Well, hello there. It’s been more than 3 months since my last update. It looks like my last post I was still dealing with the hamstring issue. I am happy to report my hamstring is no longer bothering me. Although, I think I lost a lot of flexibility in my right leg because of it. I can’t even touch my toe now. Hmm…I should probably look into that.

With this new year, I’ve decided to try MAF training again. I tried it last year, did it for about a week, and then basically quit. For those unfamiliar with MAF, the basics of it is, never let you heart rate go above your MAF heart rate (180-your age, then tweaked a bit based on your running history. If your interested in it, find out more here) The goal is increase your aerobic fitness, and basically run faster with less effort. My MAF heart rate last year was 151, and since I’m a year older, my MAF heart rate now is 150. Last year, after a week of running under a 151 HR, I decided to up my HR threshold to 160, then after a week of that (I missed running with friends and actually feeling like I ran that day), I quit altogether and ran how I felt. This year, because I had such a big break between races, and all my running friends have either moved on from running, or moved out of the city AND, I was trying to make a comeback after my injury, I thought I’d try again. So, I sat down and read all 516 pages of The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing. I am now an expert on the subject of the Maffetone Method of training.

 I am happy to report that I have stuck with it and I have officially started week 6 of training today. It’s not as bad as I remember it being last year. Don’t get me wrong, I hate staring at my watch for HR updates, I hate not being able to just run free, and  I get embarrassed when other runners past me (in either direction) or I slowly approach someone who’s walking, but I have learned to swallow my pride and do what I have to do. My aerobic fitness, I discovered was practically non-existent. For the Maffetone method, I am supposed to run a MAF test ever 3-4 weeks to gauge my progress. The very first day I went out for a run using this method, my first mile was 14:24 (yikes, I can walk that fast) with an average heart rate of 149bmp. I forgot about doing a MAF test the first week, so I made my first run of the 2^nd week my test date. I then tested again 3 weeks later. The results???

MAF #1: 12/23/2014
Test Mile	Time	Avg Hr	Max HR	Elevation
1	13:34	149	152	+12
2	13:53	149	152	+16
3	13:42	149	152	-21
4	13:54	149	153	0
0.2	2:48	149	152	0
Avg	13:47	149	152.2	N/A
Total Time	57:29
Temp Start	43
Conditions	Partly Cloudy
Wind	12mph N
Humidity	42%
MAF #2 1/12/2014
Test Mile	Time	Avg Hr	Max HR	Elevation
1	12:26	145	151	+12
2	12:45	148	151	+16
3	12:47	149	152	-21
4	13:04	148	151	0
0.2	2:49	148	151	0
Avg	12:45	147.6	151.2	N/A
Total Time	53:46
Temp Start	52
Conditions	Cloudy
Wind	10mph NNE
Humidity	40%

I was thrilled with these results. My overall average was more than a minute per mile faster, my average HR was lower, and my final mile in the 2^nd test, was faster than my 1^st mile in the 1^st test! I couldn’t believe all of that progress in less than a month! My next test is scheduled for the 1^st. I’m excited to see if there has been anymore improvement. During MAF you are not supposed to race, but I will be in Nashville in a couple of weeks and my sister and I are going to do a 5k together (her first!!!) and I can’t resist racing a race, and to be honest, I am looking forward to running how I want without being tied to my heart rate. By the time the race rolls around, I will have been at this for 2 months. Depending on how I feel, I may call it quits for MAF and start preparing for the spring racing season, or, I may continue for one additional month.

I have to admit, I am counting down these (possibly) 2 weeks. I can’t wait to go on group runs again, and make new running friends, and surprisingly, I can’t wait to start running hills again. If MAF training has done nothing else but help me appreciate the pure joy of just running, then I’d be fine. You know what they say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

My hamstring is starting to feel better these days. When I run, it feels like it’s really tight rather than actual pain. It’s more uncomfortable. I am excited about my deep tissue massage on the 24^th. It is much needed and I hope it helps the leg heal up a little quicker. I have logged a total of 13 miles over the last 2 weeks, which is 11 miles than I had the previous 2 weeks, so I should be grateful. I just can’t wait until this is all over and I can return to running as normal. I just read an article that it takes 12 weeks to fully heal from a soft tissue/tendon injury. At the end of this week, it will be week 5. So, only 7 weeks to go.

