Back to my old shoes

Today I decided to go back to my old motion control shoes I wore before I went to the nuetral ones with the insert. I wore the Aisics Gel Kayano model for a number of years, shelling out the big bucks for them as I really liked them. The last couple of times I bought them I had discovered the online bargain that is last years models, so my cost hit wasn't too great. I harp on this as I feel like nobody should buy the same running shoe for full retail prices two times in a row, just search for your model and find the deals. So back to running with the old shoes. One thing I had forgotten about these that I didn't like was how poor the traction on the front of the shoe when they get wet. I might as well be ice skating. I can't believe I put up with that in Portland for so long. The other issue I had with them (and really all shoes in general) is that I experienced some pain in the ball of my feet. These seem to be especially bad. Of course it could have to do with getting rid of a corn on the ball of my one foot (gross!) I also remembered why I liked these so well. I run really smoothly with them and feel like I have a giddy-up in my step. I think I will run on them for a week or so and see how it goes.

One thing I was supprised about was the amount of miles I had left on them. I had really only run around 200 miles with them. I had put 600+ (probably too much) on a previous pair of them. Which brings me to a point I wanted to make, keeping a running journal. Not only can you track your progress when training, but you can also keep track of how many miles you put on your shoes so you have a better idea of when to replace them. There are a bunch of free ones available online. Actual paper journals are cool too, and can become much more of a keepsake, but the electronic journals can do all the math for you. There are some you can use online, or ones that you can download onto your computer. I use the Runners Log and track my routes, shoes, style of run, how I felt, weather, miles, time and now I am making notes on my spells (of which I have had none for over a month!) The other benefit it is it sort of fun in an OCD kind of way, I like putting my miles down and seeing the weekly totals. When I trained for the Portland Marathon logged over 1000 miles total in a year.

9 running, 5 walking and iceburg lettuce

Saturday I finished my week with a nine mile run and a five mile walk after. I was pooped and my feet are killing me. My run was pretty slow, I definitely didn't push it. I went for the walk with my running partner who broke her collar bone last week, no running for her for awhile. The walk after was actually pretty tough, I think next week I'll do it again with less of a run (maybe like 5 miles).

So aching feet. This is something I have been putting up with for the last two years ever since I ran the Portland Marathon. I originally (and probably correctly for a major portion) attributed it to the 26.3 and the training leading up to it. I talked to a podiatrist (when I got my inserts) and his thoughts were that it had to do with my motion control shoes. These have a more solid outer portion of shoe base which is to force your foot to drop a bit on the inner portion of your foot during foot strike. His theory (that he had seen before) was that this more firm surface was irritating a nerve in the foot and causing the pain and the numbness (sound familiar fellow mser?) Well without the benefit of an MRI, he made the best judgment he could and had me start wearing neutral shoes and inserts specially designed for my foot. The discomfort seemed to abate a little, but I think the ms was playing its part in the issue and no insert was going to deal with its symptoms.

So, what do I do now? In an effort to lessen the environmental impactful of my receiving of rebif by post, I have kep the ice packs that initially ship the medicine in (well some of them anyway). So I keep these frozen and use them to ice my injections as well as my feet (and various other areas.) I place a towel on the floor and one of the ice packs on top of that. I then alternate (with socks) placing my foot on the ice, first left then right. Initially I used two, but I could only stand to have my feet iced for so long. I found that one ice pack and alternating feet was the best way to go. This seems to help quite a bit and I am going to continue to do this.

Cooling techniques from the past. I heard an interview with an old baseball player talking about the heat and playing baseball in the 40s. Of course they did not have any air conditionin gback then, so they had to get creative. He said (I wish I remembered his name) they would put pieces of aluminum foil in their shoes to reflect the heat (not sure that this could actually work...) They would also have oak buckets of ice water in the dugout that they would stand around in and soak their feet. By far my favorite method was that they would take heads of cold iceburg lettuce, cut them in half and wear them in their caps. Now that is something I'll have to try!

And down the side of the canyon I went...

I had a great run today with one exception. As I was heading down the path on the North Canyon, I came upon a turn that was obscured by foliage. As I continued down the narrow path, the sun blinded my vision into a white blur. As I neared the turn, all of a sudden their was another runner coming right at me. It was a guy I have seen several times and said hello to. I quickly tried to side-step out of the way, but with the narrow path and eight miles of running blurring my senses, I found myself stepping into air and rolling down the canyon wall (sounds a lot scarier than it is!) My friend turned in terror and came down the canyon face to pull me up. I took his hand and made it back upright. I told him I was fine, we smiled and headed off in our seperate directions. I look forward to seeing him again on teh trail so I can push him off!

