Hartford Marathon 2018

Marathon buildup summary:
Overall the buildup went pretty well.  After a medical mission trip to Nepal in June which served as my running break/downtime, I was eager to start training again.  Jen started my training program in the beginning of July and I raced on the 4th.  Despite no workouts, I was pleased how the race went in hot and humid conditions at the start of a training cycle.  In August I raced Bridge of Flowers and was again pleasantly surprised with how the race went.  There's a massive hill (along with a gradual mile uphill) during this 8k race so time was out the window.  Instead, I used splits from previous years to gauge my results--mile up the hill, mile down the hill, etc. and ran my fastest splits at that race.  The end of August I ran the 18.12 Challenge as a workout and was successful enough that day to hit my splits and get the win.  In September, I tuned up with 2 half marathons--the first came during my highest mileage week and was part of a 22 mile long run in which I ran close to 8 miles prior to the start and pulled out a 1:21:24 half before a 1 mile cool down.  Then the next week I ran another half with a tad less mileage for the week and less miles prior to the start.  I ran 1:19:50 on the hilly Adirondack course for a new course record and win. 

Willow Street Sweep at the Adirondack Half Marathon

Overall the summer was hot and thankfully race day was not.  I peaked at 85 miles and hung around 70-80 for the majority of the training block.  I incorporated the strength program I had been following since last fall about 3-4 days a week.  The program isn't very time consuming and focuses on different things throughout the week, so 3-4 times a week wasn't too bad!






The week leading up to the race:
The weather looked perfect.  My environment, not so much.  Mike got sick, another friend who had stayed at my house also got sick.  People were coughing all over left and right at work.  The last thing I needed was to get sick.  I had already been taking vitamins prophylactically and started to add everything in sight--emergen-C, airborne, Zicam.  I kept bleach wipes and sanitizer with me at all times and put poor Mike in the guest room.  Somehow despite feeling on the cusp of being sick several days, I avoided the crisis.  Mission one accomplished.
Thursday I left work after a half day to get some pre-race rituals done.  My eyebrows, hair, you know--to do your best you should look your best?   I made my water bottles, did laundry and packed everything.  I decided to take the day off from running (first day since June) since it was raining all day and I didn’t want to get sick.
Friday morning I did a very short shake out run and strides, showered and left.  I drove while Mike slept in attempts to feel a bit better.  We got to the expo shortly after lunch for a quick walk around before heading to the hotel.

I spent most of the remaining afternoon in bed watching TV (and checking the weather) before heading to dinner.  The weather was now calling for rain and suddenly Boston Marathon flashbacks appeared in my head.  My cotton gloves weren’t going to cut it.  I called Fleet Feet and found out they had gloves with a waterproof shield.  Perfect, I thought it’s only 4 miles away we can go prior to dinner.  We left 45 minutes prior to our reservation only to realize 4 miles in downtown Hartford at rush hour had my GPS putting us there in 30 minutes.  Well, so much for that thought... We had to walk by the expo to get to dinner so we made another stop there and I settled for slightly better gloves than my cotton ones.
Dinner was uneventful, my normal pre-race pasta and shrimp.  From there I went to the technical meeting, chatted with some people and headed back to my room to get ready for bed.
I slept pretty well considering and got out of bed at 5:45 a.m.   I made coffee and ate my bagel with peanut butter and half of a banana.  After some foam rolling and light stretching I was ready to leave.  We started our walk over around 7:05 and ran into Hannah, Matt and the kids on the way.  Yay!  It had started to drizzle as I went out for a light jog, which became a shorter warm up than normal.  After some quick drills and bathroom, I left for the start with the group. 

Breakfast of champions- Honey Stinger gel

The Race:
I stood on the line with my winter hat as long as possible and kept my long sleeve shirt on until after mile 1 when I saw Erin, and double Mikes.  I ran with Rachel through mile 9 as we weaved through the parks and felt the rain pick up.

