Marathon Physical Therapy

It's been awhile since I last posted.  My injury has been frustrating and to be honest just depressing so I've found that my motivation has been dropping over the past couple of weeks.  Here's the story on my diagnosis, treatment and where I stand now.

Here's the verdict...

I had my first appointment at Marathon Physical Therapy in Newton on Friday Feb 18th.  My physical therapist Erika, and her grad student assistant Kim asked me how I hurt myself, exactly where the pain started and spread to, and my pain level in the days following the injury.  They watched me walk and pulled, poked and prodded both my legs and ankles.  The thing was that six days after that fateful Saturday, my knee didn't hurt but I knew that a few miles into a run it would flare up again.  This made diagnosing the try cause of my injury even more difficult.  Finally after examining my ankles for awhile (didn't I say I hurt my knee?), they asked if I had stepped on any uneven surfaces lately (umm...yes, running on snow and ice while dodging cars every weekend).   Their diagnosis in layman's terms was that at some point I must have strained or sprained my ankle without realizing it.  The ligaments that run from my ankle bones up the sides of my calf and into and around my knee were weak and couldn't fully support my knee which caused the muscles to seize up in excruciating pain after miles of pounding against them.

My physical therapists taped my ankle to provide the missing support for my knee and they slowly added exercises into my recovery program during each visit.  I use a theraband to provide resistance to strengthen my ankle in every direction and do toe curls to pull a hand towel across the floor.  I stand on one foot on a pillow to improve my balance and do wall squats to strengthen my calves and hamstrings.

I took a week off from Saturday training and finally on Feb 26th, 16 miles into the Newton Hills and up Heartbreak Hill was on the schedule but I was just supposed to be attempting 4-6 miles (my coach optimistically increased this to 10 so that I could try Heartbreak).  The course was icy and uneven yet again and I only made it 3 miles before my knee started to hurt. I tried to let it work its way out for the next mile before we got back to the first water stop at the Community Center but I had to stop and walk the last quarter mile.  Another set-back but at least this time I had stopped early enough where I was not nearly in the same amount of pain after the run as the last long run I attempted.

I was convinced that the uneven surface and cold weather was the real cause of not completing the distance so after continuing my physical therapy exercises I tried running on the treadmill.  With my ankle in an extra brace, I did 5 miles straight without any pain in my knee!  The only trade-off was the blister I got from my brace cutting into the top of my foot but it was worth it in my book.  Yesterday I took this success and actually ran 10 miles with just some soreness from having not run double digits in 4 weeks.  I'm still going to be very careful by constantly icing my knee and ankle and continuing to only cross-train during the week but it looks like I'm finally on the mend!  The frustration is starting to dissipate and I feel fully confident that I'll be able to run the marathon and be properly trained for it for the first time in a month!

Breaking into the Double Digits and Other Updates

I've been very bad at blogging lately.  Now that the year-end at work is coming to a close hopefully I'll have more time to post regularly.  I figured I'd give a brief update of where I stand on the training and fundraising front.

Luckily, on the training front I can update you pretty easily because all our training has had a general theme...snow (with some sub-freezing temps thrown in there just for fun).  I kept up with my long runs over break and our first training run back on January 8th was supposed to be not only our first double digit run but also our first run out towards Newton and the infamous Newton Hills.  Due to the snow that was coming down on us that day, we were treated to a shorter 6 mile run towards Hopkinton and an intense cross-training session to make up for the shorter mileage.  I'll get into cross-training in another post but let's just say I went to the grocery store the next day and had to strategize how to get a can of beans off the bottom shelf without embarrassing myself next to an elderly woman.

The following Saturday we finally attacked an 11 miler and the Newton Hills.  I felt great through the hills.  I took my coach Sarad's advice and hunched over slightly up the hills, not straightening up until I was through the crest of the hill, and only looked a few feet ahead of me and not at the huge incline I still had to defeat.  I didn't tighten up until around mile 8 after the third water stop.  The killer though was a hill some of the girls in years past had nicknamed "Mildred" which, like Heart Break Hill, comes right near the end of the run, is long and steep, and on this particular morning was covered in snow and slush.  I managed to jog the entire way up but I honestly probably could have walked it faster.  By the end of the run my legs hurt like they never had before and it took me a full 30 minutes to stretch them out before I felt like I could drive home.

