It's over, man. Let her go.

Dude! You were gone so long that Burt changed the meaning of BNS to "bleeding nipple syndrome!"

Welcome back, are you healed up yet?

Yes, I know Burt has been speaking ill of the handicapped. He's just lucky I don't live near him. My kids will attest that my "transformer" boot can deliver a nasty pain when provoked. Nope, not healed yet. It's only been 5+ months so I think my expectations are just unrealistic. LOL!! Seriously, I'be been in a boot the last 10 weeks trying to get a stress fracture to heal. Its getting better very slowly and so I'm still not cleared to do any major walking, let alone running yet. I've just been packing on the weight, working a crazy number of hours and trying to keep myself sane. I'd have an incredible core if I had just worked on it since the foot problems started last year. There's always tomorrow... :-)

Wow. I didn't realize you had a stress fracture...metatarsal? 5 months? Oh...ouch. That stinks. Why is it taking so long? I hope you are done with it soon and can get back at it!

Hi April. My problems started about 6-7 months ago with what I thought was my normal neuroma problems, but after several months of injections and PT, I was still hurting. An MRI later showed the neuromas were gone, but their pain had been masking the stress fracture. It's in my 3rd metatarsal, near the toe joint. I'm not positive why it's taking so long, but next Tuesday I hope to get some good news that it's actually improving. I'm still a few more weeks from going bootless all day, though. It's been terribly frustrating and has left me depressed, but one day I'll be running again. :-)

That really stinks. I am slowly beginning to run again after bilateral tibial stress fractures. I think I was a little luckier than you though..I ran in pain for about 3 weeks and then they were diagnosed with a bone scan. 5 weeks in the pool and x-ray shows good periosteal thickening at the sites, and I was given the green light to start carefully easing back into it.

Ollie ollie oxen free!

Spicy .. be careful with that foot. Dean has been out for over 1.5 years (yes, you read that right) - after a couple of stress fractures he ended up having something more serious. He is recovering now from surgery, and we are still not sure he will ever run again. It is definitely worth taking the down time and making sure you are healed. But 5 months sounds like an awful long time. Keep up the spirits!! you are still a runner!

I checked today to look for another entry. I hope you didn't just come out of hiding for one measly day.

Thanks Bonnie, your comment that I'm still a runner meant a lot since I've been wondering if I'll ever actually get back to it, so thank you!

April - I'm still here, but when I don't have anything to report, I just don't have any reason to post! I've got to get back into it though, so I'm going to keep posting as often as I can. I hope to get back to some core & weight work so I'll be ready in a few weeks when I'm out of purgatory.

I saw my race shirt from the Riverview Run in mid June the other day, so I've made that my goal for my post injury debut. I hope to be able to do a 5k by then!

Hey BNS, I saw you had made a comment on SlowJoe's blog and figured you must be back. Really sorry to hear about your injury woes and miss your humor. Hope you can find reasons to post even if you aren't posting miles. Stay strong.

Hey, Flat! Thanks, I hope the doc will be able to tell me something positive today so I can get back to running soon. I'll be around - I've been reading race reports off and on for the last few months, just not posting. You had quite the marathon race on New Years, by the way. Congrats!

Good luck at the doctor's today, hope everything goes well. You'll get back in shape soon enough.

Good to hear from you Wes.

I really hope you can get this all worked out.

Thanks guys, I know it will get worked out, it's just a matter of how long it takes. I'd really like to get in the Riverview 5k since I think I'll have time to get in OK shape by then. If not, I'll find another one, but I like that one since it's right around the corner from me.

I'll let you know how it goes today.

Good luck. The bike is a great idea!

He's back!

Hey, cool, 0.01 miles. Following the 10% rule, I wouldn't go more than 0.011 miles next time.

Sounds like good news though. You can fix the getting winded part, the important thing is the feet (as I'm sure you know) so good luck!

*Like*

LOL! That's all I'm going to say.

Thanks guys. Yes, Flat. I think I'm back. Still a little numbness in the toes and I can still feel the little bugger reminding me it's there when I put a little too much pressure on it.

Walking this week, then a little jogging next. Thanks to Joe, I will remember to be sensible and not start out too fast or too long. I'm concerned about tomorrow. If I do another .01, I will have doubled my mileage this week. That can't be good, right?

