Training with Flies

Now Wednesday.  The painless knee, 24 hours later.  It was 79 degrees with a dew point of 75.  No breeze.  Today is the MRI of the right knee, by the way.  

At least a 3 mile run was planned, maybe 4, if limbs are transparent to the user.  I had been toying with 152 cadence on the last mile during the past couple of 4 mile runs without much complaint at all.  Therefore, 152 was the cadence for this run.

Still no pain in the knee, nor that muscle ache that's lateral to the shin.

I ran past the turnaround spot and headed for the 4 mile turnaround spot.  Before getting there, a walking type person headed the other direction past me.  I may see 1 or 2 people a week, usually on the other side of the street.  I stopped for a minute, then headed back home.  Unbeknownst to that walker, he just became my rabbit.  I estimate he was about two-tenths ahead of me.  It took me a mile to catch him, but it was a great diversion to keep me at 152.  I squeezed my headband twice during the run.  Pretty sweaty times

4.01 miles, 1:01:41, 15:24 pace, 124 avg bpm, 152 avg cadence.
1.  15:52, 152 spm
2.  15:20, 152 spm
3.  15:25, 151 spm
4.  15:04, 152 spm

My rule of thumb for advancing the cadence is:  If I have maintained the designated cadence throughout the run, then I should advance the cadence.

So, that's 10 miles for the week.  I might just run 6 miles again on October 1 at 151 cadence (up +1).  I haven't made up a schedule yet for the Half, but I want to run 15 miles as my last long run of the schedule.  I don't want to limp in for the last mile or 2.

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This morning, I lifted.  Specifically, the shoulders routine.  It had maybe been a month since the last one.  I wasn't able to do the last weighted amounts, but only 5 pounds.  So, that's pretty good.

I'm thinking about lifting tomorrow, in order to keep the weight amount consistent.  It'll also give me the opportunity to test out a T-Th-F lift schedule.

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Almost forgot about the MRI, yesterday.  BOY, it was tough for me to keep my right leg still for the 23 minutes!  I didn't know how long the imaging would take, but I asked after finishing.  It was like, "I need to get that discomfort removed!"  I could move my upper body all that I wanted, thankfully.

I have no knowledge of the results, but I left the imaging place with a CD of the MRI.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the day.

Rabbits always help...more than we realize I think.  

That's a long time to have to sit still!!  And as it starts to get uncomfortable it seems like it lasts even longer than it actually does.  I'm not claustrophobic but during the short time that they slide you into the tube and ask you to hold your breath during the scanning for the nuclear stress test I get very uncomfortable.  It's even worse the second time as I know it's coming...even though I also know it's quite short.

Hope lifting went well.

Have a good weekend.

nkrichards wrote:Rabbits always help...more than we realize I think.  

That's a long time to have to sit still!!  And as it starts to get uncomfortable it seems like it lasts even longer than it actually does.  I'm not claustrophobic but during the short time that they slide you into the tube and ask you to hold your breath during the scanning for the nuclear stress test I get very uncomfortable.  It's even worse the second time as I know it's coming...even though I also know it's quite short.

Hope lifting went well.

Have a good weekend.

This MRI machine was oriented horizontally (think a hamburger bun), rather than the traditional vertical donut style.  I even had a window to look out through.

I went to bed, last night, thinking I was going to lift this morning.  And I woke up with the alarm, but I laid there and thought, "let's see if I'll go back to sleep."  I've lifted twice and I've ran twice.  Am I tired?  2 hours later, I woke up.  Guess I was tired.

I received the MRI report, this afternoon.  There were 7 findings.  #7 was the tendonitis on the lateral side of the knee, which is where I was getting PT.

1.  Medial meniscus tear.
   
   
2. Type II signal of the lateral meniscus tear.
   
   
3. tricompartmental osteoarthritis/chondromalacia.  
   
   
4. T2 hyperintense focus in the proximal to mid ACL is compatible with a ganglion cyst of the ACL.  Superimposed mucoid degeneration of the ACL is also seen.
   
   
5. Lateral patellar tilt and 9 mm lateralization of the patella is noted.  The TT-TG distance is 22 mm.
   
   

For a knee that doesn't hurt, I sure have a lot of things wrong.  


The medial meniscus tear is something that I've felt for 18 years in the guise of it only hurts when I need to stop running in that particular pair of shoes.


To me, #4 is the worst.  The 'degeneration' is exactly what you would think about something.  The ACL is falling apart.
#2 has 4 different types and 3 sub-types for each of the 4 main types.  Type IV is the worst.  I tried.
#3 well, there are 3 compartments in the knee to become arthritic.  And mine is all three.
#5 is one I'd have to look at again, but the "TT-TG distance" shows normal as less than 15 mm.  Bad or Serious or, well, you get the picture is greater than 20.


Weight loss can individually help the meniscus tears.


My PCP has given me a surgeon from which to make an appointment.  After reading and asking Dr. Google, it seemed like my running days are over.  As the afternoon went on, I got to thinking about it.  My knee still doesn't hurt.  If I hadn't gotten the MRI, I wouldn't know.