Around mile 6

Somewhere around mile 4.5, I think

She pulled away however when I looked down at my splits my pace hadn’t changed.  No worries, run your own race I thought to myself.  I watched Rachel grab her first bottle and then I completely missed mine.  Damn it, it’s only 1 bottle.  Thankfully I had stuffed enough gel in my shorts to account for a missed bottle. At mile 11 I took my second gel, but had to remove a glove to do so.  And then, I dropped my glove.  Ugg!  Knowing how nonfunctional my hands got at Boston, the fact I have Rynaud’s and it was still raining, I worried.  I went to push up a hill before the half and felt my hamstring.  Oh boy, relax, you don’t need to push it yet.  Thankfully the hamstring pain went away.  I went through the half in 1:21:20.  A little fast, but not suicidal.  I was eager to hit the turn around at mile 17 and use the gradual downhill for a couple miles.  The next few miles passed, I saw some familiar faces on the course and despite being an "uphill" mile, mile 17 was 6:17.  I had analyzed the course, other runner’s past splits and was accounting for that mile to be slow.  Not so bad.  I hit the turn around excited to push the next 3 miles.  I then hit mile 18 in 6:06.  Woooo, slow it down I told myself, there’s still a lot of running left.  When I hit mile 20 I was at 2 hours and 4 minutes flat.  A minute and 35 seconds faster than 2:45:45 marathon.  Okay, I got this I thought and took my next bottle and gel.  I had also taped a run gum to my bottle which was a joke.  There was no way that piece of gum was getting out of the package even though it was already pre opened. I dropped the other glove at this point and started to focus.  The next 2 miles went well and then 24 got slow.  I started to feel my quads a bit and get cold.  Oh no.  I went to take what I thought was a gel but really it was a tray of candy.  Uggg!  I took an electrolyte drink from an aide station and pushed to 25, 6:16 back on track.  Now for the "hill".  The actual ramp up the overpass wasn’t as bad as I remembered it to be, however cresting the bridge was painful.  As I came down around 25.5 someone was screaming at me telling me I had to push and go!  That someone was Hannah and it took me a couple minutes to realize it despite her yelling and sprinting next to me.  Nooo I thought, don’t I have time?  But where is the finish, I don’t see it. Oh no, the tangents... the course is going to be way longer than I thought.  And there it was mile 26 and then the final turn.  

I could see the clock and realized I was well under 2:44.  Hmmm I could walk the final steps... but I ran across the finish and into the elite coordinator’s arms.  I did it!

My medal, I want my medal!  In 2014 when I finished, they were quick to pull me into the tent to get dry clothes on so I could go to the stage for awards and I never got my medal!  I had to have it mailed a couple weeks later.  They assured me I’d get it and directed me out of the finish shoot where I saw my Mike, Hannah, my parents, sister, Erin & Mike.  I hugged everyone, people were crying, it was pretty memorable to say the least.  Mike then had the job of getting me into dry clothes before the awards ceremony.

Best support crew!!!

During the race when I could feel myself tensing up I reminded myself- Relax, drop your arms, let your jaw loose, you have wings, think of James.  I did this throughout the race and it most certainly helped.  Around 24-25 I was confident this OTQ was happening and started to get a bit emotional.
After awards Mike and I walked back to the hotel where I showered and met my family.  We stopped in Springfield on the way home for food (and a drink) and then Mike and I got a bit distracted (I was responding to messages while Mike drove).  Despite him working in Hartford every Monday, we ended up in Vermont!  We essentially drove through the entire state of Massachusetts without noticing!  After seeing the fall foliage we finally made it home.  We grabbed Mia and went to my parent’s house to celebrate with the family.




Media links:
Hartford Newspaper article 
NE Runner article

The Schenectady Gazette


After thoughts:
I'm pretty pumped to say the least to have made the trials.  I do want to train as hard as ever in preparation for the trials, prove I deserve to be on the line and run a great race.  I haven't ever run more than 93 miles a week (4 years ago in preparation for Hartford) and wonder if consistently running 10-15 miles more a week for a cycle would benefit me.  I do feel its a thin line to walk, the risk of injury, balancing life and getting enough sleep is critical.  I'm extremely happy I have successfully stayed around 80 miles for marathon training the past 4 years and was able to OTQ in this range, you can only keep increasing your mileage for so long.  So maybe now 1-2 cycles of higher mileage will have a huge benefit, but maybe it won't, too soon to worry about that yet!  I'll probably focus on speed this winter and possible try to tackle a half marathon PR in the spring.
And once again, I can’t thank everyone who has supported me along the way enough!
https://instagram.com/p/Bo4oDiUF_n7/

Drowning in Boston

Well it’s been a day post marathon.  My emotions have changed quite drastically from during, the finish, and now.  During the later stages of the race I couldn’t wait to just get to the finish.  At the finish I was elated--I finished what was the hardest thing I had experienced thus far and felt proud.  Today, I feel disappointed.. "Why didnt I do this or that... I could have finished in the top 20".... and so we begin...

