Running, Wonky Ankle and All

Good Bye 2009 - Hello 2010!

2009-12-31T13:02:00.003-05:00

A brief review of my year in running tells me that there's only one way to describe it: Up and Down...

Up: Ran four races, ranging in distance from 5k to 30k and achieved my goal of breaking 45 minutes in the 10k.

Down: Had to pull out of the planned Fall marathon due to injury.

For totals, I came up just shy of 1000km for mileage, achieving 975.5km with today's 9km run. A cursory look at my training log and I should be happy with this result, and I am.

As far as 2010 goals go I have just one major one: LISTEN TO MY BODY! If I can do this I shouldn't have to take any major time off at any point. All other goals are secondary, but a first marathon in the Fall is up high on my list.

So, here's hoping 2010 is the best running year ever for everyone, and most importantly that it brings health, prosperity, and happiness to you and yours.

See you on the flip side!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

2009-12-24T14:35:00.003-05:00

May the Holidays bring everyone all that they desire, and most importantly health and happiness. And may 2010 be the best running year EVER!!!

All the best!

Vava

Back in the Valley

2009-12-20T12:50:00.003-05:00

It's a hectic week leading up to the Christmas Holidays, as usual. I always mean to be prepared well in advance, but it simply never happens. With both kids in school and taking part in extra-curricular activities it seems that I have even less time these days than in years past.

Oh well. The stress of the Holiday Season is nothing new, but this is the first time that I am trying to keep up a running regimen on top of all the other responsibilities. Last year, although I'd been running for the entire year, December found me taking an extended leave due to one of my numerous injuries. This year my enforced time off happened earlier, and so I am trying to keep up with a consistent training schedule throughout the Holidays.

I ran a pretty uninteresting 4km on Friday, getting home after work and straight out the door to head towards Owen's school to pick him up. This time I didn't freeze on the way home because I took my jacket and fleece off inside the school and dried out a bit while collecting Owen. Much better than my Wednesday experience!

Saturday we were out shopping for Christmas and my right knee was feeling pretty tight so I didn't run. Therefore, I got up fairly early (for me, anyway) and went out for a decent run this morning.

I was hoping to run about 6km, but I decided to see how it played out with the knee and all. Feeling pretty good I decided to just keep running and headed down to Riverdale Park and onto the trails of the Don Valley. It was great to be running down there again! I managed a decent 7.5km and feel pretty good. We then took the boys out to a local restaurant for breakfast and I stuffed myself solid with their "big breakfast". No need for lunch given how big this thing was, and how late in the morning I ended up eating.

Day After Walking Experiment

2009-12-17T08:44:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update to document how my body is dealing with the whole walking to work, then running home thing. In short: I'm a bit sore! Muscles that were clearly underused in running have been awakened as a result of my rather brisk 6km trek yesterday morning. Any motion involving pulling my foot up (I believe it's called dorsiflexion by smarter people than I) is where the pain is localized. As a result I truly believe that walking will help my running because it absolutely works out complimentary muscles. I plan on doing this again once next week, and slowly work my way up to two or three sessions per week in the New Year.

And now for something completely different...

2009-12-16T18:34:00.002-05:00

No, I am not into my own take on Monty Python, and somehow relating it to how I am struggling with running these days, but I do secretly wish for such creativity. Instead I have decided to add something new to my "training"...

After reading "The Lore of Running", as mentioned here, I was intrigued by the training techniques of the best runners of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you haven't read Chapter 6 of this book I highly recommend it for entertainment alone! Specifically I was shocked by how fast some of the cotton-wearing masters of the Victorian and WWI era were able to run on the diets that they recommended to other athletes. Don't know about you, but I wouldn't get very far on stale bread, flat bear, and old mutton. Gross.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, how does this particular Chapter impact my so-called "training". Well, in a word: walking. It seems that the marathoners and ultramarathoners of a bygone era were big on walking, LOTS of walking. I am not planning on 30km every morning like some of these folks, but I figure a bit of walking can only help my running in two ways:

By adding extra mileage to my training without the destructive pounding of running.

By working out complimentary muscles which running ignores.

And so I decided to start by walking all the way to work so as to allow me to run home afterward. I was pleasantly surprised at the pace I was able to maintain, and thought I'd be hard pressed to stay around the 10:00/km mark. Instead I managed an 8:37/km pace for the entire 6.05km distance, with the whole trek taking just 52 minutes and change. Nice!

