Strength Day

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Singing went well again this morning. I often feel pressed for time though…I wanted to keep going but had to get to work…argh! It was another gorgeous day out there making me grumpier than usual about this injury…if that’s possible. I miss running so much it hurts. Not running is sucking big time and it's getting tougher every day. Joey went running instead, dropping me off at the Commonwealth Pool on his way to the lakes. He has been so great during this whole ordeal…thanks Giuse. I went to the weight room this time and did a 15 minute cycle to warm up my legs before moving to the machines. I hate gyms so much and it was packed in there today. I really feel out of place and self-conscious since I don’t know a lot about the machines. I concentrated on the hamstrings, arms and quads. It felt good to feel my leg muscles working a bit being careful not to overdo it though or to put any pressure on my foot. I did a solid 20 minutes of core strengthening stuff when I got home and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing in front of the tube. I haven’t put any weight on my forefoot since Monday…not even to test it (would rather not know, to be honest) so I can’t say if it’s feeling better. I promised Lis’ I would stay completely off it and have managed to stick with the plan of using crutches religiously whenever I walk any distance farther than 10 feet and using a cane otherwise. I would advise anyone with this sort of injury to use crutches. I was starting to develop pain in other areas of my foot last week in my ankle and outside shin because I was holding my forefoot up rigidly trying to avoid putting weight on the ball of my foot. It’s best to allow the foot to relax, swallow your pride and cruise on the crutches. Of course, it’s psychologically harder being on crutches (now you really ARE injured) butI think in the long run you avoid other injuries that can crop up from trying to compensate in one area of the leg to avoid pain in another.

Oh, and it only took an entire month to get my cheque from the TC 10km...this was after emailing the organizers several times and leaving three phone messages-my calls were never returned So, thank you to Syl who finally got the ball rolling. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had to hunt down their TC award money...holy. Now I can buy my bike!

Bike/Pool Run 1:15:03

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

I am doubling up on lessons with Selena for the next few weeks leading up to the POV audition. I have a lot of repertoire to get through and having Selena keeping me on track is essential. Today’s lesson was pretty good. I am thrilled, actually. I haven't been singing so well in years. We tried out a couple of new arias and it looks like both may work. The Ach, ich fühl’s aria will have the biggest challenges so I’ll work it carefully this week and see how I do at my lesson on Friday.

My foot does feel better today having been completely off it. I am doing ankle rolls and toe pointing and contracting every so often at work to keep the foot and ankle mobile.

I know I said I was going to take today off but it just felt too weird not doing a WO on a Tuesday. I will take tomorrow off instead. I went to the Crystal Pool again after work, crutches and all. The bike I normally use was occupied which left me with an old, rusty brute which didn’t have much to chose from as far as WO programs. I was a bit grumpy about it and wanted to just forget it but sucked it up and got on the creaky thing. I decided to do some hard, short intervals to break up the monotony. After a 10 minute warm-up (it creaked all through this), I did  2 x 1 minute hard, 1 min easy, then did 5 x 2 minutes hard (cranking up the tension) with 1 minute easy. I could not believe how much I sweated! I did a good cool-down finishing off with 3 minutes of fast spinning with no tension, logging 40 minutes on the bike. I limped down to the pool (the water felt sooo good) and did 8 x 2:30 (did these hard, hard, HARD!) with 30 seconds easy. I did the first minute of each interval with high knees and the second minute doing more of a cross-country (scissor) ski technique and then back to high knees for the last 30 seconds. There is more resistance with the scissor method so it makes it a lot harder to keep the same rhythm but I did it! I ended each interval by “beating the clock” by a good 15-20 seconds…I was smokin’ fast! I finished off with a good 10 minute cool-down (35 mins total) and came out of there feeling awesome! I have to say, when I am able to land-run again, I am definitely going to incorporate some pool running. My body just feels so light and my joints feel lubricated. It’s 8:20pm, I am dead tired and yet it feels great!

IRR Friends in the Pool! 55:39

Monday, May 28, 2007

I saw Lis’ again for another physio treatment. I was treated so well…spoiled, actually. I am able to put weight on my foot now which isn’t necessarily a good thing in terms of healing. My foot was still swollen so Lis’ wants me on crutches for two weeks so I will continue to keep the weight off of my foot. I will do whatever it takes.

Jessalyn and I met at Crystal Pool after work today- thanks Jessalyn!! Tony and Paul were there too to do a swim WO.  Tonight we did 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 mins hard with 30” rests. I am now up to doing 30 minutes of intense intervals which is about the maximum I would be doing if I were land running (of course the intensity isn’t quite as hard, but I am trying). My WO days will consist of either  15 - 30 mins of hard pool running intervals (these will be my easy to moderate days)  or 30-45 mins of cycling with 20-25 minutes of hard pool intervals (these will be my harder days). I will add on a bit more as I go along and certainly when I get my bike, I will be doing more cycling but for now, this should work well for the next week or two. After supper I did my upper body weight routine, core exercises and the alignment exercises Lis’ gave me.

TPB Night 55:47

Sunday, May 27, 2007

My foot is gradually feeling better. I am almost walking normally now. I did another bike/pool combo again today. This feels the best as far as getting a bit of strength work done on the bike followed by the therapeutic pool run afterwards. I just have to be careful not to put any weight on my forefoot as I pedal. I did 30 minutes on the bike doing a gradual HR increase and then another 25 minutes in the pool 6 x 3:00 hard with 30” easy.

