The #1 Suckiest Blogger Award

Sorry team.  I know I'm sucking at blogging.  Even when I actually write a post (like yesterday, for example), it ends up being about 10 actual words and some very craptastic writing.  The normal award-winning (right?! ha) writing you're used to just isn't there.

It's not just that I'm busy.  I mean it is a little.  When I started this blog, I felt I had TONS of things to write about.  I was also kind of bored and I had lots of free time - there was a lull at work, it was winter, I was recovering from injury and not running much, there was a break for a bit with my school work, etc.  Then I became a Girls on the Run coach, started training for the marathon, school got crazier than ever, and now I've even gotten a harder more demanding job.

But I think it's more than just the time factor.  It's more like I just don't have anything to write about.  There's no long run or speedwork or races to discuss.  I'm not doing fun things every weekend like in the summer.  And unfortunately, most of what I do have to say seems to be negative and related to my hamstring, as Becky loves to point out.

source

This weekend my depression about my hamstring hit a new all-time low.  I kind of just felt like throwing in the towel.  There's no big races coming up, I'm not training for anything, it's dark, it's cold, yesterday was the worst day of the year (anyone else hate the time change with a passion?), etc.  So there could not be a better time to take a break from running.  I still feel skeptical about whether a break will even help my hamstring, since my 2-week break in September seemed to do little.  But it's worth a try.

Don't worry, I will still be running the Mustache Dache.  And probably the Seattle Half.  And likely any other fun blogger meet-ups I finagle an invite to.  So it won't be a total and complete rest.  But the majority of the time except for races / meet-ups - I'll rest.  

And I'll come back to blogging regularly someday.  Probably.  When I have something of interest to write about.

This Post Will Not Be Riveting

This post will not be exciting.  It will not be long.  It will not be ground-breaking.  But I will try to keep it upbeat after Monday's Debbie Downer post. 

On September 26, 2012, I made some vows.  I vowed to not run fast for one whole month to allow my hamstring to heal.  I promised I wouldn't run a single mile in the 8's.  I told you I would make a doctor appointment, and I promised to take walk breaks.  And I am happy to report that it is now one month later and I stood by this rule. 

So last night, I went for a run like normal.  I was not planning on doing anything to celebrate this one month anniversary of my vows.  My lovely mother entertained me on the phone for the first 40 minutes of my run.  And you guys, she didn't even know I was running!  Near the 4 mile mark, she was like, "Are you at home yet?"  She thought I was DRIVING!  So that says something.  Apparently I wasn't huffing and puffing like normal.  But after we hung up, I realized it was DARK.  And I still really wanted to hit 6 miles.  So I started booking it.

So on October 25, 2012, exactly one month after my promises, I ran exactly one mile in the 8's.  Yes, fast(ish) for me is now high 8's, a 8:41 to be exact.  Hard to believe that two months ago I was rocking Hood to Coast legs in the 7's.  But that doesn't matter!  I ran one mile in the 8's!  And my hamstring didn't even feel that horrible! 

Congrats to me!  :-)  And Happy Friday to us all. 

Everyone Else

Everyone else is running high mileage.
Everyone else is racing.
Everyone else is getting faster, and everyone else has brand spankin' new PR's to prove it. My PR's, on the other hand, sit dusty and old on a shelf, reeking of 2010.
Everyone else does speedwork successfully week after week. 
Everyone else is healthy.

No one else is injured.
No one else is getting slower instead of faster.
No one else has been struggling with a hamstring issue for months.

I know these things aren't all true, but it sure is easy to let these thoughts in. Especially when all your twitter friends, Nuun Hood to Coast teammates, and local running buddies are running the NYC Marathon, running ultra marathons, getting marathon PRs, dominating half Ironmans, prepping for full Ironmans, winning 50 mile races, coming back from injuries better than ever, and / or running 3 marathons in 9 days.

It's not that I'm feeling sorry for myself.  Or is it?  Maybe it's just a Monday. 

A Vow, A Promise, Some Goals

Okay peeps.  Now that I feel like my hamstring is on the mend, I need a plan.  I need some goals.  I need to make some promises.  I need to be careful; I need to baby my hamstring.  If I'm going to get better for real, I need to make it a priority.  And this means not doing my normal Ricole-esque situation, which involves getting all hopped up on running and running a billion miles super fast right away.  No, Ricole, No.

