3K fartlek

I felt fairly well-recovered from my 10K yesterday. My legs were a little sore, but not bad, and I didn't feel horribly tired. So I decided to try the 3K fartlek. I did struggle, and though subjectively it didn't feel as bad as last week, I was actually slower. I'm not too troubled by that, as I just did 10K yesterday, and last week I was coming off of a rest day instead.

What does bother me a bit is my right glutes/piriformis. They started to bug me a little on yesterday's 10K and it continued to be irritated a bit today. It's not painful outright, just perhaps somewhat inflamed. I have to watch my technique more closely (drat...thought I had been!). This sport is challenging, but that is part of why I like it.

The weather was warm, as it has been all week - mid 70s. There was a slight cooling breeze, which helped.

Splits: 2:45.4, 2:45.1, 3:01.2 (med), 2:48.0, 3:09.1 (med), 2:55.3.

Total: 17:24 for the 3K fartlek with average HR 161 and max 170 at the very end (shameful that a 170 HR only netted me a 2:55 - oh well...it's just data...I'm going to get better).

Garmin data here.

State of mind: encouraged that I am feeling a little better, but this is still very difficult. It's hard to come back. It's hard to eat right. My weight is up, still - can't quite exercise enough, and when you add in eating due to tiredness (no excuse, just explaining what is happening) it's not good. I am struggling to make this all work somehow.

10K

I took a rest day yesterday, and felt pretty good when I started off today. I'm definitely feeling better overall, even though I'm not back to normal. 10K doesn't completely wipe me out any more, which is good. I do get tired doing 10K, which isn't at all normal, but it's still an improvement on how I felt in June.

I forgot to bring my watch cable to work with me, so couldn't upload to the Garmin website. But here's how I did: 1:02:36 for 6:15/km with ave HR 151. I started nice and fast, doing 5K in about 30 min on a slight downhill, then did about 32:30 for the second 5K on a slight uphill. My legs got tired at about 7km and I did have some slow 500s, though only 3 of them were more than 3:15, so that wasn't too bad. Overall I felt OK today.

Tomorrow I will either cross-train or try a 3km fartlek, depending on how I recover. Thursday I'll do 10K, Friday cross-train, and Saturday 12K. That's the plan for now.

12K

I felt OK this morning. Not great, not awful, but OK.

I met Stevie at the Jordan River Trail for 12K. We kept the pace nice & slow on purpose, and also because Stevie isn't quite as fast as I am (yet). I figured that a slower 12K was better than no 12K, and besides, if I started out fast I was pretty sure I wouldn't finish. My legs are definitely not 100% yet. Though I have improved since June when 5K almost killed me a couple times, I'm not ready for a hard 12K for sure. I noticed my legs tiring by about 4K, and by 10K they were definitely more tired. But the nice slow pace helped, and I didn't feel dead when I finished.

In fact, after getting home, I made French toast for the kids, ate a little breakfast (oatmeal), and then went briefly to work with Calvin in tow. I had enough energy left to take him to the free wellness fair at the U, walking around for a couple hours. We had a great time, and he particularly enjoyed the magic show, the balloon animals, the giant inflatable colon (really! complete with cancers & polyps!), and the free hot dogs, fruit, and creamies. I think I might take a nap, though, now that I'm home.

Anyway, I am sure I could have gone faster today if I'd been alone - Stevie struggled to keep up, and I slowed my pace a little for him. I think I might have done 6:20/km alone (guess), but together we did 6:36/km on average for 1:19:08 total and my ave HR was just 141. Stevie was doing better early, but got leg cramps and it was rough going the last 5km for him.

I'm pleased because I haven't gone 12K in a while and I'm feeling all right. Stevie was thrilled because he'd never gone farther than 10K before. We are planning to do it again next Saturday.

Garmin data here.

getting better?

I cross-trained today, taking it a bit easy with 30 min on the elliptical because I plan to try 12K tomorrow, which is the longest I've gone in quite a while. I wanted to be cautious.

***

I got my B12 results back. 1964! That combined with my substantial improvement on the neuropathy has my doctor feeling like 1) it really was B12 causing the problems, and 2) I am on the path to being 100% again. I definitely do not need a B12 shot, with levels that high. That's the good news - I am improving, and B12 was the problem. The bad news is that it still might take a while for me to feel like my old self. No one really knows how long it will be, but as long as there is improvement and signs that the improvement will continue, I guess I am OK with that. It will be a bit easier being patient if I know that things are on the right track. I'm to continue taking oral B12 at 1000 mcg/day.

In other health news, racewalking and eating well (most of the time!) has its rewards. My cholesterol is "very, very good" according to my doctor, with HDL 62 (that's nice and high - high enough to be a negative risk factor for heart disease) and LDL 83 (less than 100 is desirable). My triglycerides are also very good at 85.

***

So, projecting ahead 6 weeks, it looks like I should be feeling a lot better. I decided to take a bit of a gamble and buy plane tickets for the national 5K in Kingsport, TN on October 5th. Steve, the 14-year-old racewalker who joined me for my workout last Saturday, is going to come with me. That saves his dad having to come along and pay for yet another plane ticket. It's not cheap to fly into Kingsport, as it's a little bitty airport, so that is significant savings for them. Another good reason for me to do the race!

10K; doctor visit

My 10K this morning was actually better than I expected. I was tired and sore this morning so I figured it'd be a lost cause, but you never know, so out I went. My legs did get tired at 7K, and yes, the last 1K wasn't so hot (though it's a good uphill...), but otherwise it wasn't so bad.

Total time: 1:02:14 for 6:13/km with ave HR 146.

Garmin data here.

***

Doctor visit today was encouraging. I have regained some sensation in my feet, and the doctor thought that was a great sign. He ordered a re-check of my B12 levels, because I told him I still feel really lousy. I asked him for a B12 shot and he was going to give me one, but they had run out in the clinic. We will get the results tomorrow pm, so he said if I was still low he'd just write me a prescription and I can pick some up at the pharmacy and they can give me the shot in the clinic. But if my levels have come up, then there is really no point in a shot, and it will just take some more time for me to feel better. I am not feeling very patient right now...

cross-training, 3K fartlek

I stayed up too late on Monday night because I thoroughly enjoyed coffee with Sarah and chatted with her until almost 9:30. Oops. I'm glad I did, but I did pay for it a bit. Tuesday I intended to do my 3K fartlek, but I was simply too tired. I did manage to drag my sorry self to the gym for 30 min of elliptical before work, so at least I did something.

Today I knew I had to do the fartlek. On the 1600m warm-up with strides I noticed that my legs were definitely not 100%. They felt maybe like 80% recovered. Sigh. So frustrating. I did the fartlek anyway, but my legs died around 2km and despite working very hard, breathing very hard, and having my HR nice and high (upper 160s), I was slow on the last km. I felt pretty terrible.

Total time: an embarrassing 17:20 with ave HR 163. Garmin data here.

I had to sit a bunch at work this morning (at the computer designing subcloning strategies all morning) and that definitely did NOT help. My legs are sore and unhappy. Pathetic. I'm very glad I'm going to the doctor tomorrow.

