Back on the Trails - finally

Running has not been fun since the day of last year's St. George Marathon. That was the first day that I realized I had something seriously wrong with my left foot.

In November I had surgery to clear up the Plantar Fasciosis. In January, my doctor cleared me to start running and assured me that I would be able to run the Buffalo Run 50K in March and the Big Sur Marathon in April. I wish. Things didn't go as I planned.

In April I went back to the doctor in an effort to discover why I was still constantly in pain and why it was getting worse. We suspected a tear in the Plantar Fascia – but an MRI ruled that out. Doctor Steve looked at the MRI and found that my Medial Calcanial Nerve and Superior Calcanial Nerve in the left foot were more than twice the normal size. This nerve ran from the inside of the ankle, under the foot and over to the outside of the ankle. This explained the pain in those areas. He gave me a cortisone injection (ouch!) in the ankle and for the first time in months I remembered what it is like to be pain free. Eight days later the pain started up again – but I sure enjoyed the break. I got another cortisone injection three weeks later (even more of an ouch!) and this time it did not appear to take.

I started researching the option of doing a heat treatment on the nerve that would block the pain for 6-24 months. This did not thrill me. Then a minor miracle happened.

Last Tuesday I was out finishing up a 3 mile run. I was to the point that I figured if I am going to be in pain, I might as well run. Not running was not stopping the pain. I turned off of 8400 South onto 700 East and a voice in my head, clear as day, said – "See if your chiropractor is available." I was right in front of my chiropractor's office at that point in time, so I walked in and asked him if he could look at my ankle. He replied that I might have to wait since he had a patient scheduled to come in right then – but the phone rang and that patient cancelled.

After explaining the problems I was having, Dr. Awerkaamp said he thought he could help me. He began to work on my lower back, knee and ankle. When he looked at my ankle, it was very stiff and I heard a huge pop as he manipulated it. He said my Calcanius was out of place and could have been putting pressure on the nerve.

Walking home from the chiropractor, it felt like I was walking funny and my foot striking totally different.

Wednesday night – 5 miles. No pain until about mile 4.

Another adjustment Thursday afternoon. We could both tell that the ankle had loosened up significantly already.

Thursday night – headed up to Little Cottonwood Canyon and did the Little Cottonwood Trail. Walked up to the top and ran most of the way down. No pain until about mile 5. 7 miles total between the Little Cottonwood Trail and the Quarry Trail as a cooldown. Felt wonderful to be back on trails! I missed them so much.

Friday morning – 9 miles in Dimple Dell. Walked up for 4.5 miles (ran any downhills) and then ran the downhills back down and another cooldown. 7 miles before I felt any pain. Spooked a deer about 10 feet away from me at one point.

Saturday – rest day.

Sunday – hiked the Mueller Park Trail up to Elephant Rock with my son. Rolled my left foot a couple of times running down and the pain started about mile 5 because of that. Used a neoprene brace the rest of the day to be safe. 7 miles.

Monday – walked (and ran downhills) Jeremy Ranch Road almost to the pavement and back. 14 miles total. No pain until mile 11. Burning started at mile 12. I have not been able to do over 11 miles since the surgery – so this is a huge improvement for me in less than a week.

The endurance is pretty bad and I am not running a lot of the time, but will start picking up my running more this week. It feels so good to be out of pain and I hope that these adjustments will allow the ankle to continue to heal.

Missing my adventures and marathon thoughts

Marathon thoughts

I was at a Talent Management conference in Las Vegas on Monday when I heard the tragic news of the Boston Marathon hit me. I was in shock a lot of the afternoon. Several thoughts were running through my mind:

1. Why would anyone target a marathon (especially Boston!) for a terrorist attack? How will this change my sport over the years?
   
2. Were all my friends and family at the race safe? Thank heavens for Facebook because we were able to connect through their and find out status updates.
   
3. How could I deal with guilt that all those I knew were safe, but so many either lost their lives or had their lives permanently changed in a moment of time?
   

This has been a terrible week in the U.S. So much death and injury. So many impacted. So little I can do.

• I can volunteer
  
• I can donate money
  
• I can pray
  
• I can give blood
  
• I can hug and love my family and be grateful they are all safe (including my running family)
  

But my heart aches for those that are hurting, mourning and suffering all across this country. I have had a few family members die tragic deaths – much too young. My cousin lost her husband over in Hawaii from a construction accident. Lives changed in a minute. My beautiful sister-in-law was out running and was hit and killed by a pickup truck. Not a day has gone by in the past 14+ years that I do not think of her and remember that awful day. And yet – some good comes out of the bad. That is what I hope for those that are suffering – that there can be some good in their lives and some peace and happiness at some point in time.

