OUCH!

My knee hurts like a sexual partner of a woman with children! I’m going to take a few days off and load up on drugs. Just two days of running and this happens? More to come!

Houston we have a problem!

Okay, it’s not a real big problem like I need surgery or another round of Physical Therapy.

I need to find my running mojo!

I was going back over my past years running logs and I must have lost it sometime between March 2007 and November 2007.

I was thinking of putting a photo on the blog but I can’t find one. It is amazing all of those runs and races when I carried it with me and not one stinking photo.

It doesn’t weigh a lot because I would have noticed the extra weight. Should I put an ad in the lost & found?

I guess it’s like they say, ‘you don’t miss your mojo until the well runs dry’!

It was my mojo that got my butt out the door on those days when I didn’t want to run.
It was my mojo that made me run that extra mile because I could.
It was my mojo that made me run faster than a speeding bullet.

I need to find my running mojo!

Something just hit the Fan.....

Oh what a tangled web we weave………… Criminal charges were filed today against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty in connection with the text message scandal that has enveloped the mayor's office.

Can't Quit Now

To race or not to race, that is the question! I’ve been straddling the fence about entering a few local races, since I’ve had soooo many running related injuries. One part of me just wants to run really slow and not have to put forth the grueling effort necessary. Then I read an article about Derek Jeter in Men’s Health and he talks about how competitive he is and how it was instilled in him as a child.
Well, I’ve always been competitive, especially in team sports. Then I was introduced to these individual competitive activities and I fell in love with them. I always look forward to pushing myself physically past my preserved limitations.
Sandy has been prodding me to run a race like I used to. Fellow runners have been asking me for the past few years when will I be back.
I’ve know quite a few runners that are no longer running for various reasons and they stay away from races and exclude themselves from social activities where a lot of runners will be. I don’t want to end up like that.
So, I’ll go and register for a few races and give it my all, whatever that is now. I’ll be able to feel the agony of defeat and the associated pain. I’ll be the really old guy that little kids point at and EMS unit travel behind.
I’m not saying that I’ll be able to generate the speed from my past but I ain’t gonna quit!
Thanks to f&#king Derek Jeter!

Of Mice and Men

A new study has shown that 1 in 8 baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease. This has always been a fear of mine to go out for a morning run and never come back, ala Forrest Gump!
I guess the good news out of this latest discovery is that regular exercise has been shown to prevent the disease from developing in mice. Damn lucky mice…..
If I doomed to Alzheimer’s, am I accelerating the process by killing off brains cells with the beers that I consume after exercise?
I have taken a few days off from running to give my knee some time to get back to almost normal. It’s a vicious cycle to run on it to the point of discomfort and then rest it back to almost normal., then run on it…………
I’ve finally completed my NCAA March Madness picks on Running Jayhawks Charitable Brackets and I have Tennessee winning the tournament. Now it’s not like I have any inside information or even keep up with the college game. It was just a matter of picking and choosing and Tennessee came out on top.
Since we only have Michigan State form the high-five state in the tourney, I couldn’t go with my heart pass the second round.
Go Vols!

Happy St. Patty's Day

After a horrendous attempt at running on Friday, I was able to get out with my TNT group and put in 10 miles without any real problems. I try to be in several places at one time so it was kind of different for me to run with the group for a long period of time. I didn’t have any issues with my knees, so I’m chalking this up as a good day. I also knew that Sunday would be a long day since I was volunteering for our local St. Patrick’s Day 4 Miler.

Flash forward to Sunday morning ……………

You ever say yes to something and really feel good about it until the time comes to do it? It’s bad enough that I have to be subjected to working forty hours a week and waking up in the dark. The weekends roll around and I get up earlier than normal for team training. Now I have to miss out on my Sunday beauty rest to stand in the cold? Okay, I just wanted to vent. This race has grown dramatically over the last few years. The weather was ideal for running but cold for volunteering. I was able to find a spot on the course where I could stand on a two-foot block to be a little visible as the runners went pass. Now remember, I’m a 6 foot 4 inch Black guy at a foot race, how visible do I have to be? Anyway, I can’t believe the number of runners that wanted high-fives as they passed my corner. Fortunately I was wearing gloves and didn’t contract nor pass along any germs.
To make for an even longer day, we have a tradition of taking part in the actual St. Patty’s Day parade. I think it started as a joke to see if they would allow a group of runner’s entry. Now each year we have a theme for our float (pickup truck) in combination with the passing out of beads. This is the most walking that I’ve done in quite some time. Now I remember why I run as opposed to walk.

Flash forward to Monday moanin’………….

Hangover Day and the weather turned back to the ever present hue of grey! Since I didn’t run on Sunday, it was my intentions to get in an early Monday morning run, well the weather obviously didn’t pay attention to the calendar and we had another day of temperatures below freezing. Any reasons not to go pounding the pavement in my delicate state, so I opted for Good Morning America.

WTF?

This sucks! We get two consecutive days of decent weather and my knee starts to bother me to the point where I didn’t want to risk running on it.
Okay no problem I’ll just go back to the gym and do some strength training. Well my head is so f#%ked up from the not running that I can’t concentrate on lifting. Now it’s one thing to schedule a rest day and enjoy going to lunch and using ‘real’ utensils, as opposed to sitting at my desk with finger foods. But to be forced to do nothing really sucks!
This is only going to lead to consuming a few more beers tonight to wash my sorrow away!
I’ll get in some additional miles with the TNT group tomorrow morning, at least that’s the plan!

