Finding new vices: cross training

I have known far too many runners who have continued to run after they are injured and have taken far too long to recover from an injury. Now that I'm injured I am constantly reminding myself of two simple truths: Not running will actually result in a faster recovery and if I run I will have not learned from their experiences. I have to tell you it is very challenging.

As a runner, my identity is tied to the simple fact that I run. Take the running away and I have suddenly lost part of my persona. I feel a little lost emotionally. Also- I really miss my 'runners high'. I find it much harder to get my heart rate up to the aerobic state when I swim, bike, elliptical, etc. I'm jonesing for my fix.

Hopefully I can turn my 'injured reserve' status into something positive. I have been taking my cross training to a new level. I am swimming several times a week and I have bought a new road bike and I am cycling to work, at lunch and on the weekends. It's not as aerobic, it's not as social (you cannot chat as much as when you are running) but you do get a workout and you get to see a LOT of Boulder County that you wouldn't otherwise. Yesterday I cycled out to Erie with a running buddy and saw some spectacular views of the front range. There are also a ton of farms and rural areas that seem to have not changed for a hundred years. (Who knew. Erie?)

Today I'm cycling with some Triathletes for a '90 minute spin'. Not being a regular cyclist, I'm hoping I can not get dropped.

It's too early to say if this cross training will result in me wanting to do a Triathlon this summer, but I can definitely say I'm working on the two things that have intimidated me about the Tri: The swim and the bike.

I once said I would never to a Marathon. 5 marathons later I know that I should never say never.

Ohio Marathon

After I got my 'SI' joint unlocked I had an additional problem of my muscles around the joint being sore from over use. The SI joint is the Sacroiliac Joint between your pelvic bone and the base of your spine. Basically, my chiropractor cracked this joint after heat and muscle therapy. After that my muscles around the joint needed to recover as they were over worked. I went back for 2 more sessions of heat, eSTIM (electronic muscle massage), and acupuncture to loosen up these muscles to help them recover quicker. I asked my chiropractor specifically if I would cause any damage to my body by running the marathon. He said no, I wouldn't that this was now a muscular issue and I would be able to run it without fear of causing perminant damage.

The good news is that I recovered enough to run the marathon. :) The bad news was I was in pain the entire race. My right gluteus maximus and the muscle that runs up the right side of the spine were tight and talking to me the whole race. My usual mantra during a race is to repeat the time that I want. In this case it would have been, "I can run 3:10.. I can run 3:10". Unfortunately I was not running in prime condition. My mantra for Ohio was, "I CAN finish.... I CAN finish... I CAN."
Up to mile 14 I was doing fairly well. My pace was 7:09 and I felt that if the pain stayed consistent I could actually get a PR even though I was in pain. Then the cramping started. Yes. Mile 14. I had gu at mile 5 and 10 and I was switching from water to Gatorade at the aid stations which seemed to be close to every mile. The temp was a crisp 45 degrees. I don't believe I was dehydrated. I had run (2) 21 milers and I had run 24 miles over 18 hours for the Colorado Relay. I did feel that I had trained appropriately. But cramping at mile 14 just seemed unfair. It was a sharp muscle spasm in my left quad. It lasted about 20 seconds and was gone. I thought that was not bad. I can handle that every now and again..... It's funny how you lie to yourself in a marathon. I knew perfectly well that it would only get worst, but somehow I was able to block that thought out of my head and focus on the positive: I'm running well and I'm not in that much pain. Well, naturally the cramping got worst and spread to both legs. For a while I was actually laughing at my gait as my left calf cramped up and was causing my leg to kick out at every stride. A little monty python 'silly run'. I was counting the miles. At mile 23 I got very upset as the sign looked like it read 22 with the light coming in from behind it. I almost stopped running thinking I would never make it 4.2 miles. Luckily it was 23, I could see it more clearly as I passed it. 3.2 miles is much easier than 4.2. "I CAN finish... I CAN finish" I told myself. As I passed runners who were stretching or puking I kept on trucking. Slow and steady. I didn't want any record time, I just wanted to finish without stopping. My pace slowed, but I managed to keep rolling. Pretty soon I was at mile 24. 2.2 miles is less than 20 minutes, I can run 20 minutes with a hangover. This is nothing. Then 25 miles. The crowds started to grow and the banners started to indicate the end was near. 25.5 turned a corner and suddenly we were in town and near the finish. I even tried to push the pace a little 26!! I heard my garmin ring. I knew that the finish line had to be around the next corner, and having walked it the day before I knew that it was downhill. Then suddenly it was over.

