Dr. John

No, not the Dr. John of "Night Tripper" fame, but Dr.John Sarno.

That's him in the picture.

Tiny, 83, Head of Rehabilitation Medicine at NY University. This guy is no slouch.

But what he has to say may kick your athletic ass.

I read about him first in a Runners World article titled "The Big Hurt" by Ben Cheever.

He goes on about a problem with his Piriformis and his inability to run...and then he gets to Dr. Sarno. The Good doctor examines him, tells him there is nothing wrong and that his problems are coming from his head.

Having been through a bout of pains this summer, my foot my neck and left shoulder, this really made me come to attention.

I surfed a bit and found several books by Dr. Sarno. "Healing Back Pain" and "The Divided Mind". Both books deal with an idea of his, TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome). The sort version of this is that often the pains we suffer are due to rage and anger we carry inside of us. Anger over any number of issues or problems or things that have happened in life. This anger manifests itself in physical pain...pain that can be debilitating. His ideas are discounted by a doctors schooled in a era when the power of the mind in illness has been givin short shrift. (This is so far outside the mainstream of medicine, that even Runners World buried the meat of the article in the back pages and the only letter to the editor they printed on the subject though it was irresponsible for them to have printed the article in the first place.)

Having a Masters Degree in Counseling I have to say that saw this almost immediately as a real possibility of my recent pains. Over the years I've seen the power of the mind do some really strange stuff. I'd had pains that had led to a sub par Ironman finish and having to drop out of another race as well as all the money I'd spent on PT this year on my neck and shoulder.

I read the books, thought about them and was thankful I'd finished Anatomy and Physiology last year as it gave me a good back ground to understand how Dr. Sarno's ideas work.

All I needed to do was test it out.

Several times in the past weeks since I was able to return to running, I've had a few issues pop up during a run or a bike ride...I asked myself, out loud even, What was I angry about. I even answered myself...sometimes out loud. The pain went away almost immediately.

More reading to do, but as far as I'm concerned...nuff said!

I'm back up to running 50 mile weeks with no problems.

Civil Twilight

They're out there. I'm not. At 7:00 this morning just about Civil Twilight the Triple Ironman got off to a start. I really wanted to be there but it wasn't to be.

Now I realize I was WAY too wrapped up in the "injury" and let it get the best of me. Stopped running because that's what I supposed to do. And now basically, I have to start again. Slowly and get the running legs back that I had.

No biggie...just time and as you know" Time" is the avenger...it lays everything low and that will include me. I have a whole list of goals I have yet to achieve...all I need is time.

Listening right now to an alternative band "Civil Twilight." Good stuff....power trio and I LOVE power trios!

Rain,Rain Go Away!

They say it rains "Cats and Dogs" which always makes me remember that line from that fun movie "GhostBusters" where Dr. Venkman is explaining what will happen if the evil forces at play get control... "Dogs and Cats living together...mass hysteria!"

While mass hysteria wasn't prevalent at this years 24 Hours of Booty...the "Dogs and Cats' were very much falling from the sky...

The event, a fund raiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Ulman Cancer Fund was scheduled to start at four this past Saturday afternoon and indeed it did...albeit a few minutes late. It started just about the same time the rain proceeded to come down in earnest. It rained in earnest for the next 19 hours.

I had visions of riding at least three hundered

miles but my training had been lacking due to a foot injury and time off. I surely had less milage in the legs than last year when I rode the three hundred on the trainer when Booty was canceled. This time out it was just a spin and a time to ponder the past present and future...

At about 4:10 the cancer survivors and major fund raisers were off in a lap of honor and the rest of us waited a few minutes. We began our first lap of the course...a 2.5 mile loop in a business park outside of Columbia, Maryland. The first time the Booty folks have done an event away from the original "Booty Loop" in Charlotte.

The loop is a combo platter of flats, slight up hills, and a good descent with a 90 degree turn at the bottom. One easy climb. Overall a fun and safe course...

Every type of rider is there. Little kids on BMX...a hoot to watch, once in awhile bikies and some hammer heads. Most are in teams and take turns doing loops while the others on the team sleep, snack and hang out. There are a few solo riders, of which I'm one..but they don't make themselves obvious till late in the evening in the pouring rain and you notice they haven't gone in for a break either.

