Listen to Your Stupid Body

I ran 5K in 36 minutes (ok, 35:59) this morning, bringing to an end a week of really good runs. But, normally, I'd say "It's ok.  At least I got out there.  That's what this summer is all about."

But no.  I shouldn't have gotten out there, I should have stayed in bed with a heat pack on my back.

You see, I got trounced at badminton on Monday for about an hour and 15 minutes, my first time playing any racquet sport in several years.  I knew my back and shoulder would be sore.  And they were.  I was a little sore yesterday, but I felt ok yesterday and went on my run without incident, finishing 3.1 miles 34:29.  Pretty good!

Today...MUCH worse. It started to feel worse last night, when I was having trouble getting into a comfortable position to sleep, but it was even worse this morning: every motion was agony and if I did find a comfortable position, the muscle would painfully spasm after a few seconds.  "Maybe a run will loosen it up", I stupidly said to myself.

I got over to the school, back still spasm-ing, and my legs felt weak as I walked up a slighly inclined part of the parking lot.  "I'll feel better once I warm up", I stupidly thought.

I was wrong on both stupid counts.  I felt terrible, legs week, stride uneven, suffering through my 3.1, with my back feeling even worse when I finished.  At one point, around 9:30, I got up from my office chair, couldn't straighten up, and fell back in the chair with a "thud".  After a miserable day of back spasms, I'm only starting to feel a little better 13 hours later with a heating pad on my back.

I have been trying to tell myself that I won't always feel strong and have motivation, so I have to take advantage of the days that I do and get out there, rather than depending on that motivation to still be there that evening (when it's 85F) of the next day (when bed is so comfy).  But on the other hand, all the motivation in the world isn't going to help if you're legitimately injured.  Think before you run, and rest if you need it.  Don't be stupid like me.

To add insult to injury, my new Nike singlet looks very unflattering on me.

I've Been to Hill and Back Again

I woke up a little before 6am, and my Vivoactive said it was 72 degrees.  I figuree that was the "coolest" weather I'm likely to have the rest of the weekend, and well, I don't always have motivation, so when I do, I need to make sure I get my butt there.

The sun was already bright by the time I got over to Northeastern.  I got out of my car.  It felt warm already, and I was dreading it.  I decided to make things worse.  I've been running the same 3.1 miles route since April, focusing more on consistency than speed or distance, and running the same route over and over really lets me have a good comparison from run to run.  Was I faster than usual?  How did I feel compared to other days?  It makes it nice when there's a day like Thursday, where I can say "Ok, I felt worse than usual, but it was because I was about 30 seconds/mile faster than usual".

Well, today I decided to mix it up.  I have a hilly 3-mile loop that starts at Northeastern High School in Manchester, goes down Maple Street & Walnut Street into Mt. Wolf, climbs up to Six Street, cuts over to Chestnut, which provides a steep downhill followed by a en even steeper uphill that takes me back to board road and my start.  It's brutal, and I'm disappointed by how non-hilly it looks on this GarminConnect elevation map.  (It looks much more impressive on my phone, but I left my phone downstairs and then I'd have to transfer things over to my computer and it's a pain).

Here's my normal route (my run from yesterday) for comparison:

Anyway, it hurt, but I'm really happy with how it went.  I had a faster pace than yesterday, even on a more difficult route.  It was a few degrees cooler and less humid, but with the sun beating down on me, I still felt like I was boiling.

While my wife and I were training for the Shamrock Half in 2016, we'd run our long run either Friday night or Saturday morning, and then I'd run this on Sunday, and I found it to be a good test of strength.  I think I'll start mixing it in again.  As Frank Shorter says, "Hills are speedwork in disguise."

The Comeback is Real

On Monday, I ran my fastest four-miler of the year.  Today, I ran a 33:54 5K.  That doesn't stack up against my 5K times from 2007-2012, but it's my fastest 5K distance since the beginning of February.  In the 3 good months of running that I've had, this is the first time I've been under 34 minutes and kept a better than 11-minute mile pace.

And they have been good months:

I was a little bit faster in January in February, but far less consistent in getting out there.  Since August, when I got the Garmin Vivoactive, which made tracking all this stuff automatic and totally Brian-proof, my previous highest monthly mileage was 21 miles in January, followed a 13-mile February and a 14.7-mile March.   In April, I ran 38 miles.  May was 43.2, and June, unless I run tomorrow instead of Saturday, will wind up at 42.1 miles.

I used to run 30+ miles every week, and sometimes I can't help but remember that and be frustrated, but the picture above tells the story of the longest stretch of consistent running since January, February, and March of 2016, and I'm sticking with it even as the weather warms up.  This is huge for me.  If I can keep this up during the dog days of July and August, it will be the first consistent summer of running that I've had since 2011.

