GRE Eve

I am not a basketball fan.  While I don't actively DIS like it, I'm happy to ignore it, and it's generally an easy thing to do EXCEPT in March, when it seems like half of what is on at any given time is basketball.  Jeezy creezy.  I mean, I love sports; generally I'd rather watch sports than just about anything else, but for me, basketball does not count.  (Nor does NASCAR.) 

Normally I'd just shrug this off and read, but with the GREs tomorrow, I could use some mindless diversion, and reruns and roundball aren't cutting it.   I honestly haven't thought much about them until today.  They're not the kind of test I can imagine doing prep for, although I had intended to.  However, one quick glance over the types of questions asked pretty much lead me to believe there isn't really a WAY to study for these exams, any more than there was a way to study for the SATs.  Sure, you could strategy prep, I guess, but studying for ways to outsmart a standardized test REALLY doesn't seem to me to be a good use of anyone's time, unless one is hell bent on getting a perfect score.  Which I am not.  I'm not even sure what a perfect score IS; I see conflicting information as to how the tests are scored and of what is considered a good score.  Honestly?  It will be what it will be.  I've always scored in an upper percentile on these kinds of tests so I don't think worrying about it is going to change much.

But what DID give me the whole elevator dropping out from under the stomach feel was going back to various school websites and looking for school codes (so I could have my scores sent to them), and reviewing the admissions packages.  Scared me to DEATH.  I mean, there's nothing there that I hadn't read before; it's just nearer term now and hence a lot more meaningful.  With all my planned coursework done, I will be able to actually start putting packages together for really reals in May, and I probably should so the shock factor can hit me early and then start to ebb by the time I have to submit them (which will be in the fall; dates range from September to November, depending on the school).

Enough of that!  Today was a bit of a banner day for me, as I did my first real run since that disastrous day three weeks ago when I basically broke down on the trail and had to limp home.  Did a little shy of six miles at a relaxed pace, and foam rollered the hell out of my legs when I got home.  It all went very well, and hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow with nothing more serious than a little stiffness.  I plan to run on my usual days this week, but keep the mileage down, and see how it all goes; fingers crossed, I'll just keep increasing the mileage gradually and SHOULD be OK for Mt. Penn.  Which may not be pretty, but who cares?

What happens after that is anyone's guess.  I'd like to assume things will continue to get better at this fairly linear pace, and I'll do the year more or less as planned (ultra in the fall, couple of intermediate distance between now and then), but I want to see how this acts before I think that far ahead.  Anything other than complete recovery says I really need to rethink that plan so I can still be running 20, 30 years from now.

Spring Break

I'm on it, not that it means a whole lot to me at this point!  I'd have rather just have continued with school.  But whatevs; I always enjoyed it back in the day, although I was never one to head for warmer climes.  I guess it just seemed like such a trendy thing to do (go to Florida! Party with a bunch of strangers! WTF?) that I never considered it.

Whatever.  I find myself at home and with more energy to burn than usual.  The hip is improving steadily, although not as quickly as I would like - which is to say, I would have liked it to have healed instantly.  I've been walking a LOT but have been gunshy about running, other than taking a few test steps here and there.      I've also been gunshy about karate. Basically, I've been avoiding anything that involves what I'd call possible unpredictable steps, push-offs, or lateral movement.  What I HAVE been able to do is walk, as I said, and lift.  Started NROL/Abs and so far like the workouts, although after that last rotation, the workouts feel on the easier side.  Which is not to say they're easy - they make an impact - but they ARE shorter, so I come out of the gym feeling less worn down, overall.  Which, frankly, I think is a good thing right now, and pretty much what I WANTED in a program for right now, as I was theoretically going to be starting to up my mileage around now.

Best laid plans, eh?  I've been adding some step mill intervals to the end of my gym workouts; just 15 minutes a pop, but I think it's work that will come in handy assuming I do actually get to do Mt. Penn next month.  As it happens, I can withdraw from that up until April 1 (and get an actual refund!) so I have a little bit of time left to decide whether or not I can actually do it.

