Game on, again

After failing the 16 mile long run and nursing a hurting knee through Monday, I woke up last Tuesday pretty sick. I spent all day Tuesday and half of Wednesday in bed. I worked a few hours of Wednesday from home, and returned to the office. However, I didn't feel good enough to run or work out all week. So, I went into this week's long run after a week off.

I was cautious. I did a 6:1 times run/walk, took ibuprofen before the run and at mile 8. I'm very happy to say that it went well. I ran most of the first 8 with Meg and the second 8 with Coach Mike, who is pulling for me to finish the race. I finished all 16 miles and felt so good at the end that I debated tacking on an extra two. Ultimately I decided not to press my luck. With my success this past weekend, I've decided that I will line up at the start at the Detroit Marathon, and will give it my best. If excruciating pain happens and I don't finish, I've vowed not to beat myself up about it. But I will start, and I am hopeful.

The rest of the weekend was fun! Saturday night N and I went out. I enjoyed some great scrapbooking time. I am SO CLOSE to finishing my niece's album. It will definitely be finished in time to take to the Detroit. I've had so much fun scrapping recently. N and I have had great fun talking about scrapbooking and learning from each other. I've been reading scrapbooking blogs again and browsing layouts on scrapbook.com. Another joy has been my Slice. Before I got it, I occasionally cut out words and shapes by hand. I knew I would appreciate a machine that would do that for me, but I did not know how much I would appreciate it. I've used it on almost every page since I got it. I just keep finding new ways to incorporate its goods on my pages. What did I do before?!? I am officially a huge fan. I would love to post pictures, but I don't want to spoil the "reveal" of my niece's album before giving it to them.

Tonight Meg and I went for a really fun run. It was short (2.6 miles) and FAST. It's becoming windy, that wind that sets in during the fall and stays through the thaw. It's still nice though--temperatures in the 50s and 60s through the day. It was great weather, a nice neighborhood, and of course a great running partner. I had such a good time. Then we downed cheeseburgers. Good stuff.

Mileage update--looks like I'll hit 400 for the year!

331.9 + 16.0 + 2.6 = 350.5 miles

On again, off again

After the 14 mile long run I was feeling encouraged. This week, I'm back to being unsure of the likelihood that I'll enter, much less finish, the race. I am so frustrated.

Last week I very happily plodded through my cross-training and mid-week runs. Saturday was my first (ever!) 16 mile long run. I thought things were going just fine until about mile 12, when, after walking a little bit to talk to one of my teammates, I just couldn't get going again. The outside of my knee hurt, a lot. I stopped and stretched. I tried walking on it for a while. I tried slowly jogging a few times to try to stretch the tendon back out and get going again. It just wasn't happening. So I sadly walked back to our starting area and made note of my miles for the day: 12.6 out of an attempted 16.

I am so frustrated, and more than a little bit disappointed. It's made worse by the fact that I also didn't run today because the outside of my knee is still a bit tender from Saturday.

I am going to try again this weekend, one last time. If I'm even going to attempt the race, this coming weekend has to work out. I'm amending the game plan: ibuprofen at the start and at mile 8. Timed 6:1 run/walk...as in, I will actually wear a watch, and will police myself from the very beginning, no matter how frustrated I get with the pace. That's the plan. If it doesn't work, I will go to the race to cheer for my new teammate, Nick, who just moved here with his wife from Michigan.

So, the saddest mileage update ever:

316.2 + 3.1 + 12.6 = 331.9

On to happier things! I'm going to go scrapbook for a while before bed. This trip to Detroit includes a LONG overdue delivery of my niece's first year scrapbook.

On the mend, looking forward

Good news--the new plan seems to be working. I successfully ran 14 miles this Saturday and felt good afterward. The combination of the sleeve and ibuprofen mostly, with stretching and ice on the side, seems to be doing the trick. Who knew it would be so simple?! The hard part at this point will be getting crazy fit again in short order. Before this weekend, it had been four weeks since my last 14 milers. The 14 this weekend happened, and I'm pleased with how it went, but I did not feel as strong as I did 6 weeks ago. Moving forward, I'm planning 16 for this weekend, 18 for the following weekend, then 12 and 6 for the last two weeks before the marathon.

An update on miles shows that I've finally broken the 300-mile mark! I feel compelled to add here too that part of my recuperation includes switching one more mid-week run to a cross-training day, so while I'm working out just as much (and just as intensely), my total miles will be lower while I finish working through my IT band issues.