I also have to address another issue super quickly - and that involves seeing a doctor.  Several of you have asked me about that and I agree, at this point seeing a doctor would be smart.  I do kind of hate sports medicine doctors as I've never seen one that actually helped me.  So I do have a vendetta against them, that's true.  But also, since I switched jobs I unfortunately don't have insurance right now, so I've been waiting until that kicks in October 1.  While I still don't really want to see a doctor, I do want to see a PT and a massage therapist, and the doctor is the avenue to those other things. 

So here we are - my promises.  For the NEXT MONTH, so until October 25, 2012, I vow to:

• I Will Run SLOW.  Seriously slow.  I will run no miles in less than 9 minutes, and they should be closer to 10.  NO MILES LESS THAN 9!  

•  I Will Take Walk Breaks.  Walk breaks must be taken at least once every 3 miles, preferably more often.  

•  I Will Take Short, Slow Steps.  I Will Avoid Hills.  This goes along with #1 - I will run SLOW and SHORT steps - I will not lengthen my stride, even if a coyote is chasing me.  Okay, maybe then I will.

• I Will Strengthen My Leg Muscles.  We all know the #1 cause of most running injuries is weak glutes.  Whether that's my problem or not, they certainly could use some strengthening, as could the obvious culprit, my hamstring.  I've been doing eccentric hamstring exercises with a band and need to continue doing them.  I will make a real effort to strength training my legs at least 2-3 times a week even if for only 10 minutes at a time.  

• I Will Adhere to the 10% Rule.  No getting over exuberant and running 31 miles in a 50k race I'm signed up for just because I really want to...! 

• I Will Make a Doctor Appointment.  There - are you happy??!!  I know you were waiting for that one.  I definitely want a sports massage.  

You'll notice that there's no distance rules.  My hamstring doesn't seem to really mind distance (although the most I've done recently is 8 miles), it's the lengthening of your stride during speed and hills that aggravates it so. 

And those, my friends, are my very important vowels for the next month.

What do you think?  Ever force non-time-related goals on yourself like me?

I Have a Few Secrets For You

So I have a few secrets for you.  No, I'm not pregnant.  Sorry Mom and Dad.  

 

Secret #1 (the actual secret): I’ve spent the last week vacationing in Kauai and it was AMAZING.  Many many full posts to come about that.  The only big problem was that when we booked the trip the timing was perfect with my old job (i.e., being at the slowest time of the year) but now that I just switched jobs it ended up being at the WORST POSSIBLE TIME for my new job and I felt rather guilty about that.  But it was all non-refundable and such and my new boss knew at the time of my hiring so off we still went, to the wonderful lovely island of Kauai:

Seriously, it was amazing.  I want to go back.  I have post-vacation depression for sure.  

Secret #2 (probably not an actual secret): my hamstring’s still not better.  It’s probably not a secret if you follow me on Twitter.  My hamstring and I are NOT friends.  First of all, just so you know, I went to the chiropractor last Friday and through a series of painful and not painful stretches he determined that it was, in fact, my hamstring, and not my piriformis as previously thought.

After two full weeks off of running (remember the gloriousness of running at Hood toCoast? Yeahhhh that was the last time I ran) I’m still not 100%.  It IS better, but it’s far from 100%.  It's especially sad because I had high hopes the "two weeks off" would work it's magic it has with my other injuries in the past.  

You know what made all of this even worse?  The fact that the Kauai Half Marathon / Marathon just HAPPENED to be going on while we were here.  Seriously, I promise you I didn’t plan it.  But you can bet as soon as I found out I was determined to sign up.  Bart Yasso and Dean Karnazes were even the hosts.  And have I mentioned I LOVE running on tropical islands?  Who doesn’t though?

