Monday, January 30, 2012

Jan 23rd-29th

Mon- 12 miles with Dave. Not much pain. The morning will be the real test

Tues- 10 miles on the bike. Knee is very tight

Wed- 5 miles on the bike
        - 3 miles treadmill 900ft

Thurs- 11 miles on the bike
         - 1 mile 800ft elevation

Fri- 10 miles on bike
     - 2 miles treadmill

Sat- 5 miles Trail

Sun- Off

Not sure what to say. It felt great to get out and run more often this week than any time over the last 4 months but I don't want to get too excited. Last night, Sunday night, at work my right hip was screaming at me and both my feet were throbbing and then by 11pm all that pain was gone. It's so strange. So that makes for 23 miles of running this week and 36 miles on the bike. Not bad.

Total for year

33- miles Run

146- miles Bike

Monday, January 23, 2012

So Far So Good

Well 2012 hasn't gotten off to a rockin start but its hasn't been horrible either.

Got in 60 miles on a stationary bike and 4 miles on a treadmill with about 2,500 feet of elevation. Nothing spectacular but it's a start.

Saw a doctor on Friday. He suggested I start running in a 4mm drop shoes, which I have, and that I use arch support insoles. Honestly I'm not convinced this will do any real good. I've been wearing arch supports for works and haven't had any real improvement in 4 months. Next week I'd like to get in a least 20 miles on trail. Hopefully some of that will be over in Jersey with Wayne or Dave. Their race is coming soon. D day is coming up for me as well. If this next week of training goes well I may still run HAT. I'm optimistic but realistic. The last time I put in more than 10 miles I had bad hip and foot pain. So I honestly don't expect next week to be much different.

Miles for year
Run - 10
Bike - 110

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Patience



The last four months for me have been nothing short of a roller coaster. Trying to manage 4 injuries while still running two ultras has taken a serious toll on my body. Since MMTR I haven't gone a single day with pain in my hips. I can't sit for more than 30 minutes, I can't stand for more than an hour (which is tough because I work on my feet), and any running or biking has only made these pains worse. 4 months of icing twice a day, rehab exercises, and time on the couch has taken it's toll on my patience. I am in bad place mentally but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. 

2 years ago my wife and I made the decision for her to start a full-time PHD program overseas. She wanted to continue teaching full-time as well which meant that my work,school, and hobby life needed to be adjusted. So while she became a full-time PHD student and a full-time professor, I became a part-time Starbucks employee, a part-time soccer coach, a part-time Philosophy MA Student, a part-time household manager, and a part-time Ultra-runner. This system has worked out very well for us until that last 2 months. 

Soccer season ended, the school semester ended, and my running basically stopped altogether in the first week of november. This left a significant hole in my weekly schedule that I have yet to fill. I'd love to say that I've dealt with this transition well but honestly I haven't. I've become much more irritable and short with people. I don't like this. Patience is a virtue I am still cultivating. So for those of you've I've been short with I apologize. 

Today, I hope, marks a turning point in my recovery. I'm going to see a physical therapist this afternoon. Praying for some help there. I'm also going to see a doctor tomorrow. I hate the idea of dropping a few hundred bucks on X-Rays or an MRI but at this point I see no other option. I've tried everything I can on my own and I have decided that's not enough. I do recognize however that it may still be a long time before I'm back on the trails. This is sobering information but I can't ignore it. Patience Patience Patience.  

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Week 1

Ran a total of 10 miles on the treadmill and 28 miles on a stationary bike. No pain in my feet til Saturday and Sunday and it was pretty bad those days. Took the weekend off. Try again next week.

Looking to add more elevation into the treadmill workouts.

Friday, January 6, 2012

2012 Goals


The New Year is upon us! Which means a new year of running goals.

Having been able to run everyday this week, on a treadmill however, without any increased pain in either my feet or my hips, my mood has significantly increased. That being the case, I began seriously considering what my goals are for this year. This is what I have so far.

1) Run 2000 Miles -166 miles a month, 5.5 miles a day
2) Complete Hat Run with Dave and Wayne without hurting myself.
3) Break 4:30 at Blues Cruise in October
4) Run the PA section of the Appalachian Trail this summer
5) Get one guy from my Mantrip crew to sign up and complete an Ultra this year.

Running 2000 miles will be difficult. Given that I'm injured right now I'll be starting the year in a hole but hopefully I'll be able to shake this and get back to covering some serious ground very soon.

Running with Dave and Wayne at HAT is seriously in jeopardy right now. I'm certain that I could train through the pain but I'm sick of doing that. I need to be very careful over the next 2 months to make sure I can continue training without making my hip and feet any worse. I really really want to run with these guys though. I've coached them for the last four years and being able to run their first race with them would be such a great experience. Worse case scenario I'll just crew for them but I'd sure love to run it instead.

Blue Cruise! Man I want to run well at that race next year. Coming within 9 seconds of breaking 4:30 last year was great and at the same time 4:29 would have been so much cooler. This year I want to crush my PR there. I just like the race a lot. Not crazy about the swag but the race itself is great. It's almost 100% single track. That's hard to find. Maybe this year Justin Braley won't bail and we can go out to the race together.

Ok, Appalachian Trail run. I think that running the trail in it's entirety is one of the great accomplishments any trail runner would love to completed. While I plan on attempting that for myself somewhere around 2016 I figured I could start getting to know the trail this summer. This plan still has a lot of logistical problems but hopefully it'll happen. I'm thinking that maybe myself, Chris Palladino, and a few BCRR guys could run the PA section with one of our friends crewing for us. It shouldn't take more than 5 days and would be a lot of fun I think.



Getting someone from Mantrip to run an Ultra this year might be tough. Justin is probably the most likely  of them all but there's hope for Charlie and Wade as well. Fogarty signed up for one.....but that didn't work out. All of these guys have been very supportive of me and my transition into ultrarunning and I would love to do the same for them. Last year a few of us got to run down a mountain trail together and it was just fantastic. None of them consider themselves runners at this point but the thought of possibly getting them all into the sport so that we could all travel around and race together.......that just sounds so awesome. We'll see!