284.5 + 1.4 + 9.2 + 3.0 + 14.0 + 4.1 = 316.2 miles

On things not running-related:
This past weekend Elliot did something that amazed me. On Saturday afternoon, he walked into our mud room, picked up my running shoes and brought them to me. He waved them at my feet and put them on top of my feet like he wanted me to put them on. I thought he just wanted to see them on, so I put one on to model for him. He picked up the other one and waved it at me, so I put it on too. As I did that, he walked to the back door and grabbed the door knob (he can reach it, but can't turn it yet). I had no idea that he a) understood that he can't go outside alone, b) understood that you have to put your shoes on first, and c) understood the doorknob. Of course, he's never gone out alone or without shoes (beyond our driveway), and he can't use the doorknob himself, but it was his putting together the whole process of it that amazed me. It sounds so simple, but it amazed me. I love that kid.

Or not....new plan

I went to the physical therapist on campus today and together we devised a new plan that might get me to race day. The new training schedule looks like this:

Monday--EASY run (I mean it this time...I've learned)

Tuesday--cross-train

Wednesday--easy run (no more track workouts for me)

Thursday--rest/stretch

Friday--cross train

Saturday--long run (as much as possible)

Sunday--rest/stretch

This will be done with the help of Ibuprofen and ice massages for the swelling, stretches for the muscle, and a sleeve of a thing to go over my knee.

In the spirit of getting started, I did 30 minutes of pretty fast-paced cardio using our Eye Toy Kinetic. We bought it a few years ago and always had trouble using it in our living room. Fortunately, it works much better in the entertainment room in our basement, so I'm using it down there. After the workout I did some of the stretches I got at PT today. If all goes well, I'll get back on schedule day-by-day next week. Wish me luck!

taking a week off

I thought that if I did a walk/run, I could get through my 16 miles this weekend. I tried. I made it through 8 miles and later wished I hadn't even done that. The knee is not better. So as an extreme act of preservation, I'm taking the week off. Through all of this, I have appreciated an amazingly supporting team. Two of them offered contact info for a massage therapist. Another brought a foam roller for me to try out. There has been a lot of support and encouragement, and I have appreciated it a lot.

Adding Wednesday and Saturday miles:

273.0 + 3.5 + 8.0 = 284.5 miles

In other news, yesterday I went to my first crop (marathon scrapbooking party). I was there for 9 hours and finished 6 pages. I had a lot of fun!! It was fun to see the younger girls there (high school age). There wasn't much to do in my town when I was a teenager, so seeing them made me realize what a nice, safe option it was for teens. Damaris schooled me on adhesives. I learned how much Jaymie loves embellishments. I saw the incredible range of tools people have. There was an entire table of Cricuts!I hope to go to another one sometime.

A bump in the road...

Metaphorically, of course. Otherwise, in Illinois, we'd call it a hill. Here's the deal: some time between Rock & Roll and the 14 miler, my right knee started bothering me. At first it wasn't much, so I decided to largely ignore it and hope it would go away, as aches and pains often do. It got worse. So much so, in fact, that what I didn't say in my last post is that after the 14-miler, I went home and soaked in a tub of the coldest water my house could produce. I actually carried a bucket of ice to the bath tub with me before deciding that the water was cold enough on its own. It hurt through an otherwise fabulous 3.4 mile run with Meg last week (area we don't usually run! beautiful weather! good venting!). It hurt enough for this past Saturday's long run (scheduled for 9 miles) that I ran-walked 6.6 miles and called it a day. I ran 3.9 miles tonight, came home to a bag of ice, and it still hurts 2+ hours later. The IT band across my right knee is furious.

I am seeking help. I have a marathon to run in less than 2 months and I really, really want it to happen. I'm going to a highly-recommended therapist on Wednesday, and plan to see my doctor on campus, hoping for a referral to the sports medicine clinic on campus. I will be icing regularly, and may look into getting a foam roller. If anyone out there has successfully emerged from IT band issues, please advise me! This sucks.

On the bright side, the weather here recently has been really something to write home about. Summer only got hot for portions of two weeks this year. It's starting to feel like fall. My officemate said today that he's a bit miffed at nature for not coming through on delivering summertime, but I think it's been great. The beginning of fall makes me want to bust out good fall clothes, for both running and work. It makes me crazy for Penn State football. It makes me want to bake until I run out of flour and sugar. We have some warm days left, but fall is giving us notice.

251.8 + 5.3 + 2.0 + 3.4 + 6.6 + 3.9 = 273.0 miles

Mileage hike

Not much for this post other than an update on miles:

235.2 + 2.6 + 14.0 = 251.8 miles

My first 14-miler of the season was this morning. I ran the first 8 by myself then the last 6 with Coach Mike. I held my normal Saturday pace for the first 8. The last 6 slowed down a little bit overall, but not too much. I walked about .7 miles of it. It was pretty hot and humid out, so speed just was not happening. The 2.6 miles posted here was an early morning run yesterday. It was mostly for recovery from Wednesday--work out the stiffness, keep everything limber and in shape for today's long run.

We've had a lot of fun events here recently. Last night we met up with friends who have moved away and were in town for the state fair. It was great to see them and to have Elliot spend time with them. Thursday night was the Team victory party for all the Rock & Roll participants. I'll post a picture when I get one.