I really want to be running. I do. Every part of me wants to hop out of bed when the alarm goes off, lace up those shoes, and hit the road.
Every part of me, that is, except for my left hip. I've had a bit of pain in my left hip since early last year. Very manageable. It doesn't seem to get worse while running, but hasn't gotten any better either. So I've started some research to try to figure out what is up. During this process, I'm taking a little time to rest it.
I didn't run last week. There was no way to fit it in with the inspection, and I got a bit sick towards the end of the week. Sunday, my hip hurt the worst it ever has - needless to say, I got a little worried. Then Monday it felt the best it has in a long time - so then I was confused. Now it is back to normal.
I'm taking this week off entirely - no running, no lifting, very little physical exertion. Just some light stretching and strengthening exercises and some research. Hopefully in my next post I will have a solid diagnosis for you, as well as a plan for how to address the problem.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
In The Office for A Few Hours
I'm in the office for a few hours this afternoon, so I thought I'd write a post. Our inspection is going well this week, we're actually a bit ahead of schedule. We took the afternoon off for a conference call regarding the upcoming inspections in Mississippi. Since our folks in Mississippi are an hour behind us, a 3 pm conference call for them is a 4 pm conference call for me. This would normally be no big deal, except I am running in the evenings this week because of the inspection schedule (not enough time to run in the morning beforehand). And I don't especially like conference calls, especially ones where I have nothing to add to the conversation. So I'll be sitting here catching up on a few things and listening for the least possible amount of time, then heading home to run.
I had a 10 mile run on Saturday morning that went very well. I was comfortable at a sub-8:30 pace, and didn't end up with any soreness afterwards. Sunday was supposed to be a day off, but instead I found myself on a 16 mile bike ride to my office to pick up the company vehicle (meaning I could leave my personal vehicle home this week during the inspection. Not a bad ride, no muscle soreness, but my seat isn't the most comfortable. 6 miles with some all-out sprinting coming up this evening.
I'm tired, I'm damp from the rain this morning, and I'm filthy from the inspection. Oh, and I don't want to be doing this phone meeting (in case you didn't pick up on that). Maybe I can just sleep for an hour during the call...
EDIT:
It is currently 5:30. I'm still at the office. The call is still going on...
I had a 10 mile run on Saturday morning that went very well. I was comfortable at a sub-8:30 pace, and didn't end up with any soreness afterwards. Sunday was supposed to be a day off, but instead I found myself on a 16 mile bike ride to my office to pick up the company vehicle (meaning I could leave my personal vehicle home this week during the inspection. Not a bad ride, no muscle soreness, but my seat isn't the most comfortable. 6 miles with some all-out sprinting coming up this evening.
I'm tired, I'm damp from the rain this morning, and I'm filthy from the inspection. Oh, and I don't want to be doing this phone meeting (in case you didn't pick up on that). Maybe I can just sleep for an hour during the call...
EDIT:
It is currently 5:30. I'm still at the office. The call is still going on...
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tidbits
Time for a bit of housekeeping, regarding recent posts about the half marathon:
Typos - I'm not going to correct them. I try my best to avoid them, but without a second set of eyes proofing my posts, I'll inevitably miss some things. You should be able to figure out what I'm saying, you are that smart (or are you...). Someday when I'm rich and famous and can afford an editor for my writing, there won't be any more typos.
Names - Kim's grandma's name is Doris, spelled with 1 'r'. Her aunt's name, Sharon, is also spelled with only 1 'r'. After I got scolded over this, it seemed like a good idea to print a correction here.
Labels/tags for my posts - working on it. I'll probably get it about 1/2 done this weekend, maybe more if things go well.
Site redesign - been promising it for ages. I am finally actually working on the layout, but it is far from something I'm happy with. I don't want to change it until I'm absolutely satisfied with what I come up with.
Fall running schedule - my job sometimes interferes with my training, but not too often. I'm off on inspection next week, but it is a local bridge so I will probably be able to run (I'm taking some time off from the gym to make sure I'm healthy). I don't go to Mississippi for inspections until the 2 weeks after Thanksgiving, which are traditionally off/easy weeks for me heading into winter training anyway. Since I'm not lifting weights right now, I've got plenty of study time in the evenings for the PE exam. So things are looking up for my fall running!