I have another race I signed up for (pre-injury) on October 26^th. It is the Run for Education 5k. I was really hoping to do well at this race as it’s my last race as a 20 something, and then I enter the tough 30-34 age group, but right now I take any running time I can get.

 

There is some other news that I am really excited about. This Saturday, I officially start MotivateU. MotivateU is a program put on by our company’s health insurance. They allowed everyone that is part of the insurance city wide to apply to this program and then 150 were chosen for it. The program is 8 weeks long and 5 gyms in the Reno area are part of it. It is basically a challenge against all of the different gyms. 30 people are chosen for each gym. Whichever gym loses the most weight, inches, and gains the most fitness wins. I just found out the gym I am going to be a part of had won every year since the programs institution. During the next eight weeks, I will have free access to their gym and to every class they have (including crossfit which I am super excited about) and I will be given a shopping list and recipes for the 8 weeks. Last night was the kick-off party at the gym, so I was able to see the gym for the first time. It’s a pretty awesome gym. It doesn’t look anything like the chain gyms I’m used to. I really wanted to be a part of this program because I am so injury prone and I rarely do any sort of cross training, and I don’t know the first thing about lifting weights. I am really hoping to lean up as well.

This past week, my leg has been drastically feeling better, so I thought I would give running another shot. On Saturday, I went out for my normal pre-race shakeout which is 20mins slow, followed by 4 strides. Throughout the run, I didn’t have any pain, but my hamstring felt really tight, which made for a slightly uncomfortable run. After the first 10 minutes, I stopped to stretch my hamstring, but it didn’t help any. When the 20 minutes were up, I attempted the strides. It felt like I really picked up the pace, but when I looked at my watch I was only running 8:19/mi, and my leg felt even worse. On Sunday, my job sponsored a corporate team for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Akin to last year, a co-worker of mine couldn’t wait to create a race of employee vs employee. This year he said it was me vs him. For the entire month leading up to the race he kept telling me how he was going to beat me and it would be embarrassing if he couldn’t beat me. Embarrassing for who? I run, he doesn’t. I think it would be more embarrassing for me if I lost because I train. Anyway, after my hamstring pull earlier last month all thoughts of racing were out the window, at least to me. He continued on about how he couldn’t wait to race me now that he had the advantage. Him and I have ran in 2 of the same race previously. Last year we both ran the Race for the Cure (which he didn’t beat me because he didn’t want to leave another coworker to run by herself) and the Reno 10 Miler, which I DNF and he wouldn’t let me live down, because I run and he doesn’t (he completed the race).

I was still planning on showing up for the race for the cure and running it, I just had no plans of racing. When I met up with my coworkers, they were all telling me about how much Logan was bragging about beating me. I have to admit, there was a huge part of me that wanted to shut him up and kick his trash in the race, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen. His plan was to stay with me the entire race, and then blow past me in the final stretch. I left my coworkers at about 10 minutes to the start of the race (everyone else was walking except for Lagan and me) to warm up. Thankfully by the time I got to the starting area, Logan was nowhere in sight. Unfortunately, the start line was really crowded and I was lined up in the back. When the gun went off, it took forever to reach the actual start line. When I finally got there, everyone in front of my was running at a very slow pace and there was no way around. My leg was magically feeling better, so I wanted to go faster. So, I broke the rules and ran on the other side of the cones to pass other runners. I kept telling myself to take it slow, I don’t want to reinjure myself. I felt like I was going slow, until I looked at my watch 7:48/mi. Crap! Way too fast on an injured leg. I slowed my pace, until I realized, I was feeling good, why not run it how my body tells me to. If my leg starts to hurt I slow down or stop. By this point I was about a half mile into the race and all of a sudden Logan, goes running past me. My heart dropped, he was going to beat me. I wanted to try and keep him in my sights, but then I realized I didn’t want to get caught up in his game. I wanted to run my own race not his.

