Why I Love California (in 4 Miles or Less)

I've heard stories of other runners getting heckled by passing pickup trucks; I've personally walked through the lobby of hotels while traveling and gotten strange looks from guests and bellmen about my running clothes (and these are just normal, standard-issue running clothes—I don't bust out my Sugoi knee-highs when I'm on the road). In California, however, if you go to the hotel front desk and ask about local running routes, they just might hand you something like this (left): a map including street names and running distances, like I received yesterday.

You gotta love that. Not only did they not think it was strange that I wanted to run, they had routes already mapped out and printed, in a small-enough size that I could easily carry it and (if need be) refer to it during my run. My inner Seth Godin went on a ramble about how some businesses anticipate customer need and go the extra, thoughtful mile. But, since Seth is a biker and not a runner, I ignored his interjection and went about my run.

Last Sunday was the Los Gatos 10k; this Sunday is the San Francisco Marathon 5k. I was scheduled for a 3 miler, but the local 4 mile route colluded with my desire to stay on track for October's half marathon—I'll miss Sunday's 4 miler while doing the SFM 5k—so I set off to do 4 miles.

Warm, beautiful, sunny weather was the order of the day in Redwood City; @LosBee was down the peninsula for a conference, so I tagged along to get out of San Francisco for a bit. I swear, San Francisco is in the locus of crapitude weather-wise. The ocean, the bay, the inland area and it's tip-o-the-peninsula position band together and insure that there's almost always a thick layer of gray loitering above the city. I *hate it. It's ridiculous. Sure, I have posted many times how gorgeous the weather is out, but it's usually a short segment of the day that affords this sunshine. And all you have to do is look across the bay to see the clouds dissipate into blue skies and sunshine. Drives me crazy. Why the hell couldn't San Francisco be 15 miles north or 15 miles south?

*sigh*

Anyway, enough of my seasonal affected bitching.

Having grown mildly wiser recently to the ways of the run, I took these 4 miles easy. I understand there now to be 4 run-to-run factors that I can be aware of and act accordingly: surface, topography (hills), distance and speed. (In the longer haul there are more factors, like body weight, weekly mileage, etc, but the 4 above are adequate from the narrower run-to-run scope.) The route was flat but paved, and I was setting out to run slightly longer than my usual 5k, so the smart thing to do is run slower and easier. My shins were a little wigged out (especially after the last run), but all went well.

I think it's rest from here to Sunday. I'm not totally confident that my Nike+ has been accurately measuring distances, so I'm not convinced I've actually run a sub-30:00, but at this point all I can do is psych myself up and haul as much ass as possible on Sunday.

Wish me luck!

"Recovery" Run

I reckon this is what folks call the post-race recovery run. Does a 10k warrant a recovery run? Yeah, I guess it does. If I was a marathoner than probably not, but since I ain't: yes, it does.

Oh experienced running geniuses, tell me:
Have you ever gotten shin splints when trying out new shoes?

I ran the Los Gatos 10k in my old Asics Nimbus, but I recently purchased Asics Kayanos in the hopes that they'd be my new shoe. Based on the recommendation at the gait analysis, the Kayanos would be more supportive, better than the Nimbus.

But damn if they don't give me pain in my shins & ankles. I'm not going to wear these monkeys for the 5k this weekend, but hopefully I'll get used to them in the long haul.

Thanks to @sugigrl I have found myself in yet another half marathon: The Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. This puppy is in early December. If all goes well in October's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon I'll go into it the December race with confidence and a time goal.

Which is to say: w00t.

Progress, Knowledge, Ibuprofen

I've been bitching about my perennial newbie status as runner and chronic, recurring shin splints. Like all bitching, I'm sure it's endlessly entertaining to you, the reader. After another run, and some reflection on feedback from some really great people on Twitter, I think I have a handle on my own personal Whys as well as specific me-centric Solutions.

