The life of a runner who has to take time off

    I have been having some hip problems lately. It started about two months ago on a simple 14 mile long run. About mile 10 I started feeling this niggling little ache in my right hip. I pushed on through as it didn't seem horrible and finished the run. The next day I ran and it hurt again and then my left hip got in on the fun.
   I decided to go see my awesome bone and joint doc and see what he said. He diagnosed me with bursitis of the hip. When I went to physical therapy I discovered my glute medius muscle (the one that is on the outside of your hip) was very weak. The first day my PT told me to do 2 sets of 20 side lying leg lifts and I could only do 10 and it was fatigued. You don't realize the places you are weak until you actually start isolating them. They had me do some exercises that were surprisingly hard for me like these things called Monster Walks in which I would have my feet in a circle tubing and then walk forward with legs going out and in. They also had me doing sideways squats where I again had the circle tubing around my feet and had to walk sideways with the resistance. Oh my god were they hard! It took me 2 weeks to get up the point where I could do one way down and one way back twice.
   They gave me small resistance bands to use to do clamshells and side lying leg lifts at home. We foam rolled and stretched out my calves and they did some deep tissue massage by scraping my hip over and over again with a hard plastic thing that resembled an ice scraper.
   I was getting better and then I ran a marathon. The marathon was fine with the hip...some pain but not bad enough to stop or anything just a little nagging thing I had to baby with a bit of pigeon stretches and things along the way. Then Monday night I got greedy. I went to run group and decided to HIT IT with a fast, hard run. Fast for me anyway....8:30 miles and such. And then I felt a wrenching pain my hip. Uh Oh!!
   I went back to my doc and he said he would give me an MRI and make sure it was not a stress fracture. I was sweating it out for 3 days waiting on the results because he said if it was a fracture my 50K at the end of September was OUT...completely. He got back to me and said no fracture but it was a little tendonitis so keep up with PT for another couple of weeks and no running.
   NO running????  Wow. What does a runner do when they are not running? I had been training pretty consistently now for over 2 years for marathons and ultras. Though I had given myself a "training break" for a month or so in the summer I was till hitting 25-30 mile weeks. Long runs on the weekends.
   Now? Nothing. Last weekend for the first time in a VERY long time I did NOT run a long run. The weekend seemed to go on forever. I cleaned my house, read the sunday paper, went out for coffee, did my laundry, watched Netflix and still seemed to have way too much time on my hands. I got all my prep work done for my classes and clients which was good and used up some more of the time. But I was jealous of my friends out running the trails and such and wanted so badly to lace up and go.
   But I am nothing if not obedient so I will wait it out. I am going to go aqua jogging tomorrow and maybe a couple of times next week, I rode my bike a lot yesterday and today got up and did my PT exercises and foam rolled. I believe Flatrock will go alright. I did just run a marathon and it is not my first Ultra plus maybe a couple more weeks of rest and cross training will be good for me. Work and strengthen other muscle groups. And when I start to run I will still have a good month left to train.


In the meantime.......I guess I will keep busy with work, books, art, alternative workouts and having some fun on the side.

Race fever: picking and choosing when I want to run them all

   I have finished crunch time at work, the weather is awesome and races are starting to crop up like leaves on the trees. It is prime racing season and I want to race them ALL! I find myself googling races, going over finances, calender, picking and choosing and it is hard to choose. If I had the money I would probably be going all over every weekend doing trail races.
   Something about being in the middle of a race is so exciting and then when I finish I am so high on life. It is a very addictive feeling and one I want to repeat...and repeat..and repeat. I have already signed up for one race and am probably going to sign up for one more in May. That will be three races in May already; one so far signed up for in June and considering another; a couple in July; a couple in August and another big one in September. Then more in October, November and December....and it goes on and on.
  It is hard to handle that compulsion to run ALL THE RACES EVER and keep those awesome feelings coming weekend after weekend...piling up bling, swag and the high of race endorphins like charms on a bracelet. However real life must at some point intervene. There are other things to do this summer although to tell the truth right now I can't think of any but I am sure there are some...other things......

