News from NM

You probably already knew that there wouldn't be posts from the field during a New Mexico vacation. It is New Mexico, after all, Land of Enchantment. I was overzealous in promising live updates. Between the jam-packed NAI conference schedule and our subsequent crammed-full vacation itinerary--along with spotty and unreliable wireless internet connections--it just didn't happen. Obviously.

Unfortunately, I didn't run once in two weeks. My body responded well. My brain got a little nutty over it, but overall, it was a good mid-season rest. This is not to say fitness was forgotten; there was still plenty of time in a bike saddle or hiking boots. This was a trip for healing and strengthening body, mind, and spirit.

Here are some teasers:

NAI Field Session
Bosque Biking (30 miles, paved trail and single-track offroad):


Our group of 40 or so pulled out of the downtown Doubletree Hotel parking lot giddy with excitement. As we carefully rode down trafficky streets, someone commented, "This feels like a Critical Mass ride," and most everyone mumbled in agreement. First stop was Old Town Albuquerque, which was gorgeous bathed in yellow cottonwood leaves.

After 15 or so miles on paved path similar to Little Rock's River Trail, we cut below the Rio Grande levee and entered the bosque (forested desert riparian zone) for some nice single-track. We rode fast. It felt like a BMX course. I could have just done this all day and gotten my money's worth.

Ok, and then there's something to be said for alllllll those Saturdays I've practiced getting up early to run. It took three tries to get a good weather day for a hot air balloon flight. All three days we had to get up at 4 a.m. and be ready. Two of those days included an hour+ drive to Albuquerque from Santa Fe. The first two days were too windy for the pilots to feel safe about going, but they didn't make the call 'til that morn.

Each time, I was not exactly hit-the-ground-runnin' when the alarm went off, but did haul out of bed and get dressed and coherent enough to be good company for J. She was proud.

On the third try, our very last day in NM before having to hit the highway home, we were thrilled to drive into town and see all the flags hanging limp on their poles. No wind. We flew.

Nuts!

Tom and I have decided to blame it all on an acorn.

The Waiting Game

From Friday, 11.3.2006:

I will be thankful when our upstairs bathroom renovations are complete. It's no easy thing to go down steep stairs first thing in the morning when you're not really awake, your eyes are only half open, you really have to pee, and your feet hurt.

However, the ankle didn't scream nearly as loud today, neither with the first steps nor as the hours progressed. Still puffy, very tender to the touch, sore in the Achilles and outer ligaments areas with any balancing movement. Ate more Aleve, kept it elevated, and refrained from running. Hard to tell if it would be ok to run long Saturday. Crossed my fingers.

I did find the seam ripper in our sewing kit and carefully removed the socky thing from the new ankle brace. It was rubbing a blister on my heel when I wore it around the house Thursday evening. Made sure to not leave any hot spots (thanks for the tip, Joe), and was pleased that the seam ripper did a clean job. The brace is now basically a modified ace-bandage type thing that I can easily carry in the pouch on my FuelBelt. Should I fall over again during a run I'll have the brace ready to use for compression and stabilization.

Trippin'

It was November 1. Our 10th anniversary!

J is so supportive. She understood having a mediocre day at work and encouraged me to get my run in before we headed out to celebrate.I thought it would be short and sweet. My usual four miles from work up Kavanaugh and back. And actually, a little over three miles of it was just that...

Crisp air, dusky light, good pace, fall color, people burning incense somewhere in the neighborhood, good mood, exciting evening plans. Mind free.

Coming down Woodrow, though, I fell over. Just fell over. Tripped on absolutely nothing. My left ankle rolled right out from under me and I felt my weight go onto the side of my foot. That was b-a-d, because my 5th (outside) metatarsal has a big screw in it from an old soccer injury, with the head sticking out just enough to hurt like hell when weight is put on it from the side like that.

I didn't quite hit the pavement, fortunately. Hop-walked a few feet, turning onto the sidewalk at Markham. Walk it off. Walk it off, Farrell. Come on, let's go.

I tried to run. Wasn't happening. Big pain. I made it to a tree in the yard of the School for the Blind and leaned on it. I thought I might throw up, it hurt that bad.What's crackhead about this is that I was not all that worried about still being a mile from my truck in the dark. I was pissed that I might have seriously injured myself and that would cut into my future running schedule.

Deep breaths. Stretching. More deep breaths. Walking.

Finally, after what seemed a long time, I tried a little hop-run. Within a few yards I was back regular running. It hurt to turn or wobble, but running straight was relatively pain-free, strangely. I was very glad to be back running. Very. It felt amazing.

The last mile went quickly, as did the obligatory stretching. Got home, promptly forgot about the only slight remaining ankle pain, and headed out with J for a wonderful dinner at Acadia. (Which we highly recommend, by the way. We are also new fans of red zinfandel).

So today I woke up and put my feet on the floor. Pain. Well, that's normal. Between the screw in my foot and the plantar fascitis that almost every distance runner gets, it feels like I have heel spurs for the first ten minutes of most of my mornings. I didn't think anything of it until I tried to go downstairs.

