Giving thanks.

Right now I'm sitting in a hospital room. It's not for me this time. It's due to respiratory complications with our little princess Isabella. We were admitted last night and she's been receiving breathing treatments all day. The Doctor has suggested that it could be altitude induced asthma. Neither Allison nor I have or have ever had asthma to our knowledge so it's strange that Isabella would have it. We'll have to see what it means for her future.




























After Thanksgiving, I'm going to resume training. Family, health, and work permitting, I'd like to be able to do several races next year. Tentatively, my niece and I are aiming to do the Moab race. I'll use that as a tune up/training race and see what I need to work on from there.
Training is still hit and miss with my knees. Still learning a new stride as I retrain myself to run correctly.
Although I'm not in the kind of shape I'd like to be and I can't do the things I'd like to do, I'm extremely thankful that I have the ability to do most of the things that I enjoy. I'm also very grateful that Isabella is as healthy and capable as she is.
Lets see what happens.

Gut Check

Last weekend's race was another learning experience for me. I knew that the distances were a little more than just a test for my recently repaired knee, but it's been so long since I've done anything difficult that I felt I needed to push it somewhat.
Push it I did.
Thursday night I drove out to Durango/Purgatory and camped out at the start/end of the CO trail. Friday morning when I woke up, I realized it would be a long weekend when I felt a scratchy throat and some congestion building in the sinuses. Too late now. No turning back no matter what. This would be my mantra throughout the weekend.














The kayak was shortened from 20 miles to 16. 8 UP river and then 8 back down river. The current was about 3-5 knots so it was a stiff paddle, but I surprised myself with how well I handled it. Finished that one in just under 4 hours.
Saturday morning I had some energy, but the breathing was becoming shallower as the wheezing had already started from the head/chest cold. This told me that the mountain bike wasn't going to be easy, but since the legs had felt strong recently, I figured I could wing it.
WRONG!














We started UP the Purgatory ski slopes and in the first couple of miles, we gained a little over 2000 feet of elevation. Instead of taking it easy like I should have, I stayed in a bigger gear and went anaerobic too soon and stayed there for too long. Once we popped out onto the road and the climbing because mroe gradual, I was already nauseaus and my body was going into protect mode and was not giving out the necessary energy. After a short decent on dirt roads we began another gradual climb and despite the nausea, I geared down and tried to push to no avail. My legs felt as though they were filled with cement and I couldn't get any turnover. This was around mile 8.
The next 30 miles are fuzzy as my mind was in a funk and I was really cold. Rain started and at 11,000 feet it was mixed with some sleet. Forgetting my jacket wasn't my problem, but it sure didn't help any. All I could do to warm up was keep moving and pull up a single arm warmer that I found on the road. Surprisingly, it really did make a difference!
I hit the halfway point (mile 25) and grabbed a banana and topped off the water and moved on. They asked me if I wanted to drop. I guess I looked as badly as I felt and I know I was close enough to the back that I might be close to missing the cut-off time later on.
Me? Drop? No thank you. I may feel like crap and my mind was in the wrong place, but a DNF will never be my choice.
Around mile 38 the nausea started to subside and I could hold down more than just water and electrolytes. Obviously my race was over VERY early on, but I was happy to had survived to that point. Then I downed some cliff shot blocks and felt some turnover return to the legs. The rain and all of the bikers in front of me had churned up the course pretty good and I had mud everywhere. Even under the glasses, but was beginning to enjoy the ride a bit more. The scenery was fantastic when I was able to sneak in a glance at it. Most of the time, I was focused on the technical trail so I didn't eat it.














There were several DNFs in this race so I was happy to have been one of the finishers. After finishing however, I wasn't sure how I was going to run the marathon the next day. I really wondered if my body would recover enough for me to run ANY at all.



















Thankfully, the Endurox and Recoverite I was ingesting each night was helping. So I toed the line on Sunday and prepared myself to try to enjoy some scenery.

