With all of the things wrong with that knee, then what does the left knee look like?  If a knee was going to hurt, it was always the right knee.
I wonder if a new knee would be the way to kill all of the issues or if fixing X & Y would take care of the other 5 issues?


Either way, I don't know when I would do it.  It's a long way back.  I could buy some time by losing weight and stopping running.  Either way, I think I'll be seeing 2 surgeons with the 2nd doc being the 2nd opinion.


AND WE GET A HIGH OF 88, NEXT FRIDAY!!!  Oh well.  


Seriously though, I'll run on Monday.  I'm playing with fire, maybe.  Or maybe the lug nuts are loose on two wheels.  I may change my mind.


Y'all have a nice weekend.

I really can't run on Monday.  Taking in the totality of my existence on others, I can't have a surgery, since I'm walking around with no pain and taking no drugs.  I'll make an appointment with the guy my PCP recommended to discuss options.  Maybe I can run the Half in January.  Maybe walk it.

I sure have plenty of pairs of running shoes to wear out in my future.

ounce wrote:I really can't run on Monday.  Taking in the totality of my existence on others, I can't have a surgery, since I'm walking around with no pain and taking no drugs.  I'll make an appointment with the guy my PCP recommended to discuss options.  Maybe I can run the Half in January.  Maybe walk it.

I sure have plenty of pairs of running shoes to wear out in my future.

Tough decisions.  I'm sure you'll make good choices.  If that includes running/walking the half great...if not...

Hope that you're able to continue to work on wearing out those running shoes.

How is your knee and everything feeling? Hope it's cooled off or at least will soon! We're in the mid-90s for a few days then some nice fall weather will come.

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:I really can't run on Monday.  Taking in the totality of my existence on others, I can't have a surgery, since I'm walking around with no pain and taking no drugs.  I'll make an appointment with the guy my PCP recommended to discuss options.  Maybe I can run the Half in January.  Maybe walk it.

I sure have plenty of pairs of running shoes to wear out in my future.

Tough decisions.  I'm sure you'll make good choices.  If that includes running/walking the half great...if not...

Hope that you're able to continue to work on wearing out those running shoes.

When I was an infant, I had 'something' wrong with my right leg.  It wasn't lining up straight, like the left leg.  As an illustration, when I stand, my left toes point forward.  My right foot 'toes out' a bit; about a toes width or two.  My mom said a non-invasive correction was for me to wear baby shoes when I'm in the crib at night that have a metal bar attached to the sole of the shoes.  Like a hobble.  The photo below was similar to what I remember the shoes looked like.

I don't remember how old I was when I first saw that pair that I wore.  It could've even been after I started running 20 years ago.

I wouldn't be surprised if that has caused a lot of my results in the MRI.

Julie wrote:How is your knee and everything feeling? Hope it's cooled off or at least will soon! We're in the mid-90s for a few days then some nice fall weather will come.

Hey Julie!
The knee feels fine.  No pain.  Nah, we're still at 95, which is 10 degrees cooler than August's numbers.  I imagine you're getting a cold front on Tuesday or so because we're getting rain on Thursday before the front.  80s!  The local meteorologists are even threatening high 50s for next Monday and Tuesday.

-30-

I woke up this morning to lift but being sad about not running.  I have an appointment with the PCP's choice of an orthopedic surgeon for Friday at 8:20.  I left the MRI with my copy of it on a CD.

Lifting went well.  I looked around at the gym to see what other machines I could hit, if I couldn't run anymore.  Then I realized that running fulfilled a visual entertainment for the mind, while exercising the body.  And lifting provided exercising the body, but not much else.  So not running outside anymore would be like lifting on a treadmill.  That visual entertainment is why I went from walking to running.  And the fact that walking was so slow.

The gym does have a 25 meter or feet, 3 lane swimming pool.  Nancy, what are the rules and etiquette for doing laps in pool?  I see people just casually doing laps.  But after I get acclimated to swimming again, I'd like to go faster.  If I do go faster in the pool, is that bad etiquette if there are just 2 people in the pool?

I've thought about wheelchair running or crank running.  $4K for a carbon racing wheelchair is more than just a little steep.  But I imagine all of the shoulder motion from which to propel me would probably be a "young man's" game.

I don't think boxing is an option.  And martial arts would create a complete and total skin color change to purple.

Maybe this doc will give me the latitude to say, "If you lose 30 pounds within x months, you can start running again today."


Come again!

ounce wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:I really can't run on Monday.  Taking in the totality of my existence on others, I can't have a surgery, since I'm walking around with no pain and taking no drugs.  I'll make an appointment with the guy my PCP recommended to discuss options.  Maybe I can run the Half in January.  Maybe walk it.

I sure have plenty of pairs of running shoes to wear out in my future.

Tough decisions.  I'm sure you'll make good choices.  If that includes running/walking the half great...if not...

Hope that you're able to continue to work on wearing out those running shoes.

When I was an infant, I had 'something' wrong with my right leg.  It wasn't lining up straight, like the left leg.  As an illustration, when I stand, my left toes point forward.  My right foot 'toes out' a bit; about a toes width or two.  My mom said a non-invasive correction was for me to wear baby shoes when I'm in the crib at night that have a metal bar attached to the sole of the shoes.  Like a hobble.  The photo below was similar to what I remember the shoes looked like.

