So You Have A Femoral Neck Stress Reaction / Fracture...

I've received quite a few questions about my recovery from my femoral neck stress reaction, and thought I would write a post about it. Sorry to our regular readers for the epic length, but I remember when I was injured and trawling blogs and forums, all I wanted to see was a detailed insight into the various stages (and timelines) of recovery I was in for. So here's mine.

Disclaimer: I am not a health or fitness professional. This post is based entirely on my own personal experience. I am a lawyer, and thus the only thing I am really qualified to write is this poorly-phrased disclaimer, which I'm sure lacks any significant legal efficacy. Let that fact be a warning regarding the extent to which you should take my advice on something that I haven't been studying/practicing for the last 7 years.

So by way of background, you can find the post in which I was injured here, the post in which I think I just have a hip flexor strain (and am whining about not running) here, and my post about my diagnosis, here.

I think the biggest question people have when faced with this injury is how long 'til I can run again, and what can I do in the interim.

The answer to that depends on the severity of your injury and particularly, whether you have a stress reaction versus a fracture. A reaction is the inflammation of the bone, which is the precursor to a stress fracture, where a crack in the bone has actually occurred. Fractures will take a LOT longer to heal, so its vital that if you suspect you have this injury (watch this video for a helpful demonstration by my doctor on self-diagnosing hip injuries) you go straight to the doctor and ask for an MRI (stress fractures often don't show up on X-Rays).

Given my disclaimer, I'm not going to be prescriptive. I am going to describe my experience. What I had, how I felt, what I did and the timeline of all of that.

I. Background To Getting Injured.
As my post on my diagnosis states, my injury was caused by low bone density in certain (not all) areas. It was diagnosed by a bone density scan. I'm relatively comfortable that my training - while heavy - was not generally too much, but it was too much with the added disability of weak bones. I was averaging around 55 miles, and had been running that mileage for quite a few weeks, after building up slowly from several weeks running in the 40s. This was not new mileage territory for me; I had run similar mileage in training for my marathon. I was taking at least 1, usually 2 rest days per week.

Leading up to the race in which I was injured, I had had a very light niggling pain in my groin, what I thought was a groin or hip flexor strain. I had had groin strains before, and given the discomfort was a 1 on the pain scale (and was markedly alleviated by stretching my quads, hips and foam rolling my hip flexor), I felt comfortable racing on it. If I had known that it had ANYTHING to do with my bone, I would not have raced. Full stop.

II. Getting Injured
I got injured on September 16, 2013.

I ran my race, feeling nothing but a small amount of discomfort from miles 1-3. Thereafter I felt nothing in the injury area, until after I stopped running at the finish line. Note that I pushed very hard my last three miles, and I suspect that is where most of the damage was done. Again, if I had felt pain during the race, I would have stopped. Especially if I had known it was in my bone.

Immediately post-race, I felt strong sharp pain in the front of my hip almost as soon as I stopped running. I could just jog on it, but knew that it was bad enough that that I shouldn't. I still thought it was muscular. N.B. As the video notes, pain in the front (versus side) of the hip should be treated with caution.

The day after my race, none of my other running muscles were sore, but I could not climb stairs, hop or jog with my injured leg. Walking was low-pain as long as I walked with a stiff leg (no bending at the knee), but very slow (as Kristen will attest). The fact that walking was not bad led me to believe that I didn't have a stress fracture.

III. Recovery

Weeks 1-2 Post-Injury
Pain Level: It took about two weeks before I could properly step up on my injured leg (albeit with some discomfort). Walking with a stiff leg allowed me to walk almost no pain. I could not hop on my injured leg. Pain was about a 9-10 if I did that. Walking was about a 2-3.  Reading back on my training log entries, I note that I had a lot of stiffness in my quads, and pain in my hip flexor, when I drew my knee to my chest. This was significantly relieved by foam-rolling and stretching, which again, led me to believe that I had a muscular problem. Note, however, that foam-rolling and stretching did nothing to affect the "impact" pain, when I performed the hop test.

Cross-Training: Week 1, I did no exercise. Week 2, I believe I ellipticalled a couple of times, before realizing that it was putting pressure on my quads, which led to discomfort in my hip. I swam lightly, because kicking didn't seem to hurt, though it didn't feel like much of a workout. I did some upper body weightlifting as well. I had a sports massage that did precisely diddly-squat (i.e., nothing).

Week 3-4: Diagnosis and Beginning Cross Training
 In the third week of my injury, I got a diagnosis. I had a very high grade stress reaction, but no cracks had formed in the bone. My doctor gave me the go ahead to do non-impact cross-training by elliptical or pool running and as much strength training as I felt comfortable (obviously no jumping). I was able to walk on it, and thankfully did not have to use crutches. I am aware that usually stress fractures in this area of the bone come with crutches, so I was grateful I didn't have to use to them.

