Nice Semi-Long Run

Fourteen miles on the paved trails in the park, a training/taper run for the next marathon, no problems. Murmurings from the right knee, left hip flexors, and left hamstrings, but nothing serious.

I took three Clif Shot gels, several salt tablets, and plenty of water, running 2/3 of the time and walking 1/3, just as I might in a marathon. Overall pace was 11:13, good enough for 10 days after running a marathon. Surprisingly, I felt stronger at the end than I did at the start. It’s a masterpiece!

Breakfast after the run, pretty much everything organic.

Land Between the Lakes Marathon

We didn’t find the Land Between the Lakes Marathon on MarathonGuide.com, for some reason, but we found it on MarathonManiacs.com. It’s a wonderful marathon (and 23k, 60k, and 50 miles) on a beautiful trail in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area in the southwestern tip of Kentucky. We found no faults, have no suggestions for the race director. The race was perfect, the course was perfect, even the weather was perfect if you like it a bit warm. I’ve never heard of another race that would allow a runner to change distances during the race, not just down to a shorter race, but up to a longer one. It’s a hang-loose group, but they get away with it because they know what they’re doing. A trail race by trail runners.

If the race was perfect, I wasn’t. Oh, man. I trained for this race as best I could, almost entirely in the Stillwater Dome. The many corners are good for ankles, knees, and hips, perhaps, but the soccer surface didn’t prepare me for the hills, and today’s course was very hilly. According to the race web site, a marathoner will gain and lose a total of 2068 feet in the 26.2 miles. If that were straight up it would be four tenths of a mile, and I have a new appreciation for that elevation change when it comes as a long series of hills and valleys, the trail strewn with leaves, roots, rocks, and the occasional stream or muddy patch. No complaint about the trail, mind you, it’s exactly what a trail should be - I love this kind of running.

It’s a lot of work, though, and every muscle hurt, especially in the last six miles, especially the quads. Those hurt enough, toward the end, to actually keep me from running downhill. Since my muscles didn’t have enough steam left to run very far uphill, I was limited to running on the level in those last miles, and there really wasn’t much level to run.

Specific bodily failures:

• Left hamstrings ached a little, off and on. Not a limiting factor.
• Right quads hurt quite a bit, especially downhill. Limiting. Sometimes it feels good to exercise a muscle to exhaustion, but these were on fire and I was a little concerned about injuring them. Left too.
• Lisfranc ligaments in the left foot started to hurt late in the race. Ho hum - it’s arthritis from an old injury.
• The left calf cramped up. I was tiptoeing past a muddy patch and lifted my left foot over a log, which triggered the cramp. Imagine standing on one foot in a slimy bog, the other foot in the air, calf cramping painfully, and cussing a blue streak at maximum volume (that actually dulls the pain a little I think - I hope). The cramp eventually subsided, of course, and that left calf actually finished the race honorably. Maybe it’s good to have it cramp up once, and get it out of it’s gristly little system.
• All muscles ran out of gas. I hadn’t trained properly for this race.

What else?:

• Time 6:08:54, marathon number 49, state number 32, second of four in age group 70+, 76th of 105 overall.
• I’m 70, and got beat by a 76-year-old from San Antonio. I hate that - not just getting beat by an older guy, but a guy from Texas to boot. Nice guy though, we chatted briefly after the race. He did have souvenirs of the race, bloody cuts on his right arm, said he fell several times.
• I didn’t fall, but came extremely close three times, each time my right foot catching on some root or other trail hazard. Why always the right? Dunno. A little foot-drop going on? I think it might help to have glasses made for running - my bifocals can’t zero in on the traps that are just a step ahead.
• I took six Clif Shot gels with caffeine somewhere along the way, and I think seven salt packets. I have no idea how much water - I had it refilled at many of the aid stations. I was SO GLAD that I decided to carry water rather than depend on aid stations alone.
• Early in the race I watched a dog-like creature race at full velocity across the trail, perhaps 75 feet in front of me. It made quite a bit of noise and was gone in seconds. Colored like a gray wolf, it was the size of a coyote, maybe a bit larger. Another runner told me that coyotes are common in the Land Between the Lakes, and wolves are seen occasionally. I think this might have been a wolf/coyote hybrid, which I know does happen. In any case, it was clearly more afraid than I was, except if it had turned around, I’d have been looking for a tree. I had actually brought a knife on the trip, perfect as a defensive weapon against wild dogs or whatever, but had finally decided not to carry it on the race. Sometimes you should trust your first instincts. I wish I knew when to do that.
• I passed a lot of runners in this race, and some passed me too, but for much of the race no one else was in view.
• All of the trail was in a deciduous forest, quite primal. I’m not good at identifying trees without their leaves, but last fall’s leaves were still on the trail and appeared to be mostly red oak, or the Kentucky equivalent, and perhaps chestnut. I’d love to see it in summer.
• The most spring-like plants were short daffodils, just coming into bloom, growing in clumps. We never decided whether they were planted by people or if they just decided to set up camp there.
• Aid stations had grapes, bananas, oranges, M&M’s, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, bites of race bars, Hammer Gels, PB sandwiches, rollups of some kind, and more, not to mention the cheerful volunteers. As I said, this was a good marathon!
• Sunshine and Sweet Pea finished the 23k too, well ahead of me. Good for them!

