Hot weather and twisted foot

It has been two weeks since I ran last. The weather here has been too darn hot. Even in the early mornings it hasn't been cool enough to get out for a run. I think a lot of it is that it is so hot during the day (107 was out high point) that I just get sapped of all energy, even after a night's sleep (which also hasn't been good) I just didn't feel like getting up and hitting the roads. To top it off and seal the deal, it hasn't really cooled down at night. Ok, enough heat excuses for now, besides I have another.

I have a pair of flip flops that I wear in the yard and office. They are moderately comfortable, but they have gotten really stretched out. Occasionally I have rolled my foot inside them. Nothing to do with the ankle, but actually rolling the foot. So I was climbing over our goose fence in our garden and was greeted by a flock of lettuce crazed geese. In trying to avoid them and their madness I rolled my foot. My small toe actually rolled under my foot. At first I thought I had broken something, it was really sore. But I didn't have a black and blueness and putting pressure on the bones didn't cause any pain. I think it was pretty much soft tissue damage. So heat and outside of my foot pain kept me preoccupied for the last two weeks. A couple of days a go I stubbed my little toe on my other foot so bad that it has turned black and blue. If anything is broken it is that toe. Gads.

So despite the foot issues I hit the roads today. It is so hard to get back into things after a layoff. You get used to being lazy. But it felt pretty good. My cardio fitness took a hit, but it will come back. The run went slow which was fine with me. There were a lot of people out running today. It looks like I wasn't the only one to be inspired by the recently cooler weather. A little over half way I rolled my ankle (not my foot this time) and it still hurts. I probably should have headed home right there, but it still would have been a long walk. So after a couple of minutes I felt it was ok to continue. The rest of my run went pretty gingerly and I was really careful of any jumps off curbs or uneven trails. Now ice is in order as well as some ibuprofen.

Hardest run of the year

Yowza, what a run. Those who know my running distances are saying, wow Marco did you run 15 miles? 20? even? Nope, I only put in just over 5. Well you must have run it at break-neck speed then? Nope to that as well, I ended up running slightly slower than I usually have been doing at about an 8:45 minute mile. So what's the deal? It was hot and humid and even though there were a lot of clouds around, they never seemed to give me too much relief from the sun. I really had to push myself to get through this one. I think I may have also been feeling a tad tired and not totally nurished. I had a dr appt for a cholesterol check in the morning, so I couldn't eat and then I had an excrutiatingly long wait in the office as well. My lunch of leftover pasta after I got back turned out to be no good as it was spoiled (Mom if you a reading, yes it was that pasta we had) so I didn't it and had something else that wasn't as carbolicious. I did drink a full bottle of water on the run and actually even considered refilling it at the park but I was close enough to home to get some electrolite replacement drinks when I got there.

I did wear my trail shoes (I am convinced that the model of New Blanaces I got was not the one that Chi Running recommended, but an older version of the 800) and enjoyed running through several unimproved roads and then some trails. I like them a lot, I just wish they weren't so tight. I can almost wear them with no laces as there is no tongue, almost like a slipper. I wore them on my walk to the dr's office (I can't wait to say "When I was a boy I had to walk 2 miles just to see my doctor...don't know who I will say that to...) and they made good walking shoes. Now if I could just find some shoes that were somewhat attractive, then I would be set.

I finished the book onthe Bunion Derby, the transcontinetal foot race CC Pyle's Amazing Footrace. Great book and amazing story. Sadly it was full of hucksterism, but I think even the runners sort of expected that. The winners did get paid at the end, but the promised prizes throughout the race never happened. CC Pyle even made the 55 remaining (200 started) runners run a 26 hr. marathon around an oval in Madison Sqr Garden after the race was done in hopes of raising money to pay the atheletes from the Bunion Derby. His big finishing run was expected to attract tens of thousands and bring him teh financial windfall he was looking for, instead only 300 people showed up.

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.