I don't remember how old I was when I first saw that pair that I wore.  It could've even been after I started running 20 years ago.

I wouldn't be surprised if that has caused a lot of my results in the MRI.

Julie wrote:How is your knee and everything feeling? Hope it's cooled off or at least will soon! We're in the mid-90s for a few days then some nice fall weather will come.

Hey Julie!
The knee feels fine.  No pain.  Nah, we're still at 95, which is 10 degrees cooler than August's numbers.  I imagine you're getting a cold front on Tuesday or so because we're getting rain on Thursday before the front.  80s!  The local meteorologists are even threatening high 50s for next Monday and Tuesday.

-30-

I woke up this morning to lift but being sad about not running.  I have an appointment with the PCP's choice of an orthopedic surgeon for Friday at 8:20.  I left the MRI with my copy of it on a CD.

Lifting went well.  I looked around at the gym to see what other machines I could hit, if I couldn't run anymore.  Then I realized that running fulfilled a visual entertainment for the mind, while exercising the body.  And lifting provided exercising the body, but not much else.  So not running outside anymore would be like lifting on a treadmill.  That visual entertainment is why I went from walking to running.  And the fact that walking was so slow.

The gym does have a 25 meter or feet, 3 lane swimming pool.  Nancy, what are the rules and etiquette for doing laps in pool?  I see people just casually doing laps.  But after I get acclimated to swimming again, I'd like to go faster.  If I do go faster in the pool, is that bad etiquette if there are just 2 people in the pool?

I've thought about wheelchair running or crank running.  $4K for a carbon racing wheelchair is more than just a little steep.  But I imagine all of the shoulder motion from which to propel me would probably be a "young man's" game.

I don't think boxing is an option.  And martial arts would create a complete and total skin color change to purple.

Maybe this doc will give me the latitude to say, "If you lose 30 pounds within x months, you can start running again today."


Come again!

Lots to respond to here.  I'm a bit surprised that you're considering giving up on running after getting the MRI results (if you're still mostly able to run pain free)...but I also understand the decision making process.  I know it can be discouraging.  I will say that I've heard that the longer you maintain the muscles around the knee (by staying active) the longer it will be useable...and the more likely knee surgery will be successful if/when it is necessary.

I agree that running provides more than just exercise for the body.  I feel so much better mentally after I've been out in the fresh air especially if I am able to run somewhere with a nice view...or other people that I can give a nod to.

Not sure I'd be into wheelchair running...I think I'd walk.  And I agree that boxing or martial arts is not an option. lol

Swimming is actually probably a good choice but it doesn't provide the outdoor experience.  Our pool is a bit different than most as it's not overcrowded.  Typically you are supposed to pick a lane that is your speed...they are marked slow, medium, fast.  You swim up and back on your side of the lane just like a road...staying to the right.  If the swimmer behind you catches you they tap your foot and then you wait at the wall and allow them to pass.  Since our pool is not crowded we often get a lane to ourselves.  Worst case scenario we have to share a lane with one other person.  In that case we just stay on our own side and do your own thing.  It doesn't matter if one swimmer is faster than another as you don't interfere with each other.  Because we're a small community we all kind of know each other even if just casually...and we're all supportive and friendly.

I guess if you're asking for recommendations I'd say keep working on the weight loss...you've had some success...and keep running as long as you're able.  That's if your asking for my opinion...and I'm not sure you are...   I'm curious what the orthopedic doc says once he sees the MRI results.

I've heard of the shoes with the bar being used for infants in the past.  They used a lot of treatment in the past that now seems odd to us.  Does one foot still toe out?  I have an obvious stronger side...a good PT can see it when they take a close look at me just standing.  My left foot also does a funny little flip inward as it transitions to the next step.  Not real obvious but it's there.  My Mom said it was caused by the way I used to sit when I was young.  I would cross my feet and sit with my feet underneath me.  Not sure if that caused it or not and it doesn't seem to make a big difference in my life but maybe that's why I'm not a professional runner.  

Take care and feel free to share as much as you're comfortable.

The doctor has spoken.  The medial meniscus tear is the ONLY problem of the 7 items.  The rest, even the ACL, is just deviation from standard.  They took x-rays from 4 different angles or positions, like bent knees together, slightly raised knee left then right, and standing with both knees together.

The x-ray showed (and I'll try to post the x-ray on another post) the left medial meniscus has been extruded from its place between the bones.  By virtue of bone spurs in the x-ray, he estimates that it's been that way for at least 5 years.  

Treatment is:  injections of something 2x/year.  When that fails to help, gel injections 2x/year.  When that fails, knee replacement, but he doesn't want to do that because I'm active.  He wants me to stop long distance running (I wore one of my Half finishers shirts).  I can still run 3 or 4 miles 2x/week on a soft surface, though.  I can walk as much as I want, including the Half.  He also wants me to lose weight.

On the x-rays of both knees next to each other, there was a gap between the femur and the shin bones on the lateral side.  He said THAT is exactly what they want to see.

