I’ve been back to running for a solid month now, applying my plan of action.  My runs have been short and sweet - 2 miles here, 3 miles there maybe a slightly longer run on the weekend.  I’ve missed a couple of runs due to weather, but so far I’ve been able to keep up with the schedule.

I’m really digging the three times/week thing because I don’t feel like I’m such a slave to the running.  And having the extra rest days seems to be keeping my tendonitis at bay, too.  Speaking of that evil stuff, things are okay in that department.  I’m not in any pain during my runs, but things do get achy.  I’m managing it with lots of stretching, ice and the occasional Advil.  The really good news is that I don’t get any after-run or next-day pain.  Last summer, when the tendonitis was at it’s worst, four miles was about as far as I could go without some serious hurt.  And then, I would hurt for the next two or three days before it would go away, only to start all over again once I started running.  As far as I’m concerned, this is 100% better.

The only thing that’s bumming me out is that I’m not gaining as fast as I did when I was running four times/week.  I’ll have one good day where I’m running in the 9s and 10s and then the next time I’m barely able to break 11.  That’s depressing.  But, I suppose I’ve really only been back for a month, so I shouldn’t get too stressed out.

This month, I’ve decided to start adding one hill day to my plan.  In theory, if it doesn’t kill me, it’ll help boost my cardio level and build up my legs.  Of course, if it causes anything to flare up, it’s getting kicked off my schedule.

This month’s totals:  26.12 miles @ 11.09

Didn't it involve stuff like drinking copious amounts of beer, eating copious amounts of food and doing copious amounts of nothing?

When did it evolve into an all-out fitness bonanza?

Friday: 10 mile run; 2 mile canoe

After a good run a few days earlier, I decided that I would try to get in a long run just to see how my legs would handle it.  I was secretly hoping for 12 miles but I decided that if I got to 10, I’d be happy.

It turns out that 10 was about all my legs could take after making the mistake of taking the route with the biggest hills in the area. 

Check out the elevation profile:

 

Up, down, up, down, up, down, UGH.  The tendonitis didn’t bother me at all, but my quads and hamstrings pretty much started screaming bloody murder around mile 8.  I pushed through to 10 and ended at the park looking and feeling like hell.  Afterwards, I took an ice bath/waded around in Lake Gogebic for 30 minutes or so and my legs felt as good as new.

I wasn’t terribly pleased with my pacing (11:21) , but considering all the hills it could have been worse.  But bonus, I was able to make it up each hill without stopping, which is a personal victory in itself.

Later that evening, Josh and I canoed our way down to the local tavern and celebrated our first day of vacation with a few pints.

Saturday: 18.50 mile bike

I averaged 15.1 mph on this down-and-back route, which is pretty fast for me.  I almost didn’t make that because there’s a long gradual climb about four miles from the finish that knocked me down under 15 and I really had to grind away to get my speed back.

Sunday: 50.25 mile bike

aka The Big Ride.  Last year when I rode 50 for the first time, I almost died.  This year, I felt so good when I completed my lake loop (38.5 miles) I decided to push onward to the big 50.  It probably wasn’t the best idea to stop for an hour and have a couple of beers and bar food before the last 12 miles (THANKS JOSH :-/), but it only took 10 miles for my legs to loosen up. :-)  Except for feeling the need to eat every damn thing in the camper when I got back, I felt great afterward.  And, I’m happy to report that my average speed was 14.9.

I did another lake loop later that night with Josh as we did our annual Lake Gogebic bar crawl.  I was significantly slower that time around. 

Monday: 3.00 mile run; 3.75 mile canoe

This was my back-on-schedule run after being off my official schedule for the last two weeks.  My legs felt a bit heavy from the previous day’s ride so it was a bit of a struggle, but I didn’t have any tendonitis pain.  That’s two pain-free runs in a row, for those of you keeping track.  Am I cured?  Who knows.  All I know is that it didn’t hurt.  I’m going to pick up my schedule and see how things turn out.

Later in the morning, Josh and I canoed a few miles down the Slate River.  We got lots of pictures of critters and other things along the river.  There’s lots of pictures in the gallery.

