seven days is all she wrote

Well, apparently I have about seven days worth of posts in me.  Yeah, I know.  To the bullets!

• Today went better than yesterday in the food department, but it still could have been better. I'm trying to reduce snacking, and I made it to 3:45 before I had one--a string cheese. But it was kind of a gateway to a handful of crackers, a cup of cocoa (it was cold in the office!).  There were a few graham crackers this evening, too.  But today was better. 
• Something in my right foot is hurting, and I'm stiff up and down my right side. Perhaps Mr. Bump's been kicking me in my sleep? Since walking isn't too fun, I didn't run tonight. 
• I made some vegan pumpkin cupcakes tonight for a wedding on Friday. They were not good. If Mr. Bump doesn't finish a baked good, then it isn't good. Back to the drawing board.
• The guy who won the ING New York City Marathon yesterday set a course record by two minutes, finishing in 2:05:05. His marathon time is 15 minutes less than my half marathon PR.  Crazy.
•  I just finished the latest Alan Bradley book in the Flavia de Luce series: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows. I love these books. Start with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The protagonist is an 11 year old girl who loves chemistry (especially poisons), her bicycle Gladys, and solving murders. Set in 1950s Britain, the one I just finished is the 4th so far. I love them all, but the first one is the best.  Flavia is one of my all time favorite characters, I have to say.  Alan Bradley talks about her as willful and fully formed. If he tries to get her to do something she doesn't want to, she just gives him a look of withering scorn.
• I love my Kindle, really I do, but I often find if I'm reading a really excellent book, I don't realize how close I am to the end until I hit the next page button and there is no next page. Dismay is the word, I guess, that describes it.  This happened to me in New Orleans with Bossypants by Tina Fey. Such a bummer. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows was much the same way.  
• Finally, this Daylight Savings Time is kicking my butt. I'm just fine with that extra hour in the morning, but I start to drag around 9:30. 

On that bullet, I'll say goodnight, sir!  I'll try harder tomorrow for an actual topic.   

uh-oh

This may not be the end of the world, but it doesn't sound like the most ideal weather for running a half-marathon on mostly dirt roads.  With Janky HipTM.  I've also not run since last Thursday, which is kind of freaking me out.  I geared up for my long run on Sunday, but about a half-mile in, my knee was hurting with every step.  Given the upcoming race, I decided to bail on the long run for the week, and just ice and ibuprofen and hope for the best.  It seems to be better, but I'm afraid that I'll undo all that if I go for a run this week.  I can't decide if I should do one (or two) short easy runs, or just rest completely until Sunday.  Normally I'd cross-train, but cycling almost always makes my knees hurt anyway, so I'm scared to do that.  And I first noticed the pain on Friday on the elliptical, so I'm afraid to do that.  Swimming is it's own complicated thing (time, gear, schlepping to/from pool), and any other cross-training activity I can think of (rowing?) is pretty knee heavy.  I think I might try a slow/easy 3 mile run tomorrow, and hope for the best.  

My knee is only half the equation.  The Janky Hip (I should trademark that) has been really cranky too, but I think that is from inactivity. Double-edged, there, isn't it?  I go see the physical therapist on Friday, but I haven't been in two weeks, and I'm guessing that is also a part of the problem.  

I'm thinking it might be a good idea to hold off on any more races after the Horsetooth Half next month.  At least until after the Leadville Heavy Half.  The training for that monster needs to begin soon, so I really don't think it's wise to tax my poor body with other races in the meantime.  Plus it's expensive.  

But.  If I were to finish a third half marathon in the next 90 days, I could become a Half Fanatic.  Who cares, right?  But it would be cool.  I'm not sure exactly why, but I think that unless I'm feeling overwhelmingly better in the next couple of weeks, it's probably just too much, and not worth the toll on my body.

