Times change and so do I!

Have re-booted the old blog http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
Slide on over there and so what I'm up to!

My take on the food in BA

 I didn't have a morsel of bad food in BA. Not a single glass of so-so wine. Every beer was good. The food in BA is just killer....

When we arrived in BA we were starving and just wandered up the street from the hotel until we found a little hole in the wall Locuteria (internet cafe) that was also a sundries shop and had some guy cooking food....Ham sandwich, Quilmes beer and a few empanadas later...I was hooked on BA food and I hadn't even had the good stuff yet!

We hit a landmark old school restaurant the next day and here's a pic...Ensalada mixte, befe "mini" and papa souffle (puffed up french fries cooked in fat and just wicked good. I'd never had anything like it. That's it just below.

And that STILL wasn't the good stuff. Some good friends had us out to their "campo" for an Asado (barbacue) a few days later. All the meat you see below was from the farm. Goat, pig sheep and all sorts of other things that melted off the bone. All natural, grass fed, no chemicals and that's not some special thing they do on the property. ALL the food is like that. Fresh. Local. No crap. Real food.

The Argentines take great pride in the quality of their food. From breakfast in the hotel (included) to the stuff off the street it was all good.
Out to eat one night with a family friend we went to an Italian restaurant. I had the best pasta I have ever eaten. La Parlaccia. Fabulous. Period. And this was just a neighborhood place!

Some remarkable points: I didn't find a single product with High Fructose corn syrup in it and that included a Coke and Pepsi. The labels read Water, Sugar...
I don't do that well with red meat. It bothers my gut. In BA I had it everyday and it was delicious and I didn't have a single problem. Meat with no chemicals in it. No hormones. No God-knows-what. My wife is lactose intolerant (we call her a lactard). She drank milk, ate cream and ice cream and not a single stomach issue. She didn't take the lactaid pills she does here. She remembered when she grew up there it wasn't an issue either. Milk with no garbage in it.

We drink Argentine wine here at home, the same brands we did there and they were very inexpensive and all good to the last drop. Quilmes beer? Muy Bueno!

Meals in BA are a languid affair. Restaurants outside the tourist zones open for lunch, close about 2 or 3 and don't re-open till around 8. It's common to be eating a great meal at 9 or 10 in the evening. We ate at private homes and the the same applied...we were expected for dinner at 8.

Food costs far less than it does here, even with 25% inflation. At La Parlaccia we got out the door for $90 including tip, a bottle of wine and bottled water for a meal that would cost 200 or more here. Sandwiches on the street? About 8 pesos or $2 U.S. A local told me that "In Argentina, even the poor eat well." Argentina ranks equal to the U.S. In food availability according to the CIA fact book.

ML and I didn't deny ourselves anything while in Argentina. We ate it all. A good breakfast, a lunch then a late dinner..steak, cheeses, ice cream wine, beer. We lost weight! Sure we were walking a lot but our activity level was less than we normally have what with all the running and biking and walking and such. The only conclusion I can come to is that the amount of basura (garbage) in our food, especially HFCS is why our nation suffers so many health related issues.
One sees very few over weight Argentines.

Buenos Aires: City of Opposites

Beautiful and Ugly. Wonderful and Boring.  Happy and Sad. Hopeful and Dismal. Safe and Dangerous.
Masterpiece. Graffiti. Clean and Dirty. Old World and New World and so much more.

This is just a snap shot of my recent visit to BsAs. A brief over view with bits thrown in of things I've read from solid sources and news and ideas from Portenos themselves.

It will take some time to write but I'll try to keep the number of blog entries to just a few.

Recently had the chance to travel to BsAs with my lovely wife...she grew up there and is, at heart, a Porteno....a person of the port, which BsAs is and was.

I wasn't sure where to start writing about this adventure but opposites seemed appropriate. Driving and walking around the city and the country I was struck by all the things I mentioned above. The two pics I've chosen to start this entry aren't mine and thanks to those who lent them...
At the top is the Avineda 9 de Julio take from the air. The Avenue is the heart and soul of part of the city. Running North to South it is the largest Avenue on the Planet (some dispute on that) in one of the largest cities on the planet (9th). It is home to the Teatro Colon. El Obelisco, 16 lanes of traffic and up close...the homeless, the dirt, the petty crime, the beautiful women, the men of business, awesome restaurants and holes in the wall with the best empanadas on earth.