8K; tired of being tired!

Today I did 8K. I figured I'd do a bit more than last week, so my plan is 8K, 3K fartlek, 10K w/3x3' bursts, and 12K on Saturday if I can manage it.

I had pretty fresh legs today and started off fast. Too fast...I chased some runners in Liberty Park and went a bit faster than I should have, and I guess that wore me out a bit so that I was slower at the end. Sigh...I'm SO tired of being tired. I have a doctor appt for Thursday to try and sort that out a bit. We'll see.

Total time: 48:51 for 6:06/km with average HR 149.

Garmin data here.

10K

This morning I had a treat - more company for my 10K! Steve, age 14 but already an accomplished racewalker (has won his age group at Junior Olympics several times), joined me. He and his family recently moved to Utah from Texas. His PRs are quite similar to mine, so I figured he'd be a good workout partner. His dad drove him to meet me for a walk on the Jordan River Parkway followed by breakfast.

My legs were a little tired today, but not too bad considering I did a short track workout yesterday. They felt much better than during my workout on Wednesday, which was a relief. I started off pretty easy, not wanting to push it at all. Steve started to get a bit tired around 4km, so at 4.5km I left him for 6 minutes, doing the last 0.5km out and back by myself and picking him up for the 4.5km back to where we started. I promised him I wouldn't tell his dad that the "old lady" beat him, and I didn't (I'm assuming his dad does not yet read my blog!). I did go a little bit slower because he was with me; I figure my total time would have been about a minute faster if I'd been walking alone, though that's hard to guess accurately. I do know I could have gone faster without pushing too much.

Total time: 1:03:52 for 6:23/km with ave HR 137. The two 500s I did alone were 2:56 and 2:57, so like I said, I'm sure I could have gone faster. But this was fast enough to accomplish its purpose.

Garmin data here.

cross-training, 3K fartlek

Yesterday: Too tired to think about racewalking. My legs were just not going to go there. So I did an hour on the elliptical instead. Why that is easier than RW is beyond me, but it is. I enjoyed reading and catching up on Runner's World magazine.

***

Today: 3K fartlek. My legs felt a lot better today. I warmed up in 9:38 for 1600m with strides, did my dynamic flexibility drills, and got started. The weather was lovely - felt nice and cool - about 67F (19C) and clear and dry. The fartlek went about like last week; I didn't feel as strong as I did last week, but my legs carried me through pretty well and they've felt reasonable the rest of the day so far. I did 2:46.0, 2:49.4 (fast 1km - 500m splits), 2:58.1 (medium), 2:43.5 (fast), 2:59.0 (medium), and 2:43.5 (fast) for a total of 16:59.4. Average HR was 157 and max 169.

Garmin data here.

***

Afterwards I cooled down at the gym with 15 min elliptical, and I also rode my bike to work for a little extra cardio (22 min, all uphill).

cross-training; 10K

Yesterday I cross-trained, doing 45 min elliptical and 15 min on the stationary bike. I enjoyed the 1 hr to myself to read (Harry Potter #5, newspaper) and think.

***

Today I tackled 10K and was pretty much beaten up. I started off feeling great for 3km or so, but then my legs just had nothing. My HR was low but legs wouldn't move. At one point, I almost started to cry out of sheer frustration. I want to do more, but just can't.

At least the weather was lovely. It was about 70F (21C) and clear with a slight and very pleasant breeze.

Total: 9.8km on the watch (missed 0.2km that I actually RW - turned off watch and forgot to turn back on) in 1:03:31 for 6:29/km with ave HR only 138. Grrrr :(. Well, on the positive side, I can still racewalk even if it's not as fast or far as I want to go.

Garmin data here.

6.25km

My legs were still a bit sore this morning from the hike on Friday, but I know I need to get back to RW and try to start training again. I'm strongly considering doing the national 5K in Kingsport TN on Oct 5th. I know I'm not 100%, but I really want to do another national race this year. It keeps me motivated, and right now, my motivation is a bit low. It's tough to keep strong mentally when you feel tired all the time and want to sleep in rather than train. Maybe I NEED to sleep rather than train, but I don't WANT to. Frustrating.

Anyway, I slept a bit later today because I took a sick day from work to care for the kids, who couldn't go to camp today (swimming for most of camp, and they can't do that in their current state). So I started walking at 8 am and it was already 26C (79F). I did OK, but my legs were definitely heavy and tired, and by 3km I knew 6km total would be enough for today.

Total 39:23 for the 6.26km (6:17/km) with ave HR 141.

Garmin data here.

Hiking, rest day, and cross-training

Friday: My brother, an avid mountaineer, was in town. So I took the day off and we went hiking, of course! He originally had planned for us to do Lone Peak or Twin Peaks, but decided those were too hard for Erica (his wife) and I to do, so he switched our hike to Pfiefferhorn. It was still very difficult! If I'd been in better shape to start with it wouldn't have been as hard as it was, but even so, the class 3 scrambling with exposure was pretty scary for me and I doubt I'd do it again. I'm glad I did it, but...yeah...scary.

It was about 15K total (actually a bit more, at 9.5 miles or so), with 3800 feet (1100m) of elevation gain and then loss on the way back. Wow. But it was very beautiful hiking through forests, past alpine lakes, through meadows of profuse wildflowers, and then over boulders on a knife-edge ridge. The summit views were spectacular, showing us the Salt Lake and Utah valleys, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Mt. Timpanogos, and more.









On the way down, all was well until about 12k, when my right IT band pulled its usual hiking stunt and started to hurt. The last 3k was a slow slog for me, but I made it. My quads are seriously paying for the adventure now, but oh well. It was worth it.

Here are all of the photos. Here's my Garmin data.

***

When I got back into cell phone range, I was stunned to have a message from the camp director of the summer camp my kids are in. I discovered that they were BOTH at the hospital (thankfully with my husband Loren) from separate accidents at the roller skating rink. Calvin fell first, bracing his fall with his arms and fracturing his radius and ulna. They set the fracture with him sedated, and he is doing fine now, though in some discomfort. Just after the camp director got back to the skating rink, Grace fell and split her chin open, requiring 5 stitches. They took her over to be with Calvin and Loren at the hospital. By the time I got back from hiking, they were almost ready to leave the hospital, so I didn't go. I was quite relieved to be reunited with them and they are going to be fine.

***

Saturday: rest day. I needed it, after all that excitement!

***

Sunday: quads still hurting a lot, and calves too. However, I need exercise! So I decided to try the elliptical, and it was fine. I did 40 min elliptical in my swimsuit and shorts, and then peeled off the shorts and jumped into the pool for 20 min of laps. That felt quite nice after the elliptical, and gave my legs a rest.

3K fartlek

I felt surprisingly recovered today. My legs were a little sore after yesterday's 10K, but pretty good compared to how they have been sometimes lately.

It was warm again. Yesterday it was 75F, today 74F (23-24C). Still, beats cold & rainy, and the sprinklers at the track were on and giving me a little respite shower now and then.

