Good news and bad news

I feel like I haven't posted in forever...just like I feel I haven't been running forever. But in reality, it's only be 3 weeks. Hopefully this will be the last week of complete rest. Ever since decided to stop cross training and just focus on resting/yoga/stretching, my knee pain improved by leaps and bounds. It still gets twingy and tight but nothing compared to the beginning of last week; the pain flare ups are fewer and farther in between and that's great news.

I've been tempted to go do a test run but somehow I've managed to talk myself out of that; I know my body needs the rest and running before I feel confident that I would not cause a setback in healing would be stupid. So sometime towards the end of next week my running should be making a slow comeback...hopefully.

The bad news is that I've managed to come down with a stomach bug that just won't quit. It started bothering me yesterday morning, peaked yesterday afternoon, and is now decided that it doesn't really want to leave me alone today. I definitely feel much better than yesterday but I still have that "feed me ginger and crackers or else I'll rebel" feeling, which is never fun.

Oh well. It's Wednesday and we're halfway through the week!

Back from the dead

I've been reluctant to post here lately because I have been feeling a bit down about not being able to run. I know that I should be glad that I'm giving my body the time to rest and heal, but lately even things like walking down stairs have started to cause a knee pain flare so I've stopped all "athletic activity" for the week (i.e. no swimming and cycling for me this week). Deciding to take a nearly complete rest week was difficult but I want my knee to heal as soon as possible and this seems like the best possible way to do that.

With that said, I have started to do yoga again. Some poses start to make my knee feel a little iffy but as long as I don't put any unnecessary pressure on it, everything is fine and dandy. Plus poses like warrior will help get my leg strength back up.

My first "back to yoga" class was yesterday. Before that I hadn't taken yoga since January. I used to be in a fabulous habit of taking at least 3 yoga classes a week but I (obviously) fell out of that habit. But I need to get back into it; my muscles were screaming tightness yesterday. Even sitting in lotus pose made my hip flexors cry. That is not good. At all. It's amazing what muscles aren't reached during plain 'ole stretching...(and it's amazing what muscles yoga works. I admit that my arms are a bit sore today).

I'm hoping the combination of yoga and rest will provide my body the basis for good healing. We'll see.

Who woulda thunk it

Never in a million years did I think that I would choose swimming over cycling. But I did this morning; I had been planning on doing a 30 minute bike ride followed by a 45 minute swim but I just couldn't handle the idea of sitting on a spinning bike for 45 minutes, overheating and wishing I could be running. So I decided to swim.

I always lose track of how many laps I've done so I've just been using time as a determinant. Today I swam for an hour; I did 20 minutes of breaststroke, 17 minutes of kicking drills, and 23 more minutes of breaststroke. I need to do more research on swimming drills and test them out to see which ones aggravate my knee and which ones don't because I know that being stuck with breaststroke only is going to get old very quickly.

I also did some leg exercises this morning. I haven't talked to the physical therapist yet because she's booked up until the end of this week but I do have a list of exercises that I got the last time I went through physical therapy so I've been trying to do those at least once or twice a day and I do think that they're helping (wow, run-on sentence). I haven't been in tremendous pain the past two days (knock on wood).

Well that was interesting...

I woke up this morning with a much happier knee. It still hurts, but not nearly as bad as yesterday...thank goodness. I was actually able to walk without tremendous pain (knock on wood) and the stairs are getting much easier to deal with.

I've been focusing on proper alignment when I'm walking up and down the stairs and I think that's been helping a lot. I know that my alignment is way off because I can barely balance on my injured leg but the balance on my non-injured leg is fine. Suspicious.

Tomorrow I'm going to call up the rec center's physical therapist and see if I can get an appointment with her, just for an opinion and maybe some exercises that will help me out.

Anywho, despite the fact that it's beautiful out (warm, sunny, wonderful) and I would love to be running right now I still managed to get in a good workout. I headed to the gym (woe is me) and lifted weights for about 30 minutes (I'm guessing, I don't know what time I started). I only worked on arms so I wouldn't aggravate my knee and I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow. But I've decided that free weight are much better than the machines. Not to mention the fact that there isn't really a wait for the free weights.