One more random thought – I feel bad for the winners of the 2013 Boston Marathon. A moment of a lifetime that will hardly ever be remembered because of the explosions that occurred that day. I had to look them up on the internet to find out who won – because that focus only lasted an hour or two. I congratulate all the winners and all the marathon participants for their efforts that day. I honor all those that protected their families and those that went out of their way to try and save life and limb when the bombs went off.

Where are the Adventures in Running?

Sadly lacking. Sorry – I am letting myself and my few followers down.

My endurance while running was improving and my speed very slowly coming back. But each run left me hurting and almost dreading the next run because I knew that I would be in pain after the run and dreaded the burning and bruised feeling in my foot. Running dropped to 3 or so days a week. Even standing on my foot for a while would make it hurt later.

I finally got a doctor's appointment and told the doctor I was willing to go non-weight bearing if it would help my foot heal. He told me he was very surprised that I was not doing marathons by this point. An ultrasound revealed my plantar fascia had filled up with fluid instead of healing with healthy tissue. They inserted cortisone directly into the PF. I was told to cut down on my running to less than 30 minutes 2 days a week and less than 60 minutes 1 day a week. Plus icing 3 times a day.

The foot felt better for about 48 hours – then it started hurting again. While I was in Vegas I was in almost constant pain – even from just walking around. I now have an MRI scheduled for Monday. Hopefully we will be able to figure out a plan of action from that.

I've cancelled all my summer races – including pacing the Thelma and Louise Half Marathon and Ragnar. At this point – I just want to be out of constant pain.

Of course, being raised on guilt, I also feel guilty that I am whining about measly foot pain when people have lost feet and legs. You just can't win – can you?

 

Epic Fail and Frustration

So far, 2013 has not turned into the running year that I had planned. I was supposed to complete the 50K at the Buffalo Run last weekend on Antelope Island and also be trained and ready for the Big Sur International Marathon at the end of April. Instead, I have dropped my plans to run Big Sur and dropped down to the 25K at the Buffalo Run. The foot is just not recovering as quickly as we had hoped from the Plantar Fasciotomy in November. Too many days I end up with pain in the heel and have to cut back my plans so as to not aggravate the Plantar Fasciitis again. I've cut back even more and am back to doing all the stretching, icing, topical anti-inflammatories, sleeping with the foot in a Strasbourg sock, etc.

I'm sure part of the problem is age. Things definitely recover more slowly as I get older. Another part of the problem is weight. I need to get 20 pounds off to be at a decent running weight. Part of it is working too much – I don't get the weight training in that I need to.

Whatever it is – it is frustrating. I am mad and ashamed of myself. I get depressed. Right now I wonder if I will ever be able to even do a marathon again because 12 miles is about as far as I can get and then I limp the rest of the day.

I am making progress, it is just slow. I run like a dead turtle. No speed, but slow and steady. For the month of March I am focusing on running 3 minutes/walking 1 minute and will increase the running to 4 minutes in April.

Enough of the depressed, bummed out runner…..

Friday and Saturday were the days for the Buffalo Run. This was year 9 and I have volunteered or raced every year – sometimes a bit of both. The plans were that I would volunteer on Friday (100 mile race start), camp out overnight on the island, then run the 25K on Saturday.

Friday morning I was at the gate well before 7 a.m. I was running packet pickup at the gate and Britta Hanel dropped off her friend Alicia and the packets at my Jeep shortly after. I enjoyed several hours sitting in the Jeep trying to stay warm and getting to know Alicia. In the 9 years of the race, we hadn't had too horrible weather, but this weekend was going to be bitter cold and windy. Volunteering I had on thermals, sweats and my snow gear. Brrrr. The most entertaining part of the morning was watching Alicia trying to make coffee in a portable drip coffee maker. I think this was her epic fail because it wasn't working and took an hour to make 1 cup of coffee.

Got to see lots of familiar faces as they picked up packets – Karl Meltzer, Mark Hellenthall, Davy Crockett, Craig Lloyd, Scott Wesemann and Christy Jo Mason McFarland. Was able to meet the Jester (Ed Ettinghausen) and he gave me my own official Jester bracelet. I was also able to put names and faces together of several people I have met online.

We finished packet pickup at 11:30 and headed on island for the start of the 100 mile race. Said hello to running friends again and headed outside for the official start. I was looking the wrong way (actually wanted to see the start) and missed the brilliant person who wanted to take a photo of a buffalo and threw a rock at it and shook the fence. The buffalo objected and pinned the guy against the fence. Luckily – someone got it on their camera so we can preserve it for history. And the guy got a ticket from the park rangers.