The second photo is, in the foreground, the Villas Miseria...the Neighborhoods of Misery.  Homes without water and sewage disposal slapped together by the people who live there from material they find or steal or make. They are mostly made up of immigrants who have no place to live except here. They dot the city.
Passing one on a Sunday, it was obvious that they not without hope.... a dirt pitch ringed with spectators and leaning out of the windows of the shacks more people watching a futbol match and clapping and cheering...

Graffiti is a low art form here. It's everywhere. Usually a sign of social decay. It's not like some of the scrawl you see in some places that could actually be classified as art. This is rough and crude and usually political in nature when it isn't obscene. It's nasty but at the same time it's expression in pure form.  Vandalism of the Heart...words from a frustrated people blasting the government and all those who make Argentina less than it could be.

Everywhere is the New World. Internet cafes, cell phones, up scale shopping and new ideas. Asados (barbecues) Gauchos. (cowboys, who are actually still cowboys) Everywhere is the Old World. French and Italian influenced buildings and art. European style greetings and meals. French, Italian, German, English and Argentina's own brand of Spanish spoken here. Devoted Catholics, Masses in Latin, Fascism and anti-semitism.  It's all there.

I loved the place. I loved the people. I was saddened by the misery. I dig it's history. I could eat like an Argentine for the rest of my life and never  look back...and that's what I'll cover next. The food.

Everything I know about endurance sports I learned from Les Paul

I love this picture of Les Paul. In his 90's and still kicking it.

If you don't know Les, you should. He has been called the father of the solid body guitar. He invented new and exciting ways of recording. He played the guitar well into his 90's and was playing well just a few days before his death. If you've never heard him, download some of his tunes and listen to clear, sharp virtuoso playing by someone of your parents (or grandparents) generation.

I'm not a guitar player, although I gave it a shot once. I used to play the bass and can still roll off a few licks if I find one in my hands.

Endurance sports like running an cycling and triathlon, at their core, involve the kinds of things Les used to talk about all the time. As I get older even more of his wisdom applies because it deals with longevity.

"Don't touch it if it gets complicated."

Running, and cycling and doing tri's shouldn't be weighted down by the tyranny of technology.

The more you let yourself be sucked into things like a GPS watch and computer programs to track your fitness, power meters and all sorts of other technology, the farther you get from the core of the sports: Being fit, having fun and becoming a better person. They may have their place for you, but they aren't necessary. Often they get in the way.

"Be patient. Learn one thing at a time. Don't worry about being fast. That comes with practice."

We live in a culture of "Gotta have it now!" I meet so many athletes who are new and have a bucket list and have no real sense of their sports history or what it means to do something for years upon years. They simply have to have that marathon NOW. That Ironman NOW! They simply have run Boston NOW! Be patient. Truly learn your sport. Know it's history. Become a part of it, if you love it, let it become part of you. Learn to swim well. Learn to bike well. Learn to run well. Learn how to handle races and how do deal with things when it all goes bad (and it will). Stay healthy and don't get injured. In time your speed will come and you'll find all your patience will pay off. Bear in mind "fast" is a relative term and different for everyone. Be your fast, not someone else's.

"It's what you do with what you have that counts."

I beat my head against the "Boston" wall for years and just never managed to get there. I'm just not that fast. I have managed to pull down some Age Group awards over the years, but to be honest, most of those were before the current triathlon and running boom so my age group was kind of light. Being able to go long was my strength. I can run all day. Literally. I can bike all day and all night. Literally. I can stay upright and keep moving for hours upon hours. Literally. It's what I do, with what I got that counts. Do your best with what you have.

When Les was 33 he was in a car accident and had his right elbow broken. Once set, it would be immovable for life. He had it set at just less than 90 degrees so he could still play the guitar...something he did for the next 61 years. With a fused elbow! It was what he did with what he had that counted.

"It's not technique, it's what you have to say."

Many folks who are involved in endurance sports look like they have no business being there. Their arms are all akimbo when they run. Their swim technique is more dog paddle than anything and don't even ask them to hold a line on a bike!

They are all heart though. Despite how they may look, they love what they do and are successful at it. So many who strive for perfection suffer on the altar of that perfection. They don't stay around long. Sports for them is full of pain and angst, most of it mental and self inflicted. Those other folks? The ones who just get out and go? You see them year after year. There is more to endurance sports than medals and finishing. What are you saying? What example are you setting? What are you saying about the quality of your life? Are you mentoring other athletes? Are you making a difference in your sport?

"There are times when you want to go where you used to go and you can't go there."

