Sports Massage

Have you ever had a sports massage? Me either, that is, up until very recently. I've been dealing with some ongoing pain in my right shin. Not shin splints, but a strong pain in the inside of my shin. It's so strange that I've even developed a lump. It has been bothering since before I ran the Malibu Marathon back in November and has been acting up as I've been increasing my mileage for the San Francisco Marathon in July. 

I know I should have sought treatment sooner, but there's a part of me that believes pain will go away if I just ignore it long enough. Hey, it happened with my hips!

I finally broke down this weekend and scheduled myself for a sports massage. It was not what I expected. I didn't feel rested and relaxed afterwards. After explaining my pain, the massage therapist went right to work. He zeroed in on my soleus and spent nearly 30 minutes out of my hour massage working on the source of my pain. Working out the knot was as painful as running, probably more so. And it wasn't relaxing, it was work for me to lay still and not yell out in agony! But it worked. When I got off the table, I could no longer feel the pain when walking. The area was sore to the touch (and still is, with some slight bruising), but the knot had loosened up and was gone. 

Today was my first day back running after the "massage" and while I could still feel pain in my shin, it had subsided significantly. I'll keep working on it with the foam roller and I have another appointment in 2 weeks. Hopefully after a couple of treatments, the pain will be gone completely!

Miles logged: 5.0

Music Monday: Take Me Home

Artist: Cash Cash
Title: Take Me Home
Fave Line: "Round in circles, here we go, with the highest highs and the lowest lows"

Miles Logged: 0.0

Music Monday: Take Me Out

Artist: Franz Ferdinand
Title: Take Me Out
Fave Line: "If I move this could die, if eyes move this could die, I want you...to take me out!"

Miles Logged: 10.0

Thrill of the Grill 5k Race Report

I woke up an hour before my alarm went off. Instead of just getting up, I lay there pretending that I would be able to fall back asleep. So much for being well rested for the day. I had 18 miles in front of me, with a 5k jammed in the middle. I was excited. I had delusions of chatting with Dean Karnazes while crossing the finish line, though he runs probably 2 minutes per mile faster than me even at my max speed.

I was out the door before 7am and right on schedule. I had 4.5 miles to the starting line of the Thrill of the Grill 5k and wanted to be there in enough time to check out the pre-race activities and stalk Dean Karnazes.

Happily running to the starting line of the 5k

My husband was only running the 5k, so he drove and met me at the race. I was able to pack a change of hydration systems (switching out my waistband bottle for my Camelbak) for after the race. As we were milling around listening to the live music, I spotted Dean running into the race area as well. Turns out he ran from his hotel to the starting line too! We have so much in common that we really should be BFF's.

Lots of people before the start

My "Where's Waldo" shot

I snagged a pre-race banana, some delicious limeade (from where, I have no idea) and took a quick potty break. I love it when you only have one person in front of you in the port-o-potty line!

Look, I'm running with Dean Karnazes! Actually, look who is in the blue shirt behind me...DEAN!

We lined up near the front (Corral #1 I joked), so we could try to run with Dean, and ended up next to some stinky 10 year old boys who never stopped talking. They were strategizing for the race. My favorite line of the day was "Dude, it's called pacing yourself!" Good advice, but I found it hilarious coming out of a child's mouth!

Getting ready to start

I was too short to see Dean, so my husband took this photo for me

The race started and Dean was long gone. I ran at a very fast pace (for me) for the first quarter mile. When I realized we couldn't spot him in the crowd, I gave up. I had 10 more miles to run after the race was over, so I slowed down--"Dude, it's called pacing yourself." I haven't run a 5k in over 2 years, so the race felt really short. Half an hour and the whole thing was over. I hardly remember it. There were volunteers every few hundred yards and a water station at the midway mark. As Algis and I crossed the finish line, someone yelled "Watch out for the vomit!" Thankfully neither of us stepped in it.

Only in Texas!

A full breakfast was served at the finish--eggs (reconstituted and not so great), hash browns, sauteed onions and peppers, bacon, and coffee. It was quite the spread! I ate the hash browns and sauteed peppers and onions before I went on a mission to find Dean Karnazes again. He was just standing in the crowd, talking to a gentleman with Central Market. And, he remembered us from yesterday! He'll be running the San Francisco Marathon in July as well (he lives in the Bay Area), so hopefully we'll get a chance to talk to him there as well. Since Dean is a bad ass, he'll be running Worth the Hurt, a 52.4 ultramarathon. The participants will start at the finish line of the marathon at midnight, run the marathon course backwards, and end at the starting line just in time to turn around and run the course again with the crowd of 18,000 runners. Pretty amazing, and it is all for charity.

Mmmm! Breakfast!

Right before I had to part with my new BFF!

It was all over in a snap. So I reapplied sunscreen, grabbed my camel, then I was off for another 10 miles to finish off my training run.

Miles logged: 18.0

OMG: I Met Dean Karnazes

And he is the nicest guy ever!

If you aren't a regular reader of my blog, let me fill you in. Yesterday my husband was shopping at Central Market and Greek Gods yogurt was handing out samples of their newest flavors. He happened to notice a flyer with Dean Karnazes' picture on it. The yogurt was sponsoring a 5k this weekend, Dean is a spokesman, and he was hosting a meet and greet this afternoon. We immediately signed up for the race and tried to figure out our logistics so that we could make the meet and greet.

Dean has been a hero of mine since I started running. I had no idea who he was before, but he's huge in the running community. He's an ultra runner, has been called the world's fittest man, he's won Badwater, he's run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, and he's a graduate of Cal Poly, my alma mater. Read one of his books or follow his blog and you'll see what all the hype is about. He absolutely loves running and wants to share it with everyone. While he has been criticized for his publicity, he's brought visibility and accessibility to the sport, so I can't fault him for that.

