Break Time

Although I hadn't intended it, I have ended up taking a bit of a rest week this week between Christmas and New Years. This is in part due to a cold that I acquired at some point. Not a bad cold, but irksome enough to prevent me from running in sub-freezing temperatures, which just happened to arrive this week. 

I think it's actually a good thing. While I like creating a streak of running 10 miles a week, I think my body will benefit from a little break in the routine. I'll be getting back to it next week, I hope. And in the meantime, I'll focus more on the kind of work I can do sitting at my desk. 

I've been doing better with my tummy pain lately. I'm thinking that I may have been more stressed about the whole thing than I realized. I recently started paying close attention to what I'm eating, because I'm doing calorie counting. I'd like to lose some weight - not too much, because I still need to carry my backpack, but I'd like to see if I can go from hovering around 150 to hovering around 140. Part of that will come from a renewed commitment to exercise, but the part that will actually get it done is the calorie counting, no matter how much I despise it. 

I mean, despise might be too harsh. I find it troublesome and irritating to not only track what I'm eating, but how much of it. I guess I should be happy I'm not currently interested in the time that I'm eating. My dad has suggested intermittent fasting, but I really don't like how I feel when I've gone too long without eating. Maybe fasting will work for me someday, but that day is not nigh. 

And it doesn't matter how much I eat or don't eat when my period comes around. I'll gain weight at that time no matter what I do, which makes it hard to see progress sometimes. But I do think that I'm seeing progress, so the counting, however tedious, is here to stay. 

Steady and Slow

I did go ahead and reduce my distance for my last long run. It was "only" 6.88 miles instead of 7.31, so that's, technically, a reduction. The wind was reversed again though so I ended up running against it on the way home. I really do need to figure out a route in the other direction for those days. 

I wasn't in nearly as much pain after this run as I was after last weeks, though there are some lingering ankle and foot aches that I need to tend to. And, really, it's when I'm done running that I realize just how cold and sore I've made myself. Especially cold, this time of year. 

Although, I did do something interesting. I've been practicing Chi Running. One of the principles thereof is that one uses Chi to direct the running. The energy flows from, kind of, the spine and the impetus for all the motion should come through there. Well, despite my layers of clothing, I was getting cold around mile 5, running into the wind. So I thought about using my Chi to send waves of heat from my spine to the rest of my body, but especially to my hands and feet. 

A few minutes later, holding that thought and trying to actively accomplish that feat, I realized my hands were like little balls of warmth inside my shirt sleeves. It felt like I was holding invisible hand warmers. 

Now, when I got home, I realized that I was still very cold. My legs, especially, were radiating cold when I got home. But while I was running and moving and holding the idea of my Chi spreading heat through my body, I felt warm in spite of the wind. 

And that led me to consider that if I can warm myself with my thoughts, what else can they do? What can my subconscious do to my body if I let it? 

Running Against the Wind

I meant to run about 7 miles last Sunday. I thought I'd be at just 7 miles or a smidge over or under. I ended up at 7.31 miles. Sure, that's not a whole lot over 7 miles, but my legs, feet and ankles all felt like it was a whole lot more running than the prior week's 6.5 miles. I might be pulling back a bit for my next long, slow, distance run. 

The nice thing about that run though was that even though it was windy, it was windy in the right direction. The week before, the distance I ran away from home was with the wind. I felt like I was going so fast, and I wondered why my husband thought it was so cold when he ran that day. But the moment I turned back towards home, the wind was in my face, chilling me to the bone and doing its best to turn me back from my goal. Sunday's run was the opposite. I ran into the wind on my way out and got the wind at my back most of the way home (the last stretch was in a cross-wind). 

I'd much rather run out into the wind and have it at my back for the way home. Though I discovered that the route I took put nearly 4 miles on the way out, leaving 3.3 for the way back. I should have run the reverse route to really benefit from the wind direction. 

My right ankle is feeling a bit wonky after that run, but I'm taking care of it. And, due to snow, I only ran a mile or so yesterday. But also to give the ankle a bit of a break. I'm glad I know I can run 7.31 miles at a stretch, but I definitely need to spend some time in the 6.75 to 7.25 range to get used to that longer distance before bumping up again. 

I'm currently working on a route that has four pinch points that I can use to extend it from a loop to a figure 8, and then keep splitting the circles. After that I'm going to need to organize a new route. And I'm  considering trying to figure out a route going in the opposite direction so I can choose to always run into the wind as I move away from home and with the wind as I head back. 

I'm liking getting back into running; even when it kind of sucks, I know I'm banking this activity so I can do the backpacking trips I have planned for the summer without putting too much stress on my body. And the more I run, the easier it gets. Go figure :)

Steady Going and the Boot Hunt Begins

I've completed 4 weeks of running 3 times a week for a total distance of at least 10 miles. My long runs are up to 6.5 miles, and if the weather is good this Sunday (relatively good), then I'll try to get to 7. If I'm going to build up to 10 miles at a time by spring, then I need to push my distance gradually and over time. I know that if the weather is truly bad I'll be cutting back to 5 or even 4 miles for the long run, even if that means having to run longer on my weekday runs. 

