Archives

One thing I forgot in my post this morning was an experience while “aqua jogging” at the Green Hills YMCA yesterday afternoon. I had been going for about 40 minutes when this teenybopper lifeguard comes over to me and says….

“Sir…you’re more than welcome to keep doing whatever it is that you are doing, but I wanted to let you know that there will be a water aerobics class starting in this section in a few minutes. Feel free to join in with them if you like. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

At that moment I wanted jump-up and pull him into the pool. More fuel for the fire!

davidsgoals replied to your post: Injury Recovery – Notes From a Roller-Coaster Week

Keep that positive attitude. Watch “Spirit of the Marathon”. Deena Kastor goes thru the same roller coaster as you. She even mentions keeping positive about it. Look at what happened to her.

David, it’s interesting that you mention Deena and “Spirit of the Marathon.” I love that movie. I think about that every time I’m in the pool, and the fact that she came back and won the whole thing!

mar replied to your post: Injury Recovery – Notes From a Roller-Coaster Week

By aqua jogging do you mean that your feet are on the bottom of the pool, or are you wearing a floaty-belt thing to suspend yourself in the deep end? I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how LITTLE fitness you actually lose. 🙂

Thanks Mar! Floaty-belt thing to suspend in the deep end. It’s been a challenge finding indoor pools that are deep enough, but at least I have a couple of options.

This morning marks one week since my last run, and I just felt like writing out some thoughts from the roller-coaster week that has followed…

• I have a new respect for those that can’t run due to injury. I had no idea how hard it would be to hear other people plan runs, listen to others talk about great runs, or see people running down the street, and know that it is something I simply cannot do. I’m determined that I’m NOT going to ask people to stop talking about running around me, but instead am going to grab hold of this and use it as fuel to keep me going on my rehab.

• I’m trying very hard to stay positive, but I’ll have to admit that it has been an emotional roller-coaster. I go from being encouraged to frustrated to energized to demoralized. I know that I was in the best shape of my life. It is hard to think that a certain percentage of the hard work I put in over the past 12-weeks will be for nothing. I try to push this thought out of my mind, but it is hard. I’m determined to be better than ever as soon as I’m fully healed.

• Aqua-jogging is awkward, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how good of a workout it is. I’ve put in over 3 hours since Tuesday, and I think I’m finally getting the hang of how to do it effectively. I’ve received quite a bit of ribbing about doing this, but I’m just trying to turn this into more fuel for my recovery. I’m not looking forward to “long runs” in the pool, but I guess we’ll just see what happens.

• I don’t have a real bike, so I’ve been forced to use a stationary version as another cross training option. I never listen to music while running, but find that the only way I can get through any amount of time at all on the bike is by either listening to music, watching TV, or reading. However, I just can’t get my heart-rate over 120 or so on the bike.

• Over the past week the pain in my leg has subsided considerably. As of Monday I was having a hard time walking at all, and now I feel like I am really close to being able to walk without a noticeable limp. This is encouraging. I’m fascinated by the fact that I was still able to run last Friday morning, but by that afternoon I could barely climb stairs.

• I’ve been overwhelmed by all of the support I’ve received from my friends, Tumblrs, and others regarding my recovery. Thanks to all of you who’ve passed along an encouraging word. However, I’ve been surprised at a couple of negative responses I’ve gotten…For example, telling me to forget what the doctor said about being back in 4 to 6 weeks, and just shut everything down for the rest year. I understand someone thinking this, but why verbalize it? I have no idea what my recovery ultimately holds, but I know one thing. I’m going to work as hard as possible and see what happens.

Well, there they are. Hope everybody has a great weekend. Keep Beast Mode going strong!

All I’ve got to say is WOW…..seriously!

Thanks to Olivia, I am now the proud owner of a shiny new Fitness Gear Water Resistance Belt, and hope to make my first attempt at “aqua jogging” this afternoon.

I’m sure it will be riveting 😉

So what is this you ask…

….well this is an “Ultrasound Bone Growth Stimulator,” which is supposed to help with the healing process of my stress fracture. Not exactly sure what it does, but I’m hoping it is similar in effectiveness to this:

BTW….If you don’t get this, it is a Harry Potter reference.

SportsCenter tells the inspiring story of Matt Woodrum, an 11 year-old with cerebral palsy, and his incredible desire to compete with his classmates.

This helps put my injury in perspective.

