I haven't posted for the past few weeks. I got myself into a funk after the Reach the Beach relay and the one year anniversary of the accident. I figured I completed my goal of running with the Red Eye Runners in the relay, and I somehow figured things would be about as good as they were going to get after one year had passed.
Before I get too far ahead, I want to give a shout out to Deb Livingston for running a great race at the Grindstone 100. She took honors as top female finisher and I believe she was 12th overall. Nice job Deb! Also, a big shout out to all my friends who ran the Hartford Marathon this year. There's too many of you to list here, and I'd be afraid of missing someone on the list. Anyway, great job and I hope to join you again one year.
So, here's this week's update:
Let's start with the pathetic wimpering....waaahh waaahhh.
OK, my running was rough at best. I wondered how I could ever get back to a competitive level, and the work to grind out a few miles hardly seemed worth it at times. My leg hurt and I was feeling sorry for myself. I found every excuse in the book and then some not to run. I can walk normal enough after a couple steps...provided I have my shim in the shoe, and it's not my first steps of the day. People are amazed at how I walk now, but they don't know what's going on under the hood. There's a lot of compensation and pain. I looked OK, but I was disappointed.
Sure, I reminded myself about how lucky I was to be alive and have relatively minor injuries, but I wondered if I would ever be able to run the way I once did. I know I'm lucky to be here, and I truly am grateful. With that being said, I'm having a hard time accepting any limitations as a result of the accident. I beat myself up over the accident, decisions on where to be treated, when to be treated, post-surgery treatment, 2nd surgery choices, etc., etc. It's been a tough road! I had to get my head on straight and move on...
Last weekend, I decided to run to the top of Talcott Mountain to check out the annual Tower Toot. It's kind of a German festival thing. I wasn't particularly interested in the event itself as much as I wanted to celebrate. Last year, Kevin drove me to the top of Talcott Mountain on the same weekend, and I tried my crutches for the first time. It was a pitiful site as he had to help me up and down a couple steps and deal with my whimpering. This year, I ran all the way to the top which is no small task...ask my buddy, Matt Estes, about our run up there in a foot of snow. It's tough! Round trip from reservoir 6 is about 6.5 miles, and the climb is a nasty one. The run up was fine. I made it up without stopping, but coming down hurt like heck. I was noticing that most of the pain was in my hip where the rod and screw are attached to the bone. Ouch! I wondered if I was going to break something again!
On Monday, I managed to do about 5 miles combined running and hiking up on the Metacomet trail which got me somewhat motivated. It was great to be outside, and I stayed out well after dark. I took it easy on the downhills.
On Wednesday, I managed a short gym workout. After biking, and some kettle bell swings, I gave up after 1.5 miles on the treadmill. I felt lousy and didn't feel like dealing with the pain anymore.
Saturday was a different story. I drove to the reservoir to do the 9 mile loop Goat and I have been doing for so long. I thought it would be good to get a data point, since we had completed the loop at about 9:15 pace a couple weeks before Reach the Beach. I wanted to see how I would compare. The weather was nice and crisp and the foliage was fantastic. I felt pretty good from the start and managed to do the first 5 or so miles at a pretty good clip. The course is mostly double track trail with a couple good hills, so it's no cake walk. I wanted to break 9 minute pace for the loop, and pushed as hard as I could on the way in. My form went down the toilet and it was all I could do to finish, but I pulled it off ! My hip hurt like heck again...especially on the downhills, and I contemplated removal of the screw and rod again. Nevertheless, I felt like I was moving pretty decent for the first half of the run.
I had two thoughts....maybe, just maybe I could continue to improve, and strangely enough....the shim in my shoe felt like it was too much. Hmmmm....
I iced my hip at home and wondered whether I dared to try to run 2 days in a row again. Kevin (The Goat) had plans for a 16 mile easy run as he tapers for the Stonecat 50 miler, and I wanted to join him for part of it. We agreed to meet at 11AM at the reservoir. I wondered if I would be able to run much at all as I hobbled my way around this morning.
Surprisingly, I felt half decent once we got moving. I didn't feel too bad, but was a little fatigued from the previous day. I was tentative on the downhills, but moved well on the flats and ups. We were a little slower for the first 5 miles, but then picked up the pace coming home. Goat had his GPS, so we pushed hard to break 9 minute pace. I pushed the last mile or so at sub-8 minute pace (mostly paved and flat), and we hit the tape at around 8:55 average pace. Yes! Surprisingly, it was about 30 seconds slower than yesterday, but I'll take it.
Today, I used less of a shim and it worked out pretty well. The hip continues to be very painful on the downs, so I iced it bigtime when I got home. I'm pretty happy with my progress considering everything.
It felt good to be out there, and my form coming back in felt much better today.
The Goat is in great shape and I expect he will do well in the 50. I was pushing as hard as I could go, and he was just jogging alongside. I can recall the days when that equation was flipped. It is what it is....I'm happy the Goat is running so well.
I almost gave up running a couple weeks ago. I figured it was time to take up golf or darts or something more sedentary. Running was not so much fun anymore. Despite my head hanging low, I reminded myself that things always get better when we just stick with it. I almost gave up running at a couple of key times in the past due to injury. If I did, I would have never run the Boston Marathon...or any ultras....or finished Top 10 at Vermont twice. Gotta keep going...
My favorite book as a kid was "The Little Engine that could..." So much so that it's the first book I buy for each new family member. I have a new niece/nephew getting ready to enter the world. My sister, Amy, is due this Thursday. I'm thinking it's time to log onto Amazon.com and make another purchase. :-)
Have a great week everyone!
Steve
Showing posts with label The Comeback. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Comeback. Show all posts
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Gunksfest 2011: The Return...
I can't believe it's been a whole year! I am feeling soooo much better than I was about 362 days ago!!! Ha! I'm still not 100%, but have been feeling much, much better in the past 10 days. Running Reach the Beach really got my body and mind back in balance. Now, it's time to see if climbing will continue to be a part of my life!
I'm heading back to the Motherland and the scene of the accident - The Shawangunk mountains (a.k.a. - The Gunks). As many of you know, I grew up 10 miles from the Gunks, and I absolutely love it there. It's a special place and I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend with family and friends there. I'm planning to rope up for some easy climbing and hope the weather cooperates. I know many people think I'm crazy to consider climbing again. The engineer in me can rationalize it. The climbing addict can rationalize it as well. The family man in me thinks I'm an idiot, but 2 out of 3 wins every time. Besides, engineers are fairly intelligent people :-).
The engineer in me rationalizes that the accident was due to multiple mistakes. It was not due to a fall or equipment failure. It was simply due to miscommunication (or lack of communication). I won't re-live the event again, but I do believe deliberate communication and double checking everything can avoid a similar event. I will grant you that climbing accidents will continue to happen, but so will car accidents. Is it a necessary risk - no, there's nothing necessary about it. I do enjoy it though, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to hang up my rack yet. Technically, I did climb two pitches on top rope back in early May, but it really didn't simulate much of anything. My leg was still not healed fully, and I was very tentative. This time will be different (at least physically).
I'm so excited about the weekend that I have the Element almost fully packed and it's only Wednesday! I'm bringing a crib to my sister as well, so the E is loaded to the gills. The CT Climbers and Mountaineers will be in full attendance. I organize a trip to the Gunks at this time each year. We are returning to the winery where we used to have some great weekends. The former Rivendell Winery is now Robibero Family Vineyards, and we're excited about returning there. We have a wine tasting planned for Friday evening, and a big dinner and bonfire for Saturday night. I'm so excited that this anniversary will be shared with so many family and friends.
I don't know if I'll go climb the specific route that I fell on. It's not that important to me. I just want to enjoy a day at the Gunks with Charlotte and be with my friends. I guess that's about it. Then, it'll be time to move on ...
If you are in the neighborhood, stop by the winery and join me for a drink this weekend!
All the best,
Steve
I'm heading back to the Motherland and the scene of the accident - The Shawangunk mountains (a.k.a. - The Gunks). As many of you know, I grew up 10 miles from the Gunks, and I absolutely love it there. It's a special place and I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend with family and friends there. I'm planning to rope up for some easy climbing and hope the weather cooperates. I know many people think I'm crazy to consider climbing again. The engineer in me can rationalize it. The climbing addict can rationalize it as well. The family man in me thinks I'm an idiot, but 2 out of 3 wins every time. Besides, engineers are fairly intelligent people :-).
The engineer in me rationalizes that the accident was due to multiple mistakes. It was not due to a fall or equipment failure. It was simply due to miscommunication (or lack of communication). I won't re-live the event again, but I do believe deliberate communication and double checking everything can avoid a similar event. I will grant you that climbing accidents will continue to happen, but so will car accidents. Is it a necessary risk - no, there's nothing necessary about it. I do enjoy it though, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to hang up my rack yet. Technically, I did climb two pitches on top rope back in early May, but it really didn't simulate much of anything. My leg was still not healed fully, and I was very tentative. This time will be different (at least physically).
I'm so excited about the weekend that I have the Element almost fully packed and it's only Wednesday! I'm bringing a crib to my sister as well, so the E is loaded to the gills. The CT Climbers and Mountaineers will be in full attendance. I organize a trip to the Gunks at this time each year. We are returning to the winery where we used to have some great weekends. The former Rivendell Winery is now Robibero Family Vineyards, and we're excited about returning there. We have a wine tasting planned for Friday evening, and a big dinner and bonfire for Saturday night. I'm so excited that this anniversary will be shared with so many family and friends.
I don't know if I'll go climb the specific route that I fell on. It's not that important to me. I just want to enjoy a day at the Gunks with Charlotte and be with my friends. I guess that's about it. Then, it'll be time to move on ...
If you are in the neighborhood, stop by the winery and join me for a drink this weekend!
All the best,
Steve
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Back in the game
Wow! Back-to-back 8+ mile runs. I can't believe it! What a way to celebrate my almost one year anniversary. I'm sure some of you are sick of hearing about my accident. Believe me...I'm sick of thinking about it. Today gave me a glimpse of what life could be like going forward. It was nice.
I ran about 9 miles with my buddy, the Goat, yesterday. He seemed a bit fatigued from the week and Reach the Beach. He was one of our anchors for RTB as he logged 3 very tough legs. He also was planning to do a 30 mile run today, so was holding back a bit. As for me, I was fresh since I had only run 4 miles all week. I was actually the one pushing the pace. Granted, it was 9 minute pace, but it was on wet trails. Either way, I felt stronger and less tentative with the leg. I was more in balance. Of course, I was sore afterwards and wondered how I would do today.
I wanted to help the Goat get through his long run. The muggy weather is no fun when doing a long run. Goat has company for the first 9 miles, then ran another 9 solo. I met him at 10:30 and he looked like he was dragging a bit after nearly 18 miles and 3+ hours, but there was still work to be done.
I hadn't been up to Heublein Tower in awhile, so we headed in that direction. It was like old times. We chugged along and talked. I listened a lot since this was Goat's training run. On the way back, Goat was losing form. I was a few strides in front of him and told him he needed to pull his form together. I've been obsessed with form lately, since mine has been so rough. He said, "I'm doing OK." I told him he was dragging his feet. He said, "How does the Master know if he cannot see me?" I said, "I can hear you Grasshopper!" We laughed. I told him I needed to hear less "grass" and more "hop". We both burst out laughing!
We walked a bit, took in the beautiful views around the reservoir, and then finished off the run. Goat logged a total of 26.2 miles in 5 hours on some tough terrain. A few more runs like this one and he'll be ready for Stonecat.
It's been fun reading about all the great races people are running this year. I miss it a bit. Hoping I can get back in good enough shape to run a few races. We'll see... If not, I'll just keep chugging along and having fun!
Have a great week everyone!
Peace,
Steve
I ran about 9 miles with my buddy, the Goat, yesterday. He seemed a bit fatigued from the week and Reach the Beach. He was one of our anchors for RTB as he logged 3 very tough legs. He also was planning to do a 30 mile run today, so was holding back a bit. As for me, I was fresh since I had only run 4 miles all week. I was actually the one pushing the pace. Granted, it was 9 minute pace, but it was on wet trails. Either way, I felt stronger and less tentative with the leg. I was more in balance. Of course, I was sore afterwards and wondered how I would do today.
I wanted to help the Goat get through his long run. The muggy weather is no fun when doing a long run. Goat has company for the first 9 miles, then ran another 9 solo. I met him at 10:30 and he looked like he was dragging a bit after nearly 18 miles and 3+ hours, but there was still work to be done.
I hadn't been up to Heublein Tower in awhile, so we headed in that direction. It was like old times. We chugged along and talked. I listened a lot since this was Goat's training run. On the way back, Goat was losing form. I was a few strides in front of him and told him he needed to pull his form together. I've been obsessed with form lately, since mine has been so rough. He said, "I'm doing OK." I told him he was dragging his feet. He said, "How does the Master know if he cannot see me?" I said, "I can hear you Grasshopper!" We laughed. I told him I needed to hear less "grass" and more "hop". We both burst out laughing!
We walked a bit, took in the beautiful views around the reservoir, and then finished off the run. Goat logged a total of 26.2 miles in 5 hours on some tough terrain. A few more runs like this one and he'll be ready for Stonecat.
It's been fun reading about all the great races people are running this year. I miss it a bit. Hoping I can get back in good enough shape to run a few races. We'll see... If not, I'll just keep chugging along and having fun!
Have a great week everyone!
Peace,
Steve
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Reach the Beach: Mission Accomplished!
We drove up to Paul's place on Lake Winni on Thursday evening...making the traditional stop at D"Angelo's on the way. We arrived at the cottage around 10:45PM and proceeded with finding out usual sleeping spots for the night. I sleep out on the screened porch with my sleeping bag. Captain Bill announces the winner of the music contest where we each try to guess who provided which song for the RTB motivational music CD. Then, Bill introduces each runner as they come up to sign their waiver. Each year the intros grow in length. It's all good fun!
This year Bill added a new award...The Rise of the Phoenix! It was a bid of a gag to sort of acknowledge my return from the near dead to run on the team this year. Fittingly, I was first runner up for the award as they actually gave it to Tim for having a bruise on his foot! Funny guys! Ironically, Tim was not able to finish the race the next day due to re-injuring the foot. I have a feeling he's a shoe in for the award next year too!After a poor night sleep due to hurricane like winds, I readied myself for the big day. The ride to Cannon Mtn was uneventful. It was raining a bit, but clearing was expected. We checked in and hung out while our first runner prepared to start. Goat and I ran into our good friend Larry Mo who was running on another team. We took group photos and goofed around.
After the start, our Van drove to the first transition area and waited for our turn to run. We ate lunch and killed some time decorating the van and checking out the other teams decorations and costumes. At the start, a young guy dressed as a toilet was assisting with pre-race warm-ups. Go figure!
