I run to be...

Recently someone asked me how I find time to run. It's not easy, I said, I have to actually make time for it on the calendar. Sometimes it's a struggle to fit in a run, but I somehow manage to work it out. Then he asked me a seemingly innocent question. Why? Why do I bust my tail to find the time, make arrangements for the kids, get up at THE crack of dawn, miss out on good sleep and generally inconvenience myself just to get in a run?

I had to think about that. I'll get to what I finally replied in a minute, but first let me say that the upcoming Nike Women's Marathon has a "fill in the blank" motto this year. It's "I Run to Be..." Each runner is supposed to fill in their own words. It got me thinking even more about why I do what I do.

I run to be strong. Running has made me fitter than I've ever been in my life. It's helped me keep that weight I lost a few years ago off. It's made me realize that I can accomplish ANYTHING with a little hard work and self-discipline.

I run to be still. Yeah, I know, it seems contradictory. My body is moving, true, but so many times when I'm running is when I have a chance to let my mind and my soul be quiet. Some days my mind is going just as fast as my legs (probably faster!) but I love the days when I can push everything out of my head like I'm clearing a table of dirty dishes off with one swipe of my arm. Don't think. Just run. It's a peace that I don't get often as a busy mom.

I run to be spiritual. There are days when I run that all I do is pray. It's an amazing quiet time for me, when I'm able to focus without distractons on all the people and things that I'm praying about, and I can truly feel and express exhiliration and thankfulness for all the blessings I've been given.

I run to be a good example. My kids started life with an overweight mom who didn't eat well or exercise, and that's something I wanted to remedy. Now I hope they are seeing the benefits of living a healthier lifestyle. I truly get excited when they want to run with me...I want them to learn to feel joy and strength in moving their bodies.

I run to be a better person. Running clears my head. It gives me quiet time. It gives me peace. Yes, there are days when I don't want to run. I feel tired or under the weather or just don't feel like dragging kids to the gym or a sitter. But when I focus on how I'll feel when I finish the run, I never can take a pass. I am more patient with others. I'm kinder. I'm more able to cope with stress when I run. I feel GOOD. I feel sane. I like the person I am when I run. I am the best version of myself then. Running just makes me...better.

In the end, that's finally what I answered when asked why I do it. I run to be a better person. Why do you do it?

1000 miles/100 miles

I am very excited to post today to say that I've surpassed 1000 miles of running logged on Nike+!! That's a looooong way!! Wooohooo!!

I've also been released from Physical Therapy! I suppose this is a good thing, although I must admit I have been REALLY grateful for the massage therapy I've been getting there. Having someone who can pinpoint and really understand the musculature where the discomfort is has been fantastic. I will miss that, and I probably need to find a good sports massage therapist. I am still having latent pain...it doesn't hurt WHEN I run (except a little in the first mile) but it does hurt AFTER I run. It's improved to be more annoying than hindering, so they just told me to stretch well and ice it. Guess we'll see what happens once I really start to click up the mileage. This weekend will be just 6, so nothing too strenuous. Yet.

Now for the 100 mile part of the post. I recently started a part-time job working for a division of a private school. They asked me, as part of my position, to take on the role of head coach for a 100 Mile Club. This is a really fantastic program that I'm totally excited to be involved with! Basically, it encourages kids to set a goal of running (or walking) 100 miles total over the course of the school year, and they earn cool incentives along the way. I truly, truly enjoy encouraging others to run, so I think this is something I will really enjoy. We will be kicking it off soon, so I'll be sure to post updates on how things are going. Check out more about the 100 Mile Club or sponsor a child to run at www.100mileclub.com/sponsorinfo.html.

I'll post after tomorrow's sixer and let you all know how the hip holds up!

A NEW challenge!

I'm still here!! I haven't updated in a while because things in my life suddenly got really busy...BUT, I am still running. I'm almost finished with my second round of physical therapy, and they have finally given me the go ahead to up my mileage. HOORAY!!! I've been slowly moving higher, though I still have to watch myself on the hills because the ups and downs can cause the pain to flare up. I'm running with the Winter Team in Training team as an assistant coach this season and next weekend we'll be at 6 miles for our long run. I feel as if I'm starting all over again because I haven't been able to keep up my long run distances. The upcoming 6 will be the furthest I've run since injuring myself at the marathon in June. Not to mention that my speed has taken a plunge, too, and I'm back to plodding at a much slower pace than I was hoping to be at by now. Still, I've rekindled my motivation by launching myself into a new challenge. In October, I'll be doing half marathons on back-to-back weekends. That's right. Sunday, October 17th, I'll be running the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco, and the very next Sunday, the 24th, I'll be running the Inagural LA Rock N' Roll half. Am I crazy?? Most likely. But I apparently thrive on pushing myself to see how far I can go. I'm totally excited!! Now if I can just get through some of these hills in training...

I'll catch up again soon!

Fall down, get up, keep going, repeat...

I haven't been posting as often lately. Partly because I've been injured and not running as often as I'd like. Partly because that fact depresses me a little. I confess to not being in the best frame of mind a lot lately due to feeling "out of sorts" about not running.

Last week I had a horrible treadmill workout. It was demoralizing. Just over a month ago I was pounding out 6 or 8 miles on the tread, gloating about how easy it had become. Yesterday, a measly 5K seemed daunting. I was tired by 2 miles. Even though I have tried to keep my fitness up with cross training, all the swimming and stationary bike riding in the world hasn't seemed to keep my running fitness at the same level.

