Finally some progress

Finally the hard work seems to be paying off. I have been relentlessly exercising and doing my recovery exercises 6 days / week, and it usually takes me between 1 and 2 hours every day - except mandatory rest day.

Working mostly on my Achilles  and plantar issues, psoas and quads stretches, and a ton of hip and core strengthening.

Wearing the dolphins colors

I started running again, following my prescription, with a tight 1 min run - 1 min walk program, for up to 40 minutes. The ankle reacts pretty good. Still tender and a bit sore, but nothing alarming.
Hopes are up again.
Overall it has been more than 14 months that I battled this thing.

Totally in love with my new Altra Road running shoes, zero drop, but non minimalist.

If I learned one lesson, it is that one : take it slow, damn slow, and even slower.
Likely, I will increase the running part of the run-walk a bit every week, hopefully during one month.
Trick is to listen to your body and slow down at the first sign of aggravation.
Way harder than it sound.

I am back at 80% on my left shoulder.

I started to work on my other really annoying injury, my left shoulder. The muscle started to answer again, at least partially, and we do a bit of work - in the range of motion that works. I have been told 6 months to one year for the damaged nerve to heal. So far, I have been lucky, It looks I will end up more on the low end of that range.

As for the psoas, it is way better. I was able to do real kiteboarding sessions without much pain, and even started to learn to foil, which - as this point - looks more like a swimming lesson holding a board and a kite than anything else.
Really humbling to be a real beginner again, after all those years.

Definitively not me.

I had a glimpse of the speed of that damn thing, and I can understand the fad.
This is really cool.
I mean, it will be really cool.
Eventually.

The July Project : Conclusions

We have been extremely busy polishing the Yoga and fitness studio we have built under the house.
Not that we are done, but the last "large" paint job has just been finished today.
It is time to reflect a bit on the July project.

The yoga studio - inside

Centered around 4 axis - veganism, sobriety, cold treatment, breathing exercises - the direct goal was to try to heal my Achille tendinitis and plantar fasciitis, but it was an excuse to see if it was possible to detoxicate my body a bit more deeply.

Long story short, I had mixed results.

On the bright side, the veganism experiment was a success. To be fair, we were not too far from it, but milk by-products , butter, cheese, it was not an easy win. In any case, the whole family embraced it. obviously, at this point, this is a no-brainer. Good for your health, good for the animals, good for the environment, and easy - albeit expensive - as all "healthy" major retailers on the island propose the complete organic vegan replacements for anything comes to mind.

To complete the picture, we decided (finally) to go solar. With the sun exposure we have on Maui, the taxes deductions,  it is criminal to not embrace the trend. 

Really.

Meco still use 50% of oil to generate electricity on Maui.
It was time to save a bit and contribute (a bit) to the effort for the climate. Photo voltaic is coming as well.

Easier than I thought, Sobriety did not pause me any problems. There is one half-hour before diner that felt a little awkward at the beginning without a glass of wine, but that is more psychological than anything else, and staying busy during that time made the transition a breeze.
We have a very limited social life on the island, it was not complicated to not drink at all for a month at all. Just an habit to get rid of.

Yoga studio - outside - finally painted.

On the negative, I gave up on the cold shower treatment - I did not see the benefits really - I tend to take my shower at night and not in the morning, then the vigorous shake up it gave me was not well timed.

The Hoff breathing is an interesting beast. I have to reckon this is powerful. After two weeks I was able to hold my breath easily for more than 3 minutes and able to generate this heat wave / endorphin rush  at will. But even with the obvious benefits, relaxing effects and whole body reset, I had hard time to find the 30 to 45 minutes needed to practice. I had too much things going on, between the body workouts and the studio and the real life job. A bit disappointing, but I made peace with myself and will revisit at a later time. There is definitively something.

As for the effective results of the detoxification and alkanization, well, it did not work that well. To the point that I stopped to run altogether and reorganized my workouts around those injuries. More to come on this subject. In a nutshell, from a tendonitis perspective, it was totally ineffective.

Anyway, there is no reasons at this point to change my new habits and go back to relatively unhealthy behaviors, and I can live with a few pounds less.
Vegan it is.
Sober it is.

Iron Strength

I am now totally convinced that most of the progress I made those past few month are directly related to the strengthening program I started.
"Program" is a complicated word for squatting and lunging during the dog walks.
It is time to take it to another level.
Here comes the Iron Strength program.

