~6km; PT

My friend Erin is visiting and arrived very late (2 am!) last night. Despite that, she got up early so we could walk together this morning, and even walked a bit slowly for me the first 6km of her walk. I was to do 6km, and she 12km. She inspired me with her pace, despite still being quite sore from getting hit in the knee by a discus a few weeks ago (you can still see how her right leg is swollen).

My piriformis felt pretty good this morning despite the relatively quick pace, and I was surprised I'd recovered that well from Sunday's 15K. The time passed quickly having a friend to talk with, and I really enjoyed Erin's company.

We did the 6.32 km in 38:34 for 6:06/km and my ave HR was 147. That's the fastest I've walked in a while where it felt pretty good (though I guess I've had a few OK speed workouts). The piriformis felt fine the rest of the day, too.

At 3pm I had a PT appt, and Erin came along. The PT gave me some great exercises to strengthen my glutes and work my external rotators and abductors - Erin really liked them a lot too. The treadmill video part wasn't so great - I swear I cannot walk properly on one of those things. Erin got a bit irritated with me and told me I had a mental block. Well, whatever the case is, something is wrong. The video looked terrible and I knew exactly what I was doing wrong WHILE I was doing it but couldn't fix it on the d@#* treadmill. It was really frustrating and kind of upsetting too. Regardless, I did feel we accomplished some useful things regarding my technique and getting more smooth - less heel pounding, more rolling all the way through the toes, and a more upright stature.

Garmin data from 6.32km here.

In addition to the PT exercises I did with the PT, I also did some back/core exercises after I got back from the 6.32 km while Erin was doing the rest of her walk. Felt good.

15K

Yesterday I cross-trained; 30 min elliptical and 15 min on the stationary bike. Should have done less on the elliptical, as it bothered me a bit yesterday. I switched to the bike once I noticed that the elliptical was irritating my piriformis, but by then the damage was done and it was definitely a bit sore the rest of the day.

I spent a bit of time worrying last night about today's walk, not that that did any good. Worrying is generally a total waste of time, but on the bright side I had a nice chat on Facebook with Nyle, fellow Team Leppik racewalker and good friend. We agree regularly that it stinks living half a world away from each other. It would be so lovely to go and have coffee with her and hang out and air our racewalking troubles. Even better...train together! I am missing my training partner Kelly, as she is out with a contused meniscus, and it would be so good to have someone to train with again.

***

Today is Mother's Day, and I couldn't have asked for a nicer gift than to get out early in the amazing weather (54F, 12C; clear and sunny and calm) and get in a good 15K. Even better, it went well compared with the last two. Two weeks ago it was a death march, last week was a little better, and this week was better still. Not that it was good, because it wasn't - YET. But I felt flashes of my former self returning. I had no discomfort at all in my piriformis for the first 6km, and for the first 3-4km I really felt like I was moving well and my legs felt good. Then they got a bit tired, but at 5K I rallied a bit down the slight hill into Liberty Park and did well until about 8km, when my legs got slowly and steadily more and more tired to the end of the workout.

However, I never got much slower than 6:45/km, even on the slight uphill back home from the park. I felt stronger than I have felt and had to stop less frequently (though I did stop 3-4 times for stretching and leg swings and some squats to activate my glutes). I felt my hips were rotating well and that I was standing upright and my technique was good, until about 13.5km when my body was very tired. My pain levels were 1-2 from 6-15km, and though I am recovering, it is clear that the piriformis strain was a pretty serious one and that it's going to take some more time to fully recover. Perhaps quite a bit more time? But at least I can train a little. It might not be as much as me or my coach want me to train, but something is better than nothing, and it does appear to be improving slowly.

Total time 1:36:20 for 6:25/km with ave HR 148. 5K splits: 30:59, 32:33, 32:47. That first 5K I felt almost normal...now to get my endurance back and get my piriformis at 100%. Eventually it WILL happen and I have to be patient. 

Garmin data here.

dead legs

I was to do a 10K kickdown this morning. I was excited about it, though I will admit I was a touch apprehensive as to how my body would hold up.

The weather was glorious and I was in a good mood as I drove to the park to start my workout (I like to do the kickdowns on a relatively flat course, hence the driving). It was 54F (12C) and calm, and the sun was up early since it's nearing summer, and it was beautiful outside.

I got started and was feeling I was moving pretty well. I felt I was using my hips properly, and was shocked when at 500m my watch said 3:23! WHAT?!?!?!? Surely I couldn't be that slow???? But I guess I was. By 2.5km I knew it was going to be a bad day. I was doing 6:30 pace and my legs felt heavy and tired. I stopped and called Erin (a much faster walker who also works with Jim) because she is in New York and I knew she'd be awake. She was VERY sympathetic and understanding, as she's recently been in the same boat as me. I was so frustrated I was crying, and she just listened and encouraged me to listen to my body and know that I was not a failure and that things will improve eventually. Now I knew all of these things, but when you are in the middle of it it just doesn't feel good and you need the reminders.

So, I stretched a bit and walked back to the park at the same lousy 6:30/km pace (keeping good form - I'm sure of this!), but I felt much better mentally. Not great, mind you, but much better. I have to adjust my expectations. I will be lucky just to finish the 15K race in Riverside. It won't be a race for me. And I'm not sure I'm 100% OK with that right now, but I will be by the time we get there. I've been planning to go with Nancy and Kathy for quite a while, and we are entered as a team along with Denise (from San Diego, friends with Bonnie in our club here).

It's not all sour grapes. I'm truly happy I can racewalk again, and it's a gift to be able to do it at all, even if I'm slow. And Erin pointed out to me that patience is not our strong point...that's why we're competitive, because we push hard and want to do well. Being patient is part of that game, and I'm learning that too, slowly.

I rode my bike to work again today, which is great exercise because it's almost 100% uphill. The flowers are blooming, and it was sunny, and it was great to be outside.

Garmin data on 5K walk here.

easy 5K on the track

Today Jim wanted me to walk an easy 4-5km, working on technique. OK, cool! I got Kelly to come and videotape me by bribing her with the promise of a latte afterward.

My coach is a genius...pure genius I tell you. He told me just one thing to fix: rotate the hips more and relax. Voila! Instantly better (see videos below). He's amazing and I owe a lot to him.

The weather was lovely - upper 40s (probably 10C) and a little breeze. Wished I could be out longer in it, so after my workout I biked to work :).

I felt much better today than on Tuesday. Kelly thought I needed more toe-off so I worked on that a bit in addition to keeping my hips rotating freely. I stopped every couple laps and looked at the video for some instant feedback. It made me feel better to see that not only was I lots more legal, but I looked 100% better than on Tuesday. Whew....

I am going to post the videos so you can see how CRAPPY I looked on Tuesday and how much better I look today. I am very ashamed of the first video and it pains me to post it, but I will for the sake of comparison.



Here's today's video - much much much better.



My total for the 5K today was 30:14, and I was breathing pretty hard at the end. Still quite out-of-shape as far as racewalking goes. Sigh....well, that will come. This is a long road back.

Eating hasn't been so good this week. Weight is up and I look and feel kinda nasty. Must work on that too...going to owe my friend Gisela $10 this week for my FAIL in the food department. Well...at least I have lots of inconsequential "first world" problems :). 

Garmin data here.

technique work; x-training

So last night my coach called me after watching yesterday's video and told me straight up front (no small talk) "Your technique looks like s***!". Uh, yeah...I knew that, which is why I had him watch the video. I needed help! Thankfully, coach Jim is a total genius and figured it out right away. I wasn't using my hips at all (not rotating them - probably afraid of pain?) and so my stride was super short and guess what? Doing things that way caused me MORE pain and problems. In my defense, it was compensatory and I didn't know I was doing it.

This morning I was to go out for a 3-4km walk and work on technique, not worrying about pace or time. So that's what I did. I walked 3.68 km but stopped frequently (every 0.5km-1km) to do some drills to stay loose, especially the drill where you stand with legs planted and swing your arms, allowing your hips to rotate like chicken on a spit. It worked well. I felt SO much better today - much looser, and no pain. I mean, I have a bit of residual pain from yesterday (especially when sitting! sciatica! ouch!), but I could tell today's workout did not add to it. I felt good, and fluid, and just overall much more natural. What a relief!

I'm to do this again tomorrow, and I plan to do it at the track and have Kelly videotape me again. She is so gracious to get up and meet me that early - her classes were postponed to 11:30 am tomorrow but she is going to get up anyway to help out.

After my brief workout (23 minutes or so; 6:13/km pace) I got the kids off to school and then took a bike ride to work to get some more cardio in. It was beautiful this morning - nice and warm and sunny. It rained on me on the way home :( but not too hard, so that was OK. Our weather is supposed to be super nice this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it being in the 80s!

cross-training; 6K fartlek

Sunday I rested.

Monday I cross-trained. I begged Jim to let me ride the stationary bike, which is hilarious since I hate the darned thing! But I really needed some exercise badly, and that was the option. I rode it for 30 min (all the time I had) and then I did a bad thing...I rode my bike to work, too :). I think it was OK though, as nothing hurt.

Today I was to do an 8K fartlek. As you can see by the title of my post, I didn't make it that far. My legs died. I decided before I started that I'd keep going until either 1) it hurt too much, or 2) I couldn't maintain 3:00 for the fast 500s or 3:15 for the recovery 500s. 1) never happened, thankfully; the worst the pain got was 1/10. 2) did happen - at 6K my watch read 3:02 for the fast 500 (and I felt I was really slow) and so I stopped. Looking at the graph on the Garmin website, my heart rate did decrease at the end. My legs just had no more to give after 4km.

