Run Jan Run

 For the past 6 weeks my knee has been misbehaving badly. For days at a time it hurts in one specific spot, and just when I think I’ve googled my way to a diagnosis, it starts to hurt in a different spot. I was at the point where I thought I’d better get it checked out, when suddenly…

It stopped hurting - completely! I woke up a week ago today with absolutely no pain, zip, nada, nothing. I immediately started trying to figure out why the pain went away. I’ve recently changed several things, so it’s hard to pinpoint the actual cure. One possibility is my new shoes. I was due for new ones, so went to a running store and had a gait analysis done. Turns out I don’t pronate as much as I thought, so my new shoes are slightly less stable than my old ones, and they’re more cushioned. Maybe it’s the shoes.

I’ve also been doing hip and core strengthening exercises like a madwoman. Also, a nifty exercise I found online called Walt’s IT Band Exercise. One of my self-diagnoses was ITBS, so I thought I’d give Walt’s exercise a try. Maybe it’s those band walks, fire hydrants, planks, and Walt.

Squats and lunges haven’t been my friend since I tweaked my knee in January, but for some reason, as soon as my knee started to feel a little better I’d start squatting and lunging again. Well, I stopped squatting and lunging. Instead I’ve been doing yoga as my lower body strength workout. Which brings me to my next maybe.

Maybe it’s the yoga. After doing Sage Rountree’s Yoga for Athletes dvd several times in a week, I noticed that my legs felt more balanced, i.e. no tightness in any one area. Since it felt good I kept doing it, adding in an extra day each week. A week ago I realized I’d been doing yoga three times a week for several weeks. A week ago my knee pain disappeared. My strength training now consists of upper body weights,hip and core work, and yoga.

I’m almost scared to put it in words - “My knee pain is gone.” Which change made it disappear - the shoes, the new strength program, the yoga? Maybe it was Divine intervention (if so, Thank You)! Whatever it was, I hope it keeps working.

     Knowledge is power, but too much knowledge can be dangerous. I’ve been running for 16 years, and for 15 of those years I just ran. Didn’t worry too much about pace, stride length, steps per minute. For the past year, however, I’ve been thinking about those things so much that sometimes I think I’ve forgotten how to run. In the past year I’ve also had more injuries than ever before. Is it possible to be too educated?

     I’m pretty sure the people in the white lab coats spend a lot of time and money to help me run right. Look at all the research that’s been done lately about running form, effective workouts, the whole science of running. I don’t doubt their findings, and I’ve been diligently trying to apply it all to my own runs. That might be the dangerous part. What about the knowledge my body has within that inately tells me how many steps to take per minute, how long my stride should be, what my pace should be on any given day? I’ve been ignoring it - putting my hands over my ears and singing “Lalalalala….”

     The past two days of running have shown me it’s time to start listening to my body again. I’ve just been running, like I did for 15 years. Didn’t think about pace, stride length, or steps per minute. My body led and I followed. Guess what? My nagging knee and hip pain seem to have taken a vacation. Maybe it’ll be a short vacation, maybe not. They could return with a vengeance after my next run, who knows? What I do know is that my runs felt better, more natural, than they have in quite awhile.

     I think I’ve found my stride; in fact, I think it was there all along.

     Today is the one week anniversary of my husband’s and my decision to run a fall marathon. Not exactly cause for a Hallmark card, but the past week certainly has given me plenty to think about. The main thing on my mind has been a training plan. Check out any website inhabited by runners and you’ll find nonstop conversation about training plans. Plans to help you finish any given distance, plans to PR at that distance in your next race, plans to help you finish and PR in distances you’ve only dreamed about running. They go on and on and on…

     Because of all these plans, and because I’m a person who loves a good plan, I’ve been carefully comparing the vast assortment of options available to help us conquer 26.2. I’ve noticed that every plan has certain elements in common: gradually increasing both your weekly mileage and the distance of your runs, building a weekly long run from single digits to 20+ miles, rest days, cross training days, sprinkles of speed work. I feel like Goldilocks in the bears’ house - how do I know which one is just right?

     Well, in one of those moments of clarity (mine happened while I was cleaning the shower) I realized all of the plans are probably just right, and none of the plans are really just right. Makes perfect sense, right? Stay with me here. Anyone who has ever followed a plan of any sort knows that it’s impossible to adhere to the plan, exactly as written, from start to finish. Life gets in the way, and everyone’s life is different. Every time I’ve committed to following a training plan I’ve had to rearrange workouts, add miles, subtract workouts, basically make it fit my life while trying to maintain the integrity of the plan. So in the end, have I really followed a plan, or have I simply borrowed ideas and turned it into Jan’s Plan?