Then, after a day of desk sitting, I ran home. My right leg was a bit stiff from the walk (remember those complimentary muscles getting worked out?), but this didn't seem to affect my running. I ran slow and steady all the way until I was pretty close to Owen's school, stopping at 7.3km. I easily could have gone the extra half kilometre to the school's front door, but given that the longest run I've been on since starting up again was 6km I figured I'd pushed it far enough.

The only thing I did wrong was neglecting to put on the extra fleece vest that I had in the backpack and, therefore, nearly froze on the walk home. Live and learn...

Reading and (hopefully) Learning

2009-12-14T08:56:00.000-05:00

As I try and get "back" to the type of running that I was doing in the summer I find the process tedious and frustrating. I am not running nearly as much as I thought I would be more than a month into my return to running. My right knee continues to bother me a bit, though nothing like what I was feeling at the end of August when I was sidelined with this ailment as well as calf strains galore.

Anyway, I am really really trying to be more conservative and have set no goals for the year other than wanting to run a marathon next Fall. Even this goal is not set in stone, and I am not registered for any races whatsoever. In between the little bit of running that I have been able to accomplish I have been reading books on running like never before. The two most useful ones I've found are Hal Higdon's "Marathon: the Ultimate Training Guide" and Timothy Noakes' "The Lore of Running".

I am not, at this point, interested in any training plan per se, but I am very much in need of reinforcement of the concepts of not over training, listening to your body, setting realistic goals, etc. Both of these books do a great job of describing the common mistakes that rookies make, which ultimately lead to burnout or injury, and I have found more than a few that either I've already experienced or can relate to. As such, I am continuing to stay positive no matter how often, or how far, I am running on a weekly or monthly basis.

Case in point: Last week I ran 4km on Monday, then took the rest of the week off because I was fighting off some sort of throat ailment. On Saturday I went out for what turned out to be an awesome feeling 6km. It was easy, and I had a great time.

Sunday morning I was hoping to run again, but decided that my right calf was still feeling a bit too sore after Saturday's run and stayed home. Instead, I rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes and did some stretching.

I've also started doing a few new exercises that I found in the Noakes book, especially ones with stretch cords that work the hip flexors in a variety of ways. A particular one that I've never done before works out the front of the hip, where you have to lift your leg up until the thigh is parallel with the floor while having a stretch cord attached to the ankle. It's amazing how weak those muscles are and I immediately feel the difference in my knees after only a few days of this activity.

Anyway, I would love to be out there running 20+ kilometres every Sunday, but it is simply not possible at this time. Instead, I have to think super long term and get back to that sort of mileage when my body allows. I just hope that all of this new found wisdom doesn't leave me as the Spring racing season approaches and I am tempted, perhaps against my better judgement, to enter a race or two. I hope that I can race a few, but will not bank on it just yet.

I have also signed up at a gym around the corner as part of a reduced monthly rate plan through my work. The membership doesn't start until the middle of January, but I am doing this to have access to treadmills again, and to specifically work out my core and legs in order to get rid of these "swimmers legs" once and for all. Must strengthen to absorb shock better!

One of those weeks...

2009-12-11T08:34:00.000-05:00

Man, it's been "one of those weeks" for me. After the weekend I went out for a nice run on Monday evening and had a decent time of it, completing a relatively uneventful 4km with a short walk break at the halfway point.

Then on Tuesday evening, when I was not planning on running, my throat started hurting. I shrugged it off and figured it wouldn't lead to anything since over the past month I've had the same feeling creep up one evening only for it to go away by the following morning. This time I wasn't as lucky and by Wednesday morning it was super painful to swallow. Although I didn't go to the doctor (I know, I know) my self diagnosis is that I had a touch of tonsillitis given that I didn't have the usual strep throat symptoms.

Anyway, needless to say, I did not run that evening and have pretty much been more than a little worn down the entire week. Today things are feeling a bit better, though my throat still continues to give me trouble and I am very lethargic.

