Life according to runners

Now that I am back into full swing running, I can't remember what I did to fill my time when I wasn't. Running once again dominates most of my discussions (at least the important ones) and is a major factor in many everyday life situations. It seems that life revolves around running, preparing to run, and recovering from running.

When runners drive down streets, they analyze the street in terms of its "runability". I'm guilty of this, scoping out shoulders, sidewalks, traffic patterns, hill grades, blind spots, potential water bottle hiding spots, scenery, and proximity to connecting streets to make a decent loop. Last weekend I had a memorial service to attend, and we drove down the neighborhood where my mother grew up and where I spent many many days of my childhood. As she reminisced about growing up in the house, my response was, "This would be a great neighborhood to run a few miles". On Tuesday I had to pick up my son from school. Not letting an opportunity go to waste, I showed up in front of the school in my florescent shirt, running shorts, Garmin and water bottle. We drove a little ways down the street until I pulled over, hopped out, and ran the rest of the way home.

When runners (female) purchase beauty products, the number one question is: "Is it sweat-proof?" After a hard lunch run on a mild day last week, my face wasn't cooling down too well. I was sweating like a garden hose and even after I showered, my make up was sweating right back off my face. That's when Kerri introduced me to tinted moisturizer. What a hidden gem! Now I just use that instead of foundation on my running days and I don't have to worry about looking blotchy. While I was at the store purchasing the new moisturizer, I stumbled across "24 hour Color Tattoo" eye shadow. It's like they knew I was coming!

Meal planning is another area that leads to interesting discussion. Runners eat foods that serve a purpose. "What do you feel like having for dinner?" can be answered a number of ways:

1. Something with a good carb-to-protein ratio and no fiber. I have a long run in the morning.

2. Nothing, I have a track workout tonight. But I'll nibble on these almonds and an ounce of cheese before I go. And I'd like some electrolytes when I get home.

3. Nothing but carbs. I have a race tomorrow.

4. Since I'm not running tonight or tomorrow, let's load up on veggies and fiber.

Runners know what it means to go shoe shopping, but this isn't so obvious for non-runners. Here's an excerpt from an actual conversation last week:

Non-Runner (NR): What did you do yesterday?

Me: Went shoe shopping

NR: Oh what did you get?

Me: Got my first pair of Brooks. Defyance 5. Pretty sweet!

NR: Uh... what color?

Me: Pretty much white, with some purple and neon green trim.

NR: Umm... and you like them?

Me: Yes! Roomy toe box, good arch support, very lightweight, good cushion. Nice neutral shoe.

NR: (Blank stare)

Just this afternoon as Jaimee and I prepared for our lunch time run, we realized we both had the exact same shoe! It's cool, because she's a runner. She gets me.

Month in review: Wind, battle scars, and hovercrafts

Hard to believe it’s been over a month since I last wrote!  I really need to work on this, and I have a lot of making up to do!  The last five weeks have been go-go-go, and everything’s starting to come together.  I am now in my fifth month of healing post-surgery, and although I’m making strong progress, I still have a long way to go.  I remember when the surgeon told me it was a 3-5 month recovery and I was so convinced I’d beat that estimate, but the truth was he was spot on.  Now I’m starting to get my running legs back but I have to be super cautious not to add miles on too fast and risk another injury due to carelessness.  Once I finally felt like I was doing enough to justify tracking my miles, I started a new running log.  In some ways it’s hard not to get discouraged by this, because I can’t help but compare my stats to last year (or better yet, the year before).  The good thing about the log though is it shows the progress that I’ve been making post-surgery.  I guess that’s the way I have to measure myself now: BS (Before Surgery) and AS (After Surgery).  Without boring everyone too much with details, here are my AS (After Surgery) stats:

Week 1: Total miles: 4.6  Average Pace: 12:40

Week 2: Total miles: 10.6  Average Pace: 11:40

Week 3: Total miles: 5.5  Average Pace: 11:10

Week 4: Total miles: 12  Average Pace: 10:57

Week 5: Total miles: 10.8  Average Pace: 10:17

Week 6: Total miles: 13.7  Average Pace: 9:40

Making good progress!

