How Sore is Normal? -- Random Ponderings and Questions

So, last night I skipped working out, and instead went out to Moe's Southwestern Grill - for a dinner that was as many calories as I had planned on eating all day.  Double Whammy with that one. But we are going to brush that under the rug and move on to some random pondering that have been going through my head.

My legs are usually sore.  I don't mean knee pain, although that still exists it is much less than it used to be as I have changed my running style.  I mean that most mornings when I wake up, my legs are sore from running.  Is this normal for a 36-year-old man attempting to increase mileage/speed?  or am I over-doing it?  It hasn't been a crippling/hard to walk pain, just a soreness.  In fact, after really heavy runs - I'm surprised I don't hurt MORE the next day.  As an example, I really expected to have issues walking on monday, after the Forks XV.  Yet I felt good enough (still felt some soreness of course) to do 5 miles that evening.

And that's another part of it. Usually a few hours into the day, my legs aren't sore anymore. The kinks have been worked out so-to-speak.  Now, running I can often feel that underlying soreness, and it (of course) doesn't exist in morning or during the run if the previous day was a rest day.

I have pulled my calf a few times, strained other muscles - and it is certainly not that sort of pain.

So is this normal in a person attempting to get back into running in their late 30s?  Could changes to my diet (trying to eat less crap and healthier foods) be contributing?  Or is it simply that I have gone up to an 80 mile/month running habit where previously I was doing 40-50?

That is the one bummer as being an adult runner vs highschool. There is no person to go ask these questions of..

Sir Mix-a-lot

No, this is not a post about "Baby Got Back."  Last night was a mixture of things for my work out.  I didn't know WHAT I wanted to do - so I did a bit of several things!

I started off on the treadmill as the kids and I were home before my wife arrived.  A nice warm up was my initial thought as I stepped toward it.. Then "SPEED WORK!" occurred to me.  Well, I compromised by doing my first mile at 8 mph (7:30 mile), and the second mile at 7 mph (8:34 mile.) 

I then jumped back into the strength training (second time this week!) with a chest and triceps workout for 20 minutes.

After finishing that - I knew how beautiful it was out side - so I headed out for a couple of miles.  My son asked if he could come do one with me, so I let him know that I would do my last mile with him!
Mile 1: 8:28
Mile 2: 8:33

My son left the neighbor's trampoline and joined me for one final mile:

Mid Week Catch-up!

So yesterday was crazy, and I didn't pre-write my blog (I often write them the night before to auto-post on the correct day,) so there was no update yesterday!  To the three or four of you reading, I apologize for that - I can only imagine the immense levels of disappointment you must have gone through as you patiently waited!  Never Fear - here is your weekly catch up!  As a bonus, I'll even include some weekend information!

So, lets start off with Friday!!! I didn't run. (ok, that day didn't take long)  Just kidding!  I have found a nice 5 mile loop in Binghamton that I find I prefer much more than an "out and back."  I did the whole loop in 43:37, with the splits looking quite good:

[caption id="attachment_1380" align="alignright" width="300" caption="LITTLE JAMES!!!!!!!!!"][/caption]

Mile 1: 10:00
Mile 2: 8:29
Mile 3: 8:02
Mile 4: 8:33
Mile 5: 8:17

Now looking at the splits, you might wonder what happened at mile 1.  The answer is simple - LITTLE JAMES!!!  He is a family friend that my children nick-named "Little James."  We knew far to many James' at the time - and this separated him from the others.   It seems that James has started running, and has already reached the

Race Report - Chenango Forks XV 2012

[caption id="attachment_1372" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Chris (runner) and Rebecca (photographer) before the race"][/caption]

Last year, I had planned on doing the Forks 15k, but it was during one of my many pulled muscle incidents... (Oh, and I wasn't anywhere near capable of running 15k at the time - but I'm not going to mention that part.. Totally going to blame the pulled muscle and pretend I could have done it otherwise.)  The big difference between this year and last year - is I have been very careful to NOT pull a muscle. (I also feel its worth mentioning that I have been training this year as well...)  Now I hadn't done 9 miles this year, but I had done a couple of 7 and 8 mile runs, so I knew I had this. 

For Reference, the only other 15k I have done is the Utica Boilermaker last year in 1:30:20.

