Long Night with Fred

Monday was a day off - much deserved after running 20 miles on Sunday, then mowing the grass.

Work was a handful early in the day. Mom and Dad came over just before 2pm (just before my conference call) and I gave them directions to get to Ted Peters. How cool... they bought an extra smoked fish spread for Tim and me!

After I finished work, we went Geo-caching. There are a couple of sites nearby so we went to the one over by St. Paul's Catholic Church. It was really easy to find.

After that, Daddy and I went to the nursing home to sit with Grandma for dinner. When we got back, we ordered Vietnamese food and ate in.

After they left, Tim and I started watching the Minnesota / Green Bay game and watched until Brett Favre's first touchdown.

Then I went to bed. But I got no sleep thanks to Fred! He jumped up on the bed and sat right next to my head. When I was asleep, he would paw at my nose and wake me up. I'd roll over and go back to sleep and he would walk around to the other side and paw at my nose again. This went on all night long!!

I still got out of bed this morning and went to CrossFit. Today was Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. I put my knee strap on but didn't think that my knee would be an issue because it hasn't been that sore. Well, it was no problem lifting the weight, but it was a problem jumping. I even have a hard time with the jumping pull-ups. That was my limiting factor today. So Marc had me practice a lot at a lower weight. So my results today were something like this:

35# x 10

45# x 2

55# x 3

45# x 5

50# x 5

20 Miles... and a few loops around the yard.

My legs were actually a little bit sore from yesterday's walk. I did expect that because walking uses the muscles differently and, for me, walking long distances is harder than running it.

But I started my day with a bowl of cereal and some Ibuprofren and headed out the door.

I met Jordan at North Shore Pool and we started our run right at 5:30am. The air temperature seemed cooler than last week but it seemed more humid, and there was no breeze at all. Jordan complained about a small pain on the top of both feet (right in the crease) and her breath started out a little more labored than usual, but she was running better than last week.

We did the Brightwaters Loop plus an extra mile so that we already had over 7.5 miles by the time we made it back to North Shore Pool to meet the rest of the gang. It is always so nice to get back there and have more people to run with - except that they are fresh and can run a little faster than us! Today's group included myself, Jordan, Robin A, Robin P, Robin H., Justy, Melissa, Wendy, and Rue.

We headed south for 1 Pier Loop, down to the Coast Guard station, through USF, over Thrill Hill, to the back side of the Coast Guard station, then down along the water through the Old Southeast.

Then we mingled with a big group of Army folks doing a 2-mile training run along Beach Dr. SE, 22nd Ave S., and Bay Isle SE. Many of them were stopping and walking... little did they know that by this point, we already had 13 miles in!

We stopped at Tony Rivas' house for a water stop - he puts out some cold, cold water for us! After leaving Tony's house, we cruised into the beautiful Driftwood neighborhood then on to Chattaway's for our next water stop.

After Chattaway's we headed north back into town with a quick... well, not really quick... jaunt through Roser Park and a stop at our favorite water station (it's indoors in the air conditioning).

Roser Park

We continued on around the edge of Mirror Lake and back to where we started.

Woo Hoo!!! 20 miles!!

We refueled and did some stretching before heading home.

Once home, I just changed shoes and headed right out the back door for a few loops (with the lawn mower) around the front and back yard. That is no fun after running 20 miles, but it was good to get it done.

Now... the couch is calling my name!

Wobble for the Cure

It's been a bit since my last blog post because I have been WAY too busy working on the house, working, training, and traveling. I just got back from a few days in Memphis (no, I didn't get to see the King) and am finally able to catch up.

Friday, Mom and Dad came over around 4pm and I got to show off all the details of my new kitchen. Sally and Scott came over around 5:30 and we all had a nice dinner together before Sally, Scott, and Tim headed off for the Tampa Bay Rays vs NY Yankess games.

Mom and Dad stayed the night but I think we were all pretty restless... me, Dad, and Fred. The red wine at dinner gave me some sinus issues and I was up at 1am to take a Zyrtec-D pill, which pretty much kept me up all night. I heard Daddy up around 3:45am and a little after 4am Fred was sitting in the bathtub meowing at the top of his lungs.

