What a May Day!

I have been taking it easy; sort of nursing the leg along and giving it a good break, so hopefully I will feel a little better as we come into race week. I was however complete amazed at the wonderful weekend that I had.

On May 1, 2010, I was filled with inspiration. There were so many events going on I could hardly keep myself together.

On Saturday, May 1 was the second annual Illinois Marathon. Katie, the kids, and I headed into Champaign to sit on a corner near mile 17 of the marathon and root on a few of the runners. And I have got to tell you it was such a great experience. When we got there at 9:30am many of the faster runners had already passed, but there were still hundreds more to see. We began cheering and encouraging the runners to "keep it up" or "you are doing great". I had hoped to see a Team_Cubicle shirt, but apparently the shirts did not arrive in time for the race. Dan and his team did have a great race, and I am sure that I unknowingly cheered one of them on their way. Katie and I did see a couple of people that we knew. Katie's college friend, Courtney, was running the full marathon with her sister, and I saw a high school football coach, Coach Willy, running in a relay with his family. Katie and I took the kids for little runs up and down the sidewalk. the kids would cheer for a particular runner and every so often one of them would smile or wave back. I think the kids really got a kick out of it. The whole time I was watching, I began thinking to myself that I could run a marathon. I know it seems ridiculous, since I am challenge by a relatively short 10k, but when you are there and watching the event, you really get swept up into it. Katie did bring me back down to reality and on the way home we agreed to run as part of a relay team in next year's Illinois marathon. So if anyone is looking to run a few miles with Team Fulton, please let us know.

When we finally got home, I raced to the computer to check how Fatty was doing in his first Ironman triathlon. I have to compliment Ironman for their website; if you have any information on an individual in one of their races, you can easily check on that racer's progress. Immediately, I noticed Fatty had blown away his swim goal of 2 hours, and he was really moving fast on the bike portion of the race. I checked on his progress periodically and I watched a few of the finishers cross the line on the live video feed, and I must tell you again, these athletes are soooo inspiring. It's almost enough to make me learn how to swim.

I have not checked on his progress but my hero, Jeff, and his wife were supposed to participate in a charity walk to benefit pancreatic cancer. Knowing them they probably ran the darn thing.

When I sit back and think about all of this, I can't help but feel like the paradigm is shifting. People are really starting to care about their health and well-being. People are getting out and moving. Many of them are doing it in combination with charity fundraising. Hell, ABC is putting advertising dollars at risk to put Jamie Oliver on the TV to say "Stop eating that crap!" People are caring about themselves and others. In a world filled with so much pessimism and pain, all of this work is a real antidote, and just another reason for me to be so inspired.

May Day is often associated strongly as a socialist celebration; a call for unity amongst the workers of the world. On this May Day 2010, I believe that it was a call for the people of the world to unite for a healthier, happier world.

My hero, Jeff!

I am often accused by my wife of not divulging all of the information and gossip that I hear in a day. I can often be found saying something about one of my coworkers or news of the world and Katie says, "You never told me that." And I can agree, I never did tell her that, but when I try to recall all of the events and information in a day, some things are just edited out. Not intentionally, but I either forget to retell the information or see the information as inpertinent. Considering the exact detail that I get about my wife's daily life, I had assumed that I was receiving every minute detail of information that she receives in a day. However, I was shocked to discover yesterday that this is not an accurate portrayal. Because twice in the last 24 hours, other runners had complained to my wife that they suffered from IT band discomfort in their legs and my wife never once mentioned it to me.

You see, in my post yesterday I complained of a possible hamstring injury while I was running. The injury had me very concerned, first because of its effect on my fitness goals, and second because no amount of stretching was giving me any relief. The injury seems to run down the side of my leg rather than directly in the back, and no amount of toe touches seemed to get to the problem area. When I got home last night I checked the comments to the post and there was one from my friend (little did I know, soon-to-be hero), Jeff. Jeff had recommended that I stretch my IT band. I don't mean to sound too ignorant (I am), but I seriously thought Jeff was making a joke about masturbation or something; I had never even heard of such a thing. You must understand that Jeff is a comedian and if you read his blog, especially the DWTS posts, you can understand that he has a penchant for innuendo. Before sending a reply about how I had already "stretched my IT band", I Googled it, and low and behold this thing really exists. Not only that, but the internet is full of information about IT (Iliotibial) band syndrome, who typically suffers from IT Band syndrome (me), and stretching maneuvers to help with the problem. I got down and did a couple of the stretches and could feel an immediate impact; it was amazing! I ran (yes, ran again!) upstairs to tell Katie all about it, and that's when I found out she was withholding this information from me all day (We just now are back on speaking terms). Later in the evening we were at our neighbor's house and D (another runner) gave me a couple of more stretching moves. And today, while I am still not at 100% (I took today off from biking just to give the leg some more rest), I feel sooo much better.

