Well sports fans, it's Sunday evening, and I have nothing to write about. I still can't run, so I can't blog about my workouts, and I'm determined not to complain about work so won't even mention that. Guess that leaves my general state of health.
I'm a little worried about my Achilles tendon. It feels stiff and is tender when I get up, but has improved enough that I can walk on it without limping. By the end of the day, however, it hurts to the point that I'm limping noticeably (sp?). I ran about 10 steps this morning while I was feeding the horses just to see how it felt, and think that maybe I should wait another week or two before I try to go for a run.
Since it's been over a month now since I was last able to go for a run, it will be almost like starting over when I actually do get to go. I'll have to be very careful, because I have a tendency to try to do too much too quickly, and I don't want to aggravate my injury.
Since I know that Laurie and Tom are the only ones that read this blog, do you guys have any suggestions to combat my injury? Do I completely forget about running until there's no hint of pain? Or should I try to run, and hope that exercise will help it heal? As I mentioned a post or two ago, the pain is where my Achilles attaches to my heal...it's not higher up on the tendon itself. Do you think it may just be an inflammation, or maybe some type of tendonitis? If that's the case, do you think a healthy dose of ibuprofen would help? Or would that just temporarily deaden the pain and heighten the risk of exacerbating the damage?
Help, please! I need your advice.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Slacker......
Well it's been a full 2 weeks since I last posted...and it's been almost 3 weeks since I last ran. What a slacker!!!
My last run was on President's Day, and I was definitely not in good shape then because of inconsistent work outs. When I start running again (maybe I should say IF I start running again), it'll be brutal.
I actually have a legitimate excuse for not running...my Achilles tendon is toast. I'm not sure exactly how I injured it. I was playing basketball with Doug at the church, and didn't have any problems while we were playing, but by the time I got home it was very tender and hurt to walk. We drove up to Eugene right after playing ball, and when we got out of the car at the Valley River Center it was stiff enough that I couldn't walk without a pretty severe limp. (Not even a trip to See's Candy cured it!!) That was on February 21st...two weeks ago...and I STILL can't walk without limping. This strain is different than ones I've had in the past, because it hurts right on my heel, instead of up higher towards my calf. Hopefully in the next week or so the pain will subside enough that I can start running again.
Things at work are not the best. We've hired a 40 something friend of Greg's who calls him to complain about us. We were told the week before she got hired that because of the economy we weren't going to be doing any hiring, and then presto chango...Greg's worthless friend comes to work. I'm starting to get fired up just thinking about the situation, so I think it's time to quit writing. I'll post a little more information when I'm in a better mood...time to quit!
My last run was on President's Day, and I was definitely not in good shape then because of inconsistent work outs. When I start running again (maybe I should say IF I start running again), it'll be brutal.
I actually have a legitimate excuse for not running...my Achilles tendon is toast. I'm not sure exactly how I injured it. I was playing basketball with Doug at the church, and didn't have any problems while we were playing, but by the time I got home it was very tender and hurt to walk. We drove up to Eugene right after playing ball, and when we got out of the car at the Valley River Center it was stiff enough that I couldn't walk without a pretty severe limp. (Not even a trip to See's Candy cured it!!) That was on February 21st...two weeks ago...and I STILL can't walk without limping. This strain is different than ones I've had in the past, because it hurts right on my heel, instead of up higher towards my calf. Hopefully in the next week or so the pain will subside enough that I can start running again.
Things at work are not the best. We've hired a 40 something friend of Greg's who calls him to complain about us. We were told the week before she got hired that because of the economy we weren't going to be doing any hiring, and then presto chango...Greg's worthless friend comes to work. I'm starting to get fired up just thinking about the situation, so I think it's time to quit writing. I'll post a little more information when I'm in a better mood...time to quit!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wicked Wind
I just got back from another little jaunt on the OC&E Trail, and it was BRUTAL!!! I haven't gone for a run for over a week...the day I last posted was the last day I ran, and that was a really short (2.5 mile) run. I haven't been running consistently since before Christmas, so I haven't gotten in very good shape...and today I found out just what being lazy will do for your conditioning.
