Rules of the Road: Bike Edition

I have this weird sleeping problem where I can't sleep, really. Sometimes I lay in bed until I fall back asleep, but when 6 am rolled around this morning, I was in the mood to GOOO.

I've been having super-issues with the cramping still, so I waded through some more internet fitness dogma and may have found a solution- more on that later. But because of the cramping, I decided to bike this morning instead!

City parks open at 6, so the timing was perfect!

The sun was already out and about, so the day was perfect!

It was pretty cool and the air was refreshing after the rain, so the weather was perfect!

Also, the birds were chirping so I didn't even need to bring my iPod, a definite bonus. I'm always sure that if I listen to music when I bike that I'm going to get hit by a car or a squirrel.

I hopped on the North section of the Cedar River Trail at J Ave and followed it up through Hiawatha, where it becomes the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. I'm planning on another bike ride later with my friend Amanda, so I only went out to County Home Road and headed back. I'll hazard a guess and say it was between 17 and 18 miles.

The bike out was pretty smooth- I saw only a couple people on the trail and my loaner bike seemed to be doing okay. When I crossed the railroad tracks in Hiawatha it started getting interesting though.

Let the record show that this is kind of an aged bike- one of the stickers on it is from 1984, in fact. It's a Schwinn road bike, and it's pretty solid, but it's a pain in the rear because all of the places that need adjusting are a nuts-and-bolts kind of deal instead of those things that just need an easy peasy Allen wrench. So I didn't have a wrench- I found a pair of pliers instead that did the job.

'The job,' referring, of course, to the habit the seat had of shifting so that it was angled up every time I went over a bump or crack or stick or small worm. The direction it chose to angle up was the direction that caused me to slide backward with the front part of the seat jabbing me really hard between the legs. Very uncomfortable and quite irritating!

So there was that. There was also a small incident involving a pile of dog 'doo' (if you know what I mean) that someone had oh-so graciously left in the middle of the trail. A) Basic childhood bike-riding experience should let everyone know that when you ride through something, it has a tendency to spray on you. B) That stuff SMELLS! C) It also sticks to your tires and leaves tracks. Everybody in Cedar Rapids could've followed my trail this morning!

I was annoyed about that, but when I turned around at the County Home Road parking lot, I looked at the 'Trail Rules,' and guys, maybe it was my own fault!

Get a load of this:

So the first rule, "Be courteous," seems pretty straightforward. If your dog takes a poo, clean it up! But the second part, "Be alert," well that's kind of on me. I was not paying attention. Maybe it's open to interpretation? The conditions of the trail were definitely not in my favor this morning!

Shin Splints, Compartment Syndrome, Charlie Horse, Oh My!

I'm a big fan of recovery days, have been ever since I started swimming for Justin Jennings, Coe Swimming Head Coach Extraordinaire. He probably wouldn't agree, but I swear on my stickers that the recovery days are few and far between.

But when it comes to running, how do I know when to recover? If it's not broke, don't fix it, right? That seemed to work out well enough until recently, when a couple short runs in a row had my legs cramping up like leg cramps were going out of style.

The feeling was foreign to me- it wasn't a sharp pain that usually comes with a cramp. It felt like my muscles were just getting so tight they couldn't move. I expect the calf cramping- that even happens in swimming- so naturally it'll hang around for the higher impact sport too!

The feeling on the front of my legs? That one isn't explained away so easily. Could be shin splints- I read a handy dandy article on WebMD in an attempt to self-diagnose. But I am in denial about that one. My current theory is that I'm just not recovering correctly.

Runner's World had an interesting article on the subject:

Your Best Rest

Essentially, stretching, eating right, icing, resting- all of the basics are explained in the article, as well as when to do each, and how long. Pretty interesting stuff.

It fit in pretty well with what my training plan has laid out- don't take a recovery day after a long run day. Oopsy! I did that two weeks in a row- maybe that explains the cramps?

The recovery day can come before a long run though- something I was curious about. However, some kind of physical activity was encouraged, even on a recovery day, even if that activity didn't involve running. Enter, cross-training!

Creating a Route- The Easy Way!

MapMyRun.com is an impressive gift for people like me. Maybe you're one of those people too- the kind that couldn't tell you how far they've run even if their life depended on it. I'm not even

good at estimating, and usually I'm content with that.

However, my training plan has a 23 mile run somewhere down the road, and it's probably not a bad idea to know where I'm at in terms of mileage before I get too far into this thing.

I've used MapMyRun before, but I recently created a free profile because A) It will let me track my mileage; B) It will log routes I've created and let me use routes other members have logged; C) Let's get real. Who doesn't sign up for free things online all the time anyway? This is America. Free is my favorite price.

My favorite part of this website is the search option.

A. Maybe it seems obvious, but setting the location and distance is easy. I still think it's important to mention, just 'cause it's the first step.

B. Map Options. The image has the search result set to 'satellite,' but there is the 'map' choice with the streets labelled clearly, and the 'terrain' option, so I know exactly how many hills I will encounter on any given route.

C. Each of the routes meeting the search criteria pop up with a little blue flag and a number. The blue flag shows the starting point for the route, so I can decide if I want to drive there or add to the distance by starting from home. Also, hovering over the blue flag will cause a little box to pop up with more details about the run.

