This Thursday I'm stoked about a few things! First off, Happy Birthday to my girlfriend Jenny. I'm so stoked for her and can't wait to celebrate her birthday with her this weekend! And speaking of weekend, how about surfing? What the heck has happened to surfing around these parts? It's been so dang cold that we've seriously neglected the art of riding waves. The right whales seem to be having a blast out there with new media coverage of their migration off our waters each week. I think it's time to get back in the water even if we do freeze in our little 3mm wetsuits and this weekend seems to have the perfect opportunity. Yes, TallGuySurfing is totally stoked and going to attempt to dare himself and friends into the surf this weekend if the conditions warrant! Stay tuned for a recap!
And last of all I leave you with this comment I left on Frayed Laces blog and her Road ID giveaway here. The blog request was to leave a comment as a letter to your body. After writing it I thought, "heck, it might be fun to post it as well!"
Here's an open letter to my body:
Dear Body,
Please rally the parts for the following messages:
To the Achilles tendon,
You never complained once for 32 years and yet recently you decided to let Brain know of your extreme dissatisfaction. Brain seems to have worked out a compromise and negotiated a new work ethic for you. Please stick to your end of the deal in the coming months. We have trail races and marathons to run!
To the mouth,
A couple of things. 1st off, like Mr. Achilles tendon, you've been relatively quiet for 32 years. A 3rd party investigator (a.k.a. the Dentist)is balking at your silence and claiming foul play. If you can hold out a little longer Brain has informed us that a trip to Thailand may be in the works to fix your negligent gum lines. 2nd of all, your voice box seems to be getting more and more blunt in the business world. Please tell Brain to have patience and try and "think" things instead of "thinking aloud" more often than not.
To the heart,
At the request of Brain you've built up some pretty thick walls during our late 20s after being broken a few times and Brain realizes and understands it's importance in having strong defenses. However, there comes a time when you have to lower your defense shields to really have a chance and open up to vulnerability. Now is the time to lower the drawbridge and let that special person through the gates. Brain takes full responsibility if you become broken again.
To the left rotator cuff,
You sir are kicking ass. Ever since that cortisone shot three years ago you have been off the wall. Keep up the good work, the stoke and the strong paddling! Keep us fast in the water and out of harms way!
To the Brian,
Please continue NOT hesitating. You are doing so well and we've come so far these past few years. As the 2010 Hurricane season approaches and a possible surf trip to Ecuador is in the works you will undoubtedly have some quick decisions to make in the water. Please do not hesitate a stay or go decision. Be precise, be wise and be fast. Keep Body safe as we have many more waves to ride and races to run!
Thanks for your time
-The Conscience.
Showing posts with label Achilles tendon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Achilles tendon. Show all posts
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Runners are Great!
I love the running community. Runners are a masochistic bunch that seem to share the same sick and twisted view of the world and somehow manage to be amazingly friendly at the same time. Maybe it's because we share the same common feelings that seem insane to non-runners?
For example, last weekend I volunteered for the first time at a race. A runner, whom I'll call The Firefighter because, well, he happens to be a firefighter when he's not running, saw me at a time station and yelled out, "Why aren't you running man?" I only had time to respond with, "I'm injured... Achilles tendon." He kept on running at his sub 8-minute pace for the 10k and missed his PR by 10 seconds. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see him after the race. It was raining and he was soaked so he left before I got back to the finish line. The Firefighter has run the Disney Marathon and the NYC marathon and I wanted to pick his brain a bit about my situation and ask for advise.
Then on Monday my phone rang and almost as if he knew I wanted to talk to him, it was the Firefighter calling out of the blue. I consider the Firefighter my friends, but he's not someone I actively keep in touch with; I see him around town and say hello, but that's about it. He was calling only to check on me and ask about my "injury." I didn't even know he had my number! He said he had noticed me running all around town all summer long and was thinking "man, he's going to smoke me this year at the Ed Root," and then he was shocked and concerned to see me volunteering. I was so stoked when he called that we chatted about running for a good half hour.
It was a case of one runner being concerned about another runner and having the common bond of knowing how much it sucks to be injured. The Firefighter gave me a few suggestions and I'm sure we'll keep in better touch as he plans on running MCM next year. Since I've missed out on the whole "training" experience and will never be ready to seriously run Disney I'm already eying a few other marathons including MCM later next year where I can get the full experience.
Part of The Firefighters advice was to run on a rubberized track and to walk stadium steps. I tried this out yesterday morning before work. There happens to be a track within a mile from my house that I had forgotten about. How crazy is it that I can be so crazy about running and forget about the track? I ran a few miles at a perfect 8 minute pace switching directions every two laps to be careful of my ITBs. Two things I noticed right off the bat.... track running is fast and extremely boring. I had forgotten my iPod. However, it felt good and I even ran the stadium steps for 10 minutes after (I'm no good at walking them). I felt no discomfort in my Achilles tendon after so I'm going to give it another whirl soon!
But seriously, the running community is great and I'm glad to know the runners that I'm lucky enough to know!
For example, last weekend I volunteered for the first time at a race. A runner, whom I'll call The Firefighter because, well, he happens to be a firefighter when he's not running, saw me at a time station and yelled out, "Why aren't you running man?" I only had time to respond with, "I'm injured... Achilles tendon." He kept on running at his sub 8-minute pace for the 10k and missed his PR by 10 seconds. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see him after the race. It was raining and he was soaked so he left before I got back to the finish line. The Firefighter has run the Disney Marathon and the NYC marathon and I wanted to pick his brain a bit about my situation and ask for advise.
Then on Monday my phone rang and almost as if he knew I wanted to talk to him, it was the Firefighter calling out of the blue. I consider the Firefighter my friends, but he's not someone I actively keep in touch with; I see him around town and say hello, but that's about it. He was calling only to check on me and ask about my "injury." I didn't even know he had my number! He said he had noticed me running all around town all summer long and was thinking "man, he's going to smoke me this year at the Ed Root," and then he was shocked and concerned to see me volunteering. I was so stoked when he called that we chatted about running for a good half hour.
It was a case of one runner being concerned about another runner and having the common bond of knowing how much it sucks to be injured. The Firefighter gave me a few suggestions and I'm sure we'll keep in better touch as he plans on running MCM next year. Since I've missed out on the whole "training" experience and will never be ready to seriously run Disney I'm already eying a few other marathons including MCM later next year where I can get the full experience.
Part of The Firefighters advice was to run on a rubberized track and to walk stadium steps. I tried this out yesterday morning before work. There happens to be a track within a mile from my house that I had forgotten about. How crazy is it that I can be so crazy about running and forget about the track? I ran a few miles at a perfect 8 minute pace switching directions every two laps to be careful of my ITBs. Two things I noticed right off the bat.... track running is fast and extremely boring. I had forgotten my iPod. However, it felt good and I even ran the stadium steps for 10 minutes after (I'm no good at walking them). I felt no discomfort in my Achilles tendon after so I'm going to give it another whirl soon!
But seriously, the running community is great and I'm glad to know the runners that I'm lucky enough to know!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Thursday Stoke!
I'm stoked for steroids!Yeah.... that's right, STEROIDS!
After not being able to walk Monday (the day after running and finishing the Daytona Beach Half Marathon) I decided it was time to finally face reality and go see my doctor. First, let me say how awesome my doctor is as he is a runner and a surfer. He is probably the nicest doctor I've ever talked to as a patient. His waiting room gets backed up not only because he is busy, but because he is so personable and will talk your ear off. He actually cares about what's going on and even remembers things about you other than your medical condition. No wonder he is so popular.
So I make and appointment and can't get in until Tuesday as the very last patient of the day. This means I don't see him until about 6 p.m. I explain my story. Hurt the old Achilles tendon five weeks ago, thought it was healed up and decided to run a little 13.1 mile race. Now I can't freaking walk! I remove the ACE bandage and the first words out of his mouth are "HOLY CRAP!" I kid not.... he really said that! I call him by his first name and tell him that's really not what I want to hear from my doctor. He sees the fear on my face and down plays it a bit by telling me most Achilles tendon injures he sees are closer to the heel and mine is higher up more near my lower calf muscle.
Long story short; I'm sidelined for at least two weeks. I don't need an X-ray or MRI or Surgery or anything crazy thank God! I have multiple torn spots in the "sheathing" that is the outside layer of the tendon, which has caused some really gnarly inflammation and discoloration. In other words, it looks a lot worse than it really is...
The solution; I'm on steroids baby!
Seriously, it's some kind of week-long pack of steroids called methyprednisolone. All I know is I couldn't hardly walk yesterday morning. I took the first few pills with breakfast and by lunch time I was almost walking normally. Amazing. No wonder athletes abuse this stuff. I hope my balls don't shrink up! The most important thing is I have to stay off it for at least two weeks, which will be my nemesis as I have a hard enough time sitting still normally. I'm determined though and the doctor, who ironically is a Disney Marathon Finisher, told me that "I'll be fine and I've got this," when it comes to still running the Disney in January. Only thing is he says I probably shouldn't train until December, which will give me about four weeks. It's crazy when I think about it, but hey, I did just finish a Half Marathon without running an entire month before so this way at least I'll get a few long runs in... probably won't get the best time, but at least I'll be able to run and finish!
So yeah... I'm stoked for steroids!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Half Marathon Recap Part 2 (the story)
Warning: I'm probably going to get carried away and write a REALLY long story here so stop now if you're not down for reading my gibber-jabber about my first Half Marathon... The Daytona Beach Half Marathon!
Sometimes I question my own sanity. I think this is completely normal, right? My question then would be am I out of my mind for running a 13.1 mile race without running the entire month before? Four week taper anyone? Here's what I did. Five weeks before the race I hurt my Achilles tendon. I didn't go to the doctor, but I did research it online and decide to give it plenty of time to heal. Four weeks should be plenty of time, right? I did go on several 20-35 mile bicycle rides leading up to the race just to make sure my endurance was on par. So when I ask people that question the non-runners give me the "you're insane" look while the runners including my doctor (we'll get to that story in the next blog) give the nod of approval. So in questioning my own sanity... I feel fine (like the R.E.M. song)!
In fact, I was feeling pretty fine on race day. I had been slowly carb-loading for three days before the race, hadn't drank any alcohol for weeks, was fully hydrated and going on a solid 6 hours of sleep. The day before I eagerly picked up my race packet in hopes of checking out the Asics display at their so called "expo" only to discover the Asics people were a no show. Must have been at NYC Marathon. Honestly, I have to agree with Rachael at Beginning Runner's Blog when she says her packet picket up day is about as exciting as watching a cat lick its butt! The Half Marathon people hyped it up in all the emails they sent out and it really was nothing to write home about and I could have saved the fuel and picked up the packet at 4:30 a.m. on Race Day. I will say the swag was excellent. Every runner got a free admission to the Daytona USA attraction. I haven't used mine yet, but I hear it's like a mini NASCAR theme park with all kinds of racing simulators. I'm not a NASCAR fan despite years of covering races as a journalist so this swag excited me about as much as that cat licking its butt, HOWEVER, the tech shirt did excite me! It's an Asics brand yellow tech shirt and it fits me quite well, I might add!
On to race day!
I have to stop for a second and make a quick list of firsts! At some point during the run I started thinking about all the first time things I was experiencing in this race weekend.
