Im back!!!

I want to start off by first saying a huge "Thank you!" to my wife Kelly. It has been 18 days since my surgery and she hasn't killed me. For the first two weeks after surgery she did everything from help me shower to tie my shoes. Today was actually the first day since the surgery that I did both on my own. But lets not get a head of ourselves.

I woke up from surgery with a big surprise of being in a cast and being told by my surgeon, "It was worse than we thought". To add insult to injury, I was also told I couldn't run for at least two weeks. I will paraphrase the next two weeks... no running, shower with a trash bag over my arm, can't seem to figure out how to be left handed, go to work in slipper because they don't haves laces... did I miss anything? I finally had my post op appointment on Tuesday to find out just how bad it was. I didn't just tear the ligament...it was a complete rupture that had to be repaired. I also found out that I had a good deal of arthritis that had to be cleaned up. So instead of a cute little incision that I was expecting... I got to see this when the nurse cut off the cast.

The good new is that The doc said I could start running as long as I gave it another 24 hours and kept my new brace on all the time. This new brace is a two piece plastic form fitted contraption that keeps me from attempting to do anything dumb with my right hand. Kelly came up with the idea of wearing a warm up sleeve on under the brace to keep the plastic from rubbing my skin. This also gave me a washable option since they just gave me something that resembled a mix between an old sock and an ace wrap. Not something that was going to hold up to daily running and washing. Internet shopping and overnight delivery brought me two pairs of warm up sleeves. Yes, that's four sleeves with thumb holes and moisture wicking goodness.

Tonight was my second run since my surgery and it feels so good to be back out pounding pavement. My first run back was a three mile run immediately followed by a five mile cool down on Wednesday night (I was told three miles was a good distance  for my first run back). I could feel each and every bit of those 8 miles the next day. I never claimed to be the brightest bulb on the tree. Tonight I ran five miles around the neighborhood. Kelly is out running the Tuna 200 relay with our Running Club Team so I had to figure out how to tie my shoes all by myself. Right now Kelly is running her second leg of the relay which is 9 miles long.

Now I have to figure out how to get back on track for OBX. I already missed one of the two 20 mile runs in our training program. The last one is supposed to be this Sunday. Do I suck it up and go for the 20 even though I had a two week hiatus from running? Do I not and start the plans tapering next week? Either way I need to be prepared to run 26.2 miles on November 10th... possibly with my brace on.   

About to be left handed for awhile!

Today is the last day in the ninth month of the this year. Today is also a Monday, the first day of week thirteen of our training plan. What I hadn't planned on was that today is the day I will be having my little repair done to my wrist. Here in about ten minutes we will begin our journey to the surgery center where hopefully magic will happen. Although I can't wait to get healed up and get back in the gym, I am just hoping this doesn't have to much of an impact on my training. As of the last time I met with the surgeon, she said I could still train for the Marathon as long as I took a week off after the surgery. Hopefully after getting "opened" up she will feel the same way.

My attempt at being left handed should be quite comical.. well for Kelly at least. I bet typing with one hand will nice and slow. I really can't think of one thing that I use just my left hand for... its either my right or both.

Well Kelly just said we need to get going. So here it goes...

Just one of the side effects

So it's been about 11 months now since me and Kelly began running as a "hobby". Ok, so it had more to do with one of the side effects we suffered from quitting smoking... weight gain. Either way we have put in a few miles since then and seen some pleasant side effects. Another thing we have been trying to do is eat a little healthier. Neither of us have any plans to eat bark and leaves, but we would like to think we have been improving our daily diet. A big step was trying to cut out as much processed sugar out of our diet. We also try and make as much of our meals from scratch as possible. This always is a challenge with both of our jobs and our training schedule. I figure as long as little by little we improve our intake and continue to increase our energy expenditure something amazing will come of it all... right?

This brings us to today's little adventure. Friday after work we met up at the South Post Commissary on Fort Bragg to do our weekly grocery shopping. With fall finally approaching I saw one of my favorite seasonal beverages... Apple Cider!!! I grabbed a gallon jug of the fruity swill but before I set it in the cart I took a glance at the ingredients to make sure there wasn't any added sugar. Apples... check... Potassium sorbate... what? Sodium benzoate... Huh? For some reason now I needed to know what magically ingredients were added to cider that I so craved. Oh, just some preservatives that are commonly added to beverages and other food items. That can't be so bad.. or can it? I should have stopped reading there and remained happily ignorant. But no one ever said I was the brightest bulb on the tree (yes I know it isn't Christmas time yet). 