Flo started us off around 6pm and we were on our way. Flo is solid and steady every year. Goat was second man up and ran a strong leg, then Pete was off and running. I was next...my first competitive run in a year. What would happen? I was nervous and very self-conscious of my awkward stride. I did my warm-up routine and felt OK. It was dark out, so I had my headlamp and mandatory neon vest with flashing lights. I took the hand-off from Pete and started down the road with any easy short stride with pretty decent turnover. I was running alone and was happy not to be in a crowd. I plugged along and wondered how long I could keep it together. This was a 5 mile leg (my longest of the 3). After about a mile, a decent runner passed me moving along with relative ease. I didn't even try to match his stride. The hills came quickly and I passed some folks moving slowly on the uphill. Yes, I passed a few! Unbelievable! The downhills were pretty painful and I was very tentative with my leg. I ran as hard as I dared. It was a tough leg, but I managed to run it at about 8:10/mile pace...not bad considering the hills. Two people passed me and I passed about 7 I think. I was very happy with the effort. The stride was still off, but at least I could run. It felt so good to be back out there!
Jane and Stan finished off their legs, and then we headed back to the cottage for a couple hours of sleep. Then, it was off to the next transition. We ran all night long. My second leg was just after sunrise. It was 3.7 miles. The first half mile was steep downhill and then it was fairly flat the rest of the way. Once again, I was tentative on the downhill. A young guy went blazing past me just after we got the hand off, and I was bummed to watch him stride so effortlessly. I just chugged along and passed a few nice ladies along the way. I tried to encourage everyone I passed. After awhile I noticed the young guy was holding steady about 100 yards in front of me. I wondered if I could catch up to him. Step by step I reeled him in just like the old days. At about the halfway mark I passed him. He was slowing quite a bit, so I just plowed along. I finished the leg with an average pace of about 7:30/mile which was much better than I had planned. Cool!
We pressed on through the day taking catnaps where we could. I wondered if I would be sore or what type of energy I would have for the last leg. It was getting warmer and I wanted to go home. Goat gutted out 3 great legs...I've never seen him run as well. Everyone seemed to be running well, but we all wanted to be finished with it.
My last leg started off flat. My stride took awhile to get settled, and I wondered how long it would stay stable. I passed a few people, but was having a hard time running into the wind. My stride puts a lot more stress on my calves and I was getting fatigued. I pressed on hoping to break 8min pace. I passed more people and kicked it in as best I could. I think I managed 7:45 pace for the leg, and was all smiles at the finish. Mission accomplished! Life was good!
Captain Bill did the usual thing at the finish giving each of us our shirts and medals. A few of us went down to the beach. I walked in the water a bit and watched Stan and Pete dive into the frigid waves (maximum shrinkage!).
We drove home and I wondered if this would be a launching point to further running improvements or whether I would consider it an accomplishment and turn my focus elsewhere. Hmmm...only time will tell. Another one was in the books. Great job Captain Bill and the Red Eye Runners! Love you all!
Tonight I ran the 3.7 miles at reservoir 6 as hard as I dared. My pace felt stronger and steadier than the last time I had run it with Goat. My time was under 29 minutes resulting in an average pace of 7:45/mile. It blows my mind in a way. How could it be so hard? I used to float along at that pace with minimal effort. I could run at that pace all day! Why is it so hard? Nevertheless, I was running and I did show improvement. A few months ago, even this pace seemed unimaginable. I guess I need to be patient and keep working it. It will come!
Thanks for reading and for all your support. It's been a great ride. A lot of ups and downs in the past year. I can't believe it's almost the one year anniversary of my accident. Here's to moving forward!
Enjoy the upcoming weekend!
Peace,
Steve
Monday, September 12, 2011
Reach the Beach: Here we go!
My fall happened on October 2 last year about 2 weeks after I completed the Reach the Beach Relay for the 6th consecutive year with the Red Eye Runners. Naturally, when I started my recovery, Reach the Beach not only became my goal...it became my mantra!
For the uninitiated, Reach the Beach is a relay race that starts at Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire and ends at Hampton Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. It is over 200 miles in length and cuts through the White Mountains and the beautiful lakes region. Team consist of 12 members each running 3 legs varying from 3 to 9 miles in length. Ultra teams do more legs with less people. It's a big party and teams dress up and decorate their vehicles. The running is work, and you don't get much sleep, the vans smell pretty ripe after 24 hours of sweaty runners, but it really is a lot of fun!
Have a great week everyone and hope to see many of you at Reach the Beach!
Peace,
Steve
For the uninitiated, Reach the Beach is a relay race that starts at Cannon Mountain, New Hampshire and ends at Hampton Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. It is over 200 miles in length and cuts through the White Mountains and the beautiful lakes region. Team consist of 12 members each running 3 legs varying from 3 to 9 miles in length. Ultra teams do more legs with less people. It's a big party and teams dress up and decorate their vehicles. The running is work, and you don't get much sleep, the vans smell pretty ripe after 24 hours of sweaty runners, but it really is a lot of fun!
It was hard to envision initially. Goat was in disbelief when I told him I would be ready for RTB this year. My crooked gate in May and June inspired no confidence. As the summer progressed along with physical therapy, I became stronger and somewhat more coordinated. My fumbling started to resemble running, and my mile times started to reflect a jog vs. a walk. I now sit 5 days away from competing in our 7th Reach the Beach, and I am one happy camper!
Is my stride right? No, it will never be the same. I miss my smooth stride. Am I running comfortably? No, I have pain in the fracture zone, the hip, and in my lower back. I could go on and on. My legs rub together so much that they start to bleed, but we'll figure it out eventually.
My theory is, "If I can run one 7 minute mile, I can run many!" Just need time and patience... OK, and a body that will hold up to the abuse. We'll see...
My theory is, "If I can run one 7 minute mile, I can run many!" Just need time and patience... OK, and a body that will hold up to the abuse. We'll see...
I am happy because I get to spend 48 hours or so with my friends doing something we love. I was once caught on video after finishing another year at RTB saying, "Every year until we die!" I thought about that after the fall, and wondered if I'd be able to hold up my end of the bargain. One way or another, I intend to run my 3 legs this weekend. Goat said I could get a sub for my last leg if I was hurting. I told him I'd rather walk it in than have someone do it for me. Just sayin'...
Training Update:
This was my first 20+ mile week of training in a year!
Mon - Great gym workout
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 3 miles on treadmill (1st mile - 8:30ish, then two miles at 8:00 pace or better)
Thursday - 4 miles on treadmill (averaged about 8:15s)
Friday - Rest Day, played golf of all things (first time in 21 years!)
Sat - 8.8 miles with Goat at reservoir (9:17 pace - 20 seconds/mile improvement since last week)
Sun - 6.3 miles with my old buddy, Tracer
Total miles - 22.1
Leg was very sore today, so we kept the pace slow.
Have a great week everyone and hope to see many of you at Reach the Beach!
Peace,
Steve
Sunday, September 4, 2011
It just keeps getting better! 9 miles with the Goat!
Wow! I was pleasantly surprised today. Goat and I ran our old loop at the West Hartford Reservoir. It may not sound like much, but it was my first time on the course in about a year. It used to be an 8 mile jaunt, but we stretched it to 9+ when the MDC moved the parking lot. We did not have plans to go that far. In fact, I told him I could probably do 4-5 miles depending on the speed and terrain. Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised!
Goat ran 16 miles with Bruce Giguere yesterday, so he was OK going easy with me today. Once upon a time it was the other way around, but I'm happy to be out there either way. Goat and Bruce are training for the Stonecat 50 miler, so they need to get in the miles. We started off around a 9 minute pace which is reasonable on these trails . We chatted away like we always had on these runs. At one point, I noticed the old single track along the power lines was now double track wide as they added gravel to the section. I said, "Wow, this is new!" and Goat said, "It's been there all year." Oh, I guess it has been awhile!
Last night Jessica, a Vet, yoga instructor, and all around cool person, checked out my legs and hips. She said my hips are perfectly aligned, but my left leg is definitely shorter (as we have known). I asked her how much and she said, "Less than a half inch". What?! Holy batdung, Batman! I'm thinkin' 1/8" inch, not 1/2"! After some further evaluation, it seems like it is 1/4"-3/8" which is still way more than I had hoped. The engineer in me knew it was in that range based on the X-rays and CATSCAN, but the other part of me was still in denial. I was thinking that maybe all the PT and running convinced my bones to grow back a bit. Bummer! Nevertheless, it confirmed that I am better off running with a shim to keep good alignment of my hips and take some pressure off my back. Thanks Jess for checking it out.
Anyway, at the 3.3 mile mark, we needed to decide whether to head back or go all the way out to Rt. 44. I knew it would be at least 8 miles if we kept going. Hmmm. When I set "Reach the Beach" as a goal many months ago, I had it in my mind that it would be good to be capable of an 8 mile run prior to the race. With the race less than 2 weeks away, I figured this was the time to give it a go. I was hurting, but no more than any of the other runs to date. We figured I could walk back if the wheels came off the "Ultra Steve" bus. So, we went for it. The hills ate me up, but I kept chugging along. The conversation was great and it felt like old times. The pace was slow, but I'm confident it will get better.
Funny thing: I wore my Salomon XACOMP trail shoes. These are goretex shoes that I bought for snow fields in the Tetons. I forgot about the Goretex when I put them on this morning. After about 5-6 miles, I told Goat it felt like I was running on sponges. My feet were soaked from sweat. Goretex does not breath enough to keep feet dry. The rest of the run was "squish, squish, squish". Note to self - keep these shoes for hiking.
The last 2 miles were pretty rough, and I had to walk briefly a couple times. I'll take it! It's my longest run by far in the past year, and it was so great to be back out there with my buddy.
We finished the 9 mile loop in 1:25. I'm happy with it considering the weather (super muggy) and my conditioning. I can see it getting better over the course of the next couple months.
It's really exciting to be running again!
Hope you are enjoying some great runs this weekend!
Peace!
Steve
Goat ran 16 miles with Bruce Giguere yesterday, so he was OK going easy with me today. Once upon a time it was the other way around, but I'm happy to be out there either way. Goat and Bruce are training for the Stonecat 50 miler, so they need to get in the miles. We started off around a 9 minute pace which is reasonable on these trails . We chatted away like we always had on these runs. At one point, I noticed the old single track along the power lines was now double track wide as they added gravel to the section. I said, "Wow, this is new!" and Goat said, "It's been there all year." Oh, I guess it has been awhile!
Last night Jessica, a Vet, yoga instructor, and all around cool person, checked out my legs and hips. She said my hips are perfectly aligned, but my left leg is definitely shorter (as we have known). I asked her how much and she said, "Less than a half inch". What?! Holy batdung, Batman! I'm thinkin' 1/8" inch, not 1/2"! After some further evaluation, it seems like it is 1/4"-3/8" which is still way more than I had hoped. The engineer in me knew it was in that range based on the X-rays and CATSCAN, but the other part of me was still in denial. I was thinking that maybe all the PT and running convinced my bones to grow back a bit. Bummer! Nevertheless, it confirmed that I am better off running with a shim to keep good alignment of my hips and take some pressure off my back. Thanks Jess for checking it out.
Anyway, at the 3.3 mile mark, we needed to decide whether to head back or go all the way out to Rt. 44. I knew it would be at least 8 miles if we kept going. Hmmm. When I set "Reach the Beach" as a goal many months ago, I had it in my mind that it would be good to be capable of an 8 mile run prior to the race. With the race less than 2 weeks away, I figured this was the time to give it a go. I was hurting, but no more than any of the other runs to date. We figured I could walk back if the wheels came off the "Ultra Steve" bus. So, we went for it. The hills ate me up, but I kept chugging along. The conversation was great and it felt like old times. The pace was slow, but I'm confident it will get better.
Funny thing: I wore my Salomon XACOMP trail shoes. These are goretex shoes that I bought for snow fields in the Tetons. I forgot about the Goretex when I put them on this morning. After about 5-6 miles, I told Goat it felt like I was running on sponges. My feet were soaked from sweat. Goretex does not breath enough to keep feet dry. The rest of the run was "squish, squish, squish". Note to self - keep these shoes for hiking.
The last 2 miles were pretty rough, and I had to walk briefly a couple times. I'll take it! It's my longest run by far in the past year, and it was so great to be back out there with my buddy.
We finished the 9 mile loop in 1:25. I'm happy with it considering the weather (super muggy) and my conditioning. I can see it getting better over the course of the next couple months.
It's really exciting to be running again!
Hope you are enjoying some great runs this weekend!
Peace!
Steve
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Runners Bond and a taste of speedwork
How many times have you been out running and somehow made a connection with another runner out there? More often than not, I would guess. Whenever I see other runners along the way I make an effort to say hello, give a nod or a wave, or start up a conversation. It's one of the many things I love about running...the connection or bond you can make with a total stranger.
The other night I was stretching for a run at the West Hartford Reservoir when a young lady ran by and yelled, "Are you running Reach the Beach (RTB) in 2 weeks?" I looked at my shirt and noticed the RTB logo, then looked back at her with a smile and yelled, "Oh yeah!" My mind raced...she had no idea that this RTB means more to me than any of the previous events because I trashed my body in a 100 foot fall. No time to explain...it didn't matter. She just smiled, kept running, and yelled, "All right!" It made me smile. How cool is that...?
Tonight, I decided to go to the track and work on my form. It's getting better, but still leaves a lot to be desired. It's so clunky and awkward. It is really frustrating because I used to have beautiful form. I honed it for 30 years and the efficiency allowed me to run ultras with the best of them. I wasn't the fastest guy, but I could out last you due to my economy of stride. Now, it's starting from scratch to develop a stride that will work for me. It's hard because the pain is still present, so I favor my good leg. My hip rotation is a mess...I could go on and on. Nevertheless, I decided to do one of my favorite workouts with the hope it would help me develop my stride: 1 mile repeats.
I did my warm-up exercises and did a slow one mile warm-up at around the track at 9 minute pace. I was bumming as it felt lousy. I noticed another runner moving slowly around the track. He was a bigger guy and had his iPod going while he jogged around the track. Cool...you go man! I decided to add a shim to my shoe to see if it would help, did my stretching, and got ready for my first "fast" mile. OK, here we go!
My stride felt weak, but the shim did seem to help. My pace was OK considering everything, and I clocked a 7:17 for my first mile. It hurt, but at least it was reasonable. I used to do sub-6's at this track, but I'll take what I can get at this point. As I sucked down some water, I noticed the big guy come chugging by and doing his thing. I gave him a smile, and a big thumbs up. He smiled back, but that was about it.
My next mile started out horribly as it hurt like heck. Ouch! After about 150 yards, the pain and subsequent limp started to subside and I was able to pick up the pace a little. I broke the tape at 7:34. Woof!