After lifting I jumped in the pool for a 45 minute swim. Getting back in the pool after a long break is always such a strange feeling but enjoyable none the less. I started out with freestyle only to learn that it, in fact, really irritates my knee. So I switched to breaststroke and continued to swim pain free. For the last 15 minutes I grabbed a kickboard and did some kicking drills just. Honestly, I was shocked by the fact that freestyle irritated my knee while breastroke didn't; I was expecting just the opposite.

Following my workout, I sat in the hot tub for 10 minutes. That really helped to loosen my legs; I will most definitely be doing that again because I felt such an improvement.

It's funny how my least favorite tri leg (swimming) is very much growing on me. I never expected this one bit.

The hardest decision yet

I have decided to stop running until April. I really really want to run and I want to get on with my training plan, but the knee pain is just not making that possible right now and I don't want to get even more injured. Between yesterday and today I have had a major flare up and attempting to run on it tomorrow would only be stupid.

So I will be biking and swimming and weight lifting until April 1, when I will hopefully feel well enough to run. And 2 months definitely isn't the ideal training time for a half marathon...at all...but considering I "trained" in a month last year, I know that I'll at least be able to finish on that much training (plus all the cross training).

I'm not happy about this decision (at all) but it's what I need to do.

Me and The Stick

My leg muscles are SO unbelievably tight. I am cringing at the horrible-ness of this predicament that I have gotten myself into; kicking myself in the head, even. Even yoga was painful...I only made it through 5 minutes before decided that I was probably doing more harm than good. So tonight (well, after I write this post) I am going to be spending some quality time with The Stick. I really really hope it helps.

I did a slow, dreadful 40 minute run today. Alright, dreadful is a bit of a strong word because I really did enjoy being out in the fresh air...but my legs were heavy and tight and I felt like I was absolutely dragging. My knee was tight (and the pain has flared up since then). And then I almost got hit by a careening cyclist who failed to mention that he was going to speed past me with about an inch between us. Definitely not my best run ever.

Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day. I am planning on going to a yoga class, but that is going to be played by ear. I am also going to make a trip to the weight room; I found the exercise list from my PT sessions so I'm going to do some of those.

Ready to run

Today is the first day of my half marathon training plan. But instead of running, I rode the bike. Why? Because I'm still terrified that my knee is going to rebel and because, according to my training plan, Mondays should be a cross training/rest day. So I cross trained.

The running starts tomorrow and I am more than apprehensive about the entire thing. I absolutely love running and I absolutely love half marathons (they are without a doubt my favorite running distance) but after 3 injured Marches, I'm wondering how I should go about this.

I definitely need to do more stretching and yoga; that is an absolute given. I also think I need to get into the gym and do some weight training. But since I've never really weight trained seriously, I'm not sure what to do so I'm going to make an appointment with a personal trainer at the school rec center and see if I can't get a good routine figured out.

My goal is going to be at least 15 minutes of yoga or stretching a day and at least 2 strength training days a week. Those aren't too lofty. Whatever it takes to stay uninjured is what I need to do...

Praise for the bike

This is going to be short and sweet (just like me of course...wink wink). I have always loved riding the bike. But I have always loved running more. My love of running has led to many overuse injuries. When I am injured, I ride the bike. Riding the bike makes my injury feel not so bad because my leg muscles get a little more evened out.

So the good news is that my knee is feeling much better today than it did on Monday.

The bad news is that I'm still a few days away from being able to run again which means no long run on my favorite route this time around.

I miss running :(

Wednesday: 1 hr. bike ride
Thursday: 1 hr. bike ride and 6 mile "hike"

Ok, time for a re-cap...

I haven't really posted since last Friday...and I am dreadfully sorry about that because, even though yesterday's news to me was terrible and saddening, I do have some good news.

But first, now that I have had some time to gather my thoughts, I will say a bit on Ray Crothers...

I grew up going to his store (which is co-owned by John Vitale, another great runner). It is, to this day, the only place I have gotten running shoes from. My dad has been going there since he started running way back when. It's truly a tiny hole in the wall, a closet full of running shoes, gear, and sports magazines. But that tiny store was filled with personality and running comraderie, no matter how gloomy the day was...I guess that's a runner thing.

Ray was quiet; I knew he was a great runner because of stories that my dad told me when I was growing up and first started getting running shoes, but he never had a cocky "I'm an awesome runner so I know everything" tone. He was understanding, experienced, and really one of the nicest guys I have ever met.

