New Shoes!

I got new shoes today!  Thankfully the one pictured isn't the only one I got today. After this morning's swim, I decided to run over to Dick's and buy a new pair of running shoes with the hopes of curing my plantar fasciitis/ heel spur that I have developed in my right foot.  However, had I known that the doctor was going to give me one of these lovely boots instead, I probably would have held off on the running shoes.  I have been bothered by plantar fasciitis for about a month now and the pain was getting worse, not better and I was getting sick of hearing all kinds of unsolicited advice from all the runners I know on how to cure it.  So....I finally relented and went to the doctor.  Well, x-rays were ordered and I have a referral to a podiatrist, but in the meantime, the doctor recommended doing more stretches, particularly before going to bed (I hadn't thought of that one).  She wrote a prescription for a night splint for me because her office didn't have one and since I was going to the Kaiser hospital in the valley for my mother-in-law, I decided to pick it up there.  Well it turns out they don't carry the night splint anymore.  However, the nurse at the orthopedist's dept. felt sorry for me thinking that I came all the way down to Panorama City for nothing so he gave me this boot, which he said will basically do the same thing-keep me from flexing my foot forward at night.  And of course he had his own advice regarding how to get rid of my plantar fasciitis-stop running until it goes away.  Well gee, that's why I put off going to the doctor for my condition because in the end, I knew that was exactly what they were going to tell me to do.  Anyhow, I will make an honest effort of not running for an entire week to get the inflammation down and hopefully try running next week.  It looks like I'll be doing a lot more swimming and perhaps even a bike ride or two this week.  Heck, I mind as well train for a triathlon at this point!

Uh Excuse Me?

Okay, this is the second week in a row when someone has cut in front of me in the finish chute at the COC Summer Series.  Last week it was some woman and I made sure she didn't take my card by letting her know.  This week it was some big burley guy and several people told him he needed to stay in finish order.  I turned around and told him "there's no glory in cheating an old woman".  His excuse was that he didn't want to stop, which I didn't, I was just walking slowly since it is the finish chute.  Anyhow, I was just so glad that it was over and that I finally broke 27 minutes.  I made sure Patty was a witness to my GPS in case they messed up the times again.  I think both Patty and I felt a lot better today, perhaps from resting the couple of days before the race and not doing intervals.  I think we both felt like we kept a more even controlled pace, but both of us felt that we could have done better if there weren't so many darn people tonight.  Normally my card # is in the mid 200's, tonight my # was 419.  I think Patty said there were 3 times more people tonight than before and I definitely felt it.  Both of us got stuck behind two big guys, one being coached by the other.  I came across them on the second hill and had a hard time going around them because they were walking up the hill side by side, VERY annoying.  Why can't they walk single file?  This was my last race for the season and it felt good to finally be done.  I think Patty might have one or two more races left in her.  Her son, who is going off to college this year, came and ran the race and did quite well considering he hasn't been training with a team.  He cheered for me as I came into the stadium, but Patty got the royal treatment and had him running in with her.  Isn't that sweet?  I had a little kid yelling me encouragement around the final curve and he was telling me to keep going I'm almost there.  He was so cute and sweet and his words of encouragement brought a smile to my face as I finished.

Up and Running

After four days of no running, I finally met Patty for a "short" run at Heritage this morning.  She was trying out her new orthotics and I was trying out my foot.  I have to say that all the swimming and no running had my legs feeling a little bit wobbly.  I was telling her that in the old days, it was not recommended for runners to swim right before a running event because swimming separates the muscle fibers.  That's how it feels after swimming so much and then running.  The legs feel less stable, like jello or like spaghetti as Patty pointed out.  As of now we are planning on running this Thursday in the summer series and so no swimming for us tomorrow.  However, it would be almost two days of no running if we don't do anything tomorrow and one thing I learned from my son's racing days is that it's important to run a little bit the day before the race to keep them from stiffening up.  So we are planning on doing just a short, shady run tomorrow morning just to shake the cobwebs out of our legs.  As for the orthotics, they didn't seem to bother Patty too much and as for my foot, it only hurts when I stop so we'll have to see.  During our run I was telling Patty about an interesting study I read about regarding injuries and running shoes and their correlation.  Here's an excerpt from the article:

