Running and Training for 2014

November 2014

Training for a race is an exercise in discipline. In January 1, 2014

I set my sights on running the 2014 Falmouth Road Race. I

established a training schedule of strength training, workouts, and

running. January, February, March........I trained 2x/week with free

weights, DVDs, stationery bike. And I ran. I ran with discipline,

logged 10-15 miles per week at first. By July I was running 20-25

miles weekly. I ran outside in all kinds of temps & trained on hills in

my neighborhood. Hills. Every street is on a hill in my

neighborhood. I managed to run up all but the highest hill. That one

hill, the one I call "Killer-manjaro", continues to get the best of me,

and I'm forced to do a walk-run to the top.

    When the weather got hot and humid, I turned up the AC and

ran on my treadmill.  I bought an interactive app for my iPad and

"ran" the Falmouth RR on my treadmill. All systems were go.

      ONE WEEK before the race, I got sick with an infection. Doc

put me on heavy duty antibiotics and pain killers. As I sobbed in the

exam room that I had been training for Falmouth, he told me "no,

won't be able to run Falmouth."  I was heartbroken. However, he

left the room, the nurse disagreed. "Of course you'll be able to run

it!"  I'd be on the meds for a week, no problem. 

FRR August 2014: Without a doubt the worst run of my life. My legs were weak, I had no speed at all, no stamina, diarrhea, and exhaustion. But I finished that damn race. I haven't run since. 

The Return Part II

My last blog entry was January 2012. Hmmm.....So much has happened in the past 18 months that I don't know where to begin. Probably at the beginning. I went back to work in Sept. 2011 and to running on my treadmill and around the neighborhood. My plan was, as always, to train for my next 1/2 marathon. Good luck with that. Aplastic anemia robs the person of their bone marrow, the essential organ of blood formation. Our blood has just the right amount of platelets (for clotting), white blood cells (for fighting infection), and red blood cells that carry the oxygen our bodies and brains need for energy to function. 

 The Laggards: After a year of treatment for aplastic anemia, January 2012 was looking pretty good. My genius hematologist at Mass General considered me his "star patient" whose recovery (his words) was "like hitting a home run over the Green Monstah" (nod to Boston Red Sox here). Wow! I was cruising. My platelets (the #1 indicator of a healthy bone marrow)were increasing monthly; still not normal, but getting there. Ditto white cells. Oh but those reds :( Genius doc calls them "the laggards". Up and down, up and down, never the same from doc visit to visit. Still, all signs pointed to returning to running. In my dreams. Trying to run with a low red blood count (hematocrit) is useless. It creates labored breathing, lightheadedness, off-the-chart heart rate, s.l.o.w. times, and a bone weary fatigue that is hard to describe. Fatigue that sapped my energy daily. I was able to continue to work, luckily due to the fact that my job (academic faculty at university) isn't physically demanding; and, I could come home and rest as soon as I walked in the door. So I waited for my pesky laggards to improve & walked on my treadmill (occasionally). Walking is ok as an exercise & for Xtraining, but it's not running. As I always told Missy, my former running partner, "runners run". 

 Ankle-mania: The Boot and Elevation April 2012 started out terrific. Our oldest granddaughter was here for a week's visit. She went to work with me and while we were walking around campus (and introducing her to my friends), I tripped and went down, spraining my weak ankle pretty badly. Enter the Boot. Ortho doc told me I had to wear it, after the 1st week on crutches. I started to actually want to walk, forget running. April, May, June got the Boot, Advil, ice packs, and Elevation with four pillows under my foot every time I sat down. Hello 5 more pounds added directly to my hips and tummy. If I'd been a tad smarter, I would have started strength training then and there. I was too busy eating ice cream and feeling sorry for myself. That's a sure recipe for misery. 

 Slip-sliding Away in the Perennials: July 2012. Ankle-mania is over! I'm walking sans The Boot, Advil, still elevating when overuse results in swelling (to be expected). I planted my veg garden, and while working in my perennial bed, slipped on a wet rock, slammed my head on my big blue wheelbarrow, and tore up that same ankle. Only this time, wife called 911 because she couldn't lift me (mortifying) and was afraid The Ankle was broken. It wasn't but my ankle was badly wrecked, worse than in April. ER's are, for the most part, misery condensed. People lined up in hallways, in all levels of pain, some bloody, some incoherent, most "sleeping it off". The pain meds given me made me sicker than I've been in years. Well, there went a few pounds right there. Always a silver lining I suppose. Enter crutches, The Boot.....you know the drill. And a 4 week stint with physical therapy 2x/week. I apparently have an ankle that doesn't know where it is in space, hence the 6-8 ankle sprains over the past 25 years. It was December before I could even consider running. In the meantime, I worked all summer at home (research project, etc.) And I crested a major birthday milestone; my students began to have that jaw-dropping "YOU RUN Dr. Miller??" response to my casual remarks about running. Ugh. AARP found me much to my chagrin. Why can't I and the rest of the world drop the age thing?? (More on this for a later blog/rant). Nobody cares. Really. The world needs to get over this age fetish. 

