I went for my weekly long Saturday run. My goal was 8 miles, and, lo and behold, I actually did it. I was gone about 1:20 but the last five minutes or so I was walking off the pain and cooling down.
My Route
I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street and north to Grovers, then west to 7th Street, as usual. But this time I crossed 7th Street and ran all the way down past the ward building and the end of the road where it curved around to Villa Rita, then back up to Central. Then I went north to Union Hills, and finally west to 7th Avenue before turning around and going back the same way.
But right as I got to 7th Avenue and turned around, my IT Band started tightening up on my left leg... AGAIN! As usual it felt like a really sharp pain on the lateral side of my knee, but I continued on.
In fact, the last four miles I really pushed myself through that. I didn't really know I had that it me. As I was running back, I was constantly saying affirmations to myself to really hold the pain off. I said things like:
"My legs are loose and feel great."
"The longer I run, the looser my legs get."
"The longer I run, the looser my IT band gets."
I was really able to hold off the pain. That is, until I got to my last mile. Holy moly, was that hard. A few different times I thought my knee was going to give out on me from the pain. Soon after that, my other knee started feeling some of the same pain. By the time I was finally finished, I could not believe I really pushed through all that pain.
I was kind of impressed that my pain threshold was that high, although I don't want to test it anymore while I run. I have to really be consistent with my stretching every day, as well as get enough sleep. The last time this happened to me, I did not sleep a whole lot that night. Last night I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 2:30. Why? I don't know... I just couldn't sleep. But I took a snooze this afternoon and when I woke up, my legs felt slightly better.
Overall, I'm pretty impressed I ran 8 miles. A year ago, I had a hard time running 3 miles. Now? What a cakewalk! ;-P
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday Run Results on Friday Morning
The last two weeks, I haven't been that great at getting my Tuesday runs in. This week has been crazy with our van's transmission crapping out on us and all, but that shouldn't be an excuse.
Anyway, I ran 4 miles yesterday. I have to say that after running 7 miles on Saturday, 4 miles felt relatively easy. Getting up at 5 am to do it wasn't easy, but who cares. I didn't have to push myself at all and just kind of lost myself in my thoughts, which was nice. In fact, my run felt very relaxing and therapeutic.
I will say I started getting that felling in the back of my left knee where I had that Baker's cyst a year and a half ago, but it went away toward the end of the run, so I'm not going to pay it any attention.
Before work yesterday, I went to Dr. Force's office for the AK class he teaches his associate doctors. I volunteered to be the guinea pig for thoracic adjusting techniques. I'm glad I did. Dr. Force adjusted my 1st rib, T1-2, and T7. I felt great the rest of the day and I'm looking forward to seeing how that rib adjustment works for me on my run tomorrow. Everytime I run, I'm constantly out of breath and I'm always having to catch that last little breath of air in my lungs. It get pretty old sometimes. But that rib adjustment should really help.
Another doctor that was there taught me to stimulate my lymphatics by rubbing really hard at the area where the deltoids and pecs meet, as well as up and down alongside the sternum. He also showed me this place on the top of my head where I can rub very slightly to stimulate more relaxed blood flow to my lungs. Needless to say, I will be trying all this when I run tomorrow.
I'm shooting for an 8-miler tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes. I might have to go a different route... The route I've been going is getting pretty bland and shabby to look at. I'll have to re-route tonight.
Anyway, I ran 4 miles yesterday. I have to say that after running 7 miles on Saturday, 4 miles felt relatively easy. Getting up at 5 am to do it wasn't easy, but who cares. I didn't have to push myself at all and just kind of lost myself in my thoughts, which was nice. In fact, my run felt very relaxing and therapeutic.
I will say I started getting that felling in the back of my left knee where I had that Baker's cyst a year and a half ago, but it went away toward the end of the run, so I'm not going to pay it any attention.
Before work yesterday, I went to Dr. Force's office for the AK class he teaches his associate doctors. I volunteered to be the guinea pig for thoracic adjusting techniques. I'm glad I did. Dr. Force adjusted my 1st rib, T1-2, and T7. I felt great the rest of the day and I'm looking forward to seeing how that rib adjustment works for me on my run tomorrow. Everytime I run, I'm constantly out of breath and I'm always having to catch that last little breath of air in my lungs. It get pretty old sometimes. But that rib adjustment should really help.
Another doctor that was there taught me to stimulate my lymphatics by rubbing really hard at the area where the deltoids and pecs meet, as well as up and down alongside the sternum. He also showed me this place on the top of my head where I can rub very slightly to stimulate more relaxed blood flow to my lungs. Needless to say, I will be trying all this when I run tomorrow.
I'm shooting for an 8-miler tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes. I might have to go a different route... The route I've been going is getting pretty bland and shabby to look at. I'll have to re-route tonight.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Holy Moly! 7 miles This Morning!
Wow! I ran 7 miles this morning. It's kind of hard to believe I did that, but I did. I have to say I felt really good the whole run except for the last mile. That was just plain hard. When I finished and cooled down with a short walk, I really felt like I had been hit by a bus. Sheesh!