So, that boils down to:

13 miles of running; 70+ (including the three 4+ miles of cruiser rides down to the store) miles of biking and 5 miles of canoeing. 

Whew, I need a vacation from my vacation.

We finally took the camper out for it’s maiden voyage last weekend.  Thank goodness because I was really itching to go.

We headed down to Marquette on Friday and set up camp at Tourist Park.  We did a little shopping then headed to dinner at a restaurant called L’Attitude.  The restaurant was relatively new (about 2 years) had good reviews, so we were excited to give it a try.

Epic fail. 

We’ve had bad experiences at restaurants before, but never so bad that it inspired us to write a scathing review on tripadvisor.com, but that’s just what we did.  About the only good thing our review said was that our bottle of wine was good.  If they hadn’t comped our meal, except for the wine, I don’t think we would have even said that.  Get your shit together L’Attitude, and thank you UpFront & Company for serving great food after 10pm.

James was racing in the Ore to Shore MTB race as well as mooching on our campsite, so after he took off for the start, I took off for my 8 mile run around Presque Isle Park.  The humidity kept my pace about 30 seconds/mile slower, but I was okay with that.  Also, my legs were feeling so much better then they had on Wednesday so running was good that day.  Here’s a few shots from my run, and the rest of the weekend.  There’s more in the gallery.

 

On Sunday, we participated in the Gordon Lyon Memorial Cruiser ride.  This was a cruisers-only ride, no fancy road or MTB bikes allowed.

Or at least that’s what I thought around the two mile mark of my five mile run tonight.

Then, I felt a twinge in my left leg. 

Now, being a runner, I’m pretty accustomed to random twinges during my runs.  Sometimes I’ll get one during a stride and it’ll disappear in the next.  Sometimes it’ll stick around for several strides before fading away.  So, I’m not usually too bothered by them.

This was a different twinge.  It was accompanied by a burning, aching feeling that spread from my ankle to my lower calf.  It was a twinge with attitude.  Then, my hamstrings decided to tighten up and every step became a battle between me and my legs.  Immediately my hey-i-think-i’m-getting-better-because-there’s-no-pain run turned into a i-hate-my-legs, i-hate-running, why-does-this-always-happen-to-me, screw-this-I’m-just-going-to-sit-on-the-couch-and-get-fat self-loathing pity fest.

Somehow, through sheer will or sheer stupidity (with me, they seem to be interchangeable), I made it through the last three miles and I felt like crap afterward.  Not just physically but mentally.  My legs were throbbing and I was just disgusted with myself and running.

I think my big mistake in all this was running two days in a row.  But, I’ve been feeling pretty good the last few runs.  I’ve had minimal pain and my speed is starting to come back.  I’ve slowly started to incorporate uphills, downhills and pavement back into my routine and everything’s been okay.  However, I was only running three times a week with a day or two between runs.  So, I think running two days in a row was just too much for my disgruntled tendons and they let met know it in no uncertain terms.

I’ll take the next two days off then have an eight miler on the schedule for Saturday.  We’re going to be camping in Marquette, so I need to find some soft trails to run on because I don’t think my legs can handle any more pavement.

Last week’s totals:  13.04 miles @ 10:55

Unimpressive, to say the least.

Wow, it’s been that long since I’ve blagged.  I didn’t think it was that long so I guess I’ve been busy.  What have I been doing?  Well, we took a trip to Iowa for a few days and did the touristy thing.  That was a lot of fun.  I have a bunch of pictures, but I’ve been too lazy to get them uploaded to my gallery.  One of these days…

Before we left for the Land of Corn and Tractors, Josh and I ran timing for the Miner’s Revenge MTB race.  It’s called the Miner’s Revenge because the race actually goes right through the old Adventure Copper Mine in Greenland, MI.  Our friend James over at Bad Decision Bicyclist was competing and it’s always fun to go to his local races and make fools of ourselves hooting and hollering when he rides by.  This was our first time working rather than spectating and it was a lot of fun.  I was a little bit nervous that a ton of people would cross the finish line all at once and I’d screw up everybody’s time, but the riders were spread out enough that the most we head to deal with was five riders finishing in a clump.

