I'll take what I can get!

At this point I'll take any mileage, any way I can get it. It just feels good to do something. I continued to take it easy this past week. I managed to get in 6 miles on Friday, during a rare mid-afternoon run, but other than that I did nothing since last Saturday's nightmare long run. This past week was all about getting a handle with what was going on with my knee and accepting the challenges that lie ahead. Jeff had told me on Wednesday that he intended to do 10 on Sunday. Like a junkie looking for his next fix, I told Jeff to count me in. Knowing that I just got diagnosed with ITBS on Tuesday, Jeff compared me to a alcoholic saying that I showed some of the same tendencies. I hope I don't come into work one of these days to an intervention. Anyway, with the cool morning temps dipping into the low 30's, we decided to start at 7:30 in order to allow for a little sunrise warmth. My goal was to get as close to 10 as possible. We met at Granada park and my car's external temp said 32 degrees....Brrrr! Ok, although chilly, I loved it! Jeff had mentioned that he lost his iPod shuffle...bummer. I decided to go without tunes as well.....let's call it a sympathy sacrifice. I figured it would be rude to just tune him out...literally. Anyway, as we headed out it occurred to me that I'm cognizant of every step I take, always waiting for the step that sends that twinge. That twinge came around mile 3.25. My thoughts were to make it to 4 and turn around. Jeff was on board with this idea, stating that he could extend his run a mile out and back from our start point, keeping him on track for 10. I would finish at 8. Heading back, around mile 6, my body gave me a little gift! I experienced a "runners high" for about half a mile. It's been a really long time since I've had one of these. Again, for anyone who has never had one....your missing out. I've never experimented with drugs, but I'm hear to tell ya, it's gotta be comparable. Words can't describe the euphoria, and most important for me, no pain! I thought of making a comment to Jeff at the time but I didn't want to ruin it...so I just enjoyed it! Afterwards, I told Jeff about it and he told me about an article he read offering one explanation for this phenomenon. He said that the body builds up endorphins when it's expecting pain, and that this is a natural release of these endorphins. Given my knee problems, I'd definitely subscribe to this theory. Whatever it is, it's great! As we approached mile 7 the right side of my knee began to really hurt, as it has in the past week. Same problems as last week. Ughhhh! Mind over body, I told Jeff that I might be able to finish the full 10 with him. I know, I know....stupid, but it just who I am! I knew I wasn't gonna cause any long term damage by adding a couple of extra miles. F'U knee! I did finish the last 2 miles. The knee hurt, but I finished the 10. Three weeks away from Chang's, I'd love to show up at the start line for the half. I start physical therapy tomorrow. Hopefully this will help.....stay tuned! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1242 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 12/28/08 Up/Downhill: [+127/-124] Time: 07:35 AM Difficulty: 2.8 / 5.0   Weather: A Few Clouds   40 F temp; 67% humidity   40 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 9.89 miles Time: 1:29:22 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 02 /mi Heart Rate: 152 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1480 162 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 169 - 188 0h 00m 0%  0.00 mi Zone 4 150 - 169 1h 17m 86%  8.50 mi Zone 3 132 - 150 0h 11m 13%  1.24 mi Zone 2 113 - 132 0h 03m 4%  0.31 mi Zone 1 94 - 113 0h 01m 1%  0.04 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0%  0.02 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 03 +0' 01 6.6 -0.0 140 +10 ft 2 8' 46 -0' 16 6.8 +0.2 152 -6 ft 3 8' 42 -0' 20 6.9 +0.2 155 +10 ft 4 9' 21 +0' 19 6.4 -0.2 149 -3 ft 5 8' 54 -0' 08 6.7 +0.1 152 0 ft 6 8' 46 -0' 16 6.8 +0.2 159 -6 ft 7 9' 51 +0' 49 6.1 -0.6 148 +3 ft 8 8' 59 -0' 03 6.7 +0.0 158 -6 ft 9 9' 10 +0' 08 6.5 -0.1 157 +3 ft end 9' 01 -0' 01 6.7 +0.0 156 0 ft Versus average of 9' 02 min/mile

Posted from runtracker.runnersworld.com

A light from inside the darkness!

I get the sense that most of you who read my blog were afraid to comment on my last post based upon the frailty of my emotions. Nonetheless, I appreciate the positive thoughts. I've had a few days to reflect on things, and although still extrememly bummed, I'm begining to accept my injury and its impact on my goals.