     After all my thinking about planning, here’s my plan (as of today, anyway). I know we need to gradually increase our long runs to 20+ miles, and get those weekly runs in as well. I know we need to balance the increase of miles with cross training and rest. I know life will get in the way and we’ll have to dodge the obstacles it throws at us. Jan’s Plan is to pay close attention to the elements of the training plan I found that most closely resembles our reality, while changing and rearranging it as needed. In the end I realize we won’t have really followed the plan at all, but will hopefully make it to the starting line healthy and prepared, and cross the finish line the same way. 

     It’s official - I just registered me and my hubby for the Long Beach Marathon on Oct. 7th. No turning back now! Something about paying big $$ for a race makes you get serious about putting in the training so you can get to the starting line healthy and prepared, and cross the finish line the same way.

     This morning we did a 10 mile run and felt great - probably because we actually ran it at the appropriate pace for a long run. We’re both committed to doing our training the right way, which includes running slower than we might like. In our own way, we’re both kind of speed demons, and in the past have always outwardly scolded ourselves for running the long runs too fast. Inside, we were both secretly patting ourselves on the back for being “tough” enough to go faster than we should have. Hopefully we’ll learn to reign that in, cause we have a long way to go before we’re ready to toe the line for 26.2.

    For me, the thought of running 26.2 miles is less scary than running balls-to-the-wall fast for 3.1 miles! I think I felt better at the end of my one and only marathon than I did after my most recent 5k. My hubby, who has never run a marathon before, is still trying to imagine what it will feel like to run the full distance.

     We’ve got a lot of road time ahead of us, which has proven to be somewhat challenging towards the end of our previous long training cycles for half marathons. Maybe after we cross the finish line we’ll write a best-seller titled something like “Marathon Training - 26.2 Ways it Can Improve Your Marriage.” 

     Sometimes it’s frightening when I think about how important running is to me. My morning run is what gets me out of bed when the alarm blares at 5 a.m. My next race is what keeps me focused and working towards a goal. Every PR lets me know I’m successful at something, and that getting older doesn’t mean I have to stop getting better.

     My children have always been my number one priority, and they still are. However, now that they’re grown and pretty much on their own, it can be hard to accept they don’t need me as much as they used to. When I’m pounding the pavement during a run, I forget the feeling of not being needed as much.

     My job is to educate 2nd graders, which is even more challenging now that I realize I might not be cut out to spend an entire day in a room with badly behaved children. Most days end in utter frustration and a countdown until summer. When I see my pace and distance on my Garmin, I feel like I accomplished something and the frustration melts away.

     I hope and pray I can always run, and that my runs will continue to fill the gaps that the other parts of my life sometimes leave.

     Like most women, through the years I’ve obsessed over just about every part on my body. There was always something I was trying to improve on - more definition in my quads, a perkier butt, better shoulder cap…and the list goes on and on. Yesterday I caught my reflection in the mirror as I passed by in my underwear. It’s not what I saw that amazed me, it’s what I thought - or didn’t think. Not one body part screamed at me to fix it, and I realized I had just looked at my body using my runner’s eyes.

      Instead of skinny calves I saw calf muscles that, without fail, propel me up the hills. Instead of quads that need more definition, I saw slender legs that have just enough muscle to push me through the speed intervals and keep my knees on track. I thanked my glutes for knowing when to kick in for that final sprint across the finish line, without scrutinizing them for signs of a glute fold. I’ve been blessed with flat abs, for which I’m thankful, and I thanked them again for helping keep my core strong and stable. My shoulders are big players in the arm pump that helps my legs move faster, and I excused them for not looking like I have built-in shoulder pads.

      I choose the workouts and food that help me be a stronger, faster, lifelong runner. If any of my choices result in a glute fold or less definition in my quads, so be it. My body looks pretty darn good through my runner’s eyes.

     Moving forward is a good thing - it helps us get where we’re going and make progress. Runners spend most of their time in forward motion, which isn’t always a good thing. One way to prevent injuries from using the same muscles in the same way (otherwise known as overuse) is to use the muslces in different ways, in various planes of movement.

     During your next cross training session, add some lateral and backward movement to your workout. Get in a low squat and shuffle to the right for ten steps, then go left  for 10 steps. Repeat 10 times to each side. Don’t stand up until you’ve completed that last shuffle! Do lateral skater lunges, taking huge steps (or hops) to the right, then back to the left.

     Add some resistance to the movements - tie an exercise band around your ankles and move laterally to the right for 10 steps, then to the left for 10 steps. Repeat 10 times to each side, then rest and do it again. Now take small steps backwards and forwards. Make sure that band stays taut - if there’s slack in the band that means you’re slacking on the exercise.

