In the marathon world, Sunday stands for one thing ... the long run. The long run is the most important part of the training as it seems to be where you really start to acclimate your body to multiple hours of cardio. Unfortunately for me, Sunday stands for the long elliptical (at least for the time being). I got up early this morning and drove down to the Y. Since the YMCA that I go to is right in the middle of the city, parking the car can be kind of a pain. Thankfully, I found a spot and got into the gym right when they opened at 9am. By 9:15, I had changed and took my place on my elliptical.
I didn't know how far I was going to go when I started the workout, but I knew that I had to get at least 2 hours in. The workout started off slow, since my legs just didn't seem to want to work. I am not sure if its because I had just rolled out of bed minutes before, but the legs just didn't seem to have the power they normally do. The first 30 minutes seemed to take a while to go by, but thankfully I had some good music going on the ipod (Disturbed's new album - Asylum) and it helped push me through it. Before I knew it, the first hour on the elliptical had flown by. I took a 3-5 minute break after the first hour to do some stretching to try to keep the IT Band loose. I also decided to eat a packed of "Gu" ... which is basically a sugary substance that provides much needed calories / boost of energy during these longer workouts.
After the short break, I hopped back on and started to chip away at the second hour. This portion of the workout actually went really well. I seemed to settle into a good rhythm on the elliptical with a speed of about 140 rpm and pace of ~ 11 min/mile. By this time the TV show that I was watching (CNN News) had started to repeat its stories. I think that I might be a specialist on Lybia, the union debate in Wisconsin and Charlie Sheen now since these seemed to be the stories that were on every 2 minutes. Before I knew it, the second hour of the workout had come to an end. Again, I took a quick break to stretch and hopped right back on. It wasn't until I was about 2:20 minutes in that I started to feel gassed.
I started to dig deep but was only able to gut it out for another 20 minutes, making my total workout 2 hrs 40 minutes. Going back to my elliptical to running equation, today's workout would have been the equivalent of 160 minutes = 16 mile run. Overall, I was pleased with how it went. Towards the end, I felt tired but I think it was the boredom that really seemed to get me at the end. Its tough to keep your mind in check for almost 3 hours because when there is nothing to focus on and the scenery doesn't change, all you think about is how tired you are / how bad your legs hurt. Overall, I was pleased with the workout. I wish I could have hit the three hour mark, but I am getting there. This was a huge improvement over last week and I think I am happy to say that I am finally over that cold / flu that I had.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Killed It
So the end of the week rolled around and it was time for another workout. Since I had gotten in my longer weekday workout on Wednesday, I was planning a shorter, higher intensity work out for Friday. I got to the gym and immediately took my place on my elliptical. I now call it "my elliptical" because I don't think that anyone else ever uses that machine. Once I hopped on, I basically stepped on the gas. I don't know why, but I was definitely tuned into the workout on this day and really took off right from the start.
The elliptical portion of the workout went great. I was moving at about 160 rpm which translated into a 8:50 mile. Thankfully, I was able to keep this pace for the entire 30 minutes which turned out to be 3.3 miles or so. Like I have mentioned before, it always feels good to do things that I wasn't able to do when I first started my training. Going back to early December, I recall one of my early workouts on the elliptical. When I first got on I selected a 30 minute workout, set the resistance at 7 and basically kept my speed at 130 rpm. After only about 12 minutes, I needed to slow it down and catch my breath. I was able to get to the 30 minute mark but there were a few more times during the workout where I needed to slow down and recover. This last workout .... I killed it (even the elliptical thought it was a great workout, see pic below). I started the 30 minute workout with a resistance of 9, averaged 160 rpm, put in multiple "hills" and was able keep that pace for the entire 30 minutes. Just another reminder about how far I have come.
Once the cardio portion of the workout was complete, I started on the PT / rehab portion. As I mentioned, the PT instructions have now moved from simple stretching to more intense exercises aimed at the hips / quads. It took another 25 minutes but I went through my whole routine of stretching, stretching some more, running man squats, side lunges and dumbell pickup squats. When I was done my legs were on fire, I can only hope that these exercises start to pay off.
The elliptical portion of the workout went great. I was moving at about 160 rpm which translated into a 8:50 mile. Thankfully, I was able to keep this pace for the entire 30 minutes which turned out to be 3.3 miles or so. Like I have mentioned before, it always feels good to do things that I wasn't able to do when I first started my training. Going back to early December, I recall one of my early workouts on the elliptical. When I first got on I selected a 30 minute workout, set the resistance at 7 and basically kept my speed at 130 rpm. After only about 12 minutes, I needed to slow it down and catch my breath. I was able to get to the 30 minute mark but there were a few more times during the workout where I needed to slow down and recover. This last workout .... I killed it (even the elliptical thought it was a great workout, see pic below). I started the 30 minute workout with a resistance of 9, averaged 160 rpm, put in multiple "hills" and was able keep that pace for the entire 30 minutes. Just another reminder about how far I have come.
Once the cardio portion of the workout was complete, I started on the PT / rehab portion. As I mentioned, the PT instructions have now moved from simple stretching to more intense exercises aimed at the hips / quads. It took another 25 minutes but I went through my whole routine of stretching, stretching some more, running man squats, side lunges and dumbell pickup squats. When I was done my legs were on fire, I can only hope that these exercises start to pay off.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Little bit more of the same ...
Today's workout was pretty par for the course based on how my cardio conditioning has been since my IT Band flared up. I was proud of myself though because I did a good job at planning ahead to make sure that I fit my workout in ... something I probably wouldn't have done if I wasn't training for this race. I knew I had a phsyical therapy appoitnment early in the afternoon which meant that I wouldn't have enough time to sneak out of work and get to the Y like I have been doing for most of this week. Furthermore, I knew that there was no way i would head back downtown after my PT appointment to fit in a workout. Knowing these two things, I decided to get up early with Renee and get my workout in early in the morning before work started.