Finally this past Saturday we went towards Hopkinton again for a 12 mile run.  It was bitterly cold at around 15 degrees and with the wind it felt even colder.  Our other coach, Kelly, sent around an email before practice reminding us to dress appropriately.

"10 to 20 degrees: 2 tops, 2 bottoms. A jacket over your base layer and wind pants over the tights."

I had on three tops, two bottoms, and a scarf.  With all the layers I had on I felt like I had suddenly gained 10 pounds and by the end of the run I really just wanted to pull off and ditch my extra pair of pants and scarf (but didn't because I'm cheap and I paid good money for them).  My body temperature must run hot because I clearly didn't need to bundle up so much.  As it's been continuously  snowing in New England, the sidewalks were not well plowed so we also had to battle cars on Rt 135 pretty much the entire run as we made our way into Natick for the first time.  My teammate Manny said that a PeterPan bus driver actually looked him straight in the eye and tried to run him off the road.  In my year and a half driving in Massachusetts with Mass drivers, I don't doubt it.  Aside from the temperature and traffic issues the run went very well and I finished in about the same time I finished the 11 miler and not nearly as sore and tired.  I estimate my pace was about 10:30 min/mile which is great for a long run and right where I want to be.

So what's on the agenda for this week?  Recommitment is on January 31st so we've all been working to get in the last of our donations to reach our fundraising minimum.  As of tonight I have $2,405 in donations!  (This includes $300 from my bowling tournament that hasn't hit the account yet) which is 74% of the way to my goal!  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far! If you'd still like to donate it's not too late!  Here's the website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston11/klauro 

This week I've also been preparing for my main fundraiser!  I'm having a bar night at the Lansdowne Pub on Saturday just in time for recommitment.  I've been spending the week gathering donations for the raffle.  Thanks to the generosity of some local businesses I've got some great prizes and it finally looks like I'm all set!  Stay tuned for all the pictures from the event on Sunday!

Ok I think I've bored you enough with this "brief" update that became not so brief.  I promise to update you all on my training more frequently in the future!

Burr...It's Cold Out There!

Westchester County, NY, much to my surprise, has no 5K's or Turkey Trots on Thanksgiving morning so my brother and I decided to run our own 5K.

We ran down a one mile path that goes alongside the Tarrytown Lakes Reservoir. The path is pretty much a flat run and can be extended up the North County Trail a further almost 20 miles. The run to get the path, on the other hand, is up and down a couple of fairly steep hills. It might have been my brother making jokes about runner's trots, but judging by how out of breath I was when we got to the top, I think I'm going to have to do a lot more hill work before I take on Heartbreak Hill at Mile 20 in April.

Even more important than my realization about the hills I'll have to face on the marathon course is that I'll be training in the dead of winter and it's going to be a hell of a lot colder than it was yesterday. So today being Black Friday I decided to stock up on some winter running gear.

Luckily, Team In Training had a clinic on choosing the right running shoes and gear lead by Colin Peddie, the founder and owner of Marathon Sports, a Boston-based running company, to make sure we knew how to equip ourselves. You should always dress for weather approximately 10 degrees warmer than the current temp to account for your rise in body temperature as your heart rate increases. I have a pair of capri pants but as I found out on my 4 miles run in 15 degree (9 with the wind chill) Minneapolis weather this past weekend, these won't carry me through my winter training schedule. I picked up a pair of Nike running tights as well as some loose-fitting dry-fit pants. Between the tights and the pants (layered together in the coldest weather) I should be fine in most types of winter weather. Having synthetic materials in key as cotton holds moisture which will make you cold even in mild weather. I also picked up an extra track pull-over but I'd still like to get a fleece vest and/or light windbreaker for colder and windier conditions. Also on my list are some ear warmers (so my hair still looks good in my pony-tail!) and some gloves. Luckily my mother helped me out with the stuff I bought today as a Christmas gift and Macy's was having some amazing sales otherwise all this running gear can get pretty expensive. I guess I'll have to accumulate the rest as I can afford it!