And by 'grind' I don't really mean training. I'm only running every other day for a little while, so that's not really much of a grind. No, the grind I'm talking about is the hot, bone-on-arthritic-bone action that's happening in my left knee with every step. Squibilly flabbiddy doo!
That may be overstating the severity of the pain, but it's definitely beyond nagging, beyond irritating, and rapidly approaching super-fucking-annoying. As expected, the month off with physical therapy didn't help at all. At least it was only a month. I remember when, as a young man, I had a bout of IT band syndrome that made running very painful. My doctor at the time gave me the whole "rest it and do these exercises and we'll see if it improves." When it didn't fucking improve after 6 months the guy says, "Okay. Here's a shot of cortizone." Two weeks later my knee is fine. Jesus Jackhammering Christ, Doc. How 'bout busting out the needle a little sooner...like before I get overweight, out of shape, and slow from not running for six months?
On Wednesday I went back to the shoe nazi and got some new Wave Inspires, hoping that might help. It didn't...and those motherfuckers cost $115 now. I may have to adopt Fat Ricky's shoe buying strategy pretty soon (Go to the running shoe store and buy the second cheapest pair of Asics). I don't know if it was the new shoes or whether my now-less-weak-than-before hammies have altered my stride, but now I've got pain in a new spot altogether on the same knee. I'd wager it's tendonitis. Whatever. It's time to shut the fuck up and plow through it. As of tonight I've started medicating with Ibuprofen and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Tomorrow morning is Bay to Breakers, my favorite road race ever, in beautiful San Francisco, CA. I won't be participating this year, but I'll be sending out good vibes and admiration to all those who are drunk and/or naked on a public street at 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning. Cheers!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
[ ] The Happiest Place on Earth
My month off from running continues. I now haven't run a step in three weeks. When I chase after Junior at the park or anywhere that he escapes his toddler straitjacket ($24.99 @ Babies R Us), I skip on my good leg. It's kinda fun.
What's NOT kinda fun is Disneyland. Cupcake is into it and is indroctrinating Junior into her little cult of animated films, 6-foot tall talking rats, ducks with shirts and ties but no pants, and $14 churros. I humor her and tag along because I love her. Stupid, lousy love....
We spent 3 days in Anaheim visiting Disneyland last week and it was exhausting. Junior has all the patience of a meth-addicted hummingbird, so standing in lines for rides was not his cup of tea. Nor was waiting for a shuttle bus...or riding a shuttle bus...or going through airport security...or sitting for an hour on an airplane...or having no beer available...basically all the things we had to do to make our Disney dreams come true. I think Junior had some fun between tantrums, and we popped his air-travel cherry, so yeah...best vacation ever!
What's NOT kinda fun is Disneyland. Cupcake is into it and is indroctrinating Junior into her little cult of animated films, 6-foot tall talking rats, ducks with shirts and ties but no pants, and $14 churros. I humor her and tag along because I love her. Stupid, lousy love....
We spent 3 days in Anaheim visiting Disneyland last week and it was exhausting. Junior has all the patience of a meth-addicted hummingbird, so standing in lines for rides was not his cup of tea. Nor was waiting for a shuttle bus...or riding a shuttle bus...or going through airport security...or sitting for an hour on an airplane...or having no beer available...basically all the things we had to do to make our Disney dreams come true. I think Junior had some fun between tantrums, and we popped his air-travel cherry, so yeah...best vacation ever!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
My month off, week #1
Here's what's been happening with me during my self-imposed 'vacation' from running as I attempt to fix my POS knee.
Day 1: Wednesday 4/18/12
Watched "The Descendents" with Cupcake. Not bad. If I were the director of that movie, and I was a little bit more of an asshole than I already am, I would've made Clooney do about 50 takes of the scene where he's running through the neighborhood in flip flops. Just sayin'.
Day 2: Thursday 4/19/12
Saw my doctor, got x-rays, made a physical therapy appointment for Saturday. When the nurse entered my vitals into the computer, it told her to ask me two questions. Question One: Do I do a fair amount of aerobic exercise? This must pop up when the patient's pulse is low. Mine was 45 beats/minute. I told her I've been running between 50 and 60 miles a week. She then asked, "So that would be...something like...3 days a week? 30 minutes a day?" I told her 7 days a week, about an hour at a time. That seemed to satisfy her curiosity. Question Two: Do I drink more than 5 alcoholic beverages a day? My answer: "You buying?"