Thanks for liking me, Mike. You're a good guy. :-)

Hey B&S: Sorry that you won't be there on Sunday. I'll be thinking of you at mile 20...NOT!

I'll catch up with you one of these days in Pgh.

You should have said "cheeeeese"!

You need to hire Flatlander.

One, to defend you in Fairfax Co. Two, to sue Oreo for giving you a spare tire with their coupons. Those big corporations are always preying on us innocent consumers and making us eat their delicious food.

Thanks Sketcher. I sure hope you're not thinking of me at mike 20! How'd it go?? :-)

April, actually, our family word is "ass." You'd be surprised how much better smile it produces. Plus the looks you get in crowded places when your 4year old says it are priceless!

Joe, as always, your comment is classic and spot on. However, I'm holding off on the lawsuit until after I've gotten my fill of the new triple Big MAC style ones.

I have to say it went well, I felt great although I ran out of legs at about 23. Finish time was 3:55:55. I'm very happy with that PB result.

You've gotta be happy with that time, Sketcher! Killer PR - 45 mins from last year??

To all you Utah bloggers, that's how we do it here in the 'Burgh!

That's one. I still think your blog title is the best one.

Your blog title is the best baldy!

woooohoooooo! That had to feel good after so long! Keep at it just a little at a time. I hope those were fresh gym clothes when you put them in the bag :)

Haha Thanks, I enjoy my blog title too. It will forever be true.

Yes, Trap, they were fresh when they went in the bag, but they didn't have that Bounce fresh scent anymore. I've sent their CEO a letter expressing my disappointment. I may enlist Flat to help me with a false advertising lawsuit.

You must have the worst parking spot in the history of the modern world. But good to see those miles coming in.

You have to park a mile and a half away from work!? I live closer than that to my office. How's that foot doing?

You guys are too much! I don't HAVE to park that far, I just do. We have parking under our building and in several parking structures around work. We also have parking across the river at the stadium. I'm just too cheap to park down there.

So...I park on a city street north of the city then walk or bike in from there. It's through a nice little park with a pond named "Lake Elizabeth" - seriously - and then across the bridge. It's a great walk except when there's a storm or snow/ice/sleet.

I figure I can either pay $200/mo to park in our building, $120+/mo for nearby parking, $100/mo to park at the stadium or free and get some exercise. That's a lot of shoes and race fees per year! :-)

...or one stress fracture...

BNS is back? Where have I been? Welcome back!!!

He comes and goes as he pleases. He's like Gandalf.

Scott, I believe you've been off running! I'm stealthy like that though.

Burt, I don't know who that is. Is he like Waldorf and that other Muppet old dude? At the fathers and sons campout, my buddy and I were called them. Can't remember the other guys name...

Your Garmin held its charge for how long? Mine goes dead in two days sitting on the counter turned off.

Apparently Garmins are like your running shoes, Flat. No two are just alike. My wife has the exact same model as me but it consistently burns through its battery about 3 times faster.

Flat & Joe - I have a simple explanation. My Garmin has been super rested. You two run so many miles so fast that your Garmin is exhausted. It's crazy but true.

Nice little run for lunch. That's awesome!

OK, so I have not been a good friendly blogger lately. Life is busy, and you know how that is when you do not get any sleep? It makes those last waking hours miserable, and the last thing I want to do is blog.

Anyway, what happened????? Is the same injury from long time back, or a new one?

Wes, hope you are OK?

Flat, thanks, I'm hanging in there! Just crazy busy with work and family "stuff."

Kelli, no worries, and please don't feel bad about anything! I'm a terrible blogger. I'm lucky to get the time to blog the little that I do get in to just log my workouts, let alone read/comment on everyone's blogs. Usually, I get a few minutes to head over to some blogs, read their latest entry or two, comment on one and move on. It's really sad since I can't keep up with everyone's progress, successes, injuries, etc. I do try to read the race reports when I have a few minutes, though. Your ultras are crazy - in a good way, by the way!! I'm seriously impressed!!

