Phantom Shin Pain

by BuckDaddy on October 20, 2012

On October 7th, I ran the Memphis Runner’s Track Club (MRTC) 1st 10 miler of the Road Series.  It was at Shelby Forest.  I had been slightly dreading the race because I heard how tough it was.  There were the uphill switch backs which I think is what everyone refers to as the beast.  I now see why.   People were mistakenly calling it uphill switchbacks.  What they meant to call it was up mountain switchbacks.  That wasn’t the worst of it.  Going down the multiple very steep hills is what hurt the most.  I had to walk a lot more than I anticipated.  The good news is that I get to run it all over again on Sunday!

After the race, my body and I had a conversation and decided to take 2 days to rest.  I had planned to run on Wednesday but then work/life got in the way.  Work was busy because I had some HQ visitors and that required me to spend some extra time at work.   The visitors made plans to come to my store late afternoon so that put Wednesday run on the back burner.  Thursday, I worked overnight.   Friday, I took my wife and kid to Indianapolis to see my brother and his new daughter.  We stayed there through Monday and I had decided I wanted to spend as much time with my brother and his family that I did not bring any shoes that I could run in.   2 days of rest turned into a little over a week.

Wednesday, I finally laced up my Asics and hit the road.  My training plan called for 3 miles.  Everything I read has said to not make up missed miles.  If you take an unplanned week off, pick up where the plan is, do not try and make up the mileage otherwise you will just end up injured.

I drove over to Shelby Farms and did a quick loop around the paved Chickasaw Trails.  If there was a hill then I ran up and down it twice so I could have some practice for the 2nd 10 miler.  I ended up doing about 3.71. Around mile 2, the phantom pain started in my right shin.

Every time I took a step a pain would shoot from the left side around the front and end at on the right side of my shin.  I would slow down and the pain would decrease but was still there.  I started walking and the pain was there every 3 steps or so.  I was beginning to panic.  I decided that I would play through the pain.  I started running again.  The pain continued.  I try picking up the pace and the pain was sharper.  I was coming out of the trail and about to head up a large hill by the visitor’s center.   I looked down in defeat.  I was either going to have to walk a mile back to my car or call my wife and ask her to come get me.  Calling her would be the ultimate defeat and I might as well hang up my laces.  My laces!  They had come untied.  As I watched my feet run those final steps in defeat, I watched my laces on my right foot.  The lace would hit my left side, slap the front of my shin, and loop around and hit my right side.  The “pain” was coming from the plastic tips on the laces.

I stopped and tied my laces.  Took a couple of test steps and the pain was gone.  I celebrated by doing extra repeats on the hill.  I finished out my run.  I did day one of my body weight exercises circuit.  Went home and did a half hour of kettle bell exercises.

Day 1 of Bodyweight Circuit: PU = Pushup, SU = Situp/Crunch, SQ = Squat, D = Dip
2 PU, 3 SU, 3 SQ, 3 D, Rest 1 min
3 PU, 4 SU, 4 SQ, 4 D, Rest 1 min
2 PU, 3 SU, 3 SQ, 3 D, Rest 1 min
3 PU, 3 SU, 3 SQ, 3 D, Rest 1 min
3 PU, 5 SU, 5 SQ, 4 D

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That's the course back, check out those hills

Sunday was the Germantown Half Marathon & Mayor's Cup 5K.  If you runner and live in Memphis you probably already knew this because a) traffic was backed up in that area and b) someone you knew was running in it.  The Germantown Half is like Elvis or Justin Timberlake.  In Memphis, you either know (knew) Elvis or Timberlake or know someone who does.  So you either run in the Germantown Half or know someone who did.

I am not very good at writing race reports.  Heck I have raced 3 or 4 races since my last race report in October and I never wrote about them.  I ran the St. Jude Half Marathon in December and I didn't write about it.  I am trying to be a better blogger.  Also I read other bloggers and their race reports and it makes want to go run and run in those races.

Pre race:
I ate dinner at Rafferty's the night before.  I had cheese fries and chicken pasta alfredo.  I also may have had two 34 oz green beers.  I have never been a night before strategy kind of guy.  I had picked up my packed and bib the day before.  I set out all my gear with my race bib pinned to my shirt and headed to bed.  I set three alarms on my phone.  Race started at 7a.m. and I was meeting my mother in law at 6:45a.m.  Her house is near the start line and she was running the 5K.

Race morning:
I overslept.  My alarms went off and I hit snooze.  When I finally did wake up, I was confused why I was getting up so early.  After I remembered I got a move on.  Thank goodness, I laid out everything the night before.  I got dressed.  I ate my bagel, drank my Gatorade Prime, and headed out the door.  I always eat a plain thin bagel and drink a Gatorade Prime before my races.  It has not steered me wrong before.  I usually drink a lot of water because I am big boy and I sweat a lot.  I didn't take any water with me because I was late and didn't want to have to peer.   I got to my mother in law's a couple of minutes late and we walked to the start.  This provided a great warm up for my legs because it was about 5 minutes of walking.

