Yesterday, I went for a run on the treadmill to "test out" my knee. I can't remember ever running a more stressful 3-miles. I was paranoid that my knee was going to give out any time, and panicked with every little twinge. "Is this normal? Have I always felt this? Is this pain or discomfort? Should I stop at discomfort? Since WHEN have I EVER stopped at discomfort?" Arghhhhhh!
I finished the run, stretched, foam-rolled my leg 'till I was almost in tears, and lifted weights for over an hour. The hidden benefit of not being able to run is that I get all this time to work on every single muscle group in my upper body (I even did abs!). But... it's not what I'd rather do. It's boring. And it makes me really sore. And did I mention it's boring?
I swear that when this is over, I'll never complain about speedwork, or even hill repeats!
But will it ever be over?
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Bad News
I’ve been putting off writing this entry, but I guess now I have to...
Unfortunately, an old enemy called ITBS decided to rear its ugly head and keep me from running. For those of you not familiar with this monster, here’s a little clarification from Wikipedia: “ITBS is one of the leading causes of lateral knee pain in runners. The iliotibial band is a superficial thickening of tissue on the outside of the thigh, extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, moving from behind the femur to the front while walking. The continual rubbing of the band over the lateral femoral epicondyle, combined with the repeated flexion and extension of the knee during running may cause the area to become inflamed.”
I went to my chiropractor, who does ART (active release therapy) and amazingly, felt much better afterward—although the session itself was pretty painful. He basically helped stretch my IT band, align my pelvis, which tends to somehow pop out of place, and used a “graston” (metal “spoon” or “shark fin”-looking object) to help break up scar tissue around my knee. Thanks, Dr. Jacobs! (www.executiveexpresschiro.com)
That night I threw myself a little pity party with red wine, cheese puffs, and a French movie. What’s a girl to do, right? And yes, I’ll admit that I may have cried myself to sleep. I know, I know, pathetic, but in my defense, running had become such a huge part of my life—of my identity, really—that this felt like a huge blow. I felt betrayed by my own body. I felt that I was letting everyone down—everyone who had supported me and donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society so that I could run in honor of my friend Denise. Oh, Denise...I felt like I was letting her down most of all!
I know it sounds a little dramatic, and I have since had time to put things in perspective. Why assume the worst? Maybe this will go away with a little rest, stretching, ART, ice, and foam rolling... Maybe it will make me appreciate running even more (if that’s possible). Maybe it will force me do more strength training. Right?
I took a week off and today I will try running again for the first time. Hopefully I’ll come back here tomorrow with some good news!
Unfortunately, an old enemy called ITBS decided to rear its ugly head and keep me from running. For those of you not familiar with this monster, here’s a little clarification from Wikipedia: “ITBS is one of the leading causes of lateral knee pain in runners. The iliotibial band is a superficial thickening of tissue on the outside of the thigh, extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, moving from behind the femur to the front while walking. The continual rubbing of the band over the lateral femoral epicondyle, combined with the repeated flexion and extension of the knee during running may cause the area to become inflamed.”
I went to my chiropractor, who does ART (active release therapy) and amazingly, felt much better afterward—although the session itself was pretty painful. He basically helped stretch my IT band, align my pelvis, which tends to somehow pop out of place, and used a “graston” (metal “spoon” or “shark fin”-looking object) to help break up scar tissue around my knee. Thanks, Dr. Jacobs! (www.executiveexpresschiro.com)
That night I threw myself a little pity party with red wine, cheese puffs, and a French movie. What’s a girl to do, right? And yes, I’ll admit that I may have cried myself to sleep. I know, I know, pathetic, but in my defense, running had become such a huge part of my life—of my identity, really—that this felt like a huge blow. I felt betrayed by my own body. I felt that I was letting everyone down—everyone who had supported me and donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society so that I could run in honor of my friend Denise. Oh, Denise...I felt like I was letting her down most of all!
I know it sounds a little dramatic, and I have since had time to put things in perspective. Why assume the worst? Maybe this will go away with a little rest, stretching, ART, ice, and foam rolling... Maybe it will make me appreciate running even more (if that’s possible). Maybe it will force me do more strength training. Right?
I took a week off and today I will try running again for the first time. Hopefully I’ll come back here tomorrow with some good news!
Monday, 19 April 2010
Doing Bold Things
"All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger, but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer."
-Machiavelli
-Machiavelli
Monday, 12 April 2010
GOOD NEWS!
I am proud to say that as of last week I have actually surpassed my fundraising goal! Woohoo! I had originally set out to raise $2,500 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society—and have now raised $2,575, with another $50 in checks to be deposited soon. Thanks to everyone who contributed and helped support this amazing organization. I promise to train hard and make you proud on race day!
Speaking of training, I am now down to seven weeks till the marathon, and three weeks till the half-marathon. This weekend I had a 10K race, where I ran solid 8:00 miles. This time around, I tried really hard to stay on pace in the beginning. I tend to always start off too fast, and learned my lesson when I ran 7:30-min miles for the first few miles of my last marathon and crashed around mile 18.
