Crashing and Burning

This post isn't meant to be as doom and gloom and the title indicates; it just hasn't been that good a week of running.  I had a gorgeous morning on Tuesday but could only put together 5 miles because of discomfort in the mystery bump area around my left ankle and shin.  I had a little bit of  a comeback on Thursday and managed 6 hillier miles despite the warmer morning.  Today, on an oppressively humid morning, I ran 5 again.  I hate the heat, but I should be able to do more than that...my legs just didn't feel well enough.  I had the same pain and weakness in the lower left leg, and the left quad was very achy, too.  I'm not sure if the culprit is fencing, Dreaded Druid Hills, one of my runs on this week, or something else I'm forgetting.

I need to find something that can help me make that left leg strong again, whether it's more (any!) strength training, exploring more medical options, or something else, compression socks and foam rolling alone just aren't cutting it.  As Chris said last night as we left our fencing class at the Y, I'd also be very grateful if someone invented an air-conditioned bodysuit.

(NOT an air-conditioned bodysuit)


Speaking of fencing, the last two weeks of fencing have been really fun.  Instead of just working on footwork and different blade moves (lunge, parry, repost, etc.) we've spent the whole class in round-robin tournament.  I know practice is important, but this is a lot more fun!

I'm holding my own, at 4-1 over the past two weeks, and came in second last week and this week we didn't total it up.  I think I tend to press my attack too much, because I really don't parry (defend) well at all.  I should have another loss, too, Chris got totally hosed by the judges (other members of the class) in her bout against me last week!   It's fun, but I'm still not sure I have any real desire to enter competitions or take it more seriously than just the class.


But enough about that.  You don't come to this blog for running, or fencing, or me complaining about my stupid legs.  You're here for the KITTENS!!!!

("You work. I'll lie under your desk and purr.")

Getting Back Momentum

(I saw a cute kitty on the Rail Trail this morning,
but my cel-phone picture didn't save.  So here's Pooka.)

I feel like I'm barely hanging on right now.  I felt the same way before the Philly Marathon, where I'd only get one run in during the week, but then I'd go run 20 miles on Saturday and totally redeem myself (not really...as the marathon results tell!).

Lately I'm in a rut where I just wasn't getting more than 5 miles.  Sure, I got 3 miles in Atlantic City last week, but this past weekend, my Saturday "long run" was right back to 5 miles.

With that in mind, I think I made a little bit of progress this week.  It started off kind of badly, in that I didn't get out on the roads until Wednesday since I was feeling soreness from running HACC Dash way out of my comfort zone and we ran some errands on Tuesday.  I debated between a run Wednesday evening right after work or waiting till later when it might be cooler.  
I didn't want to go out after work, since it was around 80 degrees, but I knew that if I waited till later, I would wrapped up in watching the surprisingly competent Orioles and end up not feeling like going out at 10:00.  It turned out to be a wise decision, since they went into extra innings and wrapped up around 12:30.

So I ran, and it was hot, but I felt ok and made myself run 5 miles instead of the 3 that I'd bargained myself down to.  I added some of the big hills that I'd been avoiding, so even though it was 5 miles again, at least it was a tougher 5 miles.

I also realized that soreness from fencing on Friday night was probably having a negative effect on my Saturday morning runs.  So, I went out for my long run this morning and ran 7 miles on the rail trail with no discomfort other than that 7 miles is outside my comfort zone right now.  

Screw you, fencing!

I'm pretty happy with this, but tying my longest run of the year and having fencing tonight probably doesn't bode well for the Armed Forces Day 5K I'm running on City Island tomorrow.  I have this distinction in my mind of what is a Brooks Adrenaline run vs. an Adidas adiZero Tempo run.  The Brooks run is any run, like today or the Sole of City 10K, where I'm just there...running without an aggressive time goal (and also likely any distance over 7-8 miles regardless of goal).  The Adidas run is HACC Dash or Shamrock 8K...I'm going to PR or die trying.  (Well, that's a little over-dramatic, but one in which I'm really going to run with the goal of being what passes for fast around here.)  

I'll try to run a good race, but I think tomorrow is a day for the Brooks Adrenalines.

Don't Fence Me In

I ran 5 miles this morning, and my legs felt like they were made of lead.  The mystery bump was in full-on mystery bump mode and as the sun beat down on me I couldn't help but think "this is a stupid hobby and no one should ever do it."

At least this time I think I know why my legs were so tired:  Fencing.  

For the last three weeks, Chris and I have been taking a fencing class at the YMCA on Friday nights.  While our actual swordplay has been limited to a few simple lunges and parries so far, there is lots of shuffling forward and backward in in a crouching position that allows one, in theory, to advance or retreat equally easily and without the opponent being able to know what you're going to do.  I say "in theory", because the stance requires feet at a 90-degree angle to each other my front (left) foot pointed forward and my back foot pointed sideways, and my footwork is not very good so far.

The crouching position seems to put a lot of strain on the quads and hammies, which I hope will make me stronger but for now is making the Saturday morning "long" runs (I'm stuck in kind of a 5-mile rut lately) something of a chore.  Workload permitting, I may try to go back to doing my long runs on Thursday or Friday morning.


Fencing is interesting.  I'm not sure I'd call it fun yet, though the class is well-taught by a former ranked fencer who has recently returned to the sport, and he has a good sense of humor and teaching style and I am enjoying it.  It reminds of when I tried to learn golf from my grandfather, and there so were many things to concentrate on during each swing (keep your head down, arms straight, follow-through, keep your feet down) that I just couldn't handle it.  The footwork just doesn't feel natural yet, and since I don't have the best hand-eye coordination (to put it mildly), I'm not sure my bladework is going to be very good, either.  But, I wasn't very good at soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, or running, either, so I'm not terribly surprised.


I enjoy that fencing requires a lot of concentration, because it pushes everything else out of my brain (except when Chris stepped on my foot during one of drills and we got the giggles), and I think it will be a lot of fun once start bouting.  It requires a lot of discipline, and anyone hoping for a Game of Thrones-style duel is going to be disappointed.  

(That's "Mr. Kingslayer" to you.)

Speaking of disappointed, check back tomorrow or Monday for a race report of tomorrow morning's HACC Dash 5K.