On my last mile, it started off the same...a lot of pain at the start and then getting into a somewhat comfortable pace. I think I was on my 2nd or 3rd lap when I saw the big guy walking outside the fence. He looked at me, saw the pain in my face. Then he gave me a big smile, and swung his arms rapidly at his sides as if to say, "Go man! You can do it!" There is was again.....the runners bond! Complete strangers, but the lift he gave me with that one little gesture kept me going for the rest of the mile. I was really hurting, but his encouragement got me to the finish line at about the same time as my second mile: 7:30's. Thanks man! I appreciated it. I'm not breaking any land speed records out here, but I sure appreciated the little bit of encouragement.
Those one mile times might seem slow or fast to you depending on your reference point. For me, they are frustratingly slow as I mentioned above. I know they will improve some, but I wonder how much I can gain back. I know my form will never be the same. I've lost some efficiency. On the other hand, I'm amazed by the progress. At one point I said I would be happy to walk without a limp and run 4-5 miles at an 8 minute pace a couple times a week. Well, I'm almost there! The walking is pretty normal now, and I just need to build some endurance to hold an 8 minute pace. Of course, I will keep pushing for more. Anyone who "knows me well" knows how I'm wired...I just keep pushing for more.
Enjoy your runs this week and give the other person a wave, thumbs up, or a word of encouragement. You'll both feel great afterwards!
Peace!
Steve
The other night I was stretching for a run at the West Hartford Reservoir when a young lady ran by and yelled, "Are you running Reach the Beach (RTB) in 2 weeks?" I looked at my shirt and noticed the RTB logo, then looked back at her with a smile and yelled, "Oh yeah!" My mind raced...she had no idea that this RTB means more to me than any of the previous events because I trashed my body in a 100 foot fall. No time to explain...it didn't matter. She just smiled, kept running, and yelled, "All right!" It made me smile. How cool is that...?
Tonight, I decided to go to the track and work on my form. It's getting better, but still leaves a lot to be desired. It's so clunky and awkward. It is really frustrating because I used to have beautiful form. I honed it for 30 years and the efficiency allowed me to run ultras with the best of them. I wasn't the fastest guy, but I could out last you due to my economy of stride. Now, it's starting from scratch to develop a stride that will work for me. It's hard because the pain is still present, so I favor my good leg. My hip rotation is a mess...I could go on and on. Nevertheless, I decided to do one of my favorite workouts with the hope it would help me develop my stride: 1 mile repeats.
I did my warm-up exercises and did a slow one mile warm-up at around the track at 9 minute pace. I was bumming as it felt lousy. I noticed another runner moving slowly around the track. He was a bigger guy and had his iPod going while he jogged around the track. Cool...you go man! I decided to add a shim to my shoe to see if it would help, did my stretching, and got ready for my first "fast" mile. OK, here we go!
My stride felt weak, but the shim did seem to help. My pace was OK considering everything, and I clocked a 7:17 for my first mile. It hurt, but at least it was reasonable. I used to do sub-6's at this track, but I'll take what I can get at this point. As I sucked down some water, I noticed the big guy come chugging by and doing his thing. I gave him a smile, and a big thumbs up. He smiled back, but that was about it.
My next mile started out horribly as it hurt like heck. Ouch! After about 150 yards, the pain and subsequent limp started to subside and I was able to pick up the pace a little. I broke the tape at 7:34. Woof!
On my last mile, it started off the same...a lot of pain at the start and then getting into a somewhat comfortable pace. I think I was on my 2nd or 3rd lap when I saw the big guy walking outside the fence. He looked at me, saw the pain in my face. Then he gave me a big smile, and swung his arms rapidly at his sides as if to say, "Go man! You can do it!" There is was again.....the runners bond! Complete strangers, but the lift he gave me with that one little gesture kept me going for the rest of the mile. I was really hurting, but his encouragement got me to the finish line at about the same time as my second mile: 7:30's. Thanks man! I appreciated it. I'm not breaking any land speed records out here, but I sure appreciated the little bit of encouragement.
Those one mile times might seem slow or fast to you depending on your reference point. For me, they are frustratingly slow as I mentioned above. I know they will improve some, but I wonder how much I can gain back. I know my form will never be the same. I've lost some efficiency. On the other hand, I'm amazed by the progress. At one point I said I would be happy to walk without a limp and run 4-5 miles at an 8 minute pace a couple times a week. Well, I'm almost there! The walking is pretty normal now, and I just need to build some endurance to hold an 8 minute pace. Of course, I will keep pushing for more. Anyone who "knows me well" knows how I'm wired...I just keep pushing for more.
Enjoy your runs this week and give the other person a wave, thumbs up, or a word of encouragement. You'll both feel great afterwards!
Peace!
Steve
Monday, August 29, 2011
Kettle Bell Swings and Turkish things!
Tonight was another adventure in my road to recovery: The Kettle Bell. It all started when I volunteered to help Tim Ferriss with his new book, The Four Hour Body (http://www.fourhourbody.com/). It's a NY Times best seller, and worth a look. While I was not included in the book, Tim did send me 2 free copies just for offering my support. How's that for a cool guy? Anyway, the book is chock full of new ideas, experiments, and overall challenges to the status quo. One thing I noticed is Tim's use of Kettle Bells for several exercises. I studied the photos for awhile, and pondered being able to do the Turkish Get Up...We'll get to that one, but a little background first.
For the uninitated, a kettle bell is the Russian equivalent of a nautilus workout (and then some), but without all the bells (I couldn't resist) and whistles. Basically, it is a cannonball with a handle. Anyway, it's not so much the tool, but the exercises that get you what you want...a total body workout. Of course, they are getting popular now, so you'll pay a small fortune for a big hunk of iron if you try to buy them. My local YMCA decided to buy a set, so I got to play with them for free tonight.
It seems the kettle bell comes in weights as follows: 13.5 lbs., 35 lbs, 53 lbs, etc. I believe the Russian unit of measure for these things are called "poods". I don't know much about poods, but I felt pooped when I was done! OK, apologies to my Russian friends for pooting around with their language and cannonball things.
According to the 4 hour body, many NFL players are now training with kettle bells as well as other professional athletes. One of the most popular exercises is the Turkish Get Up. It's a full body exercise that starts you laying on your side and, through a series of moves, you end up standing up with the kettle bell raised over your head. Yeah right! It doesn't look easy, but it's not so bad once you get the hang of it.
Before I got to the complex, I figured I would start with the basics....the Kettle Bell Swing. This exercise starts with lifting the Kettle Bell between your legs from a semi-squatting position and swinging it forward and back until your arms are extended horizontally in front of you. It looks simple enough, but try it with a 50 lb. weight. I started with 30 reps using the 35 lb. pooder, and then decided to step up to the 50 lb. bad boy. I managed to do 3 sets of 10 with the 50, but I had to stop for fear of losing my grip and seeing the thing implode the mirror in front of me. I'm talking bad karma, 7 years of bad luck, and a hefty bill from the YMCA. Yes, I thought about turning sideways, but didn't want to send the mighty projectile flying at the ladies next to me. Even if I didn't lose my grip, I think I would have scared the heck out of them. Anyway, Tim does something like 75 reps with a 53 lbs. monster bell, so knock yourself out. I have a long way to go...
Next up was the Turkish Get Up. The one exercise the NFL combine guru recommends above all exercises. OK, I'm game. Turns out, the young female pro golfer, Michelle Wie, used this exercise to recover from injury and get her drive back in order. She was doing the TGU with a 35 lb. Kettlebell before all was said and done. "No problem", I thought. I can handle it. Well, not so fast. I decided to "warm-up" with the 13.5 lb. baby bell and did a set of 5 or so on each side. One thing became obvious, my left side is weaker than my right. OK, it may not be a big surprise given the accident, but the strange thing is the weakness was in my arm (not my leg). My left arm got super tired with that wimpy little weight. After the warm-ups, I tried the 35 lb. pood, and it was not pretty. I could not lift it over my head with one arm. OK, I'm a wimp! The other interesting observation was that these exercises are as much cardio as they are weight training. I was seriously out of breath in the process.
So, now I have a challenge to work on. I'm not big into weights as you can see from my wimpy arms, but the 9 discrete movements of the TGU seem to really tie everything together.
If you have access to kettle bells, I recommend you give it a try. There are youtube videos available showing the various exercises or go to Tim's website at www.fourhourbody.com.
If you don't have access to kettle bells, save the money and just try to do the exercises with a regular dumbbell.
In terms of the comeback, I am constantly amazed at the improvements. It truly is humbling and such a blessing to see how the human body can heal itself. I'm shocked that I am walking fairly normal most of the time without the shim now. To top it off, I ran a sub 7:30 mile tonight without any shim in my shoes. That's called "speedwork" in my world these days :-)
Only 3 weeks until Reach the Beach! Can't wait to see my Red Eye Runner teammates!
Have a great week!
Steve
For the uninitated, a kettle bell is the Russian equivalent of a nautilus workout (and then some), but without all the bells (I couldn't resist) and whistles. Basically, it is a cannonball with a handle. Anyway, it's not so much the tool, but the exercises that get you what you want...a total body workout. Of course, they are getting popular now, so you'll pay a small fortune for a big hunk of iron if you try to buy them. My local YMCA decided to buy a set, so I got to play with them for free tonight.
It seems the kettle bell comes in weights as follows: 13.5 lbs., 35 lbs, 53 lbs, etc. I believe the Russian unit of measure for these things are called "poods". I don't know much about poods, but I felt pooped when I was done! OK, apologies to my Russian friends for pooting around with their language and cannonball things.
According to the 4 hour body, many NFL players are now training with kettle bells as well as other professional athletes. One of the most popular exercises is the Turkish Get Up. It's a full body exercise that starts you laying on your side and, through a series of moves, you end up standing up with the kettle bell raised over your head. Yeah right! It doesn't look easy, but it's not so bad once you get the hang of it.
Before I got to the complex, I figured I would start with the basics....the Kettle Bell Swing. This exercise starts with lifting the Kettle Bell between your legs from a semi-squatting position and swinging it forward and back until your arms are extended horizontally in front of you. It looks simple enough, but try it with a 50 lb. weight. I started with 30 reps using the 35 lb. pooder, and then decided to step up to the 50 lb. bad boy. I managed to do 3 sets of 10 with the 50, but I had to stop for fear of losing my grip and seeing the thing implode the mirror in front of me. I'm talking bad karma, 7 years of bad luck, and a hefty bill from the YMCA. Yes, I thought about turning sideways, but didn't want to send the mighty projectile flying at the ladies next to me. Even if I didn't lose my grip, I think I would have scared the heck out of them. Anyway, Tim does something like 75 reps with a 53 lbs. monster bell, so knock yourself out. I have a long way to go...
Next up was the Turkish Get Up. The one exercise the NFL combine guru recommends above all exercises. OK, I'm game. Turns out, the young female pro golfer, Michelle Wie, used this exercise to recover from injury and get her drive back in order. She was doing the TGU with a 35 lb. Kettlebell before all was said and done. "No problem", I thought. I can handle it. Well, not so fast. I decided to "warm-up" with the 13.5 lb. baby bell and did a set of 5 or so on each side. One thing became obvious, my left side is weaker than my right. OK, it may not be a big surprise given the accident, but the strange thing is the weakness was in my arm (not my leg). My left arm got super tired with that wimpy little weight. After the warm-ups, I tried the 35 lb. pood, and it was not pretty. I could not lift it over my head with one arm. OK, I'm a wimp! The other interesting observation was that these exercises are as much cardio as they are weight training. I was seriously out of breath in the process.
So, now I have a challenge to work on. I'm not big into weights as you can see from my wimpy arms, but the 9 discrete movements of the TGU seem to really tie everything together.
If you have access to kettle bells, I recommend you give it a try. There are youtube videos available showing the various exercises or go to Tim's website at www.fourhourbody.com.
If you don't have access to kettle bells, save the money and just try to do the exercises with a regular dumbbell.
In terms of the comeback, I am constantly amazed at the improvements. It truly is humbling and such a blessing to see how the human body can heal itself. I'm shocked that I am walking fairly normal most of the time without the shim now. To top it off, I ran a sub 7:30 mile tonight without any shim in my shoes. That's called "speedwork" in my world these days :-)
Only 3 weeks until Reach the Beach! Can't wait to see my Red Eye Runner teammates!
Have a great week!
Steve
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Narragansett, RI
Greetings from Narragansett! I love this place! Back when I was in the hospital, my Dad asked me what I wanted to do when I got out. I'm not sure what he meant by the question, but my answer was quite clear. I told him I wanted to rent a place on the water for the entire family to enjoy. You see my parents have a sign in their dining room that reads, "Family is everything". I have the same sign in my house thanks to them. So, enjoying family time together, away from the rat race, was my objective.
During my recovery, I had plenty of time to search the Internet for a waterfront vacation rental. I think I found this place on http://www.homeaway.com. I wanted a place big enough for both my family and Charlotte's brood, so I ended up getting a 5 bedroom house about a quarter mile from Scarborough State beach in Narragansett. It is perfect!
The week has been relaxing, energizing, and filled with a lot of family bonding. I've had a chance to run a few times, do a little biking, fishing, and Char and I even played tennis this morning. We visited Newport yesterday, and have been at the beach nearly everyday. I now understand why Russ Hammond likes his outdoor shower so much!
There was a time when I couldn't imagine a vacation at the beach, but I knew my girls would not go for a week in the woods. I'm fair skinned, so the sun is not always kind to me. If I don't lather on the sunscreen, I pay dearly. Nevertheless, I have managed to survive relatively unscathed this week. I purchased a Coleman shade canopy which we love. It is the family truckster of shade equipment. I am the envy of all shade lovers on the beach. Get one if you want to avoid the sun gods.
It's been a great week for Char and me to grow closer to each other's family. We figured this would be a good opportunity, and it has gone well. The future is so bright we need to wear shades ;-)
My brother and sister's families arrive soon, so need to sign off.
Running continues to get better. It hurts like heck and is frustrating at times. I will not give up though. I would not have been able to run half the marathons or ultras I've finished if I gave in to all the injuries in the past. This one is no exception. If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, things will get better...it applies to running as well as life.
Peace!
All the best,
Steve
During my recovery, I had plenty of time to search the Internet for a waterfront vacation rental. I think I found this place on http://www.homeaway.com. I wanted a place big enough for both my family and Charlotte's brood, so I ended up getting a 5 bedroom house about a quarter mile from Scarborough State beach in Narragansett. It is perfect!
The week has been relaxing, energizing, and filled with a lot of family bonding. I've had a chance to run a few times, do a little biking, fishing, and Char and I even played tennis this morning. We visited Newport yesterday, and have been at the beach nearly everyday. I now understand why Russ Hammond likes his outdoor shower so much!