Now, at lunch time, I'm having some minor pain in the hip/butt (Jim and I were discussing Aussie vs US use of the terms "hip" and "butt"...I feel like here we often say hip for the whole hip + butt (politeness? I know my mom never used to let me say "butt", though I do let my kids say it!) and that is confusing the issue perhaps?). Anyway, there is some pain pretty deep inside and some radiation down the back of the leg to mid-thigh (sciatica probably), and so I am pretty sure the piriformis is aggravated. Jim called me this morning and after hearing what happened this morning told me to take 2 days of x-training and then do a 10km kickdown on Friday.

I am OK with all of this, surprisingly, but I am pretty upset about my form. Kelly took some video of me today and I look terrible. OK, maybe not terrible, but not good. I'm leaning forward more than I should be from the waist and not using my back and lower abs enough to tuck my butt under, and so my knees are a bit soft. The thing that gets me is that I was trying NOT to do that and apparently failing. Usually I have good body awareness, but she took the video at almost 4km and I was very tired, so maybe that's why. Regardless, I absolutely have to work harder on this.

So frustrating. I feel I'm back to square one every week. On the other hand, I KNOW that is not true and I do feel I'm making progress, but it is really slow and that is hard. All I know is that slow progress beats the alternative of not racewalking at all. What alternative is there to slogging forward as best as I can? None, really. So I continue to press on.

The weather was beautiful this morning (49F (10C) and breezy when I walked; maybe 55F a bit later when I went to work), so I couldn't resist biking to work despite how tired I was after the workout. I'm glad I did.

Here's hoping a couple days of rest makes me feel better.

Garmin data here.

15K

Only 2 weeks until my 15K race. At this point I'm quite worried and just hope I don't embarrass myself too much. My legs just refuse to do anything useful. Two days off helped a bit, as I didn't feel totally dead today, but I sure didn't have much energy. At least I did finish the 15K and it wasn't a death march like last week.

I was pretty anxious about my hip, as it felt very tight this morning. I stretched it out and rolled it out before starting, and did some PT exercises to activate the glutes. I think that helped. I had no pain for 5K, and then it was a 1-2/10 for the rest of the walk. Sometimes a 1, sometimes a 2, and when it got to 2 for long enough I would stop and stretch. Geez. I just hope I can make it through the race without having to stop and stretch. Well, even if I'm slow, it will be fun to have a road trip with the girls (Nancy & Kathy from our club) and compete for a team medal. In my bleaker moments these days I ask myself if this is really worth it. Racewalking isn't much fun right now because my body won't do what I want it to do and it becomes frustrating. But if I want to be fast again I have to persevere and work through this. I'm just too impatient, but this is helping me work through that too I guess.

This week I didn't worry about finishing like I did last week. I could tell by 8km that my legs were much fresher and I'd be able to finish, even if I was a bit slow on the uphill back home.

Total time 1:38:19 for 6:33/km with ave HR of 147.

Garmin data here.

Rest day part 2

Today is my second rest day. My legs were feeling rather lousy yesterday but feel much better today. I almost feel normal again! My right hip is a touch sore but so much better overall. I hope that I'll be rested enough to do 15K tomorrow at the minimum.

***

Enjoyed taking my dad out to breakfast today for his 70th birthday (which was last week, but today is when we got around to it). Gosh, that's hard to believe.

***

In other news, here are all the pictures from the Salt Lake Half Marathon. There are lots, and I look legal in all of them. Soaking wet and legal.

resting up

After yesterday's debacle, my coach decided I need some rest. He has never asked this of me before, but thinks two days of total rest - no cross-training, no weights, no biking to work, no nothing - will be beneficial. I can't really argue with that. I will have to eat carefully and that hasn't been going as well this week as last, so it's going to put a dent in my weight loss plans (and I might owe Gisela $10...sigh.....), but it's for the best I think.

On Saturday I'll try 15K and see how it goes.

7K leg meltdown

I was supposed to do 10K with 2x5' at 10K race pace. I made it to 7K with one 500m burst a bit slower than 10K race pace (2:59).

I'm frustrated but I know I need to be patient. I hate being patient! However, there really is no alternative. My legs just had nothing today. My hip hurt but no more than 2/10, so that's good. I tried to work on technique but everything just feels so lousy that I don't know if it did any good.

My rule for stopping a workout these days is: 1) if my hip hurts 3/10 then I stop, or 2) if I cannot maintain 7 min/km pace I stop. Today 2) is what did me in - I hit a 3:30 500m and felt terrible; tried to pick it up a little but knew it was futile so headed home before I got stuck farther from home and had to do more.

Tomorrow I have a speed work session planned. I'm going to try it in the hopes I'll be recovered enough to do it. I have to push a little right now because of the race coming up in a couple of weeks; as long as I don't injure myself more, being tired and not recovering well is OK (though hard on me mentally).

What's sort of getting me through this is knowing that it's temporary, and considering the alternative - stationary bike (shudder!). I just have to get through this and I should be able to train better in a few weeks.

Total time was the slowest yet: 47:09 for the 7km for 6:44/km with ave HR 137 (yeah...low HR=dead legs).

Garmin data here.

***

Both before and after my workout I did some PT exercises: hip hikes, one-legged squats, lunges, planks, jump-ups to step activating core & glutes & pushing through toes. Before I did just enough to get glutes activated; after, I did more. I still have more to do and hopefully will do some this afternoon.

12K. Tired...very very tired.

In brief, today was a lot like last Saturday. Tired legs, nothing left, slogging my way to the finish. One difference was that I had to work afterwards, and it was one of those days at work, which lead to crashing on the couch when I got home and sleeping for a couple hours.

So, I'm just getting around to my blog now, and my family is kind of wondering what's up and why mommy hasn't made dinner yet. Oops.

I am pretty sure if I'd tried to make 15K today that I might have been even slower than on Saturday. But I did finish my 12K marginally faster.

The weather was a non-factor - it was quite nice, at 50F (10C) with a breeze.

Total time: 1:18:50 for 6:34/km with ave HR 146. Yup. Slow. Ouch.

I did work on my technique, for what that is worth. Not much when I'm that slow. My hip? Yeah, it bothered me quite a bit today. I had to stop frequently to stretch, and the pain was a 2/10 for a good while. It didn't get worse or I would have stopped.

rest day; 5x1km

Yesterday I took a rest day, as I really needed it after Saturday's tough 15K slog. The weather was amazing yesterday, so I walked with Grace to the public library (about a mile (1.6km) each way), but I really didn't do anything else. After church I read some books, relaxed, went to book club and sat outside for our discussion - lovely! It just feels so good to have it warm enough to enjoy sitting outside.

***

My muscles were feeling better this morning though still not 100%. I rolled out my hip on the medicine ball, and then I had a brilliant idea: I decided to take it to the track with me for my interval workout. Excellent.

The weather is still lovely today; it was 49F (10C) when I went to the track at about 6:30 am. The high today is supposed to be about 76F (24C). It was just a bit breezy, and I did choose to wear shorts and a short-sleeved shirt for the first time this year I think. I warmed up with my jacket on, but then took it off for the workout and I was just fine. I did 1600m in about 9:45 for my warm-up, with 2x100m strides on the last lap. Then I rolled out my hip, did some dynamic stretching, and got going on the main set.

The first two 1km repeats felt pretty good (5:27.2 and 5:27.9), and I didn't push much - comfortably hard. After the first one I did some stretching, and after the second one I was on the side of the track with my ball, so I rolled out my hip. It felt really good to keep it loose that way. The third 1km repeat was harder (5:29.1); my hip started to bother me a bit (pain 1/10? 2/10?) and my legs were getting tired. I got worried that my legs were going to die on me, but they didn't. The fourth 1km was my slowest at 5:33.5, and my legs were really feeling a bit shaky/wobbly/tired. I figured I was toast, but after stretching and rolling out my hip I felt better on the last 1km repeat and finished it in 5:29.2. I was breathing really hard on the last two, and my heart rate was quite high today, getting up to 173 on the last 1km, and hitting at least 170 on the last 3 repeats. It appears that I have lost a good deal of racewalking fitness, which is not surprising. Hopefully it will return relatively quickly.

Still, I'm happy with the workout today because I didn't totally die at the end or feel dreadful. At this stage of the game I'm dreading a lot of workouts because I never know when my legs are going to quit on me. In fact, tomorrow's 12km seems a bit daunting right now, just because I know how awful that could feel if my legs don't cooperate, and I basically have no control over it. But I know I need to get it done, regardless, because I have a race coming up! As long as my hip doesn't hurt too much (i.e. pain gets worse than 3/10) I will have to just hang in there and finish. That's the game right now - being mentally tough enough to keep going when I am slow and sore. On the bright side, I know what is coming when I get back in shape, and I will feel much better.

I worked a lot on technique today, and I think it was quite helpful. I think Jim is really right that my back muscles are weak, and so today I thought a lot about using them to stand up straight and keep my butt tucked under. I also thought about rolling through my toes and getting a good push with my calves and my glutes. Finally, I worked hard on being 100% sure that my right knee was legal. It is easier to be legal when I am standing up straighter and using my glutes and not hitching my right hip, so all of those technical things do work together, if that makes any sense.

Later today I plan to do my PT exercises and back/core stuff. Cannot neglect any of those!!!!!

Garmin data here.

cross-training; 15K

Yesterday I cross-trained. I did the elliptical for 35 min or so, and while I was at the gym I also did my PT exercises for my hip and Jim's exercises for my back. 2 min plank, 45 sec side plank each side with leg raises and hip dips, plank on each side rotating trunk towards ground 10x, jump-ups to bench activating toe push & glutes & core, hip hikes, bench press & overhead extensions & chest fly (2x10 each w/o pause, one-armed) with shoulders on ball and maintaining straight body position engaging glutes.

Then, because it was a really nice day, I biked to work and back for 35 min more cardio. Awesome. I ate really healthy food too :).