Pain Level: Hopping was producing about a 7-8 on the pain scale. Walking was a 1-2, and feeling better every day. The stiffness in my quads was beginning to release, and drawing my knee to my chest was not hurting much. I believe now that those muscles were all strained in part on their own, and in part because they were working hard to protect the bone. 

Cross-Training: Lots of foam rolling and stretching. I tried pool running about about 3 times. It was a great workout, but I felt a significant amount of discomfort during and afterwards in my hip flexor muscle. I have since read that pool-running can put a lot of strain on this area (the muscles then pulling on the bone) which can delay healing.

Instead, I found the ellipticals like this one (though not as new and snazzy) where you can set the ramp really high to focus on your gluts. I don't know if it actually strengthens your gluts, but it took all the pressure off my quads and (consequently), my hips. Because I experienced no pain doing this, I began doing regular elliptical workouts (mostly at an easy heart rate, between 145-155) with some intervals thrown in for funsies. Week 3, I did 5 elliptical workouts and Week 4 I did 6. Also focused on adding some good core strength routines in.

Weeks 5-6
Pain Level: (going off of memory) this was a frustrating period, because all my acute pain was gone. I could walk with almost no discomfort, and felt like running was not far off. As Kristen mentioned with her injury, the 90% of healing didn't take long at all. It was the remaining 10% that took the longest. At this point I think I could climb stairs with no pain. Hopping on one leg was probably a 4-5. I could do it, but it was obvious that healing was not complete.

Cross Training: gave pool running a couple more tries, but then focused on elliptical workouts about 5-6 days a week (again, feeling no pain on the high-ramp elliptical), as well as core workouts. Leg strength was still tough. I recall that squats (body or low weight) were ok, but single-leg dead lifts or lunges felt uncomfortable. I tried to do a little, to promote some strength, but kept it very low-key. My rule of thumb (and doctor's advice) during this period was a little bit of discomfort was ok, as long as I was not feeling it by the time I got round to the next workout. It was all about walking that tight-rope of maintaining some fitness and promoting blood flow and movement, but not over-doing it. Lots of stretching and foam rolling, with a focus on hips and quads.

At the end of October, I saw my doctor again, and he gave me another two weeks before I could start running again.

Weeks 7-8
Pain Level: The Pfizinger Plan for returning to running after a stress fracture, states that you should be able to walk briskly for an hour without pain before you return to running. About 6 weeks after my injury, we hiked for 8 miles which, while not particularly brisk, took us several hours. There were moments I was scared my hip would hurt, but I was mostly pain free. I felt a discomfort lower than a 1, which was more of an awareness that my hip area felt weak, rather than any actual pain. Hopping produced about 2-3 pain, but stepping up was fine. I did the occasional 2-3 meter jog down the office hallway to test my hip, and it started to feel like normal again.

Cross Training: Still the elliptical 5-6 times a week. I added some workouts, like "Yassos" (10 x 3 mins hard, 1 min easy), which helped the time pass. I kept trying to do strength (upper body, core and light-leg strength), introducing some single-leg squats and deadlifts.

On November 6, I wrote in my training log: I haven't been able to do single leg strength work until yesterday. My hip feels a little achey, but not "re-hurt" in the way it used to after single-leg stuff. A little acheyness is fine apparently [NB: this was per my doctor's advice].

On November 11, I wrote:  Hip feeling pretty great; I know running isnt far off. Im trying to progress to where I feel zero discomfort doing elliptical upright and all my single leg weights. Once Im there, and Im close, I feel like I could start my 5 min runs. Going to follow the Pfizinger plan to return to running. I would usually be a little more aggressive than this, as I only had a stress reaction. But given that its in the femoral neck (weakest area of the femur + most time off running if I had actually fractured it), its just too risky to be anything less than conservative.

Week 9
Pain Level: Hopping produced about a 1 on the pain scale. I was under the impression I had to be at zero before I could run again, but my doctor was happy with me being able to hop several times on the injured leg, with very minimal discomfort.

Cross-Training/Return to Running: I began this training plan:http://kemibe.com/distancecoach/labreports/stressfracture.shtml. Note that I used the training plan as a guide only. I noticed that I needed more time off between runs than the plan had scheduled; often 2-3 days for the first month. Conversely, I was able to run longer, earlier, than the plan had allowed for. For instance, while many of the runs were still at 20 mins, I was able to go 30 mins. I was very careful to continue the walk breaks and assess how my hip was feeling. I went by this guide: if I felt pain at the beginning of my run, I stopped. If I only felt pain/discomfort towards the end of my run, or the day after, I would simply wait until it went away before I ran again.