CrossFit hasn't been quite as consistent, since I was out of town and then they were closed for Thanksgiving. But I got 5 classes in last week and I'm on track to hit 5 again this week. I'm hoping to make Commitment Crew in December, which means getting to at least 20 classes. Lucky for me, the holiday closures are falling on weekends this year, so I can just stay with weekdays and I should be able to make it. It's all about discipline, forcing myself to get out of bed at 4:30 and just do the routine that gets me out the door. 

In other news, I started my hunt for a new pair of waterproof hiking boots at REI last weekend. I got excited when a couple of the boots the clerk brought out actually had women's wide sizes, but I knew from the moment I stuck my right foot in each one that they were not wide enough for me - even the Oboz. I've gotten to be very picky about how my boots fit. I want my toes to be able to move, and for some reason this is not very easy to find. Boots (and shoes) like to squeeze my littlest toe into and under my other toes. I don't like the way it feels, and I refuse to pay a couple hundred dollars for a boot that will actively hurt me. 

Backpacking will "hurt" me enough without ill fitting footwear. 

My second pair of backpacking boots (and my first waterproof pair) jammed my toes together so much that I still have issues of numbness with those toes on occasion. I felt like the clerk at REI was giving me funny looks when I quickly declared each pair to be not a fit, but I can't buy a new pair of feet if I mess those up. They are priceless, and so I will no longer put ill-fitting boots on them for backpacking. 

The clerk also let me know that they didn't carry a lot of inventory, and that I might look into ordering online. If I deliver to store, then I just come by for pick up and I can try them on and return them right away if they don't fit. I admit that option sounds easier than ordering online elsewhere and then having to ship back when they inevitably don't fit right. 

But that's where I might end up landing, since many of the boots that seem to be more specialized for wide feet and roomy toe boxes are not strictly for backpacking nor available anywhere near me physically. I just hate the idea of stretching out the inevitable disappointment, and having to actually mail them back when they don't work. Bah! 

The boot hunt shall continue. 

Straightening Up

Way back when I was first getting serious about running, around 2010 or so, I had some issues. My feet would hurt and that made my ankles hurt and I just couldn't figure it out. I went to a podiatrist, who charged an obscene amount of money to provide a temporary solution. I thought that there must be a better way. 

The search for that better way led me to find the book Chi Running by Danny Dreyer. I read the entire book at that time, but I glossed over a lot of it. I wanted the solution, and this book does have an entire chapter near the end with some tips about how to avoid running injury by changing one's gait. 

I mean, I did try Chi Running. I gave it a shot, but I just never was able to fully do it. I got frustrated and gave up on everything but the parts of the technique that prevented me from injuring myself. As long as I ran on a regular basis, my ilio-tibial band would be calm and not painful. I still ran very slowly, but I didn't get a lot of running related injuries. Those that I did get were more from not paying attention, like the time I tried to joke with someone while doing a run for a CrossFit workout and ended up rolling my ankle. 

Over the years, I have kept up the techniques that help me run, but I didn't reread the book or try the more advanced techniques again. And then my brother and I friended each other on MapMyRun, and I noticed that he was having some consistent pain issues with his knees from running. I told him about the book, and he read it. I figured since he had done cross-country in high school, he knew how to run for racing and as a youth, but might benefit from an update in technique for running for life. And since then, the knee pain reports have definitely decreased in frequency. 

But when he tried to talk to me about the book and the techniques, I had to confess that I hadn't reread it in years and didn't really know what he was talking about. That inspired me to reread it. I have been rereading it for months now. I'm taking it nice and slow, because I have found that I can now do some of those things that I couldn't before. 

Growing up, I had terrible posture - the hazards of being a bookworm. I believe that resulted in my back muscles being fairly underdeveloped. But between my initial read of Chi Running and my most recent, I did a lot of CrossFit. I achieved a strict pull up. My core, including that back, is stronger than it's ever been. 

In the last couple of weeks, I've noticed something new about my long runs. The more I focus on the Chi Running techniques, the more sore my back gets in the days after the run. I feel like I now have sufficient muscle to use the techniques, and that use is increasing their strength and endurance. 

In fact, I can tell those muscles are stronger, because I'm able to sit up straight and type this without falling into a tired slouch. In fact, my new straight posture even feels nice and relaxed. I've never felt so comfortable with good posture before!

So I'm going to keep going with the Chi Running techniques and try to really master it while running my nice slow pace. And, maybe, just maybe, in another few weeks or months, I'll be able to ramp up the speed without having to work harder - just smarter.