Adjustments Made

Dr. Klein spent an hour on me yesterday. Apparently I come from a genetic line of tight inflexible ancestors. I've never touched my toes. Apparently the tight muscles are the source of my shin splints & the hip problems.

After yesterday's adjustment I promise you I will never get rolfed nor will I give birth. The pain of deep tissue massage is more than I can handle. Sure I feel OK now but I don't want to go through "muscle stipping" again. No thank you.

Dr. K told me to stay off the running for another few days. I can only cross train (bike or swim) until my shins stop hurting. Maybe I should have trained for a century or the AIDS bike ride.

I'll be in LA for the next few days so no updates to the blog until next week. Thanks for checking in. See you soon.

Monday Blues & Spring Blooms

I have followed Coach's advice and done no running or pounding exercises for the last four days. My shins still ache a bit. I bought some new shoes in hopes that they will provide some more arch support & heel cushioning. I'll let you know on Weds how they work since the next scheduled run is tomorrow night. I hope one extra day off will get me back on track.

To keep from turning back into a total lazy slug I've been doing crunches and stretches every night and I rode my exercise bike yesterday. Tonight I see the chiropractor for my first ever adjustment. I hope it helps get some of the kinks out, kinks that have been in place for a long time before the running. I follow the adjustment with 1.5hr class of stretch & strength.

The good news of the day is that I'm within $400 of my $5,000 fundraising goal. Thank you to all who have donated and a pre-emptive thanks to all who plan to give.

On another note I love this time of year. Around each turn of the road I come across a sign of spring. In particular I love the sight of the flowering trees:

Please keep Brenda D. in your prayers as she continues to struggle for breath.

Read the Sign

Coach tells me that I have to stop running for at least four days. Need to ice, take anti-inflamitory drugs, rest. I can ride my stationary bike. No pounding exercises. I must let the shins heal.

I'm not sure why the London Underground uses that image to stop running. It seems a bit extreme doncha think?

Coach had a visit with Brenda last night and she's not doing well. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. Her doctors have told the family it's a matter of time. Pray for a miracle, you just never know.

Bummer

Coach Al's catchphrase is "Running is all mind over matter. If you don't mind... it don't matter" Unfortunately my body won the battle tonight.

I felt so good after the race on Sunday. Monday I felt better than I usually do after a run. I was so looking forward to kicking a** around the lake tonight. I guess tonight it did matter.

It felt like I was hobbling along the trail on bloody stumps. Each step became more painful than the last. I tried to run faster to get past the pains but my aerobic level isn't up to that speed. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't finish the run. Melanie kindly walked the last 1/3 of the lake with me.

Walking felt good but I didn't get the satisfaction of a good run in tonight. I guess my body needs more time to recover from the long run. I will listen to my body. I will ice. I will rest. I will run again on Thrs. & Sat. & the lake will see me again next week.

I wonder if I should try some different shoes.

My First Race

I was bib # 3694 in the 2007 Emerald Nuts Across the Bay 12K. A certified 12K (7.45 Miles) course from East Fort Baker; across the Golden Gate Bridge west sidewalk to Aquatic Park. Hilly, paved and beautiful.

Except for two short walks at the start of the two hills I ran the whole thing! Finish time: 1hr 40mins - that's a 13.42min mile pace. I expected to do it at 15 min/mile so I am happy. I am also amazed that I ran the entire thing.

I started the race with Trish, honoree Vanessa's mom, we ran & chatted to the mile 1 marker, looked up & saw THE HILL! We slowed & walked & stretched in hopes to save our legs for the rest of the race. About 1/4 of the way up we see our coach, MamaLisa cheering us on "run through the hill" "baby steps" "you can do it" "just like a stairclimber" (I hate the stariclimber!). This gets me "running" again and before I know it I'm at the top and turning onto the Golden Gate Bridge. I've also left Trish behind, sorry.

I've lived here all my life & have never crossed the bridge other than by car. This is pretty cool. I set a goal to run across the bridge before I take another walk break. I leapfrog across the bridge with a nutty woman in bright red wearing a feathered cap (she's either in her 60's or spent too much time running long distances in the sun - maybe both) We make friends and chat and use each other as course markers thru the whole race. I'm halfway across the bridge and I feel pretty good.

I miss a mile marker sign and have no idea how far I've gone but I'm still running. How long have I gone without a break? Why don't my feet hurt? This is so weird. What did that sign say? Mile 5 Yay me! I've run farther than ever. I can do this.

