Race Spectating @ MCM

Despite having to pull out because of an injury, I went out to the Marine Corps Marathon to cheer on the runners. Big city marathons are fun events. Four friends from Rhode Island came down to run it.  How could I not go out and watch them??

All week, the forecast looked bad. Hurricane Sandy looked like she was going to seriously impact the race. On race morning, the weather forecast during the race said showers or rain. Well, there was no rain at all!  It was windy but otherwise near perfect running weather. Not sunny and cool.

Marine Corps is a pretty easy marathon to spectate at. I planned 3 spots. Took the Metro to Foggy Bottom, walked to mile 10 (along Rock Creek Parkway and the Potomac River), then walked to the Lincoln Memorial and The Mall, watched at mile 17, then Metroed over to the Pentagon at mile 24.

I made 2 double-sided posters. Only one came along with me because I thought it was going to rain. I had a plastic sleeve to protect the poster from rain. One of my brilliant ideas was to tape a wide ribbon to the poster so that I could hang the poster around my neck. It kept the poster from blowing away (and even then I had to hold it with at least 1 hand). When I wasn't holding the poster, I rang a cow bell like mad.

Side 1 said, "WHERE ARE Y'ALL GOING?" This poster was so much fun. It was a great way to interact with runners. I got all sorts of answers, including:
I don't know
This way
To the finish line
Home!
Come with us
Away from the hurricane

When I got to mile 24, I flipped the poster to Side 2. This poster said, "REACH DEEP. Yes, You Can!" Especially in the later miles of a marathon, you need a short phrase or a positive message that motivates you to keep going. I got a lot of positive responses from runners.

Tips for Posters
1. Write big. Keep the message on your poster as short as possible. Less is more.
2. Write in ALL CAPS.
3. Use a wide-tipped marker and make your words stand out.
4. Use mantras. Some of my favorites are Right here right now, Finish strong, Reach Deep, and Don't stop. Anything positive and motivational that is short enough for me to repeat over and over again
5. Tailor the message to where you will be on the course. Runners in the later miles are tired and fighting a mental and physical battle. I intentionally used the Where are y'all going poster earlier and saved Reach Deep for the end. I think this worked well.

Working It

Did I do one of these weekly recaps last week? I do not even remember.

Well, it's kinda boring. I did no cardio at all because I was stuck in a walking boot til the middle of the week. So I will not do a day-by-day recap. But I will tell you about the things I did.

Upper body strength training - once with weights and twice with a resistance band

Planks

Squats - against a wall with an exercise ball, no weights except for me

Pushups

Core work

Clamshell planks - one of my PT exercises. Get into a side plank position with your elbow and knee on the floor, keep your feet together, and open your top knee up like a clamshell. Repeat on the other side. Good for hips and glutes.

Not Working It

I haven't posted a weekly recap for the last few weeks because it would be pretty boring. There has been a whole lot of not working out over the last few weeks.  I did some walking, yoga, strength training, core work, PT exercises, biking on the stationary bike, and yoga. A lot of rest. No cardio at all for the last week because I am extremely limited in what I can do. I am not one to skip out on working out, but I really can't.

It probably wasn't a good idea to go for a walk on the Mall about a week ago. I had some time to kill after work before I needed to be somewhere else. Runners everywhere. Perfect weather. 

Maybe ... maybe ... maybe I'll be back out there soon.

Here We Go Again

My sports doc recommended a cortisone shot or a walking boot. And prescription anti-inflammatory meds.

I was very leery of a cortisone shot immediately. There are a number of risks. Tendon rupture is one. Cortisone shots stop the pain, but they don't really treat it. Also, did you hear about the recent series of meningitis cases from bad steroids? No thank you.

So I opted for the boot. One week on, then every other day for another week. Be very jealous. I am not looking forward to people treating me like the walking wounded, but I am looking forward to running a social psychology experiment on altruistic behavior on the Metro. I'm actually not kidding about that last part.

Posterior tibial tendonitis seems to be one of those tricky things to treat. There is a lot of trial and error to figure out what works. Rest alone (meaning, no exercise) is not enough to get the tendon to calm down. Even walking can continue to irritate the tendon. For most people, walking is not optional. Enter the walking boot which immobilizes the angry tendon.

Cross your fingers that this works. I am patiently not running, but I am quickly running out of patience with not running. I don't know what I am going to do for exercise since cardio and yoga are off-limits. Body weight exercise that don't involve my feet/legs? Core work?

Hey, angry tendon, please cut this out. Pretty please?

Injury Emotion Cycle

You go through many emotions when you are injured.

For example:

I am sad that the weather is finally cooler and I can't go outside and run.

I am discouraged that I am still in pain. Four weeks of PT left me at pretty much the same place I started. I go back to see the sports doctor tomorrow because I ran out of PT appointments.

I am disappointed that I am missing my favorite half marathon for the first time in its existence. Goodbye, Amica Newport Half Marathon legacy.

I am frustrated that I can't go running in Rock Creek Park or on the Mall.

I am scared that I will get injured again.


It was bittersweet seeing people run their last 20 milers before Marine Corps last weekend.

I don't like looking at my calendar with no races lined up.

I am trying really really really hard to stay positive. It is getting harder and harder to be optimistic.

Washingtonian

I played tourist (sorta) in DC this weekend.

Good morning, Washington Monument.


The Reflecting Pool recently re-opened after being closed for renovations since 2010. It needed it badly. The pool collected gunk, plus it leaked a tremendous amount of water. The grass needed re-sodding. It was a national embarrassment. Now, the pool has been redesigned, resurfaced, and refilled. A system was put in place to pump water in from the Tidal Basin and Potomac River and re-circulate the water. Except ... the pool is filled with algae. There is so much algae in one end that you can't even see the bottom of the pool, and there is a layer of algae on the bottom of the entire pool. I guess it is better. I could do without the greenish tinge to the water, though.

