Weekly Rundown- Crisis Averted?
Well, after weeks and weeks with no issues, I had a couple concerning niggles this week. Nothing to panic over, but I would prefer to be niggle-free. I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see what happened… Monday 4 mile run. With all my complaining about the time change, I did appreciate a cooler run, since it was an hour earlier than usual. I’m not a fun of running in the dark but it was light by the time I finished, as you can see. Tuesday Upper body day at the gym! Good workout. Wednesday 13 mile “short” long run. For once, everything worked in my favor for this run. My daughter had jazz band (phew, that meant I could drop her off an hour earlier), once again the time change worked in my favor, AND it was a beautifully cool day!!! In the low 60s when I started and low 70s by the end. That might not sound cool to some people, but it was also CLOUDY the whole time, and that makes a huge difference in Florida. I felt so good on this run, I considered just continuing on and making it a really long run. I mean, I won’t get a better weather day in March or April. There were two big reasons why I didn’t- one is, I didn’t bring enough fuel. And the second… in the last couple miles I could feel that my left achilles was aching. Now, I felt so good on this run that I ran a LOT of sandy areas of the trail, and I think it was too much for that achilles. I finished the run with it feeling, not injured, but stiff and achy. Thursday Well, I’m not taking any chances! I got myself to the gym and got on the bike, because the stationary bike is so much fun. Just kidding. I didn’t want to stress that achilles at all, and I figured the bike was my safest bet. I listened to a podcast and the 45 minutes flew by! JUST KIDDING. Those minutes crawled. Darlene, I feel your pain. But I got in some cross training and rested that achilles, so it was good. UNTIL… Later on at work I was getting up from a seated position and I felt a strange and painful twinge in my left quad. NOW what??? I’m up and down all day at work- kneeling, squatting, sitting, standing, and every time I got up or down that quad got worse, until by the end of the day it was seriously sore. The only explanation I can think of is when I was on the bike, in order to combat the crushing boredom, I switched up the resistance a lot. Nothing hurt (if it had hurt, I wouldn’t have done it) but when I had the resistance higher, I noticed that it was a quad burner. Well, I wasn’t too happy. Here I was trying to do something good for my body (give it a break by cross training) and I ended up with a new problem. Sigh. Friday In light of recent events, I decided on a nice walk this morning. For some reason I always measure my walks by time, not miles, and I went for 40 minutes. It felt SO GOOD! My achilles felt back to normal, and I could feel the quad pain but walking didn’t seem to make it worse. As a matter of fact I’m sure it helped. Motion is lotion, right? Saturday 4 mile run! I didn’t feel the achilles or the quad at all, and I got to try out my new shoes, New balance 880s. After work I went to the gym. It was leg day, and I approached it cautiously. I warmed up with some air squats and then did some light sets on the squat press machine. Everything felt good, so I decided to try a set of squats with just the bar. I did four squats- everything was fine- but on the fifth one a jolt of pain went through that quad. I stopped IMMEDIATELY. I did some hamstring curls, but other than that switched it to an upper body and core workout. Those areas definitely need work, but it was still a bummer. Later I went for another walk. I pretty much set my quad back two days by attempting those squats (WHY???). It’s sore, but the walking felt good. Sunday DAY OFF. Except that at some point in the day I’ll go for a walk. I’ve decided to take a page from Kim’s book, and get out for a walk whenever I can. And no more bike at the gym! The bike is evil! It will destroy your soul and quads! Moving forward… I have a big, big long run coming up on Wednesday. I feel confident about the achilles (although I won’t overdo the sand running this time) and almost confident about the quad. Running doesn’t seem to hurt it, and I should be able to get it all healed up again by Wednesday. No more bike! No more squats! Fingers crossed. How was your week? Did everything go as planned? Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? – I forgot all about it.
