Tag Archive: running
Running Reboot
Disclaimer: I’m an engineer, not a doctor!
The Return From Injury Plan
I’m back to running! I have a race on September 19 – the Hudepohl 14k – that I registered for last year (I paid for all three of the Beer Series races and got a nice shirt outta the deal). I wrote this early and figured I might make edits and adjustments as necessary, but I wanted this as a plan-in-progress just in case.
There is a lot of advice out there regarding getting back, but a lot of it is for shorter off-times with less ‘fitness maintenance’ while injured. And that’s not a bad thing – many of the posts I’ve seen are for getting back from stress fractures in legs or feet or IT Band Syndrome. You cannot run while suffering from any of those. My injury was different because I could and did some running while injured.
Prior to being given the release to go back to full time running, I was doing walk/running that went like this:
- 5 minute walk warm up
- Alternate 2.5 minute run/2.5 minute walk for 40 minutes
- Finish with a 7.5 minute run that later increased to 10 minutes.
This ended up with 36 total minutes of running.
In starting back, I did the following, all at an easy pace and on not-terribly-hilly routes:
- Week 1 (8/30/2015): 15 minute run Su*, 20 minute run M, 30 minute runs T-Th, 45 minute run Friday
- Week 2: 40 minute runs M-Th, 60 minute run Friday
- Week 3: 50 minute runs M-Th, 20 minute run Friday, 14k race Saturday (which could take me as long as 90 minutes)
- Week 4: up to 20 minute run M (as determined by feel), 45 minute runs T-Th, 60 minute run Friday
- Week 5 and 6: 60 minute runs M and W, 45 minute runs T and Th, 75 minute run Friday
- Week 7 and 8: 7 mile runs M and W, 4.5 mile runs T and Th, 75 minute run Fridays
- Week 9 and after: begin transitioning back to my standard weeks prior to hurting my back in February (which started the downward spiral)
- Start with moving Mondays to hills
- 2 weeks later, add in speed work
- 2 weeks after that, move Fridays from 75 minutes to mileage and ultimately increase to 10 miles (75 minutes should be around 8 miles).
.* = This was an “ease in” run that was really to test sustained running. Very easy pace. This was based on the day I got a spinal injection.
The “standard” week for me:
Monday: 7 miles hills (from my office across from Sawyer Point, go up Eggleston, the FP Half Marathon course through Eden Park)
Tuesday: 4.5 miles easy + 5 strides
Wednesday: Speedwork
Thursday: 4.5 miles easy + 5 strides
Friday: 10 miles long slow distance
I rotate speedwork through the following:
- 1 mile warmup, 12*1/4 mile intervals with 1/4 mile easy run between, 1/2 mile cool down
- 1 mile warmup, 8*1/2 mile intervals with 1/4 mile easy run between, 1/2 mile cool down
- 1 mile warmup, 4*1 mile intervals with 1/2 mile easy run between, 1/2 mile cool down
- Tempo run TBD
Note that the tempo run is TBD. The last speedwork I did before injury was a very long tempo run. I believe this very long tempo run is what set me up for injury, so I may do something like 32 mile tempo runs or 23 mile tempo runs, each with a 1/2 mile (roughly 5 minutes) easy run between.
Things to Look Forward To
My running year is generally the following:
- Bockfest 5k
- Little Kings Mile
- Flying Pig *something* (the last two years it was a half marathon, I’m considering changing it up this next time)
- Brian Rohne Memorial Run (5k up until 2015, when it was a 3200m actual cross country run and part of a series)
- Hudepohl 14k
Beyond these “bare bones”, I will do at least one, maybe two half marathons this coming year. I might do a full marathon in fall of 2016. And I want to add in a few 10ks, because I’ve run ONE. In 2013. Since then I’ve run thousands of practice miles and I KNOW I can run faster and better than that 1:08:37!
Cheers!
The 5 Stages Of Running Injury Recovery
Like the 5 Stages Of Grief, there’s 5 Stages Of Running Injury Recovery.
Note: foul language throughout. This is not well researched, either, so if you’re a runner and skipped any of these stages, I sincerely hope it was the first one. If not that, then the 3rd one is a good stage to skip too, since it didn’t work for me and doesn’t work in the 5 Stages of Grief either.