Noticed my hamstrings were sore from the track workout, esp. my left. Just muscle soreness not an injury, but it makes sense since the hamstrings don't get so much of a workout from the bike or elliptical. Getting back into RW shape hurts. Calves a bit sore too.

***

Today I woke with hamstrings still sore and hip tight. Rolled it all out on the medicine ball, chatted with Jim on Facebook because I was procrastinating going out (I knew it was going to be rough) and then got going. At least the weather was nice. OK, it wasn't nice. It was amazingly gorgeous this morning. It was about 45F (7C) when I started and 50F (10C) when I finished, and it was sunny and calm. Sooooooo nice after winter. We don't get that many gorgeous spring days here either, so I'm soaking it in while it lasts. It'll be cold and rainy (or snowy) soon enough.

The 15K...um yeah, it was bad. I was tired at 3.5k and texted Jim. He said I'd probably have to stop and to do what I could. Well...that made me determined to finish. I got mad that I have not been able to keep to any sort of a training schedule. I made a deal with myself that as long as I could keep my pace faster than 7 min/km I'd keep going. Otherwise I'd turn for home. That worked out OK, as I managed to do that all the way to 13.5km, but by then I was on my way home and there wasn't a faster way to get back. This 15K was just a slog, and I'd say I didn't mind so much because it was nice to be outside, but I'd be lying because it really just hurt. I mean, I did enjoy being outside, but the pain of the workout pretty much negated the enjoyment of outside. Oh well. I am done, and I did the whole thing, and I feel good about that.

My hamstrings felt fine other than being sore, and my hip did all right too. I'm glad to be recovering, and though I'm not 100% I'm definitely improving. Now if I could just get back into shape. This part of training is my least favorite - coming back from injury and the slog that it is to get going again.

5K split was about 31:15 and 10K was about 1:04:30 so it wasn't too awful until the last 5K, which was about 35 min...wow...ugly!

Total time: 1:39:27 for 6:38/km with ave HR 148. Garmin data here.

5K fartlek

Mixed feelings here.

YAY! I finally did complete this workout!
YAY! The weather was nice!
YAY! My shins were fine today!
YAY! I can probably start training full-bore again!

BUT...I was slow, my hip DID hurt and I stopped for 30 sec at 3K to do a brief piriformis stretch (which helped, and I was able to finish then), and despite working hard at it and losing weight each of the past few weeks, I seem to have regained it. Ughhhhh. Maybe that last one is the real problem (in terms of my grumpy mood). I don't know. Add in to the mix that my daughter was throwing up early this morning and so I had to take her to work with me (she was fine by this time, but I couldn't take her to school) and it threw me off even more. I'm in a mood.

Yeah, I was slow. I started off OK, but the workout quickly got painful. The first few weeks of training again always hurt so much. I wish there was a way to bypass them somehow, but instead I really need to learn to just accept them for what they are, not read too much into the rest of the season from them, and just keep on doing them. On the bright side, I did feel better moodwise once I was done.

Times? Here they are:
fast 2:44.1, 2:48.4
med 3:02.7
fast 2:45.6
med 3:09.5
fast 2:50.6
med 3:03.1
fast 2:53.1
med 3:09.0
fast 2:55.1

It's dubious if I can even call many of those "fast" or "medium". Ughhhhh. My legs were just not going to move well today I suppose. At least my shins didn't hurt. I focused a LOT on technique, especially on using my glutes and pushing all the way through my toes (the PT noticed on the treadmill test that while I am moving through my toes I'm not getting much PUSH off of them, which I concur with - if I try to really push my calves get whiny, so I guess I've not been doing enough of that). I also worked a lot on keeping my core engaged and standing up straight and tucking my butt under. Lots to think about.

Total time: a slow 29:21 with ave HR 157.
Garmin data here.

8K

I was supposed to do 10K. I didn't make it. But I did make it 8K, and I didn't hurt myself.

The weather was pretty nice at 39F (4C) and calm and clear. It's getting light earlier, so even though I left pretty early, it wasn't completely pitch black out, and it got light partway through my workout. I appreciate that!

When I started off, my shins were still sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I figured I could play it by ear. My body felt very tired, though, and I wasn't moving very well in general. It just wasn't a good day. I had to stop frequently (about every km) to stretch various body parts, and everything felt like such a hard effort even though my heart rate was only about 140. When I had a 3:24 500m split at 6km, I decided to call it quits at 8km rather than pushing to 10km. Good call. By the time I got to 8km I was done. My hip was starting to bother me, my shins were unhappy, and I was tired.

Geez. I really do want to train hard again, but it's just not happening. It's very frustrating, but what got me through this morning's workout was that no matter how frustrating and painful it is, it beats the stationary bike.

Total time 51:12 for 8km; average pace 6:24/km (so slooooow), and ave HR 140.

Garmin data here.

It's lunch time now and my shins and hip are still whining. Ugh. I plan to do a 5K fartlek tomorrow at the track. Hopefully I'll recover enough by then.

lots of cross-training

Yesterday I did the elliptical AND then rode my bike to and from work for a total of an hour of good cardio.

I also did lots of PT exercises and strength training exercises from my coach.

***

Today I was going to try 12K. I started walking and made it just a few steps when my shins started screaming. Yeah...they are still sore from the half marathon; the right more sore than the left, but still sore. I figured it was just the downhill at the start of my route, so I kept going until I got to 500m where it is flatter. Shins were still screaming. I stopped to stretch, considered what I should do, and turned back for home. I'm paranoid about shin pain since hurting my anterior tibialis a couple years ago just before the 15K in May, and I didn't want a repeat of this, so I decided to stop.

I went to the gym, did  about 25 min on the stationary bike, and then 20 min on the elliptical. After that I got the kids to school and then biked to work (another 25 min of cardio). At least I got about the same amount of cardio that I would have from the 12K.

I'm hoping that my shins will permit 10K tomorrow. We'll see.

Salt Lake Half Marathon 2013 edition

I haven't been so unprepared for a race in a while, but I had the race entry paid for, and figured I might as well try it. Up until today I'd done a bunch of short stuff, three 10Ks, and one 15K since being injured. That's not really great training for a half marathon, but what the heck. I figured if I went slowly enough and was prepared for it to hurt, I'd be OK. I also knew I had to be ready to DNF if necessary. Kelly was on call to pick me up if I called her.

I drove my friends Sarah, Leon, and Alex (visiting RWer from New York City) to the starting line and let us all in to my work to use nice indoor toilets before the race :). Then we walked to the start and promptly ran into my friends Diane and Marj from the Wasatch Walkers! Pretty long odds to see them since there were about 7000-8000 runners at the starting line.

 Tammy, Diane, Marj

Alex (Level 10 Marathon Maniac...this was marathon #159!!!!!)

Leon, Sarah, Tammy

The weather was sketchy - light drizzle at first, and 45F or so (it was about 8C). There was a slight breeze, which occasionally picked up a bit (like at mile 8, when we turned right, it was a blast of wind and rain in our faces). The light drizzle didn't last. Before mile 2, it started to rain in earnest and kept up a steady rain pretty much the rest of the race. It wasn't pouring, but it was definitely steady and unrelenting.

I felt good for about 8K (5 miles) and was able to keep about a 6 min/km (9:40/mile) pace on the nice downhill course, even going easy. However, that didn't last, which was not surprising given my lack of training. By mile 6 or 7 I knew this was going to be a long one. My hip was feeling OK, though I did have to stop and stretch a bit at mile 5, mile 7, mile 9, and mile 11, plus walking slowly through a few aid stations. My right shin started to hurt (1-2/10 on the pain scale) at mile 8, which really worried me given my history of tendonitis there a couple years ago. I adjusted my technique as best I could to avoid hurting it further, and I think it's going to be OK. I told myself if anything hurt at 3/10 or more I'd stop, but nothing did. My hip never hurt more than 1/10, thankfully.

I was really slow...and it hurt a lot to finish, but I feel good about my effort. It was fun to be out there despite the difficulty and the rain. I missed about 4 3/4 min on my Garmin (forgot to start after a brief stop), but I figure my actual moving time was about 2:19:45. Slow, but not my worst 1/2 unless you go by my chip time of 2:24:30ish.

I got the usual speedwalker comments from runners and spectators alike, though there were two spectators that actually yelled "GO racewalker!", which I appreciated. I chatted it up with the 2:10 pacer for a while between miles 3-4, and educated him about racewalking, which is always fun. Around mile 9, when I was hurting a good bit, a woman asked me if I'd done the Timp half last year, and when I said yes she said she'd seen me and had been impressed. We chatted a while before she pulled away from me (sigh...I kept getting slower).

About 500m from the finish, my friend Sarah caught up to me, and that was a lot of fun, as we crossed the finish line together! That rarely happens as we are usually going different speeds since she does Galloway run/walk. But today it just worked out perfectly. I was also very happy to see Kelly at the finish, and anticipated our breakfast together.

My friends had mixed success. I heard that Diane fell at the finish, and I hope she is OK. Marj finished and told me about Diane; I am assuming Marj did well. Sarah was a little undertrained too, but like me, finished though hurting a bit. Leon did better than he had anticipated, running more than he'd planned (he had some knee trouble in training) and feeling pretty good. Alex finished the full marathon, though the weather was pretty rotten for him as well - it even hailed on him a couple times. He felt the effects of the altitude and barely made his goal of finishing under 5 hrs, doing 4:59. 

Garmin data here.

3.165K fartlek

I was supposed to do a 5K fartlek today; my hip made it through 3K.

I went to the indoor track because 1) it's still cold and I didn't feel like dealing with it, and 2) I was very concerned I'd have to stop right away and ride the bike, and I'd rather not have to drive from the track to the gym if it's not necessary.

