Training log - Week ending 8/10/2025

This week was 55 miles of running and 8 "miles" of pool-running.

This was my second week at 50+ miles, and the fatigue really kicked in.  Not surprising - that's what happens when you drastically bump up the mileage and also do your first long run in months (last Sunday) and your first hill workout (this past Tuesday)in months....

I felt comfortable increasing my workload this aggressively because a) I have a history of high mileage and b) I'm not coming off of an injury.  Additionally, the upcoming week is going to be a cutback week because of personal obligations.

For the heck of it, I ran a report in my training log to see how my weekly volume has changed over the last few years. Here's my volume (essentially running+ pool-running) from 2020-2025. 

Clearly there's been a drop-off in recent years.  Some of that is because I'm slower now and so a 90 minute run equates to less miles than it used to.  But another factor is that I've added in a lot of other stuff - stretching, balance training, etc, and some of that has taken time away from my running. If I can find a way to keep those things (very important) while also bumping my volume up a bit, I think my running paces will improve.

Here's a second chart, showing weekly volume for the last 12 months:

The three really low weeks are a) when I got Covid at the end of 2024; b) the week after the Boston Marathon; and c) when I got heat stroke a few weeks back.

Looking at the second chart, it's obvious to me that my volume has been markedly low for much of the period from April/May until two weeks ago. Just more evidence that I have room to increase that mileage, and hopefully improve my running performances.

Dailies:

Monday: 8 "miles" of pool-running and yoga. Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles, including 7 Iwo Jima hill repeats (each repeat is up a 500m hill at a 2-3% incline, 90 second jog, 200m downhill stride, and 50-second jog to the bottom.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (10:04) + 8x100m strides (25-27 seconds). Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  4.5 miles very easy (10:53) on trails in morning followed by plyometrics. Streaming Pilates and foam rolling in evening.  

Friday: 8.5 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 31:56 (8:10/8:02/7:54/7:50) plus 4x200m in 56-59 seconds each.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 9 miles very easy (10:02) followed by upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 14.5 miles easy to moderate (9:33 average; first mile 11:16, last mile 8:26).  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

The Hartford Nationals, July 13-14, 2025

I ran the 1500 and the 3000 at the Hartford Nationals meet in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 13-14, with times of 7:09 for the 1500 and 14:31 for the 3000 - finishing as top female in both heats.

The Hartford Nationals are (using their own words) the "largest and longest-running national sport championship event for athletes with a physical disability, visual impairment or intellectual disability." The full event covers multiple sports over 8 days, including track and field, swimming, archery, weightlifting, triathlon, tennis, and several others. 

I went last year and really enjoyed the event even though I had to withdraw from my races due to injury (I did hobble through an 800, but I decided that didn't count as a race). This year, I resolved to come back healthy.  

At last year's Hartford Nationals, I planned an ambitious schedule - targeting the 400, 800, 1500, and 5000 over two days.  Since I'm a marathoner, this didn't seem very intimidating.  However, I learned over that summer that warming up and racing a short distance two or three times in the same day with a gap of several hours between each was very hard on my body. I suspect that doing so at several meets in a row was why I got injured. So this year I planned for just one race each day.

I also chose to enter the first race of each day at the Hartford Nationals.  I thought this would give me my best chance to perform well. To explain why, I first have to go into the differences between Move United meets and the USATF meets in my area. (Move United is the governing body for adaptive sports in the U.S.)

In my experience, meets sanctioned by Move United are much more formal than USATF meets. At a Move United meet, the track is open for warm-up for a specified period of time, and then closed, and there's generally not any other good place to run while awaiting your race. Move United meets also want the athletes to check in well ahead of time.  And once you've checked in, they keep you on a fairly short leash. 

In contrast, the USATF meets I've done have always had some place to run besides the track and also allow athletes to do laps on the track infield while waiting for their heat. USATF check ins also seem more casual. I tell them I'm there, get my hip #, and then I'm free to head off wherever while awaiting the start. If I miss my race, it's my own damn fault.

For a number of reasons (age, Parkinsons, and being a marathoner), I need a long warm-up before a short race, and I need to time it so that my warm-up finishes shortly before the race starts. Thus, at Move United meets, it's a lot easier to time my warm-up correctly if I'm in the first race of the day.  

So, back in March of this year, I pulled up the preliminary schedule for the Hartford Nationals and noted that the 1500 and 3000 were the first races on each of the two track days. I found a Move United sanctioned meet in May where I could snag qualifying times for the two distances. Once I had those, I submitted my entry and booked my trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

***

I flew out of BWI to Grand Rapids. While waiting to board, I noted that most of the other passengers appeared to be going to the Hartford Nationals as well.  I was surprised at first and then recalled that there's a significant para-athletic/adaptive athlete program associated with the Kennedy-Krieger Institute in Baltimore.

Unsurprisingly, there were a LOT of pre-boards.  I idly wondered if I would read something on social media later complaining about how many people took advantage of pre-board. In this case, a good third of the passengers on board really did qualify for and need pre-board.

***

The flight went smoothly. Once in Grand Rapids, much of my time was dedicated to standing in line.  This was because I did the same thing everyone else did - I booked my car rental through the airplane, and I stayed at the hotel where all the official meetings were held.  So that was a 20+ minute wait for a car, and another 20+ minute wait to check into my room. Clever me also decided to pick up my bib numbers and other stuff at the same time as everyone else later that afternoon, so that was another 30 minutes.

