Sunday, February 27, 2022

Training log - Week ending 2/27/2022

This week was 47 miles of running, ~1000 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

This was the week I got my first round of platelet lysate injections in my lumbar area - judging from the location of the injections, it looks like my doctor injected at both the L4/L5 junction and the L5/S1 junction. 

The injections were remarkably easy and pain-free - definitely not as painful as PRP.  I think part was the location - back injections hurt less than ankle injections.  And part may be that the practice uses more lidocaine to numb the injection site than they used to.

Platelet lysate is supposed to kick in a bit slower than cortisone (but also last longer), and that has been consistent with my experience.  I did not have the AHA experience within the first 24 hours of injection that I did with the cortisone shot last month.  But it really does seem like things are better than they were last week already, and that's a good sign.

Dailies:

Monday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 in 1:44, 3:24, 5:02, 6:43, 4:57, 3:14, 93.  84 second recovery after the first 400; 2:46-3:15 recoveries after the 800s and 1200s, and 6:23 recovery after the 1600.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and then 10.5 miles easy (9:34), plus drills and strides.  Platelet lysate injections in afternoon.

Thursday: Off.

Friday: 9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Saturday: 8 miles easy (9:26), followed by streaming yoga and 4 miles very easy (9:36) plus drills and strides.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 12.5 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hill repeats (each repeat is about 2 minutes up a 3% incline, then 90 seconds jog; 40-45 second downhill stride, and 60 seconds to the bottom.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.

Monday, February 21, 2022

Training log - Week ending 2/20/2022

This week was 60 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

I met with my physiatrist this week to discuss the results of the cortisone shot near my L5 vertebra. Since that shot yielded substantial (if short term) improvement, we know that I have something inflaming and pressing on my nerves in that area, which is what is making my legs weak, wobbly, and clumsy.

We're going to try platelet lysate injections into that area. Platelet lysate is similar to PRP - they start by spinning your blood down to concentrate the platelets (just like PRP) and then go a step further in freezing the PRP, which shatters the platelets.  Which apparently makes them work slightly differently, in a way that makes them well suited for addressing nerve issues.

I get my first injection this coming Wednesday afternoon.   I'll take Thursday off and then start easing back into activity on Friday and over the weekend.  Most likely I'll get two injections total, spaced 4-6 weeks apart. 

Dailies:

Monday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a treadmill workout of 6x3:00 (9.0-9.3 mph) with 2:15 jog (6 mph), full recovery, and then 4x40 seconds (9.8-10.1) with 80 second jog (6 mph).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and then 11 miles very easy (9:31), plus drills and strides.   ART session in afternoon.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 12 miles including a treadmill workout of 6x5 minutes at tempo effort (8.4 mph) with 1 minute jog (6 mph).  Jogged for 8 minutes after, and then did 6x40 seconds at 10 mph with 80 second jog (6 mph).  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 11.5 miles easy (9:39), followed drills and strides, and then streaming yoga.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:49 pace, next 4 miles averaging 8:31 pace, next 5 miles averaging 7:46 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Training log - Week ending 2/13/2022

This week was 50 miles of running, 1500 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

Jumped into a race on Saturday as a rust-buster/experiment in staying on my feet while racing.  I finished on my feet, so that was win.

In other news, I purchased a MOBO board - it's a wobble board that a) has a hole where one's 4 little toes would go and b) forces your foot to move diagonally.  I discovered almost immediately that my left ankle (which I always thought of as my GOOD ankle) was very stiff and would NOT move in the directions encouraged by the MOBO board.  

With a lot of thought, I can get my left ankle to move that way, so the restriction is not physical but neurological.  So I've got my work cut out for me.

My L5 cortisone shot has undeniably worn off - on Friday I found it very difficult to run on sidewalks that had been easy a week before.  I see the physiatrist again this Thursday to discuss next steps.  My primary care also gave me a referral to two back surgeons - one is an orthopedist, and the other a neurosurgeon.  The idea is that I should see if either one of them sees something in my MRIs that looks like an easy and quick surgical fix.


Dailies:

Monday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 11 miles, including a track workout of 4x1200 and 2x400 in 5:10, 4:59, 4:54, 4:51 and then 91 and 91.  One lap jog after each rep in between 2:30 and 3:30.   Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and then 8 miles very easy (9:25), plus drills and strides.  Sports massage in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling in evening.

Friday: 4 miles very easy (9:45).  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 3.5 mile warm-up, 5K race in 21:14, and then 6 miles (9:18).  Followed with some leg rehab work and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:42 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:22 pace, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:28 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Race Report: By George 5K, February 12, 2022

I ran the "By George 5K" today, finishing in a time of 21:14 (gun time), which was good enough for the female win.  So that was nice.

This race was basically a rustbuster to the nth power.  It's been about 5 months since I last raced (5th Avenue Mile in September 2021), and the last few months have been a struggle with weakness, wobbliness, dizziness, and a lack of coordination in my legs that at one point had me running at 12:00 pace.  No, it's not MS.    And yes, I've heard all about runner's dystonia the last few days, and while what I am experiencing has a lot of similarities, it has two key distinctions - a) I get better the longer I run, and b) I am improving.  Slowly, but the trend is the right way.

It's hard to describe exactly what's wrong - at various times it feels like I'm wearing pants that are too tight, or that the ground is moving and bouncing beneath my feet, or that muscles are contracting when they shouldn't, or that one leg is about to collapse on me.  The most consistent thing is that my legs simply don't respond very fast to the instructions my brain sends.

The last part tends to make me very nervous about running on uneven pavement or near others or in poor visibility - basically I can't react if I need to catch myself or adjust pace when someone else veers, slows, or clips my heels.  And the muscle tension that results from that nervousness just makes my issues worse.