There is one guy on a Unicycle. A woman, a cancer survivor, being pulled along in a pedi-cab.

Bikes worth thousands of dollars and rusty clunkers squeaking along. No ego here, which I liked...just folks riding together for a cause. Rusty Clunker chatting with Mr. 5K Cervelo about the rain, cancer and their families.

I ride pretty consistently even though the rain just comes down in sheets at times I roll in for water and snacks and to smooch the wife who has come to support me...bless her. Standing in the rain, sleeping in a wet tent and all the time a smile...

About eight p.m. ML heads for the tent and I head into a cold night. The rain picks up and the temps drop after dark. It's obvious. I'm wearing three layers, one water proof, and if I stop moving...i get cold. As I talk to folks I find it doesn't matter what you're wearing...plastic, rubber or Gore-Tex...it doesn't take long until you're wet. It reminds me of Spanky, who told me quite a long time ago, "Rain gear is only meant to keep you dry till you can get the hell out of the rain."

The laps zip by and after awhile you notice who to avoid because of sketchy bike handling skills and who it's OK to ride next to. On the descent with the turn, in the pouring rain, some are confident and others a screaming mess quite gripped with fear.

As the evening wears on the rain picks up and just pounds folks. By ten p.m. numbers on the road thin and by eleven the riders have thinned even more. It's cold, as in see your breath cold, raining and a bit windy. By midnight I'm alone with the exception three, maybe four other riders.

I'm starting to have trouble staying warm. Calories don't help and dry clothes would be useless in a few minutes. I'm at 128 miles ( 12:30) and decide it's time for some solid food from the midnight pizza party. I don't make it back out. Shivering I head to the Honda get into some dry clothes and go over to the tent and the somewhat sleeping Mary Lou. I decide to wait two hours and see which way the wind is blowing. As I zip up the tent, another solo rider is getting into her tent nearby. She's had enough too.

One o'clock, two, two- thirty...it just pours and the wind picks up. Finally about three I'm up and about and the rain is better but only just. Dry clothes on, food and I'm back out. The forecast calls for clearing, but that must be in some other state, because it rains here all morning.

By ten, I'm wet, shivering and just about had enough...ML left for home at sun up and can't say as I blame her!

I decide that I'll go another 122 miles to make it a round 250 and then bag it. At 11:30 a.m., DONE and MAN! It feels good to get dry clothes on. I chat with a few folks, get breakfast, and some are just heading out to ride...with a good number just arriving to ride. They told me they didn't want to ride in the rain last night so they decided to come in the morning.

Lots of riders there wearing "I'm riding in Memory of..." signs and I thought about what I was riding for while there. Was I riding in memory of someone? Mom and Dad? Mary? UJ or anyone else I know who has had to deal with cancer?

I decided I was riding for everyone who hasn't been stricken yet and considering how cancer has hammered my family, probably myself.

Pain, Pain Go Away

Well...When last I had time to be here and post something it was all fun. In the post about Lake Placid Ironman you'll recall that I had major foot problems...which lead to stress fracture worries.

I was able to get out for a great ride In Lancaster, PA and keep up with my riding, even though it was painful at times. After a bout of physical therapy for some neck problems I was able to swim more...but running? Completely out of the question. This led me to make a tough decision: Pull out of the Triple Ironman for the third year in a row.

This coming weekend I'm looking at the "24 Hours Of Booty" a biking event. It's the largest 24 hour fund raiser in the country with proceeds going to The Lance Armstrong Foundation, The Ulman Cancer Fund and Johns Hopkins.

I'm really looking forward to this since last years event was a literal wash out with a tropical storm and I rode the event...at home...in the car port..on the trainer! It will be nice to actually do it!

Now the foot is questionable, but money was donated and promises made, so at least a good faith ride is in order.

We start at 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday and plow through till the same time on Sunday.

Hopefully all will go well, but if the foot bothers...I'll bag it and head home. Everything right now is about getting the foot back in order and getting back to running since as many of you know is my first love.

