Team

Runners are funny. We have eccentric habits, follow seemingly absurd schedules, spend an uncanny amount of mental energy on running, even and especially when we aren't running. We have more running clothing than work, dressy, and every-day clothing, combined, and some of us have running clothing that can fit into all of those categories. And let's not even start on the shoe ratios.

What is most interesting to me is that we are also, at some point or another, the most flagrant hypocrites. Look at how I am right now we behave while injured. When discussing injury with a fellow runner or an athlete that we coach, we are Buddhas. Masters of our craft. Knowledgeable, encouraging, laden with sound advice and Yoda-esque perspective.

Listen to your body.
Cross train with something you enjoy, and you'll bounce back refreshed.
Time off now will repay you with strength later.
We've all been there. Don't worry, you'll be running again before you know it.

But when discussing an injury with ourselves, in our own heads, we go from Buddahs to babies: tears, fears, and a complete lack of perspective. Rarely rational, often inconsolable. No matter how much encouragement we hear, or temporary the setback until we return to our racing flats again, we wallow in despair over the loss of our morning meditation and our outlet for badass. We likely annoy the crap out of our family and friends, turning from our normal, running-obsessed selves (see above) to...well...running-obsessed cry babies. We sound something like this:

My season is ruined!

I'll never be as fast as I was.

All of my training is gone.

Everyone else is strong and fast, and I'm getting slower!

This hypocrisy is fairly common in the running community; it likely defines all of us at some point or another, maybe not if you've had the good fortune to avoid injury. But another interesting hypocrisy might apply to fewer of us, myself included. 

I have always been a "lone wolf" in my training. This is mostly because running is a personal, quiet meditation time in which I gather my thoughts and see where they take me. It is also because, like most of us, I am a control freak about my training, and probably subconsciously revel in the knowledge that I am building my athletic successes all on my own. Many of you can likely relate. How is this hypocrisy? I, for one, have been a XC and Track coach for 6 years. Building a team has been at the forefront of my coaching, and the benefits of training with others are so very obvious. I can't count how many times I have explained to my runners that running is NOT an "individual sport", as many tend to think of it. Runners depend on each other, in training and in racing, for their mutual benefit.

My chief teammate, and husband, Stephen

So why do I still train alone?

Good question.

I have joined a fantastic community of runners in my job at Fit-2-Run, and so thoroughly enjoy engaging with them on a daily basis. I have also joined the Oiselle Flock, and have already connected with runners from across the country, many of whom I share so much in common with besides the sport, and feel a strong sense of team bond, having not even met - let alone, run with - any of them. The warmth and strengthening I have found in both of these endeavors is such a powerful support network, it makes me re-define my ideas of "team". 

Your team is not necessarily just the people you run with. You could run with a group that you never feel a close, supportive connection to, and they wouldn't necessarily feel like your "team". 

Team is the celebration of running manifested in others.

Being a part of a team is more important to all of us - even the "lone wolf" types like me - than we often realize. I propose that ALL of us work just as hard to build our "team" in our lives as we do when we train. Whether it is an organized group, or your workplace, or family, or just other runners you connect with in whatever ways you do. Build a team. It empowers us, it empowers others, it "lifts us up where we belong", and it just flat-out makes us faster. While I don't think I can totally relinquish my running independence - my "rundependence" if you will - I am going to commit to running at least twice per week with others, be it Oiselle Flock mates or coworkers at Fit-2-Run or St Pete Road Runners or what have you. But more than that, I will continue to boost the connections of running energy in my life. More communicating with other runners, more cheering them on and swapping war stories, more of all of it. Like Will Ferrell's character in Blades of Glory, "that's me, the lone wolf, and that's you, the lone wolf who's running with the lone wolf."

Who's with me?

Scar Tissue: Pain in the Butt

Why is it that I only really seem to blog when I am injured, or excitedly returning from injury? Maybe this has just been an outlet for frustration. Not acceptable! I need to better document my running journey, for my own reflection primarily, and maybe in hope that it can be of use or inspiration to fellow runners.