 Enter 2013 and The Zone of Good: Running again was always my goal; quitting for good never an option. So I waited and waited and waited some more for The Laggards to arrive at their needed destination. I worked A LOT, was awarded tenure, and walked on the treadmill occasionally, and fought fatigue every day. And it happened. May 2013! Hematocrit well into The Zone Where All is Good and Well and I Can Run Again :D 

 Summer on Cape Cod 2013 - A brutally hot summer to be sure. Humidity 90-100% almost every day. Air so thick you can almost cut it with a knife. Running outside is not an option. I tried it. Heart rate went sky high and with it, accompanying GI issues. Ah but I wasn't fatigued! I just couldn't breathe. (There are trade-offs in life, right?) That's when I stopped being an outdoor running snob and began to love my treadmill. Now, I set my alarm for 5am, get up and turn on my little window a/c unit in my exercise room, plug in my coffee maker, and go back to bed for a bit. By 6am my TM room is cool, coffee is ready, and I'm good to go. Yesterday I ran a 5K and walked a mile. I've got an elyptical machine in there too (long story), which I HATE, but maybe it's time to give it another try. It kills my quads. I've gone to the beach and started swimming. I began a strength training for runners program in June 2013, & bought some very cool workout DVDs. I'm amazed at how I'm progressing in the strength dept. Cores for runners? You bet! Superman, bicycle, bridge, I can do. I can hold a plank for 25 seconds now; granted, not terribly impressive to most people; however, since my 1st plank was all of 3 seconds before I fell flat on my face, I'm pretty happy with that 25 seconds. I'm beginning to love pushups because I can do them now! I've combed the internet for strength training for runners and I've joined SparkPeople. I don't always follow their "food choices" (don't say diet!), but I absolutely love their workout videos. 

 August 2013 is almost here. Another birthday is coming up. Wife is taking me on a 3 day mini-vacay to the Vineyard, one of our most fav places on earth. Youngest son & his family MIGHT come for a visit later in the month. We have a new beautiful granddaughter who has just started walking running which brings the grandbaby count to 6. Everyone is working, all are well, wife is scheduled for total knee replacement in Sept. Oldest granddaughter is going to college in the Fall (on a full ride YAY Avery:D). Life right now is very very good. And I just ran a 5K. It's about time. Thanks Laggards! Glad to see you've arrived! Stay around for awhile. I need you.

Return

Mercifully, 2011 is in my rearview mirror. It was a year of incredible lows and amazing highs. In January 2011 I was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, bone marow failure due to autoimmune aplastic anemia. Running took a backseat to survival. There are still no guarantees for the long-term. My genius doctor tells me that "we don't lose our aplastics anymore" which is somewhat comforting. Still, it was a shock to be told that my autoimmune system had been systematically destroying my bone marrow for approximately a year prior to my final diagnosis. My initial thought, after "am I going to die?" was "So THAT'S why my times were taking a nosedive!" By the time I was diagnosed, I could no longer run, walk, work, lift or breathe easily. My bone marrow could not make blood, therefore, my oxygen levels were depleted. I could sit and I could sleep, that's it.

I was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital, and following a 9 month recuperation period, I was able to return to work and to walking on my treadmill. I'll most likely be on a host of medications for the rest of my life to keep me in remission. Luckily, so far, I've experienced very few side-effects other than unbridled anxiety and panic attacks which have almost entirely subsided as I continue in remission. Recovery is not in the cards without a bone marrow transplant, which doesn't seem likely to be necessary as long as the medications keep me in remission.

What they know about the cause(s) of AAA can be put on the head of a pin: virus? radiation? toxins? For me, most likely a virus. My doctors said I was "hit by lightening", i.e., a random happening, since 3 people in 1,000,000 are diagnosed each year in the US with autoimmune aplastic anemia.

