Left Side Tires Only!

Splint Day:  10  Recovery Day:  10

Days recovery remaining:  80

I mentioned my tumble into the front yard?  Well it seems that I cracked the bottom part of my splint when that happened.  So after a couple of days of dealing with a distinct "this doesn't feel right" type of feeling and my toes being numb 98%+ of the time I called the doc's office to see what I should do about it.  The asked me to come in so they could change it out for me.

So in we went.  The giant, hard plaster/ace wrap combo they put on immediately after surgery came off to reveal what the incision looked like:

My first reaction?  HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF STAPLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My second reaction?  The incision looks like it's healing pretty well!

My third reaction?  HOLY SHIT THAT'S A HUGE INCISION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you so desire you can click on the pic, zoom in a bit and count at least 15 staples.  So that scars gonna be nice!  And as we all know, chicks dig scars!

Only about 5 days left until the cast.  Speaking of which, while I was there for the new splint I was able to peruse cast color swatches and I'm pretty sure I picked out the color.  Now to just start looking for a cast cover I can wear in shower.

That Went Well

Splint Day: 7, Recovery Day: 7

Days recovery remaining:  83

Sunday I had a minor mishap.  From the time I arrived home from the surgery center on Tuesday I'd been in the house.  It was determined that the first time I tried to leave the house and make it to the car shouldn't be Monday morning when I'd be pressed for time, etc.  So, we made a trial run.  That didn't go so well.  I'll save the details but trying to navigate the self-closing front door, a couple of steps, and the knee walker all combined to equal a tumble in the front yard.  Over the front handle bars of the knee walker.  I was okay (only damaged the front edge of my splint) but I scared the living hell out of both myself and T.  Then we laughed about it and tried it again.  Crutches much easier.

It was back to work yesterday.  Not a great day back, but not a horrible day either.  I need to tweak a few things in my office so I can prop my foot up better during the day but all in all I seem to be able to function decently.  We'll see how covering events go Friday and Saturday though - that could be interesting.

Q & A

Splint Day: 4 Recovery Day: 4

This might be bordering on TMI, but I managed to make it upstairs for a bath today.  Major boost to the mood.

Sage was wondering what my return-to-running program looked like, so here it is:

We've used this protocol the last year or so with some of our student athletes with great success so this is what I'm planning on utilizing for myself.  If everything goes well I should start the walk/jog portion on January 9, 2012.  No, I don't have any grand goals for that first half marathon back.  I'm still researching what exactly my training program will look like - I'll consider it "training" once I'm back to running 30 consecutive minutes - and that will be a post on here much later.  Plenty of time to figure that out.

The other goal for the day?  To increase the time between percocets.

How Much Down Time?

Splint Day: 3, Recovery Day: 3

Monday, October 24 is when my time table starts.  Why Monday?  The goal for this recovery/rehab process is to be ready to return to training for a spring/summer race in 12 weeks.  84 days on the injured reserve list or until Monday, January 9, 2012 to be more exact.  Not that I have it planned out or anything.

Why that day?  Well that gives me the perfect amount of time to train for this race in June 2012.  6 weeks for a return-to-running program and then 18 weeks to actually train for the race.  Ambitious?  I don't think so but then the approach, for now, is to just be able to get back out there.

The first 6 weeks of this process will be easy.  Not much to do but wear the splint right now and wait until the cast.  I probably need to start thinking about what color cast I want!

On a Scale of 1-10

Splint Day: 2, Recovery Day: 2

The nerve block is about 90% gone - just a small numb area behind my knee - and I'm able to wiggle my toes now.  So that's a good thing, the bad thing?  The discomfort has started to kick in.  Discomfort.  Not pain.  Maybe that's due to the percocet?  Probably.  But it's not nearly as bad as I was anticipating.

Still trying to get used to navigating around the house with the splint.  The knee walker is much, much easier than crutches so that helps but it's still a challenge.

I'm taking my aspirin like I'm supposed to be, icing (not really sure just how effective icing my popliteal space is but still following instructions), and I'm a fixture on the couch.  Twelve more days until the cast.

On the fun side, the Star Wars Blu-ray marathon has begun!

Recovery Starts Now

Splint Day: 1, Recovery Day: 1

The last month has been a whirlwind...from my Dad passing away and all the family drama/stress that comes with that type of major life events, running a half marathon (Grand Rapids of course) after less than ideal training (see the first item in this list), to yesterday and the Modified Brostrum Procedure on my left ankle.

So the title of this post really encompasses more than just the healing process going on in my foot/ankle right now.  Healing my ankle, getting past the loss of a generation of the family, getting things back on track. 

The nice thing?  I've got plenty of down time coming my way.  At least the next 4 days on the couch.  Plenty of time to put the plans in place for a full recovery.

6700 Mile Service Appointment

Ugh...what a fortnight.

I'll go into some of the gory details later but let's just say that the last 14 days have not been to kind.