The one nice thing about being a bit out of it is that I've been reading a lot recently. I won't bother listing the training manual type books that I've perused since they are in the "usual suspects" category and I'm sure anyone who is into running would have checked them out already. However, if you haven't checked out these two books you definitely should:

Duel in the Sun by John Brant was an awesome read. I couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting! What a story, and not just of the race between Salazar and Beardsley, but mainly their lives before and after that pivotal race.

Strides: Running Through History with an Unlikely Athlete by Ben Cheever is also a fast read and very entertaining indeed. Lots of humour throughout, and many historical anecdotes makes this a lighthearted history of running book.

Hopefully I can get some running done this weekend. Have a good one everybody!

Another Busy Weekend

2009-12-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

Man, it seems like the weekends are flying by and getting busier and busier! No rest until the New Year, I suspect, but at least I am still getting my runs in despite all the other stuff that needs to get done.

This weekend we celebrated my Dad's 65th Birthday and retirement, which meant a lot of cleaning of the house ahead of the Sunday evening dinner. We went a little overboard on some things (case in point, dismantling and cleaning the sliding patio doors), and didn't touch others, but all in all everything went well.

In amongst all that prep work I managed to run twice. On Saturday morning I encouraged Owen to come with me for a short run, and even got Malcolm in on the act. Owen and I ran 2km together, then picked up Malcolm for another kilometre for a total of 3km. It was chilly out, near freezing, but definitely fun. Then we had an energy audit conducted on our house, after which I took Owen to get measured for his jersey for baseball "spring training" - they start indoor workouts at the beginning of January and go every weekend right through until the end of April.

On Sunday Owen said his heel hurt a little bit (little guy needs new running shoes, me thinks) and so I went off on my own for another easy run. This time I ran 5km. It also marked the first time since last winter that I ran in below freezing temperatures as the thermometer read -0.5C when I left.

Running wise it was a good recovery week. My calf hurt a bit, but I think I've traced the issue to doing some extra calf raises that tired the muscle out a bit so I am not worried about it. It didn't bother me very much on the weekend, but clearly I need to strengthen my calves. My total for the week was a meagre 13km. This week I will try and run a bit more, though I must admit that this slow build up in mileage is getting on my nerves. I just wish my body would accept a more aggressive approach, but I'm afraid that is not to be. Just have to stay the course...

Strange...

2009-12-03T08:45:00.001-05:00

Went out for a run after two full days off and happened upon something that always seems like it comes out of nowhere for me. After about 2km of easy running my left calf (i.e. non-wonky ankle side) started to feel a bit stiff, so I took a short walk break before starting to run again. I ran three more kilometres, taking brief walking breaks after each click, and tried to stretch the thing out, but to no avail. I had gotten home from work early enough to run over to the school to collect Owen, and was not particularly warmly dressed given that the weather was pretty mild. I wore shorts, and perhaps that was the source of the problem. After a total of 5km I finally got to the school.

On the walk home with Owen the calf really started to hurt. It didn't help that it started raining that cold, late autumn type of rain and I was definitely feeling chilled. Today it feels a bit better, but definitely no running for me this evening, as I had planned. Perhaps my calves are even weaker than I had suspected? I'd better start doing some strengthening in that area once this settles down.

Just hoping to run on the weekend...

November in brief

2009-12-01T08:55:00.000-05:00

November has now come and gone. After 8 weeks of sedentary life, with a leg surgery that put me on my ass for a bit, the past month has seen me return to running, though in limited fashion I concede.

I have amassed a modest total of 50.3km of running for the month and have nearly reached 900km for the year, falling just 7km short of that mark. Though 1000km will not likely happen this year I am just happy to be running again and in the beginning stages of base building.

The other thing that all my time off has allowed me to do is to work on my leg strength. I continue to do lunges on a nightly basis and am slowly feeling the positive effects of this activity. On top of that, on days when I don't run, I spend at least a half-hour on a stationary bike. This has been good I'm sure, though my body weight has not budged, surprisingly. I find it hard to believe that the eight weeks of little activity (beyond biking to work and doing push ups and chin ups at home) has put an extra 15lbs onto my frame. I now hover just over 200lbs and that's the heaviest I've been in well over a year. I think that I am putting on muscle rather than fat, but it will be interesting to see what happens to my weight once my mileage gets higher in the coming months.

I look forward to a good December of running! This week I am taking it easy, trying to stick to my long term plan of giving my body a break every fourth week in an effort to stave off the multitude of nagging injuries that follow me around...