The moral of the story - next year I need to be more original in my planning.

***

Friday evening was the "track and field coaches meeting" to go over the rules of the meet.  Since I was there on my own, I attended.  As someone who really wishes that track etiquette rules were posted at my local track (this comment aimed at the woman who does her recovery jogs in lane 1 clockwise...) the slide presentations warmed my heart a touch.

***

I slept in Saturday morning and then headed over to Calvin University - site of the track and field competition. The track itself was closed to runners because the field events were being held on the infield, but I was able to get a general sense of the venue and do a brief shake-out on some trails on the University campus before getting lunch.  It was warm, but the dew point was refreshingly low after a few weeks in DC - it felt great and my legs felt zippy.

The track was open to runners from 1:30-3:00 that afternoon, so I returned for about 15 minutes of jogging to see what the track felt like. It was a surprisingly soft track - almost like running on an astroturf infield. I had brought two pairs of race shoes with me - the Saucony Sinister and the Reebok FloatRide RunFast Pro.  A few minutes jogging in each convinced me that the Reeboks were the better, more comfortable choice for this weekend.

***

Sunday morning was my first race - the 1500.  Unfortunately, though I was in the first race of the day, I was not in the first heat of the day. Rather, I was in the 6th heat (of 10) for the 1500.  Oh well, I knew that I probably wasn't going to be lucky enough to be in the first heat, and it was what it was.  I warmed up on the track during the scheduled time (6:30-7:15 am). With my heat estimated to start at 8:30 am, I then tried to keep walking and stay limber, before starting to jog on a slip of road near the call tent around 8 am.

I didn't feel great, unfortunately. Just sluggish and a bit dull. Which surprised me as the air was still relatively dry and the temperature was in the low 70s - perfect for a summer 1500. But whatever, I was here, and I would race as best I could.

My heat of the 1500 was a mixed ambulatory field - meaning men and women (all 18 or older), with different impairments. Most were in the 18-21 age range, including another woman with a coordination impairment. And then there was a female lower leg amputee in her 30s and me.

We lined up for a waterfall start - men on the inside, women on the outside.  I noted that the amputee was to the right of me, with her left leg being the prosthetic.  I've noted that prosthetics tend to swing outwards slightly. Given my balance issues, any contact between my leg and her prosthetic would mean a possible fall for me.  I made a mental note to let her cut to the rail ahead of me, and then hopefully pass her on the outside.

The gun started, and just like always I was in last place.  I took a few breaths to try to relax my gait and then started working on that weird blend of "running hard but not running too hard." Over the next 3 and 3/4s laps I reeled in both of the women. It wasn't pretty, though.  Every time I would try to aggressively pass my quads would lock up, and I'd have to ease up and re-establish my rhythm and relax the tense muscles. I ended up swinging out to lane 2 and passing each very gradually (no surges).

 I would have liked to have run down some of the men as well, but I just had no oomph and they were too fast for me.

I crossed the line in 7:09.  Good enough for top woman in my heat and a win in my division.  I wasn't very happy with how I had run, though.  I was frustrated by both my rough gait and how off I felt.  The gait clearly needed more work, which was fine - it's always nice to have room and potential for improvement.  But why did I feel so rough?

I figured it out later that morning when I checked the weather on my phone.  We were under a code red air quality alert due to forest fire smoke from Canada that had rolled in overnight. It wasn't affecting me enough to make my asthma super obvious, but how I was feeling was totally consistent with a mild asthma flare.  

Unfortunately, the smoke was predicted to linger through tomorrow morning (the second and final day of track) before dissipating.  Of course it was.

Normally I try to avoid running outside in smoky air to protect my lungs. But, I was here and tomorrow's 3000 would be a short race. So rather than hang around at the event for the rest of the day to cheer others on, I took a quick tour of the vendor area and then headed back to the hotel.

***

The vendor area was pretty cool.  Several businesses that cater to adaptive athletes - primarily those with wheelchairs or prosthetics - had set up shop.  Some pictures:

This tent had the wheelchair equivalent
of the "trainer" used by cyclists.

If you zoom in on this picture...

You see a fancy carrying case 
for a prosthetic.

***

Sunday afternoon was Chipotle + stretching + reading.  I wasn't running a marathon, but why mess with my routine?

I went to bed fairly early so that I could get up around 4:30 to do my full routine of mobilization/stretching before heading over to the track to warm-up for the 3000.  Unfortunately, I somehow either slept through or didn't set my watch alarm with the result that I woke up at 5:15 am instead.

Not how I wanted to start the morning.  Fortunately, my original plan had been for a leisurely morning.  Sleeping in just meant that it was a bit less leisurely and more rushed, but I was still able to do everything I needed to before heading over.

***

When I arrived, I noted how hazy the sky was - almost like it was a foggy morning (though it wasn't).  My warm-up confirmed that I didn't feel any better than the day before. Which was disappointing, as I thought the 3000 was my best chance for a good performance, given a) the distance and b) the fact that it was scheduled to be the first race of the day. But whatever - I was here and I'd give it my best effort.

Unfortunately, when I checked in for the 3000m, I learned that the 5000 was being held before the 3000, so I no longer had the first race of the day.  (When I had registered, the 3000 had been listed first on the schedule). Oh well. Such is racing. I waited until the 5000 had about 6 laps left, and then began jogging again, trying to stay limber. Then we were called to walk to the start line.

