Running safely

Last night I was reading my January issue of Runner's World. There were several good articles in it, but the one I appreciated the most was called "Collision Course", and was all about running safely and avoiding getting hit by vehicles.

I was hit by a car 18 years while I was out for a quick run the evening before Thanksgiving and what was supposed to be my first 5 mile race. It wasn't dark when I started out, but by the time I was almost home, it was dusk, and visibility wasn't great. I was maybe 100 yards from our driveway, and I was running on the edge of the pavement, a foot or two to the left of the line, when a van with a mirror that jutted way out drove a little too close to the line. The end result was that we were too close to each other, and the mirror hit me in the shoulder. The van was speeding (60 or so in a 50 zone), but no bones were broken. I have a small scar where the skin was broken, but the major damage was the squished nerves that caused massive amounts of pain for several years. After pain pills, physical therapy, and an incredibly painful cortisol shot, we finally found some medication that interrupted the rogue pain signals (there was no reason for the pain, it was just messed up nerve signals).

Ever since, I've been paranoid about safety while running. Unfortunately, back then there wasn't very many options for high visibility. It took a couple years to find a windbreaker I thought was bright enough, and even then it wasn't as bright as the day-glo colors you can find today. And any reflective clothing (which I can't remember seeing) would have been quite expensive back then.

The article talked about reflective clothing, flashing lights (I do have a red flashing light I found a couple years after my accident), watching traffic patterns, and so on. When I was a college student, I remember driving home (after dark) on several occasions and seeing girls running by themselves, wearing dark clothing and headphones, and running in the street (not on the sidewalk)- talk about a death wish. If drivers can't see you when you're running, sooner or later you're going to get hit.

I thought that the article was a timely one that all runners and drivers should read. I really wish drivers were more aware and considerate, but since they're not, it's up to those of us who run or walk on the road to be properly prepared and aware of what's going on around us.

Today I used my pepper spray for the first time

LMS and I went for a run this morning and had a run in with a couple dogs. We were running past their house (on the road, nowhere near their house or driveway), and they were running around in their barely fenced yard (3 strands of wire, not barbed wire, with entire stretches without even wire). They decided we were too close, and came running after us, barking furiously. One went through a gap, the other easily slid under a strand of wire. I started yelling at them, pulled out my pepper spray, and sprayed one as it got closer. Ok, I didn't actually hit it, since the range on the pepper spray is less than I thought (good to know!), but I think the dog got a wiff, because it backed off a bit. At that point, their owner started calling them, and they retreated.

These particular people have 3 or 4 dogs, which are usually fenced in, away from the road. I have had them come after me a couple of times, so I know to watch the house carefully as I pass. In the past one of the owners was out in the yard with them, and was able to call them off before they got too close. This time, no one was in the yard, they were in the house, not paying attention.

I've gone off about unleashed dogs before, but I need to rant again. Just because you live in the country doesn't mean you should let your dog run free. My mom tells me that when we moved here 12 years ago the county was a free range county, and she thinks it still is. This means that technically you can let your dog run free, but he can't enter anyone else's property (like they're only going to stay in the road??). However, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

If you let your dog run free and he damages property or livestock, or bites someone, you'll still be held liable. Makes sense that you'd keep your dog appropriately leashed/fenced, right? It only takes a minute for someone to get bit, as could easily have happened today. I'm sure the owner thought the dogs would be ok, she'd just go drink a cup of coffee or something, but we could have easily been bit.

And I don't care what people say: 'my dog wouldn't hurt a flea', 'his bark is worse than his bite', etc. Well, I don't want to find out if his bark really is worse than his bite; I don't want to be chased by dogs barking ferociously; and I don't want my daughter hurt or traumatized because either she or her mom were bitten or chased by barking dogs. I still remember an Afghan (those are some big dogs!) jumping over it's completely inadequate fence and coming after us as we walked home from my older brother's school- I would have been 3 or 4 at the time. Maybe that's why I'm so paranoid now, but I don't want LMS to have the same issues I do.

If you can't be a responsible pet owner, you shouldn't have pets.