    .............i am sure it will come to me after this google search....................where did i put my day planner???

Indiana Trail 50: Awesome race!

      The Indiana Trail 50 mile trail race was amazing! It was awesome weather. In fact I got a slight sunburn from the sunshine. The course was beautiful...tons of runnable parts without much elevation. There were a few fairly good hills but not too bad and the trail was well maintained. You could tell they take a lot of time to make it nice for people.
    I signed up for this in November last year and started training in December. Training through the polar vortex was tough. I hate running inside so even though there were cold temps, snow and ice I still ran outside. I ran a 25 mile run one time right after a big snowstorm. I think, though, that this toughened me up and actually helped in this race. When something would come up that I was battling a bit with I would pull on that inner reserve and get through it. My emotional state was happiness, excitement and a feeling of almost selfishness that this was Me Time. I had nothing to do that day but take care of myself. I could accept and enjoy the attention paid to me at the aid stations. I felt like a movie star when I pulled into each one (maybe an action star since they can be sweaty and dirty and still be hot---I am thinking Nic Cage in Con Air kind of thing).
   My friend was running the 100 mile race so I got to park on her campground for the night. The yahoos next campground over decided to make it a late night so I was kept up until after 11 and then slept kind of fitfully and got up at 4:30 to get ready for the race and walk the small path through the words to the start. I got there only about 10 minutes before the race was to start, dropped off my drop bags and took my place at the very BACK of the pack. I got a big hug from my friend Jen too. Oh yeah and I had lost a filling from one of my teeth that morning too. Luckily it didn't hurt was just annoying.
  So the gun went off and we took off. The darkish woods were so cool. I love night running and night trail running is especially cool. About 30 minutes after we started it got light enough to see without the headlamp so i stuffed that in my pack. The sun came up to reveal a truly beautiful trail with pretty wildflowers along it, gorgeous views of the lakes and pretty pine forests. I felt truly blessed to be there running that day with the sun on my face, my body feeling good, the positive endorphins flooding my body as I made my way up and down hills, around small prairie kind of areas and through the sweet pine forest sections which I love!
   I had not had much breakfast that morning so my first thing was to get some food in me. The first aid station I grabbed a couple small peanut butter/jelly sandwiches and a banana plus tucked some food into my little pockets for later if I needed it. I was so hungry that morning too that I kept eating stuff at each aid station. I tried to stay away from the sugary stuff so focused on the fruit, small sandwiches and only took some jelly beans in a baggie in case my sugar started to drop. However I had actually eaten too much I think so then my stomach was giving me some trouble. I stopped eating anything at the next two aid stations and just had water and gatorade to give my stomach some digestion time and had some coke to hopefully help with the bit of bloating feeling. That worked well and I started to feel better.
   The aid stations were wonderful. There was one that was the Aloha station over by the schoolhouse which we got to pass twice, once on the way there and once on the way back, that had people dressed in hawaiian clothes and playing music. Very fun!
   I got to the end of my first loop and ran into my friend Mory who is always a delight to see. She is always so smiley and encouraging every time I see her! I changed into my singlet as it was warming up, put on bug spray (although I forgot sunscreen--oops) and got some new gels. I also changed out of my water pack to a handheld to lighten my weight load.  I got a photo taken by Ben and off I went to the second loop. This loop I  felt like I was flying! I hit the aid stations a little faster, I had more energy, my body felt truly warmed up and I was feeling amazing. Probably helped that I had not as much gear on so my body felt tons lighter but also I think the sunny trail and excitement was intoxicating. When I stopped at the Rally Campground aide station I put on my water belt as I had run out of water for a bit and so I wanted both 9 ounce water bottles instead of just one. I was having some soreness in glutes, left hamstring and quads but knew that that would happen and part of the training runs is to know the difference between sore and broken (injured) so I just turned my mind off a bit and focused on other things and ignored the soreness. I finished that second loop, got to see Scott and Ben and off I went for the third loop.
   One of the neat things is that the race had this automatic tracking thing so that my friends could track my progress. Every time I passed a checkpoint and crossed the tracker it sent up notifications to my friends who were watching. That meant that every time I ran through a checkpoint in my head I heard people cheering me on which was also a high. It was like even though I spent a lot of time running alone through those woods I never felt alone. I was surrounded by support, encouragement and love and so was never alone at all. It was like I was on a big group run with the most loving, supportive group of people I have ever known.
     By 5pm I started to get hungry again and so the next aid station I stopped and had some more little sandwiches, a few orange slices and a cookie. I was feeling a bit nauseous and light headed so the aid station lady told me to have some sugar. I also had some little salted potatoes and pickles and took two salt tablets. I felt so elated now because as I passed the 37 mile mark I knew I could do it. I thought "Just one more half marathon! I got this!" At this point I changed again into a shirt as it was getting a little chilly. It was like I was a madonna concert..a different outfit for every loop.
   When I got to the schoohouse for the last time and saw I had a little over 2 miles I  almost couldn't wrap my mind around the fact I would soon be done running 50 miles! As I came into the area close to the finish line this nice guy came up and started running me into the finish.. He was great! He kept saying to everyone "This is Heather finishing up her first 50 miler!" I saw my friends Mark, Jean and Russ cheering me on. I got to the finish line and decided to RUN it! I took off and ran through at a good pace. Some people in front of me actually moved aside to let me run through. Then Mory was cheering and placed my medal around my neck, everyone came up to congratulate me and take photos. Once again I felt like a movie star on the red carpet.
    I picked a great race to be my first 50 miler. Ultrarunners are a funny bunch too. Everyone said "Is this your first 50 mile?" like there wasn't a question of more of them. I believe there will be too.