The 100 mile race started and I set up my camp for the night. Really fun setting up a tent in the wind. That was an experience! Then I helped out at the start/finish line for a while until Alicia and I headed over to run the Mountain View aid station for the afternoon. Long story short, it was great to cheer on the runners and watch the lead runners blast through the aid station. Karl Meltzer was cranking his usual speed and went on to set a course record.

After standing around for several hours, I headed up the hill to go off island and meet my sister for dinner. At this point my foot was killing me and I had no hill strength and it became obvious that I was not going to be able to run 16+ miles the next day. I went back to the start/finish and DNS'd (Did Not Start), collapsed my tent with all the gear in it and threw it in the back of the Jeep.

No regrets about not attempting the race. Just regrets that I am not where I want to be and pulled out of another race. Hearing all the stories online about the incredible exploits of the runners and them powering through adversity though has me feeling like a total wimp/wuss/loser. I really hope that I can get back to longer distances running soon, but in the meantime I just have to be patient and take baby steps.

Bigfoot?

Having been given permission this week by my podiatrist to showshoe (because people don't snowshoe non-stop (little does he know)) – I promptly signed up for the Kahtoola Bigfoot Snowshoe Festival 5K race on Saturday, January 26, 2013. I've read Jim Skaggs stories about this race in previous years and wanted to give it a try. This seemed like perfect timing and a chance to get out of the muck from the inversion in Salt Lake County.

I'm not a showshoeing expert. In fact, the only time I have ever worn snowshoes was about 10 years ago when I accompanied Kevin and a bunch of Boy Scouts on a cross country skiing/snowshoe overnighter in Northern Utah.

I got up early Saturday morning and packed up my gear. I was a bit worried when I left my condo to see that I could only see a few car lengths ahead because of the fog – and was very glad for fog lights on the Jeep. About ¼ mile up Parleys Canyon the fog ended and it was a pretty day where you could actually see the sky. The fog came back as I approached Midway and Heber, but I had made up good time by then. The snowshoe races were held at the Midway Golf Course that I have run by with Leslie Peterson each year as we run to the Sheepdog Festival. Major sliding in the car as I drove into the parking lot over a large sheet of ice had me a bit worried.

I checked in for the race and rented a pair of snowshoes for $6. There were plenty of people at the race that had never been on snowshoes before – so I was in good company. Said hello to Benjamin Hanel and Jim Skaggs before the race and at 9:00 – we were off.

There were five races being held simultaneously on three different loops. The marathon and 50K started at 8 a.m. The 5K, 10K and 25K started at 9 a.m. It was very frustrating for the first half mile or so because a lot of entrants who had no intentions of running a step started near the front of the pack and were walking side by side with their friends. Bad race etiquette, folks. If you are not serious – start near the back of the pack and don't be a PITA.

My plans were to run 100 steps, walk 100 steps as long as I could and I was able to do this for most of the race. I had seen pictures of the course from previous years and there was a nicely groomed trail. Not so much today. There wasn't a ton of snow and it was very icy, so if you carefully ran with your feet side by side – it was smooth going. Not much wider than that – you were on crusty snow which made the work harder and threw you off balance.

The course was nicely laid out – winding back and forth on the golf course. It got foggy towards the 2 mile mark, but was still a pretty day. One aid station at about 2.4 miles and then it was back to the start for me. I finished the race in 52:35, talked to John Bozung (Race Director) for a few minutes and complimented him on the race, then headed out to walk a second loop for a long snowshoe run.

Towards the last mile, some tenderness in the Plantar Fascia of the left foot – but not too bad overall.

Found out I took 9^th out of 25 entrants, 6^th out of women and 3^rd in my age group.

Next year I plan to take on the 10K and hopefully the 25K the year after that.

Final Post Surgery Follow-up

Saw Dr. Steve again today. We discussed my current methods for increasing my running and he says I have a valid plan – just need to increase slowly. And stay off hills for another month. I have been cleared for skiing, cross country skiing and snowshoeing in moderation too.

He did an ultrasound of the Plantar Fascia on the left foot and he says that it is considered Plantar Fasciitis when the PF is 25 mm in width or more. Mine is currently 20 mm and so I am well on the way to healing. Still some swelling around the PF – but not a lot. So I need to keep doing what I am doing.

Still looks good for doing the Buffalo Run 50K in March. It might be a slogfest – but I should be able to make it through if I build up slowly.

The bad pain I had last week that was depressing me so much was from a lift to ease some tension in the Achilles Tendon. He agreed that my decision to quit using the lift was a correct one.

Frustrated

I don't normally think of myself as a wimp. I like to push my limits and challenge myself in many ways. Right now I am sitting here trying not to cry and feeling very frustrated and sorry for myself. So pathetic. I really must stop it.

