Runners knee

So I have started to feel some pain in my right knee--nothing too bad, I can still run, and it only hurts a little  once I am done running.  But it is enough that I wanted to do a little research about it to see how to prevent it from getting worse.  I think the pain fits the description of "runners knee"  which can be aggravated by:

• running more than your body is ready for
• running hills
• running in the cold
• high arches that don't give very much cushion to impact

Some things you can do to help:

• Reduce milage
• take a rest from the stress (bike or swim instead)
• layer correctly if running in the cold
• avoid hills
• wear a special strap just below the knee
• try orthotics
• stretch before and after the run
• ice immediately after your run for about 20 minutes  and 1-2 additional times later that day
• stengthen other leg muscles to help support your knee (quads especially)

So I plan to cut back on mileage, ice when I do run, hit the gym more to do some leg exercises, maybe do some biking...because I am not sure I can make it to the pool...plus I suck at swimming laps.  

Here are the links where I found this info--in case anyone else can benefit from the hour I spent looking all of this up:
What hurts? Q & A to help diagnose the problem
"Runner's knee"
Running 10 miles is not normal
How to avoid and Heal Runners knee

My First 8 mile Run

Rachel and I went to Phoenix last weekend to spend some time with family--and while I was super excited to spend time with them--I was equally excited to get to run my long run for the week while I was there.   Like most of you I have heard some great things about training in high elevation.  However, the more I was looking into it I found articles saying that it doesn't make "that much of a difference"  so I tried to ignore that, and my friends and I had decided to stick to that thought and if nothing else maybe the placebo effect would be miraculous :)   But deep down I was really hoping I would notice a huge difference.  It took me a long time of living up here (at 5600 feet) and jogging before I felt like I could run a mile without stopping so I could catch my breath.  I feel like I am in really good shape now but I still feel like I am struggling to get a really deep breath at times and running a 10:30 mile was no where near the "easy" pace our running plan noted. 

It was harder than I thought to fit the run in--since we had family stuff going on all day Saturday, so I opted to run first thing Sunday morning. For my Glendale friends who know the area, I ran from my parents' house, over the GIANT :) hill on 59th ave and then all the way to the 101, and back to their house. It was funny to run past Nicole's old house, and then Katie's... and even Brynn's knowing that I never even thought about getting to their houses on foot before. (I would ride a bike to Nicole's, but never Brynn and Katie's)

*just a side note--it is such a bummer they are all their "old" houses because their parents have all moved, so we don't even get to see each other when we are home visiting.

So how was it???

AMAZING!!!!

And that is no exaggeration.  I felt like I could breathe! And of course that makes a huge difference.  I not only hit the average 10:30 pace, but I ran the first 3 miles at under 10 min mile pace.    I had also heard that you notice the biggest difference when you sprint so I wanted to try an all out sprint for one mile and see how it felt compared to when I have done the same in Chinle.  I ran a 7:30 mile (and for the record, it was after running over Thunderbird Hill).  So my experiment was definitely a success and I am still going to try and hit the times on our training plan for each run, but just knowing that it will be easier when we get down to Phoenix gives me that much more confidence. 

And for my fellow half-marathon training friends--here are my splits and a few other details:

• 0.5 miles      4:34  (9:42 min/mile pace)  Warm up--felt like a nice easy pace
• 1.25 miles  12:14  (9:46 min/mile pace)  flat, still felt like an okay pace
• 1.3 miles    12:39  (9:43 min/mile pace)  (up and over the hill --had a steep uphill/also a downhill)
• 1 mile          7:31    all out sprint  (then after this mile is where I turned around)
• 1 mile        10:41    walked for a bit to recover, then jogged a bit before getting back to a run pace
• 1.35 miles 14:54   (11:10 min/mile pace -*fyi this side of the mountain was much steeper
• 1.25 miles 12:30   (10 min/mile pace)
• 0.5 miles     4:07   (8:40 min/mile pace--picked up the pace to finish strong)  (don't want to have to walk across the finish line so I always try to go fast at the end of a run)
• Total: 8.05 miles  79 min   avg pace 9:49 min/mile

(PS-this was an especially fun run because I am sure this is the longest I have ever run.  I ran track in high school and we did some pretty long runs--probably 1-2 runs a week that were 5-6 miles, so up to this point I felt like I was just getting back into the shape I was in back then, but now with every bit I run further I will be setting new Personal records on distance--which I find just an added bonus to all this training now that it is getting bard).

