Martha's So-Called Life

recovery, day 6

I feel almost back to normal!  

I worked the last three days and today I finally got to go for a run.  I have been worried about my hip, but I think it's just angry muscles (I did torture them for over four hours just under a week ago), and it didn't really bother me when I ran.  

I'm super pleased with the way I felt and how fast I ran today (I only looked at my watch once so I was running mostly by feel).  

Pretty darn good for kind of tired legs!

I also hit an all time monthly mileage high in August.  Almost 63 miles!

Tonight I'm headed to sunny California for the Disneyland half on Sunday!  I'm pretty sure I'm going to die of heat stroke (low temp 69 high 87), but I'm going to do my best to stay cool and hydrated.

 

recovery, day 2

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I got up...I didn't hurt nearly as badly as I expected to.  It pretty much doesn't hurt to walk on flat ground.  Going up and down (especially down) stairs is still relatively uncomfortable, but tolerable (as in I don't almost cry every time it happens).  

The unfortunate part about my muscles feeling better is that the random bug bites I sustained are now rather annoying.  In addition to the nasty horse fly bite I have on my right elbow...

I have about 1,000 bites all over my legs (you can see where my pants stopped and the bugs started).  They are so ridiculously itchy that I want to bathe in a vat of calamine lotion!

On to less terrible things. 

My recovery plan for this week involves eating a lot to replenish my stores (that was my interpretation of what Doug told me to do, he said you need to "replenish your stores and electrolytes."  I took that to mean eating a lot and drinking lots of Nuun).  

Last night for dinner I had delicious nachos from the Bear Tooth.

For breakfast this morning I had waffles with PB, banana, and honey.

This afternoon I went on a run.  No expectations, just running.  I just wanted to see how it felt.  I didn't look at my watch until I was done...I was pleasantly surprised:

When I got home I had a smoothie (banana, PB, almond milk, and chocolate protein powder) and an ice bath.  I've only ever taken an ice bath once before and I didn't stay in very long.  This time I managed about 10 minutes and after the initial shock wore off, it was amazing.  It was even more amazing after I got out.  All my sore spots were completely numb...genius (and much easier than trying to get the ice pack on all the parts that hurt before it gets too warm)!

I had to run to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner, while I was there, I found what might be my new favorite food...olive hummus...yum!

I'd say recovery day #2 has been successful!  I have to work the next three days, which will hopefully keep me moving and loose (since I won't be running).  My plan for Friday is to run a couple of easy miles to make sure my legs still work.  Then it's off to California early Saturday morning and the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sunday!

 

what we're eating 8/27 - 9/2

Super lame attempt at a meal plan this week.  I'm leaving on Friday night to go to California for the weekend, working Tues, Wed, and Thur, and haven't had time to go shopping.  Hopefully you all are more inspired than I am!

Monday: Vegetable Curry (recycled from last week, since we didn't have it)

Tuesday: Fish, rice, and roasted broccoli

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: Spinach, Bean, and Bacon Hash (I can't find this recipe...I'll post it when I remember where it is)

Friday: Leftovers

 

a very bad run

Rule #71: No excuses. Play like a champion.  (thank you Wedding Crashers) 

Yesterday was terrible.  While I did not run like a champion, I think I handled my less than desirable performance like one.  

Other than being a little nervous, I was never particularly amped up to run (the first bad sign).  Once we started I felt ok for a bit, and then by mile 3, my body decided it wasn't into racing (a really bad sign considering it was a 16 mile race).  I'm not sure what the problem was, but I'm pretty sure it fit the definition of "bonking."  

Things really only got worse from there.  I felt worse and worse, and like any good nurse, I was trying to figure out what exactly was wrong.  By mile 6 or 7 I was reviewing the signs and symptoms of shock because I was convinced that was what was happening ot me.  

By the time I got to the top and started running downhill, I could barely even run.  My whole body hurt worse than it's ever hurt before.  Some time after mile 9, I noticed that there was blood dripping down my arm.  I had been bitten by a horsefly and was missing a huge chunk of my elbow...but everything else hurt so badly, I hardly noticed.

