Treadmill running: a post from another runner

Since there are 11 of us that are authors on this blog, you would think that we could manage to have a daily post, right? That would be only 3 posts/month each. Sadly, Ryan is the only one it seems who is posting 3 times per month (sometimes). I thought I would give him a little back-up. :-)

(And on a side note, anyone interested in maybe taking 3 days/month, so we can up the activity on this blog?)

I do most of my runs outside. I will avoid running on treadmill even in freezing temperatures and blinding snow. I typically just can't get over the monotony of running "in place." It drives me insane! GAH! Well, recently, I did two runs on the treadmill. The first was one of our first cold days after some really nice mild weather, and it was dark outside, and I just wasn't feeling running in the cold and dark. So I thought I would give the ol' 'mill a try. The second was during some really steady, freezing-cold rain. Blah. My least favorite running condition (well, in the same category with hail or sleet, probably). It is just so miserable to run in cold rain. I'd rather it be 10 degrees colder and snowing.

Both times, I managed 6 miles on the treadmill, but I think that I've determined that's my limit (or very near to it) before I die of boredom! Okay, yes, I'm being a little dramatic here, and I suppose if I had no other choice, I could probably run further on the treadmill, but I wouldn't like it. (Then there's my friend, Krit, who does almost all her running on the treadmill, including a 21-miler. Yikes!) Anyway, a few things I've learned:

1. If someone is running on the treadmill next to me, I find it easier to keep running. Must be something about the other person's running chi or something. It motivates me.
2. Good music helps tremendously. I tried listening to my ipod, but I got too sweaty and the earbuds slipping out (gross, right?). I need to get some of those headphones that hook over the ear if I want to do treadmill running.
3. Body Glide!
4. The best way for me to make it through multiple miles on the treadmill is to keep changing things: speed up, slow down, change the incline. It's much easier to say, "I'm going to run for 5 minutes at this pace" than to think of 45 minutes of "blah" ahead of me.

People's State Forest Long-Run

Yesterday was a great day to do a long-run. It was cool and dry. I last ran this 11-miler in July. I had run it twice before then in May and June. Back in May, I ran it at 8:43; June 8:55; July 8:50; yesterday 9:01. I haven't been doing long runs, so I attribute the slower pace to this. It certainly couldn't have been the weather. I need to start running long on a regular basis if ever plan to run another long race. Also worth mentioning is that it was nice to run this with someone. If it wasn't for Jessica, I would have run this in like 9:30. You know?

Nike Free 3.0

I've put almost 370 miles on my Nike Free 3.0.1. I could put more miles on them, but I'd like to buy a new pair soon, as the old pair feels flat and is worn-out. The only trouble is that I can't find the first generation Nike Free anymore. Out now is the second generation Nike Free 3.0.2, and I don't like the feel. The design has been completely revamped. Why? The reviews for the first generation were great--mostly 5 stars. The reviews for the second generation, and I think they're accurate based on my trying on the second generation shoe, have been 50/50. It seems that the folks who gave the second generation shoe a poor review are folks who wear the first generation shoe and love it. The bottom line is that if you compare the two shoes, the second generation share pales in comparison to the first generation shoe. According to Nike, folks complained about the toe ripping in the first generation shoe, so Nike decided to add a thicker, more durable, piece of material to the toe. I hate it and all other updates.

Northampton trails

I did some kayaking and ran some trails in Northampton last weekend. The trails were great, wide and mostly flat--not much in the way of rocks, roots, etc. This I like. The last time I ran trails with rocks and roots (Bigelow Hollow State Park), I twisted my ankle three times and could barely walk a few hours after finishing the run. I like running trails, so perhaps I should slow down to decrease my injury risk. However, running in general is more important to me than running trails. Are Northampton trails the balance?

2009 Torrington Road Race

Congrats on an excellent race, Ryan! Is that your Torrington Road Race PR? I also did the race and set my PR (nice weather!) Unfortunately, I didn't see you so I didn't realize that you and your brother were at the race until I saw your names in the results. It's good to see that the tick bite isn't holding you back. One question...where was Dan?

What I've been doing

I took another week off from running to drive my car across the country to Seattle. I visited Portland too. In nine days on the road, I covered 6,200 miles.

I'm back to running now, trying to maintain my fitness. I don't have any plans to run a race, but I'd like to make some. Can I get anyone who still reads this blog to commit to a race this summer/this coming fall?