Finally, I’m happy to report that the other thing I’ve been doing is running.  I ended up taking a six-day break because my tendonitis was being pissy, and that turned out to be the smart thing to do because I’m running without much pain now.  It’s not gone completely, but it is about 80% better than it was a week and a half ago. 

I did add a new weapon to my arsenal to get me healthy.  I started taking glucosamine & methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) supplements daily after reading about a fellow blogger’s success with it.  Glucosamine & MSM are commonly used in tandem to treat or prevent osteoarthritis.  Among the many marketing claims of MSM, the most appealing to me were the anti-inflammatory aspects.  Glucosamine can help repair cartilage and joints - not that I’m having those types of issues – but I figured I couldn’t hurt.  So, I started taking the pills containing 1500 mg of glucosamine, 750 mg of MSM eight days ago and either they’re magic or I’m falling for some snake oil trick because I think they’re helping.  Actually, it’s probably the MSM that’s working because that takes about 3 days to kick in.  Glucosamine takes something like 6 weeks.  Anyhoo, after about three days of gulping down these horse-sized pills, I noticed that my left leg didn’t seem as annoyed and some of my swelling also looks to have gone down, too.  The pain on my first run (5 days after starting the pills) was 50% less than compared to my previous runs and each subsequent run has been more and more pain-free.

So, I don’t know if it’s actually the pills or it’s all in my head, but all I know is that I’m running regularly and every run is better than the last.  It’s giving me hope (cut to me looking for some wood to knock on) that I’ll actually be able to do the Appleton HM in September.  For a while there, I was pretty well convinced that I was going to have to pull my entry, which would have really sucked.

Well, until next time…

I’ve been doing the same weight training routine for the last several months and it’s getting seriously boring.  So, based on the reviews at Amazon.com (and a few glasses of wine), I picked up this new DVD.

One review said “…[the routines] are tough and leave you feeling it the next day (or two)…”.

Ha!  My back and sides are in agony!  It’s pretty apparent that the DVDs I’ve been doing don’t even hit those muscles.  I didn’t dare do the second portion of the workout today because I figured getting up off the floor was important.

Hopefully I’ll be recovered enough tomorrow to attempt the next routine.  I watched it today and it’s a killer.

Can’t wait!

CRIPES.

Just once I’d like to head into a race completely healthy.  I’d like to not have any shin splints, hamstring pulls or calf strains.

JUST FREAKING ONCE.

But no, it’s just not in the cards for me because my shins are pissed off again.

ARGH.

So, I probably won’t run any more before the HM.  I can grti through 3 miles with aching shins but 13.1….

No. Freaking. Way.

Bah.

Well, at least I can say I got two runs in this week, so all is not lost.

Tuesday’s run: 3.25 miles @ 35:28 - 10:55 ppm. Average bpm 165

Today’s run:  3.00 miles @ 28.33 – 9:31 ppm.  Average bpm 175

There’s always the bike and killer yoga, I suppose.  And the One Hundred Push Up Challenge which I started the other day.  I’m on week 1, day 2 and my arms are slightly sore, but nothing too bad.  We’ll see how I feel next week.

I finished my final long run on Friday afternoon.  I was supposed to run on Saturday, but the forecast called for rain all weekend so I decided to take a rest day on Thursday and do my long run on Friday.

It was a balmy 67 degrees, so I wore shorts.  I’m sure the oncoming drivers appreciated the glare from my alabaster white legs.  I ran to Chassell and tried to stay on the trail the entire way, but parts were completely swamped and I got tired of running up & down driveways working my way around the water, so mostly I just stuck to the road.  My shins are a little pissed off about that but they’ll get over it.

And, since I’ve been running in frigid temps the last four months not worrying too much about hydration, I completely blew the amount of water I took and ran out around mile 8.  Fortunately I was able to refill my bottle in a car repair shop (unbeknownst to them).  I was totally going to ask permission, but nobody was at the front desk and the water fountain was right there, so I did a quick refill and took off.

Anyway, I ended up doing 11 miles at 10:42.  I was originally intending to do 12, but I was dumb and wore my heavier winter socks instead of my lighter summer ones and I felt hot spots on my feet around 10 miles.  I didn’t want them to turn into monster blisters, so I decided I’d better quit while I was ahead and finished up once I hit 11.  Had it not been for the blisters, I could have made 12 with no problem.

