recovery run

Just 20 minutes jogging today, and some walking later on--I'm pretty stiff, surprise, surprise. But at least it's because I actually had a decent workout yesterday.

Tues/Wed

Tues: easy 35 min run. Stiff and sluggish, but ok. I've noticed that sometimes it's as if a switch is flipped after about 20 minutes: the stiffness stays but it becomes more comfortable somehow. I coasted a bit after that, but tried to keep it short.

Wed: I rejoined run club! 6X 3min tempo, 1.5 min recovery. I jogged all the recovery periods, average speed 11:30-12:00/mile, lol, but that's ok. I still get the triggers for the arrythmia sometimes when starting or stopping quickly; these are impossible to remove and not such a big deal but still kind of annoying. It's better for me to continue to jog than walk or stop. The tempo portions were consistent until the last one: 7:44-7:50 mile. The last one was 8:03/mile--I was definitely getting tired. Not counting that one, I'm pleased with the consistency. The pace was slow but I was expecting that. These days, I'm slower than I used to be. At least the effort was honest and I didn't wilt too badly. Total: 6.91 miles.

This workout is a big boost to my confidence: I can do speedwork, and I can manage being with the group. Helped that we were doing timed intervals around a loop, lol...I was running alone, but that was fine. I didn't feel too out of shape.

Perhaps the real test will be how I feel tomorrow!

Ironically, run club is going into an easy month--this is good. I can work on tempo run endurance on my own.

uh-oh

I was mistaken, only 17 more weeks to go.

My run today turned out ok. I got up early and set out with my husband, left him after a mile and a half or so (he was going to work) and continued with the dog. Dawn was breaking then and though it wasn't the most spectacular showing, it was definitely above average. There were very few people out; we had the scene to ourselves. After another mile or so, I decided that, yeah, maybe I could go a little faster, so I did a 15 min 'tempo' effort. I hesitate to claim the pace as tempo but, unless my dog has gotten considerably faster, the fact that he was able to keep up without breaking into another gait shows that I've gotten slower. I'd stopped taking him on tempo runs because it wasn't a comfortable pace for him, but now it is! Ah, well. I'm amazed that I could hold it for fifteen minutes. The last time I tried a tempo run, it was about three weeks ago: I went for ten minutes and my heart felt a little raw afterwards. This time it was fine. My legs were a bit sore, but the novelty and excitement of running fast(er) was compensation enough.

I'd thought I ran for about 75 minutes. But I think it might have been closer to 65...I checked when we left the house, but we walked for a bit and I forgot to check at the beginning of the run. Actually, I think I checked when we were about to leave, and then we had to put on shoes, get the dog ready, etc, etc, etc....LOL

We also ran a bit on those semi-derelict roads near the War Museum. I don't know why I like running through places that look abandoned! the thrill? Am I tapping into some exploration urge? It's weird, I get so worked up when I see someone inching onto the wrong side of the path, but neglect a road for a few decades, leave a bunch of rusting fencing/barbed wire/vehicles/who knows what strewn all over the place, and I'll blithely pick my way around that. Maybe I have some sort of post-apocalyptic gene waiting to be activated. The area around LeBreton flats isn't as junked up as other areas I've run through, but it's still deserted and strangely attractive. I also like seeing the fields (lawns?) gone to seed. Anything abandoned. And, yeah, I've got a somewhat mean-looking dog with me, but I went through stuff like that alone, before I got him. I don't know why running in this sort of terrain feeds my soul, but it does.

Resolution #546: post-recovery drink. I took an iron pill too, but the drink is something that I concocted and consumed for the first time this weekend: milk, whey powder, and molasses. It tastes surprisingly good. And it's pretty cheap; I got the whey powder from a bulk bin at a health food store. It's just whey powder, not a fancy mix with added flavours and sugar or whatever, so I was trying to dress it up with vanilla, almond extract, etc...molasses works far better. And it has some iron in it too.

Resolution #547: whole wheat. Yeah, man...I also realized today that maybe I'm feeling a bit better because somehow I'm not hitting the mini-wheats anymore. Once again, I've drifted off them. I think it happened before the weekend. How hard is it to pour a bowl and eat it? Well, a few times, it's been tough: I pour a bowl, lose my appetite, and then come the next morning, I see that there's plenty of fruit around and I eat that instead because I totally forget about the mini-wheats. A few days later, I feel better, and then remember. It's temporary, very selective amnesia. This is a good time to confess that this applies to my new food log too. Another confession: if I dump a bunch of fruit on top of the mini-wheats, that makes it a whole lot better. I have to hide them. It's not a taste thing, it's a visual thing. I think looking at them stresses me out. It's at times like this that I remember that I was a very picky eater as a child. LOL

Back to the food log--I see that I inadvertantly quit the mini-wheats on Thurs. I've been eating wheat in other things, so that's not so bad.

