Training & website

My spring training cycle is ending soon and I'm so happy thing have turned around.  I'm feeling strong, fast and confident again and am looking forward to the workload this summer.  I actually have really missed marathon training and cannot wait to do real long runs again.  My garmin told me 4/9/17 I had a new long run record, 16.5 miles!  Crazy!  I'm looking forward to 20+ milers these next few months.

Thursday, May 18th- Workforce Challenge

Weeks prior to this 3.5 challenging race the goal was sub 20 minutes.  Given the shape I'm in and the difficult course this was going to be a big PR, but we knew very reachable.  As the days grew closer we were looking at a record setting high for the day, 94 degrees.  The starting area was hot with the heat radiating off the black pavement.  The gun went off and I went through the mile in about 5:40, slow.  The second mile, 5:43.  Okay, I thought at least I'm consistent.  Then it got brutal.  The uphill going to mile 3 and the heat started to hurt.  I came through mile 3 about 10 seconds slower than I wanted (heat adjusted) and was disappointed. I ran the final 1/2 mile in 2:45.  I won in 20:20, 2 seconds faster than my last W on this course 2 years prior on a nearly perfect day.  The top men ran anywhere between 30-40 seconds slower than the years prior.  I know had the weather been what it was the past 2 years I would have gotten that sub 20.  Next time.

 Times Union article

Saturday, May 20th- Westfield 5k

So a 5k 1 1/2 days later after racing in 94 degrees sounds silly, right? Well it is.  But it's a 5k and it wasn't going to ruin anything, plus it's some extra cash.  I ran 17:32, not great, but good enough for 4th place and $200.00.  Plus the homemade ice cream after was totally worth it.  The next couple days were all about recovery and super easy running!

Training week May 21st-27th: 70 miles

A couple solid workouts for my last "higher" week- 10x600's, all were a bit fast (given 5:20-30 pace, all around 5:20 exactly), so I did 9, and a final 78sec 400m all on 200m rest.  Friday I was given a 30 min tempo between 6:00-6:15 pace... actual 4 miles (5:52, 5:54, 5:49, 5:52), decided to do a mile float, then another mile at 5:49.

So moral of these workouts, if you can't pace yourself well like myself, you may need to adjust.  Sure, I could have done another 6+ minutes during my tempo to hit 30 minutes, but I was running way faster than instructed.  It's a workout, not a race and since I'm not good at pacing I figured I'd be smart and take a mile float instead of digging myself deeper.  Training to race well is about training smart.  Eating, sleeping and doing all the right things to promote recovery and when needed, adjusting plans.

The other thing I'm excited about is my new website!

Essentially I have seen way too many runners be overcharged (in my opinion) by online coaching programs. Not only do I feel the prices are ridiculous, but they are coming from people doing it for the wrong reasons.  I'm not out to make money, or flash my name around.  No, I don't want any of the athletes to create or use a hashtag or post excessively.  I have had success thanks to my coach and my medical background.  I went from being an average runner to doing what it takes to turn it up and reach new levels.  I follow medical research and hard data.  I'm not a sales person, I actually hate sales.  But what I am is a well educated, passionate runner with a success story that wants the same for others.  No, I will not encourage any female (or male) runner who is unhealthy to run.   Another issue that makes me shirk.  I've seen runners with obvious eating disorders be coached to do speed workouts and marathons when they are clearly at a high risk of something serious like cardiac arrest by doing so, or injured runners to push through ending with fractures.   I'm not going to allow or promote that.

So if you'd like to give it a try, you know the kickasso website!

🏃‍♀️ Happy Running!

The DL on PRP treatment

As an orthopedic PA and a competitive runner, I've been asked a lot of PRP as a treatment modality for tendon, muscle and ligament injuries.  Therefore, I thought I would give everyone my professional opinion.

Platelet Rich Plasma:

First, what are platelets?  Platelets are found in your blood and aide in the clotting cascade when there is injury to a vessel.  If someone has too many platelets they are at an increased risk of developing blood clots verses someone who has too little platelets.  If an individual's platelet level is low, he or she will have trouble clotting and may experience increased bruising, nose bleeds, etc.

PRP Therapy:


injection of one's platelets into an injured area has been around for a couple of decades now.  However, there is no great evidence that this is a quick fix or cure for sports related injuries.  Blood is drawn from the patient, centrifuged down and the platelets are then injected into the site of injury (usually under the guidance of ultrasound).  The thought is that the plasma contains growth factors and proteins that are needed in the repair of tendon, ligament, muscle and bone injuries.  There is however limited evidence to support PRP therapy in the treatment of soft tissue injury.  The other thing is this treatment is expensive!!!  About $600-$1,000 per injection and 2-3 injections are needed.  The other thing to think about is the injection itself is putting a needle into the site of injury, which alone will increase blood flow to that area.  This is the same concept behind dry needling, so if you haven't tried that how do you know that isn't what helped (if it does help).  

