Sunday, must be time for the long run. Woke at 7:20, blood sugar a terrible 370, a testament to why you shouldn't eat jam with blinny late at night. There is a blinny festival going on, it is part of the pre lent gorge yourself that happens all over the world, ours comes with jam, thin pancakes and all you can eat. I took 4 units of humulog and settled in to the morning internet read of the news and two cups of coffee. I was 324 when I headed out the door at 8:30.
I changed up the pattern this time. I intended to take on water and/or GU/food every five miles and see what that was like. Also, I only have/had one GU left and went with my catch all of catch alls, Snickers bars. We have something called Snickers Super here which is two smaller snickers (not the regular size) in one wrapper. I packed to Supers so I had four. Took money, test strips, insulin, mobile phone, keys, etc.
I will say that the first piece of information I gained is that I have gotten used to the pack. I barely knew it was there today. At 5 + I stopped for water (750 ml) and tested, BS 106, so I took a GU and headed on. I stopped for water again at 10 +, no BS reading but ate a Snickers and had 500 ML of water. At 25k I did water, tested, BS 154, Snickers. Went through the 25k in about 2:17. I had to make myself remember it was a training run and that I was only half way done and needed some patience.
I stopped again at about 40km for water and Snickers, BS was 105. At this point I was really starting to feel it. My right upper leg seemed to be feeling it more than the left. I still felt I was putting one foot in front of the other pretty efficiently though. To get to this point I had run down the Dnipro River road for about 4 miles or so. It was kind of disappointing because there used by to be a bunch of boat restaurants down there so there were businesses, now there is nothing and as a result no work done on the paths and that put me back out on the street. From 40 to about 43 km I was supposed to go uphill and then go uphill again from 46-48 km. Ha.
Missed my turn, basically ran uphill for about 7 km off and on, with some downhill, completely lost, though all on the same road. I should have turned on Lecy Ukrainy, instead I stayed on the road and ended up on 40 Richa Zhovtnya (40th anniversary of the October Revolution) and I was so far gone it was ridiculous. I really knew I was in trouble when I passed a park that said Praga, 400 meters later I stopped and considered my options. I chose taxi home. The guy said 50 UAH, that is a lot of taxi ride in Kyiv, I must be seriously lost. I took it. I swear the entire ride, up till the last 5 minutes I had no idea where I was in the city.
When I got back I mapped it out and it turned out to be 50kms and it also turns out that if I had chosen keep going I would have ended up in Bila Tserkva in about a day.
Its funny how with experience you kind of figure out that the distance is done. When I google mapped this "lost" route it turned out to be about 55 meters longer than 50km. Did the whole thing in 4:43 and change so I am very satisfied with that.
Lessons learned, Snickers are okay, no problems, water every 5 miles is a very good idea, however, less water but more often might also be the trick. Testing is still problematic, very hard to do on the run, impossible in fact, but must be done. Also, have to eat something, at this speed the body processes well and low BS is a real possibility without food.
Saw the ice fisherman again today. They are about done though, they are down to the last hectare of iced water on the river. The bigger concern for all of us are the roads, there are serious collapses all over the city. I had noticed this on the 15k's, but on this run there were a lot more and many of them were very serious. Hope it gets worked out.
Today was a whole lot of long, getting lost was just so strange, uphill forever, but still 50k is long, isn't it?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wet Socks and pondering diabetes.
15k about mid morning today. Blood sugar 224 to start, 124 to finish. Looks like this run just processed what was in my body. At 6:30 a.m. I took 3 units of Humulog. With that blood sugar reading before the run I didn't take anything before the run. I would guess based on past experience that if I had gone 20k I would have been at a low blood sugar at the end of the run. Something that always needs to be remembered. Sometimes it feels like a non stop experiment but that may be part of the charm. I guess I could sit around and do nothing and just slowly take enough insulin to kill a village every day. Not interested.
Ran nice and easy today to see what nice and easy pace is like currently. Good feedback on this. Paths are even better today but still about a km was mushy yuk. Wet socks, not good at 2C. It turns in to par core out there jumping around puddles to avoid wet and then jumping from side to side to avoid walkers and moving around to avoid the left over ice.
I am monitoring a soleus muscle issue. I didn't wear the brace today and it hurts a little more tonight. I will need to wear it every run now until it goes away.
Wet socks and more statistics to analyze, good.
Ran nice and easy today to see what nice and easy pace is like currently. Good feedback on this. Paths are even better today but still about a km was mushy yuk. Wet socks, not good at 2C. It turns in to par core out there jumping around puddles to avoid wet and then jumping from side to side to avoid walkers and moving around to avoid the left over ice.
I am monitoring a soleus muscle issue. I didn't wear the brace today and it hurts a little more tonight. I will need to wear it every run now until it goes away.
Wet socks and more statistics to analyze, good.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Ice melts!
Well, it happened... Over the last few days I have watched Euronews and seen picture after picture of the freeze that came over western Europe melt away. In some places the areas went from -20C to +10C in one day. One quick scientific discovery to share with all of you, Ice Melts; and, when it does, the rivers just appear out of no where, first they start as little streams of water, then they become torrents of water going anywhere that they want to.
Today we had our first day above 0C since the horrible freeze. After taking yesterday off I couldn't resist the opportunity to run in shorts for the first time in well over 45 days! I tried a bit of an experiment. I went for non road, walking paths only to test out how much snow is gone off the paths. Turns out a good portion of these paths are now runnable. Unfortunately, well over a kilometer of them are not. This kilometer was broken up over the 15k but still, it slowed the pace considerably. Also, because the paths are runnable it also made for very technical "trail" running.
A good work out. Blood sugar 100 to start, Cola and honey, 60 at the finish. Unfortunately it was a dropping 60, on my walk back to the office I had to stop for some quick carbs, but it passed.
