This week was as close to normal as I've been for months. I went to spring track with my GTD friends Tuesday night, got up at 4:10 am to meet Hank for our 4:30 am jaunt on Thursday am, long run with Hank, Annie and Dave bright and early Saturday am for 10 miles and today, for the first time, I race two days in a row. I enjoyed a nice 5 miler with some speed tucked in at the end on a really beautiful Sunday morning - my favorite.
This week was a turning point in the sneaker department. I've been wearing the Asics 21XX series for years. They are what I started in and although I tested other brands/models in the past, I always came back to these - they just felt right. I also have some Lycos inserts I use with them. When I landed myself in PT back at the end of February, one of the first things my PT girl said was - you might want to think about a different type of sneakers. This made me cringe.
I HAD tried other sneakers and I was afraid going into something new would just result in some other new injury but it started to make me think. She felt I had two much support with both the stability and the inserts but that's all I ever knew. It is also the opposite of what my chiropractor was telling me. Question is - who do you listen to?
Well I decided I don't just listen to one person but take all of the data/feedback I get from everyone and make my own decisions based on how I feel. The plan was to reevaluate the sneakers after NYC Half and Doyle's 5 miler.
So come this week, my last PT visit arrived (YAY!) and we analyzed how I run. Well I kind of felt like a disaster as she critiqued my form and showed me that although I classic overpronater, the 2160s were just pushing me over the edge and also, my body may just be too used to them resulting in other problems.
I took myself to Runner's Alley in Nashua (http://www.runnersalley.com/) and called ahead to make sure someone would be there to assist me and really analyze what's happening when I'm running. I spoke to and met with BJ and Renee who were both awesome. Surprisingly the first pair of sneakers they brought out to me were Asics Nimbus model. I just figured I'd jump to a completely different brand but in the end after trying out some Asics, Brooks and New Balance - I felt best in the Asics and that's what I brought. After 5 miles in them today, I think I made the right choice so the goal will be to transition - maybe completely to the Nimbus and keep the 2160s for the long runs for additional stability for those longer days. All feels good now though and that couldn't make me happier.
Weekly Mileage: 28 miles (hoping to go up from here!)
Speed: 3 out of 4 days with speed worked in
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Doyle's 5 miler
Today was a great day at Doyle's 5 miler. I hadn't done this race since 2005 and only once before that in 2004. Jay and I always talk about our early running/racing days when, well, we had no racing friends. We'd finish a race, grab a beer - ask each other how how the race went - finish the beer and then go home - not all that exciting.
Today as a big change from that. We met up with our good friends, their family and some other runners from RI that we don't get to see very often. Although the weather wasn't the best, it turned into a day long affair and it was a really good time.
Today was an important day in my road back as well. A lot of the latter weeks of my physical therapy were built around this race and running it. After getting through this, I'm pretty much free to register for more races and move on with my running life. The goal was to run a 7:05 pace for the 5 miles. True to Gina form, I did not run a 7:05 pace but a 6:45 pace. I felt great. I finished with an overall time of 33:47 which is far better than I thought I could do. Things are looking up! I'm even running enough to start tracking my miles now. I am still only allowed to run every other day of the week but I'll take it with a few good races in between.
Total miles run this week: 4 days of running = 26.5 miles of running
Speed: 3 out of the 4 days had some speedy speed!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Boston Spectator
Today was my first day being a spectator in the Boston Marathon crowd. What a day really. The record heat was unbelievable but given the warm winter we had - it could have gone either way right? It could have went this way or it could have been a threat of a blizzard - no one knew what to expect. I had a lot of friends running today - some very seasoned runners and some it was their first marathon. I was excited for a lot of reasons to be on the other side today.
My plan had been all along not to run Boston this year; I'd like to do something in the fall and didn't want to have to wait to recover from Boston or even deal with any lingering fatigue from it. It was a good thing I didn't sign up. Although it's tough because it's the hometown marathon and a lot of people seemingly don't understand that there are other marathons in this world, it was in the end the right choice. If I was able to run today - it really wouldn't have been worth it- I wouldn't have been in good shape, I would have risked re-injuring myself and I would have had to combat a day like today. The right choice was made and that felt good. It also felt good just to hang out with my friends, scream and clap my head off and just take in the scene of the race. Boston Marathon is just plain awesome.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who ran today. One can argue that anyone can run a marathon in ideal conditions but I think it takes a really strong person to persevere though a day like today. I really felt motivated by watching all walks of life push on through out there today - congrats to all of the runners who finished or even ran today - totally inspiring!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Seemingly smooth sailing
Post NYC Half - my recovery seems on track to really return to full strength hopefully by the end of May. It's actually scary for me - I feel nothing wrong with my leg anymore - and having felt something wrong for literally a solid year this week, it's really weird!