So, what am I going to do.  Today, I'm done with long distance running.  And I got the injection.  My commitments are such that I have to be available.  And while I may never need a knee replacement surgery, I want the option to push that as far out into the future as possible.  Should my commitments dissolve, I'll re-visit long distance running.

I want to keep on running, though.  Heck, I'll probably run half of the Half.  I'll just have to figure out how to make running 3-4 miles/2-3x/week interesting.  Maybe speed and/or higher cadence.  If I'm running at Memorial Park, I might just realize that I'm past 4 miles and have to finish by running less than 2 miles just to get back to my car.

That's the idea.  I can hike all I want.  Maybe walk a 50K or most of it.  I'll start swimming, sometime.  I'll keep lifting.

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Nancy, you're free to speak your mind.  Thanks for that.

-30-

We have 3 cold fronts coming down, like Julie.  1 came with rain, yesterday.  The 2nd one is mostly a dry line that's going through.  The 3rd goes through during night football games and is bringing colder air to the degree that Sunday morning's low will be 56 degrees.  We haven't seen morning lows in the 50s since May 1...157 days.  Weekend highs in the mid-70s.

I ran 4 miles, this morning.  The medial part stopped whining after a mile.  It was 72 degrees with a dew point of 69.  Pretty decent.  I bumped the 4th mile's cadence to 153 from 152.  It was a good effort.

4 miles, 1:00:33, 15:08 pace, 152 avg cadence.
1.  15:25, 152 spm
2.  14:49, 152 spm
3.  15:20, 151 spm
4.  14:54, 153 spm

After returning home, I iced down my tendon and it returned to be sore, along with the ankle and the hip for countering the knee pain.

Been a tough day.  But this all goes part and parcel to finding out what I can find out about me, internally, so I can make decisions and do corrections.  The brain MRI and MRA has been done and I have 'very healthy' cranial arteries and just about zero stenosis in the carotid arteries.  The vascular surgeon said there's nothing to worry about from the neck up.  The heart is in good shape and it will continue to be, as I venture into getting some speed and faster turnover.  Fast Freddie is going to be Exhausted Freddie soon enough.  I had a colonoscopy in 2021.

Nothing else hurts or is raising my curiosity.

Oh, Nancy.  A Pacific front is supposed to be here on Thursday.  Thanks for that.

Y'all have a good weekend.  I'll still be around.

Right knee from the back

ounce wrote:Right knee from the back

Yeah, that's not optimal.

Sorry I haven't checked in lately. Seems like I've missed a lot. I'm glad most of the MRI report reflects general deviations from the mean and routine wear-and-tear. With injections, weight loss and moderated activity, it seems there's a decent chance your knee will get you to the ultimate finish line without surgery. 

Those baby shoes brought back memory of baby shoes of mine I found with holes cut out so they could tie the toes together, which I guess was an early attempt to deal with my very unusual feet. As it turns out, at least one of those feet is a hot mess with severe degenerative arthritis - which is weird, because it feels completely the same to me! The same may end up applying to you, in some form as well. My doc told me that he's run into people with severe bone-on-bone issues and no pain whatsoever, and others with virtually no problems hobbling in pain. Human bodies are weird, but they can be resilient. I hope yours is.

I like your idea of basically seeing what you can get away with as far as running goes. If you need views and more cardio, is riding a bicycle an option on some days? No impact, with the ability to get outside and go farther and see more things - and maybe even get the benefit of cooling breezes for those muggy Houston mornings? Seems like a possibility, at least.

Sad to hear that you're giving up on long distance running...but that's probably mostly because I can't bring myself to give up yet...  You are obviously better at listening to your doctor than I am.  Dr. B is still reminding me to run for the enjoyment not a time goal.

It is good to hear that you're not completely giving up on running.  I hope you enjoy the shorter runs.  Faster pace and cadence sound like fun.  Maybe Fast Freddie will take up residence in Houston and stop annoying me.  Do you think you'll enter events or just run for your own enjoyment?

I do think swimming will be a good low impact option if you have access to a pool.  And I also wonder if you will consider Mark's suggestion about biking.  It would get you out and about.  You could explore farther from home.

I know you enjoy lifting and I hope that you continue to enjoy that.

You certainly have ticked off several health/lifestyle issues recently.  Hope that has helped you make the decisions/corrections that you're comfortable with.

I'll keep watching for those runs on Strava and checking in here for updates on your lifting and maybe some new activities.

Enjoy the cooler weather.  You're welcome.

Thanks, y'all.

If I could feel comfortable and safe riding a bike, then I would probably buy one.  But drivers in Houston generally believe bikers are pests.  So, the old saying comes to mind, "somedays you're the windshield, somedays you're the bug."  So, it'd have to be a closed course.

That's one of the reasons I like running during the pre-dawn hours because there are very few cars and there's sidewalks the whole way to wherever I run.  Many of the days I run, there's the usual cluster of 8-12 cyclists pedaling in the street.

Of course, pushing a wheelchair or hand-crank bike as part of new method of racing would require very careful thought and figuring where to train.

