Run with a Jolt?

I have added a couple of short jogs to my workout schedule, mostly as a warmup for the stretching core strength exercises which I now do after each run. Another beneficiary of these early morning activities is Mellie, who loves going for a run with the master, especially when it includes some off-leash time.

As the weather has turned colder and the sidewalks slipperier for my faithful canine companion and me, we had a strange adventure on the Snelling Ave bridge S of the Fair Grounds. It started when Mellie yipped in pain and anguish as we were heading north across the bridge, just after crossing the first BNSF tracks. I was jure I hadn't stepped on her toes, which sometimes happens when she inadvertantly runs into my path. She was really disturbed and kept looking over her shoulder. A few days later we were closing in on that spot from the north and as we were approaching she started to be nervous. She yipped again, this time I saw it clearly: she stepped on a large metal plate covering a bridge expansion joint. In my mind there must be an electric current in that plate.

We ran across the bridge on the opposite sidewalk, albeit she was nervous she did not cry out. This morning we came from the north again and while she was a little scared she did not seem to feel anything. I'm guessing that the snow-deicer mix probably grounds the plate and disperses most of the current. I am going to take my volt meter out there to check it out. I am chronicling my training on a website frequented by my orienteering club mates (Attackpoint). One of them, Todd, read my log and replied with a link to a Strib article form 2009 mentioning that some light-post-watering pooches were rudely jolted when doing so in Minneapolis. The city started an effort to check light posts for faulty wiring and eliminated further canine sterilization by electrocution. I will be keeping a close eye on that particular spot and figure out whom to let know about this.

Injury Woes

You think you are in relatively decent shape and your training expands in new directions. You start toying with the idea to maybe enter one of the longer xc-ski events, you turn 50 and think that there are a few people that age out there who are less fit then you ... and reality check.

This all started with a nagging ache in my left knee which I contracted this spring while out for my first significant bike ride. The pain was low-grade, did not bother me while running, it was just there, in the background. I finally caved and went to see my trusty exercise physician, Dr. Abraham at HP Como. She prodded, pulled and twisted my limb and declared that it was nothing serious. At one point during the exam she exclaimed "oh my, are you ever stiff and inflexible." She offered PT as an option and prescribed flexibility exercises. I declined the PT but started doing a 10-15 minute stretching routine after every workout. The results were amazing, the pain that had persisted for almost three months vanished within 3-4 weeks. 

My exercise regimen kicked into high gear. Sisu ski group, slow and long runs, tempo runs intervals and fartlek, and, while in Europe, some serious hills. I had thought for a while to add a strength workout my exercise program and tried out a boot camp at the Edina YMCA. My muscles were very sore after the first class I took on Labor Day. I took it appropriately easy during that week, did an orienteering race where I contracted some nasty heel blisters but went back to boot camp on the next Monday. 

I don't know whether I was still too tired from the O-meet or whether I am simply not fit enough to start a new exercise clase but after the second boot camp, I did not experience sore muscles but sore knees. Both sides seemed swollen and there was a definite feeling of instability and some popping in the right knee. What a bummer. I followed the RICE principles and rested, iced, elevated and when engaging in activity, I compressed. Since that right knee seemed a little more serious, I also made another appointment with Dr. Abraham. I went running only a few times, fortunately Sisu Year-Round Group was on a roller skiing portion of the schedule which was not as hard on my knee. Things seemed to not get any better and I waited till the 9/24 to make up my mind on doing the Intertstate Park O Meet. But I did it, opting for the shorter choice and also doing the white/yellow course. The knee felt ok but I did contract a new injury, a sprained toe joint which I contracted when my foot got wedged between two rocks, forcing the big to into hyper-extension.


Unitl my appointment on Thursday of that week, my knee felt actually better, it may just have been overshadowed by the pain in the big toe. Again, Dr. Abraham ended up saying that my knee issue did not seem to be too serious. Same directions as the previous time, listening to the knee, and working on strengthening the muscles around it, especially the m. vastus medialis which she found to be "mushy."

I went for a good roller ski workout this last Sunday, since the rigid boot protects my toe, which is still smarting. I am wondering if I'll be able to do the Minnegoat. If I am smart, should probably only do the short one. We'll see ...

Long Workouts

After the last reviewing my last benchmark results Coach Ben complained that my work concentrated too much on mid range effort at the expense of base line and the high end work. Since then, I have been increasing my distance for those low-intensity long workouts. Until now, my long runs were 10-12 km, at an intensity that Ben would characterize as mid-range. My first longer run was a 10-miler (16 km) when dropping off Colin at university in Iowa City (see here). I did 18 km lat week at the prescribed heart rate (i.e. around 130) and 20 km this morning where my HR was a little faster but only because a woman passed me while going around Como Lake and I just had to see what her pace was. At 130 bpm I feel like I could keep going and going from a cardiovascular perspective. My legs feel tired after 20 km but with 20 minutes of stretches even that goes away. How far should I run for a long workout? Do I need to get tired or is the idea to just get accustomed to make a run like this feel more like a walk in the park? I put these questions to Ben who suggested I gradually increase the time of the workout to three hours.

8/25 Long Run on opening day of Minnesota State Fair

9/1 Long Run

These long workouts do bring a new side effect: chafing. While it seems only light for me, mostly between my upper thighs and my nipples, but it is still uncomfortable. I invested in some new running shorts which work much better than my old ones. My form-fitting Sisu t-shirt works better than the lose ones I have. At this point I am simply going to watch it before taking more drastic measures.

Sisu Year-Round Group 4: Classic Skiing

Weekly e-mail preview:

When:  Tuesday May 31st, 6:30pm  
Where:  Battle Creek Water Park
What: Classic Rollerskiing
Coaches: Ben P, Mike N

Classic Rollerskiing - look out, here we come.  Learn to do it, or specific strength DP for those more advanced.

