look back, review numerous let-downs, move on

january
this year started out great. i pr'd in the mile and 800 (448/210). i beat four of my friends that run for keene st and i definitely had no business beating them. theyre all way better runners than me, and two of them made it to xc nationals, so i was pumped. (i must take a minute to thank fyffe for awarding me 'race of the day' status for that 800, and for naming it 'the 210 smackdown') too bad that day was as good as it would get.

february
i continued the baker st workouts and was able to avoid injury. the only problem was having a sinus infection during the last two indoor meets. i was always tired from it so i wasnt able to improve my times. i was trying my ass and came close but being sick took away just enough energy to keep me from more pr's. but at least i wasnt injured. yet.

march
i was in good shape and getting ready for the new bedford half. i had a goal of running 1:16, which i felt was challenging but possible. i wanted to get one last good workout in before the race, and fyffe and me were talking about 10 x mile at half marathon race pace. it seemed like a good idea so i did it. i averaged 543 pace and felt really good doing it. the next day my lower abs hurt so bad i couldnt sit up in bed. i have had the injury every day since then. most days, i took advil so i could run, cough, laugh, and sneeze. i didnt expect that workout to injure me because of the slower pace compared to all 400s did without a problem throughout the winter. man, was i wrong.

april
after a few weeks of easy running, my torn abs felt less like i was being stabbed each time took a running step. when i took advil it felt even better, like i was getting poked with a finger instead with a knife. i didnt race too well but at least i was still avoiding any injuries with my legs.

may
i was starting to get some good training in again. the ab pain was always there, but i was able to start working out again without too much pain. i had a good race at wachusett mtn, and i won a 5k by 3 minutes and got a course record (1st annual of course).

june
i ran the 3 fastest miles of my life at the hollis 5k (15:58). i dropped out at 3 miles because i wasnt going to pay 30 bucks for a pr that doesnt really count. i was very pleased with that time, especially considering i did a workout the day before. a few days later, i caught some kind of stomach bug and spent 24 hours in bed. this wasnt a normal bug though. i was so sick i couldnt eat anything for 4 days. this made it tough to run.

july
it took a couple weeks to get my energy levels back after that stomach bug on roids kicked my ass. i was running like shit, and getting dropped on long, hilly runs. this was discouraging because my specialty is grinding out those tough runs and hanging with people who are way better than me. as soon as i was feeling strong again, i got injured. it was my achilles. i couldnt do any fast running because it irritated it more. every day before i ran, i had to take advil, walk for 15 minutes to get it loose, and put heel lifts in my shoes. this went on for two months.

august
i refused to take time off, and just accepted running slower. the good thing about the achilles injury was that it gave me chance to do some epic long runs. i did a 3 hour 43 minute run and it was one of the best days of the year. i could have run another hour. i was slow, but i had gotten very strong.

september
the achilles was starting to get better. i ran the pisgah 50k and then i took a week off. when i started running again, the injury was gone.

october
i had a lot of solid workouts and tempo runs. my legs felt good and i raced well at the ksc invite.

november
getting plantar fascitis was annoying, and all of my races were terrible.

december
the achilles bursitis wasnt fun, and neither was the bruised knees and the passing out.

there. the book on 2010 has been slammed shut. im so ready for 1.1.11. bring it on.

more issues

in order to be respectful of each reader's differing levels of free time/attention span, i have included a long and a short version of the latest issue. it did cross my mind to put the long story first and say it was the short, which would once again subject everyone to my scatterbrained rants, but i decided to give an easy out this time. if youre extremely busy, or feeling like a 1st grader, read the short one. if youre extremely bored out of your mind and you need something to do, read the long one.

here is the short one:
i have not run in two days. this is because my knees are very sore. they are sore because something happened while walking across the kitchen. i passed out and fell. when i fell i think i landed on my knees. i also think i hit my head. i can only guess at all of this because i dont remember falling down. i also think i was out cold for a minute or two. no, alcohol was not involved.


