Building A Better Bumblebee

 Yipes.

That's a severely technical word you used there, Hoss.  And in light of all the PT you've been doing, I am rather dumbfounded (yes, I have found my dumb) by the language you use.  Are you SURE you stand by your word as a descriptor of the forward motion and the cardiac reaction, therein?

ounce wrote:

 Yipes.

That's a severely technical word you used there, Hoss.  And in light of all the PT you've been doing, I am rather dumbfounded (yes, I have found my dumb) by the language you use.  Are you SURE you stand by your word as a descriptor of the forward motion and the cardiac reaction, therein?

Yup. 

Yipes.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:

 Yipes.

That's a severely technical word you used there, Hoss.  And in light of all the PT you've been doing, I am rather dumbfounded (yes, I have found my dumb) by the language you use.  Are you SURE you stand by your word as a descriptor of the forward motion and the cardiac reaction, therein?

Yup. 

Yipes.

As in, "Yipes! I am very out of shape."

Hope that clears things up.

Well, fall is a good time to get shape back, right? I always tell my husband round is a shape. Probably not nice of me but I still do it.

Julie wrote:Well, fall is a good time to get shape back, right? I always tell my husband round is a shape. Probably not nice of me but I still do it.

Funny, I was thinking something along those lines when I wrote that last post.

Yes, it's not a bad time to get back to it. Not too hot, not too cold, with lots of colorful foliage to admire.

Besides, it syncs up with the whole "back to school" rhythm that aside from a sense of new beginnings means more unsupervised time for me. Might as well fill the time with something beneficial.

The only question that remains is this: how much barefoot do I do? Shall I try going all-in, or should I mix in the sandals? Or should I just go back to shoes most of the time with a weekly barefoot session or two to keep my form sharp? Hm...

Mark B wrote:

Julie wrote:Well, fall is a good time to get shape back, right? I always tell my husband round is a shape. Probably not nice of me but I still do it.

Funny, I was thinking something along those lines when I wrote that last post.

Yes, it's not a bad time to get back to it. Not too hot, not too cold, with lots of colorful foliage to admire.

Besides, it syncs up with the whole "back to school" rhythm that aside from a sense of new beginnings means more unsupervised time for me. Might as well fill the time with something beneficial.

The only question that remains is this: how much barefoot do I do? Shall I try going all-in, or should I mix in the sandals? Or should I just go back to shoes most of the time with a weekly barefoot session or two to keep my form sharp? Hm...

Well, whichever mix you choose, I REALLY hope you will wear the same selection on the left foot as you do on the right, at the same time.  I don't really know, but I suspect that running barefoot on one foot and a sandal or a shoe on the other would not produce desired results.  JUST A HUNCH, but who am I to dissuade someone from trying something different?

Play around and see what feels right for your feet.

Julie wrote:Well, fall is a good time to get shape back, right? I always tell my husband round is a shape. Probably not nice of me but I still do it.

As a friend of mine always says, "Why have a six pack, when you can have a keg."

ounce wrote:Well, whichever mix you choose, I REALLY hope you will wear the same selection on the left foot as you do on the right, at the same time.  I don't really know, but I suspect that running barefoot on one foot and a sandal or a shoe on the other would not produce desired results.  JUST A HUNCH, but who am I to dissuade someone from trying something different?

Y'see, this is the sort of sage advice I've come to expect in an Ounce post. Thank you, sir, for your enduring wisdom. I cherish it as much as I always do.

Jim Lentz wrote:Play around and see what feels right for your feet.

Playing sounds fun, Jim. I think I could support that. I have no race on the horizon, so I have time to work my way back into it and experiment a bit. Ooo! I could even try Hokas! (Hahahahahahahahaaa!) Oh, sorry.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:

Julie wrote:Well, fall is a good time to get shape back, right? I always tell my husband round is a shape. Probably not nice of me but I still do it.

