Tuesday Night Review ... Time for A Running Coach?

Note: As I'm writing this, I'm eating Zataraine's jambalaya mix. Do I like it? Eh, not so much. The red beans and rice package is good though ...

Here's an update: for Tuesday (Wednesday) night, Brian and I went to a long-standing "English" pub, The Grafton, not to be confused with an Irish pub (no gaelic, less green, etc.). I give it 2 of 5 Zs.

Ouch! I know, I know. Why the low rating? The food really wasn't that good. My burger was blah, and the cole slaw proved that it is possible to have a dish that uses mayonaise and tastes just as bland as ... cold, chopped cabbage. Brian's cajun chicken sandwich seemed to comprise schnitzel-esque chicken (pounded meat). My mashed potatoes were good, but it's pretty hard to screw up mashed potatoes.

Here's where The Grafton wins: The atmosphere. The staff. Both are charming. If I were judging it by a pint and a good time, it'd be 4 of 5 Zs. But if you go there hungry, you might be taking your chances (after all, my experience was one night, right?).

Ideas for next Tuesday (Wednesday): The Fantastic Crepe (so new I couldn't find a Web site) or a Korean place.  Stay tuned.

***

So this running thing, yeah ... I've gotta get into a rhythm, and I'm scared. I'm scared of making my knees worse, and I'm scared of being in pain from the more frequent runs and then having my other workouts suffer. But I don't want to say "I can't," and I do want to continue to build strength and push myself.

That's why Brian is pushing for me to see Bill Leach, a well-known running coach (at least on the Northside) in Chicago who analyzes gait  along with training runners. I'm interested in finding out if how I run is the correct way. Believe it or not, you really can have a messed up stride or technique, and that can aggravate current problems or trigger new ones. Brian, for example, has completed several 1/2 Ironmans and a ton of Olympic distance triathlons to find, after nine months off a lot of pain once he resumed his workouts, that all these years he's been compensating for poor running technique and thus has more knee and leg pain than he should.

I'm also considering returning to PT, but I want to see "Coach Leach" first. I've actually watched him work with people while I took PT at Accelarated in Lincoln Park. He was focused and definitely coach-like. But that's what I need.

Yeah, I'm in pain. It's not a lot and definitelly something I can deal with, but I don't want it to escalate and genuinely want to understand how my body performs -- and what I can do to help it. Some people are natural athletes and can crank out ultramarathons (please excuse the Wikipedia reference there) without woes. I am not one of those people. But that doesn't mean I'll sit on the sidelines.

My Gym, My Community: Time for a Change?

I spent my flight home from Baltimore (great trip, btw!) catching up on all the articles I clipped from Brian's Triathlete magazine reference library we recently pitched (correction: I made him pitch). As you can see in the photo on the left, we had a few set aside as permanent reading material in the master bathroom. They dated back to 2005, which makes me laugh but really did allow me to go have my choice of articles to save to read now that I'm a more serious triathlete.

Note the words "more serious," as in "more serious than I was before." Newbies and sprint distance triathletes can definitely take away a lot of good information from the magazine on everything from sample workouts to exercise physiology. But make no mistake that the core audience is die-hard triathletes, many who do 70.3s and Ironmans.

A normal sentence in Triathlete might read, "After your morning workout, make sure to eat plenty of protein to help your body recover. That way, by the time you get to your evening set, you'll still have energy left to burn." Another favorite sentiment: "After an intense hour and a half of working out, it's good to stretch before jumping into your final run."

Hah! 1) I only have one formal workout a day, thank you very much, and 2) Who has enough time to spend hours at the gym? I'm there for 1 hr. 15 min. during the week (all my sched and gym's opening time allows) and about 2 hours when I can be on the weekends. I could go longer on the weekends but usually am happy with that amount and have stuff to do!

So I glean what I can from the magazine, and it is a good one. I got through about 10 articles on my flight home, and I walked off the plane pumped to take my training to the next level. I really hate keeping tabs on sets, so "stepping it up" for me, Sara, who has a life and doesn't want triathlon to eat up all my free time, would be to increase the time I spend at the gym. And that would mean switching gyms.

Horrors! I heart my gym. I know the people there, and they know me. By name. Sometimes we smile and nod. Sometimes we chat about an exercise class, or an injury, or a race. Regardless, they're all nice people, and it's my third community (work and friends/family being the other two). I've built up a relationship over the three years with it and the thought of letting it go troubles me. And not just b/c of the people, but the facilities. The building's old -- the locker rooms are spotless but have permanent dirt marks that don't impress -- but exercise equipment is new. The spin bikes are nicer than most gyms'. The core workout equipment is awesome. And the vibe is down-to-earth; we do not have a problem with cell phones or people who wear makeup to workout. 

