it can't go in the dryer. I have been doing it for years so somebody please tell me if my running clothes are actually all broken from this & I should go out & get new ones right away.

Advice: This is again not an actual tip, but if you are this person, maybe you don't take your partner to races. I mean let's be honest: for non-runners, hanging out a road race is about as fun & interesting as watching paint dry (see tip #3). If s/he's not a runner, do yourself a favor & leave your sweetheart home in bed on race day unless s/he specifically volunteers to come. And maybe even if s/he is. (ProTip: If the volunteering only comes after shameless hint-dropping and/or passive-aggressive shenanigans on your part, it doesn't count as volunteering. If you really, really, really want them to come to something, use your words and ask, and if s/he's not enthusiastic, let it go.)

Also, this quote: "Honey, I'll never understand why you endure months of hard training, only to be disappointed on race day." YEAH HONEY, WHY DON'T YOU JUST STOP DISAPPOINTING YOURSELF ALREADY???

Tip #9:

Advice: Again, no actual advice, but why let that stop us? (Also, clearly a complete lack of familiarity with white noise and/or Peanuts, but that's neither here nor there.) This strikes me as just another illustration of the bizarre ONLY RUNNERS UNDERSTAND ABOUT BEING REALLY, REALLY INTO SOMETHING. The only real advice I have is for the runner gal hosting brunch, which is to DTMFA who equates "really into running" + "enjoys chatting about shared interests with friends" with "one-dimensional" & clearly has some kind of inferiority situation going on.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!

(For more unique & awesome Valentine's Day cards, visit The Oatmeal!)

Recovery Observations + Shoe Updates

GOD, it is such a gift to be able to run--for any amount of time, with any level of frequency--again. The 8-10 minutes I get on the treadmill every couple of days? Priceless. After years of countless treadmill runs where every minute seemed to stretch into at least three and I couldn't WAIT to do something, *anything* else besides stare at those little red LED numbers, it's amazing how these runs are always over before I know it. (Am I seriously wishing for more time on the 'mill? How's that for irony?)

When you only get 10 minutes and you're trying to savor every second of it, it's amazing how aware you become of everything about what you're body is doing. And apparently, for reasons I don't understand, in my six weeks off from running my form has actually changed dramatically for the better. I find myself leaning forward with no problem (something I was working on but struggling with before the stress fracture), landing on the inner part of my ball of foot / midfoot with less effort, and engaging my glutes & hamstrings so much more easily.

(After the AlterG post I got a question about why I'm trying to run more on the inside part of my foot. This is why:

Left: Windsor Green Half Marathon, May 2012.
Right: Healdsburg Half Marathon, October 2012.

The left foot, I pretty much have under control at this point. The real trick has been getting my right foot to land flat without my right knee collapsing in, which my PT thinks may have played a nonzero part in my hip flexor tear last May. So I've been doing extra strength work for those particular muscles.)

Part of me wonders if this has to do with spending so much time on the bike. With that I definitely find I have to use my glutes & hamstrings a lot, especially doing speed & tempo workouts, so it makes sense that those muscles would be stronger now. (Triathletes, you may have more insight into this than I do!) Also, the fact that my average speed on the spin bike at easy-but-not-too-easy effort has gone from 12 mph to nearly 14 mph seems not insignificant.

The nice thing about being forced to run in short intervals and not having the pressure of an upcoming race is that I have the luxury of focusing on form instead of mileage. I mean yes, I was working on form a lot when I had Berkeley Half and KP Half and NVM on the schedule, but if in the middle of a run my legs would get tired from running with really good form, I was definitely more likely to be like, "Okay, I did a bunch of form miles, but [x] race is only [y] weeks away, so I HAVE to get the miles in, even if my form for the rest of this run is maybe not so great." For the time being, I think I want to institute and all-form-all-the-time rule -- If my legs get too tired to keep up good form, I'd rather take a little walking break & end up with slightly less mileage than get all the mileage but wear myself out too much to run well the whole time. (So basically it'll be like the Couch-2-5K of running form.)

SHOES

OK here's the thing about getting injured towards the end of the year: You get to spend all of January getting all kinds of crazy coupons & emails about sales & discounts from all your favorite running stores, sometimes on shoes you've been eying for a while.