I approached the 3000 with a different strategy.  Given the air quality, I didn't want to be pushing things too hard, lest a subtle asthma flare become less subtle. So this was the perfect opportunity to practice staying as relaxed as possible while racing.  No TENSION.  This strategy might backfire and cost me the race, but the air quality was already limiting me, so this was the perfect time to work on this.

When the gun went off, my legs were definitely stiff from the wait for the race, and so I very delicately eased into what felt like the fastest pace I could maintain while staying completely relaxed and smooth.  Fortunately, this pace was fast enough to gradually close the gap between me and the female amputee from the 1500 (this was another mixed race, with men and women from different classifications combined). Every time I felt the slightest bit of tension, I backed off the pace.

Focusing on smoothness, I eventually pulled up next to her.  She threw in some surges trying to keep up, but I did my best to ignore her and the fact that I was racing her and just keep my gait smooth.  We went around like this for two laps - her in lane 1 and me in lane 2 the whole time (yes, I know, but dropping behind her on the turn and then attempting to pass on the straightaway wasn't an option - my legs would just lock when I tried to pass).

Then things began to loosen up, and I started to pull away.  Eventually I had enough room to move into lane 1 comfortably.  From then I was running by myself, with a male runner about 50-75m ahead.  I spent the next laps negotiating with myself, because I knew I wasn't running at full race effort and I had someone ahead of me.  But my biggest goal for the morning was to run the entire race with absolutely no tension, so I held steady.

I finished in 14:31 (I don't have intermediate splits because I wasn't allowed to wear a smart watch for this race). Significantly slower than what I had hoped for when I entered, but I had finished as top female, won my division, and run a much better race (from a gait perspective) so I called it a good morning.

I won two gold medals - aren't they pretty?

Other notes:

• This was my second time at the Hartford Nationals, and I'm really glad I came again.  Overall, it was a really good experience and I hope to return next year.  I do think I need to focus on competition and forget about running my best times at this meet. With the big gaps between warm-up and race starts, The meet is just not set up for me to run my fastest. This is not a complaint at all, just an observation, in the same way that I'd never use a hilly marathon for a PR attempt.
  
  
• The New Jersey Navigators (an adaptive athlete team from....wait for it....New Jersey) have informally adopted me and let me use their tent when we're at the same meets. It is very much appreciated.
  
  
• I had optimistically booked a flight for Monday night back to BWI.  That flight was cancelled about 10 hours before takeoff, due to a predicted storm that actually did happen.  Fortunately, I had planned for this and packed everything I needed for staying an extra day as well as going into the office straight from BWI, so I declined Southwest's offer to rebook me that evening and just swapped to the 5:30 am flight on Tuesday morning. This was a good decision. 
  
  What was not a good decision was trying to save money by clicking on a last minute Trip Advisor deal for a hotel right next to the airport.  The hotel had 2.5 out of 4 stars and was a national chain, so I assumed that $50 would get me a clean safe bed and a shower for the evening. 
  
  I was so very wrong. I ended up checking out roughly an hour after checking in, skeeved out by the non-working door bolt, the pot smoke everywhere, the vague warnings from staff to avoid the back or side of the building, and the clerk's willingness to dispense a key card for any room to anyone who wanted a card for that room without confirming identity. I went back to my previous hotel and gratefully paid another $150 for another night of clean sheets and clean air.
  
  Lesson: never book a hotel "deal" without reading the reviews.

Training log - Week ending 8/3/2025

This week was 51 miles of running and 9 "miles" of pool-running.

A cold front rolled through on Thursday, which meant decent conditions (for summer) on Friday morning. I took advantage and ran a 4 mile track tempo on Friday.  While far from where I want to be, the tempo was a dramatic improvement over previous track workouts - a nice indication that I have gained a bit of fitness back.

The weather lingered through the weekend, so I took advantage and ran 14 miles - my longest run since late May.  It actually did feel long. I was a little surprised, but I shouldn't have been - I am very far from full marathon fitness.  Which is a positive - I'd rather be slower-than-I'd-like and out of shape than be slower-than-I'd-like and at peak fitness.  The former implies substantial room for improvement.

I also feel like my running gait has been improving.  One of the cues that is working right now, oddly enough, is to visualize race walking rather than running.  I think this is because I have a tendency right now to bounce up more than forward - mostly because my ankles and quads get stiff and act like brakes.  I can try to think through relaxing them individually. Or I can visualize race-walking, with its exaggerated hip motion and soft ankles and knees.  The latter is much easier.

Dailies:

Monday: 7 miles very easy (9:47) with 2 strides plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 8x3:00 on/2:00 jog+ 4x30 seconds on/90 seconds jog. The three minute reps were at 8.0-8.2 mph and the 30 second reps were at 8.7 mph, with 6 mph jogs (treadmill speeds probably not accurate).  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: Streaming yoga and 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  5 miles very easy (10:59) on trails in morning. Streaming Pilates and foam rolling in evening.  

Friday: 8 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 31:07 (7:55/7:48/7:46/7:38) plus 2x100m in 25 seconds each.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 8 miles very easy (9:46) plus 6x100m in 26 down to 24 seconds.  Later did upperbody weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 14 miles easy to moderate (9:28 average; first mile 10:39, last mile 8:21).  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 7/27/2025

This week was 36 miles of running and 15 "miles" of pool-running.

