Run by your man (or woman)

Running with your spouse or life partner is a great way to connect, but it can also be challenging at times. I came to think about this when Frank and I were running in Vienna a couple of weeks ago, during a weekend visit. I had not been running for a while, and we did twice 10 km in the mornings there. I found it pretty tough, although the locations and the scenery were great for both sessions. Unfortunately it turns out to be hard to get back on track after a break, although I had been constantly training in alternative ways. For me it was great support to have Frank during these two runs, but I am afraid the pleasure was mostly on my side. I was simply whining and complaining all the time! Poor Frank was extremely patient and motivating, and I did apologize and make it up to him afterwards. But this experience made me think how I sometimes allow myself to be quite childish when I am with him, whereas I never do this with other people.

Fortunately it does not happen that often (although Frank might have a different opinion). You might remember that it did happen when we were training for Bergen Fjellmaraton, and I remember clearly the very first time it happened, when Frank was teaching me downhill skiing almost 28 years ago. I was falling all the time, and of course it was all his fault! Our friends from Melkesyre keep asking him whether I am always so cheerful; well now you know the answer... Perhaps it can be compared to how our children sometimes behave when they are with us and when they are with other people. Since I learned everything about outdoor activities (hiking, skiing, running) from Frank, he is in a way my parent in this respect. Or might it be that when you are with a person whose bond to you is rock solid and will not be affected by a little whining, you allow yourself to be a bit spoiled from time to time?

Running together can have other challenges as well, but those can be easily turned into enjoyable games. Frank is faster than me, but that is not really a problem when we are running together. If we want to run fast, he can run faster and come back, and repeat this until the end of the course. Or we run at a pace which is moderate for me and slow for him, upon which his gps watch becomes very happy and congratulates him with a restitution run! All these years we have been training for Stoltzekleiven together (also with our sons when they were younger and easier to convince to go with us), and on such short courses it is really easy to make up fun games. For example, I can start a few minutes earlier and he can catch me towards the end; the later he catches up with me the happier I am, which gives motivation for both of us to go faster.

After a few months of hesitation Frank finally has now fully joined Melkesyre as well, and that allows us to train at maximal strength together.  Our Melkesyre friends are at various form levels, and we each have people we can compare ourselves and try to keep up with. Frank was a competing athlete (ski jumping and cross country skiing) when he was younger, and since many years he has been the coach of several football teams for boys. I am not sure whether this is the reason, but he was a bit reluctant to join organized training activity as an adult. However, after he joined Melkesyre and Varegg trainings, his form improved so much that he is now even more eager than me to go to training sessions. We have a weekly schedule of doing the Saturday Melkesyre intervals and Tuesday Varegg intervals together. This week, for the first time he even joined the Thursday Stoltzekleiven training (but that was only because his own football training was cancelled that day).  Although we did a few competitions together outside of Stoltzekleiven, like Bergen City half marathon and Bergen Fjellmaraton, he was not as eager as me in 2014 to join a lot of races. This is also changing now, and I suspect that he will participate in many of the racing events of this year.

Frank jokes to say that he had to join Melkesyre; otherwise he was afraid I would become faster than him. I think it is rather that he realizes that I am serious about running and competing, it is not something that will pass quickly, and he wants to be a part of it. He is always very supportive about everything that I come up with (I do come up with a lot of things some of which are a bit crazy), but he has been particularly great about all the things I tried for getting rid of the pain. "You just go and do your stretches and exercises, I will cook", he says, or "You just go and rest, I will take care of this". I am so grateful and amazed that he can be so sweet and patient, whereas he says he is impressed and proud that I do not give up and I continue to run.

Today we booked our tickets for racing together in Italy in October!

Therapies I have tried (or: men I have trusted...)

I have been struggling with pain in the right buttock and behind the left knee for a while now. The first has been there for more than one and a half years, so it started before I increased my mileage and started participating in races. I have a theory that it might be due to fast interval training on the treadmill after no running for a whole month during the summer holidays of 2013. The second came during Oslo half marathon. I was very stupid not to rest enough after this race. The pain went away for a while, but then it came back to stay.

