Lemons? Lemonade!

As many of you know, I've been struggling with an ankle that won't heel since I rolled the bloody thing on the 29th of November...

Saw my doctor, did some PT...even ran a 1/2 marathon,Marathon and 10K on it...I mean It doesn't hurt when I run! After though, it swells. Gotten to the point where it swells after biking, standing on my feet all day, driving the car, hurts all the time, interfering with sleep...you get the picture. Last weekend, a short run brought lots of pain and a big swell.

Finally have had enough and went to the ankle surgeon...a fine young man I call "Skippy" because he looks like he's 16. He's young it seems (to me anyway) and that's what I want. Someone young who knows all the latest "ankle geek" stuff. I have great confidence in him. Anyway, an x-ray and MRI later Skippy and I have a sit down and he gives me the news. (drum roll) Two torn ligaments and a hunk of bone off the back of the Talus that's floating around in the gunk. Wheeee!

Surgery this coming Wednesday.

If things go well, four weeks on crutches. If not six weeks non-load bearing.

No worries here. It's the first time in 40 years I've had a running injury...well there was that sprain In "The Valley" after a fall on this big climb. Oh, and the busted ribs from the bike wreck....then that sprain at mile 6 of the JFK 50 miler (I finished)...there were those several skull wacks (climbing) that required stitches...ok, ok I have had a few injuries over the years but this is the first one from running that's going to require surgery!

(I can't tell you the number of times I should have been dead, but got up and walked away without a scratch.)

Routine stuff in an active life where you go to the edge sometimes.

Now at least I'll have time to catch up on reading, movies, watching "The Giro" live on TV, plotting the next adventure and actually figuring out how my heart rate monitor and iPod nano work..not mentioning getting to be near my awesome wife...

I'll be blogging here pre and post op and during the recovery and return to an active life.

Oh, if you're looking for a piece of bone in this pic...it's not me. Just an ankle pic.

May Day!

Finally! May is here. April just dragged, the school days and workouts and yard work just all being blenderized in a mess that was hard to keep track of.

On the athletic front, things are improving. Bike rides are getting longer and I have my running up to 30 miles a week on a regular basis.

Last weekend I ran the first 10k I've run (as a stand alone event) in probably 3 years! The Pikes Peek 10k runs from the Shady Grove metro station to White Flint on a course that drops almost 200 ft. It has it's up hill sections but the downhills are fast. Smooth road surface and great organization make for a good time.

Hadn't been doing any speed work so I felt I'd be lucky if I broke an hour. Of course that's the beauty of having poor self confidence. You always do better!

I ran in :50 minutes and change...I'm running in the 55 -59 age group now and it's interesting to notice that the times generally slow. However...if I had been doing speed work and had been working at it, I would have run my usual time of 43 or 44 minutes, which would have put me on the podium in my AG.

Felt good the whole time...afterward my ankle even felt ok. But I'm still guarded on that. Still have bits of discomfort and at times it feels weak despite PT and my keeping up with that program.

Wanted to bike a century on the eastern shore today, but am fighting a cold...better to lay low and do something short.

Have to look at the various schedules for bike, runs, and other races and see what I can get into.

Realized I haven't been here much as of late...too much time on Facebook! Need to get back over here..this is much more fun!

Keeping Track

When I came in from my run today one of the first things I did, after icing my ankle, was to head for my training log. No, not the kind of log people carry around for a workout, but a written log of every run, bike ride, swim, hours in the weight room, rock climbs in West Virginia, Colorado or California, cold sniff, illness, busted ankle, sore shoulder, miles on shoes, static line jump, replacing of a chain, five pound weight gain (or loss), new apartment, first kiss, big mistake, death, life... Not all, but many of the moments of my life. For years. There are 17 logs in the stack to the right. Number 18 sits on my desk.

There were another 20. They were lost to an ex-wife who thought they took up too much space and pitched them when I wasn't home.

"All those moments, lost in time..."

Altogether 38 years of that stuff. 38 years of running logs, triathlon logs, Sierra Club Desk Calenders( before real running logs) and an Accounts Receivable ledger which I really miss. It was from my first year that I kept a log...1972 when I graduated from high school and went off to college.

They mark the passage of my life...

On March 13, 1996 I worked on my flexibility and ran for 30 minutes, and turned in my time sheet.

On New Years Eve at midnight 1999/2000 I can't sleep and run laps UP Washington street in Cumberland.

On June 8th, 2006 I did...nothing.

All those moments are still in my memory, but just in case...I can look them up. Well at least the last 18 years.

I've kept an electronic log the last 5 years...but to be honest, it has no soul.

I can't pick it up and feel it, see it, smell it. There are no tea stains or dog eared pages, no crisp sound when I flip the pages... On a rainy day, like today, I can grab one of the logs at random and be transported to another place and a different time. As soon as I read an entry...I can shut my eyes and see, and feel, and hear and sense all that went before on that day.

Yikes! Part 2

"Nothing like this has ever happened before."

That's what they're saying around here. Since they started to keep these kinds of records there has never been a case where the Mid-Atlantic has been hit with two blizzards in one week. In-fucking-credable. This area is already a mess and to think were getting 16 to 20 inches more on top is nuts....or will drive folks nuts. This area of the world tends to be hyper mobile and in some areas ya just can't get out. We were out a bit yesterday and everybody was in panic mode...