There was a time when I couldn't imagine a vacation at the beach, but I knew my girls would not go for a week in the woods. I'm fair skinned, so the sun is not always kind to me. If I don't lather on the sunscreen, I pay dearly. Nevertheless, I have managed to survive relatively unscathed this week. I purchased a Coleman shade canopy which we love. It is the family truckster of shade equipment. I am the envy of all shade lovers on the beach. Get one if you want to avoid the sun gods.
It's been a great week for Char and me to grow closer to each other's family. We figured this would be a good opportunity, and it has gone well. The future is so bright we need to wear shades ;-)
My brother and sister's families arrive soon, so need to sign off.
Running continues to get better. It hurts like heck and is frustrating at times. I will not give up though. I would not have been able to run half the marathons or ultras I've finished if I gave in to all the injuries in the past. This one is no exception. If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, things will get better...it applies to running as well as life.
Peace!
All the best,
Steve
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Kicking it into gear!
As many of you know, I broke my femur in a 100 foot vertical fall off a cliff while rock climbing in the Gunks 11 months ago. It's been a long road back to say the least. For those who know the details of the injury, thank you for your support...you can also skip the next 1-2 paragraphs :-).
As luck would have it, the leg was set with a gap between the bones, and less than stellar medical guidance left me in no better shape after nearly 4 months. Distraught to say the least, I opted to have one of the two pins, holding the Titanium rod in place, removed in an effort to close the gap and start the healing. The break was a spiral fracture, so the bottom portion of my leg rotated 7 degrees when the gap closed. The result was a leg that was shorter than the original...somewhere between 1/8" and 3/8" depending on what you want to believe. It's been tough for me to come to grips with the situation, and the healing and recovery process has been brutal at times.
Despite all of it, I have worked hard to get my life back in order. Over the past few months, I have been very happy with the progress of my recovery, but it's been a mental game the whole time. Since the leg was not perfect, I wondered when I would plateau. Since the pain was there daily, I wondered if it would ever go away. At times I saw great progress, and at times I would plateau for a period. Everytime there was a plateau, the question was always, "Is this as good as it's going to get?" So many people told me of loved ones in similar situations who never fully recovered...those conversations didn't help. It was like they were giving me the OK to stop working to improve my gait.
The past few days have given me great satisfaction! At one point a few months ago, I reasoned that a recovery that would allow me to run 4-5 miles at 8 min pace without pain would be enough for me. It would give me the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and stay fit. At times, it seemed like it would take a miracle to get to that point. My first attempts at running were so painful and awkward that I just couldn't get my head around it. I couldn't connect the dots to get there. Nevertheless, I just kept working to get as far along as the running gods would allow.
Yesterday, I had my last physical therapy session. After 5 months, they told me I didn't need them anymore. They said my walking stride was normal and my strength was greatly improved. I am forever grateful to the folks at Integrated Rehab Services for everything!
Today was an even better day because it gave me hope for my running! I am so close to achieving the goal I can taste it. By coincidence or fate, the Goat pulled into the parking lot at Reservoir 6 at the same time as me. We hadn't planned to run together, but I was glad to see him there. We ran the loop and this time we re-measured it with the GPS. As it turns out, it is 3.7 miles which is a bit longer than I had been book-keeping. From the start, my stride felt improved and the pain level was manageable. The first 2 miles went by quickly at just under 8 minute/mile pace. As we continued, I felt the weakness and pain creeping in. No!!!! I pressed hard while the Goat talked. Goat kept encouraging me with reports that we were maintaining a 7:55 average pace. In the final stretch, we picked up the pace and he said, "This is what it feels like to run a 7 minute mile again." Nice! Even if it was only for a brief period, it felt good. I used to run marathons at a faster pace, and now I can't even imagine a 5K at that pace. It's OK, I have seen so much progress in such a short time.
The thing that has kept me focused on this recovery has been the 2011 Reach the Beach Relay with the Red Eye Runners. We've run this race together every year for the past 6 years. I promised myself I would do everything possible to be there for this year's race. At times, I doubted whether it was possible. Tonight I realized I will be ready for the big event one month from now.
To all of you who continue to support me in my recovery, "THANK YOU!" Your words of encouragement help keep me going. Once I am convinced that I will not hurt myself by pushing too hard in a race, I will see you out on the trails.
All the best!
Steve
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A glorious night!
What a glorious night it was...!
I was licking my wounds this week after I tried to run around Reservoir 6 with Charlotte Sunday morning. The loop is a fairly flat 3.5ish miles. We did the it in 32 minutes, but I was gimpy and sucking wind behind Charlotte the whole way. My stride was painful and tentative and I was very much disheartened by the effort. Charlotte ran about 10 paces in front of me most of the way which I found to be incredibly disheartening. I guess I was moving pretty slow. There was nothing I could do to close the gap. I was in full afterburner mode at a 9 minute pace....how humbling. I know she didn't mean to drive me into the ground as she was just doing her best to finish the run. She was in survival mode as much as I was...just a bit faster. Her stride looked so effortless and smooth from my vantage point though. It was humbling for me, but I was also happy to be there. It was only 10 months ago yesterday that I was in a helicopter on my way to the hospital and wondering if I would live to see this day.
It was a lesson for me though. There was a time, not too long ago, where I would run out in front of people, and loop back from time to time to see how they were doing, chat a bit, and then open a gap again. I thought I was running WITH them, but now I know that I was not running with them at all. I understand it's hard to slow yourself down to run at someone else's pace, and there was a time when I felt I had to hammer the pace to meet my training objectives. It was always a compromise between running socially vs. training to meet a race objective. It's also really hard to run slow when you are used to running fast. I learned a valuable lesson on Sunday. I suspect most people won't have trouble keeping up with me for the foreseeable future, but I will definitely keep it in mind when the day comes...
Tonight was different. I went out on the same course by myself. I went at my pace, and my leg decided to cooperate a little better. My stride felt good from the start, and the pain level seemed manageable. I still felt a little off balance, but it was considerably better than my previous effort. I was blazing along with a 1 minute advantage at the halfway point...woohoo! My leg started getting tired, the pain was increasing, and my stride started going to hell, but I hung in there. The wonderful thing about it is that I really felt like a runner again. This wasn't a gimpy mile on a treadmill or at the track. I was actually covering some distance without stopping, and my stride felt reasonably intact (albeit a little off kilter). It was running as far as I was concerned!
I covered the 3.5 mile distance in 30 minutes. A 2 minute improvement over my previous effort. It honestly felt like I was going much faster, but it's a start. I'm less concerned with the time than I am with my form and pain level....and both were much improved tonight. I'm a happy guy with all things considered.
If you had told me I would be running at this level a few weeks ago, I don't think I would have believed it. All the hiking on the vacation definitely helped, and even my walking has improved significantly.
Life is grand! Ain't it?
So many days I doubted the ability to get it all back. The gap was so large and I didn't see a path to get there. I'd like to say it was sheer determination and faith that got me to this point, but there were days where I wondered if it was possible. I often negotiated with God, the Universe, or whoever would listen. "If I could just get back to "X"..." You know how the story goes...
I know I'm not there yet, but I am starting to see the possibilities, and it excites me! The light is starting to appear at the end of the tunnel. Sure, I walk like a drunk in the morning without the shim in my shoe, but I can live with it if that's the only major issue. So many people have experienced much worse. I am very blessed!
Count your blessings and be thankful! Keep the faith and stay the course! That's what I keep telling myself! Good things will happen...just be patient and persistent.
I am planning to get out to some of the local races soon. It will be great to see some of my running friends again! Maybe I'll be able to keep up with Char a little better on our next run too ;-)
As my RTB teammate, Rich, says, "May your feet dance across the pavement (or trails)!"
Peace!
Steve
I was licking my wounds this week after I tried to run around Reservoir 6 with Charlotte Sunday morning. The loop is a fairly flat 3.5ish miles. We did the it in 32 minutes, but I was gimpy and sucking wind behind Charlotte the whole way. My stride was painful and tentative and I was very much disheartened by the effort. Charlotte ran about 10 paces in front of me most of the way which I found to be incredibly disheartening. I guess I was moving pretty slow. There was nothing I could do to close the gap. I was in full afterburner mode at a 9 minute pace....how humbling. I know she didn't mean to drive me into the ground as she was just doing her best to finish the run. She was in survival mode as much as I was...just a bit faster. Her stride looked so effortless and smooth from my vantage point though. It was humbling for me, but I was also happy to be there. It was only 10 months ago yesterday that I was in a helicopter on my way to the hospital and wondering if I would live to see this day.
It was a lesson for me though. There was a time, not too long ago, where I would run out in front of people, and loop back from time to time to see how they were doing, chat a bit, and then open a gap again. I thought I was running WITH them, but now I know that I was not running with them at all. I understand it's hard to slow yourself down to run at someone else's pace, and there was a time when I felt I had to hammer the pace to meet my training objectives. It was always a compromise between running socially vs. training to meet a race objective. It's also really hard to run slow when you are used to running fast. I learned a valuable lesson on Sunday. I suspect most people won't have trouble keeping up with me for the foreseeable future, but I will definitely keep it in mind when the day comes...
Tonight was different. I went out on the same course by myself. I went at my pace, and my leg decided to cooperate a little better. My stride felt good from the start, and the pain level seemed manageable. I still felt a little off balance, but it was considerably better than my previous effort. I was blazing along with a 1 minute advantage at the halfway point...woohoo! My leg started getting tired, the pain was increasing, and my stride started going to hell, but I hung in there. The wonderful thing about it is that I really felt like a runner again. This wasn't a gimpy mile on a treadmill or at the track. I was actually covering some distance without stopping, and my stride felt reasonably intact (albeit a little off kilter). It was running as far as I was concerned!
I covered the 3.5 mile distance in 30 minutes. A 2 minute improvement over my previous effort. It honestly felt like I was going much faster, but it's a start. I'm less concerned with the time than I am with my form and pain level....and both were much improved tonight. I'm a happy guy with all things considered.
If you had told me I would be running at this level a few weeks ago, I don't think I would have believed it. All the hiking on the vacation definitely helped, and even my walking has improved significantly.
Life is grand! Ain't it?
So many days I doubted the ability to get it all back. The gap was so large and I didn't see a path to get there. I'd like to say it was sheer determination and faith that got me to this point, but there were days where I wondered if it was possible. I often negotiated with God, the Universe, or whoever would listen. "If I could just get back to "X"..." You know how the story goes...
I know I'm not there yet, but I am starting to see the possibilities, and it excites me! The light is starting to appear at the end of the tunnel. Sure, I walk like a drunk in the morning without the shim in my shoe, but I can live with it if that's the only major issue. So many people have experienced much worse. I am very blessed!
Count your blessings and be thankful! Keep the faith and stay the course! That's what I keep telling myself! Good things will happen...just be patient and persistent.
I am planning to get out to some of the local races soon. It will be great to see some of my running friends again! Maybe I'll be able to keep up with Char a little better on our next run too ;-)
As my RTB teammate, Rich, says, "May your feet dance across the pavement (or trails)!"
Peace!
Steve
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Almost home
Great workout tonight!
I was really bummed last night after trying to run to the end of my road and back. It's less than a mile round trip and I was really hurting every step of the way. The downhill tore me up and I hobbled for the full distance. The uphill wasn't too bad, but I never felt in synch. After finishing, I started thinking about Terry Laughlin's "Total Immersion Swimming" philosophy and the process they use to perfect technique. They don't worry about piling on the laps or miles. They work on the technique. Once the technique is right, the speed and miles come with less effort. This is what I have been attempting to do with my 1 mile runs a couple times each week. I'm getting stronger and faster, but my stride is still way out of wack. Only doing a mile helps me concentrate a bit on form, but I needed to break it down further. I decided to run "sprints" (for me these days this is 7:30 - 8:30 min/mile pace with the afterburners on full throttle) up my driveway a few times, and really focus on my stride. It seemed to help some as I started to feel more like a runner and less like a gimpy old man. It gave me a little hope after a lousy run down the road.
Tonight was another story. After doing a 15 minute warm-up on the bike and doing all my pre-run warm-up exercises and stretches, I gave the dreadmill another shot. I was determined to take a crack at the 8 minute/mile barrier. OK, I'm no Roger Bannister, but 8 min/mile is a challenge at this point in my recovery. I used to think I could run 8 min miles forever. It was effortless for me and it almost seemed harder to go slower. I used to run marathons at sub 7 min pace, and it's a daily mental mind game wondering if I can ever get back to that form. I figured if I could get a couple steps of a good, pain-free stride, I could duplicate it over and over. If I could do an 8 minute mile with a reasonable stride, there would be hope....I think I can, I think I can...
Once I started the treadmill, I knew I had a shot! My stride was significantly improved, and I quickly cranked the pace down below 8:30/mile. To make an 8 minute story very short, I did about a 7:52ish mile and finished the last 200 yards at a 7:35 pace. Wooohoo! I am feeling better now! The nice kicker was that my knee pain was not as bad and the stride felt much improved. I'm still wobbly, but I'm able to push off more with the left leg. The stride did get sloppy at times, but I only needed a couple good strides to tell me what is possible....I can do the work to make it repeatable.
After doing my PT, I decided to celebrate and pay homage to Mr. Laughlin by doing a few laps in the pool. I tried to focus on my technique and noticed a little improvement. It was actually enjoyable. I have a long way to go, but I'll get to that triathlon one of these days.
I know I can, I know I can....
Now, off to finalize plans for the Tetons and Yosemite! Looking forward to a great trip!
Peace!
Steve
I was really bummed last night after trying to run to the end of my road and back. It's less than a mile round trip and I was really hurting every step of the way. The downhill tore me up and I hobbled for the full distance. The uphill wasn't too bad, but I never felt in synch. After finishing, I started thinking about Terry Laughlin's "Total Immersion Swimming" philosophy and the process they use to perfect technique. They don't worry about piling on the laps or miles. They work on the technique. Once the technique is right, the speed and miles come with less effort. This is what I have been attempting to do with my 1 mile runs a couple times each week. I'm getting stronger and faster, but my stride is still way out of wack. Only doing a mile helps me concentrate a bit on form, but I needed to break it down further. I decided to run "sprints" (for me these days this is 7:30 - 8:30 min/mile pace with the afterburners on full throttle) up my driveway a few times, and really focus on my stride. It seemed to help some as I started to feel more like a runner and less like a gimpy old man. It gave me a little hope after a lousy run down the road.
Tonight was another story. After doing a 15 minute warm-up on the bike and doing all my pre-run warm-up exercises and stretches, I gave the dreadmill another shot. I was determined to take a crack at the 8 minute/mile barrier. OK, I'm no Roger Bannister, but 8 min/mile is a challenge at this point in my recovery. I used to think I could run 8 min miles forever. It was effortless for me and it almost seemed harder to go slower. I used to run marathons at sub 7 min pace, and it's a daily mental mind game wondering if I can ever get back to that form. I figured if I could get a couple steps of a good, pain-free stride, I could duplicate it over and over. If I could do an 8 minute mile with a reasonable stride, there would be hope....I think I can, I think I can...
