Friday, June 24, 2011

Pain = Good

Usually when I arrive at PT, I have my choice of one or more of the many typical, simple PT tables, that look much like a medical exam table. But, today, those tables were all full. . . and there was one, newly arrived, fancy table to which D directed me.

This new table looked tantalizingly like a massage table. Unfortunately, it was not a massage table.

No hot stones. No aromatherapy. No CD playing wind chimes, whale songs, and native American chants. Oh, no.

In fact, it was a torture table. Apparently the variable height and other accoutrements made it just right for D's work tonight. It was not a good night to be on that table.

After rearranging my whacked out sacroilliac joint via some pretzel like postures complimented by D's manipulations, D generously applied his astonishingly strong thumbs to my already tender tensor fascia latae, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. This process hurt like a son of a bitch was uncomfortable. Over the course of perhaps 15 minutes, I am quite sure I swore at least a dozen times. My three natural childbirths lasted much longer, but I can't say they hurt much more. And, I got really cute babies out of those deals. Anyway, after quite some time, and some progress "releasing" my insanely tight muscles of deep inside my right hip and right ass cheek, D had to get a break from my bitching attend to other patients.

So that he could get away from my cursing I could control the intesity of the pressure, D next introduced me to a new torture device with which, oh joy, I can continue treatments at home! Every day! The deceptively innocent looking tennis ball is the latest bane of my existence. The daily objective is to sit on the floor somewhere with my innocent sunny, fuzzy, bouncy ball. . . and rest my ass right on that ball just in the most painful spot, then relax (snort) for however long it takes for the pain to subside. (Oh, excuse me, I mean, however long it takes for the muscle to "release"). . . Of course, I should readjust the angle and the weight to maximize the pain as needed. Pain = Good. (This is not something I am liking about being an athlete, this seemingly characteristic correlation between pain and benefit.)

You know, my ass used to be treated more kindly. My husband always rather liked it. But, no, now it is a source of pain. Damn ass. Dumb ass. Whatever.

So, why was I at the torture table today? Because I haven't been able to run more than a couple miles without pain since my half marathon 19 days ago. In fact, the last time I even tried to run was last Thursday, a full seven days ago, and after that failed run, I was so frustrated at the every-other-day fails at attempting to get in a decent run that I went on strike and haven't ran for 7 days. The frustration of getting out there, running a couple miles, and having my RIGHT (why right now!?) hip/thigh/knee go into hissy fits of pain was getting to me. Everything else felt great, my breathing  was good. . . but my knee to hip zone on the right side just goes into spasms. It seemed to be centered around my good-old-ass-cheek pain, but was also typical IT band zone. So, who knows what it really is. That's where I go to D for his genuis at figuring these things out.

So, anyway, today it was D's job to figure me out so I can get back on track. He did a lot of examining and tests, and determined that I have some asymetry in my pelvis. His pretzel work rearranged things (for now), but as the asymetry might be long standing, things might just go back out of whack right away. So, I have lots of at-home exercises to try to keep things in line and to rearrange them if they get out of whack again. I also have the lovely tennis ball work to release the insanely tight and inflamed muscles deep in the right half of my ass. (The asymetry presumably contributes to the muscle and nerve whackitronics, which is why we are trying to address both the asymetry and the muscle and nerve whackitronics.)

I sure am glad to have D around to figure out my body's mechanics, and I will be happy when I can get back to running coaching and not deep tissue release. I am not so panicked as I was the other times I couldn't run due to injury, because this time I have more faith that I'll be back at it soon enough.

This week's assignment: run again, some more, to see if there are IT band issues in addition to the identified ass issues.

Meanwhile, I am reassessing the wisdom of doing a full marathon in 2011. I'm thinking I'd just like to run 20-30 miles a week all summer pain free, having fun, being healthy. . . and then reassess in the fall. I kept telling myself that I'd decide about the marathon after my first good post-HM run, and since it's going on 3 weeks and I haven't had one yet, I'm starting to think maybe that's my sign that 2012 would be a better year for a marathon.

That's OK. If I wasn't training for my first full marathon, I could have time to do some speed work, and maybe a Spring triathlon. . . And maybe break 2 hours on my next half. . . There's always something fun to do. I just want to get back out there.

Saturday. I'm gonna run Saturday.

Or, maybe tomorrow evening if the weather is good.

Oh man, I want an hour on the roads with tunes in my ears and nothing to think about other than the pavement under my shoes. I'm missing it.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Race Report: Decker's Creek Half Marathon

Decker's Creek Half Marathon. Morgantown, WV 6/4/2011

Official time: 2:11:11.78. Pace = 10:00.9 min/mile

373rd out of 529 runners. 40th out of 68 women in the 40-49 year old class.

A solid mid-pack performance. Not bad for my first race since I was legal to drive, my first run over 10 miles, and well, hell, it's just not bad at all!

I had an advantage for my first HM since it's a fast, easy course (gently drops about 800 ft over the course, with no significant uphills, and just the last 3-4 miles are pretty flat.) Weather was close to ideal. Probably about 60 at the start, mid 70s by the end. Most of the course is shady, but it is sunny most of the last 3 miles or so.