1st time attempting to enter a surf contest
1st time bailing on my 1st surf contest (due to friend's staff infected eye socket)
1st time EVER going to sleep before 9 p.m. on Halloween night (except for maybe when I was an infant).
1st time in at least a decade I haven't gotten drunk while partying on Halloween. 1st time ever laying out my race day clothes the night before.
1st time running a Half Marathon.
1st time ever running a race intentionally slow due to injury.
1st time meeting a fellow blogger I didn't already know outside of the blog sphere (Melissa of I don't Need Excuses)
1st time finishing a race without having someone pass me when the finish line is in sight.
1st time ever getting a blister from running (a very small one of which the Redhead sarcastically said "I hate you" upon seeing).
1st time getting free beer after a race, which kicks ass!
I said I went to bed before 9 p.m and that's true if you count the time change. While just about ALL of my friends were out partying it up for the almost full moon Halloween Saturday night, I was attempting to fall asleep completely sober and hydrated. I usually sleep well. I'm one of those lucky people that can turn off my brain and fall asleep. Not this night. I kept waking up every 20 to 30 minutes and checking the clock. Finally I had a dream. The dream was simply this.... I wake up and it's 8:30 a.m. Somehow I managed to sleep through two alarm clocks and my cell phone. I realize that I should be done with the race by this time and that poor Redhead is probably standing at the finish line with a motivational poster and I'm no where to be seen. This is such a horrible feeling I instantly wake up about to cry. My heart is racing and I look at the clock. It reads 3:58 a.m. I realize it was only a dream and I only have two more minutes to sleep. Thank God! I'm so ready to get up and do this and I'm happy the time has finally come. Then I check my cell phone and see that it says the time is 2:58 a.m. F*ck! I told everyone to remember to set their clocks back and I'm the one that forgets. Damn it! This means I have to try and sleep another hour. I consider getting up, but decide I need the extra rest and force myself to lay in bed half asleep for an hour. Then 4 a.m. finally arrives. I get up and throw on my Paulie Bleeker costume, fill my cooler with ice and ice packets for after the race, grab my bib number; eat half a power bar, a handful of cashews, a tablespoon of natural honey and start downing a large bottle of really cold Smart Water; and head out the door for the 30 minute drive up to Daytona International Speedway.
The road is completely desolate. It's as if I'm the last man alive on the Earth. That is until I get near the Speedway. All of a sudden I'm surrounded by a dozen cars. It's soon apparent that we're all heading to the same destination. The lights are on at the Speedway and you can see it from a mile away illuminating the sky. It's an odd feeling driving through the tunnel and into the infield of the Speedway without a NASCAR fan insight. The grandstands are completely empty and the only people in sight are totally fit runners. It's a beautiful sight and I start to feed off the energy and excitement of the pre-race atmosphere. These are the people I want to surround myself with in life... along with surfer too of course!
At 5 a.m. I have my chip and have stretched and I'm ready to go an hour early. My cell phone sounds off and it's a text message from the Redhead saying something motivational. That girl is hardcore! Seriously, she doesn't have to be up for at least another hour to have time to drive over and cheer on Melissa and I at the finish line. I smile at the text message and start to pump myself up for this race!
At 5:30 a.m. I still haven't been able to find Melissa. I've never met her before and am not completely sure what she looks like, but then I hear my name. I turn around and it's not Melissa, but two surfers I know from the inlet, Morgan and Austin. They are both phenomenal longboarders and Austin is going to run the race for "extra credit" in a communications course he's taking in college. His girlfriend, Morgan, is here to cheer him on and ride her bicycle along side. I chat it up with them for a while figuring that Melissa will probably spot me since I'm taller than average, duh, and wearing this ridiculous Bleeker costume. Might I add, at this point I'm not seeing anyone else dressed up in costume and am staring to wonder what the f*ck!?! Melissa finally finds me and we introduce ourselves (1st time meeting a blogger = SUCCESS). Austin is wearing some really awesome looking florescent green Nike shoes. I ask him if he's ever run a 13.1 miles before and he says "nope." Melissa asks him if his shoes are Nike Free. Austin says they are and that he's only run short distances in them, but they feel really "comfortable." Not wanting to worry him before the race, I just say that I think they are supposed to "simulate barefoot running" and that it's awesome if he can run long distances in them. In reality I'm thinking, "holy shit, I hope his feet will be ok after this!"
It's time to corral at the start line. Austin, Melissa and I crowd into the pack of 800 runners somewhere near the back. There's some confusion about where the actual start line is located, but then the gun fires or horn blows (can't remember which) and it's mass chaos as everyone starts running. I never see the actual start line, but Melissa tells me we just passed it. Austin blows ahead and I lose sight of him quickly. Melissa and I are both running on injuries and going slow. We hang together for maybe a quarter mile and I lose track of her as well. My strategy is to run the first 3-4 miles really slow until I'm completely warmed up and make a decision of if my Achilles tendon can handle the entire 13.1 miles. I've run this distance before and when healthy I average around 2 hours to finish. All I want to do today is finish. Getting caught up in the race atmosphere will surely tempt me to run faster, which will undoubtedly result in a FAIL situation. To fight this I devise a plan. For the first few miles I will make sure that people are passing me. If people are passing me then I know I am running slow. If people aren't passing me I force myself to slow down until someone does pass me. Does this sound like an oxymoron to the definition of the word "race" or what?
My strategy works and at the first mile marker a man with a stop watch yells out "11 minutes." Holy goat balls I'm running slow! I bet I can speed walk this faster, but the hell if I'm going to let Mr. T shoot Snickers bars at me! (If you don't get that just google or youtube "Mr T and Speedwalking") I do the math in my head and figure out what my finish time would be at an 11 minute pace. Not acceptable. Soon nobody is passing me and I'm not even to mile 2 yet. I slow down and let the Galloway people pass me and while I know I'll just pass them again in a few minutes at least someone is passing me. This will be a trend for the first 8 miles until they can't keep up anymore (Nothing against Galloway. It rocks, but it's annoying when people flip flop pace you while doing it)
At mile 2 I'm still running a strong 11 minute pace. At mile 3 nothing has changed. At mile 4 I'm feeling pretty good although it's very humid and hot. The forecast calls for 66 degrees at the race start time, but in reality it's about 80 degrees and 90 percent humidity. Wearing this 100 percent cotton "Bleeker" T-shirt is starting to suck! The Achilles tendon feels normal. I'm guessing it's at about 80 percent so I decide to start running faster. I check my watch and at mile 5 I'm doing a 10 minute pace. I down my first Gu and chase it with water from an aid station. I feel the urge to pee (stupid caffeine in the Gu), but don't see any bathrooms. I ignore the urge. I fall into a fun little group of runners to pace and decide to keep the 10 minute pace for a few miles and see how the Achilles holds up.
Somewhere between the fifth and sixth mile I hear cheering and clapping up ahead. I hear this over the music playing in my iPod. I look up and see a lone runner going the wrong way. Then I realize he's NOT going the wrong way because he's the leader and he's already on his way back to the speedway! He blows by and I can't help but let out a hoot and clap to cheer him on... this dude was flying! He finished with an average pace of 5:40. It's a full minute before I see the second place runner. Then I realize that this guy has already conquered the high rise bridge not once but twice and is nearly 3.5 miles ahead of me. Amazing! As a few more leading runners including the lead girl blow by I feel myself re-energized and just in time as I make it to the high rise bridge. There's an aid station at the bottom. I take a sip of water, forget my need to urinate and charge that bridge with everything I got. Charging hills I think is a stupid macho guy thing to do, but we can't help it. I conquer that "son of a bitch" and take in the beauty of the pre-dawn sky over the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean off in the distance. Going down the bridge actually hurts more than going up so I take it slow and remind myself of Mr. Achilles as most of the runners I passed going up pass me going down. At the bottom nothing has changed and I'm pretty much in the same place pacing the same people.
At Mile 7 I reach the beach, down another Gu and see Morgan on her bicycle way up ahead, but no Austin. Where is he? This is the official turn around spot and for some reason all I want to do is going surfing at this point so I just start thinking of the fact that I'm on the backstretch now. Ironically, "It's all Down Hill From Here," by New Found Glory starts playing in my iPod. I decide to pick up the pace. BRILLIANT! My lack of running experience begins to show as I can't seem to figure out what my pace is as I see the race clock at the aid station. All I know is I've made up a little bit of time over that shameful 11 minute pace I seemed to have been stuck on for the first few miles.
Just before mile 8 I see Melissa going the other way. She's conquered the bridge and is looking happy as ever. She's also got a pace partner running with a prosthetic leg. If that's not inspirational I don't know what is! Soon it's time for the second go around for the bridge. This time charging it is out of the question. I slumber up the bridge and as I reach the top see the last place runner going the other way. If you aren't making a 16 minute pace by the bridge race officials disqualified you. This guy was probably just seconds faster than a 16 minute pace. He looked older, I'm not sure how much older, but the most kickass thing was his condition. One of his legs was completely wrapped in ACE bandages and his entire knee was enclosed in a massive leg brace; the kind that don't allow any motion in the knee. HE WAS ON FREAKING CRUTCHES! Talk about determination! I was mesmerized by this and all I could think to do was yell, "hell yeah man, you got this!" Now that folks, is HARDCORE! Seeing this gave me another boost of inspirational energy as I conquer the bridge again, fly through the aid station, pass up water or Gatorade, completely lose the desire to urinate and rip off this stupid cotton Bleeker T-shirt and throw it into some bushes (I picked it up hours later as apparently nobody wanted my sweaty shirt).
Now it's time to start running seriously. I'm feeling strong and suddenly at mile 9 the finish line doesn't seem so far away. I pass a few runners. The Galloway people are no longer keeping up. I notice a man running with a golden retreiver. This dog is got the biggest stoke look on its face. He's having an awesome time. I tell his master that he's awesome and my dog can't
even run 2 miles without pooping out on me and my dog is a lab. At mile 10, to my best figuring, I'm running something like a 8:30 pace? I know I'm dehydrating slightly because doing math is simply not an option and I have no urge to use any of the bathrooms anymore. Nobody has passed me in at least 2 miles. We cross Clyde Morris and I see cops stopping traffic and then hear them whistle on the traffic after I pass. Several cars blow their horns at me. I'm not sure if they're pissed they had to stop or are cheering me on... regardless, I don't care. But as I turn around to look back I notice I can't see any other runners for about 100 yards. Looking forward nobody is in sight. Why does this have to happen to me at mile 10? There are 800 runners and I'm all alone? The 10th Mile officially becomes the "loneliness mile," and fatigue starts to set in again. I lose feeling in my feet. Uh oh, no bueno! I tell myself that I only have a 5k to run and there's no way in hell I'm stopping now! I think of my self proclaimed race motto and say out loud "I'll find a way or I'll make one...... I'll find a way or I'll make one!"
Finally, an aid station appears in the distance ahead. I rip off my last Gel from the fishing line inside my pants (Oh yes I did! I totally sewed my Gu and Gels into my pants with fishing line). It's the 2x caffeinated tangerine flavored Power Bar Gel and I wasn't going to take it unless I really needed it. I need it! I slam it with water and patiently wait for a boost of energy or a jolt or anything! Mile 11 comes and goes and I start to catch up with runners ahead. Some are walking. I'm going strong. A series of Rise Against songs start to play in my iPod and oh man does this help. Rise Against is officially my new Papa Roach for angry-painful running music!