I warmed up on the indoor track for 7 laps (211m each) and threw in some little accelerations/pick-ups at the end. My hip was sore, but not nearly as bad as on Tuesday. It felt tolerable, for which I was happy. Before doing the fartlek, I rolled out the hip on the medicine ball and did some leg swings. I felt good to go.

I didn't push as hard as last week. I was being very cautious, because I wanted to make it to 5K, and I didn't want to hurt myself. Even though I didn't make it to 5K, I'm pleased that it was OK as long as it was, because initially I wasn't so sure.

Here are my times, divided by 1.055 so that they are 1km and 500m times rather than 1055m and 527.5m times. 1K fast 5:37.0, 500m medium effort 3:05.4, 500m hard 2:48.8, 500m medium 3:03.2, 500m hard 2:48.5. Total was 18:20.3 (not adjusted), which works out to 17:22.9 adjusted. It's a minute slower than last week, but at least I could do it.

Afterward, I stretched and then hopped on the bike for another 20 min or so to get some more cardio.

cross-training; weight training

I rode the stationary bike this morning for an hour. Yeah, I'd rather have been racewalking, but honestly it was kind of nice to be in a warm gym reading, because it was about 30F (-1C) and WINDY. Nasty windy. Brrrrrrrr. It's supposed to be colder tonight (24F) and still windy. Winter, GO AWAY already!

Tonight I did a whole bunch of weight training/PT exercises. I have enough equipment at home now to do all of them here, which was kind of nice! I have a medicine ball, and exercise ball, and several sets of small dumbbells (5 lb, 8 lb, 10 lb). 2 sets of the following:

1. Bench press, overhead extensions, chest flies (10 lb each arm) all in a row with shoulders on exercise ball and keeping back straight and glutes activated. Jim wants me to do this to work my back muscles, which he suspects may be weak.
2. Lying on floor on stomach, lifting alternate arm/leg with small weights (5 lb each arm).
3. Plank: regular plank (just 1 min after the previous exercise! Usually I do 2 min.), side plank lifting leg and then doing hip dips (45 sec each side with 8 leg lifts and 8 hip dips), side plank twisting torso toward ground (10 reps each side).
4. Lower abs: lying on back, hold exercise ball between feet and lift and lower, 15x.
5. Lunges around in a circle 3x: once w/o weight, once w/medicine ball overhead lifts, once w/medicine ball towards leg that is lunging.
6. Jump forward a few feet and up one stair, activating glutes and pushing off big toe and keeping core activated. 10-12x each leg.
7. Hip hikes 10-12x each leg.
8. One legged squats, 10-12x each leg.

Whew. I'm done now. Side benefit: gets rid of the after-dinner food cravings :).

Tomorrow morning I plan to try a fartlek again. My hip still feels a bit sore so I'm not sure what will happen.

change of plans

Today a 5K fartlek was on the schedule. I woke up still quite sore (injury sore, not muscle sore) from yesterday, and worried. I went to the indoor track so that if I couldn't do the workout I'd be able to hop on the bike and still get some exercise.

First I rolled out my hip on the medicine ball and then I warmed up with 8 laps (211m each) on the indoor track. During lap #7 I threw in a pickup like I usually do when warming up for a fartlek. My hip was doing so-so up to that point, but that pretty much threw it out. I was almost limping and knew a 5K fartlek wasn't happening. So, I stretched a bunch, rolled out my sore hip some more, and put in some time on the stationary bike.

I'm OK with this small setback, as I am pretty sure it's temporary and I just need to baby it a bit to get back to where I was. It's the usual recover-from-injury-and-slide-back thing. Annoying and frustrating, but expected.

cross-training; 10K

Yesterday I cross-trained for an hour on the stationary bike. I thought about biking outside, but it was too windy and it just felt nasty cold despite the sunshine.

***

Today I did 10K. The weather was a bit icky; 36F (2C) and spitting snow/sleet/freezing rain. My legs were very, very tired for some reason. At 6km they started to get really heavy, and they just gave up about 8-8.5km. My injured hip started to really bother me (up to 3/10 on the pain scale), and it was just not good. I feel better now, and it was probably just a bad day, but it was ugly. I lost about 0.6km from my watch because I forgot to push start after stretching just after 7km. The 10K was at about 6:18/km with average HR 140.

I had a PT session today and got video and treadmill analysis again. It was helpful...but discouraging. I still have some of the same bad habits. Not engaging core. Not using glutes. Hip hitching. Knees were (barely) straight). Ugh! Still, it looked better than the last video two months ago, but that was when I was injured and it was really hurting. The PT gave me some cool new exercises that should help me activate glutes and core while walking, as well as strengthening my left hip (which is not as strong as R hip - too much hip drop on R side, though better than the last video). 

Garmin data here.

15K! Yay!

Yay! I made it to 15K!

Brief post as I've lots to do before friends come over tonight.

Weather: 46F (8C) and cloudy and calm. Later in the day it's gotten windy and is threatening rain, so I'm glad I got to go early.

Injury: stretched out and rolled it out on the medicine ball before starting. Then I did PT exercises (step-downs with band) before I started to activate the glutes. I also did them at 8K and 12.5K, and stretched briefly at 5K and 10K. That seemed to work.

The walk: I went slowly, on purpose. I decided that yesterday it hurt more because I went faster, so today I took it really easy. That turned out to be really smart, because I got tired about 12K or so (legs just fatigued a bit) and then I still had enough in the tank to push a little to 15K and not totally die. My hip never gave me discomfort greater than 1/10 on the typical pain scale, which was good. Overall, I did well, but it did make me pretty tired. I'm obviously out of RW conditioning! I've been pretty draggy the rest of the day, though I've been busy doing lots of things, which has contributed.

Total time: 1:35:46 for 6:23/km with 5K splits of 31:35, 32:14, 31:57; average HR 142. I'm happy with that, considering.

I was thinking today how nice it would be to have a local coach. I felt I needed someone to watch my technique. However, there ARE no local coaches in Utah, and at least I have a great coach even if he is far away. I will have to send Jim some video, and perhaps get Kelly to watch me sometime this week. I'm going to PT on Monday and the PT will help with my technique as well. Today I just felt I couldn't really get into a good rhythm, though I did settle in a bit better at around 5K. It's hard to keep all the things I need to fix in mind!

Garmin data here.

cross-training; 8K

Yesterday I rode the stationary bike for 50 min for cross-training, in addition to doing my PT exercises. Kelly was there for part of it, and we got to enjoy chatting, but then she had to go and I was glad for my book and the news on TV.

My hip was a little irritated yesterday, still, from the speed work. I think I erred by doing the elliptical right after the speed work on Wednesday instead of riding the bike. It's just that I hate the bike...sigh....

***

Today I was to do 8K. The weather was seasonal and quite lovely, at 41F (5C) with a slight breeze. Before I started, I did some step-downs with the PT band around my knees to get the glutes activated. When I started out, my hip felt pretty darn good. However, it quickly started to feel a bit irritated, and I stopped briefly to stretch after only 1km. Perhaps it was the pace...I was going a bit fast. I need to slow it down a bit and relax. Regardless, I was able to finish the workout just fine, but I did have to stop fairly frequently to stretch/do step-downs/do leg swings.

Coach wants me to try 15K tomorrow. I'm going to try, and will hope that going slower will do the trick. If I have too much discomfort I will definitely cut the workout short though. I do NOT want to be going backwards here - I've been making good progress and need to keep things that way!

Total time 47:26 for 5:56/km with ave HR 151. When I got home I rolled out my hips thoroughly on the medicine ball, which seemed to help. The right hip has been a bit irritated at work today, though; I've been sitting a bit more than usual which probably doesn't help.

Garmin data here.

cross-training; 3km fartlek (actually 3165m) on indoor track

Yesterday I did the elliptical for 45 minutes. I was very glad to cross-train, because the weather was lousy. It was about 26F (-3C) with 25mph (40kph) winds. Ridiculous! It snowed a bit, but just a dusting so at least the footing would've been good.

***
Today I planned to meet Kelly at the indoor track. She was riding the stationary bike (she has a contusion on her meniscus and can't walk for a while, sadly) and said she'd cheer me on. I had thought the weather was going to be bad; last night I checked it, and the forecast said windy and 26F. Well, they were wrong. It was calm and 32F, so I could have gone outside. It was good to see Kelly, regardless.

I warmed up on the 211m track, doing 8 laps in 10:13. My hip felt pretty good. I did some dynamic stretching and rolled out my hip on the medicine ball, and got started on the 3km fartlek. It felt hard but short, mercifully :). I felt strong today, and it was easier than last week. However, my hip did hurt while I was walking fast. It hurt less than it did last week, but it did bother me a bit, and continues to be slightly irritated even now (at 3 pm, 9 hours after I did the workout).

Here are my times:

1055m fast: 5:38.2; 527.5m medium effort 3:03.1, 527.5m fast 2:47.3, 527.5m medium effort 3:07.0, 527.5m fast 2:49.2; total time 17:24.8.

Converted to a normal track (divided by 1.055 to give 1km and 500m splits): 5:20.6, 2:53.6, 2:38.6, 2:57.3, 2:40.4 for a total of 16:30.3.

I'm pleased with this improvement from last week in my time. My pain level was less, too, so that's good, though of course I'd prefer to be pain-free.

I finished off with 30 min on the elliptical followed by some of my PT exercises.

Garmin data here.

elliptical; 10K

Yesterday I opted for 1 hour on the elliptical. I lost some weight last week, and I need to keep it up. I did some baking this weekend, so I definitely needed the exercise :). The elliptical felt like a breeze, and the time passed quickly with my book (John Scalzi serial sci-fi) and magazine (Runner's World).

***

Today Jim thought 10K would be good. We are being very cautious about mileage increases, with good reason. It was nice out this morning, until it started to rain. It was 45F (7C) and it felt good for 6km, and then the rain began. Light at first, but then heavier; I started to get cold and put my gloves back on and hoped I'd be home soon.