In my quest to collect every single GPS running device Garmin makes, I bought the Forerunner 305 last week when I noticed that the price came way down.  This one’s got a heart rate monitor so I’m able to collect even more data that I have no idea how to interpret!  My average heart rate for this run was 171.  I have no idea if that’s good or bad but I didn’t keel over from a heart attack, so I can only assume it’s okay.  The chest strap is pretty comfortable, I completely forgot I was wearing it once I left the house.

This week’s totals:  19.58 miles @ 10:36

Next week’s schedule calls for 16 miles with a long run of 6.  Depending on how my shins are feeling, I might end up cutting back, we’ll see.

After next week, I have two short runs for 5 miles then it’s off to the races!

I think Mother Nature is getting a good laugh at us poor Yoopers right about now.  She gave us a gorgeous 70-degree day on Friday and then turned around and dumped over 10” of snow (some areas got around 15-20" - check out Josh's place) on us in the span of 2 days.

My yard, which was snow free on Sunday, looked like this on Tuesday morning.

I did get a giggle out of these little tracks on my parking lot.

Here’s hoping that this little weather blip is our last of the season.

I was able to run on Monday (2.5 miles @ 10:19), although with the mix of snow & rain, I got pretty drenched.  I ended up cutting my run short because it was getting pretty nasty and I didn’t fell like getting run over due to poor visibility.

I also ran six lovely pain-free miles today (@ 10:32).  I didn’t intend to run the entire six, but my shins were feeling fine, I was feeling fine, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the roads were bare.  Usually at this point in my training, I’m so beat up and tired that I find myself questioning my sanity every time I lace up my shoes.  Today I was reminded why I run in the first place.  It was perfect.

Now, I just hope my body doesn’t pull a Mother Nature and unleash some sort of injury avalanche on me.  Speaking of not funny…

After an eight-day running hiatus, I decided to take my legs for a spin on Saturday morning. I ran five miles into a really, really strong, and at times very cold, wind the entire way which made for some loud cursing and some increased huffing and puffing but otherwise, it doesn't seem like I lost any endurance during my layoff.

I kept to a conservative pace and kept off the pavement, although running in the dirt on the side of the road is major ankle-rolling territory so I felt like I spent more time looking down at my feet than where I was going. I wish I had been looking down at my feet when I ran by the smashed deer on the side of the road.  Disgusting.  Aside from a few twinges here and there and a complete lack of stretching afterwards (dumb), it went pretty well.

This week's totals: 5 miles running (including a full mile climb at mile 3) @ 10:47, 41 miles cycling @ 13 mph.

Next week I'm supposed to do 25 miles with a long run of 12. Let me just say HAHAHA! Ha. There is no way I'm doing that and staying healthy. I guess I'll just play it by ear. I'd really like to get another double-digit long run in before the HM which is in 20 days, but we'll see. Ugh, 20 days. I've been training for this race since January, am in better shape than I've ever been in my life (I can knock off 10 minute miles easily and do 25 "boy" pushups in a row) and I'm still not feeling confident.

I whined about this to Josh and he said that if I'm ever at the point of starting a half marathon and not being anxious then I should be entering the full marathon. That boy is so funny.

A report from the food department.  After a failed attempt at making chicken pot pie a few weeks ago, I decided to take another stab at it. This time: pure perfection.

And, wouldn’t you know it, after a gorgeous 70-degree day on Friday, we got snow today. The forecast says 1-2" tonight with an additional 3-5" on Monday. Good thing I haven't put my shovel away yet because I just might need it.

Happy Easter and all that.

I’ve been getting some good rides in the past few days while I’m nursing my shin splints.  I rode to Josh’s place via M-203 on Saturday afternoon.

I swung through McLain Park on my way. It's opening at the end of the month.

Despite the sun being out, it was cold and windy. My toes were frozen by the time I got to Josh's. We had James over for Easter dinner at my house. I made spare ribs, garlic & parmesan mashed potatoes and broccoli. Yummy.

 

After dinner, we learned that James has a talent for Wii Bowling. Josh came awfully close to beating him, but he crushed me every time.

