I know... I still haven't posted the race report for the Race for the Taste. But I've been busy. And, it's just really hard to mention. You see, my knee started hurting in the later stages of the run. It felt good after about a week, so I went on another run, and it flared up again after about three miles. I went to a sports medicine doc, and now I have to get an MRI on it to see what's going on.
Luckily, I've already paid my max out-of-pocket for the year with my insurance. Bring on the free medical!
Anyway, he also said that I'm not allowed to run anymore until things get checked out. So, I still did the Race for the Cure this week... but I walked it:
Chip time: 40:11
Avg Pace: 12:57
Damn, not too bad. But I still hope I don't have to try to walk a marathon...
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Pre-Race Report: Disney's Race for the Taste
Or, "Better Late Than Never".
To truly tell the tale of this race, I need to start a copule days before. Lana and I had gotten into Orlando a couple hours after we had wanted to on Friday, so we just ended up meeting the 'rents at Big River (at the Boardwalk area) for dinner -- I had a nice chicken penne dish -- and some beer. As you might guess from the title of my last post, beer is involved in most of my best stories, but I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Anyway, since we were late, it was pretty much dinner and head to the hotel for bedtime. After all, the next day was a big day.
However, it wasn't big because it was race day. No, quite the contrary. It was the day before, where if I were an intelligent man, I would be taking things relatively easy. But we were at Disney, so that was right out the window. Well, I could at least control myself a bit, right? Well... see above re: Disney. We decided to go old school and head to the Magic Kingdom to let the kid inside me out to play. And he had some fun. We walked all over that park... repeatedly. I won't bore you with the details, but I think I should have been wearing my Garmin that day, just to see what we really did. Maybe next time...
At about 5:30, we decided to leave the Magic Kingdom and head over to Epcot, where we had dinner reservations. I think that by now, my loyal readers have learned enough about me to know that I don't do things in a conventional way. So, what would be the best food for training for a distance run? Of course -- the German buffet!
Several sausages, lots of salads, German cheesecake, more spaetzle than you can imagine, and a liter (yes, a liter) of Oktoberfest beer later, we were ready to move on, so we got out of the restaurant -- just in time to see the fireworks. We waited on them while Mom tried out her "fireworks" setting on her camera (which apparently doesn't work that well), and then staggered to the car and went back home. We finally got to bed at about 10:30.
...and woke up at 4:45. It was race day, and I was actually excited! Granted, I wasn't working on much sleep, but this was the great day that I had marked on my calendar months ago.
My first 10K.
And it didn't disappoint.
But now it's late, and I'll have to continue later... when I have the pictures.
To truly tell the tale of this race, I need to start a copule days before. Lana and I had gotten into Orlando a couple hours after we had wanted to on Friday, so we just ended up meeting the 'rents at Big River (at the Boardwalk area) for dinner -- I had a nice chicken penne dish -- and some beer. As you might guess from the title of my last post, beer is involved in most of my best stories, but I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Anyway, since we were late, it was pretty much dinner and head to the hotel for bedtime. After all, the next day was a big day.
However, it wasn't big because it was race day. No, quite the contrary. It was the day before, where if I were an intelligent man, I would be taking things relatively easy. But we were at Disney, so that was right out the window. Well, I could at least control myself a bit, right? Well... see above re: Disney. We decided to go old school and head to the Magic Kingdom to let the kid inside me out to play. And he had some fun. We walked all over that park... repeatedly. I won't bore you with the details, but I think I should have been wearing my Garmin that day, just to see what we really did. Maybe next time...
At about 5:30, we decided to leave the Magic Kingdom and head over to Epcot, where we had dinner reservations. I think that by now, my loyal readers have learned enough about me to know that I don't do things in a conventional way. So, what would be the best food for training for a distance run? Of course -- the German buffet!
Several sausages, lots of salads, German cheesecake, more spaetzle than you can imagine, and a liter (yes, a liter) of Oktoberfest beer later, we were ready to move on, so we got out of the restaurant -- just in time to see the fireworks. We waited on them while Mom tried out her "fireworks" setting on her camera (which apparently doesn't work that well), and then staggered to the car and went back home. We finally got to bed at about 10:30.
...and woke up at 4:45. It was race day, and I was actually excited! Granted, I wasn't working on much sleep, but this was the great day that I had marked on my calendar months ago.
My first 10K.
And it didn't disappoint.
But now it's late, and I'll have to continue later... when I have the pictures.
Friday, October 5, 2007
When You Wish Upon A Beer
I'm about to be getting out of Dodge and heading down to Orlando for the Disney Race for the Taste 10K. This will be my first 10K race, so I'm pretty anxious about it, but at least at the end, there should be some tasty vittles and good beer (Epcot won't actually be open at that point, so I'm making my parents supply the beer).
Expect a race report on Monday night when I get back.
Wish me luck!
Expect a race report on Monday night when I get back.
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Rain, Rain Go Away
It has been raining here for days. Not off and on for days, but for days straight. The sun didn't peek out yesterday at all. It has been gloomy and nasty. It honestly seems like it has been nighttime since Sunday.
I don't know how people in those arctic regions survive.
In any case, after another long day of work yesterday, I was really feeling the itch to do something, and my wife was stuck at work for a while, so I decided I'd finally take this opportunity to get a run in. During the week. I know, I know... it's not what you'd expect, but I did say in the last post that I was going to do this.
Of course, I've been saying that in lots of posts.
But this time, I meant it!
So, I got to the gym, fought the torrential downpours from this storm that doesn't actually have a name, but seems at times like it should. I straggled through the door, looking like a cat that got left out a little too long. I managed to drag myself over to one of the treadmills, set it to a warm-up, and started walking, at a 2% grade. I started running on it a few minutes later -- not quick, but a decent pace.
And you know what? It felt pretty good.
I ended up running for half an hour, with a few walk breaks in there. I did lower the angle from time to time, as my shins were starting to get pretty sore. It's obvious that I need to work on the strength in my shins at this point. But I still got through it with an average grade of 1.1% (according to the treadmill), having run 2.3 miles. Not too bad, considering how easily I was taking it.
As for the orthotics, well, they felt kinda weird. Not a bad weird, just weird. I know they'll get better as I continue to run with them, but I'm still going to ease into that pretty gently. For instance, I will not be wearing them this weekend at RFTT. But I'll probably wear them for running tomorrow (we'll see if I can't make 2.5 miles at 1.5%, or something like that).
Yesterday was a fantastic example of how running can beat the blues. Even after a treadmill run, I felt spectacularly good -- good enough to get through the rain and get back home for some good ol' country fried steak and taters! I haven't completely embraced the "eating well" portion of my training, but dangit, it was goooooooood!
And now it's raining again. And me without my shoes.
*sigh*
I don't know how people in those arctic regions survive.
In any case, after another long day of work yesterday, I was really feeling the itch to do something, and my wife was stuck at work for a while, so I decided I'd finally take this opportunity to get a run in. During the week. I know, I know... it's not what you'd expect, but I did say in the last post that I was going to do this.
Of course, I've been saying that in lots of posts.
But this time, I meant it!
So, I got to the gym, fought the torrential downpours from this storm that doesn't actually have a name, but seems at times like it should. I straggled through the door, looking like a cat that got left out a little too long. I managed to drag myself over to one of the treadmills, set it to a warm-up, and started walking, at a 2% grade. I started running on it a few minutes later -- not quick, but a decent pace.
And you know what? It felt pretty good.
I ended up running for half an hour, with a few walk breaks in there. I did lower the angle from time to time, as my shins were starting to get pretty sore. It's obvious that I need to work on the strength in my shins at this point. But I still got through it with an average grade of 1.1% (according to the treadmill), having run 2.3 miles. Not too bad, considering how easily I was taking it.
As for the orthotics, well, they felt kinda weird. Not a bad weird, just weird. I know they'll get better as I continue to run with them, but I'm still going to ease into that pretty gently. For instance, I will not be wearing them this weekend at RFTT. But I'll probably wear them for running tomorrow (we'll see if I can't make 2.5 miles at 1.5%, or something like that).
Yesterday was a fantastic example of how running can beat the blues. Even after a treadmill run, I felt spectacularly good -- good enough to get through the rain and get back home for some good ol' country fried steak and taters! I haven't completely embraced the "eating well" portion of my training, but dangit, it was goooooooood!
And now it's raining again. And me without my shoes.
*sigh*
Monday, October 1, 2007
War Damn Eagle!
Yes, I know that once again, it has been a mighty long time since I posted, well, anything at all.
And it's not really because I have nothing to say. I just don't have any bloody time to say it!
In the last few weeks, I have been given the lead on a new project at work, but unfortunately, my old duties still exist, as well. Needless to say, my running during the week has gone to pretty much nothing.
But the important thing (for now) is that my weekend long runs have been continuing, albeit at a pretty dang slow pace. This past weekend... 12 miles. And it was the longest run of my life.
No, really. My previous longest run was 8 miles. And I learned something.
Twelve hurts.
On the plus side. my leg has been feeling fantastic! I'm definitely ready at this point to get back to some good running. Hopefully, I'll be able to hit the gym tomorrow (there's a Nor'easter tearing through the area right now, so running outside is somewhat less than optimal). And this weekend is the next race in my fall series... the Disney Race for the Taste 10K. Stay tuned for more info, and hopefully pictures!
Oh, and the title? If you're not keeping up with college football this year, Auburn upset Florida in the closing seconds this past weekend, and we were in The Swamp watching it happen. My wife went to Auburn, so I've become quite a fan. It was probably the second most exciting game I've ever seen (see UVA-FSU '95).
And it's not really because I have nothing to say. I just don't have any bloody time to say it!
In the last few weeks, I have been given the lead on a new project at work, but unfortunately, my old duties still exist, as well. Needless to say, my running during the week has gone to pretty much nothing.
But the important thing (for now) is that my weekend long runs have been continuing, albeit at a pretty dang slow pace. This past weekend... 12 miles. And it was the longest run of my life.
No, really. My previous longest run was 8 miles. And I learned something.
Twelve hurts.
On the plus side. my leg has been feeling fantastic! I'm definitely ready at this point to get back to some good running. Hopefully, I'll be able to hit the gym tomorrow (there's a Nor'easter tearing through the area right now, so running outside is somewhat less than optimal). And this weekend is the next race in my fall series... the Disney Race for the Taste 10K. Stay tuned for more info, and hopefully pictures!
Oh, and the title? If you're not keeping up with college football this year, Auburn upset Florida in the closing seconds this past weekend, and we were in The Swamp watching it happen. My wife went to Auburn, so I've become quite a fan. It was probably the second most exciting game I've ever seen (see UVA-FSU '95).
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Another Brick in the Wall
So now I know. When you've been taking training easy for weeks, do not try to go out and run like you should be able to.
Saturday's long run was actually not bad. Only five miles, and I was sticking with the slower group, since I was still wearing the old shoes and no orthotics. Hopefully, that will change for this week's run. However, I decided to give the new shoes a try for the race that night. Yes, I know you shouldn't do things in races you hadn't done before, but dangit... those old shoes just aren't working out for me.
The new shoes felt great! There's a lot more cushion in the heel, and that was obvious from the beginning all the way to the end. The front of the foot is a little wide, and had my insert (which I bought for a much smaller shoe) sliding around a bit. The new orthotics don't seem to have that problem when I did wear them in those shoes, though, so that shouldn't be as much a problem when I start running with the orthotics.
Speaking of running with the orthotics, that should be starting any day now! Hopefully, I can get out tomorrow and get some good running time in -- assuming we aren't in the middle of a monsoon, like we were today. It's rough getting up early to be greeted by loud, rumbling thunder. The pillow seems extra inviting when that happens.
Getting back to the issue at hand, though, the shoes felt great. What didn't feel great was my legs. Not the shins... the muscles. I said I was going to run it easy. I didn't. I ran the first couple miles at a fairly aggressive pace for me (about 9 min/mile). As it turns out, without the training, running five miles in the morning and then attempting to jam out 5 more miles at night at such an ambitious pace was, how do you say, idiotic?
At the turnaround, I was hurting. It was pretty obvious that at that point, I couldn't keep up that pace any longer. On the plus side, I was there in just under 23 minutes... pretty dang good for me! However, when I hit three miles, I lost everything.
Now, I had never really hit "the wall" before. I'd heard stories, but it's hard to do when running 5k races. This time, I think I finally get it. My legs simply would not do anything I told them to do! I had started out running a 3/1 ratio, but I finished up running 1/1, and even that was excruciating. And the second half of the run... 31 minutes. Ouch. Most of it was in the last two miles.
So, my results:
I can't wait!
Saturday's long run was actually not bad. Only five miles, and I was sticking with the slower group, since I was still wearing the old shoes and no orthotics. Hopefully, that will change for this week's run. However, I decided to give the new shoes a try for the race that night. Yes, I know you shouldn't do things in races you hadn't done before, but dangit... those old shoes just aren't working out for me.
The new shoes felt great! There's a lot more cushion in the heel, and that was obvious from the beginning all the way to the end. The front of the foot is a little wide, and had my insert (which I bought for a much smaller shoe) sliding around a bit. The new orthotics don't seem to have that problem when I did wear them in those shoes, though, so that shouldn't be as much a problem when I start running with the orthotics.
Speaking of running with the orthotics, that should be starting any day now! Hopefully, I can get out tomorrow and get some good running time in -- assuming we aren't in the middle of a monsoon, like we were today. It's rough getting up early to be greeted by loud, rumbling thunder. The pillow seems extra inviting when that happens.
Getting back to the issue at hand, though, the shoes felt great. What didn't feel great was my legs. Not the shins... the muscles. I said I was going to run it easy. I didn't. I ran the first couple miles at a fairly aggressive pace for me (about 9 min/mile). As it turns out, without the training, running five miles in the morning and then attempting to jam out 5 more miles at night at such an ambitious pace was, how do you say, idiotic?
At the turnaround, I was hurting. It was pretty obvious that at that point, I couldn't keep up that pace any longer. On the plus side, I was there in just under 23 minutes... pretty dang good for me! However, when I hit three miles, I lost everything.
Now, I had never really hit "the wall" before. I'd heard stories, but it's hard to do when running 5k races. This time, I think I finally get it. My legs simply would not do anything I told them to do! I had started out running a 3/1 ratio, but I finished up running 1/1, and even that was excruciating. And the second half of the run... 31 minutes. Ouch. Most of it was in the last two miles.
So, my results:
258 456 61 Bill, 35, Jacksonville, FL 54:10 10:50Still, there is one bright spot. I still beat my time from the winter beach run (54:54), despite running five miles in the morning. I'm definitely improving as far as endurance goes, if not in my pacing. I just need to make sure to get back to running more as soon as it's safe for me to do so.
I can't wait!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
AUUUUUGH!!!
Yes, that's right. Augh.
Why augh? Well, for one simple reason. I still can't run!
So, I went to the doctor's office the other morning to pick up my orthotics, and they were in. And they feel great -- a little strange, still, but it actually feels like there's some stability. And then the doc told me this little tidbit:
"Don't run in them until at least the second week".
Yeah, I figured there would be some break-in time, but I'm getting really frustrated at my inability to run! And here I am, still having to go forward with any running that I might do without my brand-spanking-new, mighty expensive, custom orthotics. Now, the bonus is that on a short run, I guess I can start up running with my new shoes and the old inserts, but it's just not the same. Plus it won't help with the long runs this weekend.
Oh, yeah -- I did get new shoes, too... Saucony Progrid Omni 6. I'll have to post a review after running in them for a while, but just walking around in them yesterday felt great! There's a lot more cushioning in the heel than my current (read: old and cheap) New Balance shoes. I'm fairly excited to try them out.
And yes, some of you may have picked up on the fact that I said "long runs" up above... that's for a simple reason. The training group is running 10 miles in the morning. My wife and I will be doing half that (5 miles, for the arithmetically impaired) for a training run, and then Saturday night is the Carrabba's Summer Beach Run. It's a five mile out-and-back run on the sand, and it should be pretty good. It's the same course as the four miler for the Tour de Pain last month, just extended another half mile south.
Yes, I'm running a race.
No, I'm not going to push very hard. I'm going to make sure to take things pretty easy.
But I sure do wish I could have the cool new feet in the race, too.
Why augh? Well, for one simple reason. I still can't run!