Really great to be in compression shorts and running shorts, felt very free and loose. I thought for some time about how good a shape I was in during this run. I have no doubt I can finish Connamara, that isn't the issue, the issue is dangerously becoming how fast. That, in the end, will come down to how much I want to hurt. Don't know yet. I've been able to go deep in the past, but that was 20 years ago and early in my diabetes days. I've run 2:49 for a marathon with Type 1 Diabetes, I will never do that again but I wondered today if I could go 3:10 if I really worked at it.
Thinking too far ahead. Oh yeah Ice Melts.
Today we had our first day above 0C since the horrible freeze. After taking yesterday off I couldn't resist the opportunity to run in shorts for the first time in well over 45 days! I tried a bit of an experiment. I went for non road, walking paths only to test out how much snow is gone off the paths. Turns out a good portion of these paths are now runnable. Unfortunately, well over a kilometer of them are not. This kilometer was broken up over the 15k but still, it slowed the pace considerably. Also, because the paths are runnable it also made for very technical "trail" running.
A good work out. Blood sugar 100 to start, Cola and honey, 60 at the finish. Unfortunately it was a dropping 60, on my walk back to the office I had to stop for some quick carbs, but it passed.
Really great to be in compression shorts and running shorts, felt very free and loose. I thought for some time about how good a shape I was in during this run. I have no doubt I can finish Connamara, that isn't the issue, the issue is dangerously becoming how fast. That, in the end, will come down to how much I want to hurt. Don't know yet. I've been able to go deep in the past, but that was 20 years ago and early in my diabetes days. I've run 2:49 for a marathon with Type 1 Diabetes, I will never do that again but I wondered today if I could go 3:10 if I really worked at it.
Thinking too far ahead. Oh yeah Ice Melts.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Morning Traffic/Melting snow
Managed to run in the a.m. today. 15k. At about 9:30 a.m. It got warm and the weather was at about 0 C for the run. Really great weather!!!! Really sloppy conditions, that much snow melting that quickly creates a wet track to say the least.
Blood sugar 121 to start, 187 to finish. That is not surprising as that was a waking blood sugar reading and there was no insulin until after the run, it isn't surprising that it went up. However, if one compares to the Sunday morning run it looks like a change. Last long run (40k 10 days ago) insulin was lower than that testing twice during the run. I think that is a result of running at a lower speed, thus burning fat stores, not glycogen. Today I was again at a quicker pace (a full minute quicker per mile) and possibly the endocrine system did not burn fat but glycogen and then pumped that into the system and it didn't distribute because it had no insulin to work with. Maybe, I'm not a doctor, of medicine...
The melting snow is everywhere you go. Its falling off buildings as ice, it is creating small rivers on the roads, the only place it isn't melting is the places on sidewalks where it was never taken off and now it is turning in to slush. Really nice stuff, slip slide, slip slide, repeat.
The morning traffic was a little crazy. However, I thought it was quite manageable and not particularly dangerous. The hill work went very well again.
Overall I'm pleased with this one for the hills, the time, the effort to run the time. Pain register not that bad. I ran without the support for the soleus, the feet were fine. But tonight there is a bit of pain in the soleus so I will use the strap tomorrow.
More melting snow tomorrow as its supposed to be above 0C!
Blood sugar 121 to start, 187 to finish. That is not surprising as that was a waking blood sugar reading and there was no insulin until after the run, it isn't surprising that it went up. However, if one compares to the Sunday morning run it looks like a change. Last long run (40k 10 days ago) insulin was lower than that testing twice during the run. I think that is a result of running at a lower speed, thus burning fat stores, not glycogen. Today I was again at a quicker pace (a full minute quicker per mile) and possibly the endocrine system did not burn fat but glycogen and then pumped that into the system and it didn't distribute because it had no insulin to work with. Maybe, I'm not a doctor, of medicine...
The melting snow is everywhere you go. Its falling off buildings as ice, it is creating small rivers on the roads, the only place it isn't melting is the places on sidewalks where it was never taken off and now it is turning in to slush. Really nice stuff, slip slide, slip slide, repeat.
The morning traffic was a little crazy. However, I thought it was quite manageable and not particularly dangerous. The hill work went very well again.
Overall I'm pleased with this one for the hills, the time, the effort to run the time. Pain register not that bad. I ran without the support for the soleus, the feet were fine. But tonight there is a bit of pain in the soleus so I will use the strap tomorrow.
More melting snow tomorrow as its supposed to be above 0C!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Setbacks? Positives? Cartoons?
Only 15k today. Weather was -7C at the end. Getting more pleasant every run. Time/effort/footwork all quite solid. Why not 25k? I can probably provide 20 excuses. None make up for no 25k. Is that a setback? I tend to think yes, but then think no. Why? I did run 15k at what I perceived to be at about 75% effort at a pace that I want to run Connamara at. From the perspective of status, the run informed my fitness. Certainly the more long runs there are the better, but I've done some reading that I would agree with (an excuse?) that you need to test what the pace feels like on these under 50 mile ultras.
Blood sugar was 266 to start, I took 2U of Humulog. At the finish blood sugar was 202. I have to say that my philosophy on blood sugar and exercise is probably a lot like everyone else who is a type 1 diabetic and gets a lot of exercise. Every day is different and what doctors say and what you can do are two very disparate things. I can say that I actually get most best workouts in at the 225 to 175 range. Of course you doctor will tell you that blood sugar should be around 85-100 all the time. Unless you are on a pump, and the Veterans' Administration is not the most progressive care giver, then that is pretty tough if you are running a lot of mileage or what ever exercise you might be into. I say type 1 diabetes is a daily experiment of one where the data is compiled over time and hopefully is useful when you need it most.
