Sunday, I went running from home. It seemed real odd, at first. I wondered why it seemed so freakin' weird? I've been running some for a few months now. Then it dawned on me - I quit training in May last year. I tried to run as many of the races I had pre-registered for. Then no running for a couple months. When I started again, it was only group running - trying to keep my social life intact. But Sunday was the first time in 9 months that I've gone running by myself, "just because".
My "week off" was odd. I only ran the Thursday DTR trail run. All my other mileage was walking. Somehow, I accidentally logged more miles than any week since the LT100 - 16.8 miles.
Last week, I continued the trend with 19.8 miles.
So things are progressing slowly, carefully. If my planatr starts to get worse, I'll quit running again. I'm pretty devoted to the idea of not running a single race until summer is over. There's plenty of recreational running to do, and lots of volunteering and pacing, so I'll be fine with this steady-slow comeback.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Jenna Gruben
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2010/feb/13/wreck-kills-one-us-40-west-steamboat/
I met Jenna in Aspen a few years ago. We had seen each other at various races and I mentioned how I always slum-it - sleeping in the back of my CR-V, camping on the ground, or sleeping with friends. Jenna gave me her email address and told me she LOVES having guests! Runner guests. Helping runners at races, helping coordinate friends and places for people to stay. She was like that. She was always involved in everything going on.
Jenna has been a major player in the ultra-runner scene. She had a smile that ROCKED!!! She had so much energy - positive energy. Who didn't she know? Who didn't know her? She was like Visa - everywhere you want to be.
She had class and style.
I don't like that she's gone, but she sure did live. A lot. She lived more in her 32 years than most do in a lifetime. While that may not be any consolation for those closest to her, it sure was a privilege for me to know her.
I'm not the kind to cry. I've come too close to death myself, a few times. The hardest thing was believing I wouldn't get to see my son grow up, but somehow I'm still alive and my son is almost grown.
So I wonder about Jenna's parents. My heart goes out to them. Thinking about what they must be enduring right now puts me into a rather funky mood. No parent should have to see the day their child dies. I don't know if the fact that Jenna was so great is a consolation or makes it more bitter for them because she was too valuable to lose. If the world was populated with Jennas, there'd be no war, and everyone would be the most that they could be, and everyone would have a great big Jenna smile to share with everyone else.
I think there's a big hole now that can't be filled. My mentality has been that we should all be more, and never say "can't", but there will only ever be one Jenna. No one can take her place. In the end, isn't that the most any of us could hope to accomplish? To make ourselves so special and unique that we're always remembered? That's a life lived right.
I met Jenna in Aspen a few years ago. We had seen each other at various races and I mentioned how I always slum-it - sleeping in the back of my CR-V, camping on the ground, or sleeping with friends. Jenna gave me her email address and told me she LOVES having guests! Runner guests. Helping runners at races, helping coordinate friends and places for people to stay. She was like that. She was always involved in everything going on.
Jenna has been a major player in the ultra-runner scene. She had a smile that ROCKED!!! She had so much energy - positive energy. Who didn't she know? Who didn't know her? She was like Visa - everywhere you want to be.
She had class and style.
I don't like that she's gone, but she sure did live. A lot. She lived more in her 32 years than most do in a lifetime. While that may not be any consolation for those closest to her, it sure was a privilege for me to know her.
I'm not the kind to cry. I've come too close to death myself, a few times. The hardest thing was believing I wouldn't get to see my son grow up, but somehow I'm still alive and my son is almost grown.
So I wonder about Jenna's parents. My heart goes out to them. Thinking about what they must be enduring right now puts me into a rather funky mood. No parent should have to see the day their child dies. I don't know if the fact that Jenna was so great is a consolation or makes it more bitter for them because she was too valuable to lose. If the world was populated with Jennas, there'd be no war, and everyone would be the most that they could be, and everyone would have a great big Jenna smile to share with everyone else.
I think there's a big hole now that can't be filled. My mentality has been that we should all be more, and never say "can't", but there will only ever be one Jenna. No one can take her place. In the end, isn't that the most any of us could hope to accomplish? To make ourselves so special and unique that we're always remembered? That's a life lived right.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Easy Does It
So I logged 14.1 miles a couple weeks ago, 14.5 miles last week, and decided to walk nearly all this week to make sure I don't blow up a great thing. I only ran Thursday night, 7.6 miles on snowy trails. I walked other days. So far, I've logged 16.8 miles and still have a couple days left to log. I will finish with some snowshoeing around Turquoise Lake.