Granted – all my previous ankle surgeries were many years ago before I got into marathoning so I didn't hanker to get back into action as soon. And I actually had 4-6 weeks where I couldn't even put my foot down.

It will be two months on Monday since my surgery and I was hoping I could be regularly walking or running by now. Walking was going fine for a while, then my Achilles Tendon flared up.

I actually ran and walked 4 miles on the dreadmill on Wednesday and it felt pretty good. Did lots of icing and massage that night and the next morning it was great.

Today, I walked my dog in the snow and ice for one mile. Not even pushing it hard. And my foot is throbbing and burning so much that I can hardly focus on work. One mile. One lousy mile.

So I'm sitting here with my foot on ice and wishing the ibuprofen I took an hour ago would kick in. At the same time, I really want to go work out because I would feel better if I was starting to get back into shape.

Big sigh. Somebody pass by some cheese to go with the whine.

Do I go back to the recumbent bicycle? Do I start swimming? Do I focus on weight training and hope my foot heals enough to gut it through my early races for the year? Or do I lose my race entries in the Buffalo Run 50K and Big Sur Marathon because I may not be in shape or even be able to walk/run that far in 2-3 months. If my foot could quit hurting – I could gut it out through almost any distance. But I don't want to set things back even farther.

It could be so much worse – but right now the frustrations are overwhelming and I just want to curl up in bed and read a book and be lazy and not think anymore. Too bad I can't.

Thank you for listening to the whine.

Nike+ FuelBand Review

After returning my Up by Jawbone because of disappointment with its performance (among other things), I am now experimenting with the Nike+ FuelBand. The FuelBand sells for $149 and comes in four colors: Black, White, Techno Black and Techno White (I made up those last two). The "techno" colors allow you to see some of the inner workings of the band – and apply to my geekness. I am sporting Techno Black.

The device tracks and displays four items:

• Fuel – fuel point for while active
  
• Calories – calories burned while active
  
• Steps – supposedly the number of steps taken while active
  
• Time – time of day
  

The band tracks nothing but time while you are sleeping – only when you are up and moving about. If you are sick or recovering from surgery – you would get frustrated with the results.

I will admit up front that I don't think the calories burned while active is accurate. It would be better if they calculated the number of calories needed per day to maintain weight based upon your body weight and did some calculations based upon that. I pretty well ignore the calories for now.

Steps seem a little low. There were some days when I was walking or running 5 miles and it would tell me that I had done about 7500 steps. Granted, 2500 steps per mile is an average – but I'm not that tall and I don't think I cover that much ground per step.

Time of day – gets an A+. It has never been wrong.

Fuel. My favorite part of the device and my least understood. Here is the official declaration: Through a sports-tested accelerometer, Nike+ FuelBand tracks your daily activity including running, walking, basketball, dancing and dozens of everyday activities. I'm sure if I dug far enough I could find some fancy mathematical calculations that explain it – but I'm not in the mood to do that.

 

I like the Fuel part. You can set fuel goals for each day and when you achieve them you get a fun little display in lots of colors that says GOAL! I live for the Goal announcement. You also can see how far you are on your fuel goal for the day with a colored display below the numbers. It's stupid – but I get a kick out of it.

When I first started on the FuelBand – I was not allowed to exercise as much, so I dropped the goal down fairly low (to about 1500). Each day I achieved the goal – I set the fuel goal up higher. Once I get back to working out even more, I expect to continue to increase it, but right now it is a challenge some days to make the current goal of 2200. Note – when you reset the goal, it starts applying the next day.

If you achieve your goal 3 days in a row, it is considered a streak and you can see how long you maintain your streak. I was on 10 days until my device suddenly quit tracking. I'm still not sure I forgive it for breaking my streak. I had to reset the FuelBand the next day and am back on a new streak starting today.

I will admit to "cheating" the first night after resetting my device. It was 10 p.m. and I had 100 fuel points left to earn, so I picked up my 5# kettlebell in my left hand and did bicep curls for 2 minutes and passed the goal and was able to go to sleep.

Pros:

• No parts have fallen off it yet (compared to the tip on the Up).
  
• Looks decent even with dress clothes (probably not if I get invited to the inauguration).
  
• Can increase the goal
  
• Syncs with Bluetooth on my iPhone anytime I want to see more results then on the band itself
  

Cons:

• Water resistant (can wear in the shower) but not waterproof.
  
• No way to log results for workouts when you can't wear the FuelBand (like swimming).
  
• No way to log results for when the device quits recording and you end a streak.
  

Overall – I recommend this app. Can't wait to see its results after a marathon. Of course, at this point in time, I'm just hoping I can get back to marathon distances.