So, I went to the doctor's office the other morning to pick up my orthotics, and they were in. And they feel great -- a little strange, still, but it actually feels like there's some stability. And then the doc told me this little tidbit:
"Don't run in them until at least the second week".
Yeah, I figured there would be some break-in time, but I'm getting really frustrated at my inability to run! And here I am, still having to go forward with any running that I might do without my brand-spanking-new, mighty expensive, custom orthotics. Now, the bonus is that on a short run, I guess I can start up running with my new shoes and the old inserts, but it's just not the same. Plus it won't help with the long runs this weekend.
Oh, yeah -- I did get new shoes, too... Saucony Progrid Omni 6. I'll have to post a review after running in them for a while, but just walking around in them yesterday felt great! There's a lot more cushioning in the heel than my current (read: old and cheap) New Balance shoes. I'm fairly excited to try them out.
And yes, some of you may have picked up on the fact that I said "long runs" up above... that's for a simple reason. The training group is running 10 miles in the morning. My wife and I will be doing half that (5 miles, for the arithmetically impaired) for a training run, and then Saturday night is the Carrabba's Summer Beach Run. It's a five mile out-and-back run on the sand, and it should be pretty good. It's the same course as the four miler for the Tour de Pain last month, just extended another half mile south.
Yes, I'm running a race.
No, I'm not going to push very hard. I'm going to make sure to take things pretty easy.
But I sure do wish I could have the cool new feet in the race, too.
Monday, September 10, 2007
I'm still here!!
I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I think y'all know that it's because I haven't been running much lately. Hopefully, that will be remedied soon, but let's start at the beginning.
Previously, on The Starting Gun:
A couple weeks ago, I had gone to a podiatrist to see if there was anything I could do to stop the shin splints that had been hampering me for several weeks. He ended up scanning my feet for custom orthotics and gave me the go-ahead to run again... easily, and being mindful of any pain showing up.
Since then, I actually have run a few times. I went to the gym and tried out the treadmill a few days after the appointment, and it didn't work out too well. I started feeling an aching in my shin, and I wasn't sure if it was just soreness, or if it was the Return of the Splint... so I took it easy and quit after just over a mile. But I was incredibly happy just to run that one mile.
That weekend, I went to the Galloway group long run, which was scheduled for seven miles. I was planning on walking the whole thing, but I ended up running with my wife's group, which runs a 1/1 ratio at about a 16 minute/mile pace. And that went very well -- I barely had any pain in my legs at all! Woo hoo!
I took it easy again through last week, not wanting to push things too hard, especially since I didn't have my orthotics or new shoes yet. So I basically didn't "run" all last week. But this past weekend, I went back to the group for the eight mile long run, still planning on sticking with my wife's group. I figured that it worked so well last time, I might as well try it again!
Before I go any further, I just want to point out that this is not one of my "X Reasons Why I'm an Idiot" posts.
The run actually still felt really great. It was a beautiful run around downtown Jax, including two bridges and the historical San Marco neighborhood. In fact, the bridges we ran were the same ones from the Vestcor 5K about a month and a half ago, and it was much easier this time. Granted, I was running much slower than race pace, too... but I even ran some sprints going up the Acosta.
And what is the outcome of this weekend's run? Nothing worth noting. Sure, I'm sore. But I don't have massive shin pain. I did ice my leg on Saturday afternoon, but it feels fine right now. My right leg is sore as all get-out, so I think I was compensating, but still... nothing bad.
I could not be happier.
Except for one thing. My orthotics are in. I got a call from the doc, and I will be picking them up tomorrow. And I'll be getting new shoes tomorrow at lunch. I'll be careful in the breaking-in period, but I think I'm well on my way back to the running fold.
Insert happy dance here.
Previously, on The Starting Gun:
A couple weeks ago, I had gone to a podiatrist to see if there was anything I could do to stop the shin splints that had been hampering me for several weeks. He ended up scanning my feet for custom orthotics and gave me the go-ahead to run again... easily, and being mindful of any pain showing up.
Since then, I actually have run a few times. I went to the gym and tried out the treadmill a few days after the appointment, and it didn't work out too well. I started feeling an aching in my shin, and I wasn't sure if it was just soreness, or if it was the Return of the Splint... so I took it easy and quit after just over a mile. But I was incredibly happy just to run that one mile.
That weekend, I went to the Galloway group long run, which was scheduled for seven miles. I was planning on walking the whole thing, but I ended up running with my wife's group, which runs a 1/1 ratio at about a 16 minute/mile pace. And that went very well -- I barely had any pain in my legs at all! Woo hoo!
I took it easy again through last week, not wanting to push things too hard, especially since I didn't have my orthotics or new shoes yet. So I basically didn't "run" all last week. But this past weekend, I went back to the group for the eight mile long run, still planning on sticking with my wife's group. I figured that it worked so well last time, I might as well try it again!
Before I go any further, I just want to point out that this is not one of my "X Reasons Why I'm an Idiot" posts.
The run actually still felt really great. It was a beautiful run around downtown Jax, including two bridges and the historical San Marco neighborhood. In fact, the bridges we ran were the same ones from the Vestcor 5K about a month and a half ago, and it was much easier this time. Granted, I was running much slower than race pace, too... but I even ran some sprints going up the Acosta.
And what is the outcome of this weekend's run? Nothing worth noting. Sure, I'm sore. But I don't have massive shin pain. I did ice my leg on Saturday afternoon, but it feels fine right now. My right leg is sore as all get-out, so I think I was compensating, but still... nothing bad.
I could not be happier.
Except for one thing. My orthotics are in. I got a call from the doc, and I will be picking them up tomorrow. And I'll be getting new shoes tomorrow at lunch. I'll be careful in the breaking-in period, but I think I'm well on my way back to the running fold.
Insert happy dance here.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Step 1: Mission Accomplished
After yesterday's adventure at the hospital, I still had my appointment with the podiatrist this morning to see if he could help me out. And I feel pretty good about it. He gave some good explanations about what was most likely happening in my leg, and even some things that can be done about it. The bottom line that he noticed is that I do, in fact, overpronate something fierce. And the running all on one side of the road -- that was dumb. But I'm not in any acute pain right now, and it doesn't look like I've done any real damage.
And the most important thing? I can go back to running. Gradually. And I'm probably going to be even more cautious than he wants me to.
So, when I feel up to it (tomorrow or Thursday, depending on how the burn on my leg feels), I will be heading to the gym to run on the treadmill for a mile and reevaluate after that. I may be able to go up to two, but he told me not to go any farther than that. And yes, Chuck -- he told me not to run on roads if I can at all help it. And, in other news, I will be skipping the long run this week, also, to make sure that I'm happily ready to resume later.
The other outcome was that I'm getting orthotics. Nice ones. Way better than the over the counter ones. At least, for what they're charging me, it better be the best damn feeling in the world. But they should also be a big help. The only downfall is that the doc told me not to go get the new shoes until the orthotics come in (in two weeks -- my follow-up visit). I'm disappointed in that, but I won't be running very far until then, so it'll just have to do.
I'm just happy I can do something running-related again. Hooray!
And the most important thing? I can go back to running. Gradually. And I'm probably going to be even more cautious than he wants me to.
So, when I feel up to it (tomorrow or Thursday, depending on how the burn on my leg feels), I will be heading to the gym to run on the treadmill for a mile and reevaluate after that. I may be able to go up to two, but he told me not to go any farther than that. And yes, Chuck -- he told me not to run on roads if I can at all help it. And, in other news, I will be skipping the long run this week, also, to make sure that I'm happily ready to resume later.
The other outcome was that I'm getting orthotics. Nice ones. Way better than the over the counter ones. At least, for what they're charging me, it better be the best damn feeling in the world. But they should also be a big help. The only downfall is that the doc told me not to go get the new shoes until the orthotics come in (in two weeks -- my follow-up visit). I'm disappointed in that, but I won't be running very far until then, so it'll just have to do.
I'm just happy I can do something running-related again. Hooray!
Code Monkey Get Up, Get Frostbite
or, "Three More Reasons Why I'm An Idiot".
How many times have you ever heard of somebody getting frostbite in Florida... in August? Not all at once, let's just see a show of hands. Let's see... carry the 1... that leads to a total of roughly "zero".
Well, now you have.
For the last several weeks, I've been icing my leg with the shin splints and trying to take care of it. I've been using either ice in an ice bag or this nifty little ice pack that I got in my race packet once upon a time. Some of you can already see where this is going.
Well, yesterday, I decided to ice my leg again while I was at work. The ice pack had been in the work freezer all weekend, and was chilled and ready for me. So, I put it on my leg. Directly. Without a towel (this is mistake #1 -- I'll be keeping track). Since I was sitting at my desk at the time, and couldn't work really well with my leg propped up, I wrapped it to my leg with an ace bandage (mistake #2 -- they're really piling up now). After about ten minutes, it suddenly dawned on me that I couldn't feel my leg anymore. That should be a clue to take the ice pack off, right? Well... I did! Ha! I bet you thought mistake #3 was coming up -- but not yet.
I took the ice pack off, and it was weird. Really. The skin was obviously cold. But it was actually hard. It felt like there was a layer of ice on top of my skin. This is not going to be good. So, I started trying to warm it up. I pulled my jeans over top of it and started rubbing (mistake #3 -- it turns out that you are not supposed to rub such an injury). But it did warm up, and I started thinking that maybe everything would be OK.
A couple hours later, it was starting to hurt. I looked at it, and it was red and puffy. And painful. OK... at this point, I'm starting to get worried. I'm thinking of all those arctic mountain movies that show people's toes breaking off, and it's not making me feel good. So I called my wife and lovingly asked her to please take me to the emergency room. She, being the wonderful wife that she is, agreed, almost immediately.
She picked me up and took me to the hospital -- the same one that recently hosted me for my surgery. There was actually another hospital closer, but we figured that I'm already a frequent flier at the other hospital, so we just went up there. After all, if I get the card punched eight more times, I get a free appendectomy. But then I had to check in, which was fine, except for the box asking what the problem was.
"Froze leg"
Yep, that's what I put. And that was my explanation for the rest of the day. When I went into the triage, the nurse asked me what happened.
"I froze my leg!"
When I got put in the exam room and the nurse came in to look at it:
"I froze my leg!"
And when the doctor came it, it became almost comical. The conversation was something along these lines:
Doc: "What did you do?"
Me: "I froze my leg!"
Doc: "You burned it."
Me: "So, it's OK?"
Doc: "Yeah, you burned it"
Me: "Whew. I was just wondering, you know, because it hurts and all..."
Doc: "Because you burned it"
Me: "So you're saying I burned it?"
Yeah, she wasn't the most bedside mannered doc in the world, but she assuaged my fears. And she sent a nurse in to give me a tetanus shot (since I don't even remember the last one I had... it was a long time ago). The nurse came in and told us, "I'm just so happy I got to go see the guy who got frostbite!"
I might just be a source of discussion around there for a while.
So, two and a half hours after getting to the hospital, I was on my way back to work. With a burned, frozen leg.
So, please... if you are going to use ice packs, make absolutely sure that you follow the directions, and always use a towel or something between the ice pack and your leg. And I do want to point out that while I at least attempted to write this in a humorous way, I do realize that this is a very serious condition, and I heavily urge everyone to take this seriously. Any more mistakes on my part, I could have caused permanent damage. I have definitely learned from this experience.
But trust me, so long as you keep reading this blog, you will continue to see strange, stupid stories like this. They just happen to me. I don't know why. Remind me sometime to tell you the story of getting tackled off of a rope swing.
But hey, maybe it'll increase my readership.
How many times have you ever heard of somebody getting frostbite in Florida... in August? Not all at once, let's just see a show of hands. Let's see... carry the 1... that leads to a total of roughly "zero".
Well, now you have.
For the last several weeks, I've been icing my leg with the shin splints and trying to take care of it. I've been using either ice in an ice bag or this nifty little ice pack that I got in my race packet once upon a time. Some of you can already see where this is going.
Well, yesterday, I decided to ice my leg again while I was at work. The ice pack had been in the work freezer all weekend, and was chilled and ready for me. So, I put it on my leg. Directly. Without a towel (this is mistake #1 -- I'll be keeping track). Since I was sitting at my desk at the time, and couldn't work really well with my leg propped up, I wrapped it to my leg with an ace bandage (mistake #2 -- they're really piling up now). After about ten minutes, it suddenly dawned on me that I couldn't feel my leg anymore. That should be a clue to take the ice pack off, right? Well... I did! Ha! I bet you thought mistake #3 was coming up -- but not yet.
I took the ice pack off, and it was weird. Really. The skin was obviously cold. But it was actually hard. It felt like there was a layer of ice on top of my skin. This is not going to be good. So, I started trying to warm it up. I pulled my jeans over top of it and started rubbing (mistake #3 -- it turns out that you are not supposed to rub such an injury). But it did warm up, and I started thinking that maybe everything would be OK.
A couple hours later, it was starting to hurt. I looked at it, and it was red and puffy. And painful. OK... at this point, I'm starting to get worried. I'm thinking of all those arctic mountain movies that show people's toes breaking off, and it's not making me feel good. So I called my wife and lovingly asked her to please take me to the emergency room. She, being the wonderful wife that she is, agreed, almost immediately.
She picked me up and took me to the hospital -- the same one that recently hosted me for my surgery. There was actually another hospital closer, but we figured that I'm already a frequent flier at the other hospital, so we just went up there. After all, if I get the card punched eight more times, I get a free appendectomy. But then I had to check in, which was fine, except for the box asking what the problem was.
"Froze leg"
Yep, that's what I put. And that was my explanation for the rest of the day. When I went into the triage, the nurse asked me what happened.
"I froze my leg!"
When I got put in the exam room and the nurse came in to look at it:
"I froze my leg!"
And when the doctor came it, it became almost comical. The conversation was something along these lines:
Doc: "What did you do?"
Me: "I froze my leg!"
Doc: "You burned it."
Me: "So, it's OK?"
Doc: "Yeah, you burned it"
Me: "Whew. I was just wondering, you know, because it hurts and all..."
Doc: "Because you burned it"
Me: "So you're saying I burned it?"
Yeah, she wasn't the most bedside mannered doc in the world, but she assuaged my fears. And she sent a nurse in to give me a tetanus shot (since I don't even remember the last one I had... it was a long time ago). The nurse came in and told us, "I'm just so happy I got to go see the guy who got frostbite!"
I might just be a source of discussion around there for a while.
So, two and a half hours after getting to the hospital, I was on my way back to work. With a burned, frozen leg.
So, please... if you are going to use ice packs, make absolutely sure that you follow the directions, and always use a towel or something between the ice pack and your leg. And I do want to point out that while I at least attempted to write this in a humorous way, I do realize that this is a very serious condition, and I heavily urge everyone to take this seriously. Any more mistakes on my part, I could have caused permanent damage. I have definitely learned from this experience.
But trust me, so long as you keep reading this blog, you will continue to see strange, stupid stories like this. They just happen to me. I don't know why. Remind me sometime to tell you the story of getting tackled off of a rope swing.
But hey, maybe it'll increase my readership.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Next Steps
Tom asked a good question in yesterday's comments:
Your shins will recover.
What will you do to prevent them from returning?
Fair warning: I am now going to sound a bit like a politician.
I am aware of the dire problem with my shins, and I have a three-part solution to combat this issue:
1. Get checked out
Next Tuesday, I have an appointment with a local podiatrist/sports doc to take a look at things and see what sort of solutions he might have for orthotics, or whatever else he may suggest. I don't know... that's why he's the doctor.
2. New shoes
After getting checked out, I am going to support my local running store and have them take a look at my running and see what sort of suggestions they might have for new shoes. It's a very good shop, and they have a treadmill in the shop for just this sort of thing. Honestly, I thought my shoes were good enough, but I got them at Sports Authority, so who can really tell. Again... it's all about getting the experts to help me out.
3. Change my running
One of the things I noticed when my shins first started hurting is that I always ran on the same side of the street -- running with my left leg (the one that hurts) towards the outside of the street, where it would get more pounding because of the crowning on the street. I'm definitely going to at least change that up regularly, along with taking some of Chuck's advice and avoiding road running for a while -- treadmills are boring, but they work. Plus, I have nice, soft beach sand here that I can run on also. I'm not sure that would help, but it sure is purty.