Once I started the treadmill, I knew I had a shot! My stride was significantly improved, and I quickly cranked the pace down below 8:30/mile. To make an 8 minute story very short, I did about a 7:52ish mile and finished the last 200 yards at a 7:35 pace. Wooohoo! I am feeling better now! The nice kicker was that my knee pain was not as bad and the stride felt much improved. I'm still wobbly, but I'm able to push off more with the left leg. The stride did get sloppy at times, but I only needed a couple good strides to tell me what is possible....I can do the work to make it repeatable.
After doing my PT, I decided to celebrate and pay homage to Mr. Laughlin by doing a few laps in the pool. I tried to focus on my technique and noticed a little improvement. It was actually enjoyable. I have a long way to go, but I'll get to that triathlon one of these days.
I know I can, I know I can....
Now, off to finalize plans for the Tetons and Yosemite! Looking forward to a great trip!
Peace!
Steve
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Adirondacks Report: Mt. Colden and summer fun!
Every year the Connecticut Climbers and Mountaineers hosts a trip to the Adirondacks on July 4th weekend. We camp at Whispering Pines Campground located halfway between Keene and Lake Placid in the heart of the high peaks region. There is a lot of tradition associated with the events of the weekend, so there is usually very few surprises for those who have attended in the past. It's a great time, and I have attended almost every year for the past 8 years. Last year I missed the trip, so Charlotte and I could spend some time together as we had just started dating. This year, Charlotte and her younger son, Christopher, joined me for a great adventure.
Since there were 3 of us going, I needed to figure out sleeping arrangements for us. My tent will only hold 2 people comfortably. No worries though as I was anxious to try out sleeping in the Honda Element, so I started building a sleeping platform. I got some ideas on the Honda Elements Club Owners Forum, and came up with some embelishments of my own. I barely finished the construction before packing all the gear on Thursday night, so didn't have much time to check out the system. I removed one of the Element rear seats for added room, and was glad I did. This would be the maiden voyage for car camping in the E!
We drove up Friday afternoon, set up a tent for Christopher, and greeted CCM members as they arrived at camp. It was great to see my friend, Paul (a.k.a. EuroMan) as I haven't seen him in approximately 6 months. We drove into Lake Placid for dinner and ran into the Goat, Jessica, and Batboy at a local Greek restaurant. The food was excellent. I highly recommend the Greek Salad with beans. Yum! After dinner, we headed back to camp, prepped the Element for sleeping mode, and caught up with many friends at the campfire. The typical question is, "What are you climbing tomorrow?" and "Who are you climbing with...?" For us, we were planning a big hike and had our eyes set on summiting Algonquin. As it turns out, Goat, Jessica, Batboy, and Euroman (and Grover) had similar plans, so we all agreed to go together.
After a hearty breakfast in Keene, we headed for the ADK Loj trailhead only to find the parking lot full. No worries...we went to the trailhead on Meadow Road. This is the cheaper option since it is free, but adds a couple miles to the round trip. It's a pleasant, relatively flat walk to Marcy Dam, so the added mileage is no big deal.
With Euroman and Grover taking the point, we set off for Marcy Dam.
I was pleased that I was able to keep up with everyone with minimal discomfort. I figured I would be the weakest link on this hike, so was paying close attention to my aches and pains to ensure I did not put us in a situation that would slow us down too much or create a potential rescue situation. Here's a shot of the crew taking a break at Marcy Dam.
After covering more than 5.5 miles, we decided to take a left and save a little time by hiking Mt. Colden. It only saves about 1-2 miles on the round trip, but it was a wise decision nonetheless. Once we started the climb up to the ridge, it became obvious that Charlotte's son, Chris, was slowing down. I hung back with Chris and did my best to coax him along. Goat, Euroman, and I took turns trying to keep him moving along. Chris hung in there and we finally made it to the summit and collapsed for a short break.
Goat and Euroman were a bit restless and wanted to get back in time for happy hour while Char and I hung back with Chris. Chris was having trouble on the descent, and it seemed he was bonking and possibly not getting enough electrolytes. I put some endurolyte powder in his water bottle, and after awhile he seemed to get back to normal.
Since there were 3 of us going, I needed to figure out sleeping arrangements for us. My tent will only hold 2 people comfortably. No worries though as I was anxious to try out sleeping in the Honda Element, so I started building a sleeping platform. I got some ideas on the Honda Elements Club Owners Forum, and came up with some embelishments of my own. I barely finished the construction before packing all the gear on Thursday night, so didn't have much time to check out the system. I removed one of the Element rear seats for added room, and was glad I did. This would be the maiden voyage for car camping in the E!
We drove up Friday afternoon, set up a tent for Christopher, and greeted CCM members as they arrived at camp. It was great to see my friend, Paul (a.k.a. EuroMan) as I haven't seen him in approximately 6 months. We drove into Lake Placid for dinner and ran into the Goat, Jessica, and Batboy at a local Greek restaurant. The food was excellent. I highly recommend the Greek Salad with beans. Yum! After dinner, we headed back to camp, prepped the Element for sleeping mode, and caught up with many friends at the campfire. The typical question is, "What are you climbing tomorrow?" and "Who are you climbing with...?" For us, we were planning a big hike and had our eyes set on summiting Algonquin. As it turns out, Goat, Jessica, Batboy, and Euroman (and Grover) had similar plans, so we all agreed to go together.
After a hearty breakfast in Keene, we headed for the ADK Loj trailhead only to find the parking lot full. No worries...we went to the trailhead on Meadow Road. This is the cheaper option since it is free, but adds a couple miles to the round trip. It's a pleasant, relatively flat walk to Marcy Dam, so the added mileage is no big deal.
With Euroman and Grover taking the point, we set off for Marcy Dam.
The plan was to hike through Avalanche Pass to Lake Colden and then decide whether to conquer Algonquin (2nd highest peak in NY) or Mt. Colden (still a big peak at 4,700+ feet elevation). The hike around Avalanche and Colden Lakes is so much fun and the views are amazing.
After covering more than 5.5 miles, we decided to take a left and save a little time by hiking Mt. Colden. It only saves about 1-2 miles on the round trip, but it was a wise decision nonetheless. Once we started the climb up to the ridge, it became obvious that Charlotte's son, Chris, was slowing down. I hung back with Chris and did my best to coax him along. Goat, Euroman, and I took turns trying to keep him moving along. Chris hung in there and we finally made it to the summit and collapsed for a short break. 
We chugged along and finally made it back to Marcy Dam where the faithful and trusty Euroman was waiting for us. The four of us hiked back to the E while being attacked by mosquitos. It was a long 9.5 hours covering about 15 miles and Chris asked that we never do that again! After realizing I may have traumatized him again (1st time was the climbing accident where I dropped 100 feet to land right next to him), I figured I better come up with something to make up for it.
We had a fantastic potluck dinner at camp that evening with a cello suite solo by the burgeoning Batboy! If you haven't heard the Batboy play the cello, you are missing something special. He's got talent! The nice thing is that he makes it cool to play the cello. All the young kids sat quietly and listened intently while he played.
During the potluck, I quizzed the families for ideas fun kid activities for Sunday. I've spend at lot of time in the DAKS, but most of it was climbing or hiking. Piton Paul and Jen Reed both advised me to take Char and Chris to a gorge with cliff jumping. It sounded like fun, but I was a little nervous about jumping off another cliff despite the fact that water was down below. Nevertheless, after a big breakfast in Lake Placid (huge pancakes at the diner next to Mr. Mike's Pizza), we headed off for some swimming.
This swimming spot is on the right side of the road 1/2 mile past the KOA in Wilmington Notch. It's free and about 100 feet from the pull out parking spot. There are 3 tiers on the cliff where you can jump into the water below the waterfalls. Here is someone jumping from the middle tier. The upper tier is about 30 feet up! Yikes! Chris and I both jumped from the middle tier and Jessica (Goat's girlfriend) jumped from the upper tier. Yeah! Chris had a blast playing in the water. The current is really strong in spots, so be careful if you go there. We hung out there for a bit and then went to find some lunch.
We decided to have a picnic at Cascade Pass next to the lake just below the cascade. Chris, Char, and I had fun thumb wrestling, and enjoying the views. Life was good! After a bit, we headed back to camp and Char and I decided to try a run together. We stayed on the gravel road going through camp and I experimented with the shim in my shoe. It hurt like heck to run downhill, so my run was more like a controlled limp. Either way, we covered a little over 2 miles in about 22 minutes, and I followed it up with a full set of physical therapy exercises and stretches.
It's always fun to hear the stories of the day from all the climbers and hikers as they filter back into camp. The best stories are the late arrivals of the hardmen as they arrive late for pizza at Mr. Mike's in Lake Placid. At Mr. Mike's, we always have big bowls of family style salad, pizza, and Sammies. We toast the Chief, Dennis, and Ken, take the traditional group photo, and make our way to the ice skating rink for the traditional snow ball fight courtesy of the zamboni shavings.
Chris was really into the snowball fight, and snow kept flying as we made our way down to Ben & Jerry's for the traditional ice cream stop. All good fun and it was great to share it with Char and Chris for the first time.
During the potluck, I quizzed the families for ideas fun kid activities for Sunday. I've spend at lot of time in the DAKS, but most of it was climbing or hiking. Piton Paul and Jen Reed both advised me to take Char and Chris to a gorge with cliff jumping. It sounded like fun, but I was a little nervous about jumping off another cliff despite the fact that water was down below. Nevertheless, after a big breakfast in Lake Placid (huge pancakes at the diner next to Mr. Mike's Pizza), we headed off for some swimming.
We decided to have a picnic at Cascade Pass next to the lake just below the cascade. Chris, Char, and I had fun thumb wrestling, and enjoying the views. Life was good! After a bit, we headed back to camp and Char and I decided to try a run together. We stayed on the gravel road going through camp and I experimented with the shim in my shoe. It hurt like heck to run downhill, so my run was more like a controlled limp. Either way, we covered a little over 2 miles in about 22 minutes, and I followed it up with a full set of physical therapy exercises and stretches.
It's always fun to hear the stories of the day from all the climbers and hikers as they filter back into camp. The best stories are the late arrivals of the hardmen as they arrive late for pizza at Mr. Mike's in Lake Placid. At Mr. Mike's, we always have big bowls of family style salad, pizza, and Sammies. We toast the Chief, Dennis, and Ken, take the traditional group photo, and make our way to the ice skating rink for the traditional snow ball fight courtesy of the zamboni shavings.Chris was really into the snowball fight, and snow kept flying as we made our way down to Ben & Jerry's for the traditional ice cream stop. All good fun and it was great to share it with Char and Chris for the first time.
We packed everything back into the Element on Monday morning, and set off down the road. We stopped by the new Cedar Run bakery for breakfast and then said goodbye to Euroman who was setting off to save lives in Tennessee. Grover wanted to stay with the CCM, but Euroman told him they had a higher calling.
All in all it was a good Adirondacks trip with some of the best weather I've seen on a July trip to the DAKS. I'd like to get back on the rock at some point, but it didn't feel like the right time on this trip.
Running update:
Monday, July 4th
After returning home, I went over to the Plainville HS track and attempted another mile. I ran without the shim and it seemed to be worse without it. My time was 8:37 which was a bit slower than my last attempt.
Wednesday, July 6
15 minutes warm-up on the bike, and about 15 minutes of prescribed pre-run warm-up exercises (they seem to help)
2 miles on the treadmill - YEAH!
1st mile - 8:30
2nd mile - 9:15
Total - 17:45
Not bad, about equal to my old 5K time, but making progress. Stride is feeling more natural, but still run a bit lop-sided. Finished up with all my PT exercises, core work, and chin-ups. Big workout!
Friday, July 8
Early morning PT session. They beat me up good. Eric gave me a real shim to put in my shoe. It's about 1/8' -1/4" thick. I had to remove it around lunchtime due to pain, but then got used to it later in the day.
Sunday, July 10
Goat and I went for the record for the Pinnacle to Rt. 6 and back 4.5 mile course. I ran almost the entire way. Our goal was to break one hour. Last time I did the route with Char, it took 1:10, so I thought 1 hour was doable. I worked my tail off, but we could only manage 1:01:30. A new record, but a little short of the 1 hour mark. Nevertheless, it is sub 14 minute pace on difficult single-track with some good elevation gain. I'll take it for now! Just need to keep getting stronger.
Post-Script -
Goat and I leave for the Tetons and Yellowstone on Saturday. We'll be there for a week, and then I fly to San Francisco to meet Char for a few days in Yosemite. We'll have plenty to report on when I return!
Be safe everyone!
All in all it was a good Adirondacks trip with some of the best weather I've seen on a July trip to the DAKS. I'd like to get back on the rock at some point, but it didn't feel like the right time on this trip.
Running update:
Monday, July 4th
After returning home, I went over to the Plainville HS track and attempted another mile. I ran without the shim and it seemed to be worse without it. My time was 8:37 which was a bit slower than my last attempt.
Wednesday, July 6
15 minutes warm-up on the bike, and about 15 minutes of prescribed pre-run warm-up exercises (they seem to help)
2 miles on the treadmill - YEAH!
1st mile - 8:30
2nd mile - 9:15
Total - 17:45
Not bad, about equal to my old 5K time, but making progress. Stride is feeling more natural, but still run a bit lop-sided. Finished up with all my PT exercises, core work, and chin-ups. Big workout!
Friday, July 8
Early morning PT session. They beat me up good. Eric gave me a real shim to put in my shoe. It's about 1/8' -1/4" thick. I had to remove it around lunchtime due to pain, but then got used to it later in the day.
Sunday, July 10
Goat and I went for the record for the Pinnacle to Rt. 6 and back 4.5 mile course. I ran almost the entire way. Our goal was to break one hour. Last time I did the route with Char, it took 1:10, so I thought 1 hour was doable. I worked my tail off, but we could only manage 1:01:30. A new record, but a little short of the 1 hour mark. Nevertheless, it is sub 14 minute pace on difficult single-track with some good elevation gain. I'll take it for now! Just need to keep getting stronger.
Goat and I leave for the Tetons and Yellowstone on Saturday. We'll be there for a week, and then I fly to San Francisco to meet Char for a few days in Yosemite. We'll have plenty to report on when I return!
Be safe everyone!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Let the Endorphins flow!
Are you addicted to the endorphin high? So many runners, including me, get that wonderfully euphoric feeling after a run. There is nothing like it! Believe me...I've tried many different things in the past 9 months, but nothing really duplicates that feeling. Don't get me wrong...I love the feeling I get after a good yoga session, a gym session, or bike ride. I'm not a great swimmer, but always feel better after a good swim. Climbing...well, what can I say?...my second passion...always feel at peace with the world after a good climbing day. OK, climbing is up there on the list, but the endorphin high from running is irreplaceable.