My piriformis felt OK today. It progressively tightened up as I went, but stretching with leg swings and activating glutes with step-downs at 4km and 7km seemed to loosen things up and then I felt fine. Again, I had to concentrate quite hard to maintain good form. I'm not sure I did it all the time...the rain was definitely a distraction. Despite that, I was pretty fast today, and I think my body is starting to remember how to do this. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that maybe I will be able to do the 15K in Riverside on May 19th :). We have a girls' weekend planned (Nancy, Kathy and I plan to drive down and stop and relax along the way) and I don't want to miss it. Plus we could actually get a team medal for the Wasatch Walkers! Woooo hooo!

Total time: 1:00:22 for 6:02/km with average HR 150.

Garmin data here.

10K

This morning I had 10K to do. Before I started I activated my glutes with some step-downs with the band around my knees, and I did a few planks for good measure to get my core warmed up. Then I started off, and right away I noticed my legs were tired, especially my left glutes. Apparently I used them well yesterday, which is good, but meant today would be tough. It was, but since it was only 10K I got through it OK. I just slowed a bit at the end.

At least the weather was lovely. It was about 46F (7C) and calm and overcast. It did rain a bit later in the day but not while I was walking. We seem to be having a mild spring; perhaps it's making up for our cold and long winter? Or maybe the nasty weather is still waiting to get us.

I focused a lot on my form again today. It's quite hard to concentrate that much, but it's good for me. I did stop to stretch fairly frequently, as my legs were more tired today than when I did the 10K on Monday. My left leg even bothered me a bit at a few points.

Total time: 1:02:23 for 6:14/km with ave HR just 144.

Garmin data here.

***

Later in the day I went skating with the kids. I was working on my 3-turns, Mohawk combination, waltz jump, and Mazurka. It was all fine, except that I almost fell once and in trying to catch myself I pulled my left leg a bit and it hurts at the top of the hamstring. Could be the gluteus maximus at the bottom, but I think it's the hamstring. Hopefully it's nothing too much, as I'm not sure I'm mentally ready for another injury. Probably shouldn't do figure skating, but I like it. All the same, I love racewalking, and if figure skating gets in the way it'll have to go.

8km

I was excited to do 8km this morning. I had an ART treatment yesterday, and it really loosened up my hip a lot; it felt great when the chiropractor was done. He also worked a lot on my calves (mostly gastrocs and soleus) and they were SO very very sore last night and even this morning when I woke up. I worried that would slow me down, and I think it did a little bit. My legs felt pretty heavy and tired today, and I had to concentrate really hard during my workout.

Since my injury and during my rehab, it's been very challenging to racewalk, because I have to focus so much on my technique. There is a LOT to think about to keep my glutes engaged, make sure I am bringing my hips through low but not dropping them excessively, keeping my motion forward and not sideways (the PT noticed this a bit in the video he took), and making sure my feet are not crossing the midline too much. Never mind engaging my core, being aware of my arm position, etc. Racewalking is mental work too, which is one of the reasons I like it, as a detail-obsessed scientific type.

Back to this morning. It was quite warm and windy when I started, as a cold front was going to come through. So even though it was 57F (14C) I wore capris and a long-sleeved shirt, and I definitely remembered to wear my baseball cap in case it started raining. It's still dark at 6 am (when I left), so I also had my headlamp, my reflective vest with rear blinky, and pepper spray. About 4km into my walk these preparations paid off, as it started to rain and the temperature dropped quickly. It was only 50F (10C) when I finished my walk.

The walk itself went fine. I did stop twice at a stop light and stretched while I was there, and did some leg swings. I also stopped a couple other times to do my step-downs with the band to make sure my glutes were engaged. My legs were a bit tired to start, and by 6km they were a lot more tired, though not so tired I couldn't finish; I just slowed down a bit.

When I got home I rolled out my hip on the medicine ball...and Calvin complained to me that I smelled bad and that I should take a shower! Haha! Have got to love the honesty of an 8-yr-old :).

Total time: 49:05 for 6:08/km with ave HR 148.

Garmin data here.

cross-training

After yesterday's speed work, Jim said cross-training was in order today, and I totally agreed. We want to be very careful to avoid a relapse, and I was a little sore yesterday during the day.

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good, and felt that I could have walked today. But I didn't. I got on the elliptical for 40 min, and had no trouble on it. To be careful, I then did the stationary bike 20 min, since that tends to be less bothersome than the elliptical.

In addition, I'm getting another ART treatment this afternoon from the chiropractor here. I want to cover all the bases.

3K fartlek + stationary bike

Today I got to try a little speed work. The weather was cooperative at 44F (6.7C) and clear, with a little light wind. I warmed up for 4 laps (1600m) in 9:47, doing a couple 100m strides on the last lap. That felt OK on the hip.

Then I did some leg swings and some step-downs with the band to activate my glutes (esp glute med). I was a bit nervous about how this would go, but ready to give it a shot. I told Kelly yesterday that I thought I'd probably do about 17:20, given my long layoff. It seemed like a reasonable guess.

I got started and I was faster than I thought. I did the first 500m in 2:42, and the second in 2:43 for 5:25 for the first km. On the first 500m recovery, my hip did start to bother me a bit - I felt a strong twinge, but it did loosen up and it was more discomfort than pain, if that makes any sense. I did that 500m in 3:00, which wasn't too bad. Then I managed a 2:43, 3:02, and finally finished with a 2:44. I gave that last one a good hard effort, and got my HR up to 168. My total time was a surprisingly fast 16:54. Yeah, I know I was a minute faster back before I got hurt, but I still think that's not bad considering all the time I had off.

When I stopped my hip was definitely a bit uncomfortable, and now (at lunch time) it's still a little uncomfortable with prolonged sitting. From the track, I went over to the gym and rolled it out a lot on the medicine ball and then I did 30 min on the stationary bike, since 27 minutes of cardio is not enough to keep the pounds at bay. I also used the medicine ball at home before work, and am using the tennis ball at work. Obviously I'm not ready for a whole lot of speed work, though time will tell if this was bad or not. At the moment, I think I will be good to walk again pretty soon (maybe tomorrow?) but I am not going to take any chances. If it doesn't feel pretty darn good tomorrow it will be cross-training for me.

Cross-training

I cross-trained today, because I'd done a lot of km the last few days (well, a lot relatively speaking - since I've been injured). I did the bike for 50 minutes and also did a lot of PT exercises plus some weights and abs. Exciting. Actually, it was enjoyable because Kelly and I were on the bike right next to each other and we dreamed up this blog. Enjoy!

10K on indoor track

Jim told me to do 10K this morning. Gulp. I wondered if that was too much too soon, but I figured 1) Jim is usually right about things, and 2) I could do it on the indoor track where I could stop any time if needed. Plus it was windy and threatening rain (though it was warm, at 55F (12.7C).

I met Kelly at the field house at the U and she did the bike, and I waved down to her from the track. It was warm inside...quite warm. I definitely worked up a sweat in there today. I grabbed a medicine ball and used it to roll out my hip every 10 laps for the duration of the workout. I used the track calculator to figure out that 10K is almost exactly 24 laps in lane 1 and 22 laps in lane 3. So I alternated 10 laps in lane 1 (average pace 1:19.3/lap, which is close to 6:15/km), 10 laps in lane 3 (average pace 1:24.3/lap), 10 laps in lane 1 (average pace 1:19.9/lap), 10 laps in lane 3 (average pace 1:24.5/lap), 4 laps in lane 1 (average pace 1:18.9/lap), and finally 2 laps in lane 3 (average pace 1:23.4/lap). Total time for 10K was a respectable 1:02:41 with average heart rate 143.

My hip got tight with each set but the medicine ball treatment and some leg swings released the tension and each time I started over it felt pretty good. I also did some one-legged squats to activate my glutes, which helped as well. I thought A LOT about my form today, and by the end I think I had some good things happening. I felt I was using my left glutes a lot more, and bringing my right leg through lower to avoid bent knee, all while keeping my lower abs engaged and making sure that my knees came through straight and that I didn't have excessive hip drop. I don't know how successful I was, but it felt like I was working on things a lot and it seemed like I made some progress.

Garmin data here.

6.25km and a bike ride :); Happy Easter!

I haven't done more than 5K since January 15th, but I was feeling good this morning after two cross-training days, and plus it was Easter (probably my favorite holiday?) and so I was in a good mood and felt like a longer walk. I decided to do one of my favorite routes for a shorter walk, just out to Liberty Park, around the park, and back. I did some step-downs with the band around my knees to activate my glutes before and during my walk. I stopped each 2km to stretch it, do a few leg swings, and do some step-downs. I focused really hard on keeping my form intact. I had minimal discomfort which felt a lot better after stretching; it's still getting tight when I walk, though not as bad when I really focus on using my glutes properly, especially with my left leg. After my walk (and before as well), I rolled out the piriformis on the medicine ball. Excellent! It just gets it so much better than the foam roller, for some reason.

Here's my Garmin data. I walked pretty fast; went through 5K (more downhill than uphill) in 29:31, and then finished in 37:22 for 5:59/km with average HR of 148.

***

Later, after eating a nice Easter dinner (in which I showed some restraint) and dessert/candy (less restraint...but I will use my weekly WW points for that), I decided that biking up to work was a good idea. I had to go up there to set up minipreps and figured I'd bike and get some more exercise. It was delightfully warm at about 70F (21C) and I loved soaking in the sun and the warmth. Easter CAN be cold and snowy here, so I was glad it was so lovely today.

Garmin data for bike ride.

more cross-training

Yesterday I rode the stationary bike for 40 minutes, did a bunch of PT and weight training, and then I biked all around town. I drove my car to the shop, then biked from there to work, then to a Good Friday service, then to lunch with friends, then back to the car repair shop. Hilly, yet entertaining. However, the road biking does irritate my piriformis a bit, so I decided to do an extra day of cross-training. So, it was off to the gym again this morning for 40 min of elliptical and 35 min of stationary biking.