I have tried various therapy types for these injuries, which I want to share with you in case you might find them interesting or useful. Unfortunately they have not helped me much. On the other hand, I did learn a lot from each of the therapists, and they were all recommended by people who were very happy with them. Although my body did not respond well to these treatments, I know that each of them worked perfectly for many people, including professional athletes. In the beginning of each treatment, I had full trust and confidence in each of the therapists, with high hopes that this one would be the one to cure me. Here is how it went:

Traditional physiotherapy: 
In May 2014, after having confirmed by MR an edema in the right buttock, my regular doctor sent me to a series of treatments by a traditional physiotherapist who specialized in sports injuries. This consisted in half an hour massage weekly, by hand and by a machine, all very very pleasant and comfortable. In the beginning the treatment concentrated only on the buttock injury, but after I got the pain behind the knee, my therapist also treated this part. The massage gave instant relief for both injuries, but in the long run it did not really make any difference. I continued with this treatment until the end of 2014, at which point I decided that there was no point in continuing. My therapist was an active runner himself, with a long career of participating in races, all from 5k to half marathons. In fact, he also participated in Oslo half marathon at the same time as me, and finished in 1:34, which I was very impressed with, as he was about 15 years older than me. I learned a lot from him during our discussions, so I value the time I spent at these sessions, although they did not result in a cure.

Acupuncture:
In December 2014, after discussing it with my first physiotherapist, I decided to try another physiotherapist who specialized in acupuncture. He had already helped several of my running friends with various injuries, so I was very optimistic when I started the treatments with him. He treated both injuries with acupuncture only, no massage at all. The acupuncture is not painful, and one feels a pleasant fatigue afterwards. Also this treatment gave some relief, however I did not really experience much improvement over time. My therapist also realized that the treatment was not really helping me, although he was very certain and reassuring in the beginning that he would be able to cure me. So we decided after about 4-5 weeks to stop the treatment.

Muscle therapy (deep tissue massage):
In January 2015, I started with muscle therapy twice a week. This therapist was an athlete himself, and a very philosophical man around my age, so we had many many interesting discussions and I learned a lot from him during the 6 weeks I was treated by him. Muscle therapy is incredibly painful. It is in fact the most painful thing I have ever experienced; I daresay it is worse than giving birth. The therapist pushes tense points in the muscles with a finger or with his elbow, really really hard. The idea is that this will increase blood circulation through the muscle, and promote healing. In the beginning I experienced that there was a change in my legs, and my therapist said that my tenseness was getting better, so I was very optimistic and motivated, despite the pain. My therapist forbade fast flat runs, and I followed his advice, which I really regret now. Not running did not help my injuries; it merely worsened my form, which was at top at the beginning of the year. I had already rested quite a bit during the holidays, so I should have trusted my gut feeling and just continued running. As we continued with the treatment, I experienced that my pain got worse, especially in the buttock. In fact, at some point I had so much pain around the whole right side of my hip that I was actually not able to run even if I wanted to. This period was quite depressing, mainly because I could not decide what to do. I started losing faith in the treatment, and I was all the time hesitating between continuing the treatment or not, and starting running again or not. In the end I could not take it anymore, and I decided to stop this and try something else. I must tell you though, that many runners I know are very very happy with this kind of therapy, and especially with this particular therapist. He also treats professional athletes, some of them very famous. It is just that my body did not respond well to this therapy.

Intramuscular needle therapy:
In February 2015 I started to visit a physiotherapist who specializes in treating muscles with long thin needles that are inserted deep into the injured muscles. The idea is the same as with muscle therapy, but without compressing the muscles with hard massage. Once the needle hits the affected area, one feels some trembling in the muscle which loosens. Although it sounds painful, it is not at all! Just a little bit unpleasant. Especially compared to muscle therapy, it is nothing. This therapist was also recommended to me by people who were helped by him, and he also treats proper athletes. He gave me the most complete examination of all therapists. He made me run on the treadmill to study my step, he made me do many different exercises to see how my body, my skeleton, and my muscles worked. He could even point out what was painful before I told him. He gave me a few treatments with needles, and once high pressure treatment (that is actually painful!), but there is a huge difference between this therapist and the previous ones: he does not think treatment is what I need! My body does not really respond that much to needles or pressure. What I really need is to strengthen my hips, especially my gluteus medius muscles. And he allows me to run! The only times I am not allowed to run is right after needle treatment, but otherwise I can just run as long as I am paying attention to the signals from my body. I am still continuing to see him, but it is not on a regular basis like with the previous therapists. The plan is that I conscientiously do my exercises and stretches, and we meet once in a while so that he can see my progress. I am already feeling much better, and the pain, although still there, has changed quite a bit. As all therapists have told me: change is good!