Unfortunately, I haven't had that feeling for quite some time...until tonight!
I can tell I'm healing because I get that fidgety feeling when I get anywhere near a treadmill or even glance at my running shoes. My running shoes have the same affect on my as the magnetic pull the ring on Gollum....my Precious!!!
One or two times each week, I have been "running" a mile on the tread to see if I could get a pain-free stride worked out. I'd like to be able to run with my Reach the Beach team in September, and I figure I need to cover 3 legs of 3-5 miles each at a sub 10 min/mile pace or thereabouts. I'm not too worried about pace, but would like to run smoothly, efficiently, and with minimal discomfort.
Anyway, I managed to work my way down to a sub 9:30 mile, and then yesterday attempted my first timed mile outdoors at a nearby high school track. After diligently doing my prescribed warm-up exercises, I set off with a skip. My knee hurt pretty significantly which was weird because my hip was the incumbent ache going into the trot. At any rate, I huffed and puffed and gutted out an 8:27 mile. If you told me 4 weeks ago that I would do an 8:27 mile, I would have jumped for joy. I was pleased and relieved, but somehow felt like I still had a lot of work ahead of me. My gate was not even close to normal as it was more like a controlled limp. I was bummed with my relative level of aerobic fitness, and the knee pain worried me a bit.
Tonight, I did my physical therapy session diligently, but the magnetic pull of the treadmill just would not let me be. I told myself it was a dumb idea...my knee was still sore from yesterday. I negotiated with the little runner on my left shoulder and ignored the warnings from the sane couch potato on my right shoulder. The little runner promised it would be OK, so I went for it and shoved a handful of potato chips in the other guys mouth so I couldn't hear his warnings and gloomy predictions. My plan was to go slow and just work on technique. I managed to do a mile in a bit over 11 minutes. It was fine with me. I was happy just to be moving 2 days in a row. Another check in the box...first back-to-back days of running since October 2. Nice! But here's the kicker...
I did a little cool down walk, drove home, and then it hit me. There it was....that feeling...the feeling you get after a solid 20 mile training run with your buds...Call it what you want: a runner's high, nervana, heaven, a peaceful state of bliss. Whatever you want to call it is fine with me. I just got a little of my mojo back. The endorphins were flowing, and it felt "oh so good!"
Ahhhhh!!! Wishing you all the endless runner's high!
Enjoy!
Steve
Unfortunately, I haven't had that feeling for quite some time...until tonight!
I can tell I'm healing because I get that fidgety feeling when I get anywhere near a treadmill or even glance at my running shoes. My running shoes have the same affect on my as the magnetic pull the ring on Gollum....my Precious!!!
One or two times each week, I have been "running" a mile on the tread to see if I could get a pain-free stride worked out. I'd like to be able to run with my Reach the Beach team in September, and I figure I need to cover 3 legs of 3-5 miles each at a sub 10 min/mile pace or thereabouts. I'm not too worried about pace, but would like to run smoothly, efficiently, and with minimal discomfort.
Anyway, I managed to work my way down to a sub 9:30 mile, and then yesterday attempted my first timed mile outdoors at a nearby high school track. After diligently doing my prescribed warm-up exercises, I set off with a skip. My knee hurt pretty significantly which was weird because my hip was the incumbent ache going into the trot. At any rate, I huffed and puffed and gutted out an 8:27 mile. If you told me 4 weeks ago that I would do an 8:27 mile, I would have jumped for joy. I was pleased and relieved, but somehow felt like I still had a lot of work ahead of me. My gate was not even close to normal as it was more like a controlled limp. I was bummed with my relative level of aerobic fitness, and the knee pain worried me a bit.
Tonight, I did my physical therapy session diligently, but the magnetic pull of the treadmill just would not let me be. I told myself it was a dumb idea...my knee was still sore from yesterday. I negotiated with the little runner on my left shoulder and ignored the warnings from the sane couch potato on my right shoulder. The little runner promised it would be OK, so I went for it and shoved a handful of potato chips in the other guys mouth so I couldn't hear his warnings and gloomy predictions. My plan was to go slow and just work on technique. I managed to do a mile in a bit over 11 minutes. It was fine with me. I was happy just to be moving 2 days in a row. Another check in the box...first back-to-back days of running since October 2. Nice! But here's the kicker...
I did a little cool down walk, drove home, and then it hit me. There it was....that feeling...the feeling you get after a solid 20 mile training run with your buds...Call it what you want: a runner's high, nervana, heaven, a peaceful state of bliss. Whatever you want to call it is fine with me. I just got a little of my mojo back. The endorphins were flowing, and it felt "oh so good!"
Ahhhhh!!! Wishing you all the endless runner's high!
Enjoy!
Steve
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Happy Father's Day and then some...
Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in the world! I hope you all had a fantastic day...I had a wonderful day, thank you very much! In fact, I had a wonderful weekend! A special Happy Father's Day to my Dad, the superhero named Ron Nelson. I've never seen a man with more drive, determination, and resourcefulness. Given enough time, I think he could fix the world...he sure has the tools for it ;-)
When I was in grade school we had to write a story about what our Dad's did for work. Most Dad's had jobs like police officer, doctor, salesman, etc. You could get your head around those professions. My Dad had his own business as a mechanical contractor. Now, Mechanical Contractor is hard enough to understand conceptually as a third grader, and I sure as heck didn't know how to spell it. So, I wrote an essay titled, "My Dad can do anything". My Mom still has it filed somewhere and pulls it out to remind my Dad once in awhile. I guess my love of writing took root early.
First, many thanks to all of you who read this blog. I am regularly humbled when I look at the stats of the viewing audience. I know I don't know all of you, so please drop me a line sometime to say "Hi". I write this for myself primarily, but very glad people enjoy the material.
This week was a tough week for fitness, but we still managed to make some progress. Since the last report, I improved my one mile time to 11:06. I only time myself about once per week and that was almost a week ago, so I'm looking forward to shooting for a 10 minute mile soon. Woohoo!
On Wednesday, I visited my Physical Therapist, Eric. He routinely asks me, "What kind of crazy stuff did you do this week?". He has given up on asking me not to run. Now, he just asks how far I am running. He also gave me some exercises to do before I run, so I'm pretty psyched about it. Eric is awesome, and I know I will owe him a huge thanks when I'm back to real running again.
I traveled for business on Thursday and Friday. I always enjoy traveling as it gives me time to do some self-reflection and meet new people. I was a little nervous because it was my first trip since the accident, and I wasn't sure what to expect at the airport. Luckily, the metal detector did not notice the rod and giant screw in my leg. Yeah! No need for body frisking. I picked up a book called "The Happiness Project". It's one of those self-help books written by a very energetic young woman(Apologies - I don't remember the author's name and am too tired to go find the book at the moment). Anywhoo, when they were passing out beverages on the plane, I happened to glance at my napkin which read "open happiness". Well, there you have it! It was an advertisement for Coke. I guess I just need to open a coke to find happiness. Thank you very much Mr. Buffett and all the Coke stockholders. Too funny!
Anyway, the first chapter of the book was focused on increasing your energy level which is something I think we all can use. The two primary tools she uses to increase energy are getting adequate, quality sleep and de-cluttering. So, I decided to try it out this weekend. I used an eye shade to improve my sleep since I have two skylights without shades in my bedroom. Second, I attacked some of the clutter in my house. It's not that my house has a lot of clutter (I don't own enough stuff to characterize it as clutter), but I certainly have room for improvement. As luck would have it, my friend Bob was coming to pick up my 98 Honda Civic Friday night. Cool! Step 1 in de-cluttering. While Bob was there, I convinced him to take a few other items I no longer needed. Excellent! Thanks Bob! On Saturday, I cleaned the garage, made a trip to Goodwill, turned in the plates for the Civic at DMV and filled 2 garbage pails. Yeah! I even did some weeding!
Give it a try! I had more energy this weekend than I've had in a long time.
Charlotte came over in the afternoon and we decided to go for a hike. Char is very competitive, and was still bumming that Goat and I broke my record for Pinnacle to Rt. 6 and back without her. The route is another benchmark for me to see how my fitness is improving. Actually, my fitness is fine...it's my darn leg that's the issue! Anyway, it's 4.5 miles round trip of fairly technical single track with a lot of ups and downs (crosses over Rattlesnake Mountain and other high points along the ridge). Char and I did it in about 1:30 about 1 month ago, and Goat and I did it in 1:20 a couple weeks ago. Since hearing about 1:20, Char wanted to be a part of a new record attempt, so off we went.
I thought we had a reasonable shot at 1:10, but it was very warm out (upper 80's?). Char started off moving quickly up the first hill and I was concerned I would slow her down. After jumping onto the single-track blue-blazed trail at the top of the ridge, Char was shocked that I was "running". I still don't think of it as running, but she said it looked good. It feels like a limp still. Eric, my PT, asked me to try a shim in my left shoe for a few days, and I agreed to give it a shot. I knew from my own experiments that the shim took some pressure off my back and it seemed to even out my gate. This was the first time I was "running" with a shim. I used the insole from an old pair of Asics, so I basically had 2 insoles in my left shoe and 1 in my right. If any of you wonder what it feels like to have one leg shorter than the other, just add another insole to one of your shoes and try to walk normally. YEAH! That's how it feels :-)
Anyway, we were moving along pretty well and reached the halfway mark in 33 minutes. I knew it would take longer heading back as it was warm, my hip was hurting a lot, and Char was really suffering from the heat. I was actually moving a bit quicker than Char on the uphills, but she was still doing well on the downhills as I could not put much force on my leg. We walked a bit more on the way back, but Char was determined to break the record. She hung in there, and then opened it up on the last downhill to the trailhead. I poked along behind her, and hit the watch at 1:10 when we got to the road. She was ecstatic and exhausted. I was pleased, but concerned about my hip pain and lack of a decent running stride. We walked back to the car tired, but happy with our effort. I noticed that I was walking much better after the run than when I had previously covered that route with the Goat. Hmmm...maybe I am making progress.
I've kept the shim in all weekend. It seems to help, but it's annoying moving it around with each pair of shoes, and other shims aren't quite the same thickness. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow with my work shoes :-)
After doing my PT and other exercises (I was pleasantly surprised to be back up to 40+ push-ups, 7 chin ups, and lots of other good stuff), I showered and threw some salmon on the grill for Char and me. While eating, we saw the most beautiful sunset from the deck. It made for the end of a wonderful day!
Today, Tara, Jamie, and Maliyah had breakfast at the house with me and Char for Father's Day. It was great to sit there and listen to all the gals chat. They gave me some aqua-training accessories, so I can start pool running as well as a Boston Red Sox BBQ apron and mitts. Sweet! Go Sox! Isn't life awesome? What a great Father's Day!
After hanging out with the gals for a while, Char went home, and I drove to New York to see my Dad. Oh yeah, I should mention that Char gave me a haircut on Saturday with the clippers. It was a first time experience for Char, but it came out pretty good. We really wanted to get our "trail run" in, and didn't feel like waiting for my haircut appt. In the end, it didn't save us much time, but it was a fun adventure.
Anyway, I thought my Dad would be happy to see my crewcut as he always wanted me to get my haircut short as a kid. Today, he said, "What is it with all you guys getting your heads shaved these days?" Oh well!
After hanging out, BBQing with the family and watching my nieces and nephew play in the pool, it was time for the long ride home. I considered going for a bike ride when I got back, but I opted to rest the leg. I'm still quite sore from yesterday's effort, and I really want the hip pain to improve.
If I can get the hip pain to subside, I think I have a good shot at doing some decent running. We'll see what happens....time will tell.
Post-script:
My Dad asked me what a blog was today. I told him it was like an on-line diary where I told stories. I told him some people even like my stories. Go figure!
Have a great week everyone!
Steve
When I was in grade school we had to write a story about what our Dad's did for work. Most Dad's had jobs like police officer, doctor, salesman, etc. You could get your head around those professions. My Dad had his own business as a mechanical contractor. Now, Mechanical Contractor is hard enough to understand conceptually as a third grader, and I sure as heck didn't know how to spell it. So, I wrote an essay titled, "My Dad can do anything". My Mom still has it filed somewhere and pulls it out to remind my Dad once in awhile. I guess my love of writing took root early.
Anyway, it was a beautiful weekend with wonderful dry weather. Now, to catch up on the recovery effort....
First, many thanks to all of you who read this blog. I am regularly humbled when I look at the stats of the viewing audience. I know I don't know all of you, so please drop me a line sometime to say "Hi". I write this for myself primarily, but very glad people enjoy the material.
This week was a tough week for fitness, but we still managed to make some progress. Since the last report, I improved my one mile time to 11:06. I only time myself about once per week and that was almost a week ago, so I'm looking forward to shooting for a 10 minute mile soon. Woohoo!
On Wednesday, I visited my Physical Therapist, Eric. He routinely asks me, "What kind of crazy stuff did you do this week?". He has given up on asking me not to run. Now, he just asks how far I am running. He also gave me some exercises to do before I run, so I'm pretty psyched about it. Eric is awesome, and I know I will owe him a huge thanks when I'm back to real running again.
I traveled for business on Thursday and Friday. I always enjoy traveling as it gives me time to do some self-reflection and meet new people. I was a little nervous because it was my first trip since the accident, and I wasn't sure what to expect at the airport. Luckily, the metal detector did not notice the rod and giant screw in my leg. Yeah! No need for body frisking. I picked up a book called "The Happiness Project". It's one of those self-help books written by a very energetic young woman(Apologies - I don't remember the author's name and am too tired to go find the book at the moment). Anywhoo, when they were passing out beverages on the plane, I happened to glance at my napkin which read "open happiness". Well, there you have it! It was an advertisement for Coke. I guess I just need to open a coke to find happiness. Thank you very much Mr. Buffett and all the Coke stockholders. Too funny!
Anyway, the first chapter of the book was focused on increasing your energy level which is something I think we all can use. The two primary tools she uses to increase energy are getting adequate, quality sleep and de-cluttering. So, I decided to try it out this weekend. I used an eye shade to improve my sleep since I have two skylights without shades in my bedroom. Second, I attacked some of the clutter in my house. It's not that my house has a lot of clutter (I don't own enough stuff to characterize it as clutter), but I certainly have room for improvement. As luck would have it, my friend Bob was coming to pick up my 98 Honda Civic Friday night. Cool! Step 1 in de-cluttering. While Bob was there, I convinced him to take a few other items I no longer needed. Excellent! Thanks Bob! On Saturday, I cleaned the garage, made a trip to Goodwill, turned in the plates for the Civic at DMV and filled 2 garbage pails. Yeah! I even did some weeding!
Give it a try! I had more energy this weekend than I've had in a long time.