With each passing week, I've been increasing speed and duration (not together - except when I break the rules which although I try not to, sometimes it happens). I have 2 PT visits left and then my PT girl said I can likely fly away on my own back to my coach to ramp up to normal training. Yay!
My next race is Doyle's Pub Race on 4/22. I'm just excited for that race because I haven't done it since 2005 and it's a fun one and of course there is beer. I'm excited to see our friends Thor and Heather that we haven't seen in awhile and just really enjoy the day. It finally feels like things are looking up.
I'm very committed to doing all the little things to keep me healthy. If things stay steady I hope to sign up for the Toronto Marathon in the fall as my goal marathon. I'm taking it day by day though but it's looking like I'll make my first trip to Canada in October!
With each passing week, I've been increasing speed and duration (not together - except when I break the rules which although I try not to, sometimes it happens). I have 2 PT visits left and then my PT girl said I can likely fly away on my own back to my coach to ramp up to normal training. Yay!
My next race is Doyle's Pub Race on 4/22. I'm just excited for that race because I haven't done it since 2005 and it's a fun one and of course there is beer. I'm excited to see our friends Thor and Heather that we haven't seen in awhile and just really enjoy the day. It finally feels like things are looking up.
I'm very committed to doing all the little things to keep me healthy. If things stay steady I hope to sign up for the Toronto Marathon in the fall as my goal marathon. I'm taking it day by day though but it's looking like I'll make my first trip to Canada in October!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
NYC Half Complete - working my way back
Headed into Sundays race I was apprehensive. I had sent my PT girl a note about declining an invite to run an 'easy' 5K (to benefit her fundraiser - I chose to donate instead of signing up for the race knowing I wouldn't be able to put a lot behind it) prior to leaving for NYC. She responded saying it was 'probably better' and that we'd get me in good shape for the next big race. Oh no, I wasn't talking about NYC half like she thought but it made me think - did she really not think me run/walking this half was the best idea? She hadn't let on. Now I'm paranoid.
My plan was to run 10 minute/miles and walk through all the water stops. Easier said than done - I am not capable of this - physically and mentally. I drove down with Dan and Tom who I hadn't seen in awhile so it was good to have the 4 hour drive to catch up. They did the Gina exchange to my cousin Mary who I spent the night with getting some quality cousin time. That night as we sat there watching a movie, I swear I felt the area of the injury aching and it occurred to me that maybe I should bail out. That's just not me and I was there - I was doing it.
So bright an early we set off for the race meeting up with Dan and Tom and Mary walked us to the corrals (she easily snuck in). It was great because I could keep all my warm clothes on (it was chilly!) and then hand back to Mary and start the race. The only modification I made was to drop back a corral which was fine because I had company with Dan although soon after the gun went off he went to run his race.
I started off very slow as I was told and very quickly the first water stop was there - I walked through it as I was supposed to. It wasn't easy. Every time I stopped at a water stop I had the very supportive volunteers yelling "C'mon, you can do it". I wanted to say "Yes, I can do it but I'm not allowed to do it as I'd like to" :)
It was a different experience running this race 'easy'. I was far more aware of my surroundings and spent a lot of time focusing on those around me and the spectators. The course was actually kind of difficult: rolling hills for 6 miles through Central Park, out towards and into Times Square, a right down 42nd street and then to the water towards Battery Park/World Trade Center area.
I kept my pace but realized I was progressively getting faster. I still tried to keep myself conservative but every time I'd look down, my watch showed a slightly faster pace. So I pressed it to see if I'd feel anything, nope - nothing. No pain at all. As I continued, I tested little by little and still no pain. It was coming to around the mile 9-10 marks and well, my stomach started to hurt. There it is! An 'old' typical pain - something other than this injury hurting. As stressed as I get when my stomach hurt, I was thankful it was the stomach hurting and not the injury - that in fact felt great.
As the last water stop approached I considered not stopping for it because, well - my stomach was really bothering me but I felt like if I didn't stop, the Running Karma Gods would make me sorry I had broken my promise.
As we made our way past the 12 mile mark, we went into a very long tunnel - it was scary long and all I wanted to do was get out of it - so again, I picked it up. Coming out of the tunnel I could see the '800 feet left' sign, a 400 feet left sign and so forth. Well, I picked it up here - I was almost done, nothing hurt and I truthfully just lost my head. It was awesome and I was really overcome with emotion as I made my way to the finish. I had just hoped I could skirt in under 2 hours having come back from injury and keeping my '10 minute mile' - well that ended up at a 8:27 pace for a final time of 1:50:37 - definitely not my best half by far but not my worst. The best part? No pain.
I arrived at my chiropractor and PT visits today - happy but cautious because I hadn't followed directions - both Mika and Jess were very supportive and happy I had done so well. I have been downgraded to 1 X week PT and the bad calf essentially felt equal to the good half.