Weekend Update

2009-11-29T14:36:00.003-05:00

This is brief since the weekend is not yet over and I still have a lot to accomplish with the few hours that I have left.

On Saturday I went for a run early in the morning and had a decent time of it. I ran 3.5km with no breaks and felt pretty good, all things considered. Then I spent the rest of the day getting Christmas lights and putting them up on the outside of the house. It's amazing how long it takes to get that done!

Today I also went for a run in the morning. I didn't feel as pressed for time and so I decided to take it easy and took brief walking breaks after every kilometre. These really are barely walking breaks as I tend to take about ten or twenty steps and then run again. I ran a total of 5km and broke the 20km mark for the week (total of 20.5km). Not much of an accomplishment, but still...

I think this week I will actually try and take it down a notch and run a little less. I've decided to try and give my body a break every three or four weeks, and I might as well start now. The right knee, though getting better, is feeling a bit tight and can probably use a bit of rest.

Now I have to figure out how to install a garage door opener...

Oh yeah, we took the kids skating at Nathan Phillips Square this morning. It was fun! Malks fell and hurt his bum though. That was not much fun...

Late Afternoon Run

2009-11-26T19:32:00.003-05:00

Got home a bit earlier than expected after my appointment with the surgeon (another post-op check up) ended at such a time as to make going back to the office useless. And so I took advantage of the extra time allotted to go for a run. Monica had gotten home early from a conference downtown as well, and was in a rather poor mood due to some stuff that was bugging her at work, and I dragged her out to run with me.

We jogged and chatted and it was great. We took very brief walking breaks at every kilometre and eventually made it around to Owen's school after 3km. Monica thought it would be good to pick Owen up and so I headed off alone to get Malcolm at his school.

I continued to run and tacked on another two clicks for a total of 5km for the day. After I picked up Malcolm he wanted to race home and so I likely ran another kilometre chasing him all the way home, but I didn't have the Garmin turned on by this point so it went unrecorded.

Now, post shower and dinner, it's time to get the boys to bed. Ahhhh. The routine.

Wish I could say it "eases the pain"...

Early Morning Jog

2009-11-25T09:17:00.002-05:00

Without any plan I, once again, on the spur of the moment, went out for a short run this morning. I would think that if I was to do anything more than the 3k that I ended up running then it would have never happened. But I'm happy to just be getting out there for these short runs. My body seems to be responding OK as well, though I have a long way to go as far as leg strength goes.

In any case, the weather was pretty much perfect for a morning run: +9C and a bit wet, though not actually raining while I was running. It's been a very mild month and it's nice to be able to take advantage of the weather as I get back into running on a consistent basis.

Now, with the run finished, I am faced with taking both of the boys, and myself, for flu shots this evening. Happy Wednesday!

This is becoming a habit...

2009-11-23T20:38:00.003-05:00

Never, and I mean NEVER, have I gone out for a run three days in a row. Sure, my distances are short and my pace is turtle-ish, but tonight marks the third day in a row that I've gone out for a run. I am pretty much just going out for runs whenever I feel like it, both physically and mentally. I didn't plan on this run, but when I came home and put some meat in the oven for dinner I had no interest in biking over to the school to pick up Owen, and I definitely hate using the car for such short trips. The school is a little less than a mile away, and I had time to strap on the old Garmin and running shoes and headed out for a jog.

I decided to run three kilometres and took a bit of an around-about way to get to the school. Walking breaks every kilometre, as has become my habit, and I arrived at the school with just a little less than the three clicks, so I ran around the playground and back to the front door.

When I collected Owen I didn't expect anything other than a nice walk home, but he noticed that I'd been running and said he wanted to run home. His reasoning was pretty good, saying that running would get us home faster for dinner and, ultimately, get him to his Cubs meeting on time. So off we went, me carrying his backpack, for another kilometre.

A total of 4km was what I did, and it feels pretty good. There is definitely something in commuting by foot - I love it! Can't wait to be in shape enough to perhaps run to and from work sometime in the new year...