Looking at the Lincoln Memorial


On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking toward the Reflecting Pool, Washington Monument, and U.S. Capitol

PT Part II - The Beautiful Letdown

Bonus points if you get the song allusion in the song title. The band is coming to my area this week!!

I'm going to post this because the last time I complained about the pesky ankle and angry tendon, things felt better. Go figure.

I went through 4 weeks of PT. Ran out of appointments. The angry tendon, or something else, is still angry. Isn't this where I started?

The angry tendon felt better, and then it didn't. It felt better again, and then it didn't again. Yet, I couldn't replicate what is causing the pain in PT. Movement doesn't hurt. Doing nothing (sitting around, lying in bed) hurts. It's more like an itchy, irritated, aggravated feeling than actual pain, but it is near constant. Or at least daily.

I think what happened is that I had a physical therapist (not the one I usually see) dig into the angry tendon and not surprisingly aggravate it. The angry tendon was tender to the touch for nearly 2 weeks. Today was the first day in a while where I couldn't feel the angry tendon when I woke up. That's good, I guess. Maybe I just need some time to rest. And not see that physical therapist anymore.

Now I wait and see for a week or two and go back to the sports doctor. I don't know if there is something seriously wrong or I just need more PT. It would be fantastic to know what's really going on.

Working It

Another week, another workout post. What else is new?

Sunday - one hour yoga podcast. Same one as last week. Got the pose guide out. It was hard!

Monday - 35 minutes on the bike. And PT. Another 1 mile on the anti-gravity treadmill.

Tuesday - 40 minutes on the bike, plus about 1.5  miles walking at lunch. It was nice out!

Wednesday -  Rest, mostly. PT is not quite really rest, right?

Thursday - 40 minutes on the bike, upper body strength training, core work, pushups, and squats.

Friday - Rest. Mostly. Walked about 2 miles total.

Saturday - Rest. Work got in the way. Eh. It's the first and only time this has happened, and it is not likely to happen again anytime soon. I did walk about 3.5 miles while on a break. It was a beautiful day to get out and walk around DC.

Total miles: about 1.

Down the Injury Spiral

It's been a while since I first realized I was injured. Early July.

There was some bad behavior for a few weeks. I was cranky. And still eating like I was training for a marathon. And not exercising as much. And not sleeping as well. Wash, rinse, repeat.

It became painfully obvious that I could not run Marine Corps. Even if I got better quickly, I wasn't going to have enough time to train properly.

Not gonna lie. It was really hard to back out of a race. I have never backed out of a race. Knowing it was the right decision didn't make it any easier.

In some ways, I was relieved. I didn't have a training schedule I have to stick to. I like sleeping in on Saturday morning and having all of Saturday to do things. I didn't have to go running in the hot humid summer. I had a decent amount of traveling recently, and I hadn't adjusted my schedule to accommodate being on the road.

But in some ways, I was worried. Running is one of my mental health strategies. I know I am crankier without running. Yes, I am still exercising, but it is different than running. Other activities don't produce the same endorphins. I was not sleeping as well. I couldn't keep eating like I was training for a marathon when I was not, in fact, training for a marathon. I added some extra fluff (still within my normal weight range, and I probably had a few pounds to add back from my spring training cycle). However, it took me from early July to now to get my my eating in check and to stop the scale from slowly creeping up.

Part of the mental health thing is exactly that. Mental. Your attitude has a lot to do with how you feel. No, you cannot always be in complete control of your attitude. But you can be aware of it and try to change it. In some ways, it is very much like a skill that you practice in long-distance running. Tell the negative thoughts to shut up and focus on the positive (say, for example, mile 18 of the Chicago Marathon) where I realized I wasn't going to reach my A day goal and decided to focus on going after a PR and getting more bang for my buck by being out on the course longer). OK, so I'm not getting my running endorphins. Moping about it won't make things better. Yes, it is OK to miss running. Especially now that we are getting hints of fall. I know it is in my long-term best interest to not run at the moment. Now, I am OK with that. Really.

I cannot control being able to run or not. I can control how I feel about that.

Working It

So of course I post about ankle pain and poof. It seemed better the next day. And then it wasn't. Again. I had a really tender to the touch area near the angry tendon after PT on Monday (where, coincidentally, I saw a different physical therapist). I am not sure whether it was always like that and I never noticed, or PT did something to make it unhappy. It is Saturday and while it is less tender than earlier in the week, it is still tender to the touch. Stupid angry tendon.

Anywho. Here's the workout roundup.

Sunday - one hour yoga podcast.I usually string together 2 or 3 20-minute podcasts, but I had one whole podcast that was just over an hour. I am out of yoga shape. And I need to find the pose guide the next time I do this one. There were some poses that weren't well explained.

Monday - 40 minutes on the bike, and PT. Ran about 1.5 pain-free miles on the anti-gravity treadmill.

Tuesday - Overslept on a day when I wasn't planning on getting up early anyway. I guess I was tired. Did upper body strength training at lunch, then core work, squats, and pushups later on.

Wednesday - 35 minutes on the elliptical. Haven't done the elliptical in a while (last time was in a hotel gym in Florida, and before that ... I couldn't tell you), but the only working bike in my apartment complex gym was taken and the elliptical didn't bother me. Also had PT. Ran again on the anti-gravity treadmill. A little over a mile. Not too bad.

Thursday - 35 minutes on the bike.

Friday - Rest.

Saturday - 60 minutes on the bike, plus lunges and this hard-to-describe PT exercise that I didn't do at my session on Wednesday.

Total miles: about 2.5