So now it's 2012. What have I learned during my "lost year"? I learned life lessons that I didn't know in January 2011 that's for sure. I learned the following:
1.I learned that I'm stronger & tougher than I ever knew I was. I thought I was just the opposite, that a significant illness would break me having never been seriously ill in my entire life. I had no experience to draw upon. My life was threatened and I found strength I never dreamed I had. I was NOT going to let this take me and I fought it every day, every way I knew how.

2. I learned that my family loves me more than I realized! I actually never really gave it much thought about how much I was loved (other than my wife, who loves me more than life itself). I was so busy loving my wife, adoring my kids & grandchildren, loving my extended family, friends, & work colleagues, that I never really stopped to consider my importance to them. The outpouring of love & support to me was nothing short of humbling. I have incredible people in my life and am so blessed that it's hard to describe it.

3. I learned that I can still think. My work is vital to my mental (& financial) health and I am thankful that I can still do my work and produce at the highest level of my abilities.

4. I learned that I need to run. Falling in love with running in 2008 was one of the best things to ever happen to me, and I will always be grateful to my wonderful son & daughter-in-law who guided me and mentored me when I first considered running to see if I would like it (I did!)

5. I learned that I have the best wife in the world who never left my side during my hospital stay, and who patiently cared for me without complaint thru every moment of my illness. I could not have gone through this without her and I wouldn't have recovered without her love and support.

6. I learned that God heard my prayers and wanted me whole. I owe my recovery to HIm.

So, on to 2012.

Runner gal pal and I have begun running again as of December 2011. My times need improvement, & my endurance is slowly re-building. A few weeks ago we ran 5 miles in 80 minutes (16 min mile) which wasn't so bad all things considered. Santa brought me an iPhone for Christmas 2011. I've downloaded Mapmyrun and Lose it! apps (I lived but gained 20+ lbs without exercise or running for most of 2011).

I've decided to train for the Johnny Kelley Half Marathon scheduled for Memorial Day 5/31/12. I will be running to raise funds to support the Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston MA where I was treated so successfully by a brilliant and caring doctor and nurses. As we get closer to the 1/2 marthon, I will post a link to my fund raising website.

Thank you to all who stood by me during my illness. You were all the reasons why I made it.

Spring Running

It's been quite a while since I last posted on this blog. Since February to be exact. Spring has arrived on Cape Cod and it's been one of the best Springs weather-wise in many years. The air is fresh and smells like lilacs & honeysuckle, the skies are clear and most days there's a gentle breeze coming off Cape Cod Bay that makes me happy to be alive and living in such a paradise. Clearly the miserable New England winter is finally gone and I'm one happy camper again. I guess I'll stay for awhile longer :D

I've had quite the winter and spring - a winter with events that I never expected and a spring that I couldn't wait to arrive and filled with both difficulty and joy. I am now the proud grandmother of twin boys - A & B arrived! - my mother had emergency surgery (she's fine now but it was touch & go for awhile) and I had a lot of exhausting but good work stuff going on. My running remained relatively constant until the end of April when these work and family events took priority. I've run a grand total of 21 miles in May, which is the mileage I'm used to running weekly. Runner gal pal & I haven't been able to coordinate our schedules in a month or more. As a result, my conditioning has taken a nose-dive, my legs feel like rubber and I can't seem to handle much more than 6 miles per run daily if that. Pace? Times? Don't ask.....

I ran this morning a grand total of 4 miles. I planned a 7 mile run but at mile 4 I knew it was time to think about doing my cool down walk back to the house from the beach parking lot.

So I'm back to reading about conditioning and anything I can find on re-building running endurance after a hiatus. Geez, I only took 2 1/2 weeks off but you'd think I hadn't run in years. I'm registered for a 1/2 marathon next week but unless I can pull off a miracle long run in the next few days, it's looking pretty doubtful that I'll run it. I've decided that if I don't run it, I'll look for another HM in June and train for that. On a bright note, I ran up Killer-manjaro this morning in 80 seconds, not my fastest, but at least I ran the entire way without stopping.

I'm considering returning to doing yoga, some strength training and my workout DVDs. I just have to figure out when to do all this since I try to run at least 5 days a week including a long run on Sunday mornings. Luckily I'm on hiatus from teaching until Sept, so I have some time to do this.

I read in a running magazine about an over 50+ woman runner who is legally blind & gradually losing what little sight she still has, and who has run 100s of marathons all over the world, including a marathon in Siberia. She refuses to give up even though her sight is so bad she sometimes gets lost during races and veers off the course. But she says she'll run until she can't. She has no interest in her pace or her times. Negative splits mean nothing to her. Running keeps her from giving up. If she can do it, so can I.