I am positive that with the implementation of this plan, I can eliminate the troubles that have plagued my running for these several weeks, so I can focus on the more pressing issue at hand -- that of getting myself ready to run 26.2 miles in less than six months.
Vote Bill.
Your shins will recover.
What will you do to prevent them from returning?
Fair warning: I am now going to sound a bit like a politician.
I am aware of the dire problem with my shins, and I have a three-part solution to combat this issue:
1. Get checked out
Next Tuesday, I have an appointment with a local podiatrist/sports doc to take a look at things and see what sort of solutions he might have for orthotics, or whatever else he may suggest. I don't know... that's why he's the doctor.
2. New shoes
After getting checked out, I am going to support my local running store and have them take a look at my running and see what sort of suggestions they might have for new shoes. It's a very good shop, and they have a treadmill in the shop for just this sort of thing. Honestly, I thought my shoes were good enough, but I got them at Sports Authority, so who can really tell. Again... it's all about getting the experts to help me out.
3. Change my running
One of the things I noticed when my shins first started hurting is that I always ran on the same side of the street -- running with my left leg (the one that hurts) towards the outside of the street, where it would get more pounding because of the crowning on the street. I'm definitely going to at least change that up regularly, along with taking some of Chuck's advice and avoiding road running for a while -- treadmills are boring, but they work. Plus, I have nice, soft beach sand here that I can run on also. I'm not sure that would help, but it sure is purty.
I am positive that with the implementation of this plan, I can eliminate the troubles that have plagued my running for these several weeks, so I can focus on the more pressing issue at hand -- that of getting myself ready to run 26.2 miles in less than six months.
Vote Bill.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
He Lives!
First, I would like to apologize to all my loyal readers. I was not in jail, sent to a hospital, or abducted by aliens. In fact, I have simply just been incredibly busy, and still mostly off my feet, so I didn't have anything really run-worthy to write about.
But I'm back. Not to the running yet, but to the blogging. Let me start at the beginning.
Last Wednesday, I went to the doc. He told me to take it easy, ice, and no running for 10 days. So I have stuck with that. I did walk with my running group on Saturday, but things felt pretty OK after that (it was five miles). I have been *very* careful not to work things too hard, although I have not been very good about taking the Naproxen he prescribed for me. Or with icing. I've iced when it bothers me, but not normally... not sure if that's ok or not.
Anyway, I finally went back to the gym this morning to get a little cross-training in. I rode the bike and did some weight work... all no impact type things. And my leg feels pretty good. I'll slap the ice pack on it soon, but all in all, not bad at all. Hopefully, things will be looking much better this coming Saturday, when we are scheduled to do our next magic mile and alter the groups. I'm optimistic that things will be OK, but I'm definitely going to err on the side of caution.
That's basically all that there is to tell. No grand stories. But I'll see what I can do about that later. Right now, I have to get back to work.
Ahhh... it feels so good to blog again!
But I'm back. Not to the running yet, but to the blogging. Let me start at the beginning.
Last Wednesday, I went to the doc. He told me to take it easy, ice, and no running for 10 days. So I have stuck with that. I did walk with my running group on Saturday, but things felt pretty OK after that (it was five miles). I have been *very* careful not to work things too hard, although I have not been very good about taking the Naproxen he prescribed for me. Or with icing. I've iced when it bothers me, but not normally... not sure if that's ok or not.
Anyway, I finally went back to the gym this morning to get a little cross-training in. I rode the bike and did some weight work... all no impact type things. And my leg feels pretty good. I'll slap the ice pack on it soon, but all in all, not bad at all. Hopefully, things will be looking much better this coming Saturday, when we are scheduled to do our next magic mile and alter the groups. I'm optimistic that things will be OK, but I'm definitely going to err on the side of caution.
That's basically all that there is to tell. No grand stories. But I'll see what I can do about that later. Right now, I have to get back to work.
Ahhh... it feels so good to blog again!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Back on track?
After taking the whole week off of running, and attempting to take care of my leg as best I could, things were feeling great yesterday. And, as today happened to be a scheduled run with the Galloway group (and the first one where we are to be put in our pace groups), I thought I would give it a try. You know -- keep things pretty light, don't work too hard, be on the lookout for pain and whatnot. The bottom line is that it mostly worked.
I got to the start about 10 minutes before we were scheduled to begin, and found my pace group. Somehow, since my times last week were so good, I ended up in a faster group than I would have thought. I got put into the 11 min/mile pace group, running with a 4/1 run/walk ratio. And I was thinking that would be OK -- it's about what I've been running during the week, so how bad can it be, right? And the run itself wasn't that bad (I'll get to that in a second), but I got a little intimidated when I heard "we're pacing two minutes slower than the actual race pace".
Say what?
They want me to run NINE minute miles through TWENTY-SIX miles? That's faster than my fastest ever 5K pace!
Oh, boy.
But, I figured that I would give it a shot and see what I could do -- and besides, we had already started the run, so it was a little late to grab another group. And so I went. The scheduled run was 4 miles. And it felt OK. My shin felt a little sore after about two miles, but it mostly went away by the end of the run. It was either that, or I was distracted by my sucking for air at the end and didn't notice my leg hurting. But after a couple miles, we also realized that we hadn't found the turnoff to start heading back to start... so we went another way. It turned out that we didn't go too much farter than we were scheduled to go -- we ended up at 4.62 miles... in 48:20. Average pace was 10:27. And I didn't want to kill myself at the end. My body may have tried to die on its own... but it wasn't voluntary.
It is now a few hours past the run, and I'm attempting to take care of things. I iced my leg when I got home, and am definitely taking it easy. It still doesn't hurt that bad, but I think it has now hurt long enough that it's time to see the doc. I'll be making an appointment tomorrow, and we'll see where things go from there.
Gee, I hope they won't have to amputate.
I got to the start about 10 minutes before we were scheduled to begin, and found my pace group. Somehow, since my times last week were so good, I ended up in a faster group than I would have thought. I got put into the 11 min/mile pace group, running with a 4/1 run/walk ratio. And I was thinking that would be OK -- it's about what I've been running during the week, so how bad can it be, right? And the run itself wasn't that bad (I'll get to that in a second), but I got a little intimidated when I heard "we're pacing two minutes slower than the actual race pace".
Say what?
They want me to run NINE minute miles through TWENTY-SIX miles? That's faster than my fastest ever 5K pace!
Oh, boy.
But, I figured that I would give it a shot and see what I could do -- and besides, we had already started the run, so it was a little late to grab another group. And so I went. The scheduled run was 4 miles. And it felt OK. My shin felt a little sore after about two miles, but it mostly went away by the end of the run. It was either that, or I was distracted by my sucking for air at the end and didn't notice my leg hurting. But after a couple miles, we also realized that we hadn't found the turnoff to start heading back to start... so we went another way. It turned out that we didn't go too much farter than we were scheduled to go -- we ended up at 4.62 miles... in 48:20. Average pace was 10:27. And I didn't want to kill myself at the end. My body may have tried to die on its own... but it wasn't voluntary.
It is now a few hours past the run, and I'm attempting to take care of things. I iced my leg when I got home, and am definitely taking it easy. It still doesn't hurt that bad, but I think it has now hurt long enough that it's time to see the doc. I'll be making an appointment tomorrow, and we'll see where things go from there.
Gee, I hope they won't have to amputate.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Deep Tissue Distress
Last night, I got my first-ever deep tissue massage. If you have never done this before, by all means, please do not read the rest of this entry -- it may scar you for life. However, if you have had deep tissue assault done to you at some point in the past, please chime in and let me know just how much better it gets.
I work in an office, sitting at a computer, writing code all day long. Occasionally, I have to get up and walk down the hall for a meeting (or to play foosball), but my workday is pretty much sedentary. I also apparently have pretty bad posture, based on the fact that my back and shoulders are generally very tight, along with the "Oh, Good Lord!" scream that my masseuse let out when she got to my back and shoulders. I, of course, let her know of all the parts of my body that were strictly verboten, including my left shin and the area surrounding my surgery scar. Oddly enough, those are the only spots on my body that do not hurt this morning.
From what I hear, at some point either tonight or tomorrow, as long as I keep drinking lots of water, everything just releases and it feels awesome. I sure hope so. Right now, I just feel like a walking bruise.
Needless to say, there was no cross training this morning.
Ouch.
I work in an office, sitting at a computer, writing code all day long. Occasionally, I have to get up and walk down the hall for a meeting (or to play foosball), but my workday is pretty much sedentary. I also apparently have pretty bad posture, based on the fact that my back and shoulders are generally very tight, along with the "Oh, Good Lord!" scream that my masseuse let out when she got to my back and shoulders. I, of course, let her know of all the parts of my body that were strictly verboten, including my left shin and the area surrounding my surgery scar. Oddly enough, those are the only spots on my body that do not hurt this morning.
From what I hear, at some point either tonight or tomorrow, as long as I keep drinking lots of water, everything just releases and it feels awesome. I sure hope so. Right now, I just feel like a walking bruise.
Needless to say, there was no cross training this morning.
Ouch.
Monday, August 6, 2007
8 Reasons Why I'm an Idiot
...and three why I don't care.
If you've been following my blog for the last week or so, you know that I've been having some shin pain late last week. Honestly, it felt pretty good on Friday, but that doesn't excuse anything. Also, if you've noticed my run schedule, even if I don't have it posted on the site, I had a race scheduled this weekend. And it was an ugly one -- the Tour de Pain. Three races in twenty-four hours -- a four mile beach run on Friday night, a 5K Saturday morning, and a one mile "sizzler" Saturday afternoon. All done in August. In Florida. So, without further ado, this is why I'm an idiot:
Now, as for the reasons why I still don't care that I'm an idiot:
Oh, and I did run the first two races as 3 minutes running/1 minute walking. Thank you, Galloway!
But, to finish it all off, this was the end goal:
Yep, it's my first race medal. Ever.
If you've been following my blog for the last week or so, you know that I've been having some shin pain late last week. Honestly, it felt pretty good on Friday, but that doesn't excuse anything. Also, if you've noticed my run schedule, even if I don't have it posted on the site, I had a race scheduled this weekend. And it was an ugly one -- the Tour de Pain. Three races in twenty-four hours -- a four mile beach run on Friday night, a 5K Saturday morning, and a one mile "sizzler" Saturday afternoon. All done in August. In Florida. So, without further ado, this is why I'm an idiot:
- My shin hurt last week, and I still ran the race.
- I ended up staying awake until 1:00 in the morning on Thursday night/Friday morning. I didn't mean to. After all, I went to bed just after midnight!
- I got new inserts for my shoes, hoping that they might help. I've heard tell that you should never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never never do anything new to your shoes before a race. Luckily, in this case, it worked out OK -- the inserts felt pretty dang good.
- My company went to see The Bourne Ultimatum on Friday during work. And I went with them. And I got movie theater popcorn. Not the healthiest lunch before a race.
- And then afterwards, I went to Wendy's and got a baked potato.
- I forgot to wrap my leg on Friday night, and I still ran the race. See reason #1.
- I wrapped my leg for the 5K on Saturday. And I ran the race. And it hurt a bit. And I still kept running.
- To top it all off, I ran a full-speed, all-out mile.
Now, as for the reasons why I still don't care that I'm an idiot:
- I was hoping for about 44:00 in the 4 miler. I got 40:51.
- I was hoping for something around 35 in the 5K. I got a 30:50. My second best 5K time ever.
- I was hoping for about 8:00 in the mile, but really expecting something like 8:30. I finished in 7:19. Holy crap!
Oh, and I did run the first two races as 3 minutes running/1 minute walking. Thank you, Galloway!
But, to finish it all off, this was the end goal:
Yep, it's my first race medal. Ever.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Clutch Leg
For much of the afternoon yesterday, my leg was hurting. Not in any specific place, just a general achiness -- and one that I knew that I had felt before. Well, it finally dawned on me this morning where I had felt like that before.
I used to own a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, which tends to have a fairly tight clutch. I also used to live up in the DC area, which tends to have lots of bozos on the roads. There were some times when I would take the Eclipse to work in heavy traffic, and it would take near two hours to get there -- and I would be pushing in on the clutch most of the way there. It would wear out my leg something fierce, and it would just get achy all over.
That is what it felt like yesterday! So, henceforth, I am going to call this condition "clutch leg".
From what I can tell, it basically comes from overusing one leg far beyond where it should be used. Now, what does this have to do with running? Plenty. For a while, I was varying my course from time to time and making sure to run it backwards every now and then. After I started running my 3.2 (or 3.3, or 3.4) mile loop around the neighborhood, I've been running the same direction every time. And I'm basically staying on one side of the road, which does have a noticeable crown on it. Since the left leg (the one that hurts) is on the lower side of the road, I'm betting that has something to do with the achiness. So, when I do start road running again, I'm definitely going to make sure that I switch off road sides every now and then to try to even things out.
Of course, I bet everybody out there (yes, even you) are wondering... how does it feel today? Well, it feels pretty good. There's a little stiffness in the calf, but the shin is A-OK. Hooray. And I will still take it pretty easy today, just to make sure.
I used to own a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, which tends to have a fairly tight clutch. I also used to live up in the DC area, which tends to have lots of bozos on the roads. There were some times when I would take the Eclipse to work in heavy traffic, and it would take near two hours to get there -- and I would be pushing in on the clutch most of the way there. It would wear out my leg something fierce, and it would just get achy all over.
That is what it felt like yesterday! So, henceforth, I am going to call this condition "clutch leg".
From what I can tell, it basically comes from overusing one leg far beyond where it should be used. Now, what does this have to do with running? Plenty. For a while, I was varying my course from time to time and making sure to run it backwards every now and then. After I started running my 3.2 (or 3.3, or 3.4) mile loop around the neighborhood, I've been running the same direction every time. And I'm basically staying on one side of the road, which does have a noticeable crown on it. Since the left leg (the one that hurts) is on the lower side of the road, I'm betting that has something to do with the achiness. So, when I do start road running again, I'm definitely going to make sure that I switch off road sides every now and then to try to even things out.
Of course, I bet everybody out there (yes, even you) are wondering... how does it feel today? Well, it feels pretty good. There's a little stiffness in the calf, but the shin is A-OK. Hooray. And I will still take it pretty easy today, just to make sure.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Shin update
When I got home last night, I iced my shin and took some Advil. And it seemed to help. At the very least, a pain reliever should relieve pain, right? I'm not sure if the icing did much, though, except to numb my leg for a little while.
Today I'm taking things very easy. I'm still taking Advil, and resting my leg as much as possible. However, it doesn't feel like every other time I've gotten shin splints. Right now, it just feels more like a sore muscle. And any pain I have is on the outside of my leg, rather than the inside where most of my shin problems had happened in the past (although I haven't had any problems for years).
Right now, I'm just going to go ahead with rest. Tonight, I'm going to use the heating pad to get some more blood flow there. Tomorrow... we'll tackle that when I get there.
Thanks for the advice, Chuck and Tom!
Today I'm taking things very easy. I'm still taking Advil, and resting my leg as much as possible. However, it doesn't feel like every other time I've gotten shin splints. Right now, it just feels more like a sore muscle. And any pain I have is on the outside of my leg, rather than the inside where most of my shin problems had happened in the past (although I haven't had any problems for years).
Right now, I'm just going to go ahead with rest. Tonight, I'm going to use the heating pad to get some more blood flow there. Tomorrow... we'll tackle that when I get there.
Thanks for the advice, Chuck and Tom!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Not by the hair of my shinny shin shins.
Today's run could have been better. I got my pacing a little bit better, in that I didn't go out quite so fast. My first mile (no walking) was done in just over 10 minutes. After that, I did 4 minute run/1 minute walk for a while, and it felt really good. Heck, I was even able to run faster than the garbage truck -- which ended up being a mighty good thing, since I hadn't put my trash out last night. However, after about 2.5 miles, things started to feel less great. My shin started hurting.
Now, I'm not sure at this point whether it was actually shin splints or not (since it was only one leg, does that make it "shin splint"?), but it wasn't quite pleasant. I didn't let it get bad -- I started walking a lot more after that. Right now, it's still a little tender, but it's not a sharp pain... it's pretty dull, and almost feels more like soreness than anything else, but it's still not something I want to take for granted. Any suggestions?
