Good News from the Doctor

No pneumonia breath sounds, normal CBC, normal energy level.  Although Doctor S showed me what he thought was still a slight shadow of the pneumonia remaining on the x-ray, the radiologist’s report says "resolution of pneumonia on prior x-ray, with lungs now clear."  Hoo ha!  Anyway, two doctors now have told me that the x-ray results always trail the actual resolution of the pneumonia, so even if Dr. S is right and a little bit shows, the actual pneumonia is probably gone.

Dr S gave me the go-ahead to do whatever I want to do, including a marathon in two weeks, guided only by my sense of fatigue.  I will still take it easy and will get as much sleep as I can from now until then, just to be sure.  Maybe I’ll walk most of the marathon, who knows.

Yesterday I walked on the YMCA track, for the second day, again for two miles.  No problems.  Longer walks and runs are coming up.

Splits: 14:31, 14:37, total 29:09, pace about 14:34.

Back On The Track

Literally, on the track at the YMCA.  I was sidelined by a brief flu-and-pneumonia stop in the ICU (more here), and I haven't run since the New Orleans Marathon, almost two weeks now.  For a while I could barely walk without gasping for air, but I feel much, much better now.  Much.

At the YMCA I walked, almost no running, at a "race pace," about as fast as I can walk.  I can do this without breathing hard, which was the idea.  Two miles in 29:12, no pains, no problems.  This is a very sustainable pace, and if I had to do it, I could "run" a marathon at this pace in just over 6.5 hours.  Happily, the upcoming marathon (in two weeks) allows up to 8.0 hours, and of course by then I expect to be able to run a good deal of the time, so there will be no problem finishing.

On Monday I will see my primary care doctor, the guy who clapped me in the ICU a week ago.  I feel quite well now, and expect that he will find little if any pneumonia remaining.  I'll let you know.

Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon Review

Great!  Marathon number 78, on the way to 100.  I felt strong all the way.

The worst fog was in the
French section

Runners have strange taste in weather, and this was (almost) as good as it gets.  Mostly low- to mid-sixties, heavy overcast, refreshing breeze, a bit foggy for the first half, and humid throughout, with maybe one mile of light rain early.  Hard to beat that weather for running, especially after being figuratively toasted in November and actually frozen out in December, when the Memphis Marathon was cancelled by an ice storm.

We're from Minnesota, where lately it's either 15 below zero or it's snowing.  This weather was a treat.

My Marathon:

Bagpipe Band

Better than expected - I was a bit anxious about this one.  I was shooting for 6 hours and beat that by about 17 minutes.  I did my usual run/walk, this time running 20 triplets (60 footfalls) and walking 40.  I walk fast.  I was prepared to go to 60 triplets in the walks, but never had to do that.

The second half of the marathon took me only about four minutes longer than the first half - not bad.  No one passed me in the second half, and I passed lots.  I didn't train very well for this marathon - my longest run was just nine miles - but I sure did shovel a lot of snow and maybe that helped?  Apparently it didn't hurt.

At the beginning of the marathon I walked my 40 triplets and just couldn't wait to run again.  Toward the end of the race it was the exact opposite - during a run I couldn't wait to walk some more.  This is normal - it all works out!

My girls did fine too, finishing the half right on time.

After the race

Whining:  A little pain in the right tibia, just below the knee joint and slightly to the outside, worse when the road surface slanted to the right.  I tried to stay on surfaces that were not slanted either way, and the pain did not limit my run at all.  I've had other pains in that tibia in the last year - maybe it's time to ask my doc for an x-ray of that bone.

Cramps:  I've had painful cramps in my calves for years now, especially in the last miles of a marathon but sometimes even in bed at night, severe enough to actually bruise the muscle so it hurts later.  A few months back I started taking a modest dosage of magnesium, 125 mg twice per day, as magnesium taurate.  That stopped the night cramps, but not the running cramps.  Today I took two caplets, for 250 mg magnesium, just before the race.  After the start I took water any time I could, often two cups (they don't always get them very full), and about ten salt tablets, one every two to four miles.  That, and comfortable temperatures, and a sensible pace, kept the cramps away entirely.  Yay!

In a previous blog, someone commented that magnesium oil rubbed on the cramping muscles can help too, probably without the risk of inducing diarrhea, though that risk is small with magnesium taurate.

The New Orleans Marathon:

Excellent - I have no complaints.  Good stuff:

• We never had to compete with vehicles for the same road space.  I love that.
• More than enough water stations.  Perfect.
• There was a mix of music - we liked the jazz and the bagpipe band better than the rock & roll.
• Lots and lots of police, troopers, sheriff's deputies, and volunteers manning the intersections.
• The only hills are bridges, and none of those are very high.
• I highly recommend this race.  It's run by professionals.
• 9675 finishers in the half marathon, not including relay runners.
• 2749 in the full.

I ran this marathon in honor of two favorite survivors, Caroline and Sharon.

Memorables:

• Two women ran with only their bras above their shorts, but the bras were gold in color and made of something very stiff and slightly open at the top, offering a bouncy view of feminine tissue as they ran.  Being happily married for 50 years I only glanced, of course, and didn't stare or get out my camera.  Like other people did.
• One woman was running the marathon on crutches.  She seemed to be slowing as I came up on her, and she got a lot of encouragement from the rest of us.  I hope she finished.
• I saw more Team in Training coaches than I've ever seen before.  The TNT runners are raising the money, and their coaches are giving advice and encouragement.  Lots and lots of the runners too, of course.