When I got home it was pretty nice out so I sat on the balcony for a bit and enjoyed the sunshine. Maestro and I went and grabbed a coffee at Pure Vanilla (I love this place!) and then went to Oak Bay Cycle to look for some cycling gear that they had on sale. I got a sweet deal on a pair of cycling shorts…50% off! That’s all I bought. I have to wait until the bike comes in before I buy shoes and there were a couple of jerseys that I saw at Gerry’s that I want to try on.

Keeping with the Sunday night TPB theme, we made deluxe bbq’d cheeseburgers for dinner. Squintch came over after having done a long ride out along the race route he’s doing next week. He was good and hungry. I showed him my new cycling shorts. He held them up to himself and suddenly they looked ridiculously small. We laughed our heads off when he put his arm in through one of the leg holes...he said he could use it as an arm warmer…too funny. We watched TPB and then Family guy. TPB wasn’t so great last week but now that Mr. Lahey has fallen off the wagon things are waaay funnier…Conkey will be making reappearance next week!!

I was going to take tomorrow off, but Jessalyn called and said she wants to do a pool run with me after work, so I will take Tuesday off instead.

Cycling Day 2:15:11

Saturday, May 26, 2007

I sang for over an hour this morning. Things were working well. I worked on the Handel aria and it felt great! This piece for some reason just always feels good. I met Lis’ just before 11am at her clinic. She was so sweet insisting I come in and she have a good look at my foot. She did some amazing work on the muscles and tendons around the injury and on my lower leg in hopes it will aid in the healing. I then scooted downtown to meet another Lisa at the Y! She works there as a spin teacher so she got me in for free. We did about 55 minutes of spinning while we chatted about our injuries…or should I say we complained about out them. I then went home just in time to head to the Team Gobi Farewell BBQ with Giuse and Squintch…except we kind of missed it. They were packing up just as we got there…Thanks for the water bottle Don-Don!

Matty and I met up for a bite to eat. He calmed me down because I was still stressing about not running. He said he would have had me take a break of 2-3 weeks anyway so this is a perfect time to be injured (if there really is a perfect time for an injury) and assured me I will be ready to run a half in September and will still have a good cross-country season. I feel a better now. When I got back, Giuse and I hopped on our bikes and rode out past Royal Roads on the Goose. We cycled for about 40 minutes and then turned around and came back. I just LOVE being out at dusk, especially out in the woods like that! It makes me very happy. I rode my girlie upright bike and had a blast bombing along the trails…I have to say I like the speed…wait until I get my road bike! 

New Bike! 45:08

Friday, May 25, 2007

It was another pool run for me with Boob this morning. Those three older guys were in the pool again but they were moving a bit this time…really slowly but they were moving. We did a 45 minute steady run. Boob said not to worry about being off right now…that I’ll bounce back in no time once I start running again and to just keep the cardio going.

I had a great lesson with Selena this afternoon. It started off very mediocre but once I sang the Puccini aria, things got rolling. We think that physically I am suited to the maiden roles, my voice responds better with more lyric arias at the moment or at least I seem to get a truer sound…probably because I get more emotionally connected especially since the lyric arias are usually about something sad and tragic…I can really relate to that stuff right now!

Giuse and I went to Straight Up Cycle after work and I ordered my bike, the Argon 18 Krypton. It should arrive in about 10 days. It’s red, black and white and cool. I am very excited!

I started up the weight program that Rol gave me in the winter. I am now up to 3 sets three times a week (skipping the plyometrics) and will keep that up until I start running again. My foot is loads better today. I can put all my weight on it and can even roll a bit. I don't want to test it too much right now while it's healing in case I make it worse.

Bike/Poolie 1:23:47

Thursday, May 24, 2007

I was a bit down this morning. When the weather is nice like it was today I really yearn to be running outdoors. I am getting excited though about buying a road bike. Squintch and Giuse came with me to Fort St. Cycle. I got fitted on the Trek and went for a spin. The ride felt fine and I think it is a decent fit but when I got back to the sore, I noticed a small dent in the frame. I was told they wouldn’t order a new frame but could give me a discount. Squintch asked if the integrity of the frame would be compromised with this defect and they said they didn’t think so. I didn’t feel very assured by that so I have decided to go with the Argon 18 I saw at Straight Up. I know a couple of people who have this bike (including Squintch) and they love it. It’s the first bike that I saw that got me excited so I think I will be pretty happy with it. Gerry has guaranteed he will not let me leave the shop without a prefect fit and I am confident he knows what he’s doing.

We went and grabbed a bite to eat and then Squintch and I went to Crystal Pool. I did 45 minutes on the stationary bike again. This time I cycled for 10 minutes with my HR at 145, 10 mins with at HR 150 then HR at 155 for 10 mins, back down to 145 for 10 mins, then 5 mins easy. I spun out my legs for a few minutes and then hopped into the pool. I did 4 sets of 5 x 1 minute hard with 15” easy and 1 minute easy between sets. I imagined running 300s around the track tonight. I also have a “beat the clock” game where I keep the cadence at a slightly faster rhythm than one second apart. For instance, I count every right step and I make sure at the end of the interval, I have run a higher number of steps than the number of seconds in the interval I am doing. So tonight I was able to average 65-70 right steps for each 60 second interval. This gives me something to concentrate on otherwise I slow down…hey, whatever works.

