Something I Read

I thought I would note something I read the other day. I'm reading a book called Why We Run by Bernd Heinrich. My Dad actually loaned me this book and so far, it's quite interesting. Bernd is a life long runner with accomplishments from his college cross country running team, running barefoot in Africa, to ultra distance races. He is a professor of biology at the University of Vermont and in this book blends personal experience in world-class distance running with a firsthand account of the biology of running. 

I'm not finished reading Why We Run, but I wanted to include an excerpt from the book that I found fascinating. During his PhD research, Bernd was challenged by a colleague, Ed, to run a sub-2:30 marathon. He writes:

Soon after I started training, I got knee pain. I went to an orthopedic surgeon, who said, "You have (some sort of) cartilage degeneration. If you don't stop running, I'm going to have to take your kneecap off and throw it in the garbage can." His exact words. They rang in my ears a long time. I figured, instead, that I had a loose piece of cartilage, which I could get rid of by grinding it down by running, so I increased my mileage. 

Ed turned out to be right, the orthopedist wrong. A half a year later I did almost what Ed predicted. But I didn't bring him the news. When I trotted up to his office, he'd already read the Boston paper, and he greeted me by calling out my finishing time: "Two twenty-five!" I'd run 5 minutes faster than he had predicted.

What?! I am not questioning the 2:25 marathon, albeit a more than impressive time. I'm questioning his decision on how to deal with his knee pain. I only wish the pain in my knee was just a loose piece of cartilage I could "grind" down by running and it would be gone! A loose piece of cartilage is one of the things I was hoping Dr. Anderson would find when she did my knee scope. Something she could just get rid of and I would be as good as new. That didn't happen.

That said, Mr. Heinrich's words are food for thought. Even though I am trying to follow the teaching of Matt Fitzgerald, the author of Brain Training (he says to react to pain very quickly and back off running with a hair trigger), I need to make sure I'm not being too timid. In the end, it's hard to decided what is right to do or not do. Every person who has knee pain has a different experience and what may be right for them, may not be right for me. I've been thinking more and more lately that the best thing I can do for myself is to take all of this research, information, and advice into account, then do my best to figure out what works for me. It's an ongoing process. 

A Hazy Day in the City

I didn't know what to make of the weather today. It was somewhat foggy, but the sky was also hazy due to fires in the area. It wasn't particularly cold, but it wasn't warm either. Basically, it was hard to tell how much of the haze was fog or smoke and how much one would exist if the other didn't. I went for a walk at lunch today and took this photo of the Bay Bridge. By the time I got back to the office my throat felt dry and scratchy, like I had been inhaling a little smoke. Yuck. Still, I was glad to go for a casual walk for a little exercise. My knee had been a bit achy this week, but I noticed something interesting when I was walking. Once I had my running shoes on, my knee felt better. I guess the flip flops I had been wearing a few times this week (nice ones from Banana Republic, not cheap versions from Old Navy) have not been offering me much support. I'll keep that in mind for my knee in the future.

Only at Old Navy

I'm having one of those days at work where I think, "What a unique place where I earn my living." How many people can say they ate lunch one table away from Todd Oldham? Or they spent a half an hour steaming table skirts to get ready for a holiday decor walk through? I did those things today.

I went downstairs to the cafe for lunch to meet my manager Sandy. She bought and I brought, but we both wanted to get away from our desks. I walked over to the table where she was sitting and glanced to the left. Todd Oldham was sitting with our Design Director eating lunch like the rest of us. For those of you who don't know who Todd Oldham is, he is our celebrity designer and is well known throughout the industry for his couture design and even interior decor. Todd actually seems very nice and has said hello to me on a few occasions when I have stepped on the elevator with him or passed him in the cafe.

