Daily Mile & Lift (And it's Throwback Thursday!)

Hey!  Hey!  Hey!  It's leg daaaay!  I worked it pretty hard, too.  Then for a little run on the treadmill.  My knee was hurting a little, so I did a super short walk/run.  I'm hoping the sore knee is just because I pushed legs so hard, but I suppose I'd better baby it anyhow.

Today's routine:
Leg extensions
Hamstring curls
Sumo barbell squats
Straight leg dead lifts
Angled leg press
Glute machine
Seated hip abductors & adductors

2 treadmill miles
22:56
11:28 average pace

And!  I've been reminiscing about all our (Speedy K and I, of course) fun snowy adventures last winter.  Remember these posts!?

Snow Run December 2012

Guest Blogger, January 2013

Long run cut short, February 2013

Don't stop the party run! February 2013

Daily Snow Hike, December 2012

Now that's what I call good times!  Is it Saturday yet?

Daily Mile: Two Gimps on a Walk

Ozzy and I went out for a run for his birthday today.  He's two years old!  Here is how it went down:

0-.50 miles:  Wow!  I feel really great!  Hmm, the dog is limping a little.

.50-.75 miles:  I can't believe how great I feel.  Too bad the dog is limping!

mile .75:  Wait.  My knee hurts.

.75-1.50 miles: Walk.  Try to run.  No.  Knee hurts (but only a little) better walk.

Walk.  Limp goes the dog.  Walk.  Limp. Walk.  Limp.

Not highly encouraging.  Still, better than nothing.  Now, I'm going to go do some yoga and try to relax from my nice stressful run.  Then maybe I'll go buy Ozzy a nice bone.

1.51 miles
21:26
14:11 average pace

Training Week 14

Monday REST
Tuesday REST
Wednesday REST
Thursday Weight lifting 1.5 mile walk
Friday Yoga class
Saturday 45 min stationary bike (9.25miles) + strength training
Sunday 4.02 miles
Weekly Total 4.02 (I'm just happy it wasn't 0.0!)

Previous Weekly Total 468.89
Training Grand Total 472.91


Hey, did I mention...?

Cross Training

Considering that on Wednesday I couldn't even walk up and down the stairs, the fact that today I'm 95% pain free is miraculous!  This morning I went to the gym and rode the stationary bike (can you say boring?).  I rode for 45 minutes and was thrilled to actually break a sweat for the first time all week!  I also did pull ups and some glute and hamstring work.  As long as my knee continues to feel better all day today, I'm going to do a test run tomorrow.  Feeling massively relieved at the moment.  I will continue to do my healing routine and work on strengthening.  Let's hope that my knee doesn't flare back up again!

Yoga, Food and the Final Fourteen

Yoga was awesome today!  So many push ups and yoga push ups my arm pits and shoulders are sore.  I'm feeling really good getting into the gym while I'm impatiently waiting for my knee to quit hurting.  It's better than it was and I actually walked (only slightly painfully) down the stairs in my house like a normal person this morning!  Two more days off running and then Monday I'll reevaluate and decide if I can get in a small run or two next week.  

One of my biggest challenges this week has been to not overeat.  I can't risk weight gain right now.  The last thing I need is a few extra pounds in addition to a bum knee on race day.  I've done fairly well, however, I have eaten more than my fair share of marshmallows.  What can I say?  Marshmallows are good.

Did I mention that in fourteen days I'll be running my second ever ultramarathon?  I'm starting to get really excited!  Now that the panic of bum knee-dom is subsiding, the realization is hitting me!  I'm doing this thing again!  Antelope Island 50k, here I come! WAAAHOOOOO!!!!!

Light at the end of the Tunnel

This morning I woke up feeling better than I have all week!  My knee is feeling drastically better today.  I can walk with zero pain.  Stairs still make me wince, but not nearly as bad as earlier this week.  This simple switch was enough to take me from thoughts of a DNS (did not start) or DNF (did not finish) to visualizations of myself at the finish line of my second 50k!  

All week I've been resting my leg as much as possible, foam rolling, icing, using arnica, stretching and resting more, still.  Feeling so much better this morning I hopped over to the gym for a bit of a workout.  I felt so much better after getting a workout in!  I did:

Bench press

Lat pull downs

Dumbell overhead press

Hip adductors & abductors

Leg raises (very light weight)

Anti-inflammatory line up

Hello hip workout.  Help me out here, okay?

Plus, I went to the chiropractor, whom I love!  Seriously, if you are a runner in the Salt Lake area, look up Dr. Mark.  He has helped me though so many minor running injuries!  Plus, I did a little bit of walking today and am still feeling good!  Hooray!

