The Ultra-Adventures of a Painfully Normal Girl

It has been almost two weeks since the cortisone injection, so today I decided to start the couch to 5k program again in order to not rush back into running. Admittedly, it is a bit demoralizing knowing that I ran an ultra, but it is humbling to remember how hard it is to start running, how hard it is to run a 5k or a 10k or a half marathon, and how big of an accomplishment all of these are.

I grabbed my neighbor because we agreed it is easier to get out the door if there is someone else keeping us accountable. It felt good to be out there again. Before I knew it, we were back at our doors. I forgot how easy running can be when you are not running up and down mountains (thank you SoCal friends!) and only running short bursts.

I felt no "bad" pain, but I didn't expect that I would with this short distance. The sheer joy of today's activity came when I used my foam roller to roll out my IT bands. Normally, rolling my left IT band results in my eyes tearing up from the screaming of my tender tendon. Today the sensation I felt was at first disconcerting and wrong, but then my brain processed this sensation actually was...absolute lack of pain. I couldn't have been happier.

Now I realize that it is to early to determine whether or not I am fully healed, but it is another great step in the right direction! 

2.07 miles at 14:29/mile

Nike Free

Today, I received a cortisone injection in the IT band of my bad knee. IT (pun intended) hurts just about every time I run these days. If there is a decent downhill, forget it! The cyst causes little comparative discomfort with no evidence of an actual tear in my meniscus...good news. It will be left untreated to resolve itself.

The doctor said he only injects IT bands after all other non-invasive treatments have been attempted and failed (check!). After signing the consent form, yes I know it can result in an infection, there could be unlikely fat atrophy at the site, blah, blah, blah,  the doctor jabbed his thumb into my knee some more while bending it to find the exact location. There was a small pinch followed by a cold spray to numb the skin before the uber steroid was pumped into my offending tissue. I never really felt the needle, but the mashing (massaging) of the area post-stabbing was not an entirely comfortable sensation. Soon, I headed home with instructions to rest it for a few days, which I will stretch to at least a week, and then begin running slowly.

My knee felt good for the next hour or two, but then it grew quite sore with shooting pains if I twisted wrong. I was informed that it might be sore tonight, so I am not concerned. I am optimistic that it will work...

So I decided to hell with it, I'm going to try running again. This morning, I woke up early despite my alarm not going off. I pulled myself out of bed, thanks in part to my very full bladder, and off I went. Despite the time of day, it was still a bit warm out, although in general, it is cooling down slightly.

My legs felt as though they had never run prior to today, and I gave up after a mile with a side cramp doubling me over and nausea. Valiant attempt, but alas, fail. At least my knee didn't cause the premature walking.

Maybe it was my breakfast and/or the heat. Or maybe my body was warning me to start slow. In any case, I will try again. And hopefully, next week's ortho appointment will bring good news...

Why did I forget my calf sleeves yesterday?! Now I have those little itchy bumps on my legs.

Kind of... I am back in the sense that I finally ran a trail and that I am posting again. I am not back in the sense of being 100% healthy.

Today was my first trail run in a while and my first one on Okinawa. It was a 4+ mile loop early in the morning to beat the heat...hmmmm, or while it was less hot anyway. I was concerned mostly about the humidity, but aside from sweating profusely and drinking more water than I usually do (not that I drink that much to begin with...), it was not a factor.

My limiting factor once again was my damn knee. It was fine until I bombed a few downhills sections. Sigh. I am definitely making an appointment on Monday and won't give up until I find something that works. Acupuncture is on the horizon as an option as well. Ok, enough of the negative.

It felt great to be back on the trails even if I did have to walk part of the course. While the trail was quite overgrown with vegetation, it was not the angry, skin-tearing kind found in Southern California, and it was GREEN! It was also a bit slipperier, which is always good for a laugh when your feet slide out from under you landing you promptly on your backside.

The run was followed by some delicious pancakes. All in all, I say it was a successful morning!

As I sit here and type, the savory bouquet from the herbed and roasting chicken is unceasingly wafting across my olfactory senses. My world revolves around food. My latest listography contains those smell associated with food that speak to my soul. It is in no particular order... they are all equally amazing.

- Sesame oil
- Fresh rosemary in all its earthy, woodsy glory
- Truffle oil
- Dark chocolate as it is being melted into heavy cream to create ganache. The aroma builds exponentially until it bursts into a crescendo of rich, decadent extravagance.
- Bread dough
- Onions and garlic sauteing in butter
- Hot tea (green, white, herbal, mint, jasmine...)

Other random smells not associated with food:
- Roses... as cliche as that may be
- Freesia
- Freshly washed sheets
- Orange blossoms from a roadside orchard
- Vintage cars
- Leather
- Mahgony
- Old books

Feel free to comment and add your own smells!