We all get slower. Can't ride as far. Running times slow and distances shorten. There is a time when the PR's just stop coming. That's life. It's doesn't mean you're less of a person. It doesn't mean you have failed. It's not an indication it's time to quit, it's just that time is leading you down a different path.

Les never quit. He never stopped playing. He loved doing what he did. He inspired others to do the same.

Be like Les. Never quit. Never stop playing. Love what you do, even when it all goes bad. Inspire others to get off the couch and move.

Observations on running with the Mouse.

Compression socks don't help you walk any faster.

Compression socks really do help AFTER the event.

The number of newbies that have no idea what they are doing is staggering,

they can be dangerous to those around them.

Don't get pissed...your number says Corral E and that's why they won't let you in Corral B.

Race starts with fire works are so cool!

D tags come off really easily...there were tons of them near mile 18 and 19 just before the place where you can cut the course.

Running a half marathon in the dark makes for easy pee stops.

Does everyone who runs on the road in VFF's tape ice to their knees after every race?

You meet the nicest people during a race but the relationship usually doesn't last long.

Arm warmers look dumb with a singlet.

I swear the largest age group seems to be women 20-24.

Real runners wear split shorts.

Those folks that come in in 3 hours for the half and 7 for the full...they're tough.

Disney has the nicest volunteers.

Screaming at your boy friend won't get him to go faster. I know this from past experience.

Everybody deserves a pat on the back.

Hot tea heals all wounds....so does a kiss.

Running 5 abreast on a one lane road can piss off 21,000 other people.

He really does look like Jack Sparrow.

If you drop something during a race and stop to pick it up you WILL get knocked flat on your ass.

If you stop ON THE FINISH LINE to wait for a friend you WILL get knocked flat on your ass.

Looking at your watch as you cross the finish line at your first marathon just eliminates half a dozen pictures that you'll buy to remember the race.

Just because you finished before 18,000 other people doesn't mean you get all the water/bagels/bananas that you can carry.

If you're cold standing at the start line you're dressed right. My guess is you wouldn't be drenched with sweat and could have finished your race faster if you weren't over dressed.

Running is truly a great equalizer.

Finally, as always, the number goes on the front.

Time to hit the pavement!

There are times when hitting the road is a good thing. There are times when hitting the road isn't such a good thing.

This is about both.

My 6th Goofy Challenge at Disney World was this past weekend and having finished all six makes me "Perfectly Goofy"! I hadn't really had the intention of going but the ever lovely ML thought it would be fun to go and get her 5th half marathon there.

Last May 12th I was on the couch medicated with really good drugs staring at a post surgery ankle propped up on a chair. My doctor said my ankle should be solid within the year but that running might be a problem, he just wasn't sure. After 40 years of running well, if that was it...that was it. As it turns out and much to my doc's glee, it's just fine and running isn't a problem. Well, I have had a few gait change issues that I'm working through, but they'll pass.

What can you say about running at Disney? It's fun and cool and expensive and worth it.

The hardest part of the weekend is getting up at two in the morning to get to the race venue. Do Goofy and you have to do it two days in a row. Fine.

We were up at the right time and on the bus and off to the race sight getting there at 3:15. Now previous years and increasing years have led us to get slots at the runners retreat. While expensive it is worth it to ML and to my creaking bones. We meet some nice folks at our table and nosh on bagels and hot tea and enjoy the private porta- johns. Nice.

At about 4:45 we head over to the race start which is now the same for both races. Kisses, hugs and I leave ML in her corral and walk up to mine. We wear only the best in lawn and leaf bags which block the wind and provide a great place to pee in plan view of twenty thousand people.

At 5:35 the wheelies go off and six minutes later the first wave goes off. Six minutes later I 'm off. It's 5:47. It's a cool morning.

Running in the dark is good. I like it. It's fun with fire works! Away from Epcot and off toward the Magic Kingdom the miles tick by and hitting the road out here is cool...lots of fun and happy folks and it's neat to be running up Main Street with all the lights, including Christmas lights. I never get tired of it.

With so many folks it does get tight in a few places, and I'm in an early wave! It must be really tight for folks at the back.

I spin along and the ankle feels good and I've taped my knee to help with a tracking issue. It feels good too. (KT tape rocks!)

Before long you can see Spaceship Earth and are back in Epcot and at the finish. 2:08 for the 13.1 miles at an easy pace. Now in my neighborhood, 2:08 is slow. My PR is 1:38. and I usually run a 1:45, but I'm running a marathon the next day so a lollygag is good. almost 22,000 finishers for the race and I'm 4,800th-ish.