Boring responsible angel brain: You don't need those shoes. You have plenty of running shoes, and oh BTW, did I mention you can't even use them right now???

Smooth-talkin' rationalizin' devil brain: You know you're going to buy them anyway, and who KNOWS when there'll be another sale/coupon/whatever like this? Really, it's irresponsible NOT to buy them!

You can probably guess who won the majority of those battles. And then just as you're starting to be able to run again and maybe put some of those new shoes into use, you get sent a prototype pair to wear test. So I guess what I'm saying is that maybe sometime around March, I'll have some shoe reviews for you that I'm really excited about.

Aw, what's this, now?????

HMMMMMMM......

ON THE OTHER HAND MAYBE WE CAN JUST CELEBRATE FOR A MOMENT THE FACT THAT I HAVE LEGITIMATE USE FOR RUNNING SHOES.

* * *

Grand Total: 61.65 miles

* 5.35 running
* 30 easy (bike)
* 6.7 speed (bike)
* 8.3 tempo (bike)
* 11.3 elliptical

Monday:

Afternoon 1.4 run (4 x 2:00 on / 2:00 off); p.m. karate + light strength

For I think the third week in a row I woke up on Monday feeling like absolute death. At this point I've pretty much concluded that our house is harboring some sort of mold that I'm horrifically allergic to & being in the house over the weekend is too much. I had to skip my usual Monday morning strength session because of a classroom observation, but honestly I think if it hadn't been for that I would have stayed home because I just felt that bad.

I've really been enjoying getting back into karate, although I have learned that I have to take it easy on my leg & give myself lots of breaks. There's even been some protest from the non-injured parts of my legs--they're still in the process of getting used to kicking high again, which tends to cause achey hamstrings (and whatever those tendons in there are as well).

Tuesday:

a.m. 3.75 elliptical / p.m bike - 3.5 warm up, 4 x (5:00 @ 5K effort / 3:00 easy), 5.35 cool down = 14 speed.

I usually try to do 45 minutes of bike or elliptical on double days, but I was still feeling pretty crappy Tuesday morning, particularly in the chest / sinuses / breathing areas, and just making it to half an hour was miserable enough as it was. Fortunately I was feeling relatively human again by the afternoon & was able to make it up on the bike.

Wednesday:

a.m. strength work / afternoon 12.9 bike / p.m. karate (at which I did my first flying axe kick in nearly two months, which was pretty sweet. Alas, no camera!).

Thursday:

a.m. 1.75 run (5 x 2:00 w/ 2:00 walk breaks) & 3.5 elliptical / p.m. 4 elliptical

THE GOOD: No leg pain on the treadmill! I think the healing may be far enough along that I can start running every other day instead of every three.

THE BAD: On Thursday afternoon I suffered massive carb fail. I felt like I'd eaten enough & well throughout the day & even had a couple of teaspoons of honey in my tea right before I left work for the gym, just to be safe. But WOW, not 15 minutes in and I suddenly felt like I was going to pass out from hunger. I did 30 minutes instead of my usual 45 (because I'm pretty sure I would have passed out otherwise), scarfed the banana I had in the car, then gunned it home & proceeded to devour half a box of Triscuits (which are my new favorite source of whole grains).

Friday:

Strength work + bike - 3.2 warm up, 2 x (16:00 @ marathon effort / 3:00 easy), 2.1 cool down = 13.6 tempo.

Thanks to some schedule weirdness on Friday, I got to do these two workouts back-to-back, which suuuuucked. I did slightly less strength stuff than usual because I didn't want to ruin my tempo, er, ride, but even so, I could tell as soon as I started that I was tired & it would not be a particularly speedy ride.

Saturday: Rest / beer it up, yo.

All sours, all the time at The Monk's Kettle. Not joking, I cannot
remember the last time I was out til nearly one in the morning. SAD!

Sunday: 2.2 run (6 x .25 run w/ 2:00 walk breaks)

Technically I did violate the terms of my parole PT on Sunday by running on pavement, but the weather was nasty & I just wasn't all that enthusiastic about spending as much time driving to & from the track as I would actually running.