More running

So the first week of our official half-marathon training has gone pretty well..so far.   I did buy a watch, but I went for the cheap one without GPS--and I regret it already--so I am going to buy one of those soon--maybe I can hold out for black thursday in the off chance that there will be a smoking deal. :)

I ran this morning with my friend Lisa and since I have a ghetto watch I rely on her to tell me how fast to go--today's run was supposed to be at an "easy" 10:30 pace  (which for the record is not exactly "easy" for me--but doable. )  So I kept up with Lisa--but it sure seemed like I was breathing a lot harder than she was--so I had mixed feeling when I saw our spilts.  My first thought was "Man, we could have slowed down a little" but I am also glad to see that it was faster than I thought, which makes me feel a little better about being so tired. 

Our run this morning was 4 miles--and the temps dropped back down to 20 degrees so we were nice and bundled up again.   (we have enjoyed slightly warmer temps the past few days--but it appears the cold front is back).    But we did it--and that makes me happy  : D

I am heading to Phoenix today for a quick trip to spend some time with my family--and the plan is to squeeze in my first 8 mile run while I am there.   Running at a lower elevation and in non-freezing temps sounds GREAT right now!

runners articles

In my free time today (only "free" because I was ignoring the piles of laundry that needs to be washed, as well as the pile of clean laundry that is piled high on the dryer waiting to be folded)  I was browsing the Runners world website and found two articles that applied to me--and possibly some of my friends--so I thought I would post to share. 

Music and Running  I clicked on this because I have been thinking about how I like to listen to my mp3 player while I run--and whether I should start running without it.  Mainly wondering whether I should run with it during the real race.  I mean--when you see pictures of the winners--do you see cords dangling from their ears? hmmm... Despite this--I had decided that I was going to wear them anyway--because that is one of the things that I love about running--is getting to crank up my tunes, and speed up when the music gets upbeat.  So this article is by another runner who also loves to listen to music--so I clicked on it thinking it would share all the reasons why music is great--however it took a turn in the other direction, and now I have a few more things to consider...apparently. 

Tips for running in the Cold  Thankfully I have the #1 help--Friends to run with in the cold, but hopefully this will help us on our chilly runs.

a nice attempt

So my official training plan starts next week so for today I wanted to try a "tempo" run as they call it.  This is where you try to run a couple miles at a fast pace, but run a slower warm-up and cool-down.   Today I was shooting for a one mile warm up and 2 miles at about 9:30 followed by a one mile cool-down (for a total of 4 miles).  I had some free time while Rachel was at school so I decided to go for a run and just take Cali (since none of my friends can go mid-day).    Cali is full of energy and is usually running ahead of us for most of the way so I thought she would have no problem. 

However I was wrong.  After my 1 mile warm up I was going to turn around and do the same route again (since this is outside of the compound in the dirt where I can take her off her leash so I don't have to hold onto it).   However, when I got back Cali is used to running back inside the compound to chase lizards so she rushed off ahead in a different direction, and I called her a few times but she wasn't coming back.  And since I had just started "timing" my run (more on that later) I didn't want to lose any more time trying to get her back, so I just ran in her general direction and decided on a different path--one that involved a lot of circling around an area so she could chase lizards and I could still keep my eye on her.  She eventually came and met up with me when I had about a half mile left of my tempo run, only problem was she was exhausted--she was just standing in the middle of the road panting trying to rest, only I didn't want to stop (again --very technical timing in progress)  I tried  putting the leash back on but she would keep up (okay-she barely budged) so I just dropped the leash and instead of looping around the last few times I just stuck to the one straight away (to keep an eye on Cali in case any cars came) and ran back and forth until I guesstimated that I had completed the distance.  Super efficient I gotta say--ha ha. Then I jogged/walked at Cali's pace straight home so she could get a drink. 

So after all that I came home and made this wonderful map, trying to guess about where I ran.  Then I calculated my time.  Which is extremely comical in an of itself.  Me -being frugal/lazy, currently have no watch.  I have one, but the battery is dead, and I keep meaning to buy another one...but haven't.  Part of the reason is because I am trying to justifying buying a super fancy (and expensive) Garmin 110 watch that tracks mileage by sattelite as well as tracks total time and mileage splits.

So in the mean time I came home--looked at the playlist on my mp3 player and totaled up the time that I ran--based on the length of each song.  Lame.  

So --here is what I think I ran today :

1 mile warm up

2 miles @ 9:55 pace

and a 1/2 mile cool down.  

(long story--but if nothing else I had to document the miserably inefficient tracking of this run so that I can later justify my purchase)