Today I saw a truly bizarre thing. At around 10k I made the turn on to Oranzhereina St.and in the distance I could see this huge wide column of steam that was spreading out over the road and the trees. It was about 300 meters in front of me. I was running a slight upgrade and you couldn't see anything on the other side of this column of steam. Suddenly a car came through from the other side like something from Stargate and then a car passed me and went into the steam, I assume it came out the other side. Once I got within about 50 meters I saw to KyivEnergo trucks and the usual five or ten men about age 55 standing nearby. At this point is when I saw the craziest thing. The steam was the result of a man hole cover they had taken off the street and there was so much leaking heat from the poor infrastructure that the steam was literally being pushed out of this pipe like a fire ball due to the pressure inside. Incredible. The loss of heat and cost of the lost heat, in just this one area must be tremendous. I saw a photo essay on Kyiv Post that showed this very thing happening all over the city. (loss of heat through poor infrastructure, not the cartoon fireball I witnessed today).
After that I looked at every man hole cover I ran over, each one of them had a tiny stream of steam coming out the little vent where they put the crow bar in to lift them up.
I guess can be like a cartoon.
Blood sugar was 266 to start, I took 2U of Humulog. At the finish blood sugar was 202. I have to say that my philosophy on blood sugar and exercise is probably a lot like everyone else who is a type 1 diabetic and gets a lot of exercise. Every day is different and what doctors say and what you can do are two very disparate things. I can say that I actually get most best workouts in at the 225 to 175 range. Of course you doctor will tell you that blood sugar should be around 85-100 all the time. Unless you are on a pump, and the Veterans' Administration is not the most progressive care giver, then that is pretty tough if you are running a lot of mileage or what ever exercise you might be into. I say type 1 diabetes is a daily experiment of one where the data is compiled over time and hopefully is useful when you need it most.
Today I saw a truly bizarre thing. At around 10k I made the turn on to Oranzhereina St.and in the distance I could see this huge wide column of steam that was spreading out over the road and the trees. It was about 300 meters in front of me. I was running a slight upgrade and you couldn't see anything on the other side of this column of steam. Suddenly a car came through from the other side like something from Stargate and then a car passed me and went into the steam, I assume it came out the other side. Once I got within about 50 meters I saw to KyivEnergo trucks and the usual five or ten men about age 55 standing nearby. At this point is when I saw the craziest thing. The steam was the result of a man hole cover they had taken off the street and there was so much leaking heat from the poor infrastructure that the steam was literally being pushed out of this pipe like a fire ball due to the pressure inside. Incredible. The loss of heat and cost of the lost heat, in just this one area must be tremendous. I saw a photo essay on Kyiv Post that showed this very thing happening all over the city. (loss of heat through poor infrastructure, not the cartoon fireball I witnessed today).
After that I looked at every man hole cover I ran over, each one of them had a tiny stream of steam coming out the little vent where they put the crow bar in to lift them up.
I guess can be like a cartoon.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Ah, warmth
-7C at the start of this run. Really makes a difference the warmer it is. Very pleasant smooth piece of work. I felt very comfortable today. Thinking about it, maybe it was the weekend, maybe it was the fact that it is warmer. Blood sugar was 175 to start, 143 at the finish over 15k. The time was the quickest I've run since December.
On a down side I did not go 25k as I intended. Its done so get over it.
Hill work wasn't the best it could have been, but it I got up the big one and moved along afterward. I believe I might be getting in to pretty good shape and that feels pretty good, especially when there are no real things to deal with. I loosened up my shoes today and the feet felt better also. I read a blog once a long time ago where the guy barely tied his shoes and waited for his feet to expand during the run. Basically I'm not tying them tight and letting my feet expand in to the shoe. It worked today, it may not tomorrow.
I need to relax in to this experience and not get to up or down about whether the next one is not very good.
Supposd to be -6 or -5 C tomorrow. Ah warmth!
On a down side I did not go 25k as I intended. Its done so get over it.
Hill work wasn't the best it could have been, but it I got up the big one and moved along afterward. I believe I might be getting in to pretty good shape and that feels pretty good, especially when there are no real things to deal with. I loosened up my shoes today and the feet felt better also. I read a blog once a long time ago where the guy barely tied his shoes and waited for his feet to expand during the run. Basically I'm not tying them tight and letting my feet expand in to the shoe. It worked today, it may not tomorrow.
I need to relax in to this experience and not get to up or down about whether the next one is not very good.
Supposd to be -6 or -5 C tomorrow. Ah warmth!
Friday, February 17, 2012
A heat wave out there...
-9 C at the beginning of my run today. Almost a heat wave. Very, very sloppy stuff out there. Things were wet and wild. Blood sugar 113 to begin, took on some honey and piece of chocolate, blood sugar 123 when I finished. Some might wonder what the difference between today's insulin readings and yesterdays were. First and foremost it is the timing of the shot. I took 4 U of insulin at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, walked from my in company class 2k to my house at 4:00 p.m., measured and took honey and chocolate. That 4 units was done I believe. Today I took 6 units of insulin at 11:00 a.m., walked home at 1:00 p.m., started running at 1:45. The difference here is 3.5 hours v. 2.5 hours. In insulin processing terms that is a lot of time.
15k today over the usual route but in the reverse direction, meaning the first 5k is a gradual long upgrade. Very sloppy and scrappy. Tight everywhere but felt I was moving a bit quicker. The big hill worked out well again at the half way point, the rest of the run was about smooth and my feet killing me. The outer part of my feet at the pinky toe feel like they are on fire; and the stone bruise continues to be bothersome if I have to get on uneven hard ground (also known as Ukrainian roads at the moment). The overall time of the run was 3 minutes faster than yesterday.