I even got to run over 6 miles today @ 8:01 pace - it seems like things are headed in the right direction. Fingers crossed it's only up from here! I have running every other day for the next two weeks. In terms of racing, Doyle's 5 miler at the end of April is up next. I'm sure I won't be in top shape by any means but I'm excited just to be back in the game!
My plan was to run 10 minute/miles and walk through all the water stops. Easier said than done - I am not capable of this - physically and mentally. I drove down with Dan and Tom who I hadn't seen in awhile so it was good to have the 4 hour drive to catch up. They did the Gina exchange to my cousin Mary who I spent the night with getting some quality cousin time. That night as we sat there watching a movie, I swear I felt the area of the injury aching and it occurred to me that maybe I should bail out. That's just not me and I was there - I was doing it.
So bright an early we set off for the race meeting up with Dan and Tom and Mary walked us to the corrals (she easily snuck in). It was great because I could keep all my warm clothes on (it was chilly!) and then hand back to Mary and start the race. The only modification I made was to drop back a corral which was fine because I had company with Dan although soon after the gun went off he went to run his race.
I started off very slow as I was told and very quickly the first water stop was there - I walked through it as I was supposed to. It wasn't easy. Every time I stopped at a water stop I had the very supportive volunteers yelling "C'mon, you can do it". I wanted to say "Yes, I can do it but I'm not allowed to do it as I'd like to" :)
It was a different experience running this race 'easy'. I was far more aware of my surroundings and spent a lot of time focusing on those around me and the spectators. The course was actually kind of difficult: rolling hills for 6 miles through Central Park, out towards and into Times Square, a right down 42nd street and then to the water towards Battery Park/World Trade Center area.
I kept my pace but realized I was progressively getting faster. I still tried to keep myself conservative but every time I'd look down, my watch showed a slightly faster pace. So I pressed it to see if I'd feel anything, nope - nothing. No pain at all. As I continued, I tested little by little and still no pain. It was coming to around the mile 9-10 marks and well, my stomach started to hurt. There it is! An 'old' typical pain - something other than this injury hurting. As stressed as I get when my stomach hurt, I was thankful it was the stomach hurting and not the injury - that in fact felt great.
As the last water stop approached I considered not stopping for it because, well - my stomach was really bothering me but I felt like if I didn't stop, the Running Karma Gods would make me sorry I had broken my promise.
As we made our way past the 12 mile mark, we went into a very long tunnel - it was scary long and all I wanted to do was get out of it - so again, I picked it up. Coming out of the tunnel I could see the '800 feet left' sign, a 400 feet left sign and so forth. Well, I picked it up here - I was almost done, nothing hurt and I truthfully just lost my head. It was awesome and I was really overcome with emotion as I made my way to the finish. I had just hoped I could skirt in under 2 hours having come back from injury and keeping my '10 minute mile' - well that ended up at a 8:27 pace for a final time of 1:50:37 - definitely not my best half by far but not my worst. The best part? No pain.
I arrived at my chiropractor and PT visits today - happy but cautious because I hadn't followed directions - both Mika and Jess were very supportive and happy I had done so well. I have been downgraded to 1 X week PT and the bad calf essentially felt equal to the good half.
I even got to run over 6 miles today @ 8:01 pace - it seems like things are headed in the right direction. Fingers crossed it's only up from here! I have running every other day for the next two weeks. In terms of racing, Doyle's 5 miler at the end of April is up next. I'm sure I won't be in top shape by any means but I'm excited just to be back in the game!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Run/Walking: Starting the Climb back
Well this was a good week. I saw my MD and put in two more PT sessions and got permission to start run/walking. I was actually petrified to try it. In the past year, so many of these 'tests' have been met with more pain. With it being spring, the days getting longer and a half marathon a week away (although no chance of racing it), feeling pain when I gave it a test for the first time would have made me just sad.
So Tuesday night post MD visit and post Monday PT visit, I suited up for my brief 'test' run. I was allowed to do 20 minutes of run walking like 1 minute run/1 minute walk, 2 minute run/1 minute walk and 3 minute run/1 minute walk. Very exciting - no really - I couldn't wait to get home although I was scared.
It was first fun just to get ready for a run - it feels like it's been forever. When I started out, it was like someone let me out of jail but also a bit of "how do I do this again?". My body felt like it needed a little lesson on running again but before I knew it - I was run walking around my condo complex. I felt so happy to be out there. I had no pain - a bit of tightness but no pain. I came in from the run ready to tell my husband of the success and hit the first stairs to lead to my basement and felt an 'ouch'. What the heck is that? Then paranoia set in - maybe this wasn't so successful after all or am I just too tuned into every little pain I feel?
