A picture is worth a thousand words

Daily Mile exerpt Test Run  


Kelownagurl ran 4.3 km in 30 minutes.  06:58/km pace
 

Hurrah! My back was feeling a lot better last night, and it felt almost normal this morning so Erik and I went for a short easy run on the greenway to see what would happen. I was fully prepared to stop or do a walk/run if anything started to tighten up but I felt more or less fine the entire time. I started with a 2 minute walk, and I took one short walk break at the 1k mark, but I ran the rest of it. Even my running pace was half decent.

Despite feeling like I could have gone further, I stopped after 30 minutes and came home to foam roll, stretch, and ice. Tomorrow I'm going to bike easy to keep my legs loose and I will do an easy 5k on Wednesday.

Time to make a packing list for the race!

13C overcast, light rain. Tri shorts, tech tshirt, Versa jacket. Took sleeves off after 10 minutes - I was too warm. Gives me an idea of what to wear next weekend. Right now, the forecast is for 10C-15C, and 40% chance of showers.

Just a little pre-race drama

Well, it wouldn't be a taper without something going wrong, now would it? And of course, it always has be injury related.

Over the past few months, I've had some low back issues on my long runs.  It tends to tighten up after I've run about 10-15km, and I have to stop and bend over to stretch it out every 30 minutes or so to loosen it up, and then it's usually a little tight and sore for a few days after. However, on all my long runs, I was able to work through it and it didn't stop any of my training. 

So last Sunday, I ran about 14 km and although my legs still felt heavy, my back was fine.  Sunday afternoon, I did a bunch of yard work.  Monday and Tuesday, I felt fine but I was busy so I didn't plan to run again until Wednesday.

Wednesday morning I woke with a really stiff lower back.  The more I moved around, the tighter it got.  Even walking was painful and by bedtime, I couldn't even lay on my back, it was so sore. It felt ok as soon as I got up on Thursday morning, but again, as soon as I started walking around, it locked up and hurt a lot. I could see my hips were out and I couldn't even stand up straight - my whole body was listing to one side.

I managed to get a chiro appt after work Thursday and Melanie did some ART and a low back adjustment, and said my SI joint was definitely wonky and inflamed. She taped it up to see if that would help hold my back in place so it didn't slip out again but that evening it was still hurting.  Melanie said to keep the tape on for 3 days if I could, and not to run until Sunday.  If it hurt to run, I was to stop.

I've had this before and it usually takes a few days to get back to normal. However, Friday was no better and I was still in a fair amount of pain. I went to work in the morning, but called a sub and came home for the afternoon so I could do the hip stretches and ice it some more.

Today is Saturday.  My back was no better this morning so I've been trying to rest as much as I can so as not to aggravate it any further.  It seems to feel a lot better if I lay on my back with my knees bent.  I've been stretching and trying to stay off my feet and this evening it seems to be marginally better but definitely not good enough to be able to run.

None of my usual tricks seem to be working and even the stretching seems to annoy it a little. I know it's my SI Joint but I can't help but think my spondylolisthesis is also playing into it somewhat.  Anyway, I am trying to stay optimistic.  Tomorrow, I'm going to see if riding the trainer might loosen it up a bit and see if that helps. I'm afraid of doing anything that will make it worse and affect my race next weekend.  So who knows, this may be a two week taper of doing absolutely nothing.

My fear is that I'll still have some residual pain next Sunday before I even start the race. I already know it's going to hurt mid way in the race and I know how to deal with that, but starting in pain, is another kettle of fish altogether.

So - keep your fingers crossed that it suddenly releases in the next couple of days and that I can get out and do an easy 5k some time this week without any pain.

Erik says if worse comes to worse, we may just have to find another marathon in the area some time before the end of June. R&R Seattle and the Edge to Edge Marathon on Vancouver Island are both possibilities if necessary.

But really, I'm not going to go there yet - I'm really just hoping that in a few more days, I'll be fine again.  In the mean time, no more lifting or yard work or house work.

Not an update

I should probably post an update soon.

All is well, I've been busy.  Training has gone pretty good - big focus on getting the running in, not so good at getting the cross training in. Shins are fine, low back is iffy but ok.  I survived the 34km long run last week and I'm into taper now.

Race day is May 27.  Abbotsford Run for Water Marathon.  Cross your fingers - my goal is to finish.  Under 5 hours would be nice but not guaranteed.

Happy Mother's Day!

Not the best week but...

I knew coming into it, that this was going to be a tough week for training, and it was. I had a ton going on at work and at home, so I scaled down the training plan and decided to focus on sticking to my run schedule - the rest will be what it is.  What I didn't count on is catching a gastro bug that is going through my school right now.

