I am scared

I am terrified of the Broad Street Run on Sunday. Much like the Derby Festival Mini-Marathon, this is the race that Philadelphians come out to support, and I want to be a part of it. I have no problem with the distance (I've run several 8 milers this year without trouble), but I am scared for my left leg. The shin splint has improved a lot since my 5K race last week, but I still find myself with generalized achiness in my calf at the end of the day. The pain I had trying to finish the 5K was nearly unbearable. It also gets aggravated by non-impact exercise like biking and swimming.
I am surrounded daily by a posse of orthopaedic surgeons who tell me not to run on Sunday for the risk that I might have a stress fracture in my left tibia (x-rays are negative but have a high false negative rate). I just really want to run. My thinking is this, if I can make it halfway there, I'll be at my hospital anyway, so I can just admit myself. I just can't bear the thought of wasting the $25 entry fee. Stupid, I know.
Here's to chugging ibuprofen and lots and lots of ice.

Triathlon Update - Biking and Swimming

This should be short. I have logged 22 hours on a bike so far, but the majority of that was on the stationary bike at the gym. I have only been on my road bike twice, mostly because I am not ever home during daylight hours (average day: leave home at 5, get home at 8). I should do better now that I have more time on the weekends. I planned on a good ride today, but my shin splints are so bad I can barely walk, let alone ride.
As for swimming, I have gone about 63000 yards so far, which is about what I used to do in a week in college. I am progressively getting faster, able to hold about 1:15 pace for 100 yards without too much effort. I need to continue to do some speed work, but mostly just keep logging yardage. I read somewhere that you shouldn't swim more than about 45 minutes at a time, but I don't figure it's worth the effort unless I go at least an hour. I do find swimming by myself to be ungodly boring, so I'd rather go longer less frequently.

Triathlon Update - Running

Before I finished swimming in college, I had pretty much never run more than a mile at any given time. The times I had tried it, I ended up hurting like crazy for the next several days and it didn't really seem worth it. I also did not own a real pair of sneakers until I was 21 (Chucks are not real sneakers,at least, not for the past 30 years). After my final college meet in 2000, Darren suggested that I take up running. We did the Rodes City Run (10K) that spring and I did pretty well despite having minimal to no training. I did the Triple Crown of Running (5k, 10K, 10mi) a few years later.

Since I've started residency, running has been the easiest of the three disciplines for me to do as it requires minimal equipment and prep time. When I first starting training 8 years ago, I was happy to do 10 minute miles. I am currently able to run sub 8 minute miles when I am doing shorter distances, despite only being able to train a few days a week. I actually ran to my volleyball game (8.1 mi) earlier this week. Much like in swimming, I have an uncanny ability to do exactly the same pace (within a half second or so) for several quarter miles. I just have to remember to set a good pace to begin with.

Tomorrow is the second of my spring running races, the Clean Air 5K along the Schuykill. I'm hoping to do better than I did in my last race where it was butt-freezing cold and I was essentially wearing a parka to run in. Here's hoping for a near 24 minute time.

Sorry I haven't posted my training totals lately. My work time requirements are so high right now I can barely squeeze any lengthy training in. Here's the totals: 128mi run/ 481 mi bike/ 63150 swim.

Update: I just finished the 5K. I went out in 7:45, which is what I wanted, then my shin splints got so bad I couldn't finish. I promised myself I would never walk in a race, but when I tried to run it brought tears to my eyes. My overall time sucked and I won't reveal it here. I then had to limp home from the Art Museum. I have got to get this treated before Broad Street Run or I will be in deep trouble.
Update Part 2: The results of the Race for Humanity 5K finally came out. I finished 10th in women's 20-29 and would have won the 30-39 division by two minutes if I was two months older. Just have to do it next year, I guess.

My Favorite You Tube video ever

If I'm having a bad day and need a laugh, this is about the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Triathlon-Health

During the past 4 months, I have come down with a number of aches and pains that, while annoying, have not stopped me from training (at least not too much). Please remember, I am a licensed physician and a quasi-hypochondriac, so I pay attention to everything and think it's worse than it is. A quick list of my ailments (from head to toe)
1. Insanity (I'll just go ahead and add this so my husband doesn't)
2. Bronchitis in January
3. Left ulnar nerve subluxation over the medial epicondyle of the humerus (my funny-bone nerve snaps sometimes when I swim)
4. Chubby gut (working on that one)
5. Gastritis caused by taking waaaaay to much ibuprofen
6. Left medial collateral ligament sprain (from skiing; made breaststroke hard for a while)
7. Bilateral patellar tendonitis
8. Left sided shin splints (finally getting better)
9. Right posterior tibial tendon dysfunction (gone)
10. Plantar fasciitis
11. Funky toe nails from running

On a better note, I have lost about 12 pounds since starting this thing. I kept trying to tell myself before that I was just muscular and most of that extra weight was from that. Nope; I just ate too many cheetos and didn't work them back off (I still love me some cheetos, but I can burn off a bag in half an hour). I feel great, look better, and am so happy that none of my jeans fit right anymore. I'll post some before and after pics at some point.