Within a minute of him passing me, his pace started to slow and I caught up to him. He decided now was a good time to stick with me until the end. We started talking and I noticed he was having a hard time getting words out, his breathing was heavy, while mine was still pretty easy. Ok, I know I said I didn’t care about racing him, but secretly, I was happy. I knew he was running too fast for him and he probably wouldn’t be able to hold on for the entire race at this pace. By the time we passed the first mile at 8:22 Logan had fell about one step behind me (yes!). Like a little kid, I turned to Logan and in the smug voice I told him, 1 mile down, only 2 more to go. He let out a huge exaggerated sigh and my grin got bigger. At about the 1.5 mile mark a gradual incline started.  I picked up the pace a little in hopes to but some distance between us. I saw Dale (my old quasi coach) and I spoke with him a little bit about me hamstring and then noticed I couldn’t see Logan in my peripheral vision anymore. I didn’t want to look back, so I picked up the pace slightly more to mile 2, 8:10. A little after mile 2, we turned right to a small out and back portion, I knew this is where I could see how close Logan was to me. He was about 20 seconds behind me, and he looked like he wanted to die. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. My leg started feeling tight during the last mile, and breathing started to go haywire. I was looking at my watch every 10 seconds or so to see how much longer I would have to run for. My only goal at this point was to beat Logan and I kept thinking he was gaining on me and he would run past me at the finish. Finally, I reached mile 3, 8:10. Only .1miles to go, but I couldn’t see the finish line anywhere. I looked down again, at 3.11 miles and still no finish line. Dang it! This was going to be more than a 5k. Luckily, right around the corner I saw the finish. I didn’t sprint towards the end like I normally do (I was way too tired), but I finished. The time on the clock said 26:23. I know I’m coming back from an injury, and I haven’t ran in 3 weeks, but honestly, I was a little disappointed that I was so tired at the finish and my time was 26:23. My Garmin stats said the distance was 3.21mi and total time was 26:05 for an average of 8:12/mi. My Garmin usually always short distance wise when I run with other runners, so I knew the course was in fact long. That lifted my spirits. Had this been a true 5k, my time would have been somewhere around 25:28.

While I was waiting for Logan to cross, I started feeling bad about my immature ways with him during the race and I didn’t care who beat who (honestly, if he had beaten me, I might have cared). So when he came across the finish line, I cheered loud for him. I congratulated him and told him how awesome he was because he ran the whole thing, and most people who never run can’t do that. I was totally being a good sport. But he insisted the only reason I beat him, was because he got a side cramp and then he felt like he couldn’t breathe so he had to slow down (seriously!?! I just told you what a good job you did jerk). I just said, ok Logan, whatever and my smugness returned. I told him because he made such a big deal prior to the race about beating me, and then huffed and puffed at the fact that I beat him after the race, that I would post a large sign at the entrance to work that said “Lynsey beat Logan!” After that, he did congratulate me and told me running was harder than he thought it was. He remained a good sport for the rest of the day.

I was a little worried I ran too hard for my recent injury, but today (1 day later) my injury feels fine. Except for the fact that both legs are super sore like I had never ever ran before and decided on whim to run a race on Sunday. It’s crazy what 3 weeks off will do to the body. I am glad I haven’t lost as much fitness as I thought. And I am ecstatic that I can start running again!!!