Also, I've put on a wrap for the right soleus muscle. This muscle runs on the inside of the shin. I had this problem o the left leg last year and bought this wrap and used it to relieve pressure/stress during the run and after about 2 months it went away completely. I felt this pain coming on last week so I decided to go straight to wrap to prevent any serious problems.
I have some tiredness, but overall good to have the week over. It is supposed to be -6 C and -4 C on Saturday and Sunday, maybe I can wear shorts for the two 25kms.
Its a heat wave!
15k today over the usual route but in the reverse direction, meaning the first 5k is a gradual long upgrade. Very sloppy and scrappy. Tight everywhere but felt I was moving a bit quicker. The big hill worked out well again at the half way point, the rest of the run was about smooth and my feet killing me. The outer part of my feet at the pinky toe feel like they are on fire; and the stone bruise continues to be bothersome if I have to get on uneven hard ground (also known as Ukrainian roads at the moment). The overall time of the run was 3 minutes faster than yesterday.
Also, I've put on a wrap for the right soleus muscle. This muscle runs on the inside of the shin. I had this problem o the left leg last year and bought this wrap and used it to relieve pressure/stress during the run and after about 2 months it went away completely. I felt this pain coming on last week so I decided to go straight to wrap to prevent any serious problems.
I have some tiredness, but overall good to have the week over. It is supposed to be -6 C and -4 C on Saturday and Sunday, maybe I can wear shorts for the two 25kms.
Its a heat wave!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Still more information
Got 15k done today. It was a struggle to make it happen but I did. I also ended up walking about 8km today in dress shoes, something that needs immediate adjusting. Since I've moved I walk about 2k to school/office and back and on Tuesday and Friday mornings I walk about 2k to an in company VIP that I teach. I need to come up with something about the shoes.
I ran about 4 p.m. today. It was till light, it is getting dark around 5:30 now. I knew that today would be a learning experience but I just didn't know what I would learn. Pre run blood sugar was 154, I had a piece of chocolate and bread and honey. Post run blood sugar was 280 and that means I didn't process well at all and that the 154 was an end of uptake not mid or beginning, i.e. the insulin had already run its course that I took during the day.
Posture was good, foot work was good, but I could feel the tiredness in my mind and my legs. The mind tiredness didn't last long though because the city is still a complete mess but I managed to get mostly road time to avoid the horrible sidewalks. When I couldn't I was reduced to well below 11 minutes a mile. Also, the traffic is terrible because the roads are all missing about one lane to work with because of the snow plowing, or lack thereof. So the mind got focused pretty quickly.
My legs, on the other hand, seemed to be pretty annoyed with the whole thing. I made a conscious effort not to push anything in order to maintain some sort of stride and rhythm. The stride rate was a consistent 90 on the road, not on the sidewalks which were just like snow trails except for the Ukrainian women in high heels everywhere.
Interestingly, working the big hill resulted in getting real smooth and real quick going over the top and the last half of the run was a good pace, form and rhythm. I've notice that this is beginning to happen with every run and hope this means the hill work is paying off. I need to research on the good sites what it means to "warm up" before an Ultra.
The left outer knee has a twinge but nothing painful but I will need to focus some ITB stretches tonight.
Hope to get another 15k in tomorrow. Like I said, more information today, probably tomorrow also.
I ran about 4 p.m. today. It was till light, it is getting dark around 5:30 now. I knew that today would be a learning experience but I just didn't know what I would learn. Pre run blood sugar was 154, I had a piece of chocolate and bread and honey. Post run blood sugar was 280 and that means I didn't process well at all and that the 154 was an end of uptake not mid or beginning, i.e. the insulin had already run its course that I took during the day.
Posture was good, foot work was good, but I could feel the tiredness in my mind and my legs. The mind tiredness didn't last long though because the city is still a complete mess but I managed to get mostly road time to avoid the horrible sidewalks. When I couldn't I was reduced to well below 11 minutes a mile. Also, the traffic is terrible because the roads are all missing about one lane to work with because of the snow plowing, or lack thereof. So the mind got focused pretty quickly.
My legs, on the other hand, seemed to be pretty annoyed with the whole thing. I made a conscious effort not to push anything in order to maintain some sort of stride and rhythm. The stride rate was a consistent 90 on the road, not on the sidewalks which were just like snow trails except for the Ukrainian women in high heels everywhere.
Interestingly, working the big hill resulted in getting real smooth and real quick going over the top and the last half of the run was a good pace, form and rhythm. I've notice that this is beginning to happen with every run and hope this means the hill work is paying off. I need to research on the good sites what it means to "warm up" before an Ultra.
The left outer knee has a twinge but nothing painful but I will need to focus some ITB stretches tonight.
Hope to get another 15k in tomorrow. Like I said, more information today, probably tomorrow also.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
And three days later...
Very interesting learning experience. I intended to rest on Monday, and it is Wednesday and I am still resting. But not for reasons I thought.
Monday post 61km for the weekend I had nagging pain on the anterior of both knees. I had a day of worrying that my ITB was in bad shape or I had the dreaded tendinitis, which I of course, because I am foolishly my own doctor, believe is just ITBS.
I did a lot of walking on Monday and over the day both knees really loosened up. There was no nagging soreness in any other area. The drawback was that it was seriously snowing all day and so it was a slip and slide day which caused some slight twinge in the inner thigh.
I really intended to run Tuesday but the knees still had a bit, so I let it go thinking I would make it happen on Wednesday. But I also noticed I was still very tired and had the feeling I was getting sick. I wonder if this was breakdown or post long run stress, both, or something else.
Wednesday had good intentions, but was destroyed by work. Probably for the best, because I seriously felt run down. However, I also felt I had not eaten correctly over the last couple of days. At home after work I really hit the protein hard, along with vitamin C fruits. As I write I actually don't feel the same as when I did when I was at the office today.