The weather in Klamath has been pretty miserable for the last week. We've had snow, rain, temperatures in the 20s, rain, grey skies...it's best described as BLAH! If you've read any of my prior posts you can gather that I look for any excuse not to run...basketball games, practices, missionary discussions with Ed, wind, cold, heat, church, too late, too early, work...the list is endless. I didn't go Friday because Doug had a game, didn't go Saturday because it was cold, didn't go yesterday because of church and I had a killer headache, and wasn't gonna go today because the weather is nasty. But when I got up this morning, I knew that if I didn't run I probably wouldn't run again until March, and even though I'm not in good shape I'm in better condition than I was in October prior to running. It's easier to stay in some kind of decent condition than it is to get there from scratch, so that motivated me to get out of the house and go.
So how did the run go? Right now the temperature in KFalls is 34, and I've been home for over an hour. The wind is starting to die down, but we have gusts that are still reaching 25 mph. The sun is hidden behind a thick layer of clouds...no one in their right mind is on the bike path. I started out going into the wind, which was blowing directly from the east (the OC&E Trail at this point runs directly east and west). I knew that since I'm not in the best condition, I'd never make it back to my truck if I went the directon I normally go...I needed the wind at my back on the return trip. I planned on going out 1.5 and turning around, but almost died just short of the halfway point and wound up walking the last 50 yards to the mile marker. I don't like being a quitter, so decided that I would go 50 yards PAST the marker before I started back to make up for walking...and wound up walking half a mile past it instead. I felt foolish walking, but couldn't force myself to run into the wind anymore. The run back was pretty nice...2 miles of flats with a steady 20 mph breeze at your back lets you feel pretty good about running!
I ran into Ron Smith about 3/4 mile from my truck, and stopped to talk to him for at least 30 minutes. He is planning on giving up his head coaching job after this season...mainly because it's not fun to deal with the idiot AD at Henley (see my post on Northly News). Smith talked about Stephanie quite a bit, and told me to tell her "Hi"...so if you read this Steph, Smith says he'll really miss coaching you this year. He also asked about the rest of the North brood, so other than Tom (who was too lazy to run and played baseball instead of doing track) he wishes you all well. He mentioned that he thinks Tim Cleland probably won't make it through the baseball season this year...and told me that he'll be trying to recruit Doug if something goes wrong with baseball.
Since I managed to hit the trail again, maybe this can be a starting point for a little consistency. I think I need to look for reason TO run, instead of looking for reasons NOT to run. If Laurie or Tom were here I could use them to motivate me...but since Laurie's stuck in Eugene, and Tom is in Happy Valley I'll have to depend on their blogs.
We'll see how I do the rest of the week. Doug has a game tomorrow night, Ed and the missionaries are coming for dinner Wednesday, I have no excuse yet for Thursday, Doug has a game in Phoenix Friday, we're going to Eugene Saturday, McMinnville on Sunday..............
The weather in Klamath has been pretty miserable for the last week. We've had snow, rain, temperatures in the 20s, rain, grey skies...it's best described as BLAH! If you've read any of my prior posts you can gather that I look for any excuse not to run...basketball games, practices, missionary discussions with Ed, wind, cold, heat, church, too late, too early, work...the list is endless. I didn't go Friday because Doug had a game, didn't go Saturday because it was cold, didn't go yesterday because of church and I had a killer headache, and wasn't gonna go today because the weather is nasty. But when I got up this morning, I knew that if I didn't run I probably wouldn't run again until March, and even though I'm not in good shape I'm in better condition than I was in October prior to running. It's easier to stay in some kind of decent condition than it is to get there from scratch, so that motivated me to get out of the house and go.
So how did the run go? Right now the temperature in KFalls is 34, and I've been home for over an hour. The wind is starting to die down, but we have gusts that are still reaching 25 mph. The sun is hidden behind a thick layer of clouds...no one in their right mind is on the bike path. I started out going into the wind, which was blowing directly from the east (the OC&E Trail at this point runs directly east and west). I knew that since I'm not in the best condition, I'd never make it back to my truck if I went the directon I normally go...I needed the wind at my back on the return trip. I planned on going out 1.5 and turning around, but almost died just short of the halfway point and wound up walking the last 50 yards to the mile marker. I don't like being a quitter, so decided that I would go 50 yards PAST the marker before I started back to make up for walking...and wound up walking half a mile past it instead. I felt foolish walking, but couldn't force myself to run into the wind anymore. The run back was pretty nice...2 miles of flats with a steady 20 mph breeze at your back lets you feel pretty good about running!