If nothing else works, a therapy that always helps is to buy a new dress! :-) I do quite a bit of my shopping online, and when a package arrives and the contents fit perfectly, there is no better therapy! And on top of that when it is 50% off of an already reasonable price...

This morning, completely by chance (because I subscribe to Runners' World and Competitor Running on Facebook), I learned about something called the piriformis syndrome and how to treat it by various stretches. The symptoms match exactly my symptoms in the right buttock! Now I am again optimistic that I might be able to treat this pain on my own. And needless to say I get a bit disappointed in all the experts I have been treated by who never ever mentioned this syndrome. I will mention it to my current therapist the next time I see him. Perhaps he can simply insert a needle in my right piriformis muscle!

On a positive high after a successful and pain free uphill interval training with Melkesyre yesterday, I am more optimistic than ever about curing my injuries by simply strength exercises, stretching, and adjusting my training. Keeping the core and the hips strong seems to be a good advice for all runners, and not the least to stretch properly and long enough. I have by now understood that most runners around my age have some kind of pain most of the time. We just have to deal with it in our own ways. Maybe I cannot run half marathons as much as I want, but then perhaps I can concentrate on uphill races. I will just keep running, training, and racing as long as it is fun and gives me joy, and I will never give up on my goal of always improving and getting faster, better, stronger.

Stay strong and never let the pain get the better of you!

Personal training revisited

It is quite amazing how much stronger I have become during the past year, thanks to personal training (PT) sessions. This week my trainer Ketil and I had our 1-year anniversary.

You might remember my first post about personal training, the benefits of it and what you should look for in a personal trainer. When I first started my PT sessions with Ketil on March 10, 2014, I had already been strength training and interval training on treadmill three times a week at Barry’s Bootcamp since 2012. Thus I considered myself strong and fast. It was therefore a big surprise to experience how much stronger and faster I became already after a few weeks’ of PT sessions once a week. Within a month I was ready for my very first half marathon! In the beginning, I was both running outdoors and still going to bootcamp classes once or twice a week. After half a year though, having gotten the real taste of outdoors activities, with running both flat and uphill, long and short distances, and participating in lots of races (of course with the great influence of Melkesyre), I found myself not participating in enough bootcamp classes and thus not getting enough strength training. At that point we increased the number of PT sessions to twice a week. I have my PT sessions early in the morning before going to work, which leaves the afternoons of these two days also free for outdoor running.

From earlier posts, you already know how much I appreciate Ketil and how enthusiastic I am to have him as my trainer, with his vast knowledge and experience as a trainer and an athlete. By now he is also a good friend, and I have hard time imagining how I would manage without his continuous expert advice and guidance. The benefits of a personal trainer are perhaps more obvious at the start of a running career. At least many of my friends are asking me why I still need a personal trainer now that I am strong and a runner with more routine and knowledge. So I thought I would explain how the PT sessions are helping me, at the same time answering some of these questions.

An alternative to PT sessions could perhaps be going to morning bootcamp classes twice a week and do double floor (with this option, you skip the treadmill intervals and do strength training for the full hour). However, during a PT session we do a lot of exercises that are not possible to do in a bootcamp class. More importantly, each week’s exercises are carefully designed by Ketil depending on what kind of outdoor activities and races are coming up, and whether I have injuries, pain or weaknesses that need to be worked on. I also have a couple of strength goals that are not related to running, but that do require the equipment in the PT room and the guidance of a trainer.

In addition to the practical and physical benefits, I get an amazing energy and boost of self-confidence after every PT session. The sessions are a lot of fun and we laugh a lot, and I feel super strong as I almost every time manage something new which I could not do before. When I am struggling with injuries or pain, or when I am worried about my form, Ketil gives me all kinds of motivating pep talk, as well as reassuring and comforting comments about how well I am doing. He has an incredible confidence in what I can do and how far I can reach, most of the time much more than I do. And all of his predictions come true! One of the things I appreciate the most is that he takes all my worries seriously, no matter how small or stupid they might sound. He fully understands and appreciates what I am struggling with, and he always has exactly the perfect feedback to get my spirit back up high in the sky.