Now, I'm not sure at this point whether it was actually shin splints or not (since it was only one leg, does that make it "shin splint"?), but it wasn't quite pleasant. I didn't let it get bad -- I started walking a lot more after that. Right now, it's still a little tender, but it's not a sharp pain... it's pretty dull, and almost feels more like soreness than anything else, but it's still not something I want to take for granted. Any suggestions?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday Morning
Monday mornings never seem to be all that good, but today's run wasn't too bad. Although I didn't get much sleep last night (I didn't even hear my wife's alarm go off... twice), I was still able to stagger out of bed at about 6:10 and out the door at 6:20.
I ran the 3.44 mile loop around my neighborhood, but I definitely started out too fast. I knew I was going too fast at the beginning of the run, but things were feeling so good, I just wanted to keep going and see what I could do. Turns out, I got the first mile done in just over 9:30... almost 5K pace! That's not what I was intending to do, so I tried to slow down a bit, and went to a 4 minute run/1 minute walk structure to try to keep me honest. And the outcome of this hard work? I did the second mile in 10:00. Honestly, I haven't run this course enough to know exactly where the three mile mark is, so I'm not sure what I got for my third split, but I finished the whole thing in 33:51... which seems to be awfully fast. According to Merv's Running Calculator, the pace was 9:50.4/mi. I should have been running about 1:30/mile slower than that.
I think one problem with running intentionally slower is that it just feels like I'm shuffling along, and not really running. I don't know if this is a mental block on my part, or if I need to work on my form when running slower, or what. I feel good that I was able to run so far and so fast, but I also know that I can't keep that up for six months. I hope I'll be able to work on it with my training group when I get back out there.
I ran the 3.44 mile loop around my neighborhood, but I definitely started out too fast. I knew I was going too fast at the beginning of the run, but things were feeling so good, I just wanted to keep going and see what I could do. Turns out, I got the first mile done in just over 9:30... almost 5K pace! That's not what I was intending to do, so I tried to slow down a bit, and went to a 4 minute run/1 minute walk structure to try to keep me honest. And the outcome of this hard work? I did the second mile in 10:00. Honestly, I haven't run this course enough to know exactly where the three mile mark is, so I'm not sure what I got for my third split, but I finished the whole thing in 33:51... which seems to be awfully fast. According to Merv's Running Calculator, the pace was 9:50.4/mi. I should have been running about 1:30/mile slower than that.
I think one problem with running intentionally slower is that it just feels like I'm shuffling along, and not really running. I don't know if this is a mental block on my part, or if I need to work on my form when running slower, or what. I feel good that I was able to run so far and so fast, but I also know that I can't keep that up for six months. I hope I'll be able to work on it with my training group when I get back out there.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Galloway Training Run #1
Yesterday, we had our first training run for the 26.2 with Donna marathon to fight breast cancer. The official training program for the marathon is with Jeff Galloway, using the run-walk-run method to help us get to being able to run 26 miles in six months, and getting there injury free. And so far, I think it makes great sense. I'm certainly intimidated by the idea of running 26 miles, but I know I can run four minutes at a time... and I'm absolutely sure that in six months, I'll pretty much be able to do that for really long distances.
Naturally, this was the first meeting, so there was a bit of getting acquainted to be done. We just ran in one big group, running two minutes and walking one minute. It was incredibly easy (as one might imagine), and really smooth. But what was really telling was today's workout. It was actually my first time back in the gym in a couple weeks, and it felt incredible! It started with 10 minutes on the elliptical, which I normaly get about .6 miles done. Today, in the same amount of time, I was able to pump out .8 miles! That's a heck of an improvement if you ask me. The rest of the workout was just lifting and stretching, but that elliptical run was fan-freaking-tastic.
On the negative side, it really struck me yesterday what I have really signed up for. I was getting ready for the run at 6AM on a Saturday, and realizing that this would be the latest I would be able to sleep in on a Saturday until mid-February of next year. Ouch. But I'm just going to focus on how good the running feels.
One other good thing -- my wife signed up for the training program today. She's not sure if she'll run the marathon yet, but running the 5K last weekend really had her realize how much she missed running. I'm really proud of her for starting to run again, and I'm looking forward to running together.
Oh, and here's yesterday's run:
On on to the marathon!
Naturally, this was the first meeting, so there was a bit of getting acquainted to be done. We just ran in one big group, running two minutes and walking one minute. It was incredibly easy (as one might imagine), and really smooth. But what was really telling was today's workout. It was actually my first time back in the gym in a couple weeks, and it felt incredible! It started with 10 minutes on the elliptical, which I normaly get about .6 miles done. Today, in the same amount of time, I was able to pump out .8 miles! That's a heck of an improvement if you ask me. The rest of the workout was just lifting and stretching, but that elliptical run was fan-freaking-tastic.
On the negative side, it really struck me yesterday what I have really signed up for. I was getting ready for the run at 6AM on a Saturday, and realizing that this would be the latest I would be able to sleep in on a Saturday until mid-February of next year. Ouch. But I'm just going to focus on how good the running feels.
One other good thing -- my wife signed up for the training program today. She's not sure if she'll run the marathon yet, but running the 5K last weekend really had her realize how much she missed running. I'm really proud of her for starting to run again, and I'm looking forward to running together.
Oh, and here's yesterday's run:
On on to the marathon!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Tomorrow's the day
At 7:00 tomorrow morning, I officially start my training for the National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer.
It's only a two mile run, and I'm sure a "getting acquainted" kind of thing (I'm really not sure -- I've never run with a group before), so that doesn't intimidate me.
Looking at the schedule and realizing that I will be doing a 10 mile run in less than two months intimidates me a little bit.
I guess I'll hit that when I get to it.
It's only a two mile run, and I'm sure a "getting acquainted" kind of thing (I'm really not sure -- I've never run with a group before), so that doesn't intimidate me.
Looking at the schedule and realizing that I will be doing a 10 mile run in less than two months intimidates me a little bit.
I guess I'll hit that when I get to it.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Morning run and motivation
My wife was supposed to join me on my run this morning, but decided that sleep was far more important. I don't blame her. It felt good. But my run felt even better!
I ran 3.44 miles this morning, basically just adding a couple extra side jogs to the 3.2 mile track I've been running. At the start of the run, my foot was still really hurting, my knee was feeling OK, and my legs were so incredibly stiff I thought they would break right off. It didn't take long, though, for things to loosen up a bit and for my feet to stop hurting at all. I definitely love these inserts.
The last couple weeks have been a little less than motivated for me, so at the beginning of my marathon training, I'm trying to come up with a good way to make sure I do all my workouts. As it turns out, Lifehacker yesterday had this post about the way Jerry Seinfeld keeps productive. Basically, it boils down to having a big calendar on your wall and marking the days you work with a big red 'X'. Once you get enough of those, you won't want to break up the prettiness of the calendar. I think I'm going to give this a try... all I need is a big wall calendar.
How about you guys? Do you have any tricks to keep yourselves motivated during the slow times?
I ran 3.44 miles this morning, basically just adding a couple extra side jogs to the 3.2 mile track I've been running. At the start of the run, my foot was still really hurting, my knee was feeling OK, and my legs were so incredibly stiff I thought they would break right off. It didn't take long, though, for things to loosen up a bit and for my feet to stop hurting at all. I definitely love these inserts.
The last couple weeks have been a little less than motivated for me, so at the beginning of my marathon training, I'm trying to come up with a good way to make sure I do all my workouts. As it turns out, Lifehacker yesterday had this post about the way Jerry Seinfeld keeps productive. Basically, it boils down to having a big calendar on your wall and marking the days you work with a big red 'X'. Once you get enough of those, you won't want to break up the prettiness of the calendar. I think I'm going to give this a try... all I need is a big wall calendar.
How about you guys? Do you have any tricks to keep yourselves motivated during the slow times?
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Ouch
I've been riding my PR high for the last couple days, but there was definitely an issue with the run. It has nothing to do with my previous surgery -- that felt fine. However, my foot started hurting something fierce -- on the arch, right below/behind my big toe. My guess is that it has to do with the way my feet are over-pronated, so I got some inserts for my shoes with every intention of trying them out this morning. Which was a great plan... until I actually woke up this morning.
I woke up, and my knee is hurting. This is actually nothing new -- it's been hurting since a neighborhood football game several years ago -- but the race seems to have put an additional strain on it. But it comes and goes, and I'm sure it'll be OK come tomorrow. Plus, when I woke up, I heard thunder outside. That's just not a way to get me to move at 6:00.
So, here I am, waiting for my next run. If I get a chance tonight, I might head out for a few miles -- especially since this is the last "cool" day we'll have for a while (the high is only in the 80's). We are planning on going to the gym nice and early tomorrow, so that'll be fun.
Oh, and the official start of the training program for my marathon is Saturday morning. It's almost real.
Oy.
I woke up, and my knee is hurting. This is actually nothing new -- it's been hurting since a neighborhood football game several years ago -- but the race seems to have put an additional strain on it. But it comes and goes, and I'm sure it'll be OK come tomorrow. Plus, when I woke up, I heard thunder outside. That's just not a way to get me to move at 6:00.
So, here I am, waiting for my next run. If I get a chance tonight, I might head out for a few miles -- especially since this is the last "cool" day we'll have for a while (the high is only in the 80's). We are planning on going to the gym nice and early tomorrow, so that'll be fun.
Oh, and the official start of the training program for my marathon is Saturday morning. It's almost real.
Oy.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Back to the Races
I have to admit that I started the race thinking that it would be really rough. Those bridges looked pretty rough... even if I did get a taste of uphill last week. I was mostly just happy to be back at a race. Apparently, there were about 900 people signed up. When the cannon sounded (oh, yeah... it was a heck of a cannon), I was way in the back of the pack, but I was able to bob and weave my way through the start and finally get a pretty good pace going. And it felt really good.
The first part of the race ran out Duval Street, for only a few tenths of a mile before turning around and running back through the start -- and that was interesting. It was only about three mintes after the start that the lead cops came through to move us all to one side to let the leaders through. It got crowded, but it also thinned out pretty quickly. I got to the first mile marker, and my split was 9:24. Holy crap! That's a heck of a time for me. And I couldn't believe how great my legs were feeling. But this was before the bridges... I still had that test ahead of me.
We got to the bottom of the Main Street Bridge, and I was still feeling really strong! Most of the people around me immediately started walking, but I kept on trudging up the bridge. I really only remember three cognitive thoughts:
1) I feel pretty good.
2) I don't like this metal grating... wouldn't it suck if I tripped?
3) Oh. My. God. That other bridge is really tall!
It's true. The Acosta was much taller than the Main Street. And I still had that to look forward to. Not only that, but most of the uphill part of the Acosta was still in Mile 2, so I was not looking like I'd have a really good split. But I still wanted to run. I *really* wanted to run at least the first two miles.
At the bottom of the Main Street (downhill is much nicer), there was a water stop. I had overfilled on water at the beginning, though, so I only took a couple sips and dumped the rest down my back. It was still pretty warm, despite the fact that we had a storm come through town just prior to the race which had cooled things down immensely. But the two bridges are really close together, so after only about three blocks, we were back on another ramp... onto the Acosta.
Ouch. It was long. And it burned. And I kept on going. I went a lot farther than I would have been able to not very long ago. Eventually, I realized that if I kept running all the way to the mile 2 marker, I wasn't going to be able to make it to mile 3. So, I started walking. About 10 seconds later, though, I could see the clock. So I ran again... to the clock. This mile's split: 9:32. That's amazing! With the two bridges, I'm still on pace! However, I was also getting really tired, so I started walking again. Bear in mind that this is still going uphill. I walked for about 30 seconds before I started trudging up the last part of the rise and crested the bridge. And again, the downhill was much easier.
I realized at this point that I just might make my goal time if I could keep it going. I tried to keep my pace relatively even, but I was starting to get that adrenaline rush. You know what I'm talking about. So I started kicking -- possibly a little early, but hey, I was feeling great! My legs weren't completely dead, but my lungs were starting to burn a bit. But I just kept on running.
Eventually, I saw the finish... and the clock that didn't quite read 30:00. And I'm thinking that not only am I going to beat 30:00 in my time, but I'm going to actually beat 30:00 on the clock!
How did I do?
And I could not be happier!
The first part of the race ran out Duval Street, for only a few tenths of a mile before turning around and running back through the start -- and that was interesting. It was only about three mintes after the start that the lead cops came through to move us all to one side to let the leaders through. It got crowded, but it also thinned out pretty quickly. I got to the first mile marker, and my split was 9:24. Holy crap! That's a heck of a time for me. And I couldn't believe how great my legs were feeling. But this was before the bridges... I still had that test ahead of me.
We got to the bottom of the Main Street Bridge, and I was still feeling really strong! Most of the people around me immediately started walking, but I kept on trudging up the bridge. I really only remember three cognitive thoughts:
1) I feel pretty good.
2) I don't like this metal grating... wouldn't it suck if I tripped?
3) Oh. My. God. That other bridge is really tall!
It's true. The Acosta was much taller than the Main Street. And I still had that to look forward to. Not only that, but most of the uphill part of the Acosta was still in Mile 2, so I was not looking like I'd have a really good split. But I still wanted to run. I *really* wanted to run at least the first two miles.
At the bottom of the Main Street (downhill is much nicer), there was a water stop. I had overfilled on water at the beginning, though, so I only took a couple sips and dumped the rest down my back. It was still pretty warm, despite the fact that we had a storm come through town just prior to the race which had cooled things down immensely. But the two bridges are really close together, so after only about three blocks, we were back on another ramp... onto the Acosta.
Ouch. It was long. And it burned. And I kept on going. I went a lot farther than I would have been able to not very long ago. Eventually, I realized that if I kept running all the way to the mile 2 marker, I wasn't going to be able to make it to mile 3. So, I started walking. About 10 seconds later, though, I could see the clock. So I ran again... to the clock. This mile's split: 9:32. That's amazing! With the two bridges, I'm still on pace! However, I was also getting really tired, so I started walking again. Bear in mind that this is still going uphill. I walked for about 30 seconds before I started trudging up the last part of the rise and crested the bridge. And again, the downhill was much easier.
I realized at this point that I just might make my goal time if I could keep it going. I tried to keep my pace relatively even, but I was starting to get that adrenaline rush. You know what I'm talking about. So I started kicking -- possibly a little early, but hey, I was feeling great! My legs weren't completely dead, but my lungs were starting to burn a bit. But I just kept on running.
Eventually, I saw the finish... and the clock that didn't quite read 30:00. And I'm thinking that not only am I going to beat 30:00 in my time, but I'm going to actually beat 30:00 on the clock!
How did I do?
CLASS Chip FINALFYI, that's 36 out of 55 in my age group, and 257 out of 392 for men.
ID# PLACE PLACE TIME TIME PACE
242 257 36 29:03 29:50 9:36
And I could not be happier!
Friday, July 20, 2007
Busy busy busy
Sadly, I haven't had time to run, swim, or blog the last few days -- things have been incredibly hectic and long, between putting in new closets for myself and the missus, and my 15-hour day at work yesterday (which ended up with roughly 4 hours of sleep last night), nothing has gotten done.
My goal now... go to bed early tonight, sleep in (at least until 8) tomorrow, and be ready and rarin' to go for tomorrow's 5K. Of course, it helps that it's a night race tomorrow (7:30PM), so at least this time I won't sleep through it...
Wish me luck!
My goal now... go to bed early tonight, sleep in (at least until 8) tomorrow, and be ready and rarin' to go for tomorrow's 5K. Of course, it helps that it's a night race tomorrow (7:30PM), so at least this time I won't sleep through it...
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
I lived up to my end of the deal
Yep, I promised I would run either last night or this morning. Well, last night, I ended up putting together a little workbench so that tonight, we could finish the project of putting closets together. Needless to say, I didn't run then. And tonight's going to be ugly, since my wife's closet is a huuuuuuge mess. Which is rather odd for her, being as anal retentive as she is. But that's neither here nor there.
Since I didn't run last night, I forced myself to run this morning. The alarm went off at 6:30, and I finally got up and started moving at around 6:50. I like sleep. I'm not ashamed of that. I can be good at getting up early again, but it doesn't look like it'll happen this week. In any case, I got up and started my run late... about 7:10. It was a little cooler than I expected at that time (about 74 degrees when I left the house), but that wouldn't last.