Bobbin' with Boob! 51:04

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Oh, it was hard getting up this morning! Good thing I had madeplans to meet Boob. I couldn’t shut my eyes and go back to sleep knowing he was showing up to do a pool WO with me. We met at Commonwealth at 7am. I am getting to know the regulars now in the dive tank. My favorites are three older gentlemen that put the floatation belts on and just hang out together near the edge. They just float there and chat. As I slowly glide by, I hear them talking about their golf games and well…it’s usually just about that! I imagine them calling out to their wives as they head out the door every morning, ‘Ok, see you honey, I am going for my pool workout now!’ Ha! My nickname is Speedy. ‘There goes Speedy! Stay out of this girl's way or she’ll run ya over!’ Hilarious…I am going about 500m an hour! There are also two older ladies too who meander along in full make-up and manage to not to get a drop of water on their heads! Boob did a steady run again while I did 7 x 2:30 with 30” breaks. Boob suggested I wear socks for more resistance…That will spark a new nickname, no doubt!

After work Giuse and I went to Fort St Cycle to look at the bike I am thinking of buying (Trek 5000 - Woman’s Specific). I am going to get a proper fitting on it tomorrow and will take it for a good spin to see if I like the feel. We then met J & S and ? for sushi last night…Mmmmm…We had a lot of laughs which I really needed!!! Thanks you guys!

See ya in 5 weeks ): 46:15

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

I got a call this morning from the Jubilee hospital. They had a bone scan cancellation so I was able to go in and get the scan done today.  Right after the scan the radiologist had a quick look and although he isn’t an expert, he said the scan showed a stressie. Even though I knew I had one, actually getting the confirmation was brutal. I had another cry on the way back to work…pathetic, I know, but I couldn’t help it. I was just so looking forward to track and then the build up to a fast half-marathon in August/September. Now doing a half at all will be probably out and I will have to look towards x-country season. At this point I am tense about wearing spikes of any kind so that even seems a bit sketchy. Maybe I’ll feel differently once I get back running. I'm looking at 3-5 more weeks of no running if I heal well...I've done 11 days and counting so far. In the meantime, I need to get my supination under control as I think that was a major factor in this injury. I have been noticing this problem for the past couple of years. I have seen lot’s of photographs of my feet landing on the extreme outside of my foot (a little is good and even considered normal but mine was pronounced). I mentioned this at the last track WO when I was wearing the spikes. I had looked down and saw that my left foot was supinating way more than usual, likely exaggerated by teetering on spikes and from repeatedly running left around the track. MC and Sue both said we’ll look into fixing that biomechanical problem as soon as I am back on my feet. A physical misalignment higher up the chain probably needs to be balanced out with strength exercises etc. Anyhoo, I was back in the Crystal pool tonight. I booked a coaching with a swim coach there to learn how to swim freestyle so I swam for an hour first. There’s a lot to remember just in the body positioning drills but I am willing to do the work to learn. I then did a pool run WO:  2 sets of 6 x 1:30 with 30” and 90” between sets. I really worked hard and got in a great WO. It’s getting easier to hold a faster rhythm. I am going to be a Champion pool runner at the end of this break. I followed this with long cool-down at a moderate rhythm. Squintch did his WO with his club in the lap pool next to me and finished at the same time. He came over afterwards and we discussed my bike purchasing options. I plan to make a final decision by Thursday. This is cheering me up somewhat.

Bike/Pool/Friend 1:15:39

Monday, May 21, 2007

I was hoping to get a pool run in with Jessalyn today but the Crystal pool wasn’t open at all and the Commonwealth closed at 4pm which was too soon for her to make it into town. Giuse was nice enough to come with me. We went up to the exercise room and did some stationary bike. I did a pre-set cardio program for 45 minutes but I manually moved the target heart rate up as the WO progressed. I started slowly getting my HR up to 140 after about 15 minutes. Then I increased the HR to 145 and held that for 10 minutes and then up once more to 150 for the final 20 minutes, with the RPM hovering at 100 the whole time keeping a good spin going without too much resistance. The effort felt very close to a moderate run around the lakes with a gradual pick up except I covered just over 16 miles instead of 6 and was sweating like a maniac! I’ll be drinking a ton of water tonight. Giuse in the meantime did his own WO on the bike but he said his legs felt stiff so he just did a lot of easy spinning. I finished off with a very fast and easy 5 minute spin with no resistance at all as a cool-down and then headed straight down to the pool. I pool ran for 25 minutes throwing in a short, hard effort with The Finn’s WO 10”-20”-30” etc, up to 60” then back down with 15” rests. I managed to make a little friend during this WO. A little kid who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old started talking to me and swimming beside me in the dive tank. “Watch this!” he would say over and over and he would jump off the side or swim under water holding his breath for a long time. The dive tank had no other kids in it, just me and a couple of putzers. He asked me if running under water made me a faster swimmer. I didn’t think he would really want to hear why I was doing it so I just said I hoped it would and I told him he should try the floatation belt which he did. My WO finished and as I was getting out of the pool he asked if I was trying to be an athlete. I laughed and said “Yep, trying!”. He then asked if I would dive off the edge with him…we could have a contest! I apologized and said I had to go but that I enjoyed swimming with him. I felt so badly just leaving him there on his own but Joey was waiting and I wanted to beat the mad rush with the pool closing in just 10 minutes. I slowly limped my way back towards the change rooms forcing myself not to look back. Just as I got to the exit, he came up from behind and said he had a knock-knock joke for me so I said I wanted to hear it. It was a good one and I told him so. I was a bit afraid he was going to follow me right into the women’s change room! I felt so sad for him. It seemed like he was all alone and just wanted a friend. Joey said with my height and physique he probably thought I was his age…thanks there Giuse. After I changed and came out I asked Giuse if he had seen him leave and Joey said no. I waited around a bit to see if his parents were around but he didn’t come out so we left. As we were driving along Elk Dr., we saw him walking all alone carrying a plastic bag with his swimming stuff in it. I felt so sad…the poor little guy went to the pool all by himself and had no one to play with! I rolled down my window as we drove by. He looked up and I stuck my head out and waved at him. He shot me a big smile once he recognized me and waved back and then kept walking with his head down. I wanted to give him a hug…poor kid.