Like I said lots of lessons. One, have to eat correctly afterward, not only before. Two, the rest day on Monday is mandatory and Tuesday isn't so bad either. Three, the endocrine effects for my Type 1 diabetes do last a long time, I am still processing everything I eat, including processed sugars quickly and with less insulin that usual. However, there has been no effect on my long term Lantus (15 u every night at 9 p.m.). No dosage change there, but dosage of Humulog is at about 75% of normal even this Wednesday, on Sunday and Monday it was a full 50% less. Also, there were no liver spikes as I call them, when you BS suddenly jumps.
I really hope to get in 15 Thursday and Friday and then do 25k Sat and 25k Sun.
Monday post 61km for the weekend I had nagging pain on the anterior of both knees. I had a day of worrying that my ITB was in bad shape or I had the dreaded tendinitis, which I of course, because I am foolishly my own doctor, believe is just ITBS.
I did a lot of walking on Monday and over the day both knees really loosened up. There was no nagging soreness in any other area. The drawback was that it was seriously snowing all day and so it was a slip and slide day which caused some slight twinge in the inner thigh.
I really intended to run Tuesday but the knees still had a bit, so I let it go thinking I would make it happen on Wednesday. But I also noticed I was still very tired and had the feeling I was getting sick. I wonder if this was breakdown or post long run stress, both, or something else.
Wednesday had good intentions, but was destroyed by work. Probably for the best, because I seriously felt run down. However, I also felt I had not eaten correctly over the last couple of days. At home after work I really hit the protein hard, along with vitamin C fruits. As I write I actually don't feel the same as when I did when I was at the office today.
Like I said lots of lessons. One, have to eat correctly afterward, not only before. Two, the rest day on Monday is mandatory and Tuesday isn't so bad either. Three, the endocrine effects for my Type 1 diabetes do last a long time, I am still processing everything I eat, including processed sugars quickly and with less insulin that usual. However, there has been no effect on my long term Lantus (15 u every night at 9 p.m.). No dosage change there, but dosage of Humulog is at about 75% of normal even this Wednesday, on Sunday and Monday it was a full 50% less. Also, there were no liver spikes as I call them, when you BS suddenly jumps.
I really hope to get in 15 Thursday and Friday and then do 25k Sat and 25k Sun.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Good progress
-19 C to start the day. Woke around 10 a.m. started my run today at about 11:20 a.m. The word for the day was patience. I learned a great deal out there today. My goal was to complete the run but also to keep the clock going at all times. The other goal was to run the correct route. I did.
The first 10k were into a slight wind and along Permohy Prospekt. I stopped for water at about 6.5 miles and speed walked until I had finished the water and started up again. The next 4 miles went quicker than I remember last time. In general I felt pretty good but kept reminding myself to be patient and not expect it all to happen quickly. I made the turn in the woods and headed back toward the city. This was weird after a bit. It was a good piece of work but about two miles down the road the police tried to stop me but I kept running. I'm not sure if it was because I was running or if I was running on the road. Anyway, they didn't stop me and about a mile down the road they stopped a car and said hello so it didn't turn out to be too bad.
I didn't take any water on these two sections so when I was back in the city I stopped for water and tested my sugar, which was 65, I took one GU and water while I was speed walking, I wasn't walking while testing, but I did keep the watch going. The whole thing, testing, water, GU, drinking all the water while speed walking took about 4 minutes. That was about 25 km in.
It took a bit to get going with any sort of smoothness this time, but eventually I did get going nicely again. No idea of the pace but at least it felt good. I made the turn on the road that I made the mistake on before and ran on the other side of the road from last time. I thought I had it right but in fact I almost missed the turn this time, luckily I looked over the bridge and spotted Petrivka market so I knew I was supposed to be on the other side of the road.
On Moskovsky Prospekt it was really unpleasant, a lot of traffic and it was moving very quickly. I tried to keep my head down and just try to get to the next turn. I managed to do so and headed toward Podil. Here I learned some things. I kept expecting to the see the bridge and found myself wishing for it and worked with my mind to stay in the moment and be patient. That seemed to work, I really had to focus on this for the last 8 km.
Here I saw an incredible sight. There must have been 50 people ice fishing on the river. They were everywhere with there holes and poles. Just incredible to see. I wasn't the only one out there in the cold doing something they liked to do.
Finally got to Podil and headed toward the Kyivski Descent. Focused hard on the hill and went straight up and through Kyrshchatyk and up the hill of Shevchenko. This was a pretty good piece of timing because with the 20k from yesterday this would be the hill set for Connamara as well. I felt like I was really starting to get tired. Going down the hill I started to lose a bit of form and was pretty ragged. I turned left and headed for home with about 800 meters to go. Over and over, stay patient.
Things learned, patience, of course. Secondly, it is okay to take water and GU and speed walk. Finally, over two days I got pretty much the whole race in. Blood sugar after run was 60, need to monitor all week to see where that goes from day to day.
Really good progress.
The first 10k were into a slight wind and along Permohy Prospekt. I stopped for water at about 6.5 miles and speed walked until I had finished the water and started up again. The next 4 miles went quicker than I remember last time. In general I felt pretty good but kept reminding myself to be patient and not expect it all to happen quickly. I made the turn in the woods and headed back toward the city. This was weird after a bit. It was a good piece of work but about two miles down the road the police tried to stop me but I kept running. I'm not sure if it was because I was running or if I was running on the road. Anyway, they didn't stop me and about a mile down the road they stopped a car and said hello so it didn't turn out to be too bad.
I didn't take any water on these two sections so when I was back in the city I stopped for water and tested my sugar, which was 65, I took one GU and water while I was speed walking, I wasn't walking while testing, but I did keep the watch going. The whole thing, testing, water, GU, drinking all the water while speed walking took about 4 minutes. That was about 25 km in.