1. Pain
Let’s face it, if you have time to go through 5 stages and remember them, the injury fucking hurt. If it was like my injury, you were limping and the pain got worse.
2. Despair
Runners run. Injured runners do not. And it sucks ass. During this stage, my wife complained about me being in a stupor. Really, it was just that I wasn’t getting that occasional runner’s high. Worse, I get Runner’s World, so I was unable to run but getting a magazine centered around (guess what?) running. And of course the cover pic: a runner running. And if not running, they’re at least dressed in the proper attire.
3. Bargaining
Many runners, myself included, shy away from races that require you to raise money (via sponsorships, as opposed to just paying an entry fee and being done with it) . I have a family, a full time job, I ran ~34 miles a week when not injured, I brew beer, and I run multiple web sites. I don’t need to be a whore for some organization that can’t make it’s own money.
Dear Lord,
If I can run pain free by the middle of next week, I’ll do one of those sponsorship runs, and I’ll even try to raise a metric shit ton of money.
Amen.
No, it didn’t work. I’m lucky. The jury’s still out on whether God gives two shits about sponsorship runs. I think they feel dirty unless it’s like the Boston Marathon, where there is still an option to pay… If you’re fast enough. And that’s not a complaint – Boston is one of many runners’ ulimate goals, including mine (and preferably before I’m so old the race director says “at your age, if you can run a marathon, you’re in!”).
4. Relapse
Physical therapy only goes so far, and it doesn’t replace the runner’s high. When the physical therapist says “maybe you can start working in some running, but WE HAVE TO TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR”, you conveniently ignore the part they yelled at you. And you run. A 5k is like a joint to a jittery pot smoker that hasn’t had a smoke in a month or more (I’m not sure if that makes sense, I’ve never smoked pot, but that’s what I THINK it is like).
But at PT, that elliptical (something I’ve only seen, never used) becomes a way to go fast… well, treadmill fast, which still feels like a hamster in a wheel. But I’d rather be healthy running in a hamster wheel than injured.
5. Reloading
Treatment plans have an end, which is one treatment after the insurance deductible is met (for me, anyway). In the past week, I’ve been reading more: You (Only Faster) (affiliate link) and thinking more about post-injury training and nutrition. I’ve viewed more YouTube videos on training topics as well. And I’ve lost 0.6 lbs last week! Next up is Racing Weight (another affiliate link) , and then Born To Run (yeah, that one’s an affiliate link too).
Next Race: The Hudepohl 14k. Depending on the outcome of what I hope is the last part of my treatment plan, I hope to run the 14k and not drop to the 7k. This is going to the blog a day after a shot that now has my back all achy. SUPPOSEDLY, I’ll be able to run full time (none of this run/walk shit) Monday.
🍻
Flying Pig Half: The Good, The Bad, The Awesome, and the Ugly
The Good
- The all-star game stuff is awesome
- The song playing while my wave started: You’re an all-star and Uptown Funk
- The song playing at mile ~0.75 (by Great American Ballpark): put me in coach
- The song somewhere around mile 4: something that sounded like 90% Black Sabbath mixed with 10% of Nirvana
- During large parts of my run, I felt like Mario Andretti in the Ave Maria Indy car commercial
- The lady with the large heavy-looking bell. Seemed like she should have looked around at nearby people with those puny little cowbells and mustered up her best Aussie accent and say “that’s not a bell, THIS is a bell!”
The Bad
- Getting injured two weeks before the Little Kings Mile. I got a pull/strain/something in my upper hamstring (AKA my butt) that put me out of commission for two weeks. I never knew running could be such a pain in the ass sometimes! (lol!)
- People walking less than a mile in (I totally get it during the hill, but if you were going to walk, don’t start with 2:00 – 2:05 runners!)
- Someone near mile 5 was giving out small water bottles. I saw no less than 4 of them in the race course. Twisted ankle (or worse) waiting to happen. I know their heart was in the right place, though.