Week 3 of no running begins. I did not run in the Sherrif’s 5k on Saturday. I made the mistake of seeing how I felt by going on a short jog around the neighborhood on Friday. My hamstring didn’t necessarily hurt during the run, it just felt really, really fatigued. It felt like a time when I had a personal trainer, and to test my fitness, he would make me lift a certain weight as many times as I could, until I absolutely couldn’t physically lift that weight another time. So, my hamstring felt like that last rep right before I crapped out and I couldn't do anymore. It felt like that throughout the whole run. I ran for about 2 miles and it was tough. My breathing was out of control and both legs felt so stiff. I felt ok at the end and decided I would show up to the race and listen to my body. If it said to slow down or walk, I would do that. I picked up my packet and saw one of my crazy fast friends there. I asked him for his advice on what I should do and he agreed that I should listen to my body.

Later that night, my body made it loud and clear that there would be no running or walking the next day at the race. My leg was now sorer than it was when I initially injured it. Before walking wasn’t painful, but now it was. I really wish I wouldn’t have run, but I was so eager to get back out there. Unfortunately, I tend to learn everything the hard way. Now I know, I need to wait until I have recovered fully to even attempt a run. I have been doing everything in my power to try and heal as quickly as possible, including ice, Epsom salt baths, a lot of rolling, I even bought a Groupon for a deep tissue massage because I heard it could help.  I have to admit, these last 2 weeks I have bumbling around the house feeling sorry for myself and giving dirty looks to runners I see around town, but no more. This year’s resolution was to be more positive. When this is over I will come back stronger than I was. This honestly helps me appreciate running more. You know what they say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

I am going to use this time to make cross training a part of my schedule. Yesterday, I went to the gym for the first time in months and I hopped on the elliptical for 30mins, followed by the bike for 15mins, and finally the rowing machine for 10mins. Today, I’m hitting the pool. I have to admit, it is exciting, mixing things up. There was a point recently where I was dreading having to go out for a run, but I am very much looking forward to gym time and doing something different. I think this break is going to rejuvenate me and my running. I will be better for it.

You might be looking at this picture thinking, "huh, I didn't know it was so foggy in Reno." That, my friends, is not fog. That, is a huge damper on my running. That is the reason IronMan Lake Tahoe was cancelled last weekend. Those are not clouds it the sky. That, is smoke from the King fire. This is week two of some of the worst smoke we have ever had here. Last year we had a lot of smoke in the valley for about a month straight because of the Yosemite fire, but I don't think it was this thick. Normally, I would be throwing an adult termpertantrum, but even if I was tempted to venture outside for a run, I couldn't do it anyway.

At the Journal Jog, the Sunday before last, while warming up, I was doing my normal pre-race routine and doing some strides. Upon coming to a stop on my last stride, I felt a deep ache in my leg. I just brushed it off and ran the race. My leg was a little crampy in the beginning, but after a mile, I completely forgot about it. After the race and after I was sitting around for a while, I noticed the pain returned in full force, but I didn't want to entertain the thought that I might have actually injured myself. But, now more than a week later, realizing I can't run more than two steps without pain, I have finally decided to face reality. As they say denial isn't just a river in Egypt. I'm not sure what I did, but I have been Googling non stop and it sounds to me like I have a grade 1 hamstring strain. According to what I have read it takes about 1-2 weeks to heal, however, that is with doing R.I.C.E (rest, ice, compression, elevation) immediately. Since I spent the first week in denial, I didn't start any kind of treatment until Sunday. I have a race this weekend and the following weekend, and I don't think I'll be able to do either. I am super bummed, because (please excuse me while I throw myself a pity party) I turn 30 in November of this year. I don't know if this is the same everywhere, but the female overall winners seem to always come from the 30-34 age group. At this point for me, age group placements are all I have to go for, and almost every race this year I have been on the cusp of winning an AG award. I felt like this was my last chance before I enter the super competitive AG in November, and now I have a bum leg. I have been a good girl and I only attempted to run once since the Journal Jog ( I made it .25mi before I threw in the towel). I am hoping the rest helps, and if I'm still in pain on Saturday, I guess I wont be racing. Fingers crossed!!!