Today I listened to sports radio as I ran and they talked about the folks who have been booted out of the Olympics for doping. It got me thinking about rebif and how I usually feel more energized on my runs the day after I inject. Would it be considered doping? I guess I don't have anything to worry about, as my general slowness make sup for any benefit I would attain. But I wonder about an ms Olympic athlete?

Birthday Run

I managed to get up at 6:30 today on my birthday. I almost felt like a little kid again, getting up early to open my b-day presents, but no wit is get up early to go running while it is cool. And it was really cool this morning, 57 degrees. It was really nice. I was a bit worried that we would have smoke from the CA fires. It was overcast this morning, so it was hard to tell. I didn't have any problems breathing or anything. I guess it was supposed to stay up in the jet stream at like 8ooo ft. Supposedly we can look at Mt Hood today and it will appear yellow. So anyway, I celebrated my birthday with a 9+ mi run this morning. I was getting pretty pooped at the end, it appears that 8 miles is my comfortable limit. Anything further is pushing it. Being that I don't really want top do more miles until I shed some pounds, I'll stick to 8. It takes me about 1:15 to do it and I don't really have much more time to go running. Though there is always an earlier time on my alarm clock...

So good start to the week on miles, I'm close to 18 already. I think I will take off a day tomorrow to do the general re-coop. Plus this way I can sleep in a bit as long as our cat Edie doesn't wake me up yowling for cat food.

I'm starting to think about a new pair of shoes. I find the best way to get shoes is to buy last year's model on sale. Many deals online. I even bought a new pair of shoes from ebay once at half price. Turned out they still sit in the box as my podiatrist has me on neutral shoes as opposed to motion control. Actually he says I could alternate, and not use my orthotics with the motion control. I should try it. Otherwise they are just gathering dust. And like most running shoes, they are too ugly to wear around (even though worn-out running shoes is just about all I wear these days.)

OK, my buddy is bringing me a beer for my b-day, so I will end this.

Stop me

In the 1972 Olympic Trials "Go Pre" shirts were everywhere in honor of Steve Prefontaine, the celebrated runner from Oregon, the stands were full of them. When Prefontaine started to get ready for the race, several of his competitors removed their warm ups to reveal "Stop Pre" shirts sarcastically making fun of all the Pre fans in the stands. As followers of running lore know, Pre won the race and upon finishing someone handed him a "Stop Pre" shirt which in a classic moment of track and field history, he donned the shirt and took his victory lap. As much as I don't like Pre, IMHO this was an amazing moment, I wish I had seen it. The shirt and concept of "Stop Pre" has always been a statement of futile challenge to me. Yeah go ahead an try to stop Pre, good luck!

So today as I was running I was thinking of that and came up with the Idea of a "Stop ms" T-shirt in the familiar red octagon. Well that didn't really fit my concept of futile challenge, so I changed the idea to "Stop Me". I want to make t-shirts and sell them on this blog, but maybe I will just try to make a single running shirt for now. I just checked the domain name and most are already taken, I wonder if they are being used?

Last week I saw "Chariots of Fire" for the first time. It was pretty good, the music was really dated and didn't work for me. It was also very religious with the one runner being Jewish and the other refusing to compete on Sunday. It was a favorite movie of my college roommate who was also a runner and is pretty religious, I can see how it appealed to him. As for me, I liked the aspect of standing up for his convictions, but it didn't really work for me. I was hoping to feel inspired, but I really didn't. My next running movie I am going to re-watch is Run Lola Run, a very good French thriller. I have the soundtrack on my Ipod and I love running to it, great German rock/metal.

I also recently saw an interesting movie called District 13, another French flick. This was an action movie, but instead of car chases they did parkour. Parkour is style of free running where nothing stops the runner from continuing. All obstacles are overcome. Here is a great parkour scene from District 13. An example of its popularity in the mainstream, their was a great parkour scene in the James Bond flick Casino Royale. For those of you interested in trying it out, here is a tutorial on rolling. I have always wanted to do parkour on a more serious level. I even found a tumbling course where the instructor did parkour and would be willing to tailor it for me. I chickened out. I'll have to be satisfied with my log jumps in the canyon, though after watching that rolling tutorial, I am getting re-inspired.

So I finished up the week getting over 20 miles for the fifth week in a row. I am really noticing a change in my conditioning. Now my biggest challenge is going to be losing some pounds. I am at 187 right now, and if I could get to 175 I would feel a lot better about continuing the mileage. I know my knees wouldn't mind. I have been lucky to have few problems with my knees in general. I have noticed on the days when I do 8+ mile runs, I have been getting a bit sore. Nothing major, but enough to make me want to ice them and be careful with my stretching.

