Aqualung My Friend - Jethro Tull

In the spirit and admiration of EMZ. This has been a frustrating week. I've had bronchial troubles for the past three weeks and finally got in to see the doctor on Tuesday. When he finally found my prostate, he said it was 'just perfect' but my urine is still 'on the bitter side of normal'. I have really been thinking of switching to a board certified MD, but this Craig's List thing is so cheap!

Got some inhaler thing and advice to 'get some rest', so this has been a major step down week in running. I'll go out this morning for a 'long run' of only six miles. Shuffling through the streets, asking people, What's the matter with you boy?

So I cough, and my shoes atrophy, and I cough. I signed up for a 20K in late March at South Mountain. This is a new distance for me which means automatic PR practically nothing in the 2011 scheme of establishing a base. I have to say that I am more than mildly interested in trying some barefoot miles this Spring. More on that later. (He said moron!)

Out the door I go on a long slow run with a teenage labrador retriever. Ciao!!

Don't Throw Out That B.O.B. Yet...

It seems that the stork will be doing a fly-over our house sometime around August 21. Harrison will have a brother or sister (that's right, only one more: alas, my dream of Maria having triplets still goes unfulfilled). Now everyone can stop spending so much attention on Adam and get it back to RTP -the true center of the universe. The ultrasound did not go through on the scanner, so just believe me -there's a baaaabaaay the size of a key lime.

So the BOB running stroller, which has been SSOOOOO abandoned by our 3YO will have another round of neighborhood 5Ks and 5 milers. I love running with the stroller, and am really excited about two tax deductions kids being raised in a family of runners. But we aren't telling people until her parents come in 2 weeks, so ssshhhhhhhhh!

Face It RTP: You're Not an Olympian

During today's run, I came to the bold conclusion that I will most likely never compete at the Olympic level in running. I'm 44 years old, 25 pounds overweight, slow, and what I know about Greece could fit into an ant's rectum: I like feta and olives.... they have statues.... dungeons and dragons theology......and there was a hazy booze fueled 4.5 years on Greek row at James Madison University --that's pretty much it. I think if I lived at one of the training facilities and had time to devote my entire day to serious running, maybe, but most likely not even then. So now....... Acceptance.

There was a British study about rabbits and stress levels. They measured the physical stress of rabbits and found that they lived their lives at a cardio-fear threshold that would kill most of us humans. The hypothesis was that the constant 24 hour threat of hawks and owls was causing the stress, and indeed, the measurements showed a spike during a hunt, followed by a measurable relaxation whenever a bird of prey caught one of the rabbits. The rabbit was serene for the first time in its life because it didn't have to be afraid anymore. It had been caught. I'm caught, but I'm not relaxed. My calf is really killing me. Today it's the right calf. Meh.

Had a nice run with Johnson today out a scenic high rent area in Phx known as Arcadia and into the shopping/tourist center of Scottsdale. WHY are you buying turquoise Kokopeli's??? 
8 miles total and slow due to injury. This weekend as opposed to last weekend, the calf muscle did not work itself out. It went numb and stiff (tws.... never mind). Cardio is very good, and besides my usual black toenail conditions, everything else is in good shape. I suppose this is as good a time as any to be injured. No major races scheduled in the next couple of months. Rolling, stretching, warm-up, wheedling, and blogging are the components of my recovery plan, and there is a possible trip through the HMO land of horrors to eventually see a third-rate cash-only sports 'doctor' who will likely tell me that I need to choose lower intensity/impact aerobic activity. No. Save your breath, and I'm saving my cash, No.

I Went a Little Bit Longer Today

Twss I know I know. Got out a bit late this morning with running partner Suzanne. We had a front yard conference to discuss distance, pace, and future plans for races. We are pretty well committed to completing our long runs on Saturday mornings, and we are in agreement to keep the pace on the slower side: aerobic, conversational, train your body to burn fat, blah blah blah. So the long run pace for "Break 4:30" is 11:00ish, and we wanted to stay between 10:30 and 11:00. We finished at an overall 10:32 for 8 miles. Nice target shooting. The miles went by pretty effortlessly until about mile 6 when my calf started to really bother me. It tends to cramp in one particular spot deep in the outside gastroc. muscle. I've been wearing calf compression sleeves and running low mileages. The pain site was giving me warning signs at about mile 5, but I decided to see what 'running through it' would do. Is it not possible that not ALL Sports medicine doctors are right??

This jackass has two right legs.

I got to mile 6 and thought I would have to stop, but kept going and amazingly, I ran through the pain and the muscle relaxed again. Love my CEP compression sleeves! So at this point, Suzanne was giving me subtle reminders to keep the pace 'on pace' through the last mile, because I was starting to speed up. Part of our plan for long slow runs is to keep the pace steady throughout the run. Not happening. Not with this ego. Healthy finish and a couple of cold Coconut waters later, the workout was complete and another happy longish run is in the books.

That's us toward the back on the left. Love Changs!!

We got together with Adam and his wife and baby and Lauren last night for an almost free dinner at PF Chang's in Scottsdale. We had been trying to arrange a blogger meet-up for a few weeks, and even though some of us had to cancel, we still were able to make it and had a great time catching up and nerding our heads off about running. Sorry Tiffany! And Hayden unabashedly crunched his cyanide molar and slept through the whole thing. It looks a lot like I will be trying some trail running this spring. There are several good locations around town and I'm looking forward to the scenery, getting my dog Norman some exercise, and adding variety to my runs.

Suzanne brought me a Choc/Mint Gu to try and I may have a new favorite. Outstanding flavor, and no crappy aftertaste. I'm a big fan of Gu, and I can easily live with 4 of their flavors, unlike some of the other brands where I'm limited to one or maybe two flavors. Go Gu, you are the best!

Anyone got ideas about what the F is going on with my calf(s)? I'd sure like to know. Thanks for reading!