Thanksgiving morning really was a time to give thanks! It was my first "real running" day since early September. Yes, almost 3 months had gone by since I had run outside, on pavement, in an unassisted manner. My return to racing took place in Palm City at the 5k Turkey Trot.
It was a cold morning. So cold, in fact, that I didn't even look at any temperature readings before the race. It had to be in the upper 40s, and it was windy too! I ran wearing my fleece over my team jersey; there's your proof that it was damn cold! (Although, to be totally honest with you, at about a half mile in, I did wish that I had skipped the fleece.)
So being that it was my first race in pretty close to 6 months, my philosophy was to take it easy. What does that mean? The hell if I know! Haha! No, seriously, most of my AlterG runs were at paces between 8:10-ish and 8:30-ish per mile. I figured that I'd be happy with anything under 9 minutes per mile. Well, at one minute into the race, I got my first RunKeeper update. My pace was something around 8:24. Ok, not bad. Each minute after that, got a little faster. Before you start yelling at me because I was going take it easy, you've got to realize that 8:24 (or whatever it was) felt easy; in fact, it felt way too easy. I just ran comfortably. (Hmmmm, should I say that I ran at the edge of discomfort?) While I certainly didn't set the world on fire or set any records, my average pace ended up being 7:47, and it was good enough for 3rd in my age group. For my first race back, I was pretty happy!
Check out the goofy-yet-totally-cool trophy I won!
What's next? Gettin' back to running my 'hood! :-)
I love ambiguous phrases like "don't overdo it" or "don't go crazy." What do they mean? My idea of not overdoing it might be someone else's idea of totally overdoing it! Do you see where I'm going?
Today was the second time that my physical therapist, Bryan, has used the phrase "don't go crazy" with me. That cracks me up because he obviously knows me! Today, I could not help myself; I had to ask him to define what that meant. You know that phrase, "Go big or go home"? Well, I get that! What's the point of doing something (heck, doing anything) if you're not going to go big! Well, Bryan's "don't go crazy" is pretty much the exact opposite of "go big or go home," so it was probably a good thing I asked for a definition!
A quick recap for all you kiddos out there: physical therapy is going well, and I'm up to 95% of my weight on the AlterG. I'll do one more session on Wednesday at 95%, and then, if all goes well and I feel good, I'm set free & can start running outside again! Woo hoo! But here's where the "don't go crazy" comes in! My PT's definition of "don't go crazy" means no more than 4 days of running each week (totally do-able), starting off with a run combo of something around 2 short runs of about 3 miles each, 1 medium run of about 4 miles, and 1 long run around 6-7 miles (again, totally do-able), and not increasing overall mileage by more than 5-10% each week. Did you notice that I didn't say "totally do-able" there? I'm mathy. I get numbers, and I'm pretty good at calculating 5% and 10% of any number out there. It's just that 10% is so small, and 5% is so much smaller! With a 3-3-4-6 type of week, 5% more would add just 0.8 miles. Since I like round numbers, I'd bump that up to a 1. (Come on, you know you would too!)
But here's the thing: you don't need to worry about me. Yes, I will take it slowly, and yes, I'll be extra careful! I've got 11 teammates for Ragnar who need me in just about another 10 weeks. If you think I'd risk letting them down, you've got another thing comin'!
Saturday (11/16) was the Veteran's Memorial Bridge Run. This was supposed to be my "coming out" party, and my first race after all this stress fracture malarky. Did you notice that I used phrase "was supposed to be" in that previous sentence? Yes, you know where this is going. Yes, I was still a part of the event, but I finished in 26th place in my age group. Do you know what that is? I'll tell you: it's crap!
It's a running race for Christ's sake, not a walking race, but I still haven't been cleared to run. (It's getting close, though!! Woo hoo!) So the best I could do was power-walk my way to 26th place. (For you "mathy" types, that corresponds to 367th place out of 579 runners who crossed the finish line. Yes, shitty, I know.) Had there been a power-walking division, I'm pretty sure I would've kicked some major butt there; alas, no such division existed, so I'm relegated to 367th. Pitiful.
Ok, enough of this pity party! Ready for some possibly good news? Tomorrow, I'm set to be at 85% of my body weight on the AlterG and will be able to run the entire time! Can I get a "woo hoo" from the crowd?!
So, kiddos, keep your fingers, toes, and any other body parts crossed. If 85% goes well on Wednesday, it'll be 90% on Friday! Maybe the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot will be my "coming out" party!!! As Mr. Shrives, my 5th grade teacher used to say, "Time will tell." Or, as Andy Cohen from Bravo says, "Watch what happens!"
I cannot take credit for the title of today's blog post. That actually came from Jake who was on my Keys100 team. It's an interesting concept if you think about it.
I run with my phone. Yes, it's a royal pain in the butt, but my RunKeeper app updates me every minute with my average pace and distance completed. I love it, but I realize it's anoying to have to carry it the whole time. (What, you expect me to wear it on my arm?! What if I need an update before the next minute's update comes?! Sheesh - you expect me to wait up to another 59 seconds?! Talk to Grandma; she'll fill you in on just how patient I am!)
So back to the topic at hand: running at the edge of discomfort. I forget the exact circumstance surrounding this, but during the Keys100 relay, either Jake's phone or watch stopped working. Of course, had this happened to me, it would've been a major crisis, but he took it all in stride. I asked how he knew if he was running too fast or too slow, and his response was, "I run at the edge of discomfort." He reasoned that if he was running too hard (ie: going too fast), he'd be in too much discomfort; if he was running not hard enough (ie: going too slow), he'd be too comfortable.
I definitely like that line of thinking, and I can see how it works. However, if you're a head-case like I am, and your body insists that it's working too hard (even though you know it's not), it might be too tempting to pull back. In fact, a NY Times article pretty much said that: "Tell yourself during exercise that you’re not as tired as you think you
are and you could make that statement true, a new study shows, reminding
us that the body intertwines with the mind in ways that we are only
starting to understand."
So my philosophy is just to go balls out (within reason, of course). Yes, it depends on how far I'm going as to the pace I try to keep, but I take comfort in this (below). Yes, I have seen this shirt at many races; no, that's not me wearing it!
I've got a good Grandma story for you. If you're a past or current reader of my blogs, you know that Grandma stories are funny. She's a hoot, and I wish I could introduce her to all of you! So here's the latest: I call Grandma after each of my physical therapy appointments because, you know how grandmas are, she worries about everything! The calls are always good ones because I've been letting her know that I'm slowly upping my weight percentage and am running more (ie: combinations of 5 minutes of running and 30 seconds of walking vs. 3 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking like I did in the beginning). So on Wednesday, I call Grandma on my way home from the appointment and give her the update. We talk about a bunch of stuff, some of it running-related and some of it not. I told her how I'm going to do the November 16th bridge run. She was worried about that, but I assured her that my physical therapist did know about that, and he's the one who said I should be good to go by then. I reminded Grandma that if I didn't feel up to running, I could just walk the route. You'd think that would make her feel better, right? Her comment, in that slightly exhausted, head-shaking with concern voice was, "Oh, Kim, I worry about you running." I just couldn't help it, but I busted out laughing and said, "Grandma, my running should be the least of your worries." Even she got a good laugh out of that when she realized that running's pretty tame compared to some of the other things I have done and am planning to do: sky-diving, hang gliding, scuba diving, getting my motorcycle license, etc.