Today on my run (and several times recently) I have been focusing on breathing from the belly. As much as it might not look so great, it does allow you to bring more oxygen into the lower portions of your lungs. I have been lucky to have pretty good lung capacity (I won the underwater swimming contest in Long Island NY in 1972 when I vowed to stay under until I saw my rival Alex's ankles!) I find myself doing the belly breathing when I am getting most pooped. I have been trying to shift to it, when my breathing wants to switch from 2 in, 3 out to 2 in, 2 out. Using the deep belly breathing allows me to continue breathing 2-3. This then gives me another level I can step it up to if I need to.

Canyon detour

The school is building a bridge over the canyon I finish up my runs at. So for the past week (it was supposed to be open this week but they are running behind schedule). The bridge is really cool, very modern design. I am looking forward to the view from up there and getting back to my full canyon run. So the detour I have to take is all uphill and it is steep. It actually adds nearly a half mile to my run, so that has been good. I have been looking for ways to gradually increase my distance, so this has been good.

As I was running today I was thinking of something I had read about the need to relax the body when running in particular the hands, which in turn would relieve stress on the shoulders and back. This running coach was teaching this concept to his runners by giving them Pringles chips to run with. They were not to eat them! But instead would hold them in their palms when running without crushing them. Since I didn't have any Pringles I just visualized them in my hands. Works pretty well! For some reason my shoulders have been really sore these last couple of days, so I was hoping this relaxation would help. I is now the afternoon and my shoulders still hurt!

My ms symptoms seem to be coming back a little, I think it has to do with the heat. I had been relatively symptom free, but now I seem to be getting the spells every now and then. I just talked on the phone for about 30 mins and I felt them coming on quite regularly. Still, it is better than before for sure.

coming in for the finish

And here I come thinking the finish was the parking lot. You can see my friend in the distance, Oh yeah I smoked him! Until he passed me at the finish line that is...

I actually had trouble finishing in my next race too. There was a slot you had to go through at the very end where they marked your time and took your picture. I was neck and neck with another runner, at the very end I pealed off because we couldn't both fit through the slot. I should have elbowed her!

Talavai race pics

This is the desert outside of Winslow. You are looking west from Homolovi State Park. I think those ar ethe San Francisco Peaks outside of Flagstaff in the distance. If you look real heard you will see an orange blob trying to outpace his new found running friend.

Suvokuki day

Today is Suvoyuki day at Homolovi State Park for the Hopi and anyone joining in for the festivities in Northern Arizona. It is also the the two year anniversary of my first race which is called the Talavai (or morning run). "Suvoyuki" translated in the Hopi language means to accomplish work through at "joint effort." "Suvoyuki Day" is an open house day at Homolovi Ruins State Park that celebrates the partners who have helped to protect and save Homolovi area archaeological and cultural sites from destruction.

When I ran the Talavai two years ago, it was an amazing experience. I can't imagine a better way to run in my first race. Calling it a race is really a misnomer as it is non competitive and you just do it for the joy of running (or walking.) The Hopi runners all sang together as they headed up the first sandy mesa, soon they were pretty far ahead of me, but I could hear their singing over the quickly warming cool desert. My childhood friends the Natseway's were running in the race, well some of them anyway; Diane (my first date!), Danielle, Denise and Mrs. Natseway (walking) all participated. Soon I passed teh short return route and continued on by myself. I spied a runner off in the distance maybe a quarter mile ahead of me with two miles to go. As I cruised over what was now a dirt road, I came up on the banks of the muddy (this time of year no water flowed) banks of the Little Colorado River. Slowly I was gaining on my friend. I think he sensed me nearing him and he picked up his pace. He had gone out to fast with the holder Hopi men and was fading. I was maybe 100 yards behind him when we rounded a small hill and saw the interpretive center and end of the race in the distance. I was in pretty decent shape at that point as I was preparing for the Portland Marathon and I turned on the jets. I passed him with maybe 15 yards to go to the end. I felt a little bad about doing that as it was supposed to be non-competitive, but I figured since I was running my run I could do whatever I wanted or needed to. So I crossed over into the parking lot and was done, but I didn't realize that wasn't the end of the race. The real finish line was at the end of the parking lot, so in the spirit of the run my buddy passed me and finished ahead of me. I walked up to him, a boy of about 14 and said "good run" to which he looked at me and nodded. End of run.

They didn't do it the year I was there, but this year they are doing a sweet corn roast after the run in a traditional corn pit. I would love to see that and eat some corn.

I really wanted to be there this year, my Mom and John will have to walk for me. Hopefully next year I will make it back.

