Technical difficulties - Please run by.

Wednesday's run was not the most awesome time I've ever had, I wouldn't call it bad exactly, but some technical difficulties made the evening noticeably more challenging than usual.

I had a couple of loose goals in mind when I set out and I was surprised to find at the end that I managed to hit them!

I can't think of anyone but Patton Oswalt when I see this kid.

Now that I've finished C25k I don't have any specific goal with running in mind beyond "not kill or embarrass myself overmuch at the upcoming Freaky5K". I am not looking to torture myself particularly and I'm nowhere near what one might consider "competitive" physical condition, so my main aim at this point is to find the point where things are challenging rather than punishing, and to start pushing that point back as far and often as I reasonably can.

I'd like to start doing that with heart rate training, but clearly my calculated heart rate is not appropriate for me or I would be pretty much keeling over from exhaustion every time I run. According to my Garmin I'm consistently averaging just about 100% of my max calculated HR, which should mean I'm completely 100% exhausting myself at the top edge of my output... for 35 minutes at a time? Don't think so.

A max HR test pretty much involves repeatedly pushing yourself as hard as you can and recording the highest HR. Doing that on a grumpy ankle is probably not the best plan, so a more personalized measurement is going to have to wait for happier joints. I figure hill work will probably be a good way to work that out.

The Good:
I decided that my main run goal for Wednesday was to keep as close to 12:00/mile as I could. Since my average pace was apparently 11:55 I appear to have rather soundly nailed that one. My secondary goal was to see if I could get negative splits again, or at least not terribly positive ones (since I was trying to hit a specific overall pace I wasn't too overly concerned about that) and very much to my surprise I managed that too! I averaged 12:08, 12:06, 11:45, and 9:40 (respectively) for each "lap" of the 3.1 miles (broken up by mile).

I can feel that I'm getting more consistent with my breathing and making a point to count footfalls during each breath not only does a LOT toward keeping me aware of how I'm pacing myself but it also satisfies a bit of my minor OCD tendencies. This provides an awfully handy mental distraction from the less pleasant things my body is telling me about what it feels like to breathe that intensely for that long

The Bad:
My attempt to solve the wandering belt problem backfired on me in a couple of ways. I tried out an active Old Navy bra core tank top I've had for a while so I could put the belt on over something smooth. The top is a bit overly long and fits everywhere but on my hips so it had a tendency to crawl up on me (especially when I first started running and it was a bit tighter everywhere), so I usually just go with a sports bra and a large trapeze shaped tank top. I have about five of these tops and I like that they are very open at the top, and loose enough to camouflage any muffin top and/or cans of mace I happen to have strapped to my hips.

I folded up the bottom of the active tank, fitted the belt to my waist, tossed on the rest of my usual gear, and went out. I was going pretty good until about 1.5 miles in, when I realized that there was a stinging pain occurring in the top of my left arm, right up by my armpit. I think the underarm area of the active tank to must come up higher and tighter than my usual bra and so my skin was squished out in what must have been an insanely sexy show of armpit cleavage, which was then rubbing against the flesh that was squishing out above my armband. I was approaching one of the higher traffic areas of my run so I had to wait it out until I was in a place safe enough to loosen my armband. I am noticing more of these little raw spots from various seams and buckles, so I suspect it's time to suck it up and cough over the cash for some Body Glide. Luckily I caught it before I really rubbed the skin off, but it's still a bit raw.

Once I started running the majority of my body was shockingly happy in the cool weather, but I apparently vent heat from the belly like a Care Bear because having something tight around my torso was driving me MAD. This tank (actually I have two, but that's not important right now) might be a good layering piece when it starts getting cold, but for now I'm going stick with my old setup and find another belt fix. At the very worst there's always safety pins.

This is a 100% accurate portrayal of my experience, note especially the expressions of horror.

The Ugly:
My ankle was doing pretty ok, but my left knee got pretty pissed and is still grumping especially on down staircases. It was never bad enough to stop me or change my stride, but I was awfully close a few times. I think I will switch back to wearing a brace for a while, though I'd like to see if a patella strap will do the job. I don't know if I was just under rested - but my legs were definitely tired and kind of fighting me the whole time and that is very unusual for me. Occasional joint tweaks aside my legs are typically among the the last things I notice while running.