First: Solutions

• Continuing every-other-day 5k runs, with modest weekly longer runs. The idea is to build up a base and keep it. Hopefully the Hal Higdon Half Marathon plan doesn't jack me up too much when I start prepping for October's SJ RnR.
• Don't skip any runs. You can't build a base if you're not consistently putting miles in.
• Skip runs if the shins flare up. No point in forcing an injury if an extra rest day puts me back on track.
• Ibuprofen is my friend. I avoided NSAIDs because I was afraid of masking pain that might indicate injury. But really, Ibuprofen is not about pain relief, it's about fighting inflammation. Brilliant! Taking 600mg of Ibuprofen after a run (as needed) is kinda a pharmaceutical version of wrapping your legs in Ace bandages—from the inside. Again, brilliant!
• Focus on volume; mind distance, surfaces, speed and topography. In building a base, my goal is to get my body accustomed to handling greater mileage—more volume. Miles, surfaces, speed and hills are each fatiguing factors that your body has to acclimate to. Seriously. Each one of them exacts a price, individually. Mixing too much of them together is a recipe for injury.
• Lose weight. Every pound I can shed means less impact on my joints. Simple enough.
• Hips and core exercises. As I've said a billion times, I gotta get on track with my active range of motion hip exercises and core stuff. It really helps.

Whys: Contributing Factors

• Inadequate base. See soak, wash, rinse, repeat
• Body weight. A heavy male runner—a clydesdale—is 185lbs. I'm about 140% above that—a super-clydesdale. I can fix that.
• Overly ambitious. Trying to tack on more miles at a faster pace and mixing in hills will give you shin splints. What can I say, I get excited!
• Inadequate rest. They say a big part of recovery is good sleep. My sleep has sucked for the last 4 years or so, but I think I've fixed this. And yes, I'm excited about it.
• Slow cadence. This one might seem weird, but I swear it's true: a faster cadence means lighter steps, which means better impact mediation. I've read this in many places, and I have my own anecdotal evidence, but I have no scholarly research to cite, so this one falls in the "I'm pretty sure it's true" category.
• Biomechanical issues. Like a lot of people, my legs aren't exactly the same length. Sexy, huh ladies? In addition (or maybe because of this), my hips are a little on the weak side. This causes issues down to the soles of my shoes.

I was pretty sore after Wednesday's run, and that bummed me out. But I took some Advil, wrapped up the legs and got a good night sleep. Thursday was a tiny bit tender, but really not bad at all, and today I felt pretty darn perfect. I hit Crissy Field and put in the usual 5k. Felt pretty darn good throughout.

So, all-in-all, things are going well. I'm gonna keep on hustlin' and turn this b*tch out, and sooner or later I'll shed my noob status for good.

Side note: tomorrow is UFC 100. Aside from football, mma is the only sport I really enjoy watching. There's a lot of good fights on the card, and I'm looking forward to watching the PPV. I've suckered a friend into coming to a bar with me to watch it. Good times, good times.

Negotiation, Disappointment, Optimism

Kids, the last 2 weeks or so have been somewhat frustrating. Lemme break it down for you.

Over the last few years I've racked up about 475 miles running. Yet I've somehow managed to be the perennial beginner. The cycle goes something like this: start running 3 milers, averaging 6 to 10 miles a week; sign up for a race; jump into the training program for the race; get shin splints; half-ass the training program; run the race, do somewhat poorly; take time off from running.

Soak, wash, rinse, repeat.

I'm realizing that not being "good" at running has become a low-level frustration for me. Let me clarify: I was always good at sports, but I'm not a hyper-competitive guy. In baseball or football or whatever, I always tried to do my best, but I never really cared what the final score was. Not winning doesn't really bother me, but I've realized that not being good myself is in and of itself frustrating.

The few weeks I was chasing the sub-30:00 5k crystallized this for me: running felt good, I didn't get shin splints, and I made great progress. I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment.

So now I'm in a 10k and a half marathon, and I have to prepare. And preparation has not gone great. The week I started adding on miles, I immediately started getting wonky shins. Fnck.

Soak, wash, rinse, repeat.