Over the course of three large studies, the most recent of which was published last month in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers found almost no correlation at all between wearing the proper running shoes and avoiding injury. Injury rates were high among all the runners, but they were highest among the soldiers who had received shoes designed specifically for their foot types. If anything, wearing the “right” shoes for their particular foot shape had increased trainees’ chances of being hurt.


More recently, a study published online in late June in The British Journal of Sports Medicine produced results similar to those in the military experiments, this time using experienced distance runners as subjects. For the study, 81 women were classified according to their foot postures, a more comprehensive measure of foot type than arch shape. About half of the runners received shoes designated by the shoe companies as appropriate for their particular foot stance (underpronators were given cushiony shoes, overpronators motion-control shoes and so on). The rest received shoes at random. All of the women started a 13-week, half-marathon training program. By the end, about a third had missed training days because of pain, with a majority of the hurt runners wearing shoes specifically designed for their foot postures. (It’s worth noting that across the board, motion-control shoes were the most injurious for the runners. Many overpronators, who, in theory, should have benefited from motion-control shoes, complained of pain and missed training days after wearing them, as did a number of the runners with normal feet and every single underpronating runner assigned to the motion-control shoes.)


Link to the rest of the article:
Running Shoe Research


This article kind of re-affirms my belief that there is such a thing as too much support.  Anything that restricts the natural motion of the foot can't be all that good.  What I find interesting is that we tend to naturally purchase shoes that feel right for us and should only use these "recommendations" as an afterthought.  

Swimming and Shopping

Today Marathon Mom and I had made plans to go to the Camarillo Outlets for some retail therapy. Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit guilty going shopping for myself while my youngest's closet is virtually empty, since we cleaned it out for our upcoming garage sale (darn growth spurt). I reluctantly cancelled the outlet trip, but we decided that we would meet for lunch and a quick look around Macy's. I tried on swimsuits again and found another age appropriate tankini, that actually looked kind of cute, so I put it on hold to "think" about it, since I just bought one the other day that I liked. Marathon Mom is a much better shopper than I am, she doesn't get tempted by overpriced purses, and clothes, and makes decisions quickly about what she is going to buy. However, I saved her son from a frilly shirt that she was determined to get him, and pointed her in the direction of a much more manly one that I liked. We ate at the "Stone Oven" in the food court, and it was so good, it made me wish they had a drive through so I could eat their bread more often. In fact I liked everything, salad, pasta salad and sandwich, I am still full, I ate so much. Like I said Marathon Mom is a good shopper and took off on her own to stock up on school supplies and buy her kids some more school clothes. I will be doing it all at the last minute, or even after the school year starts, I am a procrastinator!

Before we met for shopping though we swam, and I really felt like I got a workout today. We swam 40 laps? By the end of our swim, my arms were so tired, that I realized that was the reason I was running out of breath, because I had stopped moving my arms, so I couldn't wait to breathe on my third stroke. I think we are making progress, Marathon Mom figured out that we need to swim over 60 laps to equal a 4 mile run. I am not there yet, but I think I am on the way!

Proof

"C"

Patty

marathon mom

Thanks to our friend Marisol, who didn't run the race, we have these lovely pictures of us coming into the track.  It's funny how you never look the way you picture yourself running.  But then again, maybe that's a good thing because

sometimes the way I picture myself running can be pretty ridiculous.  I for one look like I'm ready to trip over the railing, which is probably pretty accurate since I am dead tired at this point.  I see the lady that Patty was really bugged about who beat her.  I think she was more bugged about the fact that it was someone in that "pee" club outfit that beat her rather than the woman's poor posture (sorry no offense to the lady).  As for C, well she just looks like she is counting the steps until she can be done and looks to be concentrating really hard.  Yeah, it wasn't pretty, but we got out there and did it again.  I was also reflecting on the fact that I saw so many of my friends' kids out there cheering for me as I was coming in and the fact that THEIR moms weren't running.  I was also thinking that they could be thinking "gee I'm glad my mom isn't out here doing this" or "gee, I wish my mom was out here running".  Whenever the subject comes up with my boys, they always seem to be proud that their mom is out there giving it a go.

