Many of the pieces are clicking together

Many of the pieces are clicking together... not all of them, but many.

I ran 3.4 miles today at 8:15 min per mile average pace.  That is not in-and-of-itself impressive in any way, but considering my recent history it wasn't all bad.  I ran this 3.4 miles without calf pain and without having to stop.  That is the good part.  I really could have kept going, but I decided to stop so I did not put any undue stress on the calf or the tendon.

To recap:  It has been almost 5 weeks.  5 weeks since my calf started to REALLY hurt in the middle of a run.  So much that I had to stop.  I was training for the Little Rock race that was only one week away, so I laid off for that whole week.  Then I ran the Little Rock race and re-injured/further injured the calf/achilles at mile five and then I had to limp the other 8 miles.  I laid off again for two weeks after that race, then went for a run last Monday.  I had to stop and walk at 2.5 miles.  -- Calf pain!  So, I laid off again until today.

I decided I would go for a slow run today. I did not want to push it.  Besides, I am not in such great shape.  I have gained much of my weigh back and I have not done ANY cardio in 5 weeks.  But today felt pretty good.  My toe nails are not black any more.  The ones that fell off are growing back.  My cardio at that relatively slow pace was good.  I definitely could have gone farther and faster (from a cardio perspective).  I had no blisters or chafing.  No foot, ankle or knee pain.  No IT band pain.  No pain at all.  My phone was working.  My music was playing though my bluetooth headphones that were operating properly.  It was not freezing cold nor oppressively hot.  It was a good day running.

When I got home, I realized that my calves were very tight and I am limping a little.  I even iced for a bit.  I think I will ice again and who knows... I MIGHT even do some stretching... tomorrow.

The essential oils and balms and salves seem to make my family agitated.  They seem to always have some comment about how I smell when I apply them.  Also, I have no way of determining definitively if these "treatments" did anything to help me heal.  So, for what it is worth, my plan is to pray, ice, rest, massage, and return slowly, taking it lightly.  I have had a nice rest between races this time.  The next race is April 22 in Utah, but the race after that one in Indiana is only two weeks later.  Not much rest time, so I am praying that I remain healthy so that I can ease my way back and then continue to improve.

Who knew the calf, for someone who runs, is so complex... or maybe I am just making it more complex than it needs to be? - and likely making more of it than I should.

Anyway, I am feeling hopeful that I am on the mend.

Quick Blog -- Status Update

Just a quickie today to give you a quick status update.

I ran today.  First time since the Little Rock Half Marathon, and I did not run for a week before that one -- so, three weeks without a training run.

The calf was feeling good.  It did not hurt yesterday, and I did not even think about it until I decided to run up the stairs, which made me aware of it, but was not painful.  Today I was aware of it this morning, but it did not bother me at all the entire day.

So, how about a light and short run?  Sounds like a good idea... right?

After work I went for a run.  7:59 first mile, nice and easy.  I was already composing a blog that would inform you of how great it felt.  8:14 second mile.  I slowed slightly, on purpose, as it was slightly uphill and I could feel the calf, but no more than the other one.  At 2.5 miles it was noticeably uncomfortable, so I decided to walk.  I did not limp.  I am still not limping.  I walked the .5 mile home and I could feel the calf, but not painful.

I am currently icing, just as preventive medicine.  

We will see how it feels tomorrow.

Three Weeks and a Birthday

Today is the first day that my calf did not hurt when I got out of bed in the morning.  The first day that I was not aware of a pain in my leg while walking.

I hurt my calf one week prior to the Arkansas race, and re-injured or further injured it during the race.  That was two full weeks ago today.  So, other than running five miles in Little Rock and hobbling the remaining eight miles, I have not exercised in THREE WEEKS!!  That would not be the end of the world save for the fact that I also had a birthday celebration in there too.  My lovely and thoughtful wife baked me a New York style cheesecake... from scratch.  It was incredible!  I say that it WAS incredible, because it is now gone.  I ate the vast majority of it myself.  It was soooo good.  I am paying the price for it now.  I feel like I am all bloated and as if I have bulked OUT, putting on a good 20 pounds.  I have not weighed myself.  I am afraid to weigh myself.  I seriously do not want to know.  The good news is the cheesecake is gone.  I am tempted no more.  The other good news is that I am feeling like I might be able to run again.

That being said, I felt pain free today -- until... until I decided to run up the stairs instead of walking gingerly up the stairs.  To be clear, I did not hurt my leg doing this.  I am not limping and I am not in pain; however, I did feel the calf while going up and afterward... actually, I can still feel it a bit.  This makes me a bit nervous.