I think I need another ART session - it just feels like everything is tightening up again. I bought a medicine ball tonight to roll out my piriformis at home (seems to work better than the foam roller), and that helps. I plan to call for another ART appointment first thing Monday morning.

***

In other news, I decided to re-commit to getting back to racing weight. I signed up on stickk.com for some reinforcement. Basically, I have agreed to pay my friend Gisela $10 each week if I don't lose at least 0.5 lb each week for the next 12 weeks (it's cumulative, so if I lose more one week and less the next that is OK, as long as I remain on target). If I do lose the 0.5lb per week, I owe her nothing, and at the end of the 12 weeks I plan to reward myself with a couple new racewalking shorts/skorts from Athleta.

Maybe this sounds like a crazy/drastic idea, but I think it's going to be very helpful. I read about it in a book that Gisela recommended, called "Willpower" by Roy Baumeister. It's got a lot of great ideas that reflect the latest psychology research on exercising one's willpower, and I've found it quite interesting and practical. Now it's time to put those ideas into action.

5K and bike to work

The weather was absolutely gorgeous this morning. It's been unseasonably warm, and I'm not complaining at all! It was cold last week, so this is a welcome change. It was 44F (6.7C) and clear with a little breeze. I wore capri pants, long sleeves, and very light gloves.

Before leaving on my 5K walk, I did a set of step-downs on each side, with the PT band around my knees to activate my glutes, both med and max. I repeated this at 1.67 km and 3.33 km into my walk, along with some leg swings and brief piriformis stretch. I concentrated really hard on using my left glutes in particular while I walked, along with bringing my right leg through low so as to avoid bent knee problems. I also worked on keeping my core strong - lots to think about.

My right piriformis/hip was a little sore today. It felt better after the first stretch at 1.67 km, but it never felt quite 100%. All the same, it didn't really hurt outright, either. It just sort of ached and felt tight. Stopping to stretch helped it a lot, and I didn't have any problem finishing the 5K.

I'm in the habit of a fast cadence from the elliptical and the bike, and I think that is transferring to racewalking, as I walked pretty fast again. My heart rate was correspondingly high. I walked the 5K in 29:39, with average HR 153. Of course, stopping twice to stretch helped me keep going. I wasn't trying hard to go fast, but it happened anyway.

I also worked a bit on my breathing. I had read in Runner's World magazine that a 3-2 inhale-exhale pattern (3 steps inhale, 2 exhale) was beneficial. It is supposed to help you to have a more even foot strike and avoid landing harder on one foot than the other, which makes sense. I figured it can't hurt to give this a try, and might help. It's hard to remember to do it, but I think like anything it can become a habit if I work on it.

After my walk I took the kids to school, got ready for work, and biked to work. It was too nice not to!

Garmin data for the 5K here.

5K outside! :)

OK, so for late March it was cold this morning outside (25F, -4C), but I didn't care much. I was happy to get to walk outside. Walking is hard right now because my muscles aren't used to it and I tire quickly, so it's not as much fun as usual, but it sure beats the stationary bike or the elliptical. At only 30 minutes of exercise, I should probably do something in the gym later, but...well...I may not get around to it. It's Sunday and I need to chill a bit before the busy week begins.

Before I went, I did a set of step-downs with the band to activate my glute med on both sides. I think that is helpful, because then I can focus on using them during the walk. Today while walking I thought about using my glute med, bringing my right hip through low so I don't hitch and drop and end up with bent knee on the right side, and also about using my core to keep my posture strong (especially through the lower abs). I also tried to think about allowing my hips free rotation and extending through my toes, and all the other great stuff I know to work on. Racewalking requires so much concentration, but I think that's one of the reasons I love it. It is never boring!!!

I stopped twice at 1.67 and 3.33 km to stretch and do some leg swings and more step-downs (I brought my PT band and did the step-downs on a curb). My hip did tighten up a bit at first (kind of like on Friday), and so the stop at 1.67km was welcome. However, after that it felt pretty good until about the last 500m when it got a bit tight again, but I was going uphill and I was fatiguing, and I was almost done. It didn't ever hurt - it just got tight. I think that is pretty good progress and I'm pleased.

I will admit that I went a bit faster than I should have, and maybe that didn't help. It was fun to be out there and I couldn't help myself :). I did the 5K in 29:34 and my average HR was a bit high for a short workout at 149, with max of 162. Hopefully coach is OK with that :).

Garmin data here. I like that the Garmin data now shows the weather - it says -4C with 10kph wind, which seems about right, giving wind chill of -8C. Ha! Look, I'm turning Australian...I honestly prefer using the metric system, as a scientist, and I wish we'd just switch already, but Americans are too stupid and too much creatures of bad habit.

I made it to 5K!

I wasn't sure this would happen for a while yet. I figured maybe I'd be able to walk in May or June, but apparently the ART is really helping. I had an ART treatment yesterday from a local guy, and I'd highly recommend it. It's kind of like a sports massage on steroids, and working the parts that most need therapy. ART stands for Active Release Techniques, because the patient is active in the process. You move while the ART therapist is putting pressure on a specific spot or spots.

Yesterday I did the elliptical & stationary bike before the treatment, and no racewalking. I'm racewalking only every other day for now, and gradually upping what I am doing - carefully, very very carefully, so as to avoid re-injury. On Sunday I did 3km total (1km in the morning and 2km in the afternoon), Wednesday I did 3x1km, so today I decided to to try 5km. I did it on the indoor track (211m) at the U, and stopped every 8 laps to roll out my piriformis and hip area on a medicine ball. Other than getting a bit tight, I had no pain, and made it all the way to 24 laps (5.064km). I got to 5km in approximately 30:18, which was pretty fast :). OK, I did allow my heart rate to sit at the mid-150s at the end, but I'm out of racewalking shape so I wasn't actually walking THAT fast.

The best news? I'm feeling pretty good now (late pm). No pain!

After racewalking, I did 15 min on the stationary bike and then did my PT exercises: planks, lower abs, medial step-downs with band at my knees to activate glute med, and lunges around a circle with medicine ball lifts to the side and overhead.

Here's the Garmin data from my walk (24 laps; stopped with Kelly because her knee was verrrry sore :(, then 15 min biking).

3x1km with breaks!

This morning I managed 3km! I started off warming up on the bike, then did a set of PT exercises (planks, side planks, lunges in all directions, step-downs with band around knees to keep glute med activated), and then I walked 1km (well, 5x211m so really 1055m) on the indoor track. I repeated my PT exercises and rolled out my right piriformis on a medicine ball to release the tightness that had accumulated from the walk, and then walked another km. Finally, I biked a bunch more, rolled out my piriformis, and then walked another km. I could feel it get a bit tight but it did not hurt - the first 1km it gave me a twinge or two of discomfort (1 of 10 on the pain scale?) but on the last two 1km I had no discomfort. I am quite happy about this!

Total biking/racewalking was 45 minutes; the racewalking laps were all 1:14-1:16 except the last one, which was 1:18 (yeah, I got tired - going to take a while to build up my endurance again).

***

In other good news, I'm going to see a Dr. Derek Parkes, a chiropractor who does ART tomorrow morning at 9. Yay! Found a good one (I hope!) here in town and I'm hoping he can continue the great work that Dr. Nelson Santos did on me in California.

cool photo

I'm a bit of a nerd. I absolutely love x-rays. Seriously...maybe I should have been a radiologist!

Anyway, here's the x-ray of my L5-S1 assimilation joint. Can you see it? It's pretty obvious even to the novice. On the right side of the photo (my left side) I have an extra bone between my vertebra and the sacrum that is not there on the other side.



***

In other news, I am quite sore in the legs from the little bit of RW I did on Sunday, plus getting sore from the new PT exercises I got yesterday. I am working to find an ART provider here in SLC - have a good candidate and hopefully can get in later this week, because my piriformis is starting to tighten up again despite the fact that I haven't done any more racewalking. I did the bike yesterday and today, and plan to do some more elliptical tonight while Grace has her skating lesson. Plus I did my PT this morning and did some upper body weights too. I'm going to be a lot stronger after this, which is a nice side benefit.

a ray of hope

I've been feeling a bit better this week emotionally, and have been getting used to the idea that I might be out of commission for a while. Going to California for the weekend to watch the 20K was a very good idea! I needed the sun, the friendship, the camaraderie of other racewalkers, and some time away from the routines at home. I love my life in SLC, but it was nice to get away.

Watching the race was challenging - not because I was sad about not walking, but because I was BUSY. Seriously, I was doing aid for Ian, Katie, Rob, Kelly, Jolene, Carmen, and one other gentleman (can't remember his name). Plus I was texting Jim about his athletes' performances. He had 4 athletes in the race: Erin, Dave, Kelly, and Pablo. I had a bit of trouble giving him updates on more than just Kelly (sorry, Jim). In addition, I was trying to take photos and video - especially video for Jim. I'll post some later.

I may have been busy but I LOVED it. I loved seeing my friends and cheering for them, and loved watching what little of the race I could :). I had a blast taking photos and video. Of course I would have preferred to walk, but this was the next best thing for sure.

The best news though? After the race I got some ART (Active Release Therapy) from Dr. Nelson Santos (a chiropractor). It was AWESOME. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!!! He did 3 different maneuvers (?) on me - one on the right psoas (ouch!!!!!!), and 2 on the right piriformis, at the origin and insertion. Seriously, it took maybe 5-10 min and I felt better than I have in 6 weeks. Then I walked 1km in 5:52 with almost no pain. Later, at Kelly's house I walked 2.12 km with little pain at a 5:31/km pace. Then I got tired and stopped before I could overdo. But it was great. I am hopeful!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow morning I am calling around SLC to find an ART provider. Right away!