I'll keep on lifting.  Maybe even expand to deadlifts and abductor/adductor machine.  I want to strengthen the muscles around the knee, too.  Running faster is intriguing, since I've always been an endurance training runner my whole 20 years of running.

I've thought to train for the Half as walking 8 & running 7.  Yeah, that's 15 miles, but this year I was going to train for the Half with 15 mile runs so I don't have to depend on guts to get me the final mile or 2.

It was a very, very nice 62 degrees with a dew point of 50.  That's about 6 degrees warmer than forecasted, but colder by 20 degrees from the Summer.  Not so cool that I needed to wear sleeves, instead of sleeveless.   Over the weekend plus Friday, the injected right knee was transparent to the user for day to day activities.

One thing I noticed about shedding the long distance jacket for a 3-4 mile, 2-3x/week cap is that I don't have to be as conscious with endurance building for double-digit distances.  As a result, I run 'faster' or at least try to.

This morning, I went to Memorial Park for my inaugural cool weather run of 3 miles.  I bumped the cadence from 153 to 155 at the start and bumped it to 156 at the start of the 3rd mile.  That last bump put me up against my first day ability to keep that turnover going.  HR was 140-142 for that 3rd mile.  First mile was 127.

Nonetheless, I was off and going.  The right knee had a couple of settling in issues that abated before a quarter mile. I was kinda surprised I was holding that 155 cadence so well.  But I knew if I wanted to go faster, today, I'd have to bump the cadence to keep up with the legs, not the other way around.

3 miles, 39:58, 13:19 pace, 133 avg HR, 146 max HR, 156 avg cadence, 0.78 avg stride length
1.  13:26, 155 spm, 77 sl
2.  13:18, 156 spm, 78 sl
3.  13:12, 156 spm, 78 sl

Summertime stride length was 68-70.

Humidity levels will be rising over the day, today, but we're supposed to have lows this week in the 60s.  I'm new to this working on speed stuff.  However, a nice start at this new chapter.

I've been thinking about how to train for a 50-50 walk/run Half.  One option late in the training cycle would be to walk to Memorial Park (3.33 miles), run 2 loops (6 miles), then walk back for a total of 12.66 miles.  Maybe insert a walk or run over both land bridges (1.2 miles).  THAT'LL be a workout!

Also thinking about walking 3 miles, then go lift.  As far as a race tactic, I'm curious whether walking half, then running half would be tougher on the running piece.  I guess that's what training is for, then 'race the training.'

Y'all have a good week.  Thanks.

ounce wrote:It was a very, very nice 62 degrees with a dew point of 50.  That's about 6 degrees warmer than forecasted, but colder by 20 degrees from the Summer.  Not so cool that I needed to wear sleeves, instead of sleeveless.   Over the weekend plus Friday, the injected right knee was transparent to the user for day to day activities.

One thing I noticed about shedding the long distance jacket for a 3-4 mile, 2-3x/week cap is that I don't have to be as conscious with endurance building for double-digit distances.  As a result, I run 'faster' or at least try to.

This morning, I went to Memorial Park for my inaugural cool weather run of 3 miles.  I bumped the cadence from 153 to 155 at the start and bumped it to 156 at the start of the 3rd mile.  That last bump put me up against my first day ability to keep that turnover going.  HR was 140-142 for that 3rd mile.  First mile was 127.

Nonetheless, I was off and going.  The right knee had a couple of settling in issues that abated before a quarter mile. I was kinda surprised I was holding that 155 cadence so well.  But I knew if I wanted to go faster, today, I'd have to bump the cadence to keep up with the legs, not the other way around.

3 miles, 39:58, 13:19 pace, 133 avg HR, 146 max HR, 156 avg cadence, 0.78 avg stride length
1.  13:26, 155 spm, 77 sl
2.  13:18, 156 spm, 78 sl
3.  13:12, 156 spm, 78 sl

Summertime stride length was 68-70.

Humidity levels will be rising over the day, today, but we're supposed to have lows this week in the 60s.  I'm new to this working on speed stuff.  However, a nice start at this new chapter.

I've been thinking about how to train for a 50-50 walk/run Half.  One option late in the training cycle would be to walk to Memorial Park (3.33 miles), run 2 loops (6 miles), then walk back for a total of 12.66 miles.  Maybe insert a walk or run over both land bridges (1.2 miles).  THAT'LL be a workout!

Also thinking about walking 3 miles, then go lift.  As far as a race tactic, I'm curious whether walking half, then running half would be tougher on the running piece.  I guess that's what training is for, then 'race the training.'

Y'all have a good week.  Thanks.

Nice job on the cadence, and I suspect by seeing the limited fall-off in pace that you are pretty much maxed out on aerobic-level running. Switching to a higher intensity, shorter approach might yield some surprising benefits. Hope so, anyway.

As far as race tactics go, have you ever read about Jeff Galloway's run-walk-run strategy? Some people deride it as "Gallowalking" - but it apparently works for a lot of people and seems better than running the first half and walking the second. It occurs to me that it resembles some aspects of ultra running, when you walk the hills and run the flats and downhills, and a lot of people have success with that.