Iron Strength

To be fair, "The Run Experience" triggered it. But I guess I do not really the incessant coaching, following and pushy of their "experience". I can see the benefits of a "class" or "group" for some people who need external motivation.
But I am more on the solitary side.
Metzl's 3$ Kindle book will do it.

Injury Free for LIFE !!!! I'ld buy that.

The book is good. Simple. Straight to the point. Good introduction to all hot topics in running. No gimmicks.
Definitively on your hit list.

Anyway, no magic in the workout. That's just a template.
Here are my notes:

30s jumping jacks squats back lunges
6x15 jump squats
(2) 5 min 15 Plank lift push up sit up
(3) 5 min 10 jump lunges single leg toes
(3) 5 min 15 mountain climber , legs down
(3) 5 min dead lift, overhead push, biceps 10lbs
5x 10 burpees
Planks 3x 1 min

He advise to do it twice a week.
No surprise, this is a pretty hard and mean workout.

I don't know if you ever did 50 burpees, even in 5 reps. That's pretty serious stuff.
Twice a week. Took me around one hour.

I guess that's a small price to pay to run forever.
(Or to the end. Why ? Do you want to live forever ?)

Hip Hop

Between 90 minutes of runs and 60 minutes of yoga session, I am not sure where I find the time to work. I have to hand pick my surfing days too. Certainly worth it though.

Hip misalignment can be treated at home, it seems. Maybe I am gonna spare few bucks from my chiropractor, who knows. As the sailing days are upon us, the always growing sailboat budget is waiting. 

A simple video for complicated back issues.

This video is interesting because it shows the 3 majors steps in the healing process.
Unblock. Which can be done by your Chiro, or physical therapy, slower.
Release. Pain killers, electric shots, or physical therapy.
Healing. Massage therapy or tennis balls.

They do not talk about maintenance, and this is where Yoga shine, IMHO.

I like to say that the body is a wonderful adapting machine. The pitfall of this, is, obviously, when the body adapted for 20 years to bad habits, you are not gonna see a change in a few weeks.
Damn.
Patience is not really my strong suit. However, daily yoga practice and targeted stretches seems to help at the moment.
Let's touch some wood, we have a marathon to run in less than two weeks.
At this point, no more long runs planned.
The one I did have to be enough.
And next week is taper week, i.e. no running.
Hey, who knows, maybe there will be some surf !

Tail Bone Down

I was not kidding when I said I was going to refocus on my yoga practice. On top of my sun salutation in the morning, I try to add one half- to one hour of practice every day.
That is a lot, actually.

Puppy pose. Is it a sexual reference for grown up puppies?

It always have been difficult for me to focus on such long practices or stretching, which sound paradoxical when I can run 3 hours almost in circle. I suppose it all comes down to the ability to cut yourself from the actual action and go into the flow.

But easy or not, I have to stick to it, at least until the race. We are so close now than any injury at this point would be really a concern.

Pigeon Pose.
Let's say it is aspirational.

The good news is it seems to bring fruits already. Between the week of rest, the re-organization of my backbone and the daily stretches and yoga I was able to - slowly- run again. Today, I even went for a easy one hour and half run. I felt surprisingly well and barely did not feel my right hip.
The times between today and one month ago, for the same course, are identical. And I did not have the feeling of forcing at all.

Even if it is pouring outside, it is shining inside, and the moral is going up.
Who knows, I might even be able to run this damn thing at my full capacities.
I am starting to dream again of going under 4 hours.

Unlocked

This is now official, some people have magics hands.
I went through -again- the ones from my chiropractor, two days ago.
No surprises there. Hip were off, one inch and half, one leg shorter than the other one.
Symptoms are by now, very well isolated. Limping on the right, pain in the psoas, sudden nerve pain.
I should have n=known better and rush over there as the first signs showed off.
Good to know: Listen to your body, it knows better.

Lois's practice is very welcoming, at her image.
But more important, she can really help.

After a quick check-up, my back was "locked up", and overall extremely tense. No surprises either. I have been training a lot, certainly too much, and not stretching enough. But is there such thing as stretching enough ? Craaaaaack. Back in place. But for how long ?

Morale: Back on the yoga mat, sun salutations in the morning and one hour of practice every day. I even took an official yoga teacher and I am paying for it. Well, I had a good deal, we are family after all.

