Running Chick

Several weeks ago, an article appeared in the NY Times that alternately made me think and made me irritated.  I thought that I should write a blag post about it, but then I decided that I was too irritated and I put it on the back burner.  I’ve thought about this article a lot since then and it still irritates me.  But, I can’t figure out if it irritates me because I fit the profile, or because it’s truly outrageous.  I think it’s probably a little bit of one and a lot of the other.

The article is called Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?  and it’s all about how slow runners are bringing down the marathon and turning it into something it wasn’t meant to be – for the average schmo.

I’m an average schmo and I’m slow.  I take my training seriously.  I do the hills, the intervals, the LSDs.  I do weights, I do yoga and stretch religiously.  I do everything I’m supposed to do to get faster, but I never really do.  Oh, I’ve had my accidental bouts with speed.  Once last winter, as I was cruising down a long hill, I glanced at my Garmin and saw eight-something blip by.  I was all pumped thinking that I was fast, even for a split second.  And, I guess last winter I did see more miles in the nines than previous years’ tens or elevens.  Or my typical 13 or 14 minute miles (haha) from four years ago.  Okay, so maybe I did get faster in the four or five years since I decided to let my addition run rampant (pun intended).  But, really, I highly doubt I will never get fast enough to run a marathon in under five hours.  And it certainly seems as though in the eyes of the author of the article, I have no business participating.

But, I just don’t get it.  What’s really the problem some speedsters have with us slow pokes, anyway?  They start way ahead of us, they don’t have to contend with weaving around us on the course and they finish way before us.  They never have to wonder if there’ll be enough food left at the end.  When they say their finishing time was three hours and bla or four hours and bla, we are in absolute awe.  Holy shit, that’s fast.  Our finishing time, possibly hours after theirs, takes absolutely nothing away from them.  I don’t really see what the problem is.

The U.S. has one of the highest, if not the highest, obesity rate in the world.  I feel slightly embarrassed by that figure.  But, maybe the increasing marathon participation from the slow pokes, means that one or more of those obese folks is taking control of their lives and getting healthy using running as their catalyst.  I can’t even think of a reason why that wouldn’t be a good thing.

Wow, it’s been that long since I’ve blagged.  I didn’t think it was that long so I guess I’ve been busy.  What have I been doing?  Well, we took a trip to Iowa for a few days and did the touristy thing.  That was a lot of fun.  I have a bunch of pictures, but I’ve been too lazy to get them uploaded to my gallery.  One of these days…

Before we left for the Land of Corn and Tractors, Josh and I ran timing for the Miner’s Revenge MTB race.  It’s called the Miner’s Revenge because the race actually goes right through the old Adventure Copper Mine in Greenland, MI.  Our friend James over at Bad Decision Bicyclist was competing and it’s always fun to go to his local races and make fools of ourselves hooting and hollering when he rides by.  This was our first time working rather than spectating and it was a lot of fun.  I was a little bit nervous that a ton of people would cross the finish line all at once and I’d screw up everybody’s time, but the riders were spread out enough that the most we head to deal with was five riders finishing in a clump.

Finally, I’m happy to report that the other thing I’ve been doing is running.  I ended up taking a six-day break because my tendonitis was being pissy, and that turned out to be the smart thing to do because I’m running without much pain now.  It’s not gone completely, but it is about 80% better than it was a week and a half ago. 

I did add a new weapon to my arsenal to get me healthy.  I started taking glucosamine & methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) supplements daily after reading about a fellow blogger’s success with it.  Glucosamine & MSM are commonly used in tandem to treat or prevent osteoarthritis.  Among the many marketing claims of MSM, the most appealing to me were the anti-inflammatory aspects.  Glucosamine can help repair cartilage and joints - not that I’m having those types of issues – but I figured I couldn’t hurt.  So, I started taking the pills containing 1500 mg of glucosamine, 750 mg of MSM eight days ago and either they’re magic or I’m falling for some snake oil trick because I think they’re helping.  Actually, it’s probably the MSM that’s working because that takes about 3 days to kick in.  Glucosamine takes something like 6 weeks.  Anyhoo, after about three days of gulping down these horse-sized pills, I noticed that my left leg didn’t seem as annoyed and some of my swelling also looks to have gone down, too.  The pain on my first run (5 days after starting the pills) was 50% less than compared to my previous runs and each subsequent run has been more and more pain-free.

So, I don’t know if it’s actually the pills or it’s all in my head, but all I know is that I’m running regularly and every run is better than the last.  It’s giving me hope (cut to me looking for some wood to knock on) that I’ll actually be able to do the Appleton HM in September.  For a while there, I was pretty well convinced that I was going to have to pull my entry, which would have really sucked.

Well, until next time…

...but I can still run! After a three week layoff from running while I was nursing posterior tibial tendonitis and adjusting to my custom orthotics, I started running again on Monday. The first run went great. There was no pain, not even a twinge. Granted I took it very s-l-o-w and cautious, but it felt great to run without pain. The orthotics felt great - meaning I couldn't even tell I was using them. The second run felt good as well, but I made a key mistake in the beginning of the run, which I'm pretty sure stuck me back in Podiatrist's office. I ran three blocks downhill. Like straight downhill. As I was about mid-way through the last block it occurred to me that it probably wasn't a smart choice because I could feel the stress on my lower legs more so than before. Wouldn't you know it, toward the end I could feel a little something happening on my inside shin area. Crap. Ice, Advil, ice, Advil. At start of my third run, I felt a twinge. Or maybe something stronger than a twinge. A pinch? Whatever. Anyway, that twinge subsided after about a quarter-mile and I didn't really feel anything until I stopped and then started up again. Then, the twinge hit again. Cue a burning feeling, which is a tell-tale sign that my tendon was on the verge of being pissed off. Fortunately, I was at the end of my run, so I walked home and immediately started my ice, Advil, ice routine. This morning I woke up and assessed the situation. The burning feeling is still there and is now accompanied by a really tender spot on my shin. So, I called Podiatrist who told me to get my butt into the office ASAP and don't run. Craaaaaap. Fortunately, I was able to get an appointment for this afternoon. Podiatrist and I discussed the situation and he agrees with me that it was probably the downhill running that aggrevated my tendon. He made a slight adjustment in my orthotics to give me some more lift in my heel (yay, I'm taller!) and gave me some stuff called CryoDerm, a pain relieving spray that I supposed spray on my leg before I run. I'm also back on the Meloxicam (so long, beer!) to keep the inflammation from getting out of control. Finally, he instructed me that I should do wall-push calf stretches three times/day to keep my calves loose. Oh, and I'm also supposed to keep up with the icing and try to stay off the pavement. After discussing all that, Podiatrist and I then had an interesting conversation about the drug Propofol. That's the potent anesthetic Michael Jackson was taking to supposedly help him sleep; the stuff everybody's saying is really hard to get. Apparently the drug companies Podiatrist buys from have started to push Propofol big-time. Cheaply, too, Podiatrist said around $3.50/vial. He can't figure out why they suddenly started to push this drug when he's never used it in his practice before and it's not something he would ever use. The only thing he figured was that this was all fall-out from MJ. I find that to be very bizarre. But, we are talking about Michael Jackson, here, who can probably be summed up by the same word. He made dang good music, though. Dang good. If I hadn't sold my Thriller and Bad cassettes (yes, I'm that old) at a garage sale last year, I'd totally be jamming out to them right now. Shamon!