Very mild discomfort in my hip continued well into January. I had no pain when hopping (the bone/impact test) but could feel that the muscles around the injury area were still tight, especially when I drove my knee upwards. Foam rolling and stretching my hips (pigeon post, standing quad stretch, seated piriformis stretch especially) really helped.

IV. Epilogue: Some Additional Notes
1) Medication:
I did not take anything for my pain. I have nothing against pain relief generally (and use it frequently for head aches and period pain) but I wanted to be very aware of how my healing was progressing. I also did not want to risk "feeling better" and then over doing it in my return to running.

2) Food:
Throughout my recovery I ate more. More of everything. More than I had been when I was running 50 miles a week (I know, I know). While my hunger dipped for a short time when I was not exercising at all, it returned with a vengence when I was cross training, and I took it as a sign that my body needed more calories to heal. I especially ate a lot of dairy products (chocolate milk after every workout, greek yogurt and almond milk daily + calcium/Vitamin D tablets).

I probably gained about 10 pounds initially and while I haven't weighed myself for a couple of months, I'm fairly certain I've dropped back down close to what I was before. And I've continued eating more. My body NEEDED the calories and macronutrients to first, recover, and second, to support my mileage build up. Im not talking about just fruit and vegetables, of which I ate plenty, but really good quality protein, healthy fats (peanut butter, avocados, etc) and a LOT of carbs by way of potatoes, rice and other whole grains. And while I'm not some snake-oil promoting, naturo-quack who thinks a good diet can cure all, I know in my case I needed it and it really did help. (I might write more about this at some point, but I couldn't have worded Kristen's nutrition post better myself).

3) Mileage and Return to Running:
Many people complain that running feels odd when they restart after an injury. I did not. Running felt perfectly normal (apart from being very conscious of weakness/discomfort in my hip).  

Below is my progression of mileage (per week) build-up to now:
November: 3, 10, 8 miles
December: 15, 14, 22, 28 miles
January: 26, 32, 35, 40 (at the beginning of Jan, I did my first fast run at (coincidentally) my first 5K (approximately 10-11 weeks post injury).
February: 42, 44
I am presently doing a long run of 13 miles each week, and 1.5 workouts (one scheduled, the other low-key fartleks or hill sprints) per week. I plan to hover around the low-40s in mileage for a month or two to avoid injury. The mileage feels very easy, and I haven't had any soreness or niggles to speak of. My calves and quads are occasionally a little tight, but this is normal.

4) Sanity (ETA)
I will be writing a post about the mental side of injuries, but I thought this post needed a specific addendum. This femoral neck injury can be the worst running injury to have. Not only because the healing time can take up to 5-6 months, but because if your stress reaction becomes a stress fracture, and your stress fracture becomes a full fracture, then hello...you're in for a hip replacement about 30-40 years early. Its really scary. And its really vital that you take recovery seriously, and give yourself a real break from thinking about running and maintaining your fitness.

It sucks. I get it. But it will end.  It will heal. It will heal stronger than it was before (the only upside to the injury). And you will be running strong and PR-ing before you know it. But don't waste a single day of recovery time. Give every day your fullest effort in avoiding anything that hurts, and doing everything that helps. That means sleep. Eat. Stretch. Roll. Spend time with your loves. Running will be there when this injury is over, I promise.

So there you have it! Hopefully I've covered everything, but please email us at twolittlerunners at gmail dot com, if you have any other questions.

Got any cool injury stories or tips? Whats the worst running injury you've ever had? Did you nearly throw your fridge out the window in frustration? Did you have the presence of mind to eat everything in the fridge before you threw it out the window?

Nutrition for Runners - Approach to Training (and getting more veg!)

I read Matt Fitzgerald’s new book on nutrition for runners. It’s called The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition: A Cutting-Edge Plan to Fuel Your Body Beyond “the Wall.” Catchy!

The book summarizes recent literature on how to best eat during your taper and for race day. This is all good stuff – and I've read variations on it before in other books –  but it's mostly irrelevant to me right now because I am only doing half marathons this year. And for those I don't need to do a fat load/carb load during my taper or any thing extraordinary food-wise for race day.

So the most interesting information to me was on how to best eat during those long months of training.You know it’s really important to eat right and to get enough calories during your training cycle. First, it makes those hard workouts easier to complete – and more effective. Ever tried running a long tempo on an empty stomach? It’s enough to make you cry. And if you’re not eating enough, and enough of the right stuff, you are more prone to injury. I've also found that eating lots of good calories during high mileage weeks combats the runner-grumpies that I typically get when running over 50 miles per week.

The book proposes a “Two-Rule Diet” for runners. It's actually pretty good. It's not a gimmick. Do read on...

Rule 1 is getting enough carbs. Your sources of carbs are vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. The more you train, the more carbs your muscles use, and the more carbs you use, the more carbs you need to eat. I’ll let Matt fill you in on why and how much you need. It’s anti-Paleo.