The next race is April 22. This gives me nearly 5 weeks to recover and heal, but I am afraid that if I take any more time off I won't be able to fit in my car, much less get on the plane and secure my seat-belt.  Maybe I could buy two seats and add one of those seat-belt extensions.  That MIGHT work.

It is a bit of a delicate balance though.  The race in May, the one after this one,  is only two weeks later.  So, I am concerned about re-injuring the leg if I do not allow adequate time for healing, but I am also concerned about my cardio.  If I am not training and allowing my leg to heal, then I am turning into Jabba the hutt.  I am thinking about riding the stationary bike at the gym for cardio.  I wonder if that will translate?

I am hoping that the leg is healed well enough that I can start training lightly and work up a bit over the next four weeks and be prepared for the next race in Salt Lake, Utah... AND be healthy for Indianapolis in May.

BTW. The race in June is in Duluth Minnesota.  I decided to race this race for a cause other than myself.  I decided that all this time, money, and effort should benefit someone, so I decided to run to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.  St. Jude's is a wonderful organization that helps kids and their families when they need it most.  Please consider helping raise money to help these kids and families who so desperately need your help.  Just click the link to help.  Even a little bit can make a big difference.

http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=4464319&pg=personal&fr_id=64831


Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

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Thanks!!

Little Rock Half Marathon -- Recap

Little Rock Marathon -- Arkansas

Registration:

Registered online again.  This race did require proof of finish time, but only if you wanted to be in Corral A or Corral B.  I gave the link to my Arizona Race and they still put me in Corral C.  Of course, I got it changed, but I had to prove a finish time below 1:45.

Fee:
$80
$5.80 processing fee
Total, in case you hate math $85.80

The Expo:
This expo was at the Statehouse Convention Center.  Valerie went with me and we walked to the convention center from the hotel.  It was just a few blocks.  We passed by the start and the finish so that we would know where it all was.  It was all within four blocks.  We walked over to the Expo and got my race packet, then walked over and rented a bicycle for Valerie to ride with me the next day.  Of course Valerie had to stop and get her boots shined on the way.
Shirt:
The shirt was a wicking, tech shirt.  I have gotten smarter and ordered an L this time.   



Race Day:
Sunday

Race Start Time:
7:00 am.  We started about 7 minutes late.  They let the timer count down to 2 minutes and then made an announcement that they needed to get more runners to the starting line, so they were going to wait another few minutes and reset the timer to count down from 6 minutes.  I am not sure what that was all about.  There were multiple starts.  Valerie told me there was a bicycle start, then the chair athletes.  Some of the chair athletes were not handicapped, just wanted to race in a recumbent hand bike for some reason.  Then the wheelchair athletes, one guy with a service dog and a blind runner... then we started about 7:07am.

Course Map:


This course was not marked nearly as well as the last few races. I only noticed a few mile marker signs.  I remember seeing 8 and 10.  Without my Garmin I would not have had any idea how far I had gone.

Race Type:
This was all road race, with some hilly sections.  The start went 2 or so blocks to a bridge, then up and over on the bridge, around the city streets for three miles, then back up the bridge the other way.  Then the course was relatively flat with a slow incline to about mile 9 when there were some rolling hills and a noticeable incline until near the end.   I was pretty well hobbling the whole race after mile 5, so I had to walk the steep parts.  Up was painful, but down was not so easy either.  More on that in a minute.



The roads were not too bad.  Some sections reminded me of New Orleans, but most of the roads were tolerable... particularly if you ran in the middle.  Once you got off to one side the quality of the road decreased and the slant increased.

Accommodations:

We stayed in a hotel this time.  There was a hotel, the Legacy Hotel and Suites that I found on Priceline.  It was a whopping $73 per night.  It was just down the street from the start and finish.  One of the easiest so far.  We got a little nervous when we drove up in the Uber and the driver said, "Old Hotel".  Nothing more, just "Old Hotel".  I said, "Cheap Hotel, what can ya do?"  He said, "That is exactly what the lady said last night".  When we went in, it looked like the hotel from Tower Of Terror.  We were nervous, but knew we would only have to spend one night there.  When we got in to the room, we were pleasantly surprised.  It was clean and spacious and everything worked properly.  The bed was clean and comfy.  We had a nice rest and it was perfect.

Transportation:
We walked everywhere we went.  We were so centrally located that we had no need to take any other mode of transport.  We took an Uber to and from the airport, but it was just a few miles.  Total trip fee was under $10.00.   As I mentioned, Valerie rented a bike, but she only rode while I was running, otherwise she pushed the bike along side me as we walked.  I offered to push it for her, but she would not let me.

