Back in the saddle again!

After 11 days of rest, several miniature mental breakdowns, and countless giant ibuprofen I am running again. Oh, how I've waited for this day...*sigh*...I didn't realize how much my running had become such a constant in my life until I had to take an unwanted break. To name just a few of the things I missed...

• Having a schedule: because I have the summer off from work, running has satisfied my crazy need to always have something to work toward. I have filled my weeks with running commitments and very much enjoyed meeting them--it gives me a sense of accomplishment.
• Having an outlet: running is great for your mental health, especially if you're crazy like me and have a brain that likes to run at a million miles an hour just to drive you crazy and make you worry about things that don't matter :p Running sends my brain to a happy place and helps it stay there more often. When I'm not running regularly my brain likes to find things to worry/obsess about just for fun.
• Making progress: it was tough to watch my teammates rack up the mileage while I was sidelined. I love the steady improvement and the fact that many weeks I am running more than I ever have before.

Tonight was my first run and I took it fairly slow. I also made sure to stretch well both before and after my run. Oh, and I skipped out on the big hill that is normally at the end of my route. I am pleased to say that I was completely pain free throughout the run and afterward!!!

I am now icing my knee, just to be safe. I plan to run with the 7/1 interval group on Sunday and to take it slow. I'll run on grass when it's available, I'll take my time stretching before and after, and I'll stand in the cool ocean in Santa Monica when that 18 miler is all done, feeling immensely grateful to be healthy and able to do something that I love so much.

TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE....OR...WALKING IS HARD

I have been handed some lemons....let me tell you the sad history of my knee. If you have been following my posts then you know that my right knee has not been good to me lately. What started out as a squeaky hinge is now a rusty, falling apart, piece of junk. It used to be that my knee would bother me on a run, but just a bit. Just enough for me to think "...gee, that's not the most comfortable feeling, in fact in kinda hurts". But after the workout the feeling would be gone and I wouldn't worry too much about it. It has only gotten gradually and progressively worse over the past 2 weeks despite my efforts to make it better.

I iced, I stretched, I even rested--I took a break from running, especially this week. I rested Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and my knee felt just fine. Thursday morning I worked out at Curves and my knee felt fine. Thursday evening I did my usual 4 miles and it hurt--a lot--the entire run. Afterward, I got in the car and it was painful to move my foot to hit the gas or the break. Surprisingly painful. I got home, stretched and iced. Rested Friday and Saturday. Felt better.

Today I should have run 15 miles with my team, setting a new personal distance record. I dropped down a few pace groups to take it easy a bit, but I felt some major pain right away. I stopped after the first mile and noticed that my knee didn't hurt while walking, so I walked. In fact, I POWERWALKED! I was mad, and I was going to get my workout DONE. I went at a good pace and worked up quite a sweat. In fact, I even passed some runners. I didn't walk the whole 15 miles, because I didn't want to injure myself further, but I walked as long as my knee felt good, which was about 10 miles.

Walking long distances is much more difficult, mentally, than running. And it is lonelier. In fact, the idea of WALKING 26.2 miles rather than running it is pretty scary. I didn't sign up to walk a marathon. If running it might take me 5 hours, just imagine how long it would take me to walk!
But I AM going to finish this thing, because it is just too important for me to give up, even if that means I have to walk. I can say that and still hope I don't have to walk it, right?

Sooooooo, after all of this I looked down at my knee while stretching, realized it was pretty swollen, still hurt and wouldn't allow me to walk up or down a set of stairs. I went to urgent care. Long story short, I have some water accumulated in my knee but it's not clear why. I have a referral to an orthopedist and took some x-rays that he will look at. The Dr. I saw said to rest it: don't go for a walk, a run, an elliptical, bike, or anything else that will use the knee. She did approve swimming, though :-) She was very optimistic that I would be able to run again soon, and even run my marathon on Oct. 11.

What will I be doing in the meantime? Swimming to stay fit and not go crazy, stretching and icing and resting my knee and being thankful that I am healthy enough to complete something as challenging as a marathon...even if I complete it while walking.

Fundraising update: Cruise Night Bake Sale a Big Success!

My mom and I did lots of baking and packaging of goodies for a bake sale at Cruise Night in Santa Paula last Friday. We weren't sure what to expect, whether we had baked too much or too little or if it would be difficult to sell our goodies.
On the menu were:
Oatmeal raisin cookies
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Chocolate chip cookies
Lemon meltaway cookies
Monster cookies
Snickerdoodles
Chocolate chip brownies
Chocolate butterscotch brownies

We packaged 2 cookies to a bag and 1 brownie to a bag and sold cookie bags for $1 and brownies for $2. We probably could have charged more, but I think that affordability makes them more appealing--who doesn't have at least a dollar in change for a good cause?

We set up a table outside of Curves, but it was really just a loading station because almost all our sales were on foot. I loaded up a tray and walked up and down Main St. selling them. When the night was done we had raised about $200 for charity.

We sold out!!! And way before the event ended! I think that next month we can sell twice as many and hopefully raise twice as much money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The first Friday of September, Main Street Santa Paula--I hope to see you there!

Peacocks in Palos Verdes

Last week was a 14 mile run---yipee!--in Palos Verdes. Officially the farthest I have ever run. In my life. Ever.