The end.

Springtime in Kentucky:

Stretch Before AND after?

See the post for Wednesday, below.

Friday, Feb 18, 2011:

Forty minutes, four miles, in the Bubble again. Not so warm inside today - I was comfortable enough in long pants and a long-sleeve shirt. I wore ear cover, anso even the ear didn’t hurt. No pains, an excellent 30-mile week.

Thursday, Feb 17:

Sixty minutes, 6 miles, in the Stillwater Bubble. Warm outside today, and warm in the Bubble too. Usually I run in shorts, but for the first time I ran in short sleeves too. Except for a sore ear, no problems.

Wednesday, Feb 16:

Forty minutes, about 4 miles, in the Stillwater Bubble . After 12 miles the day before, I took it pretty easy. Nevertheless, in just a couple of loops of the soccer field, the left hamstrings started to speak up, as they had in the previous week. I have no doubt that they would have become worse during the run, as they had in the previous week. So I stopped and stretched the hamstrings, just bent forward and touched my toes for 15 seconds or so, then took off again, finishing the four miles with no pain at all. None AT ALL. The stretch actually fixed it, at least for that day.

I’ve always believed in stretching after a run, though I don’t do it often enough. But in recent years the idea of avoiding injury by stretching before the run has been thoroughly pooh-poohed by all those who think they know. A very recent study shows once again that pre-run stretching does not reduce injuries I believed those reports too, but now I think there’s a qualifier. There may be times when stretching a muscle that's already tight might actually prevent that muscle from being torn or pulled during the run. Oh, yeah!

Tuesday, Feb 15:

Two hours, about 12 miles, no pains or problems. I took Clif Shot gels at 40 and 80 minutes, with none of the stomach upset that I’ve had recently when taking gels. The difference? I didn’t have my usual coffee-latte before the run. I needed just one bathroom break to pee, no more.

I checked pace a few times, and I'm sure it was all of 12 miles. No pains! That’s an excellent sign. It’s a masterpiece!

Monday, Feb 14:

Forty minutes, about 4 miles, in the Stillwater Bubble. All OK, no pains.

Salad for dinner, mostly organic, ground bison beneath:

Hamstring Is Better

Friday, February 11, 2011:

Sixty minutes, at least, in the Stillwater Bubble. This run went quite well indeed - I wonder if the problems with the left hamstrings are over. I sure hope so.

I tried a new pair of Brooks Launch shoes today - they’re just fine. This is my fifth pair, and I like them as well as I liked the discontinued Brooks Burns. Cushioning but not much else - very comfortable.

Thursday, Feb 10:

Fifty minutes in the Stillwater Bubble. Possibly a dull ache in the hamstring toward the end, but no sharp pain. Tomorrow I’ll shoot for 60 minutes.

Wednesday, Feb 9:

Forty minutes (4 miles) in the Stillwater Bubble. Only a hint of pain in the hamstring at the very end of the run. I’ll try 50 minutes tomorrow.

Tuesday, Feb 8:

After three days without running, I tried to run in the Stillwater Bubble for an hour. I reached 45 minutes or a little more, and then the new left-hamstring pain reappeared. I had hoped for more after three days off.. Nuts.

The plan will be: Try to run 40 minutes tomorrow, but stop if there is any pain. Increase by 10 minutes per day if no pain.

Where Have the Raccoons Gone?

