Another week closer...

Last week was a pretty good week.  I didn't run as much as the week before but I got more swimming and group ex classes in.  I'd rather be running more but with my teaching schedule, I just can't do more than I am.  I am not worried about the cardio aspect of the race at all.  What worries me is the pounding my joints and muscles will have to endure. 
Last week I ran four miles on Wednesday - two of them in the rain and then I ran 7 miles on Saturday.  Saturday morning, I taught both Body Pump and Body Step but instead of going immediately out and running, I went home, put some calories into my body and rested for a few hours.  When I started my run, I was looking for every excuse not to run - my legs felt heavy, my heel hurt (a lot), etc...  It took me almost a mile to get into the groove a bit.  Michelle had already been running for about 30 minutes and called me when she was 2.5 miles out to let me know she had stashed water near Weber Elementary School if I needed it.  I didn't.  I was wearing my running belt with water.  We met on Rohret Road about a mile later going opposite directions.  She asked me how far I was planning on running and I said a total of about 5 but maybe six.  She continued back toward home and I kept going out.  By the time I hit the 2.5 mile mark (which is at the crest of Rohret hill #1) I was feeling pretty good and decided to run the hill.  Rohret hill is huge.  I made it down without any problems but going up was slow.  I managed to run the whole thing but my legs were on fire by the time I got to the top.  Right before the 3.5 mile point (my turn around point), a man working in his front lawn nodded at me and asked me how I was doing.  I told him that I was fine and just about to head back.  A couple of minutes later, as I passed him again, he notice me drinking from my water bottle and asked if I was okay with water.  I told him thanks but I was fine.  This is one reason I love living in Iowa.  People generally really are concerned about each other.
It was also about this time that I realized that I was chaffing rather badly under my right arm where my arm was rubbing against my tank top.  This has happened before - most notably at the Lake Geode Challenge when I finished the race with my arms held out from my sides.  However, I hadn't worn this tank in months and had forgotten about this problem.  I had remembered to put Body Glide everywhere else but not my arms.  I managed to get hold of Michelle about a mile later and asked her to meet me with some diaper cream.  Thankfully, she got to me by mile five of my run and I slathered on the anti-rash cream.  The last two miles of the run went fairly well once I wasn't obsessing on the pain caused by the rash.  Post run I felt pretty good but even though I stretched well, I had some mobility problems with my ankles and my heel was not happy either.  By yesterday, I felt great. There was no residual pain from the run. 
If I manage to leave work before it rains today, I will try to get a few miles in.  If it rains, I will at least swim.  The forecast for this week is pretty wet and gray.  Since I will be teaching three classes on Saturday, I am going to try to get my long run (at least 10 miles) in on Thursday.

Not a bad week over all

I didn't get to run as often as I wanted (or needed to) but I did manage to get in a long run of 9 miles on Saturday.  I have been very worried the last few weeks that I have not been able to get a long run in due to the pain in my foot from PF.  However, this last Saturday, I just told myself to deal with it.  I taught Body Step at 9:30 am and then left from the gym to do the run immediately following class.  I run north on Hwy 1 to Newport Road, turned west on Newport for about a half mile and then turned around and came back.  It took me 1:37 to do the run but I was not going for speed.  Indeed, I averaged about a 10:50 min/mile pace.  The way out was predominately uphill but the wind was at my back.  I felt pretty good considering I had only eaten an apple before class.  I walked for 0.1 miles at mile three and then again for another 0.1 miles at the turn around point.  At mile 6 and 7 I did the same thing.  It was just enough of a break to keep me moving.  I began to feel the effects of not having enough calories  by mile 7.5.  At mile 8 I was literally asking myself out loud what I was thinking.  I began to have serious doubts as to whether I could run this marathon.  The only thing that kept me somewhat positive was that I knew I was feeling this way because I hadn't eaten and not because I wasn't able to go the distance.  Also, teaching a one hour cardio class before the run was probably not the smartest thing to have done at this point in training.

  I ran with compression socks for the first time and noticed a huge improvement in recovery.  I am barely sore.  I will be running with those socks for each and every long run I do.

As it was the first real sunny and warm day in which I have run so far this year, I also forgot to put on sunblock.  I got my first and hopefully last sunburn of the year.  Last lesson learned from Saturday's run: wear anti-chafe cream.  I was a bit chaffed in some awkward places.

I would have liked to have had one more short run in for the week but that is just the way things worked out.  I ran 4 miles on Thursday and the 9 miles on Saturday.  I also got in 1000 yards at the pool and taught 4 classes - 2 Body Pump, 1 Body Attack, and 1 Body Step.

This week I have 5 classes scheduled.  I would also like to get at least 2000 yards in at the pool and three runs - 2 four milers and one 9 or 10 miler.  I will have to do my long run on Friday since I teach both Body Pump and Body Step back to back on Saturday.
Lastly, I have managed to lose about 3 pounds.  I have a long way to go but it's a start. 