Some of my more memorable runs:

Track runs: A few of us have been getting together at the track for nighttime runs.  What a blast this is, trotting around the track in the dark and trying to figure out who is passing you.  And even though I was wearing a Garmin, I couldn’t really see it in the dark and 5 miles flew by in no time!

Windy runs: The weather has been wacky lately, and a couple of my recent runs have been in some serious wind!  Last week Kerri and I ran together at work.  It was unseasonably warm and WINDY!  It seemed like the wind was hitting us in the face no matter what direction we were running.  Then on the way back, the wind was hitting me so strongly from the left that my pony tail was extended straight off to the right!  And then let’s not even talk about how bad the wind was when we passed the pig farm, or when the trash trucks passed us. 

“Running” errands:  My son and I had an appointment on Monday afternoon, and it’s only 3 miles away.  Since he just got his license, it gave me a great idea.  We drove to the appointment together, and then I had him drive the car home while I ran home!  I thought this was a great idea, but for him I don’t know which was more embarrassing: Me showing up in public with fluorescent skin tight running clothes, or him having to drive home in the Prius.  I hope he gets over it, because this is definitely going to become routine!

“I feel like I’m being watched” run: A couple weeks ago I went out for my trail loop in the backyard.  It’s 2.25 miles, and I’ve been trying to get just a little bit faster each time.  On this particular run, I was in the last half mile home where the footing gets a little trickier and it’s uphill, and I naturally start to lose steam.  Suddenly I hear a helicopter over me, and I didn’t think much of it until it got progressively louder and I realized it wasn’t moving forward.  It was just hovering right over me!  At  first I joked in my head that someone was going to jump out of it, then maybe they were going to bomb me, and then I had flashbacks to the Hunger Games book and was convinced I was going to get sucked up into a hovercraft.  I wasted no time looking up to see who it was that was preparing to abduct me and booked it home.  Thanks to that close encounter I managed to shave another two minutes off my previous time!  Later I found out there was an escaped mental patient in the woods and police and SWAT were scouring the woods!  Luckily I didn’t run into him!

A couple other observations: 

During my running hiatus, I forgot about some of the ugliness that occurs with running.  Namely: Chafing and blisters!  The running shoes I had bought just before my surgery ended up giving me a nasty blister.  I brought them back to the store and they gave me replacement liners that had softer edges, but the blister still ballooned.  After a couple successful years with Asics, I just made the transition to Brooks.  So far so good! Comfortable, no blisters, no problems!  But, the damage is done and I'm sporting some ugly dogs at the moment.  I don't think I quite realized the extent of the war zone until I took my socks off at morning yoga on Saturday.  As for the chafing, let's just say I'm in the market for a new sports bra.  And, it's a good thing I'm single.

Upcoming races:

This is definitely not the year to be adding events onto my calendar, but it's fun to have something to look forward to.  I had hoped to be able to do my club's 15k, but it's only a couple weeks away and I'm just not ready for that so I'll be volunteering instead.  However, my friend Joanna talked me into joining her relay team for a "Tornado Alley Relay" in June to benefit towns in western Massachusetts that were hit hard by last year's tornadoes.  It's a good thing I didn't look at the elevation map before I agreed to it!  Let's just say I'll be adding some hill work into my training soon!  And as for long term race plans, I've got my sights on the Disney Marathon, next January!

Further proof of progress:

Breaking news: I can cross my legs! Almost!

It really wasn't the end of the world

Yeah, it's been a while since I've blogged.  Why?  Well...let's call it a combination of work, volunteer work, house work, and oh by-the-way getting in all kinds of good shape on my road to recovery.

Remember how completely depressed I was a few months ago and I couldn't even bring myself to write a blog post?  It was -to use 2012 slang- "legit" the end of the world.  No, really.  Legit.  Day after day I skimmed through Twitter and saw everyone's "I ran 8 miles in 1 hour and felt GREAT!" posts.  I watched my friends continue to run all winter and plan races for 2012, and I felt guilty for feeling jealous.  The hip surgery was massive trauma, and the 3-5 month recovery became an insurmountable obstacle.  I tried to stay positive and filled my time as best as I could with other ways to contribute to the running community, but at times my optimism wavered.  Like the day my jeans didn't fit.  This happened over the course of one day (no, really).  I swear, the jeans fit on Friday.  Then Saturday, they didn't fit anymore.  Neither did my running shorts.  It was very frustrating since there was little I could do to burn calories.