Until this year we were regularly harassed by those masked bandits, every night, trying to rob the bird feeders, or the garbage cans, or whatever, especially in the winter. None this year.

I think we figured it out. Raccoons don’t like coyotes at all, but coyotes like raccoons a lot! For dinner. In the past few days we’ve twice seen a large, dark, dog-like creature striding through the yard, obviously on the hunt. The first time we thought, in the shadows of early dawn, that it had the features of a wolf. Large enough, with a large head and long busy tail. We thought.

A few days later we saw another, also in the dark, and then it seemed a little smaller, tail less bushy, more like a coyote. Since wolves are not seen in the Twin Cities area, it was probably a coyote both times. In prior years we saw stray cats, too, and snowshoe rabbits, but not this year. Our cat has never been outdoors in her life; she’s afraid to go out. Now she has good reason.

Friday, February 4, 2011:

Oops - we ran in the Stillwater Bubble again, but today my left hamstrings had a new pain, not a serious pain and not the one that I’ve had in those hamstrings recently, but maybe enough to be a signal. I ran only a little, walking for most of the hour. It doesn’t hurt when I walk. I’ll skip running this weekend, probably Monday too, and hope that little pain goes away.

Thursday, Feb 3:

Six more miles in the Stillwater Bubble today, 60 minutes, run/walk, no problems.

Wednesday, Feb 2:

Stillwater Bubble, 120 minutes, about 12 miles. I ran the first 5 miles without walking, but felt a little discomfort on the outside of the right hip, possibly the start of bursitis, so I switched to the walk/run method which seems to be easier on my body. The hip quieted down.

I took gels at 40 minutes and 80 minutes. After the first one I felt some stomach upset, occasioning at least two extra trips to the bathroom. That’s not OK - it’s happened other times recently when I’ve taken gels. I have to fix it. First, I will try a semi-long run with gels but without the 16-ounce latte that I’ve also been having before the run. If that doesn’t work, perhaps I’ll try switching from Clif Shot gels to another brand.


Fruit and berries laid out in preparation for breakfasts (we all like this stuff). In just a few minutes, the marble board warms the frozen berries enough so that they don't hurt our teeth.

Sixteen Bubble Miles

Tuesday, Dec 14, 2010:

Jim and I ran for a little over two hours in the Stillwater Bubble again today, Jim running his pace much of the time. I did my walk/run again, because it seems to allow me to log miles at a modest speed without hurting the hamstring much. I timed a few laps, and the pace is just slower than 10-minute miles, even with the walking, so I’m sure I ran 12 miles in the two hours and a few more minutes.

My legs felt tired at first, but recovered and I felt strong at the end f the two hours. Afterward, the sore hamstring muscle didn’t seem to be any worse than it was before the run. It’s a masterpiece!

Monday, Dec 13, 2010:

Forty minutes in the Stillwater Bubble this morning. They were having some problems with the facility, and it was unheated. With an outdoor temperature of minus 10 or so, the indoor temperature was only 20 above. I usually remove several layers of clothes to run there, but today most of them stayed on. Still, much better than running outside with 18 inches of new snow and thirty degrees colder. I took it easy, walking 20% of the distance.

Two More Bubble Runs

Thursday, December 9, 2010:

Stillwater Bubble again. I went to a meeting of networking professionals, after which we three ran for an hour, covering about 6 miles. I started right out with a walk/run, because the semitendinosus muscle still hurt, walking about 210 feet of each 1000-foot loop around the soccer field. It felt fairly good, actually.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010:

Stillwater Bubble, I couldn’t run today because of the left hamstring semitendinosus muscle, which hurt quite a bit when running, hardly at all when walking. Fortunately, the left knee was no problem. I walked for 45 minutes, covering perhaps three miles.

Everything Aches

Actually only every MUSCLE aches, which is fine. Muscles are supposed to ache after a 20-mile run, so they will take the next long run a little more seriously. I ran on the N St Paul Community Center upstairs track, 20 miles, 270 laps, 1080 corners all to the right, about 35,100 paces. This was a difficult run for me, much more difficult than the 16-mile run six days ago. I’m not sure why, because I prepared for this one in about the same way, but I suppose it could be partly BECAUSE I ran 16 miles 6 days ago. Maybe. I used to be able to get away with that.