I already strongly suspected this would be the case, but now it has been officially diagnosed. Well, here’s what this means:

The Bad

• Can only bike or swim for the next 2 weeks. Have follow-up visit on September 12.
• Will most likely miss the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 7th.
• Will most likely miss the Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon on October 13th.

The Good

• I don’t need crutches.
• The MD said this is a “Low Risk” stress fracture since the bone is very thick (i.e. not likely to become a full fracture)
• I should be able to return to running in 4 to 6 weeks
• When I return, I should NOT have to gradually work my way back into running. He said that if I wanted I could run a marathon the next day (not planning on it…btw)
• Therefore, I should still be able to run the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon and maybe the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon (though not as fast as I had hoped)

Considering that I already expected this diagnosis, this turned out to be pretty good news. I was expecting to be out for 8 to 12 weeks, so 4 to 6 was much, much better. He said that you generally only see a stress fracture of the femur in “advanced runners” (his phrase, not mine) who are in top condition. I thought this was a very nice way to tell someone they had a stress fracture 🙂

Anyway, I plan on hitting the bike (and maybe the water) hard over the next two weeks, and look forward to my next follow-up visit to track progress. Keeping my eyes fixed on the road ahead! Thanks to everyone for their support.

What Does It Really Mean to Have Faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:19-26) – Audio recording of my Sunday evening sermon at Maple Hill Church of Christ in Lebanon, TN on July 15, 2012.

This sermon looks at two of the must fundamental questions in Christianity:

(1) Why did Jesus have to die?

(2) What does it REALLY mean to have faith in Jesus?

Romans 3:21-26 (ESV)

²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  

A big THANK YOU to everyone on the encouragement after my injury post yesterday. You guys rock! Regardless of what this turns out to be, it is little more than a small bump on the road of life. Still very, very blessed. Everybody else keep “Beast Mode” going while I’m on the bench!!

lifewithkim replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Oh no!!! I will be praying for you.

davidsgoals replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

So sorry to hear that!

runwithrach replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Oh no!!!

livelongtrainhard replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

I hope it can be a short layoff, too. Good luck.

runlong replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Hope you’re able to get back to it soon!

runrunningrunner replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Oh no. Wishing the best for you – very right to shut down the training for now.

amyrunning replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Oh no! I hope it’s a quick fix!

rookcanrun replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

So sorry to hear that, you’ve been killing it!

seechrisrun replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Man that sucks. It seems like you were training the right way. I hope it’s something minor. Do what you can to stay active while you wait for a diagnosis.

michaelontherun replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

It happens to the best of them… hopefully it’s nothing too serious. Keep us posted.

katie-girl-wanders replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Ahh hope you have a speedy recovery from whatever it is!

westcoastrunner replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

UGH — Keeping positive thoughts and prayers for you!!!

markicksass replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Beast Mode: Paused. I am sure you will be back. I think it’s very smart to lay off and see a doc. You are so fit that even if you have to take some time off, I bet Boston will still be there for you when you stage a comeback! Chin up! 🙂

lagirlontherun replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

RICE! Hope you are on the mend and back to running soon. Wish you were in LA so you could see my Sports MD. He is the best!

running-travelling-med replied to your post: Quest for Boston….Is on Hold

Noooooo! Fingers crossed for you.

I’ve tried to ignore it. I’ve tried to explain it away. However, the pain in my right leg is no longer confined to my quad, and continues to get worse and worse. Because of this I’m shutting everything down until I can get in to see a Sports Medicine MD. Hoping this will be a short layoff, but preparing for something much worse. I’ll update when I know something. Everyone else keep running strong!

I honestly thought the Kinvara 2 was the perfect shoe for me, and was very nervous about trying the new version. Well, this was by far the best a new shoe has ever felt out of the box. I’ll write a full review after a few more runs, but just had to share what an awesome shoe this is.

How did the Kinvara 3 not win “Best Update” from Runner’s World Magazine?

Find Your Strong!

The time between my 75-minute run today and last night’s 15-miler with 10 Yasso 800s was a little less than 12 hours, so I was feeling a little bit of residual fatigue throughout the run this morning.

However, it was good to be joined by both Nathan and Paxton. This was the first run for the acclaimed “Bellevue Trio” in quite some time. We started out at the Bellevue United Methodist Church Parking lot, and ran for 6-miles through the surrounding neighborhood and the new segment of the Harpeth River Greenway.