Sodium benzoate found in beverages are at levels that are below those considered dangerous for consumption. Oh that makes me feel so much better. Solid potassium sorbate (which is rarely encountered in food) is a skin, eye and respiratory irritant. But what about the form found in Cider? Now I'm sure that neither of these preservatives will cause me to grow a third nipple or catch the gout, but it does make you think a little about all the added goodies that the experts put in our food.

Well Today I was going to do something about it. Today is the day I was going to give Apple Cider its freedom from all that is unnatural. I decided to attempt to make my own apple cider. My google machine hummed to life and soon I had all the knowledge I needed to create my autumn swill.

With the help of Kelly's high powered food preparing device I was able to finish the first step of my project. I used a three bags of different types of Apples and began to grind away. Already this was beginning to be a pricey endeavor. This was about nine dollars of some of the commissary's best apples. Soon I had a large bowl full of what looked like soupy apples sauce. Now I began to strain away the sweet juices that would make at least a gallon of cider (or so I thought). After two different sized strainers I was finished...

 

 

 

 

What?!?!?! is that all my labors and nine bucks of apples made? I will say that it tasted so much better than what I could have purchased in the store. I also have a huge bowl of home made apple sauce that is just one of the side effects.

    

Who put that wall there?!?!?!

So it's been a while but I'm back. Once again I was out and about traveling on business last week. Another week spent finding new and exciting locations near my hotel to run. But that's not really what we are here for, now are we? This last week the mileage did increase yet again. We ran 5 miles on Tuesday, 8 on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday, 8 on Saturday and then 18 miles on Sunday. Sunday was a first for a couple things for me. First off it was the longest I've run so far in my short existence on earth and also the first time I hit a major...

Sunday mornings run started off great. The weather actually was playing along for once. It was cool, overcast, with a very slight mist in the air... Perfect for getting in some miles. Off we went... then at around the 12 mile mark there it was...ARGH!!!! For the next six miles I questioned many things to include everything from what was I doing to what did I do differently this last week. Was I getting enough sleep, enough water, enough fuel... was I increasing the mileage to fast???? Why was I able to run 17 miles last Sunday strong and still feel like I could have run farther? Or was it a combination of all of it? The remainder of the day I sat around sore without much motivation to do much.

The Monday morning came and to my surprise... I wasn't near as sore as I thought I would be. What evil voodoo had befallen me to reek such havoc on my training? So after a little thought and reflection this is what I've come up with.

1. It happens. It's not a common thing but there is just going to be some runs that suck... try to prevent it, but deal with it when it does happen.

2. What you do, don't do, eat, don't eat, drink, or don't drink will effect your performance either positively or negatively. Some of this will be in our control and some won't.

3. Everyone of us will hit a wall at some point... it's what we do after that abrupt collision that is important.

I have spent the majority of my adult life involved is some sort of physical fitness activity. I have never really experienced the physical and emotional event like I did for those last 6 miles. But I will say that I am glad I got a taste of it on a training run and not during a race. I am sure there might be a couple other walls in my future and hopefully I will be a little more prepared to not only try and prevent it but also to be able to push through it when it does happen.

No we weren't lost!?!?!?!

What exactly were two runners doing walking down State Route 22 in Southern Pines this morning? Now that seems like a fairly silly question to be asking... one, aren't they runners? and two, how did they get there? Well my friends you are about to find out. But before we get two carried away, don't you want to hear about my week?

Now I know this might come as a surprise to some of you, but once again I was out gallivanting about the country in service to Uncle Sam. This little trip led me to the home of Country Music. My Tuesday run ended up being on the treadmill at the hotel. This was the first time I had been back on a treadmill since returning from the "Stan". Although I can stomach running on a treadmill, I wouldn't say that it's my first choice. So off I went (not going anywhere at all) for four miles of fun. As with most treadmill runs there isn't really much to talk about... so I won't. Lucky for me, my schedule Wednesday morning was pretty open and I was able to get my 8 miles in on the open road. One downside to staying at a hotel right near an airport is there is limited routes you can run. I was able to figure out a route with the help of the WalkJogRun App. What I wasn't mentally or spiritually prepared for was all the hills that just so happened to be along my route. I should have known better since I lived in that part of the country for a few years. But there I was screaming, "Why, God, Why!?!?!?!". Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration but you get the picture. My work schedule on Thursday once again forced me back into the small closet of a gym at the hotel and back on the treadmill. This time I was going to put those four miles to good use and practiced my reverse splits. That is one thing a treadmill makes easier... either keep up or get thrown off.