A slight pain in the arthritic left Lisfranc joint came and went, as did a slight ache in the once-injured right hamstrings. Hip flexors on both sides started to complain at about mile 14, but didn’t get too bad. This is normal for the last year or two. The only new pain was in the right leg, just below the knee joint, toward the outside, where some bones come together to support the knee joint. That showed up in mile 19, but disappeared soon after the run was over. Nothing hurts now :-)

The track is banked at the corners, so feet, knees, and hips were spared unusual stress, but evidently that benefit didn’t extend all the way up my body. Most disconcerting was the weariness in my trunk, as I tended to lean to the left, having trouble holding that shoulder up, starting as early as mile 6. That may be another reason why the run was difficult. The track was clockwise today, so all 1080 turns were to the right. One woman actually asked if I was trying to compensate for an injury, leaning so much to the left. It appears that I am sadly in need of core training.

I was able to run continuously for 18 miles, though, walking only briefly for water and gel breaks. The watch never stopped - no bathroom breaks. From 18 on, I did have to walk every fourth lap because I could barely hold myself upright and, besides, my legs were plumb out of energy.

I took 5 ounces of water every two miles, gel every four, and salt every four. No cramps! Splits: 9:47, 9:34, 9:44, 9:40, 10:03, 9:45, 10:18, 9:49, 10:23, 9:46, 10:25, 9:55, 10:32, 11:12, 10:44, 10:44, 11:12, 11:01, 12:20, 12:33, total 3:29:26, average pace 10:28. For the log: 130 paces around one full lap, 12 paces around one corner, so 48 corner paces in one lap. I can use those numbers to calculate roughly how much farther my left foot had to travel than my right foot did. Trivia. Next run: 3 miles for recovery, maybe Wednesday. I hope I can do that on a straight road.

Today's breakfast after the run.  Gluten-free cereal beneath.  The yellow is mango.  Mmmmm.

Hamstring Injury Prevention?

Saturday, Jan 30:

It seems to work for me. Six years ago I had a pretty serious hamstring injury in the Twin Cities Marathon and had to walk to the finish from mile 10. Healing and recovery took months, confounded and NOT shortened by professional physical therapy. In theory, that injury makes me a little more susceptible to a repeat injury. Since then though, whenever I feel any ache in that muscle, I do my butt-kicks, like this: Stand still, kick one heel up behind about as far as it will go, do this 70 times rapidly, then do 70 more with the other foot. It really does seem to help with my particular injury, no guarantees for anyone else. I do these after running, not before, and (when I remember) also on days that I don’t run.

I have a theory that the butt-kicks might help in two ways. First, they run the hamstrings through almost their entire range of motion, stretching the muscles fully and, especially, contracting them fully. Could this somehow help those muscles remember how they are really supposed to work after they have endured thousands of repeats over a very narrow part of their range? Second, it most certainly it builds the hamstring muscles in a way that running doesn’t. A personal trainer may say that it’s not be the best way to do that, but it will have some effect.

For what it’s worth.

Today’s run was four miles on the upstairs track in the community center. No problems, no pains.

Splits: 9:17, 8:51, 8:55, 8:53, total 35:55, pace 8:59. Nice run.

Thursday, January 28:

Four miles in the Stillwater Bubble. Actually, 40 minutes at a pace that presumably was faster than 10 minutes per mile. I timed one lap in the third mile and it came out to a pace of 9:30, so I’m sure the distance was at least four miles.

Several other runners in the bubble today, and lots of walkers. The runners were mostly in pairs, and all of them were faster than me. And younger, of course.

No problems, no pains. Long run next week.

Salad as dinner.  Mostly organic.  Is that bison or is it beef?  I don't remember - this photo is from almost six weeks ago.

Three Runs

Sunday, Jan 24, 2009:

Norm and I just can’t seem to run together at the N St Paul Community Center. Today I got changed and up on the track just as he was starting his post-run stretches. We chatted for a moment and I started my four miles. Maybe we’ll have to actually agree to meet at a particular time, rather than leaving it to chance.

The laps didn’t come quite as easily as they did yesterday, perhaps because I ran hard yesterday! And because I was running on a fairly full stomach, which always works against speed. Only a slight comment from the sore right hamstrings, and I did my 70 standing hamstring curls afterward - that will help in the long run.

Splits: 9:10, 8:53, 9:01, 8:46, total 36:52, pace 8:58. It’ll do!