Still stretching and icing my plantar.
Tried taping my foot and it works, some. Not much, but every bit helps.
I really need to get some asthma meds. Can't afford to continue ravaging my lungs with scar-tissue. That's starting to become a higher priority than my PF.
Still stretching and icing my plantar.
Tried taping my foot and it works, some. Not much, but every bit helps.
I really need to get some asthma meds. Can't afford to continue ravaging my lungs with scar-tissue. That's starting to become a higher priority than my PF.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Actually Running Again
Still only a shadow of my former self, but I'm actually running again - twice a week.
I just ran 3.6 miles at Wash Park in my Five Fingers. I started slowly and built some speed, finishing with 7:30 pace.
I've been healing since early November, but immediately stagnated with one run most weeks. Some weeks just weren't recovered from the week before. The secret came from Meghan, who told me she iced her plantar every day, 3x10min. I was only icing my plantar after stretching, working out, or when it hurt. That meant about three times a week. Now I ice it every day.
I was already stretching, but icing it 30 minutes a day is important.
At Twin Lakes when I DNF'd at the LT100, the medic was telling me he learned that the secret was ice. He said to ice it for 30 minutes, let it warm for 10 minutes, then another 30 minutes, repeat until iced three times. Holy crap, that's two hours of it. But he only meant a one-time thing. He claimed that if you ice it for less than 30 minutes, it won't do any good.
Reality has been, I've noticed that all I have to do is lower the temp for a while and that gives some benefit. So there's all sorts of inaccurate data about PF.
Every day, I've been grabbing my frozen 3M Cold Comfort ice pack and sitting in front of the computer either watching a movie, cruising the web, playing cards, etc. I've ended up icing my plantar pretty much until the cold-pack is warmed up, which is a good hour later.
Scary, huh? Freecell, 115 consecutive games, but rest assured it has taken me months to rack up 115 games, and most of the time was spent with an ice-pack under my foot.
I've got terabytes of movies, so besides occasional running, I've been watching Bond, James Bond, Bourne, Jason Bourne, and Riddick, just Riddick.
Stretching really is important. All sorts of stretching every-which-way. There's a set of stretches I always do, but there are several others I occasionally do, and sometimes I try to invent new stretches. I always hold each stretch for at least 60 seconds. I don't start counting until I've managed to extend as far as possible, which can take a couple of minutes, too.
Last week, I managed to log 14.1 miles. Maybe I'll do better this week? I'm getting paranoid about a set-back, so I might only allow myself to walk next week, just to be sure I don't regress.
I just ran 3.6 miles at Wash Park in my Five Fingers. I started slowly and built some speed, finishing with 7:30 pace.
I've been healing since early November, but immediately stagnated with one run most weeks. Some weeks just weren't recovered from the week before. The secret came from Meghan, who told me she iced her plantar every day, 3x10min. I was only icing my plantar after stretching, working out, or when it hurt. That meant about three times a week. Now I ice it every day.
I was already stretching, but icing it 30 minutes a day is important.
At Twin Lakes when I DNF'd at the LT100, the medic was telling me he learned that the secret was ice. He said to ice it for 30 minutes, let it warm for 10 minutes, then another 30 minutes, repeat until iced three times. Holy crap, that's two hours of it. But he only meant a one-time thing. He claimed that if you ice it for less than 30 minutes, it won't do any good.
Reality has been, I've noticed that all I have to do is lower the temp for a while and that gives some benefit. So there's all sorts of inaccurate data about PF.
Every day, I've been grabbing my frozen 3M Cold Comfort ice pack and sitting in front of the computer either watching a movie, cruising the web, playing cards, etc. I've ended up icing my plantar pretty much until the cold-pack is warmed up, which is a good hour later.
Scary, huh? Freecell, 115 consecutive games, but rest assured it has taken me months to rack up 115 games, and most of the time was spent with an ice-pack under my foot.
I've got terabytes of movies, so besides occasional running, I've been watching Bond, James Bond, Bourne, Jason Bourne, and Riddick, just Riddick.
Stretching really is important. All sorts of stretching every-which-way. There's a set of stretches I always do, but there are several others I occasionally do, and sometimes I try to invent new stretches. I always hold each stretch for at least 60 seconds. I don't start counting until I've managed to extend as far as possible, which can take a couple of minutes, too.
Last week, I managed to log 14.1 miles. Maybe I'll do better this week? I'm getting paranoid about a set-back, so I might only allow myself to walk next week, just to be sure I don't regress.
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