 I had a great time, felt good and enjoyed all the little moments in those pretty woods. I felt lucky to be able to do this. Life is an interesting thing: The things that are most difficult are always the most rewarding. Only by pushing ourselves farther can we make our lives authentic and worth living.

   

My story as I can tell it

     Tuesday night I won an award. It was called the Fitness Inspiration Award. I have never won something like that before. It was the most touching, memorable thing I have ever experienced. Now I am being asked to share more of my story. I have been told by my family and oldest friends to WRITE this down but it is hard. There are so many things to tell and so many things I am afraid to tell for fear of losing people's trust, fondness and care for me. But at some point you have to say "It's okay. It's the past and I don't live there anymore."
   My journey began a long time ago and it is not a pretty one. I became sick with my bipolar disorder quite young and it really brought down my whole life in one fell swoop. I lost pretty much everything I had in less than a year. I went through four years of hell after that and then came a reprieve from it. I started to be able to work again watching little ones in day care. I worked in that field for five wonderful years. Then I got sick again. I could not care for myself. My oldest friend invited me down to Bloomington and she said she would help me and she did. I lived with her for a year and she really did a lot for me. I don't know how to thank her really except to say I love her like a mother and a sister and am grateful to her beyond measure.
   I was not well for a long while. I was in and out of treatment trying to get better but it seemed kind of "end of the line time". I met someone, fell in love and we were together for five years. Although I was still sick and needing assistance I was pretty happy. Then one night my partner died. It happened suddenly and was very traumatic. I went out for Wendy's and her last words to me were "Hey get me a chili with cheese okay?" When I got back home she was dying. There was really nothing anyone could do. The EMT's could not revive her. That happened in November 2007. That winter was pretty horrible. I mostly sat at home and really didn't feel like doing much. I gained an enormous amount of weight. My feet hurt, my back hurt, my heart hurt. Everything was physically and mentally a struggle. I didn't know if I would make it back from this. Ever.
   Then in 2008 I was told I had Type 2 diabetes. That was the end of rock bottom for me. That week I started walking. I was slow. Unbelievably slow. It took me a good hour and a half to walk from downtown to my home a couple of miles away. But I kept at it. I was told by others I was walking too much. I ignored them. I got to where I could walk upwards of 10 miles in one day just doing errands and stuff around town. The weight gradually came off. Of course I had changed many things about my diet as well. I had also started taking classes at the YMCA like kickboxing, power pump, boot camp and other hard classes. They were very hard for me but that is what I wanted. Hard work. Putting in maximum effort for maximum results.
   I was walking very fast now. I liked to cruise around the YMCA gym walking very fast. One day I was speeding around the track (walking) when I overheard one lady say to another "God if she is going to walk that fast why not just run?". Oh. That was an option. Ok I started running. It felt good! It felt better than good! It felt natural. So I started running more. I would at first stick a bus ticket in my shoe so I would know if I got tired I could stop. But that was mostly a Dumbo Feather trick. I would get to one bus stop and say to myself "You could take a bus home now if you want to OR you can try to make it to the next one." And I would generally go to the next one...and then next one....and the next one.
   The final stage of my transformation was joining BARA (Bloomington Area Runner's Association). That has been a defining moment in my life. I learned everything I know about running in BARA. I had no idea about garmins or the right shoes to wear, proper running form, running workouts, speed training, hill training. It was really the best decision I made. And I started studying to be a personal trainer because I KNEW how much fitness could literally change a person's ENTIRE life. It was not just physical. It was emotional, mental, spiritual, occupational. Everything that makes life worth living is enhanced through health and physical activity. It is a better stress reliever than anything else. It boosts depression by flooding the body with endorphins. It takes the place of a myriad of unhealthy and self-destructive coping mechanisms and turns a bad day completely around.
   I know my readers will know the story from then until now but let's just say running has become an integral part of who I am. Reaching others through personal training and teaching has also become who I am. My illness is in remission. Those who know me now would not have known me then. That's a fine thing. I want to be in the present. Don't judge me by my past. I don't live there anymore.