Day 3: Friday 4/20/12
Stayed home from work because Cupcake was pregnant, sick, and had an additional, 'unmentionable' medical issue. I'll spare everyone the gory details of the issue, but I did get to hear Cupcake shout, "MY ASSHOLE FUCKING HURTS SO BAD!" at least twice.
Day 4: Saturday 4/21/12
Biked home from the Toyota dealership after dropping off our gangsta Prius for the 10,000 mile service. Then it was off to Kaiser Permanente for a group class on rehabbing my knee. Now I've got some exercises for strengthening my hammies and glutes that I'll be doing every day for the rest of my life. Yay? Then it was back on the bike to pick up the Prius with the new 23" rimzzz. Holla!
Day 5: Sunday 4/22/12
La la la la...la la la la...Elmo's song! La la la la...la la la la...Elmo's song!
Day 6: Monday 4/23/12
Finished installing the chandelier Cupcake bought months ago. There was a lot going on with this project. Climbing around in the attic, cutting holes in the ceiling, installing a new electrical box, wiring, patching drywall, and then actually hanging this sucker on the ceiling. Celebrated by doing my physical therapy exercises.
Day 7: Tuesday 4/24/12
Cupcake made meatball subs for dinner, and they were marvelous. After the feast, I did my rehab exercises. Stretching is part of the exercises. That's right. I like to live dangerously. I may have felt something move in my knee as I was exiting a standing quad stretch. This seems like it should be bad, but it didn't hurt and afterward it actually felt pretty good, so maybe it was a move from Paintown to Smoothsville? Probably not, but maybe...just maybe. If the knee is now suddenly better, I'll have to amend my 'stretching causes injuries' theory to 'stretching toggles injuries.'
Day 1: Wednesday 4/18/12
Watched "The Descendents" with Cupcake. Not bad. If I were the director of that movie, and I was a little bit more of an asshole than I already am, I would've made Clooney do about 50 takes of the scene where he's running through the neighborhood in flip flops. Just sayin'.
Day 2: Thursday 4/19/12
Saw my doctor, got x-rays, made a physical therapy appointment for Saturday. When the nurse entered my vitals into the computer, it told her to ask me two questions. Question One: Do I do a fair amount of aerobic exercise? This must pop up when the patient's pulse is low. Mine was 45 beats/minute. I told her I've been running between 50 and 60 miles a week. She then asked, "So that would be...something like...3 days a week? 30 minutes a day?" I told her 7 days a week, about an hour at a time. That seemed to satisfy her curiosity. Question Two: Do I drink more than 5 alcoholic beverages a day? My answer: "You buying?"
Day 3: Friday 4/20/12
Stayed home from work because Cupcake was pregnant, sick, and had an additional, 'unmentionable' medical issue. I'll spare everyone the gory details of the issue, but I did get to hear Cupcake shout, "MY ASSHOLE FUCKING HURTS SO BAD!" at least twice.
Day 4: Saturday 4/21/12
Biked home from the Toyota dealership after dropping off our gangsta Prius for the 10,000 mile service. Then it was off to Kaiser Permanente for a group class on rehabbing my knee. Now I've got some exercises for strengthening my hammies and glutes that I'll be doing every day for the rest of my life. Yay? Then it was back on the bike to pick up the Prius with the new 23" rimzzz. Holla!
Day 5: Sunday 4/22/12
La la la la...la la la la...Elmo's song! La la la la...la la la la...Elmo's song!
Day 6: Monday 4/23/12
Finished installing the chandelier Cupcake bought months ago. There was a lot going on with this project. Climbing around in the attic, cutting holes in the ceiling, installing a new electrical box, wiring, patching drywall, and then actually hanging this sucker on the ceiling. Celebrated by doing my physical therapy exercises.
