Form and Function

I discovered the problems I was/am having with my hip are directly related to the fact that I have been purposely working on correcting my posture and running form. What sort of world does THIS make sense in? Start CORRECTING your running form, suffer unbearable pain and agony. It's so totally unfair. I know I'm doing the right thing and all but at this point, I am so sick of injuries and pain, I'm almost willing to scrap the whole running thing for good. OK, not really but still. It sucks.

To combat the parts of my body that are resisting change for the better, I'm seeing a massage therapist named Glenna. And I think she is quite possibly The Good Witch of the West. This woman works some CRAZY magic! The first time I went to see her with this hip pain, she discovered the problem was a cluster of muscle fibers in my SOLAR PLEXUS of all things. I'm not kidding, she is amazing. I've been working with her for a few weeks now and my body is slowly but surely starting to realize that those days of lazy posture and poor running form are behind it. Good things to come!

Today I went out for 7 mile run, and ended up with 9 instead. Hip pain? Yes. But for the first time in a long time, NOT significant. Yeah!!

Renewal

It's time for the Spring training season again! Yeah! I realize I've skipped alot of entries here and I would apologize if I thought anyone but me was reading this. But anyhow.....

During the last spring training season, I had so many injuries and setbacks that I just needed to get through the season and finish. Which I did. During the fall season, I was able to train strong and finish 3 marathons, but ended up with pain at the end because of changes I made to my running form/stride. Now? I'm still having pain issues, but I'm treating everything aggressively and I'm ready to start over - stronger and faster this time. THIS time? I'm setting a time goal. THIS time? I want to finish a marathon in the spring in under 4:30. I can do it. And I will. And I'm going to use this blog as a form of accountability.

Seriously.

Pounding Pavement

I'm a bit nervous about my shoes. When I first started running, I was told by someone who clearly knew nothing that I had a neutral stride and could wear whatever I wanted. Three sprained ankles later, I learned I am an extreme supinator, running almost exclusviely on the outsides of my feet. After much discussion with a footwear specialist, I settled on a pair of Brooks Lady Dyad and never felt better. Oh, and some custom orthotics.

After my last marathon, I ended up with severe IT band strain. During therapy, I was told as a supinator, I have very high arches and need a cushioned shoe. Both my ortho doc and my podiatrist ADAMANTLY insisted that I need a motion control shoe. I elected to take the advice of the physicians and ended up with a pair of Nike Ariels. Nice shoes, just fine.

No problem until about 2 months ago when BAM! Another flippin' ankle sprain!! I can't blame the shoes, I'm sure, but I can certainly question them under hot lights. So now as I ramp back up to marathon distance wearing an ankle brace, I notice that my feet hurt more than usual after pounding the pavement for a few mile. It goes without saying that your feet hurt after running 17 miles, but this seems to be unusual. I'm wondering if this is related to the fact that my motion control shoes don't have the same cushion that my beloved Lady Dyads have.

With a bit of skepticism, I'm going to lace up my Brooks' for the 20-miler this weekend. With the ankle brace keeping my stable, I'm curious to find out if the cushioning will help ease the pain. But as I said, I'm nervous. There are few things as disheartening as an injury this late in the training season.

The Great Snowbowl Run

How crazy do you have to be to run 17 miles in the middle of winter? If you're not crazy enough to do it in 7 degree weather on snow packed/icy streets which are so slick and full of ruts that you have to literally watch every step - and to do it on a 1 mile street (i.e. back and forth for 17 laps), you're not crazy enough. Throw in an ankle brace for the sprain you've been nursing for the past too months and you've got to be downright looney. And I am proud to say I am just that crazy. Got the screaming hamstrings and blisters to prove it.

When you're training for a marathon, it's the TRAINING part that totally sucks. Some days I think "Once I hit the 26 mile mark, I'm never tapering again." Some days I think once I get there, I'll just stay there. A marathon each month with 3 ten-mile runs in between. That is not crazy, my friends, that is just efficient. As long as you treat each marathon as a training run, no problem. At least that's what I tell myself on days like Saturday, 9 miles into my 17 mile Snowbowl Run with 20 of my craziest running friends.