I was going to be productive but then i went for a run

   



 I woke up too darn early this morning. I am usually an early bird and for the last few months have been getting in the habit of Saturday and Sunday runs. I had decided to NOT run and instead wake up slightly later and work on stuff at home. My body decided for me it was long run day even though I had planned a lot of other things other than a long run to do that day: organize the kitchen drawers, put away some clothes, do some cleaning, make some food for the week and other minor but important tasks to keep my home running smoothly.

     Then I decided to take a run. It turned out to be a long one and it was nice. I listened to a couple of episodes of Welcome to Night Vale, a really interesting podcast my friend introduced me to, and also part of an episode of Trail Runner Nation. I had a bit of a longer route picked out but then when I got back to country club said "Eh. That's far enough." and went home.

     Now here is the thing. I ran for about 2 1/2 hours. When I got home I was tired from (A) getting up way too early and (B) running so much that my naptime got out of hand. When I woke up it was 2:30pm. My day had slipped away and so had my motivation to do anything else. So now I sit writing and watching things on Netflix. My kitchen drawers remain unsorted, my clothes are still out waiting to be put away, my house is still needing a bit of cleaning done and I have no pre-made meals for the week.  
But it's okay right? At least I ran today.

LBL 60K: muddy, snowy fun!

    I went to run my first 60K (37ish miles) down in Grand Rivers, Kentucky on Saturday (3/8). It was a fun road trip down with new friends Jill and Beth. I was so excited to get to go to a new place I had not been to before and see a new trail. I had heard much about this race and the pretty course. They weren't kidding! The first thing I saw when we got there was the beautiful lake and all the pretty sailboats docked there. There were even a couple out on the lake. It was nice weather too.
  I went to get my packet with Jill and Beth and then we headed out to find the condo I was sharing with some new friends for the next two nights. I was wound up the night before. I have some definite traditions the night before a big event. I got to the condo and started right away unpacking all my gear, pinning my bib on, packing my drop bag and making shoe choices. It took me awhile but then I had nothing to worry about on race morning because it would all be done already. I got not as much sleep as I would have liked but still woke up nice and early at 4am, had my oatmeal with chia seeds, a bit of coffee, got my stuff together and caught a 5 am trolly the race had provided to take people to the community center where the race headquarters were.
  I am glad I got there early. By the time I had gotten all my gear organized, my hydration belt packed, made some last-minute nutrition/wardrobe decisions it was almost time to head to the start line. I got to see my friend Benny picking up his packet. That was nice! I also met some other bloomington people. It was actually kind of funny. I complimented this nice lady on her gators (very nice!) and when she asked where I was from she said "I am from Bloomington too!" Then her husband walked in and I had remembered him a little from other trail runs. That was fun!
  I left to go jog to the starting line and ran into my friend Toni who was running the race as well. It is always fun to see Toni. She is a very funny, positive person and it is nice to see her smiling face. As we ran to the starting line we passed a boat that said "Painkiller" on the side. Funny! Mark and Chris (who was running her very first race!) and Toni all hung out together at first. The line started to move and we started down the long road to the start of the trail. I had worn my old flannels and sweatpants at the beginning and about halfway down the bridge I peeled off to the side, stripped off the flannels and sweats, and started running in just my shorts, t-shirt and arm sleeves. Right away I was excited because I got to have that wonderful experience of being PERFECTLY dressed for the weather. That is a tricky thing to do especially when the seasons are changing and I generally overdress and feel hot and bogged down. This time I had picked the perfect race wear.
    