First, I rolled my ankle, then I had an urgent trip to Cincinnati (that part will be later), then an early departure back to Grand Rapids so I could keep an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.

That's right, surgeon.  Not for an athlete, or T, but me.

It took him about 2 minutes of doing a physical exam, stressing my ankle before he agreed with me that I need a Brostrum procedure because my ankle is trashed.  The stress x-rays only made the diagnosis easier - let's put it this way:  I'm one awkward step off a curb from a fracture-dislocation.

Surgery is scheduled for Oct 18.  22 days from now.  Two days after the Grand Rapids Half Marathon, which I'm still running but thanks to all of the recent upheaval I doubt will be the kind of effort I was hoping for back at the first of June.  Oh well...more important things on my plate now.

20

It hit me a couple of weeks ago as I was sitting at soccer practice watching the new freshman descend upon  campus in droves as they moved into the dorms.

20 years ago I moved to 219 E. Church St, Oxford, OH 45056 to start my freshman year of college.

No idea why it resonates with me that way.  Maybe because those four years in Oxford living in the Evans Scholar house were some of the defining moments in who I am?  Probably.  I just know that seeing those kids unload their cars hit me like a 2x4 and caused me to think back on those times in ways that being at my 20th high school reunion didn't.

Just seems like yesterday though.

A Sign of the Apocalypse?

One of the few positives of being a professional vagabond over the last 16 years is that I have friends/colleagues all over the country working in various settings of athletic training.

One of those friends sent me an email with the subject of "WTF?" yesterday and after I stopped laughing I just have to share it (names/details have been changed to protect the stupid):

Subject: book list

Hello, my name is XXXXXX XXXX and I believe you are my adviser. I am interested in majoring in athletic training and am looking forward to starting college this fall. As I have registered for classes already, I assumed that I would be sent a book list by now or would have been able to find it easily online. I do not want to order books though the school and would appreciate it if you could send me one or tell me where to find what books I need. It would also be appreciated if you could get back to me by Friday morning because I am leaving this weekend and will be out of town until right before coming to school.

Thank you for you help,


XXXXXX XXXX

What's wrong with this email you may be asking?  Let me list the reasons:

• This was sent over the summer, when my friend isn't in the office since it's summer!
• Why would this young person believe that just because they were randomly assigned to my friend as an adviser that they would be provided a list of needed books?  Oh that's right because every other summer of their educational life they've been given a "Back To School" supply list!
• Why would their randomly assigned adviser know what classes they've registered for?  Why would their randomly assigned adviser know what books are required?  How do you find out that information?  That's right, attend class the first day and read the goddamn syllabus.
• To me the best line is "It would also be appreciated if you could get back to me by Friday morning because I am leaving this weekend and will be out of town until right before coming to school." because it shows how this generation of children (because while they are trying to be adult-like they're clearly still a child) expect instant resolution to things.  It's absolutely ABSURD to think that my friend is going to even respond to this email

To all my friends who have children:  Please stop creating children like this. This is just one example!  Another is the college kids I deal with who are unable, or unwilling, to be active participants in their own health care decisions!  If you're a college senior (21 or 22 years old) you shouldn't need a parent to hold your hand when you see a doctor about your sprained ankle or when I ask you to contact a physician you've seen in the past to obtain a copy of your records and you look at me and say "I'll ask my mom" it takes every ounce of my self control to not punch you in the face.

We as a society are doomed I'm afraid.

Marking Time

July seems to be the month of anniversaries.

Our wedding anniversary, T's mother's wedding anniversary, the anniversary of losing a friend, and this one: 5 years ago we arrived in the mitten.

The place has, and continues to, grown on us. It's not perfect, but it's not as bad as originally thought.

The mitten does now have the distinction of being the place we've been in the most, so that must be saying something!

8 Is A Good Number

Eight years ago I made the best move in my adult life.

I married the best woman on the planet.

We've had our ups and downs, good days, bad days, but not once in those 2920 days have I regretted saying "I do".

Thanks love...

Getting My Ass Handed To Me

Summer cold, 2011 version.

Seems to be like clockwork, every summer I come down with a cold.  Usually I handle it pretty well - take some sudafed (the real shit, and thanks to all you meth-dick-heads that make it extremely difficult to get now), blow my nose a couple hundred times and I'm good.

Not this year.  This cold came to me via T.  She had it last week.  Started Monday for me and it has knocked me to the curb.  I've taken more tylenol in the last week than I have probably in the last 5 years.   I've taken a nap a day.  I never nap.  Really hope my immune system kicks in because I've got a busy weekend/first part of next week.

No Days Off

A conversation with one of our distance runners last week got me thinking.  I was trying to impress upon him the importance of taking advantage of the summer to develop good habits so that those habits will carry over into the fall.  One thing I was trying to get him to do was to spend some time each day addressing areas that needed work, one of which being he needs to utilize a foam roll to alleviate some soft tissue problems he has developed.

Me:  Do you have a foam roller?
Him:  No, but I've got a Nalgene water bottle that will work.