Running after a rainstorm

It was quite windy this morning, so I went for a run this afternoon, after the daily rainstorm came through earlier than usual. Since LMS was (supposed to be) napping, I left her under my dad's watchful eye and headed out.

I ran a mile and a half, then walked the mile and a half back. The whole thing took me 36 minutes, with the running portion taking 13 and a half minutes. I completed the first mile in 9 minutes, and the last half mile in 4 and a half minutes, despite the fact that the last half mile felt a lot slower. I guess that was just the faster pace tiring me out. It still felt good, despite being tiring, and it's encouraging to see my times finally getting faster and to know that I can keep a consistent pace.

I always did like running in the rain, but I don't get to do it here- there's usually lightning along with the rain. Running after a rain is the closest I can get right now, and it's pretty nice too- everything feels cleaner.

I remember why I like to run

I went for a run this morning and realized why I've persisted in running all these years, despite very painful recurring shinsplints, collapsed arches, and difficulty breathing due to my asthma acting up again. It felt good! It hasn't felt good in years, but it used to, and that's why I've kept going. Now that I have orthotics and have had my shins worked on, my feet and shins feel a lot better, and as long as I remember to use my inhalers in a timely fashion, I don't have problems breathing.

It felt so good to run down the road, pushing LMS in the stroller. Because everything's been working better lately I've been able to start speeding up my pace. Even though I was pushing LMS, I was still able to keep a 10 minute mile pace. That's not super fast, but it's a lot faster than I've been able to do for quite some time.

I brought my camera along today, and took this picture while we were on our way back. From where I was standing to the top of the last hill in the distance is just over a mile. The top of that last hill is where I run to when I do two miles. Most of the hills are fairly gentle, which makes for a good workout. The last one is a lot steeper and definitely more of a challenge.

There's a hill just before we get home, and at the top I stop and let LMS out so she can run the last hundred yards or so with me. She's so funny to watch- she kind of punches the air with her little fists. She likes to 'run races' like her mommy, and I'm trying to do everything I can to encourage that.

I thought this was pretty- an unused horse arena full of flowers with a windmill in the distance.

Cautiously optimistic...

about running.

I've been increasing my mileage and working on running longer distances without stopping, and I've been feeling good. I feel like my asthma is under control, so I can breathe (no more gasping for oxygen); I bought new running shoes to replace my old, worn-out pair; I'm icing my shins after I run and my orthotics really seem to make a difference. I can run without my shins killing me, and my shins aren't hurting after I run, either. Such an improvement!

I had ten minutes to run today (LMS was asleep, but mom had to leave in ten minutes) so I tried to run a mile in ten minutes. Not a challenge for lots of people, I know, but given my current fitness level and the pace I've been running (12 minute miles when pushing LMS in the stroller), it was a challenge for me. The unfortunate thing is that the half mile out from our house is hilly, which means that the half mile back is also hilly- almost a full mile of up and down, up and down. Not the best for trying to do some speedwork for the first time in who-knows-how-long, but it did add to the challenge.

The results? I'm seriously out of shape. The faster speed really took it out of me. While I managed to run the first half mile in 4 minutes, I did not have the juice left to keep my pace up for the second half mile. So, I need to do more speedwork to get my body used to faster speeds, and I need to work on my endurance. I used to (many years ago) be able to run for miles without problems. I wasn't fast, but I could keep going for quite awhile. I need to get my body used to running more miles and going faster. I want to get my pace at least down to 10 minutes per mile.

I've been trying to decide on a major race or two to work towards, but there's a lot of variables to consider. I'd like to run the half marathon that I did last year, but it's in the middle of August and I don't have the mileage base for it yet. This also means I don't have the mileage base for the marathon I did last year, which is run in September. I do want to run it again, but I want to be properly trained for it so I can get a really good time. In order to have the time to build up my mileage base, I need to be looking at a half marathon in October or November. Unfortunately, we don't know where we'll be living at that point, so it's hard to choose a race. I don't want to have to spend a lot of money traveling to and from the race, so it needs to be fairly close. I think I'll pick one in each of the areas that I think we might end up, and then wait and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll start running some 5Ks and maybe a 10K or two.

