DEX Does Make a Difference!

Yesterday I was exhausted after a seven mile run on the indoor track, and today I felt much better and ran much more easily. I stopped at six miles for reasons other than exhaustion, but I think I could have gone the rest of the intended ten miles without dropping below 9-minute miles. The difference is that yesterday I was on dexamethasone (DEX), a myeloma treatment, and today the effect of that DEX had mostly worn off.

I stopped because the right quads were hurting again. Apparently I injured them a little in last Thursday’s 200 m sprint, and probably re-injured them a little yesterday, trying to run with a DEX-throttled glucose supply. But there are other things going on too:

• I did feel just a hint of trouble from the left Achilles tendon, mindful of what I felt last year after running the same sprints;
• There is a little pain in the arch of my left foot, though not when I am wearing shoes with arch support; and
• Though this is probably not related to running, I’m feeling a pain in the gut a couple inches to the left of the navel. I need to log that somewhere, so here it is. I have an idea what may have caused it, but that will be for the myeloma blog after the next Mayo visit.

Anyway no more running for at least two days, and even then I will run where I can easily stop if any of those pains should reappear. We have a marathon coming up in mid-February - I don’t really care how fast I can run it, but I sure don’t want to be injured going into it.

Splits: 8:58, 8:44, 8:59, 6:52 (.78 mi), 9:02, 8:42, total 51:19, pace 8:53.



Today's lunch: Two-egg cheese omelet, all organic, with organic salsa and organic mixed vegetables.

Woofed Again

Seven miles on DEX (dexamethasone) day. I was supposed to run those miles yesterday, but the right quads hurt too much and I stopped after one mile. I wouldn’t choose to run much on DEX day because the DEX prevents muscles from properly replenishing their gluten supply from the blood, but today I had to do the miles in order to stick to the schedule of 30 miles for the week.

That schedule shows 10 miles tomorrow and seven Thursday, but perhaps I’ll reverse that. The ten-miler will be done at a nine-minute pace if possible. I’ll feel stronger tomorrow and Thursday. Today the right quads hurt just a little at the start, and I was prepared to stop again, but after a mile or two the pain disappeared. I felt good, too, for the first three miles. Then breathing went from four to three footfalls per full breath (two out, one in) and stayed there, indicating a race pace. I was obliged to slow down, and my legs are REALLY tired.

Splits: 8:51, 8:47, 8:52, 9:02, 9:12, 9:18, 9:24, total 1:03:27, pace 9:04.



Normal winter breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal with dried cranberries, blueberries, organic walnuts, banana, 85% dark chocolate, and fat-free organic milk. Not shown: Two eggs fried over easy in a tad of coconut oil. Unlike previous years, blueberries have so far been available all winter at Sam's and Costco, though not organic ones. Strawberries have been patchy - we only eat organic ones so we don't find them often. No nectarines, peaches, plums, mango, or any of the other delectable seasonal fruits. Pineapple is quite available - I should probably have more pineapple. Kiwi too, except it tends to curdle the milk :-)

Runners Live Longer

Maybe I'm the last to notice this interesting piece of research - It was big news last August, but I just found it today after chasing a very short description on CNN this morning. Bottom lines:

• Middle-aged to elderly runners live longer than non-runners, and
• They also have fewer injuries of all kinds, including knee injuries.

The Stanford University study included 284 runners and 156 similar, healthy people as controls. All had similar socioeconomic backgrounds and all were at least 50 years old at the beginning of the study.

After 19 years, 15% of the runners had died compared with 34% of the non-running control group. Furthermore, runners also suffered significantly less disability.

Well we knew this all the time, didn't we? It adds a third meaning to the bumper sticker "Marathoners Do It Longer."

Here are some references:

• MSNBC Article about the study
• More detailed report on the study
• Study abstract

So keep on running! We do keep on, don't we!


Today, Sunday, Jan 04:

Just one mile today. I intended to run eight miles on the track at the club, but my right quads hurt from Thursday’s 200 m sprint. I ran the one mile (8:51) to see if it would go away, but it only got a lillte worse. So I stopped. I don’t believe in running on pain unless I’m sure that I’m not going to do additional damage, and I was not at all sure. It feels like the pain of muscles pushed just a little beyond their ability. If I wait until the pain is gone, the muscles will be better for it.

This turned out to be a great opportunity to do resistance training instead. I’ve been letting that slip lately - not today.


Dinner: Wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon, organic vegetable mix with slivered almonds, organic blue-corn chips with flax seeds.

Good Start to 2009

Saturday, Jan 3, 2009:

St Croix Runners regular five-mile Saturday run. Dave, Dave, Tom, Luke, & Paul. Everyone finished ahead of me but Paul, who is about my speed right now. But I did well enough considering other recent runs and today’s conditions, which were slippery with some loose snow. Also, I had some unexpected soreness in the quads from Thursday's 200 m race. Who'da thunk? Time 44:24, pace 8:53.