6am came way too early. But we got up, and headed out the door at 6:40am to head over to Tim's condo where he saved us a parking space. While Mom and I headed out to the start of the Race for the Cure 10k, Tim and Dad puttered around and wandered over to the Vinoy Hotel for coffee and bagels.

Our 10k start out pretty well and we were keeping a pretty good walking pace. We quickly caught up to and passed 3 young girls who had been jogging and walking. Mom dubbed these girls "the boa girls" because each of them was wearing a pink feather boa. Between mile 2 and 3 were we headed out on a straight stretch - a gradual uphill with no shade. I brought Gu for us to take at the half way point. Mom was walking a little funny, leaning way forward and I thought it was just because of the uphill walk. We made it to 3.1 miles in 51:50 (Mom's previous PR was around an hour).

We made the turnaround and and we could see that we had put a good distance on "the boa girls". As we approached the water station, I got out the Gu as and we slowed down to take the Gu, Mom really started to wobble. I told her to just stop so she could take the Gu without walking but she was completely out of balance. She headed to the curb and held onto a light pole for balance. A police man guarding that corner came over and convince Mom to let him help her to the other side of the street where there was a bench. She sat down and took her Gu, and some water, and some juice. Someone handed her a cloth with cold water and we poured cold water over her head. Another girl gave us a baggie with some Peanut Butter Crunch in it. Within just a couple of minutes, she was recovered and stood up to start going again. I really watched her pace at this point and was pleased that it was a little slower than we were going in the first half. But now we were on a downhill and there was another lady ahead of us who looked like she was suffering so Mom wanted to pick up the pace to catch up with her to keep an eye on her.

Even though we were walking behind her, Mom said that before we got to the finish line she wanted to pass her. Now I knew she was OK! I had Mom eat a few more Peanut Butter Crunch, believing that her primary issue was low blood sugar. But she only ate a few of them before mile 4.

She was doing well between miles 4 and 5 after we had merged with those doing the 5k walk. It was so crowded that we were forced to slow down and she was working to get around a lot of these people. Right around mile 6 we saw Tim and Dad sitting in chairs on the side of the road. We stopped so Tim could take our picture, and she got all wobbly again. We made it around the corner and were approaching the finish line but it was really, really crowded and when she had to stop again, she almost fell over.

The weeble wobbled, but she didn't fall over!

She hit the wall, but she didn't hit the pavement.

We got over the finish line and let her lean up against the fence and have a cool drink and I poured more water over her head. I know that the heat and humidity really bothered her, but I think that the low blood sugar was the real culprit. During our next 10k (on Nov. 8), we're going to try to at least take a Gu every 2 miles and see if eat earlier and more often, if that will help overcome the wobbles. Plus, I am hoping it will be a little cooler.

Ice Ice Baby

Saturday was a nice day... until...

I started the day meeting friends at 6:15am for a 3 mile run then went back to North Shore Pool to help coach the "red team" for beginner marathon training. I got in about 4 miles while running with different members and finding out who was training for what.

After that, I went home and mowed my grass. Yikes... I was getting this done before the heat of the day and it was still really, really hot out!

After that, Tim got at it, fixing my bathroom ceiling while I painted the kitchen and hallway. Up the ladder, down the ladder - woah... I was so tired by the end of the day.

Sunday, I met a couple of girlfriends at 6am for a five mile run, then met the rest of the gang at 7am to finish up the total 15 mile run. The first five miles were great! The next five miles were not bad. The last five miles were grueling. I was tired and I was really, really hot.

It was nice ending back at North Shore Pool where a swim meet was going on. When we went in to get a drink of water from the fountain, we passed a guy selling Italian Ice. OK... I can run a little bit more. Back to the car to get some cash. 3 scoops (whoopee) - lemon, cherry, and watermelon. There's nothing better than ending a long hot run with an icy Italian Ice cooldown! Sweet!

