Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

May 2006

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
53.000.000.000.000.0053.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.000.000.000.000.002.00

No running. Biked to gym and did 20 minutes on the recumbant bike, some light lifting, and my core and stretching exercises. The recumbant biking is an experiment to if it affects my knee at all. If it doesn't, I'll continue doing it. Can't really tell today, will know my how my knee feels tomorrow.

I'm going to start giving daily rankings (scale of 1-10) to my various injuries as a way for me to track progress (or lack thereof).

SI joint: 8 -- some stiffness, but not bad

Lower back: 5 -- woke up very stiff in morning

Knee: 7 -- some inflammation, probably from gardening yesterday

Plantar faciitis: 6 -- a little sore in morning, but walking without a limp by evening; better than at this point in the day yesterday

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

No running. Biked to work. Did stretches and core exercises in evening.

Ailment ratings:

SI joint: 8 -- no change

lower back: 6 -- less stiff this morning, loosened up during day

knee: 5 -- more inflammed than yesterday; maybe recumbant bike put to much stress on it

plantar fasciitis: 6.5 -- some improvement over yesterday

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

No running. Biked to gym, and warmed up muscles on elliptical for 5 minutes, then did stretching and core strength routine, along with some light lifting.

One bit of good news: since I've stopped running, not only have I maintained my weight, but have actually lost a couple pounds. I'm now at 137, and just have 4 more pounds to get back to "college weight". This is unprecidented; usually I put on weight within days after ending training. I think the main reason why I'm still losing weight is because I've cut back from two PB&J sandwiches at lunch to one. Today I calculated the number of calories in one PB&J sandwich, and it came out to 460. I had no idea it would be that high, so cutting those calories is certainly helping. Also, although I am not really doing much cardio training, my core strength and stretching routine takes about 1 hour or more every day. While it's not running, it's still burning more calories than just sitting on my butt. I'll have to wear a HR monitor sometime to get an idea of what it's doing.

Ailment ratings:

SI joint: 8 -- no change

lower back: 7 -- less stiff this morning, so good improvement over last two days

knee: 6 -- still a little inflamed, but better than yesterday

plantar fasciitis: 7 -- slow, steady improvement; the "morning effect" quite subdued when I got up, which is good. Hopefully I will get my night boot today.

******

Late day addendum:

Such a beautiful day today...I snuck out of work at 4:30 and went for an 55-minute bike ride from my house up to where the single track starts on the Logan Canyon River Trail. This is about 13 miles total, give or take. I didn't do any single track because of time constraints and also I didn't want to get out of my saddle and stress my knee or foot at all. Everything felt great, except the left side of my back got a little sore after a while from the biking posture. My HR was in the 150s during segments where I was working hard.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
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No running. Rode bike to work and did an hour worth of therapy stretches and core exercises in the evening. I got my night boot today, which will stretch my plantar fascia while I sleep. The PF has been getting a little better every day, to the point where I can't feel it much, so I'm optimistic about running in a few weeks.

Ailment rankings:

SI joint: 8 -- no change

lower back: 6 -- left side of back quite sore, probably from biking yesterday; otherwise fine

knee: 7.5 -- quite a bit better than yesterday; could put shoes and socks on with no pain, but still cannot go to full squat

plantar fasciitis: 7.5 -- more improvement over yesterday

The improvement has been encouraging, although I'm jealous to all those running Ogden this weekend. It's a great course and a great race, so good luck to everyone!

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.000.000.000.000.002.00

No running. Woke up with extremely sore and stiff lower back. Maybe if I never went to sleep, my back would actually feel good. We bought a new, expensive mattress a few months ago, but it didn't make any difference (although it is quite comfy). Went to the gym in morning and did 15 minutes on elliptical; HR ~145. Everything seemed to hold up okay on elliptical, so I may do more of that next week. My back loosened up some as usual over course of day, but as I write this around early evening, it's getting sore again. Time for more ice and ibuprofin.

