Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Almost forgot to mention the foot’s progress. Had a wee bit of soreness this morning when I took the first few steps, but I had slept in the brace, and made sure to stretch it before I got up. By mid-day I remembered to focus in on it and realized that I hadn’t felt any pain since I’d walked in to work. There was a very mild twinge or two if I paid attention to it, but otherwise didn’t notice it at all. Score one for rehab. I’ll likely try another short run on Wednesday, provided I get enough sleep tomorrow to make the attempt in the morning.

This afternoon I ran for the first time since last August 5th. Almost six months.

Headed over to the gym with my running gear, got changed, and headed upstairs to the treadmills. The area was empty, but for two other men, one of whom spent more time talking on his cell phone than actually walking on the treadmill (with a body to match the lack of actual exercise). Warmed up for five minutes, then did three minutes on (running), three off (walking), for half an hour (2.56 miles). During the exercise the foot did fine. My legs protested a bit, which was expected, but the foot itself did fine.

It’s a trifle sore here this evening, but I’ll be sleeping with the brace on, so I’m hopeful that it’ll heal/recover well in the stretched out position. Won’t be rushing back to the treadmill immediately, but will attempt to ease back into it as the foot permits. A good first step, though, and hopefully just the first of many runs this year.

I had a follow up with my podiatrist this morning. Result: he carved a corn off my little toe (unrelated to anything else going on), and released me from follow up appointments on the plantar fasciitis. There was almost no pain when he pressed on the heel, and I’ve been able to walk around town and do some short sprints (a la running for an elevator or the Metro) without paying for it afterward, so there was no more need to go in and see him. I have the brace to wear if I feel the need to stretch out the tendons, and I’m cleared to start running when I feel ready to do so, with the caveat that I have to build up very slowly with any running I might do.

I should be relieved, but I’m more scared than anything else. Scared that starting up will mean the return of pain. That this will somehow end up being an even longer process because I’ll screw up the foot by doing too much.

Yuck.

I’m going to have to play it by ear. First step will be sleeping without the blinkin’ brace on my foot to see how that goes. Then maybe some running, on a dreadmill treadmill, in case something isn’t right with it. Keep your fingers crossed.

Heck of a lot easier to run eight and a half miles at 70 degrees and relatively moderate humidity this morning than it was in the mid-80s with high humidity last Wednesday evening. Just sayin’.

I think I’m finally beginning to appreciate sports drinks while out running and biking. It helps that I’m finally training in a decent heart rate zone and not running too high to take in nutrition. Ever run so fast you felt like you were going to puke? Well, run just below that and you won’t puke, but you can’t take in nutrition, either – your stomach won’t process it. And sports drinks tended to make me feel like I was over-full. Moderated intake, while still mostly drinking water, seems to be working. Which is something I needed to learn, to ensure I take in enough calories while out on long runs and rides.

In other food news, I’m no longer keeping a vegan diet, nor a vegetarian one. As with the original decision to go vegan, this was about my health and what I needed for my diet. This isn’t that big a deal, so I’d appreciate it if folks would refrain from smart ass comments about the change back to omnivory.

I know people aren’t suppose to complain about this, but my pants are starting not to fit. As in, I’m shrinking out of them. And it’s not like I’m not eating, because I most certainly am, yet the increase in activity is changing me. For the better, mind you, but it’s annoying feeling like my pants are either going to fall off, or are staying on but too far cinched in. And it’s even better at work with the blackberry on my hip.

Completed the first 4 week cycle last week with a nice down week. Popping down definitely worked – I felt much better running this morning, though tonight’s swim was a little rough at first (wasn’t feeling balanced when I started). In any case, good stuff today, and nice to see confirmation of the wisdom of the 4 week cycle (three weeks of gradual increases with the fourth a drop back a step to recover).

In non-training stuff, BC and I headed out to a DC United game yesterday with friends. Was lots of fun (they won). Tried taking some pictures, but we were too far up to get any decent ones with my camera. Took tons of pictures on Saturday at the club’s training tri, some good, most mediocre, but it was still fun to take ’em, though I ended up napping a good bit of Saturday afternoon after it.

Looking forward to dinner with Dean tomorrow, haven’t seen him in a bit and it’ll be nice to catch up.

Heard from the parental units tonight, they’re up near the Grand Canyon in Arizona and were about to go out swimming with my niece, whom we’ve taken to referring to as “DP,” or “Disney Princess.” After an initial period they finally sat her down and had an attitude adjustment talk which seems to have helped – she was feeling full of her 11 years at the early part of the summer, so an adjustment was definitely needed. Sounded like she was doing much better, though. Also spoke with my brother earlier today (a rarity – we just don’t talk that often on the phone) and he’s doing well, which is a welcome change from last year.

Anyway, off to bed here so I can get up and bike in the morning. Pickups tomorrow – small bursts of speed surrounded by moderate biking. Speedwork is always fun, so I’m looking forward to it.