The course was challenging, but beautiful. Rolling hills and an ocean view gave me something nice to focus on while running. The start was extremely intimidating because we began on a steep uphill climb for about 2-3 miles but I was feeling good and taking it easy. No reason to rush when you still have 13 miles ahead of you, right?

One more note about the course: it was very fragrant. Or I have a super sense of smell. There must have been chamomile growing along the route, and anise, which made for a great combo of mellow licorice in the air throughout most of my run.

I did encounter a few problems, though. I felt great for the first 9 miles and had absolutely no pain in my knees. Then, out of nowhere it was like the joints in my knees no longer worked correctly. I felt a pain in the center of my kneecaps and noticed that walking made it worse, not better, so I skipped the walk portion of my intervals for those last few miles, opting for a slow jog (or shuffle) instead. While running uphill the pain would subside, and after the run my joints were very stiff.

Another problem was recovery time. I felt fine immediately afterward, but once I got home I was demolished. I couldn't do much but lay in bed with my legs up and my feet and toes were really swollen and uncomfortable feeling. As I continue to run longer distances I'll need to experiment with ways to make my body functional after a hard workout, like ice and ice baths, different kinds of foods after a run, different ways to rest.

All in all, I'm extremely proud of myself for finishing a very challenging run and creating a new personal distance record.

Weekly workouts

The week so far and a (partial) plan for the rest:

Monday: Curves workout
Tuesday: Curves workout, 4 mile run
Wednesday: Curves workout
Thursday: 4 mile run
Friday: rest
Sat: Curves
Sunday: 14 mile run!

Miles, Mansions, Dogs and Friends!

12 miles done! This means that soon my weekly long runs will be the farthest I have ever run...once we pass the 13 mile mark, who knows? When my runs are especially tough I take comfort in knowing that I can do it because I've done it before. After 13.1 I can no longer say that. Instead I'll say I can do it because...any ideas? I need a new mantra.

We ran a new route, which I loved. We headed from the civic center down Ocean, past San Vicente and up Amalfi. It took us about 2 hours and 20 minutes, doing This is a hilly neighborhood with gorgeous homes so there is a lot to look at and fantasize about while running. I had plenty of time to do that. In my fantasies I started to become very discriminating about what I did and didn't like about the architecture of these marvelous homes. Yeah right! I should be so lucky to live in any of them, let alone pick and choose among them. It sure was fun, though. One of them was even for sale and its real estate sign said that it had a golf course. A golf course! In their backyard! *sigh*

Another highlight was that I saw a beautiful dog that I sort of fell in love with. She was solid and stocky with a body and face kind of similar to an American pit bull but short, velvety gray fur like a weimaraner. And she had beautiful yellow-hazel eyes. I asked what breed she was and her owner said was a cane corso. I love them! Look at these pictures:
http://www.westcoastcanecorso.com/canecorso.htm

On top of the great scenery, I also had great company. I always love running with Mollie and Kelly, but this week I got to run with Nicole, too! I run with her on Thursdays but don't often get to run with her on Sundays. I lucked out this week and got a twofer: Thursday and Sunday!

One a different note, I'm starting to notice some difficulties with my knees as the mileage gets higher. I talked to my coach about it and he gave me some great advice and things to try, which I will. It's no fun feeling like the Tin Man at the end of a run, desperate for an oil can. I'll update about what I try and my observations as the season progresses.

This week in running:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 20 minute run
Wednesday: Curves and 45 minute run
Thursday: 5 mile run
Friday: none
Saturday: none
Sunday: 12 miles

LATE POST: 11 MILE RUN/THE LONG MIDDLE

Last week we ran 11 miles, which sounds long enough but consider this: we ran from city to city! From Santa Monica to Marina del Rey and Venice, to be exact. To be honest, this was a tough run for me for a couple of reasons, the biggest being that I was not paying attention to directions when we were told where exactly we would be running to and from.

The route took us past the pier in Santa Monica and along the beach until we hit Speedway in Venice, all the way to the jetty and back. By the time we hit the beach path on the way back I was feeling pretty good. I was feeling so good that I couldn't believe I had almost run 11 miles. I decided that I may as well finish strong and I took off like a crazy person, left the group I was running with and ended up running with a pretty fast teammate for a while. I was flying and had that strange feeling you get after running for a while that your body is separate from you. It becomes like a machine that you have nothing to do with, all motion and rhythm happening on automatic while you hover above yourself, watching. Watching the whole time, thinking I couldn't believe how great I felt. Was I really improving this much? Did I have abilities beyond my wildest dreams? I started to count the intervals we had done so far and the numbers didn't add up. In a painful flash of sudden understanding I asked my teammate "How many miles do you think we've done so far?"

I knew the answer before he confirmed it. "Probably six or seven, because once we hit the pier it's a mile and a half to San Vicente and back." The machine broke, my stride felt clumsy and I began to slow down. I watched him run ahead of me as I struggled to keep moving. How could I be so foolish? I had just spent the last twenty minutes running like a demon and I had only been a little over halfway done! I still had at least three miles to go and I had run ahead of my teammates so I was on my own. It was a long and lonely middle.

But I finished! I ended up back with my pace group and they helped me to keep moving. Running is so much easier with company!

Lessons learned:

• Know your route before you run it
• Stick with the group
• If something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't
  

Monday: curves workout
Wednesday: hill training
Thursday: 4 miles
Sunday: 11 miles