My legs were really tight. Especially my hamstrings. It got better as the run went on, but my breathing was somewhat labored the whole time, too. I need to remember to take a shot of Serevant before getting out on the road. But, what's important, is that I ran the whole thing. 3.2 miles. No walking at all. That made me at least a little happy, even when after the run, when my legs started crying. Seriously -- I heard sobbing coming from my hamstrings. At least, I think that's where it came from. I can't really put my ear down there to find out.
Oh, when I got back home, it was 80 degrees. I definitely need to start running earlier.
In any case, I finally ran 5K+, just in time to give me a little shot of adrenaline going into the 5K this Saturday night. I might not finish in under 30 minutes (which is my end goal), but I'll finish, and I'll finish strong.
Trivia: The last time I ran the full 5K distance was in April, before my leg problems showed up. It only took three months to get back where I was.
Since I didn't run last night, I forced myself to run this morning. The alarm went off at 6:30, and I finally got up and started moving at around 6:50. I like sleep. I'm not ashamed of that. I can be good at getting up early again, but it doesn't look like it'll happen this week. In any case, I got up and started my run late... about 7:10. It was a little cooler than I expected at that time (about 74 degrees when I left the house), but that wouldn't last.
My legs were really tight. Especially my hamstrings. It got better as the run went on, but my breathing was somewhat labored the whole time, too. I need to remember to take a shot of Serevant before getting out on the road. But, what's important, is that I ran the whole thing. 3.2 miles. No walking at all. That made me at least a little happy, even when after the run, when my legs started crying. Seriously -- I heard sobbing coming from my hamstrings. At least, I think that's where it came from. I can't really put my ear down there to find out.
Oh, when I got back home, it was 80 degrees. I definitely need to start running earlier.
In any case, I finally ran 5K+, just in time to give me a little shot of adrenaline going into the 5K this Saturday night. I might not finish in under 30 minutes (which is my end goal), but I'll finish, and I'll finish strong.
Trivia: The last time I ran the full 5K distance was in April, before my leg problems showed up. It only took three months to get back where I was.
Monday, July 16, 2007
It's been a long weekend
Let me just start by saying... I hate redeyes.
My flight out of San Diego didn't leave SD until 6:55pm (PDT) -- sadly, the meeting was complete before 11AM. And I couldn't find any earlier flights, so I went to one of my favorite restaurants... and had much beer. Finally, I ended up going back to the airport... and had much beer. I got to Phoenix nice and early for my next flight, which left at 11:15 to arrive in Atlanta at 6:00 the next morning... and had much beer. I think I was hoping that I'd be able to sleep and that would make me all sorts of happy for the next day.
I was wrong.
I did sleep on the flights, at least as much as I could. However, I got back home and was dead tired. At the same time, my wife was planning on throwing one of her coworkers a birthday party that afternoon (one of those no-guys-allowed things), so I stayed up until just before the party and locked myself in the bedroom to sleep. And I woke up at about 8:00 that night, had some dinner, watched some TV, and went back to bed (after biting the inside of my cheek really hard). I figure I went back to bed sometime after 11, and we woke up the next morning close to 10.
And I was still exhausted.
And we had errands to run.
So, we jumped in the car, got some coffee, stopped by Lowe's, unloaded, went to Target, tried to find a lunch place that was open, had lunch, went home, measured the closets, created a plan for new closet organization spaces, went back to Lowe's to get the closet workings, and headed home.
Now, most sane people I know wouldn't start on a weekend project of reorganizing their closets at 8:30PM on a Sunday. I am not most people, and I am definitely not sane. Start I did. Now, my wife suggested we start with my closet, since it would be easier, so we emptied out my closet, put together all the crap, put it in the closet, loaded everything back up, and it all worked wonderfully. And it only took three hours or so -- which wasn't bad. However, that meant it was now 11:30 at night, and we were just starting to get ready for bed. And I'm still all worked up -- to the point I was simply not able to sleep. Until about 3AM. I think I screwed up my internal clock pretty royally.
Needless to say, I did not run today. I may run tonight to get used to the heat so I can run the 5K this Saturday night. But damn, I'm tired. I promise I will run either tonight or tomorrow morning, though!
My flight out of San Diego didn't leave SD until 6:55pm (PDT) -- sadly, the meeting was complete before 11AM. And I couldn't find any earlier flights, so I went to one of my favorite restaurants... and had much beer. Finally, I ended up going back to the airport... and had much beer. I got to Phoenix nice and early for my next flight, which left at 11:15 to arrive in Atlanta at 6:00 the next morning... and had much beer. I think I was hoping that I'd be able to sleep and that would make me all sorts of happy for the next day.
I was wrong.
I did sleep on the flights, at least as much as I could. However, I got back home and was dead tired. At the same time, my wife was planning on throwing one of her coworkers a birthday party that afternoon (one of those no-guys-allowed things), so I stayed up until just before the party and locked myself in the bedroom to sleep. And I woke up at about 8:00 that night, had some dinner, watched some TV, and went back to bed (after biting the inside of my cheek really hard). I figure I went back to bed sometime after 11, and we woke up the next morning close to 10.
And I was still exhausted.
And we had errands to run.
So, we jumped in the car, got some coffee, stopped by Lowe's, unloaded, went to Target, tried to find a lunch place that was open, had lunch, went home, measured the closets, created a plan for new closet organization spaces, went back to Lowe's to get the closet workings, and headed home.
Now, most sane people I know wouldn't start on a weekend project of reorganizing their closets at 8:30PM on a Sunday. I am not most people, and I am definitely not sane. Start I did. Now, my wife suggested we start with my closet, since it would be easier, so we emptied out my closet, put together all the crap, put it in the closet, loaded everything back up, and it all worked wonderfully. And it only took three hours or so -- which wasn't bad. However, that meant it was now 11:30 at night, and we were just starting to get ready for bed. And I'm still all worked up -- to the point I was simply not able to sleep. Until about 3AM. I think I screwed up my internal clock pretty royally.
Needless to say, I did not run today. I may run tonight to get used to the heat so I can run the 5K this Saturday night. But damn, I'm tired. I promise I will run either tonight or tomorrow morning, though!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Tale of My Ascent of Mt. Ohellno
So, I've gotten to San Diego, and stayed up until 10:30, and I was exhausted. But, since I just came from the east coast, that doesn't mean much... I still woke up at 3:00 in the morning. And 4:00. And 4:30. And 5:11. At 6:00, I finally started moving, since I could see that the sun was coming up, and I didn't want to run in the dark in a strange area.
Since it was a strange area, I decided to keep it simple. There's a main road right here with a sidewalk, so I thought I would just run up the road for a while and then run back. That's when I went outside and saw this road...
Now, being from Florida, I've completely forgotten what hills look like. But you guys out west certainly have them. With a vengeance. I'm pretty sure it was about a 60 degree incline. So, I studied the west face of this peak, and came up with a plan. I started my ascent to base camp alpha, remembering to take small steps and conserve some energy. I started a 5 minute run/1 minute walk to head up to the summit. And it felt pretty good. The other part of this trip was to find the Rubio's in the village at the base of the mountain -- and I found it about halfway up. Oh, boy... I better really want some fish tacos later to make that trip again. But up, up, up I went. Finally, when I saw a mountain goat bound past me, I decided that I'd gone up high enough. 13 and a half minutes of climing -- definitely not bad for a Florida boy.
The downhill part was (obviously) much easier, but I'm still remembering to take small steps. I'm not sure what I looked like doing this run, but I'm betting it was kinda funny. I made it back down to the bottom in another 13 minutes, so I still had some time to go, so I turned around and went back up -- and that was the tortuous part. My legs felt like jelly... but they didn't hurt, so I pushed on through. I only went up another couple minutes, found a good marker to turn around at so that I could map my run, and went back down. And that brings us to now.
It turns out that it was a short run... only 2.69 miles. I have to admit that I'm disappointed in that, but it felt good to get some hill work in. It's not like we have them all over the place at home. I definitely feel more confident that I won't die during next week's bridge run.
Since it was a strange area, I decided to keep it simple. There's a main road right here with a sidewalk, so I thought I would just run up the road for a while and then run back. That's when I went outside and saw this road...
Now, being from Florida, I've completely forgotten what hills look like. But you guys out west certainly have them. With a vengeance. I'm pretty sure it was about a 60 degree incline. So, I studied the west face of this peak, and came up with a plan. I started my ascent to base camp alpha, remembering to take small steps and conserve some energy. I started a 5 minute run/1 minute walk to head up to the summit. And it felt pretty good. The other part of this trip was to find the Rubio's in the village at the base of the mountain -- and I found it about halfway up. Oh, boy... I better really want some fish tacos later to make that trip again. But up, up, up I went. Finally, when I saw a mountain goat bound past me, I decided that I'd gone up high enough. 13 and a half minutes of climing -- definitely not bad for a Florida boy.
The downhill part was (obviously) much easier, but I'm still remembering to take small steps. I'm not sure what I looked like doing this run, but I'm betting it was kinda funny. I made it back down to the bottom in another 13 minutes, so I still had some time to go, so I turned around and went back up -- and that was the tortuous part. My legs felt like jelly... but they didn't hurt, so I pushed on through. I only went up another couple minutes, found a good marker to turn around at so that I could map my run, and went back down. And that brings us to now.
It turns out that it was a short run... only 2.69 miles. I have to admit that I'm disappointed in that, but it felt good to get some hill work in. It's not like we have them all over the place at home. I definitely feel more confident that I won't die during next week's bridge run.
Training across the country
Before I get to the tale of today's run, let me first mention a little about the trip out here. I flew out of Jacksonville, through Atlanta and Phoenix, and finally made it to San Diego a little past 7:00 last night (PDT). Two connections... and both were actually pretty good for my training!
We were sitting on the plane in Jacksonville, having boarded on time, which was kind of a surprise to begin with. After a little while, we realized something -- we were still on the ground. About ten minutes after we were supposed to push off (1:05), the captain came on the PA and told us that there was a ground stop in Atlanta due to weather, and he was bringing the jetway back to give us some A/C. At 1:45, he told us that we were going to have to sit for at least another 15 minutes. We finally got clearance to leave at 2:09, which was 5 minutes before we were supposed to land in Atlanta. Now, this guy was one hell of a driver, because he got us there pretty quickly, although it was really bumpy going into Atlanta. We landed at 3:30 or so. No problem -- my next flight leaves at 4:15. Which means that it started boarding pretty soon. I only had to get from B8 to A20, which isn't that bad, but I still went pretty quickly to get there.
Fast forward another four hours, and we land at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, AZ at 5:15. My next flight leaves at 6:15, so this again, shouldn't be a problem. Except that my boarding pass has no gate information on it. Naturally, I would normally find the little monitors and find out where my next flight is, but I'm in a Delta terminal, and my next flight is on USAir. Now, this is where I start to appreciate just about every other airport I've ever been in, including Atlanta. Most of the time, if you're just switching terminals to get to another airline, there is some mechanism to get you there without having to go through security again. Not here. So, I exit security, wander around until I find the exit, catch the bus to terminal 4, and see a loooooong line at security there. And it's important to remember that a plane leaving at 6:15 starts boarding at 5:45. So now it's 5:30, and I'm at the back of this line. It moved pretty quickly, and I didn't have that much of a problem, but let me tell you -- if you're a terrorist trying to get through an airport security line, pick another airport. These guys inspected my ID more than anywhere else I've ever been. Good job, guys, but definitely irritating. Oh, and then I got to the plane and realized that I left my copy of Marathon, by Jeff Galloway, on the other plane. Whoops. Don't worry... I've already hit up Amazon to get another copy.
Finally, I get to San Diego, grab my cab, and head out. And the cabbie was nice enough to take me through the drive-thru at In-N-Out. Oh, was it good...
Now, seasoned traveler that I am, I stayed up until my normal time to make sure that I'm fighting the jet lag. But I did eventually go to bed, which leads to my next post...
We were sitting on the plane in Jacksonville, having boarded on time, which was kind of a surprise to begin with. After a little while, we realized something -- we were still on the ground. About ten minutes after we were supposed to push off (1:05), the captain came on the PA and told us that there was a ground stop in Atlanta due to weather, and he was bringing the jetway back to give us some A/C. At 1:45, he told us that we were going to have to sit for at least another 15 minutes. We finally got clearance to leave at 2:09, which was 5 minutes before we were supposed to land in Atlanta. Now, this guy was one hell of a driver, because he got us there pretty quickly, although it was really bumpy going into Atlanta. We landed at 3:30 or so. No problem -- my next flight leaves at 4:15. Which means that it started boarding pretty soon. I only had to get from B8 to A20, which isn't that bad, but I still went pretty quickly to get there.
Fast forward another four hours, and we land at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, AZ at 5:15. My next flight leaves at 6:15, so this again, shouldn't be a problem. Except that my boarding pass has no gate information on it. Naturally, I would normally find the little monitors and find out where my next flight is, but I'm in a Delta terminal, and my next flight is on USAir. Now, this is where I start to appreciate just about every other airport I've ever been in, including Atlanta. Most of the time, if you're just switching terminals to get to another airline, there is some mechanism to get you there without having to go through security again. Not here. So, I exit security, wander around until I find the exit, catch the bus to terminal 4, and see a loooooong line at security there. And it's important to remember that a plane leaving at 6:15 starts boarding at 5:45. So now it's 5:30, and I'm at the back of this line. It moved pretty quickly, and I didn't have that much of a problem, but let me tell you -- if you're a terrorist trying to get through an airport security line, pick another airport. These guys inspected my ID more than anywhere else I've ever been. Good job, guys, but definitely irritating. Oh, and then I got to the plane and realized that I left my copy of Marathon, by Jeff Galloway, on the other plane. Whoops. Don't worry... I've already hit up Amazon to get another copy.
Finally, I get to San Diego, grab my cab, and head out. And the cabbie was nice enough to take me through the drive-thru at In-N-Out. Oh, was it good...
Now, seasoned traveler that I am, I stayed up until my normal time to make sure that I'm fighting the jet lag. But I did eventually go to bed, which leads to my next post...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
On the road again...
Yep, I'm traveling again. Those of you who know me from way back know that I used to travel for my job, up to and including 100% travel. I've been lucky enough in the past year to have a job that doesn't require too much travel. However, when I do have to fly out, it's been pretty good so far.
Today's destination? San Diego, CA
I love, love, love San Diego. I've said often that if there were anywhere on the west coast that I could live, it would be SD. As a matter of fact, we even spent half of our honeymoon in San Diego, and had an absolute blast there. Now, sadly, this trip isn't going to be nearly as much fun as that was. For instance, I'm staying way north of downtown, and won't even have a car, so I can't really head out to the Yard House for a quick half-yard of some delicious brew. However, I am looking forward to some of the other fine left-coast food that's out there. Oh, yeah... I'm definitely having the cab stop by an In 'N' Out on the way to the airport. And, if I did my research correctly, there's a Rubio's just down the street from the hotel.
Mmm... fish tacos...
Oh, yeah, I'm definitely bringing my running gear so I can try to get a nice run in. I think I found a good course to run right near the hotel, but I'm not really sure. And, since it's a work trip, I'm bringing a laptop with me, so I should be able to blog about the wonders of a hilly world.
Now, let's hope I can get through Atlanta and Phoenix with no problem.
Today's destination? San Diego, CA
I love, love, love San Diego. I've said often that if there were anywhere on the west coast that I could live, it would be SD. As a matter of fact, we even spent half of our honeymoon in San Diego, and had an absolute blast there. Now, sadly, this trip isn't going to be nearly as much fun as that was. For instance, I'm staying way north of downtown, and won't even have a car, so I can't really head out to the Yard House for a quick half-yard of some delicious brew. However, I am looking forward to some of the other fine left-coast food that's out there. Oh, yeah... I'm definitely having the cab stop by an In 'N' Out on the way to the airport. And, if I did my research correctly, there's a Rubio's just down the street from the hotel.
Mmm... fish tacos...
Oh, yeah, I'm definitely bringing my running gear so I can try to get a nice run in. I think I found a good course to run right near the hotel, but I'm not really sure. And, since it's a work trip, I'm bringing a laptop with me, so I should be able to blog about the wonders of a hilly world.