Weather:

The weather was rain!  Saturday, the day before my race was picture perfect.  My cousin ran the 10k and she had perfect conditions.  When we woke up Sunday morning, it was raining fairly steadily.  The rain slowed just before the race start and stayed a light, gentle rain the entire race.  It was about 50 F and rainy, so I was cold and wet, but it really was not that bad.  The only issue I have when it is wet is chafing.  Because of all of the moisture, and the fact that I was running funny, I had chafing -- please look away, so I do not embarrass you -- chafing here, here, here, here and here. -- Ok, you can look again.

Race Morning:

I have no idea how many corrals there were for this race.  They only marked corrals A, B and C.  Corral A consisted of maybe 20 people.  Corral B looked like it had around 75, and then I could not see too far behind me in the rain.  Valerie said it was kind of a mass free for all after Corral B, so it was nice that I was able to move into B.  We were in Corrals, but they did not hold anyone.  The start was the same start for everyone.  Not even in waves... Just GO!

Race:

The course was all roads.  Straight and flat at the start, then up the bridge and over to the other side, then back up the bridge.  No mile markers that I saw, except 8 and 10.  There were no timers on the course except start and finish.  I recall crossing a timer mat at the 10k mark, but there was no timer, just the mat.  I was running pretty well... for me.  I was running 7:40 or so per mile until almost mile 5.  A snake bit me or a sniper got me or someone stabbed me in the calf.  I thought for certain I would have to quit at mile 5.  The same calf/Achilles injury that happened the week before the race, only this time instead of an ache and a burn, there was a sharp/stabbing pain to go along with it.  I pulled up lame and limped.  I soon found that limping was not only slow, but was still painful, so I decided to try running again.  I shortened my stride considerably hoping that this would keep me from "pushing off" and cause more injury and more pain.  So, I went from 7:40 pace to 10:00 pace.  I walked a few of the steep parts, but just tried to keep moving forward.  I will say that I had absolutely no issues with my cardio.  I could breathe and I don't think I was even sweating.  Hard to tell though with all of the rain.  I guess jog-walking 13 miles is easier than whatever I was doing before.  But, I am happy to say that I finished the race

As you can see from my split times, I kind of blew up just before mile 5.

Water/Food Stations:
There were water and Gatorade stations every1.5-2 miles or so.  But, all I saw was water and Gatorade.  Two "unofficial" stations were serving a microbrew.  There were a couple of the racers who stopped and had a couple and chatted for a while before they started running again.  I did see three stations that had quartered oranges and one banana station, but I did not notice anything else. 

Scenery:
The race was through downtown Little Rock.  We even ran past the Governors Mansion and he was out there shaking hands and waving.  The scenery was the neighborhoods and historic buildings.  It would likely have been nicer if the weather was good, but in the rain it all looks drab and dreary.

Race Entertainment:
There were a few bands and groups and singers out there, but they were wet, so they did not have too much energy.  Also, they were often playing to no one as there were just a small few spectators.  There was a marching band that was under the cover of an old gas station.  The concrete block projected the sound nicely.  That was probably the best of the entertainment.  Although, having said that, I was struck by the number of old ladies that were seated on their porches shouting encouragement.  You had to imagine that they were out there in the cold, damp weather shouting encouragement for several hours.  Not sure what would motivate someone to do that, but they did... and it made me smile.

Finish:
The finish was just a block over from the start.  It had the same type of banner that you saw in the start line banner.  There was a DJ and two other people who were calling out names and making a big deal of the people finishing.  After the finish though was total disorganized mayhem.  There was a LONG fenced area where the runners could get their finishers medal, a massage, a heat sheet (foil jacket), water and then the runners could get a print-out of their race stats.  Of course EVERYONE (everyone else) wanted their race stats, so there was a big line and a bottle neck at this area.  There was no food, no snack, not drink other than water.  I was surprised... and thirsty.


Bling:


The finishers medal is huge. They had this weird theme, something about candy and candilicious and runalicious.  Candy things everywhere.  Not sure what it was about, but it made for some large bling.  


Misc:

It was nice to have Valerie with me for the travel and companionship before and after the race.  I really did not see her at all during the race.  The course was not really conducive for bike-a-longers, but she apparently had fun biking around and talking with people.  I did see her about mile 12 and she rode in with me and encouraged me for a mile or so.

Post Race:

Post race consisted walking back to the hotel alone as Valerie went to return her bicycle.  Then a nice shower and off to the airport.  It was a quick trip.  I am not upset about this race.  My time was not great, but due to my injury I was not even sure that I would be able to run at all.  So, I was happy to hobble across the finish line.  My next race is not for about 7 weeks, so I am hoping to have ample healing time.  I know several of you have been praying for me and I greatly appreciate that.  I know that is the reason why I was able to run at all.  Next race: Salt Lake City, Utah!  April 22 (I think).