Running Commentary: March 2005 Archives

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March 31, 2005

Thursday already?

Although (or perhaps because) the last week has been so hectic, it's gone by pretty fast for me. (Matt didn't agree!) This morning I went to the gym and felt crappy on the bike--not even my achilles so much but just overall, possibly because the bike was in front of a wall of windows and the sun was streaming in and I was getting very hot. I switched to the the elliptical for the second half of the workout and that wasn't doing it for me, either. I kept thinking that I'd rather be running, but I know I have bad days running too...

I felt better tonight when I swam for a bit after getting out of a long (3-hour) class. I've definitely gotten a little faster since I started swimming last year, but I still get frustrated when everyone around me makes it seem so effortless when they pass me on every lap. My new tactic is studying their stroke technique and trying to emulate it. But everyone is slightly different, so it's hard! I was talking about this with Leilanilast weekend: I really should take a few lessons while I have access to the MIT pool and the instructors there.

OK, it's dinnertime, so I'm out.

Posted by becky at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2005

Progress

Matt is feeling better and my achilles swelling has gone down slightly--I'm probably jinxing us by writing that. Of course, my luggage hasn't turned up yet. But I think it's a lost cause and I'm going to submit a claim form as soon as I get a chance to go through everything and figure out what was in there.

I swam this morning and the (almost) hour really dragged. I do feel a little stuffed up and that didn't help, plus the water was cold and when I would stop to take a sip from my water bottle, starting again was hard! I would have done some pool running after the laps but I didn't have time, what with those pesky classes to go to again. Tonight I biked, which no longer hurts my achilles like it did, and lifted for the first time in a few days. When I came home, Matt told me that my grandparents had brought over dinner again for us! Awesome! When I'm rich, the first thing I'm going to do is hire a cook who can make me tasty and healthy meals :)

Well, my laundry is beckoning, so that's the update from me today!

Posted by becky at 6:56 PM | Comments (2)

March 29, 2005

Another hectic day

I shouldn't have been surprised that I had a really hard time waking up this morning. In addition to everything else that's going on, I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be getting a cold. Matt's sister, whose bed I shared this weekend, started getting one when I left on Sunday.

I did a bike and elliptical combo this morning but nothing felt too great on the achilles or overall. A cooling fan on the roof of the gym building broke and it was about 85 degrees in there--pretty awful. The time on the bike was dragging, so I switched to the elliptical for awhile, but it wasn't really any better. Just one of those days that makes me miss running even more.

After class I went to pick Matt up from the hospital. I was a little worried bringing him home because he had a bad reaction to one of the painkillers they gave him during the night, but the nurse seemed pretty sure that he would be okay if he just took a smaller dosage when we got home. He really wanted to come home to be more comfortable, so hopefully he will continue to recuperate without any other complications. I almost caused one myself when I dropped his three prescriptions on the way to the drugstore and had to go to another hospital to get new ones (don't ask.) But we did get them finally and my grandparents even brought over dinner--we are so lucky to have them. It's nice to have Matt by my side again!

Posted by becky at 11:48 PM | Comments (1)

March 28, 2005

Sometimes, life intervenes

The past couple of days seem like a blur. The most important reason for that is the fact that Matt is recovering from an appendectomy he had this morning. We were all worried about how the food in China would bother his sensitive stomach, and it turned out that he came off the plane with appendicitis--an abdominal problem that has no connection with food. His flight from Hong Kong to Chicago was horrible for him because they had turbulence for 10 of the 14 hours and he was just starting to develop symptoms of appendicitis (although he didn't know it at the time.) When I picked him up from the airport (where, incidentally, I had landed an hour earlier still without my baggage), he looked horribly pale and we went right to the emergency room. I wasn't sure what hospital to go to, but it seems like we made a good decision because all has gone well so far and it is only about 5 minutes away from our apartment.

Anyway, poor Matt was so tired from being awake for probably 36 hours that he could barely stay awake when we were waiting to be seen in the ER. I was really scared, because I've never seen Matt in that much pain and also because I am just uneasy in hospitals in general. I was really surprised when the first doctor who saw him suspected appendicitis, because it just seemed too coincidental--he had just gotten off a terribly long and turbulent flight, and who doesn't feel crappy after that? But blood tests and a CT scan did show that he needed surgery, but luckily the appendix hadn't ruptured. By the time we got the results of the CT scan, it was 1:30am and Matt was totally out of it from pain meds and fatigue. He was scheduled for surgery first thing in the morning so I headed home for a few hours of sleep and to alert our families about what was going on (they knew he was in the ER but not that he needed surgery.)

