My internet investigation revealed the hamstring owie to be a Grade I strain that, barring any reinjury, ain’t no big thang.  Under some wise Adam advisement (thanks, Coach Man!), the week has a few minor changes: a 5k pace workout on Tuesday is now an easy run and Friday’s 8x1ks @ 10k pace will morph into 8x800s, which I’ll cut short if anything feels weird.

Other than that, the homemade compression sleeve and slushy icepack continue to work their magic.  I got out this morning for a reaaaally slow 7 (10:17 pace).  Last time I went that slow was the first run after Boston and before then?  2008!  Lol.  But I could feel the hammy’s presence and was reminded further when I rushed across the street to beat a stoplight, so “leisurely” was the word.

It was actually quite an enjoyable run – you don’t heat up half as much in “Feels Like” 86 when you’re going that slow.  Clothes still needed wringing out, but it could have been 70 degrees as far as comfort level.

The Running Gods Replied
Just last Monday I beseeched the Running Gods for a sign, any sign, to instill a touch of confidence back into my running.   Oddly enough, I got my wish during this injured weekend…

Thanks to this summer being unusually hot and humid, I stopped wearing my heart rate strap a few weeks ago since all it was doing was making me feel inadequate.  However, I still check my resting rate a few mornings each week because I like keeping tabs on the trend.  The lowest it’s ever been was 45 (and that was a temporary flicker during my big improvement period last year), usually it’s 48 and in the last month or so, 49.

So imagine my shock when I put the strap on this Saturday and saw the numbers do their usual descending dance, only to hit 42.  42?!  Huh?  This was so unexpectedly weird that I thought my Garmin was flaking out on me.  So I turned it off and on…still 42.  Ever suspicious, I dug out the old Polar heart rate monitor and…well, will you look at that? 42.

But wait, there’s more.

Sunday, I again put on the strap wondering what I’m going to see and you could have knocked me down with a feather: 44, 43, 42, 41…40 beats per minute! Granted, it didn’t stay there long, but Oh. My. God.

My heart, the primary organ in all this running stuff, is giving me an unbiased indication that something good is happening.  Whether it’s from more sleep (average 6.75 hrs/night for July so far and getting better) more rest days, lowered average mileage, or all of the above, I am on track!

Sure, it still remains to be seen as to how or when this will reflect in my paces.  But even if they don’t drop in time for a PR in September, I’m cool with that! Because if nothing else, this says I’m getting healthier.  I’m not stagnating, I’m not moving backwards.  The Girl, she is in motion.

I got home, made my blog post and immediately set about following good ole RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.  I managed R, I and E with no problem, but what to do about C?  The only compression things I have are for the ankle, so I looked around the apartment for a McGuyvery-type alternative (because after limping home 4.25 miles, the last thing you want to do is hobble over to the drugstore).

I tried wrapping a towel: too bulky.  My homemade neck gaiter: too big.  Then it hit me…the lingerie drawer!  Aha!!  I have a bunch of old tights and pantyhose that I wasn’t going to be wearing in the foreseeable future, if ever, so I started pulling out stuff, ending up with a pair of thick black tights and an old pair of Leggs Sheer Energy Pantyhose, especially perfect because they’re support hose, so they’re thicker and tighter – in fact, I think they’re from when I started running (which I feel the need to mention because I’m not a supp-hose type of gal).  Anyway…

You’ll want 2 pairs.  Take the hose/tights and cut the panty part off and the toes, so you’re left with 4 tubes.

These are it!  Depending on how tight they are and what area you need to support (I’m mostly hamming it up here, though I wanted the top of my calf, too), the toe end is usually smaller so if you want to favor the thigh, pull the toe end up first.  Also, put the looser tubes on first, which in my case are the black tights.  Lastly, ask your wife’s permission before you go cutting up her stuff.  Et voila!

Not the prettiest thing but dang if it doesn’t work well – I’m a sausage!  So there you go.  R-I-C-E.  Done.

The irony was I woke up feeling like a million bucks, my ankle has been great for the past few days thanks to going back to full-dosing on the Glucosamine and changing brands.  Suddenly, that dark cloud hanging over me since April was finally receding for real.