Now, I have been running a dozen miles and a couple of hours those last days, and everything seems as usual. Light pain, but nothing blocking. At three weeks of the marathon, this is reassuring, even if my training plan have been shot.
Anyway, nothing really matters... I am running again :)
Thank you, Lois !

Back on torture Bench

From the Runner's world series, a good set of videos on the various running injuries (and non related).


from www.drjordanmetzl.com, I definitively fall into the Hip Tendinitis category. Again.

Of course, I did not learn anything. At this point, I think I got all the information I need. I just need a quick in the butt to continue to do my stretchs and my exercises.

Easier said than done, as always.

Hopefully with tha pain being back and rest almost forced, I might start to listen to myself...

ps : The workout for prevention is interesting as well.
(ironstrength-workout)

The natural experiment

Well, I have been struggling with this psoas tenditinis forever now. I am in better shape than ever, but still, after 20 Miles, I am limping. Good, I am ready to try the exotic stuff ;)

Aloe Vera : works for everything !

For a full month, I will be following those dietary supplements, supposedly helping joints and cartilage. In any case, cannot be worst or dangerous. It is not that expansive either, maybe 10-20$ for a month of caps. I can live with that.

Vitamin C could help
And MSM, Glucosamine are the official joints and cartilage builders

Quick Internet check-up, lots of stuff as always, but couple of supplements - plants come back and with - not surprisingly - lots of good reviews, from believers.

Test will be simple. One month of try. One marathon in the middle of it. Checking how it goes afterward. Recovery. Pain. Limping. Easy to compare left leg and right leg. As a bonus, my right shoulder is still bugging me, then it might help over there too, who knows.

Now, lets check of the placebo effect is for real ;)

Recovery day...

Since last week the pain in my hip came back. I vaguely remember having been doing a 9 Miles run and 1:30 kitesurfing on the same day ;)
I guess I should not have ...
It was last Tuesday. The long run on Saturday did not arrange things and I was limping again on Sunday.
Grrrr.

I went then on full recovery state until the pain recede.
I could log a good one hour swim yesterday.

Swimming is the only allowed activity
when lower body is broken,
Boring but effective.

Helped for the diet on a New Year's Eve.
Right, you heard it, diet on a New Year's Eve.
Did a slow 5 Miles run today, to check things out.
I could not feel the pain before the run, a bit after.
Hopefully, tonight will be good and I will be able to go back on my training. Those are tapper weeks (Slow down and recovery in preparation for the race), but I still need to log 20 miles or so during the week.

Long run of "only" 9 Miles.
But, while limping, could be the longest 9 Miles ever ;)

Broken

This last set of big waves have not be gentle with my gear. I broke 2 leashes, one paddle and had numerous dings on the board itself.
I guess the dings and pokes are synonyms of good sessions.

Broken Leash, Broken Paddle...

Now that I think about it, what is wonderful about the body is that you don't need Duck Tape. Time, patience and correct workout are the magic key for recovery.
In fact, I just realized that I was not feeling my psoas pain ***at all*** when I was running my **small** courses, i.e. One hour. The pain just disappeared those last few weeks and I did not even notice.
Where is the time when 30 minutes runs were a torture?

The body is a wonderful machine indeed.

"Look at the size of that thing"

I know, could not help it. Back in the days, in a galaxy far far way, I seduced my wife with Star Wars quotes. In French, at the time.

Anyway, I am slowly working through the pain in the right hip flexor, as usual, was very worried about the race tomorrow morning, 12 miles, and 2 days ago, I could barely walk the dog.

I took me a week to realize: stop focusing on this damn leg, everything comes from your back.

While axing this stump, I should have adjusted my posture, pelvis forward as would say a yogi, use your Ki, would say a Kendoka.

Roots, Bloody roots

And I should have stretched, before, during and after. twice.

There was a hole there

Next time I will try to remember it. All starts from your back.

Next week, I am back on the Internet to design a stretching strengthening program for my back.

Next day, I will be running an half-marathon

Next year, I will be running my first marathon.

Last Sunday run

Not sure if you remembered, but last weel I had trouble to find the time and energy to stick to my training plan, considering skipping one week for let things go slower at work. I decided to force my will and go for it anyway, later Sunday night. I was exhausted, but had a better night than the day before, jumped on my mechanical horse and went to the close local running path for my next long run. I was targeting a 10 miles run, to follow the training plan.