I woke up really early to call the hospital and verify the 6am surgery time. Luckily, everything was running right on time. I would have gone for a quick run to clear my head before going back to the hospital, but my achilles just won't have it and I didn't have time to swim. There were more important things going on, anyway. I waited around at the hospital for Matt to be brought up from surgery, and my awesome grandparents came to join me. It was really nice to have them there with me. Matt made it through surgery very well but was super groggy for almost the rest of the day. Since my grandparents were there, I drove to school to pick up books and check in with my professors and let them know what was going on. I spent the rest of the afternoon with Matt and it was nice to see him getting perkier. By 4:30 or he had fallen back to sleep so I slipped out to get groceries and go for a quick swim. I felt guilty about it at first, but I had my cell phone on the pool deck and to be honest, exercise was the best way for me to clear my head.

I went back tonight and Matt was doing fine, watching TV with his hilariously crass "neighbor" and eating real food for the first time in many hours. If all goes well I will pick him up tomorrow after the one class I have.

I'm exhausted but it hasn't really hit me yet. I also have to deal with my lost luggage and getting the claim form filled out, but all of that can wait until Matt gets home and settled. And then there's my achilles. It's feeling better but still pretty swollen. And I got Runner's World which is all about the Boston Marathon, making me feel even worse! But now I have perspective on everything, and it makes a world of difference. At least for this week!

Posted by becky at 10:26 PM | Comments (6)

March 26, 2005

Won't I ever learn?

Still no update on my baggage, and I'm headed home tomorrow. I plan to nose around the airport as much as I can, but at this point I'm not expecting to get anything back and just hope that I can get reimbursed for as close to the value of everything in there as possible.

Although it was nice to run with my old running partners (and fellow bloggers) Leilani and Jessie , it turned out that my achilles wasn't ready. At first, it felt a lot better than last weekend, but the stabbing pains returned in full force after about 11 miles. I had to stop and walk a few times because I was honestly afraid my achilles was going to tear. It was awful. I made it back to the starting point of the run (about 14 miles) barely able to walk, and it's only been getting worse all day. So, I guess my 5 days of cross training has gone to waste and now I have to start from scratch. I should have known better to try and test it out on a long run again--but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

At this point I am going to just try to heal it. I am not going to try running until I have no pain walking. (Although it was nearly all gone by yesterday, so it's hard to gauge.) I'm truly bummed about this and am dreading the days (weeks?) of cross training ahead. But I just don't want to drag this out any longer than I have to. The marathon is no longer my top priority. I am dreading being around only to watch it, but I want to get back on the track for at least a few weeks before I leave for New York this summer, and I'm afraid that limping through the marathon is going to set me back too far.

Anyway, Matt returns home tomorrow and I can't wait. Even though he thinks I run too much anyway, he's at least there for me to complain and vent to about my frustrations, and I've really missed having that sounding board! OK, time for bed. Happy Easter if it is your holiday!

Posted by becky at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)

March 25, 2005

From pincushion to pins and needles

Talk about a long day. I woke up early to go to the gym before the one class I had this week, and got bored of the bike after a half hour so decided to try the elliptical for a while. Surprisingly, it felt pretty good on the achilles. My calf is still tight, though.

After my class, I hurried down to the massage place that I had gone to earlier in the week for my first acupuncture treatment. It was really weird. I was scared that it would hurt when he put the needles in, but it really didn't. The hardest part was staying in one position for about 20 minutes while he ran a small electrical current through the needles. It was just like electric stim I've had at PT. After the acupuncture, he massaged my calf and achilles again and it definitely felt looser. I walked out of there feeling less sore than when I walked in, which is definitely cool. He recommended another treatment next week but I'm going to see how I feel and play it by ear.

The real excitement in my day started when I got off the plane from Boston in Washington. I went right down to the baggage claim area but my bag wasn't there. The Delta woman said it probably didn't make it onto my flight but would surely be on the next one. So I waited for that one--no dice. I started to get worried and filed a claim with the baggage people. They assured me that it would come in on the 9pm flight and be delivered to Matt's sister's apartment by the morning.