Marathon morning I woke up at the hotel and did the normal coffee, breakfast and foam rolling.  Last minute I thought I should fill out my medical information on the back of my bib in a sharpie.  I then layered up as the rain was already pelting down and the winds were gusting and headed out.  I took a shuttle from the hotel to the South Street lot where we were then bused to Athlete’s Village.  My timing was perfect.  I arrived at 9:05, enough time to warmup, use the restroom and change without any extra minutes standing around in the rain.

The gun went off and I was relaxed.  I was wearing a thin, black, water resistant coat with my crop top underneath that had my bib pinned to it as well as gloves and a ski band to cover my ears.  First mile 6:17.  Perfect, just don’t pick it up.  I slowed down to a jog.   6:30, perfect.  I ditched the coat.  I then ran a 6:08, while accidentally hitting stop on my watch instead of lap, opps.  The next 11 miles were between 6:08 and 6:20.  I saw Erin and Mike at mile 6, then my mom, aunt and boyfriend at 6.5.  I was feeling so great!   At Mile 7 all of a sudden the rain poured down on us and the wind began gusting.  Ugggg.  I tried to tuck in, but it seemed to be hitting me no matter where I tried to hide.  Mile 10-11 was a little rough patch, but I took my gel and bounced back the next 2-3 miles.  I went through the half in 1:21:56, an exact split I’ve run now at several marathons to the second.  At 15 I got cold and everything changed for the worse.  My hands stopped working and a girl came up on me saying, let’s go.  She was wearing spankies and her legs looked so warm compared to mine.  I couldn’t respond. My right leg started going numb.  Well this is new, I thought.  We went downhill at 16 and it was a much slower mile than I had anticipated going into the race. I told myself, just run 6:45’s the next few miles and it will be ok.... 

we got up the overpass hill at 16.5 which I dreaded prior, however I didn’t even notice it.  Ahh a 7:02 mile up the first hill, whatever.  The next hill I ran the same and opened it up on 19 for a 6:40.  So my time was gone, but I still thought a sub-2:50 was in the books.  At this point my hands hadn’t been working and I gave up on trying to get my nutrition out of my shorts.  Hmmm, I’ve done some depleted long runs maybe I’ll be ok.  Heartbreak hill I noticed.  I began having a hard time and my legs were cramping.  I tried to open it at the top and nothing.  Oh no.  I started staggering as I ran.  Just get me to the F’ing finish.  I turned on Beacon full of emotions.  Ok, my mom and Mike will be at mile 23.  I’ll stop and cry there.  I ran along the railing on the appropriate side only to notice Joe and Kevin standing there.  Shit.  I can’t stop and cry, where are they?   I numbfully shuffled the next few miles.  As I turned onto Boylston I thought of my pre race plan with this road-- sprint!  But no.  I kept thinking I’m going to collapse, I’m going to be that person that gets carried to the finish.  Don’t risk it, get in safely on your feet- so I did.

I crossed the finish line well off my expected time and found I couldn’t walk.  I was grabbed by 2 volunteers and brought into the medical tent.  I couldn’t see, everything was dark.  They placed me on a stretcher. Several attempts to get a temperature on me failed and they couldn’t believe how cold my body felt and blue my lips were.  The shivering wouldn’t stop, my breathing wasn’t normal.  Several people came around me and lifted the stretcher I was on to carry me over to the bear hugger.  Yes, this is what I need I thought in my head.  They stripped my clothes and shoes off and blew the warm air on my body while wrapping me in blankets.  I had been laying down for some time and as I tried to bring my head up to sip on warm fluids the cramps began.  Both calves seized and wouldn’t stop.  I screamed.  This happened 5-6 more times until the electrolyte tablets they got in me worked.  My bib was taken by now, thankfully I filled out the back, and my mom and Mike were both called.  Eventually I came to life again, I stopped shivering and I was breathing normal.  We left my wet clothes off as I exited the medical tent in a foil outfit safety pinned to keep my lady parts covered and foiled wrapped around my feet as socks.  