Maybe I don't need to eat whole wheat every day. The tests are still a long way off; I was told to eat wheat, but I don't think my NP is expecting me to royally trash myself over it. I'll eat a bowl today and have an easier run tomorrow, and then lay off the stuff tomorrow in prep for a harder run on Wednesday. I'll see if that works. At the very least, I have to stick to the hard-easy principle. My last three runs have been 5-6-6.5ish miles. 25 min is just not fun! I can't get anywhere interesting with that.

Well, I've proscrastinated enough. Back to chemistry.

Another blah run

I jogged around for an hour. It was sunny and the temperature was nice and crisp with just the right amount of breeze. Wonderful running conditions, but I couldn't make good use of it because my legs were leaden and sore as usual. I got pretty down about this because I wanted to go further, I miss going further, and especially I miss coasting further. I miss those runs where I soak in the atmos and environment that it feels like I'm fully integrated, or hollow, or a collection of atoms moving through another collection of atoms, and then an hour or so later I come out of the daze and realize that I've been running for an hour, just existing. I can't coast like that anymore, I pay for each step.

So, man, I got into the dumps about this a bit and then mulled over the Winterman. Yeah, that's still under my skin. I decided on two new resolutions: I will resume taking iron supplements, and I will allow myself a wheat-free week before the Winterman. Heck, maybe even two weeks. And then I'll gorge myself on whole wheat and wreak renewed havoc (assuming that wheat is the culprit--at this point, after umpteen years of tests and trials, it seems to be, but I'm still bracing for some totally random variable to claim the damages). The prospect of a wheat free week is very encouraging. Remember that time when, oh, starting run actually felt like it was the start of the run, and not the end? Remember what that was like? LOL

So I registered for the full. Nineteen-ish weeks to go.

a goal

Yesterday, I jogged for 25 min. Maybe I failed, though--not at jogging for 25 min, which was what I'd expected to do, but by doing the proper workout. I felt ok throughout, just the usual general stiffness/inflammation, but around 18-19 minutes, I felt a different twinge. For the past month or so, ever since I got off the restriction diet, I've had little twinges crop up around my knees, rarely the same one two days in a row, but mostly around my right knee. I think it's fatigue affecting alignment. Same thing like that old ITBS (old=gone=knock wood!) So I felt this twinge and decided to shake it out a bit, and I did, but then I kept going. Maybe that was a sign: that was the last thing that needed doing and then I should have stopped. My reason for cutting back my easy runs is to go by what my body wants, not by numbers, but I still seem to be stuck on numbers. Part of the problem is wanting to get back quickly, or at least not spending an extra ten minutes walking home. Maybe I need to run around the block so that I can stop exactly when I need to. LOL

There's one woman who used to run on a particular short stretch by the Canal over and over again. Now maybe I understand that better.

Anyway, yesterday, I decided to see how long a particular loop is--I'd run it many times, but not from my new house. I went down the Canal to the river, over one bridge and then back over another--well, there are more than two bridges to choose from, but the ones I chose were the ones closest to downtown: "The Bridges". A popular lunchtime running route for office workers. Usually it's about 5K. I'm a bit further off, plus going to the Canal and then the bike path by the river and then back to the Canal is a bit of a detour, so it was nearly 5 miles for me. I think I would like to run this route often because it's got considerable inclines and, though I won't be able to hit the river bike trails during winter, I can go on the sidewalks above, and all of it is plowed regularly. It would be a great route to run everyday; until I'm there, I think I can manage two times a week. And, when that becomes easy, I can extend to a farther bridge, or do the loop twic, or make it an out and back....there are possibilities.

I still haven't ditched the possibility of doing the Winterman full, sad to say, and running the bridges a lot last winter was excellent preparation for it. sometimes I ended up doing six bridges, just popping over, going down to the next one, popping back over, etc, etc....admittedly this was usually when I was late to run club and was going about hoping to catch them. LOL

Today, I'm not sure what I'll do. It'll depend on how I feel. An hour would be nice.

A new tack

I've figured out what my problem is, or at least part of it: endorphins.
I didn't run Monday or Tuesday--I was so sore, walking was enough. I did yoga and felt less sore enough to run yesterday. However, I decided to keep it short. I think, I hope it helped loosened me up, but it was still a pretty blah run. Today's run felt marginally better so I went for 25 minutes. And just past 20 min or so, I felt the discomfort melt away, as it sometimes does, though not usually that clearly. I felt like, hey, I could go for longer, see more things--that's a big reason why I run, to see stuff. But I was good and cut it short.

I guess that's been a big part of the problem--I've been trashing myself more than I realize. Most of my runs these past couple of weeks, once I got back into running, have been about 60 minutes. Usually it's no big deal to run that everyday, what with the absence of speedwork. And it's very tempting to stretch a run out when it suddenly gets better after twenty minutes of discomfort. What's the point of doing just the warm up and not the run afterwards which feels better? Unfortunately, I don't have a full tank of gas, and I sailed unaware into debt.