So I left the airport and headed to Laura's apartment. When we got back from a late dinner, I called to check on the bag and they said it hadn't arrived on the last flight in from Boston. At this point I was totally freaking out. I had a lot of things in there that I love, but the most useful--my running shoes and clothes, water-bottle carrier, etc.--were what I was most concerned about replacing. At that late hour, though, there wasn't much I could do, so I went to bed and decided to deal with it in the morning.

Posted by becky at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2005

Some progress

When I got out of bed this morning, I thought my achilles was as stiff as ever, but it turned out it actually had gotten incrementally better since the massage. And the hot ginger compresses, of course. I was able to bike a lot more comfortably this morning, which made me happy. I lifted after biking and realized that I am pretty sore from doing more swimming in the past few weeks than I've done in the last 5 months!

I had a meeting later with my partner from my education class--we are designing a college XC curriculum for women and realized that we have to move beyond the talking excitedly phase and actually get some things on paper! It's going to be a cool project, though, and she is going to be coaching next year and intends to actually use what we create, so it is practical, too. After meeting her I had a quick swim and then an early (of course) dinner with my grandparents.

Tomorrow I am heading off to Washington for the weekend--I can't believe I haven't been back since we moved. I can't wait to see some old friends and running partners, although my excitement about the trip has been dampened by my injury. I'm going to try the acupuncture before I get on the plane tomorrow--I figure it's worth a shot, and the advice this guy at the massage place has given me so far has worked well.

Off to pack!

Posted by becky at 7:41 PM | Comments (2)

March 22, 2005

An Eastern perspective

This morning, I got to the pool, put on my swim cap and realized it had a huge hole in it where I tuck my bun underneath. I tried to salvage it but it wasn't happening. I sucked it up but realized how nice it is NOT to have my hair coming over my goggles every time I turn my head to breathe. It was so annoying. I decided to pool run for awhile in the middle of the swim just to break it up...However, that hurt my achilles some, so I didn't do it for all that long. It was good to throw that in there, though.

After swimming, I went for a massage appointment at a place Mary had recommended--I think they are one of the sponsors of her tri team. It turned out that the guy I got an appointment with is trained in Eastern medicine and is an acupuncturist. He massaged the calf and achilles and said it was very swollen and bumpy which probably means there are some microtears in the achilles. Also a lot of scar tissue and other "junk" that the body makes to protect the tendon from repeated trauma. He suggested that I apply mostly heat to the leg (and alternate with cold, too) to loosen up all of the scar tissue and other stuff in there. He suggested boiling water with ginger root and applying compresses; putting egg whites(!) on my achilles 2x a day, and soaking in epsom salts. Also a lot of self-massage.

I thought all of his suggestions sounded crazy at first, but then I realized that I don't really have anything to lose. I don't know if I'll actually do the egg whites thing, but the soaking I can handle. I also have an appointment to try acupunture on Thursday, but I'm not sure if the timing will work since I am also leaving for DC that afternoon and have class in the morning. I'm also skeptical and it is not cheap, but I have heard of people having success with it. I'll decide for sure tomorrow.

I biked this evening and was reading a running book. I don't know if it was the book or thinking that I normally would have been at the track, but I started getting all teary right there on the bike! I just hate feeling helpless like this, especially since it's nice out and it seems like there are runners EVERYWHERE. (Does anyone else see a lot of runners when they are injured, or is it just me? I can tell you they were not there in January.) I am trying hard to stay positive, but it's especially hard for me without Matt around this week to tell me I am nuts for worrying so much :) Anyway...that's my update for the day. Now I must go cross some things off my Spring Break "to do" list. I guess I mean I have to DO them first...

Posted by becky at 8:14 PM | Comments (4)

March 21, 2005

No shock that I'm sore

Yes, the achilles is very angry at me for yesterday's long run. I've been icing all day, unfortunately it doesn't seem to be helping right now. I swam this morning and biked a bit this afternoon before lifting...this is SO not how I imagined my Spring Break week would be! I intended to do one last week of good mileage and get some extra rest, not drive back and forth to the gym a million times.

I'm obviously not in the best of moods, but at least I'm going to be social tonight and watch a movie with some friends from school. Audrey is also initiating a book swap, so that's kind of exciting! I am going to borrow her copy of Marc Bloom's book about religion and running, which I've been wanting to read anyway.

Nothing else new to report. I'm enjoying my peace and quiet around here but I'm already counting the days until Matt comes back!

