1st "New" PT Session & 10K Race Pace Determined

Today was my first PT session with this new organization called Endurance Rehabilitation, recommended to me by "THEE Running Guy" or the "Beaver".

I was treated by a PT with the name of Katie Dovico.

She did a very thorough examination.

The achilles tendon that has given me so much grief is on my left leg.

She determined that my left hip has hypermobility and that could be part of the problem.

My arches are very high and rigid, not collapsing at all, also could be part of the problem.

The length of my legs are only about 1/2 cm difference, not much really, good to know because I've wondered if that was the problem.

My injury fits the definition of tendonosis, due to the length that the issue has been going on.

I was a candidate for the "scraping" procedure.

There is a more official title but I can't think of it.

What this entails is three very hard plastic objects, one with a flat edge, one with a rounded edge and one with a more sharply pointed edge known as the "isolator."

These were scraped over my calf, around my ankle and on the sole of my foot.

The theory is that there is scar tissue that needs to be broken up so that it can heal properly.  So it is a type of re-injury.

Yes, it was painful.  I did some teeth gritting.  No screaming though.  And it was rather quick.  3 strokes up, 3 strokes down and then on to the next tool.

She said when she does it she can feel if there is scar tissue because the tool has a bumpy ride over the skin instead of a smooth one.  She said she felt a lot on my calf and heel.

I felt immediate increased mobility in my ankle after the procedure.  It has felt for a long time like something is binding it up.  I guess it was scar tissue.

I have another appt tomorrow and am looking forward to it.

I ran my 40 min. training session in the hot afternoon after my appt. in my new shoes.

Katie also mentioned that I might need some more arch support than my shoes have.

The run felt good.  Felt like I could push off on my left heel without something threatening to tear, like it has in the past.

I timed myself for a 5K and my time was 38:56.  I plugged that into the Runner's World tool and came up with the time of 1:21:05 to shoot for for the 10K, which is 13 minute miles.

So now I know my goal, yeah!

Missed a workout

Last Saturday, I skipped my training session.

I guess it was a combination of...

-going to bed too late (2:30am- because my husband was gone to Father's & Son's Outing, I was helping Taylor get ready for his Day Date for Prom and I was winding down from watching my mother-in-law who has Alzheimer's)

-no one to watch Emily while I went (Taylor was on his Day Date and the rest to Father's & Sons)

-an achey achilles tendon and achey shin on the other leg

-mad that the training program didn't keep me from these injuries (I thought if I cautiously followed it and didn't over do it, I would be able to avoid problems) 

-decided missing 2 sessions out of a 13 week program would be OK ( since it wasn't faithful to me, I didn't have to be faithful to it- how silly is that!)

But I did walk a 1/2 mile to and from the church to donate blood!

That's as good as a workout right!  Ha!

What pace to race?

O.K. I'm sorry I've got so much to say.

I feel like I've taken over this blog.

So someone else, please post soon!

On Tuesday, when I ran for 50 minutes at a very easy pace I knew I could maintain, that ended up being 14:33 minute miles.

Yesterday, Thursday, I did 3-10 minutes intervals with a 1 minute rest in between.

Since it was this type of workout, I thought I would push myself more and I did the first two 10 minute intervals at an 11:57 and an 11:47 a minute average pace.

I was still feeling pretty good so I pushed it even more and did the third one at a 10:09 pace.

Of course these were done after I had taken a long time to warm myself up.  I don't know if I'm really odd but it takes me a long time to really warm up.  I had warmed up by walking over a mile!  I am going to try to do this on race day too.

Anyways, I called Lindy afterwards because I was really confused as to what pace to try and run this 10K that I have coming up next weekend.  15 minute miles? 14? 13? 12?  11?  10?  Yeah, right!

After talking with Lindy I think what I'm going to do is attempt to get a time for a 5K on my first training session next week and plug that in to the Runner's World formula and hope that will help me.

Another thing though, that is strange for me about this 10K is that I have yet to run that distance in my training.  In the past when I ran 5Ks or the one 10K, I was running those distances all the time.  So this feels strange to me, not knowing how my body is going to react!  Not that I would know for sure anyways but I think I would have a better idea!  I told Lindy, I see why you don't run Marathon distances all the time in training, but for a 10K, why not?  But it seems like most training plans are not set up that way.  Anyone know why?  I know this one in particular is designed for someone who is starting from a no running spot, so I can kind of see why this one isn't that way, but so many seem this way.  Any advice on how to figure out how fast to go?

Yesterday I went to the Running Store to see if I needed new shoes.  He said I was way overdue.  When I asked how he could tell he pointed at the bottom of the shoe that would be under my sole and pointed out the missing rubber.  He said the inside cushion wears out before the outside cushion does so the fact that your outside cushion is shot means you inside cushion is way gone.  So I've got new shoes!!  Yeah!  It's hard for me to get new ones when the uppers still look so nice but I suppose it is not the upper part that is the most important part of a running shoe!