Foot update: No big changes...still bloody hurts to bear all my weight on it while toeing off. Oh! I bumped into MC this morning while he was going for a run and he said he could fit me in for another treatment on my foot with acupuncture etc this week since he got a cancellation...yay! He still thinks it's not a stressie and so does Matty. MC thinks my metatarsal has dropped and I will be back running in a week or two, tops. I still want to see the bone scan results before I start running again.

Pool... 50:24

Sunday, May 20, 2007

I got up this morning just as Shan rang the buzzer downstairs. She came by to see if Giuse wanted a ride to the lakes. I looked outside and Lola and Charlie were in the car looking out the window with worried looks on their faces…so cute. She came up for a bit while Guise was getting ready and then off they went leaving me behind once again…sniff…sniff. My foot is still sore when I first start to put weight on it in the morning but then gets better as the day goes on….not sure if that’s a symptom of a stressie…seems odd that it gets better the more I walk on it (albeit gingerly) but am still treating it like one. I am sticking with the metatarsal pad for now since it does give a lot of relief and I am wearing running shoes all day long so my foot is on a cushy surface as much as possible. I put some shorts on and did my strength routine then showered and practised for a bit. I just got back from yet another pool run with the Squintch. Is it ever miserable outside...at least I am not missing out on nice running weather. After a 10 minute warm-up, we did 4 x 5 minutes with I minute off and then 10”-20”-30”-40”-40"-30”-20”-10” at full throttle with 15” breaks. The 5 minute intervals were hard mentally…running 5 minutes on land is going to feel like a breeze after this! I haven’t decided yet on the bike. Rider’s was closed today and tomorrow so I  may go there Tuesday after work.

Progress!!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

This morning I was able to put a bit of weight on my foot as long as I kept my foot straight with no pressure on the ball of my foot…no big improvements but at least I can now put some weight on it and I am now no longer walking like Igor. Now here’s the kookiest thing ever…Joey left this morning for a track WO while I stayed in bed, fast asleep…this is all just so very, very wrong. I did enjoy drinking a leisurely cup of coffee though at 9am while leafing through a couple of bike buying magazines.  I am finally purchasing a road bike.

Singing this morning felt great. I did a good hour and sang through a lot of rep. Again, it was done balancing on one foot. This is starting to feel normal …hmmmm….

Squintch picked Giuse and me up and off we went to shop for bikes. First stop, Straight Up Cycle. There were a couple of sexy bikes there that caught my eye right away. Good thing Squintch was there to remind me we were just shopping, not buying yet. Off we went to Oak Bay…there was a nice one there too but like Straight up, my size wasn’t in stock so I couldn’t try anything out. Fort St Cycle was next. They had three bikes that I got to test drive. I think I may have found one but will take the weekend to decide.

I picked up those metatarsal pads tonight and stuck one under the spot Sue showed me. I tried to walk but again, when I put any weight on the ball of my foot the pain was still sharp and unbearable. I adjusted the pad forward a bit thinking it was going to be futile. But BINGO! No pain! I couldn’t believe it! I kept testing it adding more and more pressure and still, nothing. I rolled off the toe and although it aches a little if I really toe off, the pain is minimal and is an ache rather than a sharp pain. I still won’t be running on it right away but at least this is giving me some hope.

IRR BBQ 48:43

Friday, May 18, 2007

Boob met me at the Commonwealth this morning before work. While Boob ran steadily beside me I did a WO JF sent me with really fast, short intervals of 10” 20” 30” etc up to 60” and then back down with 15” rests. I liked this intense WO and will definitely do it again.

I saw Sue again today for physio. She really went to town on my arch (and oddly again, I enjoyed this) and also on the inside of my calf. She dug deeply into the muscle that runs down the leg into the foot. She slowly worked her way down while I squirmed on the table. She told me to buy some metatarsal pads and see if sticking one under the second metatarsal will bring some relief.

IRR had a BBQ at Alan’s tonight. It was so great to see everyone! Alan provided all the salmon for everyone as well as salads and dessert! Thanks Alan! The bbq salmon cook-off was a tasty success!

