Spring Breakers!

This is the time of year that my family celebrates spring break and heads to Puerto Vallarta! However, my toenails have been looking barbarian and I wanted to do something to make them more presentable. My increased mileage has made a mess of them. Now, I have nails sluff off in the shower, and other nails that are a dark shade of purple, and the corner of my big toes are chipped off. I also have one nail that grows very thick. I’ll talk more about that later in this post.

Can you tell which one is just a nail bed?

I got a pedicure before heading south of the boarder. I usually don’t get pedis because I am afraid of catching someone else’s fungus. But, this time I went to a spa salon in West Seattle with a good reputation. I asked the pedicurist to trim my nails short, and not scrub off any calluses. I felt a little silly about my requests but that’s a runner’s life, I suppose. She noticed one nail was very loose and held it tight while she filed it. Yikes!

I think she did a terrific job. I love the color. It is very spring-like.

 

Toes relaxing in the pool!

Toes favorite place--in the sand.

 

As I become an ultra-runner, am I doomed to have ugly toe nails? What can I do for them? My podiatrist says I need to make sure my toes aren’t hitting the end of my shoes. I already buy shoes a half size larger to prevent that from happening. Well, he explained if the shoe isn’t laced on tight enough then I am just giving my feet more room to slide forward and slam into the end of the shoe.

So, I’ve tried lacing them up differently or pulling the laces tight at the last few holes. Those methods hurt my ankles when I ran. The podiatrist said to try tongue pads.  I had never heard of them, but I ordered them from Amazon.com. The pads stick to the tongue of the shoe and give just enough bulk to hold your foot back in your shoe. I did notice an improvement when I was running half-marathons last year.

 

Here is a different way to lace shoes at the top to tighten them to keep your foot from sliding forward.

This is a tongue pad in my left trial running shoe. I usually have the most problems with my left toenails.

The thickening of my one toenail is a response to pressure according to my podiatrist. Even the tongue pad hasn’t solved this problem. It may be the way I hold that toe when I run that is putting pressure on it. The podiatrist’s prescription is just to grind it down and make it thinner. I’ve purchased my own grinder and it works well.

I purchased this grinder on Amazon.com. I am now fully equipped to give manis and pedis!


My podiatrist said you can also relieve pressure by not lacing up through the eyeholes on your shoes near your toes. I like this tip. I feel very comfortable running like this.

These shoes don't have laces in the bottom holes. It doesn't seem to make a difference on the durability of the shoe. I've run a few hundred miles in my Asics like this without the shoe falling apart.

 

If you have any helpful hints for keeping toenails looking brand new, let me know!

Post Script: Two days after this blog post, I went for a 10-mile run and that loose nail decided to depart from my toe.

Just the nailbed remains.

 

Time for sleep?

I slept 11 hours last night.

I am so thankful because I only slept 4 hours the night before (due to juggling my roles as mom and business owner). I felt tired and sick all day yesterday. With so little sleep, I thought it was best not to do my speed workout last night. With my body struggling to function all day, I didn't want to risk taxing it more and getting injured.

The articles are out there. They say athletes need more sleep.

Here are the reasons why:
1. Lack of sleep leads to an increase in cortisol levels. That is a stress hormone, and it can interfere with tissue repair and growth.
2. Lack of sleep decreases the release of growth hormone. This hormone is released during sleep and stimulates muscle and bone growth and repair. Not getting enough sleep can limit your body's ability to recover from a hard workout.
3. Lack of sleep leads to lower storage of glycogen (that is the name for glucose that is stored in your body). Endurance athletes need more glycogen.

Yesterday was a reminder to me that resting is just as important in your training regimen as the actual workouts. In fact, I need to tell myself that I am getting stronger when I am resting. Workouts tear the body down, and rest builds the body up . . . STRONGER.

But my struggle is, "I don't have time for sleep!" Do you have the same struggle with getting enough sleep?

Monday "Massage Day"

Today was massage day.  About once a month, I get a one-hour deep tissue massage to keep things loose. Sounds so nice, doesn't it? Well, let me tell you, about 40% of the hour is relaxing, and the rest of the time I am just trying to breathe through the pain. It feels like I am going to walk away with bruises all over my body, but instead I feel amazing after the massage!

I am fortunate that my friend referred me to Krystle about a year and one-half ago. Krystle practices just down the street from my house. She provides for me deep tissue, cross fiber, and friction massaging. I trust her completely. She follows up each appointment with great advice on stretching, and motivates me to actually do it!

Krystle focuses on specific high-needs areas of my body.
1) My calves. She explained there are layers of muscles wrapped in fascia and they can stick together. She works on separating them. Ouch.
2) My hamstrings. She works on relaxing the knots in them. Ouch. They can get pretty tight and I can tell that they need stretching out when it gets difficult to sit in a chair on them!
3) My glutes and hips. My weaknesses here lend to the overcompensation of my hamstrings, of course. So, along with massaging and stretching to loosen them up, I really need to do some strengthening work, like the side lying hip abduction (commonly called the clam exercise).
3) My back and shoulders. They get pretty stiff from hunching over a computer while I work.