Rule 2 is to maximize the overall quality of your diet in order to get to or maintain your ideal racing weight – let’s just call that your healthy weight. He puts all foods into 10 categories. Basically, the best quality, most nutrient dense foods are the top 6. They also happen to be the least calorically dense foods. The lower quality, less nutritious – but higher calorie – foods are at the bottom of the list, 7-10.

1. Vegetables (including legumes)
2. Fruits
3. Nuts and seeds
4. Fish and lean meats
5. Whole grains
6. Dairy products
7. Refined grains
8. Fatty meats
9. Sweets
10. Fried foods

It’s simple: Eat more 1 than 2, 2 than 3, 3 than 4, 4 than 5, 5 than 6, 6 than 7, 7 than 8, 8 than 9, and 9 than 10. Stick to a week timeframe to measure. It won’t be possible to follow the rule in every meal and snack. Biasing your diet to foods in the top 6 will allow you to attain or maintain your healthy weight. And you should eat as much as your appetite dictates – as long as you are sticking to mostly the top 6.

My takeaways were that I should eat more vegetables, less fruit, and more whole grains. I am a fruit monster and tend to get more 2 than 1. Cutting back on fruit was easy. But upping the vegetables was more of a challenge. (More on whole grains at a later date...still experimenting with them.)

So ideas on how to get more veggies...do tell!

Soup! Even the stuff in the can counts! I usually take a sandwich to work and eat at my desk. Adding a can of soup was a really simple way to get another vegetable serving.

Bonus if you can find all the soup ingredients in your kitchen.

Cut vegetables. Keep cut up vegetables around. Just cut them up right away when you are unloading them.

Pull them out of the fridge for an afternoon snack or when you get home from work. Eat with hummus,Greek yogurt veggie dip, salsa, or guac. It stops me from mowing down a bunch of chips (category 10) before I start making dinner.

Salads. Keeping lettuce on hand to whip up a quick side salad for dinner –  also using your stock of cut vegetables. I dress most of my salads with just a splash of lemon juice or white wine vinegar and some olive oil. Maybe a turn or two of the pepper mill and some sea salt.

These are pretty obvious ideas...Any good veg snacks in your routine?

two little runners
Kristen

December in the Southern Hemisphere and Running in the Mornington Peninsula (VIC) and Adelaide (SA)

So it's probably about time I showed you some more of the places I have been running since being back in Australia. I gotta say... goshdarnit, everything you hear about Australia being beautiful? ALL TRUE. Not just propaganda from the Australian Tourism Board. They may not tell you about our obnoxious drinking habits, and the absurd number of creatures here that can kill you... but it IS a very pretty place indeed. 'Specially for running.

For Christmas, my husband and I went down to the Mornington Peninsula to my aunty and uncle's place in Sorrento. The row of seaside towns along the Peninsula, offers about 25 miles/40kms of virtually uninterrupted cliff-side/beach trails, 6 of which I used as my first "long"(ish) run since my injury.

 

The trail was mostly gravel and sand (whoa, sand-trail running is haaaaard) and some of these wooden boardwalks that lead down to all the different beaches along the Peninsula. 

This is December in the Southern Hemisphere, y'all....

 

We then got the ferry across Port Phillip Bay (no screen-shot map...I'll allow you to exercise your Google maps skillz...you're welcome). The Sorrento harbour (where you get the ferry from) is equally gorgeous...

 

The ferry took us across to Queenscliff, on the other side of the bay, and we drove from there to the Adelaide hills to visit my sister and brother-in-law and then drive back with them to Melbourne. 

Got my runs in there, through some really beautiful country-side...

We stayed at my brother-in-law's parents' farm house. Just down the road (before a very steep  climb to the house) is this row of flowers that attracts a RIDICULOUS number of butterflies.  Its pretty magical running through them (while panting and puffing your way up the hill).

 They also provide an excellent excuse to take a break from the hill to snap a picture or two...

I did all my runs pretty slow, because it was really warm, even quite early in the morning.  I refueled with my favorite new brand of chocolate milk, which is unfortunately only found in the great state of South Australia.  I guzzled several of these before we left Adelaide. They are approx 250 calories, for 100% RDI of calcium.  BOOM.

And finally... the little people who were more fun to hang out with than any butterflies or chocolate milk...

At Adelaide Zoo, checking out the pandas

  Aaaaand.... the funny man/snuggle pot....

Next up.... some New Years beers (coincidence that that rhymes?? I think not...) and a 5K recap. Yes, that's right... I finally ran a 5K. Now I know why I have not run one of those before.

