After a 5 week layoff from running I decided to try a few short jogs. They were 800m jogging with 800m of walking in between. The shin would begin to throb immediately as I started the jogging portion. I tried a brand new pair of Mizuno Nirvana 4 (my fave shoe BTW). I left the regular laces in them rather than installing the iBungees that I love. Made no difference. However, the pain remained. This was Saturday, May 16. After this run I sat down to do my icing routine and noticed that an area on the front of my shin was numb. The numbness extended 2-3 inches above and below the primary pain point on my shin. Which, by the way, was easily noted by a butter bean sized knot which has been there since late February.
Monday morning I called my regular doctor to ask if I should see him or be referred to an orthopedic doc. The office called back and referred me to Dr Easom at Middle Georgia Orthopedic. My appointment was scheduled for Tuesday May 19 at 2pm. I had a peace about the visit because I knew I'd finally know for sure what was wrong and looked forward to hearing, one way or another, what was wrong but, moreso, when I could start running again.
I arrived at MidGAOrtho at 1:45 to fill out the paperwork. I was taken back to a small room and asked a series of questions by a nurse. Then, she led me to the xray room where they took two xrays of my left leg. The first was from straight above the leg. The other shot was of the side of my left leg. I went back to the small room and waited about 5 minutes before Dr Easom came in. He and I know each other very well because I have chaired a golf tournament that is in memory of daughter, Macy, whom he lost to pediatric cancer in 2006. He asked me to take him through the last few months of training leading up to Snickers. He asked about the distances of my long training runs and when I think the pains began. After sharing all that he put the two xray slides on the lightbox. He immediately said 'well Tommy...you have a stress fracture in your left tibia...no doubt about it....'. 'He added I'm having you get a bone scan so I can determine the extent of the fracture and then we'll know when you can resume running.'
He was encouraging and said this is a very common injury and that I shouldn't feel that I did anything wrong because this just happens sometimes to distance runners. He turned towards the xrays again and said he was highly impressed by the thickness of the structural integrity of my shin bone and that it was evident I have put in some long mileage. I asked if that was a bad thing and he said 'oh no...its a very good thing...this tells me you have done a good job with your training...' Of course, I had to ask 'ok doc...if i've done such a good job then why?' He laughed and said 'T...this could've started when you went from pavement to grass or grass to pavement one day on a run...you probably didn't feel anything but the initial crack started...'.
So, I have a bone scan on Friday May 29th. I get an injection of some radioactive stuff at 7:30am and then go back at 10am to have the scan done. My followup with Doc Easom is June 2nd at 4pm. At this followup I hope to learn how long before I can begin running.....until then, all i can do is hope and pray it won't be long.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Running happiness.....
After Snickers (March 7th) I did like a good marathoner and took a full week off from running. I did walk each day and extended the distance each day. My first jog was 8 days after Snickers and it felt so nice to be moving again. However, the shin began to hurt immediately and continued through the run. This kept happening each time I would run regardless of speed or terrain. Last week while in Huntsville on business I tried a treadmill at the hotel and had the same pain. I accepted the fact that I would have to take 4-5 weeks off from any form of jogging/running.
So, here I am... 5 days since I ran on the treadmill. The acceptance was tough enough...but, to try and find something else to do has been difficult. I rode a mountain bike with my buddy Tim Saturday afternoon on his long run and that was ok...but it wasn't the same. I enjoyed seeing my buddy run for one hour without stopping though...it was a hurdle for him and he crossed over it easily....just like I knew he could.
What makes running so different?
After pondering this for the last week I have realized why running has become such a part of my life. The time I spend running I am sorting things out, planning, smiling, observing, listening and praying. Sure, those things can be done with other activities...but, there is nothing like putting on my shoes each afternoon and heading out for a short journey.
Leading up to Snickers I began using my iPod and found it to be a nice way to break up the really long runs. I still enjoy running the first few miles just listening to my steps...my breathing...the little yapping dog at mile 0.8 on my Garmin who barks but wags his tail so hard...he doesn't want to bite me or chase me...he wants to run with me! I really miss seeing the two huge redtail hawks patrolling in the empty subdivision that I log most of my miles in. Also, I miss the occasional glimpses of the fox and coyote family that live in the wooded areas. I miss the smell of fresh air mixed with the scent of pine needles, magnolia flowers and the wild flowers that grow over there.
A few weeks before Snickers I had the ultimate pleasure of running a few miles in the snow! As I ran I kept my mouth open catching snowflakes. I'm 46 yrs old but not too old to catch a few snowflakes!
Gosh I miss running. My new running coach made a statement to me that I am trying to accept. I must accept that 'The Thing' is not the thing I thought it was...meaning, running. "The Thing" is fitness. So, I am trying to accept the wisdom of this simple saying. I'm exploring biking now. It seems expensive but when I look in the floor of my closet I can relate the cost of all those shoes to a very nice mountain bike. I am trying to make "The Thing" fitness for me....but it is difficult. I miss the activity that caused this 46 yr old body to lose 27 pounds in the past 23 months. The activity that has caused my resting heart rate to drop from 72 bpm down to 54 bpm. The activity that has so greatly enhanced my awareness of what is around me.