A Good Laugh

This morning I met Patty for a swim and was really glad I could get off my feet.  Last night's race really did my foot in to the point where I couldn't even stand on it, let alone walk on it.  Unfortunately, I had to tell Patty that I need to stay off of it for the next two days, which means no long runs with my friends this weekend.  The pain has gotten worse, not better and the only thing that might help at this point is rest.  What I mean by rest is no running, but I can still swim.  Patty and I are really improving in our swimming techniques.  Today I swam 40 laps, most of it without a snorkel.  Only 6 of those laps were with snorkel and I'm really getting the hang of one breath to every 3 strokes.  Both of us are swimming more relaxed now too, which is also probably helping with the breathing.  I was done before Patty so I sat and watched her to do a couple of cool down laps on her back.  She must have had her eyes closed the whole time because she started out in lane 2 and ended up in lane 5.  I was yelling her name and laughing at the same time to get her attention because I didn't want her to crash into the side of the pool.  Thankfully she opened her eyes just in time to correct herself. She reminded me of one of those wind up toys you put in the bath and watch it swim in circles.  Too funny!

Afterwards we soaked up the sun for a little while and commented on how we are both dreading the start of school and having to give up these early morning swims.  At the beginning of the summer, we were kind of dreading getting back into the pool, but now I wish we would have started earlier.  Who knows, maybe if I can push my start time at work to a little later, I can still sneak in a swim or two before work.

Race Report

With the promise of cooler temps, and a new strategy for a better time, Marathon Mom, C and I showed up to run the third in the COC Summer Series. Marisol brought her 5 yr. old daughter and 3 yr. old son to run the Kiddie K, which they run right before the main event. They were so cute, her daughter was fearless and adorable with her hair up in ribbons. Her son reminded me of mine when they were that age, he got scared about halfway around and started crying. I would have given anything at that point to just do a lap around the track and be done with it.

The plan was to take the first mile at a 9 min. pace and then have something to give on the second mile (all the hills are in the second mile). This is a strategy that all the SCR's use, and they all can beat me with no problem! I really don't run all that much faster than a 9 min. pace anyway, but I kept with Marathon Mom till we crossed the first mile, I knew I was in trouble when they called out 9:21 for our first mile time. After that I really lost momentum, and by the time I got to "Killer Hill", I had a side ache, and nothing in the legs. It was super humid and the sweat just poured off of me, I truly wanted to stop. I had to walk the first two hills, and had to force myself to get going again at the top. I knew my pace was pretty slow, no matter what I did, I just couldn't speed up. When I got to the track, I wanted to sprint and tried to convince myself that we were just doing intervals, but my legs would not cooperate. I added over a minute to my last race finish time, but I have to say I felt worse all the way around. I have many excuses for why I did so poorly, but I really think it was just not my night. As I was trying to get up those hills tonight, I thought I would be just fine, if I never had to run up them again. We will see, Marisol still hasn't run a race, but I may just come out and cheer for her!