Here's the short of it:

I had a stress fracture in my foot that was masked by my previous neuroma problems. I had gone to my Podiatrist with pain again, but it felt different and was a different type of pain than the neuromas of the past. She treated it with the cortizone shots and new orthotics since she couldn't determine there was anything else wrong, but it didn't help after 3 rounds of shots. I still wasn't able to run a step! She said that the cortizone loses it's effectiveness after so many treatments and I had probably hit the limit that my body would benefit from them. I waited a few more weeks then I decided to go to an Orthopedist who is a very accomplished runner so I knew she'd understand.

She suggested the next step - alcohol based injections that would kill/shrivel up the neuroma and hopefully solve the neuroma problem from coming back. The side effect is some numbness in the toes the nerves fed. After 3 months (5 series of shots, two+ weeks apart with weekly PT) and little to no improvement, she suggested surgery. I insisted on an MRI (which I guess was part of the pre-surgery process, anyways) since my Internet research told me it should have been fixed and feeling a ton better with 2-3 shots. I also wanted to be 100% sure it was the neuromas that were causing the pain since the surgery has potential long term, even worse side effects with at least a 8+ week recovery time.

The MRI showed a stress fracture in the same general location as the neromas - hence the similar but different pain I was feeling. The shots did what they were supposed to, which I was happy about. Long story short (I know, I said this was the short of it, but you know me), no surgery but 11 weeks in a boot and I'm able to do a little running now. Woo Hoo!

Here's to the second half of 2011! :-)

Now for the long of it (don't feel committed to reading the rest...):

The three months while I was supposed to be getting better, I was depressed about not feeling any improvement when I was doing everything I was supposed to. My wife had been in a boot for a foot problem a couple years ago and wore it for maybe 2 (off and on) of the 8 weeks she was supposed to. After about a week of wearing it every waking hour, she says, "wow, you're really serious about wearing that boot!" My response was, "I'm really serious about running again!" Of course, I got all the comments when I told people it was a stress fracture, they'd ask how I did it, I'd say probably from running. Several people said, "See, that's why I don't exercise/run." I'd just give them a look and walk away. Shesh.

It was painful to walk so I wasn't doing much at all physical, plus the weather was cold and snowy. If I was smart, which I obviously wasn't, I'd have been working on my core, general strength & stretching, and keeping up some type of cardio. Spinning/biking wasn't really an option for that, though, since it was still too much pressure on the foot.

I didn't blog during those 5+ months since I didn't have anything to write home about and just didn't have the time. Not until the last two weeks in the boot did it even start feeling better at all. I seriously considered just dropping the boot a couple weeks before that and resolving myself I wouldn't be running again. I was tired of the boot. I hated that thing!

I've been out of the boot now for a couple of weeks and I've been seriously racking up the miles, lol. It's getting better and I may try to run a 5k on June 11 (Riverview 5k) just to do a race again. It's a fairly tough 5k, but I ran it last year - part of it with my daughter for her first 5k - and it's in my neighborhood so I really want to do it. I'd be happy to go sub 30 at this point (it's a flat .75mi, then up a small hill, around the observatory, back down, then down about a mile, then it's a mile of uphill to the finish) but finishing it without walking would be awesome. LOL I ran it in 27:31 last year but I stayed with my daughter for the first .5 mile or so at about a 13:00 pace. I think a 25:00 or faster would have been possible.

I've lost a lot of strength and endurance with these months off and gaining 7-8 lbs, but I know it will slowly come back. I can't say what the root cause of the stress fracture was, but I'm going to take it easy and build slowly. I had really wanted to do my first marathon this year with Steve, but after getting hurt it will have to wait until next year. I hope to be up to doing the IKEA Half in the fall, but I'm just going to see how it goes. Normally, I register early to commit myself to the races I do, but this year I may just wait until it gets closer and pay the extra fees.

I don't expect any PRs this year, but if I can get the strength back up and some endurance, I'll be pleased knowing I'm going into next year. Then the goal is just injury free running so I can manage my stress levels and enjoy life again! Spinning is fine, but it's not the same for me.

And now the even longer of it (sorry to those that have hung in here this long):

At the same time all this was going on, we had a "voluntary resignation program" (VRP) at work that was designed to give some incentive to reduce our head count by giving some incentive to voluntarily leave the company by offering an extra week (3 weeks vs 2 if laid off) of pay for every year you had been there before they started laying people off. They offered it to about 400 of the approx. 2,000 IT staff with the goal of eliminating 150+ positions in this first round. They'd then do 2 more rounds, targeting other areas in IT.