Runner gal pal and I are scheduled to resume our daily runs this week. Just keep running and never give up.

Winter Running

I've always hated winter. There is nothing about freezing temps, snow storms, cold winds, black ice, and/or driveways in need of shoveling that can change my intense dislike of winter. I grew up in Philadelphia & southern New Jersey, moved to New England as a young mother with a toddler 40 years ago, lived through the Blizzard of '78 where it snowed 36" on my house, so it would stand to reason that I would be used to this weather. I've been in New England long enough to be considered a "hearty New Englander". New England is my home. My youngest child was born here. My children have Boston accents. My granddaughters were all born in Boston. My wife grew up here. Family is here. Still, we both have always detested the cold weather. However, runners run and I've been running outside this winter much more than I did last winter. I've survived. I hate it and I love it.

Winter running isn't for the faint of heart. It's dark out in the mornings - the only time I have to run that fits into my work schedule and my endurance levels. Jan & I ran this morning and it never gets easier. The cold grips my body, invading every muscle & bone. My face has been so badly chapped from running this winter that I've had to apply Vitamin E oil on it. (If I'm going to have wrinkles on my face, I'll get them running!) My legs and fingers feel numb. It takes 3-4 miles for my muscles to warm up enough to get up some decent speed. I wear 2 pair of everything - Nike running pants & shirts, wool socks, gloves with hand-warmers inside, scarf wrapped around my neck and face.

Too much talking while running in these cold temps just doesn't work. I need to conserve as much energy as possible, especially when running up snowy/icy hills. When runner gal pal & I run together, we have to do most of our catch-up chats early in the run while we're warming up; when the warm-up is done, it's time to get serious - no talking, just running.

By mile 3.5 this morning, we were sufficiently warmed up. My feet, leg muscles and hands were toasty warm. I could almost feel slightly sweaty - such a good throw-back feeling to last summer's canal runs; I was ready to have some serious fun.

We ran 5 miles in 58 minutes; I checked and re-checked the time. Could that be accurate? I think so, but we're scheduled to do our weekly long run tomorrow morning - same time, same route - so we'll see. We finished our run at 6 miles, not feeling the cold but most likely frozen to the bone.

Winter running - I read a blogger who said winter running was "totally badass". I agree - I hate it I love it I hate it I love it. It's an adventure that's for sure. Totally badass.

Big shout out to Runner Gal Pal - Happy Birthday! She got up at the crack of dawn today on her birthday (a Saturday too!), and ran 6 miles with me on one of the coldest days of the year. Runners run. Missy - you're one Badass Runner! See you tomorrow morning for our 8. :D

Missy & SuziQ go for a c.o.l.d run

I went out for a run this morning with Jan, my running partner. She arrived for our scheduled 6 mile run this morning and it was c.o.l.d on Cape Cod. Perhaps not as cold as say, International Falls Minnesota, but cold for Cape Cod, as in 20 degrees F. But as I often tell her, "runners run", so off we went for our Sunday morning long run.

Jan and I thought we were dressed appropriately. I piled on my Nike fleece-lined tight fitting top and matching pants, merino socks, Asics jacket, hat & matching gloves, and a fleece scarf. Jan did likewise. And we were freezing. Really freezing.

Running in the cold weather is daunting. The cold attacks you, the wind pummels you. Muscles take longer to warm up. What normally takes 2 miles to feel warmed-up and ready to kick into high gear, takes 3-4 miles on a January run here. Running along the canal now isn't feasible either. The wind blows off the water creating a wind chill factor that prohibits any more than a 3 or 4 mile run. We tried that a few weeks ago; the wind chill was brutal, cutting our run short although we did attempt it. The porta-pottys on the canal road are closed for the off-season as well, so the last thing we want to do is get 7 miles down the canal and realize we have to run 7 miles back and then drive home in order to do our thing. Then there's the ice. The roads around here have been icy for most of January; some roads get plowed & sanded, some do not. There's also something called "black ice" here on Cape Cod that's basically frozen dew that can't be seen until you are in the process of slipping and falling on it.

So we run in my neighborhood. It's loaded with hills, regular & black ice, snow, dogs (whose owners think it's cute to let them run without their leash because who'd be out at this hour anyway?), and of course other hearty Cape Cod runners. But we never really warmed up this morning. Our times were unprintable. It took a lot of hot coffee, a hot shower & a couple hours sitting in front of a fire in my fireplace to finally increase my body temperature back to normal.