The workout went well, although I seemed to get off to a slow start. From past experiences, I know that I am not a morning person whatsoever when it comes to working out. Without the adrenaline rush of a race or other people around it always seems like it takes me a while to get the legs moving. Regardless, I was able to knock out 60 minutes on the elliptical without difficulty. Afterward, i proceeded to do my simple stretches and hip strengthening exercises that were prescribed to me by my PT team.
The afternoon was filled with another physical therapy appointment. Once again I was with Sophia since my main PT guy, Declan, is away on vacation this week. The appointment started out as usual with some ultrasound therapy and then some deep tissue on the inflamed IT Band. Afterward, we started on some new strengthening exercises. Today seemed to be a turning point in my therapy where I am moving away from just simple stretching exercises to more practical strengthening exercises aimed at the hip girdle and the quads. I was given some new homework, so now in addition to my normal hamstring / hip flexor stretches & my gluteus medius strengthening exercises I am supposed to incorporate some one legged squats, running man and side lunges in. Hopefully the combo of continued stretching and these strengthening exercises will help me get back to where I need to be. Lastly, I was also told to give running a try to see if the therapy this far has made a difference. Not sure when I will do it, but I will try to fit a couple miles in soon.
The workout went well, although I seemed to get off to a slow start. From past experiences, I know that I am not a morning person whatsoever when it comes to working out. Without the adrenaline rush of a race or other people around it always seems like it takes me a while to get the legs moving. Regardless, I was able to knock out 60 minutes on the elliptical without difficulty. Afterward, i proceeded to do my simple stretches and hip strengthening exercises that were prescribed to me by my PT team.
The afternoon was filled with another physical therapy appointment. Once again I was with Sophia since my main PT guy, Declan, is away on vacation this week. The appointment started out as usual with some ultrasound therapy and then some deep tissue on the inflamed IT Band. Afterward, we started on some new strengthening exercises. Today seemed to be a turning point in my therapy where I am moving away from just simple stretching exercises to more practical strengthening exercises aimed at the hip girdle and the quads. I was given some new homework, so now in addition to my normal hamstring / hip flexor stretches & my gluteus medius strengthening exercises I am supposed to incorporate some one legged squats, running man and side lunges in. Hopefully the combo of continued stretching and these strengthening exercises will help me get back to where I need to be. Lastly, I was also told to give running a try to see if the therapy this far has made a difference. Not sure when I will do it, but I will try to fit a couple miles in soon.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Back at it ...
After my disappointing day on the elliptical yesterday I felt like I needed to bounce right back at it. Unfortunately, I was working overnight Tuesday which meant that I was heading into a 30 hour shift which always tends to throw a wrench into my workout plans because the day is so busy and then I am absolutely exhausted the day after the shift. Thankfully, I was able to duck out of work in the early afternoon and head to the Y to get my workout in.
I decided that I would go for a speed workout since after nearly 2 hours on the ellptical the day before, i couldn't even stomach the thought of being on there for another hour. I decided to bust out 30 minutes as hard as I could. Thankfully, this was one of the best workouts I have had in a while and got me back on track after a shitty day on Monday. I was able to do 3.2 miles in just under 30 minutes which is a great pace for me. As I mentioned before, normally on my long workouts I average 1 mile in ellptical difference in ~ 11 mins. During this workout I was able to do 3.2 miles at ~9 min pace which was solid.
At the recommendation of my physical therapist I also decided to do a quick workout on the rowing machine. Sophia thought it would be best for my rehab if I try to do multiple different exercises during my workout to try and strengthen all the different muscles of my hips / legs. She was concerned that if I only focused on the elliptical it would give me the balanced strengthening that I need in my legs. So, to make sure that I followed orders I did 12 minutes on the rowing machine. I think during my next workout I will try to add in some time on the stair stepper.
Officially under 2 months until the marathon, hopefully this physical therapy will start to pay off and I can get back on the road by mid March to finish my training strong.
I decided that I would go for a speed workout since after nearly 2 hours on the ellptical the day before, i couldn't even stomach the thought of being on there for another hour. I decided to bust out 30 minutes as hard as I could. Thankfully, this was one of the best workouts I have had in a while and got me back on track after a shitty day on Monday. I was able to do 3.2 miles in just under 30 minutes which is a great pace for me. As I mentioned before, normally on my long workouts I average 1 mile in ellptical difference in ~ 11 mins. During this workout I was able to do 3.2 miles at ~9 min pace which was solid.
At the recommendation of my physical therapist I also decided to do a quick workout on the rowing machine. Sophia thought it would be best for my rehab if I try to do multiple different exercises during my workout to try and strengthen all the different muscles of my hips / legs. She was concerned that if I only focused on the elliptical it would give me the balanced strengthening that I need in my legs. So, to make sure that I followed orders I did 12 minutes on the rowing machine. I think during my next workout I will try to add in some time on the stair stepper.
Officially under 2 months until the marathon, hopefully this physical therapy will start to pay off and I can get back on the road by mid March to finish my training strong.
Struggled ...
So I am a few entries behind in my blogging due to a busy work schedule. So Monday rolled around and like I had planned all week I decided that this was going to be the day that I did my long workout for the week. I know that my endurance would probably take a hit from my recent illness ... and ... unfortunately thats exactly what happened. I had hoped to do a total of 2 hrs 30 minutes on the elliptical which I would have equated to ~ 15 mile run (150 mins / 10 min/mile = 15 miles). Again, I am not exactly sure that this equation will really balance out to anything when I get back on the road but I have to hope its pretty close.
So I hopped on the elliptical with high hopes. The first hour went by pretty well although it was a little bit harder than I thought it would be but I was able to push through. Unfortunately, the second hour was when I think the recent cold I had just gotten over came back to bite me. I started to struggle at around 1 hr 20 minutes and had to slow my pace a little bit. I was able to pick it back up but it took everything I had to get to 1 hr 45 minutes. It was hear that I through in the towel for the day. Unfortunately, I just had nothing left in the gas tank. I came up short of my goal of 2 hr 30 minutes, but on that day I just really had nothing more to give.
