A tale of two injuries

I've spoken to some experienced runners about running with injuries. They've all said it's much better to take a break than further exacerbate the problem. I'm an impatient person so following that advice has been hard but it has paid off. After trading two days running for two days of upper body training I was feeling good enough to run on Wednesday. Today I stepped it up by increasing my pace but I didn't push it. Happily, at the finish of my run my muscle pull was unnoticable.

My wife has also been managing a workout related injury that reached the point where backing off became a necessity but not a cure. After two weeks of increasing pain in her shoulder her doctor diagnosed a large calcium deposit. Calcium deposits are common for athletes and the treatment is usually a cortisone shot and rest. What I didn't know about this condition is how painful it can be. A website wryly described it this way: "Calcium deposits will not kill you, but the pain will make you wish it will." Through my wife's suffering over the last few days I can certainly attest to that.

Now that I know the value of taking breaks from running I will try to do it more often. I don't fear the pain of injuries as much as a possible setback in conditioning. That's something I need to get past.

Recovery run

I have been hampered with a slight leg muscle pull so I've backed off on runs since Sunday. After two days of upper-body only workouts I decided to run this morning but maintain a more moderate pace. I was concerned that after two days off I'd feel underconditioned and that the layoff would impact my performance. In fact the opposite was true. I actually needed to rein in my efforts and (for safety) maintain a slower pace than I felt I could handle. Although it felt great I stopped after 1.5 miles to head off further aggravating the injury. I certainly could have handled much more distance and I felt much stronger at the one mile mark than I ever had before. My leg felt no worse for the run but I needed to be careful.

So today was a lesson for the Emerging Runner. I learned that one or two days break from running actually helps performance and stamina. I no longer feel that skipping a day is a challenge to my committment or a setback to conditioning. I will try to incorporate a more balanced program and include skip days (every beginner's running guide recommends them but I thought I knew better). Although my 5K is still far off I've been thinking about my approach to conditioning for race day. I'm definately thinking about not running the day before. Maybe even skipping two!

Blogger Bugging Out

I noticed some page elements are missing and other items like the 5K countdown are not working. I hope this will be fixed soon.

Update - all elements appear to be operational as of 8:14 PM

Fitness equilibrium - what's your natural weight state?

After four months of focusing carefully on diet and training I believe I have reached my equilibrium point. Based upon my normal workout routines, nutrition choices and portion sizes I have stabilized my weight. Only if I consciously change my diet and/or increase the level of my routine will I further reduce my weight. Now the question is, "What do I really want?" According to the BMI calculators I am in the category of Normal. I have a friend who watches his diet and runs over 40 miles a week and his BMI score is Obese. He sure doesn’t look it.

I don't have the time to exercise more frequently but I can increase the intensity of my workouts and runs. I should probably do that anyway to increase strength and performance. I could eat less but why? If I eat the same and work out more intently will my weight go up because I'm building more muscle mass? If my weight does increase will I care? Is it worth thinking about everything you eat to maintain a weight that could not be achieved through a healthy diet and normal exercise?

I will benchmark this to see how things go over the next few months with no change in diet but a modest increase in workout effort. I really don’t care about my weight as long as my HDL, LDL, triglyceride and blood pressure levels are normal. Maybe it is time to buy that HRM watch.

A new way to use the elliptical

A combination of pushing too hard and stretching too little this weekend aggravated a muscle in my leg. My wife told me I should skip today's exercise but I just couldn't. Mondays are elliptical days for me and although I felt it had less impact on my muscle strain than running I decided not to use it for my legs. Instead, I straddled the elliptical machine but only worked the arms. Unlike the normal use where resistance is minimal at the first level, this experience was more akin to cross country skiing. Increasing the resistance made the effort very challenging. I ended up doing 15 minutes which was enough to get my heart rate up for a while. It wasn't the same amount of exertion as running but today was scheduled to be a light to moderate workout. Besides that, my upper arms are not used to working that hard and I didn't want to pull a muscle there either. I had not heard of anyone using the elliptical this way but I plan to use it for upper arm training even after my short break from running.

The Emerging Runners hit the track

Yesterday afternoon, after I recovered from my early morning run, I went to the high school and ran with my son and daughter. They did great and my son was able to run 1/2 mile without a break. My daughter also ran well and she kept going much longer than the last time. We covered about a mile overall and everyone slept well last night.

This morning I returned to the track and ran about 2 1/2 miles. I have a slight muscle pull so I cut it shorter than yesterday's workout. There were other runners on the track and I passed a guy who was about a half lap ahead of me when I started. So that felt good. His wife was also running and she was faster. I didn't pass her but I was able to maintain about the same pace. My overall pace was 9:34 but I was doing an 8:13 mile at the 1 mile point. I was happy to see that my Sportband was recording accurately after yesterday's recalibration.

