Got Your Mojo WORKIN'! group - CLOSED (Page 41)

Great job taking that time off (even though it made you crazy ) and great job getting back to your routine!

How does your hip feel after your workout? All good? The half hour in the pool probably felt really good! 

GANG -

I'm moping right now. Patriots lost, alas and woe. At least that relieves the pressure to structure every coming weekend around football. (waaaaah......)

Glad Bears won (I changed my mind as the game approached, realizing how much I love Chicago any number of ways.).
Wish the Ravens had won, but can with the Steelers (And, I'm pleased for you, DAVID!).
Very happy the Packers won......but even though I have the utmost respect for Aaron Rogers, I'm probably going for the Bears next week).

Okay, I'm going to return to moping, and also go eat dinner. Then i shall return!

You're a glutton for punishment aren't you.  Looks like you will be moping two weeks in a row!!!

Made it home safe and sound.   A chinook wind blew in and temps jumped from 2 on Saturday to 53 on Sunday, we went right from winter storm warnings to flood warnings two days later.

Special mojo to Roger for making the 1000th post of this group -- even though it was a cold and heartless one!

By way of revenge, then, I am even moe in the camp of the Bears next week. May the Monsters of the Midway rule the day!

ROGER -

And I just now saw your more recent post, oh cold and callow one!

Well, I may prefer the Bears --- but I sure wouldn't put any money on them! But if Cutler can manage another decent game, there's no telling!

GANG! -


FWIW, I am very pleased with myself for having successfully kept up with my log for a full two weeks. Heck, it might even be a habit now! Anyhow, thanks, all, for prodding me on this. I'm not sure who all looks at it.....but it's there for whomever, anyhow.

This was a very full week, with a total of 14:07 of workouts (Mon. thru Sun., how I always bookend my workout weeks):
141 minutes of swimming (4 sessions)
293 min. on the trainer (5 sess.)
151 min. running (3 sess.)
158 min. of strength (3 sess.)
94 min. cross-country ski (4 sess.)
3 min. rowing (1 sess.)
7 min. on Vasa swim trainer (1 sess.)

Last week was 12:30, another heavy-duty week at this stage of the off-season. I'm thinking this coming week should have a bit more of a recovery component to it, perhaps!

And getting back to the log, I'm hoping to expand my entries each week. This week had me adding weight and waking heart rate, and we'll see what I can add for the coming week. At some point I will get races in there, too, but right now it's all still simmering away on the back burner of my brain.


See you all bright and early tomorrow!

Ah, another Bears fan.  I knew you had it in your Steve. 

Go Bears!!!!!!!  Lets see, Jets or the Steelers. 

If anyone wants an interesting training ride, try this during a football game for either a quarter or two.  Get on your trainer and everytime your team has the ball, it's hill climbing time, every time the the other team has the ball, it's high cadence. If you are only doing it for one quarter, try changing everytime there is a first down.  You will see things much differently. 

Same thing can be done for baseball.  Haven't tried it for Basketball yet. 

Good morning group,
I just got back from the gym and I have a question.  My last 2 run days have been tough at the beginning and after the run.  At the beginning my arches on my foot hurt and then my calves and shins will start to hurt.  I noticed when I'm running my feet fall towards the arches.  I dont know if this just might be a sign to get new shoes that have an arch support and would that also cause the calves and shins to ache.  I did buy some compression socks but I'm only wearing them after the run days which seem to help the legs after the run.  The shoes I have now are saucony guide which I paid about $49 2 years ago.  Yes they are about 2 years old but I only worn them about 6 times before I started this training on 12/24/10.  Any thoughts on if I need to get new shoes and if the shoes can be causing the ache in the legs.

Thanks
George

JOHN -

I will try that next week; it's a great idea. Thanks!

You get 15 Mojo Points for that suggestion, and an extra 25 bonus points for the line "Haven't tried it for Basketball yet." I'm still giggling at that.......................but come to think if it, some of Troy Jacobson's Spinervals workouts have murderous sequences that are based on rapid switches that might well work with b-ball.

(Tennis, anyone? )

George,

One of my running buddies runs in ProGrid Guide shoe.  He is really happy with them but says they don't hold up well.  They are light and good for racing.  I have never worn Guides but my friend really likes them.  They are a good stability shoe for people with normal arches.  This shoe isn't good for flat feet or high arches. 