Krystle uses rubber suction cups, too. They stretch and lengthen the muscle somehow--it's beyond my comprehension. But they definitely work!

Here is an example of rubber cups.

I think I rely on massages to make up for the stretching that I should be doing. So, I am going to go stretch now. Let me know if you get massages and how well they work for you!

Beat the Bunny 5K

 

Ran another 5K with my girl, and our friends last weekend! It was in Redmond and it had a bunny theme. This was a very family friendly race with many stollers, kids, and dogs. There was plenty of yummy post-race food, and they had prizes that they gave away in a drawing. We had a lot of fun dressing up for the occasion!

Here is the gang after the race.



Tried some "ears" on Hero but he wasn't very interested.

 

Time for new shoes

I love shoes!! My husband calls me Imelda Marcos, for obvious reasons. (See post here.)

My favorite shoes. If only I could get my husband to buy them for me. (Size 38, hint, hint.)

But this is a running blog, so those aren't the shoes you probably care to see.

You are probably pretty familiar with the relationship a runner has with their shoes. When you find a make and model that works for you, you stock up on them when they go on sale. My husband recently informed me: "You have SEVEN pairs of running shoes sitting by the back door."
Me: "How can that be?!"
I took a look and he had counted correctly. Well, almost.
Me: "Hey, here is a pair that needs to be retired. I really only have SIX pairs here."

How do you know when it's time for a new pair of running shoes? I try to retire shoes after 400 miles. But it's hard to keep track of the mileage because I am always alternating between 2 pairs of shoes, and I can't remember how many miles I have on each pair! Besides, shoes always look to me like they have a lot of life left in them--the sole isn't completely worn away.

I recently learned, the hard way, that even though shoes may look like they could go a few more miles, they shouldn't. A week ago I put on those shoes that needed to be retired. After 20 miles, I was feeling pain in my left Achilles and right hamstring, and pretty much everywhere else. At that point, I changed into a new pair and all the pain disappeared for the rest of my run (another 21 miles).

Lesson learned. I am keeping a log near the back door of the mileage on each pair of shoes now. I will be replacing them before going over 400 miles from now on!

How much sugar do we eat??

I was browsing through books at Barnes & Noble on January 10th. I won't forget that day. It was during Girls' Weekend--an annual event with my sisters, nieces, and daughter. We stay in a hotel in downtown Seattle for two nights and shop and eat. Sometimes we go to a movie or take a ride on the Great Wheel.

A book for sale on a table caught my eye. The cover said "I Quit Sugar."

I have been interested in the effects of sugar on the body for years. But I never wanted to know REALLY what I was doing to myself since ate a whole lot of sugar and loved it.

I bought the book and started reading it that night in the hotel room. Since then, I have slowly reduced the volume of sugar we eat in my house. It has been an eye-opening journey. Our bodies have adjusted to not having sugar, and the cravings are gone. Sweet stuff now tastes too sweet and it just isn't palatable. I have always called myself a chocoholic yet the other day I THREW CHOCOLATE AWAY because it didn't taste good to me. Whoa, what is happening to me??

My kids bought into the idea of reducing sugar right away. My daughter looks at labels on everything now. She is disgusted by the amount of sugar in boxed cereal, but she finally found Shredded Wheat (the big biscuits) doesn't have any added sugar. My son likes ham sandwiches for lunch. No one makes ham slices without added sugar. Yogurt is the biggest joke--look for full fat, plain yogurt for the least amount of sugar.

Here are the benefits I've seen in my household:
- Everyone's mood is better. Operating in the "red zone" (angry, frustrated, impatient) used to feel like the norm in my house. The percentage of time we spend in the "red zone" is much lower now.
- I feel more energetic when I run.
- My outlook each day is more positive. I used to start the day feeling overwhelmed with a huge list of things to accomplish. That anxiety is no longer present, and I am taking the initiative to say "no" to things that will add to my workload.
- My daughter is falling asleep easily. She used to stay awake, sometimes crying, for 1.5 hrs, after bedtime.

I guess I don't need this any longer.

 

We aren't completely sugar-free, yet. I will try to share some recipes and tips in the future. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

St Patrick's Day Dash

I can't believe how tall my girl is getting! She is growing up.

 

What a wet day to run! My daughter and I ran the St Patrick's Day Dash. It poured rain all day today but it didn't seem to slow anyone down. It was a record turn-out for the race. We were part of the green ribbon winding through the Emerald City. I was a little worried about running today after running 41 miles yesterday but I felt good when I got up this morning. Thank goodness!

Reppin' the Irish (although we are not Irish).