I've been there for "only" 5 years, and while not offered the VRP in this round, would have in the third based on how they laid it out. I would have taken my chances since looking for a job in exchange for an extra month of pay wasn't that attractive in this job market. But for over 65% of our company's employees that have been here for over 10+ years, it was very attractive.

You can imagine what happens when you're offered the VRP and you have 15 or 20 years there and by being offered the VRP, you assume your job is in jeopardy. Do you take your chances and lose those extra weeks of pay or take it? To make it worse, the VRP process wasn't transparent at all. If you wanted to be considered for it, you had to fill out an "application" and submit it by a certain date. You could retract it before that date, but once the day came, you were committed. The VRP option was seen as an "employee benefit" since only if you had had good reviews would they let you take it. If you were sub-par, they would deny your application and you'd likely be let go involuntarily sometime afterwards. They wouldn't say how many of those 400 people applied for it, who applied for it, who was denied, or even who they accepted - not even our manager or division manager knew except what their employees had told them!

Of course, there was enough talk/gossip that you knew who in your department/division put in for it, and heard through the grapevine of others. I knew some who were waiting to apply based on who in their department had put in figuring that if someone with similar responsibilities put in for it, that you had a better chance of not being laid off. Even afterwards, they didn't publicize in any way who was leaving, but they were "kind" enough to stagger the roll-off dates for those leaving between 1-3 months out. (rolling my eyes)

Well, they had enough people voluntarily apply to take it that they didn't have to lay anyone off, but that meant that lots of people with a lot of years in the industry left. My boss had been there 36 years and took it - he had tried to retire with his wife (she had 30+ years) the year before but was denied due to a reorganization combining his dept and ours. He's now enjoying retired life while being paid for a year from the VRP while collecting his pension. Their pension program was unbelievably awesome, along with a half way decent 401k matching program. I don't blame my boss for taking it in the least. If I were in his position I wouldn't have even hesitated. He told me later that he had the application filled out and submitted before the end of the day - they announced it at 4pm that day, so he was a little anxious. LOL

For some strange reason, the company hasn't followed through with the next two rounds that were supposed to start this last February. Gee, I wonder why.

About a year ago, the company announced that they weren't continuing with their pension program and only if you had 5 years with the company by June 1, 2011 would you keep those pension benefits. If not, somehow what you had "earned" by that time would be rolled into some other retirement program. Well, my 5 year anniversary was 5/15/2011 so I missed it by days - but I haven't cared enough yet to figure out where those benefits were put. Oh well, such is life. I was surprised they even had a pension program after I had been hired since pensions are so rare these days. I figured they'd have to get rid of it at some point anyways.

Most everyone I knew that took and subsequently got the VRP, were very happy about their decision. None have regretted it probably because another major employer in town has snatched up a good portion of those that left.

One really sad case, though. There was a woman who assumed that since she was offered the VRP that her job was in jeopardy and so she put in for it just in case and got it. They offered the VRP based on job titles or departments that needed to be trimmed down. Her boss had been offered it since he was a division manager of a department that we knew would be eliminated or maybe rolled under another one. She was offered it since she was his assistant, not because they would let her go if he took the VRP. She was an incredible assistant (I had worked with her a fair amount since I worked with her boss) and she figured that they wouldn't let her go, but she had been there 12 years and if she was going to be let go she didn't want to miss out on the extra weeks of pay. Since they accepted almost every application, she got the notice that she would be leaving and was absolutely hysterical - to the point they had to escort her out of the building!

I only knew of 2 people that had their applications denied. There were two departments, that I know of, that had all or all but one person put in for it. The one where everyone put in for it one person was denied since they had to keep one admin around. He was the one with the least number of years at the company, but also wasn't the most experienced. But since it was seen as a benefit, they awarded it to the more senior people.

Us poor souls left at the company are having to pick up the slack and 9 months later, we're now seeing several people resign because of the work load and a lot of the knowledge base had left. It doesn't help that a lot of those that left during the VRP have been recruiting people away to their new companies either.

Anyways, it's crazy since everyone in our department that was offered the VRP took it and it cut us from about 18 to 10. So I've been putting in an incredible number of hours to just keep my head above water and it's not going to get any better. Normally, my busy time of the year is the last 3 months of the year but it has only gotten more busy as the year has gone on with no end in sight.