Your arch and calf pain can be from starting to increase your mileage or you haven't broken in your shoes yet.  I don't think the shoes are broken down yet if you have only worn them 6 times.  My guess is that your calfs and shins are not use to the mileage you are doing.  Make sure you are stretching and warming up before you start to run.  I have really tight calf muscles and that has caused my arches to cramp up.  My calf muscles are the first thing to let me know when I either have broken down shoes or new shoes.  It takes me about 25 miles before I consider a shoe broken in.  Try walking in them in order to brake them in more. 

Good Luck

You make a good point.  Troy Jacobson spinervals would be like riding during a basketball game.  Some of the more advance DVD's are intense. 

GEORGE -

Doc Mojo here says that you are possibly suffering from "shin splints", and that your own self-anaysis of what your feet are doing suggests you should look into so-called Motion Control shoes.

Do you have flat feet and low arches? Have someone watch you walk away from them barefoot, pant legs rolled up, and have them focus on what your Achilles tendon is doing. If it seems to be curving inward, then that indicates you have flat feet that over-pronate too much. Another thing they can look at is your ankle movement; again, inward movement indicates over-pronation.

Some pronation is good, as it serves as a natural shock-absorber. Too much, however, can lead to knee and shin problems, and also plantar fasciitis, and a few other little demons as well. The reason I was quick to suggest shin splints was because one indicator of them is that they can be fine once a run progresses, but will ache at the start and definitely afterwards -- just as you describe it. (HOWEVER....not everyone "presents" symptoms the same way!!)

As for the arch and calf issues, there is a good chance they are related. Plantar fasciitis manifests itself (usually) as pain on the medial (inner) side of the arch and back to the front area of your heel. (So, run your finger along your arch until your get to where the heel starts -- from the middle of your to that point on your heel is a good place to fine P.F.) The curious thing about P.F. is that it can have its root in calf tightness. In fact, if you go to www.tptherapy.com and look at their remeides for plantar fasciitis, you will see that they involve manipulations of the calf -- even though the discomfort is at the bottom of the foot! (That is the website for Trigger Point Therapy, by the way.)

KEEP IN MIND that Doc Mojo here ain't no doctor -- just a regular guy who has been injured lots, and has many reference books on sports injuries in an effort to keep him informed. But at least it's a first opinion, and if you keep being bothered you should go to a sports doctor or a really good running shoe store.

As for shoes, what you have might be okay.....but not if you need Motion Control shoes. The Saucony Guide is for someone who overpronates some and needs features that provide added stability to their feet. What you should find in your shoes is an area of darker (usually gray) material on the medial side, under the arch and aldo extending a ways fore and aft. If you dig your fingernail into this gray stuff, and then the white stuff adjacent to it, you'll find the gray stuff harder and denser. This is what's known as a "dual-density midsole", and its purpose is to resist the urge of an over-pronator's foot collapsing inward too much.

That is for a Stability shoe. For a Motion Control shoe, there will be more of the dual-density midsole, and the impression the shoe gives is one of being "beefed-up". This will be for people who over-pronate more than moderately.....which might be you. I'm wondering that because your shoes don't sound like they are doing the job 100% for you, even though they havet't been used a lot. Some degradation may occur in shoes as they age, but I wouldn't think it to be enough to render them useless. Maybe if they've been stored in heat and sun, that might do it......but probably not.

In the Saucony line (and I'm going from memory here, as I can't find my Road Runner catalog), there are two sibling shoes -- the Ride and the Guide. The Ride is for someone like me, with high arches and a tendencty to under-pronate (whole other kettle of fish, that!), while the Guide is for people who are moderate over-pronators. Moving up from there is their "cadillac" stability shoe, the Hurricane, with more bells and whistles and a slight increase in stabilizing features. And then there is the Stabil, which is Saucony's Motion-Control shoe - thicker dual-density midsole, and generally more built-up (there's more to control extra foot motion than just d-d midsole).