Stop, I Can't Breath

I don’t know if I should be taken in by this break in the winter weather but I’m a lot more gullible in hopes that spring has finally sprung.
I had another opportunity to do my top-secret training in shorts, but it was difficult getting started. I can remember back when I was running injury-free and always looked forward to my training runs, regardless of the distance. Now some days are like pulling teeth to get out.
I did some impromptu interval work today. I’m still having difficulty telling my legs that my body is out of shape. So I was running faster than I really wanted to and inevitably not able to sustain the pace. I’d slow down and catch my breath then those damn legs would begin to go faster. So it wasn’t officially interval work but it felt like it.
The weather gurus are predicting another 50º day for tomorrow, so that means I’ll be back out in the streets of Detroit huffing and puffing.

Running with Scissors

Okay, I wasn’t really running with scissors but I was running outside in shorts! That’s right, I said shorts.
It was cold enough for long pants but the sun was out and the other kids were wearing shorts………….
I was finally able to run with the Tuesday evening group since we weren’t belting pelted with frozen pellets of precipitation or the recipients of numerous inches of snow.
It’s funny how the group has evolved into two groups. One being the ‘fast, always training for a race’ group and the other being the standard ‘I’m drinking when this run is over’ group. As you may have already figured out, I run with the latter group.
Now that a few of my injuries have subsided and allow me to run on consecutive days, I’m finding that my legs and respiratory system aren’t talking to each other. The legs are fresh and haven’t been used a lot this past winter, so they’re ready to go. The lungs and heart on the other hand are in no condition to go fast. I found myself in the middle of the pack, slowing dropping further and further back. This turned out to be a good thing, because I was able to really focus on my running stride. The other good thing is that I was outside running in shorts with the other kids……..
That’s my story and I sticking to it!
The other great thing about the Tuesday group is I make the route maps, so I know all of the shortcuts. I would never want to be the last runner to get back to the bar!

Evan Almighty

I must have really had a good time at the St. Practice Day celebration/fundraiser for the Royal Oak team. Not only did I lose an hour of sleep but the big ball of fire in the sky was out in full bloom.
Is it just me or is it always sunny on the morning of a hangover?
If I attempt to run my head will fall off and I’ll never be able to get it back on, so no running for this guy. I headed down to the basement to get on my bike and just spin the tires for a while.
I knew in my hung-over state there was no way I would be able to use one of the Spinerval DVDs. So I opted for ‘Evan Almighty’ to get me through ninety minutes of fun!
I almost gave up on the idea of exercise altogether, since I had to bend over to put the bike on the trainer. That rush of blood to the head is always fun to deal with but I persevered.
I was tempted to get off the bike a few times in the first thirty minutes but I knew I had to sweat out some alcohol. Even though I wasn’t feeling 100% normal, I was able to enjoy my nap knowing I had done something.
So no more Coach Troy and those insanely tough Spinerval DVDs, I’m going to laugh my ass off as I peddle my ass off from now on……

Everyone Knows it Windy

We received a bit of good news on the weather front, we’re not having the snowstorm that they were predicting. It’s just going to be cold with flurries and thirty MPH wind gust!
Since this was a non-TNT training day, I could have slept in and enjoyed my Saturday but noooooooooo. I’ve been cooped in running on the track all week so it was time to get outside. I love my TNT teams because of their dedication. Even though it wasn’t an official training day, several of the team showed up in terrible weather conditions to run.
I tried to keep everyone together so they could at least block wind for each other. The wind was so strong at times that the street signs were flapping, but we got in our long run.
I never loosen up the entire run, I felt stiff and awkward. I’m hoping that the warmer weather will help with this issue. It’s hell getting old!
Going to a TNT fundraiser tonight and drink some beers for a good cause.

So Long Numer Four

I am officially giving up running and devoting all of that time to drinking!

Okay, maybe not all of my time………..

Another reason to cry in my beer… Brett Favre announced his retirement from the National Football League! My beloved Green Bay Packers without their gunslinger quarterback.

We got dumped on with more white crap over the past few days, which really sucks. I do have a few running buddies that have run outside, but I refuse to attempt. As a matter of fact, I’m going on strike until this weather changes for the better! Take that Mother Nature…………..

I just want to run in shorts again and not on an elevated kidney shaped track going in circles. Am I asking for too much?

She’s a Tease

She had me thinking that things were going to be better. I actually started thinking we could once again get back together and have things like they were last year. I could remember the days when I would just walk around with hardly any cloths on and not have to even think about who was watching.
It was a time when every part of my body was warm from her touch and I just let things happen.
Well today was another example of how fickle our relationship really is and who holds the upper hand.
I was able to run in shorts and just one layer today at lunch. Mother Nature was playing her game of tease the runner once again.
I’ll probably have a post in a few days about how my throat is scratchy and I’m chilled, but it was so nice to run with only one layer of clothing.
Tomorrow we’ll be back to the status quo and temperatures below freezing. We’re even scheduled to have a storm warning.
I guess it’s back to running in circles on the indoor track.
I’m beginning to really hate that teasing bitch!

Reading Material

Books that I’m reading in an attempt to jumpstart my own running, I’m re-reading this book, since I recently purchased his latest novel ‘Again to Carthage’.