So after it appeared that my hamstring issue was a real thing, I went back and forth about doing this race for days.  But I was smart, and being smart sucked.  Big time.  At the time it would be one week of resting since Hood to Coast and it seemed smart to wait until the "magic" two week number so I could start running again and not have to start the resting over from scratch.  But then when we boarded our flight with runners on it I was back on the wagon again, ready to go registered in person or worse (*gasp*!), bandit the race!  But alas, I remained suckily strong.  I think what was the suckiest was that yes, I COULD have run the race.  Would it have been uncomfortable or maybe even painful?  Probably.  But not unbearable.  I just didn't want it to prolong my recovery. 

So I did not run the Kauai Half Marathon.  I did not run a half marathon in my 7th state, in my incredibly half-assed attempt at the 50 States (i.e., I'm not really trying).  

And my hamstring still hurts.  

And now you know my secrets. 

Anyone have thoughts about curing a miserable hamstring?

Piriform-WHAT?!

So as you may have heard a time or two from me on my blog, on Facebook, or especially on Twitter... my glute has been bothering me a lot since Ragnar.

At first I just thought it was normal post-race soreness.  After all, I ran hard for 15 miles with over half of them in the 7's (if you don't follow my training, I NEVER run miles in the 7's).  But then the rest of the soreness faded away and I felt 100% better everywhere else except my dang glute.

Then a lovely Twitter follower thought maybe it was my "piriformis".  PIRIFORM-WHAT? 

But some lovely searching later and I was up to date on the piriformis and also 90% sure that was my exact problem.

Thanks Wikipedia

The piriformis is this lovely muscle in the middle of your butt that, when it becomes inflamed, begins to irritate the sciatic nerve (or SOMETHING - go read more about it here for the rest of the story).  Anyway, it appears to be a real pain in the butt for runners (pun intended).  I'm not experiencing any back pain as it appears is common although sometimes my hamstring is very tight and that might be related.   Also, I consider this issue fairly minor as of now, but I'd like to keep it that way, and ideally make it dissapear.  I've got places to be and races to run, after all!

Only 3 weeks to go!

So, what have I been doing about it, you ask?

Foam rolling for starters.  But I can't seem to get much of my body weight or pressure on it with the foam roller, probably because its in the center of my body.  So then some lovelies recommended using a tennis ball or a frozen water bottle.  Speaking of frozen water bottle, I've also been trying to ice.  Icing is no longer the modest affair it used to be, however, since I pretty much can't be wearing clothes in order to ice.  I suspect the ice bath is going to make an appearance again soon as well, although I so despise it. 

And finally, I think I'm supposed to stretch and strengthen.  Though I'm not entirely sure how to do these things. 

Possibly this.  source

Has anyone had glute and / or piriformis issues before?  What did you do?  How did you make it go away?  And how did you make it go away QUICKLY?  Is it safe to run through minor piriformis pains?  Give me all your advice!

Injuries Schminjuries: An IT Band Story

First of all - thank you all SO much for all of your encouraging words on my pity party post yesterday.  I promise I am already in higher spirits and am working on a "movin' on" plan.  I'm also working on that Girls On the Run post I promised you today... I PROMISE PROMISE it will be up tomorrow. 

But in the meantime, I've been working on this post for a long long time, but since I just finished talking about my 2010 Portland Marathon race AND I just read poor Robyn's struggles with the evil ITB (illotibial band, for those of you lucky enough not to know), I realized it was time to FINALLY finish it.

After Portland I was ridiculously sore, but not anything out of the ordinary for having just finished a marathon.  I must also preface this by saying that I did not have ANY ITB pain during the race itself, or during much of my training.  I did a short run on Thursday after Sunday's Marathon, and on Saturday, while I was just walking down a steep hill (one of the ones by Pike Place Market actually, that's how vividly I still remember this, I even know that I was wearing my fake-Ugg boots), I felt this crazy painful pop in the side of my knee.  After that it hurt to take every single step.

That crazy pain faded, however, and it left me with the common ITB problems I'm sure most of you have faced before - you know, that crazy stabbing pain that comes on only after you've run a bit.  For me it was about 1.5 miles.  I would feel great for the first 15 minutes, and then, like clock work, STAB STAB STAB IN THE SIDE OF THE KNEE.  It. Was. Horrible. 