Paxton only wanted 6-miles total, so we looped back to the cars, and then Nathan and I headed back out into the surrounding neighborhood for our final 25-minutes or so. Our pace started off very, very chill, and then slowly got faster through the first 6-miles. However, I slowed down quite a bit for most of the final 25-minutes, because my legs were toast. I’m looking forward to the nice break before Thursday night’s track workout.

In total Nathan and I completed just under 9-miles with an average pace of 8:50 per mile. That makes just over 30-miles completed since Monday morning.

Beast Mode….ON!

Tonight our group met at the Vanderbilt track to do Yasso 800s, which is designed to be an indicator of what marathon time someone is capable of completing. For those of you that are not familiar with this workout, here is the lowdown…

Yasso 800s are a popular workout among runners who are trying to achieve a specific marathon goal. The name “Yasso” comes from Bart Yasso, the chief running officer at Runner’s World magazine, who popularized this workout. Here’s how to do Yasso 800s:

• Take your marathon goal time in hours/minutes and convert this to minutes/seconds. For example, if your marathon goal is 3 hours and 10 minutes then convert that to 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

• Try to run 800 meters (approximately 1/2 mile) in your converted time (3:10 in this example).

• Recover after each 800 by jogging or walking for the same amount of time (again, 3:10 in this example).

• Start with three or four repetitions in the first week.

• Continue with Yasso 800 workouts once a week and try to add one more repetition each week until you reach ten repetitions. The first few should feel pretty easy, but you’ll notice that they’ll start to get more difficult as you continue to add repeats.

The theory is that if you can complete 10 of these at your goal splits, then it indicates you should be able to achieve your marathon goal. Well, since the group was getting together to run Yasso 800s, John put the following in my schedule:

• 15 to 30 minute warmup
• 8 to 10 Yasso 800s (Goal time 3:05 / 3:05 active recovery)
• 15 to 30 minute cool down

I did my warm up around the Vanderbilt campus and on the track for just over 26-minutes, and then did two quick 100m stride outs with the group. For the Yasso 800s, my goal split time was 3 minutes 5 seconds (6:10 pace), since my goal marathon time is 3 hours 5 minutes. Also, per the design of the workout, I was supposed to run easy for 3 minutes 5 seconds between repeats.

Other than the start of the first one, I ended up running the workout by myself. However, in spite of this I still felt FANTASTIC! I was expecting this to be brutal, but I felt great, and nailed my splits. The biggest thing I had to fight was going too fast. Here’s a rundown of the splits for my 10 repeats.

1. 3:05
2. 3:03
3. 3:04
4. 3:05
5. 3:04
6. 3:03
7. 3:03
8. 3:04
9. 3:04
10. 3:05

I’m very excited about how this workout went, and it was a BIG confidence boost. I don’t necessarily buy into the idea that this means I can definitely run a 3:05 marathon, but I am pleased with how I felt throughout the workout. I think I could have easily run 2 to 4 more and maintained consistent splits.

At the end of the Yasso 800s, I ran a 30-minute cool down on the track, and then back onto the Vanderbilt campus. My legs still felt great during the cool down, and I felt like I could run all night. BTW….We had awesome weather tonight, which was a big plus.

In total I finished with 15-miles on the button at an average pace of 7:44 per miles with warmup and cool down. Might be hard to get going for my 75-minute run in the morning, but tonight was awesome.

Beast Mode…ON!

Today’s schedule called for 50 minutes at easy pace with 6 x 100m stride outs at the end. The weather this morning was just magnificent with temps around 61º and lower humidity. It was weird to finish a run and not be dripping wet.

Nathan and I met at the Edwin Warner Nature Center, and then ran out-and-back to the model airplane field. We started off at a very chill pace, and then got progressively faster throughout.

Overall I felt pretty good, but could tell that we’d run a hill 18-miles on Saturday. I’ve mentioned a couple of times recently about the twinge/strain in my right quadriceps muscle. Well today it was particularly annoying, and did not really loosen up until just before we started our stride-outs. I’ve been really stretching and rolling it tonight trying to keep this from becoming a bigger problem, but I’m starting to get nervous that this may ultimately lead to some missed time.

I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I was actually pleased with how I felt during the stride-outs, and so far the quad problem has not affected my stride or ability to run fast. Anyway, in total we finished just over 6.3-miles at an average pace of 8:19 per miles.