Not everything goes always according to the plan.

Kula Town and Thomson road

Ended up to run almost 12 miles, by GPS was off and my timing too, and I was feeling GREAT !

The last couple of miles my speed plummeted down, maybe to 4.5 or 5 mph, but I had a good run after 1:15 when I was flying at 6-6:15 after 8 miles.

Coming into Farwest ... in Hawaii

Ranch on Thomson road

Sunset and clouds

That is the first time I run so far. This time, I am sure. It is almost a half marathon. At an easy peace, alright, still. The day after, some soreness for sure, but nothing to be really worried about. The better thing is my hip flexors feel better than ever, barely noticed anything at all during the run, and only a light tension during stretching. 

Unlikely as it sounds, I ve closed my 5th week of training without major hurdles, and I am confident now I can certainly close this month as well, there are no run further than 12 miles coming up for the next 2 weeks.

Piece of cake.

My overall weekly running average now 20 to 26 miles.
This is getting serious.

Yoga Man

A quick morning post for a morning subject. I am really convinced that stretching a lot is a big part in my partial recovery. Specially, the morning one, when I salute the sun. Seems a little bit grandiloquent, and the fun is usually already up (I have a tendency to work late nowadays and ccan barely get up before 7AM - I used to do better), but you got the point.

Sun Salutations - Part1

Sun Salutations - Part 2

However, can you appreciate the new wood boards on the Lanaii ?
Thanks Manu!

Pain management

It is so common nowadays to run a marathon, it is not even a challenge anymore. Really ? More than 500K people finished a marathon in 2011. Really ? Were you there? Let's make it harder then. For fun, add some recurring hip-flexor pain... In fact, this is my biggest concern and we will have to play Cats and Mouse during all the training period. Icing at night, stretching, stretching, endless stretching.

I can feel it, always there, like a friend, little dear pain in the groin.

Told you I was gonna cut that beard.

It is true it is way less worst than one year ago. But as I am pushing my limits, I am playing with fire. I just need to revisit my relationship with this injury. Quoting my 'marathon training book' :

“Oh, there you are, pain; I’ve been waiting for you. Come run with me.”

I do not want to make it worse though, and get stopped on the curbside early. But it is comforting to know that the more you are hurting, the more your muscle and your body is adapting.

What does not kill you make you stronger, they say.

Well, we will see.

Back to the beginning

Things are moving fast on our side. More details later.

But the post of today is about my psoas. Again. All over again.

It is very frustrating to feel the same pain, maybe with less intensity, than 8 month ago.

Ok, part is certainly my fault. I never stopped running, swimming, kiting, surfing, never really let my body rest. And as soon as the pain disappear, I usually get lazy, and do not exercise the good stuff enough.

Good stuff ? Core training. Butt training. Wait.

Most certainly, I was doing lunges when I hurt myself again. Aren't lunges supposed to be good ?

  Looks easier than it is. Feel easier than it is.

Truth is, lunges are hard. I was doing a quite easy work out, 4 rep of 20. Switching with push-up and sit-up, it did not seem that bad. Again, those muscles are tricky. They don't warn you. Once warm, you can almost go on forever. You will pay the price later.

Here is my understanding. Sitting all day, those muscles are weak alright. Building core strength will protect them of over use in some sports, like kiting , surfing. Share the load. However, if you target specifically those muscles, like lunges do, you are to be cautious. And start at the beginning. Low rep, low effort. Build it from there. 

I promised myself again. As soon as the pain disappear, I will be smart. I know, like last time. Back to the beginning. People never change, and pain will continue to hurt.

-Interlude - Are you fit to run ?

I wish I did that for years. Awesome sequence from Runner's world.

Runner's World : Fit to Run ? Workout



Sitting too much ?



Yes, I know. But I said 'Except exceptions", right ?

Salute !

I never really started the full somatic serie, but i enjoyed the morning stretch. After years of battle, I finally decided to give a shot to Yoga (I should have started years ago). A small shot, I concede. We will see.

Anyway, for the time being, my morning strecht and wake up will be around the idea of the famous "Sun Salutations".

As I am feeling better overall, it is harder and harder to keep with the exercises and daily stretches. However, I know how important is it to keep on going. My guess is a routine, easy to follow and well defined will do the trick for the morning.

the serie

I know, I know. If you read this blog, you already should think it took me a long time to go to this Yoga thing. Truth is, this is kind of my wife playground. Unconsciously, I guess I was reluctant to join. Only idiots refuse to change their mind.