In order to try to break the cycle, I've backed off on the original Hal Higdon half marathon plan (intermediate) and am going for the Higdon novice one. The mileage is less, there's more cross-training possibilities, and it should be more gradual for me.

I just gotta put on miles slower and not get over-ambitious. Total rookie mistake on my part, done over and over again.

Today was a 4 miler, and it was a little weird. First, right out of the gate I had this exceptionally weird feeling that I couldn't get a deep breath. I have no idea why this happened. But it really felt like I couldn't inhale completely. This psyched me out a bit so I paused the Nike+ and did some torso stretches. My lungs felt fine, it just felt like my diaphragm was being uncooperative for some reason. Weird, huh?

My left leg started feeling splinty at about the 2 mile mark, and didn't get better until I stopped at about 3 miles. I am running in new shoes, so for all I know that's a contributing factor. What I did do is pause my Nike+ and remove the shim I wear in my right shoe. It actually helped, and I was able to finish the 4 miles as planned.

Alas, it was 4 somewhat uncomfortable miles with 2 stops. Not ideal. But I'll keep working. And keep R.I.C.E.ing. I want to get good at this.

In other news, the new Nike+ site is up. I had no idea they were whipping up a new version, but that might explain why they had some funkiness the other day—they must have been rolling out some backend stuff and something probably went kablooie. While some folks on Twitter had some initial poo-poos on the new site, I'm down with whatever whatever and will see how it goes as they roll it out (it's still in Beta). Connect with me! My username is (surprise surprise) HellaSound.

Beautiful Day, Great Run

Man oh man what a great run. The schedule said today was my second recovery run—a 3 miler. My shins were a little tweaky after yesterday's short trot on concrete, so I hit Kezar Stadium's all-weather track.

What a beautiful day. It's about 73 degrees, sunny, light breezes. No clouds. The Blue Angels are practicing flying formations over the city (I guess there's some air show coming up), and the periodic roar of jets flying over head has been a long-time favorite sound of mine.

After my dynamic stretch warm-up, I hit the track running. Felt great, and I was cruising pretty fast. I'm not sure if it was the healthy dose of caffeine I had this morning (Peet's Major Dickason's Blend coffee), or my new-found determination, or a combo platter of all the above.

Great run. Paula Radcliffe was nice enough to tell me I ran a personal best for the mile (on my Nike+) when I finished. Thanks Paula! I bet you say that to all the guys.

Afterward I did my normal static stretches, as well as some of the dorsiflex/shin strengthening exercises I found on YouTube (below). Then it was back home to a banana, blueberry and OJ protein shake.

It's a tough life, I tells ya.

Aye, Breach Your Last to the Sun, Double Digit Run!

My longest run so far has been 8 miles. I did that several months back, when training for the San Francisco Half Marathon. As mentioned before, my half marathon goal was derailed, and I had to settle for the 5k. Since I'm running the San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon in 13 days, I've been trying to stick to a schedule.

Ahab Did at Times Give Careful Heed to the Condition of That Dead Bone Upon Which He Partly Stood

My nursing of the shin splints I've incurred have taken me a bit off track, and I've missed some long runs.

As a result, a 10+ mile run—the Double Digit—has become my White Whale.

Yesterday I went to the track to harpoon and kill this Leviathan, only to be turned away by peewee football. I've made a pact with my shins to only run on the friendly, forgiving all-weather track surface until race day. It makes it a bit of a pain in the ass to get runs in, but it sure feels good.

Today, I got back in the whaleboat and set out for the track.

'Tis Hot As Satan's Hoof

Unfortunately, it was pretty warm and very sunny out today—hardly typical San Francisco weather. It'd been a beautiful day to go the beach, but unfortunately I do not do well with heat. But I had to try. Like Lyle Lovett says, "What would you be if you didn't even try? You have to try."