Ailment ratings:

SI joint: 8 -- no change

lower back: 4 -- hurts, not much flexbility

knee: 9 -- better than ever; could go down to full squat under my own power with no pain

plantar fasciitis: 7.5 -- about the same as yesterday; not much limp, and it tolerated the elliptical well

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

No running. Rode bike over to gym in morning, did 20 minutes of elliptical; ave HR 135. Ailment ratings: SI joint: 8 -- no change lower back: 5 -- still pretty stiff and sore, but a little better than yesterday; seems to be loosening up better as the day goes on too knee: 9 -- no change, which is good. Still lacking a little strength, and I hope to strengthen my quads over the next few weeks in preparation for running again plantar fasciitis: 7.5 -- same as yesterday, may be a little better; wore night boot for the first full night last night...well almost the full night. I think I had it strapped on too tightly and I woke up at 4:30AM because my big toe and achilles were hurting. I was pretty concerned at first because I thought the brace was messing up something, but then realized that it was just digging into the skin at those points and I was getting something similar to chaffing. But the brace seemed to work, as I had very little pain in the morning. Hopefully I will get more used to it since I will be wearing it for many months.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.500.000.000.000.003.50

No running. Rode bike to gym in morning and did 25 minutes on elliptical; also stretch some stretching, core strength, and light lifting.

My back is just killing me today. It tend to go through cycles, so hopefully this is just a trough. I went to my PT today, and my joint and muscle flexibility is generally good, although need improvement in some areas. I got some ultrasound at the end too. I think the PT has done about all he can do with me and has taught me a lot of good exercises, stretches, and habits, so it will definitely be beneficial in the long run as long as I keep up on it. However, I feel that I need something "more" to compliment the PT. I've seen a chiropractor before, and it really helped short-term, but I was turned off about having to go back all the time. But maybe since my core strength and flexibility has improved, it may be worth revisiting. Something else that intrigues me is massage therapy. I've never tried it, but some people swear by it. At this point I'm open-minded to about anything. I have an appointment set up through my PT for tomorrow with an IHC massage therapist, which my insurance will cover. I'm not looking forward to the pain of deep massage, but I'm eager to see if there's any results.

Ailment ratings:

SI joint: 5 -- quite painful as the day went on

lower back: 3 -- bad

knee: 8.5 -- no pain, but still needs strength

plantar fasciitis: 7 -- not much change over weekend, maybe slight improvement; it's been pretty stable and I don't have much limp

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
1.000.000.000.000.001.00

Ran 1 mile in 9 minutes on grass loop around Logan High sports fields. I did this to test my foot a little and also to measure the grass loop with a gps, since I'll be doing a lot of running on it in the future. My foot felt okay, but not great (probably won't do this again anytime soon). The loop measured out to be almost exactly 0.5 miles and I did two loops to get a better reading. This will be great because it will be a good soft surface for my PF recovery, and also an even distance so I can just count laps and even do interval workouts on it in a few months when I get to that point. And it's one block from my house. The Cache fairgrounds are a few blocks away as well, so I may GPS the grassy perimeter of that as well.

In went in for a short massage therapy today. The therapist didn't really get very deep at all, since I had never had it before. I was impressed at first, but then realized as the day wore on that my back was remarkably looser, and even my SI joint was less stiff. So there seems to be some benefits. I've made an appointment with a chiropractor as well who specializes in sports med and treats runners.

Did stretches and core strength in evening.

Ailment ratings:

SI Joint: 7 -- still stiff in morning, but very loose by evening after massage and stretching

Lower back: 5 -- stiff and painful in morning, better after massage, but still had lots of issues

Knee: 9 -- pain free and feeling stronger

Plantar Fasc: 7 -- not much change

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

No running. My foot was quite sore when I woke up, first time in quite a while were it hasn't either progressed or stayed the same. Apparently 1 mile at 9 min pace on grass was too much yesterday. Predictably, it was feeling pretty good by afternoon. My wife and I took half the day off and went down to Ogden to get the Suburu serviced (half the population of Logan owns a Suburu -- why no dealer in Logan??), and we did a hike up Ogden Canyon while we were waiting. My foot felt great for that, and it was good to be outside on such a beautiful day and get any sort of exercise.