So, an update. Since settling back in in St Pete, I got a part-time job at Fit-2-Run (awesome people to work with, great to connect with other local runners) and in my training, have been following the Hanson's Half-Marathon method primarily. The premise of which: fast speed work in early phase, strength workouts in middle phase, with lots of race pace-specific mileage.

I liked it, and it was working fairly well so far. I was beginning to master my tempo pace (7:20/mile) over 3 and 4 consecutive miles, and even ran a 22:50 5K in the middle of my workout. Definitely not a fast 5K race time for me, but pretty damn good for the middle of a workout, 10 months after giving birth. I was struggling a little bit with the faster (5K race pace) intervals, though.

All was going well...so, so well...and in the midst of this, my Brooks Adrenalines were starting to feel a bit different, more lumbering and too roomy. After spending some time on the camera treadmill at my workplace, I discovered two intriguing anomalies of my post-partum body:

1) My running shoe size went from size 9 down to a size 8
2) I no longer overpronate.

What?

Isn't everything supposed to get bigger after having a baby? Not smaller and more efficient? Whatever, I'll take it! So now, am in a soft, comfy neutral trainer - Brooks Glycerin 12 - and am doing speed/tempo runs in Saucony Kinvara 5 (see left). I never could wear Kinvaras before, as they were always too narrow and didn't support my pronating feet, but due to my body changes and the wider toebox in the newest model of the Kinvaras, they are perfect! Fast and light, could even be a racing flat.

I was finally starting to feel like my old running self again! Fast, confident, and had trimmed down to about 6 lbs lighter than I had weighed in years. Couldn't wait for my trip with baby Jack to NY, and the 10 miler race I was planning on running there.

Then it happened. Low back pain on the left side this time, which initially felt like I just didn't sleep well on it (with an 11 month old, it happens. A lot.) But the pain persisted, and started traveling down into my glutes and hip.

Too. Damn. Familiar.

I knew right away why this was happening: with our new family schedules and Jack needing me as soon as I walk in the door from my runs, I was neglecting my strength training, and post-run stretching/rolling. Basically I was doing little to none. And I should know better. Definitely, should know better.

So I engaged in typical foam rolling, denial that I should take it easy, icing, heating, more denial, and then two days before the race in Nyack, my cousin (an amazing massage therapist) worked on me a bit, and she suggested some strengthening exercises. Called Foundation Training, these were lower back, glute, and hamstring exercises, that would also improve my posture and stabilize my core. Great exercises, though too late for my 10 miler. The day before the race, I did a test run, which did not go well. It didn't feel exactly like before - possibly not the piriformis - but definitely hip and lower back pain. Part of me wanted to grit through it and race, but the other part knew better. So I didn't run. I moped, I cried, I watched other runners gleefully run through town on a beautiful, perfect day. And then we went into NYC as a nice consolation prize. A wonderful day! Where else could Jack and I hang out with Teddy but at the Museum of Natural History?

Upon returning to St Pete, I grappled with what to do next: see a chiropractor, see a physical therapist, find another ART practitioner? A coworker gave me a recommendation for a sports doctor who practices Manual Adhesion Release - distinct from ART in that it takes a more targeted approach to soft tissue problems by analyzing motion, rather than a shotgun approach to the symptoms. My coworker said Dr Maggio at Peak Performance Sports Therapy worked wonders on her, so I set up an appointment with him. He was able to diagnose my issue fairly quickly based on my range of motion: scar tissue buildup on my hip, interfering with proper muscle contraction in my "deep 6" muscles.

Now we get to work...his techniques are similar to ART, taking my leg through a range of motion while he works to break up the scar tissue. It hurt like hell, and afterwards I was sore in a part of my body I didn't think I could be. But I trust his assessment, and trust that the process will take time to fix my issue for the long term. He assured me that I would most likely be able to resume training for the Women's Running Half Marathon in November, my near-term goal race.

