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Nov 21/01 Carlene: Rollercoaster
Training summary (November 19th, 2001)
Nov 5 Off (race recovery)
Nov 6 Run 6.4 K
Nov 7 Club run, 6.6K
Nov 8 Spinning 55 min
Nov 9 Off
Nov 10 Spinning 2 hours
Nov 11 Speed run, 3 x 30 sec strides, 1-2-3-2-1 ladder workout, approx 10K
Nov 12 Off
Nov 13 LSD run, approx 9.8K (sore knee, cut short by 25 min)
Nov 14 Club run, 5K (slow and easy)
Nov 15 Spinning 50 min
Nov 16 Off
Nov 17 Speed run, 3 x 30 sec strides, 1-2-3-3-2-1 ladder workout, approx 8.7K (shorter warm/cool section to save knee)
Nov 18 Off (recover from Leonid watching, nurse my cold)*********************************************
The past two weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. My post-race recovery was going well. I was feeling fast and happy. Then I took my first 2 hour spinning class.
Knees screamed "HELLO!"
My knees REBELLED! Oh, not immediately after the class, that lulled me into a false sense of security. Unfortunately they were unhappy the next day and my speed session began poorly. I seriously considered going home within the first 5 minutes. Then I talked myself into a longer warm-up with the thought that, if
I didn't feel better by the 20-25 minute mark I'd just head home and log a plain old run. Eventually I did warm-up and my knees felt good enough to do the speed workout. Unfortunately they are still having creaking moments now and again.New shoes give reality check
Although my trusty Saucony Stabils had been good for correcting my pronation problem, I was finding that they wore out between 300 and 400 kilometers. With my gradual increase in mileage over the year this was getting expensive. This was also interfering with my long term dream of doing a marathon. So, about 85K ago I switched to Asics Kayanos on the recommendation of the shoe guy at the local store that supports our club. The first few runs in the new shoes went well. Then the big toe on my right foot started to complain. The pain is the joint at the base of the toe. I am experimenting with lacing and sock (thin/thick) combos to try and alleviate this problem. However, it is taking time.Weightloss miracle
Like many people I started running to help me weightloss efforts. I also attended Weight Watchers. Over the course of 3 years I lost 75 pounds. In June 2001 I hit my lowest weight of the year 154.5 pounds. Then I gradually began gaining. Since then I have been fluctuating between 157 and 162. It has been most frustrating. A diet analysis told me I was over-eating by about 200 calories per day. I started to try and remove those 200 calories but wasn't getting anywhere. For some unknown reason the last 2 weeks I have been feeling less hungry and my weight has been falling. YEAH! Unfortunately I have to admit that I don't think I've been eating much better or really eliminating those calories. Hmmm... the mysteries of life.Sniffles
For the past 2 months I have been sick with at least 2 colds (one terrible congestion cold; one achy, sneezy, runny nose cold). Of course I'm not sick enough to miss work, but I have been sick enough to miss a few workouts. Last week I thought my cold was finally gone. I went a couple days without feeling congested, without sneezing and without having to carry kleenex
everywhere. Then it returned. I guess I'm on to cold number 3 of this fall.Shopping the original crosstraining
The Christmas Craft Show circuit has begun and lately I have been doing a lot of walking around craft shows, often lugging around a heavy bag of purchases. It has been interesting to me both how easy and hard this is. I have strength and endurance from my training but walking and carrying is different than running/biking and my body lets me know it. It was sad learning that I still had many muscles that I seldom use. And here I thought I was "in shape." How come every time I get in shape the definition changes to a higher level than what I have achieved? What's with that?So... overall life is good. I am still employed, dedicated to my training and working hard. Although there have been a few aches and pains that I have been dealing with, I am encouraged by my endurance and progress. My recent weightloss is a huge bonus that I am still trying to puzzle out. (If I can figure it out, then maybe I can improve upon it.) In the meantime I'm going to keep working on these knee/toe problems and see if I can't crank out a fast time at my next race, the Help Santa 2 Miler on November 25th.
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