ML, my hero, rolls in at 2:45, quite happy. Not bad for someone pushing 58 in her 5th year of running.

Back to the hotel for a stand in the cool pool water, a shower and off to the parks! Can't pass up fun.

ML sleeps in the next morning and I repeat the previous days awakening and repeat the process to get to the start line. While waiting in the corral the announcers are interviewing some woman who is all fired up about doing Goofy and se boasts how she resisted going to the parks after the half so she'd be ready for the mary. Myself and the other Goofies around me laugh..."Who does that?" someone said You're supposed to run the half, go walk around the rest of the day and then run the marathon. It's part of Goofy.

The fire works and cannon go off and off we all go into the dark but only 17 thousand folks this time. (13,522 finishers)

The miles go by kind of quick...I'm listening to music and it really helps things go faster. I never do other races or train with tunes so pulling them out on this day, a really bumpin' play list, makes it even more fun.

I'm just humming along, ankle and knee solid, leaving The Animal Kingdom park and passing mile 18 then 19 and thinking about a 4:30 finish. Two wide open lanes on the road and the pack has really thinned out. It's all good when....SLAM!!!! I'm face down on the pavement. I'm a little dazed and have the wind knocked out of me and have no idea what the hell happened...

Some great runners around me helped me up and stayed with me till I could breathe. One of them, a woman, told me what happened: A "young girl" (her term) passed her, running with her head down...she came right up behind me and when she realized we were going to collide she pushed me. BAM! Down I went like I was spring loaded. She didn't stop. It took a bit (three miles) to pull myself together and feel ok and I was able to finish in about 5:19 with two sore hands and some chest pain. All that sort of dissolved when I crossed the finish...Perfectly Goofy!

Now If I realized I was going to hit someone with a back as sweaty and hairy as mine I'd have pushed them too, but at least I would have helped them up and said I was sorry! She probably hasn't learned yet that what goes around comes around. I just hope she doesn't get hurt when it does.

Just a few...

Just a few thoughts as we head toward the end of the year...

Things that rock: (in no specific order)

Dr. Skippy

KT Tape

New running shoes

Hand made custom bikes..in steel

A job

Great co-workers

An awesome wife

Trail runs

Franken-brace

Home made chocolate chip cookies

Incubus

Friends

Family

Being on this side of the dirt

Being there for others.

A really good baseball stitch

Our Holiday card

Don't care what you believe in.

You can be a runner, a triathlete, a bikie, a shredder, a climber, a couch potato, a Jew, an agnostic, a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a non believer or even a Jedi, all the best to you and yours this Holiday season!

Anton and ML

All"s Fair in Fun and Sore

Folks that do triathlons are familiar with the term "brick." Basically it's stacking two workouts on top of each other to mimic race conditions. They are supposed to be hard.

Lately I've been using "reverse bricks" to help bring my fitness level back up after the broken ankle hiatus.

( I tried to find a picture of a reverse brick on the web...but this is as close as I could get)

A reverse brick involves running first then riding your bike as opposed to the other way around.

On the schedule for today was a ten mile run and a great way to get in a longer workout, without all the pounding, is to hop on the bike and go for a ride.

Off to the canal this morning in what could be called our first winter morning with wind and temp in the 20's. The ten miles goes well. I have no speed and that's fine. (It bothers me a little) I'm only trying to get milage back up and endurance is king right now. While I used to be able to hammer out a ten miler in 1:20 it's more like 1:40 now. I'll start working on that this spring.

It's just beautiful on the tow-path this morning although it's the first day of rifle season for deer and the staccato hammer of small arms echos in the woods to the north. I run and ride South bound as there is no hunting down toward the city. North bound and I'd have to wear one of those nifty orange camo suits. A few folks out running and a few biking who are gloveless and in shorts and are obviously cold. Summer's over folks.

Come in off the run switch out the shoes and sweaty clothes for dry stuff and grab the mountain bike and go south. Now...I've turned my bike into a single speed MTB since I only really ride it on the canal and the shifting wasn't working anymore and the beast is on it's way out.

The gearing is sporty. 44x17 which I'm not going to explain here, just suffice it to say that my legs get pumped...but that will happen pushing a 28 pound bike in a single gear on a dirt road!

The ride toward the district is SA-WEET! A very nice ten mile spin. (tail wind) On the ride down my mind is sort of ignoring the fact that the wind is picking up and is getting quite blustery!