A diagnostic corticosteroid shot near my L5 vertebra just over two weeks ago yielded amazing but short lived results.  For a bit over a week, my legs were listening to me again, and I was fine running on sidewalks etc.  So that was great and indicated that the issue was likely inflammation in the nerves stemming out of L5 and below.

But the shot's effects were only temporary - yesterday doing a shake out run on sidewalks was a real challenge.  Great, just in time for my race.

But I sucked it up and showed up for the race anyway.  This race wasn't even about getting a fitness check.  I just needed to get out there, and experience a race again, including a mass start and running with others. Racing with others was scary for reasons that had nothing to do with fears of a slow time.  So I needed to do it.  Immersion therapy.  If I fell, I fell.

***

I showed up at Hains Point to be greeted with fantastic weather - low 50s, no wind.  Seriously awesome.  Threw on my Next%s and went for my warm-up.  Only to realize that the Next%s were NOT going to work for me today.  Just too unstable, too bouncy - I couldn't trust my own legs in them.

Fortunately, I had brought another pair of shoes with me - my Takumi Sen 8s - lower stack, less bouncy, and with a bit of flexibility that meant I could feel the ground better.  So I finished my warm-up sequence in the Next%s as best I could, and then swapped to the Takumi Sens. I did a few strides which felt much better and then lined up to listen to the National Anthem.

This was a small race (50 runners I think). I seeded myself about 3 rows back, when I normally would have been at the front.  I honestly wasn't sure how the start was going to go, and 3 rows back wouldn't harm my competitiveness in the race, but it would reduce the chances of me getting in someone's way if I had a bad wobble.  Then we started, and I was running a race again for the first time in what seemed like forever.

***

The first 400m or so was an exercise in staying relaxed and calm while running near others, and not letting my gait get too choppy or awkward.  It was a lot of mental work to stay relaxed and calm, but I pulled it off.  Then things opened up a bit, and I was able to start eyeballing the field ahead.  I saw two women ahead of me - one closer, and one further.   I could tell that an effort that felt quite controlled and tempo-ish was reeling in the closer woman and staying steady with the further one, so I held that. 

 After a few minutes, I passed that woman, and then turned my focus to the female leader.  I could tell that my effort was still quite easy - definitely not 5K effort, and yet I was slowly gaining ground on her.  So I started to work to build my pace. This was hard, not aerobically, but from a coordination perspective.  I had an upper limit - if I extended my stride past that point, I'd start wobbling.

I pretty much spent the rest of the race playing with that limit - how fast could I run without losing my coordination (around the half-way mark I passed the woman who was leading the race).  I'd work to open up and push a little more, and then I'd start wobbling and I'd have to back off and reset, before going back to work.  I found a mini-pack to work with of two guys, and that was helpful too - it forced me to keep my stride coordinated WHILE running with others - exactly the kind of situation I wanted to confront myself with.  

There were no mile markers here, so I had set my Garmin to autolap.  When it hit mile 3 I tried to kick while staying coordinated.  It was honestly really hard, and I mostly couldn't kick.  But I made it to the finish having managed to a) speed up a bit while b) not faceplanting and so that was win.  In addition to the actual win.

Splits were:

Mile 1: 6:50
Mile 2: 6:53 (180 turn around a cone that I struggled to navigate)
Mile 3: 6:37
last .14: 51 seconds (6:22 pace)

I had half-joked before that my goal for the race was to finish on my feet.  And that was only partially a joke.  Finishing this race felt like a real achievement.  I also wanted to race well, regardless of the time on the clock, and I feel I did that in that I raced calmly, methodically, and with a negative split.  

Of course, anytime you race a 5K at what was at one point your marathon pace, it's a bit...I don't even have words for it.  But, you have to accept where you are, and also note that where you are doesn't define where you will be.  Races are beginnings, not ends.  And this was a good step forward.

I'm glad I did this race.

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Training log - Week ending 2/06/2022

This week was 62 miles of running, ~1500 yards of swimming and 18 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.

[A belated entry, since I kept forgetting to submit this one.]  I felt pretty good at the beginning of the week, with improved coordination, and then things seemed to fade as the week went on.  By Sunday, I could tell I had lost some balance and bounce.

It's a bit sad - I was hoping to get 2-3 weeks from last week's cortisone shot, and instead I got about 10 days.  But the purpose of the shot was diagnostic, not a cure, so I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed.

At the gym, I started playing with plyometrics some, and realized that I have NO vertical leap at all.  I was trying jumping with both feet from the ground to a bench.  I realized quickly that my limit was a bench of about 2 inches high.  Which is not very high at all.  No wonder I have issues with curbs, uneven sidewalks, etc.  If I try bouncing with one foot, I struggle with even a single inch.

So...I have more plyos in my future.


Dailies:

Monday:  9 "miles" of pool-running and streaming yoga.   Foam rolling at night. 

Tuesday: 12 miles, including a track workout of 2x(1600, 800, 400) plus 2x200 in 6:57, 3:16, 94, 6:38, 3:07, 92, 46, and 46.  Recoveries of 5:3x after the 1600s, recoveries of 2:2x-2:5x after the 800s and 400s, full recovery for the 200s.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and then 11.5 miles very easy (9:20), plus drills and strides.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core.  ART session in afternoon.

Friday: 11 miles including a track workout of 2x3200 in 13:48 (6:55/6:53( and 13:44 (6:54/6:50) with 5:20 jog between the two.  Jogged for 7 minutes after, and then did 4x200 relaxed, each in 49 seconds.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.  Foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: 8 miles easy on treadmill (9:43), followed by streaming yoga and 4 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:30).  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 15 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:31 pace, next 5 miles averaging 8:10 pace, next 5 miles averaging 7:24 pace.  Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.