I was thinking the same as thing as Mark...using a walk/run plan throughout the race.  I have a friend that has compromised lung function.  Norma sets her watch to run/walk preset times and is still completing half marathons.  She's dedicated to continue to run...she has the perfect excuse to give up.

As far as biking...find a route(s) that are closed to cars and/or safe.  I do not enjoy "normal" road biking.  It's scary.  I do love to ride on closed routes.  I rode around Crater Lake on the car free day.  I've ridden McKenzie Pass twice on car free days.  They are awesome rides that I would not even consider if I was sharing the road with cars.  Organized rides even on open courses are a good option as there are volunteers and signage to keep you safe.  For training I have access to a signed and advertised Scenic Oregon Bikeway.  It was chosen due to the scenery...and limited/slower traffic.  Cars are used to encountering bikes and I've never been uncomfortable biking the route.  I do have to either drive to a starting spot or ride my bike across the hwy to get there but it's doable.  Are there multi-use paths that you could access?  Would you consider off-road biking?  I'm not into "mountain biking" but there may be some trails that aren't so intimidating.  

Nice job on your speedy run on Monday.

I had Galloway's run/walk book probably in 2009.  Trying to train in order to run a 12 minute pace as the run part was not something I thought I could do for 6 hours.  I couldn't get the math to work.

I can figure something out, since it's half the distance with 4 hours to complete.  I want to reduce the splits on both walking and running.  I think being comfortable on the walking part will make the running part easier.  

Thanks, y'all.

-30-

Tuesday, I went lifting.  It was good to have been there.  Around lunch time, I got my covid booster.  The cards from the CDC that were used to record the vaccine lot, which pharmacy, and date are no longer being sent by the CDC.  It's being recorded digitally, he said.

-30-

Today, had a decent chance of rain, per the weather folks last night.  I was going to run at Memorial Park for 3 miles.  Yet, the rain showed up.  Not a hard rain, but one of those gentle, soaking rains.  So, I didn't run.

I'll run in the morning.  It's supposed to be in the low 60s again, tomorrow.  Very nice.

I'll be unable to lift on Friday.

I'd like to improve on Monday's 40 minute time.

Go Astros.

This morning, it was 63 degrees with some humidity and clear skies.  A 3 mile run at Memorial Park was the idea.  I started at a 157 cadence and bumped it to 158 for mile 3.  On Monday, I started at 155 and bumped it to 156 for mile 3.  I will continue to bump the cadence until probably mid-November, then work on running that cadence for 6-8 miles.  I hope mid-November will be the apogee.

3 miles, 39:16, 13:05 pace, 134 avg HR, 157 avg cadence, 0.78 m stride length
1.  13:09, 157 spm
2.  13:01, 157 spm
3.  13:01, 158 spm

42 seconds less slow than Monday.  It was a good effort.  In my last 1/2 mile, I was trying to stay close to a couple of girls, but that just didn't happen.  They were doing a run/walk or a not-too-tired/too-tired effort where I caught them during their walk, but couldn't stay with them when they weren't too tired to run.

We're supposed to have another spectacular weekend with highs in the mid-70s (like a late August morning) and lows Monday-Wednesday in the 50s.  Seasonal now is 84.  It's supposed to be 90 tomorrow, prior to the frontal passage.

I'll be off tomorrow, so Go Astros.  Thanks.

ounce wrote:This morning, it was 63 degrees with some humidity and clear skies.  A 3 mile run at Memorial Park was the idea.  I started at a 157 cadence and bumped it to 158 for mile 3.  On Monday, I started at 155 and bumped it to 156 for mile 3.  I will continue to bump the cadence until probably mid-November, then work on running that cadence for 6-8 miles.  I hope mid-November will be the apogee.

3 miles, 39:16, 13:05 pace, 134 avg HR, 157 avg cadence, 0.78 m stride length
1.  13:09, 157 spm
2.  13:01, 157 spm
3.  13:01, 158 spm

42 seconds less slow than Monday.  It was a good effort.  In my last 1/2 mile, I was trying to stay close to a couple of girls, but that just didn't happen.  They were doing a run/walk or a not-too-tired/too-tired effort where I caught them during their walk, but couldn't stay with them when they weren't too tired to run.

We're supposed to have another spectacular weekend with highs in the mid-70s (like a late August morning) and lows Monday-Wednesday in the 50s.  Seasonal now is 84.  It's supposed to be 90 tomorrow, prior to the frontal passage.

I'll be off tomorrow, so Go Astros.  Thanks.

Nice run.  Rabbits do help. 

But you do need to cheer a bit louder.  Go Astros.

A Canadian cold front came through Saturday, which gave us a high on Sunday of 68 degrees.  Today, the high was 72 with a dew point of 41.

Knowing that Tuesday morning was going to be cool again, I lifted today.  I did pretty well, probably because I had had 3 days rest.  When I was doing PT, I saw some people warming up on a seated, shoulder range of motion machine that 'pedaled' with your hand, arms and shoulders.  Had to be for those people that had some sort of shoulder injury.