The next day I visited my chiropractor and PT girl. Both looked at the injury and remarked on how good things felt - this meant a lot coming from the chiropractor who had yet to note this. The PT girl dry needled the calf again finally getting a trigger point that had been 'running' (HA HA) from her the prior two dry needling sessions before that. I knew she got this point because as I left, this one spot felt pins/needles - just numb- that one spot - so weird! The PT girl also gave me two more days of run walking - one of which I did yesterday. This run went even better than Tuesday which was a relief. It was also 50 degrees out which made me want to run forever! This time I did 2-4 minute run periods and almost ran pretty much the entire 20 minutes the way it worked out.
I'm feel really optimistic. My next run/walk day is Saturday and I can't wait! Long story short, things seem to be looking up!
So Tuesday night post MD visit and post Monday PT visit, I suited up for my brief 'test' run. I was allowed to do 20 minutes of run walking like 1 minute run/1 minute walk, 2 minute run/1 minute walk and 3 minute run/1 minute walk. Very exciting - no really - I couldn't wait to get home although I was scared.
It was first fun just to get ready for a run - it feels like it's been forever. When I started out, it was like someone let me out of jail but also a bit of "how do I do this again?". My body felt like it needed a little lesson on running again but before I knew it - I was run walking around my condo complex. I felt so happy to be out there. I had no pain - a bit of tightness but no pain. I came in from the run ready to tell my husband of the success and hit the first stairs to lead to my basement and felt an 'ouch'. What the heck is that? Then paranoia set in - maybe this wasn't so successful after all or am I just too tuned into every little pain I feel?
The next day I visited my chiropractor and PT girl. Both looked at the injury and remarked on how good things felt - this meant a lot coming from the chiropractor who had yet to note this. The PT girl dry needled the calf again finally getting a trigger point that had been 'running' (HA HA) from her the prior two dry needling sessions before that. I knew she got this point because as I left, this one spot felt pins/needles - just numb- that one spot - so weird! The PT girl also gave me two more days of run walking - one of which I did yesterday. This run went even better than Tuesday which was a relief. It was also 50 degrees out which made me want to run forever! This time I did 2-4 minute run periods and almost ran pretty much the entire 20 minutes the way it worked out.
I'm feel really optimistic. My next run/walk day is Saturday and I can't wait! Long story short, things seem to be looking up!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Making Progress
I've been in PT for just over a week now and been needled 3 times (2 X the calf and 1 X in the glute). Things are improving although I think yesterdays calf needling was particularly intense. This is in anticipation of my half marathon I'm still hoping to 'be part' of on March 18th (NY City Half). I say part of because I will be unable to run this true to Gina Style i.e. losing my head in running from start to finish as fast as I can.
The PT girl looked me point blank in the face and said "If you run this race like 'normal', you WILL set yourself back". She made her point. Boy did she make her point. That is the last thing I want. Being injured is more work than being healthy and more time consuming! I asked her "Well, what pace is that?" "9 minute miles" - well then 9 min/miles it is. Truthfully I just want to register for the Toronto Marathon as to not let it fill up like every other good marathon does these days. I can't do it until I'm out of the woods with this episode and back on track in terms of speed work, racing etc...but I've really learned from this experience.
I learned who to go to for what type of advice - that's for sure. Not everyone has all of the answers- it's more about asking a lot of different experts: coaches, chiropracters, MDs, physical therapists and fellow running friends what to do and how to do it - putting it together and figuring out how that works best for my body.
This running game is constant learning. Until I get the OK from the MD March 6th, I've been elliptical-ing my little heart out (and a biking 3X week). I feel good though, my body feels strong and I've been eating really well and drinking (booze) much less (although with 4 beer taps in the house it's impossible to go cold turkey). Hoping all the stars align for when I can final get back to the roads and run like 'normal'.
The PT girl looked me point blank in the face and said "If you run this race like 'normal', you WILL set yourself back". She made her point. Boy did she make her point. That is the last thing I want. Being injured is more work than being healthy and more time consuming! I asked her "Well, what pace is that?" "9 minute miles" - well then 9 min/miles it is. Truthfully I just want to register for the Toronto Marathon as to not let it fill up like every other good marathon does these days. I can't do it until I'm out of the woods with this episode and back on track in terms of speed work, racing etc...but I've really learned from this experience.
I learned who to go to for what type of advice - that's for sure. Not everyone has all of the answers- it's more about asking a lot of different experts: coaches, chiropracters, MDs, physical therapists and fellow running friends what to do and how to do it - putting it together and figuring out how that works best for my body.
This running game is constant learning. Until I get the OK from the MD March 6th, I've been elliptical-ing my little heart out (and a biking 3X week). I feel good though, my body feels strong and I've been eating really well and drinking (booze) much less (although with 4 beer taps in the house it's impossible to go cold turkey). Hoping all the stars align for when I can final get back to the roads and run like 'normal'.
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