Here's what I AM learning. Crosstraining is good. For so long during my marathon training, I did nothing but run, run and run some more. I think more than anything, that contributed to my injury. I thought I could just run and that would be enough. I am learning that even though the swimming and biking don't exactly work me in the same ways, it's better for my body to have some "other" training. Working different muscles in different ways is helping me to become stronger overall. Taking a step back from running during the past month and a half has really shown me the benefits of being less narrowly focused.

I'm also learning that the way you naturally run is not the way you always have to run. During PT, I've been doing some 'gait retraining' and it's actually working. I am running with a slightly wider stance so my feet are landing more square beneath my hips, my arms are swinging straight and my upper body and pelvis aren't twisting. It has taken almost a month to make even small changes, but the adaptations are starting to become habitual and I know the improvements will help me down the road. Literally!

Setbacks happen. You fall down, you have to get back up and keep going, even if you have to go much slower for a while. The fact that this is the first time I've REALLY encountered a big setback just means I've been lucky. Even though I'm not running as much as I'd like to be, I feel stronger overall, more relaxed about my running, and optimistic about moving forward. Slower than I'd hoped, but forward nonetheless. And today's treadmill 5K felt good. Really good. Next time I think I'll do 3.5 miles.

Still recovering, warts and all

Post 26.2, I am still recovering from a hip flexor strain that caused a secondary issue with my piriformis and some tendonitis. Not only that, but I have finally lost all the toenails that I ruined during the long miles of training and the race itself. In spite of being fitted multiple times for correct shoes, having a sock consultation, and getting my overall running form evaluated, I still lose toenails. I was basically told it's a biomechanical problem I just happen to be prone to. Swell. So for the record, I have now lost FIVE out of ten toenails. That's HALF. The good news is, they have all completely fallen off now, so at least they don't look like mangled nasty messes anymore. They just look...gone.

In spite of missing all those toenails, it's summer in Southern California, and it's hot. And when I'm not in running shoes, I pretty much live in my Rocket Dog flip flops. That is not changing, no matter how self-conscious I get about my less than elegant, non-pedicured toes. I hope that my friends know me well enough to overlook this social/fashion faux pas. I found an amusing post from the "Ask Miles" files at Runner's World that addressed this issue:


DEAR MILES,
Q: I've lost a few toenails thanks to running. Is it impolite to wear sandals around nonrunning friends?
A: Are they new nonrunning friends? If so, yeah, it's kinda rude. If they're friends who know you all too well, it's fine.

(http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267-270-13549-0,00.html?cm_mmc=beginner-_-2010_07_14-_-beginner-_-ASK%20MILES%3a%20'Should%20I%20Tip%3f'%20)

Thank goodness. And to all my new nonrunning friends, I hope you're not squeamish or a member of the fashion police. Because this is me. Warts (and missing toenails!) and all.

Rehab and muscles I didn't even know I had

I know this blog is supposed to be about running, but since injury is pretty much a given at some point in almost everyone's running life, I'm going to keep talking about mine. Talking about running right now just makes me grumpy because I'm not doing it, anyway!

At physical therapy last Friday, my therapist made a new discovery. My Piriformis Syndrome is not my primary problem. It's a secondary problem to a really tight, spasming psoas major. What the heck is THAT, you might say (because that's exactly what I said.) In short, it's a deep, high hip flexor muscle that allows you to lift your knee. Mine was so tender that when my PT touched it, I just about shot through the roof of the building. It's so tight that it has literally pulled my pelvis out of alignment, which is why my piriformis on that side was working much harder than it should've, leading to the problem I have there. Once that was discovered, I had to do a whole new set of exercises and stretching, and I left PT on Friday barely able to walk at all. The good news is, I'm feeling much better today, and I'm hopeful that now that we've really gotten to the root of the problem, we'll be able to speed along the recovery process.

In the meantime, I'm not supposed to be running more than 4 miles at a time, and I have promised to stop at any point during a run if anything starts to hurt. My PT actually said he wasn't going to tell me NOT to run, although he'd prefer I didn't. He said he knew if he said that, I would just run anyway and not tell him. He'd rather he gave me some limitations and have me be honest about my activity. I am trying to do more on the bike, elliptical and pool. I'm trying aqua jogging out, and that's a nice alternative so far, though NOT THE SAME as running. I miss running!!! Hoping to be back at it in full force soon!!

Physical Therapy

I can already tell I have I'm going to have a love/hate relationship with physical therapy. I LOVE that someone totally GETS exactly what my problem is. Where it hurts and how it hurts and when it hurts. My PT absolutely understands. The massage and trigger release therapy he did was AWESOME. I didn't have to keep telling him where it hurts, he knew exactly. The stretches he showed me where also amazing and felt so good. I'm cool with doing them. The strength training portion was not terribly fun, though. It made me hurt. The nerve manipulation was also not fun. It hurt. And I am not a fan of the TENS unit, although some people tell me they enjoy the sensation.

Overall, some of it is great and some of it is not so great, but in the end, I have been told that Piriformis Syndrome is manageable and they can definitely decrease my pain. I'm all for that. They do want me to keep my running mileage really low, which is good because at least they aren't telling me NOT to run, but rotten because I'm antsy to get back up to higher mileage again. I also have orders to avoid hill training or speedwork for the time being. Ugh. I have to be patient and work through this, but I am finding I am not a very good injured runner. Swimming, walking, stationary bike at the gym, it all feels like a waste of my time...time I could be spending running!

On another positive note, my PT also told me that I might want to consider some different running shoes since I never had problems prior to switching to the Mizunos. That may or may not help, but it certainly is worth a try, he said. New running shoes?! YES, please!!! I'm always up for that. Of course, that'll make me want to run all the more...

I think I'll go stretch and ice and Advil myself while I dream about new shoes. And running in them.