At the turn around I start north and am just smacked by the wind. I mean it's sort of like trying to pedal into a wall you can't see. Despite feeding and drinking the power level drops so much that the last two miles it's seems I'm pedaling through wet concrete.

Done and heading home the radio talks about winds to 30. The funnel of the river just sends the wind right up your kilts...

My legs are tired and I'm just a little wacked.

Ankle is holding up well, right knee a little sore but no worries. (It took a hit last summer with crutches and walking boots and such)

I loved it.

W had a great Thanksgiving here at home. Big thanks to Kim and Jim and Janet and Fiona for joining ML and I. Here's to friends.

I hate it...

I hate cancer.

It killed my parents but that was self inflicted.

My last remaining uncle has it.

It got Mary.

Malia.

Kathy.

Suzie.

Many others I know.

And now it has Mike.

He's a friend. A man who turned his life around and went from an over weight out of control type to someone who runs 100 milers.

A good guy. I admired him.

Lung cancer. Stage four.

It sucks.

No one gets out alive but I've seen that and it's ugly.

But it's is a part of life. It's the way many of us leave.

I wish him well and hope he has all the time he needs.

I've put the bracelet back on for Mike.

Newbie 2.0

If you have been running down the path with me (which is funny now, because I can only run on paved paths) you know I am the owner of a repaired ankle. Following the advice of a stellar running coach and author of a great book on running and having been through the RRCA certification process to become a running coach myself I've set a schedule for my return to running. Things have been going well for the last few weeks, but the milage has been low and slow.

I'm a newbie. I'm starting over. Being off from running for almost 15 weeks means I have to start over. Sure, I was able to bike and build my CV system and my muscles up some, but that was on the bike. I could bike for about four weeks before I could start running again.

Running is running. Nothing prepares you for the pounding on the pavement like pounding on the pavement. Biking doesn't help though walking does. Still...I feel like I did years ago and I mean years...

It hurts some times. Breathe hard when I shouldn't be. Dread hills. Feel all akimbo (my favorite word) when I run. Have no speed. Have no endurance.

I feel like I did 40 years ago this October when I first started to run in PE class after Coach Payne (Coach Pain!) asked for volunteers to help flesh out the cross country "B squad" for the Allegany County Cross Country Championships. I was over weight from stress eating. I wasn't an active kid...although that summer I had started to rock climb near home with a few friends and knew I need to drop fat. Running was it. Ran every day in PE class and a few weeks later the race came. I ran in cut offs and Chuck Taylors ("B squad" didn't get uniforms). Dad watched. I threw up. Loved it. Haven't stopped since. Had some thin years, like when I was raising a daughter, but I still managed to get out and run a few days a week. Mom said I lost my hair because I was running so much. Raced everything you can race from the 100 meters to 100 kilometers. Run all night. Run all day. Like Forrest "From that day forward, if I was going somewhere...I was Runnnning!"

So, I'm back at it. It sucks from time to time. I love it, this new rebirth to running.

Yes, I'm a Newbie!

Get your shoes! Lets go for a run!

HoBbled...

Two-thirty in the morning with a sore crotch. Yup! it's the 24 Hours of Booty! The only 24 Hour road bike ride that benefits the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Last weekend was the time and Columbia , Maryland was the place for riding a long time on "The Circuit of Suffering".

As events go...it's not a race although some treat it that way. It's not Ultracycling, but there are some UC's out there crawling into that little space they go to.

It's not a party, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone say it isn't. It's full of bike posers in the latest kit with 6K bikes and full of folks on cruisers with out a stitch of spandex.

What it is, is a group of people coming together who have been touched by cancer. Their Mom's or Dad's, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Sons, Daughters...themselves, touched by the disease.

They ride to raise money for the LAF and the Ulman cancer fund, great organizations that do so much to help cancer victims with quality of life issues.

It was up in the air that I would even be able to ride this year since, having broken my ankle, I was still on the mend, when i started building milage to get ready for the event. With the Doc's Ok, I could cycle and so I started with about 7 weeks to go. Lots of hours on the trainer in the basement. In fact most of my milage was done down in the dungeon. After a few weeks, I got the go ahead to begin cycling outside...which was a huge rush having been limited to what I could do during recovery (NO running!)

In a few weeks I had built up to 150 mile weeks, which is nothing compared to what I had built up previous years. I would be enough though.

On the events weekend, after a week long taper I was off to Columbia in what would prove to be just stellar weather. Riding began about 1 in the afternoon after speeches and and what not.