I felt great on the run. Zero problems with the pegs, lungs felt great, everything felt great. But out there on the shadeless track, sun bearing down, it was just too damn hot for me. The sprinklers that were watering the infield occasionally sprayed onto the track, and I ran out of my way to get in the lanes that were being doused. God knows how clean the water was that they're using, but I didn't really care. It felt good and kept me cool-ish.

Sprinklers shut off on the first mile. By mile 3 I was stopping to sip water and pour it over my head. By mile 5 I knew my goose was cooked, and I crapped out.

Weaksauce.

On the bright side, I think I've been treating my shin splints right, so that's a plus. I feel much better.

Wednesday I shall set out again to harpoon the beast.

Damn! That Felt Good!

It was seriously, seriously gorgeous out today. Picture postcard beautiful weather. Clear blue skies, very low humidity, nice and cool temps—really, all you could ask for.

Since I'm Johnny Seasonal Affective Disorder, today was all sunshine and lollipops for me. Good times.

I haven't run in 6—count 'em one two three four five SIX days—my last run was a painful slog through the Presidio last Friday. Having decided what I was going to do about my splintiness, I've been all about the Ace bandage, the ice pack, the elevation and the not-running.

I felt like today was the day to get back out and see how recovery was going. I'm not even sure where I should be with my training plan, but I arbitrarily decided that running 5 miles would be a good test for my shins and a decent workout as the San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon draws ever nearer.

My shins have been feeling like they're coming along, but the first 2 miles of the run had me doubting my recovery efforts. As typical with mild shin splints, the pain went away once I got warmed up. By mile 3 I felt pretty damn good, and mile 5 was easier than all of them.

Crazily enough, I clocked an average 10:15 pace, which is actually pretty fast for a slow mofo like myself.

I drove home riding high and feeling really good. Ice packs on, Ace bandages wrapped, 600 mg of Ibuprofen per @LosBee, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (sugar and protein), a little box of raisins, and I'm set for the evening.

Hopefully (HOPEFULLY) we're on the right track here and things progressively get better. I'd love to be ready for the half marathon, and really love to not injure myself trying to prepare for it. Here's to tomorrow being good, and hopefully getting a good long run in very soon.

Doin' the Right Thing

Due to my new-found splintiness, I decided to not run again today, keep the peg up and iced and pick things back up tomorrow.

Hopefully it's the right plan.

@LosBee has me on 600 milligrams of ibuprofen to alleviate the inflammation. I've read a lot of recommendations to not take NSAIDs for running pain and shin splints, but I think that is mostly to avoid masking the pain so you can run on an injury. I ain't doin' that—I'm masking the pain, fighting the inflammation and eating ice cream on the couch while I watch NFL.

Very low-risk injury situation.

Back tomorrow with a write-up of a good run. Hopefully.

Image courtesy of fisticuffs on Flickr.

I Think I'm Splinty

After digging around online here, here and here, I've come to the conclusion that I've developed shin splints. Well, Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, if you want to get picky.

In sticking with the plan I've upped my miles quite a bit, which I'm sure is a contributor. Really, I think there's many factors here:

• Increased mileage
• Primarily running on concrete
• My clydesdale status
• The hills of San Francisco (I've had my legs get tweaky just walking around here; starting to incorporate hill repeats have undoubtedly been stressful for the pegs)

What to Do?

I really, really, really don't want to stop training. Hopefully I won't have to.

I've flagged some videos as favorites on YouTube which offer some recovery suggestions that'll hopefully help. Since I've made a list of probably causes, I guess I'll make a list of solutions:

• Religiously using the R.I.C.E. method (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)
• Doing every run I can at Kezar track and avoiding concrete like the Plague
• Massaging the soleus muscle (as shown in some of the vids)
• Doing strengthening exercises (again, see vids)
• Stretching like a monkeyplucker
• Keeping my eye on it. The last thing I want is a lasting injury, and if it gets worse then I'll have to hang up the Asics for a bit and swim or bike.

I take some solace in knowing that this is a profoundly common problem, but still, getting shin splints makes me feel like a rookie jackanus.

Oh well. You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have [finish this sentence].