And yesterday I had the pleasure of running with a fellow blogger, MarathonMaiden, who was in Philly for job training.  She’s sweet as can be and it’s always a blast meeting someone you’ve come to know online, in the flesh.  We happened to run into each other in the park this morning, too, which put a huge smile on my face.

So I was feeling great for today’s tempo workout: 9 miles with 10 min@Half pace, 10min@15k pace, 10 min@10k pace, w/2 min. rec’s. between each.  Even though the weather was pure suckage (79 w/dewpoint 75), I felt confident about it and completed the first portion only 5 seconds over my “if the weather wasn’t pure suckage” pace, so 7:15/mi.  About halfway into the second portion is when it happened.

In the blink of a hamstring
I’ve heard the injury description “it felt like I’d been shot” , and while I’ve been held up by a gun-wielding man before, he didn’t actually use it, so I can’t say that’s how it felt.  And I imagine that if I was shot, I’d start crying and this didn’t make me cry, but damn, it was an instant shock of pain.  If we were to compare it to imagined weaponry, I’d say it felt like I got tasered.

That was the end of that tempo.  That was the end of that run.  It hurt too much to do anything but limp home, 4.25 miles.

I stopped once to feel along the leg and check for swelling, there wasn’t (and still isn’t yet) but while I ran my fingers over the area, I felt the taser again, so now I’m reticent to even touch it.  I’m not even familiar enough with where it is on my leg because I don’t want to feel that feeling again, but it’s somewhere above the crook of my knee.  Time for a Google injury hunt, woohoo…

So now it remains to be seen what damage has been done.  I’m sitting on my huge pillow-sized icepack while I write this.  This was a cutback week and tomorrow, thankfully, was a scheduled rest day anyway.  I’m just worried that this is a “real” injury.  If so, I’m screwed.  So I’m not going there mentally yet.  Ice and NSAIDS will be my BFFs for the next couple days and we’ll see what Sunday brings.  Definitely not a long run, that’s for sure.

Never a dull moment.

11am Edit: OK, feeling way better already.  I’m not limping one bit and it doesn’t hurt unless I stretch it by mistake.  Consider it a comma, not a full stop!

The 14 went well, though the progression was peppered with that negative brain chatter I can’t seem to stop.  “I’m afraid I can’t” or “I should be doing this better” does not help me, yet it’s constantly there for anything more than easy or recovery pace.  So I beseech the Running Gods, “Please, please, let this cycle crack the plateau and give me back some confidence.  Just a little something – like one of those runs I used to have where you’re going so fast but it feels mysteriously easy, or you average a wickedly low heart rate or gee I could do 3 more of those…something.”  please?

Or another thing those ole Running Gods could do is get rid of my ankle annoyance, which disappeared while I was Ibuprofening my groin last week, but now that I’m au naturel, it’s back and ain’t going anywhere.  Which leads me to this weekend’s entertaining little DIY project…

Ice Packs!
OK, so yeah, a bag of frozen peas makes a usable icepack.  But my favorite ice pack ever was a slushy gel one – it molded perfectly to the body’s nooks and crannies and seemed colder than anything.  Alas, I left it with Nick when we split, so lately I’ve been making do with a half-empty bag of crappy tasting green beans.

I’ve been wanting a proper ice pack, though – something sturdier and “real”, so I was looking around the web on Saturday and not liking the price tags on the fancy ones, when I happened upon a recipe for making your very own slush ice pack!

The Recipe
3 parts water and 1 part rubbing alcohol.  That’s it!

Pour the mixture into a ziplock (with at least one other one around it for leak insurance) or better yet, and what I did, get one of those comic strip looking ice packs at the drugstore because they don’t leak or sweat like a Ziplock will.  Stick it in the freezer overnight and voila!

Here’s my funny rubber icepack and some extra I put in a ziplock.  It’s green because I got wintergreen rubbing alcohol.  And it’s huge because I tried someone’s recipe of 2:1 which resulted in a very liquidy mix so I had to add a ton more water.

The rubber thing was definitely a good purchase ($11, but you can get them for 1/2 that online), it’s super sturdy and retains the cold well. As for attaching these (or any other ice packy thing) to a body part, I use a velcro IT Band strap I bought last year during my IT Band drama.  It makes a good clincher, but you can use a scarf, too.