Later that day, I had my second PT appointment. Unfortunately, my normal physical therapist, Declan, is away on vacation so I had my appointment with a different PT specialist named Sophia. The PT appointment went just like the last one. Sophia was great, the appointment started with some stretching aimed at the hips / hamstrings, progressed to some ultrasound and then went to massage therapy. Now, for those of you who haven't had ITB issues, massage therapy isn't as cool as it sounds. They basically isolate the IT band on the outside of your leg and really knead it out. The goal is to try to stretch / extend the band because the real issues develop when it is to tight. The problem is, when the band is inflamed, as mine is, a deep tissue massage absolute kills! At the end of the appointment, I got a couple more stretches to add on to my routine (see pic below) and a follow up appointment for later this week.
So I hopped on the elliptical with high hopes. The first hour went by pretty well although it was a little bit harder than I thought it would be but I was able to push through. Unfortunately, the second hour was when I think the recent cold I had just gotten over came back to bite me. I started to struggle at around 1 hr 20 minutes and had to slow my pace a little bit. I was able to pick it back up but it took everything I had to get to 1 hr 45 minutes. It was hear that I through in the towel for the day. Unfortunately, I just had nothing left in the gas tank. I came up short of my goal of 2 hr 30 minutes, but on that day I just really had nothing more to give.
Later that day, I had my second PT appointment. Unfortunately, my normal physical therapist, Declan, is away on vacation so I had my appointment with a different PT specialist named Sophia. The PT appointment went just like the last one. Sophia was great, the appointment started with some stretching aimed at the hips / hamstrings, progressed to some ultrasound and then went to massage therapy. Now, for those of you who haven't had ITB issues, massage therapy isn't as cool as it sounds. They basically isolate the IT band on the outside of your leg and really knead it out. The goal is to try to stretch / extend the band because the real issues develop when it is to tight. The problem is, when the band is inflamed, as mine is, a deep tissue massage absolute kills! At the end of the appointment, I got a couple more stretches to add on to my routine (see pic below) and a follow up appointment for later this week.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
This week "Flu" by ....
Well after one of the best workouts I had in the last few weeks my hopes were high that my week would continue in good fashion. Unfortunately, just before that workout on Tuesday I developed this dry nagging cough. It didn't seem like much at first and I thought it would just be something that would works its way out in a day or two. Contrary to what I had hoped, over the next 24-48 hours this little nagging cough turned into a full blown ILI (influenza like illness). Wed and Thurs were pretty miserable since I had off and on headaches, sinus congestion, cough and slept miserable for those two nights. When Friday morning rolled around I thought I had turned the corner, but to my dismay I was hit with a GI component and again felt miserable for the whole day.
Thankfully, now that it is Sunday I think I am over the worst of it and back on the mend. I think all that is left over is a cough from way down deep which is probably just from a bronchitis that will take some time to resolve. This latest illness just served as another minor set back in my training since I wasn't able to hit the elliptical as much as I had wanted. The good news is that I have been continuing to do my PT exercises so hopefully my hips / thighs are getting stronger and my IT Band issues will be resolving soon.
I guess the only good news that would come out of this whole situation is that because I was scheduled to moonlight on Sunday I was planning on doing my long workout on Monday (which is a hospital holiday at Tufts, giving me the day off!). While I am not sure how much endurance I lost with this little illness, I think I should be able to hit the elliptical pretty hard tomorrow. In addition, I also have my second physical therapy appointment tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I should get some good treatment on the IT Band. Again, the goal is to be running (at least the long runs) by the second week in March and then finish strong at the end of the month and into early April. So far the road has been a bumpy one, but I am trying to keep my head up.
Thankfully, now that it is Sunday I think I am over the worst of it and back on the mend. I think all that is left over is a cough from way down deep which is probably just from a bronchitis that will take some time to resolve. This latest illness just served as another minor set back in my training since I wasn't able to hit the elliptical as much as I had wanted. The good news is that I have been continuing to do my PT exercises so hopefully my hips / thighs are getting stronger and my IT Band issues will be resolving soon.
I guess the only good news that would come out of this whole situation is that because I was scheduled to moonlight on Sunday I was planning on doing my long workout on Monday (which is a hospital holiday at Tufts, giving me the day off!). While I am not sure how much endurance I lost with this little illness, I think I should be able to hit the elliptical pretty hard tomorrow. In addition, I also have my second physical therapy appointment tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I should get some good treatment on the IT Band. Again, the goal is to be running (at least the long runs) by the second week in March and then finish strong at the end of the month and into early April. So far the road has been a bumpy one, but I am trying to keep my head up.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Elliptical & PT
So yesterday I was back to the cardio training. Again, the training was done on the elliptical. Originally I was going to try to do a 70 minute (my equivalent of 7 miles) workout but as the day went on I could feel myself developing a cold. In the morning I had a dry nagging cough and by the afternoon the cough had gotten a little bit worse, I had a slight headache and just felt run down. I decided that I would still go to the gym because any training I could get in is better than nothing. After I got there, I decided that I would save my long workout for tomorrow and instead I would really push it and try to power out 40-45 minutes working as hard as I can.
The workout started great in that my legs felt strong and I had a really good pace going. Normally, 1 mile of elliptical distance (the one that the machine displays) takes me about 11:30 to complete. During this workout though I was powering through a mile in ~ 10 min. I didn't know how long I would be able to keep this pace up since I was really working pretty hard, but I decided to take it 5 minutes at a time. I through in some "hills' to help pass the time and then next thing I knew I had finished 4.2 miles of elliptical distance in 40 minutes. It wasn't the 70 minute workout I had hoped for, but it was by far the most intense 40 min workout I have had yet. Again, it helps to solidify the fact that my cardiovascular endurance and leg strength is continuing to improve despite the fact that I am not out on the road running. In the end, the big question will be if the leg strength / cardio I am gaining by working out on the elliptical will carry over to actual running on pavement ... I hope so.