long story: (my apologies if you read this despite not being really bored)

well, i was starting to feel like the latest of my nagging injuries was gone, (and theres a good chance thats true) but i wont know for sure unless i run. confused? its ok. ill start making sense soon. i took yesterday and today off in order to be proactive on a new possible injury. before i go into detail, i must point out to those who know me well that alcohol was not directly involved in this incident. yesterday morning i got out of bed very fast and immediately felt dizzy. i also felt way too hot so i headed to the door so i could go out and get fresh air. i didnt make it. the next thing i remember was waking up dripping with sweat and lying face down on the kitchen floor (sounds kind of like a vh1 behind the music special, but without the cocaine and groupie sex). i think i was out cold for a minute or two. looking back on the day before, i realized i didnt drink any water after i got done running. i didnt drink anything (dumb, i know). so i guess passing out is what happens when you dont drink water for 24 hours. a few minutes after i woke up, i noticed that my hand was sore, and i had cut my head and chest. i think when i fell i landed on the trash can, then hit my head on the wall and hit the floor with my hand caught under my body. all of that might sound like the aforementioned (big word, i know) new injury, but i still havent gotten to that. once i got up (slowly this time) i noticed more problems. my knees were killing me. i must have hit them on the floor during the fall (along with everything else). i had a lot of trouble walking around, especially up and down the stairs. this is where i might have an injury. today, the knees are sore but not as bad as yesterday. im going to take some more time to let this get better, then ill try it out to see how it feels. ill be careful not to rush back into full training, due to past experiences with a similar incident. a few years ago, i fell hard on my knee, got a bone bruise, tried to run through it, made it worse, and missed two months of running when i might have only missed a week or two if i let it rest. it may seem that i should be more concerned with passing out and hitting my head while not drunk, but i really only care about missing days of running. maybe ill have better luck with injuries next year. at least i only have to wait a few days.

what a waste of your time, but i warned you. sorry im not sorry.

another fun christmas is in the books, despite the fact i just woke up from a four-hour-trying-to-get-rid-of-a-sinus-headache-nap. even if i feel like a pile of ds, its always one of the best days of the year. this is obviously due to the opportunity to hang with family, catch up on life, bs a little, bust balls (a lot), and throw back a few beverages. thats a solid list of good stuff, but there is one more bit of awesomeness that needs mentioning, and i know you all can see it comin. yes, im talking about what happens (to be more accurate, i should say 'what stops happening') in the afternoon that makes me almost wet my pants with liquid holiday cheer. im talking about the time when the auditory vomitorium that most call christmas music finally stops. the great news doesnt end there. once the music stops it means i can go another 11 months without being subjected to such horror. i can once again walk into a supermarket (or pretty much any kind of store) without wishing i had eardrum removal surgery (not sure if that is a real procedure). i can once again drive my car without wishing someone had broken into it by way of a shattered window and stolen my radio. yes its true, christmas gives a gift that lasts- 11 months to be exact. ahh, my headache feels better already. life is good. good luck to the guys running at the bu meet tomorrow. unrelated topic: i am craving chinese food. i will satisfy that urge within two days. church.

14 miles. took it easy. 1:43.

9 miles. 1:03. i felt good.

this injury is annoying. resting doesnt do a lot to help it. im just going to run as much as it lets me. if its 70 a week, good. if its 40 a week, it sux but its better than nothin. thats all i have to say about that.

after two days off to rest this annoying achilles problem, i got in about 8 miles today without pain, so that was cool. but there were some way cooler things that happened. i went down to watch the keene crew run in the b.u. mini meet. fyffe, hammett, goup, and haley all ran great. they negative split all of their races. it was fun to watch. (official times arent up yet so deal with it) church.

baker st is in full effect

it was so gd cold but it was good to get the tradition started up again. 10 miles. i felt good.

annoying ice

10 miles. i knew i was going to have to finish in the dark, which meant i wouldnt be able to see where all the ice was. i decided the safest place to run the last few miles was main street, because the sidewalks were lit up pretty good. i was feeling tired but i saved some for town.

11 miles. 1:24. it was good to run at a comfortable pace and not stress about having to keep up with anyone. its always great to run with a group but right now feeling good is more important. i have to get out of the routine of forcing my body to run fast when it doesnt want to, at least for a little while. this hasnt been a good racing year, so last week the coach (we all have different ones) came up with a new plan to help me get right again. the plan is simple: just run. the only goal is to average ten miles a day. im not going to worry about races or missing a workout. when i feel good, ill run fast. when i dont, i wont. from august '07 to december '07, i did almost this exact plan, but without realizing it. i averaged 70 a week, didnt force workouts, and was satisfied with my racing. if it worked before, it should work again. i think im going to like this.

