Good work crayons, keep it up, and enjoy your break!
took today as my mandatory off-day since I had a lot of stuff to do.
I went to work and was on my feet for 7 hours and my ankle felt it a bit and is a little achy now… and still 2 shifts of 7 hours left before i go back to school! I wonder if the ankle will ever be the same 
I don’t feel that it was ever properly diagnosed.
My back has been acting up minorly at the sacro-ilial joint that froze last year so I have been thinking of going to see my chiro, but I honestly don’t know if I can find the time to do it during the times that he is in the office.
Shins have made it up to this point- now I can get new shoes. Shin massages have been keeping the worst at bay.
I also went to a dinner for track alums from my HS- it was a little sad because I miss it, but it was nice to see my coaches and some of the people I ran with. I am one of the only ones continuing on to run in college and now I am extra-motivated to do extremely well. One of my coaches told me that I have already become a legend 
picked a hill workout out of the options for workouts over break. I didn’t feel like driving across town to get to the longer hills, so I went to a short grass hill behind my house instead.
workout was meant to be 12x100m hills with fast walk back, and after timing myself up this hill I figured it was only about 50-60m, so after warming up I did 20 runs with fast walk back so the meterage evened out.
quads are feeling a bit woozy now, but I should be fine for a lower lift tommorow.
looking forward to thanksgiving dinner
good stuff, happy thanksgiving Kras!
Cheers,
Chris
had to take yesterday off because i was busy from early in the morning until late night and had no time to squeeze in workout.
got up this morning to do a quick one:
-10 min run
-10s on, 20s off for 10 min
-5 min run CD
then worked for 7 hours. When I come back to work at Xmas I will have to ask them not to schedule me for more than 5 or 6 hours because that seems to be the cutoff point for my ankle- more than that and it starts getting unhappy.
i wasn’t SUPPOSED to take today off and i didn’t MEAN to take today off, but because of traffic and bad weather I got back to school later than I expected and was totally exhausted.
“active rest” last night = bruises on my sacrum… yow 
I went so far as to wrap my ankle this evening for a while because it was achy. I intend to go to the trainer and see if they will continue with the ultrasound since I was smart enough to bring the hydrocortisone with me. I also got new shoes, so if it doesn’t feel 110% in the next 3 weeks then I will go to the sports injury specialist at one of the hospitals in boston over xmas and get a proper diagnosis because I do NOT want this to become a problem again.
According to my scale at home, I am at the same weight that I was when I left for school, and possibly even a couple pounds less… but I don’t trust it. Since I am not competing until january I might think about stepping up my ‘get lean’ campaign for a couple weeks to get back under 120 where I belong.
emotional stress and finals coming up is going to be soooo awesome
i feel like death
I had trouble falling sleep last night, and then my roommate’s alarm went off at 6am and it was the loudest thing I have ever heard in my life, I practically fell about of bed because it woke me up so suddenly. I was like honestly, do you really think thats not going to wake me up too?? I didn’t have to get up until 8 either, so I was pissed and didn’t start the day off so well. I nearly fell asleep in class, couldn’t eat a big lunch, was just blah. Part of it i think is an emotional thing thats weighing heavily on me from break… it sucks
So today’s workout was kind of crappy, big surprise:
-15 min. run +drills and dynamics
-some hurdle walk-throughs, then 12x4 hurdles run-throughs, the first few with 5-steps then moving into 3 with the hurdles in and down and in shoes, just to get the feel of them
-relay handoffs
It being the first day back, my hurdle form was pretty sloppy and my coach was already on my ass about it. Then- his new favorite thing to do is tack on a 400 as close to max as possible in the form of relays at the end of workouts… sooooo that was awesome, max 400.
Then lifting- I didn’t think i would make it through to the end. In between sets I was literally in the fetal position:
-snatches 3x6, 2x4 @45k
-back squats to ground 2x7, 2x8 @45k, paired with
-leg curls 1 + 1/4, 2x7, 2x8 @45
-calf raises 3x12 @70
-also did some core in between sets when i wasn’t curled up dying, as well as some shin exercises.
