Running Aimlessly Around the Countryside

I mentioned in my last post that I got a new pair of shoes just to verify that the shoes I was wearing weren't causing the issue with my knee. After a couple of 3 mile treadmill test runs, I determined that MJ was right and Mars was wrong. It's not the shoes. (Remember the old Nike Air Jordan commercial with Spike Lee?) So what next? Today I went to see my friendly sports med guy. I had scheduled the appointment for knee pain, and because of my history, he was surprised that it was my right knee and not my left. For those of you who knew me growing up, you'll remember that I had kind of a nasty encounter with the rear end of an AMC Gremlin when I was 14. Maybe I should tell that story someday. Anyway, we figured out it's not the IT band, it's not the meniscus, it's not the ligaments.... It does appear to be something with my quadriceps tendon. We did take the opportunity to take some x-rays of my knees just to see where they are structurally at this point in ...

Let me start with the blogger's apology: sorry that I haven't posted here for awhile, life has been a bit crazy. The sad thing is that it's true. Also, the main point of this blog is my running, and over the past month there hasn't been much of that. I've been logging way too much time on the equipment in the gym and while I enjoy the elliptical, stationary bike and rowing machine, I really wish that I was out on the roads, cold weather or not. For those of you who have been following along, my right knee is still bothering me. Not to the extent that it was at the beginning of January, but its still there. I have begun to get some running in, but it's been all treadmill, no time on the roads. While at The Running Company getting Anna her shoes for track season, I went ahead and got a new pair of shoes in case dead shoes are contributing to the problem. I liked the low profile and the lightweight of the Mizuno Wave Elixir 4s, but as a regular trainer they just...

I'm continuing to struggle with my knee/IT band as well as the sirens that reside near my couch, but used the opportunity to take a very non-scientific look at training effect on others this week. Our local club hosted a swim meet this past weekend, and while it may not apply directly, I looked at the training my two kids have been doing, and what their results were at the meet. Anna, who is 14, trains 6 days a week. All of those days include 2 hours of swimming, with 4 days including an additional hour of dry-land training(active strength training like running stairs, hops, lunges, crunches, etc.). The swim sessions vary in intensity, but range from around 5,000-8,000 yards a day. Will, 11, trains 6 days a week. 5 days are 15 minutes of stretching followed by 1 1/2 hours of swimming, the sixth day is just 1 hour of swimming. A hard day in the pool for him is usually around 2,000-2,500 yards. School comes first and homework load occasionally wins out, but both kids make practic...

Before I wish the new year a happy welcome, I would like recap 2009. My goals for the year seemed to be fairly simple: train intelligently to remain injury free, help Jil complete her first running half-marathon, and run a fall marathon (with a PR), and break the 1000 mile barrier for the year. None of that seemed very hard and the year started off very well. I followed the 10% rule and made sure to include rest days as an important part of my schedule. My base miles tallied up and I was right were I wanted to be to pace Jil through her spring race. Things were going well even to the point that I ran a trail half for fun just 2 weeks prior to running with Jil. Success continued as I crossed the finish line with Jil as she completed her first half as a runner. It was about that time that the sweater started to unravel. My calf/shin started to bother me so I began a sequence of 2 week rest periods. And by rest, I mean complete and total rest followed by a single, pained run. At the en...

Okay, so I know that we haven't it the bottom yet temperature wise, and that others of you have colder, we have started to experience the beginnings of winter in central Indiana. It seems like one day it was in the 40s and now we are in the 20s. I really don't mind the cold until it gets down to single digits, in fact I kind of like it as long as I'm dressed for it. I haven't posted here for a couple of weeks, but I have been getting my runs in. In my first sub-20 long run two weeks ago, I learned a valuable lesson: keep your bottles under your outer later. Why? because after about an hour and 15 minutes, the spout will freeze. That's a bit of a hassle, but not as much as carrying water that you can't drink. I have missed a few runs lately. There was the 30+ mph wind day that I opted for the stationary bike (the treadmills were lined up 3 deep and limited to 20 minutes) and the day I forgot my hat and gloves (DOH!). Otherwise despite, an out of town swim mee...

November 26 brought another Thanksgiving, when we pause from our daily lives, focus on all the things we are thankful for, over indulge at the dinner table, then spend the rest of the day napping, watching football and planning for potential shopping craziness the next day. Hopefully, if things work out, you were able to spend the day with those people closest to you. As a runner, there is one more thing that fights to be included in the schedule; a Thanksgiving day race. In Indianapolis the race is the Drumstick Dash. Proceeds from the race go to the Wheeler Mission, a local social services organization, which provides critically needed goods and services to the homeless, poor, and needy of central Indiana. In six years, the race has grown from a few hundred runners to around 9,000 this year! My family has included the race in our tradition for the past two years. We take the race as an opportunity to forget about results and run together. The race is an odd distance at 4.5 miles, bu...

So now that I completed the half at what was at the beginning of the year my goal race, I have started to have them. What are they?  They are the dreaded anti-motivations. All of a sudden the lunch routine has become dreary and I'm not motivated to run mid-day. I do have a race on my schedule on Thanksgiving, so that's not it. I've tentatively picked some spring races, so that's not it. And I have wanted to run after work. So that's what I have done a few times  recently. Running after work is okay, but it also presents some problems. I haven't been getting away from work as early recently and it's been getting darker much, much earlier. I hadn't realized how early it was getting dark until last week. I was really looking forward to doing a long trail run, but was trying to fit that in, plus run with the kids so they keep a few miles on their legs for the Drumstick Dash. It didn't take long for me to come up with a simple solution; run long on Frid...