D. Ascent. Like the terrain option, I think the ascent is critical in my decision-making process. All of the routes are listed after scrolling down the page and they all show how far up I'll have to go during my run. This is a good, necessary, weed-out tool.

Thus far, I've only logged a couple routes- some basic ones around home and Coe so I have a good reference for creating routes later, as well as a route I've entitled "Death Mountain." I haven't run it yet, but it's going to be a beaut! Deets forthcoming!

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Here is my running philosophy.

1. Always keep running. Doesn't matter how slow. Just keep those feet a-movin'.

2. Don't run for time. Run til you don't feel like running anymore. Who wants to count minutes anyway? Let's get real: NOBODY. Because then all kinds of awful things happen, like trying to figure out your pace and sometimes that is just discouraging.

3. Don't run for distance. If you feel good, keep going. Don't plan a route- get lost! Take a right. And then another right. Maybe a left? Cut through a backyard! Go in a funny polygon shape when you're getting chased by the dog in that backyard. Run out of your way to go through a sprinkler. Or out of your way to avoid people throwing apples at you (true story).

Sometimes I make a playlist. Sometimes I like listening to the soundtrack of the birds and the evening news drifting out a living room window. I do what I want. The important thing is that I enjoy myself.

I Got 99 Problems, But My Kicks Ain't One

My Nikes were shot. And that's an understatement. It started during dryland at the beginning of swim season- I was doing girly pushups and scraped a hole in my knee. The blood flowed freely, right down onto my orange Dual Fusions.

A couple mishaps in the weight room involving carpet and newly-formed scabs resulted in a cool red polka-dot effect on the toe of Mr. Right Shoe, while my annoying habit of kicking myself while I run gave Ms. Left Shoe an aesthetically pleasing covering of blood spatter.

And that's just the blood. I put enough miles on those babies that my poor arches were begging for some new support. I took a field trip to Running Wild and picked up a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12s:

Aren't they pretty? My last four pairs of legit running shoes have been the Brooks Adrenaline model. They provide good arch support, wear well, and are spacious enough for my big feet to breathe.

Every pair of running shoes is good for 300-400 miles. I fall into the category of people that doesn't actually track mileage, so I rely on feeling. If my ankles and shins feel like they are taking a beating, or my calves start getting tight on a run, I know to look back and say "Hey, I've had these a few months now. Maybe it's time for a new pair."

And then I scoot on down to Running Wild and drop several ten dollar bills on some sweet kicks. Can't argue with a 10% student discount! They also measure your feet and will watch you run to make sure they fit you with the right kind of shoe. This is an invaluable service.

Especially because of the recession and shoe cost-inflation. Especially because 300 miles is quite a long distance to run in a pair of shoes that doesn't fit correctly. Especially because you, my dear, are worth it.

Choosing a Training Plan

As far as I can tell, there are not a lot of very different methods for training. I came up with a quick-and-dirty method for choosing a training plan, just for you.

Three Step Questionnaire for Selecting a Marathon Training Plan:

1. Are you looking for Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced training?

2. Would you like a 12, 16, 18, 20, or 24 week training plan?

3. Would you like boring workouts or cool workouts with a relatively good deal of variation?

Three Step Answer Rationale for Amanda's Selected Training Plan:

1. Advanced, naturally, because I've never done a marathon, so that makes total sense. I justify my choice because A) I was super-fit for swimming, and I ran all through swim season; and B) I will be going directly into swim season after doing the marathon, and the other training plans didn't actually look like they would keep me at a high enough level of physical condition. I could be wrong...

2. 18. From the online literature I perused, this seems like the most common and manageable length for a training plan. Also, 18 weeks out from the marathon is just a couple days after my birthday. It seemed like good timing.

3. Variation! I'm gonna be doing fartleks and interval runs and all kinds of funky business. This is gonna be sweet.

There were a few different options from there on out- I found a nifty chart option that had everything laid out with some consistency. There are shorter runs during the week with a rotating schedule of the different structured workouts. I have Saturdays off, and Sundays are my long runs!

Get excited, guys! In the next post I'll show you my new shoes!

Dear Iowa: Finding a Marathon

Dear Iowa,

You are a beautiful place to run. A couple miles in any direction and I can find a dusty stretch of abandoned road, surrounded by plowed cornfields and ramshackle barns. The sky is always blue and the clouds are always white.

I get friendly waves when I pass old-timers driving their hayracks. I get honks when I am passed by rednecks in flannel driving their rusty four-by-fours. Occasionally, I get a special finger from the soccer moms driving minivans when their kids are late for practice.

Such a welcoming environment for recreational running and competitive training- I am so blessed.

But why, oh why, Iowa, don't you offer any good marathons? The timing is off or the location is bad, or any number of reasons. I searched high and low. Half-marathons? Check. Triathlons? Check. 5ks? Check.

Get it together, man.

I finally settled for the Quad Cities Marathon on September 23rd, no thanks to you! Now you owe me. Over the next 25 weeks, I expect beautiful running weather, with an occasional thunderstorm. A couple tornados would not be remiss, either. You owe me.

Love,

Amanda