When I first start hurdling, the first couple weeks are HELL on my hamstring… it never fails. Microtears that I just have to run through EVERY single time. I can already feel it starting- it started to hurt before the handoffs, but of course when I was done lifting there was nowhere open to get ice and the only place that potentially “maybe” would have some is across campus and I was like… I can’t even make it that far. My ankle is a little angry too, I am realizing now that the heavy calf raises might not be the brightest idea but it’s too late now!
So basically I feel crappy now and it looks as though I have to go back to long-sleeved shirts for a couple days
I have one packet of the ZMA nightcap left as well as capsules, so now it is my debate when I should take the packet- i know tommorow’s workout is going to be killer, and wednesday is the insane tire time trial, so potentially i could do tonight, tommorow, or weds night. Tommorow might be my best bet, to prepare for weds and also because i will be modeling for two hours which is just a lot of extra time on my feet.
if I am getting sick again… I had BETTER NOT BE. Speaking of sick, since i’ve started these new pills, I should get my period sometime this week and if I don’t then I have to either assume that its either overtraining or some other kind of much more serious problem. I have 5 more days of this week to wait, and if it does happen I know i’ll be sick because the shock it gives my body always makes me sick since it is such a rare thing. In another day it will have been 10 months which is getting close to my record of 11.
This made me laugh so much, wow. Thanks for that haha.
haha glad to please.
Took a couple advils for my hamstring last night, then took a ZMA capsule to try it out. They recommend two pills for women, but remembering how I felt taking the whole packet I only took one. I don’t know if it was the ZMA or if I was just really tired, but I got nice and drowsy and slept great! Being able to stay in bed for 10 hours was also a major plus. Of course my roommate’s alarm went off at max volume and she hit the snooze buttom 5 times, but by then I had already gotten a good amount of sleep in.
Hamstring hurts, as predicted. Ankle also woozy.
YES! i couldn’t wait until after my workout to post- my pills WORKED and my body has been coaxed or forced or whatever you want to call it, into having a period!
as much as it is a shock to my body and makes me feel sick and makes my workouts crappy, I’m sort of glad that I’m not infertile.
very mixed workout:
-15 min. warmup run +drills, dynamics, strides
-1x300 @49, 16 min. rest, 1x300 @47
-intense core circuit
This was kind of bizarre, I didn’t completely realize at first that they were supposed to pretty close to all out. It was inside so the turns were not the greatest, but my problem was more that I felt flat, sore, and basically just slow. I just really felt my body sort of weighing me down, it was strange… I am going to manipulate my pills now to keep on skipping periods because it causes me too many problems.
Lifting went a little bit better:
-single arm shoulder press 5x8 @17.5, 17.5, 20, 20, 22.5, 22.5, paired with
-DB external shoulder raise- a weird lift whose purpose I can’t figure out- 5x6 @10
-DB curls 4x8, 1x6 @15, 15, 15, 17.5, 17.5, paired with
-decline close grip bench 4x8, 1x6 @ 70, 75, 75, 80, 80
-tibia raises 2x10 each leg @10
Hamstring is still hurting along with the hip flexor and my lower back on the lead leg side, but nothing that can’t be worked through at this point. Ankle ® is sore as well, probably from the calf and tibia things I did yesterday, because it is not only the ankle but also the perineals. It is sore now in the same place that it has been injured for so long, but it’s the good kind of pain. not the really bad kind that is so familiar to it.
Tommorow is the insane uphill tire pull- at least it will be over quickly, and tommorow is probably our off-day from lifting so I can come back to my room and pass out for a while before I have to start working. I’m just mad that my period HAD to be this week, since it really fucks around seriously with my running capacity.
No no don’t do that, that might cause you more serious problems in the longer run. I’m sure you know that but you just want to run really well NOW, I know exactly how you feel. Just learn to run with your period
side effects. You can’t keep manipulating your pills for all 4 years of college!
i just had the worst experience of my life.
-ran 1.25 or so miles to the hill
-ran/jogged/practically walked up a mile long hill in the pitch dark, rain, wind in my face, dragging a tire filled with water on a bungee cord.
-ran 1.25 back. passed out face down.
Without question the most horrible thing I have ever experienced. It took me something like 17 minutes which was not good relative to what most people did. My hammies were sore before starting- now I am sitting on ice because otherwise I won’t be able to move tommorow. And of course on the way down I twisted my ankle (the chronically injured one) so I will have to ice that one too and pray.