Who knows, maybe keeping my pace more reasonable meant I felt "well" enough to notice more about what my legs have been feeling all along? Somehow I doubt it though.Whatever it was I came home and effectively shut down for a while, my brain is usually scrambled for a bit after running, but I think the only thing that kept me awake after my shower was a DIRE need to go to the laundromat and acquire foods (mmmm chicken bacon ranch pizza, I did NOT need to find out how tasty that stuff is). I know I say this constantly, but I really need to sleep more (says the woman typing the blog at one in the morning).

I wish this was a 100% accurate portrayal of the rest of my evening.

We will not even get into why I ended up getting out of bed at one in the morning yesterday to bathe a part of the kitten in the above picture (a good sense of smell can be both a blessing and a curse, and I'll leave it at that) ...and again at three in the morning to chase him away from my suddenly growling other cat, who was attempting to sleep behind my knees. It's a good thing he's both gorgeous and insanely affectionate.

******
My Wednesday run: a 5K run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks.
Negative splits throughout
3.1 miles at an average of 11:55 per mile -  total time of 37.02 max pace of 8:34

A farewell to flip flops (for now) and some neat lacing tips

I have a shoe problem.

While I only have one functional pair of running shoes at the moment, my general shoe collection is... prodigious. I own innumerable flip flops, a few pair of boots, a lot of peep toes and sandals, some kicky flats, and more than my share of "how do you even walk in those?" stilettos. I'm especially fond of 50s retro mules, T straps, and Mary Janes.

My boyfriend is *ahm* supportive of this collection.

And, of course, sexy lady-pirate boots.

Oddly enough I also have a problem with shoes. Unless I'm dressing up I really hate wearing them.

I have been fighting against ingrown toenails all of my life (it's genetic, the natural shape of my nails is overly curved) and if I am not very particular about the style even "sensible" flats can get intensely painful for me. I rejoice when it finally gets warm enough to ditch the constrictive shackles of footwear, and spend as much of the year as I can totally barefoot or in open sandals. I don't really mind a fair bit of heel as long as my toes can move freely.

Part of the reason I love my running sneaks so much (Saucony Hurricane 14s) is the lovely giant open toe box. As much as I was into the idea of running it gets so painful to wear the wrong shoes that I put off even trying for a long time. I honestly wasn't sure I would be able to really run at all until I found them.
I think it's pretty safe to say that my early (read as: injuriously premature) interest in minimalist running shoes comes directly out of this barefoot love. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the idea, my knees REALLY did not. On that note: anyone looking for a lightly used pair of size 37 (i.e. 6.5/7 us) Vibram Bikila LS in grey/blue? I do dig a good barter, heck I'll even wash them!

Despite what my earlier swollen ankle post might lead you to believe I take pretty good care of my feet and a large part of that is letting air get to my skin, moisturizing with all natural products (petroleum doesn't breathe!), and avoiding the constrictive deforming effects of closed shoes whenever possible.

I spent most of my youth getting yelled at by my dad to put on some shoes before I stepped on or in something, but to tell you the truth one look at his feet was all it would take to settle me right back in my barefoot ways. I'll take the occasional cat barf or sharp rock encounter over scary man feet any day!

I also step on/trip over my cats way less when I'm barefoot, which I think we all appreciate.

Unfortunately however I don't deal well with cold at all, so in the Fall I cling to the last days of sandals tenaciously. I ignore the fact that my feet are turning alternately red and blue in the autumn chill until the day I am finally forced to pull out the more sensible kicks along with the hoodies and scarves. Today was sadly, that pivotal chilly fall day.

I was a teen in the 90s, so my baseline casual shoe is (but of course) the low top Converse All Star.

These are my faves. The chickens which say "blah" make it that much more OK to be wearing shoes.

In honor of today's Abandoning Of The Sandals I offer you a set of pretty darn useful links. I dare you to try out at least the first technique for a week and see if it doesn't change how you tie your shoes forever. All it took was one good trip up on a busy street to convince me that better knots are worth a few days of learning awkwardness.

The first is a TED talk entitled "How to tie your shoes".
You  might think this was sort of a given but I suspect that you (like me) have been long suffering under the delusion that a bow, was a bow, was a bow.