Couple Short Weekend Runs

2009-11-22T16:02:00.005-05:00

This weekend was a lot of fun, and some running was accomplished as well. On Saturday morning I went out for an easy 3km run on my own since Monica had run with Owen the previous evening and the little guy was not up for another one so soon. I took brief walking breaks at each kilometre marker and felt pretty good. In fact, although not blazing or anything, I ended up running about thirty seconds per kilometre faster than intended. Afterwards we all headed off to Darlington Provincial Park and had a great hike through the woods and along the beach. The boys had a great time spotting dear tracks on the train, and leaving a long trail of driftwood thrown into the water along the beach.

Today Monica and I took advantage of the fact that the boys were with my Dad and drove down to Ashbridges Bay Park for another run together. It was great! We managed 4km with walking breaks, and really had a lot of fun. The terrain was really varied, which made for a soft ride: wooden boardwalk, some asphalt paths, wood chip sections, and even a bit of a dirt trail.

I finished the week having run five times, which is unusual for me, and feeling pretty good. It's so nice to be enjoying running again. My right knee continues to have a bit of pain under the kneecap, but I am continuing to do lunges and can feel my legs slowly getting stronger. I think as long as I do this, and stretch consistently, the knee will continue to improve. What will be difficult is holding myself back from running too much too soon, and too fast. That's why I am running with no goals at the moment...

Rain Rain Rain

2009-11-19T20:01:00.002-05:00

Not much to say other than...

Got soaked biking to work.

Got soaked biking back home.

Figured since I was soaked anyway, why not run and pick up Owen at school?

So I did.

3.8k was how far. Don't really care at this point how fast. Just happy to be running again.

Good Morning Boiler!

2009-11-18T09:30:00.003-05:00

This morning ended up a bit different than the norm.

I woke up just before 6am to this loud vibrating and buzzing noise that sounded like something was not happy and about to leak or blow up. I suspected the new boiler that we'd had installed a couple of weeks ago and went down to the utilities room in the basement to discover that, indeed, this was the source of the disturbance. We're not very happy about our new high-efficiency boiler making all this noise and waking us up, though it does heat the house up really quickly, and we will be following up with the company that installed it, but for the moment I was able to at least muffle the noise a bit by shoving a sponge between the gas pipe and the water pipe that were vibrating like crazy and hitting against each other. I also moved the front panel on the boiler itself a bit until the noise was slightly better, though I had to go through some spots where it would rattle like we were in the middle of an earthquake or something.

Anyway, with the boiler having woken me up, and it being a little past 6 in the morning, I felt that I had a decision to make. Go back to bed for twenty minutes before the alarm wakes me up once more, or head out for the 3km run that I was planning to do in the evening?

I chose the run! It was nice to be out with the City just waking up (people in cars rushing off to beat the traffic, shoving handfuls of something that was supposed to resemble breakfast as they went by was somewhat entertaining), and I do not do this enough. Never have, and probably never will.

I ran all the way without the walking breaks that I've been taking since getting back into running, and felt none the worse for wear. Maybe is was the reading of Dean Karnazes' book "50/50" that inspired me to do an early morning jog?

Whatever it was, I'm certainly glad to have had the opportunity to do it. So, thank you boiler!

Now shut the %^$& up!!!

A Jog with a Wee One

2009-11-16T21:08:00.004-05:00

Got out after work for another run, and had a surprising running buddy for the last bit too! After getting home, starting dinner, rushing off to pick up Owen, dropping him off at home, going to get Malcolm, coming home, grabbing Owen and taking him to a bus that would take him and his Cub Pack to some observatory up at York University, then getting back home I decided a run was in order.

So I set off on the now typical 3km with walks after each click. Upon getting home Malcolm came running out of the kitchen all ready to go for a run, so I was back out the door to "race" the five year-old. We had a great time, and with only a couple of short walking breaks, we managed to reel off another kilometre for a grand total of 4k for me, and 1k for him. Pretty good pace he was setting too, and a great companion for conversation. Not a dull moment the entire way! The little guy kept on doing "acrocatics" (that's how he seems be convinced it's supposed to be pronounced) - skipping and twirling periodically with me trying my best to not burst out laughing or topple right over top of him.

Now I am waiting for Owen's bus to get back. It was supposed to be back at 9pm, but as I was sitting in the car waiting another parent knocked on the car window and let me know that they would be back around 9:45pm. Great! One last errand to run before I can finally nod off for the night.

