Bryan's Weblog of Stuff

Mid-Year Review

This week’s Take It and Run Thursday theme over at Runners' Lounge is “Look Back, Look Ahead.” With this theme in mind, I figured now would be a good time to recap the first part of 2008, and look ahead to what’s to come.

For those of you that don’t know, I started running in September of last year, when my wife and I started the Couch-to-5K running program. At the end of that program, I raced my first 5K, the Arthritis Foundation's Jingle Bell Run. My time was 31:15. It was hard, but I had a lot of fun and couldn't wait to do another race.

My second race came in February of this year--the Cowtown 5K, that is run as part of the Cowtown Marathon. The night before the expo, we went to see Spirit of the Marathon. If it wasn't already obvious that I had caught the running bug, it became crystal clear that night.

Since finishing up my original training program, I've continued with one program or another pretty much non-stop. I've used a few Hal Higdon programs, and I've used the Smart Coach running program generator from Runner's World. I've learned that while I generally prefer the structure of being on a running program, every once in a while, a week or two of unstructured running feels great!

Since the Cowtown 5K, I've raced in 5 more 5Ks, and brought my PR down to 25:12 in my most recent race, the Run For Dad 5K. Along the way, I also received my first age group award, placing 2nd in the 35-39 age group at the Bunny Boogie 5K, and setting what was at that time a new PR of 27:45 (one month after setting a PR of 28:45 at the Cowtown 5K).

I've had my first 30 mile week, as well as my first 100 mile month. I've also had to deal with my first real running injury, which made me realize just how important running has become to me. I also signed up for my first half marathon—The Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon on November 16th.

I am now 4 days into the first week of my half marathon training, and that will be the focus for most of the rest of the year. The plan is to do the half, and then hopefully register for my 2nd half (any suggestions), and start looking for a marathon in 2009.

Oh, and I can’t forget that with the help of running I lost 50 lbs. between mid-November 2007, and the end of April 2008. I now weigh what I did when I graduated from high school some 18 years ago, and am in the best shape of my life.

Best of all, it seems that my wife, Julie, has also caught the running bug!

By Bryan at 11:05 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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I’ve not quite completed week 4 of the One Hundred Pushups Challenge, but I realized that I’ve been promising an update for a couple of weeks and haven’t followed through.

Last night, I completed day 2 of week 4. The first 4 sets were tough—not really hard or challenging, just harder than they have been. I was a little surprised at this, because for the first time in a couple of weeks I hadn’t done an upper body strength training session before doing the pushups. Oh, and I totally rocked the 5th set (max set), breaking the 50 pushup barrier for the first time on the last set of a workout (I've done 50 or more on both of my tests—50 and 57).

Here are my full results, through Week 4, Day 2:

Initial Test: 50

Week 1:

Week 2:

Test After Week 2: 57

Week 3:

Week 4:

By Bryan at 11:18 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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I Am Tired

I got up at 5:30 this morning for an easy 4 miles. I got up yesterday morning at 5:30 for an easy 4 miles. I also did a lower body strength training workout late yesterday afternoon. I am tired. More specifically, my legs are tired.

According to my training plan, these easy runs are supposed to be at a 10:14/mile pace, but in reality, I did both of them at a 10:06/mile pace. Yesterday, my average heart rate was 158, today it was 153. But today felt harder than yesterday. My legs felt heavier…slower.

I think what this says is that while my cardiovascular system can handle these back-to-back easy runs, with lower body strength training mixed in, my legs aren’t quite there. Perhaps it’s just a matter of time until they are accustomed to the additional workload—this is the first week of my half marathon training, after all. Or maybe I need to scale way back on the strength training, leaving in just enough to keep myself balanced.

For the record, while I am struggling a little bit to get out of bed for these early morning runs, once I’m out there running, I really like it.

By Bryan at 1:03 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Half Marathon Training Starts Today

I know that the day is nearly done, so the title should read “Half Marathon Training Started Today,” but I don’t give a flip, they day isn’t done.

Anyway, here’s my half marathon training.

Day one was innocent enough—cross-training or rest. Of course I chose cross-training. I did a nice upper-body strength training routine, plus Week 4, Day 1 of the One Hundred Pushup Challenge (another post for that to follow).

That’s it.

By Bryan at 11:59 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Yes, I ate pavement recently. But if you run long enough, it’s bound to happen, right? That’s what I keep telling myself.

We all went to Houston over the weekend to visit Julie’s family, and to see her mom and our nephew in a production of “The Music Man,” while her sister played in the orchestra. The show was pretty good, and their performances were great! While there, Julie decided that it was time for her to start running again (she’s been dealing with tightness in her Achilles tendon, as well as some pain in her foot), and I decided that I’d go, too.