Beast Mode…ON!

Now that I’ve had a few weeks to tryout the new Saucony Hattori LC I wanted to share some of my initial impressions. The LC is a 4.4 oz, zero-drop shoe, and is the successor to the original Hattori that came out in mid-2011. I was a huge fan of the original, and initially started running in the Hattori as a means to improve my bio-mechanics and strengthen my feet.

It has been said on my blog many times that since adding these Hattori runs to my schedule one or two days a week, I have been able to get rid of all my orthotics and also make the lightweight Saucony Kinvara my full-time training and racing shoe. I really only had two criticisms of the original…

(1) The heaviest wear on the outsole seemed to be just inse the small ovals of rubber under the big-toe. It seems like a slight modification to the positioning of the rubber sections could greatly improve the durability without adding weight to the shoe. However, even with this I was able to get approximately 250-miles out of my initial pair, which is WAY more than I expected.

(2) The material in the upper is so thin that my big toe in each shoe eventually wore a hole through the top. This was partially exacerbated by the fact that the size I selected was very snug on me. I’m actually right in between a 10 and a 10.5, and decided to go with the 10 in the original. This put a little more pressure on the material over the toe than was intended.

The new Hattori LC made two significant changes to the original, though the outsole remains unchanged…

(1) The upper now contains laces to provide a more secure fit, rather than the velcro strap on the original. I know this was a frequent complaint on the original, though the velcro strop seemed sufficient for me.

(2) The material over the toe has been reinforced to provide extra durablity.

I was initially skeptical about the laces, since the fit of the upper worked really well for me in the original. However, I ultimately decided to give them a shot instead of simply re-ordering another pair of the original. For the new LC, I went with the size 10.5 to see if that would also help with the “big toe” problem in the upper.

While this has nothing to do with performance, the LC is a much better looking shoe than the original. I loved the original Hattori, but it does look a bit more like a water shoe than a running shoe. The new LC definitely looks more like a running shoe. With that being said, it is a bit disappointing that Saucony only offers this shoe in one color for men and one color for women. The original Hattori was available in a plethora of color options.

Like the original, the upper is made of a very thin, stretchy material with flexifilm overlays to provide a little more strength and structure. This material hugs the foot like a glove, and is very comfortable while running. This shoe can be worn sockless, though I generally prefer running with socks. The new re-enforced material over the toe is a bit disappointing, because it is really more in front of the toes than over the toes. However, moving up to a size 10.5 has taken a lot of the pressure off the upper material in the toe box, so this may end up being a moot point anyway.

As for the new laces, during my first run in the LC one of the shoes came untied about 2-miles into the run. This was a bit frustrating since I had not dealt with this in the original. However, now that I’ve completed several runs in the LC, I really appreciate the laces. The fit is a lot more customized to my preference, and it is actually a lot more comfortable than the original.

The outsole is made of EVA+ foam with strategically place rubber under the heel and big toe for added durability. As I mentioned early, it is unchanged from the original. This is good and bad. It is good because it retains exactly the same feel. It is bad because it does not attempt to improve the durability of the outsole based on overall wear patterns from the original.

All-in-all, the Hattori LC is a solid update, and a great option for those wanting to slowly introduce more minimalist or barefoot type running into their training. As with the original, this is a shoe that forces a forefoot or mid-foot strike, and should be incorporated gradually to prevent injury. The laces in the LC are a great addition to what was already a well designed, zero-drop shoe.

Great weather + Over 3,200 ft of cumulative elevation gain + Just over 18-miles completed + 8:11 average pace per mile = one of the best tough long training runs of my running life.

Today the group planned to run the 16.5-mile loop in Percy and Edwin Warner Parks, which is one of the toughest road routes in this area. My scheduled called for 16 to 18-miles at easy pace, so Nathan and I added a little bit here and there to end up with just over 18-miles completed for the day. I ran the entire way with Nathan, but after starting off with the entire group we ran at different times with either Marc, Aine, or Paul.

We had great weather with starting temps around 63º, and the humidity began to burn off about 45-minutes into the run. The 16.5 starts off with an almost 250 ft climb during the first mile, so our pace was very, very chill starting out. This included our first two miles which were just under 10:00 min pace, and our second two miles which were just under 9:00 min pace. After the fourth mile, 10 of the next 14 miles were completed under 8:00 min pace, and 5 of those were under 7:45 pace (our final two miles were 7:25 and 7:06).