Charlotte came over in the afternoon and we decided to go for a hike. Char is very competitive, and was still bumming that Goat and I broke my record for Pinnacle to Rt. 6 and back without her. The route is another benchmark for me to see how my fitness is improving. Actually, my fitness is fine...it's my darn leg that's the issue! Anyway, it's 4.5 miles round trip of fairly technical single track with a lot of ups and downs (crosses over Rattlesnake Mountain and other high points along the ridge). Char and I did it in about 1:30 about 1 month ago, and Goat and I did it in 1:20 a couple weeks ago. Since hearing about 1:20, Char wanted to be a part of a new record attempt, so off we went.
I thought we had a reasonable shot at 1:10, but it was very warm out (upper 80's?). Char started off moving quickly up the first hill and I was concerned I would slow her down. After jumping onto the single-track blue-blazed trail at the top of the ridge, Char was shocked that I was "running". I still don't think of it as running, but she said it looked good. It feels like a limp still. Eric, my PT, asked me to try a shim in my left shoe for a few days, and I agreed to give it a shot. I knew from my own experiments that the shim took some pressure off my back and it seemed to even out my gate. This was the first time I was "running" with a shim. I used the insole from an old pair of Asics, so I basically had 2 insoles in my left shoe and 1 in my right. If any of you wonder what it feels like to have one leg shorter than the other, just add another insole to one of your shoes and try to walk normally. YEAH! That's how it feels :-)
Anyway, we were moving along pretty well and reached the halfway mark in 33 minutes. I knew it would take longer heading back as it was warm, my hip was hurting a lot, and Char was really suffering from the heat. I was actually moving a bit quicker than Char on the uphills, but she was still doing well on the downhills as I could not put much force on my leg. We walked a bit more on the way back, but Char was determined to break the record. She hung in there, and then opened it up on the last downhill to the trailhead. I poked along behind her, and hit the watch at 1:10 when we got to the road. She was ecstatic and exhausted. I was pleased, but concerned about my hip pain and lack of a decent running stride. We walked back to the car tired, but happy with our effort. I noticed that I was walking much better after the run than when I had previously covered that route with the Goat. Hmmm...maybe I am making progress.
I've kept the shim in all weekend. It seems to help, but it's annoying moving it around with each pair of shoes, and other shims aren't quite the same thickness. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow with my work shoes :-)
After doing my PT and other exercises (I was pleasantly surprised to be back up to 40+ push-ups, 7 chin ups, and lots of other good stuff), I showered and threw some salmon on the grill for Char and me. While eating, we saw the most beautiful sunset from the deck. It made for the end of a wonderful day!
Today, Tara, Jamie, and Maliyah had breakfast at the house with me and Char for Father's Day. It was great to sit there and listen to all the gals chat. They gave me some aqua-training accessories, so I can start pool running as well as a Boston Red Sox BBQ apron and mitts. Sweet! Go Sox! Isn't life awesome? What a great Father's Day!
After hanging out with the gals for a while, Char went home, and I drove to New York to see my Dad. Oh yeah, I should mention that Char gave me a haircut on Saturday with the clippers. It was a first time experience for Char, but it came out pretty good. We really wanted to get our "trail run" in, and didn't feel like waiting for my haircut appt. In the end, it didn't save us much time, but it was a fun adventure.
Anyway, I thought my Dad would be happy to see my crewcut as he always wanted me to get my haircut short as a kid. Today, he said, "What is it with all you guys getting your heads shaved these days?" Oh well!
After hanging out, BBQing with the family and watching my nieces and nephew play in the pool, it was time for the long ride home. I considered going for a bike ride when I got back, but I opted to rest the leg. I'm still quite sore from yesterday's effort, and I really want the hip pain to improve.
If I can get the hip pain to subside, I think I have a good shot at doing some decent running. We'll see what happens....time will tell.
Post-script:
My Dad asked me what a blog was today. I told him it was like an on-line diary where I told stories. I told him some people even like my stories. Go figure!
Have a great week everyone!
Steve
Sunday, June 12, 2011
The First Mile
I've been waiting for this day for a long time...funny thing is that I didn't expect it so soon. OK, it's been 8 months and 9 days, but my progress did not indicate that I was ready to run. Sure, I've been cheating and squeezing in a little shuffling on my hikes. I've been testing myself with 1/2 mile runs each week, and religiously doing my physical therapy. My walking has improved considerably, and I no longer think about every step I take...
Before the accident, I could run like a gazelle. Running was part of my life since I started running track in 7th grade. I've been a long distance runner for 35 years. The past few years I started wondering what life would be like if a day came when I couldn't run. So many friends have lost the gift of running through injury, and I often stated to anyone who would listen that I could not live without running. I couldn't imagine it! I loved climbing, skiing, cycling, hiking, and other adventure sports, but running was the life blood in my veins. I savored hill repeats like a kid eyeing a hot fudge sundae. After a good workout, I felt like I was in a zen-like state. A good yoga workout could not even compete. So much of my mental, emotional, and physical being revolved around running that I couldn't imagine it not being there for me. I've run in nearly every country or state I have visited, run 100 miles at a time...running pulled me through divorce and so many other challenges in life. We were best friends: running and me. Running was my faithful companion...so when that day came over 8.5 months ago...the day I fell 100 feet to the ground...the only thing I could think about was "Please fix my leg so I can run again!"
The Doc said I could start physical therapy 6 weeks later.........6 long months later I was finally starting physical therapy. The rehab has been a nightmare at times, but it's also been a blessing in many ways. Having time off from training gave me time to enjoy other things in life. It's given me more time with family and friends, and helped me focus on the really important things in life. Life is good...
Nevertheless, something has been missing.
Yesterday, I went to the gym and did a 20 minute warm-up on the bike, but before starting my therapy, I walked over to the treadmill. I knew I probably should not run, but the pull was irresistible. I wanted to try to do a half mile at 12 minute/mile pace. I figured I needed to be able to run 12 minute miles by August 1st if I wanted to run with my Reach the Beach team in September. Many people think this is a crazy goal, so I just tell them it helps keep me focused on getting better. Secretly, I have a plan.
Today, I started off at nearly a 12 minute pace from the start. My stride was a bit gimpy, but felt better than previous attempts. I gradually sped up the pace, and was through the 1/2 mile mark right around 6 minutes. Wow! Funny thing was that I still felt OK. I decided to try for another 1/4 mile, but I secretly wanted to go for the full mile. I envisioned the celebration we would have if I covered a mile in under 12 minutes. I picked up the pace, and was running the last quarter in at sub-11min/mile pace....blazing speed for this one-legged wonderboy! I had to focus on every step to make sure I didn't slip and fall. Tears started streaming down my face as I approached the finish. I wondered what my time would be, and watched each second tick off. There is was...finally....I ran my first mile in 11min, 34 seconds. How sweet it is....11:34! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! I stepped off the treadmill and looked around...no one other than me realized the significance of what just transpired. I wandered over to do my physical therapy work and wondered what would be next....
When will I run my first 5K?
When can I start training regularly?
When can I run with Charlotte? Goat? All of my friends and family?
Trail racing? Marathon? Ultra? 100 miler?
Who knows where this is going...
Maliyah saw me try to chase her ball down the driveway Friday night and she laughed uncontrollably. It was the first time she saw her Grandpa run, and I'm sure it looked pretty funny. I had to smile just thinking about what it must have looked like to her. Glad she got a good chuckle! When she was born, I promised I would be ready to run a marathon with her when the time came, and I'd like to keep that promise.
I don't know what the future holds...don't know if I'll be racing anytime soon...don't know much about anything....but I do know this....
I AM A RUNNER....AGAIN!
I am so very thankful!
Have a great week everyone!
Peace,
Steve
Before the accident, I could run like a gazelle. Running was part of my life since I started running track in 7th grade. I've been a long distance runner for 35 years. The past few years I started wondering what life would be like if a day came when I couldn't run. So many friends have lost the gift of running through injury, and I often stated to anyone who would listen that I could not live without running. I couldn't imagine it! I loved climbing, skiing, cycling, hiking, and other adventure sports, but running was the life blood in my veins. I savored hill repeats like a kid eyeing a hot fudge sundae. After a good workout, I felt like I was in a zen-like state. A good yoga workout could not even compete. So much of my mental, emotional, and physical being revolved around running that I couldn't imagine it not being there for me. I've run in nearly every country or state I have visited, run 100 miles at a time...running pulled me through divorce and so many other challenges in life. We were best friends: running and me. Running was my faithful companion...so when that day came over 8.5 months ago...the day I fell 100 feet to the ground...the only thing I could think about was "Please fix my leg so I can run again!"
The Doc said I could start physical therapy 6 weeks later.........6 long months later I was finally starting physical therapy. The rehab has been a nightmare at times, but it's also been a blessing in many ways. Having time off from training gave me time to enjoy other things in life. It's given me more time with family and friends, and helped me focus on the really important things in life. Life is good...
Nevertheless, something has been missing.
Yesterday, I went to the gym and did a 20 minute warm-up on the bike, but before starting my therapy, I walked over to the treadmill. I knew I probably should not run, but the pull was irresistible. I wanted to try to do a half mile at 12 minute/mile pace. I figured I needed to be able to run 12 minute miles by August 1st if I wanted to run with my Reach the Beach team in September. Many people think this is a crazy goal, so I just tell them it helps keep me focused on getting better. Secretly, I have a plan.
Today, I started off at nearly a 12 minute pace from the start. My stride was a bit gimpy, but felt better than previous attempts. I gradually sped up the pace, and was through the 1/2 mile mark right around 6 minutes. Wow! Funny thing was that I still felt OK. I decided to try for another 1/4 mile, but I secretly wanted to go for the full mile. I envisioned the celebration we would have if I covered a mile in under 12 minutes. I picked up the pace, and was running the last quarter in at sub-11min/mile pace....blazing speed for this one-legged wonderboy! I had to focus on every step to make sure I didn't slip and fall. Tears started streaming down my face as I approached the finish. I wondered what my time would be, and watched each second tick off. There is was...finally....I ran my first mile in 11min, 34 seconds. How sweet it is....11:34! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! I stepped off the treadmill and looked around...no one other than me realized the significance of what just transpired. I wandered over to do my physical therapy work and wondered what would be next....
When will I run my first 5K?
When can I start training regularly?
When can I run with Charlotte? Goat? All of my friends and family?
Trail racing? Marathon? Ultra? 100 miler?
Who knows where this is going...
Maliyah saw me try to chase her ball down the driveway Friday night and she laughed uncontrollably. It was the first time she saw her Grandpa run, and I'm sure it looked pretty funny. I had to smile just thinking about what it must have looked like to her. Glad she got a good chuckle! When she was born, I promised I would be ready to run a marathon with her when the time came, and I'd like to keep that promise.
I don't know what the future holds...don't know if I'll be racing anytime soon...don't know much about anything....but I do know this....
I AM A RUNNER....AGAIN!
I am so very thankful!
Have a great week everyone!
Peace,
Steve
Sunday, June 5, 2011
What a weekend!
Life has been busy lately...to the point that it's hard to even find the time to do my physical therapy. I think I need to get focused on my fitness if I ever want to get back to peak performance. It's great to see so many people enjoying endurance and adventure sports. I enjoy cheering for you all, and want to be back out there with all of you!
My PT, Eric, says I'm really close. He has me doing single leg exercises to simulate running. When I tell him about my hiking and psuedo running, he doesn't know what to say. He knows if he tells me not to do it, I will ignore him. We have a good relationship. I asked him to watch me do my thing, and he said it is definitely running. I call it "slide stepping" or hobbling, but he said I am definitely running. Then, he told me to stop it. I call it "hiking" since it is on the trails...
Goat and I haven't done anything together in about a month, so I asked him if he wanted to join me for my "Pinnacle to Route 6 and back" trek on the Metacomet trail. We did this route over a month ago, so Goat was really surprised to see my progress. I did my little shuffle whenever the terrain permitted (flats and gentle slopes). My goal was to break 2 hours since Char and I had set that mark a couple weeks ago.
We cleared Rattlesnake Mountain in about 20 minutes, skipped across Greenwall and Porcupine Hole, and then started down toward Rt. 6. As I did my hitch down the sloping single track, I saw someone coming towards us with a camelbak. It looked like a trail runner, so I perked up. As fate would have it, it was Jerry Turk, Mr. Bimble, in the flesh. I yelled out his name and he was just as surprised to see us. I asked him what he was doing so far from his corner of the state, and he indicated that he was attempting the entire Metacomet Trail in one day. Matt Estes had told me he did the trail in 11.5 hours, but he reported it as 61 miles. Jerry, on the other hand, said he was attempting a 91 mile jaunt. Wow! He said he was scouting it as a potential ultramarathon and asked if we were interested in helping to promote it. Indeed, Goat and I had talked about making the route into a race several years ago after Matt told us about it, but I had no idea it was 91 miles long. Wow! Jerry, ever the gentleman, was pleased to see me back on the trail. We both finished Top 10 at Vermont in 2006 I believe, and I still have a picture of us together at the award ceremony with the other Top 10 runners. I hope we can get back there someday. After a couple minutes with Jerry, we were back on our way. We tagged Route 6 in about 40 minutes and made the turn for home. We made good progress, but my leg was getting sore. Goat was in disbelief when he watched me run and said it made his day. I was happy to be out there working up a sweat, but my leg was getting sore.
After cresting Rattlesnake Mtn on the return, I asked Goat to predict the finishing time. I knew we were on track to finish in under 1.5 hours. Goat called 1:25, and I went with 1:20. Despite the pain, I pushed hard to cover the 4.5 miles as quickly as possible. Goat took off on the final downhill, and I did all I could to keep him in sight. We got back to the trailhead and I hit my watch: 1:20:29. Damn, it felt like a new world record! It was something! Back in the day, I wouldn't even consider it a warm up...and Goat was scheduled to go for another hour run later in the day...but it was a great progress check for me. If I can get that time down to 1:15 or less, it would be very cool. Maybe next week :-)
While progress has been great, it's still hard adjusting to having a leg length discrepancy, etc. I wobble when I walk, and still have a hitch in my stride. It's frustrating at times. Nevertheless, I cling to the fact that Bill Rogers won Boston 4 times and many other marathons with a leg length discrepancy of more than 1/2". If Bill can manage to run a 2:10 marathon with a bigger discrepancy than me, I think I can get back in the groove. If I stay focused, I think I can still pull off Reach the Beach in September. We'll see...
Char and I were out late last night having a wonderful dinner with her brother, Jesper, and his wonderful wife, Michelle, so today was a rest day. Char and I took the kids to Winding Trails for a picnic/BBQ. It was a great day to be outside, and Maliyah, my granddaughter, had a blast playing on the beach. I was thinking that today would have been a perfect Gunks day. There was a time when climbing was everything. I'd watch the weather and plan my weekend based on climbing potential. Today, I was exactly where I wanted to be, and loved every minute of it. I threw a few lobster tails on the grill, and played in the sand with my granddaughter. Life is good!