So what used to be hour to go for a short run sometime during the day to clear my head and get away from the desk is replaced by meetings - even the "sacred" Noon-1pm slot that everyone would usually avoid scheduling during is being filled since that's the only time anyone is available anymore. Or I use it to catch up and try to stay on top of things. Then I stay late/start early to get some quiet time to get caught up or get ready for the next day.

Here it is Memorial Day and I woke up at 7:30am and couldn't go back to sleep knowing I have several hours of work I needed to do this weekend that I haven't done yet. Plus, I knew the family would be sleeping in until late anyways. But instead, I'm avoiding work and blogging! :-) This is a welcome distraction even if no one even reads to the end of this. Ha Ha! It's been therapeutic.

Oh well, I have 15 more minutes of blogging time then it's time to get cracking on my work!

Happy running everyone and Happy Memorial Day! :-)

That's better than a race report. Glad you still have a job though. Hang in there, nothing ever stays the same.

WOW---that is a bunch of stuff going on!!! Add a lot of that to the little sleep you already get as a flippin' insomniac! CRAZY! Hang in there, the running is getting back on course, hopefully the job can mellow out a little somehow.

I think that was the longest post ever. You both get a universe of gold stars for reading it!

I know I'm truly blessed to have my job and would rather be working a ton of hours and getting paid for it than working a ton of hours looking for a job.

Now that my feet are improving, I'm looking forward to having an excuse to now book my runs on my calendar and get my "me" time in. Just my luck that we're in a record heat wave right now... :-)

Thanks for the support! I appreciate it!

I read it all! Don't blame you for sticking with the company in this economy though, it's hard to know the right thing to do in these situations. My commitment with the Air Force is coming to an end soon, and it's a scary decision! Good luck on getting to that light at the end of the tunnel. Can you see it yet??

I'm seeing something, Joe. Whatever it is is looking better and better. :-)

A parrot! See, this is how we find out more and more about our fellow bloggers.

Did he get some beer to wash down that birthday pretzel?

Have you been out horsing around this weekend?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110531/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_horse_head_alley

Yep, she's a Nanday Conure. One day if it's ever worth $150 to know for sure if Clem is a he or a she, I'll confirm whether "its" name is Clemente or Clementine. As far as we're concerned, Clem is a she until further notice. :-)

She likes her pretzels but has a hard time eating them after her accident a few months ago where her top beak broke off from slamming into the window when she was startled by my son dropping a lap desk on the floor. Did I post a picture? Maybe not. I'll put one up for today's post since I did nothing...yet.

Polly want a pretzel? Did you glue her beak back on?

No, Burt. No gluing, although I've saved it just in case. I think it was $200 or so for a prosthetic that won't necessarily stay on very well. They have to be refitted every so often. She's doing pretty good without it so we'll see how it goes. She just has beak envy when she sees another parrot.

Nothing is easy at 92 degrees, especially after a bunch of time off, nice run.

Great job! Glad to see we are both progressing. Looks like you are having wonderful weather there too. When I was driving home from work yesterday the bank read 97.

Thanks guys. The heat is a killer. It's still very humid but not quite as hot.

Good job getting out for a run- ipods can be flaky- I personally think Apple does that on purpose. As soon as you get a new one, it signals the old one to work fine.

Dan the theory conspiracist. :)

How is your foot feeling?

Oh no, 2 times in one week. I guess I have some catching up to do!

Dan, I'm with you. I swear that thing hates me. Glad it's only about 5 years old so I won't feel so bad running it over with the car multiple times.

Burt, everything is a conspiracy.

Trap - it's off and on, mostly feeling good but one day I'll wake up and after three steps am in serious pain like I never got treatment. Then, put some shoes on and it gets better quickly. Weird. It's getting there, but I'm still watching it carefully so I don't re-injure it. It will get there, I'm just giving it some time.

Steve - no worries. Twice in one week is only cool if you get over 5 miles. lol

Thanks guys!

Nice run! It always feels good when you feel like you are getting back in shape! :)

Great Job! You are a superstar!

Good job. Coming back from an injury is always hard.

Thanks Steam, yes it sure does! It's slow going, but progress is what I'm looking for!

Steve - Yep, it's a big week so far. ;-) We'll see if I can keep it up!