Day 7: Tuesday 4/24/12
Cupcake made meatball subs for dinner, and they were marvelous. After the feast, I did my rehab exercises. Stretching is part of the exercises. That's right. I like to live dangerously. I may have felt something move in my knee as I was exiting a standing quad stretch. This seems like it should be bad, but it didn't hurt and afterward it actually felt pretty good, so maybe it was a move from Paintown to Smoothsville? Probably not, but maybe...just maybe. If the knee is now suddenly better, I'll have to amend my 'stretching causes injuries' theory to 'stretching toggles injuries.'
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
My Shit's Fucked Up
I very gingerly jogged about 6 miles last night, taking care with every step not to hurt myself, but I still hurt myself. I gotta stop doing that.
Done.
The new plan is to not run a step for one month. During that month, I'll be trying to strengthen my incredibly weak hamstrings and quads. I'm sure my doctor or doctors are going to recommend stretching.
As everyone should know by now, stretching causes injuries. But since I'm already injured, I shouldn't worry about that. Right? Then, if I stretch my injured leg, should I stretch the good one too, and risk hurting myself there? What happens if I start running again and have one stretched leg and one unstretched? How bad will that be? My mind is more boggled than Deion Sanders' was when he hosted the Miss USA pageant.
Anyway, here's the new theme song for thaoblogg. Enjoy!
Done.
The new plan is to not run a step for one month. During that month, I'll be trying to strengthen my incredibly weak hamstrings and quads. I'm sure my doctor or doctors are going to recommend stretching.
As everyone should know by now, stretching causes injuries. But since I'm already injured, I shouldn't worry about that. Right? Then, if I stretch my injured leg, should I stretch the good one too, and risk hurting myself there? What happens if I start running again and have one stretched leg and one unstretched? How bad will that be? My mind is more boggled than Deion Sanders' was when he hosted the Miss USA pageant.
Anyway, here's the new theme song for thaoblogg. Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
[x] injured
And just like that, it was over.
After months of gradual deterioration, and a couple of weeks of pretty rapid deterioration, my oft-fucked-up left knee finally jumped its own personal shark about 3 minutes into last night's tempo run. When this has happened in the past, I've been able to get it back in action after a little while. Not this time. After three tries to get moving again, I had to give up and walk home. I guess now I'll be forced to see a doctor about it. Le sigh.
There's a chance I'll be able to run tonight, however. It may just be that I can't run fast in my fun, lightweight shoes anymore.
After months of gradual deterioration, and a couple of weeks of pretty rapid deterioration, my oft-fucked-up left knee finally jumped its own personal shark about 3 minutes into last night's tempo run. When this has happened in the past, I've been able to get it back in action after a little while. Not this time. After three tries to get moving again, I had to give up and walk home. I guess now I'll be forced to see a doctor about it. Le sigh.
There's a chance I'll be able to run tonight, however. It may just be that I can't run fast in my fun, lightweight shoes anymore.
Monday, April 9, 2012
[x] Ass: kicked.
Friday I had the rare opportunity to run at lunchtime. Normally I go home at lunchtime to help get Junior down for his nap, and then run at night after Junior goes to bed. However, Cupcake wanted to get a pizza and watch War Horse on Friday night so at high noon I hauled my old bones over to Rancho San Antonio to do a fartlek on the powerlines trail.
On the powerlines trail, after a little warmup hill to get the juices a-flowin', there are 5 climbs to the top before heading back down the high meadow trail. The climbs vary in length and grade, with the first being the longest and the last being the steepest. The plan was to work the climbs as hard as possible and recover on the short drops between the climbs.
As I was making my way up the climbs, working as hard as I could, I thought to myself, "Self...I don't think you're going any faster up these hills than you do when you're working a lot less hard. Are you really getting any sort of workout in besides a nice run in the hills?" It took me a day to find the answer to that question, which was a resounding "Yes!" It's Monday night, and I'm still sore from that motherfucker. Guess I was doing it right.
On the powerlines trail, after a little warmup hill to get the juices a-flowin', there are 5 climbs to the top before heading back down the high meadow trail. The climbs vary in length and grade, with the first being the longest and the last being the steepest. The plan was to work the climbs as hard as possible and recover on the short drops between the climbs.