That plateau that you see above, that's not going to get much higher over the summer.  I'm ok with that.  The mileage I'm running now compares to what I was doing in summer of 2008, when I was reliably running 2.8 miles (2 laps) 3-4x/week at Cousler Park. I ran for almost two years before I attempted a distance over 3.1 miles, but building that base helped me when I did move up to the 10K and half marathon, and it'll help me again now.  If I can grind through the summer, I'll be ready when fall and winter come.

Hi.

Let's review.  I ran a couple marathons.  I developed chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS).  I broke my ass in a Spartan Race. I had surgery for chronic exertional compartment syndrome.  I ran a couple half marathons.  I would stop running for months a time and I gained 40 lbs.

Why did I even do this in the first place?  Well, sure, I started running because I felt (back when I weighed 140) like I was gaining weight, so I trained for a 5K.  After that, although I don't necessarily always enjoy the act of running itself, especially in the hot fucking summer months, it gave me a way to win.  Something other than my job that I could challenge myself with and get the feedback of shiny participant medals and even an occasional age-group award. Well, twice.  And one was by default, I think.  But, still I was right in the middle of the pace bell curve in every distance except the marathon.  For awhile, I was running 10 miles 3 or 4 times a week.  I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and I was lovin' it.  Then the CECS, the broken ass, and I let myself go.

It's not fun or easy anymore, and it's only going to get worse as the temperatures go up.  But I once used running to fight my stress and depression, and well, everyone I know is going through hard times right now, my favorite little kitty isn't around to purr at me anymore, and look at what the shit our government is trying to get away with. It seems like I need running more than ever, no?

Wild Half Marathon

Forgotten empires,
Lost victories long past.
Every time I bloomed again,
I thought it was the last.
Then something crazy happens
and BOOM!...I'm doing the victory dance.

We came...we came...we came through blood and fire.

-Van Halen, "Blood and Fire"

One Year Ago...

One year ago, I was about to be rolled back to the operating room for bilateral fasciatomy surgery to alleviate my exertional compartment syndrome symptoms.

On Sunday, I'm going to run a half marathon. It's going to be hot, humid, and maybe even raining.  But this time, I am going to appreciate every mile.

Screw It. I'm Calling it a Comeback, Now

The last time I am certain that I ran 8 or more miles was December 2011, and I think that this was my longest run since a seven-miler in Negril, Jamaica at the end of that same month.  The scenery of Mt. Wolf was not as nice, but the temperature was a bit more Brian-friendly.

It's on.  I am going to finish the Wild Half in three weeks, and I will probably be an emotional wreck afterward.  But that's ok.
 

Thanks to Chris for pacing me through this one. I am going try one more long run of 8-10 miles and then   a shorter taper run the weekend before the race.

The ABCs of Being Pain Free?

I ran just 10 miles this week, but that's not important.  What is important is I ran 10 miles without a hint of trouble from my shins or varicose vein, and I'm cautiously optimistic that I've found the fix for it.  And by "I've found the fix for it", I mean Chris told me something to try that seems to have worked.

It's writing the alphabet in the air with my toes.  Here's an example that's a little more thorough than what I've been doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X5-6-Puo20

Please note that I can't endorse all the Red Sox stuff in the background, but this seems like a good example.  I've just been writing through the alphabet once or twice several times a day while I'm working or watching TV and before I run.  I've been doing a little better with strength training lately, which may be helping, but I've noticed I didn't have any exercises for the muscles on/next to my shins, which is where I have so much trouble on my left leg.  This alphabet thing seems like it fills that void in my workout routine.

Now, my quads were another story.  My quads felt weak (I blame last night's fencing class for this) throughout the run, I've clearly lost some conditioning over the past month, and it was digustingly humid and warm this morning.  A four-mile run (per my training plan) that I wanted to turn into a six-mile run since my shins and ankles felt so great ended up a five-mile run when I felt like I was going to overheat if I went another mile.

So today, I lost the battle.  But for the first time in quite awhile, I think I'm going to win the war and be ready for a fall half marathon and spring full marathon.

And since this post is boring and people come here for the cat pictures, here's Higgy helping me work. 

Trying to Come Back...Again & Some Off-Topic Fun

I went on my first run since the unfortunate events of Spartan Race. I'd gotten up to run a few other times over the past week and a half, but aborted due to either weather (Saturday), too much pain in the tailbone area (several days last week), getting home at 4am after an excellent Dream Theater concert in Atlantic City (Sunday), waking up too late (Monday), or staying up all night working on Monday night (Tuesday).

I decided that I'd run out of excuses, and so this evening I ended up running 3 miles in 28:46.

It felt like 20 miles.