My mileage has gotten a lot lower than I would like, so I'm trying to boost it up. Of course, I then ran a mile less this week than I did last week, but I also did two and a half hours of pool-running, so I'll call it an increase in volume.

We had a brief break in the weather on Tuesday, which would have been a great opportunity to run outside. Unfortunately, I wasn't recovered from Sunday's workout, so I pushed the workout to Wednesday and hoped the weather would last another day. It kinda/sorta/not really did - I ended up with a morning that was a normal summer morning (temperature in the mid-70s with a dew point of around 70).  

I did Wednesday's workout on the track anyway to get a read on my fitness. The three mile tempo was tough at the end (I took a 30 second break with 2 laps to go because I was overheating).  At the same time, it was an improvement over workouts from May and early June despite the weather - a nice validation that I am getting fitter.

On Thursday, I considered pool-running but went with a short trail run instead.  I go back and forth on how helpful the pool-running is for me and how much I should include in a week.  On the one hand, I'm definitely old enough that I benefit from non-impact volume. On the other hand, my ankles are always notably stiffer after pool-running - which makes sense since they aren't flexing in the water. Slow trail running seems much better for my ankles in terms of keeping them mobile.

I suspect the answer is that I need to include both and play it by ear.  While also trying to increase my volume, of course...

Dailies:

Monday: 7 "miles" pool-running and yoga. Foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 7 miles mostly easy but with 4x100 in 27, 27, 26, and 25 plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Wednesday: 8 miles including a track workout of 4800 in 23:19 (7:47/7:47/7:45), 4x200 in 54 seconds for each, and 2x100 in 26 and 25. Followed with leg strengthwork.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  4 miles very easy (10:47) on trails in morning. Streaming Pilates and foam rolling in evening.  

Friday: 6 miles very easy (10:11) to the gym, upperbody weights/core, and 2 miles very easy (9:59) to home, with two strides. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 9 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 2x4:30 on with 3:00 jog, 2x3:00 with 2:00 jog (add in 1:00 on/30 seconds off when I screwed up my watch and had to reset), 2x1:30 with 1:00 jog, full recovery and then 3x30 seconds hard with 90 second jog

The on for the longer intervals was 7.8-8.3 mph; the on for the 30 second intervals was 8.6-8.8 mph.  The jog for both was 6 mph. Treadmill likely not accurate.

Followed with leg strengthwork - foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 8 "miles" pool-running in the morning; yoga and foam rolling in the evening.

Training log - Week ending 7/20/2025

This week was 37 miles of running.

I raced on Monday, which threw everything off. Sunday and Monday's races didn't take much out of me, so I felt fine to take two easy days before starting workouts again.

Since it's really warm and humid outside, and I don't seem to be handling it well, I'm keeping my hard workouts on the treadmill for now. I've been using a gym treadmill (actually one of several treadmills) because mine is still awaiting repair. I can't be sure of the accuracy of the treadmill, and the treadmill mode on my Garmin is often hilariously wrong, so I'm not sure how fast I'm running. But I'm getting in time at the right heart rate and effort, and that's what matters.  And my speeds on the treadmill seem to be improving with each workout, so that indicates progress.

Dailies:

Monday: 4 mile warm-up and then a 3000 in 14:31 (race report in progress).  Foam rolling in afternoon.

Tuesday: Off.  Travel and unpacking.

Wednesday: 5 miles, mostly on the track, with some strides on the straights.  Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  6 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 5x4 minutes on/72 seconds jog. The on was 7.6-7.7 mph; the jog was 5.9 mph. Treadmill likely not accurate. Foam rolling in evening.  

Friday: 5 miles very easy (10:43) on trails in morning; Pilates and foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 7 miles very easy (10:06) followed by drills/strides and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 8 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 7x3 minutes on/2 minutes jog plus 4x30 seconds on/90 seconds jog.  The on for the 3 minute intervals was 8.0-8.2 mph; the on for the 30 second intervals was 8.5-8.6 mph.  The jog for both was 6 mph. Treadmill likely not accurate.

Followed with leg strengthwork - foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 7/13/2025

This week was 31 miles of running and 6 "miles" of pool-running.

Just a placeholder for race week, since I raced the 1500 and the 3000 at the Hartford Nationals on Sunday and Monday. Race report coming, as I continue to play catch-up.

Dailies:

Monday: 6.5 miles very easy (10:00) with drills and strides, followed by upper body weights/core. Foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles on a gym treadmill, including a workout of 6x3:00 on/2:00 off plus 4x0:30 on/0:90 off.  For the longer reps, the on was 8 mph and the off was 5.9 mph; for the shorter reps, the on was 8.4/8.5 mph and the off was 5.9 mph (I suspect the treadmill was off, and the actual speeds were a bit faster).  Followed with leg strengthwork.  Sports massage in evening.

Wednesday: 6 "miles" pool-running. PT in the afternoon. Foam rolling in evening.

Thursday:  5 miles on the track, with a fartlek playing with different form cues. Foam rolling in evening.  

Friday: Travel in the morning; yoga and foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 4.5 miles very easy (10:06) on trails in morning; 1.5 mile fartlek on track in afternoon. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 4.5 miles warming up pre-race, and then the 1500 at the Hartford Nationals in 7:09.

Race Report: Boston 10K

I ran the Boston 10K on June 22, finishing in a time of 58:38, which was good enough for the Women's T-35-38 win.

[Yes, it's taken me nearly a month to finish this report. Mea culpa.]