The first miles were nice... settling in and getting used to the flow. I tend to turn inward at events like this..saving energy for what's to come. A few hours pass and the crowd thins out. It's HOT and I think it's taking a toll and I even hear a few folks talking about bagging it and coming back out in the evening after the sun goes down. Dinner break REALLY drops the numbers out on the loop. I stop for a nosh but am back out quickly. I had been coming in regularly for fresh bottles of Infinit and pocket snacks. Dinner break just came at a time when I needed to break, or I may not have stopped.

Miles fall away and it's fun to see the other folks riding...Full kit bikies hammering the loop. It's obvious they are taking long breaks on a regular basis. They come out fresh, mash for awhile, whip past you, then disappear for quite a bit of time. If you're not stopping, your either getting passed on a regular basis or you're doing the passing. I talk for a bit to a couple of UC's (Ultracyclists) quietly cranking out miles. Turtles and rabbits, and we all know how that turned out. 1 in the morning...2 and the number of riders thinned out to the point that for awhile I feel like I'm riding alone.

For my part, not much to tell really...just a quite spin paying for the donations so many kind folks made in my name for the event. Keep pushing food and fluid, keep checking the color of my pee to make sure I'm not dehydrated. Crawling into that little space in my mind.

100 miles, 120, 150, 180 and I'm done. The lack of time for proper training, which includes getting my bum used to being on a bike seat, takes it's toll. I tell my self to get some sleep and see what the morning will bring. It's 3:00. At 5 I'm up and decide that's it.

No worries. Very happy to have been a part of the event for another year.

Not going to wax on about mom or dad or the other folks I know who have died from the disease or who battle it now. Death is, after all, " Just another path. One that we all must take."

Snap Crackle Pop (weather,not ankle)

Woke to a big 'ol thunder storm this morning...A right gully washer. All around us the community is without power but the neighborhood here is just fine...

Got out this morning for my longest run since ankle surgery. Four miles. Yes, I know it doesn't seem like much but baby steps getting back up to where I was.

I'm following the Galloway method...a mix of running and walking. Gives me a chance to keep an eye on my ankle and to make sure I'm not overdoing it.

Have used this method since it really took off and have done a goodly number of marathons Ultras and Ironman using it.

For training right now I'm going 5 minutes running and 1 minute walking, or 5/1. For marathons walking for one minute at each mile marker works well for me. I've finished everywhere from 4:00 hours to 5:12. No injuries. No burnout and I actually like myself the next day.

The pic above is from a event last year where I ran 100K (62 miles) in about 16 hours following Galloway's method.

Still riding the bike well and am almost two weeks out of the 24 Hours of Booty.

Hope to get in a bunch of miles this weekend before I start my taper.

Ankle at 12 weeks...

12 weeks since ankle surgery! Mobile! Moving! Biking! Running! Pushing metal around! The ankle no longer flops around! ROM sucks!

Actually the ROM is improving and I just have to work at it everyday. PT says that I'm advanced now and that she's quite happy with where things are now. At the doctors last week he was very impressed to see me able to do toe raises on the foot and ankle involved.

Running continues to improve but I'm still acting the soul of caution. No reason to push it. Pushing it now could set me back and that's the last thing I want.

Biking is sorta normal...was out for 51 miles on the canal towpath yesterday and it went well. Could have used a bit more food...just wasn't sure how long I was going to be out and one thing led to another and 3:15 later I'm back at the car and starving. Ankle held up well and no swelling post ride or this morning.

Have to keep up the biking...24 Hours of Booty in 23 days. I may not be able to bike as much a I'd like but here's the plan: Bike as consistently as possible taking frequent breaks and hit a century. Take an extended break then lather, rinse, repeat. Just see what I can get into.

This event has become important to me even though I'm not much of a fund raiser. I'm not interested in providing funds to find a cure for cancer. I'm interested in the quality of life that cancer victims are leading and how best to improve it...since that is the aim of The Lance Armstong Foundation and the 24 Hours of Booty, I'm in.

As noted at the top of the page I'm also pushing metal around..body weight exercises and work outs with kettle bells...curls for the girls. that sort of thing. feels good and Mr. Ankle tolerates it well.

School starts soon...and that's fine with me. I left school early due to surgery and hated to miss the end of the year. It really wasn't a longer vacation since the first three weeks I was propped up and painless. After that it was life on crutches or in the boot or at PT....getting back to school will make things seem normal.