It was a gorgeous evening, but in the 80s and still Sunny at 6:15ish when I hit the roads. I'm not used to running in the 80s, so I've got to either get out earlier and beat the heat, like I did last summer, or perhaps try 9 or 10 at night, when it may be a few degrees warmer than 6am, but less humid and no sun. We'll see.

At any rate, I feel like I'm starting over and I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing. After a pretty good start, the comeback had badly stalled over the last two months. And I do have a plan this time, but I have to save something for my next blog post, right?

**********************************************************************************

(So, how was the concert, Brian?)

It was great, thanks for asking. For those unfamiliar with Dream Theater, who have failed to achieve the level of fame that their talent deserves, they are a progressive metal band (I don't really know what "progressive" rock means, but think Queensryche or Rush, but heavier) that I've been listening to since high school, when they released Images and Words, which features their best-known song, "Pull Me Under" (which is still not THAT well-known) and Awake, their best selling album to date, in 1992 and 1994, respectively.

However, I was unforgivably behind on their albums. It's easy to lose track of them, since they're more of a cult following-type band then a widely-known band and most of their songs are at least 10 minutes long so that they get almost zero airplay. So last week was spent working long hours and "cramming" for the concert any time I wasn't on conference calls. Except for the side of effect of this metal marathon turning our kitten evil, it was time well spent. Their last three albums, Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds and Silver Linings, and A Dramatic Turn of Events are all excellent, all with Dream Theater's distinct combination of metal and melody.

At any rate, the concert was excellent, with a good mix of old stuff and new stuff that left me feeling evil...but also uplifted at the same time. Musically, they're just amazing. Guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and drummer Mike Mangini on the drums (replacing long-time DT-er Mike Portnoy) are all at incredible. And they like to show off; almost every song has long instrumental bridges between verses, during which lead singer James Labrie wanders off stage to (I assume) play Angry Birds.

Their newer stuff is heavier than their earlier albums, and heavier than I what I usually listen to, but the frequency with which they change mood and speed from heavy to melodic and the vocal range of Labrie, and their often contemplative lyrics make them always interesting to listen to and also made me glad I'd done my homework and caught up before seeing them live. If you like metal or hard rock, check 'em out...these guys can make anything sound epic.

And, during their intro, they also had these cartoon versions of themselves playing on the three screens above the stage. Fun!

Ok, we'll now resume our regular running and complaining about running blog posts.

The Road is Calling; Today is the Day

Four miles in 36:41. For me, that's a decent pace at this distance, injury or no injury. Running outside was definitely tougher than the indoor track. Compared to my other routes in Manchester and Mt. Wolf, this route is pretty flat but even the moderate hills on Board Road felt like mountains today.

It was great to be out in the cold, and this was a gorgeous morning for a run of this distance: Low 40s, no humidity. I'd worried that I'd lost my acclimation to the cold, but nope, I took my long-sleeve shirt off about 2-miles in. That said, I foolishly wore my Nike Dri-Fit Elizabethtown College shirt, which I'd previously decided should probably be reserved for days when it's closer to 30 (or below). It was a poor wardrobe choice, but it was my first run outside in over a month and I wanted to look cool.

My legs felt ok. My quads still seem weak. I can't quite explain it, but they didn't feel the same as they did in December and January where it seemed like they were burnt-out. I think I just need to build strength back up through continued running and by adding some strength training. My knees felt a bit creaky, but they usually do on cold, dry days.

As I mentioned in my last post, it's humbling how challenging four miles was for me today and how far away the distances of the relatively recent past seem after only a month off, but it was great to be back on the roads on such a perfect morning.

The Comeback Begins...

With a wintry mix falling over Central PA, coating the grounds but not the roads, and me waking up (covered in cats) feeling like I'd been hit by a train despite a very good longer than usual night of sleep, I was leaning toward putting my run off till tomorrow.

Instead, Chris (who had a 4-miler today on her training calendar) and I headed up to the indoor track at the West Shore YMCA. And, I'm glad we did.

My plan was to try for two miles. I started out feeling great, it was nice to run again after over a month off. After two miles, I felt good enough to go for three. I was definitely a little bit winded afterwards, and my quads are bit sore but don't feel injured, but I'm otherwise ok.

Shinsplints? Gone.

Mystery bump? No problem.

One mile at this track is 16 laps, and I might have miscounted as I was singing along with Van Halen in my head (I hope it was in my head), but I believe that I ran an even 3 miles or one lap extra in 28:57. Other than being indoors, this run could not possibly have gone any better. This year's Shamrock Marathon is out of the question, but I feel very confident about the spring 5Ks, 8Ks, and 10Ks and trying to destroy the Harrisburg Mile in the Summer.

It is a long way back to being in marathon shape, but it is great to be started on that road.