In addition to the cardio component of my workout, I also had homework from physical therapy. Yep, that's right, a list of 6 exercises and stretches that I have to do 2 times per day. Like I mentioned earlier they are aimed at increasing the flexibility / strength of the hip and gluts. I was able to do them twice yesterday, and despite how easy the pictures look a couple of them are actually pretty hard. I thought to myself that if I were doing these for any other reason I probably wouldn't be compliant with them, kind of like how people wont be as dedicated to running if they don't have something to train for. Regardless, I need to get them done twice a day so hopefully I can take on more intense ones next week at my follow up PT appointment.
The workout started great in that my legs felt strong and I had a really good pace going. Normally, 1 mile of elliptical distance (the one that the machine displays) takes me about 11:30 to complete. During this workout though I was powering through a mile in ~ 10 min. I didn't know how long I would be able to keep this pace up since I was really working pretty hard, but I decided to take it 5 minutes at a time. I through in some "hills' to help pass the time and then next thing I knew I had finished 4.2 miles of elliptical distance in 40 minutes. It wasn't the 70 minute workout I had hoped for, but it was by far the most intense 40 min workout I have had yet. Again, it helps to solidify the fact that my cardiovascular endurance and leg strength is continuing to improve despite the fact that I am not out on the road running. In the end, the big question will be if the leg strength / cardio I am gaining by working out on the elliptical will carry over to actual running on pavement ... I hope so.
In addition to the cardio component of my workout, I also had homework from physical therapy. Yep, that's right, a list of 6 exercises and stretches that I have to do 2 times per day. Like I mentioned earlier they are aimed at increasing the flexibility / strength of the hip and gluts. I was able to do them twice yesterday, and despite how easy the pictures look a couple of them are actually pretty hard. I thought to myself that if I were doing these for any other reason I probably wouldn't be compliant with them, kind of like how people wont be as dedicated to running if they don't have something to train for. Regardless, I need to get them done twice a day so hopefully I can take on more intense ones next week at my follow up PT appointment.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Physical Therapy - Day 1
Today was my first official visit to the physical therapist. Since this IT issue has been going on for at least 3 weeks and didn't improve with rest / ice / simple stretching, I made the move to get into an official physical therapy program. Thankfully, I had a good referral from Renee since she is well know to the PT crew at the BAC. After her ankle injury a few years ago she went to physical therapy at the BAC 2-3x / week for about 4 months. Somehow, her health insurance at the time didn't have a copay for physical therapy and since she had already met her deductible from her surgery ... it was essentially free.
So I got to the physical therapy place and found it to be a tiny hole in the wall, a small room off the upstairs gym of the BAC in South Boston. My physical therapist is named Declan and is a younger guy in his early to mid thirties. He did his initial assessment which basically consisted of measuring how flexible my ankles, knees and hips were. I have to say, that I am not flexible at all! After we did that, we did some basic strength testing and then proceeded to get into the therapy portion of the visit. I ended up getting ultrasound treatment on the IT Band since this is supposed to increase blood flow to the area which will promote healing.
Lastly, I was given a list of "homework" that basically consistent of 6 stretches / exercises that i have to do twice a day until my next appointment in ~ 5-6 days. In addition to these exercises I need to continue to "roll" my IT Band with a foam roller, ice multiple times a day and avoid running for the time being. As of now, my cardio is going to continue to consist solely of the elliptical since that seems to be the only thing I can do now without reaggravating the IT Band.
The good news is that Delcan felt confident that I have plenty of time to get over these IT Band issues and finish my training for the marathon. I just need to continue to put the time in on the elliptical until I can get back onto the road.
So I got to the physical therapy place and found it to be a tiny hole in the wall, a small room off the upstairs gym of the BAC in South Boston. My physical therapist is named Declan and is a younger guy in his early to mid thirties. He did his initial assessment which basically consisted of measuring how flexible my ankles, knees and hips were. I have to say, that I am not flexible at all! After we did that, we did some basic strength testing and then proceeded to get into the therapy portion of the visit. I ended up getting ultrasound treatment on the IT Band since this is supposed to increase blood flow to the area which will promote healing.
Lastly, I was given a list of "homework" that basically consistent of 6 stretches / exercises that i have to do twice a day until my next appointment in ~ 5-6 days. In addition to these exercises I need to continue to "roll" my IT Band with a foam roller, ice multiple times a day and avoid running for the time being. As of now, my cardio is going to continue to consist solely of the elliptical since that seems to be the only thing I can do now without reaggravating the IT Band.
The good news is that Delcan felt confident that I have plenty of time to get over these IT Band issues and finish my training for the marathon. I just need to continue to put the time in on the elliptical until I can get back onto the road.
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| Physical Therapy at the BAC |
Long "Elliptical"
So Sunday finally rolled around. Normally, in a perfect world, I would have been gearing up to do a 13 mile run with L Street Running Club. Unfortunately, the route that my training has taken has been a rough one. I am still struggling with these IT Band issues, so until it gets better I am going to have to abstain from these runs.
Since the long runs are the most important aspect of marathon training (this is based on what people tell me, not my personal experience), I made sure to get a long workout in. I got to the Y around 9 am and promptly took my position on my favorite elliptical. Since I basically equate 10 minutes of working out on the elliptical to 1 mile of running ... I was scheduled to complete 130 minutes worth of exercising. I have to say that I wasn't all that excited for this, but I new deep down inside that this is what I have to do to make sure I complete this marathon.
I hopped on the elliptical and the early part of the workout was a little rough. I have found that it always takes me 15-20 minutes to get into a workout on the elliptical. Since I knew that I was going to be on the machine forever, I didn't mix in that many "hills" early on in the workout. I kept a good pace through the first hour and was pretty happy with how it went. Since the elliptical only lets you go 60 minutes at a time, i took a quick 1-2 minute break and then hopped back on for the second hour. The first part of the 2nd hour was good, but as it went on I could feel the fatigue starting to set in. When I got to 1 hr 45 minutes I definitely felt tired. Despite the fatigue I pushed through and completed the 130 minutes worth cardio. In the end, this wasn't the most exciting workout by any means but I got through it. The frustrating part, is that suspect that I am going to have at least 3-4 more "long ellipticals" before I get back on the road.