I just got back from the doctor and my self diagnosis was correct. Intial thoughts from the Doc are that I'm battling a case of ITBS (Iliotibial Band Syndrome). Again this is a common ailment among runners, new and old. My intial perscription is 8 sessions of physical therapy over the next 4 weeks. More than anything, I also reconfirmed the fact that my hips and hamstrings are extememly tight and future training needs to involve more stretching, massage and lower leg strength training.

In 3 weeks I'm scheduled for a follow up with the Doc. If my problem persists, we can do an MRI and think about cortisone shots. In the meantime, the full marathon is off the table....still. However, he said if my body responds well, I can do the half marathon and continue to train.

Alright, so I'm not gonna say that all is perfect but there is definitly a light during my "dark time".

I'm Done!

Actually, the original title to this post was "Failure", but I've been convinced otherwise. Honestly I apologize for the brutal honesty in this post ahead of time. When I created this blog earlier this year, I decided to use this as a journal...with that comes the brutal honesty of my thoughts at any given time.

Friday night I was discussing something with my friend Melynda that stayed with me all weekend long. We were talking about our goals as it relates to the Chang's marathon/ half marathon in 5 weeks. She is running her first half and has come to enjoy running. We were discussing my ongoing knee problems as it relates to my sub-4 hour goal for this event. I put it out there that anything less than that goal I'd consider a failure. Needless to say she did not see things the same way and thought the word failure was pretty harsh. I pose the question, "why do we set goals?"

We don't reward people who don't meet goals. Sure there are times where we use phrases like, "well you get an A for effort" and sure friends and family will always give ya a pat on the back and say, "you tried your best!". Honestly though, we set goals for a reason, and I think that I have the right to say that if I don't meet that goal.....I've failed. I'm a big boy, I can take it and it seems a little more truthful in my eyes.

I set out on Saturday to run 19. My knee held up throughout the week during my runs and spin class. However, the uncertainty was there all week too. The occasional tightness and twinges reminded me that I had a long 5 weeks ahead. I added a few more band aids to my receipt. I bought a band that goes about 3 inches above my knee and puts pressure on my IT band and bought a new pair of shoes. In addition, I had a fellow co-worker and runner give me an all natural balm to apply pre and post run.

I headed out a little later (7am) in light of the 38 degree morning temps. I figured that a little extra light might take the chill out. I went with the same greenbelt/canal route from the last 3 weeks. Again things felt great out the gate. Unfortunately, my knee felt tight as I came to my water drop 4.5 miles in. However, all in all things were great for the first 9.5 as I reached the turnaround.

On the return, things became a different story. Mile 12, something new arrived. My knee has been giving me problems on the left side, but all of a sudden I was having shooting pains up the right/back side of my knee towards my hamstring. The only thing I could figure was that my stride was adjusting to overcompensate for my injury thus bringing a whole new injury. I told myself, "no worries, just make it back to the water drop...it'll stretch itself out." Well, I did make it to the water drop, and things were still not right.

As I started the final 4 miles, my body was sending some strong signals. I made it to mile 16 and I could not take the pain anymore. I had been fighting a 4 week battle with my body and at that very point....I lost. More important, at that moment I failed! I walked the remaining 3 miles back to the car.

I've decided not to run the marathon in 5 weeks, my knee just won't take it. I'm going to make a doctors appointment tomorrow and see what he says. Who knows what the future holds. Family members that I've talked to this weekend have described this as not being "failure" but a "setback". I think that deep down I know this to be true, but right now I'm pretty beat down. I feel like 16+ of formal training and sacrifice are just "done". Just when the excitement was beginning to build for this race, I feel empty and defeated.

Honestly, I was not going to blog this week. However, good or bad, I think it's important to get some of these thoughts out there. Here's another saying, "What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger"..........hopefully!

One step closer but....