Unofficial mile splits from my watch (which only thought the 13.1 mile course was about 13, so I was actually a touch faster than these times would reflect.)

1. 9:29
2. 9:04
3. 9:29
4. 9:57
5. 10:28
6. 10:14
7. 9:58
8. 9:57
9. 10:09
10. 10:27
11. 10:15
12. 10:25
13. 10:44
14. and change: + 10ish seconds. Obviously the Garmin wasn't tracking exactly the same as the official course. But, off by 1/10 of a mile on a 13.1 course is OK I guess, lol

I flew the first 3 miles, mostly b/c it is a solid downhill. For the rest of the race, I stayed close to my purported goal pace of 10:20, but obviously was a bit faster than that. Overall, it was excellent.

Before the race:

The night before the race, I had a panic b/c my hips/glutes were giving me a lot of pain d/t over doing it with strength training this week. (I think I was redirecting my running energy since I couldn't run much with the tapering and the long distance today.) In the past, my ass never bothers me running, even if it's sore from strength or whatever, but that didn't stop me from worrying a lot. Fortunately, my luck held out and I was totally pain free for the race. (Not saying I didn't load up on NSAIDs the last 24 hrs because I did, lol)

So, I needed to leave the house at 6:30 to get to my friend's at 7 where I was dropping my kids off to her husband and picking her up for the race. (She lives 3 minutes from the race.)

So, I got up at 5, drained about 24 oz of watered down OJ & some gatorade over about 30 minutes while eating a banana and about 6 oz of yogurt. My GI system seemed to handle it all fine, and since I was done drinking by 6ish, that gave me plenty of time to get all the pee out before the race began. (My athlete-brother told me that so long as I was done drinking by 90 before start, I'd be good. That worked for me.)

Somehow I got put in the early start (fast) group. They seemed to have put all the real contenders in this fast group, and then a random selection of slackers like me. It was nice that they started so fast because most of them zipped ahead and were out of the crush quickly.

The race is a one-way route along the trail, so you park at the finish and take a bus to the starting point. I had to be on a bus by 7:30 for my 8:30 start time.

The start was well organized, but my 20-25 minutes wasn't quite enough time to get through the lines to pick up my packet, get that packet back to my parked car (BTW, thanks, Morgantown parking cops, for not ticketing me on my meter that day. . . as I wasn't willing to take the time to park in the garage), wait in the potty lines, and get on the bus. I did manage to do it all, but had to jog a bit and had less than a minute to spare. Next year I'll allow at least 45 minutes before the bus departure time to get all that done. Lesson learned.

About the bus. . . The buses were well organized, and departed on time exactly. . . But, as our bus was flying along the freeway, the back of the bus suddenly erupted in "TAKE THE EXIT! GET OFF HERE!" as the bus driver was just about to pass the exit. After the driver swerved to our exit in a manner that made me nervous about the welfare of the school kids who typically ride her bus and also sorry the bus didn't have seat belts, a local racer came to the front to direct her the rest of the way to the trail head. Unfortunately, another one of the several buses didn't have as loud and knowledgable riders (or as aggressive a driver) and completely missed the exit, heading up another dozen or so miles to a completely wrong area. Due to all this, the start time for the race was ultimately delayed 15 minutes, which is not bad considering. Hopefully the race organizers will provide drivers with better directions next year!
Once we arrived at the start, I was happy to note that porta potties were provided. I took my turn in line and in the potties, then walked down to the starting area to wait for the start. After the 15 minute delay, the race began. . .

Miles 1 - 3, this is fun!

Miles 1 through 3 were fast and easy. It's a nice downhill, shady path, temps around 55-60. Sweet. I knew I was well faster than goal pace, but just watched my HR to keep a lid on it, as I knew the downhill was giving me the extra speed, and I didn't want to throw it away, but I also didn't want to wreck the whole race by giving the first few miles too much.

Miles 4 - 9, in the zone

Miles 4 through 9 were generally very solid. I was in the zone. I was still going a bit faster than planned, but the hill was still working for me, so I just took what I could and kept on keeping on.

I got to see my kids around mile 7 or 8, and that was awesome. I got high fives from two of the kids, and my oldest was manning the camera, lol. It gave me a huge jolt. Super, super special.

A few times in those middle miles I actually got chills down my body when I realized that I was actually doing this, and I was going to complete it. I felt tears well in my eyes a number of times just from the realization that I was going to finish this thing. It really felt big to me.

Mile 10, longest run of my life

Around mile 10 my body seemed to feel every step like a pounding cement hammer up my legs. (Oddly enough, this was still on the nice dirt/pea gravel trail.) It didn't *hurt* but was an odd sensation. Fortunately, it only lasted a mile or so. Never did hurt, but was weird.
Since my longest training run had been 10 miles, once I crossed the 10 mile mark, I knew I was now into the longest-run-of-my-life-so-far part of the race. That was very cool. Every step was one step beyond my longest ever run. That was a bit of a reward during those last hard miles.

