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2008
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Location:

Washington,DC,USA

Member Since:

May 01, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

One marathon: 4:08; Half marathon PR: 1:48:30; Ten-miler PR: 1:23; 8k PR: 39:00; 10k PR: 46:51

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Lose 10 lbs. to get in shape to run faster and --> Qualify for Boston!

Race calendar:

May 18: Capitol Hill Classic 10k (50:23)

June 14: Lawyers Have Heart 10k (48:20)

July 12: Caribbean Sounds 10k (50:23)

July 14: Bastille Day 4-miler (30:55)

July 27: Riley's Rumble 1/2 Marathon (1:48:30)

(Stress fracture/broken jaw break)

Nov 9: Veteran's day 10k (46:51!!!)

Nov 27: Alexandria Turkey Trot 5-miler

Dec 6: Gar Williams 1/2 marathon

Dec 14: Jingle All the way 10k

February 14, 2009: Myrtle Beach marathon? (goal: 3:40!!!)

Long-Term Running Goals:

Finish a 1/2 Ironman before I'm 40 years old

Finish 10 marathons in 4:00 hrs or less by the time I'm 40 years old.

Run the JFK 50-miler

Personal:

Just another single 30-year old Argentine girl living the American dream in Washington DC and trying to run faster. Graduated from Southern Utah University in 2003, then moved to DC. I have a full-time job as research economist for an association in the transportation industry and I'm attempting to get my Master's degree in Economics from Johns Hopkins, part-time, while keeping my sanity!

More adventures in my personal blog

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Adidas Supernova Sequence Lifetime Miles: 12.00
400 m race pace800 m race pace1500 m race pace3 K race pace5 K race pace10 K race paceLactic ThresholdAerobic ThresholdMarathon PaceBase IIBase IRegenerationTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.003.000.003.00

AM - went to Sports & Spinal to get my running assessment. WOW was I impressed! Best $100 bucks ever spent in my life. The guy really, really knows this stuff. It turns out, his specialty is shin splints! Lucky me, right? No joke! He asked lots of questions, then looked at my feet and made me do some different exercises and he kept saying things that made me think he could get inside my head and knew exactly what was going on in my legs. My favorite part was when he moved my leg and said "WOW! that's crazy - as a kid you hated it when they made you sit down with your legs crossed in front, didn't you? You wanted to sit with your knees together and your lower legs spread apart next to your butt, right?" YESSS!!! I guess my knees have something that i don't remember what it's called, but I thought it was double-jointed. That was so funny though. All my life I thought something was wrong with me cause I couldn't get comfortable crossing my legs in front (Indian-style). Now I know, he told me it's the way my body was built and there's nothing I can do about it. On the other hand, there's a Yoga pose that not many people can do and I can because of that! ha!

He told me my main problem is the way my hip moves. He says with some exercises he can help me fix it. I've known I have a hip problem for a long time. When I was in college, I took an acting class. One of the exercises we did to warm up, we had to imitate another person walking. The girl that imitated me went on and walked in front of me moving her butt around like crazy! I said "I don't walk like that!" She said "Yes you do!" - horrible!!! Ever since I do my best not to move my butt too much when I walk, but I can't help it.

He also made me stand on my toes on a step on one leg with my knee bent and go up and down as many times as I could - and my leg was all shaky, and he said that's because there's a certain calf muscle that I needed to strengthen.

The third thing of notice that he said was that I've been wearing the wrong shoes. The "experts" at the running store only know so much, and he told me why everyone would think I overpronate so much and why they recommend I wear motion control or stability shoes, because that's what it looks like if you only look at my feet. But he looked at my hips and realized it's not really that I overpronate, but that I do something with my kick because of my hip rotation. Anyway, he said I shouldn't wear the Superfeet insoles, and that I may want to try running on neutral shoes, but that for now the stability without the Superfeet should be OK. This makes sense - up until after my first marathon, I hadn't had any shin issues... and I was wearing cheap discounted shoes, not realizing whether they were stability, neutral or whatever. I was just going with my gut. Then I started getting my gait analized and having those guys look at my stride, and that's when I started wearing stability shoes, which weren't right. I'm not blaming the running store guys, it's just not as simple with me as with most people, or so it seems.

The therapist also said I am the perfect example of girls that get shin splints, that I have all the traits that he's been studying for years, and asked if I'd be willing to go to a lecture in Georgetown next week, so he can use me as an example to show the audience what he means. Of course! Anything for the advance of sport science!

He also said his theory is that shin splints have different "seriousness" levels, from 1 to 4, 1 being mostly a soft tissue problem, 4 being mostly a bone problem. If someone had a level 1 or 2 problem, he'd suggest they could keep training, adding some stretching exercises. Levels 3 and 4 were more serious. He examined my legs very carefully and said he'd classify me as a level 3 - mainly a bone issue. He suggested for now I could run/walk twice a week for 20-30 minutes. 