Saturday was my first true test on my knee. I felt good going in given the fact that I was able to log 16 miles throughout the week with no sign of push back from my knee. However, I knew that I needed a long run to be the "true" indicator. Jeff was doing the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon on Sunday so he was out for Saturday. I was going to have to go it alone. I went with the same receipt of 2 weeks ago. I started early 6:30, and I planted some water at Indian Bend and Hayden. The temps again were chilly...just cold enough to see your breath. Perfect! My game plan which felt good on my 19 mile run was to hold myself back the first 3 miles. I monitored my pace and kept it between 9:30 and 9. By the time I reached Indian Bend and Hayden (4.25 miles) in, things felt good...a nice warm up. Headed down the canal, I picked up the pace and kept it between 8:15-8:30. I love this portion of the run. The sun has come up over the horizon but it's still cold. You can actually feel the city waking up. You see more and more people begin to hit the paths, it's quiet....it's peaceful. Still going strong, no sign of trouble. I reached the 8 mile point feeling good, and after a brief refuel, I made the turn for the back 8. I kept the pace between 8:20-8:40 and fell into a great stride. Then came mile 10, and trouble. Cruising along, I felt a twinge in my knee. At first it was a gentle reminder as if to say, "Hey, remember me...I'm still down here...don't get to cocky." I didn't want to jump to the "worst" so I kept moving. Unfortunately, my knee had other plans. It progressively became worse and the sharp pain that visited me the week prior was definitely back. Discouraged is an understatement. I remembered from 2 weeks ago that things got worse when I stopped, so I decided to try to make it to Indian Bend and Hayden. I became very cognizant of my footstrike and form, making sure that I was not getting sloppy. Making to the water drop, things seemed to work themselves out a bit. I finished the last 4 cautious but strong. Ended up running 16 at 8:51 pace which was great, but my fear was validated. Post workout, things felt OK, but my knee was hurting last night and from time to time today. My knee is not a fan of long runs right now....26.2 isn't very long, is it? All kidding aside, I'm day to day, and I'm really not quite sure what to do???? I don't have the time to take anymore recovery time and be ready for race day, but I don't want to risk permanent damage. I got a IT band wrap for my leg, that is supposed to help those suffering with ITBS, we'll see if it helps. I feel like I'm "band-aiding" solutions to help me get through the next five weeks. I'm concerned and discouraged and like I said.....day to day! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1299 ft Location: Paradise Valley, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 12/13/08 Up/Downhill: [+164/-164] Time: 06:34 AM Difficulty: 2.7 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   55 F temp; 48% humidity   55 F heat index; winds SE 3 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:21:28 Speed: 6.8 mph Pace: 8' 51 /mi Heart Rate: 161 bpm (Avg) Calories: 2416 175 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 169 - 188 0h 37m 26%  5.25 mi Zone 4 150 - 169 1h 43m 73%  13.07 mi Zone 3 132 - 150 0h 20m 14%  2.20 mi Zone 2 113 - 132 0h 00m 0%  0.11 mi Zone 1 94 - 113 0h 04m 3%  0.06 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0%  0.01 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 29 +0' 38 6.3 -0.5 139 -22 ft 2 8' 45 -0' 06 6.8 +0.1 149 -22 ft 3 8' 27 -0' 24 7.1 +0.3 153 -23 ft 4 9' 11 +0' 20 6.5 -0.2 151 -13 ft 5 12' 08 +3' 17 4.9 -1.8 154 -16 ft 6 1' 51 -7' 00 32.3 +25.5 164 +3 ft 7 8' 22 -0' 29 7.2 +0.4 165 0 ft 8 8' 27 -0' 24 7.1 +0.3 166 -3 ft 9 13' 12 +4' 21 4.5 -2.2 162 -3 ft 10 8' 49 -0' 02 6.8 +0.0 162 +3 ft 11 0' 00 -8' 51 3844.7 +3837.9 168 0 ft 12 8' 27 -0' 24 7.1 +0.3 167 +3 ft 13 8' 33 -0' 18 7.0 +0.2 168 0 ft 14 10' 49 +1' 58 5.5 -1.2 165 +3 ft 15 4' 46 -4' 05 12.6 +5.8 169 +16 ft 16 9' 34 +0' 43 6.3 -0.5 164 +23 ft 17 8' 52 +0' 01 6.8 -0.0 169 +13 ft 18 8' 42 -0' 09 6.9 +0.1 172 +26 ft end 8' 37 -0' 14 7.0 +0.2 173 +13 ft Versus average of 8' 51 min/mile

Posted from runtracker.runnersworld.com

Optimistically Cautious???

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance"~Bill Barton

Last night I ran for the first time in a week. 3 miles @ an 8:45 pace. Things felt good and my knee felt fine. However, being my blog, I feel like it's my place to express my true feelings.......I'm optimistically cautious.

I'm not out of the woods yet. I know that my knee is touch and go right now and I'm asking it to just hold out for 5 more weeks. It's not perfect and I'm reminded of that from time to time throughout the day. I stand up from a meeting and "boom" there it is reminding me of the new challenge that lies ahead in these coming weeks.