Little tip on the recipe: if you want it to be less slushy, increase the water ratio – for a softer pack, add more alcohol.  Also, it’s toxic, so don’t go serving it in a daiquiri glass by mistake.

Ankle Saga Continues
When I walked home from the hospital, it was creakier than usual, thanks to having raced a 5K only to be stuck in bed the next 30 hours.  So I went on ibuprofen for a few days to get a solid anti-inflammatory punch and when the weekend came, I went off it so I could see how it felt, undrugged.

Alas, once off Vitamin I, it didn’t hurt per se,  but it was still there in the background, a shadow when I descend stairs or step a certain way.  As usual, there was no visible swelling and I couldn’t even press an area to make it hurt, but just knowing it hadn’t gone despite the week off was a bummer.

So yesterday morning, I started googling on how to deal with it, wondering if I should get it looked at.  In my search, I came upon this collection of posts from an Ultra runners site that, while I’m not suffering from an achilles problem, has some good stuff in there for tendon recovery.

One happy eye-opener on that page was the Nirschl Pain Phase Scale of Athletic Overuse Injuries (here’s more info on it).  I’d say my ankle is Phase 2 which isn’t even at “take rest days” intensity, so unless it gets worse, there’s no reason to get it looked at – I’ll live with it the way many runners live with a constant niggle.  I’m sure I have tons of company on that score.

Still, I want it gone, not just managed.  The supplements in those posts looked interesting (L-lysine and glycine) so that’s something to consider, though I’m at my limit of pill-popping between glucosamine, msm, a calcium chew and now a multivitamin (I stopped taking separate iron, btw, the multi is enough).

My other thought was that maybe I could just take ibuprofen as needed, since it works really well for me and it’s not like I’d use it regularly, but I have that guilt about it, which I think I don’t need to have – it’s not crack, for god’s sake!  Still, in looking for alternatives, I started investigating ibuprofen cream, which ultimately landed me on Arnica gel.

Arnica gel is natural, it comes from the arnica flower, and has been used for hundreds of years in Europe and by tribal Indians.  It’s great for bruising – makes them go away sooner (I never heard of anything that can do that) but what got my attention was the anti-inflammatory properties – better than ibuprofen cream and with less adverse events.

My friend Lara uses it but I thought it was just for pain, not that it actually helped with inflammation and healing.  So when I read it genuinely helps bursitis and tendon issues…Jackpot!  After scouring tons of glowing user reviews at Vitacost, Drugstore.com and Amazon, I flew to Whole Foods to buy a tube.

I started on it yesterday morning (you use it 3 times/day) and knock me down, my ankle feels fab!  I felt just a tiny twinge upon waking today, so I have major hopes for this and will keep you posted as I return to mileage. The fact that it’s available in gel form is excellent – it dries super quick, isn’t sticky and no pills to swallow, yay!

Running Times Fabulosity
I’ve already posted this on Facebook, but after those months defending my position on moving to shorter races vs marathons, there was an article in Running Times this month that encapsulated my thoughts perfectly.  If you don’t get the magazine (I just subscribed, it’s only $10!) you can read the article here.

There’s also a good article on running form in the same issue.  Be aware this is a preview website that lets you view these, so if you “use up” your preview, just try again later.  Otherwise, the articles should end up on the Running Times site in a months time.

Nice.  So much for getting there, warming up and racing.  Now I’ll have to stand in line with hundreds of other people beforehand.

It wasn’t a total waste – leaving my building, I had checked the mailbox and found a $25 gift certificate from my running store for having cumulatively spent $300 on merchandise. The running store was just a block away from the stupid packet non-pickup, so I got a great pair of shorts and only had to shell out $8.

As for the race, the forecast is grim.  Sunday’s high is set to be 90 which means it’ll be around 80 by 9am.   The one potential saving grace is a threat of thunderstorms, so at least it won’t be sunny.  And if I’m lucky, I’ll be electrocuted during warmup.

Seriously, I am not looking forward to this at all but I’m doing it because I need to harden up.   What to shoot for pacewise?  Who the fuck knows?

Ankle Update – Putting On The Heat
I took about 3 days off: Mon, Tuesday’s runette (only 2.5 miles) and Wednesday because the ankle was “there” when I awoke.  It felt fine yesterday morning, so I went 7 and I’m about to go for 7 today too, then 4 or 5 tomorrow.  Keeping it conservative till next week.