Briefly: warm-up 1600m in 9:34 with 2x100m strides on the last 400m. Felt good. Dynamic drills. Then I got started and I felt fast today. I pushed pretty hard aerobically because my legs felt like they were responding for once. 1K fast: 2:41.4, 2:45.5, 500m medium 2:59.8, 500m fast 2:44.5, 500m medium 3:02.6, 500m fast 2:43.9 (I sprinted that last 100m in about 30 seconds flat!). Average HR a pretty high 163, max 175. Good hard workout.

Then I went to the gym and cooled down with 20 min elliptical.

Garmin data here. 

EDITED to add: Total time was 16:57. Oops...sorry coach...forgot to put it on here.

Tomorrow: hiking! We are doing Pfeifferhorn! 

10K

I felt better this morning. Better enough to do 10K anyway.

I did the first 5K alone, and a bit too fast... 29:29! I felt good and it didn't feel hard, so I went with it. I'd say about 4K in that my legs started to feel a bit sore, but otherwise no problems.

Adriana met me at the 5K point and we did 5K together. I think I mentioned her yesterday - she is an aspiring young walker in need of a bit of mentoring. I agreed to go her speed for the last 5K, which actually felt really good. She did a bit over 34 minutes, so my total was 1:03:35 for the 10K with average HR 145.

I really enjoyed the company and it's been good getting to know Adriana. Hopefully her speed and endurance will increase and I'll have a great training partner again. No one will replace Kelly, but I'm hoping Kelly will be back to racewalking this fall. She's going to be in Africa a while on a humanitarian PT trip, and then on an away rotation, so I won't see much of her until October.

Sadly, my legs are sore and whiny now, and I'm sleepy. I'd love a nap but work and children will prevent that.

Garmin data here.

resting up

Apparently I'm still quite under the weather. I've been continuing to feel unusually tired and have sore muscles that don't recover well. After my 10km on Saturday, I took Sunday as a rest day and planned to x-train on Monday. However, I overslept my alarm (a bit unusual for me) and my legs were sore and I felt lousy, so I decided not to push it and rested that day too.

This morning I met Adriana (a recent high school graduate who is a promising racewalker, doing 29:25 for 5K on July 4th) at the track. I intended to warm up with her, giver her some technique pointers, and do a 3K fartlek while she did whatever she wanted to do. I felt OK after our warm-up (4 laps or 1600m in about 9:30) but not great, and she really needed some technique help. I decided one more day off might be good, and spent time with her working on a few things. I think it helped her a lot, and I'm glad I did it. I did end up walking a total of about 2.5km with her (not much, but something).

So for a bit more exercise, I talked the kids into biking to their summer camp at the U this morning, and I biked with them. Then I biked up the hill to my work on upper campus. Not as much exercise as usual, but I am feeling a bit better today - so far.

My plan for tomorrow is to meet Adriana again; I'm going to do 5K and meet her for 5K more for a total of 10K for me and only 5K for her. She's out of conditioning and her knee is bothering her a bit so I don't want her to walk too far. She thought 5K would be all right.

Jim wants me to do a 3K fartlek this week so I'll try for that on Thursday, take a long hike Friday, and try for 10K on Saturday, legs permitting. That may be more than I can do, so if I don't feel good I'll perhaps x-train Saturday (maybe swim or do something that is easier on my legs?) and do 10K on Sunday instead.

This is getting old. I'm more than ready to feel better. Plus it's been a real challenge managing my weight with so little exercise. I gained about 3-4lbs on the cruise but I've taken that back off now, thankfully. I'm still 5-6 lb over where I'd like to be for competition, but since I can't compete right now, my motivation is lower than it should be. I'll settle for maintenance now, which is challenging enough.

8K Friday; 10K Saturday

I was still really sore from the race on Friday. But I had 8K to do, and it went OK considering. It was warm at 23C (mid 70s...too lazy to convert) but not terrible.

I did the 8K in 48:26 with ave HR 150. However, I was pretty slow the last few km, and my legs were quite tired/dead feeling. I was very fatigued Thursday and Friday. I'm ready to start feeling better. OK, it's better than it was, but I'm definitely not 100%.

Garmin data here.

***

This morning I felt less sore, but when I got going I could tell that I was still tired from the week's racewalking and other activities (work, schlepping kids around, etc.). To make matters worse, it was very warm (28C - 80F) and very humid. So humid that for a while it was actually raining, which felt good. I was bummed out when it stopped, as it was keeping me cool. I stopped a lot today to drink/pour water over myself at the fountain. At least I still got the 10K done, and in a respectable time, though again my legs felt like toast when I was done. I was totally finished. Sad...10K is enough to wipe me. I took a short nap midday to recover. My legs still are feeling it, almost like I did 20-25K not 10K. Frustrating.

Total was 1:01:30 for the 10K with ave HR 149.

Garmin data here.

aftermath

I'm SO tired after the 10K race yesterday. Exhausted after working all day today (as well as yesterday; though it was a holiday, I opted to work and I'm going to take off next Friday to hike with my brother and his wife). My legs are really sore - shins (haha...obviously out of shape!), glutes, adductors are especially sore.

I did manage 30 min on the elliptical anyway, but wonder if that was a good idea. Well, it's done now. 8K tomorrow will be interesting. Guess I still have a ways to go in my recovery.

Race pictures are in - they are pretty good! I look quite legal, which is always a nice confirmation. The pictures were all in the last mile or so, when I was burning it pretty hard.

Deseret News 10K - 2013 edition

This is one of those races that I do pretty much every year. It's just a great race - awesome course on the parade route (for Pioneer Day - aka Pie 'n' Beer day to the less-reverent among us) with lots of downhill and lots of spectators. At left, with my friend Leah from the Wasatch Walkers before the race.

The race was smaller this year - they offered a 1/2 marathon, which attracted people away from the 10K I think. I was NOT ready to do a 1/2 marathon, so the 10K was just right for me. I enjoyed the usual runner comments and spectators cheering "Go powerwalker" "Speedwalker!" etc. There were 2 people who yelled "Racewalker!" - and I knew one of them, of course. Glen Wells, age 50-54 American record holder at 50K for a while (not sure if his record still stands; it was 5:13). One woman said "Great job! I see you every year and you're awesome!" That was nice :).

The weather was decent - 70F (21C) and overcast, and slightly humid for Utah (instead of 5% humidity it was maybe 30%?). Heat wasn't really a factor for me this year, but being out of shape certainly was. The race went well until 5 miles, and then I had no legs and no oomph to keep me going up the slight incline at the end of the race, so my pace slowed a bit and I felt very tired.

I told Jim I'd do it at a moderate pace, and I did. I started easy, then pushed to moderate after a couple miles, then gave it a lot more at the end - pushed quite hard for the last couple km. However, I have no endurance right now (understandably) and so none of that mattered very much. Pushing hard didn't help too much when there was no gas left in the tank!

Still, it wasn't my slowest Deseret News 10K ever. I finished in a respectable 58:26. Splits (mile, or 1.609km) - 8:50, 8:54, 9:33, 9:28, 9:33, 12:09 (last 1.2 miles, with the only uphill on the course). Average HR was indeed a moderate 153, though I did get up to 169 at the very end.