A little after mile 12 I see someone I recognize walking and looking completely defeated. It's Austin. He's ditched his shirt too and looks like he's been hit by a bus. I yell, "Austin!" He turns around and sees me quickly approaching. "Come on man, I'm running slow, like a 9 minute pace or something! Run with me and finish strong," I manage to say between breaths for oxygen. Austin starts running again and I start talking. I can hardly remember a thing I was talking about, but it's helping me to try and motivate him to keep running and in doing this I'm not only helping him but focusing on something other than my own demise. We reach the .5 to go marker and run through the last aid station. At this point someone hands me a Gatorade. I feel as if I'll puke if up if I drink it so I just dump it all over my head and down my back. Austin and I joke about going to the beach after the race and talk, well I do most of the talking, about surfing and other things and before long we're entering the Speedway. The finish line is in sight and only a quarter mile away! I yell at Austin to "come on, we can do this," and pick up the pace. Austin doesn't and I see the look on his face. It's something like, "I've got nothing left except this pace." So I continue on down the final stretch between turn 4 and the finish line of Daytona International Speedway.
I see a short girl in the distance jumping up and down while holding a green sign. It's the Redhead and she's yelling something to me to encourage me to finish strong. At this point I've jacked up the volume on my iPod to a Rise Against song and can't hear what she's saying, but I don't need to because I know what she's saying, "finish strong!" Her sign has my race motto written on it in Latin followed by Go Sylvan Go! "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam!" I pick up the pace to what seems like a sprint, but in reality I'm sure it was a slumber. I pass about 4 or 5 runners in the last several hundred feet and it feels awesome! Crossing the finish line was a blur. Some dude almost tackled me for my chip on my shoe. Then I almost fell over trying to get away from the finish line so other runners could finish. I remember someone grabbing my arm and saying, "are you ok?" I was handed a large Gatorade bottle, which I couldn't open because my motor skills in my hands were not doing as my brain was instructing them. Austin finishes about 20 seconds behind me and collapses on the grass infield. His girlfriend comes up and tells me she got pictures of us each crossing the finish line. Sweet! I shake Austin's hand and we both have the biggest stoke on our faces. I yell to him "Extra Credit!" He laughs and I leave them to walk down to see the Redhead who is a few hundred yards down waiting for Melissa to show up. I resort to asking the Redhead to open my Gatorade. FAIL! I slam the Gatorade like it's a beer drinking contest and collapse on the grass. She makes me get up and walk and stretch. After a few minutes Melissa shows up still going strong. I manage to run with her cheering her on for a short distance before the finish line.
I must say the after race party was super cool. Plenty of food was available and free beer! I managed to eat three chocolate chip cookies and a slice of pepperoni pizza at the same time and have myself a beer. All this before we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Melissa and I ordered massive amounts of food and each drank a pitcher of water. I'm not sure what the server thought of us. I immediately applied ice to my Achilles tendon, which was already starting to swell up.
All and all I'm very satisfied about finishing my first half marathon with no regrets of my decision to run it injured. My official chip time was 2:16:49.8, which is good enough for the Disney Marathon folks to put me in a decent pace group so I won't be stuck in the 5 hour plus corral. For the Half I finished 390 out of 701 finishers and 35th in my age group out of 44. If I had run the sub 2-hour Half that I know I have in me if I'm healthy I would have finished around 20th in my age group. It's a very well organized race and I've already decided that I'll do it again next year. And if you're still reading this you've got to be a real "runner" so thanks and run strong!
Sometimes I question my own sanity. I think this is completely normal, right? My question then would be am I out of my mind for running a 13.1 mile race without running the entire month before? Four week taper anyone? Here's what I did. Five weeks before the race I hurt my Achilles tendon. I didn't go to the doctor, but I did research it online and decide to give it plenty of time to heal. Four weeks should be plenty of time, right? I did go on several 20-35 mile bicycle rides leading up to the race just to make sure my endurance was on par. So when I ask people that question the non-runners give me the "you're insane" look while the runners including my doctor (we'll get to that story in the next blog) give the nod of approval. So in questioning my own sanity... I feel fine (like the R.E.M. song)!
In fact, I was feeling pretty fine on race day. I had been slowly carb-loading for three days before the race, hadn't drank any alcohol for weeks, was fully hydrated and going on a solid 6 hours of sleep. The day before I eagerly picked up my race packet in hopes of checking out the Asics display at their so called "expo" only to discover the Asics people were a no show. Must have been at NYC Marathon. Honestly, I have to agree with Rachael at Beginning Runner's Blog when she says her packet picket up day is about as exciting as watching a cat lick its butt! The Half Marathon people hyped it up in all the emails they sent out and it really was nothing to write home about and I could have saved the fuel and picked up the packet at 4:30 a.m. on Race Day. I will say the swag was excellent. Every runner got a free admission to the Daytona USA attraction. I haven't used mine yet, but I hear it's like a mini NASCAR theme park with all kinds of racing simulators. I'm not a NASCAR fan despite years of covering races as a journalist so this swag excited me about as much as that cat licking its butt, HOWEVER, the tech shirt did excite me! It's an Asics brand yellow tech shirt and it fits me quite well, I might add!
On to race day!
I have to stop for a second and make a quick list of firsts! At some point during the run I started thinking about all the first time things I was experiencing in this race weekend.
1st time attempting to enter a surf contest
1st time bailing on my 1st surf contest (due to friend's staff infected eye socket)
1st time EVER going to sleep before 9 p.m. on Halloween night (except for maybe when I was an infant).
1st time in at least a decade I haven't gotten drunk while partying on Halloween. 1st time ever laying out my race day clothes the night before.
1st time running a Half Marathon.
1st time ever running a race intentionally slow due to injury.
1st time meeting a fellow blogger I didn't already know outside of the blog sphere (Melissa of I don't Need Excuses)
1st time finishing a race without having someone pass me when the finish line is in sight.
1st time ever getting a blister from running (a very small one of which the Redhead sarcastically said "I hate you" upon seeing).
1st time getting free beer after a race, which kicks ass!
I said I went to bed before 9 p.m and that's true if you count the time change. While just about ALL of my friends were out partying it up for the almost full moon Halloween Saturday night, I was attempting to fall asleep completely sober and hydrated. I usually sleep well. I'm one of those lucky people that can turn off my brain and fall asleep. Not this night. I kept waking up every 20 to 30 minutes and checking the clock. Finally I had a dream. The dream was simply this.... I wake up and it's 8:30 a.m. Somehow I managed to sleep through two alarm clocks and my cell phone. I realize that I should be done with the race by this time and that poor Redhead is probably standing at the finish line with a motivational poster and I'm no where to be seen. This is such a horrible feeling I instantly wake up about to cry. My heart is racing and I look at the clock. It reads 3:58 a.m. I realize it was only a dream and I only have two more minutes to sleep. Thank God! I'm so ready to get up and do this and I'm happy the time has finally come. Then I check my cell phone and see that it says the time is 2:58 a.m. F*ck! I told everyone to remember to set their clocks back and I'm the one that forgets. Damn it! This means I have to try and sleep another hour. I consider getting up, but decide I need the extra rest and force myself to lay in bed half asleep for an hour. Then 4 a.m. finally arrives. I get up and throw on my Paulie Bleeker costume, fill my cooler with ice and ice packets for after the race, grab my bib number; eat half a power bar, a handful of cashews, a tablespoon of natural honey and start downing a large bottle of really cold Smart Water; and head out the door for the 30 minute drive up to Daytona International Speedway.
The road is completely desolate. It's as if I'm the last man alive on the Earth. That is until I get near the Speedway. All of a sudden I'm surrounded by a dozen cars. It's soon apparent that we're all heading to the same destination. The lights are on at the Speedway and you can see it from a mile away illuminating the sky. It's an odd feeling driving through the tunnel and into the infield of the Speedway without a NASCAR fan insight. The grandstands are completely empty and the only people in sight are totally fit runners. It's a beautiful sight and I start to feed off the energy and excitement of the pre-race atmosphere. These are the people I want to surround myself with in life... along with surfer too of course!
At 5 a.m. I have my chip and have stretched and I'm ready to go an hour early. My cell phone sounds off and it's a text message from the Redhead saying something motivational. That girl is hardcore! Seriously, she doesn't have to be up for at least another hour to have time to drive over and cheer on Melissa and I at the finish line. I smile at the text message and start to pump myself up for this race!
At 5:30 a.m. I still haven't been able to find Melissa. I've never met her before and am not completely sure what she looks like, but then I hear my name. I turn around and it's not Melissa, but two surfers I know from the inlet, Morgan and Austin. They are both phenomenal longboarders and Austin is going to run the race for "extra credit" in a communications course he's taking in college. His girlfriend, Morgan, is here to cheer him on and ride her bicycle along side. I chat it up with them for a while figuring that Melissa will probably spot me since I'm taller than average, duh, and wearing this ridiculous Bleeker costume. Might I add, at this point I'm not seeing anyone else dressed up in costume and am staring to wonder what the f*ck!?! Melissa finally finds me and we introduce ourselves (1st time meeting a blogger = SUCCESS). Austin is wearing some really awesome looking florescent green Nike shoes. I ask him if he's ever run a 13.1 miles before and he says "nope." Melissa asks him if his shoes are Nike Free. Austin says they are and that he's only run short distances in them, but they feel really "comfortable." Not wanting to worry him before the race, I just say that I think they are supposed to "simulate barefoot running" and that it's awesome if he can run long distances in them. In reality I'm thinking, "holy shit, I hope his feet will be ok after this!"
It's time to corral at the start line. Austin, Melissa and I crowd into the pack of 800 runners somewhere near the back. There's some confusion about where the actual start line is located, but then the gun fires or horn blows (can't remember which) and it's mass chaos as everyone starts running. I never see the actual start line, but Melissa tells me we just passed it. Austin blows ahead and I lose sight of him quickly. Melissa and I are both running on injuries and going slow. We hang together for maybe a quarter mile and I lose track of her as well. My strategy is to run the first 3-4 miles really slow until I'm completely warmed up and make a decision of if my Achilles tendon can handle the entire 13.1 miles. I've run this distance before and when healthy I average around 2 hours to finish. All I want to do today is finish. Getting caught up in the race atmosphere will surely tempt me to run faster, which will undoubtedly result in a FAIL situation. To fight this I devise a plan. For the first few miles I will make sure that people are passing me. If people are passing me then I know I am running slow. If people aren't passing me I force myself to slow down until someone does pass me. Does this sound like an oxymoron to the definition of the word "race" or what?