 I shuffled until I found my family and entered one of the hotels to change.  While changing, I found out Desi won, barely breaking 2:40, while Shalane ran 2:46 and Molly Huddle ran 2:50.  I was thrilled Desi won (by the way I called it all week --given the conditions I knew she would win) but also so relieved they didn’t run what they were capable of either.  I felt so much better about my 2:56.  Prior to the race I had a goal of making the top 50, I finished 41st.

So after all this you’d think I would still be happy today.  No.  I should have left that coat on.  I let SO many women pass me the last 2 miles.  Had I had been warmer and didn’t get hypothermic, had I taken my nutrition, damn it I could have made top 20.  I know MANY people had situations like mine, some worse off.  Think about it--Shalane ran 2:46, ~24 minutes off her PR.  Molly ~22 minutes off her PR.  I was 10:45 seconds off.  BUT I had felt so comfortable, like I was jogging at so many points the first half.  You never know what each person’s body will do in extreme environments.  I’m sure some runners with extra clothes, layers, better gloves, who got their nutrition, fared better.  I’m sure those with less body fat and completely unaccilmated fared worse.

So at the end of the day, I finished Boston.  There’s a lot of unfinished business out there and I’m sure next time (when the weather is better) it will feel a million times easier.

Berlin Marathon and Summer Training

When my blog has been quiet it usually means I am in full training mode.  I'm not sure how people keep up while training, but I sure can't!  Between work, massage and chiro appointments, and training I usually fall asleep when I would otherwise be blogging!  Most nights I wouldn't even get home until close to 8 from my second run/appointment/whatever work function I had, pass out and wake up for another run at 5 am.  The days I wasn't doubling, I savored my extra sleep until 6:15 before rushing to shower and get ready to be at work by 7:00.  I am a HUGE advocate of 8-9 hours of sleep/night during marathon training.

After a morning run and paddle boarding with Abby at Grand Lake (8300')

After wrapping up a relatively satisfying spring season I took a little break from the mid to end of June.  July started with some base miles for a couple weeks and then I started with the workouts.  Pretty much all my long runs from there on had a workout of some sort.  This was actually nice since it made the long run go by faster.  Most of them were alone, but I did meet up with some of the Willow Street ladies on occasion.  During an easy run one morning my hamstring cramped and it felt like a pull.  Naturally, I freaked out.  I got in for an appointment the next 2 days. The pain lingered for 2 weeks and then after a 20X400m workout it was completely gone, yay!  There was no problem for about 2 weeks until once again on easy run it tweaked.  Back to ART (active release therapy), exercises, massage, stim, ice, etc.  I spent a week in Colorado and worked with my good friend who is a PT out there.  Amazingly, it disappeared again.  I only briefly felt it during a 25 mile run at altitude closing out 102 miles for 7 days (90 for the week), so it was a win.

After coming back from Colorado, I went to Watertown to run an 18 mile race as part of my long run.  The plan was to warm up a few miles and then do 15 at MGP.  Of course I started at marathon goal pace and held that for 15 miles.  I then decided to shut it down a bit since I hit my 15, but the last mile I changed my mind and closed in 6:08 for the 18th.  After my warm up and cool down it was a successful 22 mile day.

Finishing the 18.12 Mile Challenge (1:53)

1st place and course record

Skechers Performance athletes representing!

I went into Berlin confident 6:15's would be doable through mile 20.  I knew I had done some really long runs this cycle with depletion so I thought 20-26 although hard, I would be strong.  Once again, I knew I was flirting with this 2:45 barrier, but I felt things were looking good.

A long story short the week leading up to the race I was super stressed.  AirBerlin (who I was flying with) declared bankruptcy.  200 pilots called in "sick" and hundreds of flights were being cancelled with no refund.  My return trip was changed, however my directed flight to Berlin was still scheduled.  My parent's flight completely changed.  People were claiming their flights were getting cancelled with as little as 30 minutes notice.  I spent countless hours trying to get through with them, booking and cancelling several flights with other airlines.  In the end, it all worked out, but it was still stressful at the time!

