Exercise Goals for 2008

Week 19

21.2 miles (back on track)

Scheduled cumulative mileage: 380
Actual cumulative mileage: 391.7

Skipping along through Oxford, PA.

Go Geo Go Geo Go Geo...

OK so runner people, I have a question...

Maporsche, you've mentioned being sore and tired and not in the mood to run -- how do you know if soreness is OK or a warning sign?

I ran on Monday, didn't want to but was fine. Because I was so tired and going on adrenalin more than usual my form wasn't as good and I was definitely achier/ twingier than usual afterwards. I think I may have also been (successfully) fighting off an illness.

Wednesday we were supposed to go but there was a one-two punch of sick kid + scheduling conflict on Gym-mom's part, and we didn't.

Today we're supposed to go and my knee is bothering me. When I go down stairs, especially, the top of my actual kneecap hurts (something between kneecap and muscle, dunno). It's not constant. (Just went up and down stairs to get more specifics to describe and it was actually fine. A bit twingy on the way up, or if I landed more heavily than usual.)

Good idea to go to the gym before running to do some strength training and warm up? Better to go "fresh" rather than stressing it more before running? Avoid running today? Do some sort of stretching, and if so, what?

Any thoughts appreciated. I want to get more fit but I do NOT want to get injured and am trying to be smart about it.

Went last night and signed up for another cycle of dance classes. I need to go back and check - but I think I'm just about to celebrate my second anniversary as a novice bellydancer.



(and to all of you IRL who said "you won't stick it out" pfffffffff to you - you don't know my A2K pals pfffffffffffft)

I'm thinking two years might be enough to qualify you as no-longer-novice bellydancer. What comes after novice? Postulant?

Hee...!

Congrats, ehBeth! That's very cool.

Soz--

I got the impression that the female knee might be vulnerable to injury even after high school.

I'm a firm believer that pain exists for a purpose.

EhBeth--

I like "postulant" as a ranking label. You've certainly earned an advance in rank.

I went.... definitely hurt to run, definitely hurt now, but no Injuries.

Main places that hurt when I started running (and now) were the insides of my lower legs -- a swath of maybe 8-10 inches, starting above my ankle.

Nothing too severe though, mainly just worried in terms of making something worse. My knees are fine.

One glass half full aspect is that the pain helped my form; I seemed to run much more efficiently and do the same distance/ speed with less exertion (less winded when I finished).

I think I'll try to do some gym/ strength training this weekend, then will run again on Monday.

I probably wouldn't strength train.

What I do in these situations is I'll simply go outside a walk for 5-10 minutes, if the pain doesn't slow me down or become unbearable I will step it up to a slow jog for another 5-10 minutes, again if the pain doesn't slow me down or unbearable I'll start my workout.

Do pay close attention to your body during this workout(no ipod, no disassociation), and if it starts to get worse, stop.

And ALWAYS do some sort of stretching (I'm not very good at this either )

Looks like I missed you, sorry....but glad you didn't injure yourself.

This almost sounds like shin splints, which can be a PITA.

Dang it. That's not where I thought shin splints happen but the Mayo Clinic seems to agree with you:



http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/shin-splints/DS00271/DSECTION=2

I'm getting new shoes. (I know just which ones to get but haven't yet because of $$.)

Hey - on shoes - did you read the NewYorkMag article?

http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

it definitely threw me off

I already knew that orthotics, generally, are a big stinkin' rip-off, but athletic shoes?

made me and

this was the bit



that made me go

Yep, I'd bet on shin splints, too. There are some exercises/stretches you can do to allieviate the pain. Run, stretch and then ice.

I've been exercising again after laying off a few months because of knee pain. I bought an elliptical and love it. My knees are getting stronger using it. I'm up to 45 minutes per day. My goal is to get to an hour, but I add some walking in there, too.

Postulant is before novice.
After novice is professed (temporary vows).
I wonder what vows a belly dancer would take?