Garmin data for 2.12km here.

more bad news

I saw the doctor today. She is a sports medicine/physical medicine & rehabilitation doc, and seemed quite knowledgeable. She ordered x-rays to rule out a fracture of the sacrum (which I was pretty sure I didn't have), and the x-rays revealed something interesting. No, I do not have a fracture, but I do have L5 (lumbar vertebrae #5) - S1 (sacral vertebrae #1) assimilation, also known as lumbosacral transitional vertebrae, on my left side only. Basically, this means that on my left side, the lowest lumbar vertebra has an extra attachment to the sacrum, which means that I have less flexibility through the SI joint on my left side. The picture below illustrates my condition quite nicely.

Fortunately, it is a rather benign condition, UNLESS you happen to have what my doctor called "the perfect storm", wherein I was 1) recovering from posterior tibialis tendonitis, 2) slipped on porch steps, 3) landed on my left lower back right about L5/S1. Brilliant. She said that because of my L5 sacralization, I probably transferred more force from the landing to the right side of my pelvis, stretching out my piriformis too much, and voila! Injury. That's her guess, and the PT's guess without even seeing the x-ray or knowing of my L5 sacralization. I have a good PT.

So what's the bad news, you ask? Well, the doctor says there isn't anything else she can do medically to make this heal any faster. Nada. Zip. Zero. In addition, she estimates that it will be 3-4 months from the time that I fell until I can actually train again or even think about it. Meanwhile, I need to do my PT and continue with the exercises, and get my cardio from something that doesn't hurt my piriformis.

For those so inclined, here is an article that has more information about LSTV and its clinical consequences. It is pretty benign, with possibly an increased risk in disc issues, but otherwise it is generally not a big deal.

***

So now I need to make more long-term plans for cardio for the next few months. I'll figure something out.

some thoughts

I've been cross-training daily, from 40 min to an hour, depending on time. Also, I am doing tons of PT exercises. Plus I have 2 PT visits per week and 2 chiropractor visits per week. I actually got an afternoon without anything planned and I just sat and did nothing - read a book, surfed Facebook, listened to the kids practice the piano. I don't seem to have much time for anything else though. That's not a complaint, just a "noticing".

Last weekend Sarah and I took our daughters for a weekend retreat here in town at the Little America hotel. It was pretty nice...the pool is indoor-outdoor and well-heated, with tons of windows to let in the sunlight in the indoor part. We sat and read and relaxed while the girls swam, and swam, and swam some more. It was wonderful.

I'm glad to be back to "real life" too though. Work is busy and interesting right now, and I appreciate it. Routine is good and keeps things going. But I confess I feel a bit lost. I miss racewalking, I miss working out with Kelly, and I am struggling with my eating a lot. I had decided that I'd use some down time from racewalking to focus on eating better, but it's been very, very difficult. Emotionally things are a bit tough right now with the injury and all, and that makes eating well more of a challenge. I haven't given up, but I'm struggling. I am 10 lb above my racing weight and my pants are all tight, and yet I still embrace the food? Why? Habit, known comfort, etc. At other times I'm able to push it away: new habit, known discomfort that will result, etc.

I feel a bit vacant and sad, though not depressed like I felt a couple weeks ago. I hope I am adjusting to life without racewalking, as it seems it will be a while longer. I wish I could find another sport that I'd love as much, but so far I haven't had any great flashes of insight. Part of that is that I haven't tried many new things. I have been taking more figure skating lessons, which is great (I even learned a 1/2 turn jump called a waltz jump), but it's not much cardiovascular exercise, which I desperately need more of. The elliptical and the bike are doing the trick OK, with books and with riding my bike to work more feasible some days now that the weather is better. But they are not racewalking. I tried running, but that hurt my hip just like walking (though it took a bit longer to kick in).

I do feel a bit like I'm in limbo. I am hopeful for tomorrow afternoon, when I visit a sports med/phys med & rehab doc and see what she has to say about my diagnosis/treatment. The PTs have been helpful but this is going to take some time. Darn winter. If only I hadn't slipped on the porch steps. Well, I can't change the past. I have to try and move forward, one step at a time. Probably it's more like 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, but at least I'm moving. Maybe.

some unwelcome news

Since I started my blog hiatus I've been pretty depressed. I started to feel a bit better at the middle/end of last week though. I still couldn't racewalk much, but for some reason my spirits lifted a bit, which was welcome.

I started seeing a chiropractor last week on the recommendation of coach and some friends. I figured it can't hurt (too much) and might help. Mostly I don't think it's particularly scientific or evidence-based, but there are reports that it can be useful for musculoskeletal issues so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm still doing physical therapy as well, so 2 visits there plus 2 chiro visits adds up to a lot of time. Plus all the exercises, plus keeping my cardio up both for fitness and weight maintenance. Whew.

Last week I expressed my frustration to the physical therapist about how things were going (or not going, as the case may be). I can walk for a few minutes, but then the pain starts. That hasn't changed much despite taking time completely off from walking in addition to doing everything I'm supposed to. The PT got thinking that something else was underlying the piriformis pain. He tested me and found some positive signs for SI joint dysfunction. He did some manipulations, and got another PT to do some, and it made me a bit sore but not really better. This week he asked a PT colleague who'd been to an SI joint class for extra training to assess me. She said that my sacrum is rotated so that the left side is too far anterior and the right side too far posterior. It seems likely that the fall I took on my porch steps back on February 2nd is responsible for this problem; I hit the left side of my lower back (actually left hip at the top) in just the right spot to cause the sacrum to get out of alignment. Heck, I'm lucky I didn't break anything...but I'm actually not sure this is any better. Regardless, the PT gave me some exercises to try and realign things, but they are running out of ideas. They want me to go see my doc since I never saw her for this problem and see what she can do for me medically - i.e. imaging, medications, injections, whatever. I called the doc to make an appointment but can't get in until April 2nd. Yikes.

So now I'm pondering things. Looks like it's going to be a while until I can even think about racewalking again. A good long while. There may not be much anyone can do for this beyond exercises and time. Perhaps lots of time. I'm hoping it won't be a permanent problem. I'm really trying not to let my mind go there. However, I do need to figure out what to do in the meantime. I can't do the elliptical and stationary bike forever - it's just not that fun. My boss suggested bicycling; it's not warm enough yet but soon it will be. He also suggested martial arts. Not sure I'm up for that or that it will be enough cardio. It doesn't hurt a lot to run short distances, so I might be able to run. Maybe. But that seems risky. Swimming is OK but I don't love it. I'll have to consider this ... right now I don't feel up to making decisions about much.

I'm mentally doing OK and hoping I don't start to feel depressed again. Somehow I don't think I will. I'm committed to finding a way to muddle through. I haven't gained any more weight, though I haven't lost any either. I guess that's a good start, but I need to get my diet back to where it needs to be, which is challenging when life is a bit out-of-control. One step at a time.

a little hiatus

I'm going to take a bit of a blog hiatus. Maybe a FB hiatus too. I'll be back when I have something interesting to say again.

a bit of RW and more cross-training

I tried to racewalk some more today. I did 6x(4 min walk, 1 min RW). The first few were OK, with minimal pain, but the pain level increased as I did the workout, and while I was not limping or anything at the end, the pain was definitely as much as 3/10. So frustrating. I was hoping for better.

I hopped on the elliptical after that, and did about 6-7 min but that was hurting too because I'd aggravated it from RW. So I got on the bike, which was totally fine (except that it's about as exciting as watching paint peel). I'm just glad that did't hurt and I had TV to watch (the field house at the U has nice TVs with plugs for headphones in all the cardio equipment) and a book to read.

Kelly didn't fare well this morning either. She had a 12K kickdown but after our weight training last night her legs were pretty well shot. She was very disappointed and quite upset. I felt her pain! She felt bad burdening me with that since I can't even RW, but it was no biggie. I totally understood how she felt, as I've been there.

I went to PT after that, and did my exercises and had some more Grastin treatments and stretching. The PT assistant is a great guy and bore the brunt of my rant this morning, because I was frustrated with the fact that I'm not getting much better. I felt bad about the rant and told him so, and he was kind about it.

In general today I'm feeling much better emotionally than yesterday, which I'm thankful for. I'm not sure why, but grateful all the same.

cross-training & weights

Today: only 25 min elliptical (woke up a bit late). However, I did manage to go back to the gym tonight with Kelly to do weight training. We did 50 min of lifting with LOTS of exercises for gluteus medius (weak in both of us). Jim will be proud :).

Tomorrow morning I'm going to meet her at 6 am; it's snowing so she has to take her workout inside (12K kickdown), and I'm going to do the elliptical and also try some more walk/RW intervals, pain permitting.

I'm still feeling pretty down. I am trying to stay positive, but it's tough.

turning the corner...maybe?

I think I am feeling better. Just slightly. I actually tried racewalking this morning, outside. I was going to do 6x(3 min walk, 2 min RW), but I couldn't. I did 2x(3 min walk, 2 min RW) and then it did start to hurt, but only a little. So then I did 3 min walk, 1 min RW three times, and then called it quits. Rode the bike for 30 min at the gym, and then went to PT and then to work.

I think it is some progress anyway. Maybe. I'll try again on Thursday; tomorrow will just be x-training.

getting by?

It's been a week since I've posted.

I've considered all kinds of posts. 1) The usual exercise posts. Boring because I've just been doing elliptical, bike, PT, and weight training. I guess these are no more boring than my typical RW posts. 2) Food-related. I've been doing better about eating in general but it's hard. As a stress eater, these circumstances are more challenging. 3) Mood-related. My mood has been all over the map. Sometimes up, more often down, but mostly just trying to keep perspective. I know this isn't that big of a deal in the scheme of things.