It took a bit to get going with any sort of smoothness this time, but eventually I did get going nicely again. No idea of the pace but at least it felt good. I made the turn on the road that I made the mistake on before and ran on the other side of the road from last time. I thought I had it right but in fact I almost missed the turn this time, luckily I looked over the bridge and spotted Petrivka market so I knew I was supposed to be on the other side of the road.
On Moskovsky Prospekt it was really unpleasant, a lot of traffic and it was moving very quickly. I tried to keep my head down and just try to get to the next turn. I managed to do so and headed toward Podil. Here I learned some things. I kept expecting to the see the bridge and found myself wishing for it and worked with my mind to stay in the moment and be patient. That seemed to work, I really had to focus on this for the last 8 km.
Here I saw an incredible sight. There must have been 50 people ice fishing on the river. They were everywhere with there holes and poles. Just incredible to see. I wasn't the only one out there in the cold doing something they liked to do.
Finally got to Podil and headed toward the Kyivski Descent. Focused hard on the hill and went straight up and through Kyrshchatyk and up the hill of Shevchenko. This was a pretty good piece of timing because with the 20k from yesterday this would be the hill set for Connamara as well. I felt like I was really starting to get tired. Going down the hill I started to lose a bit of form and was pretty ragged. I turned left and headed for home with about 800 meters to go. Over and over, stay patient.
Things learned, patience, of course. Secondly, it is okay to take water and GU and speed walk. Finally, over two days I got pretty much the whole race in. Blood sugar after run was 60, need to monitor all week to see where that goes from day to day.
Really good progress.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
One of those days...
Haven't run in two days. The weather is just tough on me mentally. With the move and trying to figure how to get from point A to point B and fit runs in and with new projects at work, all at the same time... by today I had one 25k, and two 15km's back to back and nothing else. I am beginning to get a bit worried about preparation. It is now 49 days to connemara. I made some adjustments to this weekends plan and went for 20k today and will see if I can get 41k tomorrow.
When I woke today the weather was -18C, that is 0 F. However, it was beautiful outside, really very sunny and bright and it just looked like there was potential out there. I am assuming that tomorrows run will require that know what it feels like to already be deep in the tank, I'm still planning for the race of course and I do need to know what some things feel like. I still only wanted to go out there and run a nice relaxing job today, running on streets as much as possible.
Accomplished! That 20km was one of the nicest runs I have had in a long while. It was just wonderful! There were times where the sun was so great that you felt it was spring. There was never any hard work, just running nice and smoothly, staying on streets, not too bothered by traffic. Just an amazing experience. There were several different hills to work on and each was achieved, still thinking about that final hill in Ireland.
Blood sugar was high in the evening, but that was from the carbs I loaded for tomorrow. I took a quick 6 units at about 6:30 this morning and I was a nice 175 before the run, I had two spoons of honey and out the door. This run there were no stops, no water stops, just the run. At the end, the temp was about -15C and my sugar was 215. Took 4 units, ate nuts, berries, apples, and water within 30 minutes. Will take water the rest of the day.
The thing to remember is that all that arises ceases. But today, was one of those days.
When I woke today the weather was -18C, that is 0 F. However, it was beautiful outside, really very sunny and bright and it just looked like there was potential out there. I am assuming that tomorrows run will require that know what it feels like to already be deep in the tank, I'm still planning for the race of course and I do need to know what some things feel like. I still only wanted to go out there and run a nice relaxing job today, running on streets as much as possible.
Accomplished! That 20km was one of the nicest runs I have had in a long while. It was just wonderful! There were times where the sun was so great that you felt it was spring. There was never any hard work, just running nice and smoothly, staying on streets, not too bothered by traffic. Just an amazing experience. There were several different hills to work on and each was achieved, still thinking about that final hill in Ireland.
 |
| Post run, ice coming out of my hat. -18C = 0 F it was really strange how that occurred. |
The thing to remember is that all that arises ceases. But today, was one of those days.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
On the Road Again
My apologies to Willie Nelson. Today I decided to stay on the road the whole time and see what happens. While there was interruptions from traffic, there was no interruption in my rhythm and that felt really good. Last night did a lot of massage on the foot and the foot was much better today, along with staying off the snow pack/ice pack I think that definitely helped.
It is still very cold. Today it was -14C while I ran. The roads themselves are fairly clear which allowed me to stay on them.
I worked the hill really well today. Also, I went the direction that requires a gradual uphill for about 5km. While I was running both of these stretches I was really fixated on that final "hell of the West" that is in Connamarra.
My blood sugar has been very good for both of these runs, 135 to start, spoon of honey, 127 to finish today. Some four hours later, still very good at 135.
Good to run on the road, makes up for yesterday.
It is still very cold. Today it was -14C while I ran. The roads themselves are fairly clear which allowed me to stay on them.
I worked the hill really well today. Also, I went the direction that requires a gradual uphill for about 5km. While I was running both of these stretches I was really fixated on that final "hell of the West" that is in Connamarra.
My blood sugar has been very good for both of these runs, 135 to start, spoon of honey, 127 to finish today. Some four hours later, still very good at 135.
Good to run on the road, makes up for yesterday.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Positive or Negative?
Yesterday I rested. Today I ran. Just can't tell you if it was a good experience or not. On the positives, any day you get a run in I think you should consider a good day. Any day you get the mileage in that you wanted, in this case 15k, that is a positive. Given that the weather was -15C with a windchill of -24C and I didn't fall or get frostbite, another positive. I ran the big hill really strong today, a positive. In some places the roads were really in good shape, a positive.