~ Penny

Marathon Nutrition: Load De La Carb

While my legs have almost fully recovered from the marathon, my ass has remained firmly planted on my couch. Clearly my mind is not hastening me to break a sweat any time soon (oh the joys of nearly overtraining). Truth be told, I've been glad for the rest. I may head to the gym tomorrow.... but ONLY if I really feel like it, and only to get some blood flowing through my pegs. 

In the meantime, while I have not much to say on the subject of running, I have plenty to say on what went on with my nutrition last week, before, during and after the marathon. Aren't you a lucky bunch of people.

I was not really sure about how to approach carb-loading for the marathon. Some books say to increase carbs a week before, some three days before. Some say that you don't need to increase at all, and merely eating the same amount with less running will have a carb-loading effect.

For me, I am not naturally a big carb-eater (except for tortilla chips... don't even get me started). Resultingly, I don't have a terribly high carb diet, so I felt like I needed to be more proactive about getting increased carbs closer to the race.

So here's how it went down.  

5 Days from Race

I ate the same amount of calories (around 2000 calories per day, but this may have been more if I'd been running) but swapped out some fats and protein for carbs. For instance, I began eating a bit more oatmeal in the morning; instead of my tortilla wraps for lunch, I ate a sweet potato every day, with cheese, salsa and some ham. Delicious combo by the way. 

I added a lot more fruit (grapes and strawberries) as snacks to my diet and tried to eat a banana every day.

For dinner, I didn't really swap anything out, but added more rice, couscous and sweet potatoes (my dinners are typically pretty veggie/protein oriented).

3 Days from Race

I began increasing overall calories (not a huge amount, because I still wasn't running and my hunger had reduced dramatically), and making sure all my snacks were carby. I ate pretzels and rice crackers instead of yoghurt or veggies with hummus. I continued to eat fruit and sweet potatoes during the day. For "dessert" in the evening, I snacked on popcorn (instead of, for example, chocolate chip cookie dough ice-cream; i.e. the American creation that single-handedly prompted me to apply for citizenship. Whatever country is responsible for this deliciousness, I want to be a part of.)

The biggest change, however, was increasing my water intake. It was probably too low to begin with, so I had to concentrate on always pounding the water.  To mix it up, I also drank a ton of seltzer water and Vitamin Water Zero.

Saturday Before Race

I stopped eating dairy completely. I cut down on fruit and vegetables. I had oatmeal for breakfast, and snacked on a blueberry bagel throughout the day. I cooked up my traditional french toast for lunch with some fruit:

I also snacked on a bunch of rice cakes (4?), and even had a pop tart. OMG, how do they market those things to children?? And as a breakfast food???

I tried to drink a ton of water, and in the evening, had a bottle of gatorade with my meal of steamed rice, steamed shrimp and a small amount of broccoli (king of veggies, by the way).

Race Day

Before race:

• 3 hours: 2/3 cup of oatmeal, a tiny bit of peanut butter, a banana, and a 20oz bottle of gatorade (around 450-500 calories or so) + 2 cups of coffee (strong)
• 2 hours: more water
• 10 minutes: 3 cliff shot blocks. I probably didn't need these, but I am kind of used to taking them now.

Kristen had mentioned a while back that she was considering carrying a handheld with some gatorade for the first part of the race, and then ditching it when it was done. I thought that sounded like a great idea to steal, and pass off as my own.

So during the race:

• 10oz gatorade in the first 8 miles. I would really encourage any first time marathoner to do this. It really took the pressure off passing through the first few aid stations while I was still getting into my groove; but in a time when it was most important that I start getting fluids and electrolytes.
• 3 Gus at miles 8, 15 and 20-21, two of which were caffeinated (never again!)
• Fluids at every water station (every 2nd mile) after mile 9, even when I was not thirsty. I got this excellent advise from Rachelle; it was not something I would have done off my own bat.  I got a good amount of liquid each time (at least a gulp or two) and never felt dehydrated (and I sweat a looooot). [Side note: I'm becoming a massive pro at the close-the-cup-drink-while-running thing! Self high-five!]

How did I feel?

Throughout the race, I felt really well fueled. Frankly, I felt like I had been underfueling for my training, and I should probably have been drinking and eating like this (more fluids, higher # of calories and greater percentage of carbs) all along the way. In particular, I can point back to several workouts and tempo runs that likely suffered from under-fueling. This makes me feel a little silly, given how discerning I am with other aspects of my training. 

In any case, I felt better that week and the morning of the race by paying closer attention to my intake and making sure I got enough carbs and food in general. So important.

During the race, I didn't feel heavy, and never hit the wall. That said, I felt like I over-fueled slightly in the second half of the race, because my stomach was not happy with all the sugar by the end. Oh and the caffeinated Gus were a bad idea. I didn't suffer too badly , but it wasn't optimal, lets just say that.