School has been going pretty well.  Had a bunch of tests last week, including a lab practical, Abnormal Psych exam, and an A&P exam.  The Abnormal Psych exam was a hot mess.  She specifically told us not to study certain sections of the book (including what looked like a very interesting unit on dissociative disorders), and yet there were questions on the material on the test!  As it happened she took them all off AFTER the test, so if you got them wrong, it didn't count against you, but I did get every one of them wrong (what are the odds of that?) and I have never seen a test paper of mine come back so covered in red ink.  Though meaningless in the grand scheme of things, it was disconcerting, and I subsequently overstudied for my A&P exam to the point where I was mentally burnt out for a couple of days afterward.  Haven't gotten that one back yet, but I'm not worried about my A average, to put it mildly.

I have the GRE's next Monday.  I was originally thinking I'd take them this past Monday (yesterday) and in retrospect, I'm really, really glad I didn't, because of the time change.  I fucking HATE DST, as I've said a million zillion times (morning people like morning light, to put it in simplest terms), and I'm having a crappy time adjusting.  My appetite is all screwed up, and this morning I had a very rare headache (I almost never get headaches).  Fortunately that seems to have gone away and I think it's about time I got out and enjoyed what is shaping up to be a very pretty day outdoors.

Much. Calmer.

So, I've done the unthinkable, and take it easy this week.  So far.  I've skipped karate entirely, haven't run a step, and have restricted the weights to Stuff that Doesn't Hurt, and even within that realm, have taken it easy on the lower boy.  Plus I've taken Vitamin I like a good patient, and voila, my hip feels about 75% better than it did earlier this week.  So the plan is to continue in this pattern for a couple more days.  I MIGHT test the waters with a short run on Sunday, although now that I think about it, maybe I should make it a walk.  If I can't walk, I can't run, eh?

The worst day, by far, was Tuesday.  I guess the kettlebell work, which I didn't feel at the time, did some damage.  I had a very hard time walking up stairs and even took the elevator once at school (taking elevators, when there are perfectly good stairs available, is against my religion).  Actually the worst thing was crossing roads in the city, because there was no way I could bust out in a sprint if I had to get out of the way of an asshole driver.  It just wasn't there.  That alone, I think, convinced me to dial things waaaaaay back.  So, rest does a body a world of good.  Who knew? 

Reluctantly, I admit

I'm not indestructible.  And I absolutely hate that.

Note:  My first workout for March.  A rest day?  Seriously?  You have no idea how much it pained me to take it, much less to write those words.  And it's not a matter of pride, but one of frustration.  I done gone and hurt myself.

And not moving makes me very, very, very cranky.

I don't like to complain about getting hurt.  I generally barely acknowledge it to myself, and rarely miss a workout because of it.  Truthfully, in my way of thinking, if you can work around it with little trouble, it's not an issue.  But it's very hard to work around a hip, and that's where this problem is.  It's been brewing for a little while, maybe ten days or so.  I believe I initially hurt it doing heavy curtsey lunges; balance is very difficult in that move (I was doing them with a barbell over the shoulders) and I suspect I really overdid without meaning to.  Anyway, the hip pain is similar to what I experienced when I had my iliotibital band problem, except it didn't come on the same way (no initial and progressive knee pain, no pain outside the thigh, plus there seems to have been a precipitating even, not a gradual onset - not to mention, my running mileage has been in a steady range for months, with no issues prior to this).  The problem seems to be in the tensor fascia lata muscle and nearby soft tissue, but limited to this hip area.

I've tried the old "ignore it" method of treatment, and it's gotten worse instead of better.  My four mile run on Sunday?  Was supposed to be 13, but the pain was so bad, I actually had to stop and walk several miles home.  I totally blame myself for that (LOL, as opposed to, say, blaming aliens?); I really muscled through Friday's workout, knew I probably shouldn't have been doing that when it was happening, and paid the price.  Dumb ass.  My thinking was that I KNEW the thing needed rest but that I was ALMOST at a planned easy week, so if I just went ahead and did what I wanted to do anyway, it would all work out.

Not so much.

