Tag: alltherunnersblog

Blog

hips don’t lie

koribarnum

Still struggling with right hip pain, going on 16 months. Been doing PT regularly since August 2020, focusing on gluteal, hamstring, and adductor strength – basically lots of hard work on strengthening the muscles that contribute to pelvic stability. I met recently with an orthopedist and got a hip MRI with contrast in order to see how that joint looks, after determining by x-ray that the there weren’t any skeletal/hard tissue issues. Verdict: fraying of the labrum, the cartilage that lines the hip socket.

“Fraying” to me is a super grey term.

“Frayed” like a pair of acid-washed jean shorts from the 80s? This would seem really bad from what I recall from surviving the fashion of the 80s.

“Frayed” like the ends of my ponytail because I refuse to cut my hair? Maybe could use a little work, but nothing to be overly concerned about.

After reviewing the MRI images with the doctor, he thankfully indicated I’m on the ends of the ponytail side of the spectrum. No need for surgical intervention, and no need to modify my current workout intensity (which is unbelievably good news).

The last few weeks going into this imaging appointment have led to a lot of deep thoughts about how I want to spend my workout time and what my priorities should be, and I keep coming back again and again to two things:

  1. Strength = EVERYTHING

    I know this as an athlete, as a scientist, and as someone getting older every day. That said, strength work is my least favorite part of being active. It’s. So. Boring.
    I’ve committed to my PT routine 3x per week and have been very consistent in hitting those workouts, but I know it’s not enough. So I’m adding one Pilates class a week (nothing like 60 minutes of core work + multi-plane movement) and one Recharge strength class (because I need the structure of a group class to actually do a strength workout and not just give up and take a nap on the floor with the kitties).

  2. Trail runs should be fun

    Red flags have been popping up for me left and right on my trail runs for the last few weeks, most notably at the Mt Hood 50K. I’m just not having fun running long on the trails. It’s so hard to say that out loud, and has been even harder for me to recognize. I love the trails, I will always run trail miles every week, but what is making me HAPPY at the moment is (gasp) road miles and (shock and awe) track workouts. It feels wrong to even type that, but it’s true. My name is Kori, and I like track workouts. So instead of putting my head down and continuing to follow my training plan and hating it and feeling my soul die, I’m going to change course and have some goddamn fun. I’m going to run trail on my easy days, and run road/track for the hard workouts and start following my Chicago Marathon training plan a few weeks earlier than originally planned. And I’m not going to run the Haulin’ Aspen trail marathon in 2 weeks, because I just don’t want to. For the first time in weeks, I feel free and I feel excited to train.
Blog

tunes to run by

koribarnum

What songs get you fired up to run? Who’s your go-to artist for track sessions?

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (image:Bing)

My playlist is woefully outdated – I haven’t downloaded new music in (gulp) three years. I don’t listen to music ever on the trails or roads, so this hasn’t seemed like a big deal until I started a new marathon training block several weeks ago and realized I needed some fresh tunes to fire up my speedwork.

Here are my current (as in what I’m listening to, but definitely not “current” LOL) favs:

“Bad Reputation” – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

“Can’t Hold Us” – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

“I Disappear” – Metallica

“I Want You To Want Me” – Chris Isaak

“It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” – R.E.M.

“The Middle” – Jimmy Eat World

“Raise Your Glass” – Pink

“‘Till I Collapse” – Eminem

“Supafunkadholic” – Delhi 2 Dublin

“The Walker” – Fitz And The Tantrums

“Best Of You” – Foo Fighter

“Sabotage” – Beastie Boys

Blog

here we go…2021

koribarnum
first, hire a personal trainer

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I do use the turning of the calendar page to look ahead for 12 months and sketch out some fitness goals and priorities. I always feel a little antsy if I don’t have anything on the horizon; the structure of a training plan and the sweet march of the journey towards an event add soul to my life. Here are the races I’m gunning for (so far, hopefully more to come):

April: Salmon Run trail half marathon

July: birthday self-supported trail 50K

August: Haulin’ Aspen trail marathon

October: Chicago Marathon (reschedule from 2020)

One of my go-to trail race training guides

I’ll be following Krissy Moehl’s 50K training plan for the August trail marathon (26 vs 31 miles is basically apples to apples when you’re talking trail events). 24 weeks long, I start in mid-February, and the mileage/intensity build-up is gentle enough that it will be compatible with skiing at least 2 days most weeks and continuing to crush the strength work.

Although I’ve run several 50K and marathon events, I am essentially starting over due to the “hip blip” of 2020 (it’s all about the marketing, and “hip blip” sounds kind of minor, maybe a little fun, and not nearly as scary as “injury”). The next several weeks before the plan starts will entail mostly easy trail and road runs with weekly mileage around 15-30 miles.

