What do your shoes say about you?

Tues – Run 3 mi and Gym

Wed – Swim 45 mins

I thought the run went well yesterday, as I felt pretty strong throughout. Again I'm having no problems on the right side, and I'd put the left at 90% throughout: no pain, but not as strong as I'd like. But towards the end of work and into the evening, things on the left side were feeling a little aggravated. I don't want to do the yo-yo routine I keep falling into of building up then stopping completely, so any aggravation at all is a sign to slow things down now. It's still early in the new strength routine I started, so it could just be a matter of my body not quite being ready for 3 miles. Patience is very difficult for me, and I feel like just because I've been doing the strength work, results should be instantaneous, even though I'm smarter than that and know it takes time for strength work to kick in. Depending on how things feel the rest of they day, I’m either going to shorten the run tomorrow, or scratch it completely if things are the same as last night.

I made it 4 laps this morning using my new 3 strokes/1 breath routine. I think I'm getting a little faster as well (not because I'm actively swimming faster, but because I think I'm struggling less than I use to).

Gym Commentary: I find one of the easiest ways to categorize someone at the gym is to just look at their shoes. I'd say most normal people wear your typical running shoe. That's pretty much what you'd expect. Just to let you know, this is what various shoes tell me:

Basketball Shoes – I am in High School or College. I come to the gym to get "big." Tonight I am going out with my friends and we are going to get soooo wasted. Awesome.
Bike Shoes – I am a hardcore biker. And even though these are impossible to walk in, I am still going to do leg presses with them on. So everyone knows I am a biker. And hardcore. Look at my calves.
Sandals – I am a tool. (Note: I have never seen anyone in the gym wearing sandals who was deserving of any respect. No exceptions*. Do not wear sandals to the gym. And no it doesn't help to wear both socks and sandals. And yes, this is a huge pet peeve.)
Pumas (or other designer sneakers) – I'm not going to lift anything heavy or else I might sweat, and that's not good for my Juicy sweatpants. I will be spending most of my time in the stretching room doing ab work in just my sports bra. My boobs are huge. And fake.
Solid White New Balance – I am a 70-year-old man. (No other possible interpretations).
Converse sneakers - I don't take this seriously, but I'm still going to life some weights so my girlfriend won't leave me for one of those guys in the basketball shoes. I'm listening to Emo on my ipod right now. I'm deep.

So I guess the moral of the story is, if you aren't wearing something which could be classified as a "running shoe" and you cross my field of vision at the gym, know that I am totally judging you.

*Ok, only exception is if you are going straight to Yoga class and leaving straight afterwards. Don't decide you are going to lift some weights last minute. Just don't do it.

TGIF

Thurs – Gym
Fri – 50 mins in pool

So I am doing a completely different routine in the gym as of about a week ago and I can totally feel the difference. I really need to work on changing up my routine every 6 weeks or so because I can get far too comfortable with the same exercises and increasing weight or reps doesn't really fire me up or create an exciting challenge. To get through my whole routine (which involves exercises geared towards strengthening me for swimming, as well as some new strength exercises to get me running again) it takes me at least an hour. And I'm pretty beat afterwards.

Rocked out at the pool this morning and am enjoying that I am getting more comfortable. It still doesn't feel natural to swim, but I can see how eventually it will be. Hopefully. But surprisingly I actually enjoy getting up in the morning and going to the pool. Part of it is that the pool is really warm (yes I swim in the old person pool and not the competition pool or whatever that cold one is called. It's 6:30 am, cut me some damn slack.) Anyhoo, I officially swam 50yds without dying. And I did it multiple times. I also did some 25's with really short recovery in between. And a lot of basically getting from one end of the pool to the other while minimizing how much of a spaz I looked like.

Also I'm in a fantabulous mood because my knee hasn’t been hurting at all for the last couple days. Now I have to qualify that because my PT beat the shit out of it so it's sore and bruised, but in terms of pain from walking around or any aching when sitting at my desk, nuthin'. And I haven't heard a peep from my other knee which was starting to give me trouble. And I think if I hadn't had this whole swimming thing keeping me busy on the mornings when I haven't gone to the gym, I probably would have tried going for a jog by now. So I'm glad that swimming has distracted me enough that I have had a couple completely pain free days without trying to run.