Now, let's hope I can get through Atlanta and Phoenix with no problem.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Not getting lost... now that's new
This morning, I tried the same route that I did on Saturday, when I took a wrong turn. Today, however, the running gods were smiling on me (plus, I had just run it a few days ago), and I managed to get the whole thing in without any wrong turns at all. Hooray me.
The whole thing was 3.2 miles, so just over 5K length. And I did it all in 33 minutes. Now, that's slightly disappointing, as I'm hoping to break my plateau of 30 minutes in the 5K next weekend, but then I started thinking about several things:
Tonight, my lovely wife and I are going to give the swimming a try again. She says her shoulder is feeling much better, and I'm going to see what I can do to have her use it as little as possible. I'm not really sure how to do that just yet, but I'll think of something.
The whole thing was 3.2 miles, so just over 5K length. And I did it all in 33 minutes. Now, that's slightly disappointing, as I'm hoping to break my plateau of 30 minutes in the 5K next weekend, but then I started thinking about several things:
- Oh... My... God... it's hot. Yes, it's Florida. But it was 76 when I left at 6:50-ish this morning, and damn near 80 when I got back at 7:30-ish. Naturally, that's going to slow you down.
- It has been a while since I was able to run that 30 minute 5K, and I didn't do much in the meantime -- except have my leg sliced into and pieces of it removed.
- Oh, and let's not forget that the race is running over two bridges in downtown Jacksonville next Friday night. It's going to be even hotter than, plus I get the fun uphill parts of running the bridges.
Tonight, my lovely wife and I are going to give the swimming a try again. She says her shoulder is feeling much better, and I'm going to see what I can do to have her use it as little as possible. I'm not really sure how to do that just yet, but I'll think of something.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Ooooh, that smarts!
Sunday morning, my lovely wife and I decided that we were going to go for a nice walk on the beach. It was before 10, and it seemed like such a nice day, so we headed to our local coffee house and picked up some drinks and then headed off to the beach. It was supposed to be a nice stroll. It ended up being a death march.
I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but at one point, we realized that we'd been walking for a really long time. LW asked me if we were going to be walking all the way to the Sea Turtle (a local hotel), and we decided that it seemed like a good idea. We were very wrong. As it turns out, the total length of our nice beach stroll was 6.4 miles. Don't get me wrong -- that would have been great, if we had been prepared for it.
Since we weren't expecting to go for such a long stroll, we hadn't slathered ourselves in sunscreen. And we weren't wearing good shoes. Or good clothes. And we ended up finishing after noon, when the midday Florida sun was beating down on us horrendously. We got burnt. To a crisp. And it hurts. Happily, I was wearing a shirt the whole time. So now I'm just a redneck.
Granted, we live in Florida. It wasn't the first time, and it sure won't be the last.
Moving on, LW wants to learn how to swim better. Given that I was a competitive swimmer in my youth (from when I was 7 to shortly before going to college), she turned to me to be her coach. Luckily, she doesn't have a bad stroke at all... just some tuning is necessary. Unfortunately, I don't remember all that many drills to get that tuning done. And even more unfortunately, she seems to have hurt her shoulder over the weekend, which very much affected her pool time.
Now, since her shoulder is hurt, she's taking it easy. And I am very happy about that. Mostly so that she can have a chance to heal and make sure she doesn't make it worse. Of course, there's a side benefit in that I didn't have to get up at 5:00 this morning to go to the gym. Instead, I woke up at 6:30 and dragged myself out the door. Some things got in the way of my time, so I had to cut my workout short... I just did the 10 minute cardio at the beginning, lifting for about half an hour, and then stretching (well, I threw the basketball for about five minutes, but not well). That got me to work a little after 9. Which means that I still have to get up early. Sigh.
Disappointing. But I know I can do it.
Now I just wish my neck would stop hurting.
I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but at one point, we realized that we'd been walking for a really long time. LW asked me if we were going to be walking all the way to the Sea Turtle (a local hotel), and we decided that it seemed like a good idea. We were very wrong. As it turns out, the total length of our nice beach stroll was 6.4 miles. Don't get me wrong -- that would have been great, if we had been prepared for it.
Since we weren't expecting to go for such a long stroll, we hadn't slathered ourselves in sunscreen. And we weren't wearing good shoes. Or good clothes. And we ended up finishing after noon, when the midday Florida sun was beating down on us horrendously. We got burnt. To a crisp. And it hurts. Happily, I was wearing a shirt the whole time. So now I'm just a redneck.
Granted, we live in Florida. It wasn't the first time, and it sure won't be the last.
Moving on, LW wants to learn how to swim better. Given that I was a competitive swimmer in my youth (from when I was 7 to shortly before going to college), she turned to me to be her coach. Luckily, she doesn't have a bad stroke at all... just some tuning is necessary. Unfortunately, I don't remember all that many drills to get that tuning done. And even more unfortunately, she seems to have hurt her shoulder over the weekend, which very much affected her pool time.
Now, since her shoulder is hurt, she's taking it easy. And I am very happy about that. Mostly so that she can have a chance to heal and make sure she doesn't make it worse. Of course, there's a side benefit in that I didn't have to get up at 5:00 this morning to go to the gym. Instead, I woke up at 6:30 and dragged myself out the door. Some things got in the way of my time, so I had to cut my workout short... I just did the 10 minute cardio at the beginning, lifting for about half an hour, and then stretching (well, I threw the basketball for about five minutes, but not well). That got me to work a little after 9. Which means that I still have to get up early. Sigh.
Disappointing. But I know I can do it.
Now I just wish my neck would stop hurting.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Another beautiful Saturday morning
This morning, I decided to try another route. I've actually run it before, and it's pretty close to 5K length, but I took a couple wrong turns the last time, which made that run more like 3.5 miles. Well, I did it again. Not so bad as last time, but I took a wrong turn again and turned it into 3.3 miles.
I also changed some things up for this morning. I was thinking that it's been a while since I actually ran a complete mile, so I decided to give it a try. I ran the first mile in just about 10 minutes (I don't know what the exact split is -- I obviously didn't know the route well enough).
Still, it felt pretty good. The first mile was fine... and I was taking it pretty easy the whole time. After the first mile, I switched back to a 3 minute run/1 minute walk trek. However, by the time the third mile came along, I was getting pretty tired, and I'm starting to notice that when I get tired, my form definitely starts to suffer. I start running much heavier and flatter. I'm trying to make sure to work on that -- anyone have any suggestions?
I also changed some things up for this morning. I was thinking that it's been a while since I actually ran a complete mile, so I decided to give it a try. I ran the first mile in just about 10 minutes (I don't know what the exact split is -- I obviously didn't know the route well enough).
Still, it felt pretty good. The first mile was fine... and I was taking it pretty easy the whole time. After the first mile, I switched back to a 3 minute run/1 minute walk trek. However, by the time the third mile came along, I was getting pretty tired, and I'm starting to notice that when I get tired, my form definitely starts to suffer. I start running much heavier and flatter. I'm trying to make sure to work on that -- anyone have any suggestions?
Friday, July 6, 2007
Facing the day, pre-dawn
Yesterday, I was under the impression that I would have to wake up at 4:45AM to get to the gym in time for my lovely wife to make it to power-body-pump-flow-whatever class at 5:45. But last night, the plans changed. She decided that she would much rather do the cycling class that starts at 6:00.
That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard.
I know I've harped on the early morning thing before, and I know I will again, but I just have to say that there is a huge difference in those 15 minutes. 5:00 is reasonable. It's early, but it shows dedication. Before 5:00 -- even at 4:45 -- is insane. That's just gone over the edge.
"When did you get up?"
"Oh, I got up at five this morning."
"Wow... that's early. You must be doing great in your training!"
As opposed to:
"Before five."
"Dude... you're insane. Don't come around me anymore. You're not welcome here. "
See? Those just sound like natural conversations to me.
Now... this isn't to say that I'll never get up at 4:45. If my lovely wife wants to go to whatever random class is at 5:45, I will naturally support that. But I'll complain the whole time. And you'll hear about it.
Oh, and today's workout? Not too bad. 10 minutes on the elliptical, a trip around the weight stations (which felt pretty good), and then 15 minutes on the stairmaster (although not a StairMaster(TM)... it's from TechnoGym). That kinda hurt, but I wanted to change things up a bit -- the elliptical gets boring when that's all you do.
For this weekend, I'm looking at running again tomorrow (hopefully a different route... I'll tell all about it), and then probably swimming on Sunday. I'm excited about that... I used to be a competitive swimmer, so I love getting back to the pool. Plus, my wife wants me to coach her a bit to help her stroke along. Should be fun!
That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard.
I know I've harped on the early morning thing before, and I know I will again, but I just have to say that there is a huge difference in those 15 minutes. 5:00 is reasonable. It's early, but it shows dedication. Before 5:00 -- even at 4:45 -- is insane. That's just gone over the edge.
"When did you get up?"
"Oh, I got up at five this morning."
"Wow... that's early. You must be doing great in your training!"
As opposed to:
"Before five."
"Dude... you're insane. Don't come around me anymore. You're not welcome here. "
See? Those just sound like natural conversations to me.
Now... this isn't to say that I'll never get up at 4:45. If my lovely wife wants to go to whatever random class is at 5:45, I will naturally support that. But I'll complain the whole time. And you'll hear about it.
Oh, and today's workout? Not too bad. 10 minutes on the elliptical, a trip around the weight stations (which felt pretty good), and then 15 minutes on the stairmaster (although not a StairMaster(TM)... it's from TechnoGym). That kinda hurt, but I wanted to change things up a bit -- the elliptical gets boring when that's all you do.
For this weekend, I'm looking at running again tomorrow (hopefully a different route... I'll tell all about it), and then probably swimming on Sunday. I'm excited about that... I used to be a competitive swimmer, so I love getting back to the pool. Plus, my wife wants me to coach her a bit to help her stroke along. Should be fun!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Oops
Thanks to everyone for their well wishes on the 5k yesterday. However, you know how plans sometimes go awry? Well... yeah. That happened.
The plan was to go to the pub crawl for just a little while. My lovely wife was going to come out a couple hours later, hang out for an hour or so, and then we would head home, ready to relax and get up early for the run.
In actuality, she arrived about 45 minutes after we started and said, "Do you want to split a pitcher?" Now, I've never been able to say "no" to her... especially when I've already been drinking and she wants to offer me more sweet, sweet beer. Then there was an issue where we couldn't go walking around the street with full beers, so we had to chug them to catch up with everyone else. It's a beach town on the 3rd of July -- how come we can't carry beer outside? Sigh.
So, I ended up getting home at about 2:30 in the morning, and we slept right through the race. I kinda figured that might happen, but not in so spectacular a fashion.
But they say that the only real mistakes are the ones you don't learn from. Now I know the truth... no pub crawls the night before a race. I'll get my carbo loading done in some other fashion from now on. But definitely not with so much beer. I hear pasta is good. Or potatoes. Maybe that would be a better way to spend the night before.
So, I don't have a time to report from the race. I did, however, get up and ran my three-loop trip around the neighborhood this morning. And it was hot. And it was humid. And my legs were dragging something fierce. For once, my lungs were feeling mostly OK, but my legs just weren't working past the first mile.
2.9 miles / 33:13 == 11:27 pace.
Oh, well... I know I'll have good days and bad days and going half mad days (any Buffett fans out there?), and today was pretty much expected to be a bad day. Tomorrow, we attempt to get up at 4:45 in the morning to get to the gym on time. But that shouldn't be that bad... we're not going out for beer tonight.
Next race: Vestcor 5K Bridges Run on July 21. And this one, I'm actually going to run.
The plan was to go to the pub crawl for just a little while. My lovely wife was going to come out a couple hours later, hang out for an hour or so, and then we would head home, ready to relax and get up early for the run.
In actuality, she arrived about 45 minutes after we started and said, "Do you want to split a pitcher?" Now, I've never been able to say "no" to her... especially when I've already been drinking and she wants to offer me more sweet, sweet beer. Then there was an issue where we couldn't go walking around the street with full beers, so we had to chug them to catch up with everyone else. It's a beach town on the 3rd of July -- how come we can't carry beer outside? Sigh.
So, I ended up getting home at about 2:30 in the morning, and we slept right through the race. I kinda figured that might happen, but not in so spectacular a fashion.
But they say that the only real mistakes are the ones you don't learn from. Now I know the truth... no pub crawls the night before a race. I'll get my carbo loading done in some other fashion from now on. But definitely not with so much beer. I hear pasta is good. Or potatoes. Maybe that would be a better way to spend the night before.
So, I don't have a time to report from the race. I did, however, get up and ran my three-loop trip around the neighborhood this morning. And it was hot. And it was humid. And my legs were dragging something fierce. For once, my lungs were feeling mostly OK, but my legs just weren't working past the first mile.
2.9 miles / 33:13 == 11:27 pace.
Oh, well... I know I'll have good days and bad days and going half mad days (any Buffett fans out there?), and today was pretty much expected to be a bad day. Tomorrow, we attempt to get up at 4:45 in the morning to get to the gym on time. But that shouldn't be that bad... we're not going out for beer tonight.
Next race: Vestcor 5K Bridges Run on July 21. And this one, I'm actually going to run.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Oh, boy
Yesterday, I found out that I screwed up at work. It ended up not being a huge deal, but it was big enough that I had to put everything else on hold until it was fixed. Which took until midnight last night (actually, there was one nagging thing this morning, but that wasn't too bad). Now, if you recall, I woke up at 5:00 in the morning yesterday. Which means that midnight was not a time when I wanted to be awake. And I was planning on waking up at 6:30 this morning to run.
"Planning" is the operative word there.
Now, first, let me mention that my lovely wife did, in fact, get up at 5:00 in the morning to go to the cycling class at the gym. And she left me at home, sleeping. God bless her.
However, when the alarm blew at 6:30, I looked outside, and it was still pretty dark. "Obviously, that's just not safe!", I told myself. So I went back to sleep. Briefly.
I ended up getting up at around 7, out the door at 7:10, and ran basically the same route I did on Sunday. I changed directions, though, and ran clockwise through the neighborhood. I'm trying to keep things balanced that way. The other thing to note is that I ran 3 minutes to each 1 minute walking. And it felt... ok. Not great. I was dragging a bit at the end there. But I think that may have a *lot* to do with everything surrounding last night and this morning. What's most important to me at this point is that I STILL DID IT!!!! It wasn't that long ago where I would have made an excuse, slept another hour, and gotten up and gone straight to work. But not anymore. I'm in training! (kinda)
Oh, and it was a little faster than Sunday, too. 32:17 for the three loops, plus warmup and cooldown. I'm still trying to keep things kinda slow for now.
Oh, and I did sign up for the Celebration 5K tomorrow morning. This should be interesting. I'm not expecting a PR, but I'm curious to see just what I can do. My last 5K was in early March, and it wasn't timed, so I have *no* idea what I can do... but I know I lost a lot over the last couple months.
Plus, there's a pub crawl tonight. Hey, it's a holiday. I'll try not to go overboard, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've run with a hangover/buzz/lampshade on my head.
Wish me luck!
"Planning" is the operative word there.
Now, first, let me mention that my lovely wife did, in fact, get up at 5:00 in the morning to go to the cycling class at the gym. And she left me at home, sleeping. God bless her.
However, when the alarm blew at 6:30, I looked outside, and it was still pretty dark. "Obviously, that's just not safe!", I told myself. So I went back to sleep. Briefly.
I ended up getting up at around 7, out the door at 7:10, and ran basically the same route I did on Sunday. I changed directions, though, and ran clockwise through the neighborhood. I'm trying to keep things balanced that way. The other thing to note is that I ran 3 minutes to each 1 minute walking. And it felt... ok. Not great. I was dragging a bit at the end there. But I think that may have a *lot* to do with everything surrounding last night and this morning. What's most important to me at this point is that I STILL DID IT!!!! It wasn't that long ago where I would have made an excuse, slept another hour, and gotten up and gone straight to work. But not anymore. I'm in training! (kinda)
Oh, and it was a little faster than Sunday, too. 32:17 for the three loops, plus warmup and cooldown. I'm still trying to keep things kinda slow for now.
Oh, and I did sign up for the Celebration 5K tomorrow morning. This should be interesting. I'm not expecting a PR, but I'm curious to see just what I can do. My last 5K was in early March, and it wasn't timed, so I have *no* idea what I can do... but I know I lost a lot over the last couple months.
