Lost Roads

I went out for a run today that included roads I haven't run before. It's all part of my quest to run every road in Foxboro. Because one section of the map was hard to read, I double checked with Google Maps. A-OK. Turn right on Clarendon, left on Johnson, left on Arlington, back to Pleasant and off towards the center of town. You have to zoom in on the map below to see the spot I'm talking about.


View Larger Map

I was moseying along nicely, singing my tunes. I turned right on Clarendon. It was a cul-de-sac. So I backtracked and continued on Pleasant. I turned down Arlington. It, too, was a cul-de-sac. There was no Johnson to be seen.

I could easily have been in an unfamiliar area (on vacation or a business trip). Lost roads would be much more of a problem under those conditions.

So caution, all my runner friends. Google Maps are not perfect. Always carry ID and your phone (both of which I forgot today because I was rushing to get out of the car). In fact, get a Road ID band and put on your shoe.

The upside to today's adventure was that I got back to my car just minutes before another rainstorm started.

Testing out posting from my phone.

Testing out posting from my phone.

Always pick a winner

The New York Time reported today about the problems with removing the defective ICD leads that around 150,000 people in the United States still have in them. The lead removal is tricky and if you must have it done, choose a doctor who has done it numerous times. One of the top lead-removal doctors in the country is Dr. Epstein at Brigham and Women's. He's the one who did mine. Mine wasn't defective, but it needed to be repositioned and that necessitated removing it and placing a new one.

Journeying around the 'boro

Last year I decided that I should run every road in my little town, Foxboro. I called the highway department and they told me there were approximately 90 miles of town-owned streets. I assume that number doesn't include Interstates 95 or 495 and possibly not even the state-owned routes, such as 106 and 140. Ninety miles is nothing if you're running 20-40 a week, right? I should be able to finish this quest in a couple of weeks.

Next I asked for a map. Dead silence. Finally the person on the phone said, "We don't have one. But you might try town hall." Huh?

So I went to town hall. They didn't have one, either, but they did scrounge up the one you see in the picture above. It may have been produced some years ago by one of the real estate agents. Good enough.

Armed with my map and MapMyRun.com I started mapping out routes every weekend that included new (to me) streets. My two running partners have not been particularly keen on this idea so I restrict my little adventures to my solo runs.

A year later, I have not completed as many streets as I had hoped to. In fact, I've been on a hiatus since about September. This morning, though, I finally got a chance to run solo and without having to contend with snow or ice or extreme cold. I took off and decided it was going to be a goofy running day where I would try to map out 5 or 6 miles in my head as I ran but be open to various possibilities as I progressed. The result was 5.43 miles and two new roads. I feel like I'm back in the game and I can't wait for my next opportunity to add to my "collection"!

For anyone who feel stagnant in their running/walking/biking routine, I highly recommend devising strange challenges such as this. Maybe I'm weird, but I feel so re-energized about my whole running life right now that I can't wait until the next time I strap on my Asics and pound the pavement!

Never Say Never

I received a gift certificate to my favorite running shoe store. I popped in on Sunday and used it toward a new pair of trail runners (Asics Trabuco 11). My old ones haven't been used much over the last ten years--actually I've only strapped them on maybe five times since my 50-mile Umstead (N.C.) run, after which I swore I would never run that far again.

But a few miles on the trails and warmer weather and what happens? I start thinking about ultras again.

How can I even consider that after the way my life has gone for the last two years? Got back into running in a more serious way after an extended period away from it. Cardiac arrest. ICD implanted. Down time. Back to running. Lyme disease. Down time. Back to running. Working my way towards half marathon. ICD has to be replaced. Down time. Back to running (this period lasted approxiamtely 3 weeks). Back goes out and I can barely move. Down time. Back to running. And now I'm thinking about ultras? Maybe I have running dementia now (happens in my age group).

Happy Boxing Day

We ran in the Foxboro State Forest again today and walked afterwards. The map below shows the walk portion.

Foxboro State Forest 1.7 mile walk at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Today we had the dog with us for the walk. We encountered another boxer while we were on the trail. We had seen a boxer earlier when we were running. That makes it Boxing Day, right?