Hot days and better ways

Yesterday I ran my third long day in a row and I felt it. After the second day I felt a little out of it and I probably shouldn't have run yesterday. While I was running my third run I felt fine. I started out thinking I would only go for a short one, but I felt fine so I continued. After my run I needed to head downtown for a meeting and I was going to meet a buddy for coffee after that. Standing in the sun (even though it was about 20 degrees cooler than Wednesday) waiting for the bus was killing me. I was getting sort of woozy and pretty tired almost as if the spell symptoms were coming back stronger than ever. This is something people with ms face when exercising, it is called a psuedoattack and is directly related to the body overheating or just heating up.

This from www. making-strides.net "With a rise of just 1/4-1/2 degrees in core body temperature you may start to notice symptoms such as vision change, fatigue, weakness, spacticity, bladder and bowel problems or confusion. These numerological symptoms might seem like a relapse or exacerbation of ms, but they are actually 'psuedoattacks.' Psuedoattacks do not reflect worsening ms or cause more damage; they are temporary, tending to reverse quickly once the body becomes cooler."

I have noticed psuedoattacks when I get nervous or am faced with challenging situations, I wonder if that raises your core body temperature?

So what to do? Cool down is the best advice. Yesterday I didn't feel better until I sat in the shade of a huge elm tree with an iced mocha and waited for my buddy. Apparently their are ice vests and other cooling contraptions that help as well. In Portland their is a group called msSP (multiple sclerosis Society of Portland) that has a program where they give out air conditioners to people with ms. Mine is coming next week Whoo-hooo! I wish they would help with my electric bill too, but any help is great. I have never had AC in the home ever in my life, in AZ we always had swamp coolers that put moisture back into the air. I never liked it at work places, so we'll see how it goes.

Fartlek, excuse me

Today I went out for my usual run. I have been thinking a lot about heading to the track and doing some speedwork. Well I haven't managed to do that for a variety of reasons; no shade, crowded in the morning, my running routine, etc. I have been reading Bowerman and the Men of Oregon about Bill Bowerman coach of University of Oregon and Nike co-founder. Very interesting book and full of stories about his athletes and coaching style. He reminded me about the ease of doing fartleks for speedwork. Fartlek is Swedish for "speed play" and essentially amounts to start running faster and after a little bit, slow down to normal or slower pace, then repeat. One thing I like to do is pick a spot in the distance, be it a tree, sign or car and run fast to it. Part of my routine run takes me along a thin greenway that goes for a mile or so. Its broken up by streets that cross it and makes for a great fartlek route. Run for a block, slow down for a block. As with all speed work their are a lot of specific workouts you can do taking you up to 5K speed and then slowing down to certain percentages of marathon pace or walk. To simplify it all comes down to speed up and then slow down. I try to feel it out and pick up my pace to where I am moving fast (say 25% less than a sprint) and then trotting along at a slow pace to cool down. I like to get up to a 2-2 (steps in, 2 steps out) breathing pace, then back down to a 3-2 (my normal 3 in , 2 out). I forgot about what a great workout it makes. I did about 2 miles of fartlek and I was pooped. I definitely felt it.

Slept in yesterday, got up today

I managed to get out of bed this morning early enough to get a good run in. It was touch an goi for awhile. I woke earlier than my alarm and thought I had forgotten to set it, but I had a hard time bringing myself awake enough to look. I went back and forth thinking "Oh I slept it, too late to run" and "maybe I am early and the alarm hasn't gone off yet". Well the alarm finally ruined my internal argument and let me know that not only had I not slept in, but I can still get up and go running. It was tough to say yippee, but I did anyway.

I really focused on my footstrike today trying to land more on the heel rather than the ball of my foot. This focus led me to focusing on visualizing cushioning my joints. The I thought, what the heck, lets think a bit more about my breathing too. Pretty soon I was totally wrapped up in my run and trying to stay focused which actually worked well. My feet still hurt a little, I am thinking I might drop by my ortho guy and ask him if another set of cushioning inserts would work with my current orthopedic inserts. I am a bit worried about stacking them up, but I think it will be ok.

I made a mistake the other day in letting my flip flops get covered in sand. I ground it in to the FF strap and made it like sandpaper which wreaked havoc on the tops of my feet. I am now one big band aid.

Finishing off the week

I took a couple of days off around the fourth, but hit the asphalt again today putting in 9+ miles. It was a pretty casual long run and I didn't push it. I am wanting to start doping some speed work to get faster and almost considered going to the track before I met my running partner for the last of the run. But I decided I shouldn't mix the speed work with a long distance run, so there you have it.

