Thanksgiving running

I am taking advantage of Thanksgiving to get in some miles.  Thanksgiving day, we did the Oceanside Turkey Trot; there is a 5 mile run that we did last year, 5K, and and option for the combo.  I decided that we should do the combo this year...if we are driving ~45 miles each way, we might as well do both, right?  The 5 mile race was crowded with one start and Alan and I dodged people for the first mile before settling in; I forgot my Garmin so we were running by feel and saving some for the second race.  I could tell we were running faster than normal but had no clue as to our pace; around mile 4, I decided to push the pace but leave some in the tank so I parted with Alan.  I was surprised to finish the 5 miler in 39:23 and Alan finished about 45 seconds later.  While that's much slower than my "old running paces," it was faster than I expected.

About an hour later, after a quick walk to the car and change of bibs/chips, we started the 5K.  There were thousands of people (like 5,000+!) so I was happy they did a wave start.  My goal was to run it comfortably and see what my times was.  My legs felt good and I cruised in for a 24:11 finish.

Today I did some work before we hit the trails; we wanted to go somewhere new but got a late start so we settled for Aliso and Wood Canyon; we only did one short run there before.  I was not a fan of the seemingly endless pavement from the parking area to the trail but enjoyed exploring the area; we took it very easy and "played."  We ran Aliso Creek Trail to Wood Canyon, to Cave Rock, to Dripping Canyon Trail, up Matthis, down Car Wreck Trail and back to the car.  The Car Wreck Trail was much more technical than I expected and we took it very carefully/slowly going down that way.  All in all, it was only 8 miles but it was fun to explore new trails.  I tried wearing different trail shoes as I noticed a pattern with my plantar fasciitis ongoing issue...it gets worse after every trail run when I wear Cascadias.  Tomorrow I hope it's not worse and that I discovered what has made getting it under control seemingly impossible.

CO Dreaming

The first weekend of November we traveled to the Denver area to visit my brother and explore his new hometown.  I fell in love with the area and this weekend's trail run in El Moro made me long for the beautiful trails I saw and explored there.  I was thankful to be able to run trails in El Moro yesterday but my mind kept drifting to CO....

Right out his front door is the trail that connects to the Cherry Creek ecological preserve area and I explored a couple of miles of it but PF prevented my running much of it.  We went to Red Rocks Park and, while I wanted to run and run and run, my foot was bugging me so I took it as a cool bonding time to hike with my brother and husband.  I have yet to upload the best pictures but you can see how cool it was...

We drove into the mountains to the west of Red Rocks and I was like a little kid in a candy store.  It was sooo beautiful and the views from ~13,000 were breathtaking.  We saw lakes, streams, parks and trails that made me so happy; at one point, I took off running on a path and got yelled at because they thought I might take off to run to the other side of the mountain.

We visited our friend Sam in Broomfield and I could see why he boasts about hitting a trail ~400 feet from his door.  I was sad to leave CO and cannot wait to return and explore some more!

Playing it smart

I finally am learning from my mistakes...I think.  I wanted to stick to my schedule and nail out a nice, long trail run on Saturday but work intervened and made that impossible.  I could feel the lingering effects of plantar fasciitis (PF takes forever to get back under control) on Friday night and decided I would go for a short run Saturday before going to the "office."  A half mile in, I turned around and decided my foot would be better off resting; I did some yoga and called it a day.  Sunday, I had hopes of a long run but felt a little creaking in the foot and was happy that I had plenty of work to do to keep my minds off of being on the trails; I hit the gym for weights (can't recall the last time I did that) and did some yoga.  This has to be one of the first times I had an issue that I could run through where I instead chose to give my body rest.

I am working on my running form, strengthening my foot, foam rolling the knots out of my legs consistently, and adding strength training to my workout regime.  I am incorporating a little barefoot running into my routine (keeping it under half a mile and on grass for now) as it helps me work on good running form.  I hope all this "playing it smart" quickly becomes routine because I have a history of trying to do all these things and then forgetting about them and reverting to my old habits.

Week/LB half marathon recap

The goal was to keep to my "training plan" for the week; I didn't worry about doing the runs on the scheduled days but wanted to run the miles planned. I hit my goal - even though it meant doing 7 on trails yesterday since I bailed on Friday's 7 miler. My right foot was feeling the effects of the PF (plantar fasciitis) that I felt a little more after a 10 miler earlier in the week but I did some icing, stretching, golf ball/rolling massaging and thought it would be okay. I went to bed last night in pain, not a good sign, but hoped I could make it through the Long Beach half marathon; the race was expensive and I did not want my hubby and I to bail on it.

We woke up at 4am in order to be on the road by 4:45; we knew traffic could be bad so we arrived early and found parking quickly. I taped my foot and wore my Skechers that have great arch support but are still iffy as to whether they are good for me since I have such a weird gait. I felt tightness/pain walking to the start and hoped it would not get worse. My hubby has not run much since May so he just hoped to finish under 2 hours.

I never wanted to run LB because a lot of the course is concrete but Alan wants the medal for the Beach Cities Challenge so I had reluctantly agreed; I predicted that the concrete would beat up our bodies and I was right. My foot hurt more during the opening miles so I focused on landing in the most comfortable spot and counted down the miles.