But patience only lasts so long. Tomorrow is the big day. I'm going for a jog. 10 mins. Test it out. See what happens. If things go well, I will be in a great mood for the rest of the weekend. If things hurt. I'm going to be pissed. However, I do have to remind myself I've only been doing some of my hip strengthening exercises for a week now and its going to take TIME and PATIENCE before the effects of those exercises take hold.
It's 5:00pm. I think its time to make my get away from the office, grab some smores makin' materials and hit up moonlight beach :)

Venting

So Friday I decided to try 4 mi before work. A mile into it I realized that I had no business attempting any more than 3 mi. I was jogging on the cliffs when I noticed the tide was ridiculously low. I rarely run on the beach but the hard packed sand and glistening water called to me. Considering I pretty knew this run wasn't going to be very worthwhile, I scaled down the cliffs where the surfers cut down to the beach. I finally managed to make it down and headed back to my place along the water. It was quite beautiful, and I would have been in wonderful spirits if not for that little spot down and to the inside of my knee reminding me that not only was I not able to make it to 5 miles today, but I def was not going to be running tomorrow.

Hit up the Gym on Saturday and am starting to like Frogs, which surprised me. I usually don't like big crowded gyms, but I got into a rhythm there and they have a nice little room with carpet and free weights in which I can do about 75% of my routine. Still getting used to the herds of fake boobs and the scary buff older women, but as long as i can get a little niche of space I should be fine.

Today has been a test of my determination to stay positive. I was wary about giving it another go on a run, as the knee wasn't feeling pain free yesterday and I'm really thinking I need to not run unless the previous day was a no pain day (note: definition of pain includes any inkling that there is inflammation. It does not hurt by any means, but its aggravated. Pain is just easier to type). So I decided to get a jump on some work i have to do before monday and feel things out before making a decision. Well, as the sun began warming up the day and the joggers and bikers merrily ran by my balcony, sitting at my desk and writing about legal ethics was not exactly thrilling. I made the mistake of deciding I'd at least change into running clothes and stretch things out. But it was gorgeous and it being later in the day meant I could rock a tank top and shorts. How could I not at least give it a go? I did EXTENSIVE stretching including my whole PT routine to really get things loose. I grabbed my sunglasses, laced up the shoes, and headed out. 

God it felt good. I know there are people who want to strangle me for comparing my run in a long sleeve shirt to one in a tank top as being a huge difference, but the sun on my arms and my face felt fantastic. Things felt ok for about 10 mins, but then i could feel things getting aggravated. I was only planning on going 3 mi and at one point I stopped, not because it was painful, but because i could still feel things flaring up. But I decided to just head in and ice a lot and hope I could maybe circumvent a huge flare up.

So I was pissed when I got home. Pissed because I just want to go on a long run. Pissed cause I should have had 25 mins of enjoyment and instead I was worried about my knee most of the time. And pissed cause if I don't get pissed then I'll start to get afraid. I haven't run longer than 60 mins in 2 years now, and only have run more than 30 mins within the last 5 months.  And nothing has been consistent. It's been slow build up followed by disappointment over and over again. I'm afraid I'll have another two years of struggling to do something that should be a normal natural part of my daily routine. 

So I had to control the panic that was threatening to ensue. I iced then strolled over to the beach and just sat and watched the ocean. I focused on all the things that are going good in my life and focused on the short term of getting better now and building up slow mileage now. I tried to purge my mind of 12 miles runs and fears of things that haven't even materialized. I've iced my knee a lot today, and its not aching for now. I have my PT appointment in two days where I'd like to discuss some potentially more drastic measures. And I'm calming the fuck down.

Gym Session + Random Thoughts

Today was an off day for running, but still was in the gym for about 45 minutes. My routine has gone from about 25 to 50+ minutes these days as I keep adding more strength for my knee. It's going to be difficult to figure out my schedule when I am back up to 6 days a week of running as I won't be able to both run and lift before work. I'll probably have to do a morning run and then an evening lift twice a week. Wow, i feel hardcore even thinking about it. (Note: 99% of time when referring to things such as "guns" or being "hardcore" or the like, please note the dry sarcasm underlying such comments. Thank you.)

I've also decided to link to all my former teammates' blogs that I follow even if I haven't spoken to some of you in forever. I figure if I'm stalking all of you on the 'net I might as well be open about it.

Injury Report - Knee is feeling fab today, despite the increase in mileage yesterday. Excited for a nice 5 miler tomorrow. Probably will journey North for a little change of scenery.