Had a great time at IMLP even though I didn't get a chance to volunteer all day on race day...my ankle finally started barking after 8 hours and I couldn't ignore it anymore. It was great to see Scott and John and meet some new folks. Made some more observations about IM's and the folks that do them...but that's fuel for another post.

ML and I got out for a hike to the top of Cascade peak ( near Lake Placid) one day...beautiful and tough...that's our summit pic above.

10

10 weeks ago, I was in bed in a narcotic induced haze, just having had my ankle flayed open.

Today I ran 2.1 miles.

Yes, things are coming along nicely!

Have been doing other stuff too. Should be up to around 100 miles on the bike this week.

I hope to run/walk 10 miles or so...and even swim a tad.

PT has been great and Gwen is workin' me good. Some of the things I'm doing involve a ball and if you follow this blog at all, you know that I bloody well SUCK at anything that involves a ball. Home PT is just as tough as in office, but no complaints...that's a self inflected wound.

We're off to Ironman Lake Placid to volunteer at the boat house aid station, and there will be plenty of opportunities to have fun!

I know some folks doing the race (My friend Scott is shown here with his wonderful wife Melissa among them) that has really piqued our interest and to be honest...we love it there. Sure, race week is crazy and much less pleasant than when we go up at other times. Still, the energy is fantastic and it's a good way for me to kick off coming back to the active world.

A 'New Wave"?

I read a piece by someone the other day where they said they just LOVED the "New wave" of minimalist running. The trend that less is more and you should be running bare foot or in Vibram five fingers...

"New Wave" my ass!

Pictured above are my first real pairs of running shoes. Look at the soles on these things!

The left is the Onitsuka Marathon (Onitsuka later became Asics) And the right is the Boston '73. I went through three pairs of those and several pairs of Marathons before trying Addias, Etonic Street Fighters and then on to Nike Waffle trainers....

The first great running wave, that I was part of in the early 70's were bolstered by shoes like the ones above...you could wear them till they fell apart the soles almost never wore out and you could run 100 mile weeks in them, and I often did when I lived in Colorado. If the bottoms got funky you slapped on some Shoe Goo and went back out on the road.

Talk about strong feet!

Now were into the third (some say fourth) running boom since running really took off in this country. During every up tick in running in this country, at some point someone runs out the less is more thing, the Tarahumara indians, and running barefoot. It's here for awhile and then fades.

Oh, to be sure...there are people that run barefoot all the time and have for years and that works for them. There are folks that never stopped running in minimalist shoes all the time, but they call them running or racing flats which is what the shoes above were called, even though you ran in them ALL the time.

Running this way ISN'T for everyone...just like running marathons or even 5k's isn't for everyone. Many folks would have you believe it is. Don't be a sheeple. Try it and if it causes problems switch to what WILL work for you.

Vibram Five Fingers look really interesting and couldn't have existed years ago because the technology wasn't there to make them.

I've talked with many runners who have tried running barefoot or with VFF's or even minimalist shoes...they they talk about about their injuries and how much they still love the VFF's and happy to say they still get out "once in awhile" barefoot.

Now, tomorrow, I hope to get off the injured reserve list and get back out on the road. (read some previous post to find out what's been shaking with me, if you don't already know).

I am going to return to running the way I started, in "minimalist shoes" Nike Frees and racing flats and see if I can re-build the kind of foot strength I had 30 years ago. I believe that running in super cushioned shoes have made my running more sloppy and have caused more injuries than they prevented. I can say that...I have a frame of reference.

Recently had a chat with a lass who waxed on quite well about how people were meant to go about barefoot. "Why, they have always done it." she said.

I pointed out the the "Iceman" from an Italian glacier was found in leather shoes with moss stuffed in them. The Roman legionaries walking across the globe in leather hob nailed boots with foot clothes in winter. Felt shoes in ancient China, leather shoes on European mummies, rope sandals on the dead found in the High Dry of South America.

Yeah, sure people walk about barefoot, but given have a chance they'll put shoes on and with good reason. Going around barefoot will mess up your feet.

Thera -Band Land

Six weeks post surgery now...Wo-Hoo! One more week and I'm off to the doctor again and hopefully get this bloody walking boot off, can go back to shoes on BOTH feet and being able to drive.

Any way...WHO came up with the term "walking boot'? It's really a "hobble boot"! If you limp in it you run risk of messing up the opposite side hip or knee, so if you try and walk in it correctly...it's all baby steps.

