On the road again

Yesterday was a pretty depressing day. Work was overwhelming, my teaching partner said she wouldn't be able to teach our salsa class in Gilroy anymore, and my knee was starting to give me fits again. Even though it was faring better than last week, the tissues still felt swollen underneath. Plus all the lateral muscles from mid-thigh to mid-calf were stiff as a board. Good lord, all I did was swim! Did I push it too soon or did I just let my muscles get tight?

I saw Gina today and handed her all my ails. She went to work and pushed really, really deep, sacrificing her thumbs for my benefit. Wow, I felt like an ART virgin again! ;-) Good news: What I thought was swelling under my kneecap was mostly adhesions and scar tissue that Gina was able to work out. Plus my muscle pain was indeed stiffness and not something more serious. She said the pain was from IT band and not patellafemoral syndrome.

On Gina's suggestion I took a light run around the block, about 2/3 of a mile. My knee felt pretty mobile; I hope it to be more so by this weekend. Boy, did I miss running. Gina, on the other hand . . .

Say cheese!

The Red Rovers at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Front Row: Emily, Deanna, Tehya, Nathan, Shani, Michael.
Top Row: Shel, Jenni, Tony, Lisa, Paul, Linda, Paige.

Hail to the road warriors

Today was the Silicon Valley Marathon. I was at the mile-5/22 aid station. I spent most of the time standing by the side of the course and handing out cups of Amino Vital, cheering on the runners and making them chuckle with chants of "Amino! Breakfast of champions! Running's finest Japanese import! Almost there – just one trillionth of a lightyear to go!" Standing on the sidelines, I got to see a wide variety of runners – a half dozen Halloween costumes, a huge Team Asha contingent, a colleague from work, a blind woman with guide, a barefoot runner and one unfortunate man with runner's nipples.

I was itching to run today, especially watching all my teammates cross the finish line. Deanna, Nathan, Paul and Jenni completed the San José Hat Trick and picked up their hockey-puck trophies signed by the likes of Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo and Joe Thornton.

Soon it will be my turn. The healing progress on my knee is promising. At this point I can bear weight on it – standing and walking – with hardly any swelling. I went swimming today for 30 minutes in an attempt to stay in condition and to burn off the weight I'd gained after Friday's pasta dinner. The extra pounds were to be expected since carb-loading causes a person to retain water to support stored carbohydrates. During my swim the lower extremity of the lateral hamstring cramped up a little bit, so I'm still not out of the woods yet. This is still better than last week, where the swelling was over the entire knee. I'll need to do a lot of gentle stretching this week to get back into form. My hope is to start running again next weekend at least 8 stable miles, but I'll be happy right now with a good 10K.

The Red Rovers are coming out to support me by running the CIM relay alongside me. What a great team!

Stir crazy

Last night the team had dinner at Buca di Beppo. We unveiled our surprise gift to Nathan and Deanna – a signed picture frame, doggie day care and getaway for two to Watercourse Way. Our illustrious coaches gave out specially made long-sleeve running shirts with a slick "Red Rovers" logo. And we got nice water bottles from Gina. Afterwards we went to karaoke but unfortunately none my running buddies got drunk enough to sing since they had a race to stay sober for.

Today I'm going a bit stir crazy. Without running or dancing I'm at a loss for what to do with myself. At least I'm being productive and spending most of the time cleaning house. Even though I'm not running the marathon tomorrow I'll still be volunteering at one of the aid stations so I'm going to have to turn in early.

Less salsa, more crack

Yesterday I ran a light 15 minutes around downtown Willow Glen with Nathan and Shel followed by a yin yoga session at Willow Glen Yoga. Yin involves holding stretches for as much as four minutes at a time. This was my third yoga session in six days, and the yin session was the most strenuous of all. It made my knee feel a crammed from the mild swelling caused by various ligament strains.

Dr. Gina said yesterday that my muscles were all nice and loose. Dr. Mike focused on the right leg today during our chiropractic session. Both of them tried to adjust my right foot to no avail, indicating it was already properly aligned. Dr. Mike did discover a key misalignment in the upper junction between my tibia and fibula, the exact point where I was feeling the sharpest pain while running. He cracked that junction and the release was significant. This may have been the root of all my pain!

Even though my knee is well enough to bear weight and run for short amounts of time, it's not going to propel me over any long hauls in its current state. Continuing to run on it now would at best maintain the status quo and allow my knee pain to linger pesteringly. So to maximize my chances for a successful recovery, I've decided to forgo all weight-bearing exercise for at least the next week and a half – this includes both running and dancing. I plan to swim lightly here and there to stay conditioned. Mentally it will be a challenge to lay off the asphalt and hardwood; it will probably be more of a challenge to step back on. But to have any hope of attaining my ultimate goal, this is the type of sacrifice I'll have to make.

