Dratsdratsdratsdratsdratsdrats

Sports Med doc says no CIM. She said that I have a significant right leg weakness and there isn't enough time before CIM to correct the imbalance with weight training. The weakness is in turn totally screwing up my gait and causing my IT Band problems--

She said if I try to run CIM I probably would cause enough damage that I wouldn't be able to run for 6 months.

Drats!!!

So I guess I'll do the strengthening exercises she prescribed and see what happens. I don't really have a choice. I did indulge in half a glass of wine last night. I've been a teetotaler for the past few weeks because of my training. I guess that's a silver lining.

Double drats!

Funny Venn Diagrams

Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

So for some great news. Doc said I can run starting Thurs or Friday.
Yeah! My knee already feels better I am soooo thankful !!!

Onto other, more important business.

Thanksgiving.
IT
IS
MY
FAVORITE
HOLIDAY

Even better than Christmas. Even better than Fourth of July. I think it is because I have such good memories of being a child and having a house full of guests, yummy smells coming from the kitchen, watching “chitty chitty bang bang” on TV and stuffing myself with cranberry jelly and dressing until I thought I might throw up. And then eating pumpkin pie slathered with Cool Whip.

I <3 thanksgiving!

I start planning thanksgiving every year around August. Seriously.
I plan the guest list, plan how we’re gonna make it all happen. Plan the food.

Hmm.mmm food.

This year, even though I am trying to eat more vegan-like, thanksgiving is going to be a time that I will still indulge.

I’ve drafted the menu.

Turkey
Dressing
Fresh Cranberry Relish
Canned Cranberry jelly
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams
Stir fried Green Bean with toasted almonds
Apples-n-onions
Brussels Sprouts cooked in bacon fat with pine nuts.
Gravy
Apple Pie (2)
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Mincemeat Pie

I am also getting the Tofurkey Supermeal . It contains a tofurkey, cranberry sauce, vegan stuffing (yes the Tofurkey is stuffed), “wishstix”, vegan gravy and some sort of potato/cranberry dumplings.

I am having 15+ guests over for Thanksgiving . It is going to be a BLAST!
All food is made entirely from scratch. I make the pies, including the crusts from scratch. Dressing is made from bread I bake at home, Gravy made from a roux, etc. Almost nothing ‘packaged’ other than the turkey and the canned cranberry jelly.

All this cooking and planning means I will take two days off from work to shop, make pies, clean house, etc. I won’t be able to do any of the local Turkey Trots because the cooking schedule is so tight, even with a double oven.

I am considering deep frying the turkey outside—this will make a yummy turkey plus it will free up one of the double ovens for all the other goodies.

I cannot wait!

Spreadn' the funk

warning--this post contains some foul language. Be advised.

Several bloggers have noted a decrease in energy, an increase in sadness (funkitude), or general illness/injury.

The funk has now spread over here.. I got the H1N1 and regular flu shots so it is not illness. I am not 'sad' per se. No peeps, I am INJURED.

During 4 bridges my right IT Band started to flare a bit. I rested it afterwards, Iced, rolled-- I even took 4 days off and cut my speed workout.

On sunday's 20 mile long run, the IT Band kicked me in the nads.

Two miles into the 20 miler it woke up and said, "uh, no. we're not going to do this today." I yelled the the ITB, "fk u. We're going to finish 20".

At 15 miles, I'd had enough. ITB won. I called hubby and asked him to pick me up on the bike trail and he did.

I am sad and depressed. Went to doc. He says, that technically, my IT Band is ok.. Good flexibility, stretch, and movement. So what's the problem? My old lingering ankle injury has screwed up the shock absorption of my right leg. The issue is really a combination of bad shock absorbers in my calf and a slight pulling of my Tensor Facia Lata. This is causing my IT Band to have to pick up the shockabsorbing slack and it is quite angry.

After doing some deep tissue/fascia work, my A.R.T. guy said I should try to run again today. I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow morning and see how a few short miles go. I was able to walk down stairs today (hurray!)and the side of my leg is extremely sore (uh, hurray???) from the work he did yesterday on it.

I did tell my A.R.T. guy that if I need to wrap my knee stiff straight and peg-leg it to the finish of California International Marathon, I will do that. I don't care. I just don't want the stabbing pain.

In any case--blah fkn blah.