Here I am in my flannel pre-race. I was joking I was channeling my "inner Anton Krupicka" in my old flannel. (For those of you who haven't seen the movie Unbreakable, runner or not, you need to see it! A great movie featuring some of the best of the best ultrarunners. Anton wears flannel shirts at times during his runs.)  To the left was the first cameraman catching me BEFORE I got muddy.
  

One of the first things that struck me was the beautiful water of the lake. The sun came out and lit the waves up like diamonds and the sound of the waves lapping the shore was so soothing and peaceful it made me feel very relaxed and happy. The fact that I was running in warm sunshine for the first time in a long time really gave me a high. I think the sunshine carried me most of the way. I was waving to people, talking to everyone. I even called out to some guys fishing "Hey you guys catching anything?" They yelled back "only one so far!" and I wished them luck fishing.

    I could have stood here by this view for a long time but, oh yeah, I had a race to run...and miles to go before I sleep. So I put the camera away and kept moving. On the first lap it was all snow but the snow was so soft and gentle on my feet it was actually heavenly. It was tamped down enough it was not icy or slippery. It felt really good! And the sunshine was warming up everything so I was feeling fine in my shorts and t-shirt which felt like I had lost 10 pounds just not having to have a bunch of gear on me. It gave me wings!

Another dazzling view of the lake. WOW! What a great place to spend the day!!


There were some nice little prairie parts too. At one point I stopped to take a quick video because there were these parts where I swear I couldn't figure out what kind of animal was making this loud chirping sound. It sounded like something in between frogs, crickets and an alien spacecraft taking off.

I stopped at one point to take yet another photo and this other runner asked if I was alright. I said YES just taking photos! I made some new friends on the trail too. I met some guy who was also doing the 60K and we got to talking as we ran and it turned out he grew up around Overland Park, Kansas which was very near where I lived for a long time in my childhood. In fact his sister had attended another high school in the same school district that I went to school in! Small world out there folks. Tim and I kept leapfrogging each other for much of the race. I would pass him as we exchanged brief check-ins and then I would stop at an aid station or something and he and his friend would pull ahead...on and on like that. Another guy was running the marathon and we also were leapfrogging a bit. That was how it happened with a lot of the little spread out group I was in the midst of. It was friendly. No one was upset when we were passed and everyone was encouraging and pleasant while passing. Everyone was out there to have a good time and no one was a stranger. We were all friends! I have rarely met a snarky trail runner. We spend too much time out in lovely surroundings to have a  lot of stress.
  

 I came up on the aid station at mile 19 where my drop bag was and I saw my new friends Jill and Beth! They were yelling "Go Heather!" and took some pictures of me. It was so nice to see them! I stopped long enough to change shoes, have a packet of baby food (yes baby food--it's good and filled with vitamins), and go from t-shirt to my singlet as the sun was really warming things up. YAY SUN!! After changing and everything I said goodbye to Jill and Beth and headed back out for the end of the second loop.