Somehow, throughout all of this depressing trauma, I still managed to start getting to the gym regularly.  Although I couldn't run and couldn't even walk fast, I was able to sweat like an animal on the elliptical.  And while there, why not take advantage of the rest of the equipment and get in a full body workout!  I also continued my physical therapy for as long as my health insurance would cover it, and now I'm facing going forward on my own.  I've been logging my miles, and although it's the end of the world, I have still been managing to average about 20 miles a week of walking and hiking. I've been meeting my running club for our weekly group runs, and although it's the end of the world and I can't run, I was still able to walk the short course.  The funny thing is, people started joining me.  As it turns out, I'm not the only one facing the end of the world, and others are in the same injury-nursing, post-surgery position I'm in.

A couple weeks ago, an older gentleman joined me on my "walking" course at the group run.  He was a blast to walk with, and as a spry 77 year old, he had lots of stories to tell me about the early days of racing, and tales about running marathons in Boston, London, and Dublin.  He was entertaining, but he was also a hustler!  About a mile in he said, "I'm just going to do a little shuffle to the next pole".  I continued to walk behind him as he shuffled along.  We met back up and continued walking together, and then he said, "I'm just going to do a little shuffle up to that mailbox", so I said I'd just follow behind him.  So, on that 20 degree day in January, I did my first "run".  Scientifically I don't think it would actually qualify for a run, because I believe the gait is only considered "running" if there is a point in time in which only one foot is touching the ground.  In other words, it was slow and awkward.  But it was more than a walk, and I felt like a rebel shuffling along against doctor's orders.  My new pal kept pulling me along, each interval going just a bit further, and by the end of the course, we were jogging along at a respectable 10-12 minute mile, and I was smiling like my face was going to crack.  This man was my inspiration on that cold January day, and he's responsible for getting me moving again.  I will forever appreciate that.
The next week, my pal came back, and we again headed out (this time there were 5 of us!) on our walk/run.  This time I wasn't as timid, and I bravely jogged with my much more mature co-shufflers.  On Tuesday this week, I decided to go out on my own and see if I could actually "run".  I walked a quarter mile through the woods to a paved road, and then ran 1 solid mile at a 10 min/mile pace.  What surprised me was how effortless it felt.  It didn't feel like it had been five months since I had run.  I wasn't sore, and I didn't have trouble breathing.  I just...ran.  Granted, I ran with a shortened stride and I certainly wasn't breaking any speed records, but I had to acknowledge that this was the first time since probably last April that I ran without being in pain.  It was pretty freaking exciting.
Feeling pretty confident, on Thursday I decided to really test the boundaries and packed my running bag for work.  At work, I headed out with Kerri at lunch, just like old times, as if it was no big deal, for a little run.  I was of course a little timid about this and if I was alone I would have just stayed within the parking lot.  But, with Kerri's encouragement I went out on the roads.  The most amazing thing was that we went "running".  It wasn't a "walk with a few hundred yards of running".  It was a real run.  It was a slow run, but it was a run, and I ran for 1.5 miles consistently, then took a walk break a couple of times, and completed a 2.9 mile run.  For a "running" debut after 5 months, I think a 3 mile debut is pretty awesome.  (Okay it sounds really great but don't be fooled by my euphoric optimism...I booked an urgent sports massage for next week and I foam rolled three times today).
A few months ago I was convinced it was the end of the world.  I hated my life.  I was depressed, immobile, and no one could convince me that "this too shall pass".  For months I continued thinking this was the end of the world, even as I've made one improvement after another.  Sometimes to just have to step back and see the big picture.  I can complain to my running friends, who will certainly understand and sympathize with my misfortune of not being able to run 10 miles this weekend like I normally would.  But the rest of the world sees someone who recovered from hip surgery, walked earlier than the doctors thought she would, ran sooner than the doctors thought she would, and instead of doing a quarter mile running debut, did a mile.  And then 3.  And this is probably the part of the story where I should mention that (oh by-the-way) have started riding my horse again.  Just 5 or 6 times over the last week or so.  Which is great, because judging by the look on poor Rocco's face, he too thought it was the end of the world.