I miss you running....but, I will see you again soon....
So, here I am... 5 days since I ran on the treadmill. The acceptance was tough enough...but, to try and find something else to do has been difficult. I rode a mountain bike with my buddy Tim Saturday afternoon on his long run and that was ok...but it wasn't the same. I enjoyed seeing my buddy run for one hour without stopping though...it was a hurdle for him and he crossed over it easily....just like I knew he could.
What makes running so different?
After pondering this for the last week I have realized why running has become such a part of my life. The time I spend running I am sorting things out, planning, smiling, observing, listening and praying. Sure, those things can be done with other activities...but, there is nothing like putting on my shoes each afternoon and heading out for a short journey.
Leading up to Snickers I began using my iPod and found it to be a nice way to break up the really long runs. I still enjoy running the first few miles just listening to my steps...my breathing...the little yapping dog at mile 0.8 on my Garmin who barks but wags his tail so hard...he doesn't want to bite me or chase me...he wants to run with me! I really miss seeing the two huge redtail hawks patrolling in the empty subdivision that I log most of my miles in. Also, I miss the occasional glimpses of the fox and coyote family that live in the wooded areas. I miss the smell of fresh air mixed with the scent of pine needles, magnolia flowers and the wild flowers that grow over there.
A few weeks before Snickers I had the ultimate pleasure of running a few miles in the snow! As I ran I kept my mouth open catching snowflakes. I'm 46 yrs old but not too old to catch a few snowflakes!
Gosh I miss running. My new running coach made a statement to me that I am trying to accept. I must accept that 'The Thing' is not the thing I thought it was...meaning, running. "The Thing" is fitness. So, I am trying to accept the wisdom of this simple saying. I'm exploring biking now. It seems expensive but when I look in the floor of my closet I can relate the cost of all those shoes to a very nice mountain bike. I am trying to make "The Thing" fitness for me....but it is difficult. I miss the activity that caused this 46 yr old body to lose 27 pounds in the past 23 months. The activity that has caused my resting heart rate to drop from 72 bpm down to 54 bpm. The activity that has so greatly enhanced my awareness of what is around me.
I miss you running....but, I will see you again soon....
Sunday, April 5, 2009
What a journey
Hey to the one or two people who follow my blog... :) (Tim, Amy and maybe a few stragglers).
Well, let's see...what has happened since my last post...hmmm...I completed my second marathon! No where near my time goal though. Going into this year's Snickers Marathon I honestly believed I was ready. I had logged the mileage...I had mentally prepared for my second attempt at the 26.2 mile monster. However, sometime in January I started having some shin problems with my left leg. At first it was a nagging pain that went away after a mile or two. As I approached the middle of February the pain had begun to linger during runs and sometimes hurt while just walking around. I began stretching more and tried some things that I'd read about. Nothing seemed to help. So, I chose to follow the wisdom I bestow on my cross-country team and track team at Central Fellowship Christian Academy...'Shutup and run!' :)
Raceday Eve:
We drove to Albany on Friday (March 6th) to setup a table for the runner's expo (for PeachSports, my photography company). The expo and packet pickup were fun. Let me back up a tad...I had contacted one of the pacers (Pacer Jim to be specific) and asked a few questions about pacing strategy, etc. When I picked up my packet I introduced myself to Pacer Jim. He said to join them at the starting line and give a pacing group a try. As I walked back to our table a small siren was going off in my head (meaning 'do not do this Tommy!'). I shook off the idea of using the pacing group. In the room I made sure all of my gear was ready. I decided to go with two gels and hit the first one at mile 10 and the second at mile 19. Why? Easy, on my training runs leading up to Snickers I tried to find the right time to take them...and i found that every 10 miles worked best for me.
Raceday:
I woke up at 5am and took a shower. Then, I went downstairs and made some toast with peanut butter. Also, had a cup of coffee. I went back to the room and got my running gear on and headed out for a jog to warmup. The air temp was brisk but felt good. But, the problem was the fog. It was a very thick fog...heavy...you could feel the moisture in the air. I ran into my buddy Tim Cook. We jogged to the end of the Civic Center parking lot together and back. He shared that he might try to run with the 5:00:00 pace group but wasn't sure. I had totally forgotten about the 4:30:00 group from the night before. As we walked up to the groups beginning to form I saw the 4:30:00 sign being held high by Pacer Jim. His hair was dyed a bright red color. I stayed back a little ways because I had made up my mind not to run with them. A lady standing to my left asked 'hey...are you running with this group?' I said 'no...just here...' The guy to my right said he was running with them. I figured 'ok...i'll start off with them....see how it goes...' The siren in my head went off again..this time with flashing red lights though. The one thing that Pacer Jim had told me was we would go out slow and stay close to the time goal pace (10:18 per mile).