The good news is that I start physical therapy tomorrow, so hopefully they will be able to solve this problem.
Since the long runs are the most important aspect of marathon training (this is based on what people tell me, not my personal experience), I made sure to get a long workout in. I got to the Y around 9 am and promptly took my position on my favorite elliptical. Since I basically equate 10 minutes of working out on the elliptical to 1 mile of running ... I was scheduled to complete 130 minutes worth of exercising. I have to say that I wasn't all that excited for this, but I new deep down inside that this is what I have to do to make sure I complete this marathon.
I hopped on the elliptical and the early part of the workout was a little rough. I have found that it always takes me 15-20 minutes to get into a workout on the elliptical. Since I knew that I was going to be on the machine forever, I didn't mix in that many "hills" early on in the workout. I kept a good pace through the first hour and was pretty happy with how it went. Since the elliptical only lets you go 60 minutes at a time, i took a quick 1-2 minute break and then hopped back on for the second hour. The first part of the 2nd hour was good, but as it went on I could feel the fatigue starting to set in. When I got to 1 hr 45 minutes I definitely felt tired. Despite the fatigue I pushed through and completed the 130 minutes worth cardio. In the end, this wasn't the most exciting workout by any means but I got through it. The frustrating part, is that suspect that I am going to have at least 3-4 more "long ellipticals" before I get back on the road.
The good news is that I start physical therapy tomorrow, so hopefully they will be able to solve this problem.
Friday, February 11, 2011
More Elliptical
Nothing too crazy going on today. Knee was a little bit sore from the run yesterday but no where near as bad as it has been in the past. I have been making sure to stay on top of icing it 4-5 times per day, which I think is helping a lot. T-minus 3 days until I start physical therapy, which will hopefully initiate the road to a full recovery. I am hoping that after 3-4 weeks of physical therapy I will be back on the road and should be able to participate in the 20-22 mile L Street long run in late March.
As for today I rocked out about 52 minutes on the elliptical (see below), which I would basically equate to doing a 5 mile run outside. I am starting to notice that my legs are getting stronger from the elliptical which is a good thing. When I first started training on the elliptical I was working out with a baseline resistance of 7 and could go about 12 minutes before I felt tired / sore. Now, I increased my baseline resistance to 9 and can easily go for 50 minutes without problems. Hopefully that is a sign that both the strength in the legs and my cardiovascular endurance is improving.
Like most of my other workouts, I through in multiple "hills" which basically consisted of 4 minute sections in which I increase the resistance by 1 every minute. It definitely helps break up the boredom and helps me increase the intensity of the workouts. My other measure of the intensity of my workout is the heart rate monitor on the machine. I try to keep my heart rate in the 155-165 range (~80 % of my max) for the majority of the workout.
After the workout today, the knee was still a little sore. I think its probably because I have worked out three days in a row, one of which was a run that directly aggravated it. Tomorrow will be a rest / ice day and then it will be back on the elliptical for a "long run" on Sunday.
As for today I rocked out about 52 minutes on the elliptical (see below), which I would basically equate to doing a 5 mile run outside. I am starting to notice that my legs are getting stronger from the elliptical which is a good thing. When I first started training on the elliptical I was working out with a baseline resistance of 7 and could go about 12 minutes before I felt tired / sore. Now, I increased my baseline resistance to 9 and can easily go for 50 minutes without problems. Hopefully that is a sign that both the strength in the legs and my cardiovascular endurance is improving.
Like most of my other workouts, I through in multiple "hills" which basically consisted of 4 minute sections in which I increase the resistance by 1 every minute. It definitely helps break up the boredom and helps me increase the intensity of the workouts. My other measure of the intensity of my workout is the heart rate monitor on the machine. I try to keep my heart rate in the 155-165 range (~80 % of my max) for the majority of the workout.
After the workout today, the knee was still a little sore. I think its probably because I have worked out three days in a row, one of which was a run that directly aggravated it. Tomorrow will be a rest / ice day and then it will be back on the elliptical for a "long run" on Sunday.
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| Elliptical overlooking the court at the Wang YMCA |
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Forgetfulness & Inpatience
My workout goal for today was going to be to rock out a solid 35 minutes on the elliptical with a focus on high intensity, high resistance intervals to try to mimic running a series of hills. Like every other day, I packed my gym back the night before with all the usual stuff - workout outfit, sweatpants + sweatshirt for after, gym lock, etc ... since the gym I go to is directly across the street from Tufts hospital which makes it really convenient to go to straight from work. For some reason, despite having my bag all packed and ready, I must have had a huge brain fart this morning because as I was able to leave work and go get my workout in ... I realized that I totally forgot my workout bag at home!
Again ... another decision point. In case you didn't read the last post I tend to lose motivation quickly when little things come up (waiting for a machine, forgot my stuff, etc). I decided to think through my options - 1) I leave work, go wait for the bus to bring me back to South Boston, grab my stuff, walk back to the bus stop, wait for the bus to bring me back downtown and then go to the YMCA for my ellipitical workout. In my head this was probably a 1 hour round trip undertaking! 2) Leave work, hop on the bus, head home and change into my running gear and do a quick 30 minute run outside. This option definitely had some benefits including less travel time, I got to run and increased motivation since it wasn't the elliptical and I actually looked forward to running. Of course, the downside was that there was a 90% chance that my IT Band would be sore after.
Being stubborn and inpatient, I elected to go for option #2. I got home, put on my running gear and headed outside for a run. This run was great because Renee was heading out at the same time so we decided to head out together knowing that I would likely peel off early if my knee started to ache. We headed down towards Castle Island and got to Sully's, which is really the point where you can turn around for a 3 mile run or commit to doing ~4-5. Since the knee felt good at this point I decided to push forward with Renee. We were making great time and ran the first 3 miles at ~ 9:20 pace.