At 2pm I went to the room next to our Mock Store. The Mock Store is set up with all of the actual shelves, tables and fixtures to represent an actual Old Navy store. It is used primarily by the visual merchandising team for in store clothing layout (yes, it is all planned). The marketing team, my group, uses the Mock Store to test out new signage and seasonal decor. The room next to the Mock Store represents a "main aisle" of the store. We used it today to show our plans for holiday decor and the Executive VP of Marketing was to walk through and seal it with his approval or not. I ended up steaming some table skirts so they didn't look like they had been crumpled into a box for the last few days, which they had. The walk through is happening tomorrow. Cross your fingers that our EVP approves!

They Finished!

Jill and Anne are Ironman finishers! Anne for the second time around. I've been watching their progress at Ironman Coeur d'Alene on and off all day online. To think, they started the swim at 7am this morning and they just finished. That is a long day of exercise! Wow, I'm so impressed. Here are their final stats. They rocked! Anne improved her time (I think) an hour faster from last year. That is amazing.

Jill G.
Swim (2.4 miles) - 1:19:53
T1 - 9:15
Bike (112 miles) - 6:59:05
T2 - 4:51
Run (26.2 miles) - 5:02:43
TOTAL - 13:35:47

Anne F.
Swim (2.4 miles) - 1:42:42
T1 - 8:47
Bike (112 miles) - 6:58:10
T2 - 7:03
Run (26.2 miles) - 4:55:37
TOTAL - 13:52:19

I hope they are celebrating right now with their families and friends and are going to enjoy some much deserved rest tonight. Yeah Jill! Yeah Anne! I'm so happy for them. 

I Love my Run Skirt

What? A run "skirt?" I'll explain. Today was a hot day in San Francisco. It wasn't quite as warm as the last two days. Thursday and Friday were 95 degrees! All way above our average temperature for this time of the year. I've still been fighting my cold, but I have grown tired of being rather sedentary during the last week. This morning was time to get outside. I usually have a fear of being too cold when I head out into the city since sometimes we are deceived here in SF. You look out the window and it seems sunny. Then, a few blocks from home you realize the fog is coming in fast! Well, I had a feeling today was not going to be that day. I felt like it was a run skirt day.

From afar, I'm sure my run skirt looks like a pair of black shorts. Some people may even think I'm running in a tennis outfit. Nope. In the last few years attire for the female runner has gone girly. I think the first run skirt I saw was during a mini fashion show at the expo the day before I ran the Boston Marathon. Part of me thought, "That's silly. Who would want to run in a little skirt? Who would think I'm a serious runner wearing that?" At the same time, I considered the idea kind of fun. Soon after I returned home from Boston, I headed to the local Lululemon store on Union Street and tried on a run skirt. It was SO comfortable! I loved it. Of course, I haven't worn it much since I haven't been doing much running since then. I also wasn't sure if it would fit anymore! This morning I pulled it out of my closet and put it on. Yeah! It fits! OK, maybe I'm not nearly as in shape as I used to be, but it looks just fine. I added a white running tee, my Nike Frees, my iPod, and off I went.

The first 10 minutes of my walk/run was harder than I thought it would be. I planned my typical Jackson Street route out my front door. My breathing was more labored than usual and my heart rate was high. I realized the congestion from my cold was still there and was going to make things a little more difficult. No worries though, I thought, "Maybe I'll get some of this cold out of my system." The weather was great and even a little too hot. I ran 10 minutes total interspersed into my hour long workout. I had gotten up to 16 a few weeks ago before I felt a small ache in my knee, then my cold set in. I figured stepping back to less running and building up again would be a good plan. I took a different route at my turnaround point and went into the Presidio on the way back. This route was parallel to Jackson back towards home. One great thing I noticed is that Lover's Lane has been repaved! This is a hill repeat course within the Presidio I used to do in my early training days 3 or 4 years ago. The only problem with Lover's Lane (besides it is straight uphill) was the horrible, broken, falling apart path. Now, it's paved and even. Very nice! I realized this could have been done a long time ago since I haven't been through that area in some time, but I was still happy to see it. Hopefully, I'll walk or run that hill someday soon. Overall my walk/run was very good. Wearing my skirt was icing on the cake. : )

Please Watch

I have two friends competing at Ironman Coeur d'Alene this Sunday. Even though I don't talk to them very often, I know they have been training very hard and are well prepared for their big race. Anne, Jill, and I trained and completed our first half Ironman distance race together in August 2005. Wow, that seems like a long time ago now! We all traveled to Hawaii together for the Honu Half Ironman in June 2006. By then, my knee pain had started and I chose to do the swim and bike portion of the race, but not finish with the run. Anne and Jill were very supportive of me during this time and did what they could to keep my spirits up. Since then, they have continued on with their training and have done incredibly well.

