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September 30, 2004
Reviewing while I run
I needed a long sleeve shirt this morning for 5 whole minutes of the run! And people with normal body temperature regulation might have even kept it on for a lot longer. I was excited even to have to wear it for such a short time. It's supposed to warm up for the weekend, so I'll take what I can get.
Since I had a test in my first class this morning, I tried as much as possible to review some stuff in my head during the run. It was pretty dark for awhile, though, so I couldn't lose myself in thought too much. It was a good way to wake up the formulas and concepts that I knew were in my head somewhere...I find it really frustrating that I can remember runners' times, order of finish, etc. really well but my recall is just not the same when it comes to school stuff. I have given some thought to the possibility that there might be too much running info in my head and no room for anything else, but until there's a test to show how much storage space is left in your brain, I won't worry.
I meant to run about 40-45 minutes today but got turned around on the way back and did a bit more. My knee felt average. It seemed to loosen up after about 30 minutes, which was new. It could have also coincided with a slight change in elevation, though. On my way back towards home I noticed that the beautiful buildings I had been admiring in the dark were the Harvard "houses." I don't really know how they work but the year I graduated from college, there was a high-profile murder-suicide at Dunster House, one of the Harvard residences. I read Melanie Thernstrom's Halfway Heaven: Diary of a Harvard Murder about the crime sometime in college, and will always associate the residence with it.
Wow, I really got off on a tangent there. It must be time for dinner!
Posted by becky at 6:53 PM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2004
Still raining
Wow, I couldn't believe it when I heard it raining all through the night and it was still going when I woke up. Actually, by the time I started running it wasn't raining all that hard, but it was very windy. I felt like I could barely run in a straight line at some points! The fact that I ran on the Esplanade probably didn't help.
My knee felt about average on the Becky-scale today. I ran about 35 minutes and then did some more time on the elliptical (after drying off!) It was pretty uneventful except for a big truck trying to get past me on the Esplanade bike path! It must have been a parks department jeep or something but it scared me because I have never seen any vehicles there before. But as long as it didn't hit me, I was happy.
On a non-running related note, I'm so happy that the Expos are moving to Washington! I never thought it would really happen, but it did. Washington is an awesome city not just for its politics, and this will help legitimize that. Now we have even more of a reason to move back there when we're done with school...
Back to the books!
Posted by becky at 8:38 PM | Comments (1)
September 28, 2004
A good run anyway
Well, despite my asymmetrical running style and weak quads, I almost felt like myself again this morning. Lately I've been running from the gym since it's on the bus route to school, but today I am staying late at school and didn't want to have my bike there for all that time, so I ran from home. I was out at about 5:30 and drawing inspiration from Beth's moonlit track workout. Even though I like running in the rain, I was glad it hadn't started yet since that would have made it even harder to see.
When I run before it's light out, I stick to main roads for the first half (or until it gets lighter out), so I did just that. My stomach was feeling a little weird, but my knee okay until about the 35-minute mark. I made it almost 20 minutes more, though, without it worsening a whole lot. I can feel myself slowing down at the same time I'm conscious of my knee bothering me, and I think it is related. Which factor is influencing which is another question. I think they are definitely connected, and my hope it that I will increasingly feel as strong as I do for the first part of the run for the whole time.
During a break in the day today, I went to check out this gym that all of the Harvard students on the medical campus can use for free. I had heard it was pretty bare bones and gross--and it was. I found a working elliptical, though, and did that for a little while before attempting to lift. The "weight room" is really pathetic. The heaviest free weights they have are 5 pounds! And you have to walk through a narrow passageway to get there that is reminiscent of a bomb shelter, and strangely similar to a passageway we had at the Red Cross. Anyway, it wasn't much of a workout but it was certainly an experience!
Posted by becky at 4:08 PM | Comments (1)
September 27, 2004
Dismissed
It seems like a lot of us have been doing some venting lately, so let me do some of my own. This afternoon I was scheduled for a "double" appointment with Dr. Brady so that he could watch me run again. Basically he stands there watching me while I jog back and forth across a plaza (hoping no one I know is watching.) So I do a few "laps" and notice him looking quizzically at me. I asked him how it looked and he was kind of like, "Well, not as good as I had hoped." The bottom line was he didn't see all that much improvement in my stride and upper-body rotation since the last time he watched me run, which was on August 25. Since that time, I've been seeing him 2-3 times a week and doing a lot of strengthening stuff for my hamstrings and core that he showed me. And, as all my loyal blog-readers know, I've also been running more, albeit with some knee achiness (right now it's in the patella.)