Not so, there is a better way! This appeals to both my desire to not fall flat on my face AND my OCD-ish desires for non-cockeyed shoe lace bows.

So far it's been working out well for me, but just in case you needed extra convincing or weren't sure it was applicable to running... here is an article from Runners World dealing with the same knot.

If that wasn't enough mind blowing revolutionary shoe info for you, Running off the Reeses posted this neat tying tweak on Friday showing what to do with those random extra holes a bit further back on the ankle of your shoes. I always wondered what those were but never thought to look it up.

More toenail protection via a more stable tying method? Yespleasethankyou!

I only tried this for the first time Monday so I can't speak to how it will work out in the long run, but after the initial, "Whoo, this is different! Firm!" reaction it certainly didn't seem to hurt anything, so I for one am going to continue with it.

Any neat feet tricks?

Have you tried these knots and if so did they do anything for you?

These hips don't lie... flat

I didn't takes official weights or measurements when I started running as I did not have any specific goals, but I have lost about seven pounds and the better part of a pant size off of my hips and waist.

While I'm not ready to enter any bikini competitions yet, I have noticed both a considerable reduction in my abdominal squishitude and a definite upward mobility in my gluteal regions. While this is AWESOME when it comes to my wardrobe it has made using my running utility belt pretty much intolerable.

When I first started using the belt I could sort of cinch it down tight low across my hips and trust in the awesome power of my muffin top to hold it down in place while I ran.

September 25th was the first time I ran 5k all the way through and not incidentally, the first time I got a friction burn from a piece of my gear. The belt popped up over my hips to settle around my waist and I quickly forgot about it... until I hit the shower and the confusing burning sensation started.

No, not THAT kinda confusing burning sensation. Get your mind out of the gutter, sheesh!
I got a small friction burn on my back from the belt which I couldn't see until the next day. I'm pretty brain dead for a while after running so I just couldn't make the connection.

I didn't think much of it at the time, but I realized today that it's been a pretty much continuous fight with this thing during every run since that day. It doesn't matter how tight I cinch it or how often I yank it down, it starts slipping upward within seconds of starting to run which gets distracting to the point of near danger when you consider the busy roads. It's a minor miracle I haven't fallen flat on my face or been run over by an inattentive SUV driver as it is. Not for lack of their trying though, driveways are fun!

I've tried turning it around to the front, making it tighter, making it looser, putting it directly around my waist, putting my shorts on over it... and yet nothing seems to work any better.

Why do you vex me so?

I've actually gotten to the point that I'm considering breaking out my belly dance costuming skills and either installing snaps (or some other place holder) on all of my shorts, making it into a solid fitted belt, or constructing a fitted belt from scratch to serve the same purpose. I'm loathe to just buy a new one as a) I have one, duh b) there are so many other pieces of gear I want to buy and c) my vet bills are through the roof lately (stupid cat).

Incidentally, my solution for this evening at least was to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Take that disappearing muffin top!

How do you carry your keys/mace/Batarang/running essentials?

Do you have gear mobility problems?

Any recommendations for design tweaks?

******
My run today: a 5K run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks. Negative splits throughout!
3.14 miles at an average of 11:35 per mile -  total time of 36.24

My Garmin claims that this is my fastest 5K so far, though my Nike+ thinks this was the 25th.

My ankle has been pretty good since Saturday so I figured as long as I was mindful of what my body was telling me it was worth it to try a run. I was aware of it a few times but it was never painful and at no point did I feel I was changing my movements to favor it at all (which is my hard line "stop running and go home" determiner). I definitely did not have as much of the mile two doldrums either, though I do still have the most problems maintaining an even pace then. While I certainly wasn't sprinting to finish I was still able to speed up considerably at the end and spent most of the last half mile between 8:00 and 10:00 per mile.

Not only did I do really well in terms of running, but I managed to get my heels to touch the ground in Downward Dog during my warmup stretches. This is the first time I've been able to do that in years! I am a bit stiff overall in my lower legs now (especially my right shin, which is a bit achy in a shin-splint-ish way) so I feel like I probably need to step up my cooldown stretches a bit.

Ankle? What ankle? I don't see an ankle here.

My ankle was finally starting to feel better yesterday. I had full natural motion and no stiffness... and then the swelling started.