Well, the gym has one of those machines.  So, I sat down and did 5 minutes 'pedaling' forward, then 5 minutes 'pedaling' backward.  The gym's machine is made by Stairmaster.  That worked out well and might just be a new routine to warm up the shoulders, traps, and arms.

Tomorrow morning, it's supposed to be around 48 degrees.  Coldest since mid-March.  But the cold will be gone tomorrow to welcome in 5 days of 83-88 degrees.

Because it'll be 48, I'll run 3 or 4 miles tomorrow.  Frisky weather.  Not sure about cadence yet, but no lower than 158.
Thursday will be around 64 degrees.  I am pondering a 6 mile trek broken up into half mile running, half mile walking.  Rinse Repeat for a total of 3 miles running, 3 miles walking.  I want to see what'll happen.

Mark's run/walk suggestion got me to thinking over the weekend how I could execute the distance broken up into different segments, but not constantly looking at my watch or listening for a countdown beep, especially when the Garmin has such a short battery life..  Then, I remembered the race course in January has mile markers AND metric markers.

So, I thought of using the metric markers for when I should walk or run.  That breaks up the segments into 0.6 mile lengths.

Might could work.

The Shadow knows.

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:This morning, it was 63 degrees with some humidity and clear skies.  A 3 mile run at Memorial Park was the idea.  I started at a 157 cadence and bumped it to 158 for mile 3.  On Monday, I started at 155 and bumped it to 156 for mile 3.  I will continue to bump the cadence until probably mid-November, then work on running that cadence for 6-8 miles.  I hope mid-November will be the apogee.

3 miles, 39:16, 13:05 pace, 134 avg HR, 157 avg cadence, 0.78 m stride length
1.  13:09, 157 spm
2.  13:01, 157 spm
3.  13:01, 158 spm

42 seconds less slow than Monday.  It was a good effort.  In my last 1/2 mile, I was trying to stay close to a couple of girls, but that just didn't happen.  They were doing a run/walk or a not-too-tired/too-tired effort where I caught them during their walk, but couldn't stay with them when they weren't too tired to run.

We're supposed to have another spectacular weekend with highs in the mid-70s (like a late August morning) and lows Monday-Wednesday in the 50s.  Seasonal now is 84.  It's supposed to be 90 tomorrow, prior to the frontal passage.

I'll be off tomorrow, so Go Astros.  Thanks.

Nice run.  Rabbits do help. 

But you do need to cheer a bit louder.  Go Astros.

Oddly enough, the Astros play better out of town, than in town.

Rabbits really help.  Thanks.

This morning, it was 53 degrees with a dew point of 43.  Really nice weather that's more akin to late November.  

I drove up to Memorial Park for a 4 mile run.  It took a while for the Garmin to find the satellite.  I was getting a bit chilled walking around, while the HR in the 80s was ready to go.

I was hoping for 1 sub-13 split.  I started off the first mile at 158.  After re-tying a shoe during that mile, I never stopped until the end of the run.  I'm doing more non-stop runs, these mornings where the temp is less than 70.  That's pretty nice.  It makes me wonder at what distance I'll need to stop.  AND I'm increasing cadence as the run moves along, too.  Mile 1 was 158, 2 & 3 were 159, and 4 was at 160.

4 miles, 53:29, 13:21 pace, 129 avg HR, 142 max HR, 59 avg cadence, 0.76 avg stride length
1.  13:31, 157 spm, 76 sl
2.  13:36, 159 spm, 75 sl
3.  13:11, 159 spm, 77 sl
4.  13:08, 160 spm, 77 sl

The last 2 splits were caused by either chasing down a rabbit (3rd mile) or not being caught (4th mile).  Both instances were during the last half of each mile.  I thought for sure that a 160 cadence would get me a sub-13 split.

I didn't feel as taxed on this run compared to last week's runs.  Possibly because my body is back in the saddle this week for running, whereas last week's runs were re-starting the engine.

One thing these runs do, since not training to run a Half, I haven't found my top end cadence from where I start bleeding time, yet.  That's purdy nice!

So Thursday I will do a 6 mile walk 'n run in half mile increments.  Should be quite the experiment.  I'm thinking to start at 162 and maybe peak at 165 with all 6 of the run pieces at a much faster (for me) pace.  It should be in the 62-64 degree range then.  

Tomorrow will be the Shoulders workout, preceded by a few minutes on the shoulder range of motion Stairmaster machine.

And I'm down 22 pounds, now.   Still looking for them.

Y'all have a good day.  Thanks for stumbling in.

ounce wrote:This morning, it was 53 degrees with a dew point of 43.  Really nice weather that's more akin to late November.  

I drove up to Memorial Park for a 4 mile run.  It took a while for the Garmin to find the satellite.  I was getting a bit chilled walking around, while the HR in the 80s was ready to go.

I was hoping for 1 sub-13 split.  I started off the first mile at 158.  After re-tying a shoe during that mile, I never stopped until the end of the run.  I'm doing more non-stop runs, these mornings where the temp is less than 70.  That's pretty nice.  It makes me wonder at what distance I'll need to stop.  AND I'm increasing cadence as the run moves along, too.  Mile 1 was 158, 2 & 3 were 159, and 4 was at 160.