A Couple More

2009-11-15T13:15:00.003-05:00

Managed a couple more of the same type of jogs in the last few days. On Friday I went out on my own after work and did the same walk, run a kilometre, walk, run thing for a total of 3km. It was a bit faster, though still definitely in the slow and tentative range.

Today, Monica and I had an opportunity to run together and we did the same routine for another 3km. Things are feeling pretty good, and it would seem that the plantar fasciitis, which I've been battling for over a year, has finally healed. Those two and a half months of, over a week of which was spent in bed on account of the surgery, fixed that annoying issue I guess. Now I just have to be conscious of my foot so that it doesn't flare up again. That means doing some exercises.

I have also been doing more leg exercises as well, such as lunges and squats. The runner's knee on the right side isn't completely gone, but I can feel it getting better as my legs get stronger. I will not start upping mileage to any significant degree until I feel absolutely no pain.

I am also thinking of joining a gym around the corner from my office so that I have access to more weight training equipment than I do at home. It's a corporate deal thing that wouldn't start until the middle of January, but it would force me to work on something other than endurance. Also, if this does come to pass, I will be focused on lower body and core strength. As a former swimmer my abs are in pretty good shape, but the muscles that absorb shock as I run are poorly developed.

It's great to be back at running again! Slow and easy, but at least I'm back out there.

Out Again

2009-11-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was both Remembrance Day and Polish Independence Day. The first is a chance for all to remember all those who served and or perish, or continue to serve, in the military. The second is a celebration of Poland becoming a country once more on November 11, 1918 after over 100 years of being partitioned between the likes of Prussia, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

And I went running again...

Monica and I both had the day off on account of Remembrance Day and I spent the morning studying for yet another exam, but in the early afternoon we drove down to the Beaches and did our little run-walk thing on the boardwalk. It was sunny, a bit windy at first, but it was a lot of fun to be jogging together. Like last time I ran a kilometre, walked a little, ran another, etc... until I managed to complete 3k. I felt pretty good, all things considered, though the achilles tendon on the right side feels tighter than I'd like it to on account of the wonky ankle, and all. I'm not too worried about it since my ankle has always improved the more I use it, and so I am planning to do another 3k jog either on Friday or Saturday.

It's the start of the long road back to proper training, but at least it's a start...

Tentative New Beginnings

2009-11-09T08:41:00.001-05:00

I've been out of touch for a while as far as this blog goes, but I just couldn't come up with any real reason to get on here and post something as long as I was laid up and unable to walk, let alone run, for a period of time. After my surgery I was the (un)lucky recipient of a blood clot in my leg that hurt like a mofo and promptly put me on my back for over a week.

As an aside, being on medication sucks...

Anyway, it took a while after that for the pain to go away to the point that I didn't feel like I was ripping the calf muscle right off of the bone, and then out of nowhere my wonky friggin' ankle flared up on me something fierce on Halloween weekend and I felt like I was once again taking two steps back. A full week went by and now, finally, I am starting to feel better.

I hadn't run a single time since August 26th, but managed to head out on Sunday morning for a very slow and tentative trial. I walked for a bit to "warm up" and then jogged for three kilometres with a bit of walking in between each click. It was slow, sure, but at least it "was". Twenty minutes or so of jogging and now on Monday morning I feel a bit stiff. Pathetic, I know, but I'm just hoping it is the beginning of my glorious comeback.

No goals at this point other than getting back to running regularly and relatively pain free. Here's hoping for a healthy rest of 2009, and a 2010 with lots of running and racing.

Complications...

2009-10-11T17:12:00.004-04:00

First, let me wish everyone a most Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

But boy, did this Fall ever turn out different than I envisioned it! Not only did my marathon plans fall by the wayside, but now I can't even spend Thanksgiving with my family (who are in Ottawa as I type). My surgery of two Friday's ago seemed to have gone according to plan. Last weekend was painful, but I was assured that this was to be expected. However, by Wednesday the pain was increasing rather than dissipating and I, on the sober advice of my lovely wife, called the surgeon to see if he would see me just to make sure all was well.