My strategy works and at the first mile marker a man with a stop watch yells out "11 minutes." Holy goat balls I'm running slow! I bet I can speed walk this faster, but the hell if I'm going to let Mr. T shoot Snickers bars at me! (If you don't get that just google or youtube "Mr T and Speedwalking") I do the math in my head and figure out what my finish time would be at an 11 minute pace. Not acceptable. Soon nobody is passing me and I'm not even to mile 2 yet. I slow down and let the Galloway people pass me and while I know I'll just pass them again in a few minutes at least someone is passing me. This will be a trend for the first 8 miles until they can't keep up anymore (Nothing against Galloway. It rocks, but it's annoying when people flip flop pace you while doing it)
At mile 2 I'm still running a strong 11 minute pace. At mile 3 nothing has changed. At mile 4 I'm feeling pretty good although it's very humid and hot. The forecast calls for 66 degrees at the race start time, but in reality it's about 80 degrees and 90 percent humidity. Wearing this 100 percent cotton "Bleeker" T-shirt is starting to suck! The Achilles tendon feels normal. I'm guessing it's at about 80 percent so I decide to start running faster. I check my watch and at mile 5 I'm doing a 10 minute pace. I down my first Gu and chase it with water from an aid station. I feel the urge to pee (stupid caffeine in the Gu), but don't see any bathrooms. I ignore the urge. I fall into a fun little group of runners to pace and decide to keep the 10 minute pace for a few miles and see how the Achilles holds up.
Somewhere between the fifth and sixth mile I hear cheering and clapping up ahead. I hear this over the music playing in my iPod. I look up and see a lone runner going the wrong way. Then I realize he's NOT going the wrong way because he's the leader and he's already on his way back to the speedway! He blows by and I can't help but let out a hoot and clap to cheer him on... this dude was flying! He finished with an average pace of 5:40. It's a full minute before I see the second place runner. Then I realize that this guy has already conquered the high rise bridge not once but twice and is nearly 3.5 miles ahead of me. Amazing! As a few more leading runners including the lead girl blow by I feel myself re-energized and just in time as I make it to the high rise bridge. There's an aid station at the bottom. I take a sip of water, forget my need to urinate and charge that bridge with everything I got. Charging hills I think is a stupid macho guy thing to do, but we can't help it. I conquer that "son of a bitch" and take in the beauty of the pre-dawn sky over the Intracoastal Waterway and Atlantic Ocean off in the distance. Going down the bridge actually hurts more than going up so I take it slow and remind myself of Mr. Achilles as most of the runners I passed going up pass me going down. At the bottom nothing has changed and I'm pretty much in the same place pacing the same people.
At Mile 7 I reach the beach, down another Gu and see Morgan on her bicycle way up ahead, but no Austin. Where is he? This is the official turn around spot and for some reason all I want to do is going surfing at this point so I just start thinking of the fact that I'm on the backstretch now. Ironically, "It's all Down Hill From Here," by New Found Glory starts playing in my iPod. I decide to pick up the pace. BRILLIANT! My lack of running experience begins to show as I can't seem to figure out what my pace is as I see the race clock at the aid station. All I know is I've made up a little bit of time over that shameful 11 minute pace I seemed to have been stuck on for the first few miles.
Just before mile 8 I see Melissa going the other way. She's conquered the bridge and is looking happy as ever. She's also got a pace partner running with a prosthetic leg. If that's not inspirational I don't know what is! Soon it's time for the second go around for the bridge. This time charging it is out of the question. I slumber up the bridge and as I reach the top see the last place runner going the other way. If you aren't making a 16 minute pace by the bridge race officials disqualified you. This guy was probably just seconds faster than a 16 minute pace. He looked older, I'm not sure how much older, but the most kickass thing was his condition. One of his legs was completely wrapped in ACE bandages and his entire knee was enclosed in a massive leg brace; the kind that don't allow any motion in the knee. HE WAS ON FREAKING CRUTCHES! Talk about determination! I was mesmerized by this and all I could think to do was yell, "hell yeah man, you got this!" Now that folks, is HARDCORE! Seeing this gave me another boost of inspirational energy as I conquer the bridge again, fly through the aid station, pass up water or Gatorade, completely lose the desire to urinate and rip off this stupid cotton Bleeker T-shirt and throw it into some bushes (I picked it up hours later as apparently nobody wanted my sweaty shirt).
Now it's time to start running seriously. I'm feeling strong and suddenly at mile 9 the finish line doesn't seem so far away. I pass a few runners. The Galloway people are no longer keeping up. I notice a man running with a golden retreiver. This dog is got the biggest stoke look on its face. He's having an awesome time. I tell his master that he's awesome and my dog can't
even run 2 miles without pooping out on me and my dog is a lab. At mile 10, to my best figuring, I'm running something like a 8:30 pace? I know I'm dehydrating slightly because doing math is simply not an option and I have no urge to use any of the bathrooms anymore. Nobody has passed me in at least 2 miles. We cross Clyde Morris and I see cops stopping traffic and then hear them whistle on the traffic after I pass. Several cars blow their horns at me. I'm not sure if they're pissed they had to stop or are cheering me on... regardless, I don't care. But as I turn around to look back I notice I can't see any other runners for about 100 yards. Looking forward nobody is in sight. Why does this have to happen to me at mile 10? There are 800 runners and I'm all alone? The 10th Mile officially becomes the "loneliness mile," and fatigue starts to set in again. I lose feeling in my feet. Uh oh, no bueno! I tell myself that I only have a 5k to run and there's no way in hell I'm stopping now! I think of my self proclaimed race motto and say out loud "I'll find a way or I'll make one...... I'll find a way or I'll make one!"Finally, an aid station appears in the distance ahead. I rip off my last Gel from the fishing line inside my pants (Oh yes I did! I totally sewed my Gu and Gels into my pants with fishing line). It's the 2x caffeinated tangerine flavored Power Bar Gel and I wasn't going to take it unless I really needed it. I need it! I slam it with water and patiently wait for a boost of energy or a jolt or anything! Mile 11 comes and goes and I start to catch up with runners ahead. Some are walking. I'm going strong. A series of Rise Against songs start to play in my iPod and oh man does this help. Rise Against is officially my new Papa Roach for angry-painful running music!
A little after mile 12 I see someone I recognize walking and looking completely defeated. It's Austin. He's ditched his shirt too and looks like he's been hit by a bus. I yell, "Austin!" He turns around and sees me quickly approaching. "Come on man, I'm running slow, like a 9 minute pace or something! Run with me and finish strong," I manage to say between breaths for oxygen. Austin starts running again and I start talking. I can hardly remember a thing I was talking about, but it's helping me to try and motivate him to keep running and in doing this I'm not only helping him but focusing on something other than my own demise. We reach the .5 to go marker and run through the last aid station. At this point someone hands me a Gatorade. I feel as if I'll puke if up if I drink it so I just dump it all over my head and down my back. Austin and I joke about going to the beach after the race and talk, well I do most of the talking, about surfing and other things and before long we're entering the Speedway. The finish line is in sight and only a quarter mile away! I yell at Austin to "come on, we can do this," and pick up the pace. Austin doesn't and I see the look on his face. It's something like, "I've got nothing left except this pace." So I continue on down the final stretch between turn 4 and the finish line of Daytona International Speedway.
I see a short girl in the distance jumping up and down while holding a green sign. It's the Redhead and she's yelling something to me to encourage me to finish strong. At this point I've jacked up the volume on my iPod to a Rise Against song and can't hear what she's saying, but I don't need to because I know what she's saying, "finish strong!" Her sign has my race motto written on it in Latin followed by Go Sylvan Go! "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam!" I pick up the pace to what seems like a sprint, but in reality I'm sure it was a slumber. I pass about 4 or 5 runners in the last several hundred feet and it feels awesome! Crossing the finish line was a blur. Some dude almost tackled me for my chip on my shoe. Then I almost fell over trying to get away from the finish line so other runners could finish. I remember someone grabbing my arm and saying, "are you ok?" I was handed a large Gatorade bottle, which I couldn't open because my motor skills in my hands were not doing as my brain was instructing them. Austin finishes about 20 seconds behind me and collapses on the grass infield. His girlfriend comes up and tells me she got pictures of us each crossing the finish line. Sweet! I shake Austin's hand and we both have the biggest stoke on our faces. I yell to him "Extra Credit!" He laughs and I leave them to walk down to see the Redhead who is a few hundred yards down waiting for Melissa to show up. I resort to asking the Redhead to open my Gatorade. FAIL! I slam the Gatorade like it's a beer drinking contest and collapse on the grass. She makes me get up and walk and stretch. After a few minutes Melissa shows up still going strong. I manage to run with her cheering her on for a short distance before the finish line.
I must say the after race party was super cool. Plenty of food was available and free beer! I managed to eat three chocolate chip cookies and a slice of pepperoni pizza at the same time and have myself a beer. All this before we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Melissa and I ordered massive amounts of food and each drank a pitcher of water. I'm not sure what the server thought of us. I immediately applied ice to my Achilles tendon, which was already starting to swell up.
All and all I'm very satisfied about finishing my first half marathon with no regrets of my decision to run it injured. My official chip time was 2:16:49.8, which is good enough for the Disney Marathon folks to put me in a decent pace group so I won't be stuck in the 5 hour plus corral. For the Half I finished 390 out of 701 finishers and 35th in my age group out of 44. If I had run the sub 2-hour Half that I know I have in me if I'm healthy I would have finished around 20th in my age group. It's a very well organized race and I've already decided that I'll do it again next year. And if you're still reading this you've got to be a real "runner" so thanks and run strong!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Bring on the Half and Surfboards on Spirit!
2-part blog here folks!
When I started this blog I aimed to write about my real passion in life, SURFING, but recently I seem to find myself writing more and more about running. What to do? I'm sure that over time the post subjects will vary between surfing and running like the ebb and flood of the tide, but today here's a little tease of both subjects!
This Sunday is the 2nd Annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon.
The course sounds like an amazing race as it starts on the Daytona International Speedway, does a loop around the 2.5 mile track, goes to the beach and back finishing on the actual finish line of the race track. The list of swag they are giving away along with the prizes and drawings are killer! I've never raced anything bigger than a 10k. The past few weeks I've seriously questioned my ability to run the Daytona Half, not because of training and being able to run 13.1 miles, but because of a nagging Achilles tendon injury that doesn't seem to want to heal 100 percent. I've been down. I've been down right depressed about it and I'm sure it's shown on this blog. Heck, I haven't even posted anything in 5 days just because I didn't want to sound negative. But, as in many things in my life right now, I'm over it. I'm officially over it people! One of many quotes taped to my computer monitor and desk here at work reads, "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting '... holy sh*t ... what a ride!'" George Carlin said that once upon a time. After reading that quote again this morning, having a wonderful conversation yesterday about it with Morgan (Caution: Redhead Running) and reading a comment on a previous post from Melissa H (I Don't Need Excuses) who will be running the same race with her own injuries, I've decided I'm over it, screw it, I'm running it.
That's right, consider my "resting" on the Achilles injury a 4 week taper for a Half Marathon! I'm not going to race it, but simply fun run it (maybe bring my camera along). I might even get dressed up in some sort of Halloween costume. You have to run at least a 16 minute pace or be DQ'ed. I think I could crawl faster than a 16 minute pace. The ultimate goal is Disney Marathon, but this Half is important to me as well, so I'm going to run it even if I slide into the grave sideways doing it! I just purchased the November issue of Runner's World to get me pumped up for it (I have subscriptions to every surf magazine, but yet to subscribe to any running publications.... any suggestions?) . Stay tuned for an interesting post race recap next week!