Posted by becky at 6:38 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2005

We'll see what happens

I did a long run today, although I wasn't sure I would be able to with my achilles. Correction: I wasn't sure I should do it--I know I am stubborn enough to finish what I start. Truth be told, it hurt at first and then loosened up. I wore an achilles support and that seemed to help, although it gave me blisters.

Mary, Wynne and I did an out and back run on the Boston course--we were running for almost 3:15 so we are thinking it was 23 or so. Hard to tell when you can't see the mile markers on the street at every mile for some weird reason. We couldn't find 11 and it drove us insane. I felt good until the Newton hills, of course. I was crawling up the last big one. Mary wasn't feeling so hot either but as usual did a kick-ass job on the hills. There were SO many people out on the course today--it was pretty nuts. Of course, it was a nice day out, so that kept the numbers up. It was warm for my taste but I know we would be lucky to get a day like this in April.

So my achilles is (shocker) very sore now. I'm icing like crazy and keeping it up. I know I should not attempt to run tomorrow so will swim and bike, much as I'm dreading it. To repeat my title...we'll see what happens.

Posted by becky at 7:26 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2005

Catching up on sleep and errands

Today was one of those days that went by very quickly even though I didn't get all that much accomplished. I let myself sleep in this morning (I needed it!) and then went to the gym. I couldn't decide whether to bike or swim, but I noticed there was another event going on in the aquatic area, so I stuck to the bike. (I thought it was a swim meet going on, but it was a synchronized swimming competition! I didn't know kids competed in that.) Anyway, I was stuck on the bike with the broken down arrow, so I didn't play around with the resistance too much because I didn't want to get trapped at a high level! I didn't have a book with me today but I picked up Outside magazine in the gym and read a really interesting article about all-women rock climbing groups. They rock! (no pun intended.) I've never tried climbing but I probably would be scared to go too far out of my comfort zone.

After I finished with the bike and lifting a bit, it was already afternoon. I spent the rest of the day doing errands and some stuff for myself (including the world's slowest arm wax--yes, I wax my arms) and now am back here icing my achilles and relaxing. Since I didn't hear anything to the contrary, I'm assuming that Matt got to China okay. He would be thrilled to know that I plan on watching "13 Going on 30" on cable tonight :) because there's no way he'd sit through that...

Posted by becky at 7:41 PM | Comments (1)

March 18, 2005

Waiting to crash

I didn't go to sleep last night until almost 3 and I still had a ways to go on my paper, which was due at 5pm today. It was a good thing I was taking Matt to the airport, because I probably woudn't have gotten up as early as I did and it turned out I needed the extra time later in the day. Matt and I were both kind of teary saying goodbye as this is the first time we've been apart for more than a couple of days at a time. I was also teary because I knew how tired I was and that it was only going to get more painful.

After the airport, I drove to the gym and tested out the achilles with a little 30 minute run. It seems to change everytime I write down how it's feeling, but let's just say it was improved but still felt funny. I'll leave it at that. After the little run I of course had to bike awhile and procrastinate finishing the paper...it was still pretty early though so it was okay. Sitting at the computer all day was really awful and I just could not wait to be finished. I finally emailed it to the TA at 4:30. Then I went to my grandparents' for dinner and now I am going to try to watch some shows I've taped this week but I probably won't be able to stay awake long enough! I'm glad I have a little break this week, but I still do have a lot of reading to do for one of my classes that continues after Spring Break so I can't totally slack off. I'll do my best!

Posted by becky at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2005

Just enough time for biking

I used my time on the bike wisely this morning--I hated to do it since it's uncomfortable, but I studied for my exam since I hadn't gotten through all my notes last night. My achilles bothered me less on the bike than it did yesterday--it just feels kind of sore. I intended to swim tonight but I realized that it would be nice to come home and spend time with Matt since he is leaving for China tomorrow morning! Also, I have a big paper to write tonight, reducing the amount of quality time we'll have.

Although I didn't do much on the exercise front today, I'm tired. I can't wait until I finish this paper and get a little break!

Posted by becky at 4:41 PM | Comments (3)

March 16, 2005

Achilles update

I woke up this morning feeling a little less pain in the achilles--at least it was more like soreness rather than stabbing pain. I biked for about an hour, at which point I was dripping all over a borrowed book (Sorry, Mary!) and couldn't feel my butt. I don't know how all you triathletes do it. I lifted after that and then luckily made it back to my car before being ticketed for being over my meter limit. I also swam for awhile in the late afternoon, which seemed to go by more quickly than usual.