In light of last weeks set back, I flipped my training schedule around a bit. Obviously last week was my down week. My intentions are to train hard in the next 3 weeks, with my top mileage being a 21 or 22 mile run on December 27th. That allows me 21 days of taper and recovery for the Marathon on the 18th. Again, staying true to my feelings....I'm scared that I won't make it to the start line ready to meet my goal of sub 4.

The next 3 weeks are crunch time. This is the time where you focus on every run, every strength training session, every meal, every hour of sleep to be QUALITY. This is the also the point in training where you ask your friends and family for support. Support in the form of encouragement, support in the form of flexibility, support in the form understanding, support in the form of just listening or reading these rants leading up to race day.

I feel very fortunate to have been running for 2.5 years with no real injuries. Now that I'm faced with one I'm choosing to look at it as just another obstacle standing in the way of my goal. I'm a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to.....sometimes you just have to push through a few more obstacles. Pile it on!

The benefits of multi-sport training!

This week was a rough one for me. My knee injury from last weeks 19 mile run ended up being pretty serious. Serious enough that I ended taking the entire week off from running. For the record, should I ever look back on this, it was the side of the knee area that killed. Not the knee cap, so I don't think I had "runners knee". Honestly, I think that it was IT band related. For those who don't know what the IT band is feel free to click this link, but long story short, it is a muscle that runs along the side of the leg from the hip to the knee. It is a crucial muscle and can be the culprit for many running injuries. Anyway, it was a tough week for two reasons. One, as the week progressed and my knee still hurt, I was concerned about the long term ramifications of this injury. Two, not doing anything active was driving me NUTS! However, Sunday through Friday I treated it with a steady receipt of stretching and a heating pad. By Thursday, I felt like I could test the waters with a spin class at the gym. Things ended up going great. I pushed hard and my knee felt good. Therefore, the plan was to continue to skip the running and plan to take my bike out on Sat for a challenging ride. I turned to my old pal favoriterun.com and mapped out a 40 mile route that would take me up to Pinnacle Peak area and back. Prior to this, 30 miles was the extent of my length in the saddle. Couple this with the fact that the first half of the ride would be uphill, and I knew that this would pose as great substitute to a 19 mile run. Hopefully my knee would think the same. I started at sunrise, 7:25ish. Brrrrr, it was cold. Thank goodness for cold weather cycling gear (beanie, arm warmer, layering tank top, and full fingered gloves)....they make all the difference. Plus they allow the flexibility to take off as things warm up later in the ride. This ride also brought with it another challenge...traffic. I'm still gaining experience and comfort with riding in traffic. The big one is making left hand turns from the left hand turn lane. It's one thing to be in a car and another on a bike, you feel very vulnerable. The key, I'm learning with cycling, like anything in life is confidence. You need to feel confident with your bike and the decisions you make on it. There is no room for hesitation. Luckily, 5 months on my bike has afforded me some comfort between me and my bike. The first 1/3 of the ride was feeling good, other than my feet being numb and a constant runny nose from the cold. I took a small pit stop at the Cine Capri area to blow my nose and fuel up with some Cytomax. I knew the challenging part lie ahead having done this part of the route. It is a steep incline through DC Ranch and up Pima to the Pinnacle Peak area. My speed slowed considerably and my quads were on FIRE. Much like running, I know that every hill has an end and downhill, so I just kept that in mind and pushed pedal over pedal. Just before you reach the top (Dynamite Rd) you pass a scene right out of an old John Wayne movie. A row of stores and a steakhouse in an area called