So, going back a few paragraphs to the shoe store suggestion, a dedicated running shoe store will be able to determine your gait and make a recoomendation of a shoe that should help with the problems you describe. If there isn't a running shoe-only store around you, then you could order from a place such as Road Runner Sports and take advantage of their generous return policy ---- and hope you strike it rich. But for people who are having injury problems, a comprehensive assessment is by far the safest way to go. These don't cost anything, just the store's hope that you will buy from them. Really good assessments will have you get on a treadmill and run, while a video camera is recording it all. Bare-bones assessments will have a clerk watch you walk and/or run in an effort to determine your gait pattern, and so long as the clerk is trained properly, these are usual quite accurate.

Finally, please don't hesitate to go to a specialized running store and ask for help. you said somehting about a week ago to the effect that you are hesiatnt to go to a bike shop because you're not sure what they think about you looking at a good bike (you did say something along those lines, didn't you?), and while I didn't respond then, i will now --- virtually any bike or run store will be thrilled to see you there, because they love sharing their passion, and they always admire people who are serious about getting more fit, and are anxious to provide their assistance. And that's the truth!

OMG, as usaul I have blathered on for longer than I thought! Try to make sense of all my ramblings, and let me know what you think. Please try to get some good eyes to watch you walk (from the back), and also let me know if you know whether you are flat-footed, or whether your arch is low. And if you can't figure out your arch (low, medium, high), you can try the "wet test". Let me know if you need to know about that, okay?

Finally, ice the shin. I'm assuming it is aching about a third to halfway up, and on the inner side....yes? A great way of icing this is to fill a styrofoam cup 3/4 full with water, then freeze it. When it's frozen tear off the top part of the styrofoam to expose about 1/2" of ice, and use that to gently massage the affected shin area. Just keep tearing away styrofoam as needed, and do this after runs (from which you should take a few days' break, by the way), and other times too, about 10 minutes at a time.

Let me know what you think!

Hey... I am doing better, just a bit sore still.  I think it is my ITBand as when I use the foam roller it seems to help.
Thanks!
Alex 

Thanks John and Steve on your input with the shoes.  I will have my wife watch me walk tonight.  I dont think we have a local running store here in Mobile, but I will see if we have one at our neighbor city.  So Steve, what is the wet test because I have no idea what is consider a low and high arch.

There's nothing more motivating then barking and the gnashing of teeth.

Yeah! And these are rural dogs whose territorial limits can cover allot of road, they seem to travel in packs and their barking alerts the next several unrestrained dogs down the road.

 A couple of these places seem to have a chronic dog problem. I have considered getting addresses and alerting the county but I understand the role of a farm dog.

ALEX -

Just a seconding of what Lori said about the DeSoto 2-pc --- you can just about custom-fit the top and bottom to your own unique "irregularities" (for me it's long torso and simian arms!).

I'm glad your hip is responding to a little bit of TLC, leavened with the often tough-love approach of the foamroller!

JOHN -

Some of the more advanced DVDs haven't seen me complete them!

I have read that at times when he wanders the room and reads the computers and HRM of the riders, he is exaggerating what they are doing. You think? Maybe it's just sour grapes -- or wishful thinking -- from those who get "dropped" during the sessions!

Need some desperate motivation:

I feel so worthless.  I skipped 2 workouts last week because I just did not want to do them, I pretty much drank all weekend with the guys, and to top it all off I did not watch any football.  Man I am falling apart.

What do you guys do when you miss a workout?  Just brush it off and keep going or do you double up some other days to make up the distance?  I am not trying to be so hard on myself but I have not felt like doing anything lately, it is really frustrating.

CATHY -

Time flies when I'm having fun, maybe, which is why I haven't gotten back to you since Friday? Or have I just been irresponsible? Ack!

I'm hoping oyu are not planning to swim until tonight, just so this gets to you before you hit the water. On the other hand, i'm not sure I have much of great import to say, but......

I did a bunch of bubblework Friday and today, and here's what I discovered:
(1) The closer I come to my midline, the more bubbles.
(2) When I slash diagonally across my path so I cross the midline, the bubbles do indeed swarm back into my face.
(3) My right hand is much more bubble-prone than the left (I already knew this).
(4) What I consider to be an acceptable amount of bubbles just trail off my thumb and slip up my arm.
(5) I can reduce/eliminate bubbles by tucking my thumb under the index finger during entry.
(6) I can reduce/eliminate bubbles my having the hand enter at about a 45-degree angle (but this strains my shoulder some).
(7) I can reduce/eliminate bubbles by having my entry what seems to be far outside (the converse of #1).