Going UP Purgatory again was no fun, but this time I was smarter about it. I walk/jogged it keeping the heart rate low enough and just stretching out the legs a little to get them warmed up. Once we popped out onto the road for the 5 or so miles headed down to the Hermosa Creek Trail, I began to open it up a bit and cruised past several of the long legged folks that were out-striding me on the way up the hill. During this short dirt road section, I held a quick, but comfortable pace and was really surprised at how good I felt considering. Shortly after getting onto the trail though, I downed a Raspberry flavored Hammer Gel and knew right away it wasn't staying down. Somewhere around mile 10, it came back up with some water and energy and motivation. Wish I could have kept that down!
Right after puking, I saw a couple of people pull away from me. 2.5 miles later at an aid station, I learned that they had already gained 8 minutes on me! This would be my guage and motivation for the remainder of the run. Once I had regained some energy, I started finding a comfortable pace again and tried to hold it. Walked the steep uphills and ran the flats and downhills.
The trail was awesome and at one point, I had to stop in the middle of it and gawk at the beauty of an Aspen grove high on my left which led down into a large patch of Lilacs and some other kind of white fragrant flower. That combined with the view and sound of the Hermosa creek below (and maybe some endorphins) made for a memorable Taster's Choice moment for this trail runner.
Aid stations came and went and I was washing the Shot Blocks and bananas down with water and feeling great except for some tender feet. My longest run in preparation for this had been 14 miles although I had done a couple of back to back 12 milers a few times. Muscles and the knee were responding well and I learned at each aid station that I was gaining time on the folks ahead of me. At the last aid station, I didn't even ask how far ahead they were because I knew I'd give it all I had to try to catch them. If I did, then great, if not, then at least I ran my best.
about 2 miles before the finish, I caught and passed the two people who got away from me when I was sick and kept the pace as strong as I could. The feet were tender, the legs were draining fast and the lungs were burning and wheezing, but I found some speed at the end somehow.
When I crossed the finish line, I had gained 5 minutes on the two I passed recently. Finishing in 5:30 for ~28 or 29 miles.














Overall I am pleased with how my knee held up and am ready to race some more! Now I just need to work on my fueling and strengthening strategy. The cardio isn't a problem, but since I still can't do quad strengthening in the gym due to the microfracture, I'm limited with how well I can climb on the bike and decend the hills on the run.
I'm not complaining though. It just feels good to be back out there!

Shoe review and motivation

UltraRunning from Matt Hart on Vimeo.

Here's a video that Matt Hart put together for a presentation that he and Sean Meisner did at the Mountain Hardwear store in Seattle. Great video footage. If this doesn't get your blood pumping, you're not a trail runner.

I've been curious about the new Montrail Mountain Masochist shoes and got a chance to try them out for free. They were sent to me from Montrail as part of a promotional deal I won on Facebook. I didn't have to write a review of them or anything, but I'm going to anyway.

Ever since my surgery, my running has been sporadic at best. The knee has been healing, but since I wasn't sure what it could and could not handle, I've been taking it fairly gingerly. Most of my runs had been 8 miles or less at one time and never back to back. Also, I have been running in the Brooks Cascadia which I thought were awesome until I got my new Mountain Masochists hereafter referred to as MMs.

These shoes are amazing. It's been a long time since I've loved a shoe this much (if ever) and I've waited a whole 3 runs so far to report on them.

In the past, I've always worn more protective shoes with a good bit of cushion, but most of the Montrails that I've worn have been really stiff. Mainly the Continental Divides and older Hardrocks. I also briefly wore the Odessey, but that shoe just wasn't for me.

The new MMs seem to be a cross between the Highlander and the Streak. The Streak doesn't work for me because it's too neutral. I need a little more pronation control and arch support and this shoe has just the right amount of both for me. It's also much more cushiony than I thought a 10 oz shoe would be. I figured it would be another minimalist shoe that I wouldn't be able to put many miles on at once like the Fireblade or Raceblade from LaSportiva, but that's not the case with the MMs.

They have enough cushion support and rock protection to allow for technical trails, long miles, and won't hold you back when you want to let loose and go fast.

