Long "Run"

Today I woke up to a chilly Saturday morning. My original thoughts of swimming went right out the window! The idea of swimming in a windy rooftop pool sounded terrible. On to plan B.

I decided to go for a long walk/run. Yes, still outside, but I could bundle up and be warm enough. During my past training days, Saturday mornings were our long runs. In non-marathon training weeks I would run an hour and half or an hour and 40 minutes. When training for a marathon a Saturday morning could involve a 3 hour run. Whew... it makes me tired even thinking about it now! Today I decided my walk/run would be one hour walking and 20 minutes run/walk. I headed out the front door, turned on my iPod and set out walking up Jackson Street. I live on the line between the Pacific Heights/Russian Hill areas of Jackson Street. During my walk I travel through Pacific Heights west into Presidio Heights. In Presidio Heights, the apartments go away and the large, single family houses pop up. Some of them are huge and many are simply beautiful. I dream about what it would be like to live in one of these houses. Along my walk, I had to laugh at one sight. I looked up into a tree and wondered, "What is that?" I still don't know the answer, but I call it Tree Art. Three arrows shot into a hanging sphere of stripped wood or bark. Interesting.

I started my run/walk intervals at the 30 minute mark. At 31 minutes Jackson Street dead ended into Arguello. I stopped, looked up the street at the Arguello Gate of The Presidio and for a few seconds tried to decide which way to go. I decided to run into The Presidio. Once I hit the dirt trails, I got so excited! Do you ever have those sudden, unexpected feelings of joy? That is how I felt when I was running up and down the hills and through the trees. I ran more of the 20 minutes than I walked for sure. It just felt good, mind and body. I stopped for a minute to take another picture. I love this area of the trail where it heads into an overgrowth of trees. Once I finished running through the Presidio I had a little run/walk time left. I wondered how far I was going to be off my planned workout time. How far off course did I run? I ran out through the Lombard Gate of The Presidio, then up Lyon Street. My plan was to walk east on Union Street, then up Van Ness to my apt on Jackson. I realized shortly before I reached Fillmore Street that today was the Union Street Fair. Picturing people stumbling out of the beer gardens, I changed my route to zig zag my way back. Up Broderick to Green, up Pierce to Vallejo, finally 3 blocks up Franklin to Jackson Street. Funny thing... right as I made it to my front door my watch read 1:20:00. Good timing. : )

Golden Gate Views

This is a photo I took during my Sunday afternoon walk/run on Crissy Field. I never get tired of this view.

Rainy Saturday

When I woke up today, I was surprised to see it was a rainy Saturday morning. Since I had been out of town for a few days, I hadn't been watching the weather back home. Wednesday night I flew to Los Angeles for work. After press checks on Thursday morning, I flew to Minneapolis to do the same on Friday. After all the flights, I was really in need for some exercise. I got up early Friday morning, threw on my sneaks and headed out for a walk around a nearby lake. I wasn't sure how far it was to Lake Normandale, or how big it was around so it would be a morning adventure. I figured I would do an "out and back" just by the time on my watch.

There was a bit of a chilly wind, but otherwise, it was a beautiful morning in Minneapolis. It took me about 17 minutes to walk to the lake and it turned out to be just beautiful! About 30 minutes in, I came across a sign with some history of the lake. There weren't any distances marked, but based on the "you are here" arrow and knowing where I started around the lake, I learned I was already halfway around. Great! I could see they whole path. Soon I started my walk/run portion of the hour long workout. The path around the lake was narrow and rolling and I just loved it. I wanted keep running up and down the little hills to see what was around the next corner. Still, I kept myself in check. I stayed with my 10 min walk/run, but ran about 7 minutes of the 10. It felt good. I'm looking forward to running around more of Lake Normandale on my next trip.

Now I'm back home in SF and am enjoying some rest and relaxation. Today is my Dad's birthday, so I'm heading out to Lafayette for dinner and a visit with my parents. Happy Birthday Dad!

Announcing Braydon Richard Allen!

Yesterday afternoon I drove down to Mountain View (30 miles south of San Francisco) to see my friend Anna, her husband Mike, and her stepson Jacobi. Anna gave birth to baby Braydon at El Camino Hospital on Saturday, May 17. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. I got to hold little Braydon and he's such a sweet, little thing. So aware, checking everyone out even at just over a day old!