I tried EVERYTHING.  And because I tried everything, and because this awfulness continued on and on for 3 freaking months, it's difficult to know exactly what worked for me.  But I'm going to tell you everything I did, in the hopes that it too, will help you.  Obviously I don't think I need to say that I'm no doctor and therefore interpret my results cautiously.  This is pretty much the order in which I did things. 

1.  Foam Rolling Like a Boss.  Seriously, foam-roll like its your job.  I did it twice a day. 

Spoiler alert: It will HURT.  If it hurts, that means you're in desperate need of it.  source

2.  Stretching Like a Boss.  Seriously, stretch at any and all opportunities.  You're in the shower?  Stretch that ITB.  Waiting for the elevator?  Stretch it out baby.  Brushing your teeth?  Stttreeeetttchhhhh. 

This is my #1 go-to ITB stretch.  There are others, but I like this one best.  source

3.  ART / Graston from the Chiropractor.  The Active Release Technique, or ART, is a soft-tissue massage technique not too different from what you do with the foam roller.  Basically the chiro presses into "pressure points" and then moves your leg around accordingly, trying to get the muscles to release and loosen up.  The Graston Technique, on the other hand, is similar to using The Stick on your muscles, except imagine The Stick is made of metal that is used to "scrape" your muscles and it hurts like no other.  Graston is seriously TORTURE.  It wasn't that horrible on my IT Band but I've had it done on my shin before and it pretty much reduced me to tears. 

They should call it the Torture Technique instead.  source

I do think that both of these things helped a bit but I think it would have helped so much more had I been resting and ibuprofen-ing at the same time (see #6 and #8).   The worst thing about this was the chiro was adamant that I could keep running through this as long as it didn't hurt.  So I kept running to that point of pain (15 minutes on the dot...) for WAY TOO LONG.  This was a huge mistake. 

4.  Physical Therapy.  I learned all about funny exercises to work your glutes and side glutes, like crab walks, clamshells, and the like.  I also went crazy on that machine at the gym where you open and close your legs (twss).

Clamshells: except to work harder put a resistance band around your thighs.  source 

Go to town on this machine.  Hint: make sure your shorts aren't too short!  source

5.  MRI.  After all of this, I was feeling hopeless and like it would never get better and the chiro agreed and thought maybe something was torn.  Nothing was torn.  He was just dumb for telling me to keep running through it.  This was a waste of money except for peace of mind. 

6.  Rest.  I finally decided I was going to rest for 2 full weeks.  I cross-trained on the elliptical and swam during (biking aggravated it as well so I stayed away from that).  I think if I had only done this sooner I would have been better way sooner.

 Cooper is a professional rester. 

7.  Doctor.  He was extremely unhelpful.  It took forever to get the appointment and I had already mandated rest for myself (FINALLY) by the time I went to see him.  He did tell me to do #8 though, which I do think helped.  I mostly just went to him to get my MRI read. 

8.  3 Advil 3 Times a Day for 10 Days.  I was seriously concerned about my kidneys and liver but the doctor said it was totally fine.  He acted like I was crazy for even being concerned.  Apparently I should eat Advil in the same fashion I eat candy.  This overlapped with #6 (resting) and I really do think that this combination helped. 

source

9.  New shoes.  Here is when I went minimalist and my husband got me a pair of Vibrams for Christmas.  I've since transitioned out of these because of shin problems and because they don't stop my heel strike.  But that's a story for a different post.  If your shoes are old, I'd get new ones.  If they're not, not sure this will help you. 

10.  Come back SLOWLY.  I came back very slowly, starting with 1 mile and adding half a mile at a time.  I could have come back more slowly (like I did 1 mile on Tuesday, 1.5 miles on Thursday, 2 miles on Saturday, etc.) but this worked for me.  I also incorporated stretch breaks every 5 minutes, lengthening these out to every mile, every 2 miles, etc.  I took longer at eliminating the stretch breaks.  I still remember how happy iI was the day I ran 6 miles again.  Make sure you're not running on a cambered road or running on a track because this can aggravate the ITB. 

So?  What's the verdict?  Obviously all injuries and bodies are different and there's no guarantees that what worked for me will work for you.  I read 100's of pages of forums about ITB problems on Runner's World and they all confused me.  But not one of them said what I really really REALLY wish someone had told me: that I needed to FULLY rest for 2 weeks.  I hope this helps you in some way!