It’s not the cold, it’s the wind chill

It’s been another successful march towards running, and I’m feeling pretty good.  I’ve continued with my physical therapy, although it was just cut off by my insurance so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep going.  I’ve also kept up with going to the gym (which sometimes requires me to bribe myself with a latte at the Dunkin’ Donuts next door) and I’m continuing to walk as much as I can.  Friday I had a vacation day and spent the afternoon with my friend Joanna hiking in the Douglas State Forest.  The weather started getting pretty wacky with hurricane force winds, hail, and a sharp drop in temperature.  But as they say, “there’s no such thing as strong weather, just weak people”.  Joanna and I weren’t deterred.  We bundled up, kept our heads down, and marched into the wind.

The temperature continued to drop, and Saturday my mother decided it was too cold to ride her horse, so I lured her into hiking with me in the Upton State Forest!  It was just a short three miler, with a wall to climb down and some water to hop over.

Sunday was inhumanely cold.  I was dreading getting out of bed in the morning because I knew I had to go meet up with the running club for our weekly Sunday morning run.  I guessed that a lot of people would bail because of the bitter cold, and I questioned my sanity when I hopped in my car in the 6 degree weather and headed to the run.  I was honestly shocked to see such a huge turnout when I got there!  The house was packed with enthusiastic runners, all preparing to face their frozen fates.  I was getting my gear all sorted out when Anthony came running in the house.  (He had already run several miles before meeting up with everyone).  He came blowing into the house, sweat frozen on his hat, icicles hanging off his ear lobes, and frozen blood dangling from his nose.  This shook my confidence a little, especially since I was only walking and wouldn’t generate enough body heat to warm up.  I headed out on my walk, and the first mile was straight into a headwind.  The sting of the air was brutal, and I periodically wondered if my ear lobes were turning black.  I imagined the people driving by must have thought I was nuts walking in this weather.  Eventually I made it to a trail, where I spent the next 3 miles sheltered from the wind.  That made a huge difference and although my thighs were no doubt turning blue, the rest of my body was fairly comfortable.  Finally, the last mile of the walk back was a tail wind, with a bright warm sun on my face.  By the time I got back to the house 5 miles later the temperature had risen to 12 degrees and if you can believe this, I was actually sweating!

Back at the house all the runners told stories of their runs, into the wind, away from the wind, and how some had to get eye protection to shelter their eyes from the wind.  It’s like we all came back from a war, in the Arctic, and we all had our own windswept stories to tell!  When I got home and looked through the morning news, I found out that although the morning temperature was 6 degrees, it was -15 with the wind chill.  I knew it was colder with the wind in my face!

Miles to go before I sleep

My final act of productivity for this evening is to try updating my blog before I fall asleep.  After the weekend I’ve had, this will be a tight squeeze!

                I’ve gone full swing into resuming many of my activities, and just like before I had gotten injured, I’m documenting all of my activity and constantly trying to outdo myself.  Sure, things are a little different now.  I’m tracking mileage walked rather than mileage ran, and minutes on the bike rather than miles on the bike.  But I’ve also added another column to my tracker for strength training, part of my goal to be a more diverse athlete.

                It’s been great getting back to the gym, but even better has been spending time outside.  Almost every day I have been walking 2+ miles a day on my lunch break, and for the last two weekends in a row I have met my running club for their Sunday morning runs.  (I walked).  That puts my weekly walking mileage at:

Week ending 12/31/11: 16.25 miles

Week ending 1/7/12: 13.25 miles

Not bad considering just weeks ago I was on crutches!  Yesterday I finally felt it was time to incorporate my horse into my walking routine, so I brushed him up, loaded my pockets with cookies, and took him for a walk.  He had a few exciting spaz moves but then settled down into a nice controllable walk.  Rocco became my favorite walking partner, and seemed to enjoy it when I took him out again today.