Intervals of Swimming

Last night the girls and I showed up to run intervals with the SCRs.  It could have been cooler, but compared to last week, I'll take it.  It was a rather large group that showed up ready for the torture.  Our workout included:

3 sets of
400m-200m jog-600m-200m jog-200m
1 lap recovery
4x200 parlaufs (relay)
2 laps cool down

Most of us skipped the 1 lap recovery and opted to recover by our waters.  The interesting thing about intervals is that while you're doing them, you keep thinking there is just no way you can do another set, but then sooner than you know it, you're on the the final leg of the last set.  It really makes the workout go super fast, especially since the guy in charge gives us no breaks.  By the time I was done, I felt like I was on a merry-go-round from running in circles so much.  Then the relay or parlaufs started.  Patty had asked me to be her partner and I was really happy with that because I didn't want to pair up with anyone super fast (not that Patty isn't fast) so I can have more time to rest in between.  Then one of the women members who happens to be much faster than me asked to partner up and Patty gladly gave up her spot with me to run with C.  I barely had time to walk across the field to take up my leg of the relay when she got done with hers.  Again, the good part was that it was over quickly.  I'm always glad when I get through them, but my foot sure paid the price afterwards.

Patty and I made plans to meet up and swim at my lap pool the following morning, which was a nice change of pace and very soothing on our sore feet.  We set the timer for 30 minutes and pretty much swam nonstop until the buzzer went off and then proceeded to do a couple of more laps afterwards as a cool down.  Patty showed up in her nice new swimming suit and I think it really helped because she said this was the best she's ever done.  Both of us are still having trouble with the kickboard and working on our abs.  At least our freestyle is improving and that's all we need to keep us motivated.  We just need to see improvement.  The same goes for our interval workouts.  I totally see a difference in my fitness level after just one month of intervals.  I think this was my 4th straight interval workout.  Our next run is the COC summer series.  I do plan on taking it slow and trying a different strategy because the last one didn't work for me at all.

Facing Facebook

I was secretly sent out on a mission this morning by two mutual friends of Patty and mine to convince her that it is finally time to get on Facebook.  I understand her apprehension because I'm still new at it too and even started a FB page a few months ago and then quickly deleted it because I didn't think I liked it.  But I did give it another try a few days ago and it's really starting to grow on me.  So this morning as Patty and I met for our run at Central Park, I proceeded to tell her that we've been talking about her and even posted pictures of her on our pages so that she will be curious enough to finally get going on FB.  By the time we left Central Park and ran up to Haskell Cyn to Copperhill, I think I had her firmly convinced.  I didn't think we were going to run that far today with the heat and all, but the route we took was actually quite pleasant and shady.  The hill to Copperhill wasn't as steep as I remember it either.  The pace wasn't wonderful, but we had to stop for some rather slow lights.  It was much easier coming back with the downhill and it seemed like we were back at the park in no time.  When we got back, Patty asked me to email her from FB because it is easier to sign on that way.  I guess today's run was a productive one.

Girl Power!

We met early this morning to try and beat the heat, but we lost! Marathon Mom, Marisol, C and I set out at 6:45 from Lowe's to see how close to 10 miles we could run. I spent a wonderful day at the beach yesterday, and enjoyed the cooler weather a little too much, getting a bad sunburn. The combination of being worn out from the sun, and the fact that I skipped my morning coffee, made me feel like my legs were just empty this morning. I was dragging before we hit the S. Fork trail, and had to stop and walk a bit before we got to the M. Mountain Pkwy underpass. I had already decided that I would turn around after the water fountain, but so had the rest of the group. We managed to get in 6.5 miles, and I don't even want to guess what the pace was. Since Marisol was with us, I feel like the pace going out was a little quicker than usual, but Marathon Mom was the only one who seemed to have anything left on the way back.

We sat inside a cool Starbucks and had our coffee (I was shaking by then), and talked a bit to other SCR's who seemed to be just as affected by the heat. When we started out this morning there was a girl who was new to the SCR's and she thought we were the whole group. We tried to politely tell her that we were SCR's, but didn't run with them because we were so slow, we liked to start before them. I think we were all feeling a little guilty for not inviting her to join us, but then at the S. Fork Trail, we saw her fly by, leading the whole group of SCR's, men and all! Another girl on a bike was so impressed by our little group of women, running and chatting that she shouted "Girl Power" to us as she passed by. I don't know how much "power" I had today, (I am trying to forget the actual run), but I did enjoy all the new chatter we had, because of the extra friends!