     Everyone at the aid stations were fantastic. They immediately came to me asking "What can we get you? You need your bottles refilled? You are doing great!" A great aid station can be a huge pick-me-up on a long run. It can make a big difference when you are getting a little tired to run into a happy, well-stocked aid station and have some basic needs, both physical and emotional, taken care of. Here is a photo of me at the aid station in which we were given hot egg sandwiches which were like heaven to me because I was really getting hungry and needed some protein and carbs so that was the perfect little meal.

I was feeling good and kept going on as the snow gave way to slush which gave way to muck and mud. Hey if you don't want to get muddy and dirty you might as well pack up your trail shoes and head home!

 Some VERY muddy legs and some of the mashed up, muddy trail on the third loop.I was proud of my well-earned dirt!

At one point I was running along and heard this HUGE loud "brooooooommmm" sound to my left. It made me jump nearly out of my skin! I looked over and there was a big barge with a substantial payload going by. I yelled to this guy stationed up ahead "That scared me to death!" He laughed and said "I bet it did! They were just saluting you!"  I had to stop and take a picture because, HEY, how often do you get to see a big barge go by?

 I got my nice belt buckle and we went out for mexican food and margaritas that night. And, yes, that is me sitting on a horse in the middle of the mexican restaurant. Girls gone wild!

So that is it! My second ultra, my first 60K and I did it an hour quicker than I did my 50K! Not bad.

What I learned running fifty miles in three days

   In training for the Land Between the Lakes 60K trail race I had a big weekend of running. This was my peak weekend to prep for the race. I had to run 10 miles on Friday, 25 on Saturday and 15 on Sunday. On Friday I got in my 10 miles in early as I had two clients to see that day. I got up at 6am and went out, ran and then came back and got ready for work.
  That afternoon it started snowing....a lot. I stood there at the grocery store and looked out the window with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I would have to navigate 25 miles around town in the snow. I immediately thought of the fun route I had mapped out for that day and pitched it. bummer. I would have to run on the safest streets I could which meant a lot of back and forth on town streets with bike lanes and such so I planned out another route and the next morning got up and hit it. I did not wear my yaktrax as I had broken them last weekend on a piece of carpet ( I know it's weird--little spring got caught on the carpet and broke the rubber part in half.) 
    I got through that run and wow. I had stomach trouble. BAD! I thought back and knew the only new thing I had done was drink an unknown energy drink I had not had before. Perhaps that had made me sick. I stayed in bed for awhile, felt better and went up with my friend to a nighttime trail race we were volunteering at and my stomach was okay. I couldn't sleep Saturday night after I got home so at 5:30 am (just 2 hours later) I got up and went out and hit my last 15. Then I was sick again. I believe I had some bad ideas during this training block but I learned and that is what training runs are for.

Things I learned:

1. Energy drinks can be powerful so use them sparingly or not at all.
2. Definitely don't try a new kind of energy drink or food when doing a very long run.
3. Eat simply. I was better on oatmeal with chia, eggs and other plain foods for my running fuel.
4. When I run a long way it is better for me to relax my shoulders and arms and not hold them in a particular pose. My right deltoid started aching and so when I shook out and then ran with my arms in a more relaxed posture at my side the achiness went away immediately.
5. I have many emotions when I am running. I used to judge myself when I felt emotions I perceived as negative while I was running. "You must NOT like running because look how sad/angry/worried you are." But now...I ran at least 10 hours or so in those three days. I am  NOT going to spend 10+ hours  all being happy. That would be ridiculous to expect! I embrace the emotions whatever they are. They are feelings and feelings are okay even when I was feeling angry or touching on some sad thoughts I knew I STILL loved running and that is was just that that was keeping me aiming for the light.
6. I will come up with the most spectacular ideas while running. My dreams will be in prophetic Technicolor, I will invent things and solve the mysteries of the universe and it will all disappear the moment I get home. Sigh.
7. I feel the kinship with my running friends every time I run. Even though they are not with me they are still THERE. I think about the runs/races and things they are doing and look for them in every other runner I see.


Most important thing I learned: I can run 50 miles in three days and feel just fine!