Lazy-leg-swagger

For several runs, I've had a lingering dull pain near the upper part of my thigh - borderline groin but it's been hard to pinpoint.

I first experienced this pain during the San Tan Scramble last February...hobbling and humbling, it resulted in my only DNF. Ever.

It has recurred (seemingly randomly) in various situations and distances and despite all my stretching, strengthening and icing I have never been able to figure out what was going on. Until now.

During my run on Saturday, I noticed that as my distance got further and further, my stride changed. Specifically, my right leg got lazy. Instead of pushing my foot straight out in front of me, my lazy leg started to push my foot slightly out to the right. This causes my hips to open up just enough so that my hip flexor and groin have to work a tad harder each stride to propel myself forward and then straighten my hips, knee and foot back in line with each other.

Over several miles, the strain on my hip flexor and groin just caused my right leg to seize up. I really wanted to run some more but it basically said, "No way sucka".

So I conducted a little test for my theory.

My run this morning was focused on keeping good form - throwing my leg straight in front of my knee and limiting the lazy-leg-swagger.

Guess what. No issues. No pain.

I was able to knock out 6 miles with a pretty good pace considering I put 20 in the books the day before.

We'll see if my theory holds up this week.

Does a body good

I was telling my wife last night that it's still hard for me to imagine putting in more mileage than what I'm doing today. I'm not even at the peak of my training and yet, I'm just plain tired.

T.I.D.E. (as Etta would say).

I'm on track for about 65 miles this week but honestly, it feels like a billion. I have to keep reminding myself that I have no basis for comparison...I've never run this much in my life. I had a general idea that it would be hard, but running for 5-7 days in a row is plenty for me. I know what my training schedule says, but it can suck it. I know when to push and when to rest.

Today, I'm resting. And i don't feel bad about it at all.

I didn't do squat because of work last week so the 'jump' in mileage is somewhat artificial. I've got 20 planned on the trail tomorrow morning. My hope is to get that done in about 3.5-4 hours.

The Black Hills 100(k) isn't that far off and I really need to feel better about tackling that distance in the next 5 weeks. I feel feel much better prepared over last year but I am afraid of getting punished by all the elevation change in South Dakota...10,831' of gain to be exact. That is a lot of ouch time.

Thanks for reading.

A weekend off

It is not very often that I "let" myself take a weekend off from running - especially the week before a race. I should be out on the trail about now doing my long run for the week. But I'm not. I pride myself in knowing my body and right now, it's yelling at me...asking for a break.

Rewind to Tuesday.

I had run a half marathon that morning and was feeling surprisingly good. I had a little trouble making it out of bed Wednesday morning for my run so I resolved to take off work a little early and get my mileage done before dinner time.

Wednesday afternoon it was warm, but not overly hot. Still, I left about 3:15 and began knocking out another 13.1 miles. Damn, I felt good. My pace was even faster than the day before and things were going great. There was a point when I felt like I was going to hurl but I figured it was just the heat combined with being hungry.

Turns out it was something more.

I honestly can't say for sure what it was but between the time I left for my run and the time I sat down for dinner 2.5 hours later, something caused me to blow chunks. I'd like to blame it on old Blue Cheese dressing but I was feeling weird even before sitting down to dinner.

I did not eat anything that night - well, I did eat but it didn't stay down. Not even water.

So here we are at Friday and I am feeling 75% and dehydrated. Still.

Besides, the family is heading to Greer Lodge (Greer, AZ) this weekend for some tubing and sledding - I would hate to be run down and sick while I'm supposed to be having fun with my kids.

Have a good weekend. Run hard, run long and have some fun!

Back to work

It still surprises me the impact that antibiotics have on me. I had been on a steady dosage for my strep throat and it just brings me down - not just physically, but mentally as well. If you can imagine taking a pill that makes you fall out of love, that would be the effect antibiotics have on me. I basically lose my zest for life - nothing seems fun and I become the most unmotivated person in the world.

So like any good patient, I stopped taking my dosage half-way through the prescription Guess what. I feel great.

It's time to get back to work and put some mileage on the feet. My first race is less than 6 weeks away and I'm fairly sure I'll be under-prepared but that's OK. The goal is to have fun and enjoy the venue. It will be my first run at the Cave Creek Regional Park.

Giddy-up.

Starting at square one

It has got to be one of the most frustrating elements of training for me - being sick. Going long distances, trying different nutrition...those are easy compared to getting sick and salvaging training after the body has been beat down with some sort of virus or infection.

This week's spotlight sickness - strep throat!! Awesome.

It's been about 4 days now on antibiotics - which means I'm feeling better but still have some lingering fatigue and muscle soreness.