Tomorrow will be another cross-training day and I'll keep hoping that the healing will continue. At this point my mileage is screwed anyway, what's another day of non-running? (I'm trying to convince myself.) Anyway, back to work. T-minus 2 days until Spring Break...

Posted by becky at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2005

More of the same

I did a swimming/pool run combo this morning and it felt like the minutes were crawling by. Not to mention that I could even feel my achilles when I was pool running. The area near my anklebone is kind of swollen, too, although that area's not sore. Lovely. I just don't know how it got so bad so fast after feeling better, but it doesn't matter now. I knew when I finished in the pool that going to track wouldn't just be stupid, it would be pretty much impossible.

So here I sit thinking about everyone else beginning their warm-up...but if I can heal this and still get in a few more long runs, this agony will have been worth it. (Or at least that's what I'm trying to convince myself.) I did some biking tonight and discovered that the recumbent bike, which I normally avoid at all costs because I think it's so awkward, actually felt better than the upright on the achilles. Good to know.

I suppose I should use this extra time to do schoolwork, huh? The fun never ends.

Posted by becky at 6:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2005

Strong bones, weak achilles

Bad achilles pain again today. It did subside as the run went on, as tendon injuries tend to, but the pain was definitely back walking around. I was a bit puzzled as it didn't hurt at all running yesterday, but I probably should have expected this and cross-trained today. It was probably at least on its way to healing and I interrupted that. I know I shouldn't go to track tomorrow but I always feel so guilty missing it that I can't concentrate on what I need to do, and I need to do a lot of schoolwork. At least I won't do my morning run and swim instead and see how it feels later in the day. I am the worst at dealing with this stuff. I just want injuries to disappear! (Who doesn't?)

On the positive side, I had a bone density scan as part of an experiment I volunteered for, which is looking at bone density in female rowers as compared to runners. The blood test requirement scared me off at first but Mary had signed on and I wanted to be part of the data set too! I was very pleased with my results: practically off the chart (high) bone density for my age. I suspected as much, as I have never (knock on wood) had a stress fracture and have probably averaged at least 50 miles for the past 7 years or so. The research assistant was impressed and asked me if I did gymnastics as a child, because they are seeing that a lot in women with very high bone density. I laughed because my athletic pursuits before age 15 were limited to dashing to the library to get a new book to read :)

Back to the books and ice pack!

Posted by becky at 8:03 PM | Comments (1)

March 13, 2005

If it's not one thing...

The good news is, my achilles didn't bother me on my run today. (It's sore now, but definitely not the same as it was. Yay!) The bad news is, I felt as if I was living out that nightmare that every runner has where she can't move. I don't know if it's the chest cold I have (which is somewhat surprising since it's not much more than a little cough) or sluggishness from the days off, or what--but I just felt horrible today. I went into it with the intention of doing this race as a training run, sure, but it would have been one thing if I felt good during it. I had jello legs at mile 2 and it got worse from there. I could barely maintain 8 minute pace and had to stop at the port-o-potty at mile 5. I thought about stopping numerous times but I knew I'd torture myself over it.

It seemed impossible that I had run 45 seconds faster per mile two weeks ago in the Hyannis Half and felt better than I did today. I do have a lot on my mind and didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I've never experienced anything like this before. At least I won't be sore like I normally would be after racing...

I added on a few miles when I was done just to try to convince myself that I still could. Now that I'm back home, I'm still wondering what it was that made me feel so awful. I guess I just need to chalk this week up to injury and sickness and take it one day at a time from here and not worry that it means I've suddenly lost all my training base. I feel a little overwhelmed with all the work I have to do for school, Matt leaving for China on Friday and the thought of a 22+ miler next weekend. Not to mention worries about track on Tues. if I am still feeling crappy...Yes, one day at a time needs to be my mantra. But as this day is already half over, I better get back to work!

Posted by becky at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2005

Another day in the pool

My achilles definitely felt better when I woke up today, but I knew it would be a good idea to swim again anyway, especially with the snow and ice on the ground. I swam almost as long as yesterday, but the time seemed to pass very slowly today. There was at least a big swim meet going on around me for entertainment! I am definitely getting a cold, too, so I kept having coughing fits when I would rest between sets of laps.

