Virtual Tour Group: Pit Of Despair

Good topic. I can almost always attribute a bad workout to either a) poor nutrition over the previous 12 hours, b) a signal that I am over-training, or c) a signal that I am getting sick.

On the other side of the coin, few things are more exhilarating than starting a workout feeling lousy and working through it. It doesn't have to become a great workout, but if I can turn a lousy feeling into feeling decent by the end, I revel in the accomplishment.

Steve 

Lostsheep:

I think you both should be banned from the bike for a week! :)

Okay, just for you, I will not ride at all next week. I will also sit on a beach in The Bahamas. I hope you appreciate this.

Steve 

Way to take one for the team Steve. It's a tough one, but I'm sure you can pull it off. Only you have the dedication. :)

So, what part of the Bahamas you headed to? We spent nearly 2wks there and loved it. We have some friends in Nassau, who just moved to GeorgeTown (Great Exuma Island), so we're planning another trip down there shortly.

Vacations always seem to get me off track. So stinking hard to get back into the routine. Typically I try to keep some kind of routine while I'm on vacation ( Easier said than done. I know.) otherwise I'm sunk when I get back. It's really hard to get up early when you've been sleeping in.

Have a few of these while your down there. That should keep you nice and cool.

Steve,

Welcome back. I can think of many places more difficult to run 5k in than that! What a beautiful location!

Lostsheep:

Steve, did you notice there were no local Bahamians in the casino? Apparently it's illegal for them to gamble. We learned that on our trip out there.

I read about that before we left. Yeah, that is interesting.

Apparently it is also illegal to charge a tourist less than $25 for a tube of sunscreen or less than $12 for a hamburger.

Weather for my run today:  34 degrees and steady rain

Consecutive runs I have had in steady rain: 6

How tired I am of running in the rain: 100%

How blind I am when I run without my glasses, which I have to do in the rain because otherwise they get spattered and fogged: pretty frickin blind

 Workout I scheduled for today: tackling the two back-to-back MONSTER hills in my mountainous neighborhood.

First song on my ipod shuffle:  U2's Beautiful Day

 But it actually was a beautiful day, because at least I was out there making tracks instead of sitting on the couch making excuses.

Cramp. Bad Bad Cramp.

Showed up for the morning swim (3600yrd) and felt alright. Tired, but alright. Started swimming and realized I was tired. Took a gel and pushed it.

Somehow, someway, I got a calf cramp that about near drowned me! Of course, all you can do is relax, stretch, and get to the side of the pool. After a few mins, it loosened, but was still there.

Push and finish and get out of the water is all I could think. The faster I go, the quicker it's over.

That was at 0530. It's 0800 and it's still there! Ahh!

Another complaint - WORK & WEATHER. I've worked until 9pm every night this week and missed most of my p.m. workouts. Now that I get a 1/2 day, the thunderstorms are here keeping me off the road and away from biking!

Grr!

So I've been away for awhile for 2 reasons.  I got really busy at work lately and I completed marathon #2 and the events following.  I had a great post lined up for my experience at the Knoxville Marathon (time was 3:24) but I got busy at work and it was delayed.

The week following the marathon I felt great and ran a light 5 miler on Tuesday with a easy 4 miler with some guys on Wednesday and a pretty aggressive 6 miler on Thursday.  This was a significantly lighter than most of my training weeks but apparently more than I should have.  Going into the weekend I still felt great and decided to up my planned 10 mile run to a 13 mile run with a friend of mine.  He is training for the Columbus Half that is coming up so he was looking for one more quality long run. 

The run started off easy and we hit a few hills.  My Knoxville Marathon was extremely hilly and the aftereffects hit me.  I could feel some discomfort during the hill portion of our run but as the terrain leveled I felt better again.  We picked up the pace for the last 4 miles running in the 6's and feeling great. 

About a half mile to go we had to stop and wait for a traffic signal and when we started up to run again I could feel my knee locking up.  I was able to run through it but with noticable discomfort (I knew I was almost done and figured it would pass after some rest).  I have experienced this type of discomfort before but usually after some rest I am okay.  I made it through and stretched without any problems.  I was a little sore but nothing atypical.

Later that evening, my nephew challenged me to an impromptu footrace and I kicked off my sandals and gave chase.  I got about 10 steps and a sharp shooting pain went up my knee and I was done.  I limped back to the house and made another mistake of not icing it.  We were on our way to dinner so I figured I would get to it when we got back if it still bothered me.

Turns out my IT Band is pretty tight now.  After a massage and icing and stretching all week, I still haven't been able to complete a run.  Biking/walking/elliptical is fine but running after a few steps and I notice the discomfort.  It is getting  better but I am not chancing it.  I will try a short test run this Thursday but nothing even remotely serious until Saturday.