Garmin data here.

Leah finishing.

after the race

rest day, cross-training, 6K

Sunday: rest day

***

Monday: cross-training - 25 min elliptical, bike to work (21 min) and back home (10 min).

***

Tuesday: 6K
Legs were a bit tired this morning probably from biking yesterday, since it's been a week since I biked to work. However, that didn't seem to hurt my racewalking any, as I was able to do the 6K pretty easily. My legs felt tired for the last 1.5km or so, but I didn't lose much speed on the small uphill returning home.

Total time 36:08 for 6:01/km with ave HR 142.

Garmin data here. 

Of note: I brought my parents' puppy with me - Sherrie, age 8 months, Aus Shepherd/German Shepherd mix. She did great! Here are pics:

cross-training; 10K

Yesterday I did 30 min on the elliptical and then rode my bike to work (22 min uphill).

***

Today I was to walk 10K.

I felt tired this morning before I started; I confess to staying up a bit too late. I also worked for a bit before I racewalked, and so then the temperature was a bit high when I got going at just before 8 am. By the time I finished it was 81F (27C).

I went to the Jordan River Parkway, where I love to walk even though I don't drive there often to do it. Kelly lives nearby and I was going to have breakfast with her after my walk, so it worked out well. (Incidentally, Kelly is still laid up with her knee injury; she recently had surgery to clean up some tissue in the knee they suspected might be a problem, and she expects to return to racewalking soon).

I started off well, doing the first 5K in 30:20 or so. My legs started to feel tired around 4km, so I knew it was going to be a long walk. However, even though my muscles were tired and it was hot, I managed OK for the last 5K, doing 31:40 for 1:02:00 total with ave HR 149. I stopped at 2.5K, 5K, and 7.5K to drink from water fountains along the course.

I've been a bit sore today after the effort; mostly glutes and hamstrings. I spent the afternoon at the pool with the kids and their friends, and it was pretty relaxing for the most part, for which I was glad. I'll sleep well tonight.

Garmin data here.

6K

Today was a recovery test. How would my body react to three days in a row of racewalking, including a track workout (albeit short)? Turns out that I did OK! Not great, but OK, and that is much better than how poorly I'd been doing up to this point. I'll take it (like I have another option?).

Jim said I should do 5-6km and see how I felt. I did get quite tired around 4km but was able to keep a faster pace going up the slight hill than yesterday (3:10/500m instead of 3:25). I won't say I felt great today, but I felt decent, and that is good enough.

Total time was 36:50 for 6km for 6:08/km with ave HR 144.

Garmin connect data here.

Tomorrow I will do some cross-training and we'll see what Jim has up his sleeve for Saturday's walk.

8K

Other than not getting enough sleep last night (I was up late working on getting together the church music for this Sunday), I felt all right this morning. Tired, but not horribly so, which is better than I've been feeling lately. My muscles weren't sore at all from yesterday's fartlek, which did surprise me a little. So perhaps I really am improving? We'll see.

Today went pretty well. Jim said to do 8-10K, and I felt 8K would be plenty to test my recovery. I did OK for the first 5K, getting there in 30:38, but then I tired quite a bit and the slight uphill home nailed me a bit harder than usual. I finished in 49:57 for 6:15/km with ave HR 142. Clearly I didn't push very hard aerobically, but my legs were definitely tired from 4-8km today, and that explains things. Also, it was quite warm this morning and very humid - about like yesterday at 75F (24C), but today I felt I started off feeling warmer, as our basement is starting to warm up (our swamp cooler is broken - ugh! - with 100+ degree days that's no fun).

Jim wants me to walk 5-6km tomorrow to test my recovery yet again. If I can make 3 days in a row, at least we can begin training at some nominal level. If not...well...more rest I suppose. On Friday it will be 6 weeks since I started taking B12 to remedy a probable deficiency. The doctor said it could be a couple months or even a bit more until I feel normal again if it is B12, so we might have to wait longer. Hopefully not, though. I'm getting antsy to train and race.

Garmin data here.

I'm back blogging!

Yup, I'm back.

I'm not back training, quite yet. However, I am feeling a little better I think. I know that's a very qualified statement, but these things are hard to measure. I have been able to racewalk 10K recently (in 1:01xx on Sunday - so even a decently fast time for an easy walk), which is an improvement, and this morning I did a 3K fartlek and feel surprisingly OK in that my muscles are not horribly sore this evening. Now that doesn't mean I'll feel OK tomorrow or that I'll be able to resume training, but I'm a bit more hopeful.

I'm back from vacation (2 weeks on a cruisetour to Alaska - WOW is all I have to say about that right here and now), and back writing my blog, which at least indicates I'm hopeful about getting back to training. I don't know if anyone is still reading it after my hiatus, but that's OK. I write it mostly for me and for my coach anyway :).

So this morning it was warm (75F or 24C) and humid, and I wasn't sure how I'd do. I knew it would hurt, and I wasn't looking forward to that. It did hurt, but it actually wasn't as bad as I thought. My warm-up went well; I did 1600m (just under a mile) in 9:45 and felt decent. Not great, but decent. More winded than I'd like, but my muscles felt OK which is an improvement over past track sessions recently. I did my dynamic stretching and got going. The first km was pretty good at 2:45.1 and 2:45.4 for the 500s for a total of 5:30.5. I thought maybe I'd gone out too fast and would die, but it wasn't too bad - I managed a 3:01.3 medium effort 500 followed by 2:48.5 hard 500, 3:00.3 medium, and last of all 2:48.4 hard for a total of 17:09. Average heart rate was 160.

I am pleased with this effort - it seems pretty good for how much time I've had off. Now the big question is how will I rebound from the effort? Will it be too much or will I be OK tomorrow? Stay tuned... tomorrow morning I'm to attempt 8-10km, coach says. I hope I can do it.

keep going

I am just going to keep on going. Things are definitely not easy right now, but my problems could be a LOT worse, so I'm trying to keep perspective.

Yesterday I took a rest day. Today I went to the track intending to do a 3K fartlek. Yup, a little nothing workout. I warmed up for 1600m in 10 min flat, and my legs were so sore you'd have thought I did 10 miles. I know I sound whiny, but really that is how it felt. My legs were tired going up the stairs this morning and tired just casual walking to the track and in to work. I do NOT want to feel this way. I want to racewalk and feel good. This is NOT just in my head.

For some reason, my glutes and hamstrings feel it more than other muscles. Or something. I'm not sure why, but racewalking is much more tiring than doing the elliptical or riding my bike. Not that the elliptical is as easy as usual; after my 10 min walk this morning I did 35 min on the elliptical and that tired me too, but not as much as racewalking.

I did consider doing the 3K fartlek anyway. I am sure I COULD have done it, and it would have been slow, but yeah, I could have done it. However, I felt that I needed to save my strength so that I could at least get some exercise. It is really important to me to get enough cardio to keep weight gain at bay, and if that means racewalking a bit less it stinks, but I feel I have no other option. Yeah, I could eat less, but that is quite difficult too. There aren't a lot of good choices here. It's hard, and I had a good cry and felt sorry for myself for a bit this morning. Loren was a good listener and helped me through it, and I have enjoyed the day today at work despite it all. I'm going to try not to dwell on the negative, as that just makes it worse.