Towards the end of the first mile, while I was running along, minding my own business, I suddenly found myself hurtling towards the ground. My hands hit first and I quickly rolled over onto my right side, which caught the brunt of the collision. More specifically, I landed on my right hip area. Yes, the same right hip area that was recently injured. My only thought after “what the hell?!?,” was “crap, that hurt!”

Fortunately, aside from Julie, there were no other witnesses to my fall. And after brushing myself off, and making sure I was still in one piece, we continued our run. My hands stung for a bit, and my hip was pretty sore, but I finished the run. I was also able to go for an 8 mile long run yesterday, marking my longest run since Father’s Day (aka 11 miles of pure hell).

In the end, I covered 4 miles in 41:22 of running time, though we stopped a couple of times for Julie to stretch (and for me to nurse my bruised pride). And in case you’re wondering, I say “I” because Julie stopped at around 3 miles, since she was easing back into running. (Her Achilles tendon and foot felt great, by the way.)

By Bryan at 7:58 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Cross-Training, Running, and Shoes

Just a quick update to let you know I’m still here, and that I haven’t suffered any injury related setbacks. In fact, overall, my training has been going very, very good—except that it’s cross-training. I’ve been hitting the gym 3-4 times per week for the last few weeks, getting in 1-2 sessions each of upper body strength training and lower body strength training. That’s definitely long enough to notice a difference in my physique. Fortunately, I’ve been able to hold my weight steady, so this has been good for my body composition, as I seem to have dropped a little more fat, while gaining the muscle.

As for my running, I am doing as the doctor ordered, and easing back into it. As noted last week, I’ve worked back up to a five mile run, with no issues. On Sunday I put in 4 miles in 100°F weather, with no problems, aside from being hot, hot, hot! The run was not pretty, but I got through it. I really would’ve liked to have put in 6 miles, but with the heat, it took all I had to get through the 4. Since starting back with the running, I’ve been running 3 days a week, and will bump that to 4 days this week. Next week I am supposed to officially begin my half marathon training, and just in time for that, I should have a new pair of New Balance 858s arriving tomorrow (black, 12 EE). Of course, over on 5Ks and Cabernets, I see this:

Hi again Kevin!
Thanks again for participating in our running shoe blog advertisement campaign and passing our info on! If you know anyone else who is a runner and has a blog, please do not hesitate to send them our contact info so they can receive a free pair of shoes as well!

Tamera

Tamera VanDyke
Marketing Director, NewBalanceHarrisburg.com
[email protected]

I am going to send Tamera an email and see if I can get a different style to try. After all, I am about to start on my 3rd pair of 858s, and perhaps I don’t need as much stability now as when I was last fitted for shoes. You never know what dropping 50 lbs. will do in that regard. I do recall being told back in March, when I bought my last pair, that I overpronate just ever so slightly—perhaps a more neutral shoe might be worth trying?

In other news, I finished week two of the One Hundred Pushup Challenge, took the test for week 3 (57), and did Day 1 of Week 3 this evening. I’ll have a more complete update in a post tomorrow or Thursday. Now if I can just find a way to squeeze in 5-6 miles tonight!

By Bryan at 10:39 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Bringing Sexy Back

Ok, so I’m not so sexy, but I think that maybe I am back (knocking on wood). I put in another 4 mile run last night, and everything felt great! I also went back to one of our standard routes, which includes a little uphill and a little downhill, rather than sticking to the flats, which is what I’d been doing for the previous couple of weeks. I even had a little light rain falling to help cool things off.

I’ve been apprehensive with each run, always wondering if the pain/discomfort is going to come back, and worrying that it might be chronic. Well, I am still a little apprehensive about all of that, and probably will be for a little while. However, I feel that this run was a mental turning of the corner—a much needed good result. Surprisingly, my legs felt very fresh, even after my run on Sunday and then lower body strength training on Monday.

I’ll never really know what the impact of adding the glute and abductor/adductor machines to my workouts, or the additional stretching, and the use foam roller has had on my recovery, but they all sure seem to have helped. Of course, it could just be that I needed some time off. Either way, I am grateful. My official half marathon training starts in less than two weeks, and I was starting to worry.

Here are my mile splits. This run was supposed to be an easy 4 miles @ 10:14/mile. As you can see, I didn’t hit my pace until the 3rd mile, and I must not have liked it much, as I turned around and finished up with an 8:00 minute 4th mile.