My first run in them to break them in was a 10 miler on rolling hills and it was the first time in a long time that I actually felt like a runner! The past few months (2 yrs?) I've muddled through runs and forced my way through some miles, but wasn't able to get into a rythm or feel good during it. This run was different a little over halfway into it. After I got past the inital stiffness and achy knees during the warm-up, I decided to push the pace up a little on a flat gradual uphill section and see how they felt. The remainder of the run (~7 mi) I didn't need to slow down.

Heel cup slippage has been a problem for me in past Montrail shoes which I've been able to remedy with the power loop, but Montrail has redesigned the heel cup and it doesn't seem to be a problem with this shoe. It has a snug fitting heel cup and a fairly wide toe box. So much so, that I thought it might be TOO roomy for me, but after cinching up the laces, the shoe conforms nicely to my foot and I still have room for foot expansion when it swells after some longer miles.

Another thing that I noticed about these shoes that I've never noticed about any other shoe is the traction. The MMs are noticeably very grippy in every condition I've been in so far with them. I ran 11.3 miles of intervals in a little mud and technical trails with wet rocks on Tuesday and was comfortable and confident with every step.

On a side note, after tuesday's run, my right achilles felt done for the week. Some of the intervals I was doing was up some hills and it may have been too much too soon, but after stretching it out some all day Wednesday, I decided that I needed another few miles on semi-tired legs so I did another 9.2 miles for a back to back workout.

Yesterday's run (on the heels of Tuesday's intervals) was more than I could have hoped for. Even with the new shoes, I fully expected to suffer through as many miles as I could handle before walking or limping back to the car, but that wasn't the case. After the first 2 miles, I was able to put it in cruise mode and did the last 7 miles between an 8 and 8:30 min/mile pace. I felt so good that I was on a high the rest of the evening. Only mild stiffness in the achilles and some mild discomfort and minor swelling in the knee.

Maybe it was just the right time to turn up some training now that my body is (maybe?) ready for it or maybe it was the magic shoes, but either way, I'm a happy trail runner again!

In case you can't tell, I love my new shoes!

More focused training

I've set my mind to prepare for this. The 3 day challenge has been tempting me for a few months now so I'm going to give it a shot.
After soliciting some advice from my neighbor, I decided to start upping the mileage a bit and start some back to back days. This will get the legs used to working while tired and will make them stronger.
Yesterday, I headed out to Deer Creek Canyon Park and did 11.2 miles in 2:09. Sounds as slow as it felt, but there was a LOT of climbing out there. Plus, my legs felt like they had cement in them from start to finish. It seemed like I had no gas in the tank and lumbered up the hills while sputtering down them. The hard part was all physical. The mental part made me glad I was pushing it and enjoying the outdoors.
















That was supposed to be the good day on fresh legs. Well, semi-fresh legs anyway. I rode a little over 18 moderate to hard trail miles on Sunday, but the legs never felt depleted until yesterday. I need to do another 10-12 miles today, but I think I'll stick to some relatively flat(er) ground at Waterton Canyon or the HR trails close to home.



















The knee is ok, but a little uncomfortable. That was expected so I'll continue to ice it and might even try a Naproxen or an Advil.

ongoing recovery

This past weekend was the second of the Adventures Xstream adventure race series. This one was held in Buena Vista, CO and I was really wanting to do it, but held off in favor of letting the knee continue to heal. Plus, since it was Mother's Day weekend, Isabella and I had some good quality time together while Mommy enjoyed some time to herself.
On Saturday, we went to the Front Range 50 bike race to check out some of the action. I thought it might be interesting to check out some of the bikes and see some of the racing action. Not that interesting really. I've seen enough of that and it was just frustrating to me because the course was dry and very fast and I was wishing that I'd done the race the whole time. I haven't done any significant racing since 06 and I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines.
On that note, however...
A few days ago, I was speaking with a P.A. for another Orthopedic doctor in town and she said that with debridement AND microfracture, I should expect about a 9 month healing/recovery time frame.
This was disheartening, but helps me understand the continued discomfort I've been feeling during and after runs and rides.
On the fun side, I've already encountered a Rattlesnake ON one of the the trails I train on and yesterday, there was a coyote out on the trails as well.














Yet another reason it's not smart to run those trails with headphones.

