Logical Fallacies

Check out "The Unapologetic Geek's" blog and see whether you agree with him about these Top "10" logical fallacies in our current political climate...

Bloggers in Harm's way

Hi Everyone:

Check this New York Times Blog link about a Syrian blogger who was killed during some intense shelling in the city of Homs.

Know Thyself

The aphorism "know thyself" should be tattooed on an obvious body part for anyone crazy enought to consider training for endurance sports events. In this blog I'm attempting to understand my psyche in an effort to not only be able to get through the exhaustive training elements required but also the psychological, physical, and emotional stress that a person puts on their bodies when attempting such a grueling endeavor like a marathon or other ultra-endurance event.

Here are my status updates regarding what should be week 5, with a 10 miler yesterday. Instead, I've spent the last two weeks nursing a pulled right calf muscle. Now I am learning that when one body part fails, especially a leg, runners can change their gait to protect the injured muscle. Doing this comes at a price, though. About 5 days ago I woke up to a swollen, stiff kneecap (the same one that I shattered in 1992 but that has been surgery free since 1997). Walking has become an orchestrated attempt at not bending my knee enough to cause a popping sensation right behind the patella. Thanks to a knee brace (found for $10 at Giant!), I can walk just fine, but bearing any significant weight is impossible.

Obviously this has had an effect on my mental state: trying to prepare for a marathon and then having to wait for an orthopedic consult in three weeks before resuming any training is a lesson in patience, stress-management, and boredom (I've gotten so used to running that not running has left me in a foul temper).

Until I can run again, all I can do it eat right, get rest, and nurse my herniated, post-surgical husband, which means chasing down a wild 16-month-old daughter when she tries to jump on my husband's surgery site. Without running, of course. Idling my time, sure, but I can spend the hours that I would have been running finding a good physical therapist and diatician?

It's You, Stupid...

My last post left me wondering: did I have a particular personality that would cause me to continually become injured during workouts/training? Let's examine the evidence:

1. When I was a swimmer, I trained from the ages of 11-19 without injury; the only surgeries I had (on my knees at 16) were because of a genetic mutation in the plica folds behind my knees. Two weeks after surgery I was back to normal.

2. My Injuries started at 19 and 20 (swimming: rotator cuff tear, knee breakage) then again in my 30s at 35 (hernia, during gym workout), 36 (hip cartilage tear while running), and 38 (Achilles tendon pulls, left leg; calf tear, right leg) all in succession. Part of the problem, I know, was an oblivious coach who didn't notice stroke changes in favor of speed workouts; my association coach in high school would have easily spotted the problem that led to the shoulder injury. Swimming butterfly with hips low in the water--causes "dragging" of the lower body through the water, creating more resistance and, thus, puts more stress on the shoulders/rotator cuffs. The knee break was from an accident running stadiums and cannot specifically be attributed to poor coaching but a mix of distraction, condensation on the seats, exhaustion, etc.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'm injured all the time. I need to buy stock in Icy-Hot and Aleve. So I keep wondering: is it in my adult personality that leads me to be injured all the time? I've read the article "The Influence of Psychological Factors on Sports Injuries" from The American Journal of Sports Medicine and author Astrid Junge suggests that through a review of the prevailing literature and research, that

A personality profile typical of the “injury-prone” athlete does not exist. However, several studies have shown a certain readiness to take risks (lack of caution, adventurous spirit) on the part of injured athletes.

So could it be my adventurous spirit? Possibly. But I'm not running at 4 a.m. in the dead of winter or solo hiking, so I don't know if that's it. A certain readiness to take risks? We're getting warmer. I also think there are aspects of my personality that lead to injury: I'm impatient, I'm undisciplined, and I have a tendency to ignore long-term plans for short-term adrenalin highs. For example: if like last week I'm running an "easy hour," I ratchet up the "easy" to "beat my time from X race." I don't think of the consequences because I need to see results that show improvement. I revel in pain, maybe because I'm used to it? And I attempt to run 100% when I'm not 100% ready, like I did today (but, hey, at least I ran .15 total this time, totally up from .10 a few days ago).

In the article from the Sports Science Exchange Roundtable, Daniel Gould and Linda Petlichkof suggest that "The stress of daily life and a lack of social support are more important than an athlete’s personality in contributing to the risk of sports injuries." Hmmmm. Sure, I'm stressed in my daily life: I have work, a 16-month-old daughter, a dissertation to finish, papers to grade, dinner to make, dogs to walk, sleep to attempt, and a dozen other actions to take in any given day. But I also have social support: husband, sister and brothers, mom, family, friends. So could this mean that my personality tics are so strong as to outweigh all other factors? Or is this in issue of "correlation does not imply causation"?

Another Injury Bites the Dust

Now that I'm on a running kick and doing more than 20 miles per week, I decided to register with a friend for the Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond, a race I ran before back in 2009. I've been following Runner's World's Marathon Training Schedule, and last week I was in week 3, with a long run of 8-8.5 miles coming up on Saturday.

So Thursday, I was 3.38 miles into my hour-long run, doing small inclines on the treadmill to simulate running outside (it's easier to run on a treadmill--no wind resistance, no uneven terrain). I told myself to go slow, of course, but I didn't. I was averaging 6.1-6.2 mph; I wanted to get under my Monument 10k time from 2009. So almost 3.5 miles in, I feel a strain, then a "pop!" in my right calf muscle. Agony. Imagine if somebody shot your calf muscle with about half a dozen BBs, all at once, and all in the same place. I immediately hopped off the treadmill and hit pause. I gasped for air. My eyes rolled dizzingly up toward where my brain should be. What was I doing? I turned the treadmill back on, slowed to 1 mph, and walked to 3.5, because I'm also a little bit obsessive compulsive. Well, I didn't exactly walk. I hop-limped my way another tenth of a mile.

Here's the amazing thing about doing Internet research; within minutes I was on my trusty computer looking up all the symptoms of the pain I had in my leg. Check out this website: Pulled-Muscle.com: an entire website designed to soberly educate me about my latest injury. I've iced the muscle, soaked in a hot tub, and forced myself to walk, very slowly, 2-3 miles a day. I will have to wait two weeks to fully run? If I have a "Grade 2" injury (moderate pain walking, no pain at night), then I'm supposed to wait 4-6 weeks to run again. I don't think I can do that. But if I don't, I might create so many injuries that running the Marine Corps Marathon in October will be a moot point. At one point yesterday I was hobbling-shuffling on the treadmill at 5 mph, but I could only hold the pace for less than .10 of a mile. Oh, the agony! I just signed up for a race and here I am in the injury column again. 

I think my next post will be about the psychological ramifications of being insane and not knowing when to stop, pace oneself, or make rational training decisions.