The last two weeks have been a curious mix of recovery, training, pain and education.
Following my severe calf and ankle pain from my 16-mile run, I stopped by Jack Rabbit Sports to talk with the sales people who are also experience endurance athletes. They showed me a new way to lace my sneakers as well as two separate exercises to help relieve my calf pain. I took their advice and it seems to have worked.
I had a few short runs around Prospect Park and things seemed to be healing as I headed to New Hampshire for another family vacation.
Over the course of the week, I increased my short run mileage to 8 miles of significant hills which I did on three separate occasions during the week. My intention was to intersperse the running with biking on off days. During one outing, I did a 28.75 mile loop through parts of Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro.
Then, on Saturday, August 23, after traveling more than 1500 miles on my bike over the last 28 months, I finally had a serious accident. After riding 10 miles of a 20-mile trip from Tuftonboro, I smacked into a new Volvo station wagon in the middle of downtown Wolfeboro, just a few feet from where I was planning to take a break. The impact left me sprawled on the asphalt at 8:55am as weekend traffic was backed up in and out of town.
After police, EMT and the Fire Department showed up, I was taken to the hospital. My left knee was bleeding and I had a nasty abrasion on my left forearm. An x-ray of my knee found nothing broken so I was discharged with a bandage and instructions to take lots and lots of Ibuprofen.
The damage to my bike was not severe, but the wheel will need to be replaced. I made a few calls yesterday and at this point, it looks as though I’ll need a whole new wheel which could cost between $100-200. Unfortunately, I can’t do a whole lot of shopping around since the NYC Century is coming up on September 7.
I just hope my knee is back to 100% by then. I ran a loop in Prospect Park yesterday and felt a little stiffness but it seems to be improving every day.
It’s interesting to note that I now have damaged to my right calf and ankle from the 16-mile run and my left knee as a result of this biking accident. It’ll be interesting to see what additional damage I’ll need to sustain before November 2.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
A Record-Breaking and Painful Few Days
Last Thursday, I broke my all time speed record for cycling in Prospect Park for my 20-mile route: 19.8 mph. What makes this even more astonishing is that it was just about a year ago I was proud to be able to do the same route at about 18.3mph.
At one point, I joined a group of three other riders and drafted behind the lead man. We formed a 2-2 formation and were blowing through the road. I managed to keep up with them for quite a while until they veered off. I immediately felt the power of drafting and am more confident than ever that I can participate in a high-speed road race down the line.
My enthusiasm was short lived. On Saturday, I decided to run 16-miles into Manhattan to take advantage of the Summer Streets program. The route I mapped out took me from my house, over the Brooklyn Bridge, up Lafayette Street to 4th Ave. and then on to Park Ave. According to my measure, 55th street was the eight-mile halfway point.
As soon as I started, I began to feel a strain in my right calf. However, I have found that once I get running the strain goes away. So, I really did not pay much attention to it.
Until somewhere around mile nine (roughly 34th street on the way back). The pain in my calf was becoming excruciating and a new pain was forming along the top of my foot, right along the dorsalis pedis artery and the trans crural ligament which crosses over the foot.
I tried dealing with the calf muscle by stretching. This worked temporarily and I seriously considered abandoning the run (something I had never done up until this point). By the time I got to Soho, I could not run and was walking, trying to think of a solution. I walked and tried running a bit but as soon as I started to lean forward, the artery pain on the top of my foot kicked in.
I sat down and did some stretching at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side. Sitting still seemed to work. I fought my way through the pain and ran across the Bridge to Brooklyn.
I needed to use a bathroom so I stopped in a Starbucks on Smith Street. I finished and started running again, only to be crushed by more pain on the top of my foot. I walked some more, finally stopping on Union Street and 2nd Ave.
For the first time in my running career, I simply sat down on the pavement. I was beaten and did not know what to do. The stretching was ineffective, the pain was mounting and I was afraid of doing some kind of permanent damage to my foot. There was nothing visible on the surface of the foot so I knew that it had to be a strain of some sort.
After sitting for a few minutes trying to work things out in my head, I lifted myself up and fought through the pain again. This time, I knew that if I stopped, I would never get going. So I just ran home.
Two major mistakes then followed:
1) I did not ice my leg
2) I did not have a high-protein recovery meal
The whole 16-mile run lasted 3:09:38. I ended up burning more than 2,200 calories. And while the outbound run took about 1 hour and 18 minutes, the return trip took 1 hour and 51 minutes.
Not a pleasant experience.
I began to feel better quite soon afterwards but the rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what happened and how to prevent it in the future. More to come on that.
At one point, I joined a group of three other riders and drafted behind the lead man. We formed a 2-2 formation and were blowing through the road. I managed to keep up with them for quite a while until they veered off. I immediately felt the power of drafting and am more confident than ever that I can participate in a high-speed road race down the line.
My enthusiasm was short lived. On Saturday, I decided to run 16-miles into Manhattan to take advantage of the Summer Streets program. The route I mapped out took me from my house, over the Brooklyn Bridge, up Lafayette Street to 4th Ave. and then on to Park Ave. According to my measure, 55th street was the eight-mile halfway point.