Here's a recent photo from a ride on the Colorado trail. I went out one day with a training partner and we rode out to the trail, dropped the bikes in the woods, ran a few mountainous miles, then rode back down to the car. Good training day and the knee felt fine until later that day.

building up?

Recently, I've been training more regularly with a variety of things. Been in the gym adding swimming to the weight routines. I'm still a horrible swimmer, but it's still a good workout no matter how bad my technique is. Been running at least 3 days a week as well and the knee is staying fairly consistent. Consistently hurting that is. It's not unbearable pain, but it's annoying and frustrating that it feels no different than before the surgery.
So I just have to train through the pain and hope for the best I suppose.
It really feels good to be in the trails on a more regular basis. Did a long ride the other day and have been doing some short, but tough runs with some significant altitude change.
I'm not fast and am wondering if I'll ever get any speed back with the knee condition, but at least I can do something which is better than nothing at all.

Back on the trails

It's been a little over 4 weeks since my Arthroscopy and I don't think I could've asked for a better outcome. I've been continuing to see Dr. Jeremy Rodgers with the Colorado Sports Chiropractic Center and he's had me doing progressive stretching and strengthening for it and the knee has responded well.
Sunday, I was able to get in a 3 mile mountain run followed by another 4 mile bike ride also with some sustained climbs and decents. Afterward, the knee felt fine.
Yesterday, I did a 5 mile ride close to the house on some trails and although it still feels weak, the knee responded well again. I think I'll try another 3 mile trail run today on some easy trails at slow pace.
This is pretty exciting for me, but I want to keep it under control so I don't re-injure anything or undo any progress. Still, it feels good to be back on the trails!












Currently, I still have my Giant Anthem which will continue to be my full suspension race bike when the trails call for a FS, but I now have this SUPER LIGHT weight baby in my stable for some faster things when climbing fire roads and smoother single track are called for. (more pics here) WITH pedals and computer, it's still 19 lbs!!!

got cut

After having a quiet, but fun Christmas and New Year, I was able to get in a few more days of skiing.
The Dr's visit for the MRI results was on Monday the 12th and he scheduled the arthroscopy on Thursday the 16th. That was fast! I wish I could share the MRI results with you, but I can't seem to get a copy of them. He had a very busy schedule and that date was the only one open for him till March so I wanted to get the recovery started sooner rather than later.
So here we are one day after surgery and I'm simply amazed. That was the least stressful of any surgery I've ever had and coming out of the anesthesia was easier and smoother than I've ever experienced. No ill after effects at all and soreness is minimal so I've not needed any pain meds yet.
Initially, he planned on doing arthroscopy/arthroplasty since the debridement was deemed necessary. Once he got in, he noticed that there was more cartilage wear/damage than originally thought from the MRI so he decided to do a microfracture to force bleeding and stimulate more new growth and hopefully faster healing. You can see from the pics that there was quite a bit of fragmentation in the cartilage. This was smoothed out which should cut down on the amount of irritation. Time will tell.
I'm cautiously optimistic, but am a little excited to feel like I'm on the right track to recovery. Let's just hope I don't get too frustrated with the time it takes to recover adn heal PROPERLY and don't cause more injury with rushing the process.

Below are pictures from the surgery. Click on them for a larger version but be warned they are BIG!

skiing now

Been seeing the sports chiro for a few weeks with more mixed results. Mostly bad news for the knee. The exercises he's given me haven't been able to compensate for the damage that's already been done in there and the cortisone shot only provided temporary respite. At least it helped us know better what we're dealing with. Now, he's sending me to an ortho here in Denver and we'll do another MRI and go from there. Looks like some kind of procedure is inevitable. More on that later...



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Lately, I've been able to get in some skiing. Nothing crazy, just some fun alpine style in different conditions. I don't do moguls or jumps so it's ok on the knee. My first time out to Vail with Lee 2 weeks ago was awesome. The parking situation is pretty inconvenient, but the slopes were great and we were there while it was snowing and they already had about 10 inches of fresh powder on top of packed stuff. Very nice indeed. I'm loving my new skis.