I was chatting with some of the folks around me and all of the sudden we heard the gun go off. We were about 50 yds from the start so it took about a minute before we began to move. As I crossed the timing mat I hit the Start button on my Garmin. The race had begun! I saw my wife and some of my photographers clicking away at the crowd as we ran by. On several of my long training runs (10+ milers) I had been practing the starting pace I wanted. The first two miles of the Snickers involves some slow uphill grades and then a rather steep one as you leave Albany State's campus. So, I had physically and mentally prepared to do 10:40s the first two miles and then slowly make up that deficit over the first 8 miles. As we crossed the bridge I looked down at my Garmin and saw 9:45 as the current pace. It felt fast but I didn't think it was that fast. Now the siren and redlights were going off bigtime. I thought 'surely we'll slow down when the group leader realizes we're going out too fast...' We hit mile 1 at 9:47. Rather than back off I showed my ignornance and stuck with the group.
I felt fine but knew I should back off the pace group eventually. By the time we passed back over the Flint River bridge we were almost 2 minutes ahead of schedule. That may not sound like much but at my pacing its almost a quarter mile (actually around 300m). Several of us joked loudly about being well ahead of schedule....no comment from the pace leader. As we neared mile 7 we were approaching Darton College. It was then that I decided to let the pacing group go ahead. 7 miles is 19.2 miles short of the finish line and I felt it was time to get back on my plan. The pace group disappeared into the foggy mist ahead of me as we left the college campus. I backed down my pace to around 10:45 miles. When I crossed the timing mat at mile 10 I was 9 seconds late....that is not too darn bad. It showed me just how fast the group had gone out.
The runners became more spaced out. I was passing more people than were passing me. By the time I reached the 13.1 timing mat I realized i was slowing down so I picked up the pace just a tad. I felt strong, hydrated and excited about finishing my second marathon....especially after the debacle of last year's Snickers. Even though I was behind schedule I was still on track to finish well below 5:00:00 and that was a good feeling.
As I approached my 17 I felt my left ham tighten up. This was quite odd. In all my years of sports I've never had hamstring problems...ever! The furter I went into mile 17 the tighter it became. For those who run these distances you know the mental checklist you start going through when something starts to happen such as this....'is my stride correct?' 'am i favoring one side over the other?' 'is this one of those things that comes up and goes away during a long run?' At mile 17.8 on my Garmin my left leg totally seized up....i mean stiff legged to the point I had to stop. I spent about a minute stretching. Man it was tight! I continued but could tell something wasn't right.
Each mile went by slower and slower because I was having to stop more frequently to stretch my ham so that I could continue running. I hit the timing mat at mile 20 at 3:46:28. At this point I'm thinking 'OK...click off 11 min miles from here and you still have a sub 5hr marathon....'
When I got to mile 22 my ham was seizing up about every 400m. I tried to keep my stretching time to 20 seconds and balance out the running pace so that i'd hit the 11 min mile pace. I borrowed someone's cell phone so that I could call Carol and tell her to have the girls wait by the train station for me and that I would be late. My girls wanted to run in with me.
Somewhere around mile 23 I heard someone coming up from behind me as I walked a little bit after stretching. It was Tim Cook. He passed right on by and I hollered out his name. He turned and had this shocked look on his face...'what the heck are you doing here?' He thought I had already finished I guess. He came back and asked me what was wrong and said he'd go with me. I knew he was trying for 5:00:00 so I told him to go on. He said 'nope...i'll hang back with you'. He shuffled along with me for about a half mile and I told him to just go. I was walking more than I was running by this point. He continued on.
A lot of the people I had passed earlier were now passing me. As I approached mile 24 I was so depressed. I realized that the 4:30:00 goal was out the window and that the sub 5hr goal was also out the window. Major disappointment. I shuffled through the last 2 miles though. Stopping every 100m to stretch and trying to accept the fact that all my training for the last 16 weeks resulted in a failure to complete the desired goal. I began to wonder if the marathon distance was more than my 46 yr old body could handle....or, that my training methods were not working for me.
When the train station came into view I knew my girls would be there to run in with me. As I turned down the cobblestone road leading to the train station I saw my lovely bride standing with my girls. Unfortunately, I had to stop twice before I got to them to stretch my ham. My wife has been a major part of my training for this marathon attempt. So many weekends where she'd drive ahead of me as I ran on base for my 10+ mile training runs. She'd wait with water in one hand and G2 in the other...and a gel pack hanging from her teeth....whatever I needed she was there with it. We ran in as a family. As I entered the shoot Carol and Julie peeled off but Kathryn ran with me through the finish. Carol placed my medal around my neck and gave me a kiss. It was bitter sweet. So glad to cross the finish line...but, majorly disappointed in my time.
After a week of sulking, analyzing and questioning things I accepted the fact that my training method was probably to blame for the performance. However, the stupid decision to go out with the pace group might've had a little to do with it. Not placing blame...i'm a big boy...and I should've said 'see ya' when i first looked at my Garmin going across the bridge (at mile 0.3).
I took a week off. Met with my new running coach (RC as he's called). I have continued to battle this shin issue....i say 'issue' because i'm not sure I have a splint or a stress fracture. It's going to be an interesting few more weeks...part of me wants to run 12 miles...but, the shin says 'sorry...not yet....'