The course was scenic for a road race and that helped, though I got sick of the beach path around miles 7-11; my left knee (one with cyst), hip, calves hurt thanks to the concrete but my right foot did not get worse (yay). We cruised in under 2 hours and my normally freezing self stripped down to my sports bra thanks to the sun/humidity and I downed 2 bottles of water; I should have drank more water during the race:).

I am spending lots of time icing, foam rolling (love my Rumble Roller - review coming soon) and retaped my foot. While I want to keep with my training plan, I'll see what my foot needs and adjust accordingly. Today reminded me that I have lost lots of endurance and concrete sucks. A part of me wants to see if I can regain speed and endurance and try to BQ...today made me realize I may not have the desire to run on roads enough to attempt a BQ ever again.

Change of plans

As a newlywed, I often get asked if anything changed once we got married; our typical response is that nothing changed.  But now I'm admitting that being married and in our 30s means we have to consider really settling down and the whole procreating thing; quite honestly, that scares the crap out of me.  Now is the time to push to make some personal and professional goals happen; my hubby is working hard at some professional goals that seem more important now that we are married.  What on earth does that have to do with running? It means that our plans for going for 48 hours at Across the Years are looking impossible; we planned on running it together but have been working too much and devoting so much spare time to pursuing professional goals that running has been on the back burner.  Story of this year....

As of last night, we are 90% certain we will scrap ATY because it's doubtful he could be ready and my school and work schedules might mean severe deviations from the training plan I devised (yes, I finally did a training plan for a race...and just spent several minutes deleting most of it).  I still plan on getting back in ultra running shape but will try to be patient in getting there, instead of ramping up quickly and seeing how my body responds.  I no longer have a deadline of next summer for checking off some ultra bucket list items as I am getting the itch to make some major life changes.

I "love" A.R.T.

I have a strong love/hate with A.R.T.  Over the past 4 years, Active Release Technique (A.R.T.) has been very effective in breaking up adhesions and getting me back to running.  Dr. Scott Neubauer is a phenomenal doctor and, though he makes me almost scream in agony as he tortures treats me, is my go-to person when I am injured or a "niggle." After last week's DNF, I immediately scheduled time to be tortured by him.  He can work magic and, best of all, is a top athlete who understands me.  I highly, highly recommend him to anyone in the OC/northern San Diego area...well worth the drive to Lake Forest, CA.

Monday he confirmed what I knew - the plantar fascia was extremely inflamed, so much that the inflammation extended below it into muscles.  Awesome.  He dug and discovered knots deep in my calf and found the ones I knew were in my hamstring.  After an hour of his digging into my muscles and I was thankful because I knew all the pain I felt during the session would bring relief in a couple of days.  He told me to ice my foot a lot because it was so swollen (yes, I am soooo relieved I DNFed last week) and gave me other instructions, all of which I have been following.  PF is flaring up in my left foot so I am babying it also.

I spent the week icing, cross training, and wearing super supportive shoes all the time (aside from when sleeping).  I went out for 2 miles on Thursday and Friday and felt "okay."  Today I did 6 slow miles in the scorching heat (temp of 96 but felt like 103 thanks to sunny skies).  I am very questionable for next weekend's ultra as I know I need to get through this latest bout of PF and get my hamstring back to "normal"  I ordered a Rumble Roller and am eager to test it out on Tuesday, the day it's scheduled to arrive; I'll post a review of that torture device as soon as I see if it's worth the hype.

Run on!

Do nothing foolish

After posting yesterday, my hamstring felt increasingly worse and the tightening in my foot (plantar fascia) got worse.  Before the concert and between acts, I used a pillar to stretch it.  The show was so awesome that I could not resist being on my feet and I bet that did not help any.  I decided to sleep with my Strassburg sock on, a device that keeps the calf and foot stretched and typically helps with plantar fasciitis.  Around 5:15am, I awoke to a shooting pain where the arch and heel join; I took of the sock and tried rubbing it but the pain did not go away.  I contemplated bailing on the race but knew Billy and another running friend, Rachel, were going to be there and I love doing races where I can see them.   I decided to make the drive and try for at least a half marathon; normally, taping my arch helps with PF so I did that routine but felt no relief.  Walking around I knew I was not 100% but I started the race hoping things would change.

The course was hillier than I anticipated.  It started in Dove Canyon and that horse trail connected to a trail in Casper Wilderness Park.  I love trails so much that I kept trying to convince myself I could do it but by mile 2, I knew I'd be lucky to do 13 miles.  Around the turnaround at mile 3.25, the pain got worse and I decided to DO NOTHING FOOLISH (DNF) since I was not wise enough to "do nothing stupid" (DNS).  The course was an out/back and the pain got worse before I completed the 6.5 mile route.  I told Billy I was dropping and that I would run errands and come back to hangout.  The walk down the hill from the start/finish killed and that intense pain got worse as I drove around taking care of errands; I realized I had to come home and start icing.

I think that too much stretching may have torn the PF more (apparently PF is microtear) so I need to stay off of my foot so that it can heal; I'm so happy I work from home instead of being on my feet.  I remember when I had PF before it was intense pain when walking but cannot recall how it felt when sitting; so, I do not know if this is better or worse than that bout with PF.  I scheduled a visit with my chiro/ART guru, Dr. Scott Neubauer, for tomorrow and I'm hoping he can help resolve this hamstring/PF issue.  It's crazy that the hamstring issue was caused by overstretching a tight hammy and today's intense pain was probably caused by overstretching my foot.  Apparently, too much of a good thing results in a bad thing.