Seeing Anna with her new baby made me realize how fast life can change sometimes. Two and half years ago, Anna and I were racing our first half Ironman triathlon together. Anna beat all of us that trained together, she's a very gifted athlete! Back then I don't think she imagined for a second that only a few short years later she would be married, have a new baby boy and be so incredibly happy. I am thrilled for her, Mike, Jacobi, and the new addition to their family. They are truly blessed. Here are a few photos from yesterday:

Happy new Mom Anna

Two tired boys! Dad Mike and Jacobi

Pool Time

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco yesterday! I decided to finally get in a lap swim. I went for a few reasons. One, to take advantage of the sunny, warm weather, and second, to prepare myself for more swimming next week. You see, my friend Kim who is an amazing boot camp instructor and overall incredibly fit woman, suggested we do some swimming this week while she's on a break from boot camp. Out of curiosity, I checked my chart where I keep track on my knee progress and workouts and noted, "Wow... I haven't been swimming since *gulp* the end of November." Uh oh. I knew why what was, of course. The weather got bad and it didn't help that swimming had become of little interest to me. It was hard to even consider getting wet and doing laps, even though I knew it was probably the best exercise for me at the time. Late November was almost 5 months since my surgery and my knee didn't seem any better than before the scope. I was frustrated and tired of the only thing I could do, swimming. The truth was that swimming did discomfort my knee a little. Back then, I wasn't even doing regular swimming as my physical therapist told me to swim with a pool buoy so I wouldn't kick too much. Hey, it's great for the arms, but it does hamper the feeling of real swimming. The cold weather and not-so-real swimming put an end to my pool workouts for a while.

I got back in the water yesterday and didn't worry about the pool buoy. My walk/running has been going pretty well, for twice a week, so I figured real swimming probably wouldn't be a major problem for my knee. Luckily, I was right. My knee feels fine this evening. My swim was good today, albeit tiring and slower than it used to be. I am very out of swim shape. I wore myself out during the warm-up! I guess I didn't realize until now how good my swim workouts were for me throughout my knee injury. There was a time I tried to swim twice a week and now I see that it helped me hold onto a base level of fitness. While I was in the pool yesterday, I kept reminding myself that in the past it didn't take that long to get back into the breathing. After a workout or two, I would feel better. I was surprised to feel a semblance of the old rhythm finally kick in (no pun intended) within my freestyle main sets of laps towards the end of the workout.

I brought my camera to shoot a few photos of the pool at the Bakar Fitness Center on the UCSF Mission Bay Campus. I joined this gym last Fall since it's close to my work. It has an indoor pool and an amazing rooftop pool as well. The only drawback to a sunny day it that it can be windy. There was some breeze yesterday, but it wasn't too bad. I think I got a faint tan line! Hmm... maybe I should swim a little backstroke so that tan line isn't only on one side. ; )

Dreaming Start to Finish

While I was in Spokane, Friday night I had a very vivid running dream. I started and finished an entire 5K race! As dreams go, it was not your typical race. For one thing, it was indoors. The very few people that were running the race seemed to be inside of a very large gymnasium. The race was an obstacle race of sorts. I remember running around tight turns and bounding over the top of things, trying to stay within a type of marked route. I can't explain it much better than that, other than the floor was very clearly a hardwood floor with the characteristic varnished shine. I think it was the type of gymnasium that was also a multi-purpose room with a performance stage on one end. It wasn't much different than the "small gym" (as we called it) at my high school, but this gym was not one I had ever been in before.

During the race I remember feeling good and I was so excited to start and finish the whole race feeling healthy even if it was a short one. It's rare that I feel so accomplished when I wake up from a dream, but that morning I sure did. I sat up in bed and smiled. Good feeling. I took it as a sign that I am on the right track to my recovery.

I did get out for a walk/run with my niece Morgan while I was up North. Morgan enjoyed the scenery of the trail near Meg and David's house for about a half an hour, then she fell asleep with her green frog WubbaNub (a pacifier attached to a small stuffed animal). Morgan needed her nap so I extended our walk time thinking she might sleep longer while she was riding in her stroller. After napping for about 35 minutes, Morgan woke up and started to cry. I realized it was about time for her to eat and we were still walking on the trail. It was so hard to hear her cry and see her little tears. I was afraid her Mom and Dad would be angry that I didn't get her home earlier. I walked as quickly as I could back to their house. Morgan calmed as we got into her neighborhood, but she was super happy to see her bottle. Here's a photo of us during our walk.