Part of my problem is that these goddamn pills are making me bleed so much that I was nearly vomiting before we even started (I know everyone wanted to know that) and when I was done I was literally crying in pain and frustration.
I gave myself a really thorough lower leg massage on both legs last night so I am icing those too… nothing feels good right now. I am coughing up a storm so even my respiratory system is shot.
Everyone kept saying, well at least we got through it, etc etc but i couldn’t even make myself feel better that way because I couldn’t even run the whole thing. Being tough (mentally and physically both) has always been one of best assets in track and I am never someone who gives up, but I just couldn’t do it. COULD NOT FUCKING DO IT.
If this is what i have to deal with every month, I am DEFINITELY manipulating my pills for all four years of college, at least during track seasons. My body went from being in one kind of shock to being in an even greater state of shock and I have never felt worse physically and mentally at the same time in my life.
Buck up kid, you have the natural ability and the work ethic, you are a star and soon you will shine brightly
various different track-related things today…
I emailed my coach last night to explain about the period issue since it has made my workouts crappy for 3 days in a row. He was glad that I told him because he thought it was an issue of being dumb and not getting rest, or maybe that I was not as tough as he thought. I stopped by his office today since I was in the area to make sure that things were ok. He said that he was concerned because he was hoping that I would run on the A team 4x4 but after the past few workouts he had been losing his hopes… at the end of the conversation it wasn’t really clear whether or not those hopes are still lost- I figure I need to earn my way back in a big way.
As for today- felt ok after yesterday’s hell, not great but not awful:
-10 min run +drills, dynamics, strides
-hurdle drills 10x5 lead and trail
- 3x5-step, 3x3-step (hurdles at race height, but moved in, and in shoes)
Hurdling is still feeling kind of clumsy, I can’t wait to get the hurdles and and down and be in spikes out of blocks. My coach was in despair over my drills, they are ones I have never done and they felt very different from actual hurdling. He was much happier once I got to the run-throughs and said that I look much better technically when I am going fast, and when I am going slow I basically look horrible. Whatever, I can live with that. :o
Then lifting, which went pretty well:
-snatches 2x6 @55 (lbs), 1x5 @60, 2x4 @60
-back squats to ground 2x8 @45k, 1x6 @50k, 2x6 @52.5k, paired with
-1 + 1/4 leg curls 1x8@30 (lbs; single leg) 4x6 @60 (lbs; DL)
-calf raises 3x12 @90
THEN for my third workout of the day, went to the pool (it was optional for me, but I wanted to get loosened up)
-ladder swim: any stroke as fast as you can for 15s, 30s, 45s, 1min, 1.5 min. 2 min. 1.5m, 1m, 45s, 30s, 15s. We had 15s rest in between all of these.I realized that my swimming endurance is really really bad… I used to think I was a decent swimmer but those illusions are crushed.
-flutter kicks on the wall: 4x1min, 4x45s, 4x30s, then 4x15s with our heads underwater. I think we got a minute rest for these but I wasn’t keeping track. The kicks actually did a lot to help me feel loose and they made my ankles hurt by the end but in a sort of good way, like the water was massaging them.
My body is still unhappy with the shock to my system, but I feel slightly better today than I did yesterday. However, I am seriously considering whether or not I should go off my pills completely and just go back to the way I was. I can’t afford to have this happen again (coach was very concerned about this) so I either need to be able to manipulate them during the season and be confident that they’re not affecting me, or I need to just trash them and go back to pretty much not getting my period anyway, but naturally. Who knows… :eek:
starting to feel better now. Pool helped my legs feel good and I was all ready to run- my body felt a lot more normal and ready to be fast… but today was the day my coach wanted me to go with the field team for some multi stuff.
soooo, did dynamic warmup, with throwers, then
-12x stadium stair runs
-multi-jumping series
-long hopping series, primarily for shins and ankles and footwork… all kinds of different things- lateral jumps, hops, one-legged flat foot, etc etc
-strides in spikes
-hurdle drills (easy)
There was a running component to the normal sprinter practice, but my coach said that it was easy and told me that I was fine and didn’t need to do more. So it was a very easy day.
lifts:
-bench 5x6 @35k paired with
-chin ups 5x4, last rep holds 8s at top, 8s at middle, 8s at 75 degrees
-45 degree powell raises (a bizarre lift) 4x8 @10 paired with
-RR supinated grip w/bar, 1x9 @60(lbs), 2x9 @65, 1x9@70
Another pretty easy day- I am feeling better and better and was ready to run, but I will have to wait until monday to prove myself.