So I'm going to try and run the half tomorrow but not race it--just treat it as a test long run. We'll see what happens. I'm almost more worried about all the work I have to do when I get home from the race...I was fairly productive today but I'm just such a SLOW writer! OK, must get to bed...

Posted by becky at 11:12 PM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2005

Being good

First off, thanks for everyone's achilles suggestions. It's hard not to feel like you're the only one suffering (mentally and physically) but most everyone's been in a similar situation and gotten through it.

I was lucky to have company swimming this morning--Mary volunteered to join me as long as it was early enough for her to get to work on time. Now of course, she was doing a real swimmer's workout, whereas I spent the better part of an hour hoping that my arms didn't fall off. It has been awhile since I've really done a quality swim. I hate that I'm so slow--especially when I get tired and my form deteriorates--but I always feel like I'm working hard. I used the pull buoy the whole time so I wouldn't bother my achilles.

I've been obsessively icing and taking Aleve all day (good for a sore throat that's recently developed too). My achilles feels marginally better today, but I think I should probably swim tomorrow too. There's a swim meet going on at MIT this weekend, so only the small pool is available, but I'll survive. I still haven't decided if I'm going to do this half marathon on Sunday. I really want to try to get in a long run, but I don't want to do something that will set me back two weeks, either. I have never, ever cross-trained (or taken the day off) the day before a race, either, so that freaks me out. Especially not TWO non-running days. I guess if my achilles continues to feel better tomorrow, I will think about running it, but probably rule out racing it because I don't think that's so smart. It's too bad because this time I was going to try and be brave and stick with Mary as long as possible. Oh well, there are more races in the future.

In other exciting news of the day, I went over to my grandparents' house for a special birthday dinner for my grandma, today is her 81st b-day. She took me into the living room to show me some flowers that someone had sent her, and they were on the floor. I leaned down to read the card and when I stood up, I banged my head on this one-of-a-kind ceramic sculpture from Israel that is meant to sit on the mantle of the fireplace. It went flying and smashed into a million pieces. I felt HORRIBLE. But at least it didn't fall ON my head--then I would have felt physically horrible too...

And now I'm home working on a paper. Matt's in NYC tonight so I have nice and quiet working conditions. Of course I STILL haven't managed to get a whole lot done...anyway, happy weekend to all!

Posted by becky at 7:53 PM | Comments (2)

March 10, 2005

Time to take action

I'm kind of depressed about this, so I don't feel like writing much. I made it through today's run but my achilles was very sore afterwards and now hurts basically all the time walking around. I'm trying not to think too far into the future as to what to do about Boston, and instead take it one day at a time. I tried ellipticalling a bit today to see if that was painful, and it was pretty much the same as running, it would come and go. So I'll swim tomorrow and stay off my feet as much as I can and just try not to feel guilty or freak out about this. I know all of you have been there or are there and will understand when I say THIS SUCKS.

Posted by becky at 7:47 PM | Comments (5)

March 9, 2005

Less than ideal conditions

The only difference between the weather last night and the weather this morning was that it wasn't snowing. The sun did help a bit, but it was super windy and freezing, even by my definition. Not to mention the predicted ~4 inches of snow topped by a nice slick layer of ice. The snow slowed me down by a good 5-7 minutes/hour, by my calculation.

Not surprisingly, my achilles took quite awhile to warm up. Eventually it did, but it bothered me a lot biking tonight, weird because I heard biking was supposed to be okay for it. So I cut the bike short and just lifted. I'm icing now for the second time today and continuing to take anti-inflammatories, etc. I am supposed to meet my friend from my education class again tomorrow for a run, but I am going to swim on Friday. Or at least try to convince myself that's what I should do.

I've been so wrapped up in school and finals that I almost forgot this weekend is the NCAA indoor championships! Cornell has one representative on the women's side, in the 800 meters. I saw her run at Heps and she looked awesome--hope she does well. I think that one of their 5K runners qualified earlier in the season, but she must be injured since she hasn't competed recently. I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens at the high school "national" meets. When I lived in Washington, I used to love to go to watch the Nike Indoor Championships. But following it online will have to do!

Posted by becky at 7:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 8, 2005

A good night to be indoors

Today was one of those days that baffles me because the temperature changes about 40 degrees from morning to night. I ran in shorts this morning and walked to the bus with only a windbreaker, and then by the time I left to pick up Mary for track we were in the middle of a snowstorm. (Matt reports that it is -25 with the windchill in Boston right now.) It was bad enough out that we did our warm-up inside, which was boring but probably a good idea, especially for my achilles.