Post-Race

There was nothing containing protein in the post-race food, so I felt like my muscles took a big blow in recovery from that. I shoved down a sugary granola bar to at least get some glycogen re-storage occurring. Next time I'll bring a protein bar or gatorade with protein just in case.

Throughout the afternoon I pretty bad, GI-wise... though I guess thats part of pushing your body to the edge like that. 

Add to that my dinner consumption of oily fries, buttery garlic bread, tons of sugar and several glass of champagne, I was not exactly giving myself the best send-off into recovery land. 

But, by that stage, I couldn't have cared in the slightest :)

So lessons learned? Eat and drink more (shock)! More carbs and water throughout training and perhaps I won't need quite as much on race-day.  

Does anyone else have any thoughts/advice on fueling for races? Do you eat/drink normally or dedicate your taper to working your way through the bread-basket/gatorade reserves? Do you count carbs or just roll with what feels good?

Fueling for Morning Runs II and Running in the Snow

BREAKING NEWS.  I FINALLY braved the cold and snow. It was 10 degrees the other morning, and when I checked the weather, I thought I had accidentally switched my phone to Celsius mode. Ahhahahaha...no. F-degrees. F for Fahrenheit, F for Fail, F for Effen cold.

Proof, PROOF that there was snow. This was not the snow I ran in. My snow was everywhere and much colder.

I got up, got dressed, and went to go outside to the gym before work, and despite there being snow everywhere, it didnt feel toooo horrifically spirit-crushingly cold. So I decided to run in it. I'd never run actually on snow before, so that was an experience. I learned that if its dry and powdery, its actually got a fair bit of traction. That said, I am a massive klutz, and I didn't want to risk slipping, so I decided to head to the one place in the world - if there was ever one - that would likely have been cleared of snow by 8am in the morning: Central Park. Did a solid 8 miles (big loop + 1 mile to and from) and came home, immensely proud of my new-found bravery.

Total running mileage January 20-26: 38 miles. Mostly easy pace (around 8:00min/miles) with some fartleks and the occasional tempo mile here and there.

In other news, I got a few interesting responses to my questions re Fueling for Morning Runs - specifically hard workouts (I am fine to run on an empty stomach when its easy) - which Im going to copy and paste below:

My childhood friend Racer, said he runs fasted except the occasional long run: 
"[F]or anything under 2 hours I do all my morning runs with no fuel. When I did the handful of 30km+ runs I ate a banana before heading out and made sure there were plenty of drink points along my planned course. I don't know, but I've been told running on empty forces your body to be efficient? As for am sessions, I try to avoid doing speed work less than an hour after waking up. I'm told that when you sleep your core temp drops and it takes an hour or so to warm up in the morning. High intensity work before it warms up is risky. I figure tempo work is OK though - HMRP and slower isn't really high intensity.

As a side-note, when we were in kindergarten, our mothers made me and Racer matching tracksuits. Maybe we should do that again for a race back in Melbs, whaddaya reckon R?

Jake, who is far too great an athlete/runner to not be listened to, also said he runs unfueled:

"I never eat before running in the mornings. I'm usually up and out the door in 15-20 minutes. I find that eating some carbs before bed (ice cream!) is helpful :-)
I've gotten myself very used to running on an empty stomach.
Training "fasted" at times is definitely advantageous in marathon training - as Racer said, your body learns to be efficient and use fat as fuel.
Speed work in the morning can be tough. It helps to go a bit slower on your first couple reps (if doing an interval type workouts) or start the first mile or two (if doing a tempo run) a little slower b/c it does take some time to wake up and warm up."

Roserunner takes in some extra calories before her epic morning long runs before she heads to work [no one messes with this girl's three dinners or mileage plans]:
"I almost only run in the morning, and almost never eat beforehand. I just eat huge dinners. Not so much that I go to bed stuffed, but enough calories to fuel me up to 15 miles in the a.m. Which is to say my dinner+dessert is typically at least 1400-1800 calories."

And of course my co-star and fellow trial minion, Kristen who hates running on an empty stomach... so her approach is to have just a little oatmeal before heading out:
"I hate unfueled runs, even easy ones! Downing a very small amount of oatmeal (less than 1/4 cup) about 20 minutes before I start out makes a huge difference. By the time I am warmed up, I have just enough fuel, but no discomfort in my stomach."

Finally, I found some great advice from the website of the disarmingly honest, humble and all-round awesome US 5000m runner, Lauren Fleshman:

1. Get up 2-3 hours before the run and eat something “real” like a couple eggs and toast, or some oatmeal with some nuts, or 1 cup of good quality yogurt with berries and cereal, or other meal options with some protein and fat. Protein takes time to digest, but if you have the time, eating a breakfast like this leaves you well fueled for a tough morning session or race. I’d keep the total calories under 600.
2. Eat something easy to digest 30-90 minutes before, like a piece of toast with a little butter (or a small amount of peanut butter) and jam. This is my favorite option because I like to sleep in. Calorie estimate is between 150-350 depending on how much time you have.
3. If you are a roll-out-of-bedder, suck down a Powergel or an all natural Liquid Gold 5-15 minutes before you run with a little water. I do this when I have a basic endurance run, but never before a tough workout.