3:24:05

Only 5 minutes slower than my PR time. Not bad considering I was in pain.
1 week later my glut is still sore and I still cannot put all of my weight on my right leg. (So I support myself when I put my pants on). The pain is dull, and I don't notice it unless I do specific things, but still it is amazing I was able to make it through the marathon.

Now I want to train for a spring marathon. My running group has Huntington Beach set for the spring, but I have already run it. ?

On to Ohio

This last week has been a little bit of a roller coaster. After last Sunday I was in so much pain I questioned whether I could actually run 26 miles in 2 weeks. I saw my doctor who told me I had a sprain of a muscle connected to my pelvis, and that I should recover naturally and be ok to run. I then went to a Chiropractor who told me my 'SI' joint. The sacroiliac joint. This is the joint between your spine and your pelvis bone. He gave me heat treatment and put a bunch of electrodes on my lower back and buttock and put turned the machine on. What a surreal experience. All of your muscles start twitching uncontrollably. Apparently when your muscles are 'tight' or inflamed they can stay that way until they have been worked out. (Messaged) or worked out by being used. So they have this device that makes your muscles spasm. It does not feel natural, and when they crank it up it feels like a mild form of torture. After 15 minutes of this, the chiropractor came back into the room and messaged all of the muscles around my SI joint that had been overworked and tight from over use because of this SI joint problem. He told me that what can happen is that the joint can lock up much like your elbow does on occasion. When your elbow cant open all the way up you need to click it out into the correct position. He then popped my lower back to get this joint moving again. Wow. What a huge different. Literally in that moment I went from 20% recovered to 80%. I could walk on my right leg again with all of my weight and not wince in pain. The last couple of days the pain in the joint has completely gone away, but I have developed tightness in the muscles around this joint.
I ran 8 miles today without paint in the joint and came to the conclusion that I will run the marathon next Sunday. All I need to do now is work out the soreness in the muscles around my lower back and stay healthy. Bring it on Ohio!!

Ohio Taper

I have now done my long runs: 21, 20 and 21 and I am two weeks out from running the Columbus Ohio Marathon. I should feel excitement for my 5th marathon. But the last three races I have felt slighted by weather and bad health. Then last Sunday I ran 15 at about an 8 minute pace trying a pair of Brooks 8 ounce (pacer 4?) racing shoes. Everything was cool until I developed a tweak in my back at mile 12. By the last mile I was in a lot of pain. Then the rest of Sunday afternoon I was limping because of the pain. GRRRRR. Now I'm wondering is the pain that I'm feeling real or imaginary? Am I battling a fear of being healthy enough to run the best race I can? I feel fine, my legs don't hurt, my body is healthy but I have a weird pain in my lower back when I put weight on my foot. ? Very strange.
It is probably just overuse. It does feel better today than it did yesterday. I'm definitely not running long distance in those shoes again. Lesson learned.
I'm going to focus on being as healthy, running the best race I can and enjoying the run for what it is: a pastime. A hobby. This is not anything but something I do for fun, I shouldn't take it so seriously, and I shouldn't get upset if I'm not feeling 100% two weeks out. I have plenty of time to recover from all of the punishment of the training.