Perhaps the shoes will help with my achilles issue and another pain in my shin on my other leg that has started to bother me.  But I'm not relying on the shoes I went ahead and made an appointment today with another physical therapist.  The one I went to before was someone I had known and probably specializes in backs.  This new one I am going to is a Sports Physical Therapist and recommended to me by "the guy" at the Running Store.  He told me his achilles issues are gone because of this PT.  So I have some hope!

This PT is out of network with my insurance, so it is not going to help out unless I get to $5,000, which better not (can't) happen!  The first visit is $170 and subsequent ones are $70.  Yikes, double yikes, triple yikes!  But I don't know what else to do!  Except stop exercising, but I've tried that for 3 months last fall and I still have issues!  Even though I've been very good to follow this incremental training program!  So I feel like my back is against a wall!

I have an appointment on Monday and am excited to see what he says.  It sounds like he wants to get to the root of the problem which is what I would like to know, the other PT just really treated the symptoms.  So here's to hope for total healing!

OK, I'm done, so now someone else post quick!

Trying to run 50 consecutive minutes

Alright, it seems like no one is posting too much about their training runs, it's mostly about races.

If I only blog about races, I'm not going to post very often.

I love to hear about races but I love to hear about people's every day running too.

So even if you don't think it is interesting, I would love to hear it!

So I'm posting about this stuff, and I hope I'm not boring anyone too bad.

I figure like Cynthia said once when we were talking about worrying that our posts were too long, "No one has to read it."

So, on my 1st training session for this week it was supposed to be a 50 minute run.

If you don't remember last week when I tried to do 40 straight minutes I got muscle gridlock and had to walk for awhile.

I really didn't want that to happen this time.

I tried to figure out what I'd done wrong.

I wondered if this program which has been mostly intervals has made it harder for me to run continuously?

 When I would run on my own without a training program I would always just run continuously.

And now after almost 3 months of training I couldn't do it?,

when I used to just go from nothing to running for long times within a short period of time.  (Stupidly, I know.)

What I had done differently though I realized was when I knew I was going to go for a certain distance I would just pick a pace I knew I could maintain.  On the other hand, when I had tried to do the 40 minutes last week, I had tried to start out at a pace I wanted to maintain! But a pace too fast for me to maintain!

So on Tuesday I picked a very comfortable pace and tried not to look at my Garmin and get discouraged about how slow it was.  After a short time I couldn't resist looking, and sure enough it was slower than I wished it to be.  BUT, I was able to maintain it the 50 minutes.  And that was a good feeling!

"The (Running) World according to Mister Rogers"

I have a book called "The WORLD according to Mister Rogers".

Yes, you remember the PBS show don't you?

I thought the show was so dumb as a kid,

and when us kids would always rag on him but watch it anyway because it was...

TV

and On

and we weren't allowed to change the channel,

my Mom would always say, "I love Mister Rogers."

Ohhhhhhhhhhh, brooooootherrrrr, I would think!

And then, when I was the Mom and my kids would watch it, for the same reasons I did,

I was the one saying "I love Mister Rogers."

Because as a Mom, you realize the important stuff he's talking about.

So when I saw this book at Walgreens several years ago, I got one for my Mom and one for me.

On the back of the book is this quote,

"If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never dream of.  There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."

I've thought of this quote a lot.  And I would add to it, "no matter how brief the encounter, or perhaps there was no personal encounter, but words left behind on paper or now a days, videos etc, etc."  

I think from my perspective I feel and know how much other's impact me, but perhaps I underestimate the impact I have on others.

How does this apply to running, your wondering?

Yeah, I haven't forgotten this was a running blog.

Last Saturday, I slept in a little, til about 7 ish.  I was trying to rouse myself out of bed to go do my run, when I got a call from Sharon Peterson about Cub Scout Training that started at 7:45am.  She had told me about but I hadn't written it down!

I decided I better go to the cub scout training, but that meant trying to get my run done later in the day.

This almost never works for me.

If I don't do it first thing, when I have most of my energy, I usually can't make myself do it.  But since I committed myself to this training program I knew I would have to.  I knew another Sunday run would not work.

Well sure enough after the morning meeting, the afternoon came and it was HOT!  And I did not feel like running.  There was lunch to be eaten and other Saturday type things to do.  I avoided the run to the last possible minute, realizing if I didn't go now, I would not make my Stake Conference Mtg. in the evening.  As it was I would probably make myself late to it.  Could I do it later on tonight?  No, that would not work.

And so I went about 5:30pm and it was starting to cool off a little.  Just a little.

I slogged my way around my loop, enjoying the different time of day, the different lighting etc, and trying to ignore the heat and my lack of energy.  When I was about 2/3rds done, I noticed a woman, perhaps of Latino descent, I didn't even really notice much about her and at the distance she was from me I didn't expect any communication.  Sometimes people pass right by me and don't even acknowledge me.  But just right as she was going out of my line of sight, she yelled, "You go girl!"

I didn't know if she thought I was doing good or taking pity on my sorry sweaty state, but that brief comment buoyed my spirits!  And I feel good whenever I think about it.  And I think what  a kind extension of herself that was, to be my personal cheerleader, when she had no compelling reason to say a thing.