Many parts of the city are still uncleared which has created an ice/snow pack that is like running on rocks. It has created serious pain on the outer point of my right foot and it feels like stone bruise on the inside ball of the same foot. I have battled bilateral atypical neuroma of the metatarsus in the past but at this point running on these "rocks" makes it less than enjoyable. A negative. My schedule today was just horrible, I taught an 8:00 class and then did my management duties until about 1:00 p.m. then taught from 2 to 3:30 p.m., then walked the 2km back to my new flat and then went for a run. Two trips to the Circus Mashrutaka stop gave me about 4.4km of walking in dress shoes for the day, plus the 15k run. A negative, or is it a positive?
The run itself had stops and starts the whole time. A lot of traffic today, a negative, several times I came to complete standstill just to navigate around some snow/mush or when traffic was doing something insane. I saw two Ukrainian men argue in the middle of the street, one car pointed north, the other car pointed south, bumper to bumper, neither would move, about 50 cars behind each of them. Didn't look like anyone was going anywhere. Makes me glad I don't have personal transportation.
Running with the traffic continues to be beneficial when I get on the roads. I'm trying to stay on the roads as it allows me to get some rhythm, but sometimes you have to run on this snow/ice (rocks) pack, a real downer. Just can't say, positive or negative? Did I run, yes, must be positive?
Many parts of the city are still uncleared which has created an ice/snow pack that is like running on rocks. It has created serious pain on the outer point of my right foot and it feels like stone bruise on the inside ball of the same foot. I have battled bilateral atypical neuroma of the metatarsus in the past but at this point running on these "rocks" makes it less than enjoyable. A negative. My schedule today was just horrible, I taught an 8:00 class and then did my management duties until about 1:00 p.m. then taught from 2 to 3:30 p.m., then walked the 2km back to my new flat and then went for a run. Two trips to the Circus Mashrutaka stop gave me about 4.4km of walking in dress shoes for the day, plus the 15k run. A negative, or is it a positive?
The run itself had stops and starts the whole time. A lot of traffic today, a negative, several times I came to complete standstill just to navigate around some snow/mush or when traffic was doing something insane. I saw two Ukrainian men argue in the middle of the street, one car pointed north, the other car pointed south, bumper to bumper, neither would move, about 50 cars behind each of them. Didn't look like anyone was going anywhere. Makes me glad I don't have personal transportation.
Running with the traffic continues to be beneficial when I get on the roads. I'm trying to stay on the roads as it allows me to get some rhythm, but sometimes you have to run on this snow/ice (rocks) pack, a real downer. Just can't say, positive or negative? Did I run, yes, must be positive?
Sunday, February 5, 2012
A Nice Surprise
We had more snow. Overnight though "they" got to work and it turned into a rather pleasant piece of work. A few areas were in terrible shape (one I will refer to lower down), but the majority of the streets and walkways had turned into runnable areas. 25km was the goal today and it happened.
Temp was -9 C with a light wind (nothing really but when you ran into it you knew). I didn't run until 11:30 so there was more traffic than there usual is on a Sunday and that added to the fun and excitement. Again I took the run with the traffic approach; but, I also ran against the traffic today a fair amount. This is just a fascinating thing to me. Even more data collected on this today especially about motorist behavior.
Far more people honk at you here if you are running in to the traffic. You can see inside their windshields that they are not happy to have to slow down for you or that you are running in to traffic, one of them. On the other hand, running with the traffic not one person honked at me and I again had a lot of room (3-4 ft) when cars went by me. Conversely, running in to traffic I think I had at least 15, probably more, cars honk at me. One might ask, well then run with the traffic, right? The problem, as I thought it through after the run, is training, I instinctively head for what I feel is the safe side of the road. I would much prefer to see it coming than not...
Today the second half was clearly faster than the first. Once I got to a more deserted road I really worked hard for about 3k (this was about 15k in to the run), and all the significant hills are on the second half of this run and I worked all of them hard. I have adjusted this route from when I lived on Shulavska and it now starts at the new flat and ends about 800 meters from the flat down by the Circus, ends on a downhill. The overall time was tolerable and I felt very strong the whole way.
Blood sugar was 133 to start, I took some Coca-Cola before I went out. I stopped at 67 minutes to take on water and one GU. At the end of the run I was 110. I was very hungry afterward so I had some walnuts, sunflower seeds, water, some dark bread and some ice cream. But also took 7 units of Humulog to offset that. Post two hour was 194, not surprising, took 3u to get it where I want.
It is very interesting about the city itself. Like all big cities some places get more good treatment than others. Today, just before water i ran for about 400 m over a 6 inch ice glaze that was left over from the last snow three weeks ago and I was wondering if the folks in that district of the city had fallen or were there injuries in this area or not.
I would say roads were better than sidewalks today, but sidewalks were not as bad as I thought they would be. By the way, over 110 dead from the cold in Ukraine. Making news everywhere, I sad statement of the country. We have about two more weeks of serious cold. But today was a nice surprise.
Temp was -9 C with a light wind (nothing really but when you ran into it you knew). I didn't run until 11:30 so there was more traffic than there usual is on a Sunday and that added to the fun and excitement. Again I took the run with the traffic approach; but, I also ran against the traffic today a fair amount. This is just a fascinating thing to me. Even more data collected on this today especially about motorist behavior.
Far more people honk at you here if you are running in to the traffic. You can see inside their windshields that they are not happy to have to slow down for you or that you are running in to traffic, one of them. On the other hand, running with the traffic not one person honked at me and I again had a lot of room (3-4 ft) when cars went by me. Conversely, running in to traffic I think I had at least 15, probably more, cars honk at me. One might ask, well then run with the traffic, right? The problem, as I thought it through after the run, is training, I instinctively head for what I feel is the safe side of the road. I would much prefer to see it coming than not...