1. 10:05
2. 10:03
3. 10:14 (this is the pace I was supposed to run)
4. 8:00

By Bryan at 8:39 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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One Hundred Pushup Challenge – Week 2, Day 1

Last Friday I finished up Week 1 of the One Hundred Pushup Challenge, and last night I completed Day 1 of Week 2. So far, so good—I am getting all of my reps in, and my max sets are all above 40, including 47 last night. I don’t know why, but I am still surprised by the “pump” that my entire upper body gets from doing the pushup workouts, specifically the max set.

Speaking of a pumped up upper body—I’ve decided that the pushup workouts will formally take the place of my chest strength training exercises. Doing the pushups and continuing my regular upper body strength training routine was just not allowing enough time for recovery.

Here are my full results from Week 1:

And Day 1 of Week 2:

By Bryan at 1:41 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Injury Update

This is just a quick injury update… After easing back into things with a couple of 2 and 3 miles runs in the past week, I ventured out for 4 miles today—pain, discomfort, and tightness free! While it felt good to up my distance another mile, and without pain, I have to admit that the 4th mile was kind of tough. I was tired… It was hot… I felt like I’ve lost a lot of running fitness in the last couple of weeks. But my hip/upper thigh didn’t hurt!!!

I’ve continued with extra stretching for my iliotibial band, along with glute and abductor/adductor strength training, and use of the foam roller. The combination of these things seems to be working.

One benefit of the reduced running over the last few weeks has been some of the most consistent strength training that I’ve had in quite some time. Looking at my training log, I’ve 3 or more strength training workouts each of the last 5 weeks, including both upper and lower body training. Hopefully this stronger foundation will benefit me as I increase my miles again.

By Bryan at 1:22 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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The One Hundred Pushup Challenge Begins

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I am taking up the One Hundred Pushup Challenge. And not only am I taking up the challenge, but I’ve also recruited Julie and 9 others, mostly coworkers to take up the challenge as well. So that each person only needs to focus on performing their exercises, rather than worry about how many sets and how many reps, I even put together a nice spreadsheet for each person to use in tracking their weekly progress.

Over the last week or so everyone performed their initial test, and on Monday of this week, most started the 6 week training program. It’s early, but the initial feedback is very positive. Most people are a little sore. Everyone has completed all of their scheduled sets and repetitions. A few have even exceeded their initial test result on their very first max set. It will be interesting to see how motivated everyone stays as the reps start ramping up.

As for me, you’ll recall that my initial test resulted in 50 pushups. This evening I completed Week 1, Day 2 of the workout, and here are the results from the first two days:

Not bad, especially considering that I did upper body strength training late last night (as in between 11 PM – 12 AM).

By Bryan at 11:27 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Channeling My Inner Pre?

I've been unintentionally growing my beard in since about the time of my injury. At some point I decided it was going to grow until I was running consistently again. I am not ready to claim the battle won over the injury, but I was ready to shave it off when I got home this evening. But before I could shave it all off, I decided to channel my inner Pre…

So do I keep it or shave it all off? Of course Julie says that it needs to be shaved off before I go to work—that I’ll never live it down, but that doesn’t really bother me.

It’s no better or worse than my attempt at growing in a full beard in the first place. And I once wore a goatee for a few years straight, so it’s not like they’ve not seen me with facial hair. I know, it is silly, but that just might be why I keep it for a couple of days.

Running Notes

As I’ve already mentioned, I’ve begun easing back into running. In addition to my first run on the 4th, I also ran 2 quick miles on the 5th, after an upper-body strength training session, and I went out for 3 miles last night.

Since I’m not putting in anything close to the volume that I was running prior to the injury, these sessions have been run at a little faster pace than my typical easy run pace. Saturday’s 2-mile run averaged 8:38/mile, and last night’s 3-mile run averaged 9:03/mile.

Overall, I felt  good during both runs, though I experienced some tightness around mid-thigh. I am continuing to do IT Band stretches after my runs, and I’m using a foam roller daily. I also added the glute machine, and the abductor/adductor machine to my lower-body strength training.

By Bryan at 1:43 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Easing Back Into It

Well, the doc said to take 3 days off, and then if it was possible for me to “ease back into it,” I could start running again. Over the past 3 days, I’ve followed his orders as closely as possible—going so far as to work from home the rest of Tuesday, and all of Wednesday and Thursday, to make sure I was able to properly ice my hip/upper thigh every hour or so. (I didn’t think HR would appreciate me doing this at work, even if I closed and locked my office door.) I’ve also been taking Aleve or Ibuprofen regularly, and most important of all, aside from mowing the yard yesterday, I’ve been resting.

