Indoor Track Racing

Indoor Track Races by Charities Challenge at Bethel University, Snelling at I-694. We enjoy these events and wish there were more than five per year. Two have gone by now, including this one, with three left in January and February 2010. We missed the first one because we were in New Orleans, but glad we made this one. The deal is that you pay a single fee for running the first step, and then you can run to your hearts content (being careful not to be in the way of racers) and you can enter any number of the events.

Today there were races for 60 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, one mile, and 1-mile race-walk. Most of those races had more than one heat, and if so, you can enter multiple heats if you’re a glutton for punishment. One guy who did that says "train by racing!" Indeed.

There is a good spirit in that place. People are very, very supportive and there are plenty of spectators. Todays racers ranged in age from 5 to 71, including some of the best runners in Minnesota. I mostly just ran around the track today, both directions to reduce the annoyance on my adductors, but I did run the 200 m in 39 seconds, four or five seconds longer than my best time in 2007. I also ran an untimed 60 m dash by myself, just to see how it felt. Felt good!

Otherwise, 8 miles of running, not all at once but also not including any walking or racing. Most of that was at a pace of 9:15 or so I think. It’s a masterpiece!


Breakfast with a Christmas theme.  Indeed there is oatmeal under there.  The milk is actually organic kefir.

Inauguration Miles

Seven miles at the circular (actually rectangular) track at the club. I thought I felt the right adductor muscle for a moment, and was afraid that I’d have to stop, but it went away and stayed away. There is often just a little pain in the right hip flexors, and it’s easy to get those pains confused - have to think about it a little to be sure which is which. Anyway no pains that matter today.

I didn’t feel full of energy, but still ran an 8:47 pace for the seven miles. Not great, but good enough. Breathing was on the edge of three footfalls per full breath much of the way, indicating almost a race pace. Anyway it’s a masterpiece!

Normally I don’t eat anything (except maybe a latte) before a morning run. But I had such a good run last Saturday, I wondered if it was partly because I had inadvertently chomped down a couple of handfuls of cashews just before we left for the club. So today I tried a dollop of peanut butter, thinking that maybe nuts might give a little energy without forcing the stomach to demand too much of the limited supply of blood. But I don’t think it helped. I know that peanuts are not cashews, but I think Saturday’s good run was not about the nuts, it was because I had taken several days off because of the adductor injury. I’m getting old - it takes longer to recover, and days to recover fully. Speaks to the importance of taper before a marathon, or maybe before any race.

Splits: 8:53, 8:37, 8:40, 8:47, 8:50, 8:51, 8:51, total 1:01:29, pace 8:47.

Watching the successful inauguration today, my heart is bursting with hope. President Obama can’t possibly meet all of the expectations that we have for him, nor could anyone. Nevertheless the country will improve not only economically but morally and ethically, perhaps to become a model for the world once again. With our support, he can do it. See WhiteHouse.gov.



Last night's DEX dinner: Wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon with organic yogurt and herbs, organic spinach with artichoke hearts and melted cheese, organic peas.


This morning's post-run breakfast (& lunch): Organic oatmeal, organic blueberries, papaya, organic strawberries, cantaloupe, organic walnuts, very-dark chocolate, organic fat-free milk. Hard to believe that the berries are available in January, but there they are, and not outrageously expensive either.

I ran a mile race!

But not very fast. Yesterday I was bellyaching about how much I hate to run the mile, and today I found the solution - go slow. We went to Bethel University today to run on their indoor track with the Charities Challenge indoor races. Because of the recent problem with the right adductor muscle, I intended to collect some mileage and not run any races, running the straights and walking the curves, which worked wonderfully well. No pains of any kind. Yay!

But when the organizers called for the second heat of the mile, perhaps ten runners or so, I thought I could use that same procedure in the mile race - run the straights and walk the ends. It worked just fine. The leader lapped me at least twice, maybe three times, but I was doing OK and I stuck to my regimen; no running on the curves. At the end of the eighth lap the clock read 9:41 or so, very slow, but I have none of the coughing and sore throat symptoms that usually result from a one-mile race. First time I've ever enjoyed running the mile race.