Thanks Mattrow - it really is tough. At times I wish I could snap my fingers and I'd be back to where I was before, running like the wind!

...but then I wouldn't realize the blessing it is to be able to run and feel the hot, humid, sticky wind in my face, the burning sensation of fatigued muscles, the day-after soreness, the weird tan lines, etc. But most importantly, getting to earn the "bandaids of honor" from BNS all over again. I mean, who would want to miss all of that??

Awesome! That is good news, hope you can ease into a nice comeback.

Now aren't you supposed to split up those miles if you ran some of it before midnight? Also, never mention that it is 59 degrees up there again!

Congrats on the encouraging run! Sounds like you've turned the corner :)

Thanks all you cool runners! So far so good. No complaints so I might just have to get a couple miles in tomorrow.

Well, at least you biked down it. That's something. lol.

What goes down must come up.

I felt a real sense of accomplishment that I rode all the way in and home. I knew I'd probably walk the hill, but that was all cool since I just had my phone out acting like I was typing up an email for work or something while I walked. lol

Flat - I'm totally confused. My dad always told me he walked to school and it was uphill both ways. I'm starting to think he was lying.

My dad walked to school uphill both ways, in the snow, without shoes. He was hardcore!

without Vibrams?? Dang, that IS hardcore. Now we know where you get your hardcoreness. It's all about the genes, baby!

Lookin' good!

You should see it colored (red, blue or green) and all spiked up. Pretty B.A.

We are getting a gym in my building at work. They promised third quarter this year, when they do it is going to be nice to take a mid-day break.

Keep up the good work! It looks like you are doing well!

Long break... you ok?

We don't even have a Jim in our office, that's how sad we are.

Good to see you back at it. I guess the philosophy behind that quote is that if you log big miles you can sustain a somewhat faster pace so you don't need to necessarily be fast at shorter distances? I have seen it before, just never really understood it.

a 17:40 5k sounds painful. I think you're better off upping your weekly mileage :)

If a 17:40 sounds painful, all I need to do is get up to 150 miles per week:

The slowest you can run and still qualify for the Boston Marathon is 3:20:59. This is a 7:39 per mile pace. If you train at 150 miles per week, you need to run a 5 K in 21:24 which is 6:53 per mile pace.

Looks like you are doing well! Keep up the good work!

OK, I think I have this figured out. The theory is that the more miles you log, the longer you can sustain a higher heart rate, meaning that even if you don't have a blazing fast 5K time, you don't have to add as many seconds per mile to your 5K pace in order to get to a sustainable marathon pace.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

Very cool!

Kym had a fit when I gave Jake a mohawk when he was 4.

That looks a lot like the one my son had when he was 13 or so. Not sure if this link will work, but I'll give it a try.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150273719210054.489785.546655053&type=1

My daughter's birthday was also Aug 2nd, but she did not get a cool mohawk. Glad to hear you are getting some cardio here and there.

Trap - my wife freaked out the first time back when he was 5 I think, too. She got over it. I get that not everyone thinks of their hair like I do, but it grows back eventually (for some people).

Burt - that's a KILLER mohawk! I can only imagine him passing the sacrament!

Joe - happy belated b-day to your daughter! Thanks for the encouragement - I'm getting there. Life gets in the way too much for me...but I'm working to keep it in check.

Better than me lately.

I love that shirt, very funny.

Awesome.

*Like*

I just wish it wasn't a girl's shirt...haha

HAHA! Good to see you getting out.

Thanks everyone! It's great to be getting out, just need to get out consistently. I've learned my lesson on not sitting on my butt, making excuses while healing. This is tough getting back into it when it's tough to maintain my previous paces for even short distances...

go Cardinals!

You gotta start somewhere, good to see you running again. Races are always good motivation. You might be surprised about how fast you can get back into your old form.

If you could pull off a 7:20 pace for most of a mile, you are not far off. Great to see you out and about.

Hmm, I think it was actually 3/4 of a lap of the track. The speed must have warped my memory. Either way, it felt good. Haha

Thanks everyone!

Nice to see you up and running.

Thanks Rob. 3 runs this week is an accomplishment. I may have to put a couple miles in tomorrow just so I keep it up! I gotta get up the miles (slowly) so I can do the 10k in a month.

Looking good, are these on the track?