As I was making my way up the climbs, working as hard as I could, I thought to myself, "Self...I don't think you're going any faster up these hills than you do when you're working a lot less hard. Are you really getting any sort of workout in besides a nice run in the hills?" It took me a day to find the answer to that question, which was a resounding "Yes!" It's Monday night, and I'm still sore from that motherfucker. Guess I was doing it right.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
A Small Setback and More Track
Nothing can keep me from my nightly runs. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing except home improvements that wind up being a lot more difficult than they were supposed to be. Nothing except that. Nothing except that and a kid with the measles. Nope. Nothing but those two things. And not sleeping. Nothing but those things can make me take three days off like I did earlier this week.
Shockingly, one side effect of the measles vaccine is the measles. Who knew?
Fremont High School has now finished locking up the front gate to their football stadium and wonderful new track. Boo. Fortunately there are at least a couple more easy access points from within the campus itself. On a Wednesday night, the campus is still wide open as students practice their French horns or their dance routines or whatever other activities their parents pressure them to do. Works for me.
Last night, in attempt to regain what little speed I once had, I re-did the old 6x200,4x400,6x200 with lots of recovery, workout that I did 3 weeks ago. While still very slow, I was noticeably less slow than last time...on the order of 2 seconds per 400m. Guh-roo-vee. That, and Junior Sr. sleeping through the night without a single wakeup, has me feeling optimistic again. Cue the doomswitch!
Shockingly, one side effect of the measles vaccine is the measles. Who knew?
Fremont High School has now finished locking up the front gate to their football stadium and wonderful new track. Boo. Fortunately there are at least a couple more easy access points from within the campus itself. On a Wednesday night, the campus is still wide open as students practice their French horns or their dance routines or whatever other activities their parents pressure them to do. Works for me.
Last night, in attempt to regain what little speed I once had, I re-did the old 6x200,4x400,6x200 with lots of recovery, workout that I did 3 weeks ago. While still very slow, I was noticeably less slow than last time...on the order of 2 seconds per 400m. Guh-roo-vee. That, and Junior Sr. sleeping through the night without a single wakeup, has me feeling optimistic again. Cue the doomswitch!
Friday, March 23, 2012
A Wedding, a Funeral, and an Update.
Bring da amber lamps! It's the Very First Occasional ThaOBlogg Travelogue!
Dateline: St. Paul, MN.
My grandmother Lillian (age 96) died in February, so on March 12th I hopped on a plane to attend her memorial service and spend a little time with the rest of the family.
In this case, a little time was about 12 hours, since I landed at MSP around noon on a Monday and got on a plane back to SJC at 6 AM the next day. I got to see some rarely-seen family members (basically all of them) and some extremely rarely-seen family members (hadn't seen aunt Marisa in about 30 years). I broke my beer-fast with a Bell's Porter, which was as delicious as I remembered it. I spent what will likely be my last night in the house where I grew up, as ThaOMomm and ThaODadd are preparing to move into a condo (no stairs, no yard maintenance). Maybe it was the wet weather and the brown, dormant grass of late winter, but my old neighborhood looked a hell of a lot dumpier than I remembered it. There were chickens roaming the streets fercrisesakes. I had a chance to run while I was there, but chose to spend all of my limited time either hanging out with the family or sleeping.
Dateline: Pasadena, CA.
On a much happier note, my good friend Rajiv got married on Saint Patrick's Day. Cupcake and Junior were kind enough to give me another one-day pass to attend. I got to meet the bride, who looked lovely and was incredibly nice and friendly. Good job, Raj. Here is the happy couple tearing it up during their first dance. Sorry for the craptacular camera work.
I got to hang out with Erin and Mike Oxlong* and their kids, which is always a hoot. My opinion of Los Angeles did not change. It's still a nightmare.
Dateline: The Vale, CA
Despite a small setback in Junior's sleeping (That Measels, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine does pack a wallop.), my mileage is creeping up into the respectable range. My last track workout of 4 x 1 mile was, on average, about 5 seconds/mile better than it was 3 weeks prior despite windy conditions. Monday's tempo run went well, too, with my pace edging ever closer to 6:00/mile. And I can now manage 3 pull ups...almost 4. Yee fucking ha!
* Not their real last name...duh. Their real last name is Oxinfected.