New Month, New Year, New Chapter

First, a huge shout-out to Jen, through whom I ran Kaiser Permanente Half vicariously this weekend. In spite of wind, cold temps, & icy rain, she not only ran a PR but smashed two hours for the first time. (Unfortunately, I suck at spectating & never managed to spot her. But hey, solidarity!!) CONGRATULATIONS JEN!!!

It was no CIM '12, but there was definitely cold and wind and rain
aplenty to contend with. (I do agree with Jen that after CIM '12, there's
just not a race day forecast out there that could possibly shake me.)

The iconic "Kaiser Permanente" windmill! (At least that's how I always think of it.)

I don't know any of those people. The only real point of this picture is to prove I was there.

Kaiser Permanente '10 was the first half marathon that I ran in the Bay Area; as I was walking along the last mile or so of the course, it occurred to me that I actually don't remember the end of the race. I remember cursing the Great Highway & wanting to shoot myself around mile 11, but I actually don't remember running past the windmill or finishing. At all. Weird.

Friends, it is a new month. This month is noteworthy for a few reasons.

1) It is the month of my birth. While I don't go in for too much craziness on the celebration side, it does always kind of feel a little like second New Year's to me. A fresh start & all that. (Plus it's a palindrome birthday so yay?)

2) It is Strong Beer Month, which includes SF Beer Week.

If you live in the Bay Area & enjoy beer, clear an afternoon sometime this week & peruse the schedule. Yes, it will take some time, but your life will be richer for it.

3) It is the month in which I return to running.

I can only hope that these three carefully selected "gifs" have adequately expressed to you my excitement about this.

I mentioned last week how after the bone scan the sports medicine doctor said that my recovery would be symptom-driven & I could do anything that didn't hurt AND that I could probably try running again in another six weeks, which are two completely & totally different sets of instructions.

On Friday I brought it up with my PT, & he agreed that 11 weeks was excessive (apparently he commonly starts putting patients on the AlterG at 50% bodyweight four weeks after they're diagnosed) and that going by my symptoms was fine. He said he suspected the doctor was just being extra-careful given than I'm not a regular patient of his and he'd only seen me twice.

After establishing that my running on the AlterG hadn't caused any pain or soreness in the couple of days after, he declared that it was fine for me to start running on soft surfaces (treadmill, track, dirt, etc.--basically anything besides pavement) in two minute increments & see how that felt.

For the second time in two weeks, I could have wept with joy.

For now, I get 4 x (2:00 run / 2:00 walk) every other day. If that goes well & I don't have any pain (during or after), I can increase the length & number of intervals little by little each week. If I do have some pain, I have to back off to every third day.

New Month, New Year, New Goals:

I've got some bigger ones in the back of my head, but for now I'm trying to stay focused on the small victories & just getting my leg healthy again. On Feb. 23 I'll turn 33, so here are some very very NOT arbitrary, scientifically determined goals for that day:

• A+ Goal: Run for 33 minutes on my 33rd birthday.
• A Goal: Run 3.3 miles on my 33rd birthday
• B Goal: Run for 23 minutes on 2/23
• C Goal: Run 2.3 miles on 2/23

I think this time round I won't jinx myself by inviting the world to "bring it."

* * *

Grand Total: 62.4 miles

* 34.4 easy (bike)
* 5.2 speed (bike)
* 8 tempo (bike)
* 13.4 elliptical
* 1.4 honest-to-god RUNNING!!!

Monday:

a.m. strength work / p.m. bike, 13.1 easy.

I really try very hard not to judge what other people are not doing at the gym, but really??? ADMIT IT, YOU JUST MADE THAT THING WITH THE BALL UP.

I have also noticed that often I am the only woman in the gym wearing shorts instead of tights (so like the only one out of maybe 30). Or sometimes there will be *one* other girl. Personally, I can't wear tights in the gym unless I'm going to yoga because I leave puddles of sweat on everything I touch as it is. It's got me wondering if there's some underlying reason for it, or if by some freak of nature they all just happen to have the same preference & I just happen to have the opposite one. (FWIW that does seem to be the case quite a lot, which I've sort of accepted.)

Tuesday:

Bike - 3.5 warm up, 4 x (5:00 @ 5K effort / 3:00 easy), 5.35 cool down = 14 speed.

Wednesday:

a.m. strength work / afternoon 6.5 elliptical / p.m. karate + light strength.