At the end of the day I logged eight miles on the track, about half running and half walking. I will count it all as running, though, because I ran the straights much faster than I would have if I were running continuously. It was a day of sprints, or very short intervals, or whatever you might call it. Quads are a little sore, so it was something! I really enjoyed it. Seven days after the adductor injury I seem to be getting past it. I feel tired but otherwise just fine. It’s a masterpiece!



Simple fruit bowl: Blueberries, organic strawberries, organic fat-free yogurt, Dove dark chocolate. Might be a banana under there too, but it doesn't look like it. This is a low-calorie, very nutritious treat.

Wahoo - Good Run

Saturday, Jan 17:

Yesterday I was able to run almost a mile on the track at the club before the injured right adductor muscle made known its presence, requiring me to stop. Today I was hopeful of running longer, intending to stop at three miles if by some chance I should be able to run that far without pain. Lo and behold, however, I passed two miles with no pain and running very easily, then got to three miles and decided to run one more if the adductor held out. I stopped after four miles, still with no pain, each mile faster than the previous, overall pace 8:28. One of the best short runs in the last few months. It’s a masterpiece!

I could easily have run more miles. I stopped because we have more running to do tomorrow, and I didn’t want to re-injure the adductor or anything else. It felt very good to stop without having to stop. YAY!

Last February it took ten days to get past this little injury, and this time it took six. The difference is that I recognized the injury immediately last Sunday when it started, and I stopped running without making it any worse.

The Meet of the Miles one-mile race was last Monday, and I had hoped to run it. But I couldn’t with the injured adductor, and even if I could have run it, driving to the event was risky at best because of the weather that evening. We stayed home. Before we knew we weren’t going, though, the question was "how fast can I run a mile?" Last year I ran 6:12, but this year would be much slower. How fast should I TRY to run it? A 6:00 mile calls for eight laps of 45 seconds each, and an 8:00 mile calls for 1:00 laps. I thought that I could do an 8:00 mile, but not a 6:00 mile, so how fast should I try to run the laps? 52.5 seconds comes out to 7:00 - I wonder if I can do that. After today I’m sure that 8:00 is too easy - I should go for 7:00 or so. Perhaps I’ll try that at one of the Charities Challenge Events.

Or not. I hate the mile. Shorter runs and longer runs hurt my lungs and throat less. The mile is the worst, because of the intense breathing for the required six or eight minutes. I end up coughing for hours afterward, even the next day, and it’s likely that my throat and lungs are vulnerable to infection for that time, especially since my immune system is somewhat compromised by the cancer. Maybe it doesn’t matter how fast I can run it - I don’t HAVE to run any miles this year. Just say NO! Sounds good. I'd rather tun a marathon. Really.

Splits: 8:50, 8:31, 8:24, 8:06, total 33:52, pace 8:28. Love that last mile!

Friday, Jan 16:

Today is five days after the beginning of the pain in the adductor muscle, and I was able to run almost a mile before the pain reappeared. Yesterday I could run three laps at the club, today it was twelve. That’s good progress. Try again tomorrow. :-) Pace 9:20 in the short mile.

After the run I spent another 300 calories on the elliptical and a bicycle trainer. Found some muscles that I don’t usually use!

Thursday, Jan 15:

Nuts. I tried running at the club, and was pain-free for 2 ½ laps. Then the adductor muscle started to yell again. Hmmm. Looking back at last February when this same injury happened, it took about ten days for the problem to resolve. Meantime I used the bicycle, elliptical, and steps machines with no pain. Walking is pain-free too.



Tuesday's lunch: Alaskan wild-caught sockeye salmon with yogurt and herbs, organic vegetable mix, organic pickled beets.

Masterpiece Already

Thursday, February 28:

I started off rather gingerly on the NSPCC indoor track, but experienced no pain, so I accelerated to a modest 9 min/mi pace and finished four easy miles.