I've posted none of them, probably because it just seems like it takes too much energy.

I tried a few minutes on the treadmill on Friday and it wasn't good. I got off as soon as it started to hurt. I haven't racewalked in a week now, essentially. I tried racewalking a bit today around the indoor track and it was better than Friday but still a bit touchy. I might try some walk/RW intervals tomorrow. Maybe. I am not going to do anything that hurts even a little right now.

***

On the plus side, unrelated, is that I enjoyed the conference I attended for work on Friday & Saturday. I heard a lot of good talks, presented a poster, and enjoyed hanging out with scientist types. It did make me pretty tired, so I'm glad for the holiday today.

getting worse

Yesterday I did 45 min on the elliptical. It felt fine, and my piriformis felt better. So today I tried a repeat of Saturday's 3 min walk/1.5 min RW, but this time on the treadmill instead of outside. I focused so hard on keeping good technique. It hurt though. Usually the pain would diminish by the time I finished each 1.5 min RW segment, and it didn't hurt at all on the walk segments. But now, several hours later, it's really bothering me. Just a dull ache all the time; I'm now sitting on a tennis ball to try and loosen it up.

Back to square one I guess. I have PT tomorrow.

Later today I'll go to the gym to get some cardio and to do my PT exercises.

plodding along

Yesterday: elliptical at the gym, weights with Kelly (abs, upper body, PT exercises). My friend Ollie had asked about what exercises I do. I have to do 1) planks (30-90 sec; doing 60 right now) x 3 sets 2) side planks (30-90 sec; doing 30 right now) x 3 sets, 3) clam shells with resistance band (gray) around my knees; to fatigue x 3 sets on each side, 4) one-legged bridges to fatigue x 3 sets each leg, 5) lateral walk with resistance band around feet (blue) + hands through gray band attached to post or other rigid object for core stability while I walk; to fatigue on each side x 3 sets, 6) step 90 degrees to right then back, then 90 degrees to left and back with knees slightly bent and core engaged; to fatigue on each side x 3 sets. My hips are trashed when I'm done with this routine! It's tough, but good for me. I'm to focus on keeping my core activated and my gluteus medius activated on all exercises.

Today: tried to walk with Kelly. Made it 1km and had to switch to alternating walk/RW because of pain. Did 6x(3 min walk/1.5 min RW) but the last one the RW was shorter because it hurt. Grrrrr. Also did 30 min elliptical to get in some cardio, and did my PT exercises. In addition, went to my Weight Watchers meeting and faced the music...had to pay for January since I never made it in, but weighed in at 155.2 lb, which could be worse. I can be up to 157.0 without paying, so that was semi-good news. At least I made weight...but I am 5-10 lb (2-4.5kg) above my racing weight. I'm trying really hard not to overeat, but it's very difficult because I'm a stress eater and it's pretty stressful right now with my injury.

I feel like my injury to the piriformis is not improving at all. I guess I have to be patient.

To top it off, I attended a baby shower this afternoon, and when I got in the car of the person I was riding with, the door closed on my right foot (parked in my driveway, which has a slight tilt because we're on a hill) and now it's quite painful and swollen and hurts to dorsiflex. Wonderful. Well, I can't RW anyway, so no matter I suppose. Bring it on, right?

update; PT

Since Monday this is what I've been up to:

Tuesday - Elliptical 45 min
Wednesday - Elliptical 45 min then PT in the late morning.

PT was cool. I got to go to the running clinic. They had me racewalk on a treadmill with force plate sensors so that they could track the force on each part of my foot through the whole gait. It was quite informative. In addition, the PT did the standard exam to measure muscle strength, etc.

Main findings:
1) My gluteus medius, abductors, and external rotators are weak in my hips. No surprises there, since I've slacked on my strength training. Drat. This injury thing is preventable if I'm not stupid and have time to train properly. (That's easier said than done...).
2) I'm not engaging my core effectively when I walk.
3) 1) and 2) result in gait problems, including a) excessive hip drop, b) crossing the midline with each stride, c) too much trunk rotation.
4) I also have a shortened stride on my right leg and less toe-off on right foot. This is possibly related to my current injury to the piriformis.

So now I have a big list of exercises to do daily, plus a "return to running" (or racewalking!) plan.

Today - on the return to racewalking plan, I did 6 x (4 min walking then 1 min racewalking) for a total of 30 min. Piriformis felt a bit sore but I was able to do it. I concentrated a lot on my form esp on activating glute med and on activating my core, as the PT suggested. After that I took the kids to school and then went to PT again before work. The PT assistant checked my form on the exercises and then did soft tissue work on the piriformis area. I think it helped a lot - it felt a heck of a lot better when he finished. Interestingly, he didn't work it to the point of pain. He just skillfully used his implements (a tray of metal tools that looks like something from a medieval torture rack) to massage the problem area and surrounding tissues.

Later tonight I'll have to hit the gym for some cardio and finish my exercises, as we only did a few in PT.

3 steps forward, 2 steps back

Now my right glutes hurt. Bad. Well, OK, I'm not sure it's my glutes. It might be my piriformis. I'm sure I must be compensating and my gait is all screwed up somehow because of my left leg injury. I couldn't even make it 5K this morning. 2.25K into my walk it was hurting so bad I turned around. I ran, racewalked, and just walked back to my house. I would have just walked, only I'd have gotten cold (it was 23F, about -5C?). Oddly enough, it hurt less to run than to racewalk.

It's later in the day and it's still hurting. I ran to try to catch the bus (and missed it...arrrgh!) because I was doing my part to reduce smog by taking the bus. The running made it hurt worse.

Oh yeah, and because I'm whining, I also have a nasty bruise on my back from falling on the porch steps on Saturday.

I hurt. I'm sick of this. I want to train.

I've gained weight.

I think I'm depressed.

Work hasn't been good either. Nothing is working.

OK, end of pity party. I have things to do here, like take the kids skating and get some groceries.

cross-training

So I'm back into the swing of things a bit now. Going to try the easy week that was planned for this coming week, and see how it goes. Today was cross-training, so I did 45 min on the elliptical and felt pretty good.

***

Could use some extra rest, but might not get it. Have to go in to work tonight to do a couple things, and Kelly and I will meet early to do our 8K. I am still dealing with the aftereffects of a cold this week (I am not sure I blogged about it...think I forgot - I actually missed a day of work on Wednesday because I was feeling pretty ill) and the extra sleep would help.

8K

I got up this morning and got ready to go walk, and when I went out the door I slipped on my porch steps, which were covered by ice. I fell quite hard, and my lower back hit the bottom step. I sat there for a few minutes, stunned and hurting. I shook it off and got up, and I felt OK; elbows were sore, and back was bruised, but otherwise no apparent damage. So I got in the car and drove to Kelly's house.

I was to do 10K today, depending on how I felt. Kelly was to do 25K. The weather was decent - sunny and about 30F (-1C), and the Jordan River Parkway was mostly clear with some icy spots (we were slowed down significantly on just one 500m section).

However, Kelly was feeling really ill - she was having trouble with her breathing (breathing really hard when we weren't going that fast), and her lower back was hurting a lot. We stopped for a quick leg check at 3km so that I could be sure my leg was doing OK. It was :)! But Kelly was feeling lousy. At 4K, she said she needed to turn around and call it quits for the day at 8K, because she felt too bad to continue. I was all right with that, because I figured I could do 2K more when she was done.

But at 6km or so, I noticed my right hip was feeling really tired. I wasn't sure if it was from slipping on the porch steps, from walking after a long time off, compensating for something in my left leg (which felt fine, by the way), or something else. Regardless, I decided that there was no reason to push things, and so at 8km I stopped with Kelly. My left leg has felt totally fine all day, which is great! My right hip has been sore, but it just feels like muscle soreness. I am probably not using my left glutes enough after the layoff, or something like that.

We were really fast today. Aside from the 2nd 500m and the 2nd to last 500m, our splits were all close to 2:55-3:00. The others were a bit longer because of the ice on that section of the walkway. Kelly kept telling me I was going really fast, but oddly I didn't feel like I was working that hard, so we just kept going that speed. I asked her if I was legal, and she said yes, that my knees were good.

Total time: 47:52 for 8km for 5:59/km with average HR 138.

Garmin data here.

6km racewalking!

It was so nice to be racewalking this morning. Even the weather cooperated. After a January with average temperature 18F (-7.8C), which is 10F below normal (!), it was a balmy 33F (1C) this morning. It felt lovely. Plus, the roads were better after the dump of snow this week. Finally! OK, so the sidewalk in Liberty Park was icy and the park road was icy in spots, but 600 East was OK, and Kelly and I were able to walk nice and fast.

I paused every few km to assess my leg and make sure it was doing OK. It felt all right! It was a bit stiff and I was "noticing" it, but it did not hurt. What a relief! I have delayed posting my blog today mostly because I wanted to make sure there was no delayed onset soreness either. So far, as of 4:10pm, there is not. I have been walking quite a bit at work today, too - had to walk to the core facility to get some stuff sequenced, walked to a meeting at Primary Children's Medical Center (10 min walk, inside), walked to the bank, the pharmacy (in the hospital), and also over to the Emma Eccles Jones building to pick up some enzymes. That's a lot of walking, not including the walk to my car and back. I would guess I've walked 2.5-3km (1.2-1.8 miles) at work today!

Not only was my leg OK, but I was nice and fast today. Kelly kept pestering me to slow down a bit as she is tired from her really hard training week. I felt bad that I was so fresh in comparison to her. My turn will come, though. I'm going to be hurting a lot next week if we start up training again.

My total time for 6km was 35:33 (my watch said 5.96km, but Kelly's said 6, so we went with that) for an average pace of 5:56/km. That's pretty speedy, and I'll take it. Average HR was just 138.

Garmin data here.