My Route
I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street, headed north to Grovers, and then went west to 7th street. I ran back up to 20th street, turned around and went back to 7th street, before coming back. Then I ran back down 20th street to Campo Bello and home.
It was kind of interesting... when I would run toward 7th Street, I felt on top of the world and almost like I could run forever. But when I would turn around and head back in the direction of home, it felt harder.
I think this could have something to do subconsciously with me feeling like my run is almost over and the end is in sight, even thought it's not. I'm not sure why that would be. Another thing was that when I ran west, the sun was to my back and I was in the shade periodically. Heading east, I wasn't in the shade and the sun was beating down on my face and chest.
On my second go-around toward 7th Street, I was feeling like I could push it to 8 miles today. But on my way back, especially on my last mile, that was just not going to happen. I was really laboring to finish.
I took my squeeze bottle with me and filled it up with some Vitamin Water. That stuff is filled with sugar, but that's a good thing when you're running for a long time. It really helped me with my energy, so that's good.
All in all, I was running for about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and twenty. It felt great to accomplish that, but man I've been feeling it since. Not so much that my legs and feet hurt, but just my body overall. I can tell I really pushed myself.
Another interesting thing was that the whole time I ran, I felt fantastic. The instant I stopped, and this is no joke, my allergies flared up. I was sneezing and my nose tickled like crazy. Obviously running suppressed that for a while.
My Route
I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street, headed north to Grovers, and then went west to 7th street. I ran back up to 20th street, turned around and went back to 7th street, before coming back. Then I ran back down 20th street to Campo Bello and home.
It was kind of interesting... when I would run toward 7th Street, I felt on top of the world and almost like I could run forever. But when I would turn around and head back in the direction of home, it felt harder.
I think this could have something to do subconsciously with me feeling like my run is almost over and the end is in sight, even thought it's not. I'm not sure why that would be. Another thing was that when I ran west, the sun was to my back and I was in the shade periodically. Heading east, I wasn't in the shade and the sun was beating down on my face and chest.
On my second go-around toward 7th Street, I was feeling like I could push it to 8 miles today. But on my way back, especially on my last mile, that was just not going to happen. I was really laboring to finish.
I took my squeeze bottle with me and filled it up with some Vitamin Water. That stuff is filled with sugar, but that's a good thing when you're running for a long time. It really helped me with my energy, so that's good.
All in all, I was running for about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and twenty. It felt great to accomplish that, but man I've been feeling it since. Not so much that my legs and feet hurt, but just my body overall. I can tell I really pushed myself.
Another interesting thing was that the whole time I ran, I felt fantastic. The instant I stopped, and this is no joke, my allergies flared up. I was sneezing and my nose tickled like crazy. Obviously running suppressed that for a while.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
4 Miles This Morning
This morning I went for a 4 mile run. I felt really good in my new shoes. during the last mile, I started feeling that darn ITB pain in my left knee. I just bore down and pushed through it, though. That was really just a by-product of not stretching enough. I just have to make sure that ITB gets stretched thoroughly.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
First Run With New Shoes
So last week was a rough week and I didn't run any day except for Monday. That's all I'll say about that.
But yesterday, I finally got new running shoes. It's been a year overdue so I'm very grateful to have the new shoes. I was going to get the same shoes I had, the Mizzuno Wave Alchemy 6, but the store was all out. So I got the Wave Alchemy 7s instead. They felt really springy and gave my feet a lot of cushion. I tried on a different, cheaper pair and they didn't give me the same support.
When I ran last night, I just went for a 3 mile run. But with the new shoes, I really realize how hard my legs had to work to run before. These shoes have so much spring that they really made it easy for my legs to move. I had the fastest 3 mile run I've had since I started running again. I think it was about a 10-minute mile pace.
I felt really good during the run, but toward the end of it, I could tell I was wearing new shoes. My feet started getting hot and my left middle toe started feeling tingly, but I realized that was because my sock bunched up under it for some reason.
Overall, it was a great run and thank goodness for new shoes!
But yesterday, I finally got new running shoes. It's been a year overdue so I'm very grateful to have the new shoes. I was going to get the same shoes I had, the Mizzuno Wave Alchemy 6, but the store was all out. So I got the Wave Alchemy 7s instead. They felt really springy and gave my feet a lot of cushion. I tried on a different, cheaper pair and they didn't give me the same support.
When I ran last night, I just went for a 3 mile run. But with the new shoes, I really realize how hard my legs had to work to run before. These shoes have so much spring that they really made it easy for my legs to move. I had the fastest 3 mile run I've had since I started running again. I think it was about a 10-minute mile pace.
I felt really good during the run, but toward the end of it, I could tell I was wearing new shoes. My feet started getting hot and my left middle toe started feeling tingly, but I realized that was because my sock bunched up under it for some reason.
Overall, it was a great run and thank goodness for new shoes!
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