Saturday, I went to Arapahoe Basin by myself and enjoyed a couple of hours. It's not as big as Vail, but there's a good bit of terrain to choose from and it's much closer than most other places. Plus, it's VERY convenient because you can park RIGHT beside the lifts. I literally skied back to my car when I was done. No resort there to complicate things.
















Pretty soon, the resorts will have most if not all of their terrain open and skiing will be much more fun (and crowded) since I like to find routes less traveled. With limited terrain open, it's hard to make your own tracks. Thinking of heading out to Breckenridge again this week. We'll see how the knee is feeling.
Lately, since I haven't been able to run or bike, I've been going to the gym and have been hitting the weights for the first time in a long time. The initial soreness felt great, but now I'm getting back into it and forgot how quickly I bulk up. I really need the cardio to keep the lean muscle mass and to burn off the layer(s) of fat that are building up. :-(

going crazy

My knee hasn't been doing too well lately. I've been going to see Dr. Jeremy Rodgers of the Colorado Chiropractic institute for a little over a month now and I'm not sure what to report. The patella tendinitis isn't as bad (pain) as it was before, but as a result of the exercises my knee is pretty sloppy now.





Initially, Dr. Rodgers told me to take off 3 weeks of running while we strengthened some supporting muscles since I've been running over my 5th toe on my right foot and he wanted to get some abductor muscles stronger to pull my knee inwards a little to have my knee over my second toe when I started running.
The exercises combined with some taping has made my patella pretty unstable. It's not staying put at all. When I walk up or down stairs (i live in a 2 story home with a basement) it pops with every step because it's tracking mostly to the left of the groove it SHOULD be in. It's not like a knuckle popping that's loud, it's more like the sound of a dislocated bone sliding back into place with every step. This in itself doesn't hurt, but it leads to more inflammation and subsequent swelling.
He's sending me over to an Orthopedic that he works wtih for some Cortisone shots to try to get the swelling under control and if that doesn't help get us back on track with his program, then he's going to recommend 2 different surgeries. :-(
We've been trying to avoid surgery at all costs, but it's possible that there's just too much damage to allow the body to heal itself or compensate effectively. We'll see. I'm not going to put it off any longer once they say that's what they want to do. I'm going to get everything done at once and hopefully, be back on my feet healthy and training again next year.
This is very frustrating for me because running and biking are my stress relievers. I live in Colorado where it is beautiful, I have so many wonderful trails close by to explore and it's FALL! The best time of year for running and I can't enjoy it. I've had a few dreams lately about running and they've all been bouldering downhill after running some smooth single track with leaves crunching under my feet. Those dreams have been torturing me. I can't even bike anymore after last Sunday because of the instability and the swelling and pain afterwards.














So now I'm home icing it 2 to 3 times per day and will be getting the cortisone shots soon and then we'll see if it improves enough to resume the therapy program.
Maybe I'll at least get to get in some skiing this season. Since I don't' do moguls or jumps, skiing shouldn't be too hard on it. Just the easy stuff. Groomed or powder on smooth rolling terrain. If I can't even do that, I might just have to stop into a pawn shop for a good deal on a full auto cause I'm going to go postal!

getting more handy

I got a good report from my hand surgeon on my follow up visit the other day. Going in, I was prepared for a scolding. My last visit to him, he gave me a prescription for a splint for the thumb and more physical therapy. I never went to it or got the splint, but I did stretching and exercises on my own for the hand. The Dr didn't scold me and was sufficiently impressed with my progress. I'm still hoping to get full range of motion back to all fingers soon, but it's not happening soon enough for me.

healing and dreaming

While the hand continues to heal and physical therapy helps me get it usable again, all I can do for the time being is ponder upcoming parenthood and dream of things like the videos below.

See more videos like this at Mountain Biking at YourMTB.com

See more videos like this at Mountain Biking at YourMTB.com

As much fun as biking is (especially since I'm in mtb heaven) I'm really looking forward to returning to running the trails. The scenery here is spectacular and it will soon transition from fall to winter running. FUN FUN FUN!!! :-)

on the mend?

