Muscle Rub Gel

Late last night after work (1:30 a.m.) visited Walgreens to find the product "Arnica" that Allen uses, couldn't find Arnica itself, but did find a new product that has Arnica listed as an ingredient!  The new product is called, "Ironman" and it's a muscle rub gel tropical pain reliever.  The big selling point on the box was a action photo of Belinda Granger (11-Time Ironman Champion) on her cycle, with a seal stating that the product was "Athlete Tested" and "provides relief for World Class Athletes."

The two main ingredients are Camphor and Menthol, which are both topical analgesics.  The box also hypes that this product offers benefits from three natural botanicals and states:

(1) Arnica is know for its legendary muscle and joint soothing qualities.
(2) Horse Chestnut is widely used in Europe for muscle injury and overuse.
(3) Lady Slipper a member of the orchid family, is used for is calming effects in relieving muscle spasms.

I've never bought a topical pain reliever before and was hesitant on purchasing "Ironman" due to memories of the powerful menthol smells from others in my gym's locker rooms.  The product only costs $7.95 and figured what do I have to lose?

It's easy for me to find the spot of my soreness as the injury has left a yellow colored bruise...that has me thinking that it's more of a bruise than an injury.  I put a small amount of "Ironman" on the affected area that gave the hip a light burning sensation...also the familiar menthol smell.  I'm not sure how many times in a day I'll need to apply the ointment, the box says not more than 3 to 4 times daily.  I'll continue to ice the area and I'm still taking ibuprofen every four hours.

Sore Right Hip

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for the first time this season due to 50 mph gusts.  Planned a General Aerobic run of six miles at 6.5 mph (9:14 minute mile) pace at a 1% grade, during the last mile my right hip became painful, finished the mile and took it easy for the rest of the work day. I also iced the hip twice and am taking ibuprofen every four hours.  Undoubtedly, I did too much, too soon, on the treadmill, that's a little different from my usual road runs. 

Today my right hip is still sore and taking the day off from running.  Last Fall I had a left hip joint injury and I'm going to be extra cautious with this possible injury and taking the rest of the week off from running.  I'm considering on taking Allen's remedy of Arnica, which he takes externally and internally. 

I'll continue my upper body weight training, but will skip my lower body workouts.  Should try swimming tomorrow.

My "Race for the Cure" Report

May 1st I ran "Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure."  I've never ran this race before and the only reason I ran it now is because it's part of the "Las Vegas Track Team's Championship Series."  I avoided this race in the past due to it being too large (1,389 runners in the timed division with several thousand walkers) and the course is extremely convoluted with 15 corners.  Early May is also a difficult time for me to race as I'm normally recovering from some longer race in April, this year it was my first ultra-marathon, which was the "Labor of Love 50k" that was on April 11th.

I left home 45 minutes before the start as downtown is only a 10 minute drive, but didn't realize the troubles I would have finding a parking spot and the backup of traffic on the highway's downtown exit...eventually parked at Cashman Field where the race had charter buses delivering the runners to downtown.  I almost didn't arrive to the starting line on time, but was able to wiggle up to midpack before the start.  The temperature was 48 degrees with a strong 20 mph wind.  As usual, Mayor Oscar Goodman was there to start the racers off. 

Mile 1: Pace 8:01.  The first mile was very slow as I tried to pass as many runners as I could without wasting time on the tangents and not weaving too much around the crush of runners.  I tried not to become too frustrated with the number of runners, realizing that my age-group competitors will also have to suffer the conditions.  The wind wasn't too much of a factor due to courses many zig-zags in every direction, which nullifies the headwinds.

Mile 2: Pace 7:49.  The second mile I fared better as the number of runners ahead had thinned considerably as many were getting tired after the mad dash from the first mile.  Several upgrades also slowed down the less experienced and less fit.   Both my arms were heavy and tired...how I wish I didn't weight train yesterday!

Mile 3: Pace 7:21.  The third mile was tough as I was running close to 95% of my maximum heart rate.  The last 1/4 mile I heard the shouts and cheering from the finish line...although I couldn't see the finish line as I still had several tangents to maneuver before I reached Fremont Street...

Finish.  Finally see the finish line and lifted my legs higher to sprint the last 50 feet, my heart rate reached 187 bpm, which is undoubtedly my maximum heart rate.  During the jostling at the racing mat didn't see what my final time was, but my Garmin Forerunner stated I finished in 23:51...several days later found that my official time was 24:08.  I probably didn't do so well with the early tangents that would account for the 17 second difference.

Overall, I'm happy with my result due to the race conditions, plus my time is the fastest 5k result this year!  So far, my 5k results for 2010 are:

February 6th, "Run for a Wish:" 24:32
March 20th, "Run Away with Cirque du Soleil:"  24:28
May 1st, "Race for the Cure:" 24:08

My next race will be another one for the "Las Vegas Track Club Championship Series," it's called "The Notch Run 4 miler," that's on July 17th!!  This race is another new one for me and it's held in the thin mountain air at Mount Charleston.  Needless to say, it's much cooler at Mount Charleston than in Las Vegas during July.