If you're a surfer and a traveler like myself you know about how airlines like to rape traveling surfers over surfboard bags. With all the negativity in my life right now (work, recession, injuries, etc.) I would like to make a quick and cheap trip to Puerto Rico for a few days in November. Spirit and Jet Blue Airlines both have cheap flights to Aguadilla. I'm talking $50-$70 each way. Only problem are their policies regarding baggage fees for surfboards. I've already flown Jet Blue to Puerto Rico twice this year. They charge $50 per board each way regardless of if the boards are in one bag or two bags. I travel with two surfboards, which equals $100 each way or the price of two tickets in some cases. I might as well buy my surfboard a passenger ticket and bucket it up in the seat next to me! There is one exception that involves a little trickery that I happen to be good at, but it makes me feel guilty and bad. To lie and flirt with the ticketing agent. This works sometimes until they physically search your bag and find two surfboards and charge you for both.
I recently noticed that Spirit Airlines have competitive rates (same price basically) as Jet Blue, but their baggage policy on their website is confusing and left open to interpretation. They basically say there is a flat rate of $75 for sporting equipment (surfboards fall into this category), but fail to acknowledge if they charge you $75 per bag or board? So I called them out on it in email. Here's how it went:
Spirit's first response to my question:
Thank you for writing to Spirit Airlines inquiring about our sporting equipment fees. Yes, a flat fee of $75.00 each leg will apply for all sporting equipment (surfboards, scuba tanks, bicycles etc.). Please keep in mind, surfboards will be accepted as checked baggage for an additional charge. One item of surfing equipment consists of: • One surfboard When packaging a surfboard, keels and/or kedges must be removed or crated in such a manner so as to prevent damage to other baggage. A release form will also need to be signed by the customer. Thank you for choosing Spirit Airlines.
A pretty clear response, except for the fact that they copied and pasted from their baggage policy as if I'm an idiot that can't read it for myself. The failed to directly answer my question of if I will be charged $75 for each board that is in my one bag?
So I called them out on it again with:
Bluntly put: If I have one surfboard bag, but there are two surfboards inside the one bag will I be charge $75 or $150??? Thanks, TallGuySurfing
And Spirit's reply:
Thank you for your continued correspondence with Spirit Airlines. As per our policy, yes you will be charge for each surfboard $75.00. However, it is up to the airport discretion if they will charge you for a bag with two surfboards or for each surfboard individually. Thank you again for contacting Spirit Airlines.
Hmmmmm, thanks Spirit Airlines for trying to pass the buck to the individual airport! Airlines are making bank on baggage fees, especially on surfers. It's funny that some airlines do not charge for baggage items such as golf clubs that weight a ton more than surfboards. The difference between bringing one surfboard or two surfboards for me is 7 pounds. The width difference in the bag is less than 3 inches. You can't tell me that size and weight difference justifies an additional $75. You can tell me that it's to cover liability cost of when the surfboards are damaged due to the airline's negligence, but if you read the fine print in most of the airlines policies for damaged baggage compensation there is usually a minimum amount they will reimburse for said damages that will not cover the replacement cost of an average surfboard.
Sorry Spirit Airlines, I'm going to have to stick with Jet Blue since your rates are the same and the cost difference boils down to baggage fees. However, I really wish I had that last email correspondence from Jet Blue Airlines to bring with me to the ticketing counter. There would be nothing better than putting that in front of the ticketing agent's face and saying, "So tell me, are you going to be an A-hole about these baggage fees or make my traveling experience a pleasant one, it's your call, not the policy?" At least then the agent couldn't blame it on their policy. It'd be on them. Hmmm, maybe I will give Spirit a try?
When I started this blog I aimed to write about my real passion in life, SURFING, but recently I seem to find myself writing more and more about running. What to do? I'm sure that over time the post subjects will vary between surfing and running like the ebb and flood of the tide, but today here's a little tease of both subjects!
On the Running front!
This Sunday is the 2nd Annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon.
The course sounds like an amazing race as it starts on the Daytona International Speedway, does a loop around the 2.5 mile track, goes to the beach and back finishing on the actual finish line of the race track. The list of swag they are giving away along with the prizes and drawings are killer! I've never raced anything bigger than a 10k. The past few weeks I've seriously questioned my ability to run the Daytona Half, not because of training and being able to run 13.1 miles, but because of a nagging Achilles tendon injury that doesn't seem to want to heal 100 percent. I've been down. I've been down right depressed about it and I'm sure it's shown on this blog. Heck, I haven't even posted anything in 5 days just because I didn't want to sound negative. But, as in many things in my life right now, I'm over it. I'm officially over it people! One of many quotes taped to my computer monitor and desk here at work reads, "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting '... holy sh*t ... what a ride!'" George Carlin said that once upon a time. After reading that quote again this morning, having a wonderful conversation yesterday about it with Morgan (Caution: Redhead Running) and reading a comment on a previous post from Melissa H (I Don't Need Excuses) who will be running the same race with her own injuries, I've decided I'm over it, screw it, I'm running it.That's right, consider my "resting" on the Achilles injury a 4 week taper for a Half Marathon! I'm not going to race it, but simply fun run it (maybe bring my camera along). I might even get dressed up in some sort of Halloween costume. You have to run at least a 16 minute pace or be DQ'ed. I think I could crawl faster than a 16 minute pace. The ultimate goal is Disney Marathon, but this Half is important to me as well, so I'm going to run it even if I slide into the grave sideways doing it! I just purchased the November issue of Runner's World to get me pumped up for it (I have subscriptions to every surf magazine, but yet to subscribe to any running publications.... any suggestions?) . Stay tuned for an interesting post race recap next week!
On the Surfing Front: 
If you're a surfer and a traveler like myself you know about how airlines like to rape traveling surfers over surfboard bags. With all the negativity in my life right now (work, recession, injuries, etc.) I would like to make a quick and cheap trip to Puerto Rico for a few days in November. Spirit and Jet Blue Airlines both have cheap flights to Aguadilla. I'm talking $50-$70 each way. Only problem are their policies regarding baggage fees for surfboards. I've already flown Jet Blue to Puerto Rico twice this year. They charge $50 per board each way regardless of if the boards are in one bag or two bags. I travel with two surfboards, which equals $100 each way or the price of two tickets in some cases. I might as well buy my surfboard a passenger ticket and bucket it up in the seat next to me! There is one exception that involves a little trickery that I happen to be good at, but it makes me feel guilty and bad. To lie and flirt with the ticketing agent. This works sometimes until they physically search your bag and find two surfboards and charge you for both.
I recently noticed that Spirit Airlines have competitive rates (same price basically) as Jet Blue, but their baggage policy on their website is confusing and left open to interpretation. They basically say there is a flat rate of $75 for sporting equipment (surfboards fall into this category), but fail to acknowledge if they charge you $75 per bag or board? So I called them out on it in email. Here's how it went:
Spirit's first response to my question:
Thank you for writing to Spirit Airlines inquiring about our sporting equipment fees. Yes, a flat fee of $75.00 each leg will apply for all sporting equipment (surfboards, scuba tanks, bicycles etc.). Please keep in mind, surfboards will be accepted as checked baggage for an additional charge. One item of surfing equipment consists of: • One surfboard When packaging a surfboard, keels and/or kedges must be removed or crated in such a manner so as to prevent damage to other baggage. A release form will also need to be signed by the customer. Thank you for choosing Spirit Airlines.
A pretty clear response, except for the fact that they copied and pasted from their baggage policy as if I'm an idiot that can't read it for myself. The failed to directly answer my question of if I will be charged $75 for each board that is in my one bag?
So I called them out on it again with:
Bluntly put: If I have one surfboard bag, but there are two surfboards inside the one bag will I be charge $75 or $150??? Thanks, TallGuySurfing
And Spirit's reply:
Thank you for your continued correspondence with Spirit Airlines. As per our policy, yes you will be charge for each surfboard $75.00. However, it is up to the airport discretion if they will charge you for a bag with two surfboards or for each surfboard individually. Thank you again for contacting Spirit Airlines.
Hmmmmm, thanks Spirit Airlines for trying to pass the buck to the individual airport! Airlines are making bank on baggage fees, especially on surfers. It's funny that some airlines do not charge for baggage items such as golf clubs that weight a ton more than surfboards. The difference between bringing one surfboard or two surfboards for me is 7 pounds. The width difference in the bag is less than 3 inches. You can't tell me that size and weight difference justifies an additional $75. You can tell me that it's to cover liability cost of when the surfboards are damaged due to the airline's negligence, but if you read the fine print in most of the airlines policies for damaged baggage compensation there is usually a minimum amount they will reimburse for said damages that will not cover the replacement cost of an average surfboard.
Sorry Spirit Airlines, I'm going to have to stick with Jet Blue since your rates are the same and the cost difference boils down to baggage fees. However, I really wish I had that last email correspondence from Jet Blue Airlines to bring with me to the ticketing counter. There would be nothing better than putting that in front of the ticketing agent's face and saying, "So tell me, are you going to be an A-hole about these baggage fees or make my traveling experience a pleasant one, it's your call, not the policy?" At least then the agent couldn't blame it on their policy. It'd be on them. Hmmm, maybe I will give Spirit a try?
Monday, October 19, 2009
How to tie a marathon knot
In my last post about my adventure with Bicycle up to Spikes Athletic Footwear I mentioned a "Marathon Knot." It's so simple and so cool that I want to share it. I'm sure some of you super runners out there know about it or know other knots, but perhaps I can pass it on to at least one person out there that needs a way to keep their shoes from loosening up during their runs.
After inserting the first (of many) orthotic insert into my running shoes the employee at Spikes began to lace me up. I immediately start lacing up my other shoe not wanting to make her work too hard. She stops me and says, "you need to tie a marathon knot like this," and reconfigures the lacing on my shoes. I gaze down at her work in amazement. How cool?
To tie your own marathon knot just follow these steps.
1.) Lace up your shoes as most people normally do, but use that last hole... the one that you've probably never used in your life and make a loop with the shoe lace tip coming out inside the shoe.
2.) Put on your shoes and pull the laces as tight as you desire. You'll have to pull on the loops (not the lace ends) to tighten the last bit.
3.) Now for the only part that I can imagine anyone getting confused about: Take the end of the shoe lace and thread it through the loop on the OPPOSITE side of the shoe.
4.) After threading both laces through the loops pull tight.
5.) Now go ahead and tie your shoes the way you normally do before your run. I prefer a double or triple knot. The difference is now it will be harder for your shoes to loosen up even if your knot becomes lose or untied.
Brilliant!
In other news:
It was 11 days since my last test run, a 3 miler, that just made my Achilles worse, and this morning I attempted another test run. This time with my orthotic inserts (I'll review in a future post) and I only pushed it for 1.6-miles. The pain was minor, but it was pretty much unchanged since my last run. This Achilles tendon stuff TAKES FOREVER to heal! So I cut the run short, and hit the gym to cross train with weights. It's only 13 days until the Daytona Half Marathon and I'm really starting to wonder if I'll be able to complete it or if it'll be a bust? I feel like endurance wise I'm find with the distance and cardio of a Half Marathon, it's just I already know how frustrated and disgusted I'm going to be if I'm in shape for it, but unable to run because of this Achilles business. By the way it has finally cooled down in Florida. It was a chillaxing 50-degrees when I left my house this morning. I quickly realized that all my routes from this summer are moot because they feature a lot of shade for if the sun is up. Now I need to re-think them all for the most possible sunlight to stay warm! Who would have thunk!?!? Here's me and my Florida cold running get up!