How to get out?

Don't run the same somewhat hilly hr+ route every day! duh!
Go back to the easy-hard principle, even though 'hard' is 'easy'.
Scrap any hopes of training for anything for the time being.

I'd thought about going back on a restriction diet--this wish was renewed when I noticed yesterday that the raw pain was gone and then I realized that the whole wheat mini-wheats I'm trying to eat for breakfast had slipped off the menu sometime before the weekend. I've been eating a bunch of fruits and vegetables, meat and gravy instead. No biggie, except that I'm supposedly going to get tested for gluten intolerance and/or celiac disease, which means I have to consume the stuff so that they can see the damage. I'm raring to get those tests underway because the wheat thing actually makes sense--how is that I can go to Asia and eat raw things and seaweed and hot pepper paste and feel great, and go to Texas and eat beans and hot chilis and so forth and feel great, and then I go to somewhere else where it's bland and bread all the time, and I fall apart? My husband and I pieced it together, and then I talked with my NP and went on that restriction diet and I actually felt normal and it felt so good.

But my consultation isn't until April! Wouldn't I have time to go on and off another restriction diet? Wouldn't that help diagnosis? But perhaps not as much as royally trashing my digestive system--get a good brew of antibodies cooking for several months. I'm crossing my fingers that my appointment will get bumped up, though. Meanwhile, I'm trying to look at the positive side: I'm in a technician certificate course which will end with a 2-week clinical in April, after which I will get a new better job--with new better intestines too, hopefully. That coinciding improvement and the anticipation will make my rebirth all the more satisfying and complete. It'll be a whole new chapter in my life. Perhaps.

Update

reason #38 why I adore the internet:

Seems that whenever I post a pressing concern online, be it on a blog or message board or whatever, it gets resolved quickly. Kind of reminds me of that self-help suggestion of writing down your goals or whatever it is. I used to think that writing things down helped spur subconscious commitment somehow, but maybe it's really just cosmic. The words have to exist in some sort of visual form for the stars to be favourably aligned.

Anyway, shortly after typing my previous entry, I got a letter about my consultation with a GI specialist. I have an appointment. Unfortunately, it's not until April, so I have to decide if I'll take the opportunity to go on another elimination diet/food journal escapade to give myself a bit of a break, or what, but, FORTUNATELY, judging by what Google dug up, this doctor believes in managing conditions through diet and exercise--to what extent, I don't know, but it seems promising. That's the approach I'm hoping for. Not just pills. I've sought medical help for my gut issue in the two other countries I've lived in: my Korean doctor ran some enzyme tests and put me on a better diet which has helped a LOT (I'm no longer dropping 20 or so pounds when things get bad, or falling asleep while standing); my American doctor tried to dismiss me but after some begging and rather graphic descriptions on my part, she gave me pills. To be honest, they were quite effective in removing a rather disgusting symptom but they were no cure.

So maybe the third time's the charm.

No running today

I'm stiff and sore. I kept waking up from it during the night. It's been gradually getting worse. Oh, well. I walked with the dog this morning and will do some yoga.

Fingers crossed that they'll call me up to do that test soon!

Long run

Saturday, I ran about 10K with friends and then had breakfast. The run was easy for them, not so easy for me. After a while, my legs got stiffer. But I kept up. Apparently the run was around 5:30/K.

Sunday, I jogged about 10 miles with the dog. Funnily enough, my Garmin resurfaced (while we were looking for something else which we still haven't found so we're still missing something and thus still not ahead). It seemed like an obvious sign to check in. Turns out that, yes, my jogging speed is around 10 min/mile these days. A little slow for the great weather we've been having, but I regret more that I'm lacking the higher gears, but I have to accept this.

I still haven't had any news about when I can take the antibody test or whatever--I'm rather anxious about getting this over with so that I can change my diet to something kinder. In my presently dull state, I can manage jogging 40-60 min a day, but the group runs and long runs I want to do require a bit more than I can manage. My muscles aren't recovering like they used to. Maybe in a few weeks, I'll get used to it. My heart is fine. It still feels momentarily sore after each new increase in effort, but there's been definite improvement. At first, five minutes was a stretch, then ten, then twenty, then an hour, then 80 min...I think 50 min of jogging is actually my level of comfort now. Definitely forty, some days sixty. I start to feel more sore after seventy and that's mostly my legs.