Still in the Pool 53:09

Thursday, May 17, 2007

I had a very good lesson with Selena again today. We stopped for a moment in the lesson to reflect on how patient we’ve had to be to make the progress we have made. Young singers are in such a rush to “get there” with their voices. They want to sound like a 30 year old at 18 (I know I did!). We take short cuts creating habits that eventually end up failing us. Selena says it takes the time it takes to learn how to sing …you can't rush it. Speaking of which, there hasn’t been any big improvements with my dumb foot. (How’s that for a segue!) So, it was another pool run for me today. This time I went to the Crystal Pool in the evening with Squintch. He had a swim WO with his club so while he was churning out hard, fast laps in the pool I was putzing back and forth in the “leisure” lane. Tonight I did 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1 hard with 60sends break in between. I worked the intervals and felt I was getting a good WO in. I kept my rhythm in time to match the seconds on the clock so I didn’t slow down. I was finished before Squintch so I swam for 15-20 minutes enjoying the water. Squintch introduced me to his swim coach. We chatted for a bit and I asked her if she gave private lessons. I have always wanted to learn to swim freestyle so we are going to set up a time to meet!

Steady Poolie Run 53:27

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Well, I don’t have to be put down just yet. I saw Sue Lott again this morning at Herald Street Health. The work she did on me yesterday loosened up my foot a little. Yay! Thanks Sue! My foot wasn’t as tender either when she squeezed my toes together. She did some more work on my joints in my foot to try and loosen things up and worked for a good 5 minutes without mercy on the arch area. I kind of enjoyed that for some weird reason. She also did another ultra-sound treatment. She still can’t say for sure if I have a stressie but there are some signs that that the pain could be nerve or joint related. Before leaving, I checked with reception to see if I got a bone scan appointment. Unfortunately it’s not until the 31st but I am hoping I’ll get a cancellation appt before that. I can’t stand waiting. I drove to Cedar Hill Sports Therapy to pick up Giuse on the way back to work. He was having his own physio appointment there. I was sitting in the waiting room when MC came out of his office and I told him the news about my foot. He was booked up for the next two weeks so Giuse was seeing someone else. MC just had a cancellation and said if I had time, he would have a look at my foot…how lucky was that! He moved my foot around, applied pressure to different spots and did some yanking on my toes, foot and ankle. He then took out this large, metal tuning fork thingie and hit it on his leg so it would vibrate. He pressed the end of it on the tender area right on the bone. He did this a bunch of times touching different spots where I was feeling sore. He said normally if there is a stress fracture, the vibration directly on the bone would cause some pain…there was no pain. He then applied some acupuncture needles. He isn’t ruling out that it could be a stress fracture but he said from my description of how quickly it happened and when and where it hurts that it could very well be a pinched nerve or a jammed joint. I am still thinking it’s a metatarsal stress fracture. Thanks MC for seeing me!!

Giuse was leaving for a Boob run just as I got home from work. I have to admit, I was jealous. I had dinner early so I could do my poolie run at 7pm. I was to do a 30 minute steady run at “tempo” pace. It was an annoying WO at first since there were two bus loads of kids at the Commonwealth tonight. I spent a good portion of the run getting splashed in the face from flailing arms hitting the water and trying to avoid kids who were jumping off the edge of the dive tank, from landing on my head. Thankfully, after about a half an hour they slowly started to disperse. I was already frustrated by this point and just as I was thinking of calling it quits, I saw the friendly face of Dave J. He was there to do a pool run too as part of his training for the Ottawa Marathon. He hopped into the pool and I ended up running an extra 20 minutes. This time whizzed by as we chatted about running and training. Thanks Dave for the company and good luck in Ottawa!

I have to say a warm thank you to everyone who has been sending me emails of support and concern over the past few days. I have been given lots of advice and encouragement that has really helped me feel better about all this. As Matty says, I am still a rookie so I am not used to dealing with injuries/setbacks but that it’s all part of the running game. I’ll probably get injured again at some point (PLEASE NO!!!) and another lesson will be learned from it.

Ok, Thunder... 45:09

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

I write this entry as Giuse heads out the door to meet the IRR gang at Cedar Hell for the Tuesday night WO. My heart is heavy. Anyhoo, I went and saw the physio today, someone new that my Doc recommended. She had a good look at my foot and did a lot of poking and manipulating. She said I had incredibly rigid feet and ankles…yep, knew that. She said it is possible that because my feet are so stiff, I may have jammed up my foot. I supinate quite a bit and add running more up on my toes wearing spikes and constantly turning left running around the track and you have an over-stressed  left foot. We are going to assume it’s a stress fracture for now until I get the bone scan. In the meantime, she is going to try to loosen my foot up as much as she can and treat it with some ultra-sound to see if that does the trick. I have to go back tomorrow to see if the treatment made a difference - good or bad. Since Saturday nothing has improved. After today's physio appointment however, I can put weight on my foot and walk evenly as long as I take baby steps!! I am trying not to get my hopes up but quite frankly, feeling hopeful beats the heck out of feeling like a bag of poo!  

I did a pool run with Squintchy this morning. I got to the Commonwealth at 6:45 (yep, I got up that early!) and saw Rui there who was just finishing off his swim. We had a quick chat and then I hopped into the dive tank and started warming up while waiting for the Squintch. Today we did two sets of 6 x 2:30 with 30 seconds rest. I put in another solid effort but have yet to feel the same training effect that I get from running. I am breathing a bit hard but it’s not quite the same.

I just got back from dinner with Squintch at the Cactus Club-what a warm night it is! Giuse met us there after his WO…sounded like a fun WO.