So we went back to his office and he seemed kind of confused as to why I hadn't "improved" as much as he anticipated I would have. I suggested a few reasons, such as I've probably been running asymetrically for years now, but he seemed to think it's because my quads aren't strong enough. I guess that could be true, but ever since I had tendonitis after Boston 2002 I've done squats and other quad strengthening exercises in the gym--with weights. I told him this and he decided that I need to "get stronger before I come back and see him." He told me to cancel any upcoming appointments for this week and call him to schedule one when I felt that my quads really were strong enough so that my stride would be more balanced.
I walked out of there saying I'd call in a few weeks, but in reality I had kind of a bitter taste in my mouth. A month ago he was sure my stride was the way it is because of my hamstring weakness. Now he's sure it's my quads. I'm certain my knee issues have something to do with weakness, but I just invested a lot of time into chiropractic treatment and now he's basically saying he can't do any more for me unless I change something about myself. No thanks--I've tried his "revolutionary" method and I think it's taken me as far as I can go.
I'm obviously frustrated because I stopped running the first week in June to take care of this knee injury. Now it's almost October. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would take this long just to be running a little bit more comfortably. I missed a summer of marathon training, I've spent so much money on doctors, physical therapists, swimming equipment, etc. I just want to get back to running basically as much as I want, doing speed work and long runs and racing occasionally. The ironic part is, I didn't ever really take time off for my aches and pains in the last five years or so, and they all went away on their own. Plantar fasciitis, patellar tendonitis, hamstring soreness...sure, they slowed me down some, but I never got out of shape from taking time off and I liked it that way. Not to sound like a whiner, but I took it for granted that if something hurt, it would feel better in a few days, and now I'm afraid that my knee pain will never go away. Part of me thinks I'm just not built to be a runner, but the runner part of me knows I always will be. So when will I be back to myself again?
Posted by becky at 8:03 PM | Comments (3)
September 26, 2004
Better-than-average run
I did not expect much from myself this morning, since my knee had been achy and I hadn't eaten very much food during the previous 24 hours. But surprisingly, I felt very good for about 40 minutes and then decent for about 20 more. I had very little pain for the first half hour, although I know I was running at a leisurely pace. But if that's what it takes for now, then that's what I have to do. It was kind of warm (for me) but I finally discovered Fresh Pond, which has a dirt (and paved) 2.5-mile path around it. Except for all the dogs, it was great. I know there is one club in the area that has races there every week; perhaps I'll check it out now that I know how to get there. Well, how to run there at least!
The rest of my day was spent doing schoolwork, a quick swim and some much-needed food shopping. This week is pretty busy, but at least I don't have to be in line at 7am tomorrow wearing a suit and waiting to sign up for something, like Matt does... Actually, if all goes well I will get to run for Dr. Brady tomorrow afternoon and make it to class on time, too! I hope that he likes what he sees.
Posted by becky at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)
September 25, 2004
Phew
Well, it wasn't a 22-miler or even a 5K, but fasting today took a lot out of me. I ran about 3 or 3.5 miles in the morning at a decent clip despite some achiness in my knee, and then basically read and dozed all day. I was so jealous that Matt was able to stay awake and do his work while I was completely useless.
By the time 7:30 rolled around, I wasn't even hungry anymore and could barely eat. My grandmother fed us with lots of yummy stuff so I did the best I could. Now I'm starting to get a second wind and appetite so hopefully that will fuel an hour or so more of work and then I'll be able to get up on the early side tomorrow, run and write my paper. I'm not allowing myself to go lift or swim unless I finish it. The gym doesn't open until 9am anyway, so it's really a lot more worthwhile for me to just run and make the most of the day even though I like to complement the shorter runs I've been doing with ellipticalling or some kind of cross training. I need to remember what's important here. And then remind myself, again, and again...
Posted by becky at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2004
Pool running and polo balls
Happy Friday! I am glad it's the weekend but I have lots of work to do and that whole fasting thing tomorrow. Is this the last weekend in September already? Time sure is flying.
This morning I ran about 45 minutes and did several 100 meter strides on the track. Nothing new with my knee--same twingy pain although now it is feeling more and more like patellar tendonitis. I've gotten over that before so hopefully I can again. Dr. Brady is going to watch me run on Monday again. He thinks it will show him any "remaining issues." I just hope the look on his face when he is watching me run isn't the same as the look when he watches me do lunges. It's like he's never seen anyone as bad at lunges as me! I don't think it necessarily has to do with weakness; I think it might just be ME.
I pool ran for awhile tonight and it was very dicey. The men's water polo team was in one half of the pool and the men's and women's swim teams were playing their own game of water polo in the other. I was in the middle lane dividing the pool. Lovely. Luckily I was careful and left before the men's team starting really shooting for the goal, which was dangerously close to my lane. At least there was a lot of action to distract me from being bored!
Time to eat dinner. I am excited to see the results of the Griak meet and some of the other bigger XC meets this weekend. XC season is here for real!