The bigger picture

There were over 700 runners at the Home Run 10K yesterday, including me, Deanna, Nathan and Tom. I finished in 1:07:28 Garmin time. I didn't have an official time as I left the tag from my race bib in the car and didn't realize I needed it.

Unfortunately a lot of the run was painful. It didn't seem like muscle pain because I was able to walk without a limp for most of the day; rather, it felt like my lateral upper tibia and lower femur were striking against each other with each step. I was wearing the brace today and I started feeling pain much sooner than last week. It seems like the brace was making the problem even worse by throwing my right knee into radical misalignment. I'm wondering if I need to get my right insole recustomized or if I should try Powerstep again. In any case, I'm going to see Gina tomorrow and hopefully Dr. Mike as well.

In light of these problems, I've decided not to run the Silicon Valley Half Marathon on Sunday. (I may run the 5K if I can transfer my registration fee to the shorter race.) I can't even run 10K reliably right now so there's no point in jeopardizing my ultimate goal just for the sake of nabbing one more finisher's medal. My focus is to heal quickly for the next few weeks so I'll be doing very light (20-minute) runs or even walks if necessary. If all goes well I'll try 10K again the weekend of November 4th or the following week. I'll need one more long training run (15+ miles) to get ready for the Cal International. I'd prefer to run it the weekend of the 18th; unfortunately this coincides with the San Francisco Salsa Congress so I'll have to either shoot for the 11th or do some creative scheduling.

All the right moves

Deanna, Lisa, Linda, Paige and I went to a beginners' yoga class at Willow Glen Yoga tonight after a quick run around the neighborhood. It was just the thing I needed. We did lots of good stretches on the IT band and hamstrings, more effective and precise than some of the other stretches I've been doing. The back of my knee especially feels a lot looser than it did just this morning.

I should've taken up yoga months ago!

Brace yourself

Based on my experience over the past two weeks it feels like my patellofemoral syndrome is coming back. My right knee feels a little more stressed when running and I suspect the pain associated with my right IT band comes about from off-kilter biomechanics compensating for the problem. I had my therapy with Gina today and she echoed the same thoughts – so I'll be putting the brace back on when I run. Unlike the villifiable patella strap that was sticking my knee with uncomfortable pressure points, the full brace should distribute the support stress over a larger surface area.

As mentioned before, I'll be cutting back on my running in the short term. I've found over the past few weeks that I can quickly rebuild my stamina after a few days' layoff – a fact I'll use to full advantage as I allow myself as much time to rest and recover as possible.

Light on the feet

I've noticed that I actually enjoy food more than I did before dieting, even though I'm eating less than I used to. When I started my diet, it forced me to slow down and eat more variety. It makes food much more satisfying.

I had a good time last night at the salsa party. Today my knee felt fine. I spent the day at home watching the NLCS and World Series of Poker, plus finishing my taxes. (Yes, I filed an extension like I always do.) As a result, I didn't go out to Allegro for my usual Sunday-night salsa dancing. This is the second week in a row I haven't gone and I know I'm disappointing some of my favorite dance partners, but it's probably just as well since it forced me to rest more than I would've been willing to do otherwise.

Easing up again

I ran about 5 1/2 miles this morning before my right knee stiffened up again. My hamstring still feels a little taut behind the knee so my guess is my leg is compensating for it. On a positive note, the pain ebbed quickly this afternoon with lots of ice and Motrin, and I can already walk on it without limping. I'm going to a salsa party tonight and will definitely go easy on the dancing.

I'm already scheduled to see Gina and I'll surely have to schedule another adjustment with Dr. Mike again. I've already decided not to run on Tuesday; I'll play Thursday by ear. It may be most prudent to stick with single intraweek runs until my 21-miler. Next week, I'll be running the Home Run 10K at Stanford to benefit Habitat for Humanity. I'm anxious to see whether this run will go without a hitch.

Picture this!

Here are pictures of the Red Rovers in action!

Deanna (+Tehya) Nathan Linda Tony

Emily Paul Lisa Tom Joy

Bill Shel Jenni Mike Shani

Gina Chelsea

Plus a few of my other friends running with Team in Training:

• Stan
• Mike
• Amanda
• Whitney
• Dev

Rock on!

In sickness and in health

The day after Rock 'N' Roll was brutal. I was pretty sick on Monday – not debilitatingly so, but enough that I stayed home from work. It surprised me because I'd run 13.1 before during training without any problems. It may have been, with this cooler fall weather, that I didn't do enough to conserve my body heat immediately after the run.

I got in my S&M therapy session with Gina. The left leg was still loose so she did most all the work on the right side. She advised me that I should give myself as much healing time as possible. So as I originally contemplated, I reworked my training schedule.

We moved our foreweek runs to Tuesday. Deanna got sick, so only Paul and Lisa were there. The three of us walked for about two miles and called it a night. They suggested running my 21-miler two weeks after the Silicon Valley Marathon, so that everyone could rest and join in a "running-buddy relay" to keep me company for the entire 21 miles. What a great idea!