I'll keep blogging because it may help someone else, and if not, well, it might help me in the future or be therapeutic now to get out my thoughts and feelings.

5K

I was going to do a 3K fartlek today, but when I got to the track and started warming up, I decided I might change my mind. My legs were really sore today, and I have no idea why. At 2K they were already painful. This is ridiculous! Frustrating! I'm trying very hard to be positive and stay upbeat despite it all, but it is challenging.

I ended up doing an "easy" 5K instead. I say "easy" in quotes because it wasn't easy. I worked hard just to keep a reasonable pace. To do 3:03, 3:04, and 3:03 for my last 1500m, my HR averaged 156, 160, and 161. That's pretty high for not going very fast. Obviously my performance is still quite impaired. If the problem is B12, it could take a month or two to feel better. If not, who knows? It depends on what it is.

Total: 5K in 30:52 for 6:10/km.

Plus 3 data here (Garmin site still down).

***

30 min is not enough cardio for the day, not if I want to continue to take off a couple more pounds, so I biked up to work. I felt really tired when I got to work :( but I was functional at least.

Liberty Park loop and cross-training

Yesterday (Sunday), I decided that I was going to racewalk no matter what. I had had enough days off that I could mentally deal with the idea that it was going to hurt. And you know what? It did hurt, but it wasn't awful, and I enjoyed being outside on a beautiful day. It was 60F (15C) pretty early on, as it got up in the low 90s (34C) later in the day. I was smart and took the kids to the pool in the afternoon, but that is its own blog post.

Anyway, I figured I could do the Liberty Park loop, which is about 6.25km. I felt pretty good starting off, but as usual, my legs got tired at 4km or so. I was able to push to the finish and not lose too much on the slight uphill back to the start, which is better than it has been. I'll take it.

I was pretty tired the rest of the day, but managed to play organ and the piano in the band at church, have brunch with Kelly (Leggs Benedict!), take the kids to the pool, and go to my parents' house for dinner. Thankfully, my parents spoiled us because I was quite tired and actually fell asleep on their couch before dinner.

Total time: 6.26km in 38:23 for 6:07/km. Can't see ave HR because Garmin site is down, but looks like about 150.

Plus3 upload here.

***

Today I cross-trained. I went to the gym and did 4.6 miles in 30 min on the elliptical (which is actually a record for me on that particular machine - why I'm able to do so well on the elliptical right now is beyond me) and then I biked up to work for a bit more cardio. I'm actually feeling decent today.

gym triathlon

My legs were complaining this morning, and I just couldn't mentally get into much of anything. I decided that a mini-triathlon would be interesting and would motivate me. Hey, whatever it takes, right? Yeah, I know I NEED to racewalk to stay fit, so I'll do some tomorrow (really, I will!). But today this is what I did:

5K on the elliptical in 20:27 (ha! Wish I could RW that fast...), 20K on the stationary bike in 39:02, and then 750m in the pool in a very slow 17:05. In all fairness, 1) I haven't swum in forever, 2) I was outside in the very lovely 50m pool, where you get less push-offs from the wall, and 3) I did this last and took it VERY easy. It felt SO nice to jump in the pool after getting all sweaty from the "run" and "bike" segments.

Someday I'd like to do a real triathlon, but I don't have a good bike (just have a hybrid commuter bike which is really heavy) and I don't run. So, maybe it's not for me. Besides, every time I think about it I realize I'd have to take time off of racewalking to train for it, and I don't really want to do that. Well, at least not right now. Someday though. It's on my bucket list, FWIW.

rough week

It's been a rough week. On the other hand, it could be lots worse, so some perspective is needed. These are definitely "first world" problems!

In general, I didn't feel like racewalking. My glutes and hamstrings were sore and tired even when I didn't do much at all. In fact, on Thursday at work (a day I took a rest day), my legs were cramping up just from sitting a bit at work. As a result of the general fatigue and muscle aches, I didn't do much.

Tuesday I did the elliptical and then biked to and from work. Wednesday I managed 5K racewalking, and did pretty well (30:09), though the result seemed to be total exhaustion on Thursday. I just couldn't make myself get up and work out; I was so very fatigued, and just getting through the day at work was difficult. I'm not sure it was because of the 5K or because it has been a busy week at work, but I was definitely unusually tired.

This morning I woke feeling a bit better, and managed 40 min on the elliptical. After I was done my legs were certainly sore, which is completely unlike me. But I made it through the rest of the day OK, and was definitely not as tired as on Thursday.

I finally talked with my doctor today. I do not have diabetes (not a big suprise); my blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c were totally normal. My thyroid is fine. My B12 level was 384. Less than 200 definitely indicates a problem, whereas 200-400 is a possible indicator of a problem. My doctor suspects this may be the culprit, because since I have been taking B complex vitamins for about 6 months, it's possible it's come up a bit from the lowest it may have been. However, this is not a sure thing. His recommendation? Take extra B12 (1mg/day) for a few months and get re-assessed for neuropathy and see if it is improved and if I am feeling more energetic.

If I do improve, then we'll know it was B12. If not, then we will probably have to get additional tests to see what might be going on. I am hoping that is not necessary.

neuropathy

Yesterday I visited the doctor and he worked to troubleshoot my fatigue/muscle fatigue problems. In taking my history he felt a little test of sensation in my feet might be a good idea, just in case. He expected it to be normal, but it wasn't. I have peripheral neuropathy in my feet - I couldn't feel the microfilament (small soft rubber piece attached to a handle) like I should be able to. Later that night I had my friend Sarah, a neurologist, examine me as well. She tested my temperature sensitivity and sensitivity to vibration, and they are impaired in both my hands and my feet.

The most likely culprit is vitamin B12 deficiency. After that the differential diagnosis gets uglier: type 2 diabetes (unlikely given my weight, exercise, etc., but still possible), some kind of de-myelinating disorder, and the list goes on. But as my husband pointed out, "Common things are common", meaning that usually the most common thing is the problem. B12 deficiency is very common, which is probably why my doc thought of testing my peripheral nerves - B12 deficiency is known to cause both fatigue and peripheral neuropathy.

They drew blood and are checking B12 levels along with serum ferritin, thyroid, CBC, and probably some other stuff too. They'll have the results to me in a day or two. Meanwhile, I am a bit concerned but trying not to worry, as it's not like that will accomplish anything. At the same time, I am slightly relieved that something really is wrong, as it makes sense of a lot of things and explains why I have been feeling so "off".

***

This morning my glutes and hamstrings were sore, and I was mentally too tired to racewalk, so I opted for the elliptical for 45 min followed by riding my bike to work.

I think I'll take a nap after work today if I can squeeze it in... (I work 30 hr/wk so can leave mid-afternoon).

8K

8-10K was on the menu for today.

Weather: lovely! 55F (13C) and sunny and clear.