Race weekend started for me on Friday when I flew up to Boston. As part of the professional para-athlete field for this race, I was invited to a visit to View Boston midday Saturday, and I wanted to make sure I was in the city for that. The flight up was honestly one of the roughest I've had in some time - gusts of up to 50 MPH in Boston made for a wild final descent - but I made it there in one piece and on time, which is my definition of a successful flight.

I had a good night's sleep before heading out to Boston Common for my shake-out jog on Saturday morning.  I have been struggling recently with the timing and strength of my Parkinsons medications and so I used this run to test out a medication dosing schedule that I hoped would work for the 10K.  I felt pretty good on the shakeout, and my confidence rose for the next day.

***

The highlight of the afternoon was View Boston (that view never gets old) where I indulged myself by adding to my refrigerator magnet collection.  After that, I hit a nearby gym for an hour of pre-race mobilization, stretching, and foam rolling, and then returned to the hotel for the technical meeting.

Just before the start of the technical meeting, Taylor (para-athlete coordinator for the BAA) approached me.  She and others at the BAA had been working all day to ensure that the medical tent was prepared for heat illness, due to the concerning forecast (80 degrees at race start). She asked if I was aware of any limitations on how to treat people with neurological conditions that had heat illness. Was it OK to dunk them in an ice bath if necessary? 

I responded that I wasn't aware of any concerns or need for special treatment, at least with regard to the Parkinsons population.  After the conversation, I remembered that a) an ice bath would likely induce cramping in someone with Parkinsons and b) many Parkinsons medications have hyponatremia as a side effect.  The first wasn't worth noting - cramping is temporary and a much lower priority than properly treating heat illness.  As for the hyponatremia concern, I emailed Taylor later to give her a heads up so that the med team knew not to force water on someone with Parkinsons.

I appreciated the BAA's hard work to keep this race safe, but I wasn't particularly concerned for myself - I'd been training in very warm and humid conditions for the last week, and I also know to slow down and stay on top of my water and electrolytes in these conditions. (I planned to carry a handheld water bottle and a very salty gel - arguably overkill for a 10K, but I wanted to be careful) However, I was worried about others who hadn't had as much chance to acclimate.

***

The forecast had been for 80 degrees and dry, so I was surprised by the light rain and overcast skies that greeted me on the walk from hotel to para-athlete tent. I viewed this as a positive development - certainly the clouds were much better than bright sunshine. It was quite humid, though. 

I became less enthusiastic about the weather when I started warming up in Boston Common and realized that my shoes were slipping all over the place. I was wearing the Adios 9, which I had assumed had good traction on wet pavement (most Adidas shoes do, in my experience).  But that was not the case.  

[I later checked my log and confirmed that I've never actually worn the Adios 9 in the rain - oops.]

My balance is always one of my challenges, and sliding on the wet pavement amplified this. When I can't find my balance, my body tends to lock up (to understand this, imagine trying to run on ice - it's very hard to overcome the instinct to brace and protect yourself by limiting your stride).  Lovely.

I warmed up for about a mile more than I had planned, toying with different mental cues to try to unlock things.  As I did, I realized that my feet were also slipping around in my shoes, which compounded everything.

I worked my way back to the para-athlete tent, where I had brought an extra pair of thicker socks (I bring pretty much everything, in case I need it).  The para-athlete field was about to be walked to the start from our tent, so I retrieved the socks and carried them with me. Once we were in the starting area, we still had about 15 minutes before the start.  This was enough time to change socks. As for the first pair of socks?  I placed them next to a small pile of trash - they'd have to be sacrificed to the cause.

I tried some strides, and things were slightly better.  I was still slipping, but at least my shoes felt secure on my feet.  Then the para-athlete field lined up and started - a minute after the professional women and three minutes before the open field.  

As we started, I reminded myself to stay relaxed and conservative - 10K can be a very long race if you go out too hard and today could potentially be a rough day.  I had noted potential competitors in my division, and I let them pull ahead slightly while I eased into the race. 

The first half mile of the Boston 10K is uphill (good for me) but has some rough pavement (tough for me).  I navigated that as best I could and then tried to relax into a smoother stride and began to chase down my competition.

And then, of course, the open field came surging up behind us and the next few miles were a struggle to stay on my feet while being jostled. I worked on trying to reel in other para-athletes but would make up some ground and then have to slow down to re-establish my balance again.  At one point I pulled up to a woman who I thought was in my division, only to slip again and have to slow down to readjust while watching her pull ahead.

The Boston 10K course itself is a great one - it's got a nice gently rolling feel to it that is conducive to fast times (similar to the Grandma's races - sometimes gently rolling can be as fast or faster than a flat course because it lets you shift the work around different muscles). I was incredibly annoyed that I wasn't able to take advantage of the course, but my balance was holding me back.

***

It wasn't until the last mile that I realized that I might also be in trouble, heat wise. There was definitely some speed walking involved, and a lot of mental frustration that I tried to put aside until after the race's end.  I managed to get myself across the finish line somewhat awkwardly and then grabbed some railing for support. A few moments of wobbling there earned me a ride to the med tent.  

After a few minutes sitting in the tent, I felt fine. Really annoyed at how my race had gone, but otherwise fine - just really hot and tired, as one would be after racing a June 10K. But the medical team saw something they didn't like and asked me if I felt hot.  Why, yes, I did. (wasn't that normal?) They then took my rectal temperature (with my permission), and it was 106 F, and that earned me a dunk in one of the ice baths Taylor and I had discussed the evening before.