Yesterday, my dad traveled to the store to talk to John and see how Ray was doing. Only later did he call me up and tell me the news; it was then that I was browsing the Runner's World website and saw Amby Burfoot's memorial article.

And I know that I never really, really knew Mr. Crothers but he truly impacted my running life, however indirectly that may have been. And shopping for running shoes will never be the same. He will be truly missed by many Connecticut runners.

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And now for some good news: As it may or may not be known, I ran a 5k on Sunday. I arrived at the race feeling somewhat meh about the whole situation. It was cold, windy, and I was exhausted. Plus, since I had not done real honest speedwork since before Thanksgiving, I was not all that optimistic about what my time was going to be: I was expecting 24 or 25 minutes. Then, about 10 minutes before the start, a man who had run the race before proclaimed it to be a "very difficult course" with a "huge hill for the first mile"...and that lowered my morale just a little bit more (despite the fact that it shouldn't have...the hills I run on in VA are monstrous at best).

When the "gun" went off, my legs felt heavy and I couldn't tell what my turnover was. Then I saw the fairly long, but not really steep hill looming ahead of me. And really, I think that hill is what turned the race around for me. After huffing my way up half the hill, my legs were finally warmed up and I could feel my pace slightly quickening. By the time the turn around came, my pace had definitely sped up and, with the rest of the race being either downhill or flat, I was feeling good. (The band was also playing one of my favorite Billy Joel songs so that didn't hurt either...)

I crossed the finish line at 22.21...easily one of my best official 5ks ever. I didn't place in my age group simply because there are so many other fast women in that area of the state, but I am more than pleased with myself. It's amazing what an unexpected good time can do for running motivation.

With that said, I am taking the rest of this week off from running to rest my knee because it was killing me when I tried to run on Monday. So it'll be biking until next week when my half marathon training plan starts!

:(

I'm at a loss for words right now so I'll let Amby Burfoot do the talking...

[A great friend of mine, and a great friend to running and all runners, died yesterday in Connecticut. This is a short reminiscence.]

RAYMOND ("RAY," "RUSTY") CROTHERS GRADUATED FROM Fitch High in Groton, CT, a few years before me in the early 1960s, was teacher/coach John J. Kelley's first big-talent runner, and the first runner of my generation I looked up to and tried to emulate. Next to his great Central Connecticut State teammate and smooth stylist Jim Keefe, briefly an American record holder for 6 miles (I think) and top ranked American at 5000 meters in 1963, Ray was an ugly runner--hunched over, arms flailing, crimson face. But he could get the job done, he could really get the job done. He particularly excelled in cross-country and on the New England roads. He didn't just win the Manchester Road Race (on Thanksgiving Day) open division, he also won it as a high schooler, and many years later in the masters division. I spent a lifetime trying to match that achievement; never could. I've also never been able to find another runner who could claim "the triple crown" in the same race, particularly an always-loaded one like Manchester.

Away from competition, Ray was the friendliest, most sincere guy you could hope to meet. We all looked forward to the next time we would see him. He was serious, precise, and a stickler for rules, yet never crossed over the line into mean-spirited or short-sighted. Always affable. I remember that Ray and a onetime roommate, Tom Durie, also a great runner, both hated grocery shopping. So they turned it into a competitive event. Every two weeks, they'd make a long list, line up outside the store, start a stop watch, and aim to be back outside again in under 15 minutes with carts loaded down with only the absolute necessities.

Ray and John Vitale have owned The Run In just south of Hartford for more years than I can remember. They started the business long before it was a good way to make a buck. They just provided a simple, friendly service, and runners traveled far and wide to come to the store, visit with them, and buy their running gear.

I last saw Ray at the Manchester Road Race last November. He told me he didn't feel very good, and was going to walk the course. First he had a running suit he wanted to give me. I was impatient--always am--and simply wanted to take the first one on the top of the pile in his van. But he wouldn't let me. He made me try on 3 or 4. He wanted to be sure I had something that fit right and moved right. Typical Ray--helpful, gently persuasive, insistent on doing things the right way.

About a month later I learned that he had melanoma. There were stories about both he and his doctor missing it, even though he's red haired, freckle-faced, etc. I made a mental note to call him and/or his wife Robin. Then I ran into my own medical miseries, since resolved, and I never made the call. I'll regret that for a long, long time.

Ray was a runner, friend, and gentle human being. We will all miss him greatly.