11 miles. i felt terrible the whole run. i had tired hip flexors and i couldnt figure out why. i was bitching non-stop to goup about how bad i felt. he tolerated it well. when we got back i estimated 1:20 but i got some good news finally. goup checked his watch-1:12. i felt better about feeling terrible once i heard that, because it meant we werent going anywhere near as slow as i thought. ok that was a strange sentence. i cant tell if it even made sense. this could mean only one thing-chromuim levels are dangerously low. time to get to work on that.

7 miles. 50 min. feel ok. time to start rackin up miles.

untimed run. felt like about 7 miles. didnt have any problems.

i cant wait anymore. its easy to take a day or two off but four days is too hard. i will try a short run tomorrow.

did some more lifting. triangle pushups, planks, and dips. its not that bad i guess. ive decided to give the achilles the whole week off even if i feel good.

so far im doing ok dealing with the possibility of missing a lot of time. i think ill be able to make it this whole week without completely losing my mind. that could change if the week off isnt enough, but its too early to stress about that.

dr no gets revenge

well, at least i was satisfied with my running for 24 hours. unfortunately, the evil forces were at work today and they went to work on my achilles. it was bugging me all week but it was never really hurting, so i thought i was ok. i was wrong. i got the bad news about ten miles into the run today, and i had to stop running. the pain got so bad that even just walking was painful. the worst part was that i had to walk for about 45 minutes back to gregs house, getting colder by the minute but unable to warm myself up since i couldnt run. it took about an hour to get the feeling back in all of my fingers. luckily, greg had chromium replacement beverages in his fridge so that took my mind of off how i was feeling. surprisingly, im not as bummed out as you might expect. i think ill be ok mentally as long as i dont have to miss more than a week. theres a good chance ill just forget about indoor track this winter, and focus on letting my body fix itself. right now i dont feel that bad about that, but if im not running by christmas i might be easily mistaken for the grinch.

dr no is nowhere to be found

11 miles. jingle bell run 5k, 1759 (official results show a slower time-i feel shocked). my plan for this race worked. the goal was to forget about time and just try to put in a stronger effort mentally. lately my legs have been unresponsive in races and workouts, which has put me in a negative mindset, so my race times have been discouraging. i figured since i did a hilly 12 yesterday, i would have no pressure to run a good time because of how tired my legs would be, and that would let me focus only on staying tough. this might seem like an odd strategy, but i tapered for the last few races and got no pr's, only disappointment. sure enough, i had some tired legs today. the only problem was that they felt about 1,000 times worse than i was expecting (ds 80,000). i noticed myself getting dropped during the warmup (we were only running about 730 pace) and i had to put an effort in to stay with the group. that is never a good sign, but i didnt let it get me down. after seeing the course (very hilly 2nd mile and windy in every direction) i wondered how much slower than 6 minute pace i was going to run. i quickly reminded myself that i was not going to care about the time. i did some strides before the race and my legs reminded me again how much they hated me for what i was about to make them do. the race started and i felt fatigued about 5 seconds in. i managed to fight through it the whole way and didnt let anyone pass me. there were a few times where i tried to put in a little extra push, but as soon as did, i felt like was going to deuce in my shorts. i had to return to my previous pace each time that happened. it turned out to be a good thing that i conserved those tiny bits of energy because i started running out of gas with a half mile to go, and i could feel myself wobbling bad. i had nothing to kick with but i was able to find enough to make it look like i was almost sort of kicking a little bit. i was surprised to see that i had gotten in under 18 minutes. my splits were 536/607/547/30. i fell off bad on the 2nd mile because of the hill, but only because of my intentional non-taper, so im ok with it cuz i didnt quit on the climb. i needed a day like this where my mind was in the race the whole time, and my legs were reacting when i wanted them to. its been about 6 weeks since i was pleased with a race, so this is definitely a good thing. i guess what im getting at is that i told dr no to suck it, and then i went out and ran hard.
in unrelated events, one of my new followers is non other than the infamous nick cash! i think its pretty cool (implied nc).

12 miles. 1:30. im racing tomorrow but i decided not to taper. this way ill have a reason for only being able to run 6 minute pace. maybe ill feel good and run a decent time, but i still think the monkeys are more likely.

10 miles. 1:09. moderate soreness. didnt need advil, but it would have made it more enjoyable.

9 miles. track workout. mile, 4x4.  518,74,72,76,74. the wind was a factor but still i thought id run faster. indoor starts in a week and i dont feel too excited about my lack of speed. maybe ill surprise myself and run fast. or maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass. at this point it seems like the monkeys are more likely.