I think I re-tweaked it playing with my boss's puppy, Belle. She's about nine weeks old and VERY energetic, so when he brings her to work we take turns walking her and trying to tire her out a bit.

Can you blame me? This picture is pretty much to scale by the way. She's a peanut.

Apparently I romped around in the fall leaves one too many times and I must have twisted something the wrong way. I looked down at my ankle at some point in the afternoon and realized that all signs of my Achilles tendon had disappeared without so much as an abracadabra.

Swollen AND ashy! Clearly the embodiment of sexiness. You have to admit though that I do ROCK an aqua nail polish.

This sounds like a job for R.I.C.E. right?

Great idea, but hard to implement when your boyfriend is going to be a groomsman at his sister's 5:30 wedding and you have so little time after work to get ready that you have had to borrow a friend's spare key to avoid putting on makeup in a restaurant bathroom. My wardrobe (and more importantly, shoes) had been packed the night before and going home (twenty minutes each way in the very best of traffic) for footwear substitutions was not an option.

On the bright side I no longer had to worry about whether there was going to be any good dancing music!

So after locking my keys in my car (I got them back in less then five minutes but it involved running up and down a set of steps about three times and a lot of adrenaline), and a lightning fast wardrobe change and makeup job... I still missed the ceremony by about ten minutes due to a combination of holiday weekend traffic and GPS fail. *sigh*

I danced the requisite "join the couple for their first dance" swaying in place, and then sat as much as possible after that... but still ended up looking like someone had sculpted my calf out of dough by the end of the night.

I hate hounds-tooth and pointy toes, and yet I LOVE these shoes! Go figure.

The bright side is that my ankle never did hurt, though just below the back of my knee was a bit tender and also a touch swollen. I got some ice on my ankle the minute I got home and after a long night of sleep with it elevated it is mostly back to normal.

I am going to continue with R.I.C.E. protocol along with anti-inflammatories for a couple of days as I really need to be back on my feet in full fighting form ASAP.

Click image for more of Ray Villafane's pumpkin sculpting awesomeness

I am tentatively hoping to be back to running Monday as I have TWO virtual 5ks next week (The Cupcake Classic and The Great Pumpkin Race) and my first for-real 5K on the 28th (John Theissen Children's Foundation Freaky 5K).

That's not even taking into account the requisite pumpkin picking, haunted houses, and general pre-Halloween awesomeness of the season.Limited mobility is not an option.

Hey Good Lookin' what you got cookin?

Oh wait, never mind. I can smell it from here.

I have always had a ridiculous sense of smell but I feel like it goes through the roof when I run. After the last couple of months of running in the same neighborhood I now know who barbecues a lot, whose dog likes to pee on the fence near the road, who is messy when they top off their gas tank, and which cars belong to Jersey Shore wannabees.

Here's a hint, if I can taste you after you drive by for even longer than I can hear your "sweet kicking bass" it's time to back away from the axe body spray. You are going to suffocate an entire poor unsuspecting night club full of people.

Today I ran a new route and encountered the most ambrosial Indian food smell imaginable, it permeated something like a half a block radius so it had clearly been simmering for some time and my already normally ravenous post run appetite became like a small gnawing thing in my innards. Luckily my boyfriend likes to cook and can always be convinced to eat, so I "talked him into" throwing together a bit of prepackaged Trader Joe's Indian food with some chick peas for a late dinner. It wasn't the insane deliciousness that I craved, but it still quieted the belly monster.

Running past food smells usually gets me salivating (especially barbecue steak), but this was inspirationally delicious. I actually found myself fantasizing that I would get fast enough to run into the house and get away with some of that delicious food.

I'd feel terrible about abusing the talent of a cook such as that, but I'm sure it would be righteously delicious until my conscience kicked in.

******
As you may have noticed I have not started any manner of "October Blogging Challenge". I enjoyed some aspects of doing the September one, but at this point in the game I already have enough to talk about without forcing topics and I go to bed late enough as it is: I really didn't need the extra time sink or word count. 

I would love to figure out some sort of consistent weekly topic post though. I'm picturing something like the ubiquitous Wordless Wednesday posts so if anyone has seen anything neat in that vein or has any ideas I'm all for it. 