Jill and Anne have both finished the Wildflower Triathlon Half Ironman twice since then and Jill ran the New York City Marathon. Anne embarked on Ironman Coeur d'Alene last year too and when she finished, she signed up again for this year! Jill decided to sign up too and they trained together. I'm planning on watching their progress on Ironmanlive.com this Sunday. I'm really excited for them.

I also want to mention that Anne is involved with an amazing organization called Triabetes. The participants are all athletes living and training with diabetes. They will be competing at Ironman Wisconsin in Madison this Fall. Here is a link to a video where you can see my friend Anne. She rocks!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BpIywyPvqDg

Sniff... sniff..

No, I'm not crying... I have a cold. Or should I say, "I hab a cobe." That's what I sound like. My coworkers were laughing at my voice on the phone today. It doesn't help that I am traveling for work either. Yes, I was that person on the plane spreading germs. I tried not to, really! I huddled into my window seat, covered my mouth when I coughed, and I'm pretty sure I managed to not sneeze during the flight. I'm in Minneapolis now and am trying to rest in my hotel room. The press checks are scheduled and will be waiting for me in the morning, so it's not a situation where I could cancel. My sales reps at the printer I work with wanted to go out to dinner, but I decided I should lay low. It's a good thing prime time TV starts in the Midwest at 7pm. I'll finish watching The Bachelorette (I'm not afraid to admit it's fun to watch!) at 9pm, then I'll try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, my hotel is not anywhere near a drug store and I didn't rent a car. I was forced to buy cold medicine in the hotel gift shop and it was a small fortune. Oh well. Hopefully, the TheraFlu - Severe Cold will help me get some sleep and I'll feel a little better tomorrow.

Summer Vacation Then and Now

Remember the days of Summer vacation? I can still remember playing in my backyard with my sister Meg. It seemed like we were in a world of our own. Whether we climbed up into our favorite tree to play Star Wars, or if we were sliding on cardboard down the hill into the valley behind our house, we just seemed to wind away the Summer having fun.

Several times our family took one to two week trips to Newport Beach in Southern California. We rented a little house and spent time with our family friends who lived in Rancho PalosVerdes, another town in the Los Angeles area. This was the main beach time I got as a kid (Northern California is not amenable to much warm beach weather), unless we traveled to visit my Uncle David in Hawaii. He lived on Maui for over 30 years. We spent a few Christmases there and Meg and I took a vacation to Maui together the year after we graduated from college. Thinking about all of this recently, I decided I need a real vacation. First, I debated 'new couch' or 'Hawaii vacation.' Hmm... tough call. Then I thought, if I buy the couch I'll have to spend my time off work lying on it! I knew I wouldn't want to spend even more money on a vacation after purchasing a couch. I'm not made of money. It took me awhile to decide where to go, but in the end I chose to return to Maui. I cashed in some frequent flyer miles and I'm heading to the island in July for 6 nights. I'm so excited!

