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Know When to Fold 'Em
Sarah | March 21, 2012 6:29 pm
>> Where was this hat when I needed it?!?While the rest of the county was talking about how hot it was last week and dealing with dehydration during workouts, we had no shortage of water in Seattle. It rain/snowed for 6 days straight. The wind never rested. But we have a standing meeting with Roosevelt Track that "couldn't" be canceled on Wednesday at 9am. The usual suspects (Sally, me, Mason) met at the Oiselle office and after fighting the urge to go have breakfast instead, we headed out into the vertical sleet. The wind was bitter.
I forgot gloves and had two violet armwarmers wrapped around my hands, no hat, and one quickly soaked long sleeve top. I obviously thought I was going to be enjoying the rest of the country's heat wave. The two and half mile warmup felt as hard as the first 1200 should have. The first 1200 felt like a dead sprint, I was sucking cold air like I was using a straw with a hole in it. The wind was a brick wall waiting on the back stretch.
First 1200 right on pace, but I was falling apart. Mason and Sally were behind me working their pace (I'm training for the half, them the full so the paces are different). I think this was the only interval we tried to chit-chat after. The second 1200 I was off pace and trying way too hard. The third was even worse. It felt like the temperature was dropping every lap, and the sleet was cutting to the core. There were five 1200s on the schedule but after three we all knew it was over. I tried to get the pace down on the forth, but nope. Slower than ever, and harder than ever.
We saw Oiselle team member Susan Empy arrive to the windtunnel, I mean, track just as we limped away. It was a demoralizing workout for all of us. The cool down was when I really started to freeze, Mason and I both didn't have good gloves. My fingers hurt so much. I just tried to keep talking and get my mind off them until, finally, I couldn't feel them anymore.
That night I set my alarm for 4:30am to get 10 miles in before my first Crossfit. "HA! HA! HA!" said my body. And rightfully so. I woke up at midnight with a 102 fever. Mason got a respiratory infection. Susan came down with bronchitis. Sally stayed strong, and fought off sickness with extra sleep.
As runners, it's really hard to throw the towel in on a workout. Rest is a four letter word. But the rest is just as important as the work. Being smart and flexible with your training schedule will pay off in the end. As many runners know, it can come down to "take one day off by choice, or be forced to take ___days off". We were smart not to do that last 1200 and I would have been smart to move the workout another day.
Tell me about your training: How do you know when it's the time to throw the towel in on a workout?
KippingItReal | Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - 19:56
10 mile run before your first
10 mile run before your first CrossFit class? That's insaneeee haha. Gotta give you credit for that. And I totally hear ya on having to just stop. My asthma comes back once in a while, so when I know things are getting bad during a WOD, I just end the workout. No sense in starting an asthma attack lol.
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Diary of a Wimpy Winter Runner
Sarah | November 22, 2011 7:56 pm
I have two runners inside of me. That sounds creepy. But let me explain, there is Summer Sarah and Winter Sarah. One is a lot more fun and inspiring than the other...
Summer Sarah
Beeep! 5:03am my alarm goes off. I’m out of bed! I pull the running clothes on that I’ve left outside the bathroom, slurp down and PowerBar Gel and some water I’m and on the road by 5:15.am. I finish up 8 miles before 6:30am, make a smoothie and head to work.Winter Sarah
Beeeep! 5:03am the alarm goes off. I turn it off and roll over. I sleep until 6:00am when my fiancé gets up. I hear the shower turn on. I lay there. I think about how warm I am. How I don’t really need to run today. Or maybe I’ll do it after work. I bargain with myself. If I sleep until 7am I’ll run 8 miles after work. Then I realize that won’t happen. Then I bribe myself with things, warm shower, Starbucks… then I check the weather on my phone about 3 times. Then around 6:22am I drag myself out of bed.I shiver through the first mile, then without fail I warm up, wake up and start loving the run. I wonder why I was such a wimpy baby. I tell myself to remember this for tomorrow. That’ll get me out of bed for sure…
Next day, Beeeep! 5:03am the alarm goes off….same story….6:22am I’m out the door.
Winter running is not my gig. I love it about a mile in, but it’s hard to kick my butt out the door. Really hard. And I’ll say it, sometimes it doesn’t happen. But 99.9% I get it done, with the same stutter start because I know I’ll be happy I did and I know there is hot coffee waiting at the end.
Do you have trouble keeping your training up in the winter? What do you do to keep the love alive in the winter?
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Vacation +/- Running = ?
Sarah | July 12, 2011 12:10 pm
Running is a sport with constant challenges. From the outside people may see ... one foot in front of the other. Not hard, right? But as a runner you know it's doing the right runs at the right pace. Then you find out you have to think about foot strike, nutrition, sleep. You spend the time finding the right energy gel for a long run or marathon, perhaps with some gut bomb fails. You have the right shoes, or no shoes, or shoes with orthotics. You avoid injury with cross training, stretching, rolling, icing, good luck charms and chanting. You find the time to run even with work, chores, errands, kids.
But then comes one really interesting obstacle that separates the running camps: vacation. In the daily grind it seems perfectly natural to find the time to get your workout done. But when faced with vacation whether it involves camping, beach front condos, umbrella adorned drinks, road trips, early flights or (gasp) a group of non-runners it can be a struggle deciding whether running fits.
