ZellyB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
DW here
I told DH that he can't tease a journal update then wait days to do it.
My MRI showed that my meniscus is torn again. But the first thing the Dr said to me was "your meniscus is deteriorating". Sounds like I need surgery again. I told him I just want to be able to walk right now so I got a steroid injection. I will be getting a bike to use at home. It is a professional one from Life Fitness with a full LCD screen. There is a company here that buys/extracts equipment from gyms when they upgrade. It will be fully refurbished and a fraction of the new price. I guess they start refurbishing after the customer commits to it. They said I should have it in less than 2 weeks.
Stay tuned for DH's report of his recent 10k!
Sorry to hear about your knee. . the bike sounds great though.
This past Saturday, I ran my first race(s) since last September's half marathon. That race resulted in a DNS, PT, and some serious non-running time.
Weather: chilly, but not too bad. 39. Cloudy. No precipitation
1 Miler
The course: through a local park. Streets and paved surfaces. But there were 4-5 sections that were almost impassible due to snow and ice that had not yet melted. In what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to direct us around one of the first icy patches, a fairly large tree limb was placed across the path. We had no choice but to go around it. With 1 exception, there was a helpful volunteer at each icy section, warning us of the danger.
Runners helping runners: I didn't see anybody trying to push the issue. I think that, other than the kids (<10yo), everyone was doing like I was and using it as a warm up for the "main event". There was even someone helping a woman push her stroller up a grassy hill at one point, so she could avoid the stairs in that area.
Overall: it was a nice warmup. First race since the fall, as I mentioned, with the exception of Girls on the Run in December with DW, but that was more of a fun walk/run/walk together. Everything was showing green on the internal problem indicator dashboard. Plus, a bonus mile for the day's total. 10:12
10k
The course: Sweet merciful Mary! A co-worker running buddy of mine (Molly) and her friend (Heather) were doing this race also. About 2-3 miles in, I said to her, "this counts as a hill run, for sure!" I need to review my Garmin data again, as I'm certain that the hill somewhere around mile 1-1.5 was over 8-10% uphill incline. We just seemed to keep going uphill. I'm looking out (down on creation) across the valley, and we're well above some multi-story buildings down by where we started. Later, we got to "enjoy" a 13% downhill into a 270 degree right hand hairpin turn and onto... a mud road with ice and snow on it! That lasted for over a half a mile. Uphill. So much for the new since 12/2017 Adrenaline-18s. They're officially christened now!
Runners helping runners: Around mile 3, I was pacing slightly ahead of my work running buddy, when a woman wearing bib 133 started chatting with me. We paced together for around 2.5 miles. I knew the back half of the course had more up hills (we must come down sometime, don't we?), and I must say, without the company of her, Molly, and Heather, I would've worked in some walk breaks. But the time and distance seemed to pass quickly running together. And then there was the safety in numbers when Mr/Mrs. Angry Driver came tooling down alongside the runners, faster than they needed to be, leaning on their horn. I was wearing a chartreuse and 3M reflective jacket that I think they can see on the ISS, so I was outside my friends with less brightness. Looking at the data, I ran a negative split, but I'm sure the significant hills in the first 5k is why. I also think the friends around me helped. I was like 1009, 1020 (pace literally drops OFF the scale on the Garmin graph; I and those around me were shuffling!) 951, 950, 950, and then 934, with an 8:40 last 0.2 miles. Around mile 5.5, we had to traverse about 75 feet of packed snow and ice to come to a steel top single lane bridge and then another 100 feet of snow/ice to get back to the road. This is where our group got a little separated, with me slightly ahead, but within a couple of minutes, I could hear them coming back to me.
Post-race: they had water, and what appeared to be home-made ginger bread running man cookies. Soft and chewy! Over by the building where we checked in, a local McDonalds set up hot beverages. I thanked them a lot, as they had hot chocolate! I'm not a coffee or tea person.
Overall: I'm glad I did it. It counts as significant hill work for me. I could feel it in my lower legs the rest of the day. On Sunday, after a recovery swim, I could feel it higher up in my legs. Not sure if I feel like doing it again, though
1:00:38 on the Garmin
Nice recap! That sounds like a really tough course. Congrats.