There are about 6 weeks until my first race and I already know what to expect for it...pain. There is no way I can fulfill my marathon training in 6 weeks. If I push, I might be able to max out my long run at 20 miles...maybe. Either way, it's going to be a long 50k...

The only piece of awesomeness that has happened in the last week is that it looks like summer in Arizona is finally over. Daytime temps are under 100 and the evening/morning temps are back in the 70's (and yes, they're a bit chilly compared to the mid-80's I've been running in!)

I'm looking forward to some long morning runs in the cool Arizona desert. Wish me luck.

Running, interrupted

One of the hardest things for an athlete to do sometimes is to stop. As in, stop everything...and take a break. In previous posts, I'd commented on how tired and lethargic I had been. To this day, I honestly don't know what it was. I had no energy. I felt weird in the head (yes, yes...let the jokes fly). It was even difficult to muster up the energy to just think about running let alone lace up the shoes and make it out the door.

So what was it? Who knows. Plenty of theories though.

#1: Fatigue - I'm tired plain and simple. I've been training for something for over a year now. It might be time to reassess the race calendar for 2011.

#2: Illness - The colder weather here in Arizona (yes, cold means below freezing!) may have brought about a slight head cold.

#3: Stress - The post-holiday let down crept up on me. Hosting family, trying to keep the mileage up and generally dealing with work may have contributed.

#4 Nutrition - Holiday and post-holiday saw a step back in nutrition (go figure). Processed foods and cookies are generally not the staples of all-stars.

Who knows. Perhaps it's all mental.

Thankfully, for whatever reason Sunday turned out to be a great new day and any feeling of fatigue and despair were gone. Perhaps it was not running for a week. Maybe even having a few beers and watching Jim Carrey do the Black Swan on SNL (HI-larious). Whatever happened, I was pleased to get out and have a nice run.

Who can say.

All I know is that I'm back to feeling good, not tired and looking to do the best I can this coming weekend in the PF Chang marathon. I'm not sure if my original goals will hold up due to the absence of any long distance runs but I'll give a shot and see how it turns out.

Next this week - product reviews!

Solid, tough week

This week has been one of the tougher weeks of training so far - it's that point in training where the desire to achieve this magnanimous goal trumps everything...doubt, fear and uncertainty. Each morning starts with a conscious decision to lace the shoes up or put on the helmet. As race day gets closer, it's that same thing that goes through my head on a long run or ride - "You've come so far, there's no way you can quit now"

The week started on Sunday with a long ride through the hills of Usery Mountain and Lake Saguaro. Beautiful day too - cloud cover, slight breeze and NO FLAT TIRES!!! Somehow I broke the curse and did not have a single flat over the 80 miles. Check out the ride here - note the elevation as well. A few steep grades and a loooong climb up the back of Usery Mountain.

Monday is a partial rest-from-the-long-ride-day but still requires time in the pool to stretch and put in some water mileage. Monday swim mileage was 3,000 yards (1.7 miles)

Tuesday is both casual run day as well as long-swim day. "Casual" is equivalent to a 9:30-10 minute pace for about half the mileage of long-run days (Thursdays). Today I knocked out 7 miles on the road and another 3,500 yards (~2 miles)  in the pool after the kids had gone to bed.

An unscheduled rest day tomorrow (Wednesday). I'm feeling stretched a little thin - lots of stuff going on at work and the many hours training are taking its toll. I still have some time off that I might take to recharge briefly before making the final push throughout October.

Still have a big run on tap this week (20 miles) as well. We'll start things over again on Sunday with the same 80 mile ride through the hills.

Thanks for reading - good night.

Searching for a second wind

It's been 4 days since my race in Lake Stevens and I still have this lingering sense that my body is not right. I'm not sure how to describe it but the only symptom is fatigue. I get tired throughout the day and have gone to bed  around 9 for the last couple days. I blame it on the Penicillin but who really knows.

I have missed all my workouts this week - simply too tired and unmotivated to get out of bed @ 4:30 am for that bike ride, swim or run. Wish I knew what was going on.

On one hand, I'm elated that I pulled through last week's race but it's almost as if my psyche reached that pinnacle and decided that I was done (for a while). On the other hand, I know that these next 3 months are going to be some of the hardest training I have ever endured. Perhaps that is where the mental block is coming from. I've proven I can take on the 70.3 distance but conquering the next phase - doubling this distance is a feat that will take dedication, strength and the ability to break down those mental barriers week by week.

I've heard that an Ironman is not twice as hard as the 70.3 distance...it's exponentially harder. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

I plan to ride the rest of this week out - reflecting on why I committed to the Arizona Ironman in the first place. Inspiration comes from many places. For some, it's a goal. Others do it for the sake of a loved one lost. Some, because someone said they can't. I'd like to think that my inspiration is more deeply rooted than just something on my bucket list.

What is your inspiration?