I wasn't terribly crazy about getting dunked - the resulting cramping would be unpleasant.  But...I really couldn't say no after the previous evening's conversation. And heck, it would probably help me recover quicker from the race. So, in I went, after being stripped of my asthma inhaler, heart rate strap, and Garmin. My head, feet, and hands were left out of the tub (the latter two because I have Raynauds) but everything else went in.

The protocol for managing heatstroke, as I later learned, is to cool someone down as rapidly as possible, with an ice bath being the ideal means for doing so. The runner should stay in the ice bath until their rectal temperature drops to 102 F. This became an endurance test of sorts as my calves and feet cramped, followed by my shoulders. All while my temperature first rose a point, to 107 F.

At this point the novelty had worn off. I mentioned that I was really cramping so maybe this wasn't the best idea. The response was that I really needed to stay in the tub. So I did, reminding myself that this was just temporary and would help me bounce back a lot faster from this race. Some very nice med tent staff massaged my feet and my shoulders to address the cramping.  It really was the royal treatment - how many people are lucky enough to get a personal ice bath accompanied by foot massages immediately after a race?

Finally, after what seemed like a very long time, my temperature started to drop.  By 103 F I was starting to shiver, but I still needed to stay until 102 F.  A few minutes more, and then I hit 102 F and was allowed to exit the tub and dry off. This was followed, ironically enough, by a blanket. Underneath the blanket, I changed into a somewhat ad hoc outfit of an extra volunteer T shift and some disposable medical shorts.  Not very fashionable, but dry. 

About this time, Taylor showed up at the medical tent, with a trophy - apparently, I had won my division after all.  So that was a mix of emotions - happy to have won, but muy embarrassed that I had a) ended up in the ice bath after being so confident in my own abilities to manage the heat and b) apparently skipped out on the awards presentation - not cool at all.

***

A bit later I was discharged, with printed instructions to not exercise for seven days and to get checked out as soon as possible when I got home.  My walk of shame was a long five blocks back to the hotel, in my blue oversized disposable shorts and volunteer t-shirt, while carrying a bag of my possessions and a big silver trophy.  I half expected someone to accuse me of having stolen my possessions and the trophy, but nobody did.  I guess it was just another Sunday morning in Boston.

My splits ended up being:

First 2 miles: 18:23
Next 2 miles: 17:40
Mile 5: 9:29
Last 1.21 miles: 13:06.

Not only did I miss multiple mile markers (all my attention was on staying upright), but I also failed to stop my Garmin at the finish. Amusingly enough, this means that I can somewhat estimate how long I spent in the ice bath, as about 37 minutes elapsed between when they removed my Garmin and heart rate strap for the ice bath and when I put the Garmin back on after getting out of the ice bath.

Other notes:

• The weather wasn't awful.  It was 73 with a dew point of 68, and overcast.  Not great weather for a 10K, but not awful. 
  
  
• Because I'm me, I've been thinking my way through all the possible reasons that I had heatstroke (besides the obvious "you were racing a 10K in June"). At this point, I'm an experienced runner who has run and raced in numerous DC summers with weather much worse than this. We had a week plus of very hot and humid weather in DC leading up to this race, which would have helped with acclimation.  And I ran the race at a pace much slower than I expected, while carrying and consuming water and a salty gel.
  
  So far, I've identified a few factors.  The first is that my pre-race warm-up was longer than I would have liked for a longer race on a warm and humid day (3 miles, when 2 would have been better, given the weather).  I knew this at the time but kept running in hopes that my gait would smooth out. The second is that I have been struggling to find the right balance in my Parkinsons meds this year.  And when I don't have the PD under control, my body doesn't regulate temperature very well. Finally, I think I was working so hard to keep my balance that my effort was much higher than the pace would indicate. 
  
  Hopefully fixing the second point will also address points one and three.
  
  
• I had originally planned to fly back to DC on Sunday night but swapped to the Acela train after the US bombed Iran on Saturday night.  I wasn't sure what the next 24 hours might bring, and I could also see airport shutdowns/flight diversions as a possibility if there was domestic retaliation. Since taking the train was an option, I decided to switch. This ended up being a great decision, because the doctor in charge of the medical tent was very much opposed to me getting on an airplane that evening, but OK with a train ride home.
  
  [it was also a good decision because the flight I would have taken ended up being delayed, and I actually got home earlier taking the train.]
  
  It's a seven hour train ride between Boston and DC, which sounds miserable but was actually fun. It was seven hours of sitting in a comfortable chair, snacking, and pleasure reading. It seems like I never have time anymore to just sit and pleasure read for a few hours, and taking the train gave me that time.  In comparison, flying home would have been about 5 hours of navigating transit and security and boarding and flying and deplaning and transit.  So, it's not a huge time difference.
  
  While I wouldn't take the train to/from Boston if I had to go there every week, I think I'll make a point of doing it for races from now on - it's like a lovely mini-vacation to bookend a Boston race.

Training log - week ending 7/6/2025

This week was 30 miles of running and 24 "miles" of pool-running.

Gently bumping up the mileage as a combined recovery from heatstroke/last minute training for the Hartford Nationals next week.  (Wow, that looks really bad when I write it out that way...)