So now for some good news--my MA diploma came in the mail yesterday! Honestly, I was still half expecting that I would get a letter from the Graduate office saying that they made a mistake and I was a unit short or something. But alas, the fools sent me a diploma so I can add a MA after my name..

Tri-Karen-Tri, M.A. (aka Peg-leg)

Four Bridges Half Marathon Race Report

Doing a second half marathon in 3 weeks seems crazy, doesn't it? But I promised my mom that we would participate together so we both signed up. A great bonus was that my brother also registered the day before the event so it was going to be the three of us participating together! Whoo hoo. Family stresses and crazy dynamics be damned!

I got to the run early because I had 17 miles on the training plan and I wanted to get the additional 4 miles in before the race. I ran 4 miles early at a pretty slow pace (10:45-11 min/miles). That was all good.

I had a 45 minute wait until the start of the race so I called my brother and mom to gauge their ETA. We hooked up about 10 minutes later. Mom was really nervous.

I was originally assigned to wave 2 based on my estimated finish time (2:10) but I switched to wave 3 so I could start with mom (2:15+). Bro started in our wave too. He was very irritable for some reason. Whatever.

The horn blew and we were off. The biggest thing we coached my mom on was for her to slow down during the first 5 miles. She kept trying to speed up and we were telling her that the first 3 miles were downhill and she would blow it if she sped away. It was like trying to keep my dogs from chasing a squirrel. I on the other had was trying to keep a slow steady pace. I did sprint up the hills because I enjoy it--but then I waited at the top of the hill for mom and bro.

I felt great all the way to mile 7 (which for me was really mile 11). By mile 8/12 my right IT Band was KILLING ME! I couldn't believe it! I hobbled on through miles 9/13 , 10/14 and 11/15. I saw my husband and RR#2 at mile 12/16. O M was i in pain!

At mile 12.5/16.5 my mom and brother started arguing on the bike trail and my mom, now really angry, took off on a sprint, leaving us (her support team) in the dust.

Bro and I almost caught up to her (we stood with our mouths open staring at each other for a few seconds) by the finish. We were about 2 seconds back.

Finish line photo of all three of us will be posted soon. But you can see it here

Find Bib #217

Finishing time was 2:27 -- but for all 17 miles it took me 3:09

Chuckle for the Day

I think this is really funny.

Four Bridges Race Report coming up soon!

Speed Work

Just a quick note. I did my speed workout last night

2 mile warm up.
6X800's at threshold pace w/ 90 second recovery
2 mile cool down.


My TOP SPEED while running???? 6:28 min/mile!!!!!!!!!

Don't MESS, er, with Kalyfornya.. (as our illustrious governator stays).


Woot Woot!

Kickn' A$$

Working long hours has kept me incredibly busy -- too busy to post anything lately.

This weekend (Sunday) is the Four Bridges Half Marathon. I am set to run it. I am hoping for a 2:15 time or better. My mom is running with me, despite a slight calf muscle pull. My brother is planning to run it too--as a surprise for my mom.

I wish there was a lot more to tell but there isn't.

I ran 15 miles last week. My longest run ever in my life. I felt like crap afterward but by the next day, it was all good.

I am looking forward to the cheering spectators on Sunday. I am going to run 13.1 miles for the race, then another 4 miles (2 mile warm up/ 2 mile cool down) after--in order to reach my 17 mile training goal.

That's it for now. Tonight's workout is 6 half mile repeats at intensity pace + 1.5 mile warm up/1.5 mile cool down for a total of 6 miles.

I'll post after Sunday's race!

Cowtown Race Report

First my sincerest apologies—I have no pictures. I was too lazy to carry the camera with me.

However, here’s report.


I woke up at 5 and had coffee and PB & J toasted sandwich and water.
Read the weather report—40 degrees outside--Perfect for shorts and shortsleeve top when running. I donned skirtsports skirt with compression thigh length shorts underneath. Wore my blood sweat and beers top and also brought my hat.

Did the usual ‘bodily functions’ packed up my stuff and left the house by 5:45. Fleet feet said to reach their tent by 6:45 for a warm up.

Met at a friends house who lives close by the race location and parked the car in front of her house. Went in, used her bathroom and then we walked to the race start (about a mile away).

Oh.
My.
It was cold. Walking in shorts in 40 degree weather (remember this is California and it was 110 high only 1.5 weeks ago) is difficult. I forgot gloves. Drats.