Have been going to PT for two weeks now and things are improving daily. I'm in the office three times a week and continuing PT at home, x2 daily, in between. The exercise shown here is just one of the ones I do.

It's done with a Thera-band which is a big rubber band. They come in different strengths. I'm on "Green" which is the easiest one. It's where I should be. The last thing I'd do is jump into a hard one out of hubris and mess up my ankle. It's not my choice really...PT handed me that color and and when I asked about harder...they pointed to the green one. Nuff said.

The therapist does some massage, ultrasound to help break up the swelling, stretching and working with the bands, some ankle weights, toe raises...then electrical stimulation, icing and done. Doing the same thing at home...

I like the office and the PT is just aces.

I'm keeping the PT time in my training journal, as well as some upper body work I'm doing and also working on the next 50 Core Challenge over on the Trifuel website to get my core nice and strong.

Looking forward to next week...I'm ready for this to be done and despite what some folks think (and you know who you are) return to running.

Arg! Pfffft! ugh! huhhh!

Don't use a muscle for four weeks. I dare you. Not some weenie muscle but one you really need like...your quads or hammies or your GASTROCNEMIUS! (calf)

After four weeks of being bound up in fiberglass and having no use of my lower leg muscles now I can use them again.

Wednesday I was off to the doctor and got my walking cast, as noted in a previous post. Yesterday morning I woke up and following doc's orders I used my crutches until I got the feel for my walking boot...It didn't take long. I'm in good shape and have good balance and know my body pretty well..so by yesterday at lunch time I'm clunking around the house like a zombie in "Thriller." At least I'm mobile!

By yesterday evening...my calf was cramping and seizing and I even noticed it in my quad.

OK ,so I walked a bit too much on it. The doc did say use it "just a bit" at first...well my "just a bit" is one hell of a alot bigger than most folks!

Still...I hadn't used those muscles in 4 weeks, not to mention the abuse of surgery that my ankle had undertaken...Sore today. Wearing a compression sock under my walking cast.

So today I'll back off and ease into it.

PT starts Monday! I'm sure that will be "fun!"

I have been able to keep up with some core work during all this but not much. I even managed to lose weight instead of pack it on...but that may have been partially because of the narcotics!

They Gave me The Boot.

Today was just great! Just as I reached the "Get me out of this thing!" point with my cast, I had a doctor's appointment. Esposa Favorita drove me as I 'm unable to drive. Once there, waited for just a bit and off to get the bloody hard cast cut off. Wonderful little device. Looks like a Dremel Moto Tool ( the coolest tool ever) except that this one vibrates back and forth instead of whirring. No damage to skin that way... The tech cut through the cast, which I kept.

Skippy ( the teen age looking doctor came in) and took out my stitches and complimented me on being a fast healer. (I had an advanced healing class in college...you got to love a liberal arts education) He said it looks like I'm doing everything right. Yeah!

He dressed the wound and said I could start showering again tomorrow. Yes, I've been keeping clean but when you're a one a day shower(at least) guy cutting way back makes you feel...yucky.

Three weeks in the walking boot, take it easy and walk on for short bits at first, start PT and still no driving. I don't think the boot would fit in there anyway and he really wants to make sure the reattached bone stays put.

Hopefully in three weeks I'l be able to get back to some form of aerobic exercise.

Feeling good about things right now...next appointment on June 30.

I d have to say...I am absolutely pleased with this doctor and his office and the staff. They have done a great job and I have no complaints....

S-l-o-w M-o-t-i-o-n

Now...three weeks post surgery and everything seems to have shifted into slow motion...At first the time seemed to be going quickly, but now it's not. I have to check a calendar to see what day it is...my days are marked by what time Mythbusters comes on and bed time is usually after Cash Cab.

I miss work like mad. I know if I were still able to get to work and ...work, the time would be just ripping by. It always does this time of year. But here at home with my leg up the time just drags...I miss the kids.

I'm not having much pain now, but still take a half a pain pill from time to time when I get this disquieting uncomfortable feeling inside my foot. I understand why I have to keep my foot up most of the time. My skeletal/muscle pump can't work in my right foot as it's completely immovable...so leaving it down for short periods of time makes the toes turn blue and look like sausages...it gets uncomfortable. Put it up, and in a few minutes, it's good to...not go anywhere.

One more week till I'm back at the doctor and get my stitches out. I'm hoping for a walking cast, but ML reminded me that I'll probably be in a removable boot...but still unable to walk on it.

Nuts!