I've had a fair amount of pain issues the past year and have been drawn to some of the pain management books by Dr. John Sarno. "Healing Back Pain: The Mind Body Connection" and "The Divided Mind" He feels that much of our pain...foot pain, back pain, trouble with the piriformis or the IT band. is psychlogical. The pain came from rage and anger that we carry in us. (That's the simplistic version of course) Interesting for me, since I had a professor in college, Denis Lindberg who felt the same thing and from him I developed the felling that it was probably true...

I'll let you know how the 24 Hours Of Booty goes and some more stuff about Sarno later.

Man! That was buggy!

The 2009 Covered Bridge Metric Century

I love this organized bike ride...I've been half a dozen times and it's always a great morning...

Pulled out of here at 4:30 this morning to drive the few hours to Lancaster, PA to do the ride which is sponsored by the Lancaster Bike Club.

Inexpensive at $20 with good food great views and 3,300 other people...

The ride s supposed to start at 7:30, but it's "Show and Go" so after registration and getting my wrist band I pulled out of the parking lot at 7:05. 65 degrees and misty and almost as soon as you leave the lot, you're in Amish country... Quiet on a Sunday morning, until the buggies start making their way to meeting. The Amish are always friendly to cyclists and I've often pulled up along side and chatted about the horses or the buggy or the speed at which those things can move! A crack of the whip, a snort and some flaring nostrils on the horse and you will be hard pressed to keep up!

I fell in with a group of riders of various ages a few miles out and ...well riding in group is ALWAYS faster than going it alone , so I jumped in and took some pulls at the front and drafted when I had the chance...the group seemed to be getting along fine and we got to 20 miles in an hour, on a rolling course....

Two of the group , big strapping lads, solid bikies for sure, (Note: team uniforms and big meat (legs) are always a dead give away that they're serious) decided to shred the group and so went to the front and hammered the pace. Five of us dropped the group as we flew off the front. I was able to hang for a few more miles finally getting buried on the big lump of the day. No worries...they're probably 25...I'm 55. Lets see if they 're even still riding in 30 years!

The next twenty miles found me in a gap so I had the road to myself with no one passing me and no one to the front...nice! Just an exquisite morning to be out.

Rolling into the "lunch stop" at 9:00 was fun...just a few folks and lots of food, no lines for the port-o-john and quiet...Later in the morning the place will be packed with riders. I like it this way better.

After the stop (10 minutes, maybe) I pick up a "buddy." Now I don't mind riding with folks ...but this guy. Oy! The bike course is so well marked the Three Blind Mice could follow it. Signs and arrows painted on the road. HE'S following the cue sheet, the written directions.

At EVERY intersection he's like, "Are we still on the course? Are you sure this is right? I didn't see an arrow!" If I said "Just follow the arrows" once, I said it a dozen times and that's NOT hyperbole! Several times he went ahead of me and at clearly marked intersections...went off course. The first time I yelled for him. The second and third time..I left him to his own devices.

He'd realize his mistake at some point and come back up chattering, talking to me long before he got near enough for me to make out clearly what he was saying. At 58 miles the Metric Century and Half metric ( that's 62 and 31 miles respectively for the metric impaired) He zipped ahead and I never saw him after that...

Arriving back at the start at 64 miles ( the course is obviously long) I was a bit cooked, but that's ok...an 18mph average and a 3:45 elapsed time (not bike time!) was just fine by me! I haven't been working on speed recently so going harder than normal was great.

Got some ice cream...chatted with a few vendors then toweled off and headed home....

Post Placid Plague...

Post Placid Plague... or Hygiene, how are ya?

Ugh...the Tuesday after Lake Placid Ironman...that's the 28th we're driving home. I'm feeling worse and worse as we go. Finally, getting home I confess to the spouse that I'm sick. Off to bed and a fever check and sure enough I'm spiking at 100.9. Yes I know that the standard human temp is 98.6, but if you've spent anytime around the medical field you also know that base temps vary from person to person. I'm usually 97. So ...yup...I'm sick. The next two weeks were a drag especially because ML came down sick a few days after me...We are just now coming out of the funk and are both sporting a bit of a cough...

Why did I get sick?

Iron Hygiene or lack there of. When I look back to race day I possible to see SOOO many places you could pick up a virus. (I'm sure it was because a virus because of it's sudden onset, the fever and a number of other symptoms that point that way.)