Have a great week everybody! Hope to see you on the trails and at the crag soon!
PEACE!
Steve
My PT, Eric, says I'm really close. He has me doing single leg exercises to simulate running. When I tell him about my hiking and psuedo running, he doesn't know what to say. He knows if he tells me not to do it, I will ignore him. We have a good relationship. I asked him to watch me do my thing, and he said it is definitely running. I call it "slide stepping" or hobbling, but he said I am definitely running. Then, he told me to stop it. I call it "hiking" since it is on the trails...
Goat and I haven't done anything together in about a month, so I asked him if he wanted to join me for my "Pinnacle to Route 6 and back" trek on the Metacomet trail. We did this route over a month ago, so Goat was really surprised to see my progress. I did my little shuffle whenever the terrain permitted (flats and gentle slopes). My goal was to break 2 hours since Char and I had set that mark a couple weeks ago.
We cleared Rattlesnake Mountain in about 20 minutes, skipped across Greenwall and Porcupine Hole, and then started down toward Rt. 6. As I did my hitch down the sloping single track, I saw someone coming towards us with a camelbak. It looked like a trail runner, so I perked up. As fate would have it, it was Jerry Turk, Mr. Bimble, in the flesh. I yelled out his name and he was just as surprised to see us. I asked him what he was doing so far from his corner of the state, and he indicated that he was attempting the entire Metacomet Trail in one day. Matt Estes had told me he did the trail in 11.5 hours, but he reported it as 61 miles. Jerry, on the other hand, said he was attempting a 91 mile jaunt. Wow! He said he was scouting it as a potential ultramarathon and asked if we were interested in helping to promote it. Indeed, Goat and I had talked about making the route into a race several years ago after Matt told us about it, but I had no idea it was 91 miles long. Wow! Jerry, ever the gentleman, was pleased to see me back on the trail. We both finished Top 10 at Vermont in 2006 I believe, and I still have a picture of us together at the award ceremony with the other Top 10 runners. I hope we can get back there someday. After a couple minutes with Jerry, we were back on our way. We tagged Route 6 in about 40 minutes and made the turn for home. We made good progress, but my leg was getting sore. Goat was in disbelief when he watched me run and said it made his day. I was happy to be out there working up a sweat, but my leg was getting sore.
After cresting Rattlesnake Mtn on the return, I asked Goat to predict the finishing time. I knew we were on track to finish in under 1.5 hours. Goat called 1:25, and I went with 1:20. Despite the pain, I pushed hard to cover the 4.5 miles as quickly as possible. Goat took off on the final downhill, and I did all I could to keep him in sight. We got back to the trailhead and I hit my watch: 1:20:29. Damn, it felt like a new world record! It was something! Back in the day, I wouldn't even consider it a warm up...and Goat was scheduled to go for another hour run later in the day...but it was a great progress check for me. If I can get that time down to 1:15 or less, it would be very cool. Maybe next week :-)
While progress has been great, it's still hard adjusting to having a leg length discrepancy, etc. I wobble when I walk, and still have a hitch in my stride. It's frustrating at times. Nevertheless, I cling to the fact that Bill Rogers won Boston 4 times and many other marathons with a leg length discrepancy of more than 1/2". If Bill can manage to run a 2:10 marathon with a bigger discrepancy than me, I think I can get back in the groove. If I stay focused, I think I can still pull off Reach the Beach in September. We'll see...
Char and I were out late last night having a wonderful dinner with her brother, Jesper, and his wonderful wife, Michelle, so today was a rest day. Char and I took the kids to Winding Trails for a picnic/BBQ. It was a great day to be outside, and Maliyah, my granddaughter, had a blast playing on the beach. I was thinking that today would have been a perfect Gunks day. There was a time when climbing was everything. I'd watch the weather and plan my weekend based on climbing potential. Today, I was exactly where I wanted to be, and loved every minute of it. I threw a few lobster tails on the grill, and played in the sand with my granddaughter. Life is good!
Have a great week everybody! Hope to see you on the trails and at the crag soon!
PEACE!
Steve
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
CT Climbers Memorial Day Trip
It's been over a month since I posted anything. Life has been busy and frankly there hasn't been much adventure to report. I've been making slow and steady progress toward my goals. It's been exhilarating and frustrating at times. This past weekend was a big data point for me as it was the first trip with the CT Climbers and Mountaineers since the accident on October 2.
Carol Ann and Frank have been hosting us at their place at the base on Cathedral Rock in North Conway, NH for several years now on Memorial Day Weekend. The views of the cliff from their front deck are breathtaking and it's always fun to watch the progress of our friends with the binoculars as they inch their way up the wall. I've always found the climbing at Cathedral to be quite challenging since I grew up on Gunks horizontals. Cathedral is a granite crack climbers playground. I have enjoyed many of the classic routes, but I was in no shape to climb anything there this weekend. I packed my gear with the thought that Charlotte and I might do any easy slab route on Whitehorse, but my heart really wasn't into it. While packing my gear for the trip, I grabbed my old harness for Charlotte to use and realized it was no longer useable. While inspecting it, I realized the rescue crew cut the harness off of me after the fall. It made me feel a bit dizzy and sick thinking about it, so I quickly threw it in the nearby garbage pail. Climbing seemed like a remote possibility at that point.
My focus over the past 4 months has been to regain my strength, coordination, and endurance, and I wanted this weekend to build on that effort, but also to be a data point/progress check. I had been hiking the Metacomet trail for the prior 3 weekends from Pinnacle to Rt. 6 and back and had progressed in form and time each week. I was not breaking any land speed records, but was happy to cover the distance in less than 2 hours. I figured I was moving at about a 2 mile per hour pace (just a guess) on some technical terrain. I would limp as I got tired, but otherwise the pain was manageable.
On the way to NH on Friday, Charlotte and I decided to try for the summit of East Osceola. I hiked the same trail from the Greeley Pond trailhead (off the Kank) many years ago when I was peakbagging and didn't recall any major issues. It was only 2.8 miles or so to the summit and the first 1.5 miles looked fairly flat. I had no idea what would happen, but figured it would be a nice stroll either way. We both wore high top lightweight hikers. Char was nursing an ankle sprain from Traprock and I was planning to deal with muck since I couldn't jump from rock to rock. After a quarter mile or so, we came across a significant stream crossing requiring some skill and trust in your feet. I found a walking stick and decided to put my faith in it for the crossing. After some scary tip-toeing, we were across and on our way. The first couple miles went by quickly and I was pleased with our pace. I felt like I was holding Charlotte back and she moved ahead at times. I'm usually the guy out front pushing the pace, so this was a very humbling experience for me. I was moving as fast I possible and it was a slow crawl for Charlotte.
When we got to the steep part, we weaved our way up the rock together and took in some of the views. We took a couple pics near the summit and decided to head back without taking on the mile trek over to Mt. Osceola. I was concerned with my ability to make it since this was considerably longer and more difficult than anything I had attempted since the accident. I was really pleased with this decision as the descent was much more difficult than the ascent. Char said I was moving well, but a couple slips really took the energy out of me and I limped down to the flats. Back at the car, we celebrated my first post-accident 4,000 footer and Char's 17th NH 4Ker, then headed to the hotel for a shower. I was really pleased with the effort and felt like some exciting adventures were back in my grasp.
After a nice dish of Pad Thai in North Conway, we headed over to Frank and Carol Ann's to catch up with friends. It was great to see so many CCMers there and to feel a part of the group again. Frank and Chad told us about their exciting night on the Prow as they aided the route, hauled a propane stove and steaks for a nice dinner and slept on a porta-ledge for the night. It seemed like a great plan until it decided to rain all night. They survived the bath in the porta-ledge enclosure, but had to rap off the route in the morning as the rock was dripping water. Now that is an epic adventure!
On Saturday, Char and I decided to try for 2 more 4Kers. The easiest one looked like Mount Hale, so we set off to bag that one quickly and then possibly shoot for Mt. Jackson. All went according to plan on Hale, but we were both a bit sore afterwards. It just seemed too early to call it a day as we were finished by 2 pm, so we decided to give Jackson a try. The Webster-Jackson trail was a tough as I remembered it and then some... It took us nearly 4 hours to make the round trip and we were both hobbling afterwards. Nevertheless, we were both pleased with the effort and Char was happy to bag 2 more peaks (18 and 19, yeah!).
At dinner that night, I was a hurting unit. My knees were toast and my hip was sore as well. We decided to sleep in on Sunday and take a ride over to Echo Lake. After breakfast, we hit a couple stores in town and then went to the lake to soak in the nice icy water. It sure helped my knees!
We watched some friends climb on Whitehorse Ledge, and then met up with everyone later to hear the climbing stories of the day. I hope to participate in some of those stories again soon.
We drove back after breakfast on Monday in an attempt to beat the traffic (failed attempt) and catch up on some things. Overall, it was a great trip for Char and me. We had some great 1:1 time and savored every minute of it. We enjoyed the hiking and talked about future adventures.
Tonight, I went back to the gym for another attempt at running. After 30 minutes on the bike, and some PT, I went back to the treadmill. My plan is to do a half mile at least once per week until I can do a sub-12 minute mile pace without any significant pain. I had progressed from 8:30 (17 minutes/mile) to about 7:10 (14:20/mile). Tonight was great! I finished the half mile in 6:30 (13min/mile pace). Woohoo! It almost felt like running! I still can't press my body weight with one leg, so I'm really excited with my progress. If I can get stronger each day, I should be running soon.
The more I experience, the more I realize that anything is possible...it's all a matter of effort and attitude!
Hold your vision...and persist without exception!
Peace!
Steve
Carol Ann and Frank have been hosting us at their place at the base on Cathedral Rock in North Conway, NH for several years now on Memorial Day Weekend. The views of the cliff from their front deck are breathtaking and it's always fun to watch the progress of our friends with the binoculars as they inch their way up the wall. I've always found the climbing at Cathedral to be quite challenging since I grew up on Gunks horizontals. Cathedral is a granite crack climbers playground. I have enjoyed many of the classic routes, but I was in no shape to climb anything there this weekend. I packed my gear with the thought that Charlotte and I might do any easy slab route on Whitehorse, but my heart really wasn't into it. While packing my gear for the trip, I grabbed my old harness for Charlotte to use and realized it was no longer useable. While inspecting it, I realized the rescue crew cut the harness off of me after the fall. It made me feel a bit dizzy and sick thinking about it, so I quickly threw it in the nearby garbage pail. Climbing seemed like a remote possibility at that point.
My focus over the past 4 months has been to regain my strength, coordination, and endurance, and I wanted this weekend to build on that effort, but also to be a data point/progress check. I had been hiking the Metacomet trail for the prior 3 weekends from Pinnacle to Rt. 6 and back and had progressed in form and time each week. I was not breaking any land speed records, but was happy to cover the distance in less than 2 hours. I figured I was moving at about a 2 mile per hour pace (just a guess) on some technical terrain. I would limp as I got tired, but otherwise the pain was manageable.
On the way to NH on Friday, Charlotte and I decided to try for the summit of East Osceola. I hiked the same trail from the Greeley Pond trailhead (off the Kank) many years ago when I was peakbagging and didn't recall any major issues. It was only 2.8 miles or so to the summit and the first 1.5 miles looked fairly flat. I had no idea what would happen, but figured it would be a nice stroll either way. We both wore high top lightweight hikers. Char was nursing an ankle sprain from Traprock and I was planning to deal with muck since I couldn't jump from rock to rock. After a quarter mile or so, we came across a significant stream crossing requiring some skill and trust in your feet. I found a walking stick and decided to put my faith in it for the crossing. After some scary tip-toeing, we were across and on our way. The first couple miles went by quickly and I was pleased with our pace. I felt like I was holding Charlotte back and she moved ahead at times. I'm usually the guy out front pushing the pace, so this was a very humbling experience for me. I was moving as fast I possible and it was a slow crawl for Charlotte.
When we got to the steep part, we weaved our way up the rock together and took in some of the views. We took a couple pics near the summit and decided to head back without taking on the mile trek over to Mt. Osceola. I was concerned with my ability to make it since this was considerably longer and more difficult than anything I had attempted since the accident. I was really pleased with this decision as the descent was much more difficult than the ascent. Char said I was moving well, but a couple slips really took the energy out of me and I limped down to the flats. Back at the car, we celebrated my first post-accident 4,000 footer and Char's 17th NH 4Ker, then headed to the hotel for a shower. I was really pleased with the effort and felt like some exciting adventures were back in my grasp.
After a nice dish of Pad Thai in North Conway, we headed over to Frank and Carol Ann's to catch up with friends. It was great to see so many CCMers there and to feel a part of the group again. Frank and Chad told us about their exciting night on the Prow as they aided the route, hauled a propane stove and steaks for a nice dinner and slept on a porta-ledge for the night. It seemed like a great plan until it decided to rain all night. They survived the bath in the porta-ledge enclosure, but had to rap off the route in the morning as the rock was dripping water. Now that is an epic adventure!
On Saturday, Char and I decided to try for 2 more 4Kers. The easiest one looked like Mount Hale, so we set off to bag that one quickly and then possibly shoot for Mt. Jackson. All went according to plan on Hale, but we were both a bit sore afterwards. It just seemed too early to call it a day as we were finished by 2 pm, so we decided to give Jackson a try. The Webster-Jackson trail was a tough as I remembered it and then some... It took us nearly 4 hours to make the round trip and we were both hobbling afterwards. Nevertheless, we were both pleased with the effort and Char was happy to bag 2 more peaks (18 and 19, yeah!).
At dinner that night, I was a hurting unit. My knees were toast and my hip was sore as well. We decided to sleep in on Sunday and take a ride over to Echo Lake. After breakfast, we hit a couple stores in town and then went to the lake to soak in the nice icy water. It sure helped my knees!
We watched some friends climb on Whitehorse Ledge, and then met up with everyone later to hear the climbing stories of the day. I hope to participate in some of those stories again soon.
We drove back after breakfast on Monday in an attempt to beat the traffic (failed attempt) and catch up on some things. Overall, it was a great trip for Char and me. We had some great 1:1 time and savored every minute of it. We enjoyed the hiking and talked about future adventures.
Tonight, I went back to the gym for another attempt at running. After 30 minutes on the bike, and some PT, I went back to the treadmill. My plan is to do a half mile at least once per week until I can do a sub-12 minute mile pace without any significant pain. I had progressed from 8:30 (17 minutes/mile) to about 7:10 (14:20/mile). Tonight was great! I finished the half mile in 6:30 (13min/mile pace). Woohoo! It almost felt like running! I still can't press my body weight with one leg, so I'm really excited with my progress. If I can get stronger each day, I should be running soon.
The more I experience, the more I realize that anything is possible...it's all a matter of effort and attitude!
Hold your vision...and persist without exception!
Peace!
Steve
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