Idiot at the wheel !

Piri.. What ?

Discussing with a friend, another related injury in the psoas / back pain family.

"Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular disorder that occurs when the sciatic nerve is compressed or otherwise irritated by the piriformis muscle causing pain, tingling and numbness in the buttocks and along the path of the sciatic nervedescending down the lower thigh and into the leg."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_syndrome

"When piriformis syndrome is caused by weak abductors combined with tight adductors, a highly effective and easy treatment includes stretching and strengthening these muscle groups. An exercise regimen targeting the gluteus medius and hip abductor muscle groups can alleviate symptoms of piriformis syndrome within days."


No surprises here, daily stretches and strengthening are the answer. After some R.I.C.E..

Another one to add  to the list...

And again, Runner's world got the answer:

Muscle imbalances can contribute to piriformis syndrome. Sitting all day can result in overactive hip flexors and weakened glutes. Strengthening those rear muscles will alleviate stress on the piriformis muscle.
http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/get-over-it-piriformis-pain

Sitting, Again ? We really have to learn to code on the move.

Maybe with this ?

Forrest gump on steroids

Well, not really, but I liked this title.

Last week, while in San Francisco for work, I woke up early (like all the others days in fact), And went for a small run. Did not have any plan, just wanted to run along the docks. Ended up to push it through the golden gate pillar. Only issue, I was already 40 minutes in, which is usually my limit, and had to come back.

I forgot how beautiful the Bay was

I guess I was just following the pace and enjoying the view. My only concern was for my hip. Would it hold ? And it did. After stretching, I felt more my sore muscles and foot skin blisters than anything else. I thought I was cured. Well, the day after, I could still feel it, then I revisited this opinion by : It is way better. I can now run 7 miles at a 5 mph pace (which is quite slow, I agree). However, running 80 minutes is way more than I Ever did in a long long time.

Now I am reading this:

What is the next step ?

(relatively) Easy Diet explained (1) : Fears (7)

My wife asked me to do a real post for a change. She suspected I did not have anything else to say. How wrong. I have always some fears to share ;)

How long will I have to do this diet ? All my life ? Will I be struggling for the rest of my life with food ? Will that have to become part of me ?

Quick answer is : No. :)

The only goal of the diet  is to bring me to my "ideal" weight, and from there, to keep it. The reason is obvious, if you have to stick to a weight for the rest of your life, why not pick 155lbs instead of 180lbs ? It became an evidence to me that I will have to do some weight management in any case. You cannot just gain weight over and over, a couple of pounds every year. That was happening to me those last 5 or 6 years. Insidious. One pound every year, give or take. Slow and unconscious process. Now that I understood, OK, I will have to hold to my weight, it became obvious, Well, let s make sure that we make this worth it, let s stay to a weight that is ideal.

In fact, in a book about running, that was the first comment : It is way easier to run light than heavy. Then, If you want to lose weight, do not try to train and lose weight afterward. Lose weight now, and starts to train when you are light enough to not damage your joints and overall body structure. I told this already, but any sport that is hard on the joint should not be the first one you pick to try to be "back in shape". Running is bad for joints. Runners are one of the most injured category of all. Try swimming. cycling. Even steps seems to me to save your joints.

But again, weight management is not about doing exercise. Weight management is all about to learn about food, daily needs, and hunger management.


"Appetite is important. It is your body’s built-in mechanism for food intake regulation, and its job is to drive you to eat enough to meet your body’s energy and micronutrient needs, and no more. The appetite mechanism works very well under normal circumstances, having survived millions of years of evolutionary testing to the benefit of our health. But our modern lifestyle does not constitute “normal circumstances” in relation to the environment in which most of our evolution took place. Consequently, we can’t rely entirely on our appetite to ensure that we don’t overeat."

by Matt Fitzgerald

Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance

And the beauty of the thing is eventually, you get used to eat less. The body is a wonderful thing. It can adapt to eating too much, and it can adapt to eat just enough.

Training seen from an adaptation perspective:

Training results in fatigue. Following the fatigue phase, a period of recovery and then supercompensation follows. If training does not occur, then a return to baseline fitness follows (adapted from Selye, 1956).