I choose to see the vacation running as a reward. It gives me a chance to explore. If I'm with a big group, it gives me an excuse to go clear my head. If I accidently enjoyed too much sangria, I get a "reset" sweat session. If I'm training for a specific event it can be tough to get the quality of work in, so I usually pack in the long run or crucial workout before we depart (even if it's 5am on a Saturday, oy). But otherwise I enjoy the adventure. I stress how much I love the run when I get those sideways glances from the non-runners. After a few vacations, they eventually lose interest in your weird runner ways as long as you come back and spend quality time with them
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My latest trip was camping in Maryhill Washington for the 4th of July. I got the long run (11.5) in before we left, and ran a hilly 5 there. How could I resist running to Stonehenge?
What about you? Do you see the vacation run as a reward? Or do you opt out for a break? Does it depend on where you are in the training?...Do tell! Oh, and send pictures - I love seeing other awesome destination runs. (info@oiselle.com)
More pictures at Oiselle's Flickr page.
Carole Harvie | Sunday, December 4, 2011 - 13:49
running abroad....
I am with you. A change of scenery is always a boost to motivation.
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Larisa's Injury Prevention: Stretch the Hammies
Sarah | June 9, 2011 7:38 am
We've been lucky enough to have a company and help of one Larisa Manuel at Oiselle for the past few months. Tomorrow she is on her way to her spiritual city, Portland and we'll miss her stories, laugh and blistering pace on the Friday afternoon run. Larisa is one fast lady, running for the Run Portland team. Check out her career bests and biography at Larisa's Run Portland page.
I asked everyone a few weeks ago what their injury prevention go-to was. Mine is stregthening my hip abductors. Larisa's is keeping her hamstrings stretched. Stretching can be tedious for runners, but we all know how helpful it is. Larisa battled out injury this winter with the help of her physical therapist. Below is the proper form of the hamstring stretch he taught her.
With a flat back engage core and reach forward from hips, go as far as you can and hold for 30 seconds, release and repeat.
On a side note, how cute are the distance shorts on L? Good luck in your next adventures Larisa!
Sally Bergesen | Friday, June 10, 2011 - 21:53
I miss LL already!
Humor, friendship, talent, and just an all around cool person. Good thing Portland's just an I-5 jaunt away...we're hoping for lots of visits.
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Strong Hips = Happy Knees
Sarah | January 18, 2011 12:21 pm
Every runner has their Achilles heel. Some of yours might literally be... your Achilles. Mine are my knees. I had my meniscus repaired twice and finally had a chunk taken out. My tibia is twisted, so my I have one "flippy" foot that really grinds that cartilage. Not much to be done there. I just work with it.
But there are things working against my knees that I can control: the muscles that support healthy knee tracking. One of the main muscles that attribute to a strong, healthy stride are the hip abductors. As ladies the angle between the hip and the knee is often more severe then the dudes. Yes, even little hip ladies.
Every time my knees act up and I seek physical therapy, they tell me to strengthen my hip abductors. After they laugh at how weak they are.
Here are two exercises you can incorporate into your strength training to support your knees.
1. Leg Raises on the Ball: You'll 'feel the burn' on the supporting leg too. Oh, and your hip abductor in Sarah terms would be your 'side butt'.
Sketch by my Physical Therapist, eerily close resemblance.
Another view - I look different from behind
2. Hip Hike: Use a book, a weight, a stack of magazines, a curb... anything 3-4 inches off the ground. Stand on object with one foot, hover other foot next to it, 'drop' hovering hip and hike it back up to hover next to standing foot. You should feel the burn after 5 or so. It's a small movement but you will feel it in the stabilizing leg.
12 x 2 each side.
As a runner what is your Achilles heel? And how do you ward off injury?
Kate | Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 08:36
I can actually count on one hand the amount of times I've quit in the middle of a workout since I started running, which was quite some time ago. I DO have a tendency to push myself to the brink and almost every workout is "do or die" for me. BUT! That is not to say that I don't listen to my body when everything inside it is screaming, "STOP." :) Last week, I was in the middle of an interval workout, and I had been feeling pretty weary, sore and had been struggling a little during the workouts in the days preceding, and halfway through my seventh interval, I just ground to a halt. I wasn't even focused on running or thinking about it--my legs literally just stopped going, as though of their own volition. I paused on the sidewalk, wondering what in the world had just happened, considered starting my workout back up, and ended up walking home instead. While the schedule said, "Go," my body said a blatant, "NO." I was in tears about it, and was also entertaining some self-loathing, but it occurred to me later that everything HURT--my hips, knees, ankles, achilles, feet, etc. So instead of labeling myself an abject failure, I iced absolutely everything, stretched, and took the next few workouts at a torturesomely nice, gentle pace. ;D This week, my joints are feeling much, much better and my spirits are back where they should be--banner high. :) The other times that I have stopped have been much the same--normally, when it's fed up with the workout I'm doing, my body just kind of peters out and stops of its own accord. I used to pick back up and keep going, but there were always ramifications (illness, injury, so on.) So, I now try very hard to remain in tune with my body the best I can, and to listen to it when it really, truly is trying to communicate with my stubborn brain. Normally I am able to muscle through things, but when I honestly just cannot and my body laughs at me and says, "NO!", that is when I know it's time to throw in the towel, considering my general attitudes toward rest and training. It's always best to listen to your body. It knows best what it needs. :) I sure hope you're feeling better! By the way, is that Loren Horsley in the photo??