Flatlander again

Well a week in Rocky Mountain National Park and I'm like a new man - until I got to work, but lets not go there.

We had a great drive to and from and fabulous weather while there. We went on numerous hikes, up, down and around the lakes, saw wildlife galore - elk, marmot, mule deer and the ubiquitous chipmunks. Never saw any mountain goats, seemed to just miss them.

I was a bit concerned about the driving as this always causes me a fair bit of discomfort in my back and legs but it was not too bad. Later in the week I went for a run with Dick. We started low 8500' and ran just over 3000' up to 10,900. Man is the air thin up there. We had an awesome time, as you can see from my Garmin data either my watch got messed up or we scaled some vertical faces (not).

I have no idea how one acclimates to the elevation for something like hardrock. We were there almost a week before the run and you could still feel the difference, I guess one never really completely adjusts to the elevation eh. Felt good after the run, I'm slowly increasing my mileage but need to watch the intensity.

Congratulations to those who ran Grandmas, sounds like it was nice weather - finally.

Happy taper for those running at Afton this weekend. Could be a scorcher. Wish I was there.

Go West "Young" Man

Well it’s off to Colorado for a week of fun and relaxation. As soon as I get the camper ready, check the battery, lights, water pump, tires, bearings ………… you get the idea.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do some running, last winter when we planned the trip I was hoping for some 6-8 hour runs in the mountains. I think I can get a couple 1-2 hr runs in but that will probably do it for me. Thankfully I’ve gained a little confidence after the RTA gig last week.

Hope all went well for the folks at Grandmas. I’ve never run an official marathon, maybe have to do that sometime – they seem so fast.

Had a couple of 3-4 mile runs this week, went ok but still a lot of tightness, ran a quarter mile barefoot, oddly - no pain. I have a slew of new exercises to do from the therapist. I’ll list them out later. A few really show the lack of balance between my L and R side. Hopefully they will make some difference.

Back in a week or so.

Starting out slow

Well my plan was to start out slowly, and gradually ramp up mileage, then intensity, and finally hills.

So Saturday I drove down to Eden Prairie to be led around Adams Superior 100 training ground. Steve, Bryan, Zach, Pete and myself ran up and down hills for well over an hour, covering a little over 4 miles, don't have the exact figures right now. To the uninitiated this sounds ridiculous but once you experience it you'd understand.

I needed the mental jumpstart, there were a couple times during the run I could have been anywhere, Scotland, NorthShore, MT, CO .... When you’re in the woods your there. I needed to feel this as it’s been a long time since I've run without thinking about my injuries.

Counter to all logic this was a great run for me physically as well. I have a tiny bit of quad soreness but no back/glute/hammy pain at all. I got a 1 hour massage for Fathers Day and man did that feel great. I feel a renewed energy from this one run to commit to whatever it takes to get back to racing. Lord help me now.

Special thanks to Adam for dubbing this a "race".

Up and "Running"

Well, I now understand why so many people have so much time between posts. I have a multitude of reasons but they all sound a lot like excuses. I did not get a lot of time to putz with the system either, guess it will have to take shape on the fly.

I was hoping to get back into training sooner than I have, but have yet to run more than 3 miles at a crack in 6 weeks, and that only a handful of times.

I do not have any intention of making this blog a place for me to whine, but want to make you aware of where I'm starting from.

I injured myself at the Superior Trail 50K race '07. I had some slight twinges prior to this but the race is when it settled in and stayed for good. I went through the typical stuff, Ibuprofen, ice, rest, PT..... I ended up getting an MRI which revealed a disc herniation, something which about 25% if individuals my age have. Went through more PT, Yoga, 4 injections..... Still at the same place. The pain I have is in the glute/hamstring/calf, not constant pain, mostly a dull pain in the ass and major tightness in the hammy and calf. I looked into all the other stuff, SI joint, pirifomis, blah blah blah. Had another MRI this week, disc is worse and no hip issues to speak of other than a little tendinopathy. Soooooooooooooooo.

What the heck to do.

I am going to start running regularly, a dozen or so miles a week and ramp up slowly, like all summer to get to 30/week kinda slow. I'm hoping that Yoga, eccentric hamstring exercises and some glute/core strengthening together will do the trick. I have about 50 different exercises given to me my 8 different "experts". I also have a roman chair used to strengthen specific back muscles, this seems to help quite a bit.

My Doc said “ever thought of trying a different sport”. Now I have to admit he has tried about everything to get this to subside but I can’t even imagine not running. I know that some cross training is in order but I could not leave the camaraderie of this sport. I will continue to volunteer when I can but my goal is to get back to racing.

So here goes nothing. Going to the cabin to run in the woods.