After inserting the first (of many) orthotic insert into my running shoes the employee at Spikes began to lace me up. I immediately start lacing up my other shoe not wanting to make her work too hard. She stops me and says, "you need to tie a marathon knot like this," and reconfigures the lacing on my shoes. I gaze down at her work in amazement. How cool?
To tie your own marathon knot just follow these steps.
1.) Lace up your shoes as most people normally do, but use that last hole... the one that you've probably never used in your life and make a loop with the shoe lace tip coming out inside the shoe.
2.) Put on your shoes and pull the laces as tight as you desire. You'll have to pull on the loops (not the lace ends) to tighten the last bit.
3.) Now for the only part that I can imagine anyone getting confused about: Take the end of the shoe lace and thread it through the loop on the OPPOSITE side of the shoe.
4.) After threading both laces through the loops pull tight.
5.) Now go ahead and tie your shoes the way you normally do before your run. I prefer a double or triple knot. The difference is now it will be harder for your shoes to loosen up even if your knot becomes lose or untied.
Brilliant! In other news:
It was 11 days since my last test run, a 3 miler, that just made my Achilles worse, and this morning I attempted another test run. This time with my orthotic inserts (I'll review in a future post) and I only pushed it for 1.6-miles. The pain was minor, but it was pretty much unchanged since my last run. This Achilles tendon stuff TAKES FOREVER to heal! So I cut the run short, and hit the gym to cross train with weights. It's only 13 days until the Daytona Half Marathon and I'm really starting to wonder if I'll be able to complete it or if it'll be a bust? I feel like endurance wise I'm find with the distance and cardio of a Half Marathon, it's just I already know how frustrated and disgusted I'm going to be if I'm in shape for it, but unable to run because of this Achilles business. By the way it has finally cooled down in Florida. It was a chillaxing 50-degrees when I left my house this morning. I quickly realized that all my routes from this summer are moot because they feature a lot of shade for if the sun is up. Now I need to re-think them all for the most possible sunlight to stay warm! Who would have thunk!?!? Here's me and my Florida cold running get up!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Alaia Boards 1 - Surfers 0
Finally!
A small swell graced us with weekend waves worthy of a little Alaia board experimentation. Contrary to the surf reports, head high waves began peeling in at New Smyrna Inlet Saturday morning. Brian and I took our homemade "Alaia" boards to the beach with our normal quiver of longboards.
They look huge in this pre-session photo because they ARE HUGE! And for the record that is NOT duct tape at the nose of my board. It's a GLOBE sticker of a skull that I thought would be appropriate considering my prediction of the board breaking and/or becoming water logged and de-laminating upon the initial use with possible injuries. Having a longboarder's mentality I think we were hesitant NOT to make them on the bigger side when it came down to the drawing board. Since then we've seen a few professionally made alaia boards and they are for the most part much smaller and more narrow. Ours are 8 feet long by about 23 inches wide. Brian's is a swallow tail and mine is a squash tail. Now on to the surf!
The first thing noticeable is the SERIOUS lack of floatation. Duck diving through a wave is super easy, but the only problem is the board does NOT bring you back to the surface as a normal surfboard. I thought I would treat myself to a duck dive (a rarity now that I primarily use longboards) and it was the strangest feeling sinking to the bottom with this board below me. Paddling these boards feels like swimming. They are very close to being neutrally buoyant so it takes a lot of energy just to stay in the line up. Catching a wave is not a difficult as I thought, but finding control once up on the board is like learning to surf all over. Our alaia boards are clumsy beasts! They flex so much that they almost feel cushioned under the feet and they tend to yaw back and forth more than I thought. It's hard to get the rails to hold a line. I've surfed a few regular surfboards with the fins removed a few times and these boards are much harder to control. 
The current was kicking the day we tested them so after 20 minutes both Brian and I were spent. We each rode 2-3 waves. It was more difficult to find the pocket of the wave and not end up in the whitewash. Brian does not see much fun in the concept with the waves we have to deal with here in Florida. I'm going to experiment a little more and perhaps make one out of real lumber and NOT plywood. Neither my prediction of the alaia boards breaking nor becoming water logged and de-laminating held true. At first I was a little disappointed in the overall outcome and more than happy to surf some fun waves on a normal surfboard, but after a while I realized my accomplishment in the fact that I built a wave riding machine from scratch and successfully surfed it on first try. That's amazing in my book! It's always fun to experiment!
In other news:
I continue to R.I.C.E. my Achilles tendon. Another week with no running and I'm beginning to stress about being ready for the Daytona Half Marathon on November 1. Tendons are SO SLOW to heal. It's downright annoying at this point. I'm riding my bicycle (hate it) and weight training while trying to patiently wait for the injury to GO AWAY!
I also have got to throw out a "hell yeah" to my good friend J-Mo (aka Caution: Redhead Running) who conquered the Chicago Marathon yesterday. It was her very first marathon and she did not stop once, never hit the "wall" and finished with a time of 4 hours and 8 minutes. I am so proud of her and totally stoked!!!!
A small swell graced us with weekend waves worthy of a little Alaia board experimentation. Contrary to the surf reports, head high waves began peeling in at New Smyrna Inlet Saturday morning. Brian and I took our homemade "Alaia" boards to the beach with our normal quiver of longboards.
They look huge in this pre-session photo because they ARE HUGE! And for the record that is NOT duct tape at the nose of my board. It's a GLOBE sticker of a skull that I thought would be appropriate considering my prediction of the board breaking and/or becoming water logged and de-laminating upon the initial use with possible injuries. Having a longboarder's mentality I think we were hesitant NOT to make them on the bigger side when it came down to the drawing board. Since then we've seen a few professionally made alaia boards and they are for the most part much smaller and more narrow. Ours are 8 feet long by about 23 inches wide. Brian's is a swallow tail and mine is a squash tail. Now on to the surf!
The first thing noticeable is the SERIOUS lack of floatation. Duck diving through a wave is super easy, but the only problem is the board does NOT bring you back to the surface as a normal surfboard. I thought I would treat myself to a duck dive (a rarity now that I primarily use longboards) and it was the strangest feeling sinking to the bottom with this board below me. Paddling these boards feels like swimming. They are very close to being neutrally buoyant so it takes a lot of energy just to stay in the line up. Catching a wave is not a difficult as I thought, but finding control once up on the board is like learning to surf all over. Our alaia boards are clumsy beasts! They flex so much that they almost feel cushioned under the feet and they tend to yaw back and forth more than I thought. It's hard to get the rails to hold a line. I've surfed a few regular surfboards with the fins removed a few times and these boards are much harder to control. 
The current was kicking the day we tested them so after 20 minutes both Brian and I were spent. We each rode 2-3 waves. It was more difficult to find the pocket of the wave and not end up in the whitewash. Brian does not see much fun in the concept with the waves we have to deal with here in Florida. I'm going to experiment a little more and perhaps make one out of real lumber and NOT plywood. Neither my prediction of the alaia boards breaking nor becoming water logged and de-laminating held true. At first I was a little disappointed in the overall outcome and more than happy to surf some fun waves on a normal surfboard, but after a while I realized my accomplishment in the fact that I built a wave riding machine from scratch and successfully surfed it on first try. That's amazing in my book! It's always fun to experiment!
In other news:
I continue to R.I.C.E. my Achilles tendon. Another week with no running and I'm beginning to stress about being ready for the Daytona Half Marathon on November 1. Tendons are SO SLOW to heal. It's downright annoying at this point. I'm riding my bicycle (hate it) and weight training while trying to patiently wait for the injury to GO AWAY!
I also have got to throw out a "hell yeah" to my good friend J-Mo (aka Caution: Redhead Running) who conquered the Chicago Marathon yesterday. It was her very first marathon and she did not stop once, never hit the "wall" and finished with a time of 4 hours and 8 minutes. I am so proud of her and totally stoked!!!!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday Stoke
Hey folks, this ain't your normal Thursday Stoke. This is going to be a:
SUPER Thursday Stoke!
There are so many things to be stoked about today that I'll probably forget to mention them all.
Here goes:
First off, I've got to recap where I left off in the last post. I did go for a run yesterday morning. The first run in 8 days. I set out to do 5 miles and only did 3 miles. I tried to go slow, but ended up running a tempo pace (I can't help myself when the distance is short). About a mile into the run Mr. Achilles started complaining so I made the "play it safe" decision to only go three. After all, as you'll read later on, I'm not young, dumb and bulletproof anymore. My Achilles tendon did not swell up to cankle status as it did before, but it is super tight and borderline painful. NO BUENO! I'm back to R.I.C.E.ing it and no more running for a few more days. I'm taking One Sassy Girl's advice and giving the tendon lots of time to heal. This I am NOT stoked about, but when I set out to train for a marathon I planned on dealing with at least one injury so in a way I'm stoked that it's happening now with 90 days left instead of 10 days left or something.
Now for more stoking matters:
And last, but not least, I'm stoked for all the birthday's this week. Most of all Jeanie Marie's birthday tomorrow. She has been a great friend to me; a best friend ever since one day (about 16 years ago) in high school where she ran into me (literally at full speed) in the hall way next to my locker. We normally celebrate "our" birthdays together (mine is today), but she now lives in California and our schedules didn't work out for a visit this October. Tonight I will call her a few minutes after midnight because it will be her birthday in my time zone and my birthday still in her time zone. Yes, I know I'm a dork, but for the first time we'll be celebrating our birthdays together (really at the same time) on the phone. It's also Rixy's birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday to Rixy. We miss you're antic's over in NSB!
And finally (really this will be the final one, I promise) as I said earlier
I'm not young, dumb and bulletproof anymore. I'm officially 32-years-old today and I'm stoked! I look around and I'm in much better shape than many people 10 years younger than I and I really do feel great! So I'm stoked to be older, wiser and only slightly bulletproof. :-) Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes! It's only 10 a.m. and I'm already overwhelmed. My email inbox this morning contained 61 email notifications from Facebook alone. I'm afraid to log onto Facebook just thinking about how I'm going to respond to all of those comments.
Tonight I'm off with some surfer friends to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It was a last minute idea by my friends to drag me to this event. I'm not really into the haunted house kind of things, but there are some gnarly roller coasters, which I do like because they remind me of my aviation days back when I was flying airplanes. I tried to get a date to come with me, but being last minute it didn't work out. Hey, it's my Birthday! I'm going to have a good time and be stoked about it anyways!
Good luck to all those running marathons this weekend and may an epic swell with offshore winds grace your beach wherever you are on the rock!
SUPER Thursday Stoke!
There are so many things to be stoked about today that I'll probably forget to mention them all.