No pains of any kind. Nike miler shoes.


Thursday, Jan 1, 2009, New Years Day:

Another Charities Challenge event at Bethel University . Last month I ran the 400 m race once and then didn’t run any races at all in the second event. This time I ran the 200 m, in 36.7 seconds, which is only about 2 seconds behind my PR from last year. Not bad! I’m very happy with that result.

Slight pain in the right knee as I ran around the indoor track for the remainder of six miles. And a little No other pains until the next day :-)


Tuesday, Dec 30, 2008:

I had a coach once who said a runner should never let more than 48 hours pass between runs. He believed that muscles would atrophy or freeze up after that amount of time. By that measure, today’s 6-mile run at the club was a day late, more than 72 hours after last Saturday’s run.

But this was a good run, with no evidence that the extra delay caused any harm. I started out at a pace that felt natural, and finished the first mile a little more quickly than usual. The miles after that were also quicker than usual, with an overall pace of 8:36, the best I’ve done for a six-mile run in a while.

Breathing was four footfalls per full breath for the first five miles, with an occasional increase to three footfalls in the last mile. Slight pain in the right hip flexors toward the end - wish that would go away. I’m trying a new stretch to see if that helps. Slight pain in the right knee after the run was over.

Splits: 8:53, 8:34, 8:31, 8:34, 8:39, 8:26, total 51:37, pace 8:36.



Bison Burger Dinner: Everything is organic.

Slip-Sliding Along

This morning the temperature was 30, which meant that the overnight drizzle had frozen here and there to paved surfaces. In some places it was just wet, but in others it was ice. That kind of spotty black ice is hard to see, especially just before dawn. Both Tom and Luke had shoes with studs of some kind, but Paul and I just had regular running shoes.

We’re slower anyway, so we hung back and walked in a few places where it seemed dangerous, finishing long after Tom & Luke. Even so, we each had a close call or two. Though I did get away with it, I might have been smarter to go run indoors somewhere today. Enjoyable to run with Paul, though. Time 48:54, pace 9:47.

Maybe I need a pair of Yak-Trax. Or drive some screws into the sole of the shoes, as Luke had done, so the screw heads can act as studs.



Dinner: Organic chicken, roasted organic sweet potatoes, organic nectarine, organic catsup.

Merry Christmas Run

Steve, Dave, and I met at the usual St Croix Valley Runners’ location, the Northland Tennis Courts, and took off into the minus-5 degree weather for the usual five-mile run. According to Dave, in fact, his thermometer said minus-11. Whatever, it was cold. All three of us were dressed for the cold, and no one complained.

I wore a ski mask, and contact lenses because regular glasses fog up and freeze over when the face is covered. Five layers of clothing above the belt, and two below including my pajama bottoms. Plus foam rubber knee protectors. I was a little worried about my feet, where I wore just a single pair of heavy, long Wright Sox inside the Nike Miler shoes. Indeed my feet did get a little cold, and I’m glad it wasn’t a ten-mile run, but my feet were never really at risk.

How come lungs don’t simply freeze solid in this weather, when a runner is breathing so hard? I recall another runner explaining, as we huffed along in a frigid race, that by the time air is inhaled through the mouth, throat, and bronchial tubes, it is warmed almost to body temperature. Hence the lungs are protected. I suppose that has to be the answer. But it doesn’t explain why those other parts (bronchia, etc.) don’t freeze. Perhaps they have an abundant blood supply. Anyway they don’t freeze, so we can run in virtually any temperature if we manage to keep the rest of the body warm.

Today’s time was 45:38, for a pace of 9:08. About two minutes slower than last Saturday, and perhaps 25 degrees colder. Last run of the week, 24 miles completed.



Breakfast after this Christmas morning run: Trader Joe's gluten-free granola, organic walnuts, blueberries, banana, organic nonfat milk, Dove dark chocolate. Not shown: Two eggs pan-fried in a little coconut oil.

Eight Miles

North St Paul Community Center. Today the idea was to run 8 miles at a nine-minute pace. I wasn’t sure that I could do it, but it was no problem and I was even able to ramp up the last mile. This was my longest run in a month or two. Breathing was four footfalls per full breath throughout except the last half mile, when it went to three. That’s good - four footfalls is a sustainable pace short of a race pace. Perhaps next I’ll try 10 miles.

Slight pain in the right knee after the run was finished, in the middle of the knee at the bottom of the kneecap. It went away in 15 minutes or so, shortly after stretches were completed. I hope it doesn’t become a problem. It didn’t bother during the run.

Splits: 9:03,8:55, 8:55, 8:56, 8:56, 8:55, 8:57, 8:17, total 1:10:55, pace 8:52.



Dinner: Organic chicken, organic carrots roasted with the chicken, organic strawberries.