Truth is, "pacing myself" didn’t quite work out like I had planned. I felt that I could have gone faster, and since I was ahead of most of the other runners (not trying to brag here, haha), I kept worrying that I was going to get lost, which slowed me down. When I finally saw the finish line, I sprinted. I finished strong and feeling good, too good, like I had much more to give... Which is not exactly how you want to finish a race! I wanted to finish feeling like I had nothing left to give. Instead, I was too conservative, and wasn’t even sore the next day! Bummer. Oh, well. At least now I know!
Sunday was a cold, rainy day—we even had a hail storm at night. I feel bad for the runners who did the US Half-Marathon, and relieved that I didn’t attempt to run it, even though the start line was less than 2 blocks from our place. I was deterred by the weather forecast and the $90 entry fee (is it me, or do these things keep getting more and more expensive every time?). And yes, I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to running in the freezing rain. So sue me.
Instead, I ran 10-miles on the treadmill at an “easy” pace, which took me around 84 minutes and was anything but fun. Knees felt stiff, so I ended up icing afterward while Jeff and I finished watching “25th Hour.” I’m paranoid about getting injured, so I bought myself a foam roller and plan on using until tears are streaming down my face, if that’s what it takes to prevent the much feared Illiotibial band friction syndrome that haunted me in college.
Alright, lunch time is over... back to work now. Thanks again for everyone who helped me reach my goal. I really appreciate your generosity!
Speaking of training, I am now down to seven weeks till the marathon, and three weeks till the half-marathon. This weekend I had a 10K race, where I ran solid 8:00 miles. This time around, I tried really hard to stay on pace in the beginning. I tend to always start off too fast, and learned my lesson when I ran 7:30-min miles for the first few miles of my last marathon and crashed around mile 18.
Truth is, "pacing myself" didn’t quite work out like I had planned. I felt that I could have gone faster, and since I was ahead of most of the other runners (not trying to brag here, haha), I kept worrying that I was going to get lost, which slowed me down. When I finally saw the finish line, I sprinted. I finished strong and feeling good, too good, like I had much more to give... Which is not exactly how you want to finish a race! I wanted to finish feeling like I had nothing left to give. Instead, I was too conservative, and wasn’t even sore the next day! Bummer. Oh, well. At least now I know!
Sunday was a cold, rainy day—we even had a hail storm at night. I feel bad for the runners who did the US Half-Marathon, and relieved that I didn’t attempt to run it, even though the start line was less than 2 blocks from our place. I was deterred by the weather forecast and the $90 entry fee (is it me, or do these things keep getting more and more expensive every time?). And yes, I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to running in the freezing rain. So sue me.
Instead, I ran 10-miles on the treadmill at an “easy” pace, which took me around 84 minutes and was anything but fun. Knees felt stiff, so I ended up icing afterward while Jeff and I finished watching “25th Hour.” I’m paranoid about getting injured, so I bought myself a foam roller and plan on using until tears are streaming down my face, if that’s what it takes to prevent the much feared Illiotibial band friction syndrome that haunted me in college.
Alright, lunch time is over... back to work now. Thanks again for everyone who helped me reach my goal. I really appreciate your generosity!
Monday, 5 April 2010
"Today Is Better Than Two Tomorrows"
This weekend I received the news that my friend Leon Brauer had died in a freediving accident in the Maldives. Leon had worked with me in my previous job and we had become good friends. He quit his job to travel the world and work as a scuba diving instructor, believing that life was too short to be spent behind a desk. He died doing what he loved, living his life as few of us dare to.
This news lay heavy in my heart, and I hoped that the long run I had scheduled for that morning would help clear my head and give me some perspective. I ran by the water, dodging the tourists and letting my thoughts collide. I ran very, very slowly... Upon reaching the Golden Gate Bridge, I stopped and stared at the water... And I thought about death, and how it seems to sneak up on us sometimes. Did Leon know, did he sense it when he woke up that morning, when he got ready for that dive, that it would be his last one?
I guess preparing for this race and raising funds for cancer should have made me more aware of our mortality in general and how fragile human beings can be, but it was Leon’s death that made it all the more real.
I ended up cutting my run about 5 miles short. My heart wasn’t in it. I wanted to go home and be with Jeff and with our dogs. I wanted to call my mother and tell her that Leon would never make it to Brazil, as he had planned.
These are the last lines of the last e-mail I got from him. Rest in peace, Leon. I hope our paths meet again someday.
I really do hope that our paths will meet again in the future and that we will be able to sit together and share all our funny and tragic stories of what we were doing while present became past.
As always, i am thinking of you and wishing you the best- don't forget to enjoy your day...
Ciao ciao,
Leon
A sign hanging on a tree inside the garden of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand:
"today is better than two tomorrows"
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