I ran into Ron Smith about 3/4 mile from my truck, and stopped to talk to him for at least 30 minutes. He is planning on giving up his head coaching job after this season...mainly because it's not fun to deal with the idiot AD at Henley (see my post on Northly News). Smith talked about Stephanie quite a bit, and told me to tell her "Hi"...so if you read this Steph, Smith says he'll really miss coaching you this year. He also asked about the rest of the North brood, so other than Tom (who was too lazy to run and played baseball instead of doing track) he wishes you all well. He mentioned that he thinks Tim Cleland probably won't make it through the baseball season this year...and told me that he'll be trying to recruit Doug if something goes wrong with baseball.
Since I managed to hit the trail again, maybe this can be a starting point for a little consistency. I think I need to look for reason TO run, instead of looking for reasons NOT to run. If Laurie or Tom were here I could use them to motivate me...but since Laurie's stuck in Eugene, and Tom is in Happy Valley I'll have to depend on their blogs.
We'll see how I do the rest of the week. Doug has a game tomorrow night, Ed and the missionaries are coming for dinner Wednesday, I have no excuse yet for Thursday, Doug has a game in Phoenix Friday, we're going to Eugene Saturday, McMinnville on Sunday..............
Friday, February 6, 2009
Excuses, excuses, excuses!!!!
Well sports fans here it is again....Friday! And guess what...I haven't run since LAST Friday! That's just freaking great! A whole week of getting out of shape... sitting on my backside getting fatter and fatter. 6 full days of making up excuses why I couldn't go for a run. Here's the list I used this week by day: Saturday: I ran 6.5 last night, so I can't run today because I hurt too much...Sunday: I'm not supposed to run on Sunday because it's the Sabbath and I might want to read scriptures...Monday: It's too dark, and there's not time to run before we have to pick Doug up...Tuesday: Doug's basketball game got in the way...Wednesday: The missionaries came at 6:30 and stayed too long...Thursday: I'll stay home tonight and go for a longer run tomorrow to make up for it....Friday: ?? I haven't come up with one for tonight, but I'm sure I'll think of a good one.
All of the excuses are good ones...they're all legit...aren't they???
I read Laurie's blog a few minutes ago, and I have to admit that it motivates me to get off my butt and run....at least while I'm reading it. If I could only figure out how to take my computer with me while I'm driving home............
All of the excuses are good ones...they're all legit...aren't they???
I read Laurie's blog a few minutes ago, and I have to admit that it motivates me to get off my butt and run....at least while I'm reading it. If I could only figure out how to take my computer with me while I'm driving home............
Friday, January 30, 2009
Pounding the pavement....
Friday!!!! No remotes...no work...nothing I have to do...!!!!!!!
Janet and I just came home from a quick little run on the OC&E Trail, and it was really nice. Don't know what the temperature was when we started, but right now it's 29. There wasn't any wind that I could feel, there weren't any clouds, and the moon gave just enough light that I could see the trail if I looked really hard (after the halfway mark it was at my back, and I could barely see my shadow). Since I didn't run yesterday, I felt pretty good, and wound up running 6.5. I wasn't sure where the turnaround point mile marker was and was afraid I'd miss it because I was running so fast, but I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was speeding down the trail and managed to turn around and head back to Reeder Road before I hit the Jackson County line.
To be truthful, I have no idea how fast I ran tonight. I'm sure it was somewhere around 10 minute miles, which is really slow, but the good thing is that I managed to fun the whole 6.5 miles without collapsing in the ditch along the trail. I think I'm starting to get in shape, because around the 4 mile point I realized that I wasnt' breathing hard...and I was able to do about an 8 1/2 minute mile pace the last 1/2 mile (I'm just guessing on that...the way the wind was rushing past my ears I'm sure that's how fast I was going!!).
Janet wasn't able to run tonight because her foot hurt too bad (she ran Wednesday night), but she walked a little bit more than two miles. It's amazing how quickly your body starts to break down after you hit 50...little aches and pains turn into major ones, and it takes a lot longer to recover from minor injuries.
Regardless of the pains, I actually ran far enough that the endorphins kicked in...it was a really nice night. Another positive thing...the Trailer Trash Terror must have been enjoying a beer with his master tonight...there was no sign of him.
Janet and I just came home from a quick little run on the OC&E Trail, and it was really nice. Don't know what the temperature was when we started, but right now it's 29. There wasn't any wind that I could feel, there weren't any clouds, and the moon gave just enough light that I could see the trail if I looked really hard (after the halfway mark it was at my back, and I could barely see my shadow). Since I didn't run yesterday, I felt pretty good, and wound up running 6.5. I wasn't sure where the turnaround point mile marker was and was afraid I'd miss it because I was running so fast, but I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was speeding down the trail and managed to turn around and head back to Reeder Road before I hit the Jackson County line.