Got myself some Pursuit Rollerskis from Rollerskishhop.com and the last pair of Salomon Pilot bindings from Backcountry.com. I do have to say that I am a little worried about this: concrete and blacktop are quite a bit harder than even icy snow. But I am trusting that our able instructors Ben and Mike will be conveying the necessary skills and I am also going invest in some protective gear.

There was a surprise when I arrived, apparently Ben had gotten hurt at the very end of our last session. He tore a muscle in his calf, just while standing and supervising us. It sounds like he won't be able to do anything strenuous for three months and sure enough, he showed up with a leg brace and compression sock.

Since I don't own classic or combi roller skis I skated. There was a short warm-up in the water park lot while waiting for the stragglers. A few wobbles but nothing too dangerous. My main issue using rollerskis for the first time was putting them on. No problem with ski one, but ski two was problematic. At the car, I sat on the back, hatch open, and later, trail side, I used a fence post for support. No real problem and shaking the skis off wasn't an issue, either.

Warm-up continued when rolling from the water park lot to Lower Afton Rd. I was a bit worried about down hills but there was nothing major. After we got to the Lower Afton Rd. lot the real work began.

Series 1: 7 reps of legs only, emphasizing glide with one ski off the ground and bringing ctr. of gravity above push-off ski.

Series 2: 4 reps of crunch double poles, working the core. No help from the arms, not too much follow-through! Of course I hadn't been listening and used my arms too much. Both Mike and Ben yelled "you're cheating." I got closer to good form in the further sequences.

Series 3: 3 reps of full arm push, crunch and follow-through.

Cool down completing the loop back to water park. There was at least one downhill with a sharp turn at the bottom. Twigs and leaves on the ground didn't do anything to increase my comfort level but I made it.

A word about my Pursuit Rollerskis: they worked great though I will invest in a pair of the slowest wheels. They did seem quite a bit faster than the Marwes, which almost everyone else was using. After getting used to being on rollerskis, they felt nimble, very similar to being on actual skis, allowing to maneuver by quick stepping. I do miss that full snow plow, though ...

Sisu Year-Round Group 3: Bounding

Weekly e-mail preview:
What: Tuesday Night SISU - Dryland (bring short poles)
Where: Battle Creek Winthrop St.
When: Tuesday, May 24th, 6:30pm,
Notes: Bounding @ battle creek Winthrop. Bring your short poles and lets learn how to bound – makes us fit and ski fast!

About halfway up the gradual hill (Photo by Ben Popp)

Bummer, my Garmin Forerunner 305 was not charged, I don't have the metrics. I would have loved to see my heart rate as I arrived at the top of the hill. Today's session included a 15' easy warm-up, a series of 7 reps of hill runs, or rather bounds with poling. This was the "easy" portion, on a long and gradual climb, 200 m or so. Hard work, especially when trying to do it right.

From there we moved to the sledding hill next to the community center where did some technical exercises to improve form: explosive push, arm swing, landing, balance, bounding always up the steep incline. The session  concluded with a series of 3 reps with bounding and poling up to the top of the sledding hill.

As I said, no Garmin metrics but a picture, courtesy of Ben!




Stockem-Roereken-Loussack Run

First day back in Eupen, getting up at 7:00: I had to do my old run. Ordinarily, I would have started at my parent's house in Stockem, but since they are in nursing care, I am staying at my brother's house in the middle of town. It is a typical Belgian winter morning, just above freezing, a damp chill cutting through my running outfit without it being really cold. Taking off, I crossed Zentral Park (fka Spitalswiesen (hospital meadows))  and headed up Stockem.  Passing Athenaeum school, my alma mater for both primary and secondary school, I was inundated with memories. After all, I had walked, biked or driven that stretch for those twelve years. I ran by the old farm houses and newish villas, by Castle Stockem (Burg Stockem), St. Michael's Chapel (Michaelskapelle) and many other landmarks of my childhood. I ran past my parents' house, only giving it a glance and headed for Roereken, where the cow pastures are. Except for the winter months, the dairy farmers in my neighborhood drove their cattle in for milking mornings and nights and swept the cow pies off to the side of the street, or rather distributed them evenly across the blacktop. Since now is winter, I did not have to contend with this slick film coating the street, and anyway, the milking barns have moved to the pastures and cattle driven on the street is pretty much a thing of the past. Where the blacktop ends and the gentle ridge begins tilting west, towards Membach, the first village in Wallonia, I had to frown my forehead towards the ugly machine shed, sized to accommodate about the five or so monstrous tractors and their implements of an agricultural contractor, right above the pond where I used to fish as a kid. It was built long after I moved away, but it is an eyesore in oh so many ways. The stretch between there and the Chapelle de Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs on top of the Giesberg used to be deeply rutted, now it's filled in with gravel, certainly easier to run on but much less charming. We used to have quite a few bone fires on top of this hill, talking and drinking into a Friday or Saturday summer night.

Heading down the hill towards Membach in a light drizzle, mist shrouding of Hertogen Forest, the northern-most slopes of the Ardennes. I skirt the north-east edge of town, past St. Joseph's nursing home and the cemetery, and once more I am on a dirt road surrounded by hedgerows and pastures. Passing Loussak, an isolated farmhouse I am starting the home stretch, entering Eupen at Waisenbueschchen and returning to my brother's home.

Bike Ride Eagan-Farmington-Hastings-Eagan

Nice bike outing with some colleagues from Thomson Reuters and the MN Boat Club. They were poopooing my rickety old bike but they could not drop me ... I did get that wobbly wheel fixed, though ...

Christian, Christine, Martin Carlos & Jack