I am looking forward to running at the track again, I haven't done in a year or so. The surface is great, but the whole thing gets to be somewhat boring when you are putting in the miles. I used to start on the outside lane and move in one lane every lap. Once I was at the innermost lane I would reverse my lane switches. Pretty exciting stuff!

Some rules of the track:
Always run in a counterclockwise direction.

Think of the track as your local highway: The fastest lane is to the left. Lane numbering starts at the innermost lane and goes up to 8 or 9 lanes. Lanes 1 and 2 are reserved for the fastest runners. Lanes 3 through 5 are generally for moderately fast runners, and the outermost lanes are for slow joggers, walkers or runners doing their warm-up or cool-down routines.

If a faster runner comes up behind you and wants to pass, they will say, “track.” This is your cue to move to the right.

When passing someone, always give plenty of warning time. Say, “track,” wait for them to move over, and continue in your lane.

Never stand on the track, especially in lanes 1 or 2. Always look both ways before crossing the track.

Always be aware of nearby runners. When you finish an interval, look over your shoulder and move to the right as you stop. If you move left you are more likely to get run over by another runner.

Don’t use headphones. Your iPod is for non-track days.

If the track is not busy, it’s usually acceptable to do warm-up drills in the outermost lanes. Often this means you will be running back and forth on one straightaway. This is the only time it’s OK to run in a clockwise direction. When in doubt, do your drills on the infield.

Don’t allow pets or children to run freely on the track.

I have seen many of these broken continuously. For instance I have never had anyone move over if I yell "track" seems like the casual track user doesn't know what this means. I just about always run with headphones, got to stay awake somehow. But I make up for this infraction by being aware of other runners on the track, especially the faster ones.

Injection bruise

I am taking rebif for my ms. So far so good, I am just into my second month of full doses. The injections kind of freaked me out at first, as I am sure they do most folks. However I found them to not me too bad. I usually ice the area I am going to inject into beforehand and that seems to make it much less bothersome. I use the very ice paks they shipped the rebif to me with, at least part of that packaging is getting reused.

So I have had very few site reactions with the injections. I use the auto injector to take my shots and I find it to be very easy to use. About two weeks ago I had my first site reaction. I got this hard lump that hurt a little. It lasted for about two hours, then went away. I asked my sister about it who is a nurse and she said it can be the result of many things. I could have not prepared my injection area as well as I should have, possibly picking something up from my hands. My angle of injection may have been off. She also said that needles sometimes get spurs in them that pull on the skin upon removal or injection. So all things to keep in mind (not much to do about the spurs I suppose.)

It is recommended that you rotate your injection area around so as to do as little damage to the areas I suppose. Their are eight spots, actually four pairs: back of the arms, above the buttocks on the back legs, stomach and front of the legs in pairs of left and right sides. I keep a little injection journal to keep track of where I am. So as a runner, my legs are somewhat muscular and have less fat to inject the rebif into (fortunately for me (or not!) even though I run I have enough fat in the other areas to where it is no problem.) But the fronts on my thighs seem to be a real problem. I now have really nasty bruises on both legs and enough pain in my left thigh that I earlier thought it was an abductor injury. So I think I am going to have to skip that area. My sister does not think this is a big deal, if one area gives you trouble, then skip it. I think I might call mslifelines and ask them about it, see if they have alternative areas for injection or if I don't need to worry about it.

No run today, the polution from last nights fireworks (as well as the lack of sleep) kept me in bed this morning. Tomorrow I'll finish off the week with another 30+ week, three in a row now (or then).

Running downhill

I have been finding myself running slower downhill as if I am holding back. I pulled my groin stopping quickly stopping for a woman and stroller while going downhill, they popped out from a park entrance. After some rest, I went back to running but with a somewhat ginger step. After awhile it went away but I would hold back on the downhill. So I have been trying to let go on the hill down passed East Moreland golf course, just let my momentum pull me along. In some ways it is really meditative just flying along, but I also need to keep my eyes open for branches and holes in the asphalt.

On my run this morning I hadn't decided on how far I would go, but I seriously was thinking a short run, maybe 4-5 miles. But I ended up going for my usual 8 mile route. I was finishing up in the canyon before I headed home. I come off the first foot bridge and around the overhanging theater and was confronted with a sign that said the trail was closed for the week. I thought "nice short notice Reed." So I looped around and ran into this guy walking along. As I passed him I told him not to head east as the path was closed for the week. He looked at me with both gratitude for mentioning it and surprise when he said "actually, the sign said next week, the 7th." Duh, he was right and I had added the loop to my already long 9 miler that was supposed to be 4. But no seizures until my cool down when I had a small one.