Okay, the plan is......

Okay, the plan is to run as much as possible without hurting myself!

I know that might sound like a pretty simple task but I’m starting to doubt it. I did three miles and didn’t feel great but I didn’t have any knee pain.
Now once I stopped running I did notice some swelling that a little icing won’t resolve. Icing my knee has worked wonders for me. I can actually bend it and walk on it and climb stairs with it, after icing. Now I need to invent a knee brace that stay cold.

I am sooooooooo tempted to register for a race but my better judgment say no.

I watched the ‘Marathon Challenge’ on PBS and it was so similar to my Team in Training experiences. If you get the opportunity to view this program, it is well worth the hour. I’m sure that we can all relate in some way or another.

I still have two players on my ‘Biggest Loser’ fantasy team but I am so far back in the weight lost point total. I didn’t realize how this program had evolved into a ‘game’ and the way the contestants are playing. I remember when it was just about losing weight.

Which leads to the fact that I am gaining weight and it ain’t all muscle!

Running Fool

Can somebody tell me why is my body talking to me in so many ways?

Not only does my surgically repaired knee give me twinges, now my good knee is seeking attention with a few early steps aches!

I am running on a regular basis now, but I may have to back off on the 2008 Olympics. It should be interesting to see how the race pans out Saturday. Brian Sells is getting a lot of attention here in the high-five state.

I am doing my running on the high school track which is a lot more forgiving on my knee. As much as I hate the treadmill, I think the track is running a close second. It is so easy to just to walk off that track and call it a day.

Tonight starts the informational meetings for Team in Training. I love this part, seeing all of the faces of uncertainty. People questioning why they’re attending. The endless number of questions and it’s always a few individuals that stand out and end up performing above and beyond their wildest dreams.

Go Team

Happy Feet

I ran a mile without any knee twinges. I didn’t set the world on fire but it was a mile without issues and it was after running yesterday!

This is a friend that cut the ½ marathon course and somehow got into the lead pack of marathon runners. Notice how her stride lacks the knee lift of the Kenyans.

Marathon Sunday

Although I knew I wasn’t running the entire ½ marathon I did want to start the race, even though this meant a 5:00 AM wake-up alarm.

So I took off with the other 14,999 runners/walkers into the darkness of Detroit. Now I wasn’t running fast and I was enjoying the company of the runners I was around but I decided two miles out was far enough.

I officially dropped out of the marathon at mile 2, which meant I had to run back to the start line and become a cheerleader.

Even though a lot of people look like they’re in agony, I was still jealous that they were able to run.

I covered 6 miles running from spot to spot and my knee ballooned to the size of a small volleyball. Fortunately I ended my trek at the River’s Edge Grille with an ice cold beer. The medicinal uses of beer are amazing, I could drink one and use one to ice my knee at the same time.

Fun Times

Quick note for all those Windy City Marathon Wannabees.

Here’s a link that might put a smile on your face: http://www.chicagofunrun.com/
The shits read: The marathon quit, but we didn’t.

PT Anyone?

I just checked out the course map for the Nike Marathon in Frisco. Sandy is going to be positioned at Mile 11 and the looks like a primo spot to see her TNT team and run with them. She’ll be able to even get them in the last few miles of the marathon. While she’s doing her thang in Frisco, I’ll be having a blast at the Detroit Marathon. This will be the first time we’ve been running an event at the same time but in different cities. Now that’s strange. I started my unofficial physical therapy session with myself and it’s showing some benefit already, I’m a quick learner! I think my ‘real’ physical therapist thinks of ways to inflict pain on her clients and uses me for her practice patient. She came over and wanted me to try some exercises on a BOSU ball. It’s not like I have two left feet but I’m not one of the Flying Walendas either. It’s amazing how many exercises you can come up with to hurt a person! It appears that the swelling in my knee is going down or at least I’m hoping. I still ice it after doing anything. I have my map of the ½ marathon course and I know all of the spots I can turn off and see everyone. I plan on taking pictures, so Solo Running Chick be ready!

Ready for Anything

This is the final week for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon and ½ Marathon.

I always found this week to be somewhat strange, in that you’ve trained for everything imaginable on the course but nothing about how to handle this week.

This is the week when you run just to remind your legs of what they’re suppose to do.

You don’t want to run hard or run long.

You don’t want to run in the rain. You don’t want to run in the dark and risk a twisted ankle.

You stay away from any small children that might be the epicenter of anything contagious.

If you belong to a team involved in any type of competitive sport, you bow out of this week’s competition for fear of getting injured.

This is the week when you go through all of the mental preparation for your event.

You check the weather forecast on a daily basis, hoping that the predicted rain holds off.

You eat pasta for dinner for the entire week, thinking this will really help.

You drink water as if you were a camel and can store it.

You’ve memorized the course, you’ve even run the last 10k!

You have your split times written down and laminated, you even have a little fluff time in there.

You’re as ready as you’re going to be, then………

Mission Accomplished

I ran outside and didn’t have any issues with my right knee!

This isn’t to say that the rest of my body took a vacation the past three weeks. I was feeling twinges and aches in places that I didn’t even know I use while running.

I am soooooooo out of running shape!

In the time it took me to run one mile, I had a back ache, a twinge in my left quad and something happening in my left knee?

I also decided to do a majority of my running in the next few days on a track.

Nothing like the spongy surface of a track to help take the pounding that we all encounter while running.

Okay, it’s time for ice, ice baby.

Wake-up Call

I hit the indoor track today and my PT and it was just like riding a bike. Only this bike had two flat tires and the gears weren’t shifting. I was like the proverbial fish out of water.
The one saving grace was that I didn’t encountered any pain or discomfort.