I met up with a coworker, Richard, that signed up for the race with me.  Actually, I paid for his entry because I lost a bet.  He beat me in a 10K race back in November.  Richard and I had agreed to run the race together at a 12 to 13 minute pace per mile.  I had the Garmin so I would make sure we don't go out too fast and bonk towards the end.  I do that in most of my races and wanted to be smart about it.

Mile 1:
I have learned my lesson from other races and I start somewhere in the middle.  That puts me behind the faster people and ahead of the walkers.  I did have to weave around some walkers but all in all, I started out where I wanted and at an easy pace.  The only thing I didn't do was turn off the auto lap on Garmin and hit the lap at actually mile makers so some of my data was a little off.

Mile 2
Having previously run part of the course the weekend before, I knew this was a large uphill.  I also probably ran it a little harder than I wanted to.  Also I blame Richard because he wanted to go faster and I kept pulling him back.  Just kidding, I was leading and I wanted to go faster.  Mile 2 was where the first water break was.  I had brought my Nathan handheld filled with water and Nuun.  I passed by the water station.  I should have drank that on the first two miles and refilled at the water station.  I had Nuun tablets in my belt.  I also had Gu gel but the plan wasn't to take until mile 3 or 4.

Mile 3
The hill really took out of me.  I also walked through Mile 2 water stations because I was waiting on some one.  I won't name names cough Richard cough.  I was keeping a good pace and enjoying the race.  I meant to turn off my Nike Plus audio feedback that tells me my avg pace and how long I have been running.  Every time I hear that info, I get in my head and start thinking about it.  Am I going to fast?  Am I going to slow?

Mile 4
I was feeling really good except one little thing.  I had to pee.  I had passed the port o potties at Mile 2 because of the line.  Normally I would pull off the course and go but the race runs through the more prominent parts of town and I am pretty sure they don't want my big butt peeing in their perfectly manicured lawns.  I knew there was a bathroom coming up soon so I pushed a little harder to get there.

Mile 5
I think everyone had the same idea as I did.  They all passed mile 2 bathrooms and could not hold any longer so they stopped at mile 4 bathroom.  I waited to use the bathroom a full 4 minutes.  If I had not had to really go I would not have stopped.  I am not sure how to overcome this.  I tried to not drink too much before the race but that came back to haunt me and once I drank through my handheld water bottle, I had to go.

Mile 6 - Mile 8
I was making up for the long bathroom break and pushed it.  We were averaging 11 minute mile and feeling great.  Neither one of us were complaining and we were having fun.  The race course is sort of an out and back.  So on these miles, you see the people ahead of you on the other side of the street.  We saw a couple of co-workers, James from Daily Training being one of them.  As we did the turn around there was a group of people, handing out ice cold Miller Lite.  I love race spectators.

Mile 9
This was the mile I was dreading.  This is the mile I bonked on last time.  I had to tell Richard a couple of time to slow down.  I had two goals for this race a) not to walk any of it and b) to PR.  I could tell Richard was slightly annoyed because he was feeling great and wanted to go ahead.  Also I had to pee so bad again.

Mile 10
We are about to enter the Too Much Info part of my report.  Feel free to skip ahead if you don't want to hear about my pee.  As I approached the water station and saw there was no line for bathroom, I almost cried.  I went in and started peeing and it hurt.  It felt like I was pushing solid mass out.  I looked down and saw that it was burnt orange.  I knew this was bad news and that I was dehydrated.  I then proceeded to panic and get in my head.  I drank a couple cups of water and refilled my bottle.  I dropped a Nuun tablet.  I still not sure what I could have done differently.  Besides drink a lot before the race and make sure I emptied my bladder before we took off, I really don't know what happened.  I started running but felt horrible.  My stomach was doing flips and in knots.  I could tell I was holding Richard back but he stayed with me.

Mile 11
I vomited.  I threw  up foam.  Not water, not Gu, but foam.  Richard was torn.  He wanted to keep running because he felt great but he had committed to run with me.  I told him to  go on and I started walking.  I finished off my water bottle and walked.  I talked to a couple people as they walked with me.  I walked from Mile 11 to Mile 12.  I was so disappointed in myself because I had set a goal to run the whole thing and I failed.

Mile 12
I started running again but very slowly.  I stopped at a water station and drank again.  I then started running.  I knew I didn't have much more left to go and I knew that I didn't have much more in my tank.