To be honest, besides the ache on the outside of my left knee I felt great. Like my previous runs, my cardiovascular endurance felt great. This run also served as a good reminder of how far I have come in my training. I think I may have mentioned this in one of the very early posts, but when I first started training over the summer for the B.A.A Half Marathon I could only run 1-1.5 miles without stopping. This served as a little problem since Castle Island (see picture) is my favorite place to run in Boston. At the time it was difficult for me since it is ~ 0.8 miles from my house and is a 2.0 mile loop around ... making it a ~3.5 mile trip total. In order to do my training, I actually used to drive down to castle island, run the two mile loop (at first with multiple periods of walking), and then drive back. Today ... even with somewhat of a bad knee I was able to do a 4 mile run and didn't even feel tired when I was done. Just one of those feel good moments that help keep you training and gets you through these little bumps and bruises.
For the rest of tonight it will be ice, rest, ice, rest, ice, rest, ice to make sure the knee stays in good shape. Tomorrow ... its back to the elliptical. Monday ... I start physical therapy.
Again ... another decision point. In case you didn't read the last post I tend to lose motivation quickly when little things come up (waiting for a machine, forgot my stuff, etc). I decided to think through my options - 1) I leave work, go wait for the bus to bring me back to South Boston, grab my stuff, walk back to the bus stop, wait for the bus to bring me back downtown and then go to the YMCA for my ellipitical workout. In my head this was probably a 1 hour round trip undertaking! 2) Leave work, hop on the bus, head home and change into my running gear and do a quick 30 minute run outside. This option definitely had some benefits including less travel time, I got to run and increased motivation since it wasn't the elliptical and I actually looked forward to running. Of course, the downside was that there was a 90% chance that my IT Band would be sore after.
Being stubborn and inpatient, I elected to go for option #2. I got home, put on my running gear and headed outside for a run. This run was great because Renee was heading out at the same time so we decided to head out together knowing that I would likely peel off early if my knee started to ache. We headed down towards Castle Island and got to Sully's, which is really the point where you can turn around for a 3 mile run or commit to doing ~4-5. Since the knee felt good at this point I decided to push forward with Renee. We were making great time and ran the first 3 miles at ~ 9:20 pace.
To be honest, besides the ache on the outside of my left knee I felt great. Like my previous runs, my cardiovascular endurance felt great. This run also served as a good reminder of how far I have come in my training. I think I may have mentioned this in one of the very early posts, but when I first started training over the summer for the B.A.A Half Marathon I could only run 1-1.5 miles without stopping. This served as a little problem since Castle Island (see picture) is my favorite place to run in Boston. At the time it was difficult for me since it is ~ 0.8 miles from my house and is a 2.0 mile loop around ... making it a ~3.5 mile trip total. In order to do my training, I actually used to drive down to castle island, run the two mile loop (at first with multiple periods of walking), and then drive back. Today ... even with somewhat of a bad knee I was able to do a 4 mile run and didn't even feel tired when I was done. Just one of those feel good moments that help keep you training and gets you through these little bumps and bruises.
For the rest of tonight it will be ice, rest, ice, rest, ice, rest, ice to make sure the knee stays in good shape. Tomorrow ... its back to the elliptical. Monday ... I start physical therapy.
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| Me in my winter running gear, about to start my 4 mile run. |
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| Picture of Castle Island, my favorite place to run. You can see the loop around the water, like I said above its a two mile loop and has a great view of the Boston Skyline when you get out to the far side. |
Pure Boredom
As the marathon continues to creep up, I am still pretty bummed about the fact that I am essentially sidelined from pounding the pavement for the next couple of weeks due to this IT Band issue. In order to maintain my cardiovascular fitness I am continuing to utilize the elliptical at the YMCA across from the hospital. Unfortunately, the YMCA, unlike a Gold's Gym or BAC, doesn't have a ton of cardio equipment and seems to be built more for after school activities for kids than a solid work out facility. As such, there are only about 2-3 good ellipticals in the whole entire place.
Since I had a late meeting at work, I ended up getting to the gym during prime time .... 5 pm. The place was pretty crowded and of course all of the elliptical machines were taken. I did my 15 - 20 minutes of stretching / leg strengthening and when I checked back on the machines, there were still no openings. Now, this was a crucial decision point for me. Although it may not seem like that big of a deal, its really easy to lose motivation while wasting time waiting for a machine to open up (trust me on this one, I once drove to the Gold's Gym in South Boston, couldn't find a parking spot and decided just to come home without working out).
Despite my rapidly dissolving motivation to work out, deep down I realized that this was something that I had to do no matter how long I waited for a machine. After about 15 more minutes of waiting, two of the girls finished their workout and I finally got my elliptical. What was even more frustrating was that the girls were essentially using the elliptical as a social thing to catch up because after 40 minutes of being on it neither one of them had broken a sweat.
Anyway, after my long wait I decided to hit the elliptical pretty hard. I made up a series of "hills" early on in my workout to get my heart rate up and tried to keep it there for the rest of the workout. After about 30 minutes I had to slow down for a minute or two because my toes went numb (a consequence of being on my forefoot with high resistance I am sure), and then I kicked it back in gear. In total, I did 60 minutes on the elliptical. While I was able to watch some pick up basketball games between a group of 12-14 yo Boston kids, it was still mind numbingly boring. But ... since this is all I have I will continue to stick it out.
Since I had a late meeting at work, I ended up getting to the gym during prime time .... 5 pm. The place was pretty crowded and of course all of the elliptical machines were taken. I did my 15 - 20 minutes of stretching / leg strengthening and when I checked back on the machines, there were still no openings. Now, this was a crucial decision point for me. Although it may not seem like that big of a deal, its really easy to lose motivation while wasting time waiting for a machine to open up (trust me on this one, I once drove to the Gold's Gym in South Boston, couldn't find a parking spot and decided just to come home without working out).