I really didn't want to walk today. Lately it's just been the same - get to 5K, get tired, grit it out. After a while, you just don't want to walk anymore when that happens. But on the other hand, I'd rather walk tired than do the stationary bike.

I did get tired today, but at least I am faster to start than I was before the 15K race. I did the first 5K at a 6:03/km pace, and finished with 6:09/km (slight uphill at the end) total. My legs did get tired (glutes, hamstrings) at around 6km but I was able to push through it a bit today and finish all right. Hopefully it won't wipe me out for tomorrow. If I can just see some gradual improvement (which I can at the moment) then I will be encouraged. Slow progress is better than none.

Total: 8km, 49:10, 6:09/km, ave HR 150.

Garmin data here.

And I did not bike to work, because I have a doctor appt today to sort things out and need to drive there shortly.

10K

Yesterday I cross-trained; elliptical at the gym and then I biked to work.

Today Jim said to try 10K and see how it would go. That was what I was thinking to do anyway, so out I went. The weather was amazing again, which always makes things more pleasant. At 49F (10C) and sunny, it was lovely, and it warmed up as I went. Perfect racewalking weather.

The first 5K was great. Though my glutes and hamstrings were a bit sore to start, I felt pretty good. On a slight downhill, I did 30:14 and worked on my technique. Then...well...it started to hurt. My legs got more and more sore and more and more tired. I was able to keep the pace from getting disastrous, and it IS a slight uphill for the last part, but I slowed quite a bit. My last 5K was 32:52 for a total of 1:03:06 (6:19/km) with average HR of 135.

So, while I'm doing a bit better this week, that is still not really normal. 10K shouldn't leave my muscles feeling so tired. Well, I am getting it checked on Monday. If there's nothing obvious wrong we'll just have to deal with it; if there is something wrong, hopefully it can be easily corrected.

3K fartlek

Though longer stuff has been killing me of late, at least I can still racewalk, and I can do shorter stuff. So that's what we are doing for now. A 3k fartlek once a week and other as I can tolerate.

Perfect weather at 50F (10C) and clear with a little breeze. I warmed up at the track in just under 10 min for 1600m and felt OK. Legs were definitely a little sore (why oh why????) but it was all right. Did dynamic drills and started on my fartlek. I was much faster than the 5K fartleks the last two weeks, but still not very fast compared to when I am feeling 100%. Still, I'm happy with this for now - I can either be upset that I'm not what I was before, or I can just roll with it. I choose the latter!

Total time: 17:14 with ave HR 158 and max 168. I pushed hard on the last 500.

I worked very hard on my technique. I am trying to finally FIX my posture 100% - I realize that that slight forward lean inhibits hip rotation and slows me down a lot, so I focused hard on that today. Thanks, coach, for looking at my videos and helping me figure stuff out!

Garmin data here.

After my workout I went to the gym and did 15 min elliptical. Later, I biked to work. Need plenty of cardio to get that last 5 lb off. My legs have been a bit sore today, which is pretty sad from just a 3k fartlek. I'm getting it checked on Monday so no worries.

15K photos and videos

Pictures from the 15K

Videos from the 15K:

The venue 201305-19_07h39mn24s_MOV

Erin, David, Miranda, Pablo 201305-19_07h46mn08s_MOV

Ed O’Rourke 201305-19_07h46mn30s_MOV

Mark 201305-19_07h47mn12s_MOV

Tommy Aunan, Alex, Charles Burgh, Mike, Tammy 201305-19_07h47mn38s_MOV

Marianne, Joe Nieroski, Alex Kazaryan, Vicki 201305-19_07h48mn14s_MOV

??? 201305-19_07h48mn46s_MOV

Wendy, Sandra, Kristin, 3???, Kay, John, Darlene 201305-19_07h49mn16s_MOV

Jolene, Kathy, Lou, Nancy, Yvette, Lauri, Denise 201305-19_07h49mn52s_MOV

Wendy, Sandra 201305-19_08h11mn48s_MOV

Alex, Tommy Aunan 201305-19_08h17mn12s_MOV

Miranda, Erin 201305-19_08h18mn12s_MOV

David 201305-19_08h18mn32s_MOV

Joe Nieroski, Mike 201305-19_08h19mn02s_MOV

Marianne, Alex Kazaryan, Tammy 201305-19_08h19mn16s_MOV

Vicki 201305-19_08h20mn20s_MOV

Ed O’Rourke 201305-19_08h23mn48s_MOV

Sandra 201305-19_08h24mn08s_MOV

11, Mark, Kristin 201305-19_08h25mn00s_MOV

Kay, 3 & other SoCal walker 201305-19_08h26mn02s_MOV

Darlene, Erin, Miranda, Jolene 201305-19_08h26mn32s_MOV

Kathy 201305-19_08h28mn48s_MOV

Joe Nieroski, Mike, Lou, Lauri, Denise, Yvette, Nancy 201305-19_08h29mn20s_MOV

Marianne 201305-19_08h30mn10s_MOV

Tammy 201305-19_08h30mn22s_MOV

Vicki 201305-19_08h55mn02s_MOV

Yvette, Kathy 201305-19_08h56mn16s_MOV

Pablo, Denise 201305-19_08h57mn08s_MOV

Nancy 201305-19_08h57mn42s_MOV

Wendy, 2, 37? 201305-19_08h59mn14s_MOV

SoCal 5? 201305-19_09h00mn34s_MOV

Joe Nieroski, Alex Kazaryan, Annelise, Sandra 201305-19_09h02mn48s_MOV

Tammy, John 201305-19_09h03mn26s_MOV

Ed O’Rourke 201305-19_09h03mn48s_MOV

Kay, Darlene 201305-19_09h04mn38s_MOV

Jolene 201305-19_09h05mn20s_MOV

Vicki 201305-19_09h06mn44s_MOV

Alex 201305-19_09h07mn10s_MOV

Kathy, Denise, Wendy, Lou 201305-19_09h10mn30s_MOV

Nancy 201305-19_09h11mn46s_MOV

Alex Kazaryan, Lauri, Tammy 201305-19_09h13mn40s_MOV

Rebecca 201305-19_09h16mn56s_MOV

Jolene 201305-19_09h17mn52s_MOV

Kathy, Denise 201305-19_09h24mn40s_MOV

Nancy 201305-19_09h25mn46s_MOV

Jolene 201305-19_09h30mn58s_MOV

Kathy, Denise 201305-19_09h37mn50s_MOV

Lou 201305-19_09h38mn30s_MOV

Nancy 201305-19_09h39mn38s_MOV

5K

I decided to go out for an easy walk and thought 5km wouldn't tax me too much. My legs were pretty tired (why?????) but I figured I could do 5km no matter what. I wasn't at all in the mood to walk, mostly because every time I've walked lately I have 1) felt crappy, and 2) been really slow. But I'm glad I went (isn't that pretty much always the case? I mean, what would I rather be doing, sleeping (maybe yes...!)?). The weather was gorgeous - 50F (10C) and sunny and clear, and that helped.

