Pull my (trigger) finger

(Monday, 14 July)

Woke up this morning with trigger finger worse than ever. Decided it was not safe enough to ride on. So, I lazed around and went for a run instead. I guess it's good to have something hurting that at least doesn't prevent me from running, right? I emailed Andres and he gave me the following info:

Well that's classic trigger finger but typically it's found in older people (40). And you're right it's from riding your bike to much, you're either griping the handles too hard or more likely it's from repetitive braking. so what's going on is inflammation in your tendon sheath that's making it difficult to extend your finger. So depending how bad the finger is, you need to stop riding for a couple of weeks or back off from riding and use different fingers to do the braking. Ice and ibuprofen will help, buddy taping won't do a whole lot but what you can do is wear a finger splint at night. The seriousness depends what you do to fix the problem. If you don't fix what you're doing wrong and you keep getting trigger finger you may need an injection of corticosteroid to fix the problem in the tendon. Any other questions??

So. Looks like it might be worth my time to back off on the bike for a few days and really nurse the little sucker - I don't want this problem extending into my training too close to Everest. A few running days will not kill me. 

(Tuesday, 15 July)

I wore a splint last night, and my finger was noticeably less triggery this morning. So, I'm going to call it success and keep doing it. Also, more icing. Lots. 

AM run with a big gang today! I was very encouraged. Susan, Sierra, Sedona, Kangway and I did Huntington. It was great to have a herd! I hope folks keep coming out. I felt very good. I had a nice trip to the farmers' market, and then I had lunch with Sedona and we discussed her training plan for the rest of the summer. I also had a nice talk with Scott, who seems to be doing great after the arrival of his baby daughter! Although, he did seem a wee bit tired. :) 

He did invite me to help out with XC in the fall, but warned me not to treat it like a 5th season - it's not going to be me captaining anymore.  I think I'm going to come up with my own training philosophy in the next few days. I will post it when I'm done. 

(Wednesday, 16 July)

Arroyo trail with Megumi (!) and Justine. Running with Megumi is always a treat and this run did not disappoint, although, I will point out that I blame HER for pushing the pace early on and scaring Justine. She was not looking like a happy camper, although she did not complain vocally. Later we had a classic Katherine-Justine exchange: 

K: Sorry about pushing the pace early on, I realized we were doing that later and I hope it didn't discourage you too much. 

J: (in Katherine's head: "it's okay, it wasn't too bad, &c")

J: (actual) Yeah. [implied: "yes, you did push the pace, and I hate you for it, and I think you're mean and ugly"]

K: (taken aback) Oh. Okay. Well, I hope you had a good time anyway. 

J: (silence)

Sigh.... I felt so bad, awkward, and like a jerk at the same time. Great. I should know better than to say leading things like that around Justine.

(Thursday, 17 July)

Lorain plus a little extra which we did at a little faster than normal pace. Sedona joined. It was awesome to run a bit faster, which kind of surprised me. I felt good picking up the pace instead of... tired. I think maybe Susan's finally slowing down and it's throwing me off. 

(Friday, 18 July)

Upper arroyo backwards, stopped at Susan's and got breakfast.  It was foggy and cool, and absolutely perfect running weather. I wish it was like this every morning. Maybe I should move to Oregon. I felt great the whole way. Yay!

(Saturday, 19 July)

Powercranks trainer. Oh dear god, this is HARD! It sounds like it's not going to be that bad, but it is. I think I made it about 40 minutes total, but I had to rest a couple of times. At first I made it about 5 minutes, then when I got tired I decided to try alternating legs, which seemed to help. At least I don't think I'm the only one who's had this much trouble starting out. I think it's a lot more like running than cycling; you have to snap up the legs faster than you'd like in order to keep the stroke going properly. Hip flexors and hamstrings are definitely way more involved. Anyways, my HR was way up, I was sweating like a pig, and it was a way better workout than riding a normal trainer. 

(Sunday, 20 July)

AM run in the Arroyo with Susan; it was foggy and wonderful, just like Friday! Gorgeous. We did "Otter Pop" (CA entrance to the river crossing and around the other side) and I felt totally great the whole time. It was awesome. To top it off, Ian, Kangway and I went to the Corner Bakery for breakfast afterwards, and that was delicious (even if I was a little cold). 

Which reminds me, has anyone had the CB swiss Oatmeal? It's really freaking delish, and I'm trying to recreate it. I have so far tried the following: oats, yogurt, milk (to make it a little runny), banana, green apple, raisin, cranberry, oat bran (made it too oaty). I think the oats I'm using soak up too much of the liquid, and it doesn't end up sweet enough. I also suspect that instead of raisins it's currants. 

Week summary: 

Good: I felt really good, except for the nagging of not being able to ride my bike, mentally I was in good spirits and the running was feeling great. I must not be as worn down as I was from all the bike riding last week. The Powercranks trainer seems like it might be a promising way to supplement the running for a little while at least. Also, I ran 43 miles, a peak since January! 

Bad: The finger is not getting better.