So at this rate, I’ll be ready for the ½ marathon in Detroit in the year 2012!



It’s probably time to rethink my race strategy.

The Streak in On

My first day of Ken’s Homemade physical therapy went well.

I only started doing leg exercises after my ex-physical therapist reamed me out for not doing anything to strengthen my knee! How was I supposed to know?

Okay, a few leg extensions and some squats and my all-time favorite ‘walking lunges’!

Having gone through therapy a few times, I know the routine somewhat.
We do lower weights, higher repetitions.

I was going to attempt to run on the dreadmill but everyone seemed to think it wasn’t a good idea. But did that stop me? Nooooooooooooooooo

I planned on running for a ¼ of a mile and then call it a day. Everything seemed okay, except I kept waiting for something to happen.

Mind you, I didn’t expect for my leg to fall off but I was really conscious of my knee. Every time it struck the ground I waited. I completed my run with a little sensation in my knee but nothing I couldn’t walk away from I proceeded to ice it as if I had run a race thinking about the chances of running two consecutive days.

That’s right, two days of running in a row. I’ll probably stick to the ¼ mile but it will still be a streak!

Rantings of a Mad Coach

In what had to be an absolute runner’s nightmare, the Chicago Marathon was cancelled at 12 noon!

I’ve been reading a few accounts of what transpired and it sounds like the race officials were caught with their pants down. There are stories of fluid stations with overturned tables and no water or sports drinks, runners purchasing their own fluids from nearby gas stations and stores.
Now I’m sure that everything possible was done to ensure the safety of each participate during the race and it was a tough decision to call the race and I give them credit for doing that.

Are there things that could have been handled better? Sure, but how could you tell ten thousand people that spent countless hours and steps into training that their day was over? I would venture to guess that a lot of TNT athletes were a part of this goup!

I was trying to imagine how I would have handled the situation from a TNT coaching perspective and it scares me.

How do you tell someone you’ve seen start from almost nothing to abandon their dream of
crossing that finish line, even if it is for their own good?

I can’t even imagine what the mood was like at the victory party!

Having participated in a few warm weather endurance events, we always try to protect the athlete.

Which leads to the question of when is enough, enough? When do you shutdown the competitive fire within and just succumb to the realization that you can’t continue?

Okay, I’m sure that quite a few of the disappointed will find another fall marathon to sign up for and not let their training go to waste. Then there will be the other side that just wanted to complete one marathon and banish their shoes to the back of the closet and call it a career.

But as I always tell my team during their training, the one thing you have no control over is the weather!

Passed the Test

Okay boy and girls, we had a preliminary test for the knee today. I decided to try a spinning class to determine if continued moving would be a problem.

Well, 30 minutes later I was still spinning with no discomfort what so ever. I cut the class short so I could ice my knee as a precaution.

Boy, am I a good patient or what?

I really surprised myself for being discipline enough to not try any of the standing positions. That’s another reason I cut it short, knowing me I would have gotten adventurous and hurt myself.

I’m still not going to attempt a run until the 10th of October, that way I have 10 days to train for the Detroit half-marathon!

I Heart Running

Talk about time flying when you’re having fun, this weekend kicks off the Fall marathon season in the Midwest. The LaSalle Bank Chicago marathon is being held Sunday, October 7th. Our Michigan chapter of TNT is sending team for the first time, I believe in quite a while. This will be the first group of Sandy’s team to embark on their endurance journey. I wish them all the best of luck, I know they’ve trained well.

Go Team!

I remember running the Chicago marathon in 1988 and the temps never getting above freezing. Talk about being young and stupid!

No matter if I was running an event or not, I always feel the excitement of the month. Everyone you talk to while running is asking the same question, “which marathon are you running?”.

I miss running….

Fantasy Lands

I’m doing cardio. That’s right, I’m actually doing things that elevate my heart rate.

I got on the stationary bike for a 10 minute warm-up and to test out my knee.

Okay, no problems with the bike, so let’s take it up a little bit more.

Next, the Stair-master. Now I hated this machine even before my knee problems, so chances are I’ll still hate it.

Five minutes later, I’m back on solid ground without any discomfort in my knee.

Next, the treadmill!!!!

Nah, that was it for day one of my recovery, although I was tempted.

I iced my knee and didn’t have any post-exercise trauma.

I did make a promise to myself to wait until at least the 10th of October before I attempt to run and then it’ll be on the dreadmill.

WTF! I’m losing more weight than my Biggest Loser Fantasy team! (Bryan & Phil)

Are the camera people giving them food on the side?

These guys have nothing else to do on the ranch but exercise and eat right!

I’m in next to last place, check it out(BL Standings).

In my other fantasy world I’m all over the place. I have a team that is 5 – 0 (Yay, we play double headers) and a team that is 0 – 4 (stupid &#$^ coach) and then I’m 1 – 3 in the sub-division league.

No Restrictions

Life is good again!

The Green Bay Packers are undefeated and in sole possession of first place and the doctor told me that I have no restrictions due to me knee surgery.
I’m still not going to go parachuting in the near future but the possibility of running may not be too far away.
I plan on taking it easy for a few more days and get my knee back to its normal size. There is still some swelling just from the surgery.
I was able to check out some photos that were taken during the surgery and it was interesting. The first thing they saw was loose cartilage floating around and then a tear of the meniscus, which was the pain on the inside of my knee. The loose cartilage was from a spot on the outside of my knee. Then there was the ever present arthritis that will be with me the rest of my life. No wonder I was having issues after each run, duh!
I’m going to get in just a few runs before the Detroit Half-Marathon. I don’t want too many people flying pass me on the course.