Here goes:
First off, I've got to recap where I left off in the last post. I did go for a run yesterday morning. The first run in 8 days. I set out to do 5 miles and only did 3 miles. I tried to go slow, but ended up running a tempo pace (I can't help myself when the distance is short). About a mile into the run Mr. Achilles started complaining so I made the "play it safe" decision to only go three. After all, as you'll read later on, I'm not young, dumb and bulletproof anymore. My Achilles tendon did not swell up to cankle status as it did before, but it is super tight and borderline painful. NO BUENO! I'm back to R.I.C.E.ing it and no more running for a few more days. I'm taking One Sassy Girl's advice and giving the tendon lots of time to heal. This I am NOT stoked about, but when I set out to train for a marathon I planned on dealing with at least one injury so in a way I'm stoked that it's happening now with 90 days left instead of 10 days left or something.
Now for more stoking matters:
- Harrison signed up for Disney... finally! He is my game day running buddy and the reason I got myself into this marathon business in the first place. We are officially both signed up and registered and in this together (he is also nursing an Achilles issue now as well).
- My good friends John and Julie are officially moved to Puerto Rico! I did NOT move with them as planned for financial reasons (real estate market can suck it!), but I'm super stoked for them and also eager to fly down there with some of my quiver and rip apart some winter time Rincon swell action! And, eat lots of tropical fruit of course!
- In two days, J-Mo (aka Caution: Redhead Running) will rip up her own swell in Chicago. A running swell, that is, of 35,000 or is it 45,000??? of marathon runners pounding pavement in the windy city. She has trained so hard, overcome adversity, harnessed her fears and taken bold risks to get there and I'm so stoked for her. Run Morgan Run!
- I've reached my 50th post. This is really my 51st post. I didn't even realize it until writing this one so I'm stoked about far this little blog is coming along and I'm especially stoked for my readers and also each of their entertaining blogs!
- Jojoba is having surgery tomorrow! Yes, I am stoked about this and I'll tell you why! Jojoba is one of my closest friends. We're both Gators (marched in the band several years apart), both majored in the same college within the University of Florida and both love to surf and love the ocean and some how we managed to find each other and become friends. About eight months ago we were at a rock climbing wall and she fell only about three feet right in front of me and broke her tibia and fibula in her right leg. She had immediate surgery, but the past few months have been hell for her and her recovery because her fibula (smaller non-load bearing bone) is not healing like it should, which is causing her a lot of pain. So tomorrow she is getting a second surgery done to hopefully correct it. I know she is super nervous about it, but I am super stoked because I have faith that this will all work out and she'll be back to her old self fearlessly charging hurricane swell waves very soon! Good luck my dear Jojoba!
Jojoba
And last, but not least, I'm stoked for all the birthday's this week. Most of all Jeanie Marie's birthday tomorrow. She has been a great friend to me; a best friend ever since one day (about 16 years ago) in high school where she ran into me (literally at full speed) in the hall way next to my locker. We normally celebrate "our" birthdays together (mine is today), but she now lives in California and our schedules didn't work out for a visit this October. Tonight I will call her a few minutes after midnight because it will be her birthday in my time zone and my birthday still in her time zone. Yes, I know I'm a dork, but for the first time we'll be celebrating our birthdays together (really at the same time) on the phone. It's also Rixy's birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday to Rixy. We miss you're antic's over in NSB!
And finally (really this will be the final one, I promise) as I said earlier
I'm not young, dumb and bulletproof anymore. I'm officially 32-years-old today and I'm stoked! I look around and I'm in much better shape than many people 10 years younger than I and I really do feel great! So I'm stoked to be older, wiser and only slightly bulletproof. :-) Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes! It's only 10 a.m. and I'm already overwhelmed. My email inbox this morning contained 61 email notifications from Facebook alone. I'm afraid to log onto Facebook just thinking about how I'm going to respond to all of those comments.Tonight I'm off with some surfer friends to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It was a last minute idea by my friends to drag me to this event. I'm not really into the haunted house kind of things, but there are some gnarly roller coasters, which I do like because they remind me of my aviation days back when I was flying airplanes. I tried to get a date to come with me, but being last minute it didn't work out. Hey, it's my Birthday! I'm going to have a good time and be stoked about it anyways!
Good luck to all those running marathons this weekend and may an epic swell with offshore winds grace your beach wherever you are on the rock!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
'One Week' since I ran...
"Its been one week since you looked at me
Cocked your head to the side and said Im angry.
Five days since you laughed at me
Saying get that together come back and see me.
Three days since the living room
I realized its all my fault, but couldnt tell you
Yesterday youd forgiven me
But itll still be two days till I say Im sorry"*
One entire week with no running and I feel LAME-O! Bluntly put, icing, compressing, elevating and most of all learning to REST my injury is a NO BUENO with a capital SUCK! As of this morning my left Achilles tendon looks normal again. No more cankle! It feels good too. I almost gave Running a try a couple days ago, but after researching Achilles injuries I decided another few days of rest would be a safe bet. In the meantime I've tried to occupy myself with other activities that do not stretch/stress the Achilles very much like bicycling, weight training and even wakeboarding (more on that last one in a second). The most exciting thing for me however, is the fact that I completely re-organized my Disney Marathon training schedule! It's a 26-week program and I was in the 14th week when Mr. Achilles decided to protest like a little bitch. Originally, my schedule ended 3-weeks before the race on January 10, 2010. This works out perfectly now since I've had to take a step backwards with this nagging injury (2 steps forward, 1 back is my motto). I've reworked it, re-tooled it and feel like I'm back on track and it leads all the way up to race day. Here are the remaining once a week long runs in countdown fashion:
14 weeks to go - 8 miles
13 weeks to go - 12 miles
12 weeks to go - 14 miles OR 10 miles depending on how I feel
11 weeks to go - Daytona Beach Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
10 weeks to go - 15 miles
9 weeks to go - 17 miles
8 weeks to go - 19 miles
7 weeks to go - 21 miles
6 weeks to go - 13 miles (or maybe the annual Ed Root 10k)
5 weeks to go - 12 miles
4 weeks to go - 23 miles
3 weeks to go - 12 miles
2 weeks to go - 13.1 miles OR 10 miles depending on how I feel with the taper.
1 D-Day - Disney Marathon (26.2 miles)
I realize that weeks 10-7 to go don't have a "short" long run in them, but I really want to get some long distance runs under my belt. So far I only have a 16.5 mile run with Redhead Running and then a bunch of 13-miler or shorter runs to show. The training schedule that I'm using as a foundation is meant for someone that only wants to finish as a goal. This of course is my only goal, but being a rookie in the world of Marathons I tend to question everything. Anybody have suggestions? I'm all ears!
This is going to hurt!
Ok, so maybe I don't bleed orange and blue, but I still bleed!
Wildlife!
Brian taking a tumble. He rips way better than he wipes out!
Tandem couple shot! This was awesome!
Dueling wakeboards???
Sunday turned out to be a real "Fun Day" after all. A day on the water beats any day at work whether there are waves or not! Tomorrow is the day. I'm feeling it. I'm going to give Running another chance... and hopefully in the next post we'll be back together again! I'm stoked!
92 Days Until Disney!!!
"It's been one week since you looked at me
Dropped your arms to your sides and said I'm sorry
Five days since I laughed at you
And said you just did just what I thought you were gonna do
Three days since the living room
We realized were both to blame, but what could we do?
Yesterday you just smiled at me..."
* Lyrics are from Barenaked Ladies "One Week," if you haven't figured it out, which also makes a good song for the iPod running playlist!
Cocked your head to the side and said Im angry.
Five days since you laughed at me
Saying get that together come back and see me.
Three days since the living room
I realized its all my fault, but couldnt tell you
Yesterday youd forgiven me
But itll still be two days till I say Im sorry"*
One entire week with no running and I feel LAME-O! Bluntly put, icing, compressing, elevating and most of all learning to REST my injury is a NO BUENO with a capital SUCK! As of this morning my left Achilles tendon looks normal again. No more cankle! It feels good too. I almost gave Running a try a couple days ago, but after researching Achilles injuries I decided another few days of rest would be a safe bet. In the meantime I've tried to occupy myself with other activities that do not stretch/stress the Achilles very much like bicycling, weight training and even wakeboarding (more on that last one in a second). The most exciting thing for me however, is the fact that I completely re-organized my Disney Marathon training schedule! It's a 26-week program and I was in the 14th week when Mr. Achilles decided to protest like a little bitch. Originally, my schedule ended 3-weeks before the race on January 10, 2010. This works out perfectly now since I've had to take a step backwards with this nagging injury (2 steps forward, 1 back is my motto). I've reworked it, re-tooled it and feel like I'm back on track and it leads all the way up to race day. Here are the remaining once a week long runs in countdown fashion:
14 weeks to go - 8 miles
13 weeks to go - 12 miles
12 weeks to go - 14 miles OR 10 miles depending on how I feel
11 weeks to go - Daytona Beach Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
10 weeks to go - 15 miles
9 weeks to go - 17 miles
8 weeks to go - 19 miles
7 weeks to go - 21 miles
6 weeks to go - 13 miles (or maybe the annual Ed Root 10k)
5 weeks to go - 12 miles
4 weeks to go - 23 miles
3 weeks to go - 12 miles
2 weeks to go - 13.1 miles OR 10 miles depending on how I feel with the taper.
1 D-Day - Disney Marathon (26.2 miles)
I realize that weeks 10-7 to go don't have a "short" long run in them, but I really want to get some long distance runs under my belt. So far I only have a 16.5 mile run with Redhead Running and then a bunch of 13-miler or shorter runs to show. The training schedule that I'm using as a foundation is meant for someone that only wants to finish as a goal. This of course is my only goal, but being a rookie in the world of Marathons I tend to question everything. Anybody have suggestions? I'm all ears!
As for the wakeboarding, I've got to post a few pictures. It's been super flat for at least 10 days now. Surfers get kind of stir crazy when this happens. Sunday afternoon a few longboarder friends of mine and I decided to "experiment" behind my boat with a beat up old longboard, some costumes and a couple of wakeboards, and yes, I was in the Pride of the Sunshine Gator Marching band about 10 years ago! Go Gators! (click the pictures to enlarge)
Noseriding band geek I am!
Look Mom, no fins... backwards and goofy stance!
Noseriding band geek I am!
Look Mom, no fins... backwards and goofy stance!
This is going to hurt!
Ok, so maybe I don't bleed orange and blue, but I still bleed!
Wildlife!
Brian taking a tumble. He rips way better than he wipes out! 
Tandem couple shot! This was awesome!
Dueling wakeboards??? 
Sunday turned out to be a real "Fun Day" after all. A day on the water beats any day at work whether there are waves or not! Tomorrow is the day. I'm feeling it. I'm going to give Running another chance... and hopefully in the next post we'll be back together again! I'm stoked!
92 Days Until Disney!!!
"It's been one week since you looked at me
Dropped your arms to your sides and said I'm sorry
Five days since I laughed at you
And said you just did just what I thought you were gonna do
Three days since the living room
We realized were both to blame, but what could we do?
Yesterday you just smiled at me..."
* Lyrics are from Barenaked Ladies "One Week," if you haven't figured it out, which also makes a good song for the iPod running playlist!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
"Heeling"
Welcome to Sunday Fun day Randomness!
For this edition of "totally random blog posts," I'll try and categorize our topics for today (and yes, I'm totally hijacking Rachael's format of her last post at The Beginning Runner's Blog... hope you don't mind).