This weekend is the unveiling of my apartment. I'm having a little housewarming with some of my SD runner friends and co. so will probably be posting pics of the place soon. :)

Happy New Year

New Years Resolution: Don't be stupid about recovering from injury.

I was at my PT and complaining that my knee wasn't getting better and he asks me "How often are you running?"

"Uh, every day...i mean, i usually take one day a week off."

"Try giving yourself a chance to recover. Take more days off."

Probably the most simple and useful advice ever. That's why I pay him the big bucks, right?

So, I am consistently running 4 miles a day about 4 days a week right now.  Things aren't getting worse, and i'd even venture to say its getting better...slowly. 

So, in light of the fact that I've hit a distance where I can actually feel tired when I get back from running, I will start recording mileage again. Hopefully I'm not totally jinxing the situation.

Today: 4 miles with Lyndsey and Jim at San Dieguito Park. It was COLD. My fingers went numb. Don't I live in San Diego? I am very confused.  Knee didn't hurt when running, but on and off sore this afternoon, tho I'd like to blame part of that on moving and climbing stairs while carrying half an apartment worth of crap.  It actually feels pretty good right now, so any inflammation has gone down.  Sweet.

Four miles over three days. Rock on.

It's kinda hard to justify blogging about runs under 10 mins, so I'm going to sum up my snails pace build-up.

Friday - 8 min

Saturday - 12 min (woah, big jump)

Sunday - 12 min

Felt pretty good all day thurs and friday and MOST of Sat. Towards the evening made a couple of awkward steps that bugged the knee, so was unsure about whether to continue building up today given the aggravation. Decided to give 12 mins a shot mostly to avoid being in a sour mood and to spare the rest of the world from my general unpleasantness when I can't run. It's feeling better for longer while running, and I'm getting flashbacks to when I first started PT when things would hurt after 5 mins, then I could go 10 mins, and I was able to keep increasing distance before I'd feel pain.  My main concern is when things hurt later in the day. It really bothers me to be able to run a couple miles relatively pain free only to have my knee bug me 6 hours later. It's like when you hit your funny bone and you know it's going to really frickin' hurt in about 5 seconds...except it takes 5 hours.

wow this blog is insanely boring. 

Road to recovery...

Location: around the block

Distance: <1mi

Time: 6 mins

So my complete lack of blogging hasn't been cause I've just been so insanely busy that I haven't had time. I just haven't had anything productive to say. I think I may have re-screwed up my knee doing squats the other day because it is sore in a different place and different manner. So it's been a week since I ran and I just couldn't take it today so allowed myself to run to the stop light around the corner from me and back. Kinda felt a little sore in the last 3 mins, but has felt surprisingly okay the rest of the day. However, I've been moving around a lot today and sometimes I feel like it actually feels better on days when I'm not at a desk for 10 hours. 

Think I'll try 8 tomorrow and if things don't get worse will start the gradual build to a decent distance.

cross ur fingers.

18 hour countdown

Rocked the gym this morning (i.e. showed up and played with some mildly heavy objects for about 30 mins before realizing I was gonna be late for work) and am now icing. Knee pain present but mild today. Thinking I may have a pain free day in my near future. Keep your fingers crossed. I actually made an appointment with a PT/ART today but I don't get in until Dec. 9th. If I'm still having issues by the ninth please, someone just come out here and put me out of my misery.

Otherwise, my brain has been malfunctioning as of late, which has been awesome. The anticipation of tomorrow has rendered me essentially useless. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tomorrow. It's like the night before christmas, except you're not sure whether the jack in the box that Santa left you contains cash or armed explosives.  

Reality Bites.

So I've finally decided to face the reality that I need to take some time off if I want to be able to run pain free. Managed 3 miles today the last mile of which really didn't feel good. The knee area has been sore all day and I just need to give myself a solid chunk of time and not even think about going for a run till I go at least a day or two without noticing any pain or twinges of any kind in my knee. That could take till the end of the week, or it could take two weeks or longer, I really have no idea. It seems so strange to me that just three weeks ago I was running normal mileage and didn't even consider that I might not be completely better. Now here I am icing my knee and trying not to think about how hard it is to think about the big picture and sacrifice my sanity for the next couple of weeks. 

Ok, enough of the pity parade. I just need to find some distractions to keep my mind off my lack of running. 