As a friend of mine always says, "Why have a six pack, when you can have a keg."

Exactly!

I am glad to see that you are starting to get back to it. Like the others said, fall is a great time to start back up. I am assuming that you are taking it slow, right?

Nick Morris wrote:I am glad to see that you are starting to get back to it.  Like the others said, fall is a great time to start back up.  I am assuming that you are taking it slow, right?

Oh, most assuredly so.

I did a couple of slow miles yesterday, did some core work this morning and just got back from an easy 1.3-mile recovery walk at lunchtime. I got rained on a little, but that actually made it better.

Mark B wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:I am glad to see that you are starting to get back to it.  Like the others said, fall is a great time to start back up.  I am assuming that you are taking it slow, right?

Oh, most assuredly so.

I did a couple of slow miles yesterday, did some core work this morning and just got back from an easy 1.3-mile recovery walk at lunchtime. I got rained on a little, but that actually made it better.

It rains in the Pacific Northwest??

Nick Morris wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:I am glad to see that you are starting to get back to it.  Like the others said, fall is a great time to start back up.  I am assuming that you are taking it slow, right?

Oh, most assuredly so.

I did a couple of slow miles yesterday, did some core work this morning and just got back from an easy 1.3-mile recovery walk at lunchtime. I got rained on a little, but that actually made it better.

It rains in the Pacific Northwest??

Well, between late June and mid-September, it hardly rains at all. (That's sort of normal west of the 100th Meridian)

Read a very dry (ba-zing!) piece on Washington state's climate here.

Excerpt: The location and intensity of the semi-permanent high and low-pressure areas over the North Pacific Ocean have a definite influence on the climate.  Air circulates in a clockwise direction around the semi-permanent high-pressure cell and in a counter-clockwise direction around the semi-permanent low-pressure cell.  During the spring and summer, the low-pressure cell becomes weak and moves north of the Aleutian Islands.  At the same time, the high-pressure area spreads over most of the North Pacific Ocean.  A circulation of air around the high-pressure center brings a prevailing westerly and northwesterly flow of comparatively dry, cool and stable air into the Pacific Northwest.  As the air moves inland, it becomes warmer and drier which results in a dry season beginning in the late spring and reaching a peak in mid-summer.

After that, though, all bets are off. Though it usually comes down as a torrential drizzle.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:Well, whichever mix you choose, I REALLY hope you will wear the same selection on the left foot as you do on the right, at the same time.  I don't really know, but I suspect that running barefoot on one foot and a sandal or a shoe on the other would not produce desired results.  JUST A HUNCH, but who am I to dissuade someone from trying something different?

Y'see, this is the sort of sage advice I've come to expect in an Ounce post. Thank you, sir, for your enduring wisdom. I cherish it as much as I always do.

Jim Lentz wrote:Play around and see what feels right for your feet.

Playing sounds fun, Jim. I think I could support that. I have no race on the horizon, so I have time to work my way back into it and experiment a bit. Ooo! I could even try Hokas! (Hahahahahahahahaaa!) Oh, sorry.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:

Julie wrote:Well, fall is a good time to get shape back, right? I always tell my husband round is a shape. Probably not nice of me but I still do it.

As a friend of mine always says, "Why have a six pack, when you can have a keg."

Exactly!

If I didn't live in Texas, I'd think I was insulted.  But since I live in Texas, I'll just say "durn tootin'!"

Well, phooey.

Maybe I pushed it a little too much with that extra walk yesterday, but I'm feeling a fairly large niggle in that groin muscle I strained while trying to avoid falling out of the shower earlier this summer. Bah. I had been considering heading out for another spin around the block this morning, but better judgment tells me I shouldn't.  

Oh well. I'll ease up, maybe do some calf raises or something.

(Done! I did 3x20 single-leg calf raises this morning with knee locked. Better than nothing, and I was inspired by a photo I saw of me from an unusual angle that showed just *how* bad a case of chicken legs I have below the knees. Yipes!)