The Shoe Conundrum Continues
Well, I went to the running store! And it was… kind of frustrating. I asked for a neutral shoe with a wide toe box, and they showed me a bunch of shoes I’ve tried before. Brooks Ghost, New Balance 1080 and New balance 880. None of those shoes has a truly wide toe box- they might be a little widER than other models though. I did have an illuminating conversation with the person who worked there. She confirmed that yes, these companies are making their shoes more and more narrow. She said the Hoka Clifton 9s are more narrow than the 8s (so that settles that- I definitely won’t be wearing Cliftons anymore!). I was glad she said that, and it’s not that I’m losing my mind or that my foot is getting fatter. The shoes are getting narrower! WHY??? Why are these major shoe companies making shoes that AREN”T GOOD FOR YOUR FEET? Kyria sent me this article about the Altra Lone Peak shoes. Altras have a nice wide toe box, but they’re a zero-drop shoe (that means the forefoot and heel are on the same level, whereas in most traditional running shoes the heel is higher than the forefoot- Hokas have a 5mm drop and the New Balance have a 10mm.) Now, I had specified that I didn’t want a zero-drop shoe, but the review made a very convincing case for it, and was even written by someone who had suffered from plantar fasciitis in the past. In the future, I think this is the direction I’m going to go. But for right now, with only about month before my race, I don’t want to make such a big change. I got the New Balance 880s, and I went one half size up and ordered a wide width. They’re okay. I’m not convinced they’re any wider than my Hokas, but I’m hoping they won’t irritate the top of my foot. I’ll find out on my next long run! One of the things I love doing at a running store is browsing through their gels. I got these two: I’m hoping these New Balance shoes will at least get me through my race. And who knows, maybe I’ll end up loving them! I hope that’s the case- it’s very stressful not having a go-to shoe. I’m joining My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida for Fit Five Friday. Thanks, ladies! Does anyone run in New Balance shoes? I used to, but stopped when I started running in Hokas.
Recent Favorites (and a Pizza Throwdown!)
I wrote about my last long run in my Weekly Rundown, but because I felt it was getting a little too long, I left out a couple things I did that worked really well during that run. The first is… I’ve never tried salt pills before, so this was an experiment. Instead of carrying a bottle of LMNT, I took one of these every hour. I guess it worked? I think the only way you would say these didn’t work is if something bad happened, like getting nauseous or cramping up. Neither of those things happened, so I’m going to say salt pills are the way to go in the Florida heat. It’s just easier than relying on an electrolyte drink. After all my complaining about gels, I ate this at mile 16 of my run, and WOW. It was like instant happiness in my mouth. It was sweet and tangy, and the taste alone gave me a jolt of energy. I think this is a new flavor, and I highly recommend! This next one isn’t something I did, exactly, unless you count being observant on the trail. It had been several weeks since I ran on this trail, and it was fun to see little things that had changed. This cactus had flowers! We don’t get lots of colorful flowers on our trails, so little bursts of color like this are fun to see. Okay, let’s move on to PIZZA. On Friday night my son and I decided to make pizzas. When I texted my sister that’s what we were making (yes, my sister and I regularly text back and forth about food) she said THEY were making a pizza as well. Oh, yeah? Well, in that case, we challenge you to a THROWDOWN! My son and I took this very seriously, and I went to the store in search of unique ingredients. One thing I didn’t mention to my sister (and I hope this doesn’t disqualify us) is that I used dough from the grocery store. They sell it in the refrigerated section, and it has the same ingredients you would use if you were making it at home. I just let it sit out in a bowl on the counter for a couple hours before rolling it out. We made two pizzas, and here’s our official entry to the throwdown: Homemade pizza sauce, vegan cheese, spicy Beyond sausages, roasted garlic, banana peppers, garlic butter (Earth Balance vegan butter) brushed on the crust, and finished with mango hot sauce, fresh basil and arugula! Our other pizza was less stellar, but still delicious: Half with just sauce and vegan cheese for my daughter, and the other half for me had Field Roast sausages (Beyond sausages taste too meat-y for me) and roasted broccoli, onion, garlic and black olives. Topped with fresh basil and arugula, and again the crust was brushed with garlic butter before baking. These were SO GOOD!!! Just for the record, here’s my sister and BIL’s entry: Pizza sauce, vegan cheese, Beyond meat crumbles, garlic, veggies, pesto and olives. And they put Trader Joe’s Everything seasoning around the edges of the crust. Of course we realized the fatal flaw to our throwdown- without being able to taste all the pizzas there was no way to declare a winner. Well, we were ALL winners! It was fun and delicious. So delicious, in fact, that my son devoured his ENTIRE PIZZA, causing my sister to suggest he become a competitive eater. My daughter and I, on the other hand, were able to enjoy leftovers of our pizza the next day. I’m thinking about future throwdowns when my son is home for the summer- Ultimate Vegan Burgers, perhaps? What are your favorite pizza toppings? Any unusual ones that you love? Have you tried the Beyond vegan “meat” products? – I’m the only vegan I know who doesn’t like them.
Weekly Rundown and Shoe Talk!