The Awesome
- Signs:
- “Every Hill is a mountain of opportunity”
- “Run Like Morgan Freeman is Narrating”
- The crowd – it never ceases to amaze me how many non-runners come out for this. People can be awesome sometimes.
- Not signs:
- The couple with “1st 1/2 marathon” on their shirts. I saw at least two people say good things to those two before I did.
- The PR Bell
- Ringing the PR Bell!!!
- Using my own keys to the race to have an awesome race!
- The finishers area, complete with chandeliers. There’s something cool about being in a dirty urban setting (the post-race area is the service area for the Great American Ballpark and the US Bank Arena) and seeing chandeliers.
The Ugly
- Two days of soreness after the race
- The bar I selected for that post-race beer. I don’t like being ignored.
The Race Report – Little Kings Mile
Race conditions were warm and sunny, race began at 8:00 PM on Friday night. I had walked to and from the Expo and my office prior to the race (about a mile). Race was operated in one major heat and two additional heats for 5 elite women and 5 elite men. The course was new this year.
The Course
My strategy was to start well and kick it in around the corner of Central and Mehring (the last intersection on the course). Finishing time was 7:17.
The Race Report – Flying Pig Half Marathon
Weather: mid-50s at the start, low 70s at my finish.
Clothing and Accessories: I wore a tank top and shorts. I wished I had an old sweatshirt to have over me that could have been tossed to the side and ultimately donated to Goodwill (they collect cast-off clothing at the start area). Only accessories were my phone, three packs of Gu (Root Beer, Vanilla, and Chocolate, the Root Beer one was consumed in the corral), and 3 Advil stapled to/in my fuel belt.
The Race: I spent the first 6 miles just staying with it. I admired the sunrise and generally kept moving at a good pace without too much exertion. I kept the same attitude during the uphill climb into Eden Park. I kept a not-close eye on time. Took water at 4, 5, 8, and 9. Took energy shots around mile 5 (in downtown) and 9-ish (in the area where volunteers were handing out the energy bars). Pushed it during the downhill, but not so bad I couldn’t talk, I saved that for miles 12-13.1.
Lap times. Ignore mile 1, this started before the race did.
Looking at the pace, I’m happy with it all. I didn’t expect the first part to be in the low 9s, nor did I expect the middle part to not break 10 minutes per mile. And I followed my own keys and saved some for the end, which is where those 3 sub-8:30 miles came from.
Final time: 2:01:11. PR of 16:23!
Cheers!
BBBC Farm Report
The Hops…
-
- Tettanang Hops
-
- Columbus Hops
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- Centennial Hops
So I figure I’m going to make a lager at the end of summer when those Tettanang hops are ready.
The Brewery
I was reading up in Mastering Homebrew and noticed that the Wortsplosion was probably caused, in part by using vinyl tube instead of silicone tube… I think. I need to check, and probably still need to see about either getting some hose clamps or just replacing the fittings with something more heat resistant.
I’ve been at work on a fermentation chamber controller.
Test setup with an RFduino and a TC74 temperature sensor.
After a little false start with a sensor that absolutely will not work with 3.3v, I found a sensor that does work and I think I have a solution in mind. The RFduino might be a better way than an ESP-8266, but we’ll see. I still have the option to use this sensor and the Raspberry Pi. Also on that thought, I updated the Brewery IoT page. Even more so, the behind-the-scenes stuff works, too – with encryption, even.
Brewing
Tomorrow (by the time this posts) is Brew Day. It’s also the day between the Little King’s Mile and the Flying Pig Half Marathon. I am going to be resting, since I already figure that a lingering injury may make my half a very painful experience and if there’s a snowball’s chance in Hell that I might be miraculously healed I want to be at my best. I might see about brewing the following weekend. I hope everyone taking part in Brew Day has a wonderful time.
In related thoughts, I just (before typing this) drank an amber ale that I think had too much caramel malt in it. I also saw something recently (I don’t recall where) that indicated an over-reliance on caramel malts in general, so I think my next brew – probably another IPA – will have no caramel malt.