I just hope this is resolved before June as that's my next official race.  I was hoping to do some shorter distances in the meantime but that looks to be out now.  This is my first real injury in the past 4 years and it's a product of me not following my own advice.  I did not allow myself plenty of rest and I abandoned my training program to get more miles in and less cross training.  I was distracted by having a "Total Mileage" goal and when I fell behind my pace for the year I felt I had to catch up.  Over the past week I have decided to abandon that goal and reintroduce myself to the FIRST program.

Sitting on the couch sucks.

Hi Floridan,

One tip I learned the hard way:  if the best way to describe the sensation is with words like "fire", "heat", "tingling" or "twinge", it's a nerve.  I have neuromas in my feet and when they act up it doesn't feel like conventional pain, it feels like my feet are on fire.  Before the heat they tingle a lot or go numb.  So your chiro might be right.

Injuries suck!!  My sympathies jairad.

Well I have been riding a lot on my bicycle and the pain is indescribable.

'cause there ain't any  ;-)

Seriously, that is one huge thing that keeps me from running. Most of the people I know that run a lot can tell me about all kinds of injuries. None of my cycling friends can.

Be careful out there everybody. 

Steve 

Good news.  I might be pulling myself out of the pit.  I've been doing some small tests with my knee the past week after my cycling sessions.  I would just start walking on the treadmill and every minute or so increase the speed by a few tenths.  Once I got to a comfortable speed (7 mph) or so I would hold it until I felt any sign of discomfort.

On Monday I got to about a mile before I could feel something.  Tuesday I was a little further and started to feel something but taking no chances I stopped.  Though after I got off I felt my leg and the area where I was having discomfort (not pain) was actually my shin and not my knee.  I was so worried about my knee I mistook a common sensation for knee pain.

So last night I decided to give her a shot and started out on my usual routine.  Eventually I worked my way up to an 8 minute mile pace and held it for 5 minutes with no issues.  I stopped at that point since my cycling class was starting and I didn't want to chance it.  Tonight I plan on running with my wife for a warmup and then test it again.  Looking at Saturday to officially pull myself off the disabled list and get back in the game!

Floridan:Good point Steve.

On the other hand, I don't know any runners that have been hit by a car. 

Floridan:

Ehirning: Bummer man. You got to stay hydrated too. Rent a movie or something! Get well soon.

 Thanks Dan. I hydrated up and back on the bike tonight!

Ugggh, I am in the pit of despair right now. I have been sick since Friday afternoon. No strength at all, as soon as I've been awake an hour, I want to go back to sleep. And, of course, the weather has gone from terrible to gorgeous.

Steve

I'm back to normal, though it took me an extra week. I felt pretty weak on Monday and Wednesday this week but this morning I rode a century in 6:02, not bad especially considering 15-20 mph winds.

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts.

Steve

Sorry you've been down Steve. Hope you're recovering. I'm doing my best to hide from the flu right now. Race in 2wks and that's the last thing I need.

Carful Patty. Yea, the shoes take some getting used to. Hope you're alright though. At least you've fallen now and gotten it out of the way though. That's the good part. A few things I've picked up on that may help.

-Always keep one foot clipped. Pick one to the be "unclipping foot" and use it. That way you get used to it and you quit having to think about it. I keep the dominant foot locked in so that I can go if I need to.

-You don't HAVE to be clipped in to go. If you take off, and miss the clip, put your foot on top and let it ride. Once you're up to speed, you can try to clip it. Sometimes it's quick, and other times it can take a couple of revolutions.

-If you can, fall left and protect the gears on the bike. This will also help keep the gears from digging into your calf during a fall. But, if you're in traffic, fall right and avoid the cars :)

Hope that helps.

I think I have fallen off the bicycle three times due to a clipped in foot.  The first time was at the end of a MS bike ride with 100s of people around, my legs were very tired and I could not unclip.  I fell in what seemed like slow motion, and I remember thinking as I was going over, "Dang, I hope nobody sees this."

The second time was at a traffic light with 3 people next to me, and I knocked two of them down.  The third time, I was one of those knocked down by someone else.  The only good thing about this type of crash is your speed is almost always zero. I cannot think of a better way to crash.

Looking through Lost's list of  recommendations, I think routinely I break all of them ;-) The only thing I actaully do religiously is when I stop next to someone else, I always unclip the leg on the opposite side (i.e. if he is on my left, I unclip my right leg). That way if he tips over toward me, I have a fighting chance to stay upright. That has saved me multiple times, once I even kept a girl from falling.

Stay upright everyone!

Steve

Well, I guess it goes to show, that you don't have to follow anyone's recommendations and do what you're comfortable with. :)

I never thought of unclipping the opposite leg when with other cyclist, Steve. That's a pretty good idea actually!