Reata Pass. Seriously, all it needed was a few tumbleweeds and I would have sworn that my bike hit 88 miles an hour and I was BACK TO THE FUTURE. I couldn't resist so I pulled my bike up to the old hitchin post and I decided to GU, take some pictures and reward my self with a tiny break having just charged up that 1200 ft climb. No wonder my legs felt the way they did. Now the scary fun part.....downhill. Coming over a crest on Dynamite Rd, I assumed the position...no pun intended. Grab the drops, tuck myself in and pray nothing is in the road ahead. Reaching a speed of 30 miles an hour on a bike, again is quite the rush. The view is incredible...you can see the entire city sprawled out below. This picture didn't quite do the justice, but it's beautiful. Another reminder of why I love running and cycling. I knew that the rest of the route was either downhill or flat, it was just a matter of whether or not my legs had it in them. As with running, there is a great deal is having good form, especially when your tired. Squeeze your thighs together keeping your knees in, relax your shoulders, keep your elbows slightly bent, back straight, pelvis forward, butt back, focus on your breathing....wow, that's a lot to remember. I made it back to the Cine Capri area and decided to hydrate and clear my head one last time. I was in the home stretch and although tired, it was all good. As I was stopped at the light at Bell Rd, I noticed my legs starting to shake....they were feeling like jello. I made it back in roughly 2 hours and 30 minutes. My legs were done, but my knee felt fine and most important was that I got in a high quality cardio workout that should keep me on track for the marathon. This weekend was a perfect example of the benefits of multi sport training and it felt great. My intention is to hit the pavement again this week on foot, I'm looking to finish the next 5 weeks strong before Chang's. Wish me luck, I'll keep ya posted! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1824 ft Location: Phoenix/Deer Valley Municipal Ar, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 12/06/08 Up/Downhill: [+1374/-1374] Time: 07:22 AM Difficulty: 4.5 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   55 F temp; 35% humidity   55 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 40.74 miles Time: 2:36:47 Speed: 15.6 mph Pace: 3' 51 /mi Heart Rate: 153 bpm (Avg) Calories: 2635 172 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 169 - 188 0h 01m 0%  0.24 mi Zone 4 150 - 169 2h 00m 76%  31.93 mi Zone 3 132 - 150 0h 36m 23%  8.27 mi Zone 2 113 - 132 0h 15m 9%  1.77 mi Zone 1 94 - 113 0h 04m 2%  0.06 mi (none) out of range 0h 00m 0%  0.00 mi Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 5' 03 +1' 12 11.9 -3.7 129 0 ft 2 4' 08 +0' 17 14.5 -1.1 149 +29 ft 3 4' 35 +0' 44 13.1 -2.5 149 +29 ft 4 3' 28 -0' 22 17.2 +1.6 160 +22 ft 5 3' 54 +0' 03 15.4 -0.2 161 +36 ft 6 3' 22 -0' 28 17.8 +2.2 164 +22 ft 7 3' 08 -0' 42 19.1 +3.5 166 +6 ft 8 2' 53 -0' 57 20.7 +5.1 165 0 ft 9 10' 37 +6' 46 5.7 -9.9 146 +32 ft 10 3' 46 -0' 04 15.9 +0.3 162 +62 ft 11 4' 21 +0' 30 13.8 -1.8 158 +62 ft 12 4' 51 +1' 00 12.3 -3.2 161 +91 ft 13 4' 20 +0' 29 13.8 -1.8 165 +118 ft 14 4' 17 +0' 26 14.0 -1.6 164 +98 ft 15 5' 02 +1' 11 11.9 -3.7 163 +121 ft 16 6' 00 +2' 09 10.0 -5.6 165 +177 ft 17 5' 23 +1' 32 11.1 -4.5 157 +134 ft 18 13' 20 +9' 29 4.5 -11.1 153 +118 ft 19 4' 41 +0' 50 12.8 -2.8 149 +79 ft 20 2' 18 -1' 32 26.0 +10.4 135 -187 ft 21 3' 57 +0' 06 15.2 -0.4 137 -167 ft 22 3' 11 -0' 39 18.8 +3.2 139 -98 ft 23 2' 37 -1' 13 22.9 +7.3 154 -88 ft 24 3' 00 -0' 50 20.0 +4.4 147 -82 ft 25 2' 53 -0' 57 20.7 +5.1 151 -88 ft 26 3' 48 -0' 02 15.8 +0.2 153 +20 ft 27 3' 36 -0' 14 16.6 +1.0 156 -36 ft 28 3' 16 -0' 34 18.3 +2.7 145 -82 ft 29 2' 41 -1' 09 22.3 +6.7 149 -101 ft 30 3' 03 -0' 47 19.6 +4.0 151 -55 ft 31 4' 29 +0' 38 13.4 -2.2 147 -42 ft 32 3' 32 -0' 18 17.0 +1.4 140 -72 ft 33 5' 09 +1' 18 11.7 -3.9 144 -16 ft 34 3' 26 -0' 24 17.4 +1.8 161 +3 ft 35 3' 46 -0' 04 15.9 +0.3 154 -6 ft 36 3' 35 -0' 15 16.7 +1.1 152 -39 ft 37 3' 13 -0' 37 18.6 +3.0 153 -22 ft 38 3' 04 -0' 46 19.5 +3.9 162 -32 ft 39 3' 26 -0' 24 17.5 +1.9 153 -29 ft 40 3' 18 -0' 32 18.1 +2.5 160 -26 ft end 4' 18 +0' 27 13.9 -1.7 154 +10 ft Versus average of 15.6 mph

Posted from runtracker.runnersworld.com