Well, let's see...what has happened since my last post...hmmm...I completed my second marathon! No where near my time goal though. Going into this year's Snickers Marathon I honestly believed I was ready. I had logged the mileage...I had mentally prepared for my second attempt at the 26.2 mile monster. However, sometime in January I started having some shin problems with my left leg. At first it was a nagging pain that went away after a mile or two. As I approached the middle of February the pain had begun to linger during runs and sometimes hurt while just walking around. I began stretching more and tried some things that I'd read about. Nothing seemed to help. So, I chose to follow the wisdom I bestow on my cross-country team and track team at Central Fellowship Christian Academy...'Shutup and run!' :)
Raceday Eve:
We drove to Albany on Friday (March 6th) to setup a table for the runner's expo (for PeachSports, my photography company). The expo and packet pickup were fun. Let me back up a tad...I had contacted one of the pacers (Pacer Jim to be specific) and asked a few questions about pacing strategy, etc. When I picked up my packet I introduced myself to Pacer Jim. He said to join them at the starting line and give a pacing group a try. As I walked back to our table a small siren was going off in my head (meaning 'do not do this Tommy!'). I shook off the idea of using the pacing group. In the room I made sure all of my gear was ready. I decided to go with two gels and hit the first one at mile 10 and the second at mile 19. Why? Easy, on my training runs leading up to Snickers I tried to find the right time to take them...and i found that every 10 miles worked best for me.
Raceday:
I woke up at 5am and took a shower. Then, I went downstairs and made some toast with peanut butter. Also, had a cup of coffee. I went back to the room and got my running gear on and headed out for a jog to warmup. The air temp was brisk but felt good. But, the problem was the fog. It was a very thick fog...heavy...you could feel the moisture in the air. I ran into my buddy Tim Cook. We jogged to the end of the Civic Center parking lot together and back. He shared that he might try to run with the 5:00:00 pace group but wasn't sure. I had totally forgotten about the 4:30:00 group from the night before. As we walked up to the groups beginning to form I saw the 4:30:00 sign being held high by Pacer Jim. His hair was dyed a bright red color. I stayed back a little ways because I had made up my mind not to run with them. A lady standing to my left asked 'hey...are you running with this group?' I said 'no...just here...' The guy to my right said he was running with them. I figured 'ok...i'll start off with them....see how it goes...' The siren in my head went off again..this time with flashing red lights though. The one thing that Pacer Jim had told me was we would go out slow and stay close to the time goal pace (10:18 per mile).
I was chatting with some of the folks around me and all of the sudden we heard the gun go off. We were about 50 yds from the start so it took about a minute before we began to move. As I crossed the timing mat I hit the Start button on my Garmin. The race had begun! I saw my wife and some of my photographers clicking away at the crowd as we ran by. On several of my long training runs (10+ milers) I had been practing the starting pace I wanted. The first two miles of the Snickers involves some slow uphill grades and then a rather steep one as you leave Albany State's campus. So, I had physically and mentally prepared to do 10:40s the first two miles and then slowly make up that deficit over the first 8 miles. As we crossed the bridge I looked down at my Garmin and saw 9:45 as the current pace. It felt fast but I didn't think it was that fast. Now the siren and redlights were going off bigtime. I thought 'surely we'll slow down when the group leader realizes we're going out too fast...' We hit mile 1 at 9:47. Rather than back off I showed my ignornance and stuck with the group.
I felt fine but knew I should back off the pace group eventually. By the time we passed back over the Flint River bridge we were almost 2 minutes ahead of schedule. That may not sound like much but at my pacing its almost a quarter mile (actually around 300m). Several of us joked loudly about being well ahead of schedule....no comment from the pace leader. As we neared mile 7 we were approaching Darton College. It was then that I decided to let the pacing group go ahead. 7 miles is 19.2 miles short of the finish line and I felt it was time to get back on my plan. The pace group disappeared into the foggy mist ahead of me as we left the college campus. I backed down my pace to around 10:45 miles. When I crossed the timing mat at mile 10 I was 9 seconds late....that is not too darn bad. It showed me just how fast the group had gone out.
The runners became more spaced out. I was passing more people than were passing me. By the time I reached the 13.1 timing mat I realized i was slowing down so I picked up the pace just a tad. I felt strong, hydrated and excited about finishing my second marathon....especially after the debacle of last year's Snickers. Even though I was behind schedule I was still on track to finish well below 5:00:00 and that was a good feeling.
As I approached my 17 I felt my left ham tighten up. This was quite odd. In all my years of sports I've never had hamstring problems...ever! The furter I went into mile 17 the tighter it became. For those who run these distances you know the mental checklist you start going through when something starts to happen such as this....'is my stride correct?' 'am i favoring one side over the other?' 'is this one of those things that comes up and goes away during a long run?' At mile 17.8 on my Garmin my left leg totally seized up....i mean stiff legged to the point I had to stop. I spent about a minute stretching. Man it was tight! I continued but could tell something wasn't right.