As of late:
My week has gone well, I'm easing myself back into consistent mileage after the taper for the race. I've had 4 runs this week so far, for a total of 18 miles. Tomorrow is a 10 miler, then Sunday off before heading into my first full week of training for the Thanksgiving day 5 mile race. Yesterday was my only "hard" run, a 5 miler with 8-15s all-out sprints. It felt good to go fast, I haven't done any real speed work all year. Have a nice weekend.
Typos - I'm not going to correct them. I try my best to avoid them, but without a second set of eyes proofing my posts, I'll inevitably miss some things. You should be able to figure out what I'm saying, you are that smart (or are you...). Someday when I'm rich and famous and can afford an editor for my writing, there won't be any more typos.
Names - Kim's grandma's name is Doris, spelled with 1 'r'. Her aunt's name, Sharon, is also spelled with only 1 'r'. After I got scolded over this, it seemed like a good idea to print a correction here.
Labels/tags for my posts - working on it. I'll probably get it about 1/2 done this weekend, maybe more if things go well.
Site redesign - been promising it for ages. I am finally actually working on the layout, but it is far from something I'm happy with. I don't want to change it until I'm absolutely satisfied with what I come up with.
Fall running schedule - my job sometimes interferes with my training, but not too often. I'm off on inspection next week, but it is a local bridge so I will probably be able to run (I'm taking some time off from the gym to make sure I'm healthy). I don't go to Mississippi for inspections until the 2 weeks after Thanksgiving, which are traditionally off/easy weeks for me heading into winter training anyway. Since I'm not lifting weights right now, I've got plenty of study time in the evenings for the PE exam. So things are looking up for my fall running!
As of late:
My week has gone well, I'm easing myself back into consistent mileage after the taper for the race. I've had 4 runs this week so far, for a total of 18 miles. Tomorrow is a 10 miler, then Sunday off before heading into my first full week of training for the Thanksgiving day 5 mile race. Yesterday was my only "hard" run, a 5 miler with 8-15s all-out sprints. It felt good to go fast, I haven't done any real speed work all year. Have a nice weekend.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Part Deux
Sorry for the delay, I was a little sick towards the end of last week. Some extra sleep, a day off from work, and I'm right as rain.
When we last tuned in, our fearless hero was preparing himself for battle, readying his mind and body for what lay ahead. For a runner, this of course means one thing: last minute bathroom break. Every runner ends up making one (or ideally, 2) stops at the porta-potties before a race begins - an early stop, and one as close to race time as possible. 11,000 runners, how long do you think the lines were, even with around 100 porta-potties? So I got in line to wait, with about 10 minutes left to go and my warm up finished.
Meanwhile on the boardwalk, my own personal cheering section was watching the sunrise, picking out their viewing positions. They settled in at about the 2 1/2 mile mark and waited.
My wife made everyone with us shirts to wear while they cheered for me! Kim is a good artist. She likes to do these doodle-pictures, where she incorporates all sorts of pictures and words and such. They make great decorations, and in this case, the perfect iron-on for the race shirts:
(For the right price, you too could own a picture or shirt like this, customized just for you! Inquire in the comments section below...)
So my projected finish time put me in corral 2 - sounds pretty prestigious, huh? By the time I reached the front of the line and had my turn, however, corral 2 was long gone. I started the race with corral 11, considerably slower. It actually turned out to be a good thing, though. I spent the first 7 or 8 miles passing people, and weaving through traffic kept me from going out too fast. Plus it is a big confidence boost racing for 8 miles without being passed by anyone.
Around Mile 6 we saw the professionals coming back the other direction (they were around Mile 11), 2 east Africans about 200m out ahead of the main pack (which included Ryan Hall). I felt good, a bit warmer than I'd like when the wind wasn't blowing, but I was on pace and my legs felt great. In the last few miles, I started to develop a side stitch that I couldn't shake. I walked through a couple of water stops, more to try and calm the stitch than anything (my legs were still fine, plenty of gas left in the tank).
I rallied in the final mile to finish strong, and hopefully I wasn't making any stupid or uncomfortable faces in the pictures as I crossed the finish line. The only pictures we got were of my back as I went by. The recovery area was great, anything and everything a runner could want after a long effort - sports drinks, fruit, energy bars, towels soaked in ice water, you name it.