Two weeks closer to race day...

I am on a plateau right now.  I haven't been able to run more than 12 miles a week the last 3 weeks.  I was on track for more last week but the pain in my heel is back.  Last Saturday was the Fool's 5K in Cedar Falls.  It was cold (in the low 40's) so Michelle and I did a 2 mile warm up run.  The race itself was fun - I ran it in 26:54 - and felt pretty good afterward.  I intended to run and additional three miles when I got home but my heel hurt so bad that I didn't run.  I am not sure what I am going to do about this but I have to train for this race.
We are running the Live Healthy Linn 5K tomorrow morning so that will be at least three miles down.  I plan on running 8 miles total tomorrow.  So far this week I have logged 8.4 miles.  8 miles tomorrow will make the most miles I have ever run in a week.

Another week and things are looking up.

Last Monday I went and saw my sports med doctor.  How sad is it that I have a sports med doc?  Anyway, he took a look at my X-rays, informed me that I have some arthritis and a bit of a bone spur.  He offered to give me a steriod injection which is kind of what I was hoping for.  I have tried a lot of other stuff to get rid of this Plantar Fasciitis and nothing was working.  After the shot, I walked right out and felt great.  He told me that I could go out and run that night but I decided that that might not be a very wise choice.  I did get in two runs last week though.  On Wednesday, Michelle and I ran 4 miles out by Terry Trueblood rec area.  My heel bugged me quite a bit on Thursday but by Friday night felt pretty good. Saturday afternoon I ran 7 miles in 70 minutes.  My heel hurt a bit Saturday night and Sunday morning but feels fine today.  I am hoping that I have finally hit the turn around point with this PF.  I am worried about doing too much and aggravating things but I need to run or I will never be ready for this race.  I only have 10 weeks left and I am only up to 7 miles.  I am not worried about the aerobic part of the race at all - its the joint pounding that has me concerned.  Each time I have run a half marathon, I have been in a lot of pain by the end.  I really don't want to feel that way half way through this race.  Just keep running, I tell myself.  Eventually, I will reach my goal.

Workout total for the week:
Swimming - 5600 yards
Body Pump - 2 times
Running - 11 miles

I plan on running tonight with Michelle.  It will be a short (3-4 miles) run and a slow pace.  My calves are pretty tight from Saturday's run so I will use this run as an opportunity to shake things out.

There are less than 3 months to go.

It has been two weeks since I wrote an update.  It has been an up and down two weeks. For the week ending on the 15th, I only got in eight miles running total.  I had four miles that Tuesday, only two on Thursday, and on Saturday, I also only managed two.  Saturday's run was actually the first running of the Shamrock Shuffle here in Iowa City.  I figured that I would run the race (I ran it in a slow 18:40 or 45, I don't remember for sure) and then run another 5 miles that afternoon.  I didn't but there is a reason.  I have Plantar Fasciitis.  It hurts.  I have had it before and the pain always went away once I stretched and got moving.  This time (and other heel) the pain never goes away.  Sometimes it is less than at others but it is always nagging.  I began to worry that maybe this was something other than just PF.  My wife suggested that it might be a stress fracture and that I probably should get it X-ray'd.  I couldn't get into see the sports med doctor for a week (my appointment is tomorrow) so I got an appointment with family practice and got it imaged.  The good thing is that the X-ray showed no signs of a stress fracture but did see evidence of edema around the heel.  No more excuses for me.  I just needed to get out and run.  However, I have been hurting so badly this week that running has been more daunting than usual and I didn't get out until I made myself do so yesterday.  Yesterday's run was 6.2 miles.  It was great.  I ran north on Hwy 1 from NDAC to Rapid Creek Rd, then up Rapid Creek Rd to NE Lynden Heights Rd.  That road goes mainly south until it bends to the east and turns into NE 340th St.  I ran up 340th until I hit Taft road and turned around.  It was a great run with some hills that were challenging.

 I ran a pretty slow pace and really concentrated on technique again.  I guess the good thing about PF is that I can't land on my heel - it just hurts too much.  I am learning how to run with a mid-foot strike.  At first, doing so created a lot of calf pain but yesterday, I felt great.  It was a little cold (temps were in the upper 30's with a stiff breeze) for this time of year but I was dressed appropriately and actually had to unzip my pullover.

Totals for the week:
Running - 6.2 miles
Classes - one Body Pump, one Body Attack, and 15 minutes of Zumba.
Swimming - 1250 yards

I have also been cataloging all my food intake using an app called My Fitness Pal.  It is helping me focus on how much I am eating. Every day this week, I have been under calories.  I worry because it says I should be consuming 2640 calories per day.  I think that is the limit if I want to maintain my current weight but I need to lose 25 pounds.  I will continue to use this app and see if it helps me lose weight.  I am down 2 pounds but we'll see if this really works.