And don't give me this "AL Gore was wrong " stuff. It's Global warming...not local.

For whatever reason you believe, man made or not, The world is getting warmer.

I just wish it would here for a bit.

Yikes!

Yikes! What a storm THAT was! We had 31 inches here in the front yard this morning...Very cold. Teens last night and calling for single digits tonight.

No organized workouts yesterday as ML and I shoveled snow three different times in a effort to stay ahead of the mounting white stuff. About 4 hours of digging altogether, if you count the time we spent on a neighbors drive way.

I here tons of folks bitching about it and even some complaining about missing work.

Please.

How often does this happen? What's wrong with a little down time? Can't you just see the beauty of it all? I feel sorry for them.

The cats are in a snit as they hate the snow. I dug paths for them to their favorite pee spots. Mrs. Norris won't even go out. She just uses the box and spreads cat litter everywhere. Riley is out now but he is a fan of warmer weather and won't be out long.

Ankle gave me a bit of a fit yesterday shoveling...all the twisting and torquing. It feels ok now. Back to the Dr. on Tuesday and on to some PT on Friday.

Riding the indoor trainer today. Contemplated X-C skiing but it's actually too deep. I'll let it melt off a bit then set some track in the woods near here..

Caw.Caw. Rarrrr!

Adventure IS out there and Mary Lou and I got a bunch of it this past weekend at the Disney Marathon weekend.

As seems to have become habit, we go to Florida every Winter to run at Disney...ML does the half marathon and I do the Goofy Challenge. I run the Half Marathon on Saturday and then get up and run the Marathon on Sunday. Goofy...This year, if completed...I'd become "Perfectly Goofy."

The weather forecast for the weekend is NOT the best. 35 degrees on Saturday and then mid 20's on Sunday for the long one.

The ankle forecast for the races is 80%. It's runable, but gets testy at speed...so a slow race. Most every year I tell myself I'll hop out of the race and have pics taken with Disney Characters, but I never do...this year will be the year for it.

Saturday Morning at 2am we're up and rolling to the race. My wave goes off at 5:40. ML at 6.

Thank goodness Disney provides a bus from their hotels...

It's 35 degrees with wet stuff possible. On site we go to the Runners Retreat (money well spent) and while there, the sleet starts. Sleet. In Florida. Last year it was 70 degrees.

We meet Becca, a cranberry grower, who we instantly like. We chat and then about 5:15 we head off to the start, which is a bit of a walk. Into our corrals and getting ready. Besides our race togs we sport nice thick plastic bags for warmth and wind protection....the sleet comes down heavier.

At 5:35 the wheelies head off in a shower of fireworks. My wave is next at 5:40 and off we go in a shower of yet more fireworks!

Not much to it after that just running in the dark...good lighting when needed though and a few places on the course it's a bit tight, but no worries. At one point though, a woman tries to come around me on the shoulder of the road trips and falls right in front of me! Jedi reflexes and I vault over her hoping for a good ankle landing. I stop to help her up and she is quite sheepish and says she's sorry, but sprints away. Over and through the Magic Kingdom and back to the finish area at Epcot. I'm in at 2:12, a PW (personal worst) for me, but the ankle holds up well and I'm ready for the Marathon. ML comes in in 2:37... PR for her! (she IS my hero!)

The sleet and rain never really stopped the whole time.

Folks at cold races bring throw away clothes to wear to the start. Old shirts. jackets,sweat pants, that they toss when the gun goes off. Usually the clothes are donated to charity after cleaning. This was the first race I've ever seen where folks would discard clothes and people behind them would pick them up and put them on! Nothing Compared to what I'd see on Sunday.

2am comes early (duh) two days in a row. and this time I'm off to the bus alone. The TV said 25 degrees. The bus driver says it's 22. In Florida.

Runners Retreat where I meet Becca again (running her first Goofy) and together we walk over to the start...off again at 5:40 this time I'm loaded for bear. iPod, camera, gels and three layers of spandex. More folks scarfing up tossed clothes AND plastic bags. From Epcot over to Magic Kingdom...to Animal Kingdom then the long bit to Hollywood Studios and back to the World Showcase at Epcot. This time though I'm snapping pics of the course, mile markers and of course Characters. Mary Poppins IS quite lovely. The Princess and her Frog are out and stunning... Alice, Tweedle Dum and Dee, a Wicked Step Mother or two... and later Mr. Incredible, Mike Wishowski, Green Army Men and the two above. Russell and Mr. Fredrickson from the movie UP! (See it, you'll cry).

The aid stations become skating rinks in the cold but the Disney crews are out quickly with sand...still, trying to run through them is foolish. I see several falls. My energy gels are chewable and I never really break a sweat it's so cold. Definitely Jens factor 5 (see previous post)

All the pictures and the fact I have to pee like a race horse every so often (kidneys over produce in the cold) make for a slow race. Another PW (5:12) but I just don't care. This was F-U-N!

The Jens factor

Jens Voight is a pro bike racer. He wins classic one day races. He wins stages at the grand tours. Jens is a hardman. He's also the niceest most widely loved bikie in the pro Peloton. His fan base is huge.

Here's a little something I found that puts riding (or running) in the cold in perspective.

Click on the image for an bigger view...thanks to pezcyclingnews.com