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May 20, 2007
For all things I've been doing wrong, I must have been doing something right
Today was a nice day not to be running. To watch Bay to Breakers roll through the park, and then to go get a pedicure. My back still hurts and I need a break.
Last week I had the privilege of getting a full evaluation of my running gait, strength, flexibility, and footwear, all for free. A local sports medicine clinic is starting up a program for which they'll eventually charge runners lots of money, but I got in early as a guinea pig.
A doctor tested my strength (er, weaknesses) and flexibility. He told me I have weak glutes. Hmm. This does actually explain some things, like why at the end of long, hard races, I start to canter unevenly and drag one foot like Quasimodo. (Almost.) (At least that's what it feels like.) I also have terrible balance and my muscles were tight everywhere he tested. I tried to convince him that that was because I had finished a 20-mile ride only an hour earlier and hadn't had time to stretch. Which is true. If I had had more time, would I have stretched? Um.
A foot specialist examined my feet, watched me walk with and without shoes, and checked the wear on my current pair of running shoes. Turns out I overpronate way more than I thought I did. I've been running in the wrong shoes for seven years, and I need orthotics, too. Huh! Sort of surprising. I have four pairs of my current shoe model, in various states of decay. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to keep running in them until it's time to recycle them.
A nutritionist evaluated my pre-, mid- and post-workout nutrition, which I have pretty well dialed. At least I passed one section.
And finally, they videotaped me running on a treadmill from the side and from behind, which I got to watch later with the entire group in horrifying slow motion. Honestly, I'd rather not look at a full body shot of myself from the rear while doing or wearing anything. (And by that I do NOT mean I prefer to be wearing nothing.) But, of course, it was instructive. I do look OK running from the side. And again, the overpronation is pretty obvious from behind.
I went to Sports Basement the next day and picked up some moderately-more-supportive shoes. I refuse to go for the full-on motion-control shoes. They're much, much heavier than what I'm used to, and they hardly flex at all. I know plenty of people run in these with great success, but I look at them and think of Jimmy Hoffa. I think I'd do more harm than good by making such a drastic change in my footwear.
I thought about Jimmy Hoffa and concrete shoes a few times as I did a 10-mile run in the brand-new shoes Friday, having never run in them before. I really do know better. Doing a long run in new new shoes is a recipe for injury. My legs felt a little more beaten up than usual following that stunt, so I soaked them in a bathtub full of cold water afterward.* It actually felt... good.
There's nothing like a soak in freezing-cold water to remind me that what I do is a little crazy sometimes.
*While wearing a fleece jacket and hat. Brr.
May 12, 2007
Training for everything
I am not training for anything. My friends and acquaintances, many of whom are athletes of some sort, routinely ask me what I'm training for. At any point in the last seven years, the answer would have been a list of triathlons, running races, century rides, multi-day rides, and open-water swims. For the first time in a long time, I am not signed up for a single event. This may change -- I'll probably do a few races this summer -- but notably, I am not signed up for an ironman or anything else requiring a training schedule months in advance.
I am, however, training as though I were, with three swims, three rides and three or four runs per week. This is because I missed the training. And also to burn calories to help me lose the weight I've gained back slowly in the last two years.
Yesterday I went to Sawyer Camp, a local running/biking trail which is popular among marathon runners. It's paved, quiet, shady and secluded, and has mile markers, water and bathrooms. Everything you need for a good 16- or 20-miler.
I only ran 8 miles, and it was depressing. My pace was about 10:30 per mile. I used to easily maintain a 9:20 pace over 20 miles here, with the last 4 miles at 8:50. Weight gain and lack of speedwork will slow you down like that. My work, as they say, is cut out for me.
During the run I leapfrogged with a couple who were about my pace. When we were all finished, the woman introduced herself and thanked me for providing a little motivation for picking up the pace. We chatted for a while, and she asked me what I'm training for. I gave her my vague answer, and asked her the same question. "I'm training to be 90 years old and fit and healthy," she said. Good answer.