I got to Berlin without an issues and adjusted to the time change fairly quickly.  I felt pretty good, no major issues.  The weather was predicted to be much warmer than I wanted, 58 degrees at the start, 65 at the finish.  I was pretty bummed.  I ran 2:50:01 in 25-32 degree temps, 2:45 in 40's, 2:46 in 40's & 50's, and 2:48 in 50's, so I knew this would be by far the warmest marathon I would run.

Packet pickup

RACE DAY:

Getting a bagel was impossible.  Instead, I settled for 2 rolls with my normal peanut butter and banana.  I took the underground with Martha and Ralph to the park.  From there, we walked to the athlete entrance where I left Martha with Ralph.  I walked in the rain about another mile until I reached my baggage area.  Since it was raining I didn't want to check anything yet.  I sat down on a poncho, took my wet shoes and socks off and waited.  I worried I hadn't eaten enough and was searching for food which didn't exist.  My gels would have to keep me full.  Eventually I checked my bag, leaving my pants on that I had planned on checking in order to keep my legs warm in the rain.  I walked to my corral which we couldn't enter since the hand cyclists were in there.  There was nowhere to warm up, so that was a lost cause.  At 9:00 the hand cyclists went off and everyone started climbing over a good size fence to get into our start area.  I couldn't believe this is how we were entering!!!  I asked a tall guy to help me over, the last thing I needed was to fall!  As I stood there I felt something on the back of my leg.  I turned around and yes, there was a man peeing behind me and it splattered on my leg.  Definitely in Europe...



It took 18 seconds to get to the start line, which was exactly what I figured.  I found the blue tangent line immediately and stayed on that.  After the first mile (6:14) it was still crowded.  I started to notice I was slipping with every step.  I moved off the blue line thinking that was the issue.  Nope, the road itself was slick.  Damn it, was it the racers or was there oil on the road?  As the 8k approached I looked for my family and saw my mom and dad.  I was shocked I saw them because how many spectators were at that point and how many runners were near me.  Okay, 5 miles done.

The next 5 I thought I had it in the bag that day.  I felt great.  I kept trying to slow down and was still running under 6:15's extremely comfortably.  At the 10k my watch was only .04 off, which was perfect.  I knew I needed to account for ~26.4 miles as a final distance so I was right on for that so as long as I stayed around my pace I'd make it (there were no mile markers just kilometers, I felt more comfortable using the mile splits on my watch 26 times than looking down 42 times).  Then around mile 11 my right glute/proximal hamstring got tight.  Okay, it doesn't hurt I thought.  I kept trying to massage, punch it, which is a lot harder to do while running than I thought.  I still maintained my pace.  I saw my family again around mile 15.  Miles 11-14 were 6:14, 615, 6:13, 6:17 and then 6:21... that 6:21 I had felt my knee.  Okay, I can run through this.  The next 2 miles were slower, but not bad.  Then 17-19 hurt.  I already thought I would run to 20 and if I had to walk I would.  I was going to finish the marathon one way or another no matter how bad my knee hurt.

Best support crew!

It was the worst second half of a marathon in awhile.  I yelled a couple times in pain.  I was miserable.  Eventually I got to 38k and saw my family again.  The only thing that seemed to put a little fire under my butt was seeing another woman in front or one coming up along side of me.  The last 1k I was with another girl.  She started to pull away and I thought I at least was going to get one position higher and fight the last 1/2 mile-ish.  I hung on and then sprinted as hard as I could at the last second (the finish stretch seemed FOREVER).  I got her, probably not even by 1/2 a second, but I got her.  I finished 33rd overall female, not bad for a rough and disappointing race.

I got my medal, talked with a few other Americans and made my way over to my bag.  Once again, we had to walk around a good amount.  I was unmotivated to walk back to the changing tents and decided the middle of the grass field was good enough.  I found Ralph at the family meeting area and we waited for my parents and sister to get there.  We walked just far enough where we could get an uber and went back to the hotel so I could shower before grabbing a beer and food!

Dinner after the marathon

So what's next?

I'm still being very cautious with my knee.  It's not 100%, but its not as disabling as it's been in the past.  I took 5 days completely off from running and have started back up.  What's next is all dependent on my body.  I have ideas, but I'm not pushing it if my body doesn't want to listen.  Time will tell!

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.”