Plus, there's a pub crawl tonight. Hey, it's a holiday. I'll try not to go overboard, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've run with a hangover/buzz/lampshade on my head.
Wish me luck!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Talk About Your All-Time Backfires
So I've spent the last few days ribbing the wife a little bit about her lack of desire to get up and work out.
BIG mistake.
Last night, she tells me that she wants to start doing some of the classes at the gym before work. Which is great... except for the starting time. Tuesday through Thursday are for cycling, which starts at 6:00. Monday and Friday are for some other class... something having to do with weighted bars... and they start at 5:45. In the morning. Plus, we're trying to carpool to work a little more these days. Hey, that gas is pretty expensive now. Oh, boy.
So at 5 AM, the alarm goes off. It's still dark, and will be for quite some time. And she pretty much rocketed out of bed to go get ready. I stumbled around for a few minutes, trying to get my bearings, and finally got around to getting changed. We checked to make sure that we had everything we needed, packed the days lunch, and were out the door at 5:25 or so. And the kicker? The class started before we got there. On Friday, we have to get up earlier.
That'll teach me.
BIG mistake.
Last night, she tells me that she wants to start doing some of the classes at the gym before work. Which is great... except for the starting time. Tuesday through Thursday are for cycling, which starts at 6:00. Monday and Friday are for some other class... something having to do with weighted bars... and they start at 5:45. In the morning. Plus, we're trying to carpool to work a little more these days. Hey, that gas is pretty expensive now. Oh, boy.
So at 5 AM, the alarm goes off. It's still dark, and will be for quite some time. And she pretty much rocketed out of bed to go get ready. I stumbled around for a few minutes, trying to get my bearings, and finally got around to getting changed. We checked to make sure that we had everything we needed, packed the days lunch, and were out the door at 5:25 or so. And the kicker? The class started before we got there. On Friday, we have to get up earlier.
That'll teach me.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Sunday Morning Run
Yes, I've hit a milestone in my running career. If I recall correctly, today marks the first time since high school that I have actually gotten up early on the weekend just to work out. The alarm went off at 6:45 this morning... and I actually got out of bed at 6:50, and hit the road just a few minutes later. Yes, at this point, that's really early for me on a Sunday.
I decided to just run around the neighborhood, which is just about .9 miles/loop. I did a five minute warmup, three loops around the neighborhood, and a five minute cooldown. I ran the three loops in 32:48, but what's way more important is that it felt good! I didn't have the tightness that I had on Thursday, my asthma didn't act up nearly so much, and my legs were still pretty strong at the end. Granted, I was concentrating on going a little slower than last time, but I guess that's what I have to do for my training runs -- especially when I'm just starting out like this.
Of course, as we were going to bed last night, my lovely wife was saying that if we got up early enough so that it was still cool (it was about 76 when I woke up), she might join me. That lasted up until the alarm went off. Her first words of the morning... "Have fun." Of course, she has repeatedly said that she doesn't like running when it's more than 50 outside. Good thing we live in Florida, eh?
Oh, and there's a 5K in Jacksonville on Wednesday morning. And a pub crawl Tuesday night. What to do... what to do...
I decided to just run around the neighborhood, which is just about .9 miles/loop. I did a five minute warmup, three loops around the neighborhood, and a five minute cooldown. I ran the three loops in 32:48, but what's way more important is that it felt good! I didn't have the tightness that I had on Thursday, my asthma didn't act up nearly so much, and my legs were still pretty strong at the end. Granted, I was concentrating on going a little slower than last time, but I guess that's what I have to do for my training runs -- especially when I'm just starting out like this.
Of course, as we were going to bed last night, my lovely wife was saying that if we got up early enough so that it was still cool (it was about 76 when I woke up), she might join me. That lasted up until the alarm went off. Her first words of the morning... "Have fun." Of course, she has repeatedly said that she doesn't like running when it's more than 50 outside. Good thing we live in Florida, eh?
Oh, and there's a 5K in Jacksonville on Wednesday morning. And a pub crawl Tuesday night. What to do... what to do...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
On the Road Again...
No, I'm not going anywhere. This is just to signify that I ran on the street, instead of the treadmill, for the first time in over two months this morning. The verdict? Not bad. Not great, but definitely not bad.
The specifics:
I just ran around my neighborhood, but I was feeling pretty tight this morning, so I walked for five minutes to get me a good warmup. After that, I ran two minutes and walked one minute until I had done about two miles (i.e., two loops around my neighborhood), and then another five minute cooldown as I walked back to the house. All told, including warmup and cooldown, took 31 minutes for 2.5 miles. The running/walking portion took 21 minutes for roughly two miles. Sorry I can't be much more exact than that... I don't have Nike+. Yet.
The narrative:
It was raining in the River City as I left the house, but the sun was still blinding... one of those oddities of Florida living. At 7AM, the heat was already starting to make itself known. As I turned the corner, I realized that my achilles area on my right leg was pretty tight... gotta watch out for that. And a short five minutes later... I was running!
It felt good... the first trip around the neighborhood (including the warmup) took about 13 minutes... not very fast, but that wasn't really what I was going for. My lungs were aching, and the sweat was dripping, and I felt great! The next loop around was faster... about 11 minutes, give or take. About a quarter mile more, and I stopped, turned around, and started my cooldown. By this point, my lungs were no longer on fire (which seems to be typical for me... after the first mile, they settle down), but my legs were dragging. It took some effort to keep moving them forward... but I kept with it.
Now, you'll note that looking back over the last week or two since I started going back to the gym, I've only run a couple times... 3 minutes, 12 minutes, 1.2 miles... Today I ran 2 miles in 21 minutes. Granted, this was with walking breaks, but it still just feels great to have gotten that far!
And thanks to Leana and The Muse for their words of wisdom on morning workouts. I definitely like them, and I'm going to try very hard to keep them up.
Finally... there is one other special item of note about today. In exactly one month (30 days), the Galloway Training Program for the National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer starts.
... and I'm only a little scared by that.
The specifics:
I just ran around my neighborhood, but I was feeling pretty tight this morning, so I walked for five minutes to get me a good warmup. After that, I ran two minutes and walked one minute until I had done about two miles (i.e., two loops around my neighborhood), and then another five minute cooldown as I walked back to the house. All told, including warmup and cooldown, took 31 minutes for 2.5 miles. The running/walking portion took 21 minutes for roughly two miles. Sorry I can't be much more exact than that... I don't have Nike+. Yet.
The narrative:
It was raining in the River City as I left the house, but the sun was still blinding... one of those oddities of Florida living. At 7AM, the heat was already starting to make itself known. As I turned the corner, I realized that my achilles area on my right leg was pretty tight... gotta watch out for that. And a short five minutes later... I was running!
It felt good... the first trip around the neighborhood (including the warmup) took about 13 minutes... not very fast, but that wasn't really what I was going for. My lungs were aching, and the sweat was dripping, and I felt great! The next loop around was faster... about 11 minutes, give or take. About a quarter mile more, and I stopped, turned around, and started my cooldown. By this point, my lungs were no longer on fire (which seems to be typical for me... after the first mile, they settle down), but my legs were dragging. It took some effort to keep moving them forward... but I kept with it.
Now, you'll note that looking back over the last week or two since I started going back to the gym, I've only run a couple times... 3 minutes, 12 minutes, 1.2 miles... Today I ran 2 miles in 21 minutes. Granted, this was with walking breaks, but it still just feels great to have gotten that far!
And thanks to Leana and The Muse for their words of wisdom on morning workouts. I definitely like them, and I'm going to try very hard to keep them up.
Finally... there is one other special item of note about today. In exactly one month (30 days), the Galloway Training Program for the National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer starts.
... and I'm only a little scared by that.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Some days, it's hard to get moving
Today was another day for going to the gym. Actually, I had to get up early with my lovely wife, since we had to pick my Jeep up from the shop (on Monday, it decided that it really didn't want to have a rear driveshaft anymore). So, she set the alarm for 5:30.
I know! I didn't even realize there was a 5:30 in the morning!
But still, just to be safe, I set my alarm for 5:45. And it's probably pretty good that I did. Her alarm went off, she fumbled around and turned it off, and we both just laid there. Doing nothing. Not at all motivated to get up. And both our backs were hurting, for some reason -- but that's not really part of the story. After my alarm went off, I started moving around, resigned to the fact that (a) I had to go to the gym, and (2) I still wanted to, anyway. Now, bear in mind that it was lovely wife who wanted to start going to the gym in the morning in the first place. and we finally got moving. At 5:53. Out the door at 6:20. Oh, yeah... we're quick.
So, I did my workout -- no running. 10 minutes on the elliptical, weight machines, and then 15 more minutes on the elliptical. And it mostly felt good. The leg is still pretty tight, so I think I'm going to try to go running tomorrow. Nothing big... just a mile or two. I need to try it out on the road (which I haven't tried since mid-April).
However, I have come to one conclusion. As much as I don't like getting up, working out in the morning really is better. First off, it gives you a kick in the pants before your day starts. There's all the stuff about releasing endorphins and such before getting to work. It's significantly cooler here in Florida in the morning (even if it's still 74 at 5AM) than it is in the evening. And, I think most importantly, it's much more likely not to get canceled because of everything else that pops up during the day. Working late can not, by definition, mess up a morning workout.
Has anybody really been able to make afternoon workouts work for the long haul? If so, what's the secret?
I know! I didn't even realize there was a 5:30 in the morning!
But still, just to be safe, I set my alarm for 5:45. And it's probably pretty good that I did. Her alarm went off, she fumbled around and turned it off, and we both just laid there. Doing nothing. Not at all motivated to get up. And both our backs were hurting, for some reason -- but that's not really part of the story. After my alarm went off, I started moving around, resigned to the fact that (a) I had to go to the gym, and (2) I still wanted to, anyway. Now, bear in mind that it was lovely wife who wanted to start going to the gym in the morning in the first place. and we finally got moving. At 5:53. Out the door at 6:20. Oh, yeah... we're quick.
So, I did my workout -- no running. 10 minutes on the elliptical, weight machines, and then 15 more minutes on the elliptical. And it mostly felt good. The leg is still pretty tight, so I think I'm going to try to go running tomorrow. Nothing big... just a mile or two. I need to try it out on the road (which I haven't tried since mid-April).
However, I have come to one conclusion. As much as I don't like getting up, working out in the morning really is better. First off, it gives you a kick in the pants before your day starts. There's all the stuff about releasing endorphins and such before getting to work. It's significantly cooler here in Florida in the morning (even if it's still 74 at 5AM) than it is in the evening. And, I think most importantly, it's much more likely not to get canceled because of everything else that pops up during the day. Working late can not, by definition, mess up a morning workout.
Has anybody really been able to make afternoon workouts work for the long haul? If so, what's the secret?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Ain't it always the way?
So, that was a nice little whining session I had on Friday, wasn't it? Of course, I still think it's understandable, given the pain and whatnot, but as luck would have it, I feel much better now! I actually woke up on Saturday morning and went out and played 18 holes with lovely wife and her dad. I'm going to keep you in suspense on my score, but let me just say that I am not good. It was three digits (well into three digits), and I was very much in last place in that group. But there was improvement, and hey, I was just happy to get outside and get some activity in. Beautiful course, too... if you're ever in Southeastern Georgia and get a hankering to play golf, feel free to check out Coastal Pines Golf Club. It's a value course, but it's a fantastic value course!
Yesterday was a good, relaxing day. Which I needed. Because I went back to the gym this morning!!! And there was much rejoicing. Ten minutes on the elliptical, some weight training, and closed with 15 minutes on the treadmill. I wasn't going fast, but I was running. For 12 complete minutes. And I went 1.2 miles. And it felt good. Sure, there were definitely some issues... my asthma was starting to act up a little (but it's under control... nothing to worry about), and my legs were *both* feeling tight. My surgery scar still needs to get some more elasticity in it before things are actually what I would call comfortable. All in all, though, I feel really good.
And I haven't even taken a Tylenol yet this morning.
Although I stress the world "yet".
Probably nothing tomorrow, back to the gym on Wednesday, and then might even get a run/walk in on Thursday, depending on how I'm feeling.
Yesterday was a good, relaxing day. Which I needed. Because I went back to the gym this morning!!! And there was much rejoicing. Ten minutes on the elliptical, some weight training, and closed with 15 minutes on the treadmill. I wasn't going fast, but I was running. For 12 complete minutes. And I went 1.2 miles. And it felt good. Sure, there were definitely some issues... my asthma was starting to act up a little (but it's under control... nothing to worry about), and my legs were *both* feeling tight. My surgery scar still needs to get some more elasticity in it before things are actually what I would call comfortable. All in all, though, I feel really good.
And I haven't even taken a Tylenol yet this morning.
Although I stress the world "yet".
Probably nothing tomorrow, back to the gym on Wednesday, and then might even get a run/walk in on Thursday, depending on how I'm feeling.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Ahhh! I've been tagged!!!
Runner Gal Leana tagged me for this, and ain't it great?
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag 3 more people.
Well, as luck would have it, the nearest book to me is actulally "Marathon!" by Jeff Galloway. Ain't I just the best trainer ever... even if I'm not really training yet?
Page 123, fifth sentence actually picks up right after a bullet point, so I'll put down sentences 4 - 5:
"Set up a predicted time, one that you know you could do. Tell your friends about it and see if they want to have a pool. The winner and the marathoner, you, get a free celebration dinner."
Actually a pretty good idea... I hadn't read that far yet. But I might have to try it out. I like food. Especially when it's free.
And now I have to tag thre others. Well, they won't be runners, but they'll be interesting.
The Muse
Heidi Flash
Boozie
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag 3 more people.
Well, as luck would have it, the nearest book to me is actulally "Marathon!" by Jeff Galloway. Ain't I just the best trainer ever... even if I'm not really training yet?
Page 123, fifth sentence actually picks up right after a bullet point, so I'll put down sentences 4 - 5:
"Set up a predicted time, one that you know you could do. Tell your friends about it and see if they want to have a pool. The winner and the marathoner, you, get a free celebration dinner."
Actually a pretty good idea... I hadn't read that far yet. But I might have to try it out. I like food. Especially when it's free.
And now I have to tag thre others. Well, they won't be runners, but they'll be interesting.
The Muse
Heidi Flash
Boozie
Friday, June 22, 2007
30 Days Later
Thirty days ago, I let a strangely-dressed man cut into my leg and take some stuff out. Now, on any other day, that might be considered strange. But, I actually paid this guy to do it! And now, it's time to check in on how my leg is doing post-surgery.
Pretty. Darn. Good.
Honestly, there's only a very slight twinge in the leg sometimes when I get up from my chair that might last a few steps down the hall. And I noticed just a few days ago that I was crossing my legs without even thinking about it -- which has to be good. So, this is great news, right? I should be able to start training in earnest? (Not to be confused with Ernest Goes to the Track -- they never actually made that movie)
Well, not so much. My mouth is still hurting from the wisdom tooth extraction/dry socket, to the point where I really don't feel like doing much of anything. I get up, go to work, do as much as I can, and then head home and crash out on the couch eating whatever soft food I can find -- which generally aren't particularly healthy. Plus, it's not that much fun having soup for lunch in the middle of a Florida summer (yeah, our first day of "summer" was actually in April).
So, what to do?
How does someone motivate themselves to get up and start doing things when you really just don't feel like it? Honestly, I know that my jaw is going to hurt no matter what I do. And I know that I *really* need to get out and get running (note that full-scale training for my marathon starts in just over a month). It's not like a good two-mile walk would really hurt all that much more, right? Does the motivation just end up being, "Hey, how much worse can it get?"
In my head, I really want to get out and get my leg working again.
But other spots in my head sure don't want that.
Pretty. Darn. Good.
Honestly, there's only a very slight twinge in the leg sometimes when I get up from my chair that might last a few steps down the hall. And I noticed just a few days ago that I was crossing my legs without even thinking about it -- which has to be good. So, this is great news, right? I should be able to start training in earnest? (Not to be confused with Ernest Goes to the Track -- they never actually made that movie)
Well, not so much. My mouth is still hurting from the wisdom tooth extraction/dry socket, to the point where I really don't feel like doing much of anything. I get up, go to work, do as much as I can, and then head home and crash out on the couch eating whatever soft food I can find -- which generally aren't particularly healthy. Plus, it's not that much fun having soup for lunch in the middle of a Florida summer (yeah, our first day of "summer" was actually in April).