Out I went, and I focused really hard on good technique. Arms back, keep core strong, no lean from the waist, allow hips to work, keep right leg straight, push hard through toes. It was a great technique session - I really felt it was going just right. I have a few shop windows to look in along several points in my route and I looked good.

I was fast this morning! Happy me! But I did tire quickly and was glad I was just doing 5K. I did the 5K in 30:11 for 6:02/km with ave HR 141, and with one brief stretching stop. My piriformis felt 95% good - just some tightness, and no pain. Now if I can just get my endurance up I'll feel better. I made a doctor appt for Monday so hopefully some answers next week. If I get a clean bill of health I will chalk this up to soreness from technique adjustments and proceed to ramp up more slowly this time. That's my plan if my coach agrees.

Garmin data here.

30 min is not enough exercise, so I biked to work too. Have got to stay on top of my weight or it creeps up. Nice day to bike, though it might shower - hopefully it holds off.

7.2km; cross-training

Sunday I took a rest day.

Monday I did an easy 7.2km at a friend's house in Spring City, UT. It's in a rural area with lots of cows, sheep, etc. I thought it was pretty flat, but turns out that it had a good uphill of 70m along the route I chose. Oops. I did the 7.2km at a 6:32/km pace and my legs were quite tired. Man, I'm wimpy these days. No gas in the tank. Jim called while I was out and we agreed I need to get some blood work just to make sure things are OK: iron (ferritin), cortisol, thyroid. I suspect my iron is fine since I have been taking iron orally since my previous low ferritin diagnosis a couple years ago, but I suppose it can't hurt to check.

Today I decided to go to the gym and work on the treadmill a bit. I have a lot of trouble walking legally on the treadmill for my PT appts and wanted to work on it. I started slowly and gradually ramped up my speed to 5.8mph (10:20/mile which is about 6:25/km). I know I was nice and legal, and I worked on my toe push a bit and on allowing my hips to rotate. It felt good but I tired quickly and jumped off after 15 min. Then I did 30 min on the elliptical and called it quits. Wanted to ride my bike to work but the weather was most uncooperative and I'm a fair weather cyclist.

In good news, I have lost a few pounds and seem to be keeping it off. I would like to lose about 5 more to be in my best racing shape. Let's hope the rest of me starts to have some more energy soon. I'm not sure what is wrong and it's annoying! I WANT to train!!!

disastrous 10K

Coach is right (he is always right!). Something is wrong. I don't know what it is, but something is really wrong.

Today I felt so VERY tired, and my legs were quite sore, even though all I did yesterday was an easy 30 min elliptical plus biking to work. My legs hurt today in the first 500m and it didn't get any better. I was to do 18km but it was clear from the start that wouldn't happen. My friend Kelly biked alongside me (she is a saint!) and encouraged me, but she couldn't help my legs.

I did 1:08:xx for 6:52/km with dead legs.

I'm kicking myself for not calling my doctor yesterday. I meant to, but work was busy and when I remembered his office was closed. I have to get checked out. Something is wrong. It's a holiday weekend, so I'll call him on Tuesday.

5K fartlek

Yeah, I was supposed to do an 8K fartlek. I tried. Hard.

My warm-up felt OK but slow at 10:19 for 1600m. Then I started the fartlek. My legs were still quite tired from yesterday and just didn't respond. My ave HR for the workout was 158, but my times were really slow. Ugly slow. The total was 30:42, which is only 1 second faster than last week's deathly slow fartlek. I stopped because 1) my recovery dipped below 3:15 for 500m and my "fast" 500s for km 3, 4, and 5 were over 3:00, and 2) my piriformis started to hurt at a level 2 pushing level 3 of 10. I was done even though I didn't want to be.

Oh well. A bad workout a few times a week seems inevitable at this point, for whatever reason. Let's just hope my legs are better on Saturday for 18km.

Garmin data here. 

the week so far

Monday: 24 hr post-race. I woke up not feeling too bad, so I drove to Fairmount Park where the race was and did 5.18km easy, at 6:25/km pace. It felt decent! Then we were in the car ALL DAY long (9am-9pm) driving home. Legs did OK as we stopped frequently to stretch, but still...yikes!

***

Tuesday: Decided a day of cross-training would be a good idea. Did 45 min elliptical and 30 min PT/strength training with Erin, and then biked to work. My legs actually felt great - very recovered!

***

Today: 10K with 2x5' bursts at 10K pace. My legs were quite tired - I think from the PT exercises, which is good. I need to keep working them and get my glutes stronger. Erin watched my technique and gave me a few really good pointers, mostly about the usual: avoid the lean and keep my arms back. I added in (mentally) moving my hips well and pushing through my toes. It was a great technique workout because I did get very tired and had to focus hard to maintain technique. I felt I'd be too tired to do the bursts, but Erin coaxed me into two 2' bursts, and then I did a third on the uphill about 7.5km - can't tell it's a burst because of the uphill but it was!

My legs are pretty tired now and I have an 8K fartlek tomorrow. But Erin reminded me today on my workout that each day is its own workout and it's not like I need to "save" anything for tomorrow. If I'm a bit slow on the speed work, so be it - it'll just be a harder workout but it'll make me stronger. Gulp!

Garmin data here. Total 1:02:50 for 6:17/km with ave HR 148.

15K Nationals complete (unofficial) results

Printout of results from the race, still unofficial. These times might change by a few seconds, according to the race director.

Women (Name, Age, Time)
Open
Miranda Melville, 24, 1:11:40
Erin Gray, 26, 1:11:52
40-44
Tamara Stevenson, 43, 1:34:02
Kristin Ugrob, 43, 1:50:36
45-49
Rebecca Garson, 48, 1:37:08
Lorraine Berger, 47, 2:05:17
50-54
Vicki Pritchard, 54, 1:38:29
Lou Kaelin, 52, 1:58:44
55-59
Wendy Clark, 59, 1:43:00
Sandra DeNoon, 57, 1:49:47
Denise Seyfarth, 56, 1:58:23
60-64
Marianne Martino, 62, 1:35:34
Donna Green, 60, 1:46:22
Kathryn Webster, 62, 1:58:10
65-69
Darlene Backlund, 67, 1:48:39
Kay Brinkley, 67, 1:50:16
Jolene Steigerwalt, 69, 1:51:09
Nancy Linky, 66, 2:00:01
70-74
Yvette LaVigne, 73, DQ
Anelise Smith, 74, 2:07:11

Men
Open
Alexander Price, 31, 1:27:25
40-44
Pablo Gomez, 41, 1:17:19
45-49
David Swarts, 47, 1:13:03
50-54
Edward O'Rourke, 51, 1:23:56
Tommy Aunan, 54, 1:30:02
Michael Blanchard, 52, 1:32:52
Joe Nieroski, 51, 1:33:23
Byron Kaelin, 53, 1:43:51
55-59
Raymond Billing, 56, DNS
Mark Green, 57, 1:24:22
Charles Brugh, 57, 1:31:43
Alex Kazaryan, 58, 1:33:51
65-69
Calvin Lau, 66, DQ
Rick Campbell, 67, 1:40:38
Jim Carmines, 69, 1:46:39
70-74
Bernie Finch, 73, DNS
John Backlund, 73, 1:48:19
75-75
Carl Acosta, 79, DQ
85-59
Bill Moremen, 85, 1:58:17, American Record!