Yesterday was looking to be a bit chilly - 40's to low 50s, beautiful running weather!  I headed up to Chenango Forks Highschool to register and was faced with my first quandary of the day.

[caption id="attachment_1371" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="See the orange? No thank you."][/caption]

Do I need to start with the "early" starters - that get to go 15 minutes early?  I know I am not the speediest runner - but how slow am I?  Well, after seeing the Orange things the early starters had to wear, I decided not too, as orange clashes with my complexion.

All joking aside - I figured I was probably going to be ok with not doing the early start.  There were around 225 people at the starting line when they yelled "Go" (followed by the beeping of countless GPS watches/phones starting.) 

Don't let me get me, I'm my own worst enemy.

It's amazing how dead on P!nk was with that line.  How many quotes have you seen that echo that?  "Whether you say you can or you can't, you're right!"  or what ever inspirational quote Runner's World posts today on Facebook.

Doctor, doctor won't you please prescribe somethin' A day in the life of someone else?

Maybe this is one of the reasons I like running.  It's a  chance to "Be someone else" than I have been all day.  Instead of the stress of work and deadlines, or working on merit badges, or getting the kids to where they need to be - I get a break from that.  I'm not "Dad."  I'm not an "IT Director."  I'm a runner.  And all that matters for the moment is the run.

It's bad when you annoy yourself so irritating
Some days we don't run.. even though we know we should.
Heck, last night I didn't run - even though I knew I shouldn't! It was driving me batty to not be out there in the warm weather.  But with how tired my limbs have been this week - a break was needed.

 

Bet ya never thought of this P!nk song as an analogy to a runner..

Looking forward to running this weekend though!

Holy Sore Muscles Batman! or Wholly Sore Muscles Bruce!

[caption id="attachment_1359" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Still the best Batman"][/caption]

Man am I sore today.. Legs.. Chest... Arms..  Wow... Let me explain.

So last night was a pretty good work out. I started off with a one mile run on my dear friend the treadmill.  I did it at my new standard of 7 mph (8:34 minute mile) and rounded up to 10 minutes.  I decided half way through to start lifting my knees up as high as I could.

After my 10 minute warm up I finally returned to my strength training.  For some reason, I always start off with chest/triceps when I return to strength training - and last night was no different.  It was a fantastic 30 minute session, I was whooped afterwards! 

Practiced the last 5 miles of the Marathon

So, last night I went for a run.  I know that is s uprising considering this is a running blog and all, but I felt it was worth mentioning.  I was exhausted to the point that I felt it in my arms/legs.  In the past I probably would have talked myself out of running (it wouldn't have been that difficult) but I have decided to "suck it up" and not let those excuses keep from going!

I headed out knowing I needed the run

End of last week and week end in review!

So this has been a wonderful weekend (yes, I know it's now Tuesday.. I've been busy!!!)  As I mentioned in my last posting - my brother-in-law was in town up until friday morning.  Ignoring their very existence, I started thursday with a 5 mile run outside in the BEAUTIFUL 55 degree weather.  (Mile 1: 8:19, Mile 2: 8:24, Mile 3: 8:28, Mile 4: 8:46, Mile 5:7:55.) I made up for my solitary run - by bringing both families up to  Tunkhannock Falls in Ithaca, NY.  We had a nice picnic lunch, and then headed up the trail to the falls.

As usual, I had someone stop me and ask me about my Vibram FiveFingers - don't get these if you don't like talking to random strangers!  I shared with her the wonder that is the VFFs, and she told me the "upper rim" trail was fantastic to run -about a 4 mile loop.  I thanked her for that information, and it is added on my "to-do" list this

[caption id="attachment_1347" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Family at the lowerfalls - at Tunkhannock Falls"][/caption]

summer for sure!  I really want to get into more trail running. 

The kids (both theirs and ours) were definitely impressed by the falls - and how could you not be?  Even the little ones at the beginning of the trail are gorgeous to watch/listen too.

When my niece/nephew come back in the summer we promised they could play in the water.

Milestones! 10,000 Views! A Visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I'm excited - at the time of writing this, I am ONE view away from having had a total of 10,000 page-views on this blog!    Thank you to everyone that has stopped by more than once! (well, those that stopped by once too - but those that come back make me feel a touch more interesting than those that don't!)