So, today I am pronouncing Jeff Ford as one of my heroes. Heroism is not unfamiliar to Jeff. He has an uncle that is an astronaut, and a father, David, that served loyaly for many years in Indiana state government and courageously fought pancreatic cancer (I tear up now thinking about David's speech at Jeff's wedding). Obviously, Jeff has come by it naturally. But he did not have to comment on this little blog; Jeff took time out of his day of being a husband, a funny mo'fo'ing blogger, and improv comedian (he has another job, but nothing as cool as these) to help me out. Thank you, Jeff; you are a true hero! I owe you one.

OUCH!!!

Since my last run, my muscles have been extremely tight. So much so, that I stretched for 20 minutes yesterday just to relieve some of the tension. My left leg had been giving me a lot of trouble. My calf was really tight and my plantar faciitis had been causing me some discomfort. So before my run this morning, I stretched really well, and my shoes really help with the faciitis.

The run started off great. Today was my 2 mile speed training, and I decided to push it pretty hard. Again, my breathing was strained for the first 500 yards or so, but eventually I calmed down and settled in. The first mile went by quickly, 6:32; I was really flying. At about 1.5 miles, I began to feel some tightness in my left hamstring. I was concerned, but I often have little pains while I run that usually go away if I just push through them. That was not the case this time. The hamstring continued to stay tight, but as of yet was not causing any real pain. I came to the last quarter mile and tried to really push the last bit; I wanted to get a sub-13.5 minute 2 mile. When I finally finished, my left leg really tightened up, like it was cramping, but different.

I finished in 13 minutes and 10 seconds. I felt great about the time, but as I was trying to cool down, I found myself limping pretty badly on my left leg. When I got inside I asked Katie to help me stretch it out, but nothing we did seemed to get to the right spot. I struggled with my ab workout, especially since so many of the maneuvers have your legs in the air. I didn't even do the rest of my strength workout. And the leg is still giving me a significant amount of trouble.

I am freaking out. I have never injured a hamstring, but I understand that they are difficult to recover from. I got a icy hot patch on it right now, I am going to buy an ace bandage this afternoon, and I plan to rotate ice and heat this evening. I think I am going to take tomorrow off from biking to give the leg another day of rest. I had upped my running workouts because I thought I might be running a leg in the marathon relay on Saturday. Originally I was disappointed that did not work out, but I have to admit I am thankful not to be doing that now. I question what I should do on Saturday; I am sure I will simply listen to my body, but I don't want to lose the momentum I have been gaining as far as distance and speeds are concerned.

I am beginning to wonder if I have some weird tendon/ligament disorder. I have had tendonitis in my right arm for almost 3 years. It runs from my wrist to my shoulder. I went to physical therapy for several months, but never really saw any relief. Then it was the faciitis (I had that bad enough a year ago, I thought I had broken my foot), and now the leg. Maybe I should start doing more yoga, but I feel like I spend a lot of time stretching already.

Until then I'll just have to keep stretching and treating with heat and ice. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know!

You Reap What You Sow

Our wonderful neighbors, The McGregors, hosted a party for the neighborhood last night. It was a lot of fun. There was good food (plus a really interesting menu for dinner, check out Katie's blog for more info), all of our wonderful neighbors, and a ton of alcohol. June, one of our hosts, had purchased a bunch of good beer from the New Glarus company and she had some Jim Beam (my favorite). I had probably 5 Beam and diets and 4 beers, plus appetizers and dinner. Needless to say I was feeling pretty good and we had so much fun.

Why am I talking about all the booze and food I enjoyed last night? Because I had my long run this morning, and I have paid dearly for my indiscretions last evening.

Katie and I did not get into bed last night until almost 11pm. Not too late for many people, but when my alarm went off at 4:45am, I knew it was going to be a long day. It was too early to be hungover, but I could tell my head was just waiting for the right time to split open and gray matter to simply ooze out. I popped a couple of Advil and headed downstairs to stretch. "Wait, what's that rumbling in my stomach?" I raced to the bathroom in the nick of time; maybe it wasn't too early to be hungover! The thought of just returning to bed was becoming a serious consideration, but I was determined to get my run in. So I stretched, hit the head a couple of more times, and dragged my tail outside.