Earlier this afternoon, approximately 72 hours after leaving the doctor’s office, I set out for my first run since last Saturday—a nice easy couple of miles with a good warm up and warm down, plus plenty of stretching afterwards. It went well. Early on, there were a couple of times when I thought I felt some tightness across the top of my outer thigh, but then it would go away. Perhaps it was just some phantom soreness/tightness. Towards the end, I did feel some tightness a little further down my thigh towards my knee, which leads me to believe that this is all due to a tight iliotibial band.

When I got back to the house, I looked up some iliotibial band stretches, and incorporated those into my typical post-run stretching. After stretching, I took some Aleve, and iced for about 15 minutes. Everything feels good, but of course I stopped just short of where the real discomfort and pain typically had been coming on. I’ll continue to ease back into it for the next several days to couple of weeks and take it from there. Fingers crossed.

Run Details:

• 1/2 mile walking warm up
• 2 mile run
  • Mile 1: 10:58/mile pace
  • Mile 2: 10:15/mile pace (10:55/mile for first .75 and then eased down to 8:30/mile, 8:00/mile, and then finally 7:30/mile for the final .25 mile)
• 1/2 mile walking warm down
• Stretching
• Ice

Useful Articles:

• Beating the Band
• Stretching and Strengthening Exercises for Iliotibial Band Syndrome

By Bryan at 3:30 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Trochanteric Bursitis

After filling the doctor in with all of the specifics of the injury, and having him contort my right leg in all sorts of ways, he decided that it is likely trochanteric bursitis. With the way he was moving my leg around and pressing on the area that hurts during my runs, if it was a tear or fracture, it would like have hurt, and it didn’t hurt at all.

Trochanteric bursitis is the inflammation of the bursa sac that sits between the greater trochanter (bony point at the outside top of the femur bone) and the muscles and tendons that run along the outside of the upper thigh. In runners, it is typically seen in conjunction with ITB syndrome, but not always. However, if it is related, then downhill running and slower running can lead to greater aggravation and inflammation of the trochanteric bursa.

Before leaving the doctor’s office, I got an cortisone injection, and the following instructions:

• Ice the area for 15-20 minutes every hour.
• Take an NSAID, such as Ibuprofen or Aleve regularly.
• Complete rest for at least 3 days. (This is the tough one.):
  • No running (obviously).
  • No cycling.
  • No elliptical machine.
  • No swimming (unless I can do it without using my lower body).
  • No lower body strength training.
• After 3 days, I can ease back into running, and other activities.
• If it’s still not feeling better, then he wants me back for an MRI.

Here are some additional links:

• What Is Trochanteric Bursitis? (University of Buffalo Sports Medicine)
• Trochanteric Bursitis of the Hip (eOrthopod.com)
• Hip Bursitis (Trochanteric Bursitis) in Depth (PhysioRoom.com)
• Hip Stretches (Sports Injury Info)

If any of you have experience with this injury, please feel free to leave a comment with advice, links, etc. Thanks!

By Bryan at 12:54 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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Going To The Doctor

I’ve finally decided to go to the doctor and get my hip checked out. As you know, I ran on it when I shouldn’t have. I rested it. I tried again. It still bothers me—from discomfort at first, and eventually to pain.

It feels great for the first couple of miles, but like clockwork, when the 3rd mile rolls around, so does the pain. Once the pain is there, it hurts more to run downhill, but it hurts less if I pick up the pace. In fact, some of my best “kick” training has come since the hip injury.

In the two plus weeks since it first started bothering me, I went from not being able to stay on the elliptical for more than 5 minutes, before my hip started hurting, to being able to do a hard 20-30 minutes with no pain or discomfort. That gave me hope for my most recent test run, which was Saturday—after 3 days of no running. But it wasn’t meant to be.

As usual, in the third mile, the discomfort set in, eventually turning to pain, and forcing me to walk mile 4. The funny thing is, by the end of mile 4, the pain had subsided enough for me to try running easy again for a quarter mile, and then eventually running at a sub-8:00/mile pace for the next 3/4 mile. While there was discomfort after my run, I was shooting hoops later that afternoon. I am sure I should've just stopped in mile 3. So frustrating.

The appointment with the doctor is at noon today. Hopefully I’ll know something. At this point, anything is better than continued not knowing. I’ve got my training log ready for him, and I am prepared to stop running now, if that means I’ll be able to resume training in time for the half marathon in November.

By Bryan at 10:11 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
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