Have you ever struggled with ITB issues?  Do you have any recommendations or ideas to add to this? 

The Infamous 2009 Race for the Roses Stress Fracture Half Marathon

Remember my new staple: The Sunday Flashback?   I wanted to move all my old race reports from my mini-blog over to here to populate my new "Race Reports" page, and slowly but surely, it's filling up!  For posterity's sake, I'm keeping them EXACTLY as I wrote them, with perhaps a bit of reflection (in italics).

I haven't been going in order at all, so let's go back for a second to my very first big race: my first marathon in 2008.  So where we last left off, I had run my first marathon without any trouble.  I kept running for the rest of 2008, doing a 5k or two, but nothing else really special.  I did get my beloved Garmin Forerunner 305 for Christmas that year!  I was still running in clearance shoes and not tracking the miles on my shoes though.

When 2009 rolled around, I started training for the inaugural 2009 Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon (the full!), aiming to hopefully PR and ideally sub 4:20.  Along the way I decided to run the Portland Race for the Roses Half Marathon.  I had ambitions 3-year plans back then (that have since been thrown in the garbage) of qualifying for Boston.  The plan was 2009: sub 4:20, 2010: sub 4:00, 2011: sub 3:40 (that was my BQ time back then, now it's 3:35).  As you already know none of those things happened, mostly because of what you're going to read below!

This happened in April, 2009.  My huge goal for this race was to sub 2, my previous best half marathon time was 2:06 at the Whidbey Island Half Marathon in 2008.  And now you're ready to read this!

----------------------------------------

So do you want the good news or the really really really really devastatingly bad news first?

Good news.  I did it!  Shattered my goal (perhaps shattered is the key word? or broke?) of beating 2 hours.  It is amazing that almost a year ago exactly I ran the Whidbey Island Half Marathon in 2:06:42 (AP 9:50) and this year I beat that time by 18 minutes in 1:48:23 (AP 8:16).  And I am confident that time would have been at least a minute or two faster had the below not occurred.

I have a broken fibula.  I am devastated.  I'm guessing that the "shin splints" that bothered my left leg last week since last weekend's run was really the start of a stress fracture, which culminated at mile 7 of the race.  I was feeling GREAT until mile 7, overdressed because it was the most beautiful day ever, out enjoying a really nice race.  At mile 7 my ankle started hurting a lot, and I contemplated quitting, but I don't quit, which I now know was a TERRIBLE decision.  It hurt a lot with every single step and its all I thought about, but it was bearable.  At mile 12 I almost cried because I knew I would finish, but that was premature since at mile 12.5 was probably when the actual full break occurred, as the pain was no longer bearable and I hobbled to the finish line as best as I could.  Terrible timing as that was one of the few hills up to a bridge where there was a terrible headwind as well. 

Praying that it was a tendon strain or something minor I hoped it would be better the next morning (but deep down I knew it was probably a stress fracture, but never thought it was an actual BROKEN bone). Couldn't sleep last night because it hurt so bad, couldn't really walk, so decided this morning to head to the ER.  They did x-rays and sure enough, broken fibula.  No longer just a stress fracture, a full broken bone.  Poor doctor had to see my enormous bawling breakdown when he told me I couldn't run for at least 6 weeks [this ended up being more like 6 months]. 

On a splint/soft cast/crutches now - I see the orthopedist on Friday and I'm praying I'll get a walking cast [I didn't]. I have so much more to say about everything, and I just hope I can be positive and not get too depressed through this.  I cant even imagine not running, I'm going to need to do some upper body exercise or SOMETHING or I will go crazy, I know. 

I was bawling as soon as I crossed the finish line and took no pictures.  This is also the only picture I took the ENTIRE time I had that cast on.  That's how much I hated it.

Why did this happen?  I dont feel like I upped my mileage quickly at all.  I do feel like it was a mistake to run hard last weekend and this weekend, and that I should have switched to the new shoes sooner.  But other than that, I honestly don't know why this happened or how to prevent this from happening in the future.  Perhaps I'm susceptible to bone issues.  I'm just really depressed, Rock n Roll is for sure out, I just hope I can run again someday and that this never ever ever happens again.  Has this happened to anyone else?  If so, any tips, ideas as to causes, etc. would be so greatly appreciated.  I'm going to have to fill those hours of running doing something!

