Oh sh*t Oh sh*t Oh sh*t Oh sh*t Oh sh*t

This morning, at around 5 am, I went out for a run. A quarter-mile into the run, I stepped on a rock. A round rock. I rolled my ankle over a little bit. The arch of my foot is now sore, so maybe I haven't re-injured my ankle. I will take it easy for a few days and see how it goes.

Almost Killed

I almost got killed (or seriously injured) today. Crossing a side street, with the light, in the crosswalk, never suspecting that a driver wouldn't stop for a red light. He barely slowed down, intending to roll through the light, making a right on red, until I yelled at him to stop. Of course, no turn signal, so I had no idea that he was turning.

I've come to believe that the right on red after stop is the worst law that this state has passed in connection with driving/cars/traffic.

Most people skip the "after stop" part, and a majority don't seem to understand that they don't have the right-of-way over other cars, much less that they have to look for pedestrians, too.

I felt pretty good today, made a 3.5 in 7:50 pace the whole way. I will probably go out again around 4:30 or 5:00 for another 3.5 to 4.

Since I got the OK from my doctor, I've been commuting on my bicycle. That is, in the morning, I ride the bus in and I ride my bike home.

There's no way I could ride the bike in, because I'd get too competitive. I'd arrive at work with sweat pouring off me (even though the commute is roughly three miles straight line), and I have no shower facilities at work. I think my co-workers* probably appreciate my not working up a sweat on the way in.

I think I'll be commuting with the bike as long as I can – that is, I'll probably stop when the snow forces me to, but as long as I have traction, I will be riding home.

Occasionally, I get irritated with the drivers while I'm riding – for instance, when I was riding along the right-hand edge of the road, as close to the curb as I could, at about 15 mph, when a car, traveling in the same direction as me, turned in front of me. As if that wasn't bad enough, the driver came to a complete stop partway through the turn, blocking me from going through the intersection, and looked straight out the window at me with a somewhat stunned look on her face. I had to come to a complete stop, because of the other cars in the road (actually a bridge). So, I'm almost going over my handlebars, and this driver is staring out the window of her car at me. And don't get me started about the guy texting and starting to roll forward through the intersection. I had to scream at him to stop, and he's lucky I did, because he'd have been T-boned if he'd kept rolling forward.

On the other hand, I see some pretty unusual stuff from my bike. The other day, I was stopped at an intersection, and next to me, a young woman rides up on a red Vespa, wearing a red helmet, red and white dress, and red high heels. My first thought was that I'd been transported to a movie about post-World War II Italy. After that, I thought "I've got to start bringing a camera with me."

scar

scar
Originally uploaded by bigvalleystrider

Here's my scar from my surgery. There were no stiches at all.

Back on.

It's been a long time since I posted anything at all here, even longer since I posted anything of substance.

Let's see, what's happened. December 16th of last year, I went in for surgery to repair the posterior tibial tendon in my right ankle. the surgery went well, and I spent about two weeks in a cast, taking Vicodin. We just found the log I kept of when and how much I took. After I got out of the cast, I was in a boot, and on crutches for a few weeks. Of course, the winter was snowy and icy, and I spent January and February slipping and sliding around, fighting the snowbanks and icy sidewalks.

I spent a few weeks in physical therapy, regaining strength and mobility in my ankle and foot. After that, the doctor gave me the OK to ride a bike. Since March, I've been taking the bus into work and riding home. About two weeks ago, I got the OK to start running again. I've been going about a mile at a time, once or twice a week. I still have to wear an ankle brace, but I won't be in that forever.

The last race I ran was the 2007 July 4th race that starts and finishes in front of my house. I finished in 20:39 (6:40 pace), wearing an ankle brace, and with an undiagnosed tendon tear. Not too shabby, I was 53rd overall and 6th in my age group. I'm hoping htat next year I will be racing that race again.

Bad News

I got the bad news today. I've been hurting for almost two years now. Today I saw the orthopedic surgeon, and it appears that my right posterior tibial tendon is torn. I may need surgery on it, which would mean no weight-bearing for four to six weeks after the surgery. there would be PT for some time after that, and there would be no running for quite a while.

Taking it easy

I'm back up to 3 to 4 miles at a time, now, after having injured just about everything I could injure below the waist. The weather hasn't been too bad, letting me get out as often as I want to.

In the last few days, I've started running in shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt, and had the temperature drop while I was out, enough for it to snow. You know you're in upstate New York when you've worn shorts and a parka within hours of each other.

I couldn't resist

Well, I got out and ran today. I only went about a mile, since I am still recovering from my latest injury. I couldn't stop myself, though -- the temperature was about 62° -- In January! It's usually more like 5° around here this time of year. It was literally a record high temperature for the area. I took it easy through the mile and didn't push it at all. My tendon is feeling OK.

Year-end reflection

Well, this year has been a complete suckfest, and I don't mean that in the good way. In February, I twisted my ankle over hard, and have been in an ankle brace ever since. At various points during the year, I have injured my gastrocnemius, my hamstrings, my quads, my back, and a groin muscle (this last one was the most tragic, coming as it did less than two weeks before my anniversary).

The most recent injury was to the tendon that comes out of the back of my knee into the gastrocnemius. The injury happened at work – I was stepping down off a step, and felt something snap just below the back of my knee. As it turns out, it was just a hyperextension of the tendon, and I'm off running for a couple of weeks.