Thursday's run was good - I decided to bump it up and do the Furman FIRST tempo run - 1.5km warm up at 6:40/km, then 5k at 6:20, and 1.5 km at 6:40.  Only problem was I forgot my Garmin so I had to use Runkeeper on my iphone which meant I really didn't have much of a clue as to my current pace, and subsequently, I ran faster than I was supposed to, a lot of the time. I was pretty sore the next day and things were too busy to jump on the trainer that night anyway so I figured it was just was well that I had an extra rest day for my sore feet/ankles/calves. (Why does speedwork always hurt so much???)


Saturday I woke up feeling really run down and by late morning, I was wishing I hadn't eaten any breakfast. I spent much of the day hunkered down on the couch, ate very little all day, and finally started to perk up only slightly on Sunday morning. By late afternoon Sunday (now), I am starting feel a little more like myself and I'm torn about whether I should attempt to get my 2 hour run in now, or give myself another day of rest and try to do it after work tomorrow. I'm still a little nauseous and fatigued but I might be able to do it - I have not decided.  I just took some more acetaminophen for my head and I did have a little lunch so maybe I'd be ok.  I'm just not sure what the best course of action will be.

As for the diet, things are going pretty well in that regard. I was actually down a pound early in the week and now over the last 2 days, I've lost another, but I won't actually count that until I feel well enough to eat a couple of full meals.

**UPDATE - At 5 pm I was feeling MUCH better so I pushed myself and got out and did the whole 15km.  Yay!  Here's the Dailymile report. 

So this week's plan?

Mon - trainer (or my missed 2 hour run)
Tues - appt after school, quick dinner, then class at 7:30-9:00...
Wed - meetings until 6:30ish, then dinner. Not sure if I can do anything, maybe trainer in evening?
Thur - (45-60 min run)
Fri - strength and trainer?
Sat - long run (2:00)
Sun - swim and weights

Another Update

As a followup to my last post, my training has gone really well over all. I did do the planned swim and strength workout on Sunday, Jan. 22, including the PT stuff to strengthen my glutes (walking lunges, step ups, and one legged leg press), but once again, my quads and glutes were trashed for 2-3 days afterward and I had to adapt my run on the Monday.

I had a hectic week with appointments on my usual run days (Tues/Thurs) so I switched things up and planned to run Mon/Wed instead.

Here are how things went:

Mon (23) - 3km treadmill, 3 km elliptical (adapted due to soreness)
Tue (24) - Rest day
Wed (25) - Great run - hilly 6.8km in 45 min, snowy/icey in spots, but decent pace
Thu (26) - Trainer - 29.6km in 1:02 - much better pace. 30 min 80rpm, 30 min 90 rpm
Fri (27) - Busy day - no time to train
Sat (28) - Long run in the snow, 14.5k, 1:45
Sun (29) - Gym (pool busy) - Rowing 30 min 5.6 km, strength machines

On Sunday's strength workout, I tried something different. I cut back to two sets of 12 rep of the leg machines, and in a couple of cases, cut back one notch on the weight.  I did the PT exercises as well, but also cut down on the number.  Subsequently, I was able to run, relatively pain free on Monday. I think I will continue with this reduction of those specific exercises until I build up a little more strength.

This current week is a very hectic one at school.  I will not be able to train every day but I will endeavour to get my runs in. When I ran on Monday, I went a little longer so I could hit 100km for the month, for the first time, and I made it!  101 km for the month of January!  I felt pretty good on the run, and had a pretty good pace once again.

I didn't get my training in today, but I do plan to run tomorrow again. I'm not sure if I'll get anything done on Friday, but everything should be back to normal on the weekend.  I guess I'll just consider this a 'rest' week. :)

Mon (30) - 63 min. run, 9.4 km
Tue (31) - rest day (too busy)
Wed (1) - full stretch and some strength and PT work at home

And the rest of the week?

Thu (2) - I plan to run 45 min
Fri (3) - 1 hr on trainer or nothing
Sat (4) - 1:45-1:50 - 15km, 6:49 pace
Sun (5) - Swim and weights



So now that I've managed to hit a 100km running month, let's see if I can do that every month until May.


Weight/Diet

My weight has fluctuated a bit but seems to moving in the right direction, however slowly.  More interestingly though, I pulled out my measuring tape and found I've lost at least an inch on the waist, hips, upper thighs etc so I am definitely feeling 'slimmer' even if the scale isn't showing big changes. This positive trend will help motivate me.  I am really finding it tough to keep updating Sparkpeople with my meal info so I can track my calories, for more than a day or two, but I will continue to try.