Splits: 8:04, 8:11, 8:21, 8:39 (the hill!), 8:17, 7:56, 8:02 (when it started hurting), 7:58, 8:04, 8:23, 8:27, 8:15, 8:41

Total Time:  1:48:23  (AP 8:16)  SUB 2 at least!

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I plan to do a post someday all about stress fractures and recovering from them, but this was the worst.  I've had many running injuries along the way but this one definitely takes the cake.  I was out for almost 6 full months that year, in a real cast, with real crutches, and then a real boot... it SUCKED.   Seattle Rock n Roll was my first ever DNS (did not start for those of you lucky enough not to know!) and I never want to go back there.  EVER.  And I need to remember that every time I feel the smallest inkling of an injury or that constant desire to run a million miles every day.  I've also become way more diligent about shoes, tracking my miles on shoes, upping my mileage so slowly, etc.  Basically this injury has turned me into a complete running hypochondriac!

What's been your worst running injury?  How did you get it?  Ever get injured DURING a race?

I'm a Genie in a Bottle, Baby

On Tuesday I went for a lovely run with Lisa.  All there is to say about it is: Holy Headwind, Batman.  It was ridiculous.  At times I felt like I was standing still, running on a treadmill!  But at least the pouring rain that had been going on earlier held off.  I'm feeling rather depressed about the weather around here and how far away summer is, but that's a story for another day.  Anyway, I pounded out 8.25 miles in 1:19 and felt pretty good!  Came home and JMan helped torture me with an ice bath:

My notoriously evil left leg has been showing signs of issues on the horizon again so I've decided I must bear the terrible, terrible ice-bath-pain (it hasn't improved since my first ice bath).  And I am not exaggerating.  It is 100% torturous.  The first 2 minutes are so incredibly painful everywhere, but that mostly eases except for my toes, my toes hurt SO BAD the whole time, and even after.  I need booties or something.

In other news, it's almost time for FLORIDA and SUN!  You've seen #5 and #4, but now it's time for my 3rd most favorite Disney movie of all time... are you tired of this game yet?  Hopefully not, because it's ALADDIN!

Aladdin is JMan's #1 most favorite Disney movie so I think he is a bit offended it's only my #3.  

Seriously.  Look how ridiculously tiny that waist is.  

In book news, remember when I told you all about how bored I was reading Mazerunner and how I wasn't going to read the rest of the series?  Well a few days later the next book, The Scorch Trials, ended up at the top of my library queue, waiting to be picked up.  Why is it that all of your books you're waiting on at the library always come at the EXACT same time, ensuring that there is no possible way you can finish even half of them in the small 6 week window?

source

Anyway, this time I had the audio book, and I didn't have much else on audio, so I decided to give it a go after all and listen during commuting (in case I haevn't shared, I commute a decent amount and this is a common practice of mine, I listen to far more books than I actually physically read; I highly recommend it).  Well I don't know if the second one was really more well-written than the first (doubt it) or if it is just a better listen than a read (likely), but I was definitely intrigued by this book.

Is it high quality literature?  Not really.  Is it better or equal to The Hunger Games?  Definitely not.  But it was interesting and I actually listened to it instead of wanting to throw the book out the window like Mazerunner.  So I shall continue on to Book #3: The Death Cure.  So what's the point?  I don't know, if you're bored commuting, these books aren't so bad.

3 days!

What are you reading right now?  Anything good you recommend?  What's your 3rd favorite Disney movie?

Does Swimming Kill Brain Cells?

In an effort to keep my majorly injury-prone body injury-free in 2012 (with the hopeful outcome of a completed marathon AND a marathon PR!), I've semi-adopted the Run Less, Run Faster approach.  This new plan involves only 3 runs per week (but focusing on quality runs over quantity, each run has a purpose and involves working hard, which isn't my favorite thing to do!) and adding in more cross-training on the other days.  The authors of the plan don't really like the elliptical (my go-to cross-training exercise!) as a cross-training activity (nor pool running for that matter, which I found odd) since it too closely mimics running and using those muscles.  So extremely long story short, I've recently taken up swimming since swimming and cycling are the "endorsed" activities.  This is unfortunate because not only do I not really like swimming all that much, but swimwear is far from my favorite apparel.