Magnolia Road

Today I ran with a fast bunch of dudes along the Magnolia Road. It runs from the back side of the flatirons out towards Nederland and the Peak to Peak Highway. see map here. Basically you are running hills above 8000 feet for 7.5 miles, then you turn around and do it again. Apparantly it is a run that the CU cross country team runs and is described in detail in the book, "Running with the Buffalos." When we were coming back at 2 hours someone made the comment that the Buffalos ran it in 1 hour45 minutes. OMG. I cannot imagine being in that kind of shape. I was sucking wind just to make it back in 2 hours. Running a full minute faster per mile seems impossible. I then turned back and ran another 3 miles solo.

A very challenging and beautiful run.

Marathon Training

I must appologize to the few readers who actually follow my posts. I went on vacation to Europe, then I started a house project and then *poof* CJ disappears. So hopefully I can catch up on my training.

I have done some epic runs in the last two months. (1) 20 Miler from the rez out to Boston, around the plateau and back to the Rez. I think the Boulder Marathon runs most of the same roads I was on. I have also run from Eldorado Canyon State Park up to Walker Ranch, done the loop and ran back. (16 miles and over 4000' elevation gain and loss over all of the hills). I have also run some fabulous runs in Devon England, London and even Paris. (Don't run on the path by the Siene River, the homeless use it as a toilet). Some of the best runs I have had was letting other people in my little Sunday Running group pick the route. I have seen so much of the Area around Boulder where I never would have gone by myself. I STRONGLY recommend letting go and letting others choose the route if for no other reason than you will see new territory.

As far as my training goes I feel strong. (knock on wood). I am a little leaner than I was at this point last year training for Boston. I have run a hell of a lot more hills and I have been keeping up with my speed work (I train with the Boulder Striders). My running Coach, Darren De Rueck thinks I should hit a sub 3:10 in Ohio if I run smart and healthy. (Boston was a let down because I got a cold the week before the run).

This weekend I am running 4 legs of the Colorado Relay for a total of 23 miles over 24 hours. At elevation and with over 3000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Although it isn't exactly 20 continuious miles, I think it will count as my 2nd long run for my Columbus training. We will see how I feel on Sunday morning. If my legs are NOT feeling like I ran a 20 miler, I will take the little doggie out for a 4-8 miles to ensure that I have put in the miles. As I have said before, a lot of your 'training' for a marathon is just convincing yourself that you can put in 26 miles without puking or stopping. I also think that running with lack of sleep is good training for the last few miles of a marathon. MIND OVER MATTER. You need to be able to convince yourself that not only can you run 26 miles, you will, and you will at the pace have trained for. Only 3 more weeks of real training and then it is Taper time!

Hope you guys are running well.

Columbus Ohio

I am taking the plunge. The next marathon will be Columbus Ohio.

After incorporating feedback from athletes, fans and volunteers, the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon and 1/2 Marathon developed a new course for the 2008 event that was well received by the capacity field. The course is still very fast and flat and continues to tour through the best parts of Columbus including Downtown, Bexley, Olde Town East, German Village, Short North, Ohio State, Upper Arlington, Victorian Village and the Arena District...and the addition of Grandview Heights was a big success. View the course pace chart here (note: this is a projected pace chart and should be used as a general guideline).
Download Promo Poster with map
Other highlights of the event:
Walkers and runners have a combined start at 7:30 a.m. near the corner of Broad and Third St. The combined start alleviates congestion in Bexley where the runners met up with the walkers in the past.
The course travels through Grandview Heights at approximately mile 21 where athletes and spectators enjoy this new scenic addition to the course with its boutiques, restaurants and coffee shops featuring a great view and plentiful seating. View a map of the 2009 Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon Course: Google map PDF map
View a map of Celebration Village: Google map
Note: There are 21 aid stations with water and Gatorade Endurance Lemon Lime formula; additionally, there will be two energy gel stations at approximately 7 miles and 15 miles.