I will say that given the relative popularity of the Jason Statham post and my appreciation of the majesty of the male form I would not be averse to something like Running Off The Reese's  beefcaketastic Magnificent Men of Monday posts.

******
My run today: a 5K run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks
3.10 miles at an average of 11:59 per mile -  total time of 37:07

I'm still having a lot of problems with mile two. I think it may be a mental limitation due to no longer feeling "fresh" but not yet being "almost there". I tend to find myself pushing to a faster pace than I'd like and then having to slow down. I'm not really sure how to get out of that head space though.

My ankle is stiff when I walk but was surprisingly fine when I ran. I did manage to get a good stretch before the run today and I do feel like I loosened it up quite a bit. I was aware of it but at no point was I in pain. 

I have a physical with a new doctor in a week and a half and I will mention it then if it is still bothering me. The missing referral issue I mentioned in my last post cascaded into a phone argument with my (former) Doctor's office manager so ridiculous I was literally shaking with anger when I finally hung up. 

So yeah, new doctor time. It will be nice to be able to tell them I am active though!

Do not meddle in the affairs of Jawas

Today's run was odd.

Apparently calling me on the phone with bad news while I'm running makes me insanely rude. I eventually apologized, but still that was surprising. I am normally extremely patient on the phone.

Today's run was expected to be chaotic because I had an ophthalmologist appointment later in the evening with not enough time to go home, so I ended up packing my gear the night before and heading to my old neighborhood to run right after work. I changed clothes at work but I still felt like a bug under glass gearing up in my car in front of a random house on the side of the road. Warmup stretching was truncated (yoga floor poses and littered asphalt don't mix well) and I was a bit worried about my ankle, which was still stiff.

I was just getting into the swing of things and starting to feel my ankle loosen when I got a call which I pushed into voice-mail. This was about five minutes in to my run and on a main road so I waited a bit to listen to it. It was the Ophthalmologist's office telling me there were some problems with my referral and to call back with my insurance card handy. My card was locked in my car so I figured I'd call when I was done. I was annoyed to be sure, but motoring through.

Twenty five minutes in I get another call from the Drs office which I answered since I recognized the number by this point. Apparently she said "hello, can you hear me???" one too many times because I eventually blasted her with:

I'M RUNNING AND ON A CELL PHONE. STOP SAYING HELLO.
I CAN HEAR YOU. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM???!?!?

Short answer was that my GP apparently never set up my referral so all of that oddness and pre-planning was completely pointless. I could have had a nice run in my own neighborhood, a shower right away, and been settled in by sunset for some quality cat snuggle time. I responded with a string of bad words, but this is about where I started apologizing for shooting the messenger as she was being very sweet and the general problem wasn't her fault at all.

I could most assuredly have handled it better and I think I may have flustered her a bit with my reaction and language; but to be fair she was being quite dense.

"So... uh... I guess you'd like to reschedule then?"

No, I'll just go sit in your waiting room for a few hours, I will be there in an hour as originally discussed. Charge me accordingly please, YES I WOULD LIKE TO RESCHEDULE, CAN I DO THIS AND GET BACK TO RUNNING NOW????

I paused my devices and walked during the exchange and actually ended up back at my car by the time the conversation was done. I decided that with just under two miles under my belt I might as well finish.

At this point my mood was just plain foul and I had lost track of my original route so I was just sort of meandering through the nearby roads trying not to get too far from my car. I also felt like I was just on the edge of having something cramp a number of times and I'm taking that as a sign that I REALLY need to stop skimping on warmup and cooldown.

I finished though, and by the time I was back in my car and headed home I had burned through the worst of the grump but I can feel the effects of running all tight and distracted in that mode and I expect to be sore tomorrow.

Regardless: I'm glad I made the arrangements to run today despite my appointment and I'm proud of myself for sticking to it and finishing even after things went a bit pear shaped.

 ******
5K run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks
3.11 miles at an average of 12:22 per mile -  total time of 38:29

I'm trying to decide how I want to move forward at his point and I may switch to doing somewhat shorter but more numerous runs. I'm thinking something like three, one and a half to two mile runs across the week and one 5k during the weekend when I can do it earlier. Nothing definite, but it's food for thought anyway.

I surprised myself in both positive and negative ways today, have you ever had an experience like that?