Hammer Time

Today I had a pretty easy wod at CrossFit. Marc created another Gimp/Taper wod that was a modified Jackie:

For time:

1000m row

50 x push press @ 15#

30 x pull-ups (blue)

The row was hard because I still can't bend my left knee all the, nor can I straighten it all the way so I wasn't getting full range of motion. The push press was probably too easy, I think 25# for 50 reps would have been good (don't tell Marc). And I still used the blue band since I can't jump so well.

Time: 9:48

I actually would have liked to have done 2 rounds of this workout.

Dawn and I got in some much needed stretching afterward so it was nice to have the extra time.

Work was hellish again... proposals, ugh!

I picked Jordan up around 5:00 and we drove to the Misener Bridge for our first hill run. Today I scheduled a simple 3 mile run including a warm up, over the bridge and back, and a cool down. This way I could show Jordan how to run up and down without tiring out the legs.

We made it over the bridge and ran out a ways then turned around to come back up the bridge. I was a little ahead of her and was thinking that I should have told her not to look at where she was going but to either look down at the ground or look out around the scenery. I stopped at the top of the bridge and turned around to find her calling my name. I jogged over to the edge of the bridge where she was standing and she pointed down into the water below, along the shoreline, and there it was - a HAMMERHEAD SHARK! Cool!!! There was just one and looked to be about 5 feet long - but that was from my point of view at the top of the bridge, which meant it was likely a lot longer than that! Yikes!

The Gimp and Taper Wod

First... Tim and I headed out last night to Cafe Berlin, only to be reminded by the sign when we got there that they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. After a quick u-turn, we headed off to Plan B, Vienna Cafe. And that actually turned out to be the better choice!

For some reason, all of the food was especially tasty today. While Tim had the usual salad, I opted for the delicious potato leek soup. For dinner, we both had the wiener schnitzel. I know... not low fat, not necessarily healthy, but incredibly delicious! The roasted carrots were perfect - not too soft, not too hard. The lyonnaise potatoes were crispy. The weiner schnitzel also had a nice crispness to it. Top that off with Tim's weiss beer (I had a sip), and all was wonderful!

Today, Dawn and I headed to the Dammit Gym not knowing what our workout was going to be. I'm still limited with my healing knee and Dawn is tapering for her half ironman next weekend. DL came up with a nice wod for us, which I have named the "Gimp/Taper WOD".

4 rounds for time of

400m run

30x push press @35#

20x pull-ups

Dawn did jumping pull-ups. I had to use the blue band because jumping just wasn't an option with the knee, until DL took away my box for someone else and replaced it with the tall box. Then, I did my last 10 pull-ups jumping style. I finished in 20:32. Dawn was 20:20.

I've got another massage today during which Travis will also do his "lymph drainage" to get rid of some of the fluid. I expect to be pretty much as good as new after that... if only I can keep it that way.

I got clearance, Clarence.

DL "highly recommended" that I have a doctor look at my knee. I had the appointment yesterday. I even took them a copy of a page from one of my books so that I could show them exactly where I hurt myself (I'm know... I'm a dork). But Lindsay (the PA) even referred back to it a couple of times. She did pretty much the same tests that Travis (my massage therapist) did and she seemed to be impressed that he was so thorough. Results: no ACL, MCL, or meniscus issues. It is a bone bruise that will take 6 weeks to heal (I'm already at 4 weeks) and, due to the trama, I have developed a little bursitis. She prescribed a topical anti-inflammatory so that I don't have to keep taking ibuprofren and upset my stomach (even though that never happens).

And because Lindsay appreciates that I am such a dork, she gave me a 16-page document describing "Pes Anserine Bursitis". Yeah, I read the whole thing.

For a while, I must still limit my activities in the way of squats, deadlifts, box jumps, etc. But running is absolutely no problem!!

Today is Tim's birthday. I took him out to lunch (Evo's - don't tell Meredith). And I'm taking him to dinner tonight. We're going to Cafe Berlin, his favorite little German restaurant. I guess we'll be having wiener schnitzel. And he could never have that without one of their great German beers!

But before dinner - I'm off for a run!