Did hour worth of stretches and core exercises at night.

Ailment ratings:

SI Joint: 8 -- better

lower back: 5 -- very stiff in morning; isolated to left side later in day

knee: 7.5 -- no pain during normal activity, but feels weaker

Plantar Fasciitis: 5 -- worst it's felt in over a week during morning; not limping by evening

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
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No running. Did stretches and core strength in evening. I got my new night splint today (the previous one was irritating my toe and achilles), so hopefully that will help the PF.

Ailment ratings:

SI Joint: 8 -- no change

Lower back: 5 - left side still quite sore; it will be interesting to see what the adjustment I have scheduled on Monday does for it.

Knee: 8 -- no pain, but general weakness

Plantar Fasciitis: 6 -- sore in morning, but less so that yesterday

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.500.000.000.000.003.50

Ran 1/2 mile with dog, then 20 minutes on elliptical. Also did core strength and stretching.

Ailment ratings:

SI Joint: 8 -- fine, no change

Lower back: 5 -- start day so-so, but really broke down by late afternoon and evening. I think I need to set a timer and force myself to get up and walk around every 30 minutes, since I sit at work all day long.

Knee: 8.5 -- improved a little over yesterday, still weak tough

Plantar fasc: 6 -- better in morning than previous day, pretty loose in evening.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.500.000.000.000.002.50

2.5 running: 2 on grass Logan High fields at 8:00/mile pace and 0.5 on road in transit. Felt decent; I could feel my heel on every stride, but still fairly comfortable with no affect on my form, which is the important thing. I also spent several hours today doing yard work, pulling weeds, etc., and my back seemed to hold up well. In fact, it's feeling the best it has in the last week right now. The key words are "right now". Yes, it's loose now, we'll see how it feels tomorrow. Same thing with my foot and knee. If everything feels better, or even the same, tomorrow and Monday, then it would seem that this level of activity is sustainable and beneficial. I hope it is. I would like to start running a couple miles a day, at least several days next week, and start working up from there as my body allows. My new night brace allows me to sleep through the night without me waking up at 3AM and tearing the thing off, so I hope to get PF improvement with the better compliance as I start running again.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

Biked to gym, 30 minutes on elliptical, did stretches and core exercises. Yesterday and most of today my body has been feeling pretty good, especially my back. It seems like the 3 hours of yardwork on Saturday actually helped things.

I had scheduled an appointment with a chiropractor this evening. Some people call them "quacks", but at least they don't stick drugs in me every chance they get. Personally, I appreciate their methodology. I spent a couple hours over there doing an array of tests and interviews, followed by a short adjustment. I've seen chiropractors before, so I realize it takes time. I walked in there feeling pretty good and left probably feeling a little worse. What I like about this guy, though, is that he's very wholistic. He specializes in sports injuries, and seemed a lot more robust in his treatment options (and energy level) than the previous chiropractor I had seen. He treated not just my back and neck, but also my foot and knees. I've expessed interest in getting my foot taped, something that my PT or podiatrist have never offered, but the chiropractor will do it next visit. I also like how chiropractors are into natural healing. I think I may get off of ibuprofin (been taking it way too long -- scary) and try an oral enzyme he's recommended. Also, he's brought to mind making some life changes, such as attempting to drink more water and changing my diet to include for whole and natural foods. I know Sasha will vouch for this. While I don't think I'll go vegan and eat buckwheat everyday, I can surely benefit to cut out red meat and Twizzlers, and try to eat more organic fruits and vegetables.

Anyway, by the end the evening I was actually starting to hurt a little bit, particularly my SI joint. I decided to go to bed sans ibuprofin and see how I feel in the morning.