I have found out that being off of work seems to interfere with my blog postings.  It seems that since I run at different times, I don't get my posts scheduled.  On a good note, it means the notifications are being mailed out as soon as I write it!

So, yesterday I headed up to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  Being a runner - baseball isn't exactly my "thing," its not my wife's "thing" nor my children's.  BUT spending time with family IS our "thing."  Since my brother-in-law's family does have a "thing" for baseball - this was one of the places they wanted to see - so off we went!  Now, even a runnernerd like myself, that is familiar with names like Ryan Hall, Abebe Bikila, Walter George, and Katherine Switzer knows SOME baseball names.  Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson and even Shoeless Joe Jackson (thank you Field of Dreams) are names that mean something to me.  The "All-American Pastime" isn't lost completely on this American. 

7 Miles done! Off to the baseball hall of fame!

I decided yesterday to spend as much time as I could out in the WONDERFUL 75 degree weather.  This of course meant a loooong slow run was in order.  Before leaving I thought 7 miles sounded just about perfect.  I am aware this is a bit longer than I have been running - so I wanted to make sure I took it slow and easy.  In fact, I even stopped and glanced in some shop windows along the way!  My splits will let you know exactly which miles I did that on!

Mile 1: 8:09
Mile 2: 9:01
Mile 3: 8:54
Mile 4: 9:06

Found plenty of excuses.

This weekend was packed.  My 4 miler on saturday morning, followed by my son's Oddessy of the Mind tournament, followed by my "Running Injury Free" Seminar.  Then Brother in law #1 came over and hung out until late in the evening.

Sunday - Brother in Law #2 comes into town in the morning, followed by a big brunch to celebrate my Mother in Law's birthday brunch.  Then we headed out to my son's concert for the Parlor City Boy's Chorus (video of the PCBC performing with the Binghamton Madrigal Choir below)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqR5z2h-5PA] 

After the concert, back to our place for the cousins to play late into the evening, while the adults chit-chatted.  Monday morning - we helped get the Brother in law's family up at 5 am so they could head out to philly for the day.

What this all adds up too?

Well, this was my "bullshit" story I kept telling myself. I was simply too frickin tired to find the motivation to go out running.  A pity considering the gorgeous weather - but I just didn't have it.  I will make it up today - but yesterday? Just wasn't there.

 

Yesterday's Excuse? Too tired. I think I am going to have to quit using that one - as it's certainly not going to be an acceptable one at mile 22.

Injury free Running seminar at Binghamton University

I find it difficult to believe that there are many runners out there that wouldn't like to run "injury free.". I especially think that any runner who pulled their calf muscle five times last year AND got shin splints that hurt enough that even the doctor thought it was a stress fracture REALLY needed to attend a seminar called "Injury Free Running," by Mathew Nark of Plaza Fitness in Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany NY.   The evening of the St. Patrick's 4 mile run I had the opportunity to go to just such a seminar that the Triple Cities Runner's Club sponsored.  I was bound and determined to walk out of there with at least three big things I could change, and I was not disappointed.

Probably the most fascinating piece of information I got out of it was the idea of muscle activation.   Mathew stated something along the lines of (I don't have an photographic memory) "About half of the people I see come in for injuries - aren't injured.  They have muscles that simply aren't firing properly.  Think of an army with 100,000 people. If only 20,000 are working - then it isn't going to be doing its job well.  This is also true with Muscles - if only 20,000 of 100,000 muscle fibers are working - the muscle isn't going to work as well."  Muscle activation is the idea of increasing the number of "working" or activated muscles fibers.  Even if you only get it up to 60,000/100,000 fibers - you are going to be able to do MUCH more than if you were at 20,000/100,000.  He then demonstrated with someone who had a recurring IT Band problem (and stressed that this is not guaranteed to be someone's issue just because they have IT Band pain, but that it WAS worth looking into if you did) come up as a "volunteer."  With this person, he

St. Patricks 4 mile race in Binghamton NY!

Yesterday, I did my first "St. Pat's 4 miler!"  This a staple for runners in this area - with it being the 11th running of the race.  Let me start by saying that it was COLD.  We were running in 60 degree temperatures last week, and yesterday it was 24 degrees.  Despite (or maybe because of?) the odd distance, it gets a great showing, with 697 runners showing up this year.  I find this REALLY impressive, as it was pre-registrations ONLY.