I felt okay on my little loop this morning, but my achilles was aching again walking around. I was really worried about how it would be at track, and the truth is it wasn't great but I was able to hit the times I wanted. It loosens up as I keep running, but I don't know if the idea I have to race another half marathon this weekend is going to pan out. Anyway, the workout was scarcely attended because of the weather, so Mary and I felt like badasses. It wasn't a long one but it felt tougher than it sounded: 3 sets of 1000 at interval pace followed by 400 at repeat pace. We got faster on every one again and kept it in control--what more could we ask for?

Wow, it's after 10 and I haven't done anything productive because it took me a really long time to get back in the horrible weather (I took pity on Matt walking home and went to pick him up, too) so that's all for now...

Posted by becky at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 7, 2005

Achilles worrying me

My achilles didn't actually bother me as much during my run today as yesterday, but it's been hurting walking around and biking. I iced it twice today, tonight during a very boring makeup session for a class and the cold kept me awake! I hope it starts feeling better soon. This will teach me to STRETCH WELL after long runs...it's just hard when it's too cold to stand around and you are in a hurry.

Anyway, besides the achilles soreness I felt less overall body tiredness on my run today. It was back to shorts weather and as much as I like the winter, I'm looking forward to more shorts and long sleeve days before we actually get into the heat of spring and summer.

I don't really have anything else exciting to say and should get to work before it's bedtime...

Posted by becky at 8:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 6, 2005

Jinxing myself

I really didn't think I'd feel that sore today after yesterday's run. I stretched a bit beforehand and nothing felt TOO bad. I noticed my achilles was a little tight but thought to myself, "Well, that's one spot I never have problems." Of course, the second I started running, my achilles was hurting me. It seemed to warm up as I went on, but I felt pretty crappy the whole time. My knee, which didn't really hurt me during the run yesterday, seemed sore and tender, and I just had that tired, old man-joggers-are-passing-me feeling. I guess I should have expected it.

I iced my achilles later and was somewhat grateful that I didn't have time to go to the gym in the afternoon because I probably would have biked and that might have aggravated it. I really hope my whole body feels better tomorrow. It's not helping that I am totally stressed out. Right now I am about to work on an art project for my education class. I absolutely despise doing creative projects so this is not going to be fun...

Posted by becky at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

March 5, 2005

Exploring the hills of Central Mass

Today, Mary and I went on a little adventure. She has been wanting to do some really hilly runs in preparation for the Big Sur Marathon, and contacted someone from the Central Mass Striders, a club that organizes a notoriously rolling 30K race this time of year. The race is actually tomorrow, but we needed to do our long run today, and amazingly this guy from the club volunteered to meet us at the start of the course this morning and drive along the course as we ran and show us the way. He intended to do this for several members of the club who will be volunteering at the race tomorrow, but not too many took him up on it.

We had to drive an hour to get there (with a few wrong turns!) but I think we were both really glad we did. The CMS guy was awesome and made sure we knew where all the tricky turns were--there would really have been no way to figure it out without him. The course was mainly around the Wachusett Reservoir but on a good combination of main roads and little windy roads. The hills on the first half weren't too bad, but after the 15K mark it got a lot more rolling. There are also two nasty hills about 2 miles and 1 mile from the finish. When we "finished" the course, we added on to make the run three hours and just shy of 22 miles.

I felt pretty good today; my knee was a little sore during the run and definitely afterwards, but nothing out of the ordinary for a three hour run these days. I was so glad to have Mary there, not just to chase up the hills but for some great conversation. It actually was a fun adventure and I'm really glad we did it. We even saw some other runners out on the course and everyone was super-friendly, which isn't always the case in Eastern Mass! (Of course I'm generalizing, but I'm entitled.)

I tried to do some reading when I finally got back home this afternoon, but ended up taking the inevitable post-long run nap. Tonight we went to dinner with a college friend and his girlfriend who have been doing doctoral work in Latin America for the past 8 months and are now back in Cambridge. It was a lot of fun and even though it is cold out, I convinced everyone to go get ice cream afterwards. Yum. Now it's the end of a long day and I must go to bed as I have tons of work to do tomorrow!

