Exceeding Expectations

The last two weeks of running have been fantastic! Let's' just say, I think I have finally turned a corner. It has taken a lot of work beyond the hip surgery. I think the Muscle Activation work last fall was the big key. I knew that  it allowed me to balance my left foot on the ground without the first big toe joint giving way and sitting up in the air and I also knew that true tissue change takes a couple of months, so I was hoping to see some improvements happening even though I haven't been in for any therapy since Novemebr. I also think that the hip exercises I found last week finally pushed me to a place where my hips are in a more balanced and strong position.

Two weeks ago I was thrilled to hit 30 miles for the week. Here are the totals for the last two weeks:

Monday 1/28 0 miles
Tuesday 1/29 7 miles treadmill
Wednesday 1/30 7 miles treadmill (after getting the hip ebook and doing the exercises)
Thursday 1/31 7 miles treadmill
Friday 2/1 10 miles treadmill (2nd longest run since surgery 1 1/2 years ago)
Saturday 0 miles (felt great) Boston Indoor Games
Sunday 4 miles Freeze Your Buns #3 5K (fastest 5k post surgery despite snow on ground by about 10 second)

weekly miles: 35 miles, total miles for year: 111 miles, January total: 97 miles

Monday: 1/4 10 miles treadmill (still sore from race, hoped to do about 3 miles, but kept going)
One of my students from last year saw me stretching in class Tuesday morning and said. "Mr. Hansen, what are you doing?" OK maybe it looked awkward. I said I had run 10 miles the previous day and that was the only second time I did that due to my hip surgery. He said, "Mr. Hansen, You are exceeding expectations!" That is a line I had learned, tell my class to strive for that in all they do, and have it posted front and central in my classroom." I liked how he turned it back on me!
Tuesday: 1/5 10 miles treadmill (again only hoped to do about 3 miles, but kept going)
Wednesday 1/6 10 miles treadmill (by now bloody-due to my right knuckles hitting the control panels every once and awhile-still rotated wrong at times- but something special is happening- I can run and my hip is so much more balanced and my stride is smoothing out).
Thursday 1/7 10 miles treadmill
Friday 1/8 10 miles treadmill (wicked blisters between my toes seems to be the only problem I am having)
Saturday 1/9 11 miles treadmill (was going to take the day off  after lots of shoveling after the blizzard as I was a bit tired, then decided to run a couple of miles- did 10 and 1 more not to be in a rut)
Sunday 1/10 10 miles treadmill (OK held back a bit. I thought I may try 14 miles to also get my longest run in post surgery, but decided not to be greedy and to just enjoy completing a 70 mile week)
RUNNING ON A TREADMILL IS BORING! but it gets easier with practice.
Total miles for the week: 71 miles, Total miles for the year: 182 miles, February totals: 85 miles

And yes, I will back off now, but this week was for my head! Here is what I can report.
Last week was the first time since the mid 1980s that I could run and not be in some type of pain, discomfort, or twisted up in some way after a run (or even if I wasn't running-it made no difference). My hip was fine this week with no limping and both hips are starting to feel quite balanced as I run (still have work to do, but what an improvement). I still lack strength in my hip flexor (lifting my left leg up to put on socks or shoes, but I don't feel that running). I did maybe 5-10 minutes of the hip strengthening movements each day, and rolled out my legs with the Roll Recovery R8 device. This is so helpful and easy for the quads, hamstrings, and it bands. My quads have loosened up a great deal. My Hoka One One shoes are getting worn out and smelly, but they are such a key towards running without damage. They just roll nicely as I run. Over on Slowtwitch there has been a long thread going on about the Hoka One One shoes this week in reply to an article by Dan Empfield calling them, "...the most revolutionary thing to hit running since the waffle." Pro or con, it seems that lots of older long time beat up runners are finding new life running in these over-sized monstrosities. I am one of these. They are also a bit hit in the utlrarunning community. My third pair of Hoka One Ones should look like this, which is a big improvement over the colors on the ones I am wearing now.

OK they still look silly, but I don't care as long as they work for me.

I heard this song on my iPod last Friday when I was doing that first 10 miler on the treadmill. I am quoting words out of context, but these words jumped out at me as I ran and agreed:

"I feel better, now there's nothing wrong ...I got better, I got better, I got strong!"

and I still feel that way! and it feels great!
 

Pure Genius: Roll Recovery R8

I had another good week of running and more progress that has me ending the year on a high note and with lots of promise for 2013.

Monday: 8 miles ( I was so thrilled running my 8 mile course 2 days earlier with a time nearly 4 minutes faster than my best time since my hip surgery and in over 2 years, so what else could I do but take another 55 seconds off that time. I can't believe I am running this course in a time that I would consider a decent time back when I was fit!)
Tuesday: 0 miles
Wednesday: 8 miles (toned it done pace wise)
Thursday: 0 miles
Friday: 8 miles
Saturday: Supposed to be an off day, but did 2 1/2 miles of snowshoe running and it felt great. I had no problems with my left hip at all. During all the snowshoe running and racing in the past, that hip would give way all the time due to the instability of running on snow. I hope to do a snowshoe race in 2 weeks, but it was good to wear my Dion snowshoes for the first time in 2 years!
Sunday: 0 miles- I hoped to get 8 miles in again, but the snow shoveling and a trip to the Cape left me with no time to run.
total miles for the week: 26 1/2 miles

I have told myself that I would buy no more running or massage tools. I have corners, baskets, and closets full of all types of contraptions including  rollers, stick products, and massage balls. Pre hip surgery, I lived on foam rollers, but have only recently and slowly started using them again for sore and stiff muscles. My IT Bands, quads, and adductors are incredibly tight I am finding that as I am doing 8 mile runs again that my quads get very tight and keep me up at night. Unfortunately, foam rolling is hard and when I do it, my hips and other muscles get thrown off a bit. Enter the newest massage type device that I have been eyeing and finally broke down and ordered: the R8 Roll Recovery device and now that it has arrived, I can say that this product is pure genius.

The R8 Roll Recovery device is simple to use and boy does it feel good! It can easily hit all parts of previously hard to reach muscles like the adductors. Using a foam roller on these muscles looks weird and it is hard to maneuver. The "wheels" of the R8 Roll Recovery found so many tight spots that a roller, stick, or even a lacrosse ball could not find. Your muscles can be relaxed as you use it and it compressed them real well. It is easy to put a little pressure on the handles if you want to hit a spot a little harder or just leave it on a tight spot. All in all it is easy and "sweat free" to roll up and down your legs and even your glutes. This seems to be a well-thought out tool and its ease of use and its ability to relieve muscle tightness should make it a hit with runners and other athletes as word of mouth gets around. I think the company is going to be very busy and make a lot of people happy with this product. I am thrilled that it hits all the spots that have been bothering me post hip surgery, including all the spots where I have had to get trigger point injections. I will certainly post the effects of using this over the long term, but it seems to be the tool that I need at this very moment as things are looking up in my healing process and my running is coming along so well.

website: www.rollrecovery.com

letsrun.com review

 ROLL Recovery R8 from ROLL Recovery on Vimeo.