Posted by becky at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2004
More gym pet peeves
I mentioned a couple of weeks back about how I hate when smelly people work out next to me. Still true. But today I realized another gross hygiene thing that I hate: people who breathe out of their mouth while running on the treadmill and force their stinky breath onto innocent gym-mates on the elliptical next to them. Ugh! I may be asking for too much, but how do these people not notice their own smelliness??
OK, enough of that rant. Personally, I smell pretty good right now since I just showered and got ready for two back-to-back business school events: a wine club happy hour and an Asian club SUSHI party! (I'm excited about the sushi part. I've been missing sushi since we left our favorite neighborhood sushi bar on our street in D.C.)
This morning I was in the pool for about an hour, but I broke it up into swimming and pool running. I'm getting more into pool running. I just have to be thinking constantly about going hard enough to keep my heart rate up. Aside from a weird smile bordering on leering look that I got from the guy who seems to be the permanent lifeguard, the water workout was fine. It actually went by more quickly than I thought it would.
I was busy with classes throughout the day and then I did the elliptical and lifted when I was done with school. I had a bigger-than-usual lunch today and felt a lot more energetic at the gym. I need to remember to pack more food to bring with me. We actually have a very good cafeteria but I can't afford to eat there more than once a week. I don't really like sandwiches (I know, weird) so if anyone has good, healthy (but not too healthy) lunch suggestions, I'm happy to have them! I tend to get in a rut and bring the same thing all the time. I think I will branch out into hummus next chance I get :)
Speaking of eating--or not eating--this Saturday is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement when it is customary to fast basically all day. Since I am hungry pretty much 24-7, it is a hard one for me. In all other years of fasting I've done a short run in the morning (like 3 miles or so) and I hope to do that this year as well. I better go eat a lot of sushi to stock up...
Posted by becky at 6:18 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2004
Mint chocolate chip
I have been meaning to mention this for quite some time now, and I finally remembered. This is going to sound really weird, but today I ran on a street near MIT that I had biked on before, and all I could smell was mint chocolate chip. I mean, it's rather overwhelming--I noticed it one early morning biking last week. The strange thing is, it's an industrial block, with the backs of many buildings and factory-ish type places; it's not like there is a candy store around the corner. What could it be?? Not that I'm complaining--it is a great aroma!
So I ran to the gym today (and got a little lost on the way, which I haven't done since the first week we moved here), biked for a bit and then ran home. My knee actually felt a lot better on the way home, possibly because it's more of an uphill. Tonight I wanted to pool run, but the entire Olympic-size pool was in use for water polo and swim team practice, so I swam in the smaller pool instead. It was very warm and super-crowded, but the time passed quickly for some reason. I'm sure that won't be the case when I swim tomorrow morning.
I talked to Dr. Brady today about some other exercises he would suggest for my knee(s). He gave me a few new ones and I am going to try to do them tonight during The Bachelor, if I cave in to watching. I got hooked on it last year because I was always coming home from my track workout and eating dinner when it was on each Wednesday. Of course I have work to do, but priorities are priorities :)
As always on Wednesdays. I am a little glum that I'm still not able to do track workouts. I guess I've waited this long though and nothing too bad has happened to me. It's only a matter of time, but why can't the time move faster?
Posted by becky at 8:26 PM | Comments (1)
September 21, 2004
Weird leg feeling
I just got home, sat down with my computer and accidentally bumped my leg on the chair--and realized it is sore to the touch. It was sore today walking around, but it feels almost bruised now. I did use the foam roller but it was a very soft one, almost mushy. Weird. I'm icing it and we'll see what happens. It wasn't super-sore before, so I hope I didn't make it worse with the foam roller.
Since I didn't feel so hot running yesterday, I decided to just do 30 minutes today and then get on the elliptical for as much time as my schedule would allow. I felt better today, at least for the first 15 minutes. My good knee is sore but I've been doing lunges at Dr. Brady, which I never do, so I'm attributing it to that. Anyway, when I turned around after 15 minutes, I heard a guy breathing behind me and (oops!) started to race him. I could tell I wasn't breathing nearly as hard as he was, but after a few minutes, my knee reminded me that I'm probably not ready for pickups yet. You could tell the guy felt so cool that he outlasted me, but I know I can take him when I'm at full strength.
My old boss sent me a tub of different kinds of popcorn and I think I just ruined my dinner eating it (I sound like my grandma.) I hate when that happens because I really do (try to) enjoy all my meals! Maybe by the time I make dinner I'll be hungry again. On the agenda tonight is whatever I have left in the fridge and pantry. Yum!
Posted by becky at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2004
Not much to report
It's the start of another busy week, and I'm of course in a hurry to do all the things I need to do and still get to bed at a decent hour. So this will be even quicker than usual!
My knee didn't feel as great as it did the past two days when I ran this morning. Maybe I was tired. Dr. Brady told me not to forget to take days off (from running) if I notice anything weird, even though I'm doing pretty well. Good point. I think I will see how I feel tomorrow and do more ellipticalling/less running if that seems to be prudent. I'll just have to make up my mind quickly about what to do, because on days I have an early class, I only leave myself just the right amount of time to get a workout in and if I run over that limit, I have to rush around even more than usual to make sure I'm not late! And that reminds me to get back to work.
Posted by becky at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2004
Glad they were sore
This morning I meant to do work while I waited for my friends to sleep off Reach the Beach, but...I slept, too. It just felt so nice with the cool breeze coming in....ahh. When we all finally woke up, my one friend and her husband decided that they wanted to join me on my little run. I was really nervous (they are pretty fast to begin with, and I'm not quite back to my usual pace) but they assured me they were quite sore from the relay. I couldn't convince my other friend to come with us, and she's pretty die-hard about not taking days off, so I decided to believe that the pace would truly be manageable.
And, it was. It was nice and chilly but sunny, so we had to dodge a lot of people enjoying the fall weather, but we had a lot of fun. I felt decent--not quite as excellent as yesterday but the time went by quickly and my knee was only bothering me toward the end. Today it was more of a stiffness than an ache--and I'll take it.
I feel kind of bad because I didn't do any other lifting, swimming, etc. today, but I drove everyone up to Manchester, where we had lunch with another old teammate and then I dropped my guests off at the airport. By the time I got home. it was almost 6 and I have not been able to do much schoolwork at all this weekend, so I figure I better make a dent. I guess rest is okay...sometimes. It's not my body that has a problem with it, it's my mind!
I was impressed with several performances at the Philly half today--Emily Kroshus ran really well for her first (I think) half marathon and many of the top D.C.-area women that I know PRed. I'm sure the weather helped, you can't get better conditions than this for a mid-September race on the East Coast!
Posted by becky at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2004
Windy, wet and wonderful
I heard the rain when I woke up for the first time today and it made me want to go back to sleep for another hour. So I did. But I really do like running in the rain, so I was secretly glad when I left and it was still raining--not too hard at that point. And it was chilly! Loved it.
The wind going over the first bridge of my run was pretty crazy. It was blowing my tank top up practically all the way so I decided to just take it off, even though I was cold. I felt kind of hard core when I saw people wearing jackets, vests, etc. on my route. My knee had been pretty sore yesterday, so I wasn't expecting much, but I actually felt better than I have in a while. I was relaxed and aware not to do anything weird with my stride--maybe that helped. Either way, I finished feeling good, which makes me happy. Then I swam for a little while since I knew I wouldn't have time to do that this afternoon while I am studying and waiting for my Reach the Beach friends to arrive. I was definitely thinking of them while I dried out this morning!
Back to the books!
Posted by becky at 3:41 PM | Comments (1)
September 17, 2004
The trend continues
It was another unexciting day for me, so this will be short and sweet! I definitely don't mind unexciting; I think I'm just settling into my new routine. And tonight we're even going to stay in and just chill out, which I'm looking forward to--more unexciting stuff! :)
Oh yeah, one out of the ordinary thing was that I woke up in the middle of the night with a weird pain in my knee, unrelated to anything else (I think.) I realized I was having some sort of dream and pressing my knees together REALLY HARD in the fetal position. I also was soaked in sweat, which happens to me often but hadn't in a while. I have no idea what I was dreaming about, but I guess it was pretty intense!
I split my workout time between running and the elliptical today. I felt good running for about 20 minutes, and then the knee ache came back. I told Dr. Brady since I went to see him right after that and he said he thinks it will keep getting better as he continues the treatment. Today he stretched the hell out of my hamstrings and hips and taught me some new core exercises that he wants me to do because they will help stabilize my pelvis. I do lunges every time I go to him and I still have trouble (not pain, I just can't do them easily) so he thinks this core work will help. I do a ton of abs, but maybe this is different.
This weekend two of my old college teammates are stopping by for the night after they finish the Reach the Beach relay in New Hampshire. I always feel weird when I hang out with people who just raced and I didn't, but I'm excited to see them and I need to just think about the big picture. I probably couldn't have done RTB with them even if I was healthy, because I had two important classes today, but...it'll still bother me.
Good luck racing this weekend everyone!
Posted by becky at 5:47 PM | Comments (19)
September 16, 2004
Slippery Strides
I didn't realize it was raining this morning while I was on my bike (okay, it was drizzling) but I felt it later, when I was running. I like running in overcast/rainy weather, so this was fine with me! I ran about 45 minutes and then did some strides on the turf, which felt awesome. My knee felt better than it has during the run, but toward the end (last 10 minutes or so) I felt like my stride was going back to how it was when I was first injured (i.e. lopsided and dragging my left leg a bit.) I wasn't sure if I should even attempt the strides, but actually I had no pain at all doing them and I was able to open my stride up more than I remember being able to in a long time. (Kudos to Dr. Brady for that.) The feeling of going fast(er) made me even more excited to get back to doing track workouts, but I know that's still a ways off.
I am skipping my afternoon seminar today to meet up with the fam for our little Rosh Hashana celebration. That means lots of eating and no second work out, but I wouldn't trade the time with them for anything! Especially since my grandmother is such a good cook...and baker....
Posted by becky at 1:39 PM | Comments (2)
September 15, 2004
Counting the laps
In the pool this morning, I tried to think constructive thoughts. For example, I have a paper topic to think of, so I spent maybe 7 seconds thinking about that. Then I thought about all of the things I wanted to do today (3 seconds.) Then I realized I had a song in my head, so that occupied a few...moments. So much for constructive, but at least I was occupying myself.
And so on, and so on, until I was done. Doesn't it sound thrilling? There were two MIT distance runners pool running in the other half of my lane. I've seen a lot of them in the pool lately and those who I have asked say they are injured. Hmm. Maybe they all did too much mileage over the summer or something. (It's not like I accost them when I see them; being a public health student, I'm just doing an informal survey of running injuries :)
I quickly did some elliptical-ing tonight and dashed home (well, via the bus) since I have something to finish for tomorrow. My family is coming to Boston for Rosh Hashana tomorrow (family tradition calls for celebrating at my grandparents' house in the area) and I want to have time to hang out with them, at least for a few hours.
Posted by becky at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2004
Just another day
As the title of this entry indicates, today was a pretty average day. Nothing too exciting to report. I felt pretty good running this morning--just the usual knee twinginess (is that even a word?)--and it was nice and cool. I got a decent amount of sleep last night knowing that today was one of my early days and it made a difference in how awake I felt during the day. Amazing! Let's see if I can keep up that trend.
I did the elliptical this afternoon and lifted, although it was so crowded in the gym that it was hard to get even get a bench or a chance to use most of my usual weight machines. I am happy to report, however, that there were many women lifting, too, not just men. Especially impressive considering MIT's male/female ratio. :)
I am excited now that the high school and college cross country seasons have begun. I've never been to Franklin Park here in Boston but I definitely want to try to get there for some of the bigger races. I probably won't be in XC shape to race there myself this fall, but I'll shoot for next year. It's been awhile since I ran a true XC race but I think it would be awesome!
Tomorrow is a cross-training day for me so I think I will swim. If only they made underwater iPods....(they probably do have something of the sort, but I can't make any more investments in cross-training equipment!)
Posted by becky at 7:30 PM | Comments (25)
September 13, 2004
A request
Any more Livestrong bracelets out there? My sister wants one and unfortunately I gave the one I had away a couple of months ago. Any leads appreciated, thanks!
Posted by becky at 2:41 PM | Comments (4)
I love sleep
Today I don't have class until 3:30, so I didn't have to wake up so early, and my body was very happy! I think I could sleep all day if I didn't set my alarm or Matt didn't get up and wake me. My cold feels a little better so I think I need to make sure to get enough sleep this semester to ward off future illnesses that could (the horror!) hinder my running...or my schoolwork :)
I ran from MIT this morning for about 35 minutes, as called for on my schedule, and was unhappily dodging BU students most of the way because I stupidly chose to go down Comm. Ave. at the height of student rush hour. But I did find a few shady and quiet streets in Brookline that I hope to be able to find again! The knee status report today was the same as it has been. Dr. Brady did some work on it today and doesn't seem super-concerned because it isn't really hindering my running, it's just sort of an annoyance. He still thinks things will improve a lot when he really gets down to business with my hamstrings. He did some painful stretches today and had me do some lunges afterward and it did seem like my mobility had increased somewhat.
I might try to get a swim in tonight, although I won't get to the gym until 6ish and I will probably be starving by that point. But if I am still alert after class (maybe) I will try to swim quickly before heading home.
Posted by becky at 2:33 PM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2004
Long sleeves and candy corn
I couldn't believe it; I rode my bike down the street this morning and was actually cold enough to decide to go back home and get a long-sleeved shirt! Since I am always hot and love the colder weather, I was psyched. Of course, none of my long-sleeve shirts were in easy reach, so I had to really hunt around to find one. But I was glad I did, since I was in the shade for a lot of the first half of the ride. I did about 30 miles and kept up a pretty good pace, except for the hills. I thought about my friend who I knew was doing Ironman Wisconsin today and again, was in disbelief that she would be riding 112 miles before a marathon and after a really, really long swim. Go Vic!
The rest of today was filled with schoolwork (okay, and a brief nap) and a reception with the Dean of my school. Matt came too and we were pleasantly surprised to be served sushi, sesame chicken and some yummy bite-size desserts. Knowing me, I'll be hungry again soon but at least it got me off the hook for cooking a real dinner tonight.
Oh yes, the candy corn. After we left the party we went to last night, I was craving candy corn and we just happened to pass by a CVS. I was trying to hold out on buying any Halloween stuff until next month, but I just couldn't help it. I have such a sweet tooth, and actually it was great to have something to munch on while walking over a very windy bridge back to our car. Yay for fall!
Posted by becky at 7:14 PM | Comments (2)
September 11, 2004
A quiet whoo-hoo!
Well, I ran almost an hour today, and I felt...pretty good. I'm not going to say 100% back to my old self, but my knee really wasn't too bad for most of it and I actually felt speedier than usual in the middle. By the end, my lack of endurance (sad) was getting to me. But it'll come back (I hope.)
I ran around Tufts today, and I was glad to find some hills. Since I've been running from MIT so much, the only place to go is along the river, and it's definitely flat.
I hope to go on a long bike ride tomorrow morning if I can get my butt out the door early enough, since we're having an old friend over for brunch at 11. It wouldn't be an issue to get up early but it's 9 now and we're just heading out to yet another party at one of Matt's classmate's apartments. I'll be the one searching for a diet Coke and some party snacks...
Posted by becky at 8:56 PM | Comments (2)
September 10, 2004
A light day
Yup, definitely have a cold. It's not too bad, though, and it's making its way from my throat to my nose, which is now good and stuffed up.
I had only a short run on the schedule today, but I felt pretty good. My knee was more twingy than painful. It was super-windy though, especially along the river! I thought I would blow over. At least a lot of the humidity has passed.
After the run, I did the elliptical and my usual ab work and biked home. I've lifted three times this week and plan to one of the days this weekend, so I decided not to do that this afternoon. I feel guilty about it, of course, but I have a lot of reading to do and I'm going to try to get a nap in as well. Hopefully I'll survive :) and even be able to stay up for a party some of Matt's classmates are having.
I went to the chiropractor this afternoon and he said he thinks my upper body rotation has gotten a lot better (i.e. I wasn't moving my upper body at all when I ran and it was limiting my stride) and now he can move on to my hips and hamstrings. He worked on my outer hips a little--ouch! I am so tight there. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks. I can't wait until he can really concentrate on my hamstrings because they are what bother me most.
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend! I am jealous. This weekend is one of my favorite races back in the D.C. area. Not only is it a cool idea (women's only trail race), but they have the BEST Patagonia race shirts and neat prizes (I got a bottle of wine for an age-group prize last year!)
Posted by becky at 3:59 PM | Comments (0)
September 9, 2004
Dreary inside and out
I woke up this morning hearing this strange noise, and I couldn't figure it out. Turned out it was rain dripping onto a gutter on the roof next to us. Great--another bike ride in the rain, I thought. Actually, it wasn't raining too much when I left for the gym, but it sure was dark!
I swam for about 45 minutes, and I knew from the first lap that it was going to drag. I woke up yesterday with the beginnings of a sore throat and had a headache (on top of the sore throat) today. I don't think I've ever swum with a cold before, but it's kind of gross, and all that head-turning didn't help my headache. I must have looked at the clock a hundred times waiting for at least 45 minutes to pass. And when they did, I knew I couldn't bear to do another lap!
I had two early classes and one afternoon one, and I had trouble staying awake in all three. The material was interesting, but when I am sitting still for long periods of time, my eyelids take on a life of their own and want to close! I am hoping that since my classes tomorrow were canceled, I will have a chance to catch up on sleep a little. But in general, I need to find the amount of sleep that allows me to feel rested and alert in these classes--after all, I am paying to sit in class and learn. It's just hard when Matt tends to come home later and do his work later--I rarely get more than 5-6 hours of sleep a night and that's just not going to cut it.
On a (completely) different topic, does anyone have any experience with lactose intolerance? I have a feeling that I might be having some of those issues. I'm going to do some more research on the Web, my favorite reliable source :)
Posted by becky at 6:10 PM | Comments (1)
September 8, 2004
A good workout ruined by a smelly neighbor
I admittedly was pretty disgusting myself when I got on the elliptical today after biking to the gym in the POURING rain and then running in it, but the guy next to me (he got on when I had about 15 minutes left) smelled awful. At first I thought it WAS me, but it was definitely coming from him and it got worse as he continued to work up a sweat. I kept burying my face in the towels I had draped over the machine, but it took all the willpower in the world to finish out those last minutes. Ugh! How could he not realize?
That's my rant for the day. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day. My little running schedule called for me to run a second day in a row, so I did my usual run/elliptical routine and then lifted afterward since I knew I wouldn't feel like it tonight after not getting out of class until 5:30. My knee felt good for the first mile or so, then I had some of the same pain on the side of it for the rest of the run. It doesn't get worse, it's just...there. I went to see the chiropractor in the afternoon and he said "we" should start working on my hamstrings. He taught me some exercises for strengthening the hams and I am to do them twice a day.
Even though I planned to smush my workouts into one today, I'm having guilt pangs now. But it is already 7pm, I just got home, and I have a lot of work to do. So I'll try to roll with it. I tend to feel like this on Wednesdays especially because I know all my old running club friends have track night! I can't wait to get back to the track (although I think it will have to be a group that meets on Tuesdays based on my schedule.)
Posted by becky at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)
September 7, 2004
Progress
I had a little run scheduled this morning, and my knee did feel better than the last time I ran. I raised my bike seat yesterday and I could feel the difference, so I'm hoping that will help me out. I still feel like my stride is off, but I think that's where the chiropractor will come in. I see him again tomorrow and I'll be sure to talk to him about that.
I did the elliptical after the run for as much time as I could without missing the bus to school :) Then I rushed off to my two first classes, which were relatively painless. We'll see how the 2-hour afternoon class feels...
I hope to do a little more ellipticalling and lifting this evening. I also really need to find an (affordable) bag that goes on my bike. I just can't carry everything with me in the mornings anymore. Today, I had one bag in front and then my backpack. I don't know how I made it or how I'll make it home tonight. Cross your fingers for me!
Posted by becky at 11:08 AM | Comments (1)
September 6, 2004
(Non) Labor Day
This morning Matt and I were joking that it's funny that today is Labor Day, because in reality it's the last day before he and I begin laboring--classes start tomorrow for both of us.
So I decided to take advantage of the day off and the beautiful weather by going for another long bike ride. It wasn't as much fun as last time because I was alone, but it was nice. I printed off a 30-ish mile ride from the Harvard Cycling Association's Web site that seemed to be pretty direct. I didn't really get lost, but I did get confused because the cue sheet from the Web site failed to mention that some roads would change names. I was out there a little longer than I thought I would be, which I normally wouldn't mind but I wanted to get back for Matt's birthday. (He takes birthdays very seriously.)
We had a nice brunch together and he opened his gifts, and we are going to dinner at a place we have a gift certificate to in a little while. I'm especially excited for dinner because it's right next to an ice cream place that is supposedly the best in the city, and I've been wanting to go there for a while already!
I swam this afternoon and it was VERY crowded. I don't mind when people sharing the lane with me pool run (how COULD I mind?) but I had a particularly splashy guy next to me today. He was wearing those gloves that increase drag while pool running and every time I saw his hands underwater I wanted to laugh. At least it made the swim a little more exciting...
Posted by becky at 7:06 PM | Comments (0)
September 5, 2004
A good day; not such a good run
It's fall (like)! We just got back from a cruise around Boston Harbor (sponsored, of course, by the business school) and I wore a fleece almost the whole time. An exciting day in my book.
I enjoyed the weather while running this morning, but the side of my knee hurt almost the whole time. It's not getting worse and it doesn't bother me doing anything other than running, but it is definitely something new since my return to running, and the chiropractor says to keep running and he doesn't think anything's really wrong with my knee (he thinks it will get better when he gets my hips and pelvis aligned right.) I'm frustrated that it doesn't get better since I'm taking this SO slowly and not doing too much. It's possible that my IT band is really tight and I need to stretch and use the foam roller more. I guess I'll make more of an effort.
Writing about this just got me into a bad mood, and I need to snap out of it because in 40 minutes, it will be Matt's birthday!
Posted by becky at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
September 4, 2004
Bike tour of New England
Well, it turned out that I didn't need to worry that I wouldn't be able to keep up on the bike ride this morning--I did just fine. C. had the route planned and pretty much knew where we were going, but after about an hour she realized that we would be riding for 5 hours if we continued to follow this particular route (she underestimated the distance.) Between map consults (there were many) and one chain issue (fixed surprisingly quickly), we did stop a few times but rode for a good three and half hours. My odometer was acting up so I don't know how far we went exactly, but we were keeping up a good pace for most of it.
I felt pretty good except for a twinge in the area where my quad connects to my knee. It bothered me climbing up some particularly tough hills. I iced it soon after I got home and it is sore now but doesn't seem too bad--I'll see tomorrow when I run on it.
The ride was really fun today because I got to see a lot of towns around Boston that I'd heard about, but never been through. We were in Belmont, where I saw McLean Hospital, the famous psychiatric hospital that was featured in Girl, Interrupted and I'm sure countless other books and movies; Lincoln, where we took a detour through a neat sculpture garden; Concord, where we passed Walden Pond (looks more like a lake to me); Sudbury, Waltham and a few other towns I can't remember right now. C. grew up in Cambridge so she pointed out some of the sights to me. Except for a few hairy portions on a small highway, there wasn't too much traffic.
During the rest of the day, I wasn't quite as productive as I wanted to be, but I bought my books for school, picked up some school supplies, cleaned the apartment and took a badly-needed nap. Tonight, we saw Maria, Full of Grace, which we had been wanting to see for a few weeks. It was really great--disturbing, but excellently done. We realized that there are two movie theaters really close to us, so next time we have a free moment (ha) we'll have to go back and see some more.
I'm so excited that cross country season has started. Time to check results of this weekend's little meets!
Posted by becky at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
September 3, 2004
TGIF
It seems like a lot more than a week has passed since my Last Friday of Freedom, and I think a big part of it has to do with the fact that I've gotten up earlier the past three days than I have in probably the better part of a month. Today it was really hard to get out of bed and I felt like I was in slow motion while biking to the gym. (Actually, does anyone have any recommendations for a good bike bag? My backpack is killing me.)
It was a beautiful morning, though, and it was my first scheduled run-without-a-walking-break. I didn't feel as great as I did on Wed., but I think that was partly due to being tired and partly due to me getting passed by two (older) women who were finishing some Seargant's Program workout or something, and my ego making me speed up. Getting passed by people you could "normally" breeze by is definitely one of the toughest parts of returning from an injury.
I ran out and back along the river since I wasn't going for very long, and although I don't usually like out and back routes, I felt lucky to have such a scenic (and flat!) one for this purpose, and steps away from the gym. When I finished my run, I didn't have much time before I had to shower and catch the bus to school, so I did the elliptical for as much time as I had. I biked some this afternoon as well.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to go on a long bike ride with the former rower I've mentioned before. She's probably going to kick my ass, since I'm not very fast on the bike nor do I like to take risks while riding on the road, and I think she's pretty much the opposite. I'll just hang on as long as I can...and pretend to have to stop to pee if I need a break! The nice weather trend is continuing (at least around here--no hurricanes coming our way) so it should be a good day for it.
I'm off to finish cooking our dinner--I'm delving into the Chinese wok-cooking realm tonight. Yum!
Posted by becky at 7:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 2, 2004
Is this for real?
I noticed a headline on Dyestatcal about a 12 year old running 16:12 for 5K in a road race in California. Wouldn't this be some sort of record, or close to it? I wonder if that article is accurate. It claims she won the women's race by a five-minute margin.
Posted by becky at 8:52 PM | Comments (2)
A little rusty
Soon, I hope to be writing about shaking the rust off my running when I get back to doing speedwork...but in this case, I'm talking academically.
I had my first math review (of two; tomorrow is the second) and it felt like I was re-learning a language I had once known well. Logarithm? Natural log? Sounded vaguely familiar, but I had a really hard time answering the problems as quickly as everyone else was! I am one of the oldest ones in my master's program, surprisingly (I'm 27!) and seem to be taking my time getting back into the swing of this school thing. However, there are lots of nice people and even someone from my old running club in D.C. And oddly enough, a guy in the MIT gym came up to me and said he recognized me from the running club, too, even though he doesn't look at all familiar to me (oops.) So it seems likely that I'll have some company if and when I'm ever running regularly again.
As for this morning, I got up super-early, biked over to the gym with my big backpack impeding my balance, and then swam for about 45 minutes. It was weird, after about 35 minutes of swimming as usual, I got really weak and hungry and I knew I wouldn't last too much longer. I probably should have eaten more before I left my apartment but I was in a big hurry so I wouldn't miss my first official math review.
I was really antsy after sitting around in orientation all day, so I did the elliptical for awhile and lifted when I came back from school. Then I got really hungry AGAIN and rushed home to eat some matzo ball soup my grandmother made for us! It's great having doting grandparents in the area--especially ones that know how to cook all the best Jewish delicacies. :)
Yay, it's almost Friday! (imagine how I'll feel after a real week of classes...)
Posted by becky at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)
September 1, 2004
Pleasantly surprised
Although I feel like I'm jinxing myself to write it, I'm very happy to say that I felt better running this morning than I have in a while! During my first 20 minute "interval," I was virtually pain-free and the gorgeous weather only made it more enjoyable. The second 10 minutes brought on a little knee soreness, but stretching afterward made it go away. I just felt generally more "even-strided" than I've been in recent weeks, and my chiropractor confirmed that my pelvis and spine are loosening up a bit. Hurrah!
I also did 35 minutes on the elliptical, which dragged as usual but listening to good music got me through it. Tomorrow will be my first early-morning workout in quite some time, since I have a math review beginning at 8:30am. Just the thing that gets me out the door... I'm going to try to make an effort to get to bed reasonably early tonight, following an appearance at the first social event of MY grad program.
Posted by becky at 2:18 PM | Comments (2)