Let's get one thing straight up-front.  I am NOT a good swimmer.  I cannot adequately perform any strokes besides the doggie paddle and the crawl.

Cooper is a much better swimmer than I. 

Although in typical Al Bundy "glory days" behavior I might claim to fame that I went to state in swimming my senior year of high school, the truth is I went to a small school with 3 good swimmers and the next decent swimmer was a 7th Day Adventist who couldn't swim on Saturdays.  Enter the mediocre me, who was therefore needed for the 400m relay (Districts was on a Saturday).  Despite this minor bit of glory (though it's far from glorious to be the worst on the relay team by far!), I still don't really know how to swim.  

                      That's not me.  I don't even know how to attempt to do the butterfly.  source

So the last few weeks I've been swimming 1-2 times per week.  On Tuesday I built up to swimming a whole half mile without stopping (18 laps!) and was pretty proud of myself.  On Friday I only made it 15 laps without stopping, but completed a full mile (36 laps!), which took me about 40 minutes. 

But here's my dilemma.  Although at first it was my shoulders that killed me when swimming (because I'm a weak little baby), the problem remaining is my breathing gasping.  The reason I have to stop (after 18 laps or 15 laps or whatever) is what I believe to be MY BRAIN CELLS DYING.  You see, my heart rate is high and I am a little short of breath, but the main issue stopping me is the massive headache that always, without fail, ensues.  My theory about this massive headache (which goes away quickly upon resting a minute or two) is that it is caused by a shortage of oxygen, which in turns KILLS MY PRECIOUS FEW BRAIN CELLS!

    This is a picture of a brain cell.  You're welcome.      source

So what should I do?  Keep swimming and risk my precious brain cells?  Do you swim?  How long did it take you to be good at it?  Does it kill your brain cells?  

My Very First Ice Bath = Painful

After completing Thursday's semi-tough workout that involved 3 tempo miles at half marathon pace (they were between 7:34 and 7:42 but mostly downhill) and 7 total miles, I wanted to ice both my shins and both my knees.  So I decided to take the plunge, and lose my ice bath virginity.  It may be hard for many of you to believe that although I have been running for 4 years, completed 2 full marathons, 9 half marathons, and many other races, I have NEVER EVER taken an ice bath!  Let's get it out in the open, it's not because I didn't know they were good for me.  I was afraid.

 That's not me.  Or my teeth.       source 

And afraid I should be.  This wasn't even a real ice bath - there was no actual ice!  I filled the tub a tiny bit with the coldest water the faucet could muster.  Wearing socks, a sweatshirt, a ski hat, and holding a cup of hot tea, I got in.  I lasted a whopping 8 minutes, and though it did get a little better as time went on, it. was. HORRIBLE.  As more evidence of me being a weak little baby, the water wasn't even fully covering my legs and again, THERE WAS NO ICE!  But it felt good after, and I know it's good for me, and I will do anything (for love) to prevent that injury monster from coming back (but I won't do that).

          That's not me either.  And his knees are missing out on the benefits.   source

Although many of you are likely ice bath veterans, some of you may be asking, why would you ever want to take an ice bath?  According to Runner's World, "cryotherapy" (aka cold water immersion or ice baths) can reduce injuries by "constricting blood vessels and decreasing metabolic activity, which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown".  In layman's terms, ice baths reduce inflammation and flush out unwanted toxins (like the dreaded lactic acid).  Further, ice baths provide more long-lasting benefits than using ice packs alone.  Despite these claims, as a researcher of course I wanted to know what the research says.  There is research, some of it contradictory, but the bottom line of all of it is that ice baths can only help, not hurt. 

Lesson Learned.  Ice baths are not my enemy.  I will take another ice bath (someday), with water that actually covers my legs, and maybe, just maybe, with real live ice.

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Do you take ice baths?  How long are they?  How do you bear it?