     Our sideways workout wouldn’t be complete without clam shells and some straight leg side lifts. Then get on all fours, lift one leg in back of you, bending your knee so your thigh is parallel to the floor. Flex your foot and press up like you’re trying to lift the ceiling with your foot. Three sets of 20 reps on each side should do the trick.

     Going backwards and sideways in your workouts just might help you move forward a whole lot faster in your next run.

     When it comes to working out, I’ve always been an all or nothing person. The harder, faster, and more puke-inducing the workout the better I liked it. Many years ago, during a fitness conference, I tried a yoga class. My friend and I ended up crab walking out of the room, giggling like bratty little girls. I just didn’t get it, and had no desire to get it for a long time.

     Years later the Pilates/yoga craze hit, and the health club where I was teaching classes wanted me to get certified to teach Yogafit. Really? Me? Since it was more of a directive than a choice I went ahead and did it. I didn’t giggle or have to leave, and I sort of enjoyed it. After teaching it for a couple years, I once again stopped doing yoga.

     Fast forward to now - I recently had one of those major birthdays that end in a zero. Shortly after my birthday I reached down to touch the floor and realized I had to bend my knees to do it. Where did my flexibility go? (Probably the same place my youth and injury-proof body went.) The fact that I needed to start being nicer to my body slapped me in the face and kicked me in the butt at the same time.

     Today is the 6 month anniversary of the day I stopped making every workout balls-to-the-wall intense. I still have my hard workout days, but I also have a couple of yoga days (yep, I said yoga) and one day a week that is supposed to be my rest day. The little nagging aches and pains that had started to creep up have pretty much gone away, and I’m actually enjoying the less intense days. My body is thanking me by continuing to let me run and be as active as I want to be.

     The balls are no longer on the wall for every workout. Maybe I’ll replace their spot on the wall with some race bling when my appreciative body lets me hit new running PRs this summer.

      I love to run, like to eat, but hate to cook. Over the years I’ve modified many recipes to make them healthier and easier to make. My plan is to post a new recipe each week that has fewer than 10 ingredients, and takes less than an hour to make from start to finish. I promise you won’t have to shop for special ingredients either.

      First up is Banana Oat Bites.These are sweet, chewy, and perfect for a pre or post run snack. Each bite has 73 calories, 0.9 grams fat, 14.7 grams carbs, 2.2 grams protein. You’ll need:

3 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg whites

3 ripe bananas (sliced and mashed)

      Mix all ingredients together. Spoon into muffins tins, filling each half full. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool and eat! I like to add 1/4 cup raisins, chocolate chips, or dried cranberries. With one of the add-ins you’ll have 85 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 15.9 grams carbs, 2.3 grams protein.

A healthy, sweet snack for under 100 calories. Prep time is about 10 minutes, cook time for two muffin tin pans is 24 minutes. Can’t beat that!

     How many numbers are floating around in your head right now? Have you ever thought about how much numbers control our lives? I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, and for being someone who isn’t a numbers person, I realized I have more numbers than words in my life.

     There’s the number on my alarm clock that jolts me to consciousness every morning. Next up are the numbers on my treadmill that tell me to go faster, slower, up or down. If I’m lucky I’m looking at the numbers on my Garmin telling me to go further or go home (looking at Garmin means I’m running outside). Then there are the numbers in my training plan: 8x1 minute hill repeats, 2x1 mile tempo, 8x400… How about the number of steps I’m taking each minute as I try to increase my running cadence, or the number of miles I’ll run this weekend on my long one? To top things off, here come the numbers in my ATM PIN, and the ones I strategically placed in my online passwords so no one can hijack them. My brain is in serious danger of exploding unless I can stop the march of the numbers, at least for a little while.

     Enter the “me” run. It happens every Sunday morning (well, for the past two Sunday mornings anyway). I head out for a solo run. Sometimes with tunes, sometimes not. Garmin comes along, but I pretty much ignore him for most of the run. My legs are pleasantly fatigued from my long run the day before, and I just start running at whatever pace feels good. I speed up, slow down, twisting and turning through the streets with no destination in mind. When I’m ready, I head for home, running whatever pace feels good. Numbers aren’t allowed on this run until I get home and check in with Garmin to see how far I went and how fast (or slow) felt good.

     Numbers are important (especially those that I forget to write in the checkbook, according to my hubby), but when they start to steal the joy from something I love so much, it’s time to put them away for awhile. My Sunday mornings remind me how much I love running, and that it’s about so much more than the numbers.