Flat - yes I've been running the track lately since my kiddos like to tag along. I just strap the Garmin on the wrist, the HR monitor on the chest, and hit the outside Lane 6. It's the only place I can feel like a flatlander in hilly Pittsburgh. :-)

Nice push to the finish! You'll get the double digits this week.

Top Gun is the best! I should've known you liked it, it was made in the 80s.

Thanks Joe. I missed it by .08 but that's OK because I can have dyslexic moments that make it look like 80. That was a great year...

Good ol' Jake!

Yep, Jake is a great guy. I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't committed to our lunch hour "meeting."

Just browsing entrees and saw your profile pic! It made me laugh!

Sue, believe it or not, baldnspicy is Mormon.

Burt I notice you don't make fun of my spelling anymore. I keep finding typos and notice you don't say anything.

I figure what comes around, goes around. Entrees. LOL! I should browse some entrees myself.

:D

Hi, I'm BNS. I am bald, love to eat spicy foods, and I'm a Mormon.

You know you haven't been a good blogger when all the inside jokes go flying past. :-/

He's only going to get older.

Someone will tell him you missed it and then he'll think he remembers it.

Burt - true, and I will only get stronger!

Flat - strange how that happens, isn't it?

I'll tack on an extra .73 for you tomorrow.

Thanks for finishing off my 4mi, Trap! :-)

enough said!

hahahaha!

You know your run was at one end of the spectrum of the other when one word describes it.

That's a scary thought but you might be right.

It's a possibility, but most likely it's part of our recent initiatives. If they want to get rid of me because my numbers are good than so be it.

Way to suffer through it. If you can do a hilly "course" like Boulder, you should be able to improve on it a lot, especially if you eat!

and wear short shorts. But no jorts.

I didn't qualify in PA and quite disappointed. Next chance is Oct. 9 in Wichita. Looking at Boston2013. Now I have to run 5 minutes 59 seconds faster.

Correction, that's 340 ft. That's less than some of my 3mi runs! Let's see...I think that proper fueling and hydration is my best bet for a decent race, but I can't help but think a hot pink thong wouldn't give me an advantage, especially if it's windy.

Hang in there, freyguy! It seems like a lot, but over a marathon it should be easy.....right? I mean, what's cutting 15 sec per mile for 26.2? (totally kidding!!)

Hey BNS you're posting again. Nice to see you back at it.

Thanks Scott. I'm working at coming back. I just wish I had more time to read all the blogs of my FRB friends. I need to write an Android app for FRB since my phone browser doesn't do well or make it easy to post.

Anyways, it looks like you're rocking it as always! Keep on keepin' on!

Nice Job Wes! Keep up the good work!

Great job John Wesley Sorenson. You're never a failure in my eyes.

Thanks guys. Progress is coming slowly but surely.

Way to go! I'm giving you a 58:xx time because the course was .11 long.

Congrats on getting back out there!

Haha, thanks Mike. I'm actually surprised it only measured .11 long since I ran some horrible tangents! It would have been tough to run good tangents with the number of people around me. I overheard the TV announcer as I was going past the 6mi mark saying how it was still amazing how there was only a 3-4' radius around the runners. I suppose by the hour mark they expected to see it thin out more. I know I did. :-)

Oh, I should add that I was #3 out of 6 in my Name Group!! Woot!!

Wow! I never would have guessed there would be that many baldnspicy's in one race :)

LOL!! Good one, Mike! Glad I go by Wes and not John...that ranking is much worse.

Welcome back to racing, nice going out there. I could see where there might be crowd problems!

Thanks Joe. Yep, it was pretty crowded. I'm used to it being crowded at the start but then after the first mile or so having it open up. Here's a video I just found of the race:

http://multimedia.post-gazette.com?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6287443

0.41. That's what I'm talking about!

Nice picture. I love Chipotle burritos.

Actually, I should say I am wiser. I only ran the 0.41. I wouldn't have been so sensible a year ago when I was *only* 40 and thought I knew everything.

Sounds like some fitness is starting to return, great news!

Nice step up. Watch things carefully and you should be OK.

How's that foot doing?

I wish my employer would do something that.