It's a good thing I went in earlier than the previously scheduled post-op check up. Turns out my body decided to throw me a curve and I had a blood clot in my leg that was making things nearly unbearable as far as pain goes. I am now on anti-coagulants, or more commonly referred to as "blood thinners" (and I am told that this is the same stuff that is in rat poison!) though they don't actually thin the blood. I am not allowed to walk any distance other than puttering around the house. I also had to inject myself with a series of syringes that are now, mercifully, finished. I won't complain about this for I know that many have to give themselves injections on a regular basis, but it was a strange and unpleasant experience to say the least. Every nerve in my body, all of my instincts, told me to not plunge that needle into my stomach when I held it at the ready. I persevered, and now will just have to take pills for the next three to six months and be extremely careful not to cut myself.

Anyway, long story short, I still can't walk or stand without tremendous shooting pain in my leg, and running is the furthest thing from my mind. Here' s hoping the next installment is of the happier variety.

Post-Op Report

2009-10-02T12:46:00.002-04:00

I had the surgery this morning and now I am home, somewhat in pain, but none the worse for wear I guess. The procedure took about an hour and it all went as described except for one part. The shots of anaesthetic were the only truly painful parts, but then at one point it felt like the back of my leg, from the butt all the way down, went into a mega cramp. I told the surgeon about this and he stopped what he was doing until the sensation dissipated. It was very strange and painful. What might have happened is that a nerve was irritated and that's what I actually felt. Cramping was not really happening since the muscles never tightened up or anything, but it was the complete lack of control that was the worst part. Normally with a cramp you can shift your position, stand up, whatever to try and get rid of it. I wasn't able to move an inch and so had absolutely no way to get rid of the pain. I just had to grin an bear it. After a few uncomfortable minutes it went away and the surgeon was able to proceed. Now I just feel like someone was punching me repeatedly in the back of the calf. Weird...

Here's hoping that the weekend goes well and I am back on my feet pain-free by Monday.

A Few More Days...

2009-09-29T10:28:00.002-04:00

..until my surgery, that is. On Friday morning I will be going under the knife and am a bit nervous about the whole thing. It's not that big a deal really, given that it will be done under local anaesthetic, but still... I do hope that this helps in the long term as it will continue to keep me on the sidelines for some time yet.

In other news my right knee continues to hurt. It's been over a month (and that includes a DNS at the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon that is depressing to say the least) since I've stopped running, but this damned tendinitis lingers on. I've been to the physio and to many massage therapy sessions, and I'd like to say things have improved, but it's more of the one step forward, one step back variety. I'm still optimistic that this will eventually clear up and I plan on getting back to running towards the end of October.

That DNS was a pain in the ass though. Arrrgghhhh!!!

And oh yeah, while rebuilding my laptop I seem to have created an unwanted issue with the network adapter. Wireless still works, but no dice on the Ethernet port. It's been a pain to get this thing working, and no solution seems possible short of performing the whole reinstall process again and hoping that this time I happen upon the magic sequence of installing the multitude of drivers that may solve this issue. Why are laptops such a pain!

Alright... Time for Another Update

2009-09-18T11:52:00.003-04:00

Seeing as I am not running I figured now's the time to do something I've been thinking about doing for about a year or two. I have decided to get some "minor" surgery (if there is such a thing) done on my right leg to clear up circulation issues that I've had for years. Though I've been told that these have nothing to do with my ankle injury, I am not convinced. It seems that the original injury was also the start of these issues, so how can they NOT be related?

Anyway, I have no idea if this will help with the ankle (which, mercifully, has not been a major issue for quite some time), but it needs to get done finally. It will also mean that I will be off the road for a few weeks afterwards, which will add up to almost two months of no running for me. By then the knees should be fully recovered and I can, hopefully, begin to slowly work my way towards building a good base over the course of the Fall and Winter months. Not that much has gone according to plan, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that, come next June, I will have an awesome base and will have been running somewhere in the 40-60km per week range for several months. Then, when I start training for my first marathon, my body will be better prepared for the effort.

It's still a bummer that I can't run, but I am looking and thinking long term. I also have to keep rollerblading, start doing some strength exercises for the legs, and get my membership at the UofT pool renewed so I can start swimming again. I have to keep my weight in check since I've gained 5lbs in the past 2-3 weeks (yikes!). Lots to think about...

I think the hardest thing about this surgery is that I am not allowed to drink ANY coffee for 24 hours prior to the procedure. Nuts!