If I had been in her shoes, I don't think I would have said a thing.  And I don't know if she thinks I cared at all about her comment, I was so shocked, I didn't respond.   Maybe she saw my smile.  I hope so.

So anyways, it has made me think about this quote from Mister Rogers again.

"If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never dream of.  There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."

Wow, what opportunities do I miss to cheer another on because it is not expected or I don't think they will really care what I say?  And what do I leave of myself if I don't say anything?

Thanks, lady, whoever you are!

I hope I will overcome my introspective nature at times so that I pass on the favor to others!

Easter Run

A couple of weeks ago, it was raining on a Saturday, a day I had planned to run.  And my brother and sister in law were in town with their family, staying at our house.  So I let the day go by without getting my run in.  I thought I would try the run on a Sunday, something I haven't done for decades.

So on Sunday morning, which happened to be Easter I went for the run I should have done on Saturday.

My kids were all scratching their heads at this unusual behavior for Mom.  I don't know what my brother and sister in law thought.  My daughter who is on the same training schedule as me and who had also missed her run the day before opted not to come with me.

I wondered if I was being quite the heathen but I remembered the wonderful run I had had on a Sunday over 25 years ago and thought maybe I would have another one.  Of course that one had been done for the pure enjoyment of the run without any preconceived notion of it being un-Sabbath like.

Well now I am not quite so naive about the general opinion of running on the Sabbath of people of my own faith.  And to avoid having anyone in the "ward" observe my exercise I drove to the canal instead of running around my neighborhood.

When I parked at a parking lot next to a park, I noticed a group of people having their Religious Easter Services outside on folding chairs.  It seemed like a beautiful setting to have Easter Services.  The preacher was the loud and emotional type.  I was touched by these people and that they had chosen to hear about about Christ on this Easter Day, of course I know it is one of the most attended services out of the year.  But on Sundays, I usually don't see other faith's services and so it was touching.  Good people trying to do good things or at least trying to be good.

I started my run, apprehensive about whether this was the right decision for me.  I pondered this subject the whole time.  I enjoyed the beautiful morning, loved the cool breeze and especially running on dirt as opposed to the asphalt, as well as the stress releasing pounding of my feet.  But watching my Garmin for the time and pace made it impossible to stay in a worship mood.  And after some more pondering I have to admit, bottom-line, I had run to get my work-out in, not for the pleasure of it, not for rest or worship.  So while I think there might be a time someday when a Sabbath run would work out for me, it is not going to be when I am doing it as part of a training schedule.  Not when my priority is work-out over worship.  Perhaps when my run can just be a form of worship or rest from worldly cares.

I am not trying to say this should be the case for anyone else, I'm just realizing what is going to work for me. 

Alright, confession over!

Just kidding!

Muscle Gridlock

Well today I was supposed to run 40, rest 1 and run 20.

This is the first session for Week 11 out of my 13 week program.

Up until this one, other than missing one workout, I've been able to follow the program.

But I could not make it 40 minutes without resting.  I don't know if I didn't warm up enough or stretch out enough, it could have been either, but after the first mile, I had to walk for a few minutes.  I couldn't take the muscle gridlock any longer.  It felt like running in wet cement.  I thought of all the people who don't like running and I thought, this is why!   If this is the feeling you get and you don't know there is something else then I wouldn't like it either.

I'm glad I know there is something else.  There are the days when the legs seem to move almost effortlessly, like they want to move, like moving them is releasing pent up energy!  When the rhythm of the feet seems light, like a race horse as opposed to plodding, like weighed down oxen.

My pace was also so slow I wondered if there was really a point in keeping up the "running", or as some would say, jogging form.  I thought of all the slow runners I've seen and have thought, well at least they are out there making an effort!  Well today I hope that is what many were thinking when they drove by me.

To be running so slow is actually really hard on me.

I had hoped by this point in my training I would be doing a lot better than I am.

I had hoped to be doing around 10 minute miles.

This is what I remember my pace to have been in the last 5K and first 10K that I did several years ago.

I haven't posted my race results to the side because I don't know them exactly.

But I remember doing the 5K in 29 minutes and something and doing the 10K in 63 minutes and something.

Well I need to get the notion of matching that time in this upcoming 10K out of my head but it is really hard.

I need to realize that for whatever reason, age or achilles issues or whatever, I'm just not there yet.  And then the added issue of higher altitude is really going to make the race more challenging.  And I need to be OK with that!  And I need to be OK that my daughter, DaLynn, is going to leave me in the dust and my sister-in-law who is also going to run will too I'm sure!

I need to be OK just running my own race, whatever it is that day!

But it is hard for me.  Hopefully writing this post will help me accept the fact of the matter!

I need to be happy just to be able to run!

I couldn't do that last fall!

Yeah, I can run!  Albeit some would call it a jog.

And although I would love to say I am up for the St. George Marathon!

I am not.  I need to keep my distance down while my achilles is still healing.

But I think it is healing, although very slowly.

And while it is healing, I am grateful that I can run.

Very very grateful!

Because there are mornings, although it didn't feel this way this morning,  when it feels so good I think I never want to stop!