I am grounded from exercise of any kind for the rest of the week, going on 1.5 weeks of no running now. While I am, of course, going a little bit crazy (especially working at a running store), I am able to keep better perspective than before. Though I am still sore when I rotate my hip at all, my range of motion has been improving.

No less than 2 days after my first appointment with Dr Maggio, the Women's Running Half Marathon was cancelled. Very sad about this for lots of reasons, though maybe its a blessing in disguise for me. I can fully commit to getting my body healthy and stronger, so that I can make a powerful comeback at the Tomoka Marathon in March.

This injury, here is what I have learned thus far:

- Scar tissue can build up over years of muscle stress, not just from acute injuries
- Scar tissue can be cleared fairly quickly
- The "deep 6 muscles" are a real bitch to massage and treat. They are the hip's external rotator muscles and are shown below (piriformis, gemellus superior, obturatur internus, gemellus inferior, obturatur externus, quadratus femoris)
- Back pain can be attributed to hip dysfunction and muscle compensation
- Improvements in my posture and back strength will significantly help my running (once my hip is healthy)

None of these things are surprising, they do make a lot of sense. I am now committed to getting this pain in the butt healed, and committed to better strength training to prevent future injuries. Stephen and I joined LA Fitness just three blocks away from our home, and I have established a stretching routine that works with Jack's schedule. We shall soon see how the recovery goes, and how quickly my fitness returns to normal...

In other news, today I became a member of the Oiselle Flock! Very excited to be connecting with this awesome group of women in their running pursuits. It already is great to see them on Twitter, and they have been so welcoming and warm to the new members. Helps me feel less alone during my runless days. Can't wait to get my singlet, and more than that, I can't wait to be "Fit-2-Race" once again!

New Home, New Running

It has been a while since my last post, namely due to our big move back East. We moved from Monterey CA back to St Petersburg, FL in June, and what a crazy month of preparation, packing, moving, unpacking, and settling in it has been! Not to mention with a pre-crawling 8.5 month old along...

Didn't run during the week-long trip - just couldn't make it happen and manage Jack's adjustment to life on the road. One exception - ran a 5K with an old friend of mine on Father's Day. She is actually responsible for getting me into distance running back when I was in high school and her husband was the school's XC coach. I owe my love of running to Sue and Chris! It was a blast to do a run with her, all these years later. Not anywhere close to a PR for me, but just going through the process of racing was enough to get my mind thinking competitively again...

Now back in Florida, and battling the summer heat and humidity. These last couple of weeks totally kicked me on my butt. I felt heavier and slower than ever before, and I know it is NOT due to one week off from running. The temperatures have been in the mid-80s to 90s with about 70-85% humidity, most mornings. A couple of runs weren't TOO bad, but most have been horrible. A 10:00/mile pace is sometimes all I can manage, but then on occasion I can bust out a solid 7:30 pace for a mile or so. It is just an adjustment period, I know, but it is an especially painful one this time around! Planning on running a beach 5K at the end of the month, not to try to PR (no way in the heat AND in the SAND) but will at least get the feel of racing back into me.

Ran a mile time trial on Friday morning, and plan to do one every two weeks for a while to look for progress. Wasn't pretty - though it was later in the morning than usual and definitely more humid - only 6:45. I want to get it down to about 6:15 next time, and down to 5:45 by the end of the summer.

That's all for now...more when I have adjusted!

Back on track!

Four weeks of injury, but am finally back on track!

It actually helped me to not blog while I was unable to run, to not focus on the fact that I couldn't run. But so many valuable experiences did happen during that time. Namely my first experience with ART (Active Release Technique) that facilitated my recovery. In early April, I made an appointment with Dr Cook here in Monterey, a chiropractor who also practices ART. He is a runner himself, which is of course massively helpful. One look at me and he knew what was wrong, and had experienced it first hand. Even how I stand and walk gave him clues as to my malfunctioning piriformis (as I had suspected). There was more complexity to the injury, though, as the gluteus medius muscle was also affected and strained. Both muscles pushed on the sciatic nerve, which was causing some pain down my hamstring. Dr Cook saw me twice a week for three weeks, working the muscles by pushing and pulling on them (yes, it hurt. badly.), causing them to systematically contract and release. It actually always felt very good after the fact.