2 fer

Location: Del Mar Cliffs

Distance: 3ish

Time: 24min

The above applies to BOTH saturday and sunday. It's like a bonus blog. Two for the price of one. Weather in SD is ridiculously warm right now, but thanks to my internal clock I am up by 6:30 and out the door by 7 so I had two beautiful crisp sunny mornings with clear skies and cool air. Its been awhile since I've run on the cliffs due to racing and biking, and I forgot how much I love that run. I've been pacing those cliffs for over a decade now and I just don't see that run ever getting old.  Added bonus for today: ran into Coach, which always brightens my day.

Knee report: It's a little sore but not in the usual place, and it's been mildly sore throughout the day but I think its getting better, so I'm sticking with 3 miles until I'm pain free. Some of the pain may be from a combo of heels and dancing last night (after explaining this to coach: "So you HAD to wear heels?" Me: "Yes, the entire outfit was dependent upon the heels." So apparently my priorities can be a little out of whack on occasion :-P )

I am really looking forward to when my entries don't contain mostly analysis of my knee. I swear I'll find more interesting things to say.

Finally, some mileage

Location: Up to Torrey Pines and back

Distance: I'd like to say three, but probably closer to 2.5

Time: 24min

Knee was okay...walking around today after running hasn't been worse than yesterday, so I guess that's good. Will give it another go at 3 mi tomorrow down at the beach (yay!) but probably shouldn't take it up to 4 until the pain is completely gone. 

Feeling extremely annoyed that I can't run a normal distance right now :-/

..but not today.

I seemed to have blocked out of my mind the fact that biking for some reason aggravates my knee issue just as much as running...hence my last three days of biking was not recovery so much as screwing up my knee.  I hate being stupid. 

Skipped out on biking this morning due to aforementioned stupidity and was thus in a shitty mood for the first two hours at work. But to be at least slightly productive with this blog --> Pain is not the normal shooting pain when I take pressure off of my left leg but rather just feels like a dull ache. It's not the kind of pain that makes me panic and worry I've really screwed up but rather feels like it might fade away. I don't like that it's kinda constant, but I'd rather that then the sharp pain. So today off. Tomorrow to the gym and will assess how I feel after I lift some heavy-ish objects.  Probably should be smart and do at least one more day off. Probably won't be smart and will give 3 miles a shot.

Look. I can run.

At some point there will be running in this log...

Location: Stationary Bike

Distance: 20.0 I have to assume that odometer means km, not mi.

Time: 45 min

Managed 45 mins on the bike and did lifting and finally got in my physical therapy stuff, but knee has been bothering me off and on all day. Not sure whether to attribute it to the biking (most likely, cause i kinda thought it was bothering me towards the end of biking) or the leg presses (wishful thinking...I'd rather cut out strength work than biking). Now I'm not sure whether to take a day off completely tomorrow, or bike and see if there's a change, or go for a real bike ride despite the crooked handlebars (note to self: call bike shop tomorrow). I'm slightly worried about getting halfway out on the ride then deciding my knee hurts but having to bike home.

I'll see how things feel in the morning...

Morley Field - Dirt Dog XC Championships

Distance: 6 mi total (4 mi race, walked cool down)

Time: Slow :-/ not sure race time at this point

Location: Morley Field, Balboa Park

I've been looking for a better medium to record my training (using the term lightly) when Jilane alerted me to the increase in "glory days" runners recording their recent adventures in running through blogs. 

So I've had this old thing sitting around unattended to for about six months now...might as well make use of it. Can't say I promise to always stay on topic as running itself often causes my mind to wander but here goes...

Today was the BIG championship race in the San Diego Dirt Dog XC series. I've been really happy with all of my races so far, so when this race just felt like CRAP I was bummed. I think part of the problem was the heat. I've been running at 6AM every morning and contrary to popular opinion it is quite chilly at that hour, even in San Diego. So that took a toll. Also was the fact that my mileage for this week was 10 miles. Total. My knee flared up after my record breaking 40 mi week last week so I paid the price with 4 days of no running. I tried to tell myself that not running this week wouldn't matter, but my body just didn't take the shock well.

So I survived. I was probably about 20 seconds back from where I should have been but I still managed 9th place in the series.  

Now that the series is over I can do whatever I want with running. I forgot how hard it is to be so structured with training (workouts in relation to high and low days and races and such). Now I can do more biking and be more careful about my knee.

Next race: Dana Point Turkey Trot 5k?