Anyway, got to the fleet feet tent in time to see the group leaving for their warm up. I warmed up with a mile on my own. Talked with a few friends and then stood in the 10:00 min/mile section behind the start line.

At 7:15 I ate a GU Espresso Love.

At 7:33 a.m. the gun went off and I started pretty slow.
First mile split was 10:30. All felt pretty good. No ankle pain. Breathing was regular.

Second mile split 9:20. WTF? Ok, slow down slow down… I kept thinking I have to slow down.

Third mile split was 9:25. SLOW DOWN!

Fourth Mile split 9:15. Ok this is ridiculous. Right then my shoe lace came untied. Perfect!! Never have I wished for an untied shoelace, but I was happy to stop and tie so I would force myself to slow down.

Fifth mile split –10:20. I also half-rolled my bad ankle in a pothole. I kept running—was it hurt???? No, it was ok. I kept going.

Reached the half way point—6.5 miles. Mile split was 9:40. Fk.
At this point, I should have eaten some GU but was so focused on trying to slow down, I forgot to eat. This would come back to haunt me later.

Mile 8---Why do my legs hurt??? They feel like they are filled with concrete. Split was 10:00

Mile 9---This is a long freakn’ mile. Side stitch started and wouldn’t quit. Saw some friends on the sideline and got some much needed, “GO KAREN!!!” and high-fives.

Mile 10---Only a 5K to go. Why does this hurt? Just keep moving forward. No walking. At this point I noticed a man behind me continue to cough and cough as if he had some sort of contagious (SWINE FLU) disease. He was also telling his running buddy that he’d had a bad fever [Cough cough cough hack]. Lovely. This was a good incentive to run faster. Noticed my overall time was 1:38. I could make 2:10 if I kept up the same pace.

Mile 11—I had to walk for a minute or two. The lack of calories at halfway point and 10-mile marker (forgot that fueling point too) was really starting to hit me hard. I heard the cougher coming up behind me and took off.

Mile 12—cheery high school students were handing off water and cytomax. I tried to smile and say thank you, but I think it might have come out as a grunt. Mile split was 11:22

Mile 13---I could see the finish line and started to sprint with a smile on my face. ,I grabbed the finisher’s medal at the end of the chute-- the finishers medal is a COWBELL (of course)!

Final time 02:11:37. All things considered this was a good race for me. My goal was about 2:15 so I beat that.

Things to learn: EAT EAT EAT when I need to eat. I kept forgetting to eat because I was so focused on going faster and putting one foot in front of the other. Maybe I can figure out how to set a timer on my Garmin.

Other than that I was pretty happy. I am surprised at my fast mile splits in the beginning. I wanted to maintain 10:00 min/mile splits the whole way. This is a great race, nice and flat and even though I love hills, I enjoyed the flatness of it. I discovered later that they had a gear check (I didn’t see that info on their website) so next year, I’ll definitely wear my sweats to the start …

Cowtown Miracle

I finished Cowtown in 2:11:37!

So sore today but I can't believe it!

Detailed report to follow ... BUT I ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR FOUR BRIDGES HALF MARATHON ..

Race of the Year

As you may have noticed, I haven’t raced much in the last 18 months or so. My thesis/feces took priority. On Sunday, October 4 I will endeavor to complete the Cowtown Half Marathon. I am a little worried and nervous. I have been sick for two days this week; had a bad ankle for 4 weeks; and now have some shin pain.

I ran 4 miles this morning in 40:32 and felt great after so I’m keeping my hopes up that Cowtown will go well. I’ll try to take pics and post them after the race.

If all goes good with Cowtown then I intend to register for four bridges half on Oct 25. CIM group is slated to run 17 that day, so I’ll do the 2 mile warm up before the race and a 2 mile cool down after so I can get in my mileage. My mom (58 years old!) is running Four Bridges – her first half marathon ever!. She rocks it. She started running when she was 50 –and had absolutely NO athletic background before she began running a few years ago.

Anyway, that’s it for now.. Send good vibes my way on Sunday morning.

Rolling is awesome

Foam Roller and Trigger Point Therapy set.

These things really work in terms of helping my pain / injury from IT Band, Piriformis pain, etc. You roll on them slowly and deeply. It helps to break up adhesions and scar tissue and really helps with pain.