Thursday:

a.m. 6.9 elliptical / p.m. 9.5 bike

Just like last week, my legs felt worn out Thursday morning, but once again I had my fastest elliptical session ever.

Friday:

1.4 run / walk; Bike - 1.5 warm up, 6 @ marathon effort, 2 @ LT effort, 1.5 cool down = 11 tempo.

I did my running on the treadmill, going at an easy 8:30-8:40 pace for two minutes, then waking quickly for two minutes, wash/rinse/repeat four times. It was mostly okay (I was glad see that I haven't backslidden too much & that pace still feels easy, at least for two minutes at a time), but I did have a little soreness in the outside of my leg toward the end and after I got home and also some sensitivity with pressure. Which was just as well, given that I don't have access to a treadmill on the weekends, so I wasn't able to do anymore running until Monday anyway.

I've pretty much given up on swimming on the weekend. It might happen in the future, but right now those two rest days are working pretty well for me, given that I'm not actually training for anything (and oh yeah trying to grow back a bone).

Fixing My Carb Deficit: Pre-Run / Recovery Muffins

Friends, you know I am an unapologetic foodie. I shared the Leg of Beast dinner at Incanto with friends & reveled in God's Butter. I attended the "Farewell to Foie" nine-course pre fixe at Michael Mina & wept at the beauty of the third course. I worship at the alter of craft microbrews, embarrassingly good wine, and painstakingly-created cocktails.

I use real butter. I do not skip desert.

So you know I am not about to shove some healthy-living-clean-eating-skinny-what-have-you crap down your throat. When I want a full-fat, artery-clogging, insulin-spiking party in my mouth, I damn well throw one.

On the other hand (sigh) I can't be wolfing down lavender-infused French toast with honeyed mascarpone and bourbon-maple syrup every day before my morning workout.

All this can be yours at Mission Beach Cafe.
(Be sure to ask for the "rock star" mimosa.)

So, lately, I've been on the lookout for something baked and pumpkin-flavored that I could grab quickly in the morning--something with enough carbs to get me through my morning workout, but not so heavy that it takes an hour to digest. And then it also occurred to me that something like that would also be great to throw in my car for replacing the carbs post-afternoon workout & holding me over until I can get home & have a proper dinner. For these purposes, I was looking for real-legitimate-reasonably healthy-weekday-breakfast muffins, not weekend-mouthparty-brunch-n-mimosas-with-friends muffins.

I tried out a few different recipes & was mostly pretty underwhelmed. Eventually I just ended up taking this & that from different ones, & through trial & error, stumbled onto this:

Super Tasty Pre-Run / Recovery Muffins!

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• .25 tsp salt
• .75 tsp cinnamon
• .75 tsp nutmeg
• .25 tsp cloves
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (I buy the 14 oz cans & just use half of one per batch, which is close enough)
• .5 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 T canola oil
• .5 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg

Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl, mix the wet ones together in a different bowl, slowly add the dries to the wets, spoon into muffin tin, & bake at 375 for 20 minutes (or until toothpicks come out clean). Sprinkling the top of the pre-baked muffins with a little extra cinnamon & sugar is optional, but tasty.

It's like I'm a real food blogger!
(Ha ha not really. Ever.)

They've come out soft, moist, & delicious for me every time. (Er....except that one time when I accidentally used baking powder instead of baking soda. That was pretty gross.) I am working on getting more carbs (which apparently I royally suck at, according to The New Rules???), so the muffins have been another great way to get a few extra from a healthy source. (Newsflash: You don't get to fix your carb deficit by stuffing your face with ice cream. Woh-woh-woh.)

Don't forget elevensies!!

And I have to say, they've made a big difference in my morning, which now goes breakfast (6 am, pumpkin muffin pre-workout), second breakfast (8:30 am, peanut butter & banana sandwich post-workout), elevensies (11am, green smoothie).

Since I started actively figuring out how many carbs I should be getting each day, keeping track of them, & working on getting closer to the right amount (not as easy as you might think!), I feel So. Much. Better. Even though I'm only cross-training right now and not actually running, I've still been getting in doubles on most weekdays (with the occasional triple if I get to karate and/or yoga), making it through the afternoons feeling awake and energized, & getting up 45 minutes earlier than usual feeling alert & ready to go.