Now, I'm just sitting around gaining weight while I wait to be able to start running again. I'm doing stretching and some heat treatment, while taking Tylenol. I can't take ibuprofen any more, due to the unfortunate effect it has on my stomach.

Sometime after the first of the year, I'm going to start running again. Meanwhile, I'll just reflect on the past year and try to think of ways to avoid injuries.

Maybe I'm ready

Maybe I'm ready to start running again. Yesterday morning, I went out out the bus on my way to work (I live almost across the street from the first stop on the route, so the bus pulls in and waits a few minutes). I was about one bus-length behind the bus when the driver pulled away. Without really thinking about it, I took off after it. The next stop is about a quarter-mile away, and the driver has to go around an intersection of three roads -- a right turn, then a quick left. I was less than a hundred yards away from the stop when he went through. If he'd had a red light, I would have caught him. My back didn't give me any trouble all day after that.










Today, I'm going to get out to the bus a little earlier.

More ouch

You never really realize how much your back does until it can't anymore.

It's been a few weeks without running, and I'm frustrated. I was doing well, probably on track to have one of the better (age-weighted) years of my career, despite an ankle sprain, when my back injury sidelined me completely. I've tried to gt out and run a couple of times, but shortly after starting, I realized that it wouldn't be a good idea. I missed my favorite races--the summer cross-country series at Cobb's Hill, my high school home course.

Winter will be my base-building season again. As soon as I can, I'm back on the road.

Ouch.

Well, chalk another one up to old age. Over the weekend, I hurt my back. I was standing for several hours, and the muscles in my lower back did not like that. Now I am having a little bit of trouble with them. I'm taking it fairly easy rght now, since backs are easy to injure seriously, and I don't want that. This just isn';t my year, I guess.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Actually, how I came to have a several-month-long layoff from running.

It was over the winter, and there was just a little bit of snow falling. About an inch had already accumulated, and we were expecting a little more during the day. I had just finished my morning run and was about a quarter-mile from home. As I began my cooldown jog, I stepped on the edge of the sidewalk, with the outer half of my foot unsupported by the concrete. The ankle twisted over, hard, and I went down onto the ground. I jumped back up, quickly, to test the ankle, because it already hurt quite a bit, and this was the ankle I'd injured in College Cross-Country. It wasn't up to the task of supporting any weight at all--I had to hold on to a street sign in order to remain upright. A snowplow driver, working in the school parking lot across the street spotted me and drove over, to offer me a ride back home. I thanked him as he dropped me off and I hobbled up the driveway to my door. Later on, I wished (and I still do) that I'd done something for him, or at least offered him something--even a cup of coffee, but at the time, my ankle, in which the pain had ebbed from white-hot knives to only red-hot knives, was causing me so much difficulty, that all I could think about was getting into the house and getting some ice on it. Rest, Ice, Elevation, Ibuprofen. Well, when you work at a desk 8 to 5, 5 days a week the first three are difficult to maintain. When your wife works from 7:30 to 10:30 every night (we need her orthodontic insurance) it makes it difficult to maintain the regimen of rest, ice and elevation while you are making sure the kids are dong their homework and washing the dishes. If I had, say, a servant, who could do these things for me, I might have been back up and around in a few weeks. But as it was, I have had a great deal of difficulty healing.


On another note, I didn't run today. I got up at 4:40 and started to get dressed, and then I noticed that I was feeling a little bit lightheaded. I remembered going to see a movie with my wife the night before (date night!) and realized that we'd gotten home right around midnight. I was operating on 4 hours of sleep. Now, when I was in my 20s, I used to do that regularly, but now I'm an old man, and I hate everything but Matlock.

I couldn't get out for a run this afternoon, because Declan had a soccer game, and I had to get him to it. Only nine kids on his team made it for the beginning of the game, with a tenth showing up partway through the game. The other team had a full complement, with a couple of substitutions available. Declan's team (the Lancers) lost 2-1, but they put up a good fight. I did get in a little bit of running, as I had to be the linesman. So, maybe 4 or 5 hundred yards today, varying between a sprint and a lope.




(Obviously, I've fixed my margin problems)

Happy

I've heard lots of people disparaging running (and exercise in general for that matter) saying that they've "never seen a runner who looked happy."

Here's one:




OK, not everybody is a winner of the World Cross-Country Championships, but we can all know the feeling of triumph at the end of a particularly good run. Here's a picture of me back in college at the end of a particularly good race:




I don't think I look particularly happy, but in the immortal words of David Byrne: "People in ecstasy look stupid."

Hot weather

When I left on my run this morning, the temperature was about 68°. It was nice, not too much humidity, and the sun was shining. but not too intense.

By the time I finished, the sun was intense and the temperature was almost 75°. It took only 36 minutes for that to happen.

I'll have to get up earlier tomorrow and see if I can get out before the heat starts. Lots of people out today, including a contingent from the local high school cross-country team. About 5 or 6 of them were finishing up at the same time I was.

My ankle feels good today, no pain, even after the run. The swelling has gone down (although I've always had puffy feet).

I was almost killed out there. Well, maybe not almost killed, but there was a bit of a hazard. I was crossing an intersection, the light was green for me, and some guy turning right on red didn't bother looking right, or even coming to a complete stop, before going. I had to dodge his car and I yelled "Watch out!" at which point he slammed on the brakes and apologized.