Will walk for cookies



Rocco’s weekend mileage tally: 3 miles

In other news, I am helping to organize a relay race and had to go measure part of the course.  Honestly, I could have done this a number of ways. 1: have someone else do it. 2: use my car to clock the road portions. 3:  Insist on doing it all myself with a mountain bike.  Naturally I chose option 3.  So yesterday I packed up my mountain bike and headed to the forest.  I felt a little out of practice loading up the bike, and for good reason.  Not only had it been months since I had traveled with the bike, it had been months since I had ridden a bike that was A. not stationary, B. uphill, or C. on gravel.  After a mile my quads were burning.  After two miles my heart was pounding out of my chest, and shortly after that my lungs were on fire.  I stopped after 2.5 miles to catch my breath and seriously contemplated turning back.  But, how would I know how long the course was if I turned back?  Stubbornly I pressed on, and was glad I did because otherwise I never would have seen this goat!



Even the goats were out walking on such a beautiful day



Or these friends!

After my 8 mile debut on the mountain bike, I was spent.  I was so exhausted I almost couldn’t walk myself into bed, and this morning my body protested waking up.  Determined to keep the momentum going though, I headed out this morning to meet up with the running club.  While they all ran, I did a nice 2.5 mile walk around the neighborhood.  When I got home I felt guilty that I walked and Rocco didn’t, so I took him out for another 1.5 mile walk.  Then of course Toby the dog was jealous, so I had to take him for a 1 mile walk. 



Two words: Walk. Me. (Woof)



When I got home from that walk, my mother was jealous that I took Rocco and Toby for walks without her, so then I had to go for another 1 mile walk with her.

Today’s mileage: 6 miles, over 4 separate walks

Now after my “high mileage” weekend, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open long enough to finish this post.  (Confession: I zoned out a couple times).  My legs are tired and sore, but my hip is holding up very well!  I’m feeling very confident that I will be out running, collecting miles, and trotting down the trails in no time.  Robert Frost said it best:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Some things never change

For the second time in a week, last night I went to the gym. Although I've never been a huge fan of the gym, I've always enjoyed people watching. When I was training for half marathons last winter I spent many hours chugging along on the treadmill and got to see some pretty interesting things. I wondered if my limited activity would change my perspective of the other gym patrons, so I entered the gym last night with two goals: 1. exercise, 2. intense people observation. The results: 45 minutes on the elliptical and the realization that most things never change.

For example:

• No matter how out of shape you are, someone will always be in worse shape
• People still read magazines while walking on the treadmill
• Tattooed men still spend a lot of time motionless, looking at themselves in the mirror in the free weights section
• Someone will always move to a different treadmill when they realize the television doesn't work on theirs
• If you scan the room and see one person that you really don't want to come near you, that person will inevitably hop on the machine right next to you. They are usually dipped in a strong cologne.
• If there's only one machine you want to use, and only one other person in the room, that person will most definitely be on that machine
  

Other random observations

• People on ellipticals are madmen. Although almost an entire row of treadmills was empty, the ellipticals were roaring with activity. Nearly every machine was taken and most people seemed very focused on their performance. Naturally I had to put myself in silent competition with my strongly scented neighbor.
• People that walk on treadmills uphill look funny. The steeper they have the incline set, the funnier they look. Especially when it's hiked up so steep that the walker is holding onto the handrails for dear life.
• If you are "running" on the treadmill while holding onto the front handles with a death grip, you probably shouldn't be running. But keep at it, because I want to see what happens when you lose your grip.
• Everyone in general seemed a little more focused than I remember from months ago when I was running on the treadmill. Maybe it's just because I'm slower so everyone looks faster, or maybe it's because everyone's trying to outrun the holiday hams they had over the weekend.

Next year marks the New Year, which is good and bad. Bad because a whole new crop of people will be invading the gym, making it nearly impossible to get the machines I want. Good because it's a whole new batch of people to observe!