As of now my knee is feeling well enough to walk upright with. I went dancing at the Glas Kat after the walk last night without any problems, although I kept my knee braced. I should be able to run tomorrow night.

Check out my pictures from the race! Who is that handsome guy in the orange shorts?

ROCK ON!

I did it! My first ever big race! The Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon was everything it promised: a fun, party-like atmosphere with 11,536 revelous runners and walkers – 8,291 of whom finished. In true form, the fastest non-Kenyan runner placed 11th. We Red Rovers ran together as usual. Deanna's dog Tehya ran with us as she always does, but Arrow got left behind. The bands were spaced about a mile apart although there was a bit of a gap between miles 7 and 8 as we passed through some residential neighborhoods. There were plenty of people watching the race on their front lawns and other spots along the course. It was a perfect day and much warmer than expected for early October. By the time we crossed the finish line it was already 80 degrees.

My custom insoles seem to have broken in, as I had no chafing problems today. (My liberal application of Body Glide surely helped, too.) But the race was not without difficulty. My right IT band started giving me problems around mile 5; it might've been caused by trying to catch up with the group after going to the bathroom at mile 3. I slowed down a little and stretched my right IT every mile. Although I had my IT band strap with me, I chose not to cinch the darn thing as it seems like every time I've strapped something it was the kiss of death. Unlike previous episodes there wasn't any stiffness in the lateral hamstring; it was all on the side of the knee. The stiffness came and went, but around mile 10, some extra adrenaline and endorphins kicked in and the pain went away. From mile 12 onward I started gunning like crazy toward the finish line and completed the course in 2:33:19 (11:42 pace). Of course now I'm craving lots of ice and Motrin. Complete split times:

Distance	Time	Pace (per mile)
		From start	From split
5K	37:06	11:57	11:57
10K	1:11:49	11:34	11:11
10 mi.	1:59:28	11:57	12:36
1/2 marathon	2:33:19	11:42	10:56

To get a sense of how long 13.1 miles actually is, check out this virtual tour of the course (dial-up version here).

I had so much energy today that I know I'll be able to power through the full marathon in December if I can just vanquish my muscle problems once and for all. I'll try squeezing in an appointment with Gina tomorrow to get the kinks kneaded out again. I may have to trim back my schedule a second time, but now that I know what I'm up against, I should be able to ramp back up more completely and sure-footedly than before.

Over the counter

For the past five days I've been holding off on totaling my calorie intake 'til bedtime. I found I was typically a couple hundred calories under budget each day. By this morning I was 650 calories under budget for the week. I'm confident now that I've trained myself to eat healthily, enjoying food in moderation without stuffing myself silly. So today I cut the cord and stopped using the calorie counter.

After a great pasta party at Giorgio's restaurant, the Red Rovers are all carbed up and ready to rock! I'm totally excited about tomorrow's race. Now if I could just get some sleep ...

Cool runnings

The first sprinkle of the fall season came upon us tonight. It was rather light as rains go. I ran through it without much trouble; it was the first time I'd done a 50-minute mid-week run in almost two months. I got up to near 4.5 miles with relative ease, so now I feel ready to run the half marathon on Sunday. I'm absolutely certain now that my patella strap was causing my right IT to seize up.

Something peculiar: I seem more likely to tire out while listening to an audiobook rather than music. Possibly the extra brain power required to be an active listener leeches energy away from running. Of course, I was listening to heavy-duty subject matter (The 9/11 Commission Report), so some lighter fare would probably help in this regard. For now, I'll try alternating between music and audiobooks for some variety.

Ties, tethers and fibers

As I figured, Gina recommended using the patella strap only if I felt real pain in my knee; tying off my patella otherwise could throw off other biomechanics just as happened on Saturday. I told her I'd try a longer run on Wednesday (I haven't done a 40- or 50-minute run in a while) to see how everything was working. She said my IT band is actually pretty loose, which bodes well for the Rock 'N' Roll.

My weight has kept stable at 164 pounds for two full weeks. I started weaning myself off the calorie counter today, planning to only total up my calories at the end of the day. I was a little apprehensive about how well I'd do without my trusty friend telling me whether I'm eating too much or too little. I discovered at the end of the day that I consumed 2,433 out of a budgeted 2,432 calories (adjusted for surplus of 130 from yesterday). Not too bad although I was still crunching numbers in my head the entire day as I ate; it felt a little neurotic. Plus I felt so much pressure to check my count during the day that I ended up totaling the numbers before dinner. There'll be some psychological hurdles to overcome before I cut the tether completely.

On another note, I found the mother of all high-fiber foods today: Mission Tortilla Plus! Carb Balance tortillas. One burrito-size tortilla contains an absolutely mind- (and colon-)blowing 21 grams of fiber – 30% by weight! With foods like this, I'll never need an enema.