I have bumped up my run training ever so slightly (more on that another day, I'm still a little nauseous) and today's run was 5.35 miles. Over the first 400 yards I talk to myself about turning around or cutting the run short probably 40 times. My stomach was settling down though, and again I was fairly determined to keep up with my training. So I pushed on.

It was sort of funny, but my mind just kind of shut off. My iPod was on, but I wasn't hearing the music. My eyes were open, but they didn't really see anything. I just went into autopilot and kept putting one foot in front of the other. I do remember the mile marks, because I kept checking my pace. My goal is to run 7.5 minute miles, and I was doing a good job of keeping up.

When I hit the bike path east of town, I started to get into unknown territory. Literally, I had never run this route before and I was nearing my furthest distance for running. Then I saw a nice pile of poo from some animal on the path and nearly lost it. I did not step in it, nor did I lose my lunch. I did shut my brain off again and just kind of stared straight ahead.

As I neared the finish, I tried to push out a little extra effort, but there was none to be had. My sweat reeked malt and bourbon; not always a bad smell, but not a good one this morning. I supposed my legs were tired, but nearly as much as my eyelids. When I finally crossed the finish line, I looked at my watch, 40:39. Not bad, just about 7:37 per mile; I'll take it.

And I am wasted today. My stomach is dancing around and my head is killing me. I am no idiot. I know that last night was nothing near proper pre-race nutrition, but I feel like I have been hit by a train. I am gonna go vomit in my shoes now. Hopefully you will hear from me again soon.

You got smited (or smoted, it's debatable)!

Consider this your Public Service Announcement for the day: Do not for any reason challenge, either publicly or privately, the gods of wind! For if you do, you shall pay dearly.

This lesson was learned by yours truly on Friday. Immediately following my last post, and its obviously contemptuous language towards the wind, I headed out for a 30 mile bike ride. The weather had been pleasant most of the day. Sunny, with a few clouds and 65 degrees. What I failed to realize is that a low pressure system had been moving in (yes, I dabble in meteorology for fun), and the winds had picked up significantly. Before I headed out the Weather Channel was saying "15 mph winds from WNW, with 30 mph gusts." Shit!

I went out anyway and for the first 5 miles I was flying. Stupidly enough, I attributed my speed and success to my superior training, caring nothing for the 15 mile an hour wind at my back. When I turned towards the north, I was quickly struck from my high horse.

The wind was battering me from an odd angle, kind of right into my left shoulder, and I could hardly hear myself think. This particular stretch of road is almost entirely uphill for about another 5 miles, and then things really started to get interesting.

I had decided to take a new route on this trip. Nothing spectacular, but a little change added a couple of miles and took me through an area which I had never been. What I failed to realize then, and now know very clearly, is that my new route takes me through a 1/2 mile stretch of freshly laid loose gravel. I am terrified of gravel and biking anyway, and with this fresh stuff my tires were really sinking in. I finally had to actually get off of my bike and walk my ass (and my bike) to some decent asphalt. It sucked.

When I finally got back on my bike, BAM, right back into the wind (or so I thought) for another couple of miles. Then I turned to the west and was almost thrown from my bike as I came face to face with a massive headwind. For the next 4 miles I was giving it everything I had and could barely keep my speed above 10 mph. When I finally turned back to the south, I was spent. I scarfed down a protein bar, drank some water, and prepared for my next turn into the wind.

Another 3 miles into the wind and I was ready to call it quits. I actually debated getting off my bike and calling Katie to come pick me up. I found myself apologizing to the gods for my harsh words. I admitted their superiority to my infinitely small abilities, and begged for their mercy upon me. The gods were not home (or at least not finished with their lesson). The winds continued to toss me around like a rag doll, and I negotiated a slightly quicker way home.

When all was said and done, I biked 27 miles, but I felt as though I had ridden a hundred. It was an unfun ride and a serious knock to my ego. But I got out yesterday for another 20 miles, spent some time yesterday evening tweaking and cleaning Roxanne, and I have a new found humbleness about my biking abilities. Lesson learned!