The Cutest Girl in the World

I'll include more on my weekend in Spokane, WA in a post later in the week, but I wanted to show you a few new photos of my niece Morgan. She really is the sweetest, cutest girl in the world! She was so adorable as she was sleeping before I left this morning. Meg offered to wake her up to say goodbye, but I didn't want to disturb her. Morgan was a little fussy around 5:00 AM so I went in her room, leaned over her crib, and rubbed her tummy. She opened her big eyes and blinked up at me, then went back to sleep. I miss her already.

Pretty baby.

I think I'll eat my pillow.

Walking... and Running

I began this week in a completely different frame of mind than the end of the week. I was not intending to try to run at all. I was frustrated with my bike/trainer causing a flare up in my knee. I thought maybe, just maybe, it's best for me to skip the bike and try something else. Maybe the elliptical machine. It's funny how different things, or I should say people, inspire you when you least expect it. I received an email early this week from my old friend Matt. I haven't talked to Matt for many months, maybe since last summer. Matt is a running coach and was (and I think maybe still is) a part of my old training group, PacWest. He's had his own coaching business for a while now and that is his main focus. While growing his business, he's had his share of chronic overuse injuries. Plantar fasciitis (heel pain) had been a major problem and he even had surgery to help alleviate the pain. I learned he also has had some problems with his Achilles tendon. Matt is a 2:45 marathoner (very fast) so his injuries have been a major problem for him personally and professionally.

I have to say, I am thrilled about what Matt told me. Matt is now wearing Nike Free running shoes (just like me!) and they are helping him measurably. He also read the book "Brain Training" and is now a big proponent to wear the minimalist running shoes during easy or shorter runs. I asked Matt what he did when he started running again after his surgery. In his answer, he suggested I start running again, but very gradually and being very responsive to anything that feels awry. I do have my issue of my knee being OK during a workout, but not later, but I got his point. Matt thinks it's best to start with a 10 minute walk/run. Run for 2 minutes, walk for 1, and so on. Then, if that feels OK, then do it a few more times the first week. If that goes well, maybe the second week I do 10 min 3x/week with 4 min run/1 min walk. I thought about this and last Wednesday evening, I tried the walk/run at my gym on the treadmill. My gym has a 30 minute limit on the treadmills when someone is waiting, so I decided to start with 30 min total. I walked for 20 minutes, then pushed the button 'Jog 5.0" (five miles per hour) on the screen. I thought a 1 min run, 2 min walk would be a good place for me to start, even less than the suggestion from Matt. It felt good to run, but it was also scary. The fear came back. Will my knee start to hurt again? Maybe it won't hurt today, but will the ache and burning sensation return tomorrow? I tried to push those thoughts away and finish my workout.

The walk/run felt fine during and afterwards. I iced my knee too, my usual precaution after any exercise. On Thursday my knee was fine and Friday too, no delayed pain beyond minimal aches that happen more often than not. I experiences some what I am now calling "stress aches" on Friday, but I attributed that to my day, not my Wednesday exercise. I've noticed my knee definitely responds to stress. One thing is that I have realized is I keep expecting my knee to feel "normal" again someday. I'm thinking maybe I need to let this go. My left knee may never feel normal like my right knee again. As long as that horrible pain never comes back, hopefully my knee will be fine with a few aches here and there.

Today, on this beautiful Saturday morning in San Francisco, I decided to walk/run again. I drove the few miles down to my favorite SF location, Crissy Field. Just as I parked, I saw some of my PacWest friends just beginning a run from the same place in a different direction. I couldn't think about them just then, so I set off on my plan. This time I walked for 50 min, then did my 10 min walk/run, same 10 min plan as Wednesday. It felt good to be outside in the sun again! The Golden Gate Bridge was majestic in the distance. There was a walk for Cystic Fibrosis going on so I wound my way through the walkers and runners. It was a crowded morning!

I saw a few of my PacWest friends during my walk and waved hello. I decided to stop by the picnic table where they were camped out when I was done. It was good to see them! Of course, there were the usual questions about my knee and my answers were way too long, as usual. I realized one important thing this morning, something I didn't expect to. I may be ready to join PacWest again. Not as a member training for a race though. I think I can handle showing up for a Saturday "run" to simply walk. A year ago I wasn't ready to do this, it was too hard for me mentally to not be able to run with everyone else. Today, I realized the companionship is important to me, not just the competition. I miss my friends. Even if I show up to simply walk, it's OK. I admit, they have told me this is OK with them for a very long time. Up until now, it was not OK with me. Interesting what a week will do! You never know what can change in such a short period of time. : )