Sticking with the last one, I have read that for most people their sense of where their hands are entering is quite skewed. That is, we think we are entering wider than we really are; this maybe explains why some swimmers approach or cross the midline. If you know anybody at the pool, ask them to watch you from the front and play around with a wider entry.

Another thought I had is that when one comes close to the mmidline, this is conducive to the old-school "S"-shaped pull, which most current coaches frown upon. As I was playing with thisn stuff the past couple of swims, the "S" seesm to happen naturally when I neter more midline, just because in order to generate an effective* catch I need to start the hand-arm moving back outside so I can get a higher elbow and generate more pressure with my forearm. (* Keep in mind that my catch is NOT all that effective! )

Conversely, a wider entry means that the arm is already out there, and only has to pivot at the elbow and draw straight back. If this is correct, it seems to be win-win: wider entry means less bubbles (thus less turbulence), and wider entry leads to a more effective catch and the generation of greater power.

Another aspect of the latter is that when the arm is drawing straight back, more power is coming from the "big movers" -- the lats primarily. I think the current thinking on the "S" stroke is that a lot of energy gets dissipated by the out/in/back transitions. I will ask ROGER to comment on this!

Two more things to think about are ideas I just got exposed to in a DVD from the people who make the Vasa swim trainer.
--- Try focusing on the heel of your hand as you pull back through the water. This should help engage the lats to a greater degree, and I actually think it works that way for me. It requires a certain relaxing of the hand and fingers, which for me up until a few days ago were the foci of my pull. Now I am trying to lead the pull with the heel of my hand, as it were, and I'm thinking I'm on to something!
--- You should complete the pull when your hand is no longer effectievly pushing water; that is, when your fingertips are no longer pointing downwards. Continuing the pull after this point not only results in dramatically reduced propulsion, but also delays the next stroke cycle. It may help with a reduced stroke count.......but what good is that if each of those strokes doesn't produce optimal power?

I will leave this all here. Have a good swim!!

One more thought, though -- In an attempt to keep your head underwtaer so you can watch the front end of your stroke, also use a pull buoy. This just reduces the exertion from eliminating the need to kick, and you'll find that going "breathless" for many stroke cycles is much easier.

Let me know what you think of the above ideas, and also what happens on your swim today.

Glub, glub!

DANIEL -

Missed workout? Let it go! At this time of the year there are no "key" workouts, so there's no need to cram anything in wherever it can fit.

Moreover, given that each workout should have some purpose, it doesn't help to put two workouts in on one day -- this usually just leads to both workouts being "compromised" to some degree or other. Does that make sense to you?

Motivation is hard at this time of the year -- even for people who live in sunny and warm California! Motivation is also tricky to force; that is, ordering yourself to get out the door and do something. This works okay for some people (myself included), but others juts end up resenting themselves AND the workout. You might try this a few times, however, and see how you respond. Sometimes self-flagellation can actually grow on a person the more they do it!

And may I ask ----- how many workouts did you do last week? You say you missed two, but how many did you DO? If you scheduled six and did four, that's okay! If you scheduled four and did two......all right. If you scheduled two, and missed both ---- oops! But it really is just an "oops" --- nothing "worthless" about it at all.

I will also suggest that you have other things happening in your life that justifiably take your mind off the primacy of working-out. I went through a bad psycholgical patch during my last year of working, and one of the things that set off my alarms was that I no longer enjoyed working out. This just let me know that my head was NOT in a good place; might that be the case with you? If so, definitely do not get too hard on yourself!!

There are only 2 real reasons why I take rest days.  My kids are up sick or the night before was a late night out with friends.  As I get older, the kids being up is more common than the late night but there are still times.   You still have to live your life.  You don't want this to happen too much but hey, it happens.  Its ok.  Like my running buddies (and drinking buds) say, we are drinkers who have a running problem.  Never go back to do skipped workouts.  You can adjust your schedule but the past is the past.  It's about balance. 

The best thing about drinking with your running buddies is that they usually feel about as bad as you do the next day.