So on Wednesday, I guess the surgery went ok. The Dr said that after going in there he decided he needed to use plates as well as screws to put the bones back together again. He also said that he feels good about re-attaching the ligament to my thumb. As much as I absolutely hate taking drugs, I'm pretty thankful for Vicodin right now. Lets see how well it heals in another month or so...

OUCH!!!

Wednesday morning I'm scheduled for surgery. The Dr. said he'll put in screws and possibly a plate to reconstruct the spiral breaks in the 3rd & 4th metacarpals and then he'll try to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament. The whole procedure should take about 2 hours and recovery will be around 2 months. This means I'll have to learn how to change diapers with one hand! :-(

DOH!

I just needed a little lower PSI in my tires & they probably could've held onto the trail. As it is though, I'm now looking at having some pins possibly put in my left hand to put it back together. Friday afternoon I was just going for a short bike ride at the trails by my house and instead of keeping my fun meter in check, I was going a little too fast and went down hard enough to break my left hand. Oh well, at least I can still run! The hand should be healed in time to hold my little girl when she gets here unless she decides to come early.



















Injuries suck!!

Leadville Marathon

Despite the injuries that I've been dealing with over the past 9-10 months, I decided to do the Leadville marathon again this year. Since I started running again 9 weeks ago, I figured I could get in reasonable shape to do it. Well, a few setbacks had reduced the mileage that I was able to do in preparation for Leadville. No matter. I planned on just doing it and didn't set any goals for time.; just to finish.















Several trail Nerds planned to do the marathon this year. Caleb, Sarah, Greg Burger, Shane and his brother Cody all planned on making the trek out to Leadville, CO from KC. Caleb and Sarah drove with Allison and I and everyone else went separately. Shane wasn't able to make it, but the rest of us met up in Leadville after various other excursions in the area to help us get acclimated to the altitude.















On July 4th, Allison and I were able to catch a Colorado Rockies baseball game and fireworks show. We did this last year with the Jones family and had so much fun we decided to do it again. the fireworks show after the game is probably the best one we've ever seen. One of my best friends Lee Barnes and his wife Monique and son Connor joined us for the festivities. Lee and Monique just moved to Evergreen from FL where we grew up together and it's going to be neat living close to each other again in Denver. Lee likes doing adventurous things so I'll have some company out on the trails.














The day before the marathon, Ed Payne, Greg Burger and I drove some of the route of the marathon and it made Greg a little nervous about the steepness of the grade we'd be running in that altitude as well as the rugged terrain. I was later told that Mosquito Pass had only been open for about 3 weeks since the snow had melted sufficiently.














During the run, I took it easy on the uphills and enjoyed letting gravity take over on the downhills. At about mile 10 or 11, I started having a really hard time staying motivated. Really hit a low spot and the funk was killing my desire to continue. I still had energy physically, but wasn't sure I wanted to continue. I pressed on up mosquito pass even though I didn't want to and about halfway DOWN the pass, I began to feel better. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to go the 3 miles UP the pass and 30 minutes to get DOWN it. Not a very consistent pace, but at least I was still moving forward. This run also reinforced that I DO NOT do well on coke and chocolate at aid stations. They always give me heart burn.














In retrospect, I think I probably could have done some longer runs at a slower pace, and I KNOW I should have done more weight training for the quads, but I'm just glad my knee held out for this one. Still, I wasn't really expecting to be a full 64 minutes slower than last year. On well... Now I have to get my mileage up in preparation for the Moab Alpine to Slickrock 50 miler in September.

GPS data from Caleb's Garmin forerunner 305

Anxiety building

Injuries suck!
Last Sunday, I guess I pushed it too much on a run and the knee is now bothering me again. The same knee I've been struggling with since January and gave almost 5 full months to heal. Now I'm wondering if I'll even be able to do the Leadville Marathon coming up on July 7th. That also has me wondering if I'll be able to do the MAS 50 miler in Sept. Oh well, I guess I'll just take it one step at a time and do what I can do and see what happens. If the knee is still jacked up when we move in Aug, that will be NO FUN at all!
Lately, Wyco hasn't been very good to me. Two weeks ago, we were doing trail maintenance out there and I got a good batch of poison ivy which didn't show up till the next day while I was running it. It spread and went systemic. After battling it for the whole week and losing, I decided to get some steroids from my Dr and that knocked it out pretty quick. During my ithchy sessions, I decided not to run for fear of spreading it more.
This past Sunday was my most recent run in which my knee let me know it's still not 100% AGAIN while out at Wyco. If you do that place enough, it's a good course in Kansas to toughen you up or break you down.