One more picture of the smoke, you can actually see the smoke rolling in for the day in this one:

On Sunday I completed the RGJ Journal Jog for the 2^nd year. Last year during this race I surprised myself with the pace I was able to maintain. Last year I averaged 8:42/mi and I was hoping to come in around 9:00/mi. This year, my goal was to average about 8:25/mi. I thought this was a pretty lofty goal, but according to my favorite running calculator, it said I could do it. This would bring me in at 41:48.Lately, most of my 5k races have been around 8:25ish, and this was an 8k.

One of my running friends was also doing this race, so I was really excited. 99% of every race I have done, I show up by myself, walk around the post-race activities by myself, and then leave by myself. So it was awesome to have someone to talk to before and after the race. Note how I didn’t say during the race. She is way too fast for me. We lined up together by the 8-9min pace area. That was a bad idea because for a small race (about 500) it took too long to cross the actual start line. She took off, and I was left to my own thoughts and pace. In the first mile of the race, I heard one of the most amusing comments, a little kid running next to his dad said “Dad, Jenny has a brown spot on her pants…and it’s on the butt part”. Love it!

I have a horrible habit of staring at my watch during races, and this race was no different. The first mile ticked off at 8:19. I usually like my first mile to be my slowest and since my goal was 8:25, I was going too fast. I usually try to pick someone ahead of me who seems to be going about my pace and stick with them until them, and then make it my goal to pass them in the end (yeah I know, it sounds presumptuous and competitive, but it really helps push me). The woman I chose was wearing a black tank top with a neon pink stripe going down the back. There were a couple times during this race I got perfectly in stride with another runner. This is always awkward. Do you say “hi”, or “hey, how about them Dodgers?” I usually try to de-stride myself from them as quickly as possible. Miles 2 and 3 where a bit of an uphill and I think I got a little too comfortable with slowing down. The next miles were 8:32 and 8:34. The woman with the black tank top was still in my sight. The great thing about miles 2 and 3 being uphill, meant miles 4 and 5 were downhill. During the Reno 10 Miler last month, I ran more by feel (I was going for a hard effort) not by what my Garmin said. I decided to adopt this attitude for the remainder of the race. I was feeling pretty good, and decided to pick up the pace a little. The woman in the black tank top did too. Mile 4 was at 8:05. For the final mile, I wanted to leave it all out on the course. As we made the final turn for the finish which was about .4 miles, I really kicked it in to high gear. It was then I realized I didn’t see the woman in the black tank top anymore. She must have really taken off in the end. When I was nearing the finish line I saw 40:50 on the clock. Wow! I then made it my goal to come in under 41 minutes. I gave it everything I had left. My legs felt wobbly and there were a few steps in there that I thought my legs were going to give out on me. Unfortunately, I was too far from the finish and I crossed the finish line at 41:04 L. I was a little bummed, but happy with my performance.

After my breathing calmed down, I went in search of my friend. I found her in the snack line and we decided to go to the nearby park and await the official results. As we were walking to the park, I passed a woman in the opposite direction and she said “Oh my gosh, good job out there. I was really trying to catch you, but you just flew by me, but it really helped me push it in the end trying to get you.” I laughed and told her she did a great job too, even though I had no clue who she was. I started to think, maybe I was the person she chose to keep close to the whole race. Then she turned and started to walk away and I saw the back of her shirt. Black tank top with a neon pink stripe going down the middle. I honestly have no idea when I passed her, but little did she know, she actually pushed me the whole time.

My friend thought she might have had a chance at placing in her age group, so we went to check the results. I was pleasantly surprised as I completely forgot about chip timing. My official chip time was 40:44, that’s 8:12/mi! I was super excited. I have to continue this running by feel thing rather than relying on my watch. I am the proud owner of a shiny new PR by almost 3 minutes!

Official Stats:
Time: 40:44
115/431 overall
30/240 in gender
5/34 in age group
Splits: 8:19 / 8:32 / 8:34 / 8:05 / 7:32 (that last .4 was in an average of 6:50/mi)