The possibility of meeting him today was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. And I was going to do everything in my power to meet him. I struck out of work at 3 and flew home to pick up my husband. We arrived with about an hour left of the meet and greet. I envisioned long lines and precious few moments with Dean to grab a quick photo or two. I was willing to wait, however long it happened to be. Reality was much better than my expectations.

There was a small table set up in the middle of the prepared food section. A photo of Dean was on the table when we walked up, but no one was there. A moment of panic had me thinking that we missed him. But we were told that he had just gone outside to see how the packet pickup was going. As we were walking out of the doors to get our 5k packets, Dean was walking in. He's an unassuming guy, no entourage, just a PR person from the yogurt company. We stopped him, shook hands and gushed about how excited we were to meet him. Immediately, I noticed several things about him. He's small in stature (not much taller than my 5 foot 3 frame), has absolutely no body fat, and has beautiful teeth and really great skin (which for a runner of many years, is difficult with sun damage). He's in his early 50s, but looks much younger. He's also kind, friendly, and welcoming to strangers coming up to him and awkwardly fawning over him.

Somehow, I managed to pull away from Dean and we went outside to get our race bibs and shirts for him to sign. We came back inside to the promo table and walked right up to Dean. No lines, no one waiting. It was a very strange set up. I was grateful for poor marketing of his appearance because it meant that I could spend more time talking him. He signed our race bibs, took several photos, and talked with us for a while. A few other people had shown up to see him, so we said goodbye until tomorrow and left.

Dean and I, right next to the rotisserie chicken!

Algis, Me, Dean

We really just walked around the store (I wanted to buy some bread to have at dinner) and then went back to Dean! He was so gracious and tolerant of the stalker that I was becoming. We chatted some more, took a couple of other pictures with a group of people, had him sign a headshot of sorts to hang in my office, and FINALLY left. It was a great day!

Dean and his new friends!

Miles logged: 0.0

OMG: Dean Karnazes

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm going to get to meet my running idol, Dean Karnazes, tomorrow!

It all started with this text message from my husband who was shopping at Central Market.

We had NOT registered!

OMG! OMG! OMG! Dean Karnazes is going to be in town on Saturday! And for some reason, he's running a 5k at our Central Market. No matter why, at least he's going to be here. And will be doing a meet and greet from 3-5pm at packet pick up! I plan on leaving work early to get to meet him and then I hope to run at least 100 yards with him during the 5k until he leaves me in his dust.

I also have to figure out how to get my 18 mile training run in on Saturday morning as well. I think I'm going to run to the starting line of the 5k, run the 5k, then finish up the rest of my miles on the way home. Should be a long day, but totally worth it!

Miles logged: 4.0

Falling

I think I'm going to teach a seminar about falling, since I seem to be an expert. Once again, I stumbled on my run today. Most importantly, I don't think anyone saw. Oh, and I somehow managed to avoid major injury. 

At mile 5, I took a sharp right turn, didn't judge the landscaping correctly and caught my right foot on the grass. I went down on the concrete, but managed to come out with only a few small scratches on my leg and a little road rash on my hands. I wasn't too far away from a water fountain, so I was able to clean out my wounds. 

Here are the highlights of my seminar thus far:

Always hug the right side of the path you are on for 2 reasons: it is good etiquette and it provides a soft (usually) surface on your right.

If you start to fall, don't fight it. Use your best effort to get into the grass on your right.

Tuck and roll and try to land on any part of your body that has clothing (torn clothing is much better than torn skin).

Come into a sitting position as quickly as possible. This will give the allusion to passersby that you just need a break, not that you have tripped and fallen. 

What do you think so far?

Miles logged: 17.0

Music Monday: Fever

Artist: The Black Keys
Title: Fever
Fave Line: "You shook me like I've never been. Now show me how to live again."

Miles Logged: 0.0

Spring Storms

While everyone in Dallas was running for cover, I was literally just running. We had a particularly bad day of spring storms (I did get to spend some quality time huddled in the stairwell with my co-workers while the tornado threat passed) and when everyone rushed to get home, I stopped off at the gym to wait it out and let the waters recede.

Since signing up for the San Francisco marathon, I'm really trying to stay true to my training calendar. I've committed to leaving work at a reasonable hour 2 days a week to get my training in. And thus far, I've been successful 2 weeks in a row! Outstanding! Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up for the next 11 weeks!

Miles logged: 3.5

Marathon Training has now Begun

Today was a pivotal day in my running, at least I think so. While my friends and family know, most of my readers do not: I've signed up for the San Francisco Marathon on July 27. This will be my 3rd marathon and today's 15 mile run was my personal test to see if I can do it. I don't know why 15 miles is so crucial for me, but I've used it as a yardstick for my last 2 big races and I was successful in finishing both of those!

I know that running 15 miles does not mean that you can run 26. I can run 13 miles no problem, so it's truly a mental game to get to 15 for me. And I managed to run the distance without any music for the last 10 miles (thanks to a dead battery on my iPod shuffle), which I think is the bigger accomplishment! I have 3 months of strenuous training in front of me and the Dallas summer already rearing its ugly head. It is going to be a challenge to be ready in time, but I know I can do it!

Miles logged: 15.0

Month in Review: April

Here are the best and worst tips from the Runner's World Page-a-Day calendar for April.

Running keeps me from having a nervous breakdown. But I hate running on gravel...

Huh? Sounds constricting.

I have a problem with motivation every weekend when the weather isn't perfect. It's tough to get past it.

I've been saying for months that I'd like to join a running club, I just don't have the time.

Slow and steady wins the race, right?

This one is for my car slapping husband!

Miles logged: 4.0