In which my feet drown

In just 15 minutes the street and sidewalks merged into one big puddle. That's my car back there, letting water in the driver's door as usual. 

I've been doing some really easy running lately, trying to keep my muscles and tendons flexible and perfused. This morning I headed out for a quick 4 miler and ran smack into a thunder storm. I got drenched, and my shoes will never be the same, but there is something so beautiful about running in a storm. The sky was filled with rolling black clouds and the river was practically whitecaps.
Signs of an enjoyable rainy run? Soaked clothes laid out on the front porch!

Rain in the forecast: Do you run your schedule, take a rest day, or head indoors?

Stretch it out!

I've been doing the very occasional 20 minute Yoga for Runners class offered for free from Yoga Download in an attempt to stay limber. But recently I started using this version, and I like it even more:

Aggravating tendons.

Tendons.
They are aggravating, and I am aggravating them right back.

After several sessions of Graston on two tears in my hamstring, I am pain-free in the muscle. The tendon still hurts like a you-know-what.
The thing is, tendons take forever to heal - and I am aggravating this one on a daily basis.

I am running a little, lightly, again - I had sworn off any running for all of January, but the chiropractor I'm seeing said I actually needed something to get blood flow to the tendon to help it heal. So back out I went, even though it still hurts. But that's not what's aggravating the injury. It doesn't feel much worse after a run. What hurts it is standing all day, specifically standing all day in a low heel.

I have these boots in black and brown

For years now I've been wearing either medical-style clogs to work or, more often, cowboy boots. I've found that cowboy boots with a light-weight rubber heel are the most comfortable shoes to wear if you have to stand up all day - plus, some of them are sort of cute. I actually learned this from a friend of mine who is a model: whenever she is not on the catwalk or at a photo shoot, but has some sort of other event (meet and greet, sponsor parties, etc), she wears cowboy boots to add some height but keep her comfortable. Brilliant.

The problem is that the heel, which is normally comfortable, is causing a very uncomfortable pulling on the tendon. By the end of the day I'm sort of limping! Now that I've figured that out, it's flats for me until this pain goes away.

Next up in my treatment plan? Dry needling. Yes, at this point I'm just trying anything you can sell me!
Any success stories with dry needling? Two runners in my running group tried it and had amazing results, but they did not have tendon involvement. '

New cuddly nephew

I finally met my new nephew, already a week and a half old!

I wanted to stay away until I was sure the flu was gone for good. He was very good for me and cuddled for hours!
Then he needed a diaper change and dropped him onto the changing table like he was a hot potato. World's best aunt, right?

Arm check

I forgot to tell you the best part of working gear check at the Louisiana Marathon.

Someone checked his arm.

As he walked up I stifled the urge to ask, "Can I give you a hand with that?", but I did permit myself to tell him he didn't need to put his number on it. "Pretty sure we'll know it's yours," I joked. And then when he picked up I quipped, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say this one's yours".

Pretty awesome to race with one arm, right?

Louisiana Marathon: David's first

Another beautiful finish festival at LA marathon

Well, I pretty much got eaten up by jealousy this weekend watching runners complete The Louisiana Marathon in beautiful weather on a fast and beautiful course. The temps were perfect (40's to low 60's), the sun was shining, and the breeze was light.
David and I got up at 4:00 am (bleah) and were in Baton Rouge by 6:00 so I could volunteer at gear check. Gear check was busy - the race starts at 7:00 - and somehow in the rush I didn't get time with David to tell him good luck and give him last minute advice. One thing about David: he is very good at doing as he is told. So I was hoping to give him last minute explicit instructions for race day that would stick in his mind. But after a quick kiss he disappeared and before I knew it I could hear the national anthem at the start.
It took us about an hour to organize all the bags, then I headed over to the finish to watch the half marathon winners. I went back to gear check for another hour, then got ready to watch the marathon winners. I was feeling uneasy as I watched the race. David never "hit the wall" in training, but I was worried he would today. I never gave him the "Don't go out too fast" talk and I was fretting that he was going to run out of fuel. After a little while I headed out on the course, deciding to meet him and run him in to the finish.
Running against traffic on the sidewalk was like a "This is your racing life" experience. Since I've run everything from a 4:08 to a 3:06, I've been in ALL of those shoes. I saw the faces marked with determination, the ones glazed over with fatigue, the ones clearly showing defeat. Been there, been there, been there! 
When I saw David at mile 23 and change, I knew immediately that he'd hit the wall. He was still on pace - actually, ahead of pace - but his face and slow, short steps told me the story. I ran with him, encouraging him. I kept an eye on his pace and it kept creeping up, but he was still on pace overall. Somewhere in the middle of mile 25, though, I was losing him! We were on a long gradual uphill and he was running 10:30 pace. Quick math told me that if he kept this pace up he would miss his goal by just seconds. "Look," I told him, "If you want this, you have to work for it. This is where it counts. Hit the gas pedal!'
And he did. I zipped ahead to watch him finish and he sprinted across the line in 3:39:08!

Am I proud of him? You bet! That's not so shabby for a first marathon!
The splits tell the tale:

Last fast mile. The mile before you hit the wall is always fast, as your body releases stored glycogen and you get a momentary boost.

First 22 miles: Started a little fast, got caught up with the 3:35 pace group, but felt great. 
1 8.08
2 8.05
3 8.00
4 7.52
5 8.08
6 7.57
7 8.08
8 8.14
9 8.07
10 8.05
11 7.58
12 8.00
13 7.55
14 8.07
15 8.05
16 7.58
17 8.00
18 7.57
19 8.08
20 8.07
21 8.03
22 7.57
23 8.23 Middle of mile 23? WALL. 
24 8.42
25 9.08
26 9.37

Yes, he started fast and hit the wall, but really I think this is a pretty well-run race for a first marathon. And the fact that he could push through for those last few miles and still make his goal is just impressive!

He says "There won't be a rematch", but I think he's got a 3:30 in there. What do you think? 

Your grandma

I've become your grandma.
I just sit around and do needlecraft all day.
Since getting the flu, I've had a chance to finally finish a cross stitch sampler I've been working on for 9 months (I only work on it while on plane flights, and that wasn't getting it done, so I finished the pesky border while sick).

And I made a little sweater for a certain brand new family member - I got a new nephew this weekend but I can't go meet him because I'm a germ-face (this makes three nephews age three and under - God bless their mom).

The blue stripe = boy, right?

Of course I haven't been running anyway, but with the flu I've been downright sedentary. I got the sickness on Wednesday, and luckily I had a pharmacist covering my store on Thursday so I could go to an all-day meeting. The meeting was canceled due to weather, and I got to stay home sick! But it was back to work on Friday - sick as a dog. I didn't feel like I could exercise until Saturday, when I did a very light, very short yoga download class. This was a gigantic mistake. I mean, the flu will really knock you down. Just a few minutes of activity had me back in bed. And I am still so weak!
But I did go to the gym yesterday and did easy elliptical just to get some blood flowing. It went ok, so I will head back today for bike or elliptical. And yes, I'm cleaning my germies off the machines :)

Hopefully all this forced rest will heal my hamstring fast! Already there is no bruising in the area, so that's a good sign. Next time I post I'll probably have a quilt to show you, haha.