1.5 miles 

Overuse Injuries

I really dislike telling non-runners when I have a running injury, because they automatically assume running is bad for me.  Yes, runners often get injured, but as this article points out, runners are often pushing their limits.  I'm much more likely to be injured than someone who is sitting on their rump all day.  Not unlike the hip problems I've had, this sore knee is a result of pushing myself.  The question is, will sixteen days of rest be enough to get over it?  Will I race anyway (probably)?  Will I finish (I hope so)?  Have you had overuse injuries?  How did you get over them?  How long did it take?

Panic. No. Don't Panic!

Well, what do ya know?  My knee is still sore today.  Not as bad as yesterday, but still pretty bad.  I've been trying to remind myself that all of my training is done.  Nothing I do in the next two weeks will make or break race day.  I've trained hard. I've put in my time.  Now, I am forced to rest.  Sitting all day is not my idea of a good time, nor is an easy thing to do with three kids and a menagerie in the house.  So, I figure that today, on uber-rest day I'll make a list of things I can do each day.  I like lists.

1. Ice
2. Foam Roll
3. Stretch
4. Core Strengthening
5. Pull Ups
6. Push Ups
(if I can't run, I may as well...)
7. Blog about running

I'm also going to head to the chiropractor later this week.  Then, once my knee isn't sore any more I'll hit the gym for some weight lifting and bleedin' elliptical (can you sense my enthusiasm?)  Then once I'm feeling confident I'm not going to mess it up again, I'll resume running.  I really hope that day will be before race day.  But, if it's not, c'est la vie.

I'll just sit here and stare at my race medals with this bag of frozen cranberries on my knee.  Frozen peas or cranberries make the best ice packs.  

Do I seem calm?  I'm trying to remain calm.  I really am panicking, but only a little.

A Beautiful [Bummer of a] Run

Today was the perfect day to run.  It was cool and beautiful.  I met up with Tricia and Tehra, whom I'd never run with before, but know through other friends.  We met at Bonneville Shoreline Trail at This is Place Heritage Park.  It was quite cool at first, but not too cold.  As the sun rose, it was just beautiful out!  I really enjoyed the company of these ladies.  Soon we soon spread out and each ran our own run, meeting up at intersections.  

Around mile nine, as we headed down into Memory Grove, my right knee started bugging me again.  This was not a happy thing.  It hurt the worst on the downhills, and we were heading straight down the mountain.  At the half way point, Tricia left us, continuing on through Memory Grove and on to her house and Tehra and I hoofed it back up onto the Shoreline Trail. 

I was a bit worried about my knee, but kept a comfortable pace.  I knew I was going to have to cut the run short.  I love the downhill on this run, and was forced to slow my pace considerably.  Other than my knee, I was feeling really great.  This was actually quite discouraging and I managed to get in a pretty good funk around mile 16.  I talked myself out of pouting and just did my best.  By the end of the run my knee was pretty darn sore.  

I've since iced it twice, taken my vitamins, fish oil, ibuprofen and am sitting with my leg up.  It already feels better than it did at the end of the run, but I know that the next 19 days need to consist of babying the hell out of it.  The taper is on!

Blurry Tricia and I hiking uphill.

Snow capped mountains.  

Heading down into Memory Grove.

I knew that Tricia, Tehra and I would get along when they told me they named this hill FTH (fuck that hill.)  Yes.  A very fitting name.

Tehra spotted this guy crawling across the trail.  He was the biggest spider I'e ever seen! 

I was feeling pretty crappy at this point, so I decided to take a couple pictures and regroup.

The final stretch to the trailhead.  

It wasn't the 24 miles I had planned, but I do not need an injury this close to race day!  I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these two ladies and hope we can get out on the trails together again soon!  Now on to rest!  Rest!  Rest!  Taper!  Taper!  Taper!

18.85 miles

4:31

14:22 pace

No Workout Wednesday. (or Monday... or Tuesday...)

Monday and Tuesday my right knee was still sore from my long week and back to back long runs last week.   I decided to take a those days off.  Then today, I woke with a wicked migraine.  The good news is that after three whole days of rest, my knees feel like brand new.  That, and my migraine is gone.

I often forget that rest is a good thing.  Even running only four or five days a week is a lot when you have a busy life!  Three days off is the longest I've taken off in ages, but I feel good tonight.  I'm ready to run in the morning and I'm feeling ready to tackle my last super long run (24 miles) this weekend.

23 days left!