A question that I get often is whether it is not expensive. This depends on what other expenses one has. I am not into jewelry, accessories, or expensive brands, which leaves quite a bit of room for expenses related to running and training. I drive an electric car, which gives savings in parking, city entrance toll, and gas. Every now and then PT packages are on sale, and I make sure to grab a whole bunch. Many of my friends are regulars at training centers that charge quite high monthly membership fees, and they end up not using their centers that much after all. In this respect, paying only for the classes that you actually attend (both with PT and bootcamp sessions), as it is the rule at Barry’s Bootcamp, might be more economic in the long run. If you are thinking about it, I would say just try it now!

Cool leg muscles these days by the way - bikini fitness next! :-D

With a license to run: Varegg

For the first time in my life I am a member of a sports club! A licensed athlete! :-) Varegg is my club and I am an extremely proud member. I have already signed up for my first race as a Varegg racer - it was really cool to be able to choose a sports club in the Eqtiming sign-up form which I am by now so familiar with. I will also compete in the Holmekollen relay race as part of a Varegg team in May.

I feel that I owe so much to Varegg, and it feels great to be able able to support the club by becoming a member. First of all, the annual Stoltzekleiven races that I have been writing so much about are organized by Varegg. But OK; one pays to participate in those, so that is probably not reason enough to join the club. However, I have participated in several other races (and subsequent parties!) organized by Varegg, where participation was either free or very cheap, all based on voluntary work, and I have since December felt that I wanted to contribute in some way or other. The first step was to do some voluntary work, and finally I decided that I want to become a full member.  My membership was approved this week; it feels so good!!!

It is quite amazing how many different training opportunities Varegg offers to grown-ups (veterans as we are called) every single week. In fact, my running group Team Melkesyre is associated with Varegg, although there is no membership fee or any requirement to join Varegg. Another group, called Fjellgeitene, whose members are more into uphill and mountain running, is also associated with Varegg. (Readers who do not speak Norwegian might find it interesting to know that Melkesyre means Lactic acid, and Fjellgeitene means Mountain goats.) I have participated in several activities of Fjellgeitene already, and my plan is to become more active in several of their practices. There is quite a big intersection between the two groups, with people participating in both, and several of them are also Varegg members. Together, Varegg, Melkesyre, and Fjellgeitene offer an incredible variety of training opportunities that are all free of charge and open for everybody to join.

I have set up an example weekly evening schedule which is my dream to be able to follow:

Monday: Restitution training (both Melkesyre and Fjellgeitene offer training on Mondays, so there is always one of those options as well)
Tuesday: Interval training with Varegg
Wednesday: Uphill and jumping training with Fjellgeitene
Thursday: Stoltzekleiven with Melkesyre
Friday: Strength training with Fjellgeitene
Saturday: Uphill intervals with Melkesyre
Sunday: Long mountain running with Varegg, proceeded by social gathering with Melkesyre

Fortunately, my twice-a-week personal training sessions are in the mornings, so they can easily come in addition to this program. But of course such a program would be too tough to follow every week. I think it is not recommended to have more than two hard interval training sessions per week, so I should alternate between the Tuesday and the Wednesday activities every second week. In addition, I have the strict instruction of my trainer to have a completely training free day once a week. Hence the above plan must skip one of the activities every week. So many fun things to do, so little time!

There is actually yet another running group which I have been following via social media but have not participated in any of the activities yet: The HSI running group. Among many interesting activities, they have long and slow runs on Wednesdays. This can fit very nicely into my program on alternating weeks, and it is my goal this year to do much more long and slow running than I have been doing until now.

Back to Varegg, Melkesyre, and Fjellgeitene, I cannot repeat often enough how much energy, motivation, inspiration, and happiness I get by just being with these people, and how much I learn from them every single time. This week's heroes are Lars and Eva. Lars is the "chief fjellgeit", and I had an incredibly inspiring chat with him about injuries, pain, progression, choosing the right activities, etc, yesterday after the uphill interval training with Melkesyre. He has a story similar to that of Bjarne; both have become top athletes as adults after a long inactive life style, and there is so much to learn from their experiences. Eva, my Melkesyre and Varegg team mate, is an experienced runner participating and having great achievements in many races, who also started her racing career late. I learn from her a lot every time, and yesterday we talked quite a bit about injuries. In conclusion, I see that there is nothing special about having pain and injuries when you are a runner passed 40. You just have to learn to know your body to deal with these things in the way that is best for yourself, and choose the activities that you can become good at without having pain. I am now inclined to stop all therapy, all running restrictions, and just go for it again, as before. I am sure this will be the topic of a blog i a couple of weeks. For now, I am just immensely happy to think about all the many amazingly fun activities with Varegg, Melkesyre and Fjellgeitene to look forward to!