Each mile went by slower and slower because I was having to stop more frequently to stretch my ham so that I could continue running. I hit the timing mat at mile 20 at 3:46:28. At this point I'm thinking 'OK...click off 11 min miles from here and you still have a sub 5hr marathon....'
When I got to mile 22 my ham was seizing up about every 400m. I tried to keep my stretching time to 20 seconds and balance out the running pace so that i'd hit the 11 min mile pace. I borrowed someone's cell phone so that I could call Carol and tell her to have the girls wait by the train station for me and that I would be late. My girls wanted to run in with me.
Somewhere around mile 23 I heard someone coming up from behind me as I walked a little bit after stretching. It was Tim Cook. He passed right on by and I hollered out his name. He turned and had this shocked look on his face...'what the heck are you doing here?' He thought I had already finished I guess. He came back and asked me what was wrong and said he'd go with me. I knew he was trying for 5:00:00 so I told him to go on. He said 'nope...i'll hang back with you'. He shuffled along with me for about a half mile and I told him to just go. I was walking more than I was running by this point. He continued on.
A lot of the people I had passed earlier were now passing me. As I approached mile 24 I was so depressed. I realized that the 4:30:00 goal was out the window and that the sub 5hr goal was also out the window. Major disappointment. I shuffled through the last 2 miles though. Stopping every 100m to stretch and trying to accept the fact that all my training for the last 16 weeks resulted in a failure to complete the desired goal. I began to wonder if the marathon distance was more than my 46 yr old body could handle....or, that my training methods were not working for me.
When the train station came into view I knew my girls would be there to run in with me. As I turned down the cobblestone road leading to the train station I saw my lovely bride standing with my girls. Unfortunately, I had to stop twice before I got to them to stretch my ham. My wife has been a major part of my training for this marathon attempt. So many weekends where she'd drive ahead of me as I ran on base for my 10+ mile training runs. She'd wait with water in one hand and G2 in the other...and a gel pack hanging from her teeth....whatever I needed she was there with it. We ran in as a family. As I entered the shoot Carol and Julie peeled off but Kathryn ran with me through the finish. Carol placed my medal around my neck and gave me a kiss. It was bitter sweet. So glad to cross the finish line...but, majorly disappointed in my time.
After a week of sulking, analyzing and questioning things I accepted the fact that my training method was probably to blame for the performance. However, the stupid decision to go out with the pace group might've had a little to do with it. Not placing blame...i'm a big boy...and I should've said 'see ya' when i first looked at my Garmin going across the bridge (at mile 0.3).
I took a week off. Met with my new running coach (RC as he's called). I have continued to battle this shin issue....i say 'issue' because i'm not sure I have a splint or a stress fracture. It's going to be an interesting few more weeks...part of me wants to run 12 miles...but, the shin says 'sorry...not yet....'
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Behind and I apologize
Running (pun) behind on updating this blog. I've found FaceBook and have realized I need to restrict myself to no more than 30 minutes of FB each night.
Let's see...what have I been doing....oh, RUNNING! I'm sure some folks consider my pacing to be more of a jog than of a run and that's ok if they feel that way. All I know is that I'm able to do something faster than walking and go quite a long way doing it. For example, on MLK day I did a 16 miler. Three days later I did a speed workout where I did 4x1600m with 800m jogs in between with a mile warmup on the front end and a mile cooldown on the tail end. Then, Sunday I did my first 20 mile training run....my longest distance since Snickers 2008. The more I train the more I'm starting to believe I'm cutout for the half marathon distance. My splits look good through 13-14 miles everytime I go beyond 13 on a run....hmmmm....i'll worry about that after Snickers. It's only five weeks away!
My buddy Tim is an official Marathon Maniac and what better person to wear a maniac shirt than Tim. :) He achieved this milestone upon completing the 2009 Museum of Aviation Marathon on the 17th of January. It was an almost perfect day. It needed to be in the high 30s or low 40s....NOT the low 20s with a breeze. But, everyone seemed to handle it well. I heard many people coming up to the water stop at mile 6 where I was taking pictures say something about their gel packs being frozen or at least crunch.
I'm taking the clan to Tallahassee this weekend. We are shooting the Tallahassee Marathon on Sunday. My oldest daughter celebrates her 15th birthday on Saturday so it will be fun being together on her birthday.
Track practices begin next week at Central Fellowship where my daughters go. I'm an assistant coach again because I enjoy being around the kids and helping them improve. It should be fun. We have a lot of JV runners again this year and thats a good thing. We'll see how things pan out for us.
nite nite everyone...
Let's see...what have I been doing....oh, RUNNING! I'm sure some folks consider my pacing to be more of a jog than of a run and that's ok if they feel that way. All I know is that I'm able to do something faster than walking and go quite a long way doing it. For example, on MLK day I did a 16 miler. Three days later I did a speed workout where I did 4x1600m with 800m jogs in between with a mile warmup on the front end and a mile cooldown on the tail end. Then, Sunday I did my first 20 mile training run....my longest distance since Snickers 2008. The more I train the more I'm starting to believe I'm cutout for the half marathon distance. My splits look good through 13-14 miles everytime I go beyond 13 on a run....hmmmm....i'll worry about that after Snickers. It's only five weeks away!