Yes, I've been there before, but that was the point. On one hand, there are trips to see new countries and explore new towns. These are type of vacations where you want to go, see, and do everything possible during your trip. On the other hand, there are vacations of rest and relaxation. Usually I am quite the scheduled, planner type, but rest is what I need this time around. I figured even though my Uncle does not live on Maui anymore (he moved to the San Juan Islands North of Seattle 5 years ago) it is a place that is familiar to me. I've done the drive to Hana, I've seen the sunrise over Haleakala more than once... this trip will consist of taking it easy. I see myself rolling out of bed and reading a book on my patio with a cup of coffee. Late morning I will head to the pool or beach to get some sun. Maybe I'll do some shopping... I don't plan on being a complete lazy bum though. I hope to get in a few walk/run sessions and maybe even some ocean swims. Warm, clear water, can't beat that! I plan on as few clocks and schedules as possible. Hopefully, there will be good weather, good food, and not a care in the world during my vacation. Here's a photo of the pool where I am staying. : )

La Luna

I love Luna Bars. I miss them very much. You see, Luna Bars used to be my favorite pre-workout nutrition bar snack. Usually on my way to a Tuesday night run or Thursday night track workout I would eat a banana and a Luna Bar to nourish me for the exhausting hour or more of exercise I was about to embark upon. These days I've had to forgo my little soy rice crisp, sweetly coated high carbo/protein yummy bar. My workouts are not nearly as strenuous as they used to be so pre-workout food is not necessary. I would run the risk of literally running out of steam if I didn't eat something before the run or bike ride. When that happens, it's called "bonking." For example, I bonked towards the end of my first long bike ride when I ate too little before the ride. Jill, one of the PacWest team captains, had to stay with me while we slowly rode far behind everyone else. It's a horrible feeling. After that, I traditionally ate a banana, a bowl of oatmeal, AND a Luna Bar before a long bike ride. The nutrition is necessary to keep you going. Here is a photo of what I consider the best flavor Luna Bars offer. Mmm... Chocolate Peppermint Stick. I am also a fan of Smores and Peanut Butter Cookie.

I found Luna Bars to be a perfect pre-workout meal and sometimes afterwards, as long as they were kept in a cool, dry place. They didn't work so well during a bike ride. The one time I tucked one in the "bento box" (sack for carrying food, energy gels, lip balm, etc.) strapped to my bike I regretted it. Mid way through the ride I opened up the wrapper for some much needed sustenance and realized the sweet coating had melted and eating the bar was very messy. It was still delicious, but I decided to stick to regular Clif Bars that would not melt for my nutrition during a ride. I tended to need my water for hydration, not for washing off sticky fingers.

I'm sure you are wondering, why is she bringing up Luna Bars now? I happily ate one today, it was the Smores flavor. Yum! I went for a swim this morning and on my way I decided to stop at the grocery store for a banana and a Luna Bar. I thought they would make a good post swim breakfast. My knee had been aching a bit after my Tuesday morning walk/run, so I stepped back to a walk-only on Friday at lunch and thought a low-impact workout would be best today. Two-steps-forward-one-step-back, as Matt says in Brain Training. It's OK, I'm going to stay the course. I'm learning that finding I've done too much and needing to step my exercise back a is simply part of the recovery process. I'm trying really hard to not let it bother me too much anymore. I'm doing more now than I was a few months ago, right? It's progress. My physical therapist friend told me to judge my recovery progress by months, not weeks or days. It takes time. No, it didn't occur to me that my knee injury then scope would take this long to heal, but it is what it is. Next week I'll try another walk/run, but maybe a little less running (I ran 16 minutes in my walk/run workouts this past week) and/or keep to a flat path. It's possible the hills near my apartment proved to be too challenging for twice a week. My 45 minute swim was good today. It was a lovely day in the city!

Mountain Play

This Sunday afternoon was a great Bay Area day for many reasons. It was sunny, we were outdoors, and we were among friends. I went to my first Mountain Play today. Every summer for the past 95 years, the Mountain Play Association in Marin County (North of SF) has produced an outdoor theatrical experience in an ampitheather cut into the side of Mt. Tamalpias. My friend Kim invited me to join her group and it was a very enjoyable day. We parked part way up the mountain, then set out on a fairly short, but hilly hike to the ampitheater. Kim and her husband Aaron brought cheese crackers and other delicious snacks. There was plenty of water and a little wine too. We all sprayed on sunblock and settled on our blankets for the Wizard of Oz. Here are a few photos from the afternoon.

A view of the crowd

The cast of characters