For all you back pain sufferers out there, I can't recommend getting your own pair of Miracle Balls enough. Those and the yoga have really been instrumental in getting me back on the road.

Improving

I ran 3.4 miles yesterday on the road then walked 2.2. That's a great improvement from last week when I could barely walk. So I highly recommend yoga and miracle balls!

Today I'm taking my running buddy for a trail run. I'm trying to get her turned on to that. We're starting with the trail I did last weekend with the hubby:

Foxboro State Forest 2.4 at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging

Up Time

I ran this morning on the indoor track at the Y! I did the morning stretches and align-the-spine poses from the yoga book and some of the stretches for the back from the Miracle Ball book. I ran very slowly at first but picked up a little speed as I went. I was slower than before this "injury." There was a bit of discomfort bordering on pain but nothing that seemed dangerous or problematic. I ran for 30 minutes then repeated the yoga stretches.

It's been a rough week without running. I am impatient, grumpy, and liable to lash out if I don't get my endorphin fix. So I'm really happy to be back (so to speak).

Down Time

I hate down time!

My back has been acting up and I haven't been able to run for a week now. I usually run six days a week so to be reduced to zero is agonizing.

When I first noticed the pain Sunday morning (3/15) in my lower back, I ignored it. I got on my incline bench, did my situps, and ignored the pain. I went running and ignored the pain. But then I paid the piper. For the rest of the day, I was in excruciating pain, and it continued for the rest of the week. I tried massive doses of Ibuprofen. I tried a muscle relaxer. When I tried the heating pad, I ended up in worse pain. I couldn't sit for long. I had trouble walking. I had a hard time going up and down stairs and getting in and out of the car. By Friday I was desperate.

Then I pulled out a book I had bought many months ago, Yoga Heals Your Back by Rita Trieger. I did the morning stretches and the spine alignment poses. I felt immediate relief. I did them twice more that day and continued to do them throughout the weekend. The relief is astonishing--much better than the drugs. I'm not back to normal (occasionally my back just seems to quit and I nearly fall down), but at least I am not in agony anymore. Today I bought the Elaine Petrone's Miracle Ball Method. We'll see if that helps.

At this point, I would probably do anything to be able to get back to running. I have done a couple of long walks since my breakthrough on Friday, but I desperately need to get back to running. If I do something horrible in the next few days, I will blame it on the lack of running.

2.4 mile walk in forest

Here's an easy 2.4 mile hike we took today in the F. Gilbert Hills State Forest (a.k.a. Foxboro State Forest). I've also done it as a trail run. Easy surface for beginning trail runners.

Foxboro State Forest 2.4

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

Trying out EveryTrail

We turned on EveryTrail on my iPhone about halfway through our quick walk in the Foxboro State Forest today. One bad data point in there, but otherwise pretty good. We'll try to remember to turn it on when we start next time.

Foxboro State Forest

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Wiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!

We bought a Wii and Wii Fit a few weeks ago. I haven’t bought any of the music-based games yet because I’ve been having fun with the skiing and bowling. In fact I’m very intrigued by the way that Wii Fit is forcing a rethinking of the potential gaming audience and the possibilities for games. For instance, senior centers all over the country are holding Wii bowling tournaments, as well as classes on how to use your Wii for fitness. A study is under way in Scotland to study whether the balance board can be used in helping elderly people improve their balance and prevent falls.

It occurred to me that some clever programmers, working with doctors and researchers, could design specially tailored rehabilitation programs to run on the Wii. The best design would involve a series of modules that could be enabled and configured specifically for the patient’s needs. Information from the patient’s sessions could be stored and transmitted to the supervising medical professional for review. I imagine this would be most useful in orthopedic and cardio rehab (some extra telemetry could be added for that one for even better monitoring). And there’s no reason it couldn’t be as fun as bowling or skiing or Zelda or Mario.

Gotta go. It’s my turn at bowling. My Wii Mii has a habit of tapping her foot if I take too long.

Spring fever!

There's nothing like a 50+ degree day or two in Massachusetts in March to make me get a wicked case of spring fever. I'm heading out to do my run in shorts and can't wait. Other people start cleaning their houses...I start counting my short-sleeved running shirts!