To be truthful, I have no idea how fast I ran tonight. I'm sure it was somewhere around 10 minute miles, which is really slow, but the good thing is that I managed to fun the whole 6.5 miles without collapsing in the ditch along the trail. I think I'm starting to get in shape, because around the 4 mile point I realized that I wasnt' breathing hard...and I was able to do about an 8 1/2 minute mile pace the last 1/2 mile (I'm just guessing on that...the way the wind was rushing past my ears I'm sure that's how fast I was going!!).
Janet wasn't able to run tonight because her foot hurt too bad (she ran Wednesday night), but she walked a little bit more than two miles. It's amazing how quickly your body starts to break down after you hit 50...little aches and pains turn into major ones, and it takes a lot longer to recover from minor injuries.
Regardless of the pains, I actually ran far enough that the endorphins kicked in...it was a really nice night. Another positive thing...the Trailer Trash Terror must have been enjoying a beer with his master tonight...there was no sign of him.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Trailer Trash Dog
This is just a quick little update, since I'm at work and have a ton of stuff that I need to do.
Monday's run was pretty nice...although when we pulled into the parking lot on Reeder Road I noticed that the temperature had dropped from the balmy 28 when I left the station to a nippy 22. It makes for an interesting run when you have the severe risk of freezing your nose off. Except for the fact that is was a little chilly, everything was really nice...there were no clouds, no moon, no rotting cow crap aroma, minimal breeze (what little wind that did blow of course was in my face on the way back to the truck) and no one else on the OC&E Trail except Janet. I only went 3.5, but picked up my pace a little bit, so it was a pretty good workout.
I spent most of the run trying to pay attention to what I actually think about when I run, in response to Laurie's inquiry on her running blog (you can find it at LaurieHiggins.blogspot.com.....if anyone outside of my family chances across this one). I don't suppose that was actually fair...because I was trying to think about what I think about all kinds of stuff went through my brain. When I finished I came to the realization that the majority of my thoughts center around how much running sucks!!!
Janet and I ran again last night, and because I need to drop a few more pounds before the final Belly Buster weigh in (tomorrow's the day! :) ) I went 5.5. At one point I actually considered stretching the run out to 6.5, but fortunately came to my senses before the do-or-die turnaround point near Madison, and stayed with my original goal.
Last night's run was pretty uneventful, except that I was attacked by the trailer-trash mongrel that lives near Highway 39. The beast is some kind of inbred German Shepherd/Rottweiler/Collie mix, and has teeth that are approaching 4 inches long. The first time he attacked me I thought I was dealing with a Saber Tooth cat, until I actually saw the size of his body. He probably doesn't weigh more than 30 pounds, and I'm sure that I could tear his head off if I tried, but he's really annoying. He's the kind of dog that's afraid to confront you head on...he lurks underneath his trailer, and then tries to sneak up from behind...a genuine cowardly bastard! I'm sure that if I didn't stop to deal with him he'd sink his teeth in my calf. At any rate, he's a major pain in the butt...those of you who run know that it's not pleasant to break stride to wait for cars or deal with a Wal-Mart shopper's dog.
Other than the rabid dog, the run was really nice. I might actually go again tonight......but then again......
Monday's run was pretty nice...although when we pulled into the parking lot on Reeder Road I noticed that the temperature had dropped from the balmy 28 when I left the station to a nippy 22. It makes for an interesting run when you have the severe risk of freezing your nose off. Except for the fact that is was a little chilly, everything was really nice...there were no clouds, no moon, no rotting cow crap aroma, minimal breeze (what little wind that did blow of course was in my face on the way back to the truck) and no one else on the OC&E Trail except Janet. I only went 3.5, but picked up my pace a little bit, so it was a pretty good workout.
I spent most of the run trying to pay attention to what I actually think about when I run, in response to Laurie's inquiry on her running blog (you can find it at LaurieHiggins.blogspot.com.....if anyone outside of my family chances across this one). I don't suppose that was actually fair...because I was trying to think about what I think about all kinds of stuff went through my brain. When I finished I came to the realization that the majority of my thoughts center around how much running sucks!!!