Well, it was quite a week! I had another long run that was barely snatched from the jaws of disaster, there were trips to the gym and I’m having a serious shoe dilemma. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown! Let’s just see what happened… Monday 4 mile run in my new Hokas! The Clifton 8s are on sale right now, and that’s the shoe I wear so I snatched up a new pair. Tuesday Upper body day at the gym. Bench press, lat pulldowns, seated rows, plus some core… the usual. Wednesday Ah. Long run day! ONCE AGAIN, my daughter’s jazz band rehearsal was canceled- her band director is obviously trying to ruin my life- so that meant dropping her off at school an hour later. I decided to suck it up and drive to my favorite trail for the entire run, which meant I would be starting at 9:45, on an 85 degree day. Well, I figured my race will be hot, so I might as well deal with it! Plus I had my new ice hat- what could possibly go wrong? Well. When I first put ice in the pockets of the hat, it was a problem because the hat didn’t sit well on my head. But after about half a mile the ice melted just enough so that I could pull the hat down firmly, and it was AMAZING! I had ICE ON MY HEAD! I ran the first five miles, filled with optimism. After five miles I stopped at my aid station (car) for more ice and switched out my now-warm water for a cold bottle. The next five miles were a little more difficult, because I picked a very sandy portion of the trail. But again, there will be sand in my race so I want to be used to it. When I stopped at my car again after 10 miles, I refilled my hat with ice, but realized…. I was running out. Somehow, I underestimated the amount of ice I would need. I was stuffing about six cubes into the hat (four on top and two on each side) plus several cubes into my sports bra- and I only had two cubes left. Nooooooooo! I tried to put it out of my mind for the next five miles, but I was worried. It was hot! After mile 15 I stoped at my car again to figure out what to do. Then, disaster struck- I DROPPED my last two precious ice cubes!!! One was right near my feet so I snatched it up and stuffed it into my bra. But I couldn’t see the other one. I literally got down on my hands and knees in desperation, but that ice cube was gone… sob. I think it’s safe to say that I was at a low point. I was hot, tired, out of ice, AND, I had barely enough water. The thought of finishing five more miles while conserving my water was demoralizing. I let myself walk for a couple minutes to regroup, and then… I was running again! Somehow I had a (very slight) burst of energy. It just goes to show, it never always gets worse. Eventually something gets better. Those last five miles were not fun, but I got it done. Oh, and I met my running “spirit animal” on the trail: 20 miles for this run, and obviously there’s some sort of malfunction in my brain because even as I was finishing those last, awful five miles, I was thinking about the next one. I want to get in two more runs over 20 miles, and I have a plan! Nothing will go wrong next time. Okay, let’s talk about shoes. I’ve been wearing the Hoka Cliftons for a while now. They’re supposed to be great shoes for plantar fasciitis, and they’ve worked well… until now. See how I have the left one laced! I’m trying to relieve pressure on the top of my left foot. I have a very high arch (which is part of what makes it a “difficult foot”) and lately on my long runs, the top of my foot has been getting very irritated. Even with the alternative lacing, my foot looked like this after the run. I’m starting to think the Cliftons aren’t my shoe after all. I’m going to the running store this week and I’m going to try as many shoes as I can. Basically what I’ll be telling them is, “I need a shoe with a VERY wide toe box. But it can’t be a minimalist shoe, because I need support for my plantar fasciitis. But it also can’t be a stability shoe, because I over supinate and stability shoes don’t work for me. I need a neutral shoe that can accommodate my very high arch and orthotics, which, once again, I need for my plantar fasciitis. But the most important thing is a very wide toe box.” I’m sure they’ll be thinking “How is this person even running???” Thursday I started the morning with a brisk walk which felt AMAZING, then did a Caroline Girvan Advent Series workout. Birchwood Pie has been doing these workouts, and they’re a little shorter than the workouts in her other series- the one I did was biceps, triceps and shoulders, and it was 24 minutes including the cooldown. Even though it was shorter, I was still basically praying for it to be over and wanted to cry during the finisher (three minutes of tricep pushup variations, ack!) Friday 4 mile run. This run felt good, other than having to stuff my difficult foot back into that shoe. Saturday Leg day at the gym! Once again, I went after work which was not ideal, but I got it done. Squats, hex bar deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats… my legs were toast. Sunday Not happy! We turn the clocks ahead (boooooo!) and my son leaves. It’s always hard to say goodbye… but he’ll be back. Day