Walk before you run

On May 5, I went for a run in Georgetown. It was hot, more hilly than the flatlands of my home, and lots of concrete. My right foot had been feeling a little tweaked lately but I was just trying to stretch it. About a mile into my run something in my foot went "POP!" It wasn't excruciating, but I definitely didn't want to keep running on it. I did the walk of shame back to the Metro and then my hotel room. I didn't think much of it since I could still walk. The next day, though, I thought my foot was going to explode.

I spent about three weeks going to see my trigger release therapist. We did make progress but my foot still hurt. Finally at the end of May I agreed to see my sports doctor. Dr. Sam Wittenberg is awesome and a runner as well. He gave me a air cast boot to wear for three weeks and then said we would do physical therapy. I left a little frustrated but optimistic.

The boot on my foot came off June 18 right before we went to San Francisco. Dr. Sam said I could try running a mile three times a week and see how that felt. He said I should keep seeing my therapist Denise (who is amazing and I love her). I was chicken to do much of anything besides just walk around.

I saw Denise the day after the boot came off and was pleased that my foot was acting like a foot again. I saw her again on July 3 and decided I was feeling brave enough to try running.

I already do a run/walk method where I run for a minute and then walk for 30 or 45 seconds depending on the length of my run. But this felt like starting all over.

Two months after something in my foot went "POP!" I put back on all my running gear and walked out the door. And I didn't die. I walked a mile, then I did two miles of running for 45 seconds and walking for 60. It was incredibly slow but after my second running segment I was grinning like a fool.

I've now run three times this week. Each time with a mile warm up walk. Each time with these incredibly slow intervals. And each time with a huge grin on my face. My foot is doing ok. It's tight today but I iced it and keep doing my exercises, one of which is called "toe yoga" and feels amazing.

So blahblahblah running blahblah but the point is I spooked myself with an injury, got a little stubborn, did what the doctor and physical therapist told me, wore that damn boot religiously, learned that my foot can't heal if I never stop moving, gained an appreciation for our modern society where the rest of the clan wouldn't just leave me behind on a rock to die since I was too much of a burden, and am dipping my proverbial toe back into running again.

I have signed up for the Rock n Roll half marathon in Vegas this November. I have just enough time to recover my foot, train back up, and complete that race. But even if that race doesn't happen for some reason, I'm still grinning around my neighborhood for now.

Upon finishing my first half marathon

This is all about my running so feel free to skim unless that's your thing. I signed up for the Crawlin' Crab 5K over six months ago, but wanted to try to push myself a little bit. I can run a 5K but much further than that and my blood sugar will plummet. I couldn't imagine the rolling suitcase of snacks I would need to take with me for a longer run.

It didn't take much for Kimmie to convince me to sign up for the half marathon in addition to the 5K. It was called the "shell yeah" challenge and I would get a fancy medal if I did both in two days. I convinced myself I had six months, so I could figure it out.

And then Rich got sick. Memorial Day weekend I was only set to run five miles in my training schedule and from that moment hardly any running got done. As the summer wore on, though, I really needed something to bleed stress.

Dan at work convinced me to get a new Garmin watch that had lots of fancy features in it. It was a small fortune which pained me to spend, but I love this watch dearly. Dan (and Curtis) also convinced me to try Galloway's run/walk method to gain distance without the nasty side effect of hypoglycemic death.

And suddenly everything became clear. The reason my blood sugar was tanking was because I was over-exerting myself. My poor heart rate was way too high and that was trashing my everything. So now I run for a minute and walk for 30 seconds. Or sometimes I run for 30 seconds and walk or a minute. It all depends on what I'm trying to accomplish that day. I went from barely being able to finish a 5K, to running 10 miles around my neighborhood with no ill effects.

And this past Sunday, I finished my first half marathon. It took me three hours, seven minutes, and 28 seconds. I totally don't care about my pace because I finished with a blood sugar of 125 and never went low on the entire course. I also have no knee pain at all.

Running is supposed to be about improving your pace, but I don't really care (or at least I don't care very much). That's probably for the best because I was just reading that one can only hope to gain 3-5% in speed over a 16 week training cycle. That would mean my next half marathon would be eight minutes faster over the entire course. That's hard to get excited about. Nevermind that one porta-john stop could add those minutes right back.

So my metrics are all about my heart rate for the moment. I would like my running heart rate to be lower so that I can run for longer. That will improve everything.

I have noticed that my body is responding well to all this running. I have hip muscles now. I think they're called iliopsoas. I also have what I have defined as a "was butt". It might be the tensor fasciae latae but it's that little plum-sized dimple on the outside of your butt when you flex it, where you used to have butt until you flexed it away. I'm no medical professional, so I'm sticking with "was butt" for now. I did find a classical example.

That lady on the right must have just finished a half marathon as well. They all just recently stripped out of their sweaty sports bras and shorts.

As for me, I am continuing my quest for a righteous "was butt", some sculpted hip flexors, and calves you can bounce quarters off of. Oh, and my feet are ridiculously strong now too, which I didn't even know was a thing. I'm doing the Harbor Lights 5K and half marathon on November 22-23 and I also signed up for the Shamrock 8K and half marathon in March. Wish me luck!

I ran four miles

Technically today I ran the most mileage I have ever run in one workout. But it was full of complications. I could not easily do my run until Rich got home from his brocation at Blackstone Raids. But he got home around 5pm and no one had eaten recently so we decided to get dinner first.

For some reason, my blood sugar was high before dinner (I think I did bad math at my last snack) so I had to correct for that and bolus for my thin crust pizza. I wasn't too worried about it being high because I was about to come home and run so it would all be fixed.

I tore the house apart looking for my iPhone holder, peed twice before leaving and set off with the dogs for the first mile. The plan was to loop back to drop them off and keep going. But after only half a block, it was evident my drop off was going to be more lengthy. My long sleeve shirt was too warm but more importantly, I had to change my pants. No amount of kegels in the world was stopping me.

I stomped into the house, went upstairs to find new undies, a new shirt, and new running pants. Oh and a panty liner to finish my damn run. I decided to check my blood before heading back out and it had plummeted from 255 down to 172 and my sensor had two down arrows meaning it was dropping fast still. I turned off the pump and drank a juice box (22g of carbs), figuring that should hold me.

I set back out and ran for all three remaining miles straight. That means that I ran for four miles today with no walking breaks. I have never done that before in my life. I also improved my pace a bit so that I ran an 11.18 mile (so running at 5.37 mph). But I also soaked through that panty liner.

I finished the last mile directly in front of my house but wanted to cool down a bit so decided to walk around the block. About halfway around, though, I regretted it. I looked at my pump and it said 88 with two down arrows. Whoops. And I was getting cold, which is another sure sign I was going low.

I got home and checked my blood to find it was 55. I stared blankly into the fridge. Nothing looked good. I decided on a Fage Greek yogurt because they are the best Greek yogurts ever made on the planet. I inhaled it in record time (can you PR in yogurt eating?) and then did my best yoga corpse pose under a blanket in the living room floor, waiting for the chills to stop.

The good news is my knees don't hurt and I didn't get a stitch in my side. I just went through two shirts, two pairs of undies, two pants, a juice box and a yogurt to manage four miles. If this persists to 13 miles, I will need to drag a rolling suitcase behind me.

This is why I gave myself plenty of time to train for October. I sense more math is coming.