Nathan and I both felt fantastic, and for me the run felt really comfortable, even going up the big climbs throughout the route. I’m still fighting a little twinge / strain in my right quadriceps muscle, but this was litte more than an annoyance today. Overall my legs felt great, and I was in one of those rhythms where I felt like I could run all day.

We also had a lot a great conversation today which ranged from Victorian Poetry to computer programming to great guitar players. After the run we headed out to our normal breakfast spot, Bread & Company, and a great morning was topped off because they were serving my favorite coffee, Bongo Java’s Immaculate Percolation.

Beast Mode…ON!

inthewright replied to your post: Tag, you’re it! State 10 random facts about yourself, then go to your 10 favorite blogs and tell them that they are it! 🙂 

How in the world did you flip your car on the interstate? How many times end-over-end? Did you make it to your high school graduation?

My mom and I were driving back on I-40 from Carthage on what appeared to be a beautiful day. I came around a curve and saw a huge wall of rain just in front of me. By the time I hit the deluge I had slowed down to under 50 MPH, but my car immediately hydroplaned. The back of the car hit a guard rail and the car flipped end-over-end backwards into a valley to the right of the interstate. I’m pretty sure it only flipped once, and we landed on the wheels. Basically the front of the car was destroyed and the back was smashed, but the cab was intact. My mom and I were essentially unhurt.

I remember looking out of the front windshield when the car was flying through the air upside down….creepy. I also remember climbing back up the embankment and a guy in a Nissan 300Z had stopped to check on us. His first words were “Dude! You flipped it!” He then proceeded to pull out his brick of a mobile phone and asked if I wanted to use it. I believe it was the first time I ever used a cell phone.

Yes, I did make it to my high school graduation, and was even able to deliver my speech.

Thursday is normally track night with the JSRC, but tonight is also “Meet the Teacher” night at Kate’s school. Because of this, John sent me a substitute workout that I could run this morning.

I was expecting it to be similar to one of our Jim Spivey track workouts, but was a bit surprised when I got the following from John…

• 10-minute warmup
• 8 x 5-minutes at no faster than 6:30 pace with 30-second recoveries
• 10-minute cool down

This is a bit more intense than a normal track workout, but I’m guessing this is more in line with what John would draw up for marathon training if I didn’t normally go to JSRC workouts. Would love to know your thoughts on this John.

Anyway, to be honest I had a bit of trepidation about this morning after my so-so tempo workout on Tuesday, and experiencing hip and quad tightness yesterday. We got a bit of a break in the temps today, and this provided a very welcome boost. It was still fairly humid, but 64º felt nice.

Nathan and I met at the Bellevue United Methodist Church parking lot, and ran our 10-minute warmup out to the new section of the Harpeth River Greenway. Up to this point we had only done easy runs on this greenway, so it was nice this morning to break it in a little. For the workout we went 5-minutes out, did our 30-second recovery, and then did 5-minutes back. 

The bizarre thing is that I felt MUCH better on the way back than I did on the way out, EVERY TIME! Nathan said he felt exactly the same way. You can see this in our average pace for the segments:

On the Way Out:

• Segment 1 – 6:48 (was still trying to get loose)
• Segment 3 – 6:42
• Segment 5 – 6:42
• Segment 7 – 6:41

On the Way Back:

• Segment 2 – 6:36
• Segment 4 – 6:36
• Segment 6 – 6:38
• Segment 8 – 6:37

The reason for this is a mystery to me. There does not appear to be a significant difference in elevation change between the two directions, and there was almost no wind to speak of. I’m guessing it was either a mental thing, or both of our Garmin watches just liked coming back better and showed a faster average. No idea.

Regardless, I felt much, much better today that I feared I would. It was a hard workout, but my legs felt strong, and the pace was not overwhelming. Also, unlike Tuesday, Nathan and I ran together the whole way, which was nice. Even though the intervals were 5-minutes each, it turned out to be almost exactly an 8 x 1200m workout. All of our segments were between .74 and .76 miles completed.

Once we finished the repeats, we ran our 10-minute cool down back to the cars at a very chill pace. In total we finished just over 8.5-miles with warmup and cool down at an average pace of 7:32 per mile.

Beast Mode…ON!