Lest You Think I Only Obsess About Running

I obsess about many things. Case in point, this musing, crafted a couple of weeks ago.

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Partner has these two old polo shirts. Once upon a time, we tie-dyed them with pale blue circles and lines to freshen them up a bit. Very pretty. But now they’re stained up, mostly because he used them as gardening shirts. Have you ever tried to wash banana sap out of clothes? Seriously.

The integrity of the fabric is still good, and since they’re extra-large shirts, they offer up large swathes to work with. I wondered what I could do with them.

Then I read an article about Whole Foods Markets. Apparently they’re not going to use plastic grocery bags anymore, instead offering customers the choice between recycled paper bags and 99-cent canvas bags.

Idea.

I took apart a plastic grocery bag at its heat sealed seams and examined its architecture. It has a folded pleat down each side, from handle to bottom that allows the bag to be folded flat and then expand volume-wise to hold stuff.

I cut out the sleeves and the collar of one of the shirts. (I know from previous experience that I can make rather cute underwear for myself from a pair of his sleeves. And the kids love to play with the collars, so until I come up with some clever redeployment of them, into the dress-up bin they go). This left me with the front and back of the shirt. The front already bore a general resemblance to the dismantled grocery bag, so I trimmed things up, folded things just so, seamed the bottom and handle tops, and sort of hemmed the remaining exposed top edge. Voila. Free reusable grocery bag. Slightly larger than the plastic ones from our grocer and prestained.

Shirt A (still a shirt) and Shirt B (now a grocery bag) hanging in the grapefruit tree.

One thing or another

So, I fixed the shoe problem, figured out a pre- and post-running stretch routine that has ameliorated the pain, varied clothing to account for warmth and cold and wind.

Oh, and I have asthma. Which I totally forget about sometimes because really, it only bothers me when I’m sick.

Or when there’s a brush fire down the coast, apparently.

Who knew.

I had been outside with the kids for much of the afternoon, thinking every now and then that I could smell smoke. And not good smoke, like some whacko burning a nice fire on the hearth (anyone who uses a fireplace in this Semi-Arid, Sub-Tropical climate must be whacko, right?), but bad smoke, like some whacko burning yesterday’s trash in their back yard. But the smell came and went and there were no tell-tale black plumes of smoke in the sky as a giveaway.

When I set off running, the air felt cool and sharp and dry, which is ok, but it also burned, deep in my chest, in a totally not nice way. The sensation lessened as I ran, probably as wind currents shifted near sunset. And when I came home I collapsed on my bathroom floor with my pair of puffers to try to sooth my sore lungs.

Turns out from the news last night that they were doing “Controlled Burns” on King Ranch, that sort of got out of control due to high winds and low humidity. I’m thinking you check the weather before you do so-called “Controlled Burns,” but that’s just me. This is really nowhere near us, at least thirty or forty miles away, and blew into our town over the water, hence the lack of obvious smoke. The acrid smell was diluted and spread on the high winds, but not so much that it didn’t cause my lungs to scream in protest.

Two possible outcomes here: carry the inhaler with me (not desireable) or don’t run when the air quality stinks. The latter seems more reasonable to me for many reasons, but could be problematic considering the high rate of brush fires this season (heavy rains last summer were followed by several months of drought), and the fact there is a high concentration of petrochemical and heavy industrial work in the area.

This leads to a third option, keep running, but move somewhere else. :D

P.S. My apologies to CM for attributing her shoe solution to CT. It was very funny and I was simply confused. Clearly y’all need to change your names. ;)

Damage, or Running Hurts but it isn't Hurting Me

Discomfort is sometimes necessary. Discomfort is not the same as Damage. I’d like to think that we should endeavor to avoid Damage whenever possible. To avoid damaging ourselves or other through our Action or Inaction.

Running hurts. Running causes me pain, mainly in my ankles and knees.

Last Friday I got new shoes (half-off again!) and went for a run. I know I said before that I’d go back to the lower run/walk interval, but moderation be damned, I picked right up at my 3/3 interval. I tried to run relaxed, and the shoes really made a huge difference, but I was stiff, and ran as I imagine the Tin Man must run on a humid day.

But.

I woke up Saturday with minimal soreness. Stretched my butt off. Or out. I ran again yesterday, and felt a bit more like the gazelle I aspire to be. And today: no soreness. :)

The only issue in the Sunday run was heat. Yesterday was among the warmest, and was certainly the most humid day of running for me yet. Halfway through the run my ears felt like hot, pressure-filled steam pipes waiting to burst. I’m glad I started running during cool weather for us, because honestly, if it had felt like that during my first week, I’d have quit already. As the temperatures take their usual sharp upturn in the next month, I will have to consider running much later in the day. Dusk probably, rather than right before dinnertime. Or maybe early in the morning. (Ha. Who am I kidding? I can’t get up that early. hahaha)

All this is to say that I don’t think I’m damaging myself with running. I had my doubts for a little while, especially in my left ankle. But now, I really think my problem is Inexperience and Discomfort. And frankly, I’m really Proud of the running, I know it’s good for my body, and those positive perks far outweigh the discomfort.