Dateline: St. Paul, MN.
My grandmother Lillian (age 96) died in February, so on March 12th I hopped on a plane to attend her memorial service and spend a little time with the rest of the family.
In this case, a little time was about 12 hours, since I landed at MSP around noon on a Monday and got on a plane back to SJC at 6 AM the next day. I got to see some rarely-seen family members (basically all of them) and some extremely rarely-seen family members (hadn't seen aunt Marisa in about 30 years). I broke my beer-fast with a Bell's Porter, which was as delicious as I remembered it. I spent what will likely be my last night in the house where I grew up, as ThaOMomm and ThaODadd are preparing to move into a condo (no stairs, no yard maintenance). Maybe it was the wet weather and the brown, dormant grass of late winter, but my old neighborhood looked a hell of a lot dumpier than I remembered it. There were chickens roaming the streets fercrisesakes. I had a chance to run while I was there, but chose to spend all of my limited time either hanging out with the family or sleeping.
Dateline: Pasadena, CA.
On a much happier note, my good friend Rajiv got married on Saint Patrick's Day. Cupcake and Junior were kind enough to give me another one-day pass to attend. I got to meet the bride, who looked lovely and was incredibly nice and friendly. Good job, Raj. Here is the happy couple tearing it up during their first dance. Sorry for the craptacular camera work.
I got to hang out with Erin and Mike Oxlong* and their kids, which is always a hoot. My opinion of Los Angeles did not change. It's still a nightmare.
Dateline: The Vale, CA
Despite a small setback in Junior's sleeping (That Measels, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine does pack a wallop.), my mileage is creeping up into the respectable range. My last track workout of 4 x 1 mile was, on average, about 5 seconds/mile better than it was 3 weeks prior despite windy conditions. Monday's tempo run went well, too, with my pace edging ever closer to 6:00/mile. And I can now manage 3 pull ups...almost 4. Yee fucking ha!
* Not their real last name...duh. Their real last name is Oxinfected.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
[ ] Race Toughness
So I broke my reconstructed race hymen on Saturday and it feels good. It feels so good, in fact, that I put together a racing schedule for myself for the upcoming months. More on that later.
Races are good for me and for anyone else who trains alone. When I run a race properly I can achieve a level of discomfort I just can't simulate in a workout. Alone on a dark track, nobody can see me get lazy during an interval. In a race, when I can't/don't push through the pain, then I get passed by bozos who have no business beating me, which is a real bummer. When the real pain hit in Saturday's race, I did not push through it. I did not push through it because I couldn't push through it because I'm not 'race tough' anymore. The only way for me to get 'race tough' is to race. So that's what I'm a-gonna do.
And now, the tentative racing schedule:
April 29, Great Race 4 Mile
May 13, Running of the Bulls 5k
June 16, Trail Quake Half-Marathon
July 15, Jungle Run Half-Marathon
September 28, Moonlight 5k
October 28, Morgan Hill Marathon
November 11, Home Run 5k
Look for me out there. I'll be the old dude in the Papa Smurf t-shirt.
Races are good for me and for anyone else who trains alone. When I run a race properly I can achieve a level of discomfort I just can't simulate in a workout. Alone on a dark track, nobody can see me get lazy during an interval. In a race, when I can't/don't push through the pain, then I get passed by bozos who have no business beating me, which is a real bummer. When the real pain hit in Saturday's race, I did not push through it. I did not push through it because I couldn't push through it because I'm not 'race tough' anymore. The only way for me to get 'race tough' is to race. So that's what I'm a-gonna do.
And now, the tentative racing schedule:
April 29, Great Race 4 Mile
May 13, Running of the Bulls 5k
June 16, Trail Quake Half-Marathon
July 15, Jungle Run Half-Marathon
September 28, Moonlight 5k
October 28, Morgan Hill Marathon
November 11, Home Run 5k
Look for me out there. I'll be the old dude in the Papa Smurf t-shirt.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Race Recaplet
Well, I ran the Juana Run 8k this morning. The short version is I started a little too fast, picked up a gorilla and the piano he was playing after 3 miles, and finished 10th or so in 28:25. Cupcake and Junior came out to watch and recorded my final waddle to the finish
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