Still, I was surprised by how much the ten-miler sapped me. AS much as I don't want to have a plan, I cannot ditch hopes of aiming for the Winterman in February, and it would be nice to manage two hour runs comfortably by November. Maybe the next ten-miler will go better. I figure I'll register anyway, while the price is low, and then if I have to drop to a shorter race, I wouldn't have paid much more than registering for that shorter race later on. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm taking a day off running and making broth with the duck leftovers from Thanksgiving. I've been eating plenty of protein and fat at least!

sluggy

Today I ran for 52 minutes. I met a friend on the way so I ran back with him and it was good to get into a faster pace. Faster, as in actually under 10:00/mile. LOL. I'm not sure of my usual pace, but I think it's a bit over 10:00/mile. Anyway, after about 2.5 miles of a faster pace (I have no idea how fast it was), my muscles were a bit sore, but aerobically, I was fine. I could still talk. That's where my running is at this point: my heart is groovy but my muscles don't have the juice to do much besides jog. But I still think it's best to jog. It preserves my appetite and weight somewhat--these things have been a lot more stable since I started running umpteen years ago. And it makes me feel better.

I guess it all works out as I've said before: this way, my heart gets eased into the more strenuous stuff pretty gradually. I was really lucky with how quickly the heart stuff was resolved and I can't expect the GI stuff to be resolved as quickly. However, I would really really like to do the antibody tests soon! It's funny, part of me is itching to type out more details, and the other part of me is like, no, that's just too gross. Maybe I need to find a friend with iffy guts so that we can talk about, well, iffy gut stuff.

Anyway, I'm going to try to focus more on writing about running. Today, for instance, we started running around 6:40. It was dark. I was looking forward to running into the light or something mythical like that, but after all that anticipation, dawn still managed to creep up without being savoured. I don't even remember it getting light. No pretty colours. All of a sudden, I noticed that it was light and things were back to normal.

home internet!

We are wired!

I'm still recovering...and still waiting to get antibody tests or whatever so that I can stop eating things that disagree with me. I'm not feeling 100% but at least my heart is, I think! Now and then, it feels sore, but less and less often, and I don't think it's limiting me in any way anymore.

My Garmin still hasn't resurfaced post-move, but I think that's a good thing. It's better that I have no idea or hopes or dreams about pace. I've been going by time, and if I want to stop or walk, I do.

Today, the dog and I jogged for 80 min. I'm pleased about that. I was still sluggy and I think bugs were crawling past us, and the dog kept turning to look at me in confusion ("I think you're running....backwards....") but it felt good to get blood flowing for that long. After about an hour, I got a big flood of endorphins or something of that nature. It hit me all at once. That was kind of neat.

Quick-quick update

We still don't have internet in the new place, but strangely I don't miss it too much. =

Anyway, running is getting better and better as the digestive issue gets worse and worse, so it pretty much evens out and I'm content. I've been running 50-70 minutes the past three days, and I made it to--and through--a hot yoga class yesterday.

We'll be going up north for Thanksgiving, and since we're staying at a place with no running water, I'm not sure how much running, if any, I'll do this weekend. The focus will be on eating.

back in the saddle

I ran about five miles without stopping today. My first run was on Wednesday, 3X 1km jogging, and it was kind of rough. On Friday, I was able to do about 25 minutes in two installments, which really surprised me. Yesterday, I did a 10km walk/run--not sure of the time or intervals or whatever, but it was at least 10km. I was going to go on a shorter run today, but I got into tempo effort and then, after 2km, it was time to slow down, but jogging still felt good. After a while, my heart felt a little sore, but that cleared up after a few minutes. Same thing happened on my first run on Wednesday; actually, it also happened the first time I walked at a normal pace. Everything's fine, just in disuse, and it seems reasonable to gradually ask a bit more. I've also been doing yoga every day. Apart from schoolwork and unpacking, I have plenty of time--I doubt I'll resume work this year, unless part-time. We'll see.

I'm really happy with my progress--after Wednesday's dismal endeavor, I actually assumed that it would take me at least a couple of weeks to run 20 min continuously. More importantly, though, I feel confident that I won't get tachycardia again. Friday evening, while I was shopping, I bent over to pick up some dropped change. My heart did its usual flip and, for a split second, clenched or something. It actually hurt. It was trying to get into its old arrythmia; I recognized the feeling but it was more intense. Maybe it was trying harder. Alas, it couldn't kick the works into that special high gear. I have felt other triggers post-op, but this one felt like it would have been an especially big bout of tachycardia. The cardiologist and surgeon both told me that they couldn't take away the triggers, but that I shouldn't ever feel tachycardia again. After Friday evening's event, I believe them. They sure busted that connection!

Meanwhile, I'm embarking on another round of tests, this time for the GI problem. I've been referred to a GI specialist and hopefully I'll see him/her soon; meanwhile, I've been plowing through potential trigger foods in prep for antibody tests. Hence I'm getting progressively more drained. This has affected running among other things, but perhaps it's good timing. With chronically dead legs and low energy, I have been gentle with my heart.

It is so good to run again! I think I'm pretty slow, but that doesn't matter. My perspective has changed somewhat.