As soon as I started, I began to feel a strain in my right calf. However, I have found that once I get running the strain goes away. So, I really did not pay much attention to it.
Until somewhere around mile nine (roughly 34th street on the way back). The pain in my calf was becoming excruciating and a new pain was forming along the top of my foot, right along the dorsalis pedis artery and the trans crural ligament which crosses over the foot.
I tried dealing with the calf muscle by stretching. This worked temporarily and I seriously considered abandoning the run (something I had never done up until this point). By the time I got to Soho, I could not run and was walking, trying to think of a solution. I walked and tried running a bit but as soon as I started to lean forward, the artery pain on the top of my foot kicked in.
I sat down and did some stretching at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side. Sitting still seemed to work. I fought my way through the pain and ran across the Bridge to Brooklyn.
I needed to use a bathroom so I stopped in a Starbucks on Smith Street. I finished and started running again, only to be crushed by more pain on the top of my foot. I walked some more, finally stopping on Union Street and 2nd Ave.
For the first time in my running career, I simply sat down on the pavement. I was beaten and did not know what to do. The stretching was ineffective, the pain was mounting and I was afraid of doing some kind of permanent damage to my foot. There was nothing visible on the surface of the foot so I knew that it had to be a strain of some sort.
After sitting for a few minutes trying to work things out in my head, I lifted myself up and fought through the pain again. This time, I knew that if I stopped, I would never get going. So I just ran home.
Two major mistakes then followed:
1) I did not ice my leg
2) I did not have a high-protein recovery meal
The whole 16-mile run lasted 3:09:38. I ended up burning more than 2,200 calories. And while the outbound run took about 1 hour and 18 minutes, the return trip took 1 hour and 51 minutes.
Not a pleasant experience.
I began to feel better quite soon afterwards but the rest of the day was spent trying to figure out what happened and how to prevent it in the future. More to come on that.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Regular Schedule
I did another 20-mile bike ride on Friday morning (8/1) at a nice clip (19.3 mph). That was followed by a 14-mile run on Saturday morning (2 hrs, 19 min)
On Monday, I did some weights and 5.25 miles on the treadmill. It was wet and humid this morning, so I just did one loop around the park and home (3.8 miles). I'll probably target 16 miles this weekend.
I seem to be getting into a regular weekly schedule, which is nice. I like being able to choose bike or run on any given day.
On Monday, I did some weights and 5.25 miles on the treadmill. It was wet and humid this morning, so I just did one loop around the park and home (3.8 miles). I'll probably target 16 miles this weekend.
I seem to be getting into a regular weekly schedule, which is nice. I like being able to choose bike or run on any given day.
Friday, August 1, 2008
The End of An Era
Had my last session with Hassan Bailey, my trainer at New York Sports Club, on Wednesday. A bittersweet moment. He definitely changed my life and turned me into something of an athlete.
I started training with him in February of 2005, I had a few simple goals:
1) Learn how to use the machines in the gym better
2) Become more flexible
3) Get rid of some extra fat around my gut
4) Feel like I could beat the hell out of somebody on the Subway (The Batman Effect)
Essentially, I achieved three out of four in the years since we began working together. Strangely enough, I am still not all that flexible.
But, more importantly, I feel a lot more confident about my abilities as an athlete. I've learn that the only limits I have are those that I set. It's cliche to say it but it's true. I would never have the confidence to attempt running in the NYC Marathon if it were not for Hassan. It took some time but the results speak for themselves: I ride faster, run farther, lift more, look better and have more energy than ever before. I've dropped more than 10lbs and have hardly modified my diet.
Plus, I feel a lot more comfortable in a gym setting.
The shame of it all is that it took until I was 40 years old for any of this to happen.
For this week, I did four miles on the treadmill on Monday and again on Wednesday. Capped the week with a 20-mile bike trip this morning (19.4 mph). I'll probably do 12-14 miles tomorrow morning.
I started training with him in February of 2005, I had a few simple goals:
1) Learn how to use the machines in the gym better
2) Become more flexible
3) Get rid of some extra fat around my gut
4) Feel like I could beat the hell out of somebody on the Subway (The Batman Effect)
Essentially, I achieved three out of four in the years since we began working together. Strangely enough, I am still not all that flexible.
But, more importantly, I feel a lot more confident about my abilities as an athlete. I've learn that the only limits I have are those that I set. It's cliche to say it but it's true. I would never have the confidence to attempt running in the NYC Marathon if it were not for Hassan. It took some time but the results speak for themselves: I ride faster, run farther, lift more, look better and have more energy than ever before. I've dropped more than 10lbs and have hardly modified my diet.
Plus, I feel a lot more comfortable in a gym setting.
The shame of it all is that it took until I was 40 years old for any of this to happen.
For this week, I did four miles on the treadmill on Monday and again on Wednesday. Capped the week with a 20-mile bike trip this morning (19.4 mph). I'll probably do 12-14 miles tomorrow morning.
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