Goals for this coming week:
Running - 13 miles
Classes - 3 Body Pump, 1 Body Attack
Swimming - 3000 yards

Pushing through the pain

Another week in the books.  Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as last week.  Last Sunday (March 2nd), I got up early, got bundled up and shoveled snow.  When I came in, I took my boots off and started to go downstairs in my wool socks to wake up one of my boys to get ready for church.  Apparently, my daughter had thrown a bunch of towels from the upstairs bathroom down onto the stairs instead of taking them all the way down to the laundry room.  My first step down was onto a couple of the towels and that was the last step I took.  My feet slipped out from under me and I slid down the stairs on the left side of my body, introducing various body parts to each step on the way down. Other than being scrapped up a bit, I thought I was okay - until Monday morning.  When I woke up Monday morning, I was SORE.  Couple that with my Plantar Fasciitis and whatever has been wrong with my elbow for the last two months, and I was a physical mess.  I didn't run or swim until Thursday night.  I did, however, manage to teach Body Pump both Tuesday afternoon and early Thursday morning albeit with drastically reduced weights.
 I did my run after dropping Brenden off to work at the gym.  I ran from the gym, down North Dodge to Scott Blvd and down Scott to the Budda (or whatever that odd sculpture is) near Rochester and back.  It was a 4.7 mile run.  I felt pretty good although the run back was starting to get a bit icy due to the sun going down.  I ran a slow steady pace and concentrated on proper running form. After my run, I swam 800 yards.  When I got home, I was feeling pretty lousy so I got a sub for my Body Attack for Friday morning.  Not wanting to get too far off my schedule, I knew I needed to get a run in on Saturday as well so Saturday afternoon after teaching Body Pump once again, I ran from the gym down to Scott, to 1st ave., to Rochester, to Scott (past the Budda), and down Scott to North Dodge and the gym.  This was the first time I have run that route although I had mapped it out several years earlier and thought it was 6 miles.  Unfortunately, I was wrong about the distance and it only turned out to be 5.33 miles.  That means that I only ran just over 10 miles last week.  I need to do better this week.

My goal this week is to run 3-4 miles tonight, 4 miles Wednesday night, and run for 80 minutes on Saturday.  I only teach three classes this week so this running schedule ought to be very doable.

I am still Mt. Dew free and am continuing to try to eat a more natural diet but I am not losing any weight yet.  Actually, I gained a pound over the last two weeks.  That is frustrating but I just have to keep reminding myself to take the long view and be patient.

The weather is finally starting to look good.  We are supposed to top 50 degrees today. Perfect running weather.

It was a tough run

After teaching Body Step on Saturday, I was tempted to call it a day.  It was a tough class and I was tired.  However, I needed to get a long(er) run in.  I am afraid that if I deviate too far from my plan that it will all implode and I will be lucky to even finish a half marathon.  At 2:30, I dragged myself upstairs and got dressed to run.  It is still very cold here (it was just under 20 degrees F at 2:00) but I tend to over heat very easily.  Judging by the race in Cedar Rapids the week before, I dressed in a long sleeved tech shirt, my North Face winter pullover, a pair of running skins and my running pants.  Instead of a hat like I wore at Freeze Fest, I decided to wear an ear band.  With my wool mittens, I felt pretty good.
Since I was a bit tired from teaching, I decided to run a completely flat course.  My goal was to run for one hour or about 6 miles.  I drove down the the Terry Trueblood recreation area and started my run south on Sand Rd.  The air temp wasn't too bad.  I could feel a bit of wind at my back which I knew might be a problem when I turned around.  By the time I was about 1.5 miles into the run, I actually felt pretty good.  For the first time in years, I was running with music.  It did a great job taking my mind off the run.  My heel was hurting but as long as I kept a good mid-foot strike, I was okay.  I ran about three miles out and turned around.  I knew within about a minute that I might be in trouble.  The wind was blowing harder than I anticipated.  Sand Road is pretty wide open so there is plenty of room for the wind to pick up a good head of steam.  I felt like the wind was cutting right through both layers of clothing and freezing my sweat to my body.  Within 5 minutes, my upper arms and lower torso were stinging.  I didn't dare stop or slow down.  At times, the wind was blowing so hard that I had to lean into it.  Thankfully, there wasn't much snow or ice on the road.  The pain from the cold became distracting to the point that I was no longer paying attention to the music.  With about a mile left, the stinging sensation started to go away.  That got me worried.  When I returned to the car, I lifted my shirt and my torso was bright red.  I quickly got the car started and the heat going.  Other than being much too cold, it was a good run.  It was slow but I ran the entire way and did not develop any soreness over the weekend.
With that run, my weekly total was 12 miles.  Not much yet but it is a good start.
My goals for this week is to have two short runs (one 3 miler and one 4 miler) as well as a 70-80 minute run.  I am really hoping the weather starts to warm up.  It's hard to believe that it is March 3rd and the high today was 13 degrees.  I don't mind the snow so much but the cold is just so hard to deal with on such a long term basis.