Saturday, Jan 23:

This was a very nice six-mile run at the N St Paul Community Center. The first mile is always slowest, and when that one came in below nine minutes I knew it would be a good run. And it was, finishing up at an 8:37 average pace.  Except for the last mile, I wasn’t pushing myself - this pace just felt good. I haven’t looked back, but it may be the fastest six-mile training run I’ve done in a while. I keep looking for signs that some speed is coming back, now that I’m off the DEX, and maybe ... :-)

Friend Norm showed up after my run was done, so unfortnately I didn’t get a chance to run and chat with him. A delightful young man, freshman at Century College, finished his nine miles just as I finished my six, however, and we chatted as we walked a few cool-down laps. He is training for Grandma’s Marathon, his first marathon, and running very well I’d say.

After this run I felt some twinges from an old injury in the right hamstrings. Just a dull ache, but it’s a warning. I’ve been slacking off on my standing hamstring curls, which seem to alleviate this problem if I do them regularly enough.

Splits: 8:58, 8:38, 8:33, 8:40, 8:43, 8:12, total 51:43, pace 8:37. Very good - I’ll take it! It’s a masterpiece.

Thursday, Jan 21

Five miles today in the Stillwter Bubble. Actually 50 minutes at a pace that I assume to be 10 minutes/mile or faster. Only one other runner today, a guy that I don’t know. I should probably meet him. He was going a bit slower, I think, though I never passed him. I change direction from clockwise to counter-clockwise every ten minutes or so, and so did he.

My sweeties were there too, watching the baseball guys, who have the field at 10:00 am, as they laid out a new diamond on the soccer fields., I don’t know why and didn’t ask. Was someone concerned that they were wearing out the turf at the other diamond? Anyway it was a good run, finishing a solid 30 miles for the week.


Leftover turkey with organic dijon mustard, organic pickled beets, corn bread, organic sweet potatoes, baked.  I probably put some salsa or hot sauce on the sweet potatoes after the photo was taken.

Feel-Good Run

Twelve miles in the Stillwater Bubble, at a modest pace, no walking. This is the longest run since the OBX Marathon last November, as far as I recall, and it went perfectly. Time 2:00:05, average pace about 9:45 (I timed a full loop three different times), so the distance was probably about 12.3 miles.

Best of all, no problems and I felt strong throughout. I could easily have gone farther, but the baseball guys were about to take over the bubble. Maybe a slight complaint from the right hamstrings midway (old injury), and another slight complaint from the right knee, on the inside beside the kneecap. Both went away and didn’t show up later in the run or later in the day.

It’s a masterpiece!

Isn't pomegranate pretty?  Adds a lot to the photo and to the breakfast.  Oatmeal under there somewhere.  The white is kefir, a very nice probiotic food.

Six

Thursday, June 12:

Randy and I ran a fairly easy 6 miles on the Gateway Trail. After the heavy rain in the previous 36 hours the trail was like a rain forest, so lush and green. Spring is over and summer is here! Randy was having a little trouble with a hamstring, so we stopped a couple of times for stretching, but all in all it was a very nice run. No pains of any kind.

Splits: 9:29, 8:57, 8:33, 8:38, 8:53, 9:17, total 53:47, pace 8:58 overall. I was shooting for 9:30's but we overperformed just a little even with the stretches. S’ok. This finished 24 miles for the week, down about 1/3 from the prior week.



Post-run breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal with organic flame raisins and dried cranberries, organic strawberries, blueberries, banana, organic nectarine, organic walnuts, Dove dark chocolate, organic pomegranate juice, organic nonfat milk. That'll hold ya 'til noon.

Three Wonderful Miles

Back in the saddle again! The superheated Chicago Marathon is in the past, and I not only survived it but finished it. Today’s three-mile run shows that I am recovering from it in a normal way. It felt wonderful, especially in this morning's 48-degree temperature. Time 25:39, average pace 8:33. Splits 8:54, 8:36, and 8:09. Wahoo!

The plantar fasciitis pain is gone. The only pain today is in the right hamstring, a problem which has recurred several times over several years, and for which I don’t yet seem to have a good solution. I hope that cross-training will help. Further, I have no marathon in view at the moment (first time in a LONG time) and can afford to ramp back up to good running condition fairly carefully.



Tuesday night's dinner: Wild caught salmon with pistachios and organic nonfat yogurt, organic peas (two kinds), pineapple. Estimated Weight Watcher points = 9.