My buddy Tim is an official Marathon Maniac and what better person to wear a maniac shirt than Tim. :) He achieved this milestone upon completing the 2009 Museum of Aviation Marathon on the 17th of January. It was an almost perfect day. It needed to be in the high 30s or low 40s....NOT the low 20s with a breeze. But, everyone seemed to handle it well. I heard many people coming up to the water stop at mile 6 where I was taking pictures say something about their gel packs being frozen or at least crunch.
I'm taking the clan to Tallahassee this weekend. We are shooting the Tallahassee Marathon on Sunday. My oldest daughter celebrates her 15th birthday on Saturday so it will be fun being together on her birthday.
Track practices begin next week at Central Fellowship where my daughters go. I'm an assistant coach again because I enjoy being around the kids and helping them improve. It should be fun. We have a lot of JV runners again this year and thats a good thing. We'll see how things pan out for us.
nite nite everyone...
Sunday, December 28, 2008
The long run and staying on track
Earlier in the week I got a call from the newest ultra-marathon man that I know...Tim. We chatted about all sorts of stuff but the topic of the long run for the upcoming weekend kept weaving its way into our conversation. It was never settled when/where or even if the run would take place due to possible storms predicted for late Saturday and sometime Sunday. I did promise Tim I'd give him a call or email the day after Christmas...which I never did...and, again, Tim, I apologize.
Friday evening I received an email from Stefanie about she and Tim doing their long run on base the next morning. She shared her and Kenny's cellie digits (picking this up from my teenage daughter). I gave them a call just before I started my run. She and Kenny were waiting on Tim to meet them at the main gate. (non-DoD folks have to be escorted on base by a civil service person or a member of the military). They said they'd find me.
0755 (7:55am) I begin my run. Carol, my lovely bride, is my rolling crew (I'm blessed!). She accompanies me on any run beyond 12 miles. She'll leapfrog ahead 2-3 miles and wait on me with Gatorade, water, GU, etc. Did I say I was blessed? First stop was near the Aeroclub. Its along Hwy 247 and easily seen from 'outside the fence'. From where I started this was around the 3 mile point of my journey. I took some water and continued on. A few minutes later I hear a vehicle approaching from behind me and then some catcalls and whistles....my running friends Stefanie and Tim being chauffeured by Kenny. I continued on as they disappeared ahead of me. I thought they may be showing Tim the course but as I did my loop through the Air Guard hanger area (built for the B-1 bombers that were moved back to TX) I saw three figures walking out to join me ahead. We hooked up and continued on. Kenny went back the truck and began his leapfrogging. Tim and Stefanie were doing a run/walk mix whereas I was doing a steady easy pace. I did a few cycles of their run/walk but realized I was falling off my scheduled pace so we said 'cya' and I ventured on.
The whole distance in relation to time/pace is quite interesting. Back in my motox days I learned you never look behind you...ever. I try to observe this same routine for my training. However, I've found it is helpful to glance back every so often because you really don't know what/who might be behind you. Along the east side of the flightline I decided to glance back at my buddies. I could see them but couldn't really tell how far away they were....but, it really didn't matter...i was keeping a steady pace while they were running and walking. Two different strategies that accomplish the same goal....run/jog/walk a long frickin way!
My plan was to do a 9 mile out and back to give me the 18 mile run on my schedule. I felt great at the 9 mile point and decided to be safe and rest for 2 minutes. I walked around sipping Gatorade while Carol walked with me. I decided to change shirts and apply some Bodyglide to the thighs ( i don't have stick legs like some of you runners have!) I snuck a kiss from my bride and off I went...backtracking the course I just ran. I was anxious to see my friends...as I started down a hill near the fuel tank farm i saw them coming up the hill. We shared some smiles and words of encouragement and went in opposited directions. I didn't see them again though. I thought I may see them near the end of my run but I guess they chose a different course on the base.
The base was totally dead yesterday....i mean DEAD! The perfect place to run...no dogs...and a HumVee with a dude manning a .50 caliber machine gun on top that came by every 45 minutes or so...talk about feeling safe! I'm blessed to have access to this safe place to run.
Everything was good through mile 15. Hips began to tingle a little bit around 15 but the feet ankles and knees felt fine. Shoulders were a tad tight. Energy level was pretty good....I decided to pop half a GU around 13 and I believe that is what kept everything moving forward. The last two miles were bears....i had to walk a few times which I hate to do but I knew it was key to just doing the distance. I had Carol waiting for me every 1.5 miles at that point. The sun had broken through and it was nearing 72 degrees and quite humid.
As I watched the Garmin click over to 18 miles I immediately wondered where my friends where and how they were doing. Even when you don't run with someone physically you know they are out there...pushing through the same things you are pushing through.
Runners are special folk...regardless of speed or ability they are just special. They have made a decision to do something only a small percentage of our population does....run!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry CHRISTmas!!!!