One interesting change (to me, anyway) is I’m switching up therapies: I’m still icing after a run but since it’s well past the acute stage, they say regular icing doesn’t do much for you any more, that heat is better, so now I’m applying heat before my run, a few times in the day and before bed.   It makes sense to use heat since I’m basically warming it up in those first creaky morning steps but it’s odd, after hearing RICE a zillion times.  Nobody ever says RHCE.  Maybe because it needs another vowel.

Also, I had cut down on supplements recently but now I’m back to 2 Glucosamine and 2 MSM to see if that helps.  I’d rather up those than take ibuprofen.  I’m not sure why exactly, ibuprofen works wonderfully and when I take it (sparingly), it seems to carry over 2 days, but there’s an onus about it,  so I’ll try the more natural approach.

And with that, I’ll end the whining here. Wish me luck folks, not for a fast race, because I won’t be able to do that, but for a race where my ego does not feel bruised, where I enjoy it for the fun of a runnerly gathering, not to mention the speed session I’ll get out of it.  Assuming someone manages to bring the bibs.

Yesterday, I asked Jaymee Marty how much she runs.  She’s a masters runner going for the Olympic Trials…uber-zoomy.  I wasn’t really interested in mileage as much as hours per week spent running, since that’s a universal measurement I can compare.  She said her high weeks are between 8-9 hours and her easier weeks are 5-7.  In comparison, my high weeks are 9.5 hours, low are 7 – and I’m not doing marathons.

If I had a 5 hour week, it’d be around 35mpw, so I just went back to see the last times I ran under 40mpw:

April 14, 2010 – 31 (taper for Boston)
Nov. 31, 2009 – 31 (recovery after Philly)
June 39, 2009 – 39 (2 days off for IT band)
April 27, 2009 – 39 (taper for Lehigh Valley Half)
Dec 22, 2008 – 38
Dec 15,2008 – 37
Nov 24, 2008 – 38

Wha?  I hadn’t realized…twice under 35mpw in the last 1.5 years.  Wow, might be time to take some cutback weeks.

The main question is: how much should I be running for the best possible shorter races? (Halfs being the main focus)   I was thinking I’d only benefit by running marathon mileage when I didn’t “have to”, that every extra mile is money in the running bank but maybe I’m actually doing myself a disservice.

Would I be better off at 50-55mpw instead of high 60s?  Maybe I’d be fresher and so could do my harder workouts harder?  It’s conceivable that my current mileage, while maintaining all that aerobic fun stuff I’ve acquired, might also be compromising me in other ways.

This is a real quandary because 65mpw works for me as far as activity level and enjoyment, but I also admit to running it because I think I should, because in my ex-marathon brain, I think more is better and will make me faster.  Misguided or sensible?  I’m interested in your opinions on the matter if you have any.

As it happens, I will be running a bit less the next two weeks because I have a couple 5Ks and also, I’m taking today and tomorrow off due to….

Yesterday’s Run (and walk)
I’ve had a low-level annoyance for a few weeks, either heel bursitis (like I had last year but the other foot) or peroneal tendonitis – it’s between the ankle knob and the heel.  They share symptoms but I’m starting to think it’s peroneal over bursitis.

It usually only shows itself upon waking when I have a stiff ankle, though when I first got it, sitting for awhile would also make my ankle stiff, but that stopped a while back and now it’s only been the first morning steps and sometimes while going down stairs.  Running hasn’t presented a problem, though occasionally I’ll notice my ankle warming up the first tenth of a mile but then nothing.

Yesterday, I went out for a 13-miler that ended up being a 7.25 run capped with 3 miles walking home.  For the first time, my ankle started hurting on the run and enough that I felt it necessary to shut it down.  Once home, I started an ibuprofen regimen and pledged to roll the crap out of my calves and butt (which has also been tight for awhile and probably related).

Woke up today and no stiff ankle!  Must be yesterday’s ibuprofen working.  But I’m sticking to my guns of taking today and tomorrow off even though the heatwave we’ve had for 7 days (highs 93-95) just broke.  I’d like nothing better than to run right now, it’s 64 beautiful degrees out there.  Must. Not. Run.