Check out this FamilyGuy snippet...

In Deep Water 37:11

Monday, May 13, 2007

I woke up this morning with no signs of improvement with my foot. I managed to get an appointment with my Doc who is also a sports doctor. She had a good look at my foot and with just a light squeeze on the metatarsal bone on my second toe she had me shrieking like a sissy. She is almost positive that I have a stress fracture. I am on a cancellation list for a bone scan and I have an appointment with someone tomorrow morning in her clinic to rule out the slight possibility that I jammed my second toe badly and wrenched some ligaments. I limped out of the clinic in a daze, in tears…sound dramatic? You bet!  I picked up Giuse from the POV office and although he tried to make me feel better, I felt numb. After about an hour of moping and making a few pathetic calls to friends for words of support (thanks Jude, Matty, Squintch and Shan) I did what I always do when I can’t control a situation…I try and control the situation (or at least find a way to make it better). I did some quick research on the internet and found a 9-week pool running workout plan. I will double-check with Matty but this plan is by Pete Pfitzinger and Matty has sent me the odd article from this coach’s site in the past so I figure it may just do the trick. If I do have to be off my feet for an extended period, I am going to do my best to try and keep my fitness level up as much as possible. I worked hard to get here this year so there’s no way I am going to sit around for 8 weeks. This pool WO schedule is supposed to keep your fitness level going (and may even improve it) just as long as you supply the intensity. I’m in there, like swim-wear (no pun intended). After supper I did the first WO at the Commonwealth Pool with good ol’ Squintch who agreed to join me. I still hold a faint hope that I don’t have a stress fracture but I won’t likely get a bone scan for 2-3 weeks so I might was well get on a program right away.

After a 5 minute warm-up, we did 2 sets of 5 x 90 seconds with 30 second recoveries and 2 minute recoveries between sets. I eased into the first couple of intervals just to be sure my foot was ok. There was no pain so it was full steam ahead. I kept a quick rhythm going and made sure the effort was strong. We actually had a great time. I suspect the monotony will get to me eventually but I am determined to stay with it.

My Left Foot

Sunday, May 13, 2007

When I woke up this morning, I still couldn’t put weight on my foot and the top of it is now swollen. I was no longer calm. I called Dr. Al for advice on whether it would be worth it for me to go to emergency. He said to wait until Monday since getting an x-ray on a Sunday through emergency would be a long wait. Since I couldn’t run this morning, I sang for a long time, working through the arias Selena suggested for the auditions. Thank gawd it went well or I would have really been in the depths of despair! Just as I was finishing, Dr. Al called to say he and Dr. Tony had arranged an x-ray requisition at the General for me and that I could go right away. Off we went and sure enough, they were expecting me! The x-ray took just a few minutes and I even got the results soon after. The results showed no stress fracture but Tony said that only a bone scan would verify that. So, tomorrow I will call my doc and see if she can make an appointment for a bone scan. I am not a very happy girl. The thought of not being able to run makes me crazy. I was so excited about running track too! I must have done too much, too soon in my spikes…argh! I hope it is just a tendon or something that will heal in a few days but my gut (and my logic) is telling me it’s a stress fracture. I am a bit of a pessimist with these sorts of scenarios so I am hoping I am overreacting. At least now I know I can sing standing on one foot.

Dogwood 1500m 4:40?

Saturday, May 12, 2007.

I sang for a solid 90 minutes this morning. While I was warbling away, poor Giuse threw out his back while taking a shower! I didn’t hear him calling for help. I found him later sprawled on the bed unable to move. I got him down on the floor and had him lie there for a while so his back would release. He felt a bit better but was definitely walking around like an old man!

The 1500m race I was entered in was supposed to start at 4:20 but as is apparently pretty common, we actually started closer to 5:00! Melina, Nancy and I had already done our warm-up so all we could do was try and stay loose by doing some easy drills and jogging. My left foot had been bothering me a bit since the track WO on Tuesday and was still a bit tender but I didn’t think much of it. I’ve had little niggles in my feet before that have come and gone. I thought it was just a bit sore form running in my new spikes.  Boobie suggested I loosen my laces a bit and that I may have just irritated the tendon on the top of the foot from tying the laces too tightly. The race finally got underway. I was placed in the outermost lane so when the gun went off I made a bee-line to the inner lane and got to the front of the pack right off the start. The first lap felt fairly comfy as I came through in about 71 seconds. Instead of maintaining the pace though and pulling away from the pack (as Matty said to do) I wimped out and stupidly ran with just enough effort to hold the lead and eased into a slower rhythm. With one lap to go, I slowly picked up the pace to finish in a time of 4:40 (actually, the results aren’t up yet so I am not sure what the exact time was…could have been slower). I was shooting for 4:30 but knowing the effort I put in going through the second lap, I am not surprised that I ran a slower time than expected. Next time I know I’ll have to crank up the effort in the second lap if I want to run the time I want. Now for the bad news. As soon as I crossed the line, my left foot was in agony. I took my spikes off right away and tried to walk but the pain was excruciating. I tried to run a cool-down with Melina and Nancy but had to stop after about a minute could barely walk back to the car. Squintch had to practically carry me! He said he could get a baby carrier, plop me in and he could walk around with me hanging off his front. Nice. When I called Matty in a panic, he said to try not to worry too much. He managed to calm me down a bit. I did what he said and iced my foot on and off and kept it elevated before going to bed.