No matter, watching James try to hula hoop made up for everything. He twirled everything but his hips and looked like he was having a seizure. Holy funny.

So, my schedule this week:

Saturday – 25 miles, 11 mph average

Monday – 20 miles, 13 mph average

Tuesday – no riding, turbo yoga (oh my aching arms - damn those dolphin pushups!)

Wednesday – 21 miles, 12.5 mph average

Thursday – planning for 10-ish miles plus turbo yoga

Friday – supposed to be really nice, maybe I’ll go for a little ride, but maybe not

Saturday – planning for 30-ish miles, but we’ll see

Sunday – turbo yoga

I’ll start running again on Monday and see if my shins appreciate their 10 days of rest.  They’d better, the bastards.

Bore, bore. 9 miles. Bore. Fastest ever. Bore, snooze. Straight into an 18 mph wind. Bore, snooze, snooze, bore.

If you hadn’t guessed, I kicked some serious ass today.  That statement would have much more power were it not my own ass that got kicked.  Holy F, it was windy.  How windy was it?  Well, it was big trees bending over windy.  Shit blowing across the road ahead windy. Category 1 hurricane windy!  Okay, I exaggerate.  Anyway, maintaining my pace in that infernal wind was really hard, hence the kicking my own ass thing.  But I did it and I felt pretty okay when I finished.  Which pretty much means that my body should start breaking down at any moment.  Hmm, which part shall it be this time?  Calves? Hamstrings? Quads?

Here’s the map.

 

Totals for the week:  12.02 miles @ 10:20.

Next week is a total of 21 miles with a long run of 10.

The UPS guy left me a present this afternoon. Well, okay. I bought it, he just delivered it. But still, new stuff! I have done no running this week. I am a naughty, irresponsible runner! What can I say - I was sick on Monday and just plain sick and tired on Wednesday. I have every intention of running tomorrow. At least that's my plan as of this moment.

I can't believe how out of shape I became over the past few weeks. I've taken several weeks, or even a month off before and never had as much trouble coming back as I have this time. I got my three miles in this Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't pretty. The first 1.25-ish miles were fine (okay, they were downhill) but the rest were just ... hard.  Uphill into a very cold 10 mph wind. I had to stop two or three times just to catch my breath.  Meh. Here's to hoping that next week is better!

I discovered that some streets in my neck of the woods that exist on maps, don't really exist in the real world. Before I left for my run tonight, I had a nice little course mapped out using mapmyrun.com that wasn't just an out and back.  I hate out and back runs, I find them to be utterly boring.  This course went out, cut down, and wove it's way back to my place.  I was looking forward to it. 

So, I get to the spot where my cut-down street is supposed to be and there's nothing there but snow and trees. I thought maybe this was one of the streets that was too steep to keep open in winter - I discovered another one of them on one of my carefully planned out runs last year, which caused an major mid-run route adjustment (so annoying!) - but it actually turns out that there is no street there anymore.  It probably was there years ago..from the size of the trees, we're talking many years...but now it's just been reduced to a narrow path through the trees down to street below.  I suppose I could have taken the path, but getting to it would have required scaling the 3.5' snowbank in front of it.  No thank you.  So, it was just a boring out and back for me.

Besides disappearing streets, this run came with the extra challenge of some lake effect snow!  I don't mind if the snow hits me in the face, but I can't handle when it gets in my eyes.  I'm contemplating purchasing some sunglasses with a few different replaceable lenses.  They're pretty expensive though, so I dunno.  I guess I'll continue to contemplate.

Speaking of the weather, it hit 30 degrees today.  Since I dressed for 20 degree weather, I was sweating my butt off.  I'm going to have to start tracking gear vs. temperature now.  Grr.  The warm spell also caused some portions of the roads to be really soft and squishy, which means virtually no traction, even with my YakTraks on.  I love my Yaktraks, they work great, except in soft, squishy snow.  My quads were really burning when I got back.

Oh, and just in case I haven't bitched about enough things in this post already, I'm noticing that my little three week bout with the sinus thing really had an impact on my fitness level.  I'm seriously huffing and puffing my way through these measly little runs, unable to even come close to the pace I was running in November.  I know it'll come back in time, but it is rather frustrating.