Here I come! With a license to run! :-)

GPS sports watch functions - what and how to use?

GPS sports watches offer so many options on what to display during training and competition. But what to choose during various kinds of activities?

I have a Garmin Forerunner 410 which is already a few years old.  On my watch I can have four displays between which I can switch with the tap of a finger. On each display I can show up to three things, where one is displayed big and the other two small. Until the summer of 2014, I used only one of the displays, and on this I always had in the big field the total elapsed time since start. In the two little fields underneath, I had current speed (km/hour) and total distance since start. Nowadays, depending on what kind of training or competition I am doing, I use different functions.

As I was used to knowing my current speed due to a lot of running on the treadmill at Barry's Bootcamp, I used the current speed function a lot before, but nowadays I prefer to watch my pace (minutes/km) rather than my speed. Since, like many women, I find the heart rate belt uncomfortable, I did not use it much before. But after I took a fitness test last August, I use the belt and the heart rate function every single time. Here are a few examples of what I like to display and watch during what kind of activity:

Uphill intervals with Melkesyre: I display "lap time" in the big field in one of the displays, and "heart rate" in the big field in one of the other displays.  Since during these intervals we run simply as fast as we can, I do not see the point in watching the speed, but I like to see my heart rate every now and then to make sure that I reach the same maximum HR at every interval. The advantage with lap time is that whenever I push the button a new lap starts, and thus I know exactly when every interval and every break starts and ends. I push restart as soon as I hear the run command, and I push lap stop as soon as I hear the stop command. I don't care so much what the little fields display, since they are anyway too small to see during such an intensive training.

Stoltzekleiven: I simply watch one display and it shows the total elapsed time. The course is so short and intensive that for me it is not possible to keep track of anything else.

5 km race: I display "pace" in the big field. My goal is to manage this particular course under 25 minutes, and I know that I should then have below 5:00 in average pace. Until now I have been displaying current pace, but at the next race I plan to display average pace. In one of the small fields I display the elapsed distance and in the other the total elapsed time. However, I must admit that during such fast races the small fields are not so easy to see.

Uphill races, like Blåmanen races, Fløyenkarusellen: In one display, I have the total elapsed time in the big field. In the small fields of the same display I have the distance and the elevation. Since these races are not as fast (for me) as flat races, it is possible to follow even the small fields. In another display I have the heart rate in the big field. Speed and pace are not so relevant for me in uphill races, as they normally apply to flat running, whereas in these kind of races there is even quite a bit of walking every now and then.

Longer lasting uphill races, like Skåla Opp and Fjellmaraton: During these two races I had exactly the same displays as the uphill races above, but these two races took place before I started paying attention to the heart rate. During longer races (more than 1 hour) paying attention to heart rate becomes really important, so that one does not go above the lactate threshold too early. In the future I will try to more actively pay attention to the heart rate during longer runs.

Long distance races, like half marathons: In one display I have pace in the big field, and total time and total distance in the two small fields. In another display I have heart rate in the big field, and the average speed and average pace in the small fields. Normally, during such a race (or training for such a race) I have a goal time, which prescribes a goal pace, which I like to follow.  At the last half marathon I participated, I also made a pace wrist band which showed what my total time should be after every km, and I could compare this to my watch.

Training: Normally "heart rate" and "pace" are the most important information during training, depending on what the goal is. Especially for restitution training, watching the heart rate is of utmost importance, to make sure that it goes slow enough. Also for harder training where the goal is to improve the form, watching the heart rate is important, this time to make sure that the heart rate is high enough. For longer runs where the goal is to keep a slow or moderate pace, watching the pace is a very good way to stay in control.

And of course every now and then I just go with the feeling without ever looking at the watch. But I always wear it and start it so everything is recorded. I upload every run to Garmin Connect so that I have everything gathered there, and I can share it with my connections who also have Garmin gear. Recently I also started to use Strava so that I can connect with friends who do not have Garmin gear.

My next watch will be one I can use during swimming, too!