• Brooks Running is a sponsor of the race and had an amusing inflatable character at about mile 10, a guitarist I think, huge, towering over the street with his head in the fog.  We all ran through his legs, or under his crotch you might say.  Was that Elvis?  Was he an ambassador from the Memphis race that wasn't?  That would sort of make sense.
• Because we had registered for the Memphis Marathon, we were invited to a VIP tent after the race where the early finishers got some jambalaya or gumbo, whatever.  That was nice.  When the girls got there the jambalaya was gone, though.  I got in even later and skipped it - the fast runners get the good stuff.
• The race was mostly two out-and-back parts, so we got to see many of the other runners twice.  On the way back from the second turnaround I saw the very last marathon runner, still going out, but closely followed by the cleanup crew.  That consisted of a street sweeper and several large trucks, City of New Orleans equipment I believe, and when they had passed, there was no evidence that a marathon had ever been held on that side of the street.
• I thanked one woman who was a TNT runner and told her my story.  She responded that she also has cancer, CLL, and we shared good wishes before I ran on ahead.

Splits:  12:49, 24:47 (2 mi), 13:29, 12:21, 13:03, 55:22 (4 mi w nature break), 12:31, 13:18, 12:37, 11:40, 28:08 (2 mi), 12:59, 38:52 (3 mi), 39:18 (3 mi), 12:24, 12:45, 14:15 (slowed for photographer), 2:36, total 5:43:06, pace 13:05.

Zero!

We haven’t seen temperatures this high for a while now, although it’s gone below zero again as the sun sets.  Yesterday I worked outdoors for 3 1/2 hours in temperatures ranging from -14 (morning) to -5 (afternoon) removing snow that had drifted in Sunday night and Monday morning.  I couldn't start the snowblower in the morning, so the biggest drifts were removed by shovel.  Then later in the day, after applying heat to the snowblower, it started easily and I finished the job and did the neighbors driveway too.  Great cross-training.

Today we ran in the YMCA again, "marathon pace" again, just 3.8 miles, tapering.  I felt slight pains in the left quads and calves, both rather unusual.  Both went away, so let's not worry about it.  I didn't feel as strong today as I did two days ago, but I did OK anyway.

11:15, 10:54, 10:59, 8:28 (10 laps), total time 41:36, pace 11 minutes/mile.

Marvelous Run

Nine miles on the YMCA track at a relatively fast "marathon pace," I felt full of energy the whole way and could easily have gone farther.  I took a Clif Shot gel at mile 2 and mile 6, with about five ounces of water at miles 2, 4, and 6.  Pace was run one lap, walk one.  I moved right along in both cases, but there were a few distractions on the track too, including a few families with excited preschoolers zig-zagging along near their parents, which called for a reduction in my speed now and then as I sort of pussyfooted past.  It's OK - the YMCA is for everyone, and these ones were mighty cute.

Whining: The right knee hurt just a little, but nowhere near enough to make me want to slow down.  I think it will be OK on a mostly straight course.

Splits: 11:06, 10:47, 11:09, 10:46, 11:14, 10:35, 11:06, 10:44, 10:10, nice last mile, total 1:37:36, average pace 10:51.  This corresponds to a 4:44 marathon if the pace could be sustained for almost three times as far.  That's unlikely, so I'll go a lot slower in the actual upcoming marathon.  For better or for worse this is the long run, and it's taper time now.

Marathon Pace

I tried running six miles at marathon pace, more or less, running one lap and walking the next, taking 40 triplets (120 paces) for a running lap and 50 triplets for a walking lap (I walk fast).  After 60 minutes I had logged 5.4 miles.  Good enough - at that pace I would finish a marathon in 4:52 or so if I could sustain it for another 20 miles.

That's very unlikely.  I'm thinking that a run/walk ratio of 2/1 or even 3/1 might be a better strategy for the next marathon.  Believe it or not, my longest run since the November marathon in San Antonio has been 6 miles.  I still hope to get in a longer one, maybe 8 to 12 miles, but it's way too late now for a 20-miler and I'm going to have to take it easy in the marathon, shooting for 5.5 or even 6 hours.

Blogging Is A Habit

Thursday, January 23, 2014

And I got out of the habit.  Maybe I'm back now.  After the Memphis Marathon that wasn't, and one short run in New Orleans, I didn't run for ten days, mostly because I was blowing and shoveling snow almost every day during that time.  In December I ran only 28 miles, less than I should run in a week, but I spent way more hours clearing snow.

January hasn't been much better, either.  Despite the extremely low temperatures (minus 17 this morning, schools closed), there has been enough snow to keep me pretty busy - our driveway and sidewalks get dangerously icy if not kept clear.   I don't always feel like running after spending three hours clearing snow,

I did enjoy a local race, though, called Meet of the Miles.  It's a one-mile race, eight laps on a 200-meter indoor track at the University of Minnesota, and I was able to run another three miles in warmup too.  Fun time with old friends.

We have done some other running as well - 55 miles so far this month, including today.  All of it has been in the Woodbury YMCA, except for three miles Tuesday, when we ran in the soccer dome in Stillwater.  That one was scheduled for six miles, but I cut it short because of knee pain.    A mile in the dome involves 22 right-angle corners on a flat surface, while the YMCA requires more than twice as many corners but the corners are sloped, which my knees like much better.

Six miles today, back to the YMCA, no knee pain, no problems at all.

Splits: 10:04, 9:50, 9:42, 10:03, 9:39, 9:12, total 58:32.  I think I ran 14 laps instead of 13 in the fourth mile.  Oh well

Regular breakfast:  Oatmeal, yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, currants, pear, kiwi, macadamia nuts, almost all organic.  Marathon food!