Posted by becky at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

March 4, 2005

Felt good for a Friday

Fridays are usually blah running days for me, probably because I'm anticipating an upcoming long run. But this particular one wasn't so bad--except for the wind, which I was not enjoying, I actually felt pretty good. However, when I was coming down a steep hill, I made a turn onto Mass. Ave. and out of nowhere almost crashed into another girl who was also running on Mass. Ave.! I was close to colliding with her but it didn't happen, and even so I felt like she was pissed. She started speeding up (practically sprinting) and I of course started following her, but then I remembered that the plan for the next day was 22 miles and reminded myself to keep running easy.

I spent the rest of the day doing schoolwork and errands and hanging out for a bit with my grandparents. It's so nice having them here and we've already talked about how we are going to miss our Fridays when Matt and I are in New York this summer. But at least they get us for another year after the summer!

Posted by becky at 2:33 PM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2005

Chilly with company

Brr! It was very windy this morning and it took me longer than usual to warm up. I was glad to have a partner in crime this morning--a new friend from a class I'm taking at one of the other Harvard grad schools. She lives on the North Shore and had to take a very early train in to meet me, so I was grateful. I met her at a T station near me and we ran one of my loops involving Fresh Pond from there. It was a little hairy at times trying to avoid both the cars AND the ice patches, but we did pretty well and even made it to our class on time! We were in a bit of a rush and ran probably a little more than 6 miles, but at a good clip. She's focusing more on 5Ks and 10Ks right now so she is more speed-oriented than I am at this point. But that's cool, you need those people to push you.

I ran a couple more miles on the treadmill this afternoon because the bikes were broken or taken and because this morning's run was short. It was pretty boring but my arm seemed to feel a little better than it did this morning. I can't believe how much sweat I generate on the treadmill. It pretty much just flies off me after about half a mile and the gym setup makes that unfortunate for treadmill neighbors. Oh, well. That's what the free towels are for--to protect themselves from me.

Uh oh, I think I broke the washing machine in my building. This is NOT good...

Posted by becky at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2005

My aching arm again

Once again, my legs felt pretty good on my run today but my arm was aching, even after taking some preemptive Advil. Actually, after about 45 minutes it felt better and didn't bother me for the rest of the run (about 20 or 25 more minutes.) I don't know what caused the improvement but I didn't question it, because it was REALLY hurting for a while there. What a strange injury. Still, I'd rather it be in my arm than my leg or foot! I did make sure to be careful when I was lifting later; wouldn't want to make it worse.

My day was uneventful. We had an eating disorder epidemiologist guest lecture in my psych epi class, and I kept asking her questions about athletes, which she said no one could really answer because there isn't any data on them because they are such a small population. But her whole lecture was basically about how we don't know much at all about the epidemiology of eating disorders because they ARE so rare. So why not study high-level athletes, where at least the prevalence is (probably) higher than in the general population? I talked to her for a bit afterwards, told her I was a runner, etc. and she said there aren't any studies going on with runners right now so it is a "wide open" field. IF I were going to pursue my doctorate, this is what I would study...but that is definitely not going to happen. Still, it's good to be exposed to these amazing experts and hear their insight on public health problems.

Speaking of public health problems, I have been very unproductive this week and must go do some work!

Posted by becky at 7:19 PM | Comments (18)

March 1, 2005

Jen Toomey's inspiring abs

My elite runner radar went off tonight when we came in from our warm up (which wasn't too much fun because of the snowy sidewalks and puddly streets, not to mention the crazy drivers) and I spotted Jen Toomey stretching in the corner. She was doing drills most of the time we were in the thick of our workout, but she was inspiring nonetheless. And then later, when we got to see her crazy abs, we were even more inspired/jealous.

We were doing 1200s tonight at "interval pace"--fairly hard--so my little group set a goal to pace ourselves and actually get faster on each one. Our middle two were almost exactly the same, but we did the last one 10 seconds faster than the first and the other two were definitely faster than the first one too. We were very proud of ourselves! I felt decent; my knee was aching a little but mostly it was my damn arm that bothered me. I don't know how I'm going to get through my long run this weekend if it doesn't get a little better.

I did my pre-workout loop this morning and got soaked from all the cars going by in the slush. My feet were freezing by the time I got home, and of course my shoes were still wet tonight. Next winter I must remember to get a second pair of "snow sneakers" for all those wet mornings. Of course, I keep hearing that all this snow is atypical, even for Boston, so you never know what next winter will bring. (With my luck, probably a lot of "hot" days.)

Posted by becky at 8:55 PM | Comments (10)

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