Janet and I ran again last night, and because I need to drop a few more pounds before the final Belly Buster weigh in (tomorrow's the day! :) ) I went 5.5. At one point I actually considered stretching the run out to 6.5, but fortunately came to my senses before the do-or-die turnaround point near Madison, and stayed with my original goal.
Last night's run was pretty uneventful, except that I was attacked by the trailer-trash mongrel that lives near Highway 39. The beast is some kind of inbred German Shepherd/Rottweiler/Collie mix, and has teeth that are approaching 4 inches long. The first time he attacked me I thought I was dealing with a Saber Tooth cat, until I actually saw the size of his body. He probably doesn't weigh more than 30 pounds, and I'm sure that I could tear his head off if I tried, but he's really annoying. He's the kind of dog that's afraid to confront you head on...he lurks underneath his trailer, and then tries to sneak up from behind...a genuine cowardly bastard! I'm sure that if I didn't stop to deal with him he'd sink his teeth in my calf. At any rate, he's a major pain in the butt...those of you who run know that it's not pleasant to break stride to wait for cars or deal with a Wal-Mart shopper's dog.
Other than the rabid dog, the run was really nice. I might actually go again tonight......but then again......
Monday, January 26, 2009
New Week...New Attitude???
Well here it is, Monday again...the beginning of a new week! I'll try not to be too negative...I've made a resolution that I won't dwell on things that aren't positive and uplifting. (Yeah, right!)
I didn't go for a run like I'd planned last Thursday...I thought of all the reasons why I shouldn't go, and finally came up with one that was acceptable. Janet and I did manage to go on Saturday, and I was able to get in about 5.5 miles. The first 5 miles were okay...the last 1/2 mile almost killed me. That was partially because Janet finished her power walk and got back to the truck when I still had a half mile (uphill, into the wind, in the dark) to go. It wouldn't have been bad, but when Janet got in the truck the lights came on and I could SEE how far I had left to go...and I was hurting a little bit.
It's interesting the way your body works...you get used to running a certain distance, and when you decide to go a little bit farther, everything seems to try to convince you otherwise. On this run, once I got to about 4 miles I suddenly started having little pains that I've never had before. My middle toe on my left foot started having sharp pains in the round part on the very end...no blister, nothing in my sock sticking me...just sharp little pains like someone was sticking me with a pin. That lasted for about 100 yards, until I noticed that my back hurt more than my toe...so my toe quit hurting. With about 1/4 of a mile to the parking lot the little toe on my right foot felt like it was getting a blister (which actually happened). Shortly after that my right knee started to hurt. I guess the best thing to do would be to run somewhere else...someplace that I'm not familiar with and don't know distances. Either that, or I could just grow some cajones and put up with the little discomforts I feel when I run (most of them are in my mind anyway) and enjoy the fact that I'm actually starting to get in shape!
I plan on going out for a little jaunt again this evening. I don't know whether or not Janet will be joining me, but the skies are clear, it's not TOO far below freezing, and it should be a good night for a run.
I didn't go for a run like I'd planned last Thursday...I thought of all the reasons why I shouldn't go, and finally came up with one that was acceptable. Janet and I did manage to go on Saturday, and I was able to get in about 5.5 miles. The first 5 miles were okay...the last 1/2 mile almost killed me. That was partially because Janet finished her power walk and got back to the truck when I still had a half mile (uphill, into the wind, in the dark) to go. It wouldn't have been bad, but when Janet got in the truck the lights came on and I could SEE how far I had left to go...and I was hurting a little bit.
It's interesting the way your body works...you get used to running a certain distance, and when you decide to go a little bit farther, everything seems to try to convince you otherwise. On this run, once I got to about 4 miles I suddenly started having little pains that I've never had before. My middle toe on my left foot started having sharp pains in the round part on the very end...no blister, nothing in my sock sticking me...just sharp little pains like someone was sticking me with a pin. That lasted for about 100 yards, until I noticed that my back hurt more than my toe...so my toe quit hurting. With about 1/4 of a mile to the parking lot the little toe on my right foot felt like it was getting a blister (which actually happened). Shortly after that my right knee started to hurt. I guess the best thing to do would be to run somewhere else...someplace that I'm not familiar with and don't know distances. Either that, or I could just grow some cajones and put up with the little discomforts I feel when I run (most of them are in my mind anyway) and enjoy the fact that I'm actually starting to get in shape!
I plan on going out for a little jaunt again this evening. I don't know whether or not Janet will be joining me, but the skies are clear, it's not TOO far below freezing, and it should be a good night for a run.
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