After a brief recovery and a trip back to the campground for a shower, we spent the rest of the day checking out the boardwalk, relaxing in the pool, and cooking out on the grill.
My official time was 1:47:36. That's about 8:13 per mile, which is a little slow compared to my 8:00 goal, but with the warm weather and difficulties in the late miles, I'm very happy with my performance. Had I not lost a month of training mid-summer, I'm confident that I could have gone under 8:00. I've rarely had a race go so well, I was really pleased with the whole weekend. The half marathon was the final frontier for me - I've now raced every typical distance, from 100m to a full marathon.
I took all of last week off, so no news there. I'm back to running this week, reloading for a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving day back in my hometown. I may or may not be able to run as much as I want in preparation for this one. We've got a ton going on at work - a deadline this week, I'll be out for inspections next week, I'm studying to take the PE exam on October 28th to get my engineering license, and sometime in November I'll be doing a 2 week tour of duty in Mississippi on inspection.
I hate being busy in the fall. I'd rather be watching football...
When we last tuned in, our fearless hero was preparing himself for battle, readying his mind and body for what lay ahead. For a runner, this of course means one thing: last minute bathroom break. Every runner ends up making one (or ideally, 2) stops at the porta-potties before a race begins - an early stop, and one as close to race time as possible. 11,000 runners, how long do you think the lines were, even with around 100 porta-potties? So I got in line to wait, with about 10 minutes left to go and my warm up finished.
Meanwhile on the boardwalk, my own personal cheering section was watching the sunrise, picking out their viewing positions. They settled in at about the 2 1/2 mile mark and waited.
 |
| Facing The Dawn, Check out Those Shirts... |
 |
| The Ladies on The Boardwalk |
 |
| Dolphins! Even The Wildlife Came to Cheer for The Race! |
My wife made everyone with us shirts to wear while they cheered for me! Kim is a good artist. She likes to do these doodle-pictures, where she incorporates all sorts of pictures and words and such. They make great decorations, and in this case, the perfect iron-on for the race shirts:
 |
| The Best Closeup I Could Get |
(For the right price, you too could own a picture or shirt like this, customized just for you! Inquire in the comments section below...)
So my projected finish time put me in corral 2 - sounds pretty prestigious, huh? By the time I reached the front of the line and had my turn, however, corral 2 was long gone. I started the race with corral 11, considerably slower. It actually turned out to be a good thing, though. I spent the first 7 or 8 miles passing people, and weaving through traffic kept me from going out too fast. Plus it is a big confidence boost racing for 8 miles without being passed by anyone.
 |
| The Anticipation Is Killing Them, Can You Tell? |
 |
| It Was Unanimously Decided That My Wife and In-laws Were The Best Cheering Section in The First Half of The Race |
 |
| Who's That, Off in The Distance? In The Red Shirt, Passing Everyone... |
 |
| I Swerved Way over to Ham It Up for The Camera |
 |
| A Little Blurry, But The Sex Appeal Is Still Undeniable |
 |
| The Camera Was on Burst, My Wife Didn't See This Until She Looked at The Pictures after I'd Passed |
Around Mile 6 we saw the professionals coming back the other direction (they were around Mile 11), 2 east Africans about 200m out ahead of the main pack (which included Ryan Hall). I felt good, a bit warmer than I'd like when the wind wasn't blowing, but I was on pace and my legs felt great. In the last few miles, I started to develop a side stitch that I couldn't shake. I walked through a couple of water stops, more to try and calm the stitch than anything (my legs were still fine, plenty of gas left in the tank).
I rallied in the final mile to finish strong, and hopefully I wasn't making any stupid or uncomfortable faces in the pictures as I crossed the finish line. The only pictures we got were of my back as I went by. The recovery area was great, anything and everything a runner could want after a long effort - sports drinks, fruit, energy bars, towels soaked in ice water, you name it.
 |
| My Finely Sculpted Derriere Still Going Past People |
After a brief recovery and a trip back to the campground for a shower, we spent the rest of the day checking out the boardwalk, relaxing in the pool, and cooking out on the grill.