I did a yoga class for the first time about three weeks ago. I might do it again tonight. It's only $5/class. The class is held at a local bike shop. Every Wednesday, after the shop has closed, bikes, displays, etc. are moved to the perimeter of the shop to make room for about 15 of us. The class is 60 minutes and challenging. It's not simply the holding of various positions. There's a lot of positions, they're held for about 10 to 15 seconds, and then you "flow" to the next one. It's very challenging if you don't have the strenghth in your legs and core. You think you're in shape? Try it.

marathon training suspended due to Lyme and/or Ehrlichiosis

I had a tick embedded in my upper back in mid-May. It wasn't engorged. As I understand it, a tick is only engorged once it begins to grow on the host. The tick in my back had not yet begun to grow, but it was in there good. I have no idea what kind of tick it was, but I took two 100-mg capsules/tablets of Doxycycline the day after the tick was removed from back and then forgot about it. Then my running times got progressively slower, and one time I had to stop and walk. In hindsight, I had a low-grade fever in the evenings. Then came two Tuesdays ago: June 9th. During the afternoon, I became dizzy and fatigued. I also developed an ache in the groin area. While walking to the train that evening, I had to stop twice due to extreme dizziness and fatigue. I nearly passed out. I got on the train, took it to Guilford and went right to the ER. They thought I was anemic. A blood test showed normal levels. My Lyme test is still pending. I saw a nurse practitioner on Friday of that week, and she prescribed Doxycycline 2x/day for 28 days. I took it for a week and felt no better, so I saw an M.D. yesterday. He thinks I have Ehrlichiosis. He said the medicine won't kick in for about a week with Ehrlichiosis, whereas with Lyme it kicks in within a few days--one reason why he thinks I don't have Lyme. He said that I'll feel shitty for about a month.

Overtraining

Fifteen minutes into my four-mile run on Wednesday, I had to stop. My legs would just not go. I could barely walk the rest of the way home. I skipped my planned six-mile run on Thursday. I took yesterday off. I felt pretty good today. Eleven point one miles at 8:55 pace. I had no appetite last week. Not sure why. I imagine that had something to do with my lethargy. After Tuesday's run, I didn't even want to run on Wednesday...and certainly not on Thursday after Wednesday. I didn't want to think about running.

Week 8 -- toughest week thus far

i did 33 miles this week, including a 13-mile long run yesterday. tuesday's run was by far the most painful; thursday's: the most difficult to finish--a mile in and i wanted to just stop. my long run went ok, though i didn't have my normal bounce and finished with little in reserve. today's run went ok. my legs feel really, really strong. thankfully, week 9 is a recovery week, including a long run of only 10 or 11 miles. i'll do 15 or 16 the following week. looking back at my week 8 long run of 2007, of which i did about 13 miles, as well, my pace was about 10 seconds slower, but i noted that i felt extremely strong finishing. i think i might have pushed too hard the past two weeks, but i'm glad i caught it when i did. i'm going to go completely on feel this week and recover the right way. cheers. //ryan

people's state forest -- barkhamsted, ct

I did my long run here on Saturday and woke up on Sunday with a tick in my upper back. My mother irresponsibly went to town on it and pulled it off in several pieces. We're pretty sure that she got it all. My doctor called in a prescription for two doses of an antibiotic. There's a Summary of Tick Testing Results for 2008 on the CT Dept. of Agriculture's website. In Barkamsted, one of four ticks tested positive for Lyme Disease.

Marathon Training -- Week 6

I had a breakthrough in fitness this week. It seems like once you break 20 miles per week for a few weeks, the gains are huge. I did a 5 plus mile training run tonight at 8:45 pace. I haven't been able to run this pace at that distance as comfortably as I did tonight since the latter weeks of my first marathon buildup. Going into this buildup, I must have been fitter than I was going into my first buildup. I bet the shoes--Nike Lunar Trainer+--have something to do with it, too. I have much stronger feet. My turnover is solid. Everything feels even, comfortable, and I'm up on my toes and flying the whole time. I'm going for eleven miles this weekend. I've made a vow not to race during this buildup. I think that it really threw off my first marathon buildup. I did three races and it only further injured my foot. I know that my foot is healed now, but I don't want to jeopardize this solid buildup thus far.

Marathon Training -- Week 4

I don't know if it's that I'm just fitter or not holding back due to an injured foot this time around, but I'm training at about a minute per mile faster than I did two years ago. I'm beating up my legs pretty good. My feet feel fine. I've gone back and looked at my early marathon training of two years ago and noticed a pattern of nagging aches and pains in my left knee and right shin. I also struggled with a sore right hip. After about 6 weeks of training, all of these issues worked themselves out. I don't have any of those this time around, hence my beating up on my legs a bit more than I probably should. I want to be stronger in the last four miles of this marathon. My pace dropped off two and a half minutes after 22 miles of my first marathon. I don't want that to happen in SF. I want to run an even-paced marathon. I don't know if it's going to be in sensible pacing or preparing my legs for the last few miles that will allow me to do this. I have to figure this out.