T's B-Day!!!1:07:37

Thursday, May 10, 2007

What a beauty of a day! Giuse picked me up after work to meet the IRR gang at the lakes. I did an extra 15 minutes beforehand with Matty. We chatted a bit about the race on Saturday. I am pretty excited about it but also a bit nervous since I don’t have much experience running track races. There was a pretty big gang of people out tonight. Alan and I talked a bit about having an IRR BBQ next Friday night…It’s time we had a social event! Tonight I was to do 10 x 1 min with 1 min rest. My legs felt a bit stiff at the start. I thought it was left-over from Tuesday’s track WO but Matty said it was probably because I ran too long last night. He’s probably right. He was not very happy with me. He said I am supposed to be focusing on running fast which means cutting back on the longer, slower runs. I sure got an earful that lasted nearly then entire WO and trust me, that will never happen again! My legs did start to feel better after the second interval but we didn’t want to take a chance so I stopped after 8. A few strides beforehand would have helped too. I always do strides before a fast track WO so I should do them before these short intervals too. Syl ran with us while the group did another type of WO with longer intervals. He was going to stop after 6 but actually did all 10!

Giuse and I scooted home for a quick shower and then went to Il Greco’s for T’s big 12th birthday bash. There were about 15 people there and we had such a great time! I was going to show up in my PJs and robe but decided against it at the last moment (it IS a family restaurant after all) Squintch would have peed his pants…I should have done it! Don-Don was the biggest pest ever, shooting dirty, rolled up napkins at me and using sweet, little Enja as a shield. That little girl was traumatized! I have a new purple-nurple on my arm and I am pretty bitter about it. Don-Don better watch his back! Team Gobi's Scooter showed up and we got to chat a bit about how her tarining was coming along. They have two more hard weeks left to do before their taper...she sounded too tired to be excited about the race...I don't blame her!

Boob Run 1:02:10

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

My lesson got postponed to Friday this week so I got in a good singing practise this morning. I got carried away, lost track of time and ended up getting to work a bit late. I need three arias for the POV audition, preferably in three different languages and styles. I have to get advice from Selena about repertoire at the next lesson so I went through one of the ideas I have for an aria choice this morning that I think might work. I’ll try two others tomorrow, that way I can sing a few for her to see what she thinks. All the arias are ones I have done before so it is just a matter of re-working them a bit and getting them back up to performance mode.

What a gorgeous day it was today! I was so excited to run in the sun after work that that’s all I could think of practically all day long. Giuse and I met up with Boob and Wayne at Boob’s office. We planned on running up to the observatory and actually started the climb up but realized it would be too long a run so we turned around and went back. I ran a bit longer than Matty wanted…he is going to have my head. I was supposed to just run “an easy 45 minutes or so”. I don’t think the “or so” meant an extra 17 minutes. I so look forward to tomorrow’s email…gulp. I did six solid strides afterwards. My legs feel pretty good. No soreness from yesterday’s WO in the new spikes…so far so good!

Oak Bay Track 1:21:12

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

I wasn’t allowed to sleep in my spikes but I did get to wear them again tonight. Matty and I did a 15 minute warm-up while waiting for the others to arrive at the Oak Bay track. We came back and picked up Melina and did another 15 minutes with her while Boob ran with Nancy. The wind was horrible, just horrible. I was so dreading running a track WO in the wind and even tried to whine my way out of it. Matty showed no sympathy whatsoever, the bugger. Matty's WO for me tonight was 6- 8 sets of 50m fast, 50m easy, 50m fast 50m easy then 300m at 1500m race pace with 2 minute rests between sets. Boob liked the WO so we all did the same thing. We started the 300s so that we only had to run into the wind in the final turn so it wasn’t so bad. I did the first two sets in my clunky road shoes (I forgot to bring my flats) then I switched into my spikes for the remaining six sets. Melina reminded me not to go berserk when I switched into my spikes…good advice! My 300s were: 54-54-52-51-50-51-52-52. My effort tonight felt very even and strong from beginning to end. I finished my final 300m feeling very pleased with how the WO went. I started happily walking back to put my road shoes on when the spike at the front of my shoe stuck into the track and down I went. It was one of those long, drawn out falls…you know the kind where people watching call out ‘Oh! Oh!! Oh!!!...oh.’ Way to go Mar. I lay on my back laughing, too embarrassed to get up. The rest of the group thought I was just kidding around. Melina, Nancy and I did a 20 minute warm-down together. Giuse did the IRR WO at Cedar Hell then picked me up so we could go straight downtown to meet the Squintch for a quick bite before his swim workout. When we got back home, I took a quick shower and was so bagged, I went straight to bed.

Easy Run with Strides 35:18

Monday, May 7, 2007

After an easy run around the UVic trails, I slipped on my new track spikes and gave then a whirl with about eight strides. They felt surprisingly natural and comfortable and boy do they make me feel speedy!! I may just sleep in them tonight!