Within a week I felt improvement, but still couldn't run without too much pain. I spent a lot of time on the elliptical machine and weight lifting - the previous neglect of which was part of what got me into this injury. I always preach to my cross country runners about lifting weights in the off season, and here I am, hypocritically injured due to weak glute muscles. But it wasnt' until I took four days ENTIRELY off from the elliptical and running (walking, instead) that I saw vast improvement in my lower back and glutes. My husband, infant, and I flew to Florida to visit family and find our new home, so it served as a perfect opportunity to break from impact exercise and see what happens. Naturally, I should have done this when the injury first occurred. But I was thrilled to get back and see Dr Cook upon returning from the trip, when he saw improvement in my range of motion as well.

The other thing that Dr Cook enlightened me to was the fact that as long as I am breastfeeding my son, I will have the hormone relaxin surging through me, softening my tendons and making me much more injury-prone than not. I knew of how relaxin works during pregnancy, but it hadn't even occurred to me that it could be affecting me while nursing. I will have to be much more conscientious than was necessary in the past. Noted.

When I no longer felt pain while trying to run - but maybe an occasional tension in my hip - I started running three times per week, then five times, and now am back to six times per week, hitting 3-6 miles on most runs and around 8 miles long run. No pain! Very little tension. I am slower, of course, but did my first fartlek yesterday and can feel my feet wanting to turn over faster!

Yes, I know, be careful not the get into the same predicament as before. Slow and steady.

Needless to say, I did not race the OC Half Marathon in early May. And I have decided to push back racing a marathon until next spring. But instead I will aim hard at three races this fall: a 10-miler in Nyack, NY in September, a 5K to hit a PR in October, and a Half Marathon in November. Of course, if my comeback is slow, I may re-evaluate those goals, yet again. But I am becoming more agreeable to changing my goals than my pre-pregnancy self, and my "body sense" is wiser.

Here it goes!

Week 5

Injured.

Angrily injured.

After feeling the buttock and hamstring pain on Sunday, I took Monday and Tuesday off, with some stretching and weight lifting instead. Monday was so bad that I could barely walk without serious limping. On Wednesday I was feeling better and thought I'd try a run with one of our track athletes who was also nursing an injury. Though the pain came and went through the run, it was a hobbling, slow run. The next morning, I attempted a run that went about the same, but more pain towards the end, and limping back home. This was definitely not normal soreness and it wasn't subsiding as I had expected it to. So I decided to bite the bullet and rest it, maintaining hot/cold alternations and lots of foam rolling.

Three more days of no running, but ellipticalling instead. I felt some tension while on the machines, but no pain, thankfully. This would be a sufficient substitute until I could resume running. Meanwhile, I researched. Relentlessly. And tossed between piriformis syndrome and a fractured sacrum, both of which could mean a long recovery. I made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon friend who thought there could be a hip issue. I researched Active Release Technique (ART), and began trying to target the precise point of the problem. I saw a massage therapist friend on campus who gave me a brief massage and assessed my muscle tension. In the past, I was never good at healing and recovery, always trying to train through the pain. But this was different - I am older, I am recovering from childbirth, and I am considerably wiser than my twenty-something self. I was going to recover like a champ.

When I saw the orthopedic surgeon, he confirmed what I thought: the piriformis muscle. He tested my mobility for strain and pain; I was hardly feeling pain while walking, stairs, elliptical, or weight lifting, but felt horrible pain if I tried to run. Impact injury. He said I was basically doing everything I should be doing, and that I needed to be patient and continue treating it until the pain is gone. My May 4th half marathon could possibly not happen. I was more worried about affecting my September full marathon. Thankfully, he said, there didn't seem to be anything worse going on. Just a slow, painful muscle strain. I'm not as young as I used to be, and my body is not going to heal as quickly as it once did.