Training Log

december 2020 training log

koribarnum
Mt Bachelor…ski ski ski…repeat

December marked my official focus change from all the running to all the skiing. This is my fourth year as a downhill skier, something I never thought I was capable of doing and have been surprised and even overjoyed to learn that I can! And it’s another way to be outside a ton of time in the winter in a magical wintry environment!! The 19/20 resort season was cut brutally short in March with pandemic-related closures, so this year I am making the most of every trip up the mountain. I want to develop as a strong intermediate skier and start venturing off the groomers with more confidence.

With the exception of one week deliberately taken off, I have been diligent with my PT strength exercises, and am transitioning into a maintenance mode, which means 45-60 minutes 3x a week of intense gluteal and hamstring strength work. I want to be running when I’m 80, so now is the time to put in the work and invest in my running future with lots of targeted weight work.

Oh, and I’ve gone on a couple runs, obvi. Not a whole lot though – wanted to take a little breather and a few more rest days this month.

Training Log

november 2020 training log

koribarnum

Almost a year into blogging, and I’m finding that publishing training logs on a weekly basis has been fun, but I think with this weird free-flow year of pandemic and injury and crime scenes and not following a specific plan lends itself, in the near future at least, to a monthly training recap.

Big running news this month: my only IRL race this year (Happy Girls Sisters Trail Half Marathon) and completed registration for the 2021 Chicago Marathon next October (deferred entry due to this year’s event being canceled).

Nov 2-8: W & S PT strength exercises. W gym climb

W: 5 miles easy on road, 10:03 pace

Sa: Trail Half!!

can I get you some trees? Happy Girls Sisters Trail Half

Total run miles 18

Nov 9-15: Tu & Su PT strength exercises

W: 5 miles easy on road

Th: 10 mile trail hike

F: 11 mile trail hike

Sa: 5 miles easy on trail

Total run miles 31

Nov 16-22: PT strength exercises W, F, Su

Tu: 8 miles easy on road 10:15 pace, w/6x 20 seconds hard hills & 2 minute recovery

Th: 4 miles easy on road 10:24 pace. R hip creaky for the first time in weeks, so opted to not do as many miles as I originally planned. Wasn’t easy to stop early, but trying not to be a jackass. With typical runner goggles, I assumed the hip creakiness was due to wearing new shoes on Tuesday, but now realize it’s far more likely it was due to speed work for the first time in months. Duh.

Sa: 7 miles easy trail, 10:27 pace. Felt AMAZING. Wow, what a difference 48 hours can make. Also this run was AFTER ski touring for the first time this year. Shrug.

Su: 11 miles easy trail, 10:38 pace. 8 x 20 seconds hills hard w/2 minute recovery.

Total run miles: 30

Nov 23-29: PT strength exercises Tu, Th & Sa; Ski tour Th & Sa.

Tu: 8 miles easy on road, 10:17 pace w/ 8 x 30 seconds hills hard w/1 minute rest. After this workout, realized that yeah, it’s probably this speedwork that is making the hip creaky. Going to step back from the speed. I’ve been able to run up to 3 hours comfortably and maintain my PT strength exercises without issue, so I think my body is just not yet ready to add the speedwork back in.

W: 6 miles easy trail, 10:54 pace. Legs felt good but low on fuel

F: 4 miles easy road, not feeling it.

Total run miles: 18

Blog

RMOH

koribarnum

My favorite self-elected, very semi-part-time profession is to be a RMOH. For the uninitiated, this stands for “Running Maid of Honor”. I’ve only done it twice, but it makes me silly happy and my services are available for anyone who needs an enthusiastic but not super fast pacer and can tolerate my “yapping”, as my better half so diplomatically calls it.

Devin: Major Crusher of His First Road Marathon

My first go/run as RMOH was the 2019 Pac Crest Marathon with Devin, my work brother. This two-loop marathon conveniently used the same course as the half marathon, so I registered for the half and ran it with Devin as his second loop of the marathon. A life-long endurance athlete, Dev was a total champ at the distance and placed 2nd in his age group. My main duties were trying to keep up with him for the first half of the half, then helping him stay on a competitive pace for the second half of the half, which sadly for him was much harder as it was the final quarter of his marathon. I also (oh pre-COVID, such an innocent time) cajoled the many, many civilians we passed on the route to cheer for him as we went by. As Dan always says, “you scare people”, which comes in handy when you need perfect strangers to root for your tired buddy.

Heather: she’s got soup, she’s got a blanket, and now she’s got a half marathon under her belt!!!