So I went shopping for warmer running clothes. UnderArmour? Nike? Tight-fitting or loose? Polyester? Silk? Fleece-lined? Tights? This should not be this hard. All I wanted was a pair of tights to go under my fleece-lined running pants. I finally found what I was looking for: Nike tight-fitting running pants to wear under loose-fitting Nike running pants.

The weather for the coming week is forecast to be stormy & altogether miserable so I don't know how much running we will do. But my new running pants should hopefully help my leg muscles warm up and stay warm while we try to regain our times from last summer. We thought running in 90 degree F heat was difficult, but I'd rather run in shorts with Mister Fan than in this bitter cold.

But runners run, so we did.

2010 Running Goals

I've been thinking since New Year's Day about my first blog entry of the new year and the new decade. It's hard to believe it's 2010. Twenty-ten. Life has changed enormously for me in the past decade. So much so that I hardly recognize the person I was 10 years ago.

I have a picture taken of me on New Year's Eve 1999 in front of the TV when the Times Square ball had just come down. When the clock turned 12 midnight & the millennium began in the year 2000, I was overweight & stressed to the max in a job that produced enormous anxiety and insomnia, ruining many nights' sleep. I was trying to complete my doctoral research, my dissertation nowhere near started. I was eating badly, eating too much, eating in front of the computer, and eating for many of the wrong reasons. I was yo-yo dieting, going from the South Beach Diet to Weight Watchers to whatever diet was on the cover of the latest women's magazine. And I got absolutely no exercise. My cholesterol climbed to almost 300. My youngest son had moved out of state with our 5 year old granddaughter and I missed them very very much. By 2008 I knew I had to change my behavioral patterns or they'd change me. I went back to Weight Watchers, followed the program and lost 17 lbs. I was doing better handling my life, but I couldn't handle stress well at all.

By the end of the decade, I'd completed my dissertation & graduated, left the killer job, opened & closed a business (a great experience but 'way too much work for the long term), and was offered & accepted the job of my dreams. On the plus side, our oldest son's two daughters were born, my youngest son & granddaughter moved closer to home and he married the love of his life - our wonderful marathoner daughter-in-law. The New England Patriots won 3 Super Bowls and the Boston Red Sox won 2 World Series, I got a new kitchen & bath, and, oh yes, best of all - I got married. I guess the decade wasn't all bad :D

But other family dramas and the passing of my parents sapped me of a happy outlook on life and grief was frequently my daily companion.

Then late in 2008 I started running. Since those first few days on my treadmill running with a tentative plan in mind to try to become a runner, I've run and completed a half-marathon plus many other 5Ks & 10Ks. I became a vegetarian & my cholesterol is below 200. I now know how to handle stress in healthy appropriate ways (I blog & I run!). I'm down 2 sizes and my energy levels are off the charts. I love my iPod Nano and my Nike+ chip. Terms I had never heard of or never noticed on December 31, 1999 are now part of my lexicon: "wicking fabric", "orthotics" "over-pronation" "iTunes store", "Killer-manjaro" "runner gal-pal" and of course the Falmouth Road Race.

How times have changed. Fast forward ten years to New Year's Day 2010. Old eating habits are a thing of the past. I finally learned to eat to nourish my body and to be able to run. Yes I do still love sweets but I now eat them in moderation; one does not need dessert after every meal. Yes I gained weight over the holidays - a whopping 2 lbs. I do yoga now to center myself and to stretch & strengthen my core muscles. And I run. I'm not fast but I'm faster than when I started. My form isn't pretty but it's better than at the beginning. But I run & I finish.

And I have gratitude, true & immense gratitude, to my wonderful wife, family and friends who entered and/or remained in my life and gave me their unconditional love.

So here are my running goals for 2010:
1. Continue to run!
2. Increase my monthly mileage. My best month was 98.5 miles. Can I do 100? I'm going to try!
3. Run intelligently - don't take chances but challenge myself to run better and longer.
4. Avoid injury (note to self: don't even think of bowling!)
5. Run a few more 5K & 10Ks
6. Train for and run another half marathon in May.
7. Join the gym at the college where I work (it's too inexpensive to pass up) and strengthen my core.
8. Train for my first marathon. I don't have to run it this year, but I think I'll at least train for one.
9. Put my name in the lottery for the 2010 Falmouth Road Race and cross all fingers & toes that I get in again.
10. Have fun - I'm going to be a grandmother again!
11. Oh yes - one more thing......run Boston in 2011!