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No running. No nothing. My whole body hurts like never before. I took me about an hour just to muster the nerve to get out of bed, and once I was up I felt like an 80-year-old man. It's everything too: my foot, my knee, my lower back, and also a groin strain I've been nursing recently has really flared up this morning. Is this what happens when I don't take ibuprofin? I've read that ibuprofin can actually inhibit healing...maybe it's true, I don't feel very healed right now. The chiropractic visit definitely had negative short-term effects...I'm banking on long-term though. I'm scheduled to see the chiropractor again tomorrow, and will lay low, stretch, and hope that things loosen up over the course of the day.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
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No running. To recap the last two days: pain and soreness. Although I was feeling much better Wednesday morning, my evening visit to the chiropractor changed that in a hurry. All Thursday I was sore to the point of distraction; I even ended up leaving work early because of it. It doesn't help that I'm try to ween off Ibuprofin, and have started taking an oral enzyme called Wobenzym N (doesn't seem to have the immediate effects of ibuprofin). I eventually caved and took a small dose of Ibuprofin Thurs night, which helped immediately and aided me in getting good night sleep. Today I'm feeling quite a bit better (as I hoped), although still have a ways to go. Needless to say, I haven't been inspired to do any cardio work over the last few days, and I've been constrained mostly to stretching. My range of motion is poor, and just putting on my shoes and socks is an ordeal.

The chiropractor taped my foot (and showed me how to on my own) during my visit on Wednesday. I was amazed on how well it works, and will continue with the taping.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
2.500.000.000.000.002.50

No running. Went to gym in morning and did 20 minutes easy on elliptical.

Although my back and neck are slowing recovering, they still have a ways to go before I can run on it, or live life comfortably, for that matter. Right now running is not so much a priority as living a pain-free existence. I see the chiropractor again Wednesday; hopefully he will be gentle.

However, the good news: 1) my knee seems very close to 100%, if not there already; 2) my foot is responding well to taping, so the battle against PF is going well; 3) I weighed in at a touch over 135 this morning, which means I'm getting very close to my weight goal...without much cardio activity to speak of. This signifies to me that my body responds better to pure dieting than to pure exercise w/o proper dieting. Ideally, someday I may have both.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

No running. 30 minutes on elliptical; HR ~155. Sunday my back was feeling quite a bit better, and today it is near-perfect. Very pleased. Right now my foot is the only thing keeping me from running. My knee seems much stronger, my back is getting there, and I've even regained feeling back in my left quad (must have been a pinched nerve). I should also mention that I've had a mysterious groin strain for the last couple weeks. My only guess is that I got it from overstretching. Perhaps I've been a bit too zealous at times.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

No running. 30 minutes on elliptial, HR in 150s. Did stretches and core strength. My back is still holding up and feeling pretty good, although had some minor stiffness today.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

No running. 30 minutes on elliptical. Went to chiropractor today; told him not to hurt me so bad this time. I'm not sure if he took the suggestion or if my body is just adapting, but I'm not getting as much stiffness this evening and from previous visits.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

No running. Biked to gym and did 30 minutes on elliptical, and stretches and core strength.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

Ran 3 miles easy on grass around Logan High. Pace around 8:45/mile. That fact that I could run today was largely based on me trying a different method of taping; gave me a lot me support and took away a lot of pain. Hopefully I can start training again, slowly.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.500.000.000.000.003.50

Ran a few miles this morning with my Wasatch Back Relay team. Although I am not actually racing, I'm still a driver and logistical captain. It was great to run again with people, even if it was only 8:30 miles on soggy grass.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.000.000.000.000.000.00

No running. My wife and I went up to Lava Hot Springs, ID on Saturday evening for a night at a B&B. After soaks in hot mineral water and massage therapy, my once-sore muscles were feeling much better.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
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No running. I woke up this morning with my foot not really feeling up to any sort of run. Being a holiday, the gym was clsoed, but since I had the day off, I went for a morning hike instead. The hike was great, but beat on my foot a bit too hard, and it was rather sore immediately afterward. It recovered and felt better as the day went on.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.000.000.000.000.003.00

No running. Went to gym and did 30 minutes elliptical and some light stretching and core strength. Saw both the podiatrist and chiropractor today. Got a cortisone shot from the former and an adjustment from the latter.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
3.500.000.000.000.003.50

0.5 mile running on treadmill, 30 minutes on elliptical. Foot not feeling too bad today (not great either), groin still sore.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
53.000.000.000.000.0053.00
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