Because he's not covered on my insurance, I have to figure out how many times I can see him for treatment, and he was willing to work on me so it wouldn't be a big burden on my checkbook... He said he could give me stretching/strengthening exercises for the calves, but that the hip issue required that I go into the office... that's going to be fun...

Anyhow - it was nice to see someone that seems to know what they're talking about and offers a solution. He thinks that I can get back into a full-swing marathon training program by February. That seems very reasonable: I can train well in the spring and do a summer or fall marathon. Until then, I'll be logging in very few miles per week, doing lots of spinning, biking, and swimming. I'm OK with that, knowing that it's what it takes to correct this problem for good.

I'll probably run/walk this evening for about 30 minutes...

Last but not least - I'm giving a big presentation Thursday... 30 minutes 60 slides, 50 people. !!!!!!!! Any advice for someone who is TERRIFIED of public speaking?

-------------

PM: ran/walked 3 miles to a Latin American food store in Clarendon and walked back to the office. Shin hurt. Got home and did some core work and some strengthening exercises. Note to self: do not attempt the pistol again for a while, or any other workout suggested by Montelepsy. :)

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments
From huans32 on Tue, Dec 09, 2008 at 14:36:47

Wow all that and only cost you 100 bucks. I will have to look around here for someone that does the same thing. DC is just to far away to go.:( Great news none the less.

From Bonnie on Tue, Dec 09, 2008 at 14:41:24

Wow. That is great about finding someone to help you Lucia!! The money will be well worth it in the end.

Regarding your talk -- 60 slides for 30 mins is way too many (rule of thumb is one slide for every minute). Other than that, just relax and pretend you are talking to one person in the audience (find the person who is nodding when you talk - it will help a lot!). Good luck, I am sure you will do great!!!

From Lucia on Tue, Dec 09, 2008 at 14:55:11

Yes, Mark, I think I lucked out - there are so many sports doctors and therapists, finding a good one is so hard!

Bonnie, I am with you... unfortunately I have to give the same presentation prepared by someone else and can't cut slides... there are a few that are the same set of data for different states, so that should move fast. Thanks for the advice!

From kungfublonde on Tue, Dec 09, 2008 at 16:10:05

Yay for having answers! You will be stronger than ever in no time, watch :)

As for the public speaking, I used to be terrified of it. My best advice, and what helped my daughter recently, was practicing it several times out loud. In front of a mirror or a friend is even better. I talk really fast (so does Amanda), and speed up even more when I'm nervous. Plus my voice is soft. So super fast and really quiet is a nightmare combination for public speaking. Practicing out loud helped me a lot.

From Metcalf RUnning on Tue, Dec 09, 2008 at 21:30:00

WOW that is great to find out all the information! Having answers to your issues makes it seems to always help.

Good luck with the public speaking... I hate it also.

Lori

From walter on Tue, Dec 09, 2008 at 22:43:10

Yeah, Lucia, I have the same problem as you with the knees. I actually noticed my daughter sitting that way the other day. I had a runner notice it when I was 12 and helped me with my form and it has gotten a little better but I still have a heal flick thats a bit noticeable. However when I was 12 it was horrible. It looked like my legs wanted to go sideways when I was running straight.

From Lucia on Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 08:28:24

Thanks Rachel. The first thing I need to do is get over my accent and my scar... by now it's obvious people can understand me easily, and the scar is barely noticeable. I know it, I just have to convince myself of it... Thanks for the advice!

Hombre helado, if I had known my knee issue was going to affect my running I would've done something about it... Make sure your daughter gets checked out for that!

From marion on Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 11:23:39

YEAH!!! Information is the GREATEST thing ever! I am so glad for you! Hero is the pose that you do so well and that I CANT!! Although, I am getting better!

I used to get physically ill when I had to speak in public. I actually conjured pneumonia once! I actually love it now. I just kept accepting opportunities to speak and one day it wasn't horrible anymore! Yeah!!! You will do GREAT!!!

From Kelli on Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 13:27:29

I can not help you on the public speaking, it terrifies me as well. I speak great to audiences all under the age of 12, but throw in an adult and I freak!

I am so glad that this specialist was able to get your problems all figured out and that you get to be a TEST study! he should give you free treatment for being his EXAMPLE!!!! Good luck with getting all straightened out, I hope it is QUICK.

From Burt on Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 14:28:59

My advice for public speaking is play your strengths. In this case your strength is your sexy Latin accent. You can say whatever you want and everyone will think it's great.

From kungfublonde on Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 14:33:18

Burt is a flurt. (or Bert is a flert?)

He's right though.

From Lucia on Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 16:50:38

Thanks guys! I hope you're right... I've recorded my voice and my accent doesn't sound sexy to me, but Burt is an older white guy so maybe he's right :)

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