So here I am, cranky, whining (and I promise, I won't do this again), and full of doom and gloom.  I've already predicted the end of the world as I know it - specifically that I'll be grossly undertrained for my April race, if I'm able to do it at all, and won't be able to meet any other racing goals I'd set for myself this year, or ever, because this injury suggests a fundamental underlying structural weakness that won't hold up to whatever else I have planned for myself.  In more rational moments, I realize that 1) I've been hurt before, 2) I'll be hurt again, 3) I'll recover, and 4) the world won't end, but it'll take an effort on my part to not make it a more miserable place in the short term.  Not to mention: 5) I might learn something from this.

So there you have it.  And thanks but no thanks to cheese with my whine: I'm not all that in to cheese.  But I'll take a good Philly soft pretzel.

Hi

Remember me? 

I guess it's kind of obvious that blogging hasn't been a priority for me lately, but that's how it goes sometimes.  School finally is feeling like school again; I've had more than a full cycle of exams, and of those I've had graded, my lowest grade was just shy of a 98%, (whatever 47 out of 48 works out to be) so I have no reason to complain.  Except, it annoys me when I gets stuff wrong, so...   I had my second psych test yesterday and as usual I came out of it uncertain about some questions - she has a very odd way of asking test questions that doesn't reflect either her teaching style or the book's teaching style.  I suppose that's good, in that you have to think, but that tends to make me OVERthink some questions, which is where I can run into trouble.  But whatever; I've never NOT gotten a good grade on one of her tests, so I must do something right, eh?  

Today I finished my hypertrophy rotation.  I'm feeling good, but tired and a bit beat up, which from what I gather is about the way one is expected to feel about now.  I plan to do a good long run on Sunday and then take an easy week before starting the next rotation - I was even thinking of taking Monday totally off. I'll get to the "results" and next rotation stuff in a moment, but first, speaking of long runs...  I've gone over to the dark side.  

Or something.  One thing I've said numerous times IRL and on forums is that I don't think it's particularly wise to run with headphones on.  And you know, I don't know that I've changed my mind about that, BUT - I have started doing it, and I LOVE it.  Holy shit.  I just do it for long runs, since I do them Sunday mornings when there's practically no traffic.  But I've been digging out stuff I really haven't had a chance to listen to in a long time, and have been very pleasantly surprised to find a good number of favorites that just groove with my natural running stride.  Those that don't, I just happily ride along with, but when one just hits it, wow.  It's made me a very happy camper, and those long runs just seem to fly by.  

And now, on to, results, or something.  I think it's kind of hard for me to truly evaluate a program for what it is when I more or less violate one of the cardinal rules of doing a type of program - that is, doing a program designed to build muscle, and combining that with endurance training.  Granted, it's not SUPER endurance training, but I don't think Robert dos Remedios - or anyone else - for that matter presumes someone doing a muscle (or strength) building program is going to run 25+ miles a week while they're at it.    In fact most people recommend very little cardio with those types of programs, which is all well and good if you're not a runner, but if you are... well, you run, and, I guess, accept the consequences.  

Which, in this case, IMO weren't all that dire.  LOL.  While I'm sure one thing affected the other, I am running as much as I was at the start of the program, only a bit faster, overall, and I also clearly have done a bit of remodeling in the physique department.   My weight hasn't changed significantly - I might be up 2#, but won't really know for a few days; I tend to hold a bit of water when I'm working hard, plus I've been taking creatine, which I stopped today.  Even if it doesn't come right off it's no big deal, although I'd love to know if I actually DID put on muscle.  I doubt that's something I could figure out on my own, but if my arms and legs tell the story, I may actually have.  Either way, I'm happy with my over all strength gains, that I feel more solid and balanced, and - yes - with what I see in the mirror, and I can't argue with that.

So, what next?  My original plan, and quite possibly the one I will come back to, is to do another RDR plan, this one for what he calls total fitness, but using a functional split instead of total body format, meaning each weight workout would be a bit shorter than the ones I've been doing.  The plan would be to add some cardio, specifically hills or interval work, on two of those days each week.  I've also toyed with the idea of doing Maximum Strength (which, frankly, looks like a cake walk after this rota, although I'm sure it's not!), either as written (four days a week) or on a three day a week schedule.  