Headed for a Showdown

Riding a bike in central Illinois does not really present that many obstacles. Sure there is the occasional dog chase and there are a few little hills here and there; small inclines lasting, at most, a few hundred yards. Which is nothing in comparison to the mountain roads some people climb for miles. And we do have to compete with some poorly paved roads, but really overall very few obstacles for the average rider such as myself.

There is one inescapable obstacle that has plagued my rides all Spring, the WIND! It seems as though every time I have ridden this Spring, the wind has been punishing me. Sometimes it's a moderate 10 mph, but on occassion it has been 15-20 mph. I don't know what the equation looks like, but the effort that I expend versus the speed that I can ride in winds like this is not a fair ratio. You cannot seem to get away from it. Sure you could pick a path that has the wind at your back, but you would still need to ride against it the whole way home. Another tough part about the wind is that you fight it in 3 different directions; it is either in your face or beating you from either side for most of the ride.

On my last ride, I found myself cursing the wind for its torment. As I said in my last post, there came a point in my ride where I really needed something to eat. I didn't want to stop in the middle of the ride to sit down and eat, but it would have also been impossible in the wind to maintain upright while trying to ride with one hand. It got so bad that I thought the wind had actually changed its direction during my ride, so it was in my face both going and coming. I did eventually hit a short stretch with the wind at my back, and I got the chance to scarf down a protein bar. And I am glad I did because the last 4 miles were dead against the wind again. If I could have, I would have raised my fist to the skies, cursing the wind gods for their punishment, and daring them to challenge me further. Seriously, I felt very similar to this:

Okay, maybe the weather wasn't quite that bad, and there wasn't any shrimp (though I did look for some, I was starving), but I think you get the point. All I want is a nice calm day to ride. I would take 67-72 degrees, clear skies and NO WIND. Is that too much to ask for? I think not.

Potpourri

Not only my favorite category in Jeopardy, but it is a pretty good description of the brain dump I have for today's post.

First, this morning I ran my fastest 2 miles, EVER! I had been doing really well with my speed training on Thursdays and this morning was no different. When I got out on the road, I decided to really push it. For the first 200 yards, I thought, "This is going to be easy." Then my heart started to race a little bit and my breathing became somewhat erratic. But I got my breathing under control and I really concentrated on taking long, fast strides, 3:32 at the half mile. My body finally really settled in, I was still pushing hard, but my form improved and everything just seemed to be falling in line, 6:50 at Mile 1. Holy crap, a sub-7 minute mile! Everything was continuing to go well. I began to wonder just how long I could keep this pace; at that point it seemed like awhile. As I turned the corner for the last 200 yards, I picked up the pace just a hair. My legs felt good, but I got that "I-think-I-might-puke" feeling in my stomach and chest. I kept it up and hit the finish line thinking, "That was a really fast time!" And it was, for me at least, 13:38.97. A sub-14 minute 2 mile run; I was pumped. I calculated later that I was running an average of 8.79 mph, and it felt good.

Weight loss: I haven't really lost any more weight. For a couple of days I had actually gained a couple of pounds. I didn't weigh in for a couple of more days, and then this morning I got on the scale and BAM!; I was back down to my low weight. Which makes almost no sense, since I ate like crap yesterday, but I'll take it. On somewhat of the same subject: I may not be losing any weight, but my body is changing its shape. I can see it in my face and neck, and I have been sliding into the last notch on my belt with increased ease. I am certain that it is due to the workouts, and it is really a lot of fun. While I don't look quite like Leonidas yet, I think it should happen any day now (I can dream dammit!)

In-ride nutrition: A subject of increasing importance. On my 30 mile ride last week, at about mile 25 I started to get really confused and just kinda "cloudy". I knew I needed to get a bite to eat, but the wind that day had required almost constant two handed driving. Finally, I got to a stretch with the wind at my back and gnashed on a kashi protein bar (I was using Pop tarts for awhile, but these little bars have really changed my mind). It was exactly what the doctor ordered. Immediately after eating the bar, I was re-energized and my head was back on my shoulders, instead of in the clouds. Now, I know each individual is different, but I feel like I should be able to ride further than 25 miles without feeling that way. Fat Cyclist said recently that for a 2 hour ride all one needs is a couple of liters of water. If I ride for 2 hours with just water, I would be in a coma. Again, I know it is different for each individual, but are there any suggestions for how often I should be eating on my rides?

That is all I have for now, but I got a few more ideas kicking around, so be on the lookout.