I had the great privilege of donning the RMOH cap again a few weeks ago for Heather’s first half marathon, the super scenic Happy Girls Sisters Trail Half. Heather trained like fearless warrior through cold winter/spring conditions and hot summer days, often while pushing a lot of pounds of children IN A STROLLER ON TRAIL (if that doesn’t make you a strength badass, nothing will), and went from not running at all only mere months ago to running 13.1 miles on trail. Which is a pretty impressive progression and inspired me many days to get my own butt out there, because I knew Heather was getting her miles in. For this event I worked my friendly paparazzi skills and got lots of action shots of my runner on the course:

ya know, Heather just making it look easy
the heavens shining down and highlighting how cute Heather’s hairstyle is
one of the many gorgeous views on course

So…if you’re looking for a supportive racing buddy who resembles the love child of Tigger and Chris Traeger from “Parks and Recreation”…call me.

Trust me, it’s way more fun than a wedding.

Community

Runner Bio: Grace E. Sims

koribarnum
Grace and Lady Poopers

I am pretty awesome at: running long distances. I love the process, the challenge, the friends I make, and continuing to improve myself.

Future goals in running: I want to run road marathons into my 80’s if possible. I started in my 20’s and my goal is to run at least 1 road marathon per year. I want to continue trail running as long as I can. I love both!

RR100 (Grace eats ultras for breakfast!)

Random fun fact: My husband loves to surprise me at races. He proposed to me at the end of the North Face 50-mile race in November 2015. We got married in August 2017 on the top of Hope Pass which is the highest point of the Leadville 100 mile trail run. We have both run the race and love it! 


Facebook: Grace E. Sims

Grace and Don at Leadville 2016
Book and Product Reviews

Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday (2019)

koribarnum

This book was sitting in our large communal to-be-read pile on the dining room table for months before I picked it up; Dan and I both thought the other person had ordered it (so if this is a gift from someone, thanks, and we didn’t get the memo). According to the book jacket, Ryan Holiday is “one of the world’s foremost thinkers and writers on ancient philosophy and its place in everyday life”, which while impressive, makes me feel a little bit skeptical.

That said, I found the text to be interesting and occasionally insightful. Holiday is not the best writer, but he does a sound job of providing interesting examples of contemporary and historic (though it should be noted mostly male and white) figures who have or haven’t embraced stillness to guide their choices and how that impacted their life’s path. He also gives the reader practical, tangible, and realistic ways (organized as chapter headings) to consider their mind, spirit, and body, and how to honor and nourish the needs of each of those components of your lived experience. The narrative on ritual and the healing power of the outdoors resonated in particular with me, as did his words regarding our inherent connection with all other lives: “No one is alone, in suffering or in joy. Down the street, across the ocean, in another language, someone else is experiencing nearly the exact same thing. It has always been and always be thus” (160).

If you are looking for a tool to help you check-in on your priorities, this one may be a good starting point. The chapters are short, making it easy to pick up and put down within the busy rhythm of your life, and if you are of the journaling sort, I think it would lend itself to prompting exploratory writing.

Training Log

09.27.20 training log

koribarnum
Emma Coburn’s Virtual Elk Run 5K!!!
(I may have done it for the hat LOL)

M- PT strength exercises

T – 3 miles easy road. 9:45 pace + climbing

W & Th – REST

F – 4.5 miles trail! Yeah, back on dirt where my soul sings + PT strength exercises

Sa – Emma Coburn’s Virtual Elk Run 5K – laps around my block for 28:25. This is I think (?) my fourth virtual race this year; it’s becoming tough to keep track of anything during these wild and unusual times. Pace was a solid 75 seconds per mile slower than I’d like to do, but I’m trying really really really hard to accept my training each day for where it is, and find the patience to slowly work up my endurance without much focus on pace.
Su – 7 mile hike on the lesser known side of Tumalo Falls, 2:15 time on feet + PT strength exercises

Meditated most days. This will be a practice I follow my entire life, but for some reason the last few weeks I’ve needed to give myself permission to take a few days off each week. Trying to keep up a meditation streak has felt like one more thing that must be done instead of a healing, positive force in my life. The only thing I don’t love about my meditation app is that it keeps track of your “streak” – which feels very UN-meditation-like. I do, however, love that it keeps track of your total time meditating – I recently topped 4000 minutes – that feels like something more worth celebrating.

Training Log

09.20.20 training log

koribarnum

M – REST

T – PT strength exercises

W – 5K easy treadmill run ~ 10:10 pace

Th – PT strength exercises

F – 3 miles easy OUTSIDE!!! Possibly still a little too hazardous air quality…but.i.could.not.take.it.anymore.

Sa – 5K outside again!!! Easy run on the roads with the sun shining, the birds singing, and joy everywhere. I am always grateful, every run – but this year and its challenges have raised this gratitude, this awareness of what a gift movement outside is, to an entirely new level. + PT strength exercises

Su – return to climbing! Yep, that definitely feels like it’s been awhile.

Meditated most days.