Next Time: Skate mopping, Grocery shopping, and Sources of Energy

Shall We Just Call it Balm-Shine?

The sun is shining in just such a way today that it makes me feel warmer on the inside. Good feeling.

In other news, there are new shoes. Wider footprint, thicker , wedgier sole. And my pain is mostly gone, only a slight bruisy feeling on my left ankle every now and again. So, I’m going to run today. If the pain comes back in the ankle, then I think I’ll have to involve a medical professional, because it might just be a stress fracture. *sigh*

In other other news my children are so cool. Oh, I know, your children are cool too, and so are your pets, and your partners, and the plants growing near you, and I’d love to hear about them. Here’s a cool thing mine did this week…

Child 1 (Let’s just call him Sonar-X7), who is a second grader, was studying Heroes from the Past* in Social Studies this week. As an extension of that unit, they were supposed to write about a Hero from Today, someone that they know personally, and explain why the person is a hero.

*sigh*

Lovely child chose his middle sib (Sonar-X4). Explained that Sonar-X4 is fun to be with, fun to play with and has really good ideas. Sonar-X7 found my gushing over it embarassing. ;)

I’m going to hold on to that thought, maybe even scribble it on a sticky note that I can wave around at them the next time they’re tackling each other to the ground in a snit.

*Maya Angelou was included as a Past hero, and I just can’t get it out of my craw that she isn’t so much past as the rest of the heroes, who are all dead. I think I’ll write a note to the teacher. ;)

Running Week 3

So injury issues persist. Last Monday, I skipped the run, but did an extra long stretch, hoping to ease ankle and knee tenderness. Same for Tuesday. Wednesday, I woke up and the pain had subsided considerably, so I decided to go ahead and run, and to move up to the new interval (three mins run/three mins walk; 30 mins total). Energy-wise, the run was great. It felt really good to move and the change from running 1/3 of the time to running 1/2 of the time was easy.

But boy oh boy did I pay for it in my ankles and knees. I iced, especially on the left, immediately after the run and before bed that night, and walking was uncomfortable and stiff for several days. So no more running last week.

I did some careful examination of all the sore joints, trying to diagnose the issue, applied ice and rest and stretching. And got frustrated, of course.

But. I may have made a discovery about shoes.

Yesterday, I ventured out on foot for the first time since last week. Wearing some old sneakers (I’ve only been wearing my Running shoes during “official” exercise. ha.), I walked to the park with my two little guys on their bike/trike.

It was a short walk, just about ten minutes or so each way. I had no pain or discomfort, either during or after the walk. These old sneakers are running shoes, the kind with a sort of wide footprint, and a slightly wedge-shaped sole. They are rather old, and the inside of the back of both shoes has enough fabric worn away that a funky piece of plastic rubs at the back of both of my heels now. Not good for running, and probably not really good for anything but mud now.

I woke up today still pain free, so when a friend called to see if we wanted to come play, I was ready. This friend lives about 3/4 of a mile away, along my running route, so I thought it would be a good test of my knee and ankle fitness. The boys strapped on helmets and hopped on bike/trike, and I donned my Running shoes.

These shoes have a slim footprint, underlying only the outline of my foot, and the sole is flat from front to back. The arch support is medium. I had noticed in my first couple of weeks of running, that I have a tendency to roll to the outside of these shoes, which is easy to do because of their narrow profile. I think this may indicate that I’m an Underpronator, which sounds vaguely suggestive, but has to do with how I roll my foot in my regular gait. It also means that I should be running in shoes that are more like my crappy old sneakers, with a thick cushion and a wide footprint.

Walking this morning, I felt a difference within a few minutes. The knee pain, though mild, was there again during the walk. When I returned home, and rested for a little bit after a wee stretch, the ankle pain, again mild, settled in.

So, maybe part of the problem is the shoes? (Glad I got them half-off) And maybe I need to concentrate some additional stretching and rehab on my knees and ankles to build up joint strength.

I think I’m going to let this morning’s play walk count for today’s workout, rest and stretch tomorrow, and try to do a light run with a lower interval on Friday. See how it goes. I am determined not to quit, so I really have to listen to my body.

But oh, it’s so hard to be patient.