Probably a good choice to settle for calf raises today but I'm sure you're itching to get back outside.

Take care of yourself.

nkrichards wrote:Probably a good choice to settle for calf raises today but I'm sure you're itching to get back outside.

Take care of yourself.

Yes, ma'am! (On all counts.) I have no illusions that coming back is going to take more patience than usual. That's okay. I'm just glad I can get started again.

Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, mild. 65 degrees. Gear: Bare feet

The workers got done quicker than expected this morning, so I decided to head out for another barefoot run and see how it went after a few days of rest and cross-training.

The run itself was a good test of my fitness level, which is pretty low. I used low HR rules as I did laps around the block, and noticed improvements over last time for Mile 1 and Mile 2 (11:36 vs 11:56 and 12:17 vs 12:42).

That encouraged me to see what happened if I stretched it out one more mile.

I did it in 13:22. Whoa. Did not see that coming. It didn't even *feel* like that big of a fall-off, but the clock doesn't lie.

So, my short-term plan is clear. Short runs at low intensity, with walking when I can.

Average HR on entire run: 138

Sounds like a good plan to me. It will take some time to get back, but it will come...eventually. Don't get discouraged or try to rush things.

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like a good plan to me.  It will take some time to get back, but it will come...eventually.  Don't get discouraged or try to rush things.

"Rush..." you mean, like trying that extra mile today?

I stood up after sitting for a while at while at work and felt that oh-so-familiar twang in my front of my hip. Drat! No issues when I run, so it seems fine, then whammo! I hate it when it does that.

Maybe I ought to dig out that ultra-low intensity approach the PT gave me when I was rehabbing my peroneal tendon. You know, alternating walking and jogging? Not increasing running distance until there's no twinges or niggles, and then doing it only very incrementally? Maybe.

Oh, well. At least I know what I won't be doing tomorrow...

It's a good thing that you're not old, yet.

ounce wrote:It's a good thing that you're not old, yet.

Exactly. Because, you know, that would suck.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:It's a good thing that you're not old, yet.

Exactly. Because, you know, that would suck.

Yeah.  Suck like 'sucking a golf ball through a garden hose' kind of suck.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:It's a good thing that you're not old, yet.

Exactly. Because, you know, that would suck.

Yeah.  Suck like 'sucking a golf ball through a garden hose' kind of suck.

Oh, you have GOT to be kidding...

I was walking around the house barefoot this morning, when I looked down and saw...



This.

What in the heck? A large bruise between my first and second toes, an a strip of bruise along the inside edge of my big toe joint. Alita says there's swelling there, too.

The photo doesn't do it justice. The bruise looks a lot darker to the naked eye. Except, it doesn't hurt. It's just sort of... there.

So weird.

I think I know where it came from, but even that has me befuddled. At one point in my last series of laps around the block, my concentration wavered for a moment and I dragged the tip of my big toe on the rough asphalt. It hurt, but it was more of a "skin on belt sander" feeling than anything else. There wasn't a mark on my skin at all, though my toe was a little unhappy when I flexed it.

Guess I know why now.

I can't imagine that there's any significant damage in there (as I poke around, I do notice a bit of lingering tenderness in the tip of my toe), but I'm thinking that I may be switching to something with a bit more piggy protection until my coordination (such as it is) returns. Yeesh.

---

So, I was walking around today after I made the earlier post, starting to realize that my big toe actually IS kind of sore, when I got hit with twinges in my hip strong enough to make me walk funny for a few steps.

Fine. Okay. I get it.

I thought what I was doing was reasonable, but it isn't. I need to dial it back farther, maybe all the way back to zero, to recuperate from this year and get moving again without hurting myself.

Not happy about it, but I know myself enough to realize that when I start thinking "well, geez, I should be able to do this..." that my ego is trying to drive the bus, and it's heading for a cliff.