So I have taken a bit of a break from running. Pain-free runs left so much promise only to be dashed by some pain where the cyst is located. Since it happened while running and since it is on my MCL, I decided to not push this one.

In the meantime, I was inspired while watching Top Gear in all of their "ambitious yet rubbish" gloriousness. I will take this pause in running to write about another passion, and hence the following is a list of my top cars.

1. Subaru WRX STI... I do so love my car
2. Fiat 500 Abarth SS... you can keep your mini coopers
3. Ariel Atom... open-wheeled awesomeness
3. Porsche GT3
4. Ferrari 458 Italia... because it sounds so damn pretty and has some power to match
5. Reliant Robin... because it is absolutely ridiculous

And for all you who are screaming what about the American cars:
1. Ford Fiesta... of course, it would be to strip it down and turn it into a proper rally car
2. Ford F-150 SVT Raptor... if I had to pick a truck

As it turns out, I had to cancel my running plans last Saturday. I had found a trail 5k to celebrate the completion of the couch to 5k program, but the government found me. Instead I was "invited" (= ordered) to attend a muster for the Inactive Reserves. I can only glean from the muster that they wanted to ensure we were still alive and relatively productive members of society. Oh, and to pitch the joys of becoming an active reservist.

No 5k for me and I missed the group run as well. Sigh.

Actually, it turned out better than expected. The area on base that we were summoned to was full of units that, well, like to inflict physical pain... I mean... training upon their Marines. I did a little informational reconnaissance and discovered the gold mine of trails beginning at that very location. Of course, I brought running gear knowing that I would be able to find some trails; I just didn't know how close they would actually be.

I had heard tales of the sadistic Marine Corps training device known as "the Reaper". A hill/mountain of epic infamy as well as epic accomplishment. I was too close to pass up the opportunity to see it and bask in its shadows.

Off I plodded, ignorant to the path that was leading me towards it. I was told that I would be approaching it from the back side, and while the trail would be uphill, it would be more of a rolling uphill. Granted, I am still building up my training and have not been doing serious hill runs, but wow.

Uphill still means uphill and rolling means slow torture because the "up" part keeps going and going and going. The undulations of the trail grew increasingly more severe and I was reduced to hiking with short bits of sloooooow running. Towards the top there were placards with Medal of Honor citations which made me reminisce back to the time when I entered the Marines in all of my motivated glory.

Finally, I found it veering off to the right and heading down. Wait. I think that's it. No. Maybe. Crap. Well, I will continue going up because that is smart, right?! Well, at least I could get a better view. The upward undulations here were of psychotic clown rollercoaster proportions. After clawing my way up a section that gained 100ft of elevation in 0.1 mile. I decided that was enough. It was too steep to run down so I slid down on a rock slide of gravel.  

I should have trusted my instinct in the first place and returned to the almost unassuming Reaper. I was told that is how it gets you. It doesn't look that bad...how bad can it really be?! Luckily, I was under no force but my own and I was standing at the top looking down. Don't get me wrong, it is utterly impressive when you realize just how small things at the bottom actually appear.

Because of the time, I only ventured half way down to appreciate the steepness of the grade; steepness that not even my gamin would register. And then I walked back up. It is a force to be reckoned with for sure.

But now it was time to started heading back. Alright downhilling time! Unfortunately, the previous strain combined with steep downhills that I was not ready for caused Thing #1 to flare up part way down. This forced me to walk the rest of the way back to my car but I had probably ran about 4 miles of the entire journey, which was my goal.

I will head back to those trails when I have trained on more mountains and my knee is ready for the abuse. It was the adventure and inspiration that I so needed. Until next time...

Note: I did not take a picture of the actual Reaper because I felt it almost too sacred.

Up, up, and away...

100 ft in 0.1 mile = wall (not trail)

I just returned from volunteering in the Ink n Burn booth at the Endurance LIVE expo at the San Diego Convention Center. While I had no knowledge of the event prior to a few days ago, it was an enjoyable event. There were many big name as well as up and coming companies there. Also, there were clinics and chances to rub elbows with the pros.

A few of my favorites were there to include infinit and nuun. Granted there were quite a few triathlon booths that I glossed over. Then there were the new discoveries. Clif Bar now has a delicious granola bar. Also adventure racing sounds like a whole lot of fun.

There were also several nutrition related booth which got me to thinking that sports nutrition should be added to the list of potential careers. It's something I'm passionate about...mmmm, food.

What all this really made me realize though, was that it is great finding a group of people just as crazy as you are so that you fit right in as "normal".

Today's joy of running: having amazing running friends to share the love of gastronomic delights and tasty beverages with.

(hey, not all running joys directly involve running...)