It helps that all the TNT runners are wearing the team shirts so we can recognize our friends along the course. Whenever you pass another TNT-er you get a cheer and a boost to keep going - you have no idea how much that helps. I was not alone out there even though I was running by myself.

At mile 6 I felt the rebirth of a few blisters. Oh, please grow slowly so I can finish. I attempt to walk to see if that helps but it just makes me want to stop so I pick up the run and distract myself with all the cute dogs playing on the beach.

The mile 7 sign is at the bottom of the last hill and I power walk through the fist hump. I told myself I will run the last mile no matter what and I turn on MamaLisa's voice in my head and take my baby steps. I make it to the crest and can't believe I'm almost to the end. I start to think about our honoree Brenda who is in the ICU, who can't breath without oxygen, and I focus on my own breathing - being thankful for each deep breath. I'm almost to the end. I can breath. I've climbed the last hill. I start to cry.

I try to regain my stride & my breath on the downhill, I know it's going to be over soon. A right turn at the bottom of the hill reveals the finish line. I sprint the last 100 yards, I can't believe I have the energy to do that.

It's over. I've run my first race. I actually RAN a race. I RAN the whole damn thing.

I guess I have no excuse for walk breaks on tomorrow's buddy run around Lake Merritt.

Guess What I Got?

SHIN SPLINTS!

Shin splints are very common to new runners. It will feel like a dull to sharp pain along your shin or front bone of your calf.

Anterolateral shin splints affect the muscles in the front (anterior) and outside (lateral) parts of the shin. The shin muscles pull the foot up, and the larger and much stronger calf muscles pull the foot down each time the heel touches the ground during walking or running. The calf muscles exert so much force that they can injure the shin muscles.

The main symptom of anterolateral shin splints is pain along the front and outside of the shin. At first, the pain is felt only immediately after the heel strikes the ground during running, walking, skiing, or other similar exercises. If the person continues to run, the pain occurs throughout each step, eventually becoming constant. Usually by the time the person sees a doctor, the shin hurts when touched.

Posteromedial shin splints affect the muscles in the back (posterior) and inner (medial) parts of the shin, which are responsible for lifting the heel just before the toes push off. This type of shin splint often results from running on banked tracks or crowned roads and can be worsened by rolling onto the outside of the feet (pronation) excessively or by wearing running shoes that do not adequately prevent such rolling.

The pain produced by this type of shin splint usually starts along the inside of the lower leg, about 1 to 8 inches above the ankle, and worsens when a runner rises up on the toes or rolls the ankle in. If the person continues to run, the pain moves forward, affecting the inner aspect of the ankle, and may extend up the shin to within 2 to 4 inches of the knee. The severity of the pain increases as the shin splint progresses. At first, only the muscle tendons are inflamed and painful, but if the person keeps running, the muscles themselves can be affected. Eventually, tension on the inflamed tendon can actually pull it from its attachment to bone, causing bleeding and further inflammation.

The primary treatment is to stop running and do other types of exercise until running is no longer painful. Running shoes with a rigid heel counter (the back part of the shoe) and special arch supports can keep the foot from rolling onto the outside excessively. Avoiding running on banked surfaces can help prevent shin splints from recurring. Exercises to strengthen the injured muscles are useful.

Who are you?

I seem to have readers all over the country. Sitereader tells me that I have visitors from Colorado, Utah, Idaho & North Carolina. I know who you are just by your location. I wonder who the regular reader is from Staten Island. If you want to expose your identity feel free to comment - I've changed the set-up so anyone can now leave a comment.

Daylight savings sure changes the scenery of Lake Merritt. Since it was still light out for the buddy run we could see where we were and who we were passing. It was such a beautiful day yesterday that EVERYONE was out on the lake. It was crowded and hard to maneuver a few times. We also ran the reverse direction so that messed with my mind a bit. I couldn't use familiar spots as landmarks for when I usually feel pain or need to stop to walk. I think that helped me run longer & farther than usual.

I'm getting stronger & faster and the run is not torture. I haven't broken the 4 mile mark yet... I guess I will on Sunday when I run an actual race - 12K (that's 7 miles for you unfamiliar with metric). I think I'll be using some ice Sunday night.

Tonight is part two of the strength & stretch class. Tomorrow another round of hill training at 5:50AM - it will be VERY DARK.

Thanks to all who've supported me and Melanie in this adventure. I'm at 71% of fundraising goal - Melanie is at 82%. We appreciate your help to cross the race & financial finish line!

PS - Another reminder of why I do this. Here's a picture of Brenda (mentioned a few posts ago) from when she was feeling a bit better & supporting TNT runners on the course. click on the image for larger view if you can't the sign: