Track Tuesday

Sunday: rest day. I was SO dead after 12k Saturday PLUS helping a friend move for 3 hr PLUS two major shopping excursions (bathroom tile because we're redoing our master bath, and Costco because I promised a friend I'd take him). Oops. I tried to rest a lot on Sunday but I had some social obligations so my rest was more limited than I'd have liked. I did get good sleep Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.

Monday: My body was still tired so I did a 45 min (or so) casual walk with the dogs for exercise. It felt nice to move w/o pushing things at all.

Today: speed work. I was to do a 3K fartlek with the fast segments at 85% effort, 4' rest, 4x500 @85% effort. It's stupid hot outside right now; I woke up later than planned so I couldn't do the outdoor track before work. I slept very poorly because 1) I went to bed too late because I had a meeting re: our hosting for the SL Fellows program next year, 2) there was a massive and loud thunderstorm at 11pm, and 3) Sugar barked on overdrive at something (who knows what? probably a raccoon?) at 2 am. Grim face at left after my workout, at the gym - outdoors was hot behind me (it's only 90F right now or 32.2C, which is not THAT hot for July, but it is no picnic for RW).

I went to work and did a bunch of stuff, then managed to pull myself away for my workout at 11am. I felt dizzy, probably from lack of sleep, but also maybe still a side effect from not taking the escitalopram (my last dose was Sunday the 8th). I had tired, achy glutes before the workout, and I have no idea why - I felt recovered from moving the boxes and from my Saturday workout yesterday. So what the heck is this soreness???

Mentally it was SO hard to stay positive. My inner critic was on overdrive. I tried to shut it up by reminding it that it is not helping me get better. That worked for a bit and then it just kept kicking back in. When I do a workout and am SO MUCH SLOWER than I EVER have been historically, it's so hard to make that voice shut up. It is just painful to do speed work because of it! I swear if there was a good easy way to make it go away, I would. I wonder if the escitalopram helped it quiet down, and that's why it's worse now? Or maybe it's the lack of sleep. It was a most unpleasant workout because of that.

I did keep from doing an all-out effort. I had to keep reminding myself to hold a little back. So...yeah, I was VERY slow.

Converting from the 292.6m track, my fartlek was 19:10.3, with fasts and mediums (585.2m each, converted to 500m times) of 3:02.7, 3:18.2, 3:07.5, 3:18.7, 3:11.5 (!UGH!). My 500m were approximate - I had to make an educated guess based on my lap times where the 500m split was. Assuming I was close, my 500m times were 3:02.3, 3:04.1, 3:06.4, and 3:03.2 (that's similar to outdoors last week, so that's probably about right).

It's hard to shut off the voice that says I'm too slow to go to Spain. It's hard not to compare to where I used to be. It's hard to feel really sick (I'm SO fatigued and dizzy today). I should probably go home early from work and take a sick day but I have stuff to do, and let's face it, work is a higher priority than recreational hobbies like racewalking, because it has to be.

workout updates

June 25: Easy 5K at Zermatt Resort; 33:12, 6:38/km, ave HR 145. Felt a bit tired, but not bad.

June 26: 45 min elliptical at Zermatt. Felt good.

June 27-29: recovering from huge anniversary party on the 26th (25 years!) and prepping for vacation to Indiana. Stupid busy and stupid tired. Did nothing. Also, feeling pretty ill from not taking the escitalopram; have had to take 2.5mg every few days to just manage, but don't really feel great.

June 30: easy 5K in Grand Junction, CO, where we were camping on the 1st day of vacation. 34:05 for 6:49/km with ave HR??? Forgot my HR monitor :/. My Fitbit says 123 but that's not right...that must include a stop or 2 for photos/rest at 2.5km point.

July 1: rest day - camped in Salina, KS and thunderstorms kept us up much of the night. UGH! I felt lousy.

July 2: easy 6K in Indiana at Laurie's house. SO HUMID. 40:30 for 6:45/km with ave HR 147 according to my Fitbit. Seems close anyway.

July 3: Cross-training - rode Matt's bike outside for 45 min, and went about 19km (11.8 miles). Much more comfortable than walking in that humidity.

July 4: easy 6K in Indiana. Still SO humid. 40:55 for 6:49/km with ave HR 140 according to Fitbit.

July 5: felt lousy. Took another rest day. Just couldn't face the humidity!

July 6: Drove to Peoria, Ill., and met Ollie for lunch. Did 10K at his pace (1:20:53, 8:05/km), which was fine given that it was 27.2C (81F) and 54% humidity, which is high for me (and for Calvin, who tagged along). It was definitely cooler than normal for there in summer, but felt pretty hot to me. I have to do some heat training....(ugh). Maybe when I feel a bit stronger. Then we drove to Keokuk, IA to meet up with my family members (aunt, cousins, etc).

July 7: Finally some good weather! Did 9.5km at 6:54/km and ave HR 131 according to Fitbit, for what it's worth. It was 17.2C (63F) with 77% humidity. It felt really nice out. My legs got really tired at the end, and it was a bit hilly (60m elevation gain along the route), but so nice to do a bit of a nostalgia tour of where my grandparents used to live, and where my parents went to high school. Then we drove all day and camped in Ogallala, Nebraska.

July 8: rest day - driving home! Got home about 6pm and made dinner. Felt very nauseated/headachy/dizzy so took 2.5mg escitalopram. Felt better later in the evening.

July 9: Legs were really off from being in the car so much, but went out for a walk anyway. It was warm at 23.9C (75F) and quite humid for Utah at 54%, and my legs were definitely annoyed with me, and I felt sluggish. 6K at 6:58/km with ave HR 139. In other news, signed up for WMA 2018 in Malaga, even though I'm deathly slow. Maybe I'll feel better by then. Maybe I won't. I won't be last, so I'll probably compete. I'm having trouble getting excited about the trip to Spain, and sorta wishing I hadn't bought the tickets, except that my kids and hubby are super excited to go. Sigh....I was hoping this mystery illness thing would be better by now.

July 10: Knew I had to do some speed work, and am finally feeling semi-human from decreasing the escitalopram (though not 100% by any means). Jim had tasked me with a 5K fartlek at 85% effort for the previous day, but because of vacation did it one day late. Wow, was I ever slow, but hey, I'm just grateful I could do it. 33:30 for 6:38/km with ave HR 152.

July 11 (today): Cross-training. Rode my bike to work, uphill...about 25 min of good cardio. Then home (flying!).

Week 2. Never Give Up.

I'm still here - game face at left needed for this week. It's been a completely insane week at work (summer, lots of new people in lab, people who can help new people on vacation, etc) and at church (search committee stuff wrapping up but lots of details) and at home (house guest) and with family (dad still sick though much better) and the usual amount of kid drama/kid stuff (violin lessons, soccer meetings & registration for new team, the missed piano lesson due to busyness).

Now I know these are minor things in the big picture - but it's just been a lot of, well, stuff. Too much stuff = stress and anxiety. I need a personal life declutterer. Haha. But just saying that makes me realize that I am my own personal life declutterer, and I've been neglecting simplification. Sometimes you can't simplify, and this may be one of those times, but I need to try. A practical step is probably going to involve scheduling in some "me" time on my calendar. Not sure where, but it's going in.

All that to say that though I overslept on Thursday and had to postpone a workout to Friday, I still did all of my workouts. HA!

Sunday: rest
Monday: 6K at 6:50/km (slow but done)
Tuesday: 4K  at 6:39/km (indoor track - pouring rain and I was wimpy), plus 3x200 @85% (which I did at more like 100% because I was in a mood!) in 1:01, 1:02, 1:00
Wednesday: elliptical - 30 min (at the gym)
Thursday: overslept
Friday: warm-up (10:45 for 4 laps - slow), 3K fartlek in 19:23 (slow and heavy legs but DONE anyway)
Saturday: 12K at 6:54/km - hilly route! Calvin and dogs did 6K with me.

I'm in need of more speed but otherwise I'm doing OK. My legs felt fine when I was done with 12K again so at least the endurance is better than last week, when the last 3km of 10km was not optimal, leg-wise.


My eating wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either. I did lose 2 lb. Home scale says 166.0, WW scale 167.2 (down 2.2 at WW). Keeping on track enough. For this week, am going to do better at menu planning and scheduling me time. I'm on it right now.

elliptical; 3K fartlek

Tulips from this morning, at left. So beautiful around our neighborhood!

Yesterday: elliptical for 30 min, plus walking a lot around campus (errands).

Today: 3K fartlek. I woke up feeling really good, for the first time in a while. It wasn't that I got that much sleep, because I didn't (7 hr?), but I guess I slept well? I did have a very relaxing evening with our small group from church, and some good conversation with Loren before bed; Calvin drove me a bit crazy with piano practicing issues, but otherwise things were peaceful. I can't say why I felt good, but I did. Go figure.

I was actually kind of excited to go to the track. It was 8.9C (48F) which is pretty average or slightly warmer than usual for this time of year in the morning, and I wore capris and a long sleeved shirt but forgot my gloves. That was OK, though as it was borderline whether I needed them. It was a bit breezy so I was chilled to start but then after the warm-up was fine.

My warm-up was a lot faster than the last 2 weeks for the same thing - 10:09 this week vs 10:33 and 10:34 for the last 2 weeks. I felt good. The workout followed and was good - I was happy because all my fast 500s were back under 3 min, where they belong :). My medium 500s are still slowish but that's fitness and it will return.

Garmin data here. 

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Avg HR	Max HR
1	02:57.2	02:57.2	149	157
2	02:59.8	05:57.0	161	164
3	03:13.4	09:10.4	158	164
4	02:59.9	12:10	164	167
5	03:17.7	15:28	160	167
6	02:59.2	18:27	165	169
Summary	18:27	18:27	159	169

elliptical; 3K fartlek

Yesterday: elliptical for 45 min. I felt very, very tired yesterday and after 30 min I thought about stopping, and maybe I should have, but I thought, "It's just the elliptical...I only have 15 more minutes". I ended up taking a nap for ~25 min when I got home from work, which helped. I'll have to keep an eye on this.

Today: 3K fartlek. I am a little sore from something - but just a little (very minor), all over - shoulders, arms, abs, legs. Otherwise, feeling good, and the weather was amazing this morning at 16C (61F), calm, and clear. I did a warm-up with strides, and it felt OK. Not great, not bad, but OK. Then I did some dynamic stretching and started my workout. After the first 1km (kinda slowish, even a little slower than last week) I felt pretty tired and had no gas in the tank. Legs were heavy and not moving well, but I felt good mentally, telling myself "no judgment" and "relax" which helped. I finished about 14 sec slower than last week but that seems fine given how I was feeling. I worked hard and got a good workout in, which is what matters at this point.

After the workout I felt great, and I feel pretty good now too. Hoping the tired thing isn't a trend. I have been thinking that if I can train again and lose some weight that I really want to try to go to Spain in Sept 2018 for World Masters. My family wants to go to Spain (kids are in Spanish immersion) too, so it would be a win-win. Now to stay healthy and uninjured. Haha.

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Avg HR	Max HR
1	03:00.1	03:00.1	145	157
2	03:03.9	06:04.0	158	161
3	03:20.4	09:24.4	154	161
4	03:04.1	12:29	160	163
5	03:22.6	15:51	156	163
6	03:03.8	18:55	161	166
Summary	18:55	18:55	155	166

Garmin data here. 

elliptical, 3K fartlek

Yesterday: 45 min elliptical, in a 25-min session and a 20-min session (interrupted by walking the kids to school). I bought a cheap, used elliptical for home, and it's been great. The ones at the gym are a lot better but sometimes convenience is very important as to getting in a workout or not getting in a workout!

Today: 3K fartlek. Gorgeous weather at the track. Calm and clear, and not too cold at 8.9C (48F). Just right. I had a bunch of negative thoughts, but successfully pushed them aside both before and during the workout. I told myself there was no judgment and that I was just out here to have a good hard workout. That helped, and I got it done.

Did 1600m warm-up with strides in 10:44, and my legs felt sluggish. I got a little concerned about that but they are fine now (lunch time) and as long as the fatigue stays away we're good.

The fartlek went about how you'd expect at this point, given that I haven't done one since December. Splits are below. I'd complain that I'm slow, but actually given my fitness (not much!) this seems fine. It's somewhere to start and I'm proud of the effort.



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Splits	Time	Avg HR	Max HR
1	02:58.8	149	156
2	03:04.7	158	161
3	03:15.8	156	161
4	03:03.1	161	164
5	03:17.6	158	163
6	03:01.3	163	167
Summary	18:41	157	167

Garmin data here.

And, you can't beat the view from the track.

long break

I have had a long break from training, and from a lot more. From the end of July through the beginning of November, I pretty much felt lousy. Dizzy/off-balance, very fatigued, caught at least 4-5 colds/other viruses, and just felt rotten. Went to my family doc, who checked everything and found the same neuropathy I'd had 3 yrs ago when my B12 was low. She referred me to neurology, and when I finally saw them in November, they did an EMG which was totally normal. I still have some neuropathy type symptoms, but they are mild and nothing to worry about apparently. Soooo....still no idea what's wrong. My best guess is chronic fatigue of some type plus stress and viral illness = sick Tammy. I've been feeling pretty good for a few weeks now, though this week I've noticed the fatigue and dizziness a little. Still, I want to racewalk more, so I am cautiously adding in stuff.

Yesterday I did 6K at 6:35/km, which is pretty fast for me lately. Most of my workouts that I've been able to do have been more like 6:45-7:00/km, so 6:35 was good. So today I decided to do a 3K fartlek, even though I know I've been a bit "off" this week. I still want to try and get back to racewalking...carefully. I had to work out at the indoor track because outside there was a light dusting of snow on the track and it was slick. The indoor track is nice & warm anyway :) and it's dark out so late now, so indoor is kinda nice.

I did 5 laps to warm up, with some strides on the last lap. It felt surprisingly OK to walk fast on that last lap. I did some dynamic stretching and then started in on the fartlek. I felt pretty good for 5 laps (2 fast, 2 med, 1 fast) but then the 1 fast, 2 med, 2 fast to end were tougher. My medium effort laps were slow because I'm out of shape, but not as slow as I feared. My fast laps weren't as slow as I thought they'd be either. However, I was ***really*** out of breath and very tired at the end. But hey, I made it, and I was much faster than I expected.

My times (2 laps, 585m) were 3:25.9, 3:49.1, 3:30.6, 3:51.0, and 3:30.1 --- corrected to 500m that is 2:56, 3:16, 3:00, 3:17, 3:00. Total time 18:07, corrected to 18:34 for a full 3K (this was 2926m). That's not so awful. OK, yeah, slow...but of course! I haven't been training. But it's not deathly slow.

3K fartlek data here. 

***

I have gained about 10 lb too, from the recent problems. It's hard to keep weight off when you're chronically overtired and not exercising as much as you are used to. I am trying to take it back off now that I'm feeling better, but it's a slow process. Baby steps.

8K fartlek

Today was a little too interesting. I planned to go to the track at 6:10am with Calvin. At 6:08, Calvin reported dog poop upstairs. Oh yay! Even better, when I investigated, it was 5 puddles of diarrhea. Even more oh yay! So I got out the carpet cleaner (2 dogs + 2 kids = a necessity), and cleaned up. Of course, by that time it was 6:30 and too late for C to come along. Just as well, since when I arrived at the track I saw this:

The bottom photo has a sign that says "Track Closed For Resurfacing". It needs it badly, but it sure would have been nice if they had given some warning to the public, and I have no idea how long it'll be closed. Oh yay again. 

So I went home, and executed plan B. Go to work, start my experiments, then go work out, and go back and finish up. Plus the late-night part where I get to go in tonight because there's more to do. 

I ended up at the indoor track by 8:45 am, and did my 8K fartlek: 3 laps hard, then 2 medium/2 hard until lap 27 = 7900.4m. It went about as well as it probably could have, which is the very good news. I was very consistent and paced it better than I thought possible at this point. My splits were pretty good - see below - fasts were 500m equivalent of 2:56-3:00 and mediums were 3:09-3:15, which is lots better than the last couple weeks. Total was 48:27 which works out to 49:03 for the full 8km had I been on the outdoor track, with the typical average HR of 160. I was pushing very hard at the end and it averaged 170 on the last split. Not bad.

Hamstring? Very little pain. Mostly no pain, but some intervals it was 1/10. No foot pain. My legs did get pretty tired but I was able to keep the pace. I'll take it for now. Still slow, but improving. 

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Avg HR	Max HR	878/585m	1k/500m equivalent
1	01:40.0	01:40.0	137	153
2	01:44.0	03:24.0	153	156
3	01:43.9	05:07.8	157	159	05:07.9	05:50.7
4	01:50.9	06:58.7	155	159
5	01:50.2	08:48.9	155	156	03:41.1	03:09.0
6	01:43.9	10:33	160	163
7	01:45.0	12:18	163	164	03:28.9	02:58.5
8	01:52.2	14:10	159	162
9	01:53.3	16:03	155	156	03:45.5	03:12.7
10	01:43.9	17:47	160	165
11	01:44.6	19:32	166	167	03:28.5	02:58.2
12	01:51.9	21:24	160	167
13	01:51.6	23:15	159	161	03:43.5	03:11.0
14	01:43.4	24:59:00	165	168
15	01:43.3	26:42:00	168	170	03:26.7	02:56.7
16	01:50.2	28:32:00	159	170
17	01:53.0	30:25:00	162	163	03:43.2	03:10.8
18	01:44.2	32:09:00	166	170
19	01:45.9	33:55:00	168	170	03:30.1	02:59.6
20	01:53.4	35:48:00	162	168
21	01:52.7	37:41:00	162	163	03:46.1	03:13.2
22	01:46.4	39:28:00	166	169
23	01:44.3	41:12:00	169	171	03:30.7	03:00.1
24	01:53.3	43:05:00	160	169
25	01:54.6	45:00:00	161	163	03:47.9	03:14.8
26	01:44.9	46:45:00	166	169
27	01:42.7	48:27:00	170	172	03:27.6	02:57.4
Summary	48:27:00	48:27:00	160	172		49:03:39

8K fartlek

Today Jim gave me an 8K fartlek. I went into it trying not to think about the fact that I did 10K yesterday, or that my hamstring was a little sore, or that my stomach was a bit upset. I succeeded in not thinking too much :). Part of that was that I allowed myself to listen to music, which I don't usually do in my outdoor workouts, even ones at the track. I mean, I can't listen to music at a race, so why get in the habit? But I felt I needed a distraction, so I brought my headphones.

I did 1600m of warm-up with strides, did some PT exercises and some dynamic drills, and then got started. The weather was exceptionally calm (NO wind - and this track always has wind, well a breeze at least!) and cool at 6.1C (43F). It was pretty nice, actually, and that helped a lot.

I talked myself through the first 1km thinking "data" and "getting stronger", meaning that I shouldn't judge my times, just regard them as data for now because I'm just trying to get stronger. And to my surprise, I was better than last week by 45 seconds. OK, it was still pathetically slow, BUT that doesn't matter right now. The last 3km my legs were tired, but the most important thing then was watching my technique like a hawk so I wouldn't injure myself. I was SO careful! My hamstring was a bit tender at points, 1-2/10, but not bad, and it has hurt a bit since, but again, not anything to get alarmed over, and tomorrow is a cross-training day. My foot didn't bother me at all. So, I'm happy about that. The times will come, at least that is what I'm telling myself, even if I'm not sure I believe it.

Total: 50:05 with ave HR 158 (though my HR monitor was moving around a lot and the readings don't look right; I suspect it may have been a bit higher?).

Edited to add: had terrible, terrible intestinal issues afterward that have persisted ALL. DAY. LONG. Left work early because I felt too ill to do anything properly, and was thankful for my undergrad who picked up some things that I really HAD to get done. I wonder if I have some sort of stomach bug?

split	time	cumulative	ave HR	max HR
1	02:57.2	02:57.2	146	157
2	02:59.9	05:57.0	159	163
3	03:11.4	09:08.4	157	165
4	03:00.7	12:09	160	166
5	03:13.7	15:23	155	162
6	03:03.2	18:26	158	164
7	03:13.1	21:39	155	163
8	03:01.1	24:40:00	158	165
9	03:15.6	27:56:00	157	161
10	03:01.9	30:58:00	161	167
11	03:18.0	34:16:00	159	164
12	03:05.4	37:21:00	158	166
13	03:18.5	40:39:00	162	167
14	03:05.5	43:45:00	160	167
15	03:18.1	47:03:00	162	165
16	03:02.2	50:05:00	163	168
Summary	50:05:00	50:05:00	158	168

8K fartlek

It wasn't fast. In fact, it may be my slowest 8K fartlek ever. But honestly, this was one of the hardest workouts I've done, and I didn't quit, and I'm very proud of it. The last few km my legs and lungs were really tired, but I just made myself keep going. Average HR was 160, which is a very solid effort for this workout, so you can see I was working hard. I paced myself pretty well too.

I'm proud of it because 1) I didn't think too much. I just went out and did it. 2) I didn't quit even though my times were terrible. 3) I didn't beat myself up because my times were terrible. I told myself that it was just a starting place. 4) I was happy to be out there because the weather was good, and my injuries were not bothering me. 5) That makes me really a BAM today. Remember, Kelly calls me Tam-bam :), and I told myself I was a BAM and that I was gonna get through this one no matter what. 6) My pacing was good; I did slow down but not a lot. I had something left for a good hard push on the last 500m.

Weather: lovely. 12.2C (54F) with a slight breeze. I was happy to be at the outdoor track again.
Injury update: foot did fine; it was a bit warm-ish but I focused on keeping my toes turned out a bit (the remedy 5 years ago) and that did the trick. Hamstring was a bit more nagging than earlier in the week; the pain was mostly 1 with some 2/10. Now, later in the day, with sitting it's bothering me, but it's not terrible. I worked VERY hard to focus on my technique and keep it good, though I'm sure it wasn't perfect when I got tired (but I focused harder on it when I was tired, so I was trying as hard as I could to keep it solid).

Here are the (very slow) numbers, and Garmin data is here:

split	time	cumulative	ave HR	max HR
1	02:57.6	02:57.6	147	155
2	03:02.1	05:59.8	158	161
3	03:12.6	09:12.3	156	160
4	03:01.6	12:14	161	164
5	03:18.3	15:32	156	162
6	03:02.5	18:35	162	165
7	03:19.4	21:54	157	163
8	03:03.7	24:58:00	162	165
9	03:19.3	28:17:00	160	165
10	03:05.9	31:23:00	163	166
11	03:20.9	34:44:00	161	166
12	03:06.6	37:50:00	164	167
13	03:21.9	41:12:00	161	166
14	03:06.3	44:19:00	165	168
15	03:24.4	47:43:00	162	167
16	03:06.3	50:49:00	166	169
Summary	50:49:00	50:49:00	160	169

3K fartlek - last Thursday

This is a leftover post from last week ---

On Thursday I did a 3K fartlek at the outdoor track (! it was unlocked!). But...sadly, the workout was terrible. I was really slow, felt like sludge, and my HR was low. Just one of those bad workout days. I was supposed to do 5K but quit at 3K, at 18:25 (!so slow!). HR was only 158.

cross-training; 5K fartlek

Yesterday: elliptical, rode bike to work. I also did this on Monday, and my hamstring was totally fine with the biking uphill. But yesterday it was bothering me a bit during the bike ride, which I thought was a bit odd. It's not like hamstring is the #1 muscle you use while bicycling. Hmmm. The good news is that it felt 100% fine last night and this morning before my 5K fartlek, so I am pretty sure I didn't aggravate it.

Today: 5K fartlek. Went to Taylorsville High track to meet Kelly. Track was LOCKED. ARRRRRGH. So we had coffee, and skipped the workout. The end.

Not really! We had coffee, and afterward I went home and got ready for work and took the bus to campus and worked out at the indoor track, showered, and walked to work. I did the 5K fartlek.

The warm-up was fine and I felt very good. Pain was limited to 1/10, and my legs felt energetic this morning. I did a few PT exercises and some dynamic drills and got going on the fartlek. I did about the same as I did 2 weeks ago when I did the 5K fartlek, speed-wise, only today I had less pain. It was consistently 1/10 with only the occasional 2/10. Yes to that! The speed will come. I gotta keep believing that!

Total time was a slowish 30:19.8, which = 30:29.3 for the full 5000m. Splits were 2:53-2:58 adjusted for hard effort 500s and 3:07-3:13 for medium effort 500s. Yes, slow, but I am trying not to care about that. Just getting it done.

Garmin data here. 

P-DTR, rest day; 3K fartlek

Yesterday: I was just really tired, and a bit down, plus really busy, so I tried to respect my body by giving it a day off except for my PT appointment. My regular PT, Shane at the U Orthopedic Center, had suggested I go see Bonnie who is a PT at the women's clinic, to rule out any pelvic floor dysfunction or problems with muscles in and around that area, given that I was having a hamstring relapse. I agreed, because while I didn't think I was having problems in that area, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get it checked out.

So yesterday afternoon I saw Bonnie and she was very thorough. After examining me she didn't think I had any pelvic floor problems, and thought that basically the problem was my hamstring coupled with some possible lingering dysfunction from my ACL reconstruction 23 years ago. She felt that my popliteus on the left side and some of my back muscles on the left side were a little dysfunctional. I had told Shane last week that I thought I did have some lingering weakness stemming from the ACL surgery, and while I had rehabbed it very well, it wasn't quite the same as the other side. That was all fine and well.

But then Bonnie did something a bit unusual and I'm not 100% sure how I felt about it. On the one hand, I felt that last night it improved my pain level and my functioning quite a bit, but what she did struck me as a bit "woo-woo" and now that I've done some research I can say this much: "P-DTR" or "Proprioceptive Deep Tendon Reflex" therapy is not peer reviewed or evidence-based - YET. Having experienced it and seen some definite short-term benefit (though obviously n=1 and this is anecdotal!), I wouldn't write it off. I thought it was helpful. I'd love it if someone would do some research and show whether it is actually effective or not. Basically, the theory is that some pain results from poor proprioceptor functioning and that using a variety of techniques one can "reset" the mechanosensory feedback that the brain gets.  It seems possible to me that this could have some truth in it; our brains are complex and respond to quite interesting therapies, for example, the mirror box treatment for phantom pain.

Today: 3K fartlek. I went to the gym and did a warm-up on the indoor track. My pain level was a bit better than last week's 5K fartlek, which is good. It wasn't zero, and it was still more painful than before my relapse, with pain 1-2/10, mostly 2/10, and afterward it bothered me quite a bit for maybe 5-10 min before settling down and not hurting any more. I took some naproxen and though I was sitting quite a bit this morning doing injections of zebrafish embryos, it didn't bother me at all, so that was good. Now, at lunch time, it feels pretty much fine, which is an improvement on last week I think.

My fartlek performance was OK, and was about what it has been the past few weeks. Hopefully I can start training more soon and make some real fitness gains. All this waiting is frustrating, but at the same time, I should relax and go with it. My total time for the 2926m was 17:35 which is 18:02 for 3000m. Ave HR was only 157, and my intervals were ~2:55 for the fast and ~3:10 for medium effort. OK I guess. It is what it is...and I feel like I've been saying that for several years now, but what are you going to do, y'know?

Garmin data here. 

cross-training; cross-training; 5K fartlek

Tuesday: cross-training & PT

Wednesday: cross-training & PT, because I wasn't feeling so hot. I'm fine now, but I wasn't up to a 5K fartlek.

Today: 5K fartlek on indoor track. It went OK. My hamstring was much more tender than last week; about like Saturday's 16K and Monday's 10K - pain 2/10. I don't like this trend and am watching it but suspect it's just irritated from the PT and yoga? I need to take some more anti-inflammatories; had stopped because I didn't need them but I need to get this calmed down again.

My fartlek was 30:25 equivalent for 5000m, which is slower than last week by a little bit; perhaps because I was a bit more conservative because of the pain? But it's basically the same speed: too slow, but it'll do for now. I have to be patient, and I'm not good at that.

After my workout I went on the balcony to cool off and took this cool moon photo:

5K fartlek

Woke up feeling OK but in a grumpy mood, for no particular reason. Sometimes this happens to me; I get full of self-doubt about racewalking or start dwelling on some minor problem in my life and start ruminating. Thinking too much is definitely not good at times! I made myself dress and go to the indoor track anyway. Stopped at East High to see if their outdoor track was open (it wasn't...need to call the school and find out what the new hours are), and then drove to the U. Did some PT exercises to activate the glutes, and then I warmed up for 5 laps with some strides on the last lap (1:42.7; pretty good!). Then I did some dynamic stretching.

I still wasn't in a good mood, but it was a little better. I at least wanted to try the workout; was a little nervous about GI trouble after last week (which was silly since I didn't eat crap like last week), but everything was fine.

I started the workout and it felt pretty good. By 3K (well, 2926m, at 17:34, which would be 18:00 for 3K) I knew it was a decent workout, considering the shape that I'm in, and that it didn't totally stink like last week did (though of course last week would've been fine if I hadn't had GI issues). I also knew I wouldn't get under 30 min for 5K, but I know that'll come soon enough. I finished in 30:10 for 4974m, which works out to 30:19 for 5K. I'll take that. Season's best (haha...have only done this one 5K fartlek this year). My fast intervals were 2:53.1-2:56.9, and my medium effort intervals ranged from 3:08.0-3:11.8 (500m equivalents). Not fast, but not the worst I've done lately. I'll take it.

My pain level was mostly 0-1 but with an occasional 2/10. I sat a good amount this morning injecting at work and had a little discomfort but it was pretty minor, so I think things are good on that front. Luckily I don't usually sit around much at work haha!

Oh, and it was a beautiful though cold morning here (photo at left taken from our living room) so the outdoor track might've been icy anyway; I fell on some ice on the sidewalk on my way to the bus stop :( but landed on my backpack and so was well padded, and my computer is fine. Geez.

After the workout I felt a lot better, mood-wise. I didn't feel super awesome, but decent. I have to say I do love racewalking for that if for nothing else.

Garmin data here. 

5K --- nope, 3K ---- fartlek; GI distress

Dang it. Just not meant to be.

Went to outdoor track with Calvin at 6:35am; it was LOCKED. GRRRRR. Came home. Changed into shorts. Went to indoor track. They wouldn't admit anyone under 18 because it wasn't "family hours", which are very limited at Friday after 5pm, Sat & Sun all day. Geez.

Calvin and I had doctor appointments this morning at 8:50 and 9:30, so we had to get dressed and get going to those. That all went fine; everything good so far - had some blood work done and my cholesterol is nice & low with good HDL:LDL ratios (big surprise there, with my diet and exercise - NOT!) - CBC good, with hematocrit at 40.0 the best I've seen it. Waiting on B12 and serum ferritin, but expect those to be normal with the oral supplementation I've been doing after having deficiencies in B12 and iron.

Anyway, had to head to the track at 2pm because work was busy, including a birthday lunch for me and for the PI in the next-door lab (her birthday was today, and mine yesterday). I didn't eat much, but I had eaten a lot yesterday, and something caught up with me. At the track, by 9-10 min into the fartlek I was nauseated and having some intestinal rumblings. By 3K I was worried and had to call it quits after one extra lap. It was ugly, and I'll spare you the details, but at least I made it to the restroom.

I was slow, too - as you might expect given the GI distress. Geez. Can't catch a break.

Total time 18:01 for 2926m, which is 18:28 equivalent for 3000m. Terrible. Garmin data here. 

Hamstring: felt decent during at 0-1/10 pain level, but bothered me a bit afterward; sciatica.

Hopefully next week I can actually do the 5K fartlek and it'll be better.

3K fartlek

This morning I had a little trouble waking up :/. I didn't go to bed that late, but I am still a bit tired from last weekend. I should have gone to bed earlier last night, but have to catch up on all the household stuff after being gone. Never a break for this mom! But that's OK.

I did manage to get up soon enough to get myself and Calvin to the OUTDOOR track by 6:40am - yay! It's not under snow any more! And it's light out now at 6:40am! Well, until daylight savings starts in 2 weeks :/. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Bonus: not only was it light out, but it was pretty warm at 3.9C (40F) and calm and clear. The sunrise was beautiful as we arrived at the track, but I left my phone at home by mistake, so no pictures, sorry.

I was happy to have Calvin's company this morning. We did the warm-up together; I started slowly and did the 1600m (with 2x100m strides in the last lap) in 10:25 or so. The first 2 laps were quite slow as I just focused on technique and getting a firm foundation for the workout. After the warm-up we did some dynamic stretches and then started on the fartlek. Calvin was new to the workout but I explained it to him as we warmed up, and he got it just fine. I told him to go his own speed, since he runs much faster than I racewalk. He is a good runner for his age! He did the 3K fartlek in 14:15, which is 7:40/mile (4:45/km), and he lapped me (of course!).

My fartlek was a little better than last week, at 17:58 total time and 2:53.8, 2:57.0, 3:11.5 (medium), 2:55.2, 3:09.8 (medium), 2:51.0 splits. I didn't push at my absolute hardest effort on the first 1km and the second 500m hard; more like 90% as I was trying to make sure I didn't hurt myself and watching my form. I am still feeling very cautious about the speed work. The last 500m I let 'er rip, especially on the last 100m, and it felt OK. Pain was 1-2/10 about like yesterday. Mostly it was just a mild aching but stronger twinges at times which is a good reminder to check form. My average HR was only 157, so clearly a little room to push more, but the last 500m was 164 average and 170 max, which is good. I have to be patient. I'm trying not to think about the fact that I need to do 20K faster than this morning's pace by October...but obviously that thought crossed my mind. I'm just not going to dwell on it. Train, eat right, sleep more (! bad at this!), cross-train, yoga, and PT, and it'll happen. Hopefully. And if not, well, I can have a good vacation with friends or something :)?

Garmin data here. 

great 8K fartlek

I'm happy!

Yesterday: rest day

Today's workout: 8K fartlek. Weather was threatening cold and windy so Kelly and I nixed a planned meeting at the outdoor track at Taylorsville High. Kelly opted for the treadmill at her work, and I went to the indoor track at the U. I'm so grateful for this facility. It's hard enough to get psyched to get up in the dark and go do a hard workout, but when it's dark and cold and nasty out, it's darn near impossible. The indoor track removes the weather factor, which is a beautiful thing.

It does make calculations more awkward, but that's what Excel is for, and Excel is also a beautiful thing :). The track is 292.6m per lap, and so for my 8K fartlek that is 27 laps for 7900m. Close enough. I did 3 laps hard, then alternated 2 laps medium, 2 laps hard to the finish. The 3 laps hard was in 4:58.5, which works out to 5:40.1/km. Good start. Then 2 laps medium effort in 3:34.3 (3:03.1 500m equivalent, nice!), 2 laps hard in 3:18.1 (2:49.3), 2 laps medium 3:37.5 (3:05.8), 2 laps hard 3:17.2 (2:48.5), 2 laps medium 3:37.4 (3:05.7), 2 laps hard 3:18.2 (2:49.3), 2 laps medium 3:37.9 (3:06.2), 2 laps hard 3:19.9 (2:50.8), 2 laps medium 3:41.2 (3:09.0), 2 laps hard 3:20.9 (2:51.6), 2 laps medium 3:41.5 (3:09.2), 2 laps hard 3:22.1 (2:52.7).

Total time 46:44.7, and adjusted to 8km it would be 47:20.1. That is the fastest 8K fartlek I've done since 2012!!!! Woooohooooo! Very excited about that. Granted, in 2012 I was in the 45 minute range (sigh....) but we have to keep things in perspective here, and be happy for my recovery and that I feel good and can train again.

Speaking of feeling good, I did feel good during the whole workout, though obviously got a little tired at the end and slowed down a little on the last couple sets. My legs feel a bit tired now (at lunch time) but nothing too awful. Seems like a normal post-hard-workout tiredness.

My heart rate was a bit low this morning for the perceived effort; average HR was 157 for the workout and usually I'm maybe 160-161 for this workout. I was pushing it really hard though, and was in the mid to upper 160s for the hard parts at the end, so I am not sure why the HR was lower at the start. Maybe I'm getting fitter? Maybe I should've pushed harder to start - but that can't be right because I slowed a bit at the end so if anything I should've gone a bit easier to start I think. Anyway, no matter, just interesting.

Garmin data here. 

The views from the track were lovely this morning - the air is super clear from all the wind yesterday and it's beautiful today. Cold, but beautiful. I took a few pics of the view (excuse the reflections in the glass...sigh...) and of the facility.

catching up!!! 3x800/200; 20 min w/strides; PA-USATF 20K racewalk (regional champs); 10K; 6K fartlek

I got very behind on my blog due to traveling to Chicago for work for 6 days and then to California for the 20K race just one day after I got back from Chicago. After that, it was only 5 days until our housewarming party, and to make matters more complicated, I pulled an abdominal muscle lifting a bag of dog food and was incapacitated for a day. Geez!

I know that my readers (all two of them ;)!) are completely fascinated with my workouts, so I wouldn't want them to miss any. Here's a recap (more for me and my coach...!):

Thursday 10/22 3x800/200 - could NOT catch my breath this morning; freshly back from Chicago, which is much closer to sea level. Maybe I'm a little de-acclimated to altitude? Seems fast, but...anyway, 800/200s were 4:38.4, 1:01.2, 4:38.8, 1:00.5, 4:37.3, 59.6. HA! Faster on each one, even though they were about 5 sec slower than last week's. Oh well.

Friday 10/23 elliptical for 30 min

Saturday 10/24 20 min with strides, at 6:01/km (fast! with Stevie...!). Pulled my left hamstring just a touch on 2nd stride; rested and iced it and it was fine for the race. Whew. Felt good being at sea level, or something :).

Sunday 10/25 PA-USATF 20K racewalk. My apologies for the brief race report...but...well, this is what happens when you get a bit too busy. Something has to give, and I guess it's my blog. We drove to California on Friday (after I did the elliptical) and stayed with my brother in Davis. We being me, Stevie (16yo from Orem), and Stevie's dad, Jim. Jim drove (yay!) and just asked that I chat to keep him company. No problem! We then had all day Saturday to chill, visit the Jelly Belly factory - I brought Calvin too, and Stevie also wanted to go - and try not to do too much. That was easily enough accomplished. Played some Scrabble, helped my brother assemble a dresser, hung out with everyone. Then on Sunday we drove the 30 min to the race in Sacramento, registered, and did the 5K (Calvin) and the 20K (me, Stevie). I am obviously not in shape for a fast 20K, but was at least in shape to DO the distance, and I am soooooo sick of just racing 5Ks that I really wanted to do the 20K, so I did, even though my coach Jim recommended that I do the 5K. I almost always listen to his advice, but this time I just couldn't bring myself to do 5K.

Anyway, in a nutshell: first 10K felt great (31:04 5K, 1:02:15 10K) and then my legs started to tire but still made it to 15K the fastest I've done in a while, and faster than my 15K race in May by a minute (1:33:42 - thought it was:33, but it was :42!). Then the last 5K I really ran out of steam and got a cramp in my left calf which made me very nervous about maintaining form. I was able to hang on and finish in 2:06:03 though, and I'm happy with that especially given my lack of conditioning (hadn't walked 20K since June) and my HR was only an average of 151 for the race! So I think I'm on track for good things if I can stay healthy. Weather was good - 65 at end of race; 55ish at start, humid. A little warm but really very nice.

Monday 10/26 rest day

Tuesday 10/27 elliptical; bike to work

Wednesday 10/28 muscle strain from lifting bag of dog food :( - took off work; didn't work out

Thursday 10/29 muscle strain - better; back at work; didn't work out

Friday 10/30 30 min elliptical - felt fine :)!

Saturday 10/31 easy 10K; muscle strain hurt a bit at the start but was OK after 1k or so. Total time 1:03:10 for 6:19/km. Happy with that.

Sunday 11/1 rest day

Monday 11/2 6K fartlek. This went great! Some muscle strain pain at the start but then all was fine. The weather was nice and warm for November - 49F (10C) and calm and clear early in the morning, with a beautiful sunrise as we were finishing the workout. Kelly met me and did 60 min easy while I did the fartlek; I did the last 7 min with her, jogging slowly, after I finished my workout.

500m fast times were all 2:50-2:53 and medium effort 500m were all 3:05-3:10. Total time 35:41! I'm happy with that. My legs got pretty tired for the last couple km but I held it together fine and finished well.

Jim actually gave me a real program going all the way to our 1hr postal on Dec 19! I'm so excited to be feeling good enough to have an extended training program. Hopefully I'll be able to follow it.

Photos: sunrise this morning, and Kelly and I at the track.

3K fartlek

Sunday: 20 min elliptical, because I was in the mood, even though it was an optional rest day. The hotel ellipticals are good, but they are a different brand than my gym, so my calves got verrrrrrrry sore from using it. Plus lots of walking around the city and the SfN conference.

Monday: cross-training; 25 min elliptical and 20 min on stationary bike. Lots of walking around the city and conference again too.

Today: Calves hurt oh so oh so oh so much! It's actually pretty amusing. But I was determined to do my fartlek anyway. I went down to the Riverwalk for a warm-up, and then over to the Lakeshore Trail heading south for the workout. My warm-up was not tracked at all correctly on the Garmin; apparently the tall buildings and/or the sunken path by the river mess it up. It was amusing to see the track it put on the map. My calves felt really stiff and my gait awkward during the warm-up, but some strides seemed to even things out a bit. Still, I feel disoriented and a bit weird doing a workout in the middle of the day in a strange city. I'm enjoying the conference but ready to go home, and glad I don't have a job that requires regular travel like this all the time - once in a while is fun, but it'd get old for me fast.

Then after dynamic stretching and bridges and clamshells for glute activation, I got started. It was 70F (21C) and quite windy, at 14kph steady (~9mph) with bigger gusts. It is kind of humid too, especially compared to Utah, so I was pretty warm. I didn't have any high expectations, as my legs were sore and I felt out-of-sorts and it was warm outside. However, I did really well! Go figure. It might be the altitude; I find I do speed work much better at sea level.

My time was 17:14, and my splits were: 2:42.0, 2:53.8, 3:01.7, 2:44.4, 3:03.9, 2:49.1 (tired on that last one!). Ave HR for the whole workout was 163, and I pushed it very hard especially at the end (mid 170s). This is the best fartlek I've done in a while, and it's good timing as I'm going to race this weekend. And that was with sore calves and wind in my face pretty hard the second 500m.

Garmin data here.