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Running Reflections: Achilles’ Heel

Training has taken a turn for the worse over the past two weeks. My overzealous enthusiasm for running has left me with a text book case of tendinitis in my Achilles tendon, and training has officially halted after reading it is possible to rupture the tendon and/or cause permanent damage. Both not good.

In the story of Achilles, his mother, in an attempt to make her son immortal, dips him in the River Styx holding him by his ankles. Because the river could not touch his feet where she held them, it was where he was most vulnerable. He ultimately died from a poisoned spear to the foot.

This tendon is the largest in the body and can withstand force many times greater than a person’s weight. I’m surprised how easy it is to forget just how integral it is to getting around, and that it is not impervious to damage.

Image courtesy of florathexlplora on Flickr

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Running Reflections: 12 Aug 07

Saturday was the end of a landmark 50mi week for me which ended successfully, but today’s long run was definitely a challenge and quite a learning experience.

In an attempt to introduce more elevation and get on some trails I decided to run the lower portion of the Equinox Marathon Trail - joining up with it at Ballaine Lake and turning back toward town at Sheep Creek Rd. That section of the trail is extremely well groomed and very enjoyable, but it was the most challenging part of the run today …it was certainly not lost on me that it is the easiest portion of the actual race. *Sigh.

Lessons from this run:

• When introducing trails and elevation pack more calories. By mile 20 I was out of energy and by mile 23 the run had become an amazing mental battle with myself. Miles 23 to 26 felt like they were longer than all of the miles leading up to them and it seemed that no amount of music or attempts to psych myself out proved effective. It was all I could do to keep from curling up in a fetal position on the ground.
• Clif Shot Orange Cream Gel tastes like salty vomit. I’m glad to see that it is a discontinued flavor (according to the Clif web site). I’ve resolved to begin investigating recipes to make my own fuel.
• Don’t start out too fast no matter how good you feel. This is probably what did me in toward the end of the run.

There really wasn’t much of an increase in elevation on this run compared to last week’s, but it was definitely noticeable.

I’ve found it really difficult to find trail information in the form of XML or KML formats to view in Google Earth, so I’m posting the tracks from my little Garmin as a KML file if anyone is interested in flying through parts of the Equinox Marathon course. I didn’t mark any waypoints on this one, but I’ll be sure to mark visual landmarks in future runs. To create the KML files I’m exporting data from my Garmin Forerunner to XML and using the GPS Visualizer web site to convert the XML track to KML format.

If you have GoogleEarth installed, clicking on the image below will launch GE and automatically fly you to the track. Today’s track is marked in orange.

Today’s statistics:

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Running Reflections: 05 Aug

This Sunday was my fourth long run - or at least what I would consider to be long - a whopping 24 miles. Still a few miles short of marathon distance, but that will come in time. Things I have learned so far:

• The location of all public potties around town. Thank goodness for summer construction and campgrounds
• My new favorite clothes all have flatlock-stitched seams
• Probars are amazingly satisfying after a run (organic and unprocessed). Franken-food is gross
• Running slower than a 00:09:30/mi pace makes my knees ache
• Clif Shot Bloks are yummy and entertaining to chew on, but are extremely difficult to open in the rain or while sweating profusely
• Currently listening to Greg Niemeyer’s Art23: Foundations of American Cyberculture (fall 2006 - UC Berkley) available for download along with other open courseware podcasts.

There are a few things I’m wondering about right now that I think will make longer distances more comfortable:

• Need to find something that is easily digestible, but with more energy than Cliff Bloks for any runs longer than 20 miles.
• Buy runners’ lube - rain sucks.
• Currently using Superfeet inserts and love them, but would custom orthotics make a world of difference?

I’ve set a goal to run the Equinox Marathon here in Fairbanks this fall and have got to work more elevation in to my runs if I want to avoid dying during this race. This graph below shows about all of the elevation I can handle right now (measurements courtesy of my little Garmin Forerunner):

As you can see, the highest point on this run occurs in mile 9 and is a mere 637ft above sea-level. The image below is a profile of the Equinox Marathon route, which begins climbing around mile 8 and continues considerably higher - peaking well above 2000ft at the top of Ester Dome:

Just looking at the line graph makes me sore. The plan right now is to spend most of August training on Birch Hill located on a smaller ridge line here in town, but much closer to home, and run a few times over some of the actual race course closer to 15 Sep.

A summary of yesterday’s run:

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Running Farther

A few weeks ago my middle sister came to visit for a week and it was wonderful to have so much of her undivided attention. Now, the members of my family are natural runners. That’s not to say all of us enjoy running or that those of us that do run break any records, but it is something that comes relatively easy for us. Shannon, my sister, is a runner and currently training for a marathon.

During her visit there was little opportunity for her to train, but come Saturday our vacation was winding down and she took the opportunity to go on a long run, 20 miles. Super! I was invited along, and, of course, I fully intended on running being the big sister I am.

The thing about running is this - I love it - but while it’s been over a year since I’ve even mistakenly run anything near 20 miles, never underestimate the power of enthusiasm… or the resilience of the human body.

Anyway, I’m hooked and Shannon kicks butt.

Shannon in super outdoor ninja motivator mode

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