Back at it

Training has been going well lately. Since the knee has been letting me put in some miles, I'm trying to get back to a respectable level in time for the Leadville Marathon. The longest run I've done in the past 5 months was a 13 miler last Thursday. Did another 9 on Monday and 9 more last night and feel pretty good. Feeling a little sore from lack of conditioning, but ice and Endurox are helping me through that. Been getting in some biking for cross training as well. Still got a lot of toughening up to do, but at least I'm on the right path. Hopefully, I can avoid the injuries.

Gonna be a little less negative this time

Success!?! I guess that's what you could call it. This past week/weekend was a busy one. Wed night we hosted a run with the KC Track club and I marked out an 8 mile run course and then cooked for the group of about 25. Thursday after work, I went out to a state park to scout out some trails for potential use in an adventure race I'll be designing the course for soon. Friday afternoon, I went out to the Lawrence River trails to help set up the transition area and mark the course for Saturday's duathlon. Saturday, Caleb and I did the duathlon and Sunday was the Brew to Brew 44 mile relay run from KC to Lawrence.



































For the Brew to Brew, I had only planned to be a spectator/driver for our team, but one of our team members couldn't run and even though my running ability has been questionable at best lately, I agreed to attempt to do one of the remaining legs. My part of the course initially was leg 9 or the 10 leg relay. It was a 4.2 mile run on country gravel roads with a pretty stiff headwind.
I took it easy and allowed the still healing knee to warm up gradually and finished the 4.2 miles in 33 mins. Not a record breaking time, but just being able to do it without pain is a first for me in a few months. I was so happy to be feeling this good, that I kept going through the transition area and continued on to do leg 10 and finish up the run for our team. That last leg was on a river levee that is out in the open with no wind or sun protection and was 4.7 miles of mental torture. You can see where you're supposed to be going, but the levee curves around and regardless of your pace, it seems that you're barely making any progress. Other people may not feel this way, but it's tough for me mentally to push through that. With about a mile to go, the knee started to feel that familiar twinge and I backed off the pace significantly dropping my pace to about a 10 min mile. When I finished the 9 miles in 73 mins, I was feeling no pain and was so happy to have been able to run again. The two and a half months off running has caused quite a decline in my speed and endurance, but I still think my overall fitness is ok. I'll just have to put in some miles now to regain a base and go from there.













One thing that I think made a big difference is that I took 2 motrin about a half hour before I started running. Maybe drugs CAN help? They're certainly not the answer though.

the frustration grows

When I went to the Ortho on Monday, I was envisioning getting the "all clear" to resume running and all would be good in the world again. My Dr (who was behind and seemed very rushed) asked how I was feeling, (without listening to the answer) glanced at my chart/records and did a quick exam on my patellar tendons (not sure why) and then rambled on about insertion points of the quads. He then started going on and on about degenerative tissue breakdown and which tissues have adequate blood supply to promote healing. Long story short, I don't believe he knew who I was, what my injuries have been, or what the plan should be. His assistant did warn me that he was behind that morning and that he had arrived home from Mexico at 1:30 am that morning. Eventually, he got around to telling me to let my pain be my guide and said to go ahead and resume running.
Tuesday night I ran with the Trail Nerds out at SMP and was looking forward to doing two slow loops of 4.5 miles each. Around 2 miles into the first loop, I felt a little familiar twinge in the left knee. Not really painful at first, but familiar enough to cause me to take notice with concern. I stayed with the group at a leisurely pace as the discomfort increased. By the end of that first loop, the discomfort had become moderate pain in the left LCL. I've taken almost two and a half months off to let this heal. I respect my doctor's knowledge and skill, but his lack of personal attention may force me to find another. This has gone on too long already in my opinion.
It felt so good to be running through the woods again. I'm not ready to give that up.