For those that know the Binghamton Area, I have included a map of the course above.

There were a variety of outfits from the mundane, to green-haired kilt wearing runners.  The gymnasium was PACKED! (probably because people were avoiding the cold.)  I wasn't terribly impressed with the packet pickup.  First you stood in line and got your number (mine was 660.)  You were supposed to remember the number while you stood in a really

[caption id="attachment_1297" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Your standard cotton race shirt. Luckily, I like the standard cotton race shirt. Especially long-sleeve ones!"][/caption]

long line, for packet pickup.  Then toward the end of the line - you went to one of three - that was based on your number.. (Only one of which was actually long - but it was the reason the number pickup was long.)  Then, just in case you hadn't

Run like the Cylons are chasing you..

[caption id="attachment_1290" align="alignright" width="640" caption="How fast could you run if THIS was chasing you?"][/caption]

So, with last night being thursday - My wife and child headed off to Girl Scouts. (I hope you realize I mean my girl-child, not my boy-child).  This meant it was going to be a workout in my own personal gym (the playroom.)  So, A nice and easy 1 mile warm up followed by a WONDERFUL Chest and Tri workout.  I needed to do a longer run after my work out - but

Not even a late work day is going to keep me from running when it is 60 out!

[caption id="attachment_1283" align="alignright" width="198" caption=""Going home time!""][/caption]

So, I had great plans last night.  I was going to leave work at my usual time (4:00), head home - do a quick mile outside, followed by a nice strength work out. THEN the glory of glories - I was going to go run 4 or 5 miles out in the gorgeous SUMMER weather!! 

But, then reality stepped in.  I was setting up the network in a new house that we have at work - and lets face it, getting that network up was more important than my planned workout. So, two trips to Time-Warner, and I had a working cable modem and had the network up.  (3 hours of my day waisted because someone else had been too lazy to test the connection while the tech was there...)  As I returned to MY house, we had a gorgeous sunset going on (no.. Not the one in the picture, incase the presence of the Ocean didn't give it away.  I got that off the interwebs, but it is pretty!) but the temperature had already dropped from 65 to 60.

[caption id="attachment_1280" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license"][/caption]

While working is of course important, I wasn't going to let it ruin all of my plans! 

Marine Corps Marathon 2012 Registration

I got registered in the TWO HOURS AND THIRTY EIGHT MINUTES that it was open!

Did you?

Reading and Motivation.... and feeling like a wimp because someone else isn't...

So, as I had posted yesterday, my son had generously shared his fever/sore throat/achy muscles/etc..  So I had passed on my Tuesday workout, and stayed home on weds.  As I was curled up on the couch, in my comfy clothes and hot tea  I began to read through my blog-list that I enjoy reading.  Now, rather than reading some of them everyday, I wait and catch up on several days at once.  One of the people I do this with - is the "Running Thriver."  Brief background is that she went through some rough spots in life (understatement here), and has used fitness/working out/etc to really turn her life around.  In the time I have been reading her blog, she has begun doing a "boot camp" workout at a gym, and for the last month, has been doing

A family that shares together, stays together..

Sharing is caring, isn't that how the saying goes?  Well it seems that my son cares about my wife and I.  We both have swollen glands, a fever, body aches, stuffed noses and sore throats - just like he had last week!

So, no running or lifting last night.  Today I am home resting.  Its supposed to be 56 tomorrow, and as high as 60 on Thursday.  I can't be down and out on running days that nice!

A new Domain Name.. and some of that running stuff too..

So its been a quiet week here at oddfutures.wordpress.com.  (Although if you look up at the address bar - you will notice a change! This blog is now "onceandfuturerunner.com!"  As you recall from my last posts, my calf muscle had knotted up and made it painful to run. Well, after a week off - it seems to be doing just fine!  Rest assured, I was not just lying around and eating girl scout cookies all week (well.. not ALL week...), but have continued with my strength training.  I know you have all seen the late night infomercial with Chuck Norris on how the Total Gym is the one machine you need to be buff, fit and in the best shape of your life.

Well let me assure you, the results have been nothing less than