Common running injuries and PRP outcomes:

• Plantar fascitis: PRP injections have been studied against corticosteroid injections in patients with PF.  The results favored the corticosteroid injection...
• Achillies tendonitis/tear-  Like the PF, there is poor blood flow to this site.  There are some studies that suggest improvement after PRP with this injury, however once again its after months, so who knows.
• Osteoarthritis of the knee- There seems to be a lot of studies looking at OA and PRP.  One study looked at the MRI of patient's with mild OA, they then received PRP and had another MRI a year later.  The repeat MRI did not show any significant increase in the OA.  Similar studies also used pain, where patients reported less pain after PRP, however patients that received a placebo injection stated the same.  Thus, I am a fan of the imaging studies and not a patient's verbal response that could be mental, aka placebo effect. 
• Patellar tendonosis: Study in 2007 in the UK used 44 patients showed an improvement in the group that underwent PRP therapy in return to sport as well as improved tendon thickness and reduced tears.  Another study that used a single subject track athlete showed improvement after 6 months from the last injection in combination with other treatment modalities... really?!

Risks: in general the risks are minimal.  As long as you don't have any crazy hematologic issues and have exhausted everything else, it can't hurt.  I'm not saying it will help though!

Conclusion:


I feel this is a benign option for someone that has exhausted all other treatment options.  This includes time off or activity reduction, FULL therapeutic dose of NSAIDs, dry needling, physical therapy, ice, etc.  I understand what it is like to want to return to your sport and being sidelined, but just know it really is a last resort and nothing is really proven.

Spring is Blooming

Yes.  Spring is blooming.  The tulips are out.  The grass is growing (well not mine, my yard is full of weeds).  And training is doing the same.

Runcation

4/22/17-4/30/17

4/24-30: 80 miles

The morning before flying out to Arizona I had a 16 mile long run workout.  3 mile warmup, 3 miles around 6-6:05 pace, 6 miles moderate, 3 miles back at 6:05, 1 cool-down.  It went mostly well, first hard 3 were 6:06, 5:59, 5:58, moderate miles around 6:50-55, the next 3 hard ended up being 2.5- 6:02, 5:58, with 1.5 down.  Wasn't feeling that last half mile as I made a 180 turn to head back home, something about finishing hard up Western Avenue wasn't happening.  

The Brutal Sun:

On Tuesday of vacation I had a bulky 8 x mile with 60 second rest.  I thought starting at 7:15 am was early, but not in Arizona... It was already 70 degrees and the sun felt brutal.  I was on a bike path with no shade.  Ironically all these paths follow a "river or canal" but there was nothing but dried up dirt as my scenery without an ounce of water.  I made it through the first 5 repeats all faster than the given pace.  Stopped for longer than my 60 seconds and got gatorade and water at my car after the 5th.  Next thing I knew I puked during number 6.  I called it a day.  No sense of getting dehydrated or ruining my recovery.

That afternoon I escaped the heat a bit and ran up in Sabino Canyon for a shakeout.  

Heading up Sabino Canyon

Almost everyday consisted of running doubles, taking a hike or exploring.  My brother and I went all over--Sedona, Scottsdale, Tuscon, Mt. Lemmon.  Thursday morning I met Amy, who I crossed paths with while trying to qualify for the OT in the fall of 2015.  Thankfully she got me up and moving early for a nice 10.5 miles before it got too warm.  I attended my conference Thursday and Friday (the resort was amazing!), then Saturday night I took a redeye back to NY.  

Hiking near Scottsdale

On the property of the resort where my conference was

The Down Week and Mastodon Challenge 15k

I was told to take a day off the following week and run closer to 60-64 miles.  Wednesday I had another bulky workout-- 3 warmup, 2 miles, 3x1 mile, 2 miles, 2 cool down.  It went amazing and I hit everything faster than instructed.  I was suppose to run Broad Street 10 mile on Sunday, but given the travel and heavy mileage the week prior, I thought staying home and running a local race would be better.  I signed up for the USATF ADK 15k GP without any goals.  The course as I knew was hilly and technical.  The race started off with the first mile going downhill, however I knew this meant we would be climbing soon.  Then we went off road onto a grass stretch that led to a trail with some stone to run on.  Well it had rained earlier so it was slick.  I was forced to run along the stone in the grass and mud.  Eventually we got off and hit an uphill to get onto the bike path.  Once we got off the bike path, another uphill.  The race continued on this way with another trail section and a lot of turns.  I won and finished in 56:37, which I was extremely happy with given the course.  Maybe I would have been ready for a solid Broad Street run... oh well, there is always next year.  I still won some money and had fun with my teammates.  

Willow Street taking 1st place USATF team

Coming in for the finish

  

Later that day, Emily and me went up to a 5k in Clifton Park to support one of our local runners.  Since I already raced that day, I figured Mia would run.  She had been doing some miles with me, she ran 5 with Emily and me several weeks ago sub 8 minute pace, I thought she was ready... or not.  She bolted out the first mile in 6:40, then dropped to a 12:20 since she decided to lay down a few times.  She was done, but eventually we finished!

         Mia smiling before the race

Mia exhausted

I'm feeling good that my training and results have finally started to turn around.  Running has its ups and downs, you just have to remember that and the fact neither will last forever.

“Let it rain on some days,

Let yourself shiver on some cold nights, 

So when it's Spring you'll know why it was all worth going through.”