Well i'm way behind

Indi - Nice job, especially when I know you were weary of your training.

Roll - Speedy!!

Me - I saw a sports doc this morning from the advice of my chiro and he thinks I may be on the on-set of a sports hernia but they are extremely hard to diagnose.  He advised me to take it easy and only do exercises that have no pain and really concentrate on building strength in my core/hips, upper legs then come see him in 30 days if it hasn't resolved itself.  Running is fine as long as it doesn't hurt.  Its weird I have no pain when i'm doing strength training, only when running.  I can walk on my tip-toes with no pain but when I walk on my heels I get sharp pain followed by dull aching in the left inner quad.  So I had zero miles last week and just did P90X workouts and will just be playing everything by ear.  Today I have Chest & Back and will try to get some kind of cardio in.

+1,000,000

joshlynn, hope it's not a hernia.  Take care!

Paced for the Umstead 100 on Saturday night.  Another great experience.  My runner was shooting for 24 hours, but failed.  She had a pretty tough last 10 or so miles, but she got through.  I'll say it again, if you ever have the opportunity to pace someone for one of these, its a great experience and you can learn a lot.  For instance, around mile 90 she started getting very dizzy.  She asked me go ahead to the aid station and bring back something salty and hot.  So I ran ahead and brought back some extra salty potato soup.  Within 5 minutes after drinking it, she improved dramatically.  Hopefully I'll never have to use that lesson, but good to know.

 

The other neat thing was that, as a volunteer pacer, I got a brand new Kelty hydration pack.  Yay!  I've wanted to get one of these for a while.  I have a few questions if anyone has used some kind of Camel Bak or something:

1. Any tips to keep them clean?

2. If you put sports drink in it, will it cause problems as far as cleanliness or flavor issues on subsequent uses?

3. How on earth do you know how much you have left in the bladder?

 

Thanks for any help.

I use a Camelbak for long runs.  For cleanliness, I think the big thing is making sure it dries out in between uses, because it will stay wet forever if you let it and I imagine it could start growing things.  I usually stuff the bladder full of paper towels or something to prop it open while it dries after runs.  I have no good ideas for cleaning the inside of the hose, but I will clean my mouthpiece and the inside of the bladder with dish soap.

I have never put anything other than water in mine, so I don't know about sports drink.  I imagine it could be harder to clean because things could get sticky, though.

There really isn't a good way to know how much is left other than getting used to the feel of it - I can usually feel that I am getting low just based on how it feels on my back.  Sloshing reduces, and I will find myself tightening the straps as I go because the pack is decreasing in size.  I do find that I am usually overly paranoid and I have more left than I think I do.  Mine holds 70 ounces, I think, which gets me 15-20 miles, unless it is insanely hot out.

Other tips - if it is hot outside, fill up a little bit of water into the Camelbak the night before, blow into the hose to inflate the bladder, and lay the bladder flat in the freezer.  That way, you get a thin layer of ice that will keep your water cold for a good while, but it doesn't interfere with the hose or the opening at the top.  If you don't want your first sip to be hot every time you drink, blow back into the hose after drinking so that all the water is stored up in the pack, rather than in the hose out in the sun.  Likewise, if it is cold out, blow the water back into the hose so it doesn't freeze in the hose.

Hey Donuts,

Looks like there's been some good running (through injuries) going on in here over the last month.

Roll and Indi - Congrats on the recent PRs!

Finally went to see the oncologist and he said that there's no malignancies in my left leg but it looks like I have a bad case of shin splints and achilles tendinitis.  Taking a look at my film and just the overall state of my leg, he strongly advised me to replace running with cycling or swimming.  He said there's a lot of lesions on my left tibia and that it is significantly weaker than my right leg.  Told me I could end up with a Kevin Ware-like injury that could strike out of the blue and if I happened to end up with a stress fracture or complete fracture that it would be very hard to heal given my history of cancer.  Told me there's a good chance that a fracture may never heal properly and that it could be a disabling injury.

Good news is that I finally have a referral for PT, just need to make an appointment.  Hopefully, they can get the AT sorted out and I'll be able to start cycling without discomfort/swelling.

Best of luck to all of you runners.  I still plan to check in from time to time to keep track of your progress.

Nacho - great news about the clean bill of health regarding cancer!!!! Cycling is a close second for me and hopefully you'll like it just as much. Cancer free is way better than running.

 

Roll:  But just think, you have a shiny new PR to show for last week, so low mileage is not that big a deal!  I am feeling quite pressured by your awesome time!

 

MDawg:  Nice workout!  I hear ya on the spring weather...I was in shorts and tank yesterday and was burning up!  Is it too early to complain about it being hot?

 

You've got this! However, if you complain about the heat already, I think some of our northeast donuts may spontaneously combust.

Bags - good running karma for you as well.

AmiK, LOL.

Nachos, so sorry to hear about the no running (but yay at the non-cancer diagnosis).  Maybe you should attempt a second opinion to see if the same prognosis result?  I know of people that have shin splints and AT that have successfully rehabbed their legs and come back to running.  Hope your PT gets you back out with either cycling or running.  Wish you the best and don't be a stranger!

Onemile:  I am fully expecting you to run Monumental and go for the BQ!!