For those of you who know me, I can be downright terrified of the water in certain circumstances. So when I say I took a surfing lesson with Josh, it was a big deal. Well, I had a blast. Being the first lesson, we did plenty of drills on the beach to learn how to stand first. The instructor assured me that it wouldn't be scary at all and that the water would not be more than waist deep where we were.

Finally it was time to hit the surf. Mind you, it was not like the surfing you usually see. We would ride the wave in towards the beach. Unfortunately on my second attempt, I crashed unceremoniously landing with my toes bent back at a ridiculous angle. Luckily, I only suffered some soft tissue swelling and pain. The same cannot be said for Josh, who broke one toe and fractured another. (At least now, we have a good story...).

After a few tries, I finally was able to stand. Our instructor was so excited to see me stand that he came skipping over to me and tackled me into the surf to the point where I was entirely submerged. Normally at this point, I would have majorly panicked, but I stayed amazing calm instead. VICTORY!

Moral of this story... I had to take a few days off from running to let my foot heal. Hopefully, I will be back Thursday!

Today's run was the first time that I was able to tear down a substantial hill since last March without so much as a twinge of pain. It was as amazing as I remembered. Needless to say, my morale is returning...

Ok so today began the week of the 3 mile runs. Yes, I realize that in the couch to 5k program, the goal is to build up to 3 miles. The problem is that a run of 3 miles will never be the same thanks to the Marine Corps.

I understand the PT environment, however the run-til-you-puke mentality, especially during the PFT, made me forget that running can actually be fun.

And now I have an aversion to running that distance. I would rather run 2 or 4 or 50...

Yesterday, Josh and I went for a hike. We have decided to hike each weekend slowly increasing pack weight and hike distance. There is a mountaineering course in his future as well as mine, as long as the knee continues to play nice.

Honestly, it felt great. While the runs have been kicking my butt, this hike was the mental/morale boost I have been desperately needing.

Its as though my emotions while running have followed the wildly fluctuating ups and downs of the terrain I have been along. However, I do realize that my body is struggling to reach the level of stamina and ability that my mind remembers from before. It seems to have forgotten the pain and frustration associated with getting to that point.... oh, yes, now I remember.

So on the way home from today's run, I decided to pick up a few groceries. I zipped around efficiently grabbing what I needed. The checkout clerk, in a tone that said I-don't-really-want-to-be-here-but-I-have-to-pretend-that-I-care, asked what sport Team Ink N Burn supports. I was wearing one of my Team Ink N Burn shirts, which are the most amazing technical shirts if I must say.

"Ultramarathons and such endurance feats."

"Oh... marathons. I keep thinking I should start running because runners are in such great shape, but I hate running."

I stopped myself from sighing out loud and decided not to explain that I was not talking about marathons because of the sheer apathy in his voice. I mentioned something instead about running on trails being more fun, and then I was on my way.

My new Gamin 310XT came to day. I tested it out on today's run and it is thankfully better than the 405. I am quite excited that it has a 20hour battery life and it can be turned off when you are not using it to save the battery. I set up the 4 available display screens with all those stats I so love/hate while I am running.

Unfortunately, my knee has been aching on and off since Tuesday's run... right about where the cyst is. Strangely, though, I didn't feel it while I was running today. Which brings up today's conundrum; do I try a cortisone shot now while I am low in mileage or do I wait and see? I want to keep it as healthy as possible for 2011 ultra season and the mountaineering in my future.

My optimism levels elevated slightly after running, eating, and drinking beer with some fellow trail crazies. Granted it was a relatively tough 2.5 miles in the mountains of east county, but I loved the snow and the change of scenery.

I have decided that while I am running these short distances, now is the time to focus on nutritional expermentation. I feel as though I have said this already, but I'm serious this time, really... The first focus will be eating "cleaner". There will be more fruits and veggies and less processed foods. I have already reduced coffee intake to certain weekends and special occasions.

Cheers!

I have been terrible at posting lately, but forcing my way through the couch to 5k program has left me less than inspired. It's not a hard program to follow but it is frustratingly slow. Luckily, I run with Andrea most of the time and she is entertaining and inspiring in her own way.

I occasionally still get twinges and tweaks in Thing 1 (the bad knee), and therefore I remain somewhat skeptical of 2011 being my return to ultra running. The cyst does not seem to be going anywhere soon and I remain hyperaware of the knee. Thus far it hasn't bothered me while running or walking, but the IT band does say hello every now and again (usually while hiking instead of running). Perhaps I am so focused on it that I am imagining it... one can hope.

Anyway, I don't really do the whole new year resolution thing, so I will continue to take my running one week at a time without setting long term goals or major races until I get more distance under my belt, or rather shoes.

Happy New Year!