So basically, Im going to sum it up all this fantastic advice in a really generalized and altogether pretty unhelpful way. Everyone is different. I'm pretty sure we all just need to figure out what works for us through trial and error. I'm happy to know that running fasted is not uncommon, and I'll definitely keep doing that while it works. If I have a particularly epic tempo or key interval workout planned, I might keep it for the evening so I have something in the system.
 

Fueling for Morning Runs

Leading up to Vegas, I began doing most of my runs in the evening, for two reasons. First, the race was in the evening, so I was trying to prep my body to know when it was time to run. Second, I just couldn't complete any kind of hard workouts in the morning on an empty stomach, and I could never seem to get up early enough to eat such that I would feel "fueled" on the run.  And I noticed a big difference in the energy I had for evening runs. I would have had at least a half day of eating (800 calories ish) and then would time a carb-y snack about 2 hours before the workout (a single banana or 3 shot blocks - around 100 calories of pure carbs - was the best).

Yesterday I did an easy 9 miles in the morning with some fartleks thrown in, having only drunk a coffee beforehand. This is pretty typical for my easy runs, and I don't mind feeling a little sluggish for them. But this time my legs felt very heavy. I posted the below comment on my fast running blog:

Legs felt heavy and my easy pace felt a bit harder today (outside of the fartleks, avg pace would have been around 8:15). I only ate a salad and a dish of scallops last night; virtually no carbs. Hadnt really thought about it before, but every time I have Mexican, and chow down on a bunch of fried delicious tortilla chips, I have a great run the next day. Must attempt to incorporate more carbs (and more healthy ones) in the evening meals.

So I ask any readers out there:

If you run in the morning, and need to do a hard workout (ie speed or tempo) that requires serious energy, how many hours before you run, do you eat? How much do you eat?  Does anyone know how quickly we digest and absorb carbs so they are actually usable on a run? Is it better to just eat a hefty meal the night before?  Do people just eat to not be uber hungry on the run? 

 On race mornings, I try to eat 2 hours before the race and get in at least a few hundred (300-400) calories of carbs... That seems like a lot for just a training run... but is it?

- Penny

Short-Ass Vindication

"look for impressive thermoregulation and/or small body size"
 
"Nutrition experts Asker Jeukendrup and Trent Stellingwerff pointed out that small runners have a relative advantage in carb-loading during competition, because it appears they can load just as many carbs as bigger runners while burning fewer calories (due to their smaller size)."

- Amby Burfoot on the likely characteristics of a sub-2 hour marathoner

Yum . . . protein bars (!)

These two little runners have searched high and low for the "best" protein bar. 

And the winner is:  Picky Bars! 

Picky Bars actually taste pretty good. I mean, it is no red velvet cupcake - but you don't have to choke this one down. 

What is your favorite protein bar?

LR#2

Kristen

Hydration Equation

Normally, I wouldn't take fitness advice from Rachel Ray, but this seems pretty plausible? +/- your daily amount of caffeine, alcohol, and sweat.

Everyday with Rachel Ray
July/August 2012

Not All Calories Are Created Equal

Is eating 100 calories of brocolli and beans the same as eating 100 calories of soda and French fries? No, says Mark Bittman in his recent oped piece for the NYT's Opinionator. Interesting, he cites a study that concluded maintaining weight is much harder than losing weight. Then another study that concludes the best way to maintain weight is by following a low glycemic index diet. The study tested low glycemic index diets against the Atkins diet (low carb) and the traditional low fat diet, which has been pushed by the FDA for the last 30 years--you know the food pyramid.

What is a low glycemic diet anyway?

Bittman:  To differentiate “bad” carbs from “good,” scientists use the term “glycemic index” (or “load”) to express the effect of the carbs on blood sugar. High glycemic diets cause problems by dramatically increasing blood sugar and insulin after meals; low glycemic diets don’t. Highly processed carbohydrates (even highly processed whole grains, like instant oatmeal and fluffy whole-grain breads) tend to make for higher glycemic diets; less processed grains, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, legumes and nuts — along with fat and protein — make for a lower glycemic diet.

What are low and high glycemic foods?

There are indexes all over the internet. In general, <55 is considered "low." 56-69 "medium." 70-100 "high." Here are some common foods. (The glycemic index is the GI column.)

Source

Who is this Mark Bittman? 