Part of me smiled at his resourcefulness...for about 2 seconds and then the rest of me got pissed off.  Why you ask?  This is why, and almost word for word what I told him:

That's bullshit.  You'll spend $100 per pair of shoes that last at most 3 months, if you're lucky, but you won't spend $25 on a foam roller that you will use for the rest of your life?  Even worse you'll spend way more money than that this summer on beer!  Stop making excuses and do what you need to do to be a better runner!

Then I recently watched a video on www.mobilitywod.com and it hit home that as athletes (and we are all athletes whether we play games, run races, etc - we all lift things like groceries, we all move our bodies up and down obstacles, stairs, etc) there are no days off.  We may not have a workout that day but we have to hydrate, we need to use the foam roll, we need to do our stretching, we need to eat better, the list goes on and on.

No days off.  We have to be focused on achieving our goals and doing all the little things everyday that will get us to that achievement.  Stop making excuses, stop whining and focus on what you need to do.

The hard part?  Listening to my own advice.  But I'm trying.

Not My Smartest Move

I'm a big fan of Vern Gambetta.

I've used his leg circuit progression with my athletes for years with great results.  As part of my "back to basics" theme for the spring/summer I'm doing the routine myself as a way to build some strength to help me as I get into what I hope will be some significant quality training in preparation for the Grand Rapids Half Marathon in Oct.

What I should not have done though is this:  do day 1 of the routine and then immediately go for a 5 mile run.  Holy rubber legs Batman!  This morning?  Legs.  Trashed.

The really funny part is that T tried to tell me that it wasn't a good idea.  Need to learn to listen to that intelligent woman.

Back To Basics

Spring sports are officially over.  Well, there is one last very small track meet Wednesday night, but only a small portion of the team will be competing.  Then it's time to close everything down, finish up paperwork, treat a few track kids who qualify for the outdoor national meet and get ready for the summer.

Life is much less hectic now.

Which is why I'm using this time to my advantage.  Adding some things back into my daily routine, or more aptly put:  getting back to my daily routine.  If I can manage to establish the habit now things will only get better and easier as the summer progresses and when things crank back up in August it won't be as hard to deal with.

At least I hope!

Good Start

Monday if my start to the week, and this week is off to a pretty good start.

A) Since I work at a catholic affiliated institute of higher learning today is an day off.  Now I'm going in for about an hour at 3 p.m., but that really doesn't count.

2) Despite being knocked for a loop by the sinister spring cold yesterday I got out there this morning and made up my long run.  12 miles total with two 4x5 minute tempo paced portions thrown in.  I wasn't able to hold the pace and my heart rate was over 190 on the last so I pulled the plug at that point.  Still a pretty damn good run especially when you factor in the sudafed (the real stuff, that PE shit is for losers) I'm taking so I can breathe.

III) It's the next to last full week of spring sports.

Only Fitting

Since April has felt more like February it's only fitting that a cold wallop the crap out of me this weekend.

Really, really looking forward to May getting here.

That Didn't Last Long

Due to the fickle nature of Mother Nature and how she has been treating the mitten this spring last minute changes in the spring sports schedules have wreaked havoc on my running schedule.

I know, I know...I've mentioned it before that I need to take care of my stuff first, blah, blah, blah but last week it really was beyond my control and I was forced to miss a run.

So the 100% goal for April is kaput.

Now the goal is to complete as many as I can with the amount of April left.  Just about six weeks to Bayshore.

Goal

The goal for the month of April is an ambitious little bitch:

100% completion of all workouts (runs, strength, everything on the plan).  Which means I'm going to have to hold myself accountable here.

The Spirit of Radio

Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion, unobstrusive

Plays the song that's so elusive

And the magic music makes your morning mood

Off on your way, hit the open road

There is magic at your fingers

For the spirit ever lingers

Undemanding contact in your happy solitude

Yes, I'm a Rush fan, but this isn't completely about them.

I've been running less and less with my iPod lately.  With the snowpiles in the winter around here sometimes cars don't see you until it's really too late so that time of year runs are music free.  In the summer I try to limit the iPod to runs over an hour.  Partly from the hassle of one more thing to take on a run, partly to save my hearing.

But sometimes music is a requirement.  Bad day at work and there's anger to run out and there is nothing like having the iPod there.  Long runs and a podcast or a audiobook.

I've run many miles with my iPod and now some songs are linked to runs and specific routes:

Rain on the Scarecrow - Heading east on the Fern Ridge Trail from our apartment in Eugene.

Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns - Waiting for my garmin to synch and starting a run from the apartment in Eugene.

Blue Sky - the ends of longer runs around the apartment in Hudsonville.

Allison Road - the bike paths along the Willamette River.

I Disappear - speed work in Riverside Park.

A Beautiful Life (live) - starting early runs in the summer from the apartment in Hudsonville.

Sometimes I need the music, sometimes I need my thoughts but I like having the option.  So thanks to Mr. Jobs and Apple for making it convenient.