Hoo Haa HA Six' Oclock

I am so exited.
I
Ran
11
miles!
And
I
Can
Still
Walk.


Yes. I ran 11 miles on sunday with my CIM group. I should have only dont 8 (75 % of workout) but got to yammering with a lady and before I knew it I was at the 5.5 mile turnaround point. It took me 53 minutes to reach turn around. The way back took a bit longer and I stopped my garmin at 2:00:17 for 11 miles.

Whoo.
Hoo.

I rolled my hips, calves, Psoas, and tensor fascia, etc when I got home. OUCH. I rolled them again at about 4 pm. I took the trigger point ball and ground it into my hip for about 20 minutes at 9 pm. This morning, no pain other than the expected muscle soreness. I can't believe this rolling stuff works!

Today is rest day and then swim tomorrow.

Hoo Ha Ha Six'O' Clock!

~ From a book I read in 8th grade called, The Divorce Express. It is an expression of fun and excitement.

Spreckles

Haven't posted in a while. I have been consumed with
a) feeling sorry for myself
and
b) being angry at feeling sorry for myself.

anyway, now that is all 'sorted' (as my brit friends say) I am back on the horse, er bike and run and swim.

I ran last week several times. I ran half the perscribed distance for my fleet feet group. Here's some totals


Anyway, with all my extra time NOT training, I've gone back to doing some quilting. With the crappy econonomy here, I've decided to give handmade quilts for christmas this year. I have probably 20 quilt kits in various stages of production in my house. I blew the dust off the ol' Janome sewing machine and got to work this last week on piecing together a new quilt top for my mom. I was planning on giving one to my mom for christmas, but was at the same time struggling with what to do for my brother. My bro is the kind of guy who buys whatever he wants--so it is hard to figure out christmas gifts for him. As I was sewing away, I was pondering his likes/dislikes and all the presents from past christmases' that he hated. Then an idea hit me--he is a NUT for CAL Berkeley football. As an alumni, he still buys season tickets every year and travels to all the games. So I thought, I should make him a CAL Berkeley QUILT. Ok, I know it sounds crazy, but it just takes blue and yellow (ok-california gold, I know). I even made a quick design.. Here.

Waddya think? Yes that is the cal bear, my drawing sucks..

Workout? What Workout?

I thought about listing all the things I did this weekend in chronological order, but really, that would be boring. So instead, I will list my injuries/aches and describe how they came about….So from the head down:

Skull—Achy because of high estrogen/low progesterone. I feel a migraine coming on this week. I also haven’t been eating breakfast at all and stuffing my face with crappy food instead of staying on my low salt diet.

Eye (right)—stye forming on the top lid. It fkn hurts. Probably from swimming in dirty lake water with leaky goggles.

Cheeks – Flushed and irritated from too much sun and not enough SPF.

Nose—Stuffy and runny. I better not be getting sick.

Lips (right corner) – Cracked. I have no idea why. Probably from the crappy food I’ve been eating.

Forearm (right) –In an attempt to ‘bond’ with the family, agreed to play badminton for a few hours in the sun. I haven’t really played since high school—20+ years ago. I also decided to show off by beating everyone in the family. Now I’m paying for it, because I can’t even pick up my coffee cup.

Kibbles & Bits – 20+mile bike ride early Saturday morning. First time on the bike since August 5. It hurts. A lot.

Ankle (right)—went to the CIM workout with Fleet feet early Sunday morning to try out the ankle, finally. They ran 7. I did 2. It felt good while running but now a little bruised.

Foot (left)—While getting ready for CIM workout (above), walked into the dark bathroom and rammed my left foot into the corner of the cabinet under the sink. Someone (RR#2, but I’m not pointing fingers) left the cabinet door open all night and my foot impaled itself on it. The foot is swollen, bruised and nasty looking.

TonightI will attempt to run another 2 miles and make a decent low salt low fat dinner. Cheers!

Doing Swimmingly

Since my ankle catastrophe, I decided to focus more on my swimming--particularly, swimming endurance.

On Tuesday, both Rugrat #2 and I reached a milestone.
She has been in the open water swim class this summer. She learned to swim using the Total Immersion method. She learned to put her face in the water, push on her buoy, sharkfin, etc.

On Tuesday, she agreed to 'swim long', meaning instead of staying close to the shore and doing skills and drills, she would swim up the lake shore to a predestined marker and back. She chose to do the 1/2 mile swim.