He is kind of a celebrity chef I suppose. And he is also a runner. He appears on the food segments of the Today show and writes for the Food section of the NYT. He is also a prolific cookbook author (my favorites Fish and Kitchen Express) and blogger. Simple recipes with seasonal ingredients are his fortay. And I also like him because he very regularly beats up on and debunks the bad advice given by Big Food, Fast Food, and the FDA.


LR#2
Kristen

Arroyo Creek Simi Valley Half Marathon

So, as Kristen prefaced with a beautiful sentiment of best wishes, I ran the Simi Valley Half Marathon on Sunday.  I ran this race as a test, to see where I could appropriately aim for, pace-wise, in my goal half marathon in September. Unlike our LR#2, I am a very inexperienced racer, (if you exclude my weekly race to beat the hubs to the last of the tortilla chips that we love more than life itself).  Also, this was only my second time running a full 13 miles. 

After a practice run the previous week, I decided to aim for a sub-1:40 – below a 7:36 min/mile pace. Chacha had suggested starting at around 7:40-45, and then backing down to 7:30 for a negative split if I felt like it, which I decided was a great idea. Only partially because I had no devised no other plan for the race, whatsoever.

The race itself is set in the beautiful valley north of LA, on a not so-inspiring course of bike track that runs up and down the canal/creek throughout the town. That being said, it is mostly flat, with a few “gentle rollers” and the bitumen/trail was soft underfoot, which I appreciated. 

Race day, I got up at 5am, had a cup of weak coffee, successfully getting “things” moving. I ate oatmeal with some peanut butter and half a banana. About half an hour before the race, I was still feeling sluggish and sleepy, so I had 3 cliff shot blocks. 

I arrived at the race a half hour early, got my garmin satellite-up (satel-lit?) and moved up to the start line amongst what SOUAL terms the “short short” boys. The Race Director gave us a series of directions for the race, that went something like, “go around the bend until you see the crooked tree, go left at the old boar’s head, up the hill, around the creek, right at the large boulder, straight until you see the big red barn of Farmer O’Grady….etc.etc etc.).   Um, race director, there are signs about every hundred metres of the course. 

This looks suspiciously indicative of a sign

 And if there weren’t, not a single soul here could have remembered the list of 20 instructions you just gave. But you know, thanks for the heads up…? 

The gun went off, and everyone raced out. I looked down at my watch, and seeing a 7min/mile pace in the first half mile, I immediately backed off to 7:30. I knew most of the people around me couldn’t sustain that (for all I knew, me included), so I just tried to keep to my own pace.

Bloody hell, Real Housewives starts soon, Id better run fast

The first few miles were a bit tough to keep at 7:30... needed that extra cup of coffee I usually get intravenously dripped into me.  But by mile 4 or so, I found my rhythm, and stuck to that pace pretty easily. In fact miles 4-10 felt good. Not “easy” per se, but I felt really strong, and it was definitely about an 80% effort. It showed in my splits.

Split	Avg Pace
1	7:41
2	7:35
3	7:39
4	7:48
5	7:28
6	7:28
7	7:33
8	7:28
9	7:32
10	7:24
11	7:33

The last two miles? A completely different story. Around mile 10, I felt the “urge” to use the bathroom. Either because of the intense energy I was expending holding that in, or because I just got tired (or a combination), I really struggled for the last 2-3 miles and dropped the pace towards the end.

12	7:46
13	7:49

The hubs caught a few pics of me just as this difficulty was settling in. This is the only picture in which I do not look like I have just been asked to perform kidney surgery on myself with a corkscrew. While listening to Celine Dion’s greatest hits.

 My butt-cheeks might be clenched tighter than a nun's habit right now, but at least I have a mad mid-foot strike going on

Miles 12, I really had to start engaging in a looooot of self-talk to keep from stopping and ducking behind of a bush. The main thing that stopped me was that there was no bush. So the choice was to stop, and go to the bathroom in public. Or keep going, and risk going to the bathroom in public.  I decided to go the infinitely riskier possibility of holding on til the end of the race. Power to the clench, people, power to the clench. 

I arrived at the finish line with a chip time of 1:38:41. I came in 4^th in my age group, 7^th female, and 35^th overall. My average pace was 7:32 min/mile (Garmin read 1:38 but with 7:35min/miles).

 

What did I learn?

1. A 7:30 pace is very doable, and I think I can aim for something between 7:10-7:20 for my goal race; 
2. These legs need a lot more endurance miles in them to get comfortable running that distance; and
3. Despite knowing where every.single.porta-potty on the course was, and following every piece of advice I had read about pre-race nutrition, I still found myself praying to the Lord that I would not experience the death-by-embarrassment that is every runner’s greatest fear. Gastro-intestinal system 1, Penelope 0. Better luck next time.