(If you know me, you will appreciate how insane--absolutely *insane*--it is that I've been getting up at 5:45 am nearly every weekday morning for strength work, elliptical, or bike. I am not kidding that before this month I could count my post-school pre-work day workouts on two hands.)

Happy weekend, everyone! And those of you running KP Half, kick the SHIT out of the Great Highway for me! ;)

Bone Scan, AlterG, & Future Trail Adventures

So last Wednesday I went in for a bone scan to determine whether the doctor's (and my) suspicions were correct & I was dealing with a stress fracture in my left fibula. If you've never had a bone scan before, it's pretty cool. First, you get an injection of Technetium-99m, which is a radioactive isotope that gives off gamma particles. Also in the injection is a bone-binding agent, which will cause the Technetium to bond to bone tissue. When a bone is injured and trying to repair itself, there will be more uptake from blood flow than usual; this area will receive more of the Technetium and the bone binder will help it to "stick."

(Also, if you have a Geiger counter at home, the 2-3 days post-bone scan can be pretty entertaining.)

Right after the injection, the technician will put you in the gamma camera for a Phase 1 scan in order to verify that the tracer is circulating & bonding properly. In some tests, the Phase 1 or 2 scan is the diagnostic one, but if a stress fracture is suspected, you'll have to go wait ~3 hours for your body to fully metabolize the tracer & give it enough time to bond properly to any healing areas. (This is a Phase 3 scan.)

The scan itself takes half an hour to an hour. When you return for the scan, the technician will position you in the camera, and then have you hold completely still for 10-15 minutes while the camera detects the gamma particles emanating from your body. I want to say that the technician said the camera takes ~10 images per second, but because there is so much variation in the radioactivity that's emitted, they record say twelve minutes' worth, then "stack" or average the hundreds of images to construct a more accurate picture of what's happening.

There's nothing painful about it except getting the shot (which looks a lot scarier than it is since the cannister is covered in a larger, lead cannister to protect the technicians); for me, the hardest part was holding completely still in one position for twelve minutes, and then another position for eight more minutes. They turned the monitor to where I could see it, but the images are so grainy that it was hard to make out much. These were also in color with all sorts of black and white and gray and red and orange and yellow dots, so I really had no idea what I was looking at.

My doctor was on vacation until Monday, but when he released the report that morning, the results were pretty clear, even to me:

The bright white patch on the little bone? Stress fracture.

When I saw the doctor that afternoon, he didn't have much to add. No question about the diagnosis. No, they have no idea what caused it. No, there's nothing to do but stay off of it. (He did echo RoadBunner's creed that bones heal 100%.)

It happens occasionally that I go to doctors and only realize much later that I'm unclear about something or think of questions I wish I'd thought to ask. Initially he said after about six more weeks I could start trying some short, easy runs and see how it felt. When I reminded him that I'd already been off of it for five weeks, he kind of did this half-shrug-sigh & pointed out that it was still showing up white-hot on the bone scan and I've still had some achey-ness after ~2 hours of walking, which are both signs that there is still a lot of healing to do.

"But the good news is that you can do anything low impact. Biking, elliptical, swimming, all of that is fine," he continued. "At this point it will all be symptom-driven. If it doesn't hurt, it's not doing any damage." The question I wish I'd thought to ask is if running for a few minutes at a time didn't hurt in say, 3-4 weeks, does that mean it would be okay?

(Obviously I'm not going to try to run on it any time soon. Not until all of the aching & tenderness is completely gone. But from everything I've read 11 weeks seems excessive.)

On Thursday I went to see my PT & updated him re: visiting the sports doc / orthopedic / stress fracture / bone scan / etc. He did some more work on my left calf & said he would not be surprised if the primary issue was the tight knotted-up-ness of my calf muscles, and that had led to a strain, which had in turn led to the stress fracture. So, in his opinion, the best way to prevent a repeat is, just as with my hip flexors & quads, to stretch stretch stretch and roll baby roll.

We talked a little bit about the prognosis, which just depressed me, and about how I'd been doing what I could on the bike & elliptical. Then he gave me a sad, pitiful look.

"Would it make you feel better if I let you run on the AlterG for like 20 minutes?"

I could have cried. That pretty much made my day.