Today the second half was clearly faster than the first. Once I got to a more deserted road I really worked hard for about 3k (this was about 15k in to the run), and all the significant hills are on the second half of this run and I worked all of them hard. I have adjusted this route from when I lived on Shulavska and it now starts at the new flat and ends about 800 meters from the flat down by the Circus, ends on a downhill. The overall time was tolerable and I felt very strong the whole way.
Blood sugar was 133 to start, I took some Coca-Cola before I went out. I stopped at 67 minutes to take on water and one GU. At the end of the run I was 110. I was very hungry afterward so I had some walnuts, sunflower seeds, water, some dark bread and some ice cream. But also took 7 units of Humulog to offset that. Post two hour was 194, not surprising, took 3u to get it where I want.
It is very interesting about the city itself. Like all big cities some places get more good treatment than others. Today, just before water i ran for about 400 m over a 6 inch ice glaze that was left over from the last snow three weeks ago and I was wondering if the folks in that district of the city had fallen or were there injuries in this area or not.
I would say roads were better than sidewalks today, but sidewalks were not as bad as I thought they would be. By the way, over 110 dead from the cold in Ukraine. Making news everywhere, I sad statement of the country. We have about two more weeks of serious cold. But today was a nice surprise.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Requiring some patience
-15 C and snowing since yesterday. I didn't run yesterday because it was still -20C but it has warmed some, and with the snow it feels warmer. Unfortunately, it is really messy out there.
Started my day by moving flats. Had to move the broken treadmill, something that was very unexpected, down three flights of stairs and on to a truck. I have some low back tightness this evening as I write in my new flat. I also ran 15k from the new flat, I had already google earth'd the routes. More on that in a bit.
We've had about 15 cm so far, about 4 inches I think, no roads cleaned, no sidewalks cleaned, it was tough out there. The weather wasn't the problem the footing was something else. I fell twice today, underneath all that snow is ice from when we had the freezing temperatures. You really had your choice, sidewalk and try and get a rhythm or streets and slip and slide on snow that had been compacted and ratted up by tires.
Lets just say it was slow, slower than ever. But still 15km and a lot of leg work with one long hill and two steep hills. Back to the new route, it is not good but it has a brutal hill at the very end. I may consider trying something different. The area I am now living in has a lot of steep slopes as it is nearer the city center and the city center has always been on top of a hill that slopes hard toward the Dnipro River.
Blood sugar was very good at the start, 131, and 261 when I finished, I expected that though, I was not generating a lot of foot speed and I had an orange and an apple before I went out. For the entire week my body has processed synthetic insulin really well, a definite indicator of the work the 40k did on my endocrine system, I hope.
I read that blog from iRunFar.com (AJW's Taproom) thought about it most of the run today, it was a very trying piece of work out there. Not like trail running I believe, city running.
Started my day by moving flats. Had to move the broken treadmill, something that was very unexpected, down three flights of stairs and on to a truck. I have some low back tightness this evening as I write in my new flat. I also ran 15k from the new flat, I had already google earth'd the routes. More on that in a bit.
We've had about 15 cm so far, about 4 inches I think, no roads cleaned, no sidewalks cleaned, it was tough out there. The weather wasn't the problem the footing was something else. I fell twice today, underneath all that snow is ice from when we had the freezing temperatures. You really had your choice, sidewalk and try and get a rhythm or streets and slip and slide on snow that had been compacted and ratted up by tires.
Lets just say it was slow, slower than ever. But still 15km and a lot of leg work with one long hill and two steep hills. Back to the new route, it is not good but it has a brutal hill at the very end. I may consider trying something different. The area I am now living in has a lot of steep slopes as it is nearer the city center and the city center has always been on top of a hill that slopes hard toward the Dnipro River.
Blood sugar was very good at the start, 131, and 261 when I finished, I expected that though, I was not generating a lot of foot speed and I had an orange and an apple before I went out. For the entire week my body has processed synthetic insulin really well, a definite indicator of the work the 40k did on my endocrine system, I hope.
I read that blog from iRunFar.com (AJW's Taproom) thought about it most of the run today, it was a very trying piece of work out there. Not like trail running I believe, city running.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Cold, Cold, Cold
-19 C! At the time of the run it had actually warmed up. I ran at about 2:15 in the afternoon. I feel good. I was not tight, maybe two days off helped. I ended up taking yesterday off also as I had to cover for another teacher who was sick during the time I would normally run and then decided not to chance it at 9:30 at night.
Went 15k today. Again, the streets are in good shape but the sidewalks are hit and miss. A lot of ice at this point. It being so cold there isn't even the kick up of ice chips. It is just really really cold. I wore the same gear as the last three runs. The ski mask was covered in ice and ice down the front as well as ice within the top jacket. Still, the gear is working fine for this weather. It looks like it will warm up over the weekend so it will be -10 or so. A heat wave.
I am pleased with the turn around and am thinking about my past marathon experiences and long runs and the kind of pain associated with them after the run. If I remember correctly the real pain is after the actual race now the training runs. Still, with 40k, no pain is a good sign.
A few more days of this weather, just need to battle through and put in the miles. Patience.
Went 15k today. Again, the streets are in good shape but the sidewalks are hit and miss. A lot of ice at this point. It being so cold there isn't even the kick up of ice chips. It is just really really cold. I wore the same gear as the last three runs. The ski mask was covered in ice and ice down the front as well as ice within the top jacket. Still, the gear is working fine for this weather. It looks like it will warm up over the weekend so it will be -10 or so. A heat wave.
I am pleased with the turn around and am thinking about my past marathon experiences and long runs and the kind of pain associated with them after the run. If I remember correctly the real pain is after the actual race now the training runs. Still, with 40k, no pain is a good sign.
A few more days of this weather, just need to battle through and put in the miles. Patience.
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