I am officially a ZMA convert- I forgot to take it last night and I had a very poor night’s sleep. Of course this could partly be due to the drunken screaming up and down the hall at 2am, but even so- I have felt well-rested getting up every morning this week and today was a noticeable difference.
-10 min run, drills, strides
-played a full-field running game for a while- at least 30 min, sort of a combination of soccer, ultimate frisbee, and basketball.
-short core circuit
Tommorow is pool- easier than our last pool day.
Had pool practice this afternoon which felt really nice-
-drills and a game to get warm
-kicking with a board 6x45s, 15s between
-2x30s backstroke, 30s between
-6x15s kicking, 15s between
-2 all-out lengths in a relay
Tommorow is an off day for everyone but hurdlers, so I will have to practice anyway. We have friday off as well to “take care of school work” since finals are coming up, so hopefully I will get that off for real. I haven’t had an off-day since during thanksgiving break.
Had a great day yesterday- was feeling a little off all day and had a nap before practice, but once I started practicing I felt ok:
-warmup, drills, dynamics, strides
-hurdle drills
-hurdle drills jogging, then 5-step run throughs (5 hurdles)
-starts to the first hurdle standing in shoes x3
-starts in spikes from blocks over the first- 4 or 5
-3x1, 3x2, 3x3 race-style (hurdles in and down)
I am starting to get my rhythm back and the hurdling is starting to feel a little more normal after not having done any for about 6 months. There is another hurdler girl who is decent, but by the end I was dominating. My coach insists that her technique is better and that I just have better footspeed, but watching her I really didn’t think her technique looked like anything special… maybe I am just being defensive, but after a lot of repetition my technique usually falls into place- I don’t think he has seen me at my best yet.
Lower lift:
-snatches 2x6 @25k, 3x5 @27.5k
-back squats to ground 2x8 @50k, 3x6 @52.5k paired with
-leg curls 1 + 1/4, 5x6 @60 lbs
-calf raises 1x12 @90, 2x12 @100
- a couple supplementals
Despite the ZMA I haven’t been sleeping well the past couple nights- my roommate has gotten the hint and when I go to bed she usually leaves to work somewhere else which is great, but I have still had trouble sleeping through the night. Probably the stress of the final week of classes and exams coming up- 400 pages of political theory and 7 pages of writing for fri, then an 8 page paper, a quiz, an essay, 3 exams… christmas break will be SO welcome.
pretty sweet practice today- it was pretty easy because we have an informal, “get to know your teammates” inter-squad meet for the next two days. (Of course our coach secretly wants us to get competitive, you can tell)
-jogging, skipping, backwards running, 2 laps of ins and outs
-drills, brief dynamics
-4x25 all out, walk recovery (in spikes); our indoor track is 190m
-block work- only about 4 actual starts
-4x100 relay-style, walk 100 rest between, basically all out in spikes
quick lift:
-one hand overhead press: 2x8 @22.5, 1x6, 2x5 @25 paired with
-external rotator: 3x8 @10, 2x6 @12.5
-DB curls: 2x7 @17.5, 2x7, 1x5 @20 paired with
-decline close grip bench 2x7 @80lbs, 2x6, 1x5 @85
Even though I have been feeling sort of sick during the day for the past couple days, I have been feeling much better after I practice. I am keeping away from the scale to try to keep my “eating disorder” limited to the degree that it is right now (which is not too bad) but after practices my body has been feeling really good- stronger and tighter, not like during field hockey. I have gotten into a pretty solid routine- going to sleep and getting up during the same window of time every day, making sure I eat breakfast and remember my vitamins + supps, staying hydrated… it’s definitely making a difference. It will be a shock to have 4 classes again next semester!