Another thing I want to do is to dry hop Bud Light to try some hops by themselves. I know for sure I’d want Amarillo, Chinook, Columbus, Centennial, Cascade, Mosaic, Equinox, Fuggle, Liberty, Northern Brewer, Simcoe, Williamette, and Green Bullet (list subject to change). Bud Light has so little flavor that the hops shine through really well ;-).
Cheers!
Keys to the Race: Flying Pig Half Marathon
Initially while watching the Boston Marathon and seeing them do a “Keys to the Race”, I thought the concept of “keys to the {race|game|etc} was getting overdone. It might be, but strategy is critically important when you’re running a long distance.
I’ve had the luxury of working near the course and have been practicing on the course, so I’ve come up with my three keys to a successful race.
1. Don’t Bank Too Much During the First 6 Miles
It’s a 13.1 mile race. The first 3-4 miles are somewhat rolling and have a lot of crowd support, followed by a lesser-supported (that I recall) 2 miles through Queensgate and into downtown. Banking too much here would have painful intrest payments through the rest of the race and could cause an energy bankrupcy in the next phase of the race.
Part 1 of the course
2. Don’t Overrun the Hill
Miles 6 to 10.5 are hills. Be aware that people will claim stuff like “the bridge [at m7.7] is the top”. NO. IT IS NOT. It is the end of the worst, but there are still small hills from 7.7 to 10.5.
Note the location of the red ‘Energy” on the map. It’s around mile 9. For someone running a 1:30 half, that’s probably a good spot. For me (~2 hours), I’m taking a shot of Gu at 4.5-5 miles and 9 miles (I’m going by the Gu packet directions of “15 minutes before and every 45 minutes”. Note that the Flying Pig has PowerGel.
Part 2 of the course
3. Save Some For The Last 2.6 Miles
Around mile 10.5, you may feel like you’re falling off the side of the planet. This is where the race course sets you up for a negative split. I’ve had training runs where the uphill portion (miles 6-10.5) where 10:50-11:50 min/mile, and the downhill was 8:30 min/mile. If you follow key #1, you can hit this area hard for a strong finish. Miles 10.5 to just before 12 is downhill, things level out on Central Parkway (where the hairpin turn is), back downhill (a little) on Eggleston, and then right onto East Pete Rose Way. That last 0.2 (or so) of the course on Pete Rose Way is an uphill grade to the finish line – it’s not terrible, but after 13 miles, it can be a bit of a killer.
Part 3 of the course
Good luck to all those running!
Some Kind of Race Report: Bockfest 5k
Not to be confused with the Bockhurt 5k.
Thanks to Old Man Winter and some rodent from PuxatawnICAN’TSPELLTHISDAMNCITY (both of whom should probably stay as far from my truck as possible!), I’ve been dealing with a lot of back pain for the past few weeks (from shoveling snow). I ran on the dreadmill once since the injury, and it was a successful run. Two days later, I ran in the snow and made it a half mile before searing pains in my back caused me to stop.
Running vs. walking was a race-day-decision for me, and my back felt good enough to run it. I should have walked.
My time was good – 26:28. Not a PR, but second best and considering the injury and I was going easy, I’m not complaining at all. The new course wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it would be much harder going left onto Reading instead of right, but the hill isn’t that bad there (or maybe since I run up Gilbert all the time, I’m not phased by hills anymore). Also, the Flying Pig Crew did A LOT to ensure the course was snow free and they even had a volunteer yelling to runners about ice on the edge of the course between mile 2 and mile 3 to make sure nobody slipped.
SOAPBOX: if you do any run and you’re not going to run AT LEAST the first mile, DO NOT start in the front half of the pack. If you’re walking in the middle in the opening area of a race, you’re fair game to get run over by runners (and some of us aren’t exactly lightweights). Sorry not sorry.
After the finish, I grabbed my water and a banana and headed inside for beer. In the shitty picture below, one of the beers said “Bockfest Competition Winning Brew”. Needless to say, I got one of those. I also got a Red Hop Mess. Both were very good.
The medal was nice, too. They got away from the bottle opener design and went with ein Bock und ein Bier.
The unfortunate thing was Saturday afternoon and into the evening my back got worse. I shoulda walked. But now (on Monday), it’s much better and I should be back into my regular running cycle this week, just in time for Spring in Cincy.