Miles 11 - 13, right to be worried

I had been worried about miles 11 through 13 because they are pavement, flat, hot, sunny as opposed to the first 10 miles that are downhill, shady, and on crushed limestone gravel/dirt. Of course, they also come at the end of the run, after running 10 miles, so that'd make them extra fun. Right. Everyone who'd run the race before told me they are hard miles, and they were right.

It was hard, but I still felt strong during miles 11 & 12. It was really nice to see my husband during mile 11. I stole a kiss, and I got a huge jolt of energy from seeing him. He works Saturday mornings, and he doesn't have anyone to cover for him on Saturdays (he's a vet), but he had blocked out appointments for 90 minutes so he could come see me there at mile 11 and then meet me at the finish. (His hospital is conveniently just about 2 miles from mile 11 and also from the finish.) It's a big deal for him to close to appointments for any reason, so seeing him standing there waiting for me just made me feel so supported and loved. It was just the right moment to get that energizing boost. He made it much easier for me to crank through the last couple miles.

Soon after seeing my husband, I entered a very familiar section of the trail where I often walk and have also ran). Also, that last 1.5 miles of the race is the precise section on which I did my c25k graduation run last October. It was kind of a nice full circle to be back there doing this race.

By mile 13, it was very hard. Very. Hard. I was actually tempted to walk during that last mile! I found myself doing the math. . . it's only 1/2 mile. . . If I walk it, it'd just slow my total time down by 5 min. . . LOL, I don't think I was actually very tempted, but I was simply very scared that I simply couldn't make it. I gave it all I had, allowed my HR to climb up into dropping-dead-zone, and managed to maintain close to goal pace even that last mile, which amazed me when I saw it on the garmin, as I was sure I was doing more like a 12 min mile then. Nope, near goal pace, despite being my slowest mile of the day. That mile was a killer.

Me, post-race:

Me, post-race with my awesome kids/cheering section (minus the husband who had to go back to work after my finish):

General Notes about the Race

Folks were very nice. Scenery is awesome. Morgantown is a great town (but I'm biased as it's home for me.) Food, water, etc was good. It would be nice if they had more porta-potties at some mid-points. From what I heard they had one at Mile 7, but I didn't know that. One porta potty on the entire route for over 600 runners seems a bit skimpy, lol. Fortunately I didn't need a potty break, but it would have sure been nice to know it was an option if I had needed one.

At the finish, there was nice music at the ampitheater and lots of food and drink.

During race nourishment

I didn't use much of the candy I had stashed in my pocket; I even threw most of it out after a couple miles. I ate 5-7 skittles 2 or 3 times, and I think I ate 2 starbursts. I didn't want the gatorade they offered, just water. But I did take a couple good swigs of water each time it was offered (about every 2 miles), but I always took two cups, and used the spare to slosh my head, face, etc. That felt great, although one time I did douse an earbud pretty seriously so that it didn't start playing music out of my left earbud for a few minutes. That was around mile 12, so it was not a big disaster.

Tunes

I loved having my tunes. I had programmed a main playlist, but also a 20 min power mix. I did indeed need that power mix the last mile or so, and it helped get me through the end. I'd never want to do a long run or long race without my tunes.

Later that day, and the next day

I crashed on my bed all afternoon, but surprisingly never slept. We went to a great party last night, and so we had gobs of yummy food (Ali Baba's is awesome!). By 9 p.m., having had a glass of wine and stuffed myself on sambosas and hummus, I was ready to find a corner to call my own and sleep on the floor. Fortunately, the birthday cake was served, and we could leave by 10.

I self medicated with plenty of ibuprofen every 6 hours since the race, and took one of the lovely lortabs in my emergency stash (leftover from a surgery last year) at bed time, along with a pair of benadryl (I honestly do have hay fever), to ensure a relatively pain free and lengthy sleep.

The day after, I feel surprisingly good. I slept over 12 hours last night, and the kids brought me breakfast in bed. Chocolate chip pancakes with home grown strawberries are always a good way to start a day.

My major muscle groups are all pretty achey and stiff, especially my quads, but I do not have any joint pain or anything that worries me at all. I'm actually pretty surprised that I don't have any pains, swellings, or scary things happening at all. Yeehaw!

I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow (wooohooo!) and will probably take tomorrow off from exercise as I did today.

This week is a flexible week on my training plan, so I might not run until Thursday unless I am feeling really good tomorrow, in which case I might run early Tuesday morning. (It's hot as heck here, so mornings are the only option.)

I am eager to get back in my running kicks, so I guess that's a sign that this HM didn't do me in.

I have also already been stalking my goal marathon website again and tweaking my training plan for it, and I think I've even got my husband talked into it, so I think that the 10/1/11 Freedom's Run Marathon is going to be the one. I've got to get in a run or two before I commit, but I think it's going to happen. I am really excited about it, strangely enough.

Friday, June 3, 2011

13 hours until blast off. . .

In 13 hours, I'll have just begun my 13.1 miles. . .

I'm scared witless. And excited. And jumpy.

Mostly scared.