And then, there's New Rules of Lifting for Abs.  I JUST got this book late last night, and haven't had a chance to look at it, but to my utter surprise, I've heard good things about it.  Frankly, when I first saw the title, I rolled my eyes.  NROL for ABS??  Seriously?  Couldn't have interested me less had it been NROL for biceps.  But from all I've read, it's actually core and athletic-performance oriented, which is right up my alley.  I have to look at the thing, though, and decide if it will fit reasonably well with the rest of the year's running plans, or if it's something that might better wait until after running season.  Anyway, I have a good week, 10 days to sort this all out, and in the mean time - well, after Sunday - I'm definitely going to be up for a bit of a vacation.

Quickie

Of late it seems that whenever I have the desire to write something here, I either don't have the time or am nowhere near a computer, and when I don't, well, I don't.  Heh. Anyway, I figure something's better than a while lot of nothing, so:

I'm entering the last stage of my hypertrophy rotation.  The workouts have been hard, and probably have been taking me longer than they should to complete them.   They'd probably go faster overall if I were able to do more supersetting, but it hasn't been as simple as I'd like to set that up every time out.  However, otherwise, I'm frankly enjoying putting in the work, and will probably miss these longer, more challenging workouts when I switch to four day split mode (which I'll still do on a three day a week schedule) next.   That will be around the beginning of March - after this stage and a week's worth of takin git a bit easy - and the overall plan will be to switch into a more run oriented mode, and decreasing the load of the weight workouts.  I want to add hill or step (i.e., stair climber or stadium steps) on one of the weight days, and maybe a short interval run on the other.   I'll also switch from hypertrophy to more general fitness mode with the weights, which basically just means a different rep scheme. 

In terms of what I've seen so far in this phase - I've gained maybe a pound, pound and a half, and with that sort of change I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to whether it's fat, muscle, water, or some combination thereof.  One of these days, I promise, promise, promise myself I WILL do a true hypertrophy rotation, meaning I'll do the weight work and lay off the cardio.  Of course, theoretically, I was going to do something like that this winter, but wanted to keep running....  geez.  I'm wondering if maybe getting an ultra or two out of my system will calm the running bug to the point where I'll be able to stand cutting back enough to see what I can see in the weight room.

Heh, and THEN I talk myself out of that, because - hell, I enjoy running, and I'll probably wind up just going back to it and working off whatever measurable mass I would manage to add.  Oh well; that arguement's a long way off, I think.  I keep getting flyers for races and wanting to add things to my schedule, so for the foreseeable future, it'll be a matter of keeping a working balance between road, gym, and dojo. 

Ice. Lovely.

People are calling the rather impressive storm that seems to be affecting a large chunk of the country the Blizzard of 2011.  As a huge fan of snow, I'm displeased that most of what we're getting out of this will be rain.  Oh yay.  Rain in January.  Puhleeze. 

But this morning, and probably tomorrow morning as well, we have to contend with ice.  This morning was a real gem, too; I set out to walk to the train for school and my most fervent wish was that I would get to the station without landing on my ass.  (I did.)  When I got to the city my next most fervent wish would be that I'd get to the campus - which as it turned out was an OASIS of salted sidewalk - without landing on my ass.  And that, apparently, was the warm-up act for tomorrow morning. 

Needless to say it was a no-run day, as expected.  I did get the bike dusted off, and pumped up the tires, changed out the pedals (I am now clipless), and installed a bike computer, and did my first ride since, I believe, my last tri, a virgin Spinerval called Suffer-O-Rama.  It's an interval workout that, with warm-up and cool-down, clocks in at a little under an hour.  It seemed a little tedious at first but once you got rolling it was challenging enough that one was too busy breathing hard to be bored.  Beat the crap out of trying to get a workout out of a floor or step cardio DVD, too.  I have a couple of other Spinerval DVDs that I've picked up here and there, and I think between them I should have a nice alternative for days when running seems unwise.  A very, very good thing!

I'm restarting the workout calendar sidebar; hopefully I'll manage to keep it somewhat up to date this month!