Look at these doctors; they scare the crap out of me. Good Lord, lighten up!

Oh, going to be in Louisville this weekend for a wedding. I'm gonna try to run around Iroquois Park a few times as my in-laws live only a few hundred yards away.

Triathlon Update: Time

I am now about three months into my experiment into the world of triathlons. It's been going well so far (I think), and I am itching to get out there and finally compete in one. Several things have become obvious so far: 1. I feel a lot better overall, 2. I really like to train when there is a goal to reach, 3. I have to do a lot more laundry.

I have realized that there are 5 main components of competing in a triathlon: swimming, biking, running, health, and time. All five of these need to be balanced in order to do well. So, over the next few days, I'll touch on how all of these different areas are coming along. I also apologize that my blog is turning into a damn training log, but hey, that's what's interesting to me at the moment. I'll get back to politics and whatnot later.

As for work, I actually started training for my first tri two years ago. I was on a fairly easy rotation and I was very dedicated to getting to the gym after work. That ended when my hours shot waaaaaay up at the end of the year. When I decided to try (tri?) again this year, I again started up when I was on an easier rotation. By "easier", I mean that I was only working about 60 hours a week. I am now working a solid 80 hours on my current gig. I am so jealous of these hard-core triathletes that are able to train 2 hours or so a day, but there is just no way I could do it, literally. I try to make time on the weekends and days where I get off early (after working overnight the day before). If I get off work after 7pm, I just don't have the energy to drive the 45 minutes (from the suburbs) to the gym and then get up at 4:45 the next day. Ain't happenin'. I usually only get 6 hours a sleep or so a night. There are also times I am just too tired, and I really need a lot of encouragement to keep going (like all of mid-March).

Sorry this post was boring, but I just wanted to remind myself what a commitment this really is.

Two Things

1. My husband and I went on our first date 10 years ago today. He is the most awesome guy in the world and I can't imagine my life without him. He put together a fabulous slide show of our time together; I got him a receiver. See his blog here.

2. I got word today that my insurance is no longer accepted by Tenet Hospitals (as of May 1), including St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Hahnemann University Hospital. I find this ironic, considering I work for Tenet healthcare at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Hahnemann University Hospital. So my job no longer accepts the insurance my job provides. That makes no sense; look at the monkey! (please know your South Park references)

A hitch in my giddy-up

Periostitis: Inflammation of the periosteum, a dense membrane composed of fibrous connective tissue that closely wraps (invests) all bone, except the bone of articulating surfaces in joints which are covered by synovial membranes. Also known as shin spints.

Histologic picture of periosteum at left (H&E stain)

Today was the first really great day of weather here in Philly. Late in the afternoon, the sun came out and the temperature was around 67 degrees. I had gotten out of work early (after a mere 9 1/2 hour day), took a nap, and decided to go for a run. Three things should have told me to stick with my original plan of just swimming today: 1) I had ridden the stationary bike at the gym yesterday and my shins were killing me when I tried to run afterwards, 2) it was going to get dark in a few hours, and 3) my headphones shorted out 4 minutes into the run. Ignoring all of these things, I set out to do a good 5-6 miles along the river.

My left shin was hurting as soon as I left the house, but I figured once I got warmed up it would calm down some. No such luck. I ran a brisk 8:30 for two miles and then couldn't lift my foot off the ground. I tried to walk it off for another half mile, but to no avail. So at this point, I am two and a half miles from home, with no cell phone, and the sun is rapidly setting behind me (you do not want to be out in downtown Philly after dark, alone, and phoneless). I kept hoping to pass someone I knew on the trail and borrow a phone, but that didn't happen either. So, I limped the entire way home. I am currently sitting on the couch, left leg wrapped in ice, and not feeling so hot at all. I will be chugging ibuprofen for the next few days (600mg t.i.d.), icing like crazy, and resting this stupid thing into submission.

In better news, I did run my first race of the year in the USP Race for Humanity 5K. I went out too fast uphill and in general felt crappy the whole time, but I did manage a personal best time of 25:02 (which is about 8 minute miles). It was really cold and windy and I'm just glad I got out there to do it (thanks to Nate for encouraging me to sign up).

Triathlon training week 17: run 11.47mi, bike 22.42, swim 3500. I finally passed 100mi running (funny enough, when I ran 8.37 mi last monday, I hit 100.00 on the nose). totals 103.1/445.58/56650.