Green running

Runner's World magazine recently did a great article about the impact of running on the environment. Worth a read.

A pretty good (but freezing) run

This morning was pretty cold but I decided that I would brave the weather and run outside. Instead of my usual weekend neighborhood run I decided to go to the track. I tried to anticipate how cold it would be and wore three long sleeve running jerseys under a lightweight running jacket and lined running pants. I also brought my fleece hat and gloves.

As I drove toward the school I had to move into the center of the road to avoid hitting two runners who decided to run side by side up a very busy street in the same direction as the traffic. I couldn't believe those guys and I hope they didn't get hit.

When I got to the track I saw a couple of people running. They were bundled up much more than me, both were wearing hoods and hats that covered most of their faces. The other runners seemed miserable and I figured that they overdressed and were paying for it or they were just pushing too hard. I began my run feeling really good. The sun had come up and it didn't feel cold at all. As I came around the second curve the wind hit me straight on. It was painfully cold and difficult to maintain speed. I realized then why those other runners dressed that way. Note to self: Buy a running balaclava.

I toughed it out and ran 13 laps, the equivalent of 3.25 miles. My Nike+ Sportband was off by quite a bit (32%) and reported that I ran 4.84 miles (see above) which calculated to a pace of 6:58/mile. Not quite. With the wind I was pleased with my true pace, calculated by MapMyRun at 10:24. I felt I could have pushed it another mile but the wind was picking up and I really didn't like how my face was feeling. I may return with my son later, hopefully it will warm up by early afternoon. In the meantime I will try to recalibrate the Sportband. It's been very accurate against the treadmill speed and distance but on an actual track, not so much. Maybe I do need a GPS watch.

The Emerging Runner's Guide to Weight Loss

After 3+ months of focusing on fitness through running and exercise I am convinced that the only reasonable way to maintain a healthy weight is to do the following:

1. Eat smaller meals and less sugar.
2. Exercise moderately as many days a week as possible.
3. Repeat forever.

That will be $24.99. Or $9.99 if you are reading this on a Kindle.

Seriously, I've seen some great benefits from running including a much higher energy level and lower levels of stress. Though my goal at the start was to reduce my LDL and Triglyceride numbers I have also brought my weight down to a level I'd not seen since the late 80's. Now I need to deal with that. I have to either get new clothes or have all my pants and suits altered. But I would rather run five miles uphill in the heat than go clothes shopping. So I guess there is a downside to this after all.

Running gear

According to runningusa.org there are about 8 to 16 million "frequent" runners in the US. It's a huge market for clothes and other gear. The Running USA website has some interesting statistics about the demographics of runners and what they buy. That said, I wonder why it's so hard to find a place that sells crew length running socks. I can't be the only one that wants them. On the subject of running clothing, a member of the Emerging Runner advisory board told me today about an interesting website: steepandcheap.com. It's an auction style site run by Backcountry.com, an outdoor clothing manufacturer. Every 20 minutes they put up an item that you can purchase at a substantial discount but only during the period the item is active. Looks addictive.

143 days and counting...

I officially registered for the 5K race so there's no turning back now. The cost to enter was modest but the psychological cost (should I end up not participating) would be much greater. So I'm committed. Plus I'd get a t-shirt! I was very happy to see that the race starts at 8:00 AM so it should be relatively cool in early May.

I mentioned this race at lunch today to a friend who happens to be an accomplished runner. He was surprised that I'm not doing a race sooner than May. His point is that I am capable of runnning a 5K now and there are a lot of other races between now and May '09. He made a good point. If I come across a local 5K in early 2009 that looks interesting I may be tempted to do that. In the meantime I'm focused on May 2nd, 8:00 AM.

Improving my 5K pace

Instead of merely getting through my morning run today I concentrated on maintaining a faster pace. As I gear up for my first 5K (144 days from now) my focus has been on increasing my distance and duration rather than speed. I think we all have a natural pace where we run without thinking about running. I'm guessing this is why most people run, to reach a state where exercise and enjoyment come together. This morning was not one of those times. I started out at a 9:55/min pace as a warm up and brought up my speed to the point where I finished with an average pace of about 9:15. I have run faster than that – in fact I once did a mile in about 7:50 but I haven't come close to that time again. This leads me to think that I never really attained that pace in the first place, perhaps my Nike+ Sportband was not properly calibrated. By the way, it appears as though Nike is no longer listing the Sportsband on their online store. I hope they decide to fix the problems with this unit rather than give up on it. There's nothing else out there that provides the same utility for anything close to its $59 price. The alternative is to use the Nike+ sensor with an iPod but since many (including myself) don't own an iPod or like to listen to music while running it's an unsatisfactory solution. Besides that, an iPod costs a lot more than the Sportband.