My official time was 1:47:36. That's about 8:13 per mile, which is a little slow compared to my 8:00 goal, but with the warm weather and difficulties in the late miles, I'm very happy with my performance. Had I not lost a month of training mid-summer, I'm confident that I could have gone under 8:00. I've rarely had a race go so well, I was really pleased with the whole weekend. The half marathon was the final frontier for me - I've now raced every typical distance, from 100m to a full marathon.
I took all of last week off, so no news there. I'm back to running this week, reloading for a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving day back in my hometown. I may or may not be able to run as much as I want in preparation for this one. We've got a ton going on at work - a deadline this week, I'll be out for inspections next week, I'm studying to take the PE exam on October 28th to get my engineering license, and sometime in November I'll be doing a 2 week tour of duty in Mississippi on inspection.
I hate being busy in the fall. I'd rather be watching football...
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
My Incomparably Awesome Weekend, Part 1
We throw around the world "awesome" a lot. Seems like anything even reasonably cool gets labelled as "awesome" these days. "Awesome" has replaced "cool" as the word of choice. But very few things that we call awesome are actually of a caliber that they truly inspire awe - the definition of the word.
This weekend was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that it is going to take 2 posts just to tell you of all of the awesomeness that took place. So without further adieu...
Part 1:
I took Friday off from work to give us plenty of time to drive. We left early, everything packed, nothing forgotten (one of our most successful vacation endeavors EVER). ETA: 3 pm. Actual arrival: 5:30 pm. We sat in a traffic jam for over 2 hours at one point, but luckily we had already gotten gas, and kept each other entertained by making fun of the other people around us in their cars. The campgrounds that we stayed at - The Holiday Trav-L Park - is very cool. Little cottage sites, camper hookup sites, tent sites, 4 pools, and best of all, a private parking lot near the boardwalk that gave us access to the beach without worrying about finding or paying for parking. I, my wife Kim, and her mother Anita stayed in the cottage, while her aunt Sharron, uncle Eric, cousin Kayleigh, and grandma Dorris stayed in Eric's camper.
Saturday morning came much too soon in the flat, hard beds in the cottage. We cooked up breakfast on an electric griddle - pancakes, bacon, scrapple, and eggs. If I weren't an engineer, I'd make a pretty decent fry cook.
After breakfast, expo time! Kim, Anita, and I headed to the Health Expo to pick up my race packet and check out all of the booths. Samples of every supplement, energy bar, and sports drink imaginable, sign-up information for marathons all over the country, stacks and stacks of running shoes and gear on sale...every runner's dream, right? Except that isn't me. I don't supplement. I don't buy equipment when I don't need it. I don't get sucked into things with high pressure sales tactics. The free samples, however, were excellent. I tried one of EVERYTHING, and two if they were really good. The highlight of the expo (for me) was Jim Ryun speaking on the main stage. It was pretty surreal standing there listening to Jim Ryun tell stories about his racing past. If you don't know who Jim Ryun is, go ahead and turn in your running shoes, and buy an elliptical. It was definitely an awesome experience.
After the expo, we headed back to the campsite and spent the afternoon relaxing. We made full use of the pools, cooked some fish and onion rings, and just generally did nothing. That evening Eric and I rode bikes up to the beach to hear ZZ Top play. We didn't have tickets, so we watched from the boardwalk behind the stage, but we could still see the band and hear everything. It was an awesome concert, the only thing that could have been better would have been some pictures (sorry, I dropped the ball on that one).
When we got back from the concert, we went to play bingo at the campground pavilion. Not really my thing, but I went along anyway, you never know when you'll win some money. I didn't. But Kayleigh and Dorris both won some, so it wasn't a complete bust. Afterward, a few of us went to IHOP for a small, late meal. I had a race coming up the next day, after all, and our late lunch was wearing thin.
4:45 came MUCH too early Sunday morning. The cottage beds were very hard (did I mention that already?), so I didn't sleep great, but I was as ready as I could be. Standard race-day routine, commence! We arrived at the parking lot near the boardwalk around 5:45, since the main road would be closed at 6 for the race. The lot was about a mile from the starting line, so I headed off at a leisurely stroll while the rest of the gang headed to course to find their spot to spectate from.