There were a few things of note this week. The first is that I stopped taking one of my PD medications (if you care- it was a COMT inhibitor called Ongentys).  I've been on it for a bit over a year, but the last few months it seemed like it just wasn't working well for me.  If I took it at night (as is normally done) I couldn't fall asleep.  If I took it in the morning, my workouts were really rough and I'd jump every time there was a noise.  If I took it midday, I'd feel very anxious for about 90 minutes after taking it. 

Since stopping it, I've felt much better. My muscles are much less tense and my sleep quality has improved immensely, and my workout paces have also improved.  So win-win-win. 

[Side note: the Ongentys was prescribed to help with symptom control, not for any disease modifying reason. So, there's no downside to stopping it if I don't feel good on it.]

The second thing worth noting was a new way to trick my body into working better. One of my major battles is always with my quads, which want to tighten and lock up on me regularly. I stretch them and massage them and use vibrating massage balls on them to loosen them up, but they still tighten right back up. And when they tighten up, it shortens my stride and throws my balance off.

Last week, when I was just starting to run again after the heatstroke incident, I worked out in the gym.  This workout included some decently heavy hamstring curls, after which I hopped on a treadmill for a 5 minute jog to see how things felt.  And...my quads were behaving.  Not perfectly, but much better.  

Since then, I've been playing with different hamstring workouts before running, and they do seem to make a difference - especially if I work my hamstrings to flex my knees (e.g., hamstring curls) rather than extending at the hip (e.g., reverse planks). Get the hamstrings really firing and the quads start behaving.  Which makes sense in a way - the hamstrings and quads are agonist/antagonist pairs - if one contracts the other is supposed to relax. So...by firing up my hamstrings ahead of time, I'm sending the quads a message to calm down.  Neat!

The third and final thing is that my beloved treadmill, Fluffy (yes), is on the fritz. I started a workout on Saturday only to have a) the instant speed controls stop working (the speed buttons on the main dashboard still worked) and b) the treadmill spontaneously accelerate.  I could work around the first, but the second was dangerous. So, it's gym treadmills or outside for me until I get Fluffy fixed.

Dailies:

Monday: 6 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core in the morning; foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 6 miles outside, mostly easy, but with 11x100m in 26-27 seconds. Foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: 8 miles on the treadmil, including a workout of 7x3:00 on/2:00 off (on was 7.9-8.0 mph; off was 6 mph) plus 4x30 seconds on/90 seconds off (on was 8.5 mph; off was 6 mph).  Followed with leg strength work; foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:  9 "miles" pool-running in the morning and upperbody weights/core; foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 6 miles outside, including some 6x100m in 25-26 seconds.  Followed with upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 3 miles on the treadmill, including the start of a workout. Then 4.5 miles on the track, including 3200 in 15:02 (7:38/7:24), 800 in 3:41, and 4x200 in 56-67.  Followed by 2.5 miles easy (9:42) on gym treadmill and leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in evening.

Sunday: 9 "miles" pool-running and foam rolling.

Training log - Week ending 6/29/2025

This week was 14 miles of running and 10 "miles" of pool-running.

My discharge instructions post-heatstroke were a) get evaluated by my primary care within 48 hours of returning home, including bloodwork; and b) no exercise for seven days. 

Unfortunately, when I called my primary care on Monday, the earliest I could be seen was 10 days later, on July 2. Fortunately, I already had an outstanding order for routine bloodwork that I hadn't gotten around to, so I stopped by the lab on Wednesday morning for a blood draw.

As for "no exercise" - I decided to apply the doctrine of reasonability and fairness to this guidance, rather than adhere to strict construction.  My justification was and is that exercise really is medicine when you have Parkinsons, and stopping all exercise for seven days is not the "conservative and safe choice" that it might be for someone without Parkinsons.  So, I did some gentle pool-running for the first few days, being careful to keep the sessions brief and in the coldest pool I could reasonably get to before work.

On Thursday I got my bloodwork results. They were totally normal - no indication of kidney, heart, or liver damage (the big concerns after a bout with heatstroke).  I took that as reassurance that I could start carefully running on my treadmill with a big fan blowing at me, while watching my heart rate (and committing to stop the run if my heartrate started spiking).

So far so good - I felt totally fine both during and after my runs, including a relaxed interval session on Sunday morning. From here I'm going to introduce some easy outside running while keeping any harder running on the treadmill where I can benefit from air-conditioning and fan.  I've done some reading on heatstroke recovery, and from what I can tell, the progression is generally:

1. easy activity in a cool environment
2. more demanding activity in a cool environment
3. easy activity in a warm environment
4. more demanding activity in a warm environment.

I'm between stages 1-2 right now.

Monday: Off except for foam rolling in the evening.

Tuesday: 2.5 "miles" of pool-running in the morning.  Streaming pilates and foam rolling in the evening.

Wednesday: 4.5 "miles" of pool-running in the morning; foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday:  3 "miles" pool-running in the morning and upperbody weights/core; foam rolling in afternoon.

Friday: 2 miles on the treadmill (10:07) and leg strengthwork. Foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 5 miles on the treadmill (9:52) and streaming pilates + upper body weights and foam rolling.

Sunday: 7 miles on the treadmill, including a careful workout of 6x3 minutes at 7.8 mph with 2 minute jog at 6 mph, plus 4x30 seconds on/30 seconds off (on was 8.2-8.5 mph; off was 6 mph).  Followed with leg strengthwork and foam rolling.