I hereby declare myself "lightly active"

Today is the day, I decided.  Today is the day that I transition from “rehab/recovery” to “lightly active”.  This is a big milestone for me, and one thing I’m not going to do is take it for granted.  A couple weeks ago I was feeling almost as optimistic, until I made a failed attempt at hanging out a truck window and thought I might be facing a second surgery.  That was a wakeup call, and I vowed that if I came out of that okay, I wouldn’t take my healing for granted again.  I promised myself that I wouldn’t push anything too far too fast, and I would quit asking when I could ride my horse.

                After that poorly executed move a couple weeks ago, my hip was very very tender.  I had tickets to the Patriots game this past Saturday, and I really started to stress over how well I was going to handle that.  I knew there would be a lot of walking, some stair climbing, an uncomfortable seat, and probably lots of standing up.  Since I promised not to be a hero and to ignore what anyone thought of me, I brought my crutch with me.  It ended up being a great idea and I really feel that it helped save me.  As a result, instead of being sore and virtually immobile on Christmas morning, I felt surprisingly good!



Tailgating at the Pats game! Brrrrr....



                There was only one thing I asked Santa for this year, and that was a new hip.  Now, my mother thought this was a little unnecessary because my hip was fine; it just needed to heal.  So, I revised my one and only request and said I just wanted my hip to heal faster.  Now I can’t exactly prove that he had anything to do with this, but I will say I was feeling pretty springy.  And since “healing faster” isn’t something tangible that I can unwrap, Santa also brought me Zensah compression sleeves for my arms and legs!  I am so excited about this.  I remember the first time Jaimee showed up at our lunch run wearing compression socks and I nearly broke a rib laughing at her.  Wait til I show up in these…

Hot. Stuff.

The only thing that would have made Christmas better was if I could have gone for my annual Christmas morning ride on my horse.  That didn’t happen, but we did get to go for a post-dinner walk with the family!  (Confession…I wore my compression sleeves under my jeans!)

                I woke up this morning feeling really good again.  The really really bad pain I felt from the window-dangling was gone.  The normal hip pain wasn’t bad.  I did a few things around the house, waiting for the pain to show up.  It didn’t.  And that’s when I knew: Today is the first day of good things.  I don’t know how else to explain it.  I know I could face other setbacks and I’m sure I will have a lot more days of pain.  But, today was the first time I didn’t have pain every second of every minute.  Today is the day I knew I could be more active, and I wasn’t going to waste a minute of it.  Today, for the first time in probably six months, I went to the gym.

                Is there any better workout sound in the world than Florence And The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”?  No, there’s not.  Not only is it energizing, but the words seemed to be speaking to me.  I sprinted on the elliptical as I inhaled every word:

Happiness, hit her like a train on a track
…
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

Run fast for your mother run fast for your father
Run for your children for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind you
Can't carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses
'Cause here they come

 (Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over lyrics, 2011)


            I had such a good time grooving to my iPod playlist that before I knew it I had done 45 minutes on the elliptical and worked up a great sweat.  (Which caught me off guard… I was thinking, what is that weird prickly feeling on my face?  Oh…sweat!)  I took advantage of having all the machines handy and got in a full workout, including all the exercises I do at PT.  Today I didn’t feel like someone recovering from hip surgery.  Today I felt like any other gym-goer getting a good workout on the machines.  I walked out of the gym feeling really confident and immediately started planning my next activity.  And now I’m going to go home and do all the barn chores.  And then I’m going to go for a walk.  And then I’m going to brush my horse Rocco.  And then I’m going to take HIM for a walk.  And then I’m going to take the dog for a walk.  And then I’m going to ride my bike.  And then I’m going to …<<STOP!!>>  

                After mentally dope-slapping myself, I toned down my list of afternoon activities.  Well…yes, I did all the barn chores.  And I brushed Rocco, but I didn’t walk him.  I did go for a walk.  I didn’t take the dog.  And I’m not riding my bike.  (Maybe tomorrow).

                The dog days are over, people.  Today is day 1 of going in the right direction.  Now that I’ve healed enough to make the gym worth going to, I’m going to go as often as I can.  In the pursuit of health, and just as importantly: in the pursuit of happiness.

This post is dedicated to the big guy upstairs for helping my hip heal faster.  Yes, Santa, that means you!