Hi
Gosh what a whirlwind of a month! Now the house is settled on Christmas Eve. The stockings aren't hung with care though...still too much kitten in our two cats, Moe and Sammy. Oh, by the way, here they are sporting their holiday cheer! Sammy-Claus and Moe-dolph.
Sammy wasn't real happy as you can see...Moe...well, he really could care less...he digs this kinda stuff.
Let's see...what has been going on with the running...hmmmm.... The mileage is ramping up. I had a rough go at it this past weekend though. Target was 16 miles. I did an out and back on the base. When I turned around at mile 9 I felt pretty good. As I approached mile 11 i began to feel soreness in my hips. When my Garmin showed 12 miles the soreness changed to a dull pain. By the time I hit 12.5 the dull pain became a strong pain. Thankfully, my crew (Carol) was waiting for me at mile 13. As I approached her I motioned that i was done. She tried to convince me to go on but I told her it wasn't something I was going to run through. It was the right call. It's the first training run I've cut short since late summer. No biggie. This weekend is 18 miles.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Tommy
Gosh what a whirlwind of a month! Now the house is settled on Christmas Eve. The stockings aren't hung with care though...still too much kitten in our two cats, Moe and Sammy. Oh, by the way, here they are sporting their holiday cheer! Sammy-Claus and Moe-dolph.
Sammy wasn't real happy as you can see...Moe...well, he really could care less...he digs this kinda stuff.
Let's see...what has been going on with the running...hmmmm.... The mileage is ramping up. I had a rough go at it this past weekend though. Target was 16 miles. I did an out and back on the base. When I turned around at mile 9 I felt pretty good. As I approached mile 11 i began to feel soreness in my hips. When my Garmin showed 12 miles the soreness changed to a dull pain. By the time I hit 12.5 the dull pain became a strong pain. Thankfully, my crew (Carol) was waiting for me at mile 13. As I approached her I motioned that i was done. She tried to convince me to go on but I told her it wasn't something I was going to run through. It was the right call. It's the first training run I've cut short since late summer. No biggie. This weekend is 18 miles.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Tommy
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Does anyone have some spare time I could borrow?
What a week so far and I'm glad it is Thursday!!!!
Monday: work...blah! However, because of a full schedule Tuesday I moved my Tuesday run to Monday. So, I did the 'easy 5' that my training schedule called for. I'm on the third week of a training plan I generated on the Runner's World website. Target: 4:30:00 at Snickers on March 7th, 2009. So far I've hit all the marks, times and distances. This schedule is a lot different than the Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan I was on for my first marathon (Snickers 2008). Hal's plan had me running 5 days a week. My mentor wasn't real keen on me using that plan because of the 5 day schedule. She felt I needed at least one more day of rest. When I sent her this new training plan she said 'I like this a lot!'. It's only three days a week of running. However, the other four days can include cross-training. I've begun doing some light ab work and pushups. The goal is to tighten the core. I have plenty of core right now but its the wrong type of core.... :) Oh, the easy 5 was a slow paced 5 miles. Schedule said a 11:12 pace but honestly, i feel like i'm jogging in place at that pace so i kept it closer to 10:30. Still feeling the 'love' after effects of the wet 10.87 miles I did at Bartram so I kept it slow.
Tuesday: Work..ugh! Central Fellowship was playing Strong Rock (basketball) so Carol went with me after work up to Locust Grove. I was there to shoot (photograph) some of our seniors for CFCA. But, I was also there to smooze with the sports information director for Strong Rock. If you are at the Tanger Outlet exit any time soon go over on the other side of the interstate and check out the campus...wowza! They completed their football stadium just as school started in August but it wasn't ready for play until September. It looks like a small college campus to be perfectly honest. Anyways, their basketball gym is in what will become the elementary gym/event center. I can only imagine what their high school gym will look like when it is completed. Here's a pic of the current gym.
Our girls played poorly...stanky is how I would described it. No offense to Strong Rock but our girls should have won easily by 25-30 points...instead they lost by 3. Our boys played quite well and won handily. However, one of our guys drew a technical for throwing the ball across the court to the ref with apparently too much force. After the games we got home around 11:20pm..to bed at midnight.
Shooting basketball for high school is such a challenge. Usually, the gym is lit about as well as a cave dweller's cave (no offense to cavemen...and I never understood how they drew such nice drawings in such poor light....so, I've never bought into the whole GEICO ad campaign...i digress...). Here's a few shots from the games Tuesday night.....
Wednesday: work...bleh! Left at 2:45 to attend a Museum of Aviation Marathon meeting. Since my company, PeachSports.Com, is providing photography coverage (3rd year in row..yeahbaby!) they invite me to their planning meetings. Two key things for the runners out there....1) they are using the same type of chips as the Macon Labor Day RR used and 2) they are planning on having a single finish line for the 5k, half and full marathons. Should be pretty cool. Back to work at 4pm and stayed until 5:30. Then, went to the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation office to meet with the President about JMCCF 'stuff' (btw, I'm the VP of the JMCCF). We finished our meeting around 7:30 and I went to Kroger. A lesson for the married pups out there (Troy listen up) ... if you want to be happy...momma must be happy. One way I keep Carol happy is handling all the grocery shopping. Plus, I get to buy stuff I like! :)
Thursday: work...yuk! Came home and slipped into my running shorts and along sleeve shirt. Tried my new Mizuno thin breathing ultra comfortable spiffy socks (btw, Tommy like!). Threw on my inspirational Badwater hat and set out for my Thursday training run. Mile warmup (10:12). Three miles at or below 9:35 (9:28, 9:15, 9:08 go me!). Mile cooldown (10:08).