Despite my rapidly dissolving motivation to work out, deep down I realized that this was something that I had to do no matter how long I waited for a machine. After about 15 more minutes of waiting, two of the girls finished their workout and I finally got my elliptical. What was even more frustrating was that the girls were essentially using the elliptical as a social thing to catch up because after 40 minutes of being on it neither one of them had broken a sweat.
Anyway, after my long wait I decided to hit the elliptical pretty hard. I made up a series of "hills" early on in my workout to get my heart rate up and tried to keep it there for the rest of the workout. After about 30 minutes I had to slow down for a minute or two because my toes went numb (a consequence of being on my forefoot with high resistance I am sure), and then I kicked it back in gear. In total, I did 60 minutes on the elliptical. While I was able to watch some pick up basketball games between a group of 12-14 yo Boston kids, it was still mind numbingly boring. But ... since this is all I have I will continue to stick it out.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
5 & Out
To all my devoted blog followers, of which I think there are only 1 or 2, I apologize to my lack of posts over the last week or so. The internet connection hasn't been working at our apartment so I haven't had access to the blog since Friday.
So we had another minor setback in my training this past week. After my week or two of rest, stretching and strengthening I decided to go for a test run this past Friday to make sure that I would be physically capable of completing the weekly long run with L Street on Sunday. I decided to head out and planned to do a 5 mile test run to see how the knee would hold up. The run started out great as my pace was good ( ~ 9:15 min / mile), felt strong, the knee wasn't bothering me and the New England weather finally gave us a day without snow. I ran down my normal 5 mile route of East to West Broadway, wrapping around towards the convention center, down to south station and back through the seaport. About 2-3 miles into the run I could feel my knee acting up again. This time, the pain was much more localized to the outside aspect of my knee than before. I would occasionally stop and walk for about 15-30 seconds to given the knee a break and then was able to get back into stride. After about a quarter mile though the knee started to hurt again. It wasn't a bad pain at first and I decided to try to run through it ... as if it were a cramp and it would get better if I could just work it out (even though I knew better). I kept on course although the knee slowly grew more painful as the distance increased. In the end, I finished 5 miles in about 49 minutes (pretty good considering I had to walk due to my knee).
Overall, my cardiovascular conditioning felt great. I easily could have had this run be a 9 or 10 miler since I felt great at the end of the 5 miles. Unfortunately, my knee thought otherwise. Like I said above, this was the first time that the pain seemed to localized to a specific part of the knee. I could actually press on the part that was tender / inflammed and it was on the lateral aspect of my knee just just at the distal part of my femur. It was then that I knew exactly what I was dealing with. Its not patellofemoral syndrome like I first suspected. Instead, its an inflamed IT Band ... which has been the thorn in the side of many distance runners. It commonly becomes inflamed in the area that it traverses the lateral femoral condyle and can cause inflammation of the tissue and bursa (see picture I attached). Occasionally it can cause pain up the leg towards the hip, but thankfully I don't have those symptoms yet.
So this was a major setback in my training since I knew I would be missing another long run this week, and likely would be out from running for another 1 ... 2 ... or even 3 weeks if I am going to get this better. I have to say I was pretty depressed over the weekend thinking about being away from running and missing out on another couple weeks of training (never thought I would say that, but I guess I am slowly developing a runner's mindset). I gave myself a day or two of being down and then finally decided that I can either pack it in and be upset that I cant run, or I can do something about it, continue my training even though its under less ideal circumstances and accomplish my goal of completing this marathon no matter what.
It reminded me of something one of my friends said to me back in my early days of med school. I was having a down week in medical school and during one of my rants my friend said "If it were easy, then everyone would do it". This quote once again rang true about my current situation. I guess in a way I was naive to think that my training would go 100% according to plan with me able to rack up 20 ... 30 ... 40 miles per week without any injury or speedbump along the way. Instead, I am at a point now where I need to deviate somewhat from my original training schedule and find a way to get it done. In order to do it, this is what I have come up with ...
1 - I already made a physical therapy appointment to help with figuring out what is causing my IT band to flare up. Although I need to get the inflammation down which thankfully is easy to do with icing at this point, the more important issue is to figure out what is causing it. Injuries like this don't happen unless something is out of balance ... muscles not being strong enough, not being flexible enough, etc. Hopefully a couple weeks of intensive PT will help get me back on track.
2 - Get rid of the inflammation thats already there. This is going to involve avoiding running on the road for a little bit. I have been icing the knee for 3-4 times per day for as long as I can bear it. Having real ice on the area is tough to handle for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.
3 - Continue my cardiovascular conditioning. This is going to suck, but I am going to end up doing the next few weeks on the elliptical. While its not ideal by any means, I am going to plan to substitute all my runs with these workouts from the time being. Each mile that I would have run will likely turn out to be 10 minutes on the elliptical. Thus, a 5 mile run is going to be a 50 minute ellipitcal workout. 4 - Keep my head up. Like I said, it was depressing to have this type of set back in my training. In the end, I need to keep the eye on the prize and that's getting to Boylston on April 18th 2011 no matter what. From this point on, this one won't be an issue.
So we had another minor setback in my training this past week. After my week or two of rest, stretching and strengthening I decided to go for a test run this past Friday to make sure that I would be physically capable of completing the weekly long run with L Street on Sunday. I decided to head out and planned to do a 5 mile test run to see how the knee would hold up. The run started out great as my pace was good ( ~ 9:15 min / mile), felt strong, the knee wasn't bothering me and the New England weather finally gave us a day without snow. I ran down my normal 5 mile route of East to West Broadway, wrapping around towards the convention center, down to south station and back through the seaport. About 2-3 miles into the run I could feel my knee acting up again. This time, the pain was much more localized to the outside aspect of my knee than before. I would occasionally stop and walk for about 15-30 seconds to given the knee a break and then was able to get back into stride. After about a quarter mile though the knee started to hurt again. It wasn't a bad pain at first and I decided to try to run through it ... as if it were a cramp and it would get better if I could just work it out (even though I knew better). I kept on course although the knee slowly grew more painful as the distance increased. In the end, I finished 5 miles in about 49 minutes (pretty good considering I had to walk due to my knee).