Speaking of toll on my body, I need to seriously think about losing some weight if I want to get faster.  "They" estimate that for every pound you lose, you can gain two seconds per mile in speed.  While that doesn't seem like a lot, every little bit counts.  Especially when your tendons and joints seem to be cranky.  My eating habits lately haven't been supporting this goal, so I've got to re-evaluate what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it.  I checked Run Less, Run Faster out of the library, and while it's a very structured training, I can see how it works.  The basic premise is 3 runs a week, 2 cross-training sessions.  The runs are track, tempo, and long runs.  The cross-training sessions should be non-impact, like cycling or swimming or rowing.  It looks challenging, but I generally do better with a structured plan, so I'm considering it.  I've never done a track workout before (running alternately fast and slow laps on an actual track), and it sounds deadly boring, but it's supposed to do the trick for getting faster.  Something about VO2 Max? Tempo runs are a faster, but sustainable run of a middle 93-6 mile) length.  This one's supposed to be about your lactate threshold, I think?  And the long run is, well, the long run.  This bad boy is for endurance.  It seems like a real serious training program.  But my main goal for another marathon would be sub 5 hours, and this would get me there.

In non-running related news, April is looking to be the busiest of months.  We're going to DC for a week, and once we get home our friends will be here. In that time span I've also got a half-marathon to run.  They leave and then we take off for New Orleans for Easter weekend.  I've got to decide if I want to enter the lottery for the Nike Women's Marathon (lottery closes on the 22nd), cross my fingers and see if managed to win the lottery for the New York City Marathon (lottery is on the 29th), and if neither pick another fall marathon.  Somewhere in there we've got to do our taxes.  Ruby needs to get her teeth cleaned. Oh yeah, and then there are those 40 hours a week we're busy working.  I love having things to do and places to go, but man. Go go go! 

putting the partay in pt

Well, no, there's no disco ball there. But I have been going to physical therapy twice a week for about a month now, to treat what I call the Janky Hip.  Which is not what Bill, my physical therapist, would call it.  He calls it hip flexor tightness, and my glut muscles' inability to do their work.  I definitely have a butt, however those muscles back there have been too long covered with blub--they've gotten really lazy.

Mostly what happens at these appointments is he gives me homework (strenghtening moves, stuff like squats and leg lifts and resistance band-y type stuff).  I can't tell if it's helping, but that might be my own fault. I'm about 60% on doing my exercises every day.

The other thing he does is "mobilize" my hip by strapping my leg around his middle and moving it around. It hurts and it feels a little goofy. Basically he uses what looks like a length of seat belt material around my bent let and then around his waist.  It basically looks like this:

Goofy, right?  And kinda weirdly intimate, except not.  I'm not really used to being touched by anyone other than Mr. Bump, so it's weird to me. But no more weird than having your physician poke and prod you. I usually feel a little stiff and sore afterwards, and it isn't like the angels sing or dolphins jump over rainbows on my next run after a PT session. 

Damn you, Janky Hip!

I have some misgivings. I have plenty of faith in my physical therapist, but my faith in myself and my ability to do the work that would "fix" me. I feel like I shouldn't be running, that the running is the reason that I'm all jacked up, and that it's going to keep jacking me up. I get a little depressed from the "Your feet are flat, and that's going to give you plantar fasciitis, shin splints, patellofemoral issues, IT band problems, hip flexor issues (my current complaint) and/or low back pain."  He's never said that I shouldn't or can't run, which I really appreciate, but I still get down after my PT appointments.  

It seems unfair. Someone should have warned me before I fell in love with running.  I'm at the point now where I don't want to quit, no matter what anyone says.  I've never been a quitter, of all the things I've been.  And I'm stubborn as all hell.  I'm not sure there's a solution, or at least not an easy fix.  I'm also (big surpise) not patient, which is part of the problem.  The Janky Hip didn't show up overnight, and it probably won't get better that way either. Sad face.

So I guess I'll do my exercises, and let Bill hug on my leg.  And try to figure out how to love cross-training, too.