Ankle screamed, "Hey big dummy, you sprained the heck out of me last night and not only did you then run another hilly mile on me, you then failed to ice me or take any medicine. Instead you drank wine and had a big time. You will pay." I looked down at it and saw the swelling and discoloration. Dammit!

I am not very good at being injured. I can deal with self-induced achy pain from long mileage. Sharp pain does me in though, and not only does it just plain hurt, it makes my mind nuts. Grumpy day. All day I kept thinking about how screwed up my training schedule might be. And not so much because I feel obligated to the schedule, but because I have really gotten to like running and don't want to miss out on it.

Ate Aleve with breakfast and it helped some. Had a good phone conversation with Coach Tom and got good advice for my ankle and spirit. He always makes me laugh.

After a lengthy search this evening, I found the brace Tom recommended for runners (he got his from his doc, whom I called but they wouldn't sell me one outright without an office visit). This one is by McDavid from Sports Authority. Most ankle braces are either nearly worthless (slim neoprene sleeve), or are entirely too bulky (resembling aircasts or astronaut boots). This seems to be a good in-between solution. Haven't run in it yet--took today off and probably tomorrow too--but will give it a shot Saturday morning at the team run.

Next week is NAI national conference in Albuquerque, followed by a week of vacation with J in Santa Fe (happy anniversary to us). Hope to report on some rave runs from the mountains and deserts of New Mexico.

Going Nowhere Fast

From Tuesday, 10.31.2006:

After running errands Tuesday, we had time to hit the gym before getting home to have the porch light on for trick-or-treaters. J swam and I dragged myself onto a treadmill.

No, that's not exactly true. We got there a little after 5 p.m., when apparently everyone else gets there too. There wasn't an open treadmill in the whole place. I sighed, climbed on a bike, and started spinning. Wow. Every time I think treadmills are boring, I should remember that stationary bikes are way worse. Then give thanks that I'm a runner.

Fortunately, our gym has the bikes set up in front of a big window, so even though all the treadmills were behind me, I was able to watch the runners via their reflections in the glass pane. An interesting study in form, posture, and body type.

After about 10 minutes, one guy finished up and I snagged his machine. Already warm, I was glad to go right into tempo pace. Three flat miles. :26.

I really, really dislike treadmills. It's so much more pleasant to run outside. This time of year though, after the time changes and there's no daylight after work, it takes careful planning to run a safe route after dark. Too often I end up on a treadmill because I forgot to bring the right reflective equipment when leaving for work in the morning, or because I failed to scout a safe residential route, etc. It's often just easier to go to the gym and get the prescribed miles logged on a mill.

A typical treadmill run thought process:

This isn't so bad (thought during the first minute).
Damn, there are still 25 minutes to go.
I am bored.
Ok, I will watch the display scan through my information. I have now gone 0.13 miles. Burned 16 calories. Going 8:44 min/mile. Time elapsed: 1:15. Scan starts over. Now I have gone 0.15 miles. Burned 17 calories. Still going 8:44 min/mile. Time elapsed: 1:20.
Ok, this will be like watching grass grow. Or paint dry. Or...what are other analogies for describing slowness? Ah, like waiting for water to boil. For Christmas to come. Like molasses.
I will just look forward and not glance at my display scanner until I feel like five minutes have passed. I wonder if I'll be able to make it?
Of course I didn't make it. Crap. I looked after only 45 seconds.
Ok, I will put my towel over it. That'll show me. That'll teach me to look.
Run. Run. Run. Bored.
Ok, I will practice concentrating on correct posture. I am imagining that I am dangling from a string that runs vertically through my spine and up out the center of my head. Back is straight. Chest is slightly out and shoulders are relaxed. Head is up. Good strides. Mid-foot strikes are good. Heel strikes are bad. Run with knees over feet. Follow through for good toe-off. Elbows bent, hands loose.
There is no way I can concentrate this hard on form for the next 23 minutes.
I wonder if someone somewhere else is on a treadmill at this very moment wondering if others are somewhere in the world wondering if other people are out there wondering about other people on treadmills. What if we could switch, like in Freaky Friday. No, no, no, no, don't think that thought because they might think it too, then it will really happen and I'll have no idea how to get switched back and I have a good life that I don't want switched out of.
Ok, I need to think of something else to occupy myself for the next 23 minutes.
Oh yeah, dummy, turn on your music.

Thank the goddess for portable music.

More Gnu Shoes

J has been officially diagnosed with arthritis in her hips. We saw this coming, with the symptomatic pain being present for some time now, but her recent physical, complete with x-rays, confirmed it. You always hear about how relevant your family medical history is; well, her mom is the only person I know who's had not one, not two, but three hip replacements (the third one being due to one of the first two wearing out), and survived a femur fracture sustained in a fall.

Consequently, J decided since she's on her feet all day at work, she wants to get in better shoes. Ones that will put her in better knee/hip/spine alignment. Tuesday involved a trip to--you guessed it--Easy Runner, and we now have yet another pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6s in our home. She also tried on several pairs of Asics, but liked the Brooks better. Maybe we can start getting a bulk discount.