Overall, my cardiovascular conditioning felt great. I easily could have had this run be a 9 or 10 miler since I felt great at the end of the 5 miles. Unfortunately, my knee thought otherwise. Like I said above, this was the first time that the pain seemed to localized to a specific part of the knee. I could actually press on the part that was tender / inflammed and it was on the lateral aspect of my knee just just at the distal part of my femur. It was then that I knew exactly what I was dealing with. Its not patellofemoral syndrome like I first suspected. Instead, its an inflamed IT Band ... which has been the thorn in the side of many distance runners. It commonly becomes inflamed in the area that it traverses the lateral femoral condyle and can cause inflammation of the tissue and bursa (see picture I attached). Occasionally it can cause pain up the leg towards the hip, but thankfully I don't have those symptoms yet.
So this was a major setback in my training since I knew I would be missing another long run this week, and likely would be out from running for another 1 ... 2 ... or even 3 weeks if I am going to get this better. I have to say I was pretty depressed over the weekend thinking about being away from running and missing out on another couple weeks of training (never thought I would say that, but I guess I am slowly developing a runner's mindset). I gave myself a day or two of being down and then finally decided that I can either pack it in and be upset that I cant run, or I can do something about it, continue my training even though its under less ideal circumstances and accomplish my goal of completing this marathon no matter what.
It reminded me of something one of my friends said to me back in my early days of med school. I was having a down week in medical school and during one of my rants my friend said "If it were easy, then everyone would do it". This quote once again rang true about my current situation. I guess in a way I was naive to think that my training would go 100% according to plan with me able to rack up 20 ... 30 ... 40 miles per week without any injury or speedbump along the way. Instead, I am at a point now where I need to deviate somewhat from my original training schedule and find a way to get it done. In order to do it, this is what I have come up with ...
1 - I already made a physical therapy appointment to help with figuring out what is causing my IT band to flare up. Although I need to get the inflammation down which thankfully is easy to do with icing at this point, the more important issue is to figure out what is causing it. Injuries like this don't happen unless something is out of balance ... muscles not being strong enough, not being flexible enough, etc. Hopefully a couple weeks of intensive PT will help get me back on track.
2 - Get rid of the inflammation thats already there. This is going to involve avoiding running on the road for a little bit. I have been icing the knee for 3-4 times per day for as long as I can bear it. Having real ice on the area is tough to handle for more than 20-30 minutes at a time.
3 - Continue my cardiovascular conditioning. This is going to suck, but I am going to end up doing the next few weeks on the elliptical. While its not ideal by any means, I am going to plan to substitute all my runs with these workouts from the time being. Each mile that I would have run will likely turn out to be 10 minutes on the elliptical. Thus, a 5 mile run is going to be a 50 minute ellipitcal workout. 4 - Keep my head up. Like I said, it was depressing to have this type of set back in my training. In the end, I need to keep the eye on the prize and that's getting to Boylston on April 18th 2011 no matter what. From this point on, this one won't be an issue.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Another Boring Day in The Gym
Well my 10-12 days without running is almost over. In order to keep with my schedule of trying to give my knee a little bit of time to get better, I haven't gone for a significant run since January 23rd when I ran ~10 miles. In order to keep the cardio up, I went to the Y again and did another workout on the elliptical. In order to prevent myself from dying of boredom I decided to do intervals on the elliptical. I ended up doing 5 minute intervals with increasing resistance to try to mimic running up hills. In total, I did about 35 minutes worth on the machine which came out to be about 6 intervals. I am sure it isn't quite the same as running up a hill, but closest I could get.
In the meantime, I have been continuing to do my leg strengthening exercises. Hopefully they will start to pay dividends in the upcoming weeks. My guess is that this knee this is going to be the thorn in my side during the next ten weeks of training. Ideally I had hoped to run 4 times per week in preparation for the race, but if the knee keeps acting up I am guessing that I will only be able to run 2-3 times per week. Just something I will have to adapt to so that I can get to Boylston on April 18th.
In other news, Renee and I just signed up for our volunteer activity for the B.A.A. We signed up for packet stuffing, which is where we stuff all the gift bags that race participants get on race day. Its normally full of some advertisements, running products, T shirt, etc. Its nice because it gets us involved with some people as the race draws close, its run by our friends Tom and Lyn so we can see them and its cool because we get a volunteer jacket. I am going to try to attach a picture from last year, not sure if it will work.
Anyway, long run this Sunday is planned for 17. Not sure if I will be able to do the whole 17, but I will go as far as I can. I am figuring for minimum of 14 but would love to do the complete run. Guess we will see!
In the meantime, I have been continuing to do my leg strengthening exercises. Hopefully they will start to pay dividends in the upcoming weeks. My guess is that this knee this is going to be the thorn in my side during the next ten weeks of training. Ideally I had hoped to run 4 times per week in preparation for the race, but if the knee keeps acting up I am guessing that I will only be able to run 2-3 times per week. Just something I will have to adapt to so that I can get to Boylston on April 18th.
In other news, Renee and I just signed up for our volunteer activity for the B.A.A. We signed up for packet stuffing, which is where we stuff all the gift bags that race participants get on race day. Its normally full of some advertisements, running products, T shirt, etc. Its nice because it gets us involved with some people as the race draws close, its run by our friends Tom and Lyn so we can see them and its cool because we get a volunteer jacket. I am going to try to attach a picture from last year, not sure if it will work.
Anyway, long run this Sunday is planned for 17. Not sure if I will be able to do the whole 17, but I will go as far as I can. I am figuring for minimum of 14 but would love to do the complete run. Guess we will see!
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