If you belong to my gym, you're nice, you appreciate diversity and you're there to workout. The sense of community is a major bonus.

But the truth is, it's holding me back on my training, and every time I get a surge of energy from a Triathlete article, I struggle to fit the tips into my routine: Because of the limited lap swim time in the pool, I can't swim whenever I want. Because it only opens at 5:30 a.m., I can't tack on an extra 20 min. to add something new -- I do have to make it to work on time, after all. My evening availability is limited and doesn't allow me to commit to a workout routine, so I pretty much have to keep it to mornings.

The other gym I'm considering -- Brian's gym -- is more expensive. The people tend to be a snottier. It's all well-off white people and a ton of kids. And while there def. are some nice people there, the overall vibe isn't one I like. It would however accommodate my schedule, including swim and cycle flexibilities. That's huge when you're trying to excel at three sports while incorporating others.

Is it time to give up my gym? Brian's told me to give him the word to tack me on to his plan. It's up to me to make the call.

90% Decided on the Olympic Distance Tri

It's been a week since I resumed my workout routine, and I'm already sore. I'm also almost done convincing myself to commit to an Olympic-distance triathlon, which is double the distance I usually race.  Considering my bad knees, it would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Here's my reasoning: I've already done an aquabike (Olympic distance swim and bike) and just need to nail down the 6-mile run. That's it! I can do a 5k (3.1 miles) now, but here's the catch: I have great days and really sucky days. Some days I'm flying and feel great afterward; other days, I have to stop 10 min. into it b/c of the pain. And if I do get solid run in, the recovery is iffy, too: sometimes I'm totally fine and can do a heavy lower-body workout again after a day of rest without problems. Other times, I might be able to continue to work out but will have significant knee pain for several days -- or a week -- after.

That's where I'm at after this past weekend. Because of my Olympic distance dreams, I jumped back into working out by incorporating a run into my week, so I can see how it feels to regularly jog (the past two seasons I basically winged it on race days). I've figured out that I'm much more successful and pain-free if I run when my legs are well-warmed up, either after biking or swimming or at the end of the day, so that's what I did on Sunday. (Icing, taking Aleve and massaging/stretching my muscles well is a given.) But lo and behold, pain. I squeaked out 3.2 miles in 32 min., which I'm really appreciative of being able to do, but I was in pain and basically kept going until the adrenaline covered up the pain. That's how I got to where I'm at now, so it's not a practice I want to keep up. (For the concerned friends out there, just know that if the pain doesn't go away, I do stop. It ain't worth ruining my knees entirely).

So that's where I'm at: the test-phase. Perhaps I should see a running or tri coach...

***

By the way, being back at the gym is great. I really like seeing the people I've come to look forward to in the mornings, and it feels good to slowly build up to where I was at the end of August. That said, I'm not breaking any records. I swam much more slowly today, barely getting up to 70 percent of my heart rate, and really tried to focus on my stroke. I did a few laps of the breast stroke and backstroke -- I stick to freestyle normally -- to shake things up and didn't worry about my calories (300 burned during the same time I'd normally do 400). I'll kick it into higher gear in November or maybe the coming weeks, but for now, this is good.

Pilates a Go Go

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually like pilates.

I'm surprised because I do not do well in yoga -- two totally opposite yet equally terrible yoga experiences and I swore never to go back to a class -- and pilates certainly has elements of it. But although you get the stretching and some of the poses as in yoga, there's no Sanskrit 'n' shit in pilates. There's no kum bah yah, and no talking in a soft voice, and no bowing. And thus, I'll likely be back.

My month off of working out is almost over, so I did the pilates thing and I signed up for my first run-only race -- a mere 5k -- since 2006 (it was actually three years ago this weekend at the Bucktown 5k that I met my boyfriend, Brian, and the last run-only race I've done because of my knees. But I digress!). The run also involves hot chocolate, which may or may not have anything to do with it, but basically, I'm pumped and ready to get moving again. One month off -- save for a couple runs and one 30-mile bike ride --and I feel "squishy." I'm stiff! I'm not toned! And I don't want to lose any more of my base.

This month has taught me that you can take a month off and should take a month for your body to heal and without fear of losing everything. But it's also a reminder of how quickly stiff joints and a lazy attitude can set in -- it took me about two weeks.

I'm ready to go!

***
Speaking of being ready to go, I'm toying around with the idea of doing an Olympic distance triathlon this coming season -- that's double what I'm used to. It's terrifying considering I can't train well on the run. But, I've got the stamina to do the bike and the swim (what I did in the aquabike this year), and I figure I can suck up the run. We shall see.