Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Hitting the big 60 (repeatedly)

No, it is not my birthday… The title will be explained shortly.

But before that, I just have to tell you that I am feeling much better now! Yaay! (Had sushi for supper last night, so that should speak volumes.)

As for what it was, I ate at home and I think it was either whole egg or the egg white product (called Egg Creations... a variation on Egg Beaters). As part of my quest to eat lean proteins and less fat, I bought the egg white product for the first time last week, to try it out... Yeah, um... We won't be doing that any time again soon! Really, I can't be sure what it was, but that's my guess...

Anyway... changing the subject, I have good news to report from my July training log. No, sadly, I am not back to running yet... The plantar fasciitis hangs on... Continues to improve, though at a snail's pace, it seems.

What I did manage to do was 60 minutes of cardio last month -- with little or no knee pain. For those ultra-runners who follow the blog, a mere 60 minutes is just a warm up for you, I know, but for me, it is a bit of a personal record... at least since I started my training a year ago.

Given my track record of doing something and then having to stop right away again due to injury or pain, I held back on reporting this until I could confidently say I'd done it more than once. I am happy to report that I repeated the 60-minute stint several times in July -- and I'm still walking around without a knee brace!

Our gym has a 30-minute limit on cardio machines. Sometimes you can get away with more if it's not busy, but in general I try to respect the time limits (within about 5 minutes or so). I figure that it just wouldn't be good to tick off the gym staff, especially since I see these people six days a week! So, my 60 minutes is comprised of half the time on the stationary bike and half on the eliptical.

After an analysis from my trainer on my technique on the elliptical, I have been working to improve it so my knees and hips track better... and my knees hurt less as a result.

I have been using my HR monitor through much of the month, with a focus on keeping my HR fairly low… in the “fat burning zone” or low intensity cardio training. I didn’t want to do too much too fast (again!) One thing I have noticed is that I need to put the resistance on the bike up a couple of levels higher than I did at the beginning of July, just to get my HR in the same zone… A good indicator of adaptation and improvement.

So… I finished July being very happy with my training for the month… the most pain-free month I’ve had since getting injured… and better performance than I’ve had since I started training over a year ago.

(Have I mentioned that my chiropractor is wonderful?)

9 comments:

Turtle Guy said...

Nice. Congratulations!

Sarah said...

That's great!

Backofpack said...

Yay! Sarah, that's so good to hear. You've been so patient and worked so hard - you deserve this success!

Anvilcloud said...

I really do hate to play Job's comforter, but, from my experience, plantar fasciitis never goes away. Maybe your experience will be different. Good luck. You deserve it.

Anonymous said...

Yay!!!!

Legs and Wings said...

That is really good news! You are moving forward - that's the key. I'm thrilled for you.

Unknown said...

That's wonderful Sarah. I wish I could do some of it with you. I could use some cross training.

Ginger Breadman said...

Great job! That sushi is starting to sound really yummy.

Elliot said...

Excellent newz. And, I envy you. I haven't even hit the 60 min ex-bike mark yet.

And, I'm liable to forget, so let me wish you a happy 60th B-day, a few decades early...