I remember hurting pretty badly last year, but at the very least I was able to run.  This time I was running but I might as well have been walking (I think my fastest downhill mile was in the 15 minute range...not good).  

At one point I even considered eating poisonous mushrooms so that I didn't have to finish.  

The fact that I am not terribly upset about my terrible time leads me to believe that I really did not feel well.  Usually I get mad (at myself) about these things, but not this time.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day and I got to enjoy that (sort of...I think that was part of the reason I felt so awful, I didn't realize that the sun was so hot, after I was finished I noticed I had a bit of a sun burn).  

Right now I'm focusing on recovering quickly so I can run again next weekend.  Right now that seem completely impossible, but given how much better I feel today than I did yesterday, I'm thinking it's not as far fetched as it seems.  

The good thing about it taking me so long to finish was that John was able to be there.  As I was getting close to the finish line I heard a dog barking and I thought hey, that sounds like Kiva...but she's in the car. Then when I got to the finish line, there was John with Kiva!  I made a quick stop to turn in my chip and get my shirt and then we left.  I was hungry and thristy and just wanted to sit down.  I told John I was craving salt and he went to get a sandwich from Safeway and he got me my favorite kind of chips...he's a keeper for sure!

The whole time I was running I kept telling myself I was never running Lost Lake again.  Then today, I thought it might not be so bad.  Good thing I have 364 days to make that decision for sure...

remain calm

I am attempting to remain calm.  It's not working out very well though.

In summary:

*We are not going to Vermont until 9/12, which means that I must attempt to rearrange my schedule once again.  I'm not sure how this is going to work given that people now start running from me when I approach them.  I have had several people mention that they are willing to help me out if they are able, for which I am eternally grateful.  I hate feeling like a pain in the ass, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do to get things done.  End of story. 

*Lost Lake is tomorrow.  Despite the fact that I've been thinking about and preparing for it for many many weeks, I've also been kind of ignoring it.  Today I'm in full on panic mode.  Which is pointless and a waste of energy because there's nothing I can do now other than focus and relax.  Good luck with that.

*Since we aren't going to VT next week, that means that I am going to CA to run the Disneyland Half Marathon on Saturday...yes a mere 7 days after I run Lost Lake.  Yes, I'm aware that I am a little bit nuts. 

*Since I clearly will not be running enough miles in the next two weeks to satisfy the distance runner in me, I decided to look and see if there were any races in Vermont that I could run while we are there.  There's a 5k in the town we will be in...or there's at 30k two hours away.  Given that it only costs $12 to register and I'm not one to pass up a deal, I'm leaning towards the 30k.  I've already beat my previous weekly and monthly mileage records, why not attempt to beat my longest run record too?  Yup...still nuts.

*Oh yeah, and there's that half marathon I want to run on 10/12...and that other half marathon I want to run on 10/28.  That's almost 74 miles of racing in two months...slightly less than my current mileage for the month of July and August, combined.  I might have to re-evaluate my running priorities.  

more waiting (and sock progress)

Still more waiting to be done around here.  Hopefully we will know tomorrow when we are going to Vermont.  

In the mean time I've been doing a little running and trying to psych myself up for Lost Lake.  I forgot to pick up my bib yesterday, so now I have to do it the morning of the race (not really a big deal, but I'm sad I forgot...I don't like forgetting). 

Here's the progress I've made on my socks so far (and yes I was knitting at work, we have enjoyed a few not terribly busy days, so I have taken full advantage of every free moment)...

street cred

An actual conversation I had with a co-worker a couple of weeks ago (the context was talking about the request for people to volunteer to be charge nurses...)

C: I'm going to volunteer to be in charge...

Me: If you become a charge nurse, I'll quit.

C: You can't quit.  You need this job.  No one else will hire you...rookie.

Me: You better check yourself before you wreck yourself...

(long pause)

Me: And shotgun bullets are bad for your health.

(the the Resident who was sitting in the corner minding his own business piped up)

Resident: Wow.  You just earned yourself some major street cred.  

a moment of clarity

In 5 days I will be running Lost Lake for the fourth time (and possibly the last given how hard it is becoming to register for it).  