Progress with my shinsplints?

I finally was able to see a chiropractor about my shin splints, and we're going to hit them with a two-pronged approach. I'm going to get orthotics, which will help line up my body properly, thereby reducing stress and strain to various other parts of my body (including my shins). I'll go in and she'll work on my shins and legs to align everything and reduce scar tissue and gristle. My first appointment was last week and she was massaging my shins and commented on the graininess present (I have very bumpy shins). She said it's a sign of scar tissue and gristle forming, and she'll be working to break it up. She's using deep tissue work (very painful!) and ultrasound therapy (feels good) to accomplish that. So hopefully between all this I'll be able to increase my mileage without massive amounts of pain and finally be able to lose some weight.

Busy, busy

Today and Tuesday I rode my bike for half an hour. I think I've said it before, but I am amazed at what a huge difference the clips and bike shoes make. I can maintain a consistently faster spin, I can feel more muscles in my legs being used, and I work up quite a sweat from the extra effort, even though I don't actually feel like I'm using that much more energy.

My shins have been sore from the run on Saturday, so I didn't run or walk on Monday, though I did go for a four mile walk yesterday. The weather was really nice, so I took Little Miss Sunshine out with me. While I really like seasons, and winter, I am enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we've had off and on. It means I can get outside and exercise without freezing my tookus off. We do have days where it's really cold, but since we haven't had enough snow to do anything (like skiing or snowshoeing), this winter has been a bit of a bust.

I've been busy working on the cover for LMS's car seat, but haven't managed to finish it yet. Last night I managed to overload my bobbin, causing it to lose its shape and consequently not work properly in my sewing machine. I spent about 45 minutes trying to figure out what was going on before giving up and going to bed (at about 1 :30 am). This morning I looked at the problem again, and compared the bobbin to some others and figured out what had happened. Put a new one in, and voila! No more problems. Now if I could have just figured that out before I wasted all that time last night....

Happy New Year!

Little Miss Sunshine and I started the year out with a race. When I was in high school my family participated in a 'Resolution Run' every year on New Year's Eve. The race started at a quarter to midnight and afterwards we sat around in the gym and won door prizes and such. It was a lot of fun. We haven't found a race like that here unfortunately. However, I did find a race that starts at 10 am on New Year's Day. An added bonus: they have kids' races of various lengths (25 yds, 200 yds, 1 mile) beforehand. So LMS ran the 25 yard race and had a great time. She was very excited to be running a race and she thought the finisher's ribbon was pretty cool. This is a blurry picture; my mom's camera has some better ones, I need to get them from her.Notice how she's already working on her form: arms bent and swinging, knees high, big smile. My mom came along to watch her while I ran. Luckily there was a good playground right there at the finish line, so LMS was able to have fun while waiting.

I had the option of running a 5K or a 10K, and you could actually change your mind a mile into it, when the 10K-ers went one way and the 5K-ers went another. I knew from the beginning I was only going to do the 5K though, since I really don't have my mileage up higher than that.
While running, I realized several things:
1. I really need to do some hill work. The first half of this race was all uphill, and it was tough! (It was an out-and-back course, so that also meant that the second half was downhill, but still...)
2. I am not ready to run a half marathon in two weeks. I had planned on doing so, but realized I really do not have enough mileage to be properly prepared. I could do it anyway, but I want to be able to run the whole thing, not have to stop and gasp for breath/rest my tired legs every little bit/have problems with my shins.
3. While increasing my mileage, I also need to strengthen my calves and shins more. I didn't wear my compression sleeves during the race and only had a small twinge in one shin, but it was also only a three mile race.
4. Luckily I have options. There's a half marathon the first weekend of February I can do, but it's rather hilly, so we'll see how my hill workouts go before I make a decision on that one. There's several 5K/10K and 5M/10M races this month and next, so I'll be able to prepare for the half marathon that I will be doing the first weekend of March. I can definitely be ready for that one.