The name of the game today is patience(I HATE patience).......

Here we go again...

<answer>Thank you for calling Dr. NoFuckingWayYouAreGettingACallBack's office. How may I help you.
Me: Yes, I'd like to ask the same questions I asked two days ago
Her: Sure. Please tell me your questions that we didn't write down so that we can neglect to do so again today.
Me: When can I expect a return call
Her: I have sent your questions off. I You'll have to wait for a call from (See aforementioned doctor's name) you know who.

But, but but.... I gotta know when(and some other basic managing wounds questions)???????

They look lonely, don't they? I hope to give them something to do soon....

The good news is the pain is quite manageable. It stings but it's not crippling. The bad news is this dressing severely limits my knee flexing, I'm moving around very peg legged which makes it difficult to walk. It comes off next Tuesday. I may need a little time to work on the knee itself to get flexibility back before I run on it. I'm not sure how much a week+ of not really bending it will do to it. Going to have to play it by ear. I doubt it will be a major setback.

No call from the surgeons office today. I was hoping to find out what the object they removed was.

Chestburster?

Asteroid?

Battle droid?

Hopefully they will call tomorrow. Aren't you curious what it is?

What's done is done. It was a fairly easy procedure (for me). A million questions from a cranky nurse. A brief visit by an absolutely stunning anesthesiologist who is also a runner (but the fact that she told me she's pregnant is a good indication that it ain't happening for me, LOL), a short nap and whammo.

A couple minor snags. When they put the IV in my hand the blood vessel burst.  There was a bit of blood and they put a piece of gauze on it and said I'd be fine <shrug>. Another IV jammed into my arm and we were good to go. After they moved me into the operating room an assistant was strapping me down to the table (WTF?). I nicely asked her to try and not drop the buckle on my balls again. The whole OR, myself included, had a big laugh out of that.

Oxygen mask was interesting. I never saw the anesthesiologist come in. They say the anesthesia has an amnesic effect. Apparently so because we were chatting as they were prepping me and all of a sudden they were showing me my bandaged leg and wheeling me into recovery. I've no clue what happened in between.

I still don't know what was in my knee. I thought it was a smaller than a BB sized piece of gravel. It was a LOT larger and funky shaped. They showed it to me in a test tube. It's headed to the lab to figure out what the hell it was.

So far, I have virtually no pain. I'm not sure if it's going to stay this easy or the local hasn't worn off (I had a local and IV). Surgeon told me 1-2 weeks and he will let me run. We will talk next week. The 6 weeks off was incorrect he said. I'll be buttoned up way quicker.

So what does it look like? I won't find out until I get to unwrap the gift in 7 days. Who knows.....

..... An the recovery begins

And thus ends a phase in my journey. We have hit a resting point......

With nearly 18 miles in last week, I got my final run in tonight. It was miserably hot and a bit humid out. Not a fun night to run but I wasn't about to let my last one go by. With the weather as it is, the hills in Cherokee looked particularly daunting (felt that way too). It was very much a battle to just make it up them but I had real drive tonight. In the end I managed to best my previous pace of 10:02 in this park and finally got sub 10. for the conditions, I'm quite pleased with my performance. Many of our group gave up and walked portions tonight. I was not one of them!

Tomorrow morning I undergo knee surgery to remove a lump with a foreign object in it (A piece of gravel we believe) that's pressing on a nerve. This is an old problem that needs to be resolved. It's been hurting more and more after each run. It's unclear how long it will be before I can run again. Originally the surgeon told me 1-2 weeks but he submitted my work leave as 6 weeks. I'm hoping that's a lofty quote and he was just covering his butt.

I exchanged email with Jason Fitzgerald of Strengthrunning.com and asked his advice. He suggested that while this is minor surgery I start rather light with a 7 mile week. I'll break that up into 2 nights at run club and run easy. If I feel good I'll dial it up 3 miles per week until I'm back up to my previous mileage (~18mi/week). This whole process could take a bit of time and some atrophy is certainly possible. We will deal with those challenges s they arise.  I still expect to be more than ready to run the Great Pumpkin 10k on October 3rd after which, we push forward with our mini marathon training.

I will be walking and lifting as soon as I am given a thumbs up by the surgeon. 

Run Club - Mon: 90 degrees and HOT!! 3.25 miles, 9:57 pace, 176 spm. Finally got sub 10 minute mile on the hills from hell run!

Tonight's run was in the Altra Instinct 2.0's Zero Drop.  Between them and the Kinvara's 4mm drop I've really grown to like the more minimalistic style. The low or no drop but still have the cushioning. Not using inserts in these shoes.

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Bodyweight Squats: 1x30

Weekly Mileage: 3.25 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1488.14

Dumbbell Bench Press: 5x5 (55lb dumbbells)

Inverted Rows: 1x10, 1x6, 1x5

Push ups: 3x10

Tri-ceps cable push down: 3x10 @40lbs

Dumbbell Y Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell T Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell W Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Standard Core Routine: 2 sets

Bicycle: 10 x each leg

Plank: :30

Marching Bridge: :60

Side Plank: :30 each side. 

Bird Dogs: 10

...and another pic of the journey from lardass to badass

Time for the interesting race anecdote....

I had just passed a water stop and was heading towards the trash. I went left of the can. A woman was on the right and was slowing to drop her cup. As we both passed the trash, she tossed her cup and all the water flew right into the front of my shorts. Turn to look and it was a woman I knew from run club. Man did we have a great laugh about that! Made my night, HAHA

My junk was already soaking wet from the heat and humidity so all it really did was cool me off for a couple minutes. I probably owe her thanks for a second or two off my time!

Funny race stores rule!

Race day!!

Hosparus Lunar 5K: Official Results: 27:20, Pace 8:49. 27th of 162 (17th men's division). 179spm. My first race running negative splits.9:28, 8:41, 8:26. Had to force myself to not stay with the crowd and get burned out. I let them all go, ran my own race and kept to my plan. felt strong in the last mile and was able to pass a good half a dozen people

I missed my previous PR by 4 seconds but today was 40 degrees hotter, humid, and had 4 significant hills. This is a win for me!

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Weekly Mileage: 17.48 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1491.39

Time for the Saturday morning metrics:

Add an inch to the shoulders(YAY) and subtract half an inch from the waist(More YAY). Weight is very low so won't freak if it bounces back a couple pounds next week.

7/25

Weight - 201.8

Body Fat - 19.6

BMI - 28

Shoulders - 46

Neck - 16

Chest - 43

Bicep right - 12.5

Bicep - left - 12.5

Waist - 39

Hips - 38

Thigh - right - 21.5

Thigh - left - 21.5

Tonight ids the Hosparus Lