The Walk..the walk..let yo' body talk...

The Infamous Shin
Pic from Gray's Anatomy

Hmm...I'm back to walking. Not speed walking, which actually asks a lot of your shins, but plain old leisurely walking - in the park, around the block, to the grocery store. That's it. I tried to take an easy run over to my friend Noah's studio on Friday to see the project he's been working on with my friend Gregoire. I figured, "It's less than 2 miles away according to HopStop.com, so why not take the opportunity to ease back into running with a relatively short distance?"

Less than halfway into the run, my shin exploded. Backward. It felt like a powerful force was pulling my left shin inward. A shin-plosion. The thing that's annoying about this is that I have no symptoms when I'm not running. I thought that all the resting I've been doing was plenty. Not so.

I'm icing and taking ibuprofen and reading up on shin splints and how to heal them. My friend, Kerry sent me an article about it to start me off. He's a good man. A mighty mighty good man.

An argument for not running though the pain

This article in the New York Times by Gina Kolata confirms the widely held, but previously unproven belief that endorphins are responsible for the fabled "runner's high" that some people experience after exercise.

What really interested me came at the end of the article, which mentioned that Dr. Henning Boecker of the University of Bonn was doing a follow-up study on running's effect on pain perception.

Turns out that runners have higher pain thresholds. In the story, Dr. Boecker is quoted as saying that there are stories of people running on stress fractures or even after heart attacks.

This indicates to me an even better reason not to run through the pain, because:

If you experience pain early in the run, and keep going until it disappears ("running through the pain"), you might be in real trouble, but unaware of it due to some exercise effect that reduces pain perception.

I'm not arguing for hiding from all pain in your life, but it seems like a good idea to pay special attention to the messages your body gives you. Many people I know who are active tend to neglect recovery after exercise. I'm a big fan of the "Recovery Routine" after working out - especially if you have pre-existing injuries. I think most people avoid developing a recovery routine because they don't want to acknowledge that the injury is something they'll always have to monitor, or they don't feel like they have the time for any extra steps around training.

Rest and recovery should be considered an integral part of any physical activity - not just things it would be nice to do "if I had the time".

Aaah, there, I said it.

Acts of Kindness

Yeah, I know this a running blog, and here I am getting all warm and fuzzy, but hey, I'm just doin' my thing.

Check out this site:

http://www.actsofkindnesschallenge.com/

Make sure to visit the comments section on the left side of the page. It's especially nice on those days when you wonder if there's any humanity left in the world. Turns out there is.

Better yet, join the challenge. They're aiming for 1,000 individual good deeds by April 12th.

Peace y'all,
M

The Long Run

"We should all do what,
in the long run,
gives us joy,
even if it is only picking grapes
or sorting the laundry."

- E. B. White

People ask me a lot how the running has changed my body, or affected my dancing. Do my legs look different? Does it cut into my energy? I think about it myself too.

At this point, I would say that the change that I see is primarily internal. Something I used to think of a purely a chore has begun to feel like a joy at times - more and more often as I train. And the sheer act of running for an hour or two straight - no ipod, no distractions - well, that's creating a change I feel too. I hesitate to name it now, but it's there.

Resting up the shin. Back to running tomorrow.

Enjoy the springtime.

Long Run Postponed

I ain' runnin' 14 miles today.

M'shin hurt, an' 'm icin' it.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Icing my shin splint

Went out to run today - planning on 4 miles. Managed to run for approximately 7 1/2 minutes before a shin splint in my left leg went completely bizarre and forced me to stop. I sat on a bench to see if I could work it out with massage and stretching, but after I tried to start running again, it just seized back up. Painful.

On the walk home and tried to run a bit, even to speed walk, but something in the back of my mind said, "Live to run another day." My friend Dustin gave me similar advice when he said, "Never run through the pain." One thing I've learned about injuries from overuse and overtraining - they never benefit from more use or more training.

So I'm back home now - did some light strength work, and now I'm resting up with my ice pack and a hot steam bun from Chinatown. Perhaps a beer is in order. And a hot bath...

Short runs are not always easier

Four mile run today, and by the end,
my
legs
felt...
heavy

This was definitely a recovery run. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until I had been running for about 2 miles trying to keep my speed up. I figured that after 12 miles, 4 miles should just fly by. My mistake. My time was faster, but I definitely felt the effort. Yikes.

On the bright side, I came home and did some deep movement with my legs, hips, and back - definitely feeling less sore in my quads and hamstrings and more open in my spine afterwards.

Did some light weights yesterday, and it felt like coming home. Might purloin my roommate's chinup bar a little later this afternoon and continue the reunion...

Stats:
3.83 miles
37 degrees
9:20am
38 min
sugoi, black tank, sports bra, fleece pants, foot socks

The Day After

Ok, so, I'm a little sore. today. A foretaste of the post-marathon experience. Long runs must be respected. A big jump to skip from a longest run of 7 miles to a longest run of 12 miles. I get it. I see.

I recently discovered Slope Sports in Brooklyn. It's nice to have a small sports store with knowledgeable people located within walking distance of my house. They connected me with some favorite new tools: Clif Shot Blocks and Amphipod handheld water bottles.

I bought the shot blocks before my 12 miler, and they really did provide extra energy on my run - with the added bonus of having the taste and consistency of gummi bears. I chose the Cran-razz flavor. Much better than those mega-nasty Gu sports gels.

I bough the water bottle after having this experience during my 12-miler:

I finish my first lap of the park (3.35 miles) and start looking for a water fountain. Quickly finding one just off the side of the road, I veer over for a drink...nothing comes out. I begin to scan the horizon like a predator - eyes moving in smooth arcs from left to right, as I seek my watery prey. I start to get concerned as I enter my 5th mile with no fountain in sight. Finally, I see a runner taking a stretch break, and ask him where the nearest fountain is. He says,

"Oh, they turn the water fountains off in winter."

Well I'll be gat-dam!

At that point, here's no way in hell I'm stopping my run, so off I go for 7 more miles without a drink.

The very next chance I got, I was over at Slope Sports looking for a good water carrying solution. Never again will I run for over 2 hours without a drink.

The Dirty Dozen

12 Gods of Olympus
12 days of Christmas
12 months in a calendar year
and 12 miles run by me this very morn - (no walking).

Let's just say I was starting to feel it around December, but I made it through the year with a smile.


and the double digit barrier? SMASHED!

ya betta run!

The New Math

(10 miles/2 days)*80% brick and concrete surfaces = (3 advil + 1 long hot bath)/a serious nap.


(Extra points if you can solve for 3 advil)

Stretchy Stretchy 2

In a recent New York Times article on flexibility, I happened to chance upon this quote:

"But distance runners do not benefit from being flexible, he found. The most efficient runners, those who exerted the least effort to maintain a pace, were the stiffest."

Yippee for me. Yippee, I tell you. Yahoo.

The real gist of the article was that no one really knows whether stretching prevents injuries.

What struck me was that for most athletes stretching for hours a day is a foreign concept. There is simply no space in their regimen for the level of flexibility I'm accustomed to. Even now, as I'm training, I'll do a couple of quad and hamstring stretches, some calf stretches, maybe a few side lunges to stave off a recurrent cramp in my right inner thigh. But really, nothing to write home about in my book.

It's just weird to realize that what's important to me physically doesn't really register in a runner's world. I really do feel like a traveler sometimes in this process. Like an impostor. Maybe a tourist...

Thursday's run:
Distance: about 4 miles
Duration: 41 minutes
Time: 5:00 pm
Temp: 42 degrees (surprisingly cold again)
Wore: Sugoi, sports bra, black workout pants

Marathon Weight Gain - the funny joke that makes you sad

I'm fascinated by the phenomenon of marathon training weight gain. This isn't your usual muscle-weighs-more-than-fat situation. It's your actual more-ass-weighs-more-than-less-ass quandary.

I just think it's funny. I can't help it. The link in the title above is the most thorough explanation I've found for it. I'm embarrassed to admit to some of those mistakes myself. The thing is, they creep up on you. For instance

I definitely eat more of the cookies, etc. that my roommates sprinkle around the house. And I do mean sprinkle, as these kind gentlemen are like candy fairies running around with magic wands and covering everything with chocolate. The thing is that I have to be very vigilant about keeping fruit in the house, as carb desperation is generally accompanied by a loss in mental faculties due to the depletion of glucose stores in the brain. This frequently renders me both hungry and stoopid.

I also neglect other training types. I haven't lifted consistently since I started running - let alone more complex dance training. This has sho' nuff got to change - and will be doing so forthwith. Or is it posthaste?

This conversation on the Runner's World forum is also a hoot: Weight gain during marathon training

I love that deciding to train for a marathon means putting in even more work to maintain a healthy weight. Whoopeeee!!!!

Time to go meditate and then do a 4 mile run. Stats to follow.

Well, don't that just beat all?

I'm back.

I deeply dreaded this run. In fact, I fully expected it to suck. Imagine my surprise when I head out into the gathering dark to complete my cardiovascular chore, and...it rocked!

The run was great. Even ran into my friend Megan while I was out.

Distance: 5.57 miles - not half bad!
Duration: 1 hour
Wore: support tank, sugoi, blue terry sweat pants
Temp: 47 down to a surprisingly cold 41 degrees

I started out expecting to do a specific route, but ended up improvising in the middle of my run. The plan was to do 6 miles today, but I was feeling so anti-motivated that I would have been happy with 3. It worked out that my impromptu jazz riff of a running route was practically the same distance. I had so much energy at the end of the run, that I wanted to keep going. My stride felt easy and low impact. My breath was good. I had plenty of energy in my legs. The only thing that held me back from continuing was that I was beginning to feel really cold. I think it was the difference in temperature between daylight and dusk. Wanting to stay on the safe side of getting sick, I decided to bring it on in.

And all I had to do was write a grumbling post while I slowly lured myself into running by tricking myself into getting dressed and hauling it out the door.

My speed is even picking up a bit.

Jubilation.

I even came up with a new mantra:
Once You Start, You Won't Wanna Stop.

I call it an 8-Step Mantra - because the words go over 7 steps, and the 8th step is the beat in between:
1 - Once 2 - You 3 - Start 4 - You 5 - Won't 6 - Wanna 7 - Stop 8 - (beat)

Once I got it going in the background in my head, everything suddenly got so easy...

On Motivation: Grumble Grumble Grumble

I've read a number of articles that talk about motivation

And I've come to a conclusion:
I'm doing all of them.

Truth is, I am just plain ambivalent about running. I have yet to fully commit to calling myself "a runner". Instead, I simply say that I'm training for a marathon.

I am, in fact, getting dressed to go running right now, and I don't want to go running.

I am putting on my shoes.

All that's left to do is walk out the door...and I can't quite bring myself to do it.

Grrr, argh!!!...I am leaving the house.

Bitch is the new Black

Slow and steady really does win the race.

Usually, when asked why I decided to train for a marathon, I would say things like, “To prove something to myself”, or “To do something I never thought I’d be able to do….”, but the real reason, which I find a little harder to explain is – “Because you can’t cram a marathon.”

In other words, if I haven’t been consistent in my training, no amount of inspiration or finesse or just plain last minute smarts is going to get me across that finish line. There is no secret trick here, I just have to keep running, again, and again, a little more every week, and in the end, I will be someone who can run 26.2 miles.

And a marathon is a finite thing. 20 miles is not a marathon. 26 miles is not a marathon. In order to have done this, I have to go all the way. I'm proud of my progress, but the fact that I’ve done more than I ever thought possible for myself is just a starting point.

Running is not creative. Running is not complicated. Running is as straightforward as putting one foot in front of the other until you’ve gone as far as you set out to go.

Simple as that.

For someone who works in creative bursts and recuperative lulls, this has to be one of the most difficult concepts, both to grasp and to execute, that I could possibly undertake.

Yikes.

Ran 3.5 miles yesterday -
time 40? –
temp 37? –
wore sugoi, black tank, fleece pants, footie socks

Just glad I did it. Still needing to catch up on distances for my long runs. Fearing the double digits – they just feel like a point of no return….

And just like that...

Sometimes, I love the act of running. The Machine Moment, that point of complete absorption in the physical act of moving - enlightened locomotion. I can sustain it for...maybe a minute. Maybe two. But knowing it's there, just on the other side from where I am - a place that I can reach into and hold onto for just a little while. To be running and at peace with everything.

Sometimes, I love the fact of running - the knowledge that I left the house in the first place to put a few more miles of road under my feet. The slow progress that is progress nonetheless.

4:30pm (on 3/5/08)
3.5 miles
39 minutes - feeling sluggish - ate just before running
50 degrees
sports bra, leggings, black hoodie, grey long sleeved shirt (missed the sugoi)

Back on the Run

I don't know what happened. It's like I burst through something. Suddenly, all my obstacles were out of the way, and I looked down to find myself tying up my shoes and walking out the door. I went out to the park and started a good solid run.

3:30pm
3.35 miles
34 minutes
55 degrees
sports bra, wicking top, light hoodie, cotton/spandex dance pants

I think it's because of all of your support, advice, and encouragement when I hit the roughness. It was great to have some of you say that doing it is very different from saying that I "could have done it". There were those of you who said that no race is worth burnout or injury, and there were those of you who said that I didn't have to run if I didn't want to.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in to set me at ease.

I don't know that I'm completely out of the woods, so don't hesitate if you find something especially inspiring to send or write. The distance will only be getting longer from here.

* Extra points for anyone who knows the name of the band that wrote this song. Triple points if you know the year

That's Motivation!

So here's the thing. I've been suffering a crisis of motivation of late. A mental mountain has stubbornly refused to wear away. I've been missing runs, y'all and I needed a boost, so I recently went back to an email my friend, Elizabeth wrote me. She ran the New York Marathon last year, and said it was alright for me to share it with you here.


Hey there.

First of all, anything I know about pasta making I learned from you.

Second, I think it's totally great that you're running the big race with a friend, and that you're challenging yourself in such an amazing way.

Third, in answer to your question -- when things got tough, I kept going b/c I wanted to prove something to myself. They did get really tough -- when I reached my first runs of 17/18 miles -- my knees got really stiff and sore and I began to question the whole stupid enterprise. But I fought through it b/c I had come so far and was so determined to do this (again, really just to prove to myself that I have the will to stick something out like that). Also, I quit smoking in August, and the training really helped me with that process.

But once you complete your first long run (like 17/18 miles), you just KNOW in your heart you can do it. There seemed to be some sort of hurdle to get over -- -the hurdle of the unknown more than anything else. On the flip side, once you know you can do it, you may start to question (as I did) whether it's worth it to go through with it. I recall having a convo with my downstairs neighbor after a particularly gruelling work out where I said to him -- Dude, I KNOW I can do this, but I'm at the point where it seems pointless and it takes up so much time [gripe gripe gripe]. And he said (rightly so) -- Knowing you can do something, even being able to do something, and ACTUALLY DOING IT, are entirely different things. And that stuck with me very strongly. Plus at that point you only have a month or so to go most likely -- and at that point you're so heavily invested that as long as you're not in real pain or risking further injury to your body -- JUST DO IT!

It's totally awesome when you do, and the day after, and the week after, and every now and again when you're feeling shitty and then think back to what you've accomplished and you'll always have that amazing memory.


So if you have any advice, motivation, suggestions, or know someone who's run a marathon and has some thoughts to share, please leave a comment. Ideally, your comments would also help other folks in training who hit an icy patch along the way.