15K Nationals

Really tired so just a brief recap now. Pictures and videos later.

Weather was gorgeous - upper 50s at race start and upper 60s at finish, light cooling breeze and not too humid. Much cooler than last year when it was 75ish and humid at the finish.

So great to see everyone - gabbed a lot before the start and warmed up very briefly with Vicki. I didn't want to wear myself out since I knew 15K was a long way in my current state of un-fitness.

1st lap (well, 3/4 of a lap since we did 8.77 laps for 15K) I felt stiff but loosened up a bit. Did it in 8 min which is just over 6 min/km pace and it felt pretty good. But the 2nd lap did not feel as good (~6:15/km) and the 3rd lap was even slower (~6:18ish?) and laps 4-7 were even slower - as slow as 6:25-6:30/km. My 5km split was 31:00 and I was feeling pretty iffy by then - tired legs and sluggish. But I did perk up a bit by lap 5 or 6 and didn't continue to slow but was able to hold my pace. I went through 10K in about 1:03:20 or so (not 100% sure of this split but it's close), so my second 5K was pretty pedestrian at about 32:20? Marianne Martino, who is 20 years older than me, passed me on lap 3 and I was a bit bummed about that, but she is the American record-holder in her age group and very talented, and I'm out of shape now so I tried not to feel bad about that. She slowed a bit on lap 7 and I was able to catch and pass her and finish ahead of her in the end. Yes, I actually sped up a bit on the last two laps - doing 10:36 and then 10:21. My total time was 1:34:02 means I did the last 5K in 30:42, which was the fastest of the three 5K splits! I guess I was a little too conservative in the middle 5K, but with my recent injury I think that was probably smart.

My average HR was only 153, so I definitely could have worked harder if my legs weren't so heavy; however, I feel really positive that I didn't die and get slower and slower at the end but was able to pick it up. That hasn't happened in a long time for me, and I'm pleased that I was able to finish strong even though my overall time was more than 5 minutes slower than last year (sigh....). But considering that I have only been walking again since March 17 and that I have only been really training for a few weeks (and then not very hard because I have been unable to recover very well) it's pretty good I think. In other good news, my piriformis only hurt a little bit - about 1/10 on the pain scale, and after copious post-race stretching I felt very good this afternoon with very little stiffness.

My time was still good for 3rd place overall (behind Miranda Melville and Erin Gray, two young elite women, who finished in 1:11 and change), so it's hard to be too disappointed. That's good for a $50 prize check :). Plus I got 1st place in W40-44 age group, and our team of Wasatch Walkers got 2nd place in the W40-49 teams. The post-race potluck was terrific and it was wonderful to talk with all my racewalking buddies. I wish we could see each other more often.

It's been a fantastic girls' weekend for us here, and after the race we hung out at the pool, read a bit, had some wine/diet pepsi/treats/whatever and chilled. Lots of fun. Tonight we went to dinner, had a blast laughing, eating, and chatting, and then watched race videos and commented on technique we saw, both good and bad. Very enjoyable, and of course I am VERY glad I came and had such fun with friends. 

Just tried to upload one picture but the wi-fi at the hotel stinks ---- doesn't work in our room and I'm in the lobby and can't even upload ONE picture...GRRRR! Might be a few days for pics and video.

Garmin data here.

brief post - 3x1km, cross-training, road trip

Tuesday night - a ton of PT exercises with Erin. Glutes, core, and much more.

Wednesday - cross-training; 30 min stationary bike, 15 min elliptical, and biking to work and back.

Thursday - warm-up, legs felt totally dead and heavy (from the PT or the fartlek? who knows?). Nice weather - 17C (64F) and sunny. Didn't want to do the 1Ks after the stinky warm-up but did them anyway. First one was 5:37 (2:48, 2:49) and Erin said my knees were probably illegal. Grrrr. She gave me a pointer - arms back farther - and then I had it and it all clicked. Second repeat my legs were trashed but still managed 5:48. Third one I gritted out in 5:52. Definitely worked these harder than 85%. Super depressing how slow I was but whatever...I will be back and I WILL NOT QUIT! I am determined to fight through this whatever it takes. On the plus side, my piriformis felt MUCH better today after the ART with my amazing chiropractor Derek Parkes. If you are local I highly recommend him.

Friday - optional; I opted to cross-train as I need the exercise. I'm still trying to lose that extra 5 lb and not giving up on that either, darn it! I did 53 min elliptical before I had to run to get the kids to school. Then took an awesome road trip with Nancy and Kathy from SLC to Vegas. Today (Saturday) we're driving from Vegas to Riverside, CA and meeting up with all our RW friends for dinner. So exciting! The road trip and dinner with Nancy and Kathy last night was such a blast - I really needed a vacation day with my girlfriends.

Garmin data here for 3x1km.

5K fartlek

Yesterday in PT I did a bunch of glute activating exercises that were pretty challenging, and involved working the leg against resistance bands and holding it in positions that activated the glutes for long periods of time. It was quite fatiguing.

This morning when Erin and I got to the track (lovely weather - 64F and sunny and breezy) I started to warm up and my legs felt heavy and just dead. It makes sense, though. This was my third day in a row racewalking, and I've only attempted that twice since recovering from my injury. The first time (April 29-May 1) it ended in totally dead legs and inability to finish a 10K - I did 7K instead. The second time was last week, but I hardly count that as the second day of the three was 3.68km of very easy technique work interrupted multiple times for stretching/drills.

And that leaves this week - I did 15K on Sunday faster than I've gone in a few weeks for the distance (not saying much, because I was slow, but still...), then yesterday's 6.3km with Erin at a pretty fast pace (6:06/km), and then today's track workout, where my legs pretty much died. I sense a pattern here. For whatever reason, I'm not recovering very well and I suspect it's related to my return from injury. And you know what? It's OK. It is what it is. I am trying not to judge myself and just going with what my body will do, because the only other choice is to berate myself and give up.

After a sluggish warmup, I did some glute-activating exercises and some leg swings, and rolled out my hip/butt on the medicine ball. Then I got going. It was pretty ugly - the first 1km was 5:41 and it only got worse from there. My legs were done by 3K (18:06ish? It was terrible!) and if it weren't for Erin being out there I might have quit. Well, that, and I really wanted to finish because I know I have to get my fitness back somehow. My piriformis was a pain level of 1-2 for the whole workout and has been somewhat bothersome today at work (I've been rolling on a tennis ball when I sit).

This was my slowest 5K fartlek in years, I think, at 30:43 (it's about the same speed as my first 5K of the 15K on Sunday, and slower than my easy 5K technique work last Thursday). But hey, it's done, and I still do feel like I am making very slow progress forward. Three workouts in a row completed and 2/3 were at an OK speed. That's better than I've done since being injured.

Garmin data here.

I biked to work, heavy legs and all. Even that was a minute or 2 slower than usual.

~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.