About 20 minutes before the starting gun, I began my warm up. Just a long jog along one of the streets through the convention center parking lots, followed by some faster paced running to make sure I was good and ready. Halfway through I looked over at a runner who was doing some drills for his warm up, a very familiar face - RYAN HALL! (if you don't know who that is, please refrain from speaking to me again until you find out) I got to warm up for a half marathon with Ryan Hall! OK, so maybe I was just warming up "beside" Ryan Hall, but honestly, what's the difference? This time it really hurt not having a camera with me.
This seems like the perfect place to end Part 1. Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion in Part 2!
This weekend was awesome. So awesome, in fact, that it is going to take 2 posts just to tell you of all of the awesomeness that took place. So without further adieu...
Part 1:
I took Friday off from work to give us plenty of time to drive. We left early, everything packed, nothing forgotten (one of our most successful vacation endeavors EVER). ETA: 3 pm. Actual arrival: 5:30 pm. We sat in a traffic jam for over 2 hours at one point, but luckily we had already gotten gas, and kept each other entertained by making fun of the other people around us in their cars. The campgrounds that we stayed at - The Holiday Trav-L Park - is very cool. Little cottage sites, camper hookup sites, tent sites, 4 pools, and best of all, a private parking lot near the boardwalk that gave us access to the beach without worrying about finding or paying for parking. I, my wife Kim, and her mother Anita stayed in the cottage, while her aunt Sharron, uncle Eric, cousin Kayleigh, and grandma Dorris stayed in Eric's camper.
 |
| Our Home for The Weekend |
Saturday morning came much too soon in the flat, hard beds in the cottage. We cooked up breakfast on an electric griddle - pancakes, bacon, scrapple, and eggs. If I weren't an engineer, I'd make a pretty decent fry cook.
After breakfast, expo time! Kim, Anita, and I headed to the Health Expo to pick up my race packet and check out all of the booths. Samples of every supplement, energy bar, and sports drink imaginable, sign-up information for marathons all over the country, stacks and stacks of running shoes and gear on sale...every runner's dream, right? Except that isn't me. I don't supplement. I don't buy equipment when I don't need it. I don't get sucked into things with high pressure sales tactics. The free samples, however, were excellent. I tried one of EVERYTHING, and two if they were really good. The highlight of the expo (for me) was Jim Ryun speaking on the main stage. It was pretty surreal standing there listening to Jim Ryun tell stories about his racing past. If you don't know who Jim Ryun is, go ahead and turn in your running shoes, and buy an elliptical. It was definitely an awesome experience.
 |
| Cheesy Pictures, Not My Idea |
After the expo, we headed back to the campsite and spent the afternoon relaxing. We made full use of the pools, cooked some fish and onion rings, and just generally did nothing. That evening Eric and I rode bikes up to the beach to hear ZZ Top play. We didn't have tickets, so we watched from the boardwalk behind the stage, but we could still see the band and hear everything. It was an awesome concert, the only thing that could have been better would have been some pictures (sorry, I dropped the ball on that one).
When we got back from the concert, we went to play bingo at the campground pavilion. Not really my thing, but I went along anyway, you never know when you'll win some money. I didn't. But Kayleigh and Dorris both won some, so it wasn't a complete bust. Afterward, a few of us went to IHOP for a small, late meal. I had a race coming up the next day, after all, and our late lunch was wearing thin.
4:45 came MUCH too early Sunday morning. The cottage beds were very hard (did I mention that already?), so I didn't sleep great, but I was as ready as I could be. Standard race-day routine, commence! We arrived at the parking lot near the boardwalk around 5:45, since the main road would be closed at 6 for the race. The lot was about a mile from the starting line, so I headed off at a leisurely stroll while the rest of the gang headed to course to find their spot to spectate from.
 |
| Number, Check, Shoes, Check, Good to Go! |
About 20 minutes before the starting gun, I began my warm up. Just a long jog along one of the streets through the convention center parking lots, followed by some faster paced running to make sure I was good and ready. Halfway through I looked over at a runner who was doing some drills for his warm up, a very familiar face - RYAN HALL! (if you don't know who that is, please refrain from speaking to me again until you find out) I got to warm up for a half marathon with Ryan Hall! OK, so maybe I was just warming up "beside" Ryan Hall, but honestly, what's the difference? This time it really hurt not having a camera with me.
This seems like the perfect place to end Part 1. Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion in Part 2!
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