Long runs in the evening are teh suck. At least, they are when I haven’t cooked and don’t have food ready and waiting to eat when I’m done. Did six and a half miles, relatively slowly (though the pace picked up as I went along). Heel was not happy with me as I got done, so I’m sitting in the night brace here, making sure I’m stretching the plantar fascia. I had gone to the grocery store yesterday with BC, so had food to prepare, but then there was the preparation part. Finally eaten, but was nigh starving before I ate.

Feel like I need a massage. I hope it’s not BC’s cold coming on, and is just soreness from the run. He stayed over last night and was burning up a good chunk of the night.

Not sure which project I’m going to do next, knitting wise. I think I need to do some samplers to learn a few more skills for the next ones (increasing & decreasing, specifically) before I get started on them.

I’m feeling, hmmm, unengaged at work these days. The Project From Heck is in abeyance, stuck in our front office for noodling, so I’m working on a variety of smaller projects, none of which are terribly interesting or engaging. So I’m just feeling a bit adrift. I’m sure it’ll pass, but it’s damned annoying while it’s there.

I’m a week overdue for my normal haircut, but have an appointment tomorrow evening. So looking forward to that. It’s too shaggy at the moment, so it’s time to get shorn.

Promised myself yesterday that I’d allow myself to sleep in this morning so I’d be better rested for the meeting on the Hill, and I’d head home and do my long run after work. Did the sleeping in, did the meeting (which went fairly well, all things considered), got home and almost wussed out on the run. Quickly decided that I wasn’t feeling blah, I was just feeling lazy, and that wasn’t a good enough excuse not to run, so off I went. Shaved 4 minutes off the 6.6 mile loop I’m currently using for my long run, which felt pretty good.

After the meeting on the Hill and subsequent conversations with my various supervisors, I feel like I have a better grasp on what I’m doing to tighten up this memo. Tomorrow is all about editing and tightening, so it should be interesting. I think we’ve tracked it all down, we just have to do more than just describe the law now (synthesis!).

BC arrived safely in England and seems to be happy to being visiting his relatives there. That was happy news via SMS this morning.

Hopefully it’ll be warm enough in the morning to ride.

I swear, tie manufacturers are getting skimpy with the silk these days. It used to be I had to carefully balance most ties to get the little end not to show under the larger piece, but these days I’m lucky if the little end meets the loop they give you to hold the little end in place. And no, my neck has not grown by 3-4 inches, either. Cheap bastards.

Work was an utter waste of a day. Would have been better spent pretty much anywhere else.

Swimming was a mix. There were glimpses of clear, effortless power, and then there were thrashing strokes that would have been more embarrassing had more people been there to see them. The last bits of the stroke drills are hit & miss, too. Mostly hit, but some miss. Felt good when it was “on,” though. The run this morning, on the other hand, was completely on. Stayed in zone 1, kept a good pace, went a little further. Very nicely done.

Also had a fun weekend with BC. His mother did an Easter dinner, and we were mercifully not part of any family drama. Played Apples to Apples with the family after dinner, which is always fun (I kept picking adjectives like “unscrupulous” and “dead,” though. Hmmm…). Didn’t get to the Design Center, but it’ll be there for another weekend. Much talking and general silliness other than the visit to see Mom. Enjoyed that a lot.

Okay, results from the testing are in. These are running based (so cycling and swimming will be different). VO2 Max is 42, which is okay (not stellar, but stellar wasn’t expected, to be honest). Max Heart Rate was 195 (!!!), Anerobic Threshold was 191, which puts the heart rate training zones at:

Z1 157-168
Z2 168-179
Z3 179-191
Z4 191-195
Z5 195-???

Compare this with the standard formula (220-age), where MHR would be 185, a full 10 beats lower than the tested number.

I suspect this means on average I’ve been training in Z1-Z2 almost exclusively, with only occasional dips into Z3. That’s not a bad thing, and it’s good that I’ve been generally staying in Z1-Z2. It’s also nice to know I don’t have to try to stay below 157 (which was excruciatingly slow). I do need to consider training into 3 and 4 on occasion, but not right at the immediate moment. For the time being it’s running in the zones I’ve been using, but with a bit more confidence, and no need to stay down lower than is useful.

This week was supposed to be a relatively quiet one, or so I thought. Then a cousin called, is in town, and we’re having dinner tomorrow, which means my hair appointment (for the 3rd of 4th time in a row?) gets rescheduled, hopefully to Wednesday, when I have a date with BC (dinner after haircut, I suppose). Thursday turns out to be election night for my cult co-op, so I’ll be getting some knitting in then. Busy, busy, busy.

The legs are a bit sore from yesterday’s short run, which is expected. Treated myself by making a nice curry tonight, though it reminded me why I don’t keep cashews in the house in a regular basis (*nom, nom, nom!*). This curry’s best with a light topping of cilantro & chopped cashews, so I went all out after a brief stop at the grocery store for the fresh stuff.

One of my larger projects is going to be picking up steam here in short order, so work’s going to get very busy with lots of the more tedious aspects of being an attorney. I think we know where we’re going with it, though, so hopefully it won’t be too painful.

I’m deliberately not commenting on all of the political posts I see all over the ‘net these days (well, except to share satire), mainly because I happen to like my friends and would rather not unduly antagonize those relationships.