A Loop and a Bit 50:19

Sunday, May 6, 2007

The church service this morning went really well. The congregation at Gordon United is so happy to have musicians come in and perform some music. I was able to get a run in later in the afternoon at the lakes. It was drizzling and cool but it was still a great feeling to be outside in the fresh air. Matty decided to do a second run to “shake out his legs” after having already run around the lakes twice that morning…I would be in a wheelchair. We saw LeRoo at the far side of the lake and stopped for a moment to chat. Other than that, there weren’t a lot of runners but a lot of dogs and walkers. We did one loop and then I continued on my own to run a short out and back, picking up the pace a bit. My legs felt perky from yesterday’s track session but my energy was a bit low probably from having to be “up” for this morning’s service. We are cutting back the volume and will continue introducing more quality in preparation for some upcoming track events. I can’t wait to try out my new track spikes! I start off with a few strides tomorrow to see how they feel before I use them in a WO.

Oak Bay Track 58:22

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Giuse and I had Becky and Mike over for dinner last night…long overdue. One of the great things about having company is that it forces you to tidy and clean up your living space. It was nice going into the weekend feeling organized.

We had our first IRR Saturday track WO this morning. It was a smallish group but I am hoping more people will show up as we get going. Matty planned two sets of 400-300-200-100  for me to do so Boob thought it would be a good WO for the whole group since most of us are racing in the Dogwood meet this weekend. Today’s times:  400m 65 (90 sec) 300m 52 (60) 200m 33 (30) 4:50 set break then 400m 68 (90) 300 skipped this 300m-my stupid calves were cramping up! 200m 31 (30) 100m 17. It was clear I ran my first 400m too quickly. I was supposed to be aiming for 70 seconds (1500m pace). My calves started cramping up half-way through the second 400 - the same thing that happened in the track WOs in Quebec and Carlsbad. Dehydrated? Could be. Running too hard and not staying relaxed? Likely. After a complete rest, we did a few 150m repeats broken up at various speeds. Melina and I did the cool down together and she reassured me it was better to stop like I did than to get injured and not to worry about the cramping.  I’ll start taking my magnesium/calcium supplement again too. It was so great to see Shan out with the group today!!

Intervals at the Lakes 1:23:43

Thursday, May 3, 2007

I finally decided to sing Bach’s Bist du bei mir this coming Sunday at the church. The accompanist and I have been trying to find it in a good key. This is a very popular tune but do you think I could have even found one copy of it? I went through all my volumes of sacred music, went through all my files and could not for the life of me find a single version. UVic had it but in a super low key. Selena has it in Eb which looked pretty high but after trying it out this morning, I decided it will work. I was so tempted to hop into the half-marathon this Sunday in Vancouver. With track training just beginning I could still squeeze in a longer race but I had already committed myself to singing on Sunday and it really was too late to back out. Probably just as well.

Fatty and I met after work at the lakes and did an extra 20 minutes before the IRR warm up. It was sunny but still on the cool side which was fine when I was running but I felt chilly once we stopped at the p-lot waiting for everyone to show up….brrr….Boob had us do 3-4-5-5-4-3 minutes with 2 minute rests. Matty did a WO yesterday so he just ran the warm up and left soon after giving me instructions to stay relaxed and to only let loose on the last minute of every interval. The temptation to keep up with Boob in the first couple of intervals however was too great so I ended up running a bit quicker off the top (Matt's not going to be happy with me...) I pulled back in the 5 minute intervals but by then I was already feeling a bit pooped. I eased into the last 3 minutes but felt good enough to spin out a bit in the last minute going neck to neck with Pierre. He totally left me in the dust though with that last brilliant gear of his in the last 20 seconds. We had only cooled down for 5 minutes when we got back to the fountain so he and I did another easy 10 minutes chatting about his new adventures with taking singing lessons. I feel a bit tired but I am hoping it's just from the lack of good sleep lately. Giuse was in Vancouver for the day listening to singers auditioning for Pacific Opera. Auditions take place here at the end of June so I am going get off my butt and and go for it.

Singin' & Runnin' 52:34

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

I love how Selena is using running analogies now to help with my singing technique. “When you run, you don’t stop moving half-way through your stride do you? So don’t stop mentally moving through that phrase!” It works! I imagine the freedom I feel when I am running and I oftentimes this triggers the release I am looking for in my voice and body. Today’s lesson was another goodie. I am achieving some solid consistency and getting more independent with fixing things when I get out of alignment. Thank gawd for Selena. That woman has patience, I’ll tell ya.

Ok, enough about singing. Running today was fun too. Since Matty was doing his own tempo run, I met up with Boobie and Wayne for an easy run. We ran through Interurban Campus, along Hector Rd., cut through on a section of trail that took us through Logan Park then along Viaduct Ave, back through the campus (stopping briefly to have a look at the construction going on for Pac Sports future digs) and then back to Boob’s office p-lot. A very enjoyable run! It was great to run with Boob and Wayne again and to run such a scenic route.

Sleep Running 40 something

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Tonight’s run was done around the lakes at an easy pace with a 10 minute tempo at the end. Matty said I was going too fast for the pick-up. He was right. I have got to get that tempo pace under control. It felt good though. I did a good seven strides afterwards. These felt good too. Too bad I was so tired from a lousy night's sleep last night.

Enjoyable Run 44:36

Monday, April 30, 2007

My legs feel quite good today. No aches or pains so far.  Matty and I did an easy run around the UVic trails today after work while yakking about yesterday’s race and running goals for the rest of the year. Tomorrow will be another recovery day and we’ll start training again on Thursday. IRR moves to the track this Saturday morning so that should be fun!