Cheers!
PS: there’s a reason core routines exist.
Oatmeal Recipe: Blueberry-Cinnamon-Brown Sugar
Wow, a rare running post on RunningOnBeer.net!
I’m trying to get off my kick of eating cherry Pop-Tarts, a wonderfully tasting processed food. So I had my wife buy me some plain oatmeal. Plain. No flavor. She also bought some blueberries for me. So I decided to make it edible.
Blueberry-Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Oatmeal
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Brown Sugar
A few sprinkles of salt
Small handful of frozen blueberries
1 pack Quaker Instant Oats – plain. No flavor.
Mix oatmeal according to package directions, add sugar, spices, and blueberries. Microwave for the highest time on the package. Stir. Eat. Enjoy. Feel free to adjust anything above to taste.
Spice and sugar mix.
The amount of blueberries I used.
Finished product. It’s good.
This will do well to pull me off the processed jelly-filled goodness of cherry poptarts.
Cheers!
Running: 888 Miles In, 112 To Go…
I’ve been doing a lot on the beer side, but not much worth writing about. On the running side, there’s not much worth writing about mostly because you have to be pretty damn funny of a writer to get people interested in running blog posts. Since it’s Monday morning and there is no such thing as funny on a Monday morning, I figured I’d at least update this blog with a nice milestone.
I guess I could go to Memegenerator and grab the “ain’t nobody got time for that” meme pic and add “Jokes on a Monday Morning? ANGTFT!”, but it’s Monday morning and I don’t have time for that.
Since starting on my crazy-assed goal of running 1,000 miles this year last June (when I had somewhere around 420-450 miles in), I’ve run an additional 420-450 miles to make it up to 888. I figure I should break 1,000 around Thanksgiving. I’ll break 900 this week. Because I’m crazy.
Cheers!
New Blog: What You’ll Find Here…
…is a lot of stuff about running. And a lot of stuff about beer.
I am a runner. I became a runner at around 30 years old, so a bit late to be any sort of champion, prodigy, or coach. I may never run Boston, I’ll probably never win my age group in a race (unless I’m the only runner in my age group).
Running somewhat caused me to become a better beer drinker. For a few years, the only race I ran was a memorial run in mid-August. After some downright horrid times (by my standards), I decided to actually compete and improve in running. I had one failed attempt where I started to run 9 weeks before the August race and stopped running after the race. The second time I kept going through the winter. The following year, I branched out in terms of races (more on that in a sec). At the same memorial run, I won my class- the “Clydesdale Class” for people heavier than 220 pounds. The following year (we’re up to 2014, BTW), I was no longer eligible to defend my title because my weight had fallen to 216 pounds. I ran a 27:01 5k.
Little Kings Mile. No Cream Ale to be found at the finish, though. Had to ‘settle’ for Hudepohl Amber.
Running into Beer Drinking
When I started branching out in races, I stumbled on the Bockfest 5k. It was a cold day and I knew nothing of the sweetness of bock beer on a chilly spring morning following a great 5k. Later that day, I went out and purchased two 6-packs of Bock Beer (Yuengling Bock and Hudepohl Bock). The spiral of drinking less Yuengling Lager and Budweiser and drinking more craft beers had begun.
Beer Drinking to Beer Exploration
I had, over the course of a handful of months, went from a beer drinker – one who drinks beer – to a beer explorer. I made it a goal to unlock badges in Untappd based on how many unique beers I’ve drank. I realized that my pallet, which at one time was apprehensive of Stone’s Arrogant Bastard Ale because of the text on the back of the bottle, now looked forward to trying different styles of beer and different brewery’s take on those styles. I had attained the level of “I fear no beer”.
…and I’m 23 away from 200…
Fast forward to now, I’m beginning to get into brewing my own beer. I may at some time grow my own hops (growing peppers and carrots in the garden has worked well for me, and hops are much more useful 🙂 ).
“Make your own 6-pack” has quite a ring to it when the bottles in the holder are ones you’ve brewed!
So What Is This Blog About Again?
Beer brewing and running. I’m an expert at neither. I’ll be posting about my experiences – successes and mitsakes.