If you have never had the experience of running on an AlterG treadmill, I encourage you to take the chance if you ever get it. Basically it lets you run at a given percentage of your body weight (which you can set) so that you can get the cardio, neuromuscular, form, etc. benefits without the impact. First, you put on a pair of super-tight neoprene shorts with a kind of hoop around the waist with a zipper attached:

Then you climb into the treadmill, which is like a regular treadmill except sort of encased in a giant bubble with a circular opening in the top. You step through the opening, and then the zipper on the shorts zips you into the opening.

First the treadmill weighs you & calibrates; then you enter the percent body weight you want. (I was doing 50%.) The air-tight compartment around you inflates accordingly, causing the neoprene shorts to lift your body ever so subtly so that they are supporting part of your weight. At first, this feels kind of like walking on the moon--you can take giant, leaping steps & feel like you're just floating through the air. Just like a regular treadmill, you can adjust the speed & incline.

After a few minutes on the AlterG, I noticed a few things. First, when you're only supporting a portion of your body weight, you can run STUPID fast. I found I could run at 5K pace & barely breathe hard. Second, the lack of impact made it really easy to focus on form stuff--I could really pay attention to leaning forward with good posture and using my hamstrings & glutes to get a nice solid follow through with my shin coming all the way to parallel with the ground. Third, there is a camera down on the belt in front of your feet that feeds to a monitor right in front of you so that you can watch what your feet are doing, which also meant I could see how effective my efforts to land more on the inside of the ball of my foot/midfoot were & adjust accordingly. Fourth, I could immediately tell which muscles running uses that spinning & elliptical do not.

Oh my god, I wish I could run on that thing every day. Not only because it would let me do something that more closely resembles training while my leg heals, but because I think it would do wonders for my form and for strengthening the muscles that need the most work. The next time I have $75,000 to blow, that's totally where it's going.

* * *

Grand Total: 55.35 miles

* 22.25 easy (bike)
* 4.75 speed (bike)
* 5.75 tempo (bike)
* 20.1 elliptical
* 2.5 AlterG

Monday:

Sick again; lay on the couch / drink tea. God I am so *over* this.

Tuesday:

a.m. elliptical, 5 easy / p.m. elliptical, 2.1 warm up, 4 x (5:00 @ 5K effort / 3:00 easy), 1.85 cool down = 8.5 speed. I find it a lot easier to do speed / tempo workouts on the bike than on the elliptical, but there were no bikes of the brand I like to use available and working and I could not figure out how to use the other brand, so I did the best I could on the elliptical. It worked better than I remembered, actually, but I still prefer the bike.

Wednesday:

a.m. strength work / p.m. 17 bike. Again my preferred bikes were unavailable (HMPH), so finally sucked it up & figured out how to work the other ones. From this, I learned two things:

1) Apparently not all spin bikes are created equal. Both of the two brands have 25 different difficulty levels, but this new kind was definitely WAAAY easier than than ones I usually use. Level 7 on the new bike felt like Level 2 on the old bike, so I upped it until I was getting about the same RPMs at the same level of effort as usual. However, whereas on the old bike this would usually translate into 85-90 Watts, on this new bizarro bike it hung out around 130 Watts the whole time. So either Watts is something different than I thought it was or one of these bikes is broken. Also, where as an hour on the old bike at ~90 RPMs at moderate effort usually gets me ~13-13.5 miles, on the new bike it got me 17. So....yeah. This is why I never trust cardio equipment. It makes no sense to me. Whatever, an hour at moderate effort.

2) The seat. Has sharp ridges on it. Why???? So, so much losing.

Thursday:

a.m. 6.6 elliptical / p.m. 2.5 AlterG.

Legs were tired Thursday morning, but it still ended up being the fastest elliptical session I've ever done, so I'll take it.

Friday:

a.m. strength work / p.m. bike, 3.3 warm up, 3.85 @ marathon effort, 1.9 @ LT effort, 1.95 cool down = 11

Don's parents were in town this weekend, so we spent most of Saturday & Sunday tooling around San Francisco with them & eating fabulous food. On Sunday we spent some time in the Presidio, were I discovered the Presidio Coastal Trail.

If you've ever been injured on the multi-week scale, you know how depressing it is to see people jogging happily along a beautiful trail.

Clearly this warrants some investigation once my leg is better.