Well, I found out this week that when they say exercise 15+ min/day at the fitness center, they mean AT the fitness center. So, apparently, exercising at home doesn't count as a touchdown. A few of my friends are still counting them and doing the challenge, but I'm not going to "cheat." If I won the tickets I wouldn't feel right about it. Besides, they badge you in when you workout there. I highly doubt they'd check the records to verify, but maybe they would.

They have excellent participation at the gym so I don't think this is an attempt to get more people to use it. Who knows...

Nice TD, and nice running. Always feels good to finish up faster.

Yes it does, Joe. I startled three people at different times since it was dark and I guess they couldn't hear my huffing and puffing and slapping feet coming up behind them...I felt bad for one guy - he screamed like a sissy and his homie was walking with him (who had heard me and moved over). LOL

Instead of calling it the bare minimum, you could say you had the most efficient points possible! Nice job squeezing in the workout.

Ah, very true! I'm going to call you Positive Joe from now on.

Nice run. I hope the foot isn't serious. Don't worry about it too much. I still get little phantom pains in my tibia and I've knocked out a few marathons since that injury.

Hope all is well with the foot. Better rub some 'tussin on it for good measure.

That's what Chris Rock would do :)

Nice last split there. We don't have anywhere close to those temperatures yet, still in the 60s for our lows.

I would have died in that weather.

Thanks guys. The foot comes and goes and I've just learned I have to deal with it and take it easy. It's coming...but so is the Dirt Monster.

The weather is nice, but that winter snow may begin in the next week.

Burt, even your prickly self could stand for some freezing weather: http://windowsillcactus.com/cold_hardy_cacti.shtml

Running without hills is...

I thought of you the entire time, Mike...I was dreaming of taking corners on a sweet Harley. Then the pain would snap me back into reality.

Way to go Wes!

Bummer about the socks. Did you just finish the race like that? I hope Ken's ankle is ok, if he didn't fake it so you'd let him win :)

Good job, a lot of complications in that race. I can imagine it is quite hazardous trying to run a trail course with any sort of speed, my legs at least aren't limber enough for all of the twists and turns. Congratulations, and great sportsmanship for running it in with Ken.

Nice going, finishing a couple minutes off from last year is pretty good considering the time you've had to take off. That hill sounds terrible!

Pickle - Yes, I finished it with my socks like that. I considered stopping, but I'm pretty sure they would have fallen down again within a mile. I was waiting for the rubbing to begin, but it didn't so I didn't worry about it. Ken's ankle was pretty bruised & swollen enough to have his wife tell him to go to the doctor but he's a real man and didn't give in to the pressure.

Flat - I really do enjoy running trails, you can get a great workout without feeling like you have to run it super fast. You just have to be watching your foot placement the whole time.

Joe - Thanks. The hill was bad, but it was worse than last year because I'm still making my comeback. More hill work and strengthening workouts should flatten that hill next year.

You're all very kind to comment when I only get on the blog to post my occasional workout and ignore all the killer stuff you guys are doing. I hope to be better about following my FRB friends again one day soon. Thank you for the support!

Pickle?!

Trap - I'm still collecting orders at work but should be able to place my complete order by end of week for your $0.75 "whole pickle in a pouch" deal.

That is a great sign, good to see your running is going a lot better!

Way to go!

Thanks guys! It was tiring but felt good. I need to run 3-4 shorter runs this week instead of 2 longer ones like the last couple weeks.

I just need to run. Way to go BNS!

That is the way to run!

So did you try the bacon wrapped turkey yet?

Where have you been? I hope that turkey didn't kill ya.

No, didn't get the go-ahead on the bacon so that will wait for dude night with my son. The girls weren't too hip on it.

I've been around, just not running. We could play a game...click on the top 10 excuses link and pick one. You have a 90% chance of being right. Haha

I did spend about 15 hours helping some friends move the weekend before last. I'm the resident expert for moving pianos in the Stake, and they had a baby grand. Went smooth as silk.

Starting mid week, everyone will start taking vacation, so I'll be able to block out my gym time and not have meetings scheduled over it. BUT, it also means the call of egg nog is strong! My weight on Jan. 15 will tell which won out.

He he he!

Welcome back.

Enough of your corny excuses already. Get out there and run.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas.

Laughing at the high heels, would love to see that!

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO YA!!!

Thanks everyone, and happy belated Holidays to all of you. I hope to be back running again soon...

Good luck BNS!