Let's get back to this story of those two weary runners. In our continual attempt at keeping the routes fresh and new, we decided to drive the 45 minutes from our house to the Reservoir Park in Southern Pines. There is a two mile trail that goes around... yep you guessed it, a Reservoir. Off this said trail there is multiple other offshoot trails that goes who knows where. I am sure there is someone that does know this jewel of information. I would even go out on a limb and say they have said information available on the world wide web. Well, lets just say this adventurous duo didn't really plan out a route. So off they went this way and that... down one trail till it dead ended, and then back to another offshoot. This time there were a few twists and turns and what appeared to be a loop trail. Well before they knew it their 8 miles was finished... what they didn't know was that the journey was long from over.

To make sure our hero's of the story didn't over do it, they began to walk thinking the loop they were sure to be on would finally intersect... it never did and they soon found themselves at a trail head nowhere near Reservoir Park and their vehicle. The city of Southern Pines was nice enough to place a map at the trail head which showed the way back. Option one was to retrace the trail they way they had come or to follow the road back to Reservoir Park. Option two seemed like the shorter distance so off they went. Its funny what strange things you happen on while wondering aimlessly down the road. As we passed a church parking lot there stood a fairly large woman with her arms raised to the sky screaming in some foreign language or speaking in tongues. That's stuff you just can't make up. Well our travelers did finally make their way back to Reservoir Park and their vehicle. Who would have thought there would be a three and a half mile cool down walk at the end of the 8 mile run. All in all it was a great run on some good trails. Next time I think we will plan our route out a bit more. Good thing tomorrow is a 17 mile day!!!

Halfway there!!!!

So with the completion of the 13.1 miles of the Harrisburg Half Marathon we arrived at the halfway point of our journey to OBX. It seems a little crazy to think of it as the halfway. I am pretty excited about both Kelly and my results. Going up north to race in weather that was about 10 degrees cooler and 10 percent less humidity helped. All and all it was an amazing weekend. A great race and a good mini vacation. Friday nights murder mystery dinner on the riverboat was a really good time and a good reason to get all dressed up

Saturday probably wasn't a good day for our training... we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate but they were literally giving it away. We did have a good time in addition to having way more chocolate than is good for any living creature. They have things for kids of all ages. I actually learned a lot, both about how chocolate is made and about the man that made it famous. I never knew that Milton Hershey was such a philanthropist. This world would be a much better place if we had a few more men like him.

Now let's talk about the race. I can't even begin to give this event enough credit. The course was along the Susquehanna River in downtown Harrisburg, PA. The course started and finished on City Island, a small island in the middle of the river. The rest of the course was either on multi use trails along the river or on a frontage road near the river. The early fall weather in Pennsylvania was perfect for running. It was 66 degrees with 73% humidity when we started off at 8am on Sunday morning.

I think the cooler weather really helped my performance in this event (note that this is the third time I mention the weather... can you tell I'm from Ohio?). My overall time was 1:46:06 which was a 8:03 minute mile pace. As this was the first Half Marathon I ever raced it was a PR for me. Out of 1,034 participants I placed 167th and 132nd out of 460 males. In my age category I was 29th out of 72. Overall I was very glad in performance. I still wonder if I could have pushed it a little more. The overall winner ran at a 5:30 pace so I don't think I could have kept up with him.

I would recommend a destination race as a great vacation any day. Our weekend in Harrisburg was relaxing, fun and just happened to include a Half Marathon. There are so many great locations in this country I am hoping to see as we plan many more mini vacations around our future races.

 

Hopefully just a small bump in the road...

I had my appointment today with Dr. Barrie at the Fayetteville Ortho Clinic to find out what needs to be done to fix my wrist. After reviewing my MRI and X-Ray results and trying to make my wrist do things I don't think it's supposed to do, to include a very loud pop, the good doctor informed me that not only do I have a TFCC tear but is disconnected from the head of the Ulna.

They scheduled me for surgery on September 30th. The procedure is an outpatient surgery which should only take around an hour for her to "tack" the TFCC back to my ulna and repair whatever else she finds in there that is messed up. I will have to wear a brace and splint that will completely immobilize my forearm, wrist, and hand for 6 weeks. Guess what just happens to be six weeks after my surgery... OBX. She said that if I take some time off right after the surgery to let the incision site heal a bit before I start running. Hopefully worse case I should only have to take a week off running. Even a bigger hopefully this doesn't impact the big day six weeks later. But what this does do is put me out of the running for our October event... the Tuna 200 mile relay.

I ask the doctor about when I would be able to start lifting again and she told me that I would be able to get back to lifting sooner if I had broken my arm... I guess I won't even be able to do something as simple as a push-up for about six months.

So on a good note we ran our four miles tonight around the neighborhood. I set my Garmin to view the current time while I ran. I wanted to see what kind of pace I kept without checking my pace as I ran. I was actually very surprised that I kept a pretty even pace for the entire run. My average pace ended being a 8:19 minute mile pace.