I wanted to stay with her (motherly instinct and all) but the teacher told me to scram and that a kayaker would stay next to RR#2 the whole time so she didn't panic.

I took off and reached the 3/4 mile turnaround and then looked longingly at all those people who swam the extra mile lap around an island in order to get just over a mile in the water. Someone in my group stopped and said, "c'mon! Stay on my feet and i'll pull you around the island".. Well, i'm so slow, I couldn't stay on the feet--but I did make it around the island!!!! I swam back to the shore exhausted but proud that I made the 1900 yard swim in about 43 minutes. When I reached shore, RR#2 gave me a high five and told me about her jaunt to the 1/2 mile turnaround!
I was so happy for her. She said it was really difficult and she was scared but she persevered and made it! She is so excited to continue swimming in the lake until it is either 1. too dark after work or 2. the water gets icy cold.

Anyway, phew. I can swim a mile and she can swim 1/2 mile. Just maintain now until next year.

TriKarenTri's Tuesday Tantrum Twelve

I wish I had something really interesting to write about, but I don't.

I am resting my ankle since it has been puffing up. I think my wednesday 5 mile run to test out the ankle actually hurt it worse.

So here's a list of a few things about me. I'll call it "trikarentri's tuesday tantrum twelve"

1. Reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I'm on page 13 and I love it.
2. Joining the Capital Athletic Club in the next week or so.
3. Volunteering at XTERRA Lake Tahoe on August 29 so i can earn a free race voucher for next years' race.
4. My ankle still hurts
5. I think I will do Millenium Restaurant's aphrodisiac night for my birthday.
6. My boss just told me "good job".
7. I am confused and sad about rugrat #1 and the Cult.
8. I am amazed that I have so many great friends. They are super supportive and very fun to hang around.
9. I want to obtain a great base level of training so I can do a half marathon effortlessly. (ha!)
10. I have a rash from stress.
11. I am thankful that for the most part my body works like I want it to.
12. Hopefully, Active Release Therapy appointment tomorrow will help my ankle.

Baggin' it

I decided to bag the race (or hobble) on Sunday. So no "Blood Sweat and BEERS" for me. My ankle was throbbing last night and this morning. I can take off two weeks now and still head into CIM training with some good conditioning. If I keep aggravating it, i might be out of contention for CIM altogether. Soooo I'm going to pick up the T-Shirt and hat but not the timing chip.

My husband said he'd buy me a beer on Sunday to make up for missing BS&B.. Say it with me.. "AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" He's really great.

Thanks for all the kind words regarding RugRat#1 and the ankle. I was a little PMS-y this week so everything seemed to be a deadend. Aunt Flo just showed up and now the world is full of sparkle and sunshine.

In any case, I also signed up for Total Body Fitness' Half Ironman Triathlon (HIT)for next year. So that makes two half ironman races next year AND an XTERRA next year. I think that is really good enough, don't you? Well, maybe I'll throw in a sprint or two; maybe even an olympic. Like I said, the world is full of sparkle and sunshine these days.

I ran 5 miles in the dirt

Our last weekly workout last night. The trail run class was awesome.

I ran 5 miles in the heat and dirt.
I was really slow and today my ankle hurts. Not as bad as it did before but it still hurts.

I am angry. REALLY ANGRY about all the effort I put into this class and that my speed gains have been blown 1.5 weeks before the race. I don't know if I should do the race or just bag it or cut to the 5 miler or what. Doc says no risk of permanent damage, but "Karen you need to respect the pain and be smart."

Blah.
Sorry i'm in a bad mood about my throbbing ankle.

Oh, and RugRat #1 (17 years old) wants to join a cult. We tried to talk her out of it, but she's been brainwashed pretty quickly. Woke up at 4:30 a.m. to find my husband crying his eyes out. He doesn't know what to do; I don't know what to do since she lives with her mom full time (hubbies beeach-ex--wife)She bailed on our plans for her to come spectate my race on sunday--because the CULT wants her to do some things with them on Sunday. I told her it hurt my feelings to be dumped and left it at that. Double Blah.

Diet Fail

I had a chili burger with fries and a coke for lunch. It was to celebrate my new promotion.

I wonder how much salt & saturated fat I just ingested.

Back on the horse for tonight's dinner.