How many little kids did I high five or fist bump? No idea, but you know kids...there is NO telling where their fingers were just before you made skin to skin contact. At Ironman, on hot days, they had out nice cold, sopping wet sponges. You toss them on the ground when you're done swabbing yourself ...the volunteers pick them up and re-soak them so they can be again handed out. YUCK! I am sure that cold water is not doing much to inhibit bacteria or viruses.

You don't think of it at the time but lying in bed with a fever you sure do!

Grabbing cups of liquid from aid station volunteers who's hand cleanliness might be questionable...bless 'em they work their asses off and it's hard to keep yourself clean.

And finally...the swim. An article at Slowtwitch.com recently suggested you shouldn't get anywhere near the swim course until race day because of all the foul stuff you can pick up in the water...even a nice cold Northern New York Lake. And race day! 2,300 people all taking the opportunity to pee in Mirror Lake, even though the Mayor reminded everyone not to!

Any way back on the up swing except I made an appointment to get back to the podiatrist to see about managing my metatarsalgia. (right foot pain that's keeping my running in check right now.

IMLP Geek-o-meter!

Time for the IMLP 2009 Geek-o-meter!

The sole purpose of this entry is to spit out numbers for those of you who get a throbbin' bobbin over anything that involves digits.

(As you may have read in the previous post I did Ironman Lake Placid with an injured foot...that said, here we go!

Finish time: 15:38:51

Swim time: 1:24 (in my usual ball park)

Bike time: 7:23 (includes pedaling the last 20 miles on one leg.)

Run time: 6:29 (that's an average 14:50 per mile)

I wore a Qunitana Roo Ultra Full wetsuit and Aqua Sphere goggles for the swim.

My bike is a 2001 Specialized pro edition frame, alloy, 54cm, zebra stripped.

Drive train is a combo platter of Dura Ace and Ultegra with Zero G brakes.

Bontrager wheels with Conti Competition tires.

Thomson seat post, Bontrager stem and Salsa Handlebars

Seat is Teri Fly

Computer is Cat Eye Strada and the Orca Squeaky toy was made in America by Co-Union.

On the run I wore Nike Vomero size 11.

I wore the same outfit all day...A nice orange/white and grey number from the 24 Hours of Booty. It was my way of helping to bring awareness to a bike event that raises money for the Livestrong Foundation and the Ulman Cancer Fund.

No hat...too damned hot.

The most frustrating part of the day was that I had tons of energy as my nutrition was spot on.

I went through 30 servings of Gu Roctane and water (7 bottles on the bike) all day with a little solid food on the bike (PB and J) and soup and cola on the run (walk). One Succeed! Capsule (electrolytes) per hour but none on the run. I never really flagged all day.

There were 2,531 registered athletes.

2,258 Finishers

140 DNF's (did not finish) for Men

68 DNF's for Women

65 DNS (did not start)

There were 93 starters in my age group (55-59 Yikes! am I that old?) and 84 finishers. I was 67/84

In the Year leading up to IMLP my training consisted of:

105 Kilometers of Swimming (about 64 miles)

4220 miles on the bike

1,278 running miles

615 hours worth of my time.

Toss some time in the weight room and yoga in there too.

Totals are from my paper training log and may vary slightly from my on line log. My paper is more accurate, but when it comes to this kind of thing I tend to not be wrapped that tight.

On the bike I saw 6 folks with flat tires. It was obvious that some of them had no idea how to fix it. Witnessed 2 bad crashes. And 3 folks who were DQ'd although I can only find one on the record. Saw a number of folks pinged (penalized) for drafting but not sure how many....I saw at least 5 in the penalty tents.

This was my 4th Lake Placid, my fourth Ironman and my Ironman PW (Personal worst) and I told Mary Lou that if I ever want to do Lake Placid again, she has permission to beat me senseless with a ball peen hammer.

I enjoyed this IM better than the other three...it was fun even though it hurt, and I think that's because I was real good about my training...got to experience some new stuff, like finishing late,

and just how dark it can get on the River Road. I was also witness to the legend of Matt Long become even deeper and richer...a very special part of the day.

All in all...No complaints! It's just Ironman.