* Inspiration for the day
* Surfing update
* Running update
* Going out, misbehaving and being hung over
Inspiration
I am completely inspired after reading the story titled "Crossing Oceans" in the October 2009 issue of Surfer Magazine. Usually I find these magazines void of intriguing content and full of what holds the attention of your stereotypical burnout surfer best -- photos and meaningless jabber. However, this story by Christian Beamish about Liz Clark's ongoing solo adventure aboard the 40' vessel Swell is astonishing! This 29-year-old surfer has sailed 14,000 miles in the last three- and- a- half years by herself surfing, free-diving and fishing the entire way! These are the kind of people that I admire not only for their sense of adventure in life, but for their courage to break away from the norm and truly live life! I found her blog here and also a video clip of her story here. I will definitely be following her voyage vicariously in my Google Reader.
Surfing Update
The alaia boards are ready to go... or should I say ready for imminent disaster! This
week while I found myself with plenty of spare time not being able to run or exercise, I applied two coats of waterproofing. I'm sure we should be using some kind of resin, but oh well.... this is just a test run to see more what it feels like to try and surf them. Only problem we are having is the serious lack of waves! It's flat as Kansas right now and no swell in sight...
Running Update
Or should I say lack of running. As B.o.B. put it in one of her blogs a while back, running injuries suck! My Achilles tendon is "heeling" at the pace of Plate Tech tonics! I'm now beginning the 15th week of my Disney Marathon training plan and I'm feeling SOOOOO behind. I know it's OK because the training plan ends a full month before the race so at some point I'm going to modify it (as nice as it sounds, I know I can't taper for a full month!). It's almost as if an injury was part of the master plan. It's slowly getting better and I'm trying my hardest to "take it easy." So in B.o.B.'s terminology, Running and I are taking a break for a bit. It's really hard, but I'm getting by... I went out with Biking Friday morning, but the satisfaction just wasn't the same as with Running. I even gave Walking a shot yesterday, but I fear that I just don't have the time nor patience to put up with Walking. Hopefully, I'll get back with Running soon.
Going out and Final Thoughts...
Without Running around to keep me out of trouble I found myself being coerced into the realms of Nightlife both Friday and Saturday. I don't think I've "gone out" two nights in a row since Matt's wedding in July and speaking of weddings that's what got me out last night and Mr. Evil Open Bar is responsible for Mr. Hangover that came for a visit this morning. I haven't seen Mr. Hangover since the beginning of July and one things for sure; I AM NOT PROPERLY TRAINED FOR MR. HANGOVER'S ANTICS! Ugggg.... at least I'm getting it out of my system now, while injured, and soon I'll be "heeled" and getting back on track!
I close with this picture I snapped with my phone camera Thursday night. Sunset fishing for redfish at the Ponce side of the inlet...
For this edition of "totally random blog posts," I'll try and categorize our topics for today (and yes, I'm totally hijacking Rachael's format of her last post at The Beginning Runner's Blog... hope you don't mind).
* Inspiration for the day
* Surfing update
* Running update
* Going out, misbehaving and being hung over
Inspiration
I am completely inspired after reading the story titled "Crossing Oceans" in the October 2009 issue of Surfer Magazine. Usually I find these magazines void of intriguing content and full of what holds the attention of your stereotypical burnout surfer best -- photos and meaningless jabber. However, this story by Christian Beamish about Liz Clark's ongoing solo adventure aboard the 40' vessel Swell is astonishing! This 29-year-old surfer has sailed 14,000 miles in the last three- and- a- half years by herself surfing, free-diving and fishing the entire way! These are the kind of people that I admire not only for their sense of adventure in life, but for their courage to break away from the norm and truly live life! I found her blog here and also a video clip of her story here. I will definitely be following her voyage vicariously in my Google Reader.
Surfing Update
The alaia boards are ready to go... or should I say ready for imminent disaster! This
week while I found myself with plenty of spare time not being able to run or exercise, I applied two coats of waterproofing. I'm sure we should be using some kind of resin, but oh well.... this is just a test run to see more what it feels like to try and surf them. Only problem we are having is the serious lack of waves! It's flat as Kansas right now and no swell in sight...Running Update
Or should I say lack of running. As B.o.B. put it in one of her blogs a while back, running injuries suck! My Achilles tendon is "heeling" at the pace of Plate Tech tonics! I'm now beginning the 15th week of my Disney Marathon training plan and I'm feeling SOOOOO behind. I know it's OK because the training plan ends a full month before the race so at some point I'm going to modify it (as nice as it sounds, I know I can't taper for a full month!). It's almost as if an injury was part of the master plan. It's slowly getting better and I'm trying my hardest to "take it easy." So in B.o.B.'s terminology, Running and I are taking a break for a bit. It's really hard, but I'm getting by... I went out with Biking Friday morning, but the satisfaction just wasn't the same as with Running. I even gave Walking a shot yesterday, but I fear that I just don't have the time nor patience to put up with Walking. Hopefully, I'll get back with Running soon.
Going out and Final Thoughts...
Without Running around to keep me out of trouble I found myself being coerced into the realms of Nightlife both Friday and Saturday. I don't think I've "gone out" two nights in a row since Matt's wedding in July and speaking of weddings that's what got me out last night and Mr. Evil Open Bar is responsible for Mr. Hangover that came for a visit this morning. I haven't seen Mr. Hangover since the beginning of July and one things for sure; I AM NOT PROPERLY TRAINED FOR MR. HANGOVER'S ANTICS! Ugggg.... at least I'm getting it out of my system now, while injured, and soon I'll be "heeled" and getting back on track!
I close with this picture I snapped with my phone camera Thursday night. Sunset fishing for redfish at the Ponce side of the inlet...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thursday Stoke!
First off let me just say how stoked I am today because this morning I closed one of my deals, which means I will get a paycheck! Working on 100 percent commission in the world of real estate is extremely tough these days. I'm super excited to be getting paid soon! Perhaps I'll buy myself some new running shoes or a new surfboard.... or maybe I'll just pay some bills!
Second off let me just say I'm sorry for being so "emo" in my last post and a BIG thanks for all the comments of support and suggestions! I'm still on the "DL," but have moved on to the acceptance stage of being injured.... hmmm maybe I should write a post on the mental stages of injuries??? Injury occurance => Denial => Frustration => Anger => Acceptance => Cope => healing???
Well, I'm over it. I've been icing, compressing, elevating my Achilles tendon religiously the past few days, it's just the "rest" part of R.I.C.E. that I find difficult. Also, I might add that researching Achilles tendon injuries online is e
nough to scare the living hell out of any runner! As of this morning my left ankle is feeling a lot better, but is still looking like a "cankle" of sorts.*
I've been reduced to keeping it wrapped in an ACE bandage with a neoprene brace over top. It hurts to wear shoes and my REEF flip flops are definitely a "negative Ghostrider," so I'm wearing these "Jesus" sandals (a reference made by a surfer friend of mine upon seeing me in them) everywhere! (See photo to the right)
Now on to the real reason for the Thursday Stoke!
I'm stoked for being on the DL and I'll tell you why! My inability to sit still usually keeps me occupied with work and exercise be it running, surfing or anything else active. With a cankle-clad left foot in a Jesus sandal I'm kind of stuck to limping around, but the hell if I'm going to sit on the couch and watch TV for very long. My surfer friend, Brian and I recently took notice of many pro surfers and even a few local guys riding these thin wooden boards with no rocker. It looks extremely difficult and the boards can't be but a 1/2 inch thick and have no fins. In a brilliant stroke a genius we decided that we too shall make our own plank boards. After a little online research we discovered the PC name for them is "Alaia" boards and they supposedly date back to ancient Hawaiian surfers.
Seriously, how difficult can it be to make a straight plank surfboard with no fins???
So off we went, or hobbled I went and Brian walked, to the Home Depot to buy lumber, sandpaper and waterproofing sealant. A few nights of power tools, saw dust everywhere and feeling a little high from wood stain and varnish fumes and I'm happy to report that we're just about ready to test out our very own Alaia boards. Now all we need is a swell to bring some waves powerful enough to carry our crazy @sses on these creations.
I'm predicting that one of two things or both will happen upon the first testing.
1.) The waterproofing FAILS (we should really be using resin) and the wood de-laminates. and/or
2.) The board breaks either from the waves energy or our body weight or me ripping up the wave!
Still, I'm stoked to be experimenting with an idea and building something with my own hands. I may have to take a few days off from marathon training, but it doesn't mean I have to sit on the couch! Stay tuned for an Alaia board field test blog post sometime in the near future!
*Note: top picture is NOT my legs, but my left leg looks just like this! Ouch! No more arching in the Achilles. However, the Keen "Jesus Sandal" is my foot.
Second off let me just say I'm sorry for being so "emo" in my last post and a BIG thanks for all the comments of support and suggestions! I'm still on the "DL," but have moved on to the acceptance stage of being injured.... hmmm maybe I should write a post on the mental stages of injuries??? Injury occurance => Denial => Frustration => Anger => Acceptance => Cope => healing???
Well, I'm over it. I've been icing, compressing, elevating my Achilles tendon religiously the past few days, it's just the "rest" part of R.I.C.E. that I find difficult. Also, I might add that researching Achilles tendon injuries online is e
nough to scare the living hell out of any runner! As of this morning my left ankle is feeling a lot better, but is still looking like a "cankle" of sorts.*I've been reduced to keeping it wrapped in an ACE bandage with a neoprene brace over top. It hurts to wear shoes and my REEF flip flops are definitely a "negative Ghostrider," so I'm wearing these "Jesus" sandals (a reference made by a surfer friend of mine upon seeing me in them) everywhere! (See photo to the right)
Now on to the real reason for the Thursday Stoke!
I'm stoked for being on the DL and I'll tell you why! My inability to sit still usually keeps me occupied with work and exercise be it running, surfing or anything else active. With a cankle-clad left foot in a Jesus sandal I'm kind of stuck to limping around, but the hell if I'm going to sit on the couch and watch TV for very long. My surfer friend, Brian and I recently took notice of many pro surfers and even a few local guys riding these thin wooden boards with no rocker. It looks extremely difficult and the boards can't be but a 1/2 inch thick and have no fins. In a brilliant stroke a genius we decided that we too shall make our own plank boards. After a little online research we discovered the PC name for them is "Alaia" boards and they supposedly date back to ancient Hawaiian surfers.
Seriously, how difficult can it be to make a straight plank surfboard with no fins???
So off we went, or hobbled I went and Brian walked, to the Home Depot to buy lumber, sandpaper and waterproofing sealant. A few nights of power tools, saw dust everywhere and feeling a little high from wood stain and varnish fumes and I'm happy to report that we're just about ready to test out our very own Alaia boards. Now all we need is a swell to bring some waves powerful enough to carry our crazy @sses on these creations.
I'm predicting that one of two things or both will happen upon the first testing.
1.) The waterproofing FAILS (we should really be using resin) and the wood de-laminates. and/or
2.) The board breaks either from the waves energy or our body weight or me ripping up the wave!
Still, I'm stoked to be experimenting with an idea and building something with my own hands. I may have to take a few days off from marathon training, but it doesn't mean I have to sit on the couch! Stay tuned for an Alaia board field test blog post sometime in the near future!
*Note: top picture is NOT my legs, but my left leg looks just like this! Ouch! No more arching in the Achilles. However, the Keen "Jesus Sandal" is my foot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
