On a different note

I love things like this, saw it on a yahoo site and couldn't resist posting it. I kind of enjoy figuring things out like this even if some of them take me a long time to figure out.









If you can't figure them out, go to the yahoo site or feel free to post your conclusions.

Running is getting back on track

I am becoming familiar with running again. I have now run 5 out of the last 8 days. I did back to back runs on Saturday and Sunday with my long run being 6 miles. To be fair, my running is not of great quality, meaning no speed and I take walking breaks whenever I think I need to. My thinking is that if I take it slow than I will be back to training for a longer race soon enough. I really do miss my long runs in Lebanon or Murphy and look forward to doing them in the coming months.

As to races for the year, right now I will only focus on possibly doing the Afton 25k. Since I have dropped  the last two years during the 50k at the 25k split it doesn't seem  to make sense to try and ramp to the 50k distance in a month. I did have a goal of entering it healthy which I think I can do for the 25k but for the 50k, I might be able to do it but I am pretty sure I shouldn't so it is definitely out.

One issue I still have is the inability to push off strong with the right ankle. When I try to sprint or accelerate I get pain of some sort. I feel it when I am sitting sometimes, it just feels like someone is pressing on the top of my foot right below the ankle or like you have a shoe with no padding and the laces are cutting into the top of the foot. This may be nothing more than something I need to work through by running and by continuing to make sure that the ankle is stronger and that I have full flexibility. I would like to say that I didn't have this pain before I started the ART and Graston treatments but I think the truth is I don't know if I did or not as the ankle was hurting elsewhere.

So for the moment, I continue one day at a time and hope to be back in decent running shape by the end of June.

I ran and am hopeful :-)

I went for a run on Sunday morning in Lebanon Hills. I only ran a total of 3 miles with no significant pain during the run. I used a run 4 minutes/walk 1 minute strategy to make sure I took it easy and I was ready to flip the ratios or modify the ratios if issues developed but none really did. I did have knee pain which has happened to me at the start of many runs ever since I had knee surgery years ago. It was a delightful pain to feel knee pain versus ankle pain.

I delayed posting for a day in order to see what the ankle felt like a day later. Well, the answer is, I think ok. The ankle was a bit tender after the run but not really painful. So tomorrow I will try to run after work and see how it goes but as of today I am hopeful.

4 weeks and counting

Quick update, still not running.

Long update, still not running.

I was really discouraged last week and into the weekend. The ankle did not seem like it was getting any better. I am pretty tired of it but I am following the advice of the guy I am seeing for it. He has said if I can't walk without pain I shouldn't run. A concept that I have to admit has some degree of merit.

Last week played 2 softball games, not able to run to first without significant pain. I can't push off and accelerate at all. What  I end up doing is simply pushing through it and then hoping I don't have to run too far or stop to quickly. If it didn't hurt on the first steps I would say softball is making it worse but it hurts before and after, and the after doesn't seem to be that much different. Now my shoulder that's a different story, I hate rotator cuff pain and it's a big reason I didn't want to play last year. A year off hasn't helped oh well. I am better off than a buddy who broke his leg in 2 places sliding into second. I didn't see it as I was scoring but it's safe to say that a broken tibula and fibula plus 9 screws can't be good. Made my ankle pain seem pretty minor.

Over the weekend, the pain seemed to change when I was walking. On Monday I had it worked on again, it continued to feel better, Tuesday saw some additional progress (able to go up and down stairs almost pain free). Had another treatment today, where he did the Graston technique again but he focused on my achilles, heel and arch. It was not pleasant at times but no sharp pain. It just felt like he was rubbing me with a metal bar, oh yeah that is actually what he was doing.

He also did ART on the ankle but added a few additional movements that really didn't feel too good but I left with hope. I am thinking (ok hoping, praying) that in another day or so I will be able to walk without pain and then this weekend become a runner again.

I have pretty much abandoned any hope of doing any significant races this year. Chester Woods is out, Afton is fading. Basically any goals I had for this year are just not going to happen. After Afton, I haven't looked ahead, who knows, maybe I still shoot for TCM (I keep expecting it to close) and Surf the Murph. Not much of a running year but if I could do those two healthy that would be the way to go into winter. Now doesn't that thought just basically not settle very well at all. Oh well, first things first, walking without pain.