Our chat wound down and I told her I was heading to the Burlingame pool for a swim in the sunshine. She told me that I must try another pool nearby in San Mateo, as it was much better and friendlier, and the water was treated with chlorine, not bromine. (I have no preference -- any outdoor pool is a luxury to me -- but I thought this was an interesting way to choose a pool.) I made a mental note of it but still planned to head to Burlingame, where I know the routine.
When I got to the Burlingame pool, though, the lifeguard had interesting news. "Lap swim is over in 20 minutes," he said. "That's a surprise," I said. "Yeah, to you and about 20 other people." It was supposed to go another hour and a half. (Then, to add insult to annoyance, he pointed out that I had entered the pool deck through the men's locker room side. Oops.)
Suddenly my new friend Diana seemed like a messenger sent from heaven. I had to wait another 40 minutes for the lap swim at the San Mateo pool to start, but it was a very nice experience. I got my own lane and swam 2400 meters in the mid-day sunshine. I even have the freckles to prove it. (Yes, I wore SPF 45 everywhere, but the freckles weren't listening.) Thank you, Diana, wherever you are.
I'd like to think I'm tough as nails and can deal with a pretty big training load easily. But it seems I tweaked my lower back two weeks ago, possibly by coming back too quickly after being sick. But, typically, I have ignored the pain and trained right through it. (Whyyy? It's not like I have an important race to train for.) Last night and this morning the pain was particularly persistent, so I am taking a day off. I wish it weren't so nice outside.
And speaking of training to be a fit and healthy 90-year-old, I am lucky enough to have good genes for that myself. My grandma, who is in her 90s (she won't like me telling you that, but I think she should be proud of it), is recuperating from hip-replacement surgery. Grandma set a great example for us and zillions of other kids by teaching swimming and school P.E. for decades. I'm looking forward to seeing her back on the dance floor soon. Heal fast, Grandma!
May 5, 2007
Faraway, So Close
I am getting close with this CD-ripping project. I have ripped around 530 CDs (12 out of 13 shelves) and I have about 50 to go. I am determined to finish the job tonight. Tomorrow I leave for the southland and I'm not taking any CDs with me. (I will, however, take my external hard drive with the MP3s along so I can play with the statistics. DORK.)
Here's some teaser data: By sheer numbers, Low is our favorite musical act, with 387 tracks. Even if I don't count all the random live shows, there are still 200-something official tracks. Low is followed by Stereloab (195) and R.E.M. (180). Cocteau Twins, The Church and Dead Can Dance are in the top ten, which tells you what industrious music collectors we were in high school and college. The library is over 100gb at this point.
And that's just the CDs. There are several hundred more items on vinyl. I will probably select a few of those and painstakingly record the tracks we don't have and can't get on CD.
Unless I find a job or something else better to do with my time.
May 1, 2007
Thank you for choosing Dell
I sent our new Dell laptop in for a minor repair last Tuesday. You may recall that the battery was loose and its constant jiggling drove me nuts. I was floored when the computer arrived back from the service center just three days later, on Friday. The problem seemed to be fixed (although now that I have used it for a couple of days, I think it's coming back, but at least I tried).
On Saturday I tried to transfer a photo from my cell phone to the computer via Bluetooth. We paid a little extra for Bluetooth capability when we bought the computer because it's nice to be able to connect to our mobile phones and use a truly wireless mouse. (Incidentally, all Mac laptops come standard with Bluetooth.) I just couldn't figure out why the computer's Bluetooth module wouldn't turn on. It worked great before I sent the computer in to be fixed.
Thinking that maybe the Bluetooth card had come loose from its connection, I found the computer's service manual online and figured out where the card goes. Hey, it's in the battery compartment! The battery compartment has gotten a lot of abuse in the last week, said the voice in my head. I probably just need to re-seat the card's connections. Right?
Well, you know where this is going because you've seen the photo. The card was not just disconnected -- it's gone. The service folks must have taken it out and forgotten to put it back in. It's a tiny little thing, not much bigger than a stick of Trident gum. The connector shown above is 7/16 of an inch wide.
I called Dell; they're sending me a new Bluetooth card. Once again, very friendly. But seriously, WTF? More evidence that Macs rule.
Who wants to bet that when I plug the new card in, the battery-jiggling problem will be worse than ever?