NO PROBLEMS of any kind! Adductors, achilles tendon, and knee all silent. I expected the adductors to start squawking at any moment, but it almost seemed as if everything got smoother as I went along. Today the track was counter-clockwise, as the UWRF track was when the adductor injury occurred, but this track is banked slightly on the corners and that may make all the difference. I do believe that I can start building up to a decent weekly mileage again, but avoiding UWRF on counter-clockwise days for a while. And as Kel suggests, I need to set up some regular exercises and stretches for those adductors as soon as that can be done without pain. Her blog has some ideas.

Time 36:48, pace 9:12, splits 9:49, 8:59, 9:00, 9:00. Breathing: five footfalls per full breath nearly all the way, then four. I feel great!

Tuesday, February 26:

I ran half a lap (1/27 mile) and felt some pull in the left adductors, so I stopped and burned up 500 calories on step machines and rowing machines, avoiding the elliptical this time to favor the achilles tendon. Next time I need to bring a butt-pad for the rowing machine because I don’t have enough built in and the machine has almost none. Ouch.



This morning's post-run breakfast: Organic oatmeal, Don's fruit/berry/nut mix, macadamia nuts, organic blueberries, banana, organic fat-free milk, Hershey's dark chocolate, pure organic pomegranate juice.


Yesterday's lunch: Organic salad greens, organic celery, organic low-fat cottage cheese, macadamia nuts, avocado, pistachios, cantaloupe, organic red wine vinegar.


Yesterday's dinner: Wild-catch Alaskan salmon with organic yogurt, clementine, organic peas. Back for more salmon & peas and I had an organic apple too.

Now What?

ANOTHER injury! Yikes.

Thursday, Feb 21:

North St Paul Community Center indoor track today, chosen because the direction is clockwise on odd-numbered days. I wanted to give the injured adductor muscle the best possible chance (see Tuesday, below). Alas, five steps and I was done. It hurt, and any more running would clearly have made the adductor injury worse.

Apparently the injured muscle is not used much in normal walking, because that doesn’t hurt much, and I was even able to use the elliptical machine without pain. But it sure hurts when I run, for some reason. Even little bitty running steps hurt; I tried that. I also tried a resistance machine that I think is called the “torso twist,” with no problems going one direction, but when I switched directions YEOWCH that was the end of the torso twist for today.

I don’t know what’s next. Some time off, obviously, but how much? Until it doesn’t hurt to run I guess. Meanwhile the elliptical, stairs, weights, and most other upper-body resistance machines don’t hurt. Wonder if I’ll be able to run the Human Race.

Tuesday, Feb 19:

It seems like I’m complaining about something in every log entry these days. Today it’s a brand new injury to a muscle or tendon at the top of the inner thigh. One of the “adductor” muscles, I believe, or the gracilis, all of which are used to pull the leg inward toward the other leg. Conversely, for a runner rounding a corner, these muscles would pull the entire body toward the leg which is on the inside of the corner.

And I think that’s what happened. I ran almost four miles on a flat indoor track Sunday, all in one direction to spare the outboard knee. Then today I ran almost six more miles on a different flat indoor track in that same direction. That’s about 150 flat corners, and apparently that’s all it took to strain a muscle. Somewhere in the fifth mile it started to hurt, then it calmed down, and then with three laps to go it suddenly hurt too much to run. I finished the last half lap in a walk and stopped. It doesn’t seem like a major injury - just a very localized pain that should heal quickly. We’ll see.

The good news is that neither the achilles tendon nor the knee complained at all today. In fact, this was my longest run since January 16, over a month ago. That makes it a masterpiece, regardless of other problems. I am hoping that the adductor problem will resolve quickly and I can build back up to 20 mile runs.

The OTHER good news is we found (thanks to friend Jim) another place to run in the winter. For east-siders like us, the University of Wisconsin River Falls (UWRF) is not that far away, and allows community members (anyone) to use the indoor track for large parts of the day. Here is the schedule. Click on Knowles Calendar. Cost is $3.50 per person, and parking is $0.50/hour. You can get a one-semester or two-semester membership as well, in which case I believe that parking is free. Click here for membership information. My injury today was not the track’s fault; it’s a good track. Counter-clockwise on odd-numbered days, clockwise on even.

Monday's dinner: Organic chicken, organic brown rice with organic tomato, organic spinach with dried cranberries, organic carrots, onions.