Mile 13
Seriously who designed this course.  Not only is the last mile uphill but the finish line is at the top of a very steep hill.  I kept running and was so glad to hear my name as I crossed the finish line.  I looked around for water and it was at the top of another hill.  I might have cussed out loud.  I made it to the water table and gulped it down.  I never tasted water so good and cold.  I ate half a banana.  I then promptly went to a bathroom and vomited foam and cold water.  I drank some more water slowly.

I talked to a few people I saw on the course along the way and some people I knew.  Richard finished a whole 7 minutes ahead of me.  He hasn't ran a half in 5 years and he did awesome.  I had accidentally stopped my Garmin at Mile 10 during the bathroom break so I was unsure of my time.  Richard and his wife were kind enough to drive me back to my mother in laws house so I didn't have to walk back.

OFFICIAL TIME: 2:50:03

I made my second goal and beat my previous half time by almost 5 minutes.  My splits are below.  Overall I am very pleased with the race.  I need to figure out how to not become dehydrated and not have to pee so much.

Thanks for reading.  How do you hydrate before and during a race?  Do you have to pee a lot and how do you balance that? How was your last race?


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The Memphis Groupon today is for a team entry into the Urban Dare Adventure Race for $45, a $90 value. Teams of two people decipher clues, perform playful stunts, and navigate the city while raising money for breast cancer research. The race is on Saturday, April 7 and the starts at the Flying Saucer downtown.  From what I heard they are fun.  You have to either run or use public transportation to get to your destination.  Could be a fun workout and almost like the Amazing Race.  If anyone is interested I might be able to convinced to do it with someone if they wanted to go in half on it.  More information can be found about the Urban Dare Adventure Race here.

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Good bye 2011, Hello 2012

by BuckDaddy on January 19, 2012

Yes I know we are two weeks into 2012 and I’m late with this but better late than never.  2011 was full of wins and failures for me.

Accomplishments

Mile 10! Also racing photos are expensive

My Job – I am loving it.  I am excelling at it.  I enjoy it a lot.  This is the first job where I feel appreciated for my hard work and effort.  Some of the other ones have been fun but I never felt like I truly belonged.

Running – I used to hate running but then I started training for the St. Jude Half Marathon and found I really enjoy it.  I have written about why I started running.  In the 3 short months that I “trained”, I logged over 150 miles for the year.  I put training in quotes because I never really had a plan, I just went out and did 3 – 8 miles whenever I could and felt like it.  I had a plan at one time but then I got hurt due to falling off a ladder.  So after two months in a wheelchair, I gave up on my plan.  I also found a hobby that I really enjoy.

If you had told me a year ago that I would run a couple of 5Ks, a 10K, and half marathon; I would have laughed in your face.

Weight loss – It was an accidental by product of my running and training.  I dropped 40 pounds.  I gained some of it back because of a work related injury that put me in a wheelchair for two months.

Fails

Training – As I stated above, I really didn’t have a plan for my runs.  Sure I researched all sorts of running plans and what to do but I never implemented them.  I just went out and ran.  Reading enough about running and training those are called junk miles.  I did 150 miles of junk.  I had no real purpose to my runs.  The only time I put any effort into running is my 2 5Ks, my one 10K, and my half marathon.  2012 is going to be different.

My blogs and websites – I got so caught up in work and the holidays that I ignored every email and phone call from GoDaddy and let my hosting expired.  My blog went down and I lost everything.  I was so busy that I did not even notice until a co-worker told me.  GoDaddy was awesome with their customer service and helped me get it all back and get it all back up running.

Before it went down I wasn’t doing the greatest job of updating any of them.  I can’t tell you the last time I have thought about www.rulesformydaughter.com.  I am not very good at making sure my other sites are up to date either.  This blog has not been updated regularly.

Work Life Balance – I have always sucked at this, just ask my wife, but I want to be better.  Two factors have attributed to this in the past.  First, I was learning my job and how to do it properly and successfully.  Two, I did not really have the right person on my team with the exception of one and he got prompted very quickly.  I have hired and trained the right person to be an extension of me so hopefully I can start making a change in 2012.

I’ll be back tomorrow with goals for 2012.  Yes I know I am already weeks into 2012 but I have already started these goals.

 

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Race Report – Race for The Cure 2011 Memphis [Running]

November 14, 2011

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October 24, 2011

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October 6, 2011

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October 5, 2011

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30 Days of Me – Favorite Movie – [About Me]

August 4, 2011

Tweet I am extremely grateful for Toni, from A Daily Dose of Toni, was kind enough to create a list of prompts each day for us to follow.  Today is Day 2 of 30 days about Me.  If you told me I have to come up with 30 days worth of posts, I would have [...]

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30 Days About Me – Favorite Song – [About Me]

August 2, 2011

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