I just ordered pizza for the clan. Carol has a migraine and it takes her several hours to sleep them off...i'm so glad I don't have migraines....
Tomorrow: work...ugh! Please don't misread my work comments....I really do love my job...most of the time. If I had the guts to share my thoughts about working as a contractor around a group of 'gubment' workers I would....but I shall refrain.
Saturday: Have to endure shooting ugly cheerleaders for the GISA State Cheer Competition at Tattnall...hohum...the life of a sports photographer...rough stuff....
T
Monday: work...blah! However, because of a full schedule Tuesday I moved my Tuesday run to Monday. So, I did the 'easy 5' that my training schedule called for. I'm on the third week of a training plan I generated on the Runner's World website. Target: 4:30:00 at Snickers on March 7th, 2009. So far I've hit all the marks, times and distances. This schedule is a lot different than the Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan I was on for my first marathon (Snickers 2008). Hal's plan had me running 5 days a week. My mentor wasn't real keen on me using that plan because of the 5 day schedule. She felt I needed at least one more day of rest. When I sent her this new training plan she said 'I like this a lot!'. It's only three days a week of running. However, the other four days can include cross-training. I've begun doing some light ab work and pushups. The goal is to tighten the core. I have plenty of core right now but its the wrong type of core.... :) Oh, the easy 5 was a slow paced 5 miles. Schedule said a 11:12 pace but honestly, i feel like i'm jogging in place at that pace so i kept it closer to 10:30. Still feeling the 'love' after effects of the wet 10.87 miles I did at Bartram so I kept it slow.
Tuesday: Work..ugh! Central Fellowship was playing Strong Rock (basketball) so Carol went with me after work up to Locust Grove. I was there to shoot (photograph) some of our seniors for CFCA. But, I was also there to smooze with the sports information director for Strong Rock. If you are at the Tanger Outlet exit any time soon go over on the other side of the interstate and check out the campus...wowza! They completed their football stadium just as school started in August but it wasn't ready for play until September. It looks like a small college campus to be perfectly honest. Anyways, their basketball gym is in what will become the elementary gym/event center. I can only imagine what their high school gym will look like when it is completed. Here's a pic of the current gym.
Our girls played poorly...stanky is how I would described it. No offense to Strong Rock but our girls should have won easily by 25-30 points...instead they lost by 3. Our boys played quite well and won handily. However, one of our guys drew a technical for throwing the ball across the court to the ref with apparently too much force. After the games we got home around 11:20pm..to bed at midnight.
Shooting basketball for high school is such a challenge. Usually, the gym is lit about as well as a cave dweller's cave (no offense to cavemen...and I never understood how they drew such nice drawings in such poor light....so, I've never bought into the whole GEICO ad campaign...i digress...). Here's a few shots from the games Tuesday night.....
Wednesday: work...bleh! Left at 2:45 to attend a Museum of Aviation Marathon meeting. Since my company, PeachSports.Com, is providing photography coverage (3rd year in row..yeahbaby!) they invite me to their planning meetings. Two key things for the runners out there....1) they are using the same type of chips as the Macon Labor Day RR used and 2) they are planning on having a single finish line for the 5k, half and full marathons. Should be pretty cool. Back to work at 4pm and stayed until 5:30. Then, went to the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation office to meet with the President about JMCCF 'stuff' (btw, I'm the VP of the JMCCF). We finished our meeting around 7:30 and I went to Kroger. A lesson for the married pups out there (Troy listen up) ... if you want to be happy...momma must be happy. One way I keep Carol happy is handling all the grocery shopping. Plus, I get to buy stuff I like! :)
Thursday: work...yuk! Came home and slipped into my running shorts and along sleeve shirt. Tried my new Mizuno thin breathing ultra comfortable spiffy socks (btw, Tommy like!). Threw on my inspirational Badwater hat and set out for my Thursday training run. Mile warmup (10:12). Three miles at or below 9:35 (9:28, 9:15, 9:08 go me!). Mile cooldown (10:08).
I just ordered pizza for the clan. Carol has a migraine and it takes her several hours to sleep them off...i'm so glad I don't have migraines....
Tomorrow: work...ugh! Please don't misread my work comments....I really do love my job...most of the time. If I had the guts to share my thoughts about working as a contractor around a group of 'gubment' workers I would....but I shall refrain.
Saturday: Have to endure shooting ugly cheerleaders for the GISA State Cheer Competition at Tattnall...hohum...the life of a sports photographer...rough stuff....
T
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