Today's run was a little off the course - I went to Towson U. track for some work and ran for while there before heading back home. The run from Towson to Mount Vernon is really fun and I should try this again. The track at the Johnny Unitas stadium is the best I've seen in the neighborhood. Highly recommended. Today's run was 11 miles @ 8:25 min/mile.
The past few days have been super-busy not only due to work deadlines but also due to the recent move to my new house. I'm still living out of boxes but running as usual; mostly around the Fort area. A summary of the week that has been:
Sat - Moving
Sun - 19.2 @ 7.9 min/mile
Mon - 7.5 @ 8.0 min/mile
Tue - 8.3 @ 7.7 min/mile
Wed - 7.5 @ 7.3 min/mile
Today - 4.0 @ 8.0 min/mile
Spent yesterday and today doing recovery runs:
Monday - 3 mile @ 8 min/mile + 30 min bike
Tuesday - 6.5 miles @ 7.3 min/mile
This is a busy week. I have a conference deadline on Thursday and I'm moving from my current apartment by end of this week to a nice comfy house in Mt. Vernon. Lot of boxes left to pack!
Picture this:
This was my first trail race and I had no idea what to expect. I did not get any trail shoes since most of the surface was crushed limestone gravel. Trail running is a different beast. For almost the entire run you are alone, except the stunning views Mother Nature provides. "This is where wallpapers come from", was my thought as I ran through the course.
This the second time this marathon is being held. Credits to the organizers for pulling off a nice race but hope that next time the volunteers will be more prepared -- a lot of times it appeared they had no idea. Also if you are running this race (highly recommended), it's a good idea to carry your own supplies. The only thing you can rely on is water and watered down Gatorade. Oh, they also had bananas and whole apples at the aid stations if you had time to stop and munch!I'm a sucker for distance and have hated doing tempo runs; probably because I started running naturally and never began running with a "training plan". In fact, the first marathon (SF) I ran was an impulsive decision made just weeks before the actual date when I overheard someone talk about how excited they were for the upcoming marathon. I thought, I've been running for fun as long as I can remember; how difficult can this be? With that thought I registered. I was wrong. I did finish the marathon but was completely unsatisfied. At the finish I was all exhausted, and a well meaning doctor at the medical tent said to me, "You won't do this again. Will you?". I replied, "Of course, I will" with a grin that failed to mask my pain. Everyone says your first marathon is a life changing experience. It was in my case but in a different way. I already had the love for running but after my first marathon, I started approaching running with an academic vigor. I read, and still continue to do, everything I saw about nutrition and training.
I still dislike following a training plan as it sucks the fun out of running, and as consequence I don't have "tempo run" days. Fortunately, I discovered that I could mix tempo runs in my distance workouts. Later a friend told me that this was called a "Fartlek". I thought he was joking. Thank god for fartleks. This is also a great way to get rid of the late afternoon sluggishness. I got some quality workout today at the JHU track playing "human fartlek" :-)
At the time of this writing, I have logged a bit over 685 miles in 2010. Just wondering how many donuts I could have burned in the process? After a bit of Google search and a little back of the envelope calculation it turns out to be around 359 donuts till now. That's slightly more than three donuts a day. 359 donuts, just the thought makes me bristle!
(Assuming plain donuts with 185 calories per donut. Don't forget to factor your average pace and body weight.)
Highlights:
Thanks to a friend, Genevieve, I got an entry into the Cherry Blossom this year. I had no idea about the history of this race when I signed up for it; it's been around for 38 years and is a popular tune-up race before Boston. This is also the first time I ran a 10 mile race. The weather was great and I enjoyed the race like it was a fun training run. I found this race better organized than the National Marathon right from the expo to the facilities at the start/finish line. Every race, I find one running poster from the cheering spectators stand out from the rest. This race it was "Run like you stole something!"
Not only was the expo good but I also got to meet Bill Rodgers in person. Bill is one of my running heroes and seeing the man in person was a pilgrimage like experience. For the 10-15 minutes we talked, I walked away with some great trail running tips and a sense of awe.
Injuries are best recognized early. Last weekend, I noticed a pain in my glutes during a long run that I had never experienced earlier. The pain was so severe that I had to cut short my long run to 12.5 miles. As a seasoned runner, it's easy to distinguish between discomfort and pain. Discomfort is what we runners long for; if you don't feel the discomfort towards the end of your training runs, you're not training hard enough. Part of the training experience is running through discomfort. But pain is an entirely different story. Running through a pain is reckless and often an invitation to injuries. One of the reasons I avoid taking NSAIDs and other pain killers during runs is that they suppress this vital signaling system in our body. If you're in pain your body is telling you there is something wrong and you better listen to it.
I had a tough time putting a finger on this pain. With Google as my sports therapist, I was trying to find what running injury can make you feel as if you have a golf ball pressing against your butt when you sit and can cause severe pain when you run. I went through the inflammation symptoms of every muscle in the hip and glutes and finally narrowed it down to the Piriformis muscle. Reading more about Piriformis Syndrome only confirmed it. Inflammation of this muscle will apply pressure on the Sciatic nerve and hence the pain. Of course, Google can never replace professional medical help but given the state of my grad school health insurance this was my first instinct.
With that plausible diagnosis, the suggested course of action is:
1. Stop running for a few weeks
2. Stretch the Piriformis
3. Seek medical help if it becomes worse
Not running is unthinkable. I don't remember when was the last time I did not run continuously for days together. I prefer to tread cautiously. I have significantly lowered my training volume this week (from 65-70 to 30) and that seems to be helping. But what really helps are the stretches. I've never been a fan of stretching but I can swear by this one. I am doing stretches in this video religiously now.
I took a detour from my usual Fort route to Fleet Street today. What an awesome weather!