4 miles, 53:29, 13:21 pace, 129 avg HR, 142 max HR, 59 avg cadence, 0.76 avg stride length
1.  13:31, 157 spm, 76 sl
2.  13:36, 159 spm, 75 sl
3.  13:11, 159 spm, 77 sl
4.  13:08, 160 spm, 77 sl

The last 2 splits were caused by either chasing down a rabbit (3rd mile) or not being caught (4th mile).  Both instances were during the last half of each mile.  I thought for sure that a 160 cadence would get me a sub-13 split.

I didn't feel as taxed on this run compared to last week's runs.  Possibly because my body is back in the saddle this week for running, whereas last week's runs were re-starting the engine.

One thing these runs do, since not training to run a Half, I haven't found my top end cadence from where I start bleeding time, yet.  That's purdy nice!

So Thursday I will do a 6 mile walk 'n run in half mile increments.  Should be quite the experiment.  I'm thinking to start at 162 and maybe peak at 165 with all 6 of the run pieces at a much faster (for me) pace.  It should be in the 62-64 degree range then.  

Tomorrow will be the Shoulders workout, preceded by a few minutes on the shoulder range of motion Stairmaster machine.

And I'm down 22 pounds, now.   Still looking for them.

Y'all have a good day.  Thanks for stumbling in.

I think you'll be sub-13 very soon now, with a cadence that'll put a smile on your face.  Keep at it!

yeah, I think I'll sub-13 tomorrow, since I'll be running in 1/2 mile increments.  Only how many of the six 1/2 mile splits will be the question to be answered.

I chose 1/2 mile increments because the running component will be long enough to get going faster, while the walk component will be short enough to recover, yet not get bored.  Plus, 1/2 mile increments are close to 1K increments on race day, if 1/2 mile increments prove to work.

I'll start with a 1/2 mile walk, so I can finish with a 1/2 mile run and all of the 'glory' that comes with it.  After all, who comes to the end of a race and intentionally walk across the finish line, when you could've ran...unless you're DFL.

-30-

Did the Shoulders workout after a 5 total minute warmup on the range of motion machine. The setting was at something a little tougher.  I haven't learned enough about the machine to find the easier...tougher knob.

Might be ready to advance a couple of pounds on a couple of them.

Tomorrow, the inaugural Half of the Half rulk.  Destined to be around 62 degrees.  DON'T MISS IT!

This morning, it was 66 degrees with a 63 dew point.  Cool enough to help the running, while not so cool to get a chill during the walking parts of the run.  This temperature part is going to be an issue to solve for the race.  I might actually enjoy a sunny day for the walking part because it WILL be colder for the Half.

The plan was to walk 3 miles and run 3 miles.  I started with a walk, so I could finish with a run.  I was hoping by hitting the Garmin lap button that it would return the lap splits, rather than the whole mile figures, which wouldn't do me any good.  So, I committed to memory the running splits, just in case.  I started at 161 cadence with the plan to advance 1 spm for each run segment and top out at 166.  The idea was for each run segment to be faster than the prior run segment.

6.05 miles, 1:33:22, 15:25 overall pace, no HR data unfortunately, 131 avg cadence, 0.80 avg stride length
Walk segments preceded the run segments
1.  9:13
2.  9:40
3.  8:35
4.  9:15
5.  10:06
6.  8:56

Run segments
1.  6:33, 160 spm, 81 sl
2.  6:03, 161 spm, 79 sl
3.  6:04, 162 spm, 79 sl
4.  6:31, 162 spm, 80 sl
5.  6:10, 164 spm, 76 sl
6.  6:13, 165 spm, 77 sl

The Garmin upload did, in fact, record the segment splits when I hit the lap button.

I wasn't surprised with the 6:33 first split.  So, I oomphed a little harder for the 2nd and tried to remember that effort for the 3rd split, which showed.  Evidently, I was getting a little tired for the 4th split.  

I can explain the 5th split.  About the halfway point, a girl passed me going a little faster.  So, I sped up.  I wasn't going to be able to catch her, but I slowed her ability to pull away faster.  And the 6th split was, well, the last 'lap' and I wanted to finish strong.

I spot checked the HR on the Polar during the run.  The HR at the end of the last walk segment was 110 and I saw a 154 during the last lap.  I accidently hit the wrong button that would've given me the average HR for the run.  Knowing the average for the 6 run segments would've been really nice to know.

Overall, I think the 6 mile run was a good thing and worthy of continuing to test, tweak, and decide if that's the combination (actually will use KM flags) to execute the Half in January.  It will take some effort to be able to double that distance over the upcoming weeks.  I have some family commitments that will horn in on a comfortable training period between now and the first week of January.  It seems inevitable that I will have a 3 day taper.

Presently, and subject to change, I would like to be able to walk/run 1K up to the closest kilometer flag to mile 11, then run the rest of the race to the finish line.  Looking at a conversion chart, mile 10 is 16.09 km & 11 is 17.7 km.  Might have to call an audible on race day for which mile marker to start running.

Thanks for your thoughts.