Soz~

You definitely need a decent pair of running shoes. Like Beth, I am
skeptical of the high-end models. Heck, the least expensive shoes that
NB sells now would have been cutting edge 15 years ago.

I got shin splints when I first started jogging regularly but switching to
good shoes solved the problem.

They're not way expensive -- $83. (Air Pegasus, which I decided on after extensive research a while ago.)

Just that's enough money that I still avoid spending it if possible.

(Less than $40, eh? Hmm.)

I also read a long article in Slate/ Salon (can never keep them straight, in terms of remembering where I read an article) about the benefits of barefootin', or getting as close to it as possible. That also talked about the dangers of over-cushioning.

Mayo Clinic says new shoes are a good idea though.



The ones I'm wearing are ollllllllllllllld. If I had to guess, I'd say a couple of thousand miles on 'em.

I think I'll go on my previous research but will do a little touch-up just in case... (thanks for the link, ehBeth).

This shoe discussion brings me memories:

I was in High School when the olympic walking craze took on Mexico. I made my school athletics team, and then the High Schools' League team. On those days training consisted in walking and walking, running a few miles, and finish with a few walking sprints.

I had my normal Dunlop shoes, and I wrote "Devorakilómetros" (Kilometer devorourers) at their sides. My first blisters were on the plantar surface. They burned and became callous. Then blisters appeared on the lower part of each toe, then on the upper part...

Went to the Mexico City tournament, and made it to the Youth Nationals, representing the Federal District.
On the 10 K. race, a crazy guy starts very fast and I think "He'll burn after 2 K", so I follow the guy in second place. It's me who can't keep the rhythm after 2 K. and I see how the second place is farther and farther away from me. The leader laps me. Other kids surpass me. I'm fourth, fifth, sixth. And the so-called crazy guy laps me again. I go now on automatic gear. The winner laps me five times; the second place laps me twice. I finish seventh, with my best time ever: 56:52 minutes. The "crazy guy" winner of that race was Raúl González, future olympic champion.

I kept on practicing olympic walking for about 5 years, collecting blisters everywhere on my feet. A lot more blisters than medals.

One quarter of a century later, I was reading on the toilet an article about the problems of using sneakers that are too big: "blisters appear on the plantar surface. They burn and become callous. Then blisters appear on the lower part of each toe, then on the upper part..."

The Dunlop Kilometer Devourers were [Mexican] size 8 1/2; I normally wear size 8.

Oh, and I forgot my April chart.

70.3 K. Good. Got me back into yearly goal averages.

18.5 points on speed -not so good
26 points on stamina - somewhat better
7 points on distance

51.5 points total. Not great.

--

May is not going very well. A muscle pull, first; stress at work, later. But it'll get better

Shoes! Glorious Shoes!
New Balance and Nike!
It's been in the news
They hurt your feet by crikey!

==
Saw a guy walking in Central Park barefootin' the other day. I stared.

I did.

=
My advice on running shoes is this: go to a real running store and get waited on by someone who runs (ask, how many miles a week do you run? If the answer is less than twenty miles a week, get someone else.)
Let them fit you with a pair or shoes or two, or three, walk around the store for fifteen minutes maybe more, listening to your feet. They are your feet....and your knees.....and so on up the statue. Tell the fitter to wait on others, you'll be trying these out for awhile.

$83. is a lot less money than an artificial knee.

I know I have the right shoe for me when I finish a ten mile run and there is no complaint from the feet. None.

It took me two years and three sizes (I also lost sixty five pounds) to find my New Balances. Invest.

Great Article, B. We are fond of saying, here in New York, that we spend the same amount of money on regular day footwear as people out in the 'burbs spend on tires. And we should.

===
Did I mention I'm ill? I hate to mention it. I am. It hit me in the middle of the night Wed/Thursday. New York Hack, cough, flu-like misery.
I stayed in bed all Friday. That was okay because it was raining like the end of the world.

Went to work yesterday and then crawled my way around the reservoir for about three miles to get to 22.5 for the week. Total is 314.

Joe(where am I?)Nation