by Monica on November 14, 2009
The Boston Marathon closed today. I am sitting on a deferred (last year) guaranteed entry and have until the December 11 deadline to get it to them. I am coming off an injury that has sidelined me for many months this year. I am finally back on the road again and so happy just to be out there. It is definitely still sore, yet seems to get incrementally better as the days go by…but Boston in 5 months? I would love to run it this year…but I have a fear of commitment. There is so much info out there on coming back after an injury it’s hard to decipher if it’s possible. What’s a girl to do? I say “Get engaged”! I found this article from Running and FitNews (from the American Running Association) that actually puts percentages (something I can understand) to mileage build up after an injury. I decided engaging myself in a plan and taking it one week/run at at time is the best therapy for my injury issues.
[click to continue…]
by Monica on July 31, 2009
Lessons in humility are fewer and further between for a 46 year old. Yesterday I had one at the pool. I received my aqua jogger in the mail and decided it was time to try the foot out on the road and in the water. I have an appointment with the sports doc today and the foot in the boot was feeling really good. My 15 year old daughter and I decide to run to our community swim club (only 2 miles) and then try out the aqua jogger in the pool. It felt great to run! Freedom. But by the time we made it to the pool my foot was already starting to feel a little sore…nooooo! My husband and 13 year old son met us there and brought my new aqua jogger with them. Now if you have teenage children (who swim very well), you may relate to the utter humiliation of their mother strapping this thing on and running (in front of everybody) in the pool. I am not a swimmer. I practically drowned trying to put the thing on (I am suddenly reminded of those ladies from my youth at the Y doing water aerobics for the 60 and over set). My husband (another really good swimmer) is laughing so hard at my lack of finesse in H2O that my son decides I am too embarrassing to get near.
I start my trek cross the pool in the running motion with vigor. I can actually feel the resistance on my legs, but what do I do with my arms? I decide to move them as if I am running. I change the intensity now and then to see if that makes me more tired. The kids decide it’s better to ignore me and play with their dad…I keep running up and down the pool. I see people I know and they don’t seem to notice the flotation device strapped to my middle…I chat…but I keep running. After about an hour and a half I am really starting to get tired so I declare I am ready to get out and the kids cheer. The most boring run of my life…I will never take the road for granted again. [click to continue…]
by Monica on July 30, 2009
Dara and I are tight…tight-muscled that is. When I read her book ( Age is Just a Number) that included her pre-olympic routine I wanted to know more about the stretching she came to rely on to get her there. She called it her secret weapon. Now, I do not have the very apparent resources of Dara so when I saw the Resistance Stretching DVD with Dara Torres online, I was in. It is the work of her resistance stretching team of Anne Tierney and Steve Sierra of Innovative Body Solutions. I have been doing these stretches for a few weeks now and I come to look forward to them at night. At first I wasn’t sure if I was doing the resistance part correctly (and this is where a trainer or one of their classes would be good)…but I managed to go back and watch their very detailed tutorial again and again until I was confident I fully understood.
If you are an older runner like me you may also find these stretches very helpful as part of your cross training. I have been off the road for two weeks now due to my foot injury but continue to cross train and stretch. I am not as sore as I am usually. [click to continue…]
by Monica on July 12, 2009
The Anderson's Garden
A salad a day….my training mantra for these past weeks. This has required effort on my part. As much as I love to order a good salad in a restaurant, it’s not what I crave at home. My husband planted this fabulous mesclun lettuce mix in our garden (photo) and it is making my daily quest for a salad actually tolerable. It is truly amazing how lettuce fresh from a garden can taste so much better! My 13 year son and I sometimes have what we call “power salads”- – just eat it raw and get it over with! But I have also found some really fabulous dressings that have helped me make it through these salad days:
- Trader Joe’s Cranberry, Gorgonzola and Walnut Dressing (I like to add a handful of their Omega Trek Mix)
- Organic extra virgin Olive Oil and Seasoned Rice Vinegar (my daughter Isadora’s favorite — a combination her Grandma Luanne taught her).
Cross-training has taken on new meaning as I nurse yet another foot injury. This time on the top (same foot), the result of a shoe tied to tight? Frustrating to say the least, but it’s been getting better every day. One day running, then two or more days off. Cross-training on off days and one full day of rest. This has been working so far to keep me fit with less running.
I received my Resistance Stretching with Dara Torres DVD (Dara’s’ secret weapon for training over 40) and I am into a few days of trying it out. [click to continue…]