Friday will be an appointment with an ART specialist - maybe he will profoundly help my issue. Until then, I will continue treating it with rolling, hot/cold treatment, ibuprofin, careful movements, and as many healing foods as I can.

I have decided to cut back my projected mileage, and return to my pre-baby marathon training plan, and lessened weekly miles. This isn't the time to make a major change in my capacity as a runner; I need to focus on just returning to where I was before. Instead of peaking at 80 miles/week, I will peak around 55 miles/week. Starting with about 33 miles/week when I do return to running. This move actually feels quite good: comfortable, familiar, and I know I am capable of doing it. But slowly. Patiently. Gradually. It is frustrating not being able to launch myself into sub-elite training right off the bat, but it HAS only been 6 months since Jack was born, and I really didn't give my body what it needed to adjust into running effectively.

Lesson learned. Moving forward, carefully.

Week 4

This week was the first week that my running went as planned. I actually enjoyed the fartleks quite a bit, and found my pace ahead on the intervals. My legs felt stronger, and my "easy pace" is finally getting faster - in the 8:30/mile range. Highest mileage per week so far, at 48. All in all, a fantastic week!

Until Sunday's long run.

On Saturday, I felt a little bit of lower right back pain forming while on my easy 9 miler. This has happened in the past when my mileage starts increasing, and usually goes away. Didn't think anything of it. While chaperoning the Prom, I cut loose and danced a little bit, and felt the back pain then too. Just figured I am older than I used to be, and dancing with the teens was maybe not such a good idea. Sunday morning, I laced up the Mizunos for a long progression run, with some acceleration in the last 10 minutes. This run was going very well, and though at the turn around point I did feel a little heaviness in my legs, I held pace and felt great. But with 3 miles left to go, the lower back pain returned. And began to worsen, working its way into my glutes.

After hobbling back from the 12 miler, I could barely walk. Icing my back felt good, but the pain was worsening. It took away my breath as I put pressure on my right leg, which subsided somewhat when I used the roller, but returned shortly later. This was worse than my aches and pains of the past, yet the onset was not as sudden as a typical injury.

Therein lies the elephant in the room....slow onset injury....overuse injury....

I had most likely increased my mileage too quickly, by about 25% in one week. Wayyyyyy too much. On top of that, I have been neglecting strength training since going back to work and not having the hours in the day to get in a morning run plus an afternoon strength workout. This was a huge mistake, especially since in coming back from pregnancy, I had likely lost considerable muscle strength that had kept me healthy before. More loss than I had realized.

Now is the process of healing my back and glutes - likely a sciatic nerve problem - while adding strength training into my routine, and taking the mileage a little easier over the next few weeks.

Morale of the story: don't neglect strength training, runners! You MUST ensure that your frame is strong enough for the running stresses you are putting on it! It is so easy for us to forget the importance of this.

Week 3

Despite starting out the week with a sore throat and headache, I somehow managed to *mostly* continue my running schedule, with only slight modifications. Though on Monday's run, I felt strange tension in my shoulders and that horrible pain under my collarbone after about 30 minutes of running. Has anyone else experienced this? I think it happens when I am less in shape and my breathing is heightened. But it seemed to go away on my other runs. It was great to run with the track girls on Wednesday, in the warm sunshine and at a nice tempo pace. Then, my first fartlek on Friday! Not a terribly difficult one, and it felt good to get some speedwork in. Sunday was a very nice long run with a 10 minute progression at the end. I didn't do the last 10 minutes, but the second to last 10 minutes, so that I was on the trail and not the road during the faster pace. I think my body is adapting nicely to the change in training.

It's funny how much I don't want to lace up and run when my alarm goes off, yet how wonderful I feel for the rest of the day when I go out and get it done. It feels so good to be training again!