Race Report: Run Unbridled Track Meet, June 14, 2025

 I ran the 800m at the Run Unbridled track meet in mid-June, finishing in a time of 3:41.45, which was both a) good enough to lower my American record for the women's T36 division and b) earned me the last place finish in the slowest heat of the 800 (had to be someone, right?)

Racing the 800 here was a semi-last minute decision. The hosting team - Light Horse Track Club - held two track meets this summer.  I hung out at the first one in late May and had a lot of fun.  Afterwards, I checked the schedule for the next meet and noted that the 800 was offered. Brian and I had tickets to a concert that evening, but the 800 was scheduled early enough that I could do both.

I had wanted to run an 800 at some point this summer - I ran it several times last summer and set the 800m national record for my classification. However, because of paperwork issues the 800m time that counted for the record was my slowest time - a 4:07 I ran when injured (I just jogged to finish the race and never bothered to do a race report). Though I've been struggling this summer, I was pretty sure I could run faster than 4:07 and knock some time off of that.

So I signed up about 3 weeks before the meet.  And then started adding some 100s and 200s into my training in a last minute attempt to get some speed back.

***

A major part of my struggles recently has been getting my medication right. It's just been off, and I don't seem to be responding well to the longer lasting version of my medication.  So...I decided to swap back to the immediate release version - with that medication I get about a 90 minute window where I feel really good.  This makes things really tricky when running a track meet with a rolling schedule.  But...the 800m is short enough that I had a good margin of error - I just needed to make sure that my final warm-up AND the race fell within that 90 minute window.

Thus, Saturday ended up being a carefully scheduled day - I mapped out when I expected to run the 800 (it helped that I was in the first heat and there was a set time for the 800) and then set my watch to remind me to take a pill an hour before the scheduled start time. The medication would take about 30 minutes to kick in, which hopefully meant that I would be feeling good about 30 minutes before the scheduled start and could handle a delay of up to an hour. 

***

I arrived at the race around 4:30, picked up my bib, and chatted with some friends before heading out to warm-up.  I had several options, including a nearby parking lot, a section of road some distance away, and an indoor track almost immediately next to the outdoor track.  I opted for the indoor track, both for convenience and because I've never run on an indoor track before.

Unsurprisingly, I was way stiff, and it was awkward to work my way through my standard warm-up of 3:00 at tempo effort, 4x30 seconds harder, 4x10 seconds harder still.  When 5:15 buzzed on my watch, I popped a carbidopa/levodopa pill, and about 20 minutes later was rewarded with loosening muscles. Just in time for me to head to the main track.

***

The track meet generously allowed runners in the next race to jog on the infield, and so I repeated my 3:00/4x0:30, 4x0:10 warm-up (it felt much better the second time).  I was able to keep jogging until a few minutes before my heat started, which was ideal.  Then we lined up and the gun went off.

I tried to start patiently, but unfortunately my muscles tightened up anyways.  Shorter races are harder for me to run fast, simply because if I try to run fast my muscles (especially my quads and adductors) lock up.  To run my fastest I have to try to stay relaxed above all else and be sure not to try too hard - as soon as I think "HAMMER" or "GO" everything locks.  In longer races, it's easier to maintain this patient mindset and gently/gradually open my speed up (and at some point a few miles in everything starts working more smoothly). In short races, it's harder.  Especially in the 800, where the expectation is to go out really hard from the gun because you don't have much time.

So the next two laps were a mental game.  I had been dropped completely by the field within the first 3 seconds of the race, so it was just me and the track. And a bunch of people on the side cheering for me and yelling "GO" which I had to try to ignore.  I mostly accomplished this, until the last 100m, when I couldn't resist the urge to try to "kick" - which of course made everything tie up.  

But, I managed to get myself across the finish line anyway, with a final time of 3:41.45.  Which was enough to knock some time off of that 800m record (though I think I can get it much lower if I can figure out the right balance of trying/not trying for the 800).

***

I had checked with the race director before to confirm that they could complete the necessary paperwork if I ran the time.  What I failed to do was bring the record form to the meet to get it signed that day, and I realized a bit later that this was a faux pas on my part.

To give context, at adaptive or para-athletic meets all record forms are handled by the race management - the runner isn't involved at all.  So...I had naively assumed that this was the same for USATF meets - all I had to do was give the director the form a few days before, and they'd take care of it all - part of managing a race.

But...after chatting with a very nice (and very fast) masters runner who holds some age group records, I belatedly realized that records forms are handled differently at USATF meets - it's the athlete's job to collect the signatures and mail the form in.  Oops (and awkward). 

I didn't bring the form with me to the meet, and so I had to ask the race director to complete it for me later.  Which he very kindly did, and sent it in.  But mental note - next time I need to bring the forms myself instead of imposing extra unexpected work on someone else.

Other notes:

• It was a bit warm and sticky for the race - 79 with a dew point of 71. Fortunately it was the 800, so the temperature and humidity was a non-issue.
• I ended up skipping my concert and staying for the whole meet. The concert was in DC, which had a lot of roads shut down for a parade/fireworks, and Brian and I decided that we didn't feel like fighting our way in.  Which meant I got to eat tacos and nachos while cheering my teammates on in a steeplechase and a distance medley relay.  Which was a fun way to spend a Saturday night.
• The rules for my para-athlete division require that I wear shoes with a sole of 20mm or less in thickness, so I wore my old Reebok RunFast FloatRide Pros again.  I am so glad I didn't toss those a few years back - they have come in very handy lately.