So far my best time was the first time I ran it.  This year I have worked really hard to become a better runner so I can have a decent shot and doing it faster.  I have been having a major mental battle over how this is going to go.  I keep going back and forth between I'll be happy with whatever happens and I really want to run it in x:xx.  I've settled on a mixture of the two.  

My lofty goal is to do it in 3 hours.  My conservative goal is 3:15 (my fastest time was 3:24).  I know that a lot of it depends on the weather and the condition of the trail (it's a narrow trail in a lot of places and if it's wet or has been raining a lot the trail is very muddy and kind of scary...like lose your shoe and fall and break your butt scary), but I feel like either of those could be reasonable in any weather situation.  

Today my aunt/coach sent me a mile breakdown for three different scenarios and some excellent advice.  This totally changed how I felt about this race.  

Also, here's a profile of the course that someone sent me before I ran it the first time.

When I saw that the mile pace for me to run the same as my fastest time was 13:00/mi, my entire view changed.  First I went searching for the piece of paper that I wrote down what I actually ran the first time I ran the race back in 2007.  Then I decided that it didn't matter because I think it's highly unlikely that I will run every mile at a 13:00/mi pace.  My slowest long training runs have been just over that, but my average long run pace has been in the 12:40s.  

That realization, along with her advice made me realize that 3:00 was totally possible.  Although her advice was pretty straightforward (push yourself here, don't ride the downhills, etc.) it put things in the proper perpsective for me.  Although I do a lot of running and enjoy running races, I've never really been good at pushing myself because I know I won't win (writing it down it sounds so dumb).  If I want to walk, I'll walk, if I want to run slower I will.  Why do those things when I know I am capable of busting my ass and running faster?  Who knows!  That's always the way I've done things.  Except in high school when I was desperate not to finish last, then I went faster, but not fast enought to ever win, so then I stopped going faster.  

What's the point of running a race if you don't try your best?  I guess I've never really thought about that, I've just been running them so I have something to train for and because it helps get me out the door when I don't feel like running.  

It all seems so simple and yet I apparently never really got it until now.  

two socks...one needle

I've always loved knitting socks.  Mostly because they are small and easy to stuff in your purse for lunch time knitting at work.   The thing I hate about knitting them is that the sense of accomplishment you get from finishing one quickly turns to disappointment when you realize that you have to make a second one to match the first.  I'm not good at following patterns either (kind of like my inability to follow a recipe), so I often forget what I did differently and have to wing it on the second sock, and it doesn't ever turn out quite the same as the first.

Thank goodness there are clever people in the knitting world who discovered a way to knit two things on one set of needles at the same time! There are several variations of the "magic loop," but I have found one that works well for me when making socks or mittens.  I've also recently discovered knitting socks from the toe up.  My second least favorite part of making socks (after the daunting task of making the second sock) is stitching together the toe stitches.  That can be avoided completely with a clever cast on method!

I used this tutorial from Heidi's blog for both casting on and my toe up sock pattern.  There are several different parts to her tutorial for the different parts of the sock.  I have a written sock pattern that stays pretty much the same thing, but her photos were a nice addition when learning this method.  

I started some sock a couple of weeks ago and they are coming along nicely!

The yarn is Opal Kaleidoscope Sock yarn in colorway 2992 (I think...I'm too lazy to go downstairs and get the label).

Hopefully I will manage to get them finished in time to keep someones feet warm when the weather gets cold (although there was a chill in the air this morning, so that may happen sooner rather than later).  

short long run

On Friday I went on what will be my last long-ish (short long) run before Lost Lake.  I have a highly specialized running category system...don't worry if you can't understand it. 

It was a pretty steady paced run, and I ran up all the hills (big secret - I'm kind of a wimp sometimes and walk up the hills, which is completely ridiculous considering I'm about to run 10 miles uphill for fun.  Don't bother trying to understand me, it's probably not worth it).  

After our short long run, Kiva and I had nap time.  I fell asleep and she snuck up onto the bed to nap with me.  Bad (but adorable) dog!!

Good thing she decided to use John's pillow and not mine (nevermind the fact that I was also using his pillow)...