But here is how it inevitably plays out.... I plan a slow marathon as a training run, I realize I'm making good time and see if I can PR. Whether I actually do PR or not is irrelevant because by the time I'm done, I'm good and sore. Meaning the SECOND marathon, the one I was actually HOPING to run well, I have to take it easy and make it a slow recovery run. And then I'm even more sore and need to take some serious time off before starting all over.

It's a vicious cycle, but I love it. I do. I love it. Even in the tundra.

Motivation, Here I Come!

You know what I hate about spring in Cincinnati? It often doesn't STAY spring. It's not uncommon to have an artic snap right in the middle of spring. Like now. Here I was, all gung ho for the warm weather, out running in my cute crop tops, and then BAM! Mother Nature gets all "just kidding" with me. Last week it was in the 70s and 80s. This past week? The 30s. Today? It's snowing outside and I still have my 10 miler to do.

When I first saw the forecast earlier this week, I decided to postpone a few of my training runs until the weather snapped out of it's funk. But there has been no funk-snapping and I'm falling behind. So today, when I saw the snow, my first thoughts went to my frozen toes and clammy mittens, memories I still carry pretty closely since it doesn't seem so long ago. But the Country Music Marathon is only a few weeks away and procrastinating will only hurt me. Not to mention, make me fat.

I tend to eat so much more during marathon season because I can get away with it.

So.... I'm going to head upstairs right this minute and put my running clothes on. This is a sure fire way to get me motivated for the task ahead. And maybe I'll download a few new songs to my Mp3 player as well. Watch out, I'm on my way to being motivated - even in this arctic spring weather!

Atlanta Marathon - DONE!

Wow... was that ever cruel. There is only one word to describe the experience of the inaugural Georgia Marathon in Atlanta, GA: cruel. Less than one week before the race, I ran my last training run of 10 miles up in Ann Arbor, MI - where it was SNOWING on me. Then, I traveled to Atlanta were the high temperatures were expected to reach 87 on race day!!!! Talk about a shock to my system. I'm sure it was hotter than that anyways. I think the weather man and the race director were in cahoots so as not to depress the runners any more than absolutely necessary.

If the heat wasn't bad enough (and it clearly was more than bad enough), there was not one flat spot on the entire course. The elevation maps were truly misleading - they must have used a much different scale! It was either UP or DOWN the whole way and since it seemed most of the downhill stretches were shorter and steeper, that meant most of the race was spent running uphill. Thank GOD the scenery was gorgeous! It was a welcome distraction from the mountain trails of Atlanta. Who would have thought?

One more drawback: the port-o-let I visited on the course had run out of t.p. Thankfully, one of my fellow runners learned this lesson the hard way and brought some of her own. I will now pack t.p. alongside my Gu in future marathons.

Favorite Crowd Support Signs in Atlanta:

Honorable Mention: You are all Kenyans!
Runner Up: "Free Beer Here" (found at about Mile 19)
First Place Winner: "Your feet HURT because you are kicking so much ASS!"

One of the highlights is a vision I hope I don't forget any time soon. I couldn't tell you what mile we were at, but I think it was somewhere around 11. There was a part of the course that came back the other direction and we saw the group of Kenyans in first place running together. They were all the way on the other side of the road - we were headed up into a park - but they were all running together in unison. They were so graceful, I wanted to just stop and watch them (but they passed by entirely too quickly). They were just really neat to see.

As cruel and brutal as the Georgia Marathon was, I was in surprisingly great shape at the end of it. Aside from sore feet and two blisters, I had no joint pains, no aches, no tendonitis issues, no cramps, nothing! In fact, two days later, I ran 5 miles and felt absolutely 100%!

Bring on Nashville!!!!

Finish strong,
K

Ice Runner

Are we meant to run in an ice storm? I don't think so. At least I didn't today. Saturday was our 17 mile training run and I really struggled through it, I have to say. It's totally my own fault. I spent the week leading up to the run hungover, for the most part. I ran only one day during the week and did not take care of my body very well. Served me right to suffer through 17 bone chilling miles in 10 degree weather!

So this week, I've vowed to take better care of myself and to act like I'm training for a marathon. Today is Tuesday, a running day (I cross train on Mondays) and it rained ice all day. I couldn't do it!!! What is WRONG with me?!? Tomorrow, I'm committed to putting in at least five miles. I've got it in writing now so.... hopefully that will get me there.