So, what to do?
How does someone motivate themselves to get up and start doing things when you really just don't feel like it? Honestly, I know that my jaw is going to hurt no matter what I do. And I know that I *really* need to get out and get running (note that full-scale training for my marathon starts in just over a month). It's not like a good two-mile walk would really hurt all that much more, right? Does the motivation just end up being, "Hey, how much worse can it get?"
In my head, I really want to get out and get my leg working again.
But other spots in my head sure don't want that.
Monday, June 18, 2007
One step forward, two steps back
If you recall some earlier posts, I was supposed to run a 5k this past weekend... the Run for the Pies. However, there was some debate as to whether or not this would be possible, since I got my wisdom teeth taken out last Thursday. Well, let me cut right to the chase.
It wasn't possible.
Honestly, I was feeling pretty good (considering) at the end of last week. The procedure itself wasn't so bad. I woke up at the end of it, but there wasn't any pain, so I could deal with that. I was up and moving around pretty well on Friday, and I was thinking that there might be a real chance that I would be able to get up and walk (emphasis on walk) around the course on Saturday.
Unfortunately, Saturday came along, and my mouth was on fire. I bailed. Quicker than I'd ever bailed on anything. I was in some serious pain. And Sunday brought absolutely no relief. Things were getting worse -- and I'm pretty sure that they aren't supposed to. Or, at least, if it was supposed to hurt *more* afterward, the doctor would have let me know.
So I went in today to have him look. I have dry socket. And it's not pleasant. Basically, something got dislodged and my bone/nerves are somewhat exposed on my lower left side. So, the doc today gave me some stuff that should help. But the wisdom tooth experience isn't going to be leaving me just yet... and it looks like I won't be working out again for a few days.
It'll sure be nice when I'm not falling apart.
It wasn't possible.
Honestly, I was feeling pretty good (considering) at the end of last week. The procedure itself wasn't so bad. I woke up at the end of it, but there wasn't any pain, so I could deal with that. I was up and moving around pretty well on Friday, and I was thinking that there might be a real chance that I would be able to get up and walk (emphasis on walk) around the course on Saturday.
Unfortunately, Saturday came along, and my mouth was on fire. I bailed. Quicker than I'd ever bailed on anything. I was in some serious pain. And Sunday brought absolutely no relief. Things were getting worse -- and I'm pretty sure that they aren't supposed to. Or, at least, if it was supposed to hurt *more* afterward, the doctor would have let me know.
So I went in today to have him look. I have dry socket. And it's not pleasant. Basically, something got dislodged and my bone/nerves are somewhat exposed on my lower left side. So, the doc today gave me some stuff that should help. But the wisdom tooth experience isn't going to be leaving me just yet... and it looks like I won't be working out again for a few days.
It'll sure be nice when I'm not falling apart.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A Flock of Seagulls
Yeah, I know... I said it would be weeks before I ran a step. But that was last week. And since then, everything I've done has just felt better and better. So it happened.
I ran.
I ran so far away.
Well, not actually that far -- I was on a treadmill, after all. I was at the gym this morning, going through my workout, which ends with 15 minutes of cardio. According to the "published" workout, it's supposed to be on the elliptical machine, but I wanted to jump on the treadmill and see how things felt. So I set it to a brisk walk.
After about 5 minutes, things were feeling pretty good, so I set it to an even brisker walk (at 4.5 miles/hour).
After 10 minutes, things were still feeling really good, so I started contemplating... should I? It's been a long time since I took a running step, and I am walking pretty quickly. But, golly gee, wouldn't it feel great to actually get some running in?
So at 12 minutes, I kicked it up. Not fast. 6 mph. 10 minute mile pace. For three minutes. And you know what?
It felt great.
Monday, June 11, 2007
A New Beginning
Today marks the beginning of a number of things when it comes to my training:
Sleeping in tomorrow... next workout is on Wednesday.
- First time I actually went to the gym in the morning (in my past life, I would always go in the afternoon)
- First time since the surgery that I did a full workout
- And... the beginning of my getting serious about working out
- 20 minutes walking on the treadmill (1.25 mi)
- Weight training (mostly upper body, but leg press was in there, too)
- 10 minutes on the elliptical
Sleeping in tomorrow... next workout is on Wednesday.
Friday, June 8, 2007
This is gonna be tough...
OK, so I just got back from my first trip to the gym since the middle of April. Granted, since then, I had done some outdoor running in the meantime, but the doc had told me to not work out as of May 1st. So, it's been over a month since I got any sort of workout. Or since I got to use my nice running shoes.
...until today.
Granted, I didn't work it very hard (30 minutes, 1.7 miles), and I walked (stress walked) the entire thing. And it didn't feel terrible. I made it. But it didn't feel particularly comfortable either. Actually, the worst part was the first eight minutes -- after that, it got significantly easier. I wonder if that means that there was just a lot of stiffness. It's obvious that the scar tissue has a huge loss of elasticity over the skin that was there.
In any case, I'm still banking on a slow return to running. In fact, I probably won't run a step for at least another few weeks. But at the same time, it sure felt good to get back there.
...until today.
Granted, I didn't work it very hard (30 minutes, 1.7 miles), and I walked (stress walked) the entire thing. And it didn't feel terrible. I made it. But it didn't feel particularly comfortable either. Actually, the worst part was the first eight minutes -- after that, it got significantly easier. I wonder if that means that there was just a lot of stiffness. It's obvious that the scar tissue has a huge loss of elasticity over the skin that was there.
In any case, I'm still banking on a slow return to running. In fact, I probably won't run a step for at least another few weeks. But at the same time, it sure felt good to get back there.
Rapid
OK, so I'm basically a total geek. I see those stupid YouTube time-lapse videos and think that (a) time-lapse is kinda cool, but that (b) faces are boring. And most of those people really shouldn't put their faces on the internet, anyways. However, I did think that it might be a neat idea to try to chronicle my efforts at healing between the surgery and the marathon. You know, for medicinal study, of course.
This is simply a first cut at this project (no pun intended). It covers the first 2 weeks of healing, so it's short, but still pretty neat. And, yeah, I put the title slide in there so that I could save those of you who still don't want to see it when it was all nasty. Lucky you.
On another note, I actually brought my gym bag to work today for the first time in over a month, hoping to be able to go and get some walking in on the treadmill (it's 91 degrees and humid as hell here now, so walking outside is not an option). I'll update if I can get out of work early enough to go.
This is simply a first cut at this project (no pun intended). It covers the first 2 weeks of healing, so it's short, but still pretty neat. And, yeah, I put the title slide in there so that I could save those of you who still don't want to see it when it was all nasty. Lucky you.
On another note, I actually brought my gym bag to work today for the first time in over a month, hoping to be able to go and get some walking in on the treadmill (it's 91
Monday, June 4, 2007
Speeding down the long, slow road
First, there's good news... I had my staples taken out this morning, and got the pathology report on the mass that was excised from my leg, and it was a thrombosed ateriovenous malformation. And what's important to know about that is that it's not something to worry about anymore. The doc said that it's good it was removed, because it would recur and tend to get worse, so now I should be fine... as soon as I heal.
Speaking of that, I know that I said I was going to try to go slow on the recovery, but the bug bit me yesterday. My lovely wife was going out to play golf, and I wanted to try it, too -- my leg hadn't been hurting much at all with a fair amount of walking around, so I thought it would be fine. Unfortunately, it started hurting, and I quit in the middle of the par-5 6th. The wife closed out her nine holes, with me as chauffeur.
Now, granted, it was pretty dumb to try to play golf when I still had staples in my leg. But, to be fair, it was that beautiful we-just-had-a-tropical-storm-go-through-and-everything-is-so-pretty-now kind of day.
Still... other than the extra pain yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good! Losing the staples was a big thing. I'll have to post another picture in a few days to show how it's healing.
Speaking of that, I know that I said I was going to try to go slow on the recovery, but the bug bit me yesterday. My lovely wife was going out to play golf, and I wanted to try it, too -- my leg hadn't been hurting much at all with a fair amount of walking around, so I thought it would be fine. Unfortunately, it started hurting, and I quit in the middle of the par-5 6th. The wife closed out her nine holes, with me as chauffeur.
Now, granted, it was pretty dumb to try to play golf when I still had staples in my leg. But, to be fair, it was that beautiful we-just-had-a-tropical-storm-go-through-and-everything-is-so-pretty-now kind of day.
Still... other than the extra pain yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good! Losing the staples was a big thing. I'll have to post another picture in a few days to show how it's healing.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Time For Walkies!!!
Like I said, I just went for a little walk. Just around the office building... three times. It's a grand total of a mile, and it took me about 15 minutes, but I'm definitely not worried about that. What's important is that everything felt pretty good. I'm definitely not having any problems with strength, and I can't wait for next Monday to get the staples out -- that *has* to be more comfortable than right now!
I will now go back to doing my subdued, but entertaining, happy dance.
I will now go back to doing my subdued, but entertaining, happy dance.
Still making progress
And things are still getting better. Yesterday, I walked up the stairs to my third floor office for the first time in a week. And I did it again today. Basically, I'm not noticing any problems with strength... it's more just that I have to move things a little slowly, and I still can't have any pressure put on the healing area. But, I plan on going for a little walk today after lunch... and I can't wait!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
And I Ain't No Gimp No More
This is just a quick update to let everyone know that I'm actually healing quite nicely. I woke up yesterday morning and was halfway to the bathroom before I realized I didn't have my crutches. I have now spent 24 hours completely crutch-free, and with the exception of a little soreness if I move around too much, I'm feeling great! Granted, my wife is out playing golf right now without me, but hey, I still have nine staples in my leg!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Surgery Recap
That was interesting. As mentioned before, I had surgery on Wednesday to excise a mass from my right leg. The surgery was scheduled for 11:15AM, with the prep supposedly starting at 8:15AM. Naturally, we left all sorts of time to allow for traffic, so we actually ended up getting to the hospital at about 7:45. And boy howdy, was I hungry. I tell ya, I understand the need for the fasting before surgery, but I sure don't like it!
The hospital staff was fairly quick at getting me checked in and into the prep room, where I ditched my lovely duds for a stylish hospital gown. And though it wasn't my best look, I still think I made it work. And then they left us alone. For a while. And we watched Spongebob. Finally, at about 9:00, my wife had to go to work (at which point, still nobody had come to talk to us). And then I was left alone. For a while. And I watched Spongebob. And I laughed...
Finally, the nurse came and gave me the IV. Now, having never had an IV before, this was kinda cool. I'm one of those folks who gets some weird sort of kick out of watching needles going into my skin. And for the last few weeks, I've had plenty of opportunity to see it. I think I'm over it now. But they got me going on the drip, and then took me to the holding pen.
This was definitely a new experience for me... beds lined up in many rows, all waiting for surgeries. Most everyone had a visitor or four with them. The group next to me was taking cell phone calls (not so much allowed), and trying to get even more people back there! That would have been ugly. Luckily, I wasn't there for long. Just long enough to verify what I was there for (and emphasize RIGHT leg), talk to the doc (who noticed that said mass seemed smaller than before), and talk to the anesthesiologist (who had done some work in Maryland before, and offered good advice on where to get good crabs in Jacksonville). They took me to the O.R., strapped me down, and the anesthesiologist knocked me ri...
... I awoke as I was being wheeled into another room for recovery. Another large holding pen. And I was still feeling goofy. I looked at the clock on the wall -- it was 11:15! Hey -- I'm supposed to be having surgery now! Get me in there! Oh, wait... they were too efficient. I'm OK with that. My leg was wrapped up, and I was feeling *no* pain. At all. They told me that I was going to get a visit from the rehab folks to teach me how to walk on crutches. And then they took me to the next room -- which was my final recovery room. I called my lovely bride and let her know I was OK. I guess I was still loopy, since she said something along the lines of "That's great, honey... why don't you call me back when you make sense?" Note: we're still waiting on this to occur.
Finally, the crutch guy comes in and attempts to teach me how to walk with them. I pick it up quickly, but my dressing falls off and I'm finally allowed to see what the doc did to me. Nine staples in my leg. I look like frickin' Frankenstein. Wanna see a picture? It's cool!
(Not for the sqeamish)
After that, my lovely bride came and took me home. And I laid on the couch. And I took hydrocodone. And I slept. And I woke up, ate some soup, took some hydrocodone, watched Lost, and went back to sleep. The next morning, I woke up, took some hydrocodone, and went back to sleep. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Finally, this morning (Friday), I was able to take a shower. And I had to change my dressing. This is actually the point where I took the picture. It really doesn't look that bad, but it's neat. And things are looking better. I'm able to put weight on it at this point. I was able to drive myself to work today (although I won't be going on any long road trips this weekend). I'm still using the crutches for some support, and to be able to move around faster, but I won't be needing them all that much longer. So, I have high hopes that this won't last that long.
Also, I was supposed to go on a business trip next week, and I was able to get out of that. So, hopefully, I can move my post-op up a little bit and I can finally find out what the hell it was they took out of me and I can move on and get back to hobbling/walking/running (in that order). I got things to do and races to see!
On on to recovery!!!
The hospital staff was fairly quick at getting me checked in and into the prep room, where I ditched my lovely duds for a stylish hospital gown. And though it wasn't my best look, I still think I made it work. And then they left us alone. For a while. And we watched Spongebob. Finally, at about 9:00, my wife had to go to work (at which point, still nobody had come to talk to us). And then I was left alone. For a while. And I watched Spongebob. And I laughed...
Finally, the nurse came and gave me the IV. Now, having never had an IV before, this was kinda cool. I'm one of those folks who gets some weird sort of kick out of watching needles going into my skin. And for the last few weeks, I've had plenty of opportunity to see it. I think I'm over it now. But they got me going on the drip, and then took me to the holding pen.
This was definitely a new experience for me... beds lined up in many rows, all waiting for surgeries. Most everyone had a visitor or four with them. The group next to me was taking cell phone calls (not so much allowed), and trying to get even more people back there! That would have been ugly. Luckily, I wasn't there for long. Just long enough to verify what I was there for (and emphasize RIGHT leg), talk to the doc (who noticed that said mass seemed smaller than before), and talk to the anesthesiologist (who had done some work in Maryland before, and offered good advice on where to get good crabs in Jacksonville). They took me to the O.R., strapped me down, and the anesthesiologist knocked me ri...
... I awoke as I was being wheeled into another room for recovery. Another large holding pen. And I was still feeling goofy. I looked at the clock on the wall -- it was 11:15! Hey -- I'm supposed to be having surgery now! Get me in there! Oh, wait... they were too efficient. I'm OK with that. My leg was wrapped up, and I was feeling *no* pain. At all. They told me that I was going to get a visit from the rehab folks to teach me how to walk on crutches. And then they took me to the next room -- which was my final recovery room. I called my lovely bride and let her know I was OK. I guess I was still loopy, since she said something along the lines of "That's great, honey... why don't you call me back when you make sense?" Note: we're still waiting on this to occur.
Finally, the crutch guy comes in and attempts to teach me how to walk with them. I pick it up quickly, but my dressing falls off and I'm finally allowed to see what the doc did to me. Nine staples in my leg. I look like frickin' Frankenstein. Wanna see a picture? It's cool!
(Not for the sqeamish)
After that, my lovely bride came and took me home. And I laid on the couch. And I took hydrocodone. And I slept. And I woke up, ate some soup, took some hydrocodone, watched Lost, and went back to sleep. The next morning, I woke up, took some hydrocodone, and went back to sleep. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Finally, this morning (Friday), I was able to take a shower. And I had to change my dressing. This is actually the point where I took the picture. It really doesn't look that bad, but it's neat. And things are looking better. I'm able to put weight on it at this point. I was able to drive myself to work today (although I won't be going on any long road trips this weekend). I'm still using the crutches for some support, and to be able to move around faster, but I won't be needing them all that much longer. So, I have high hopes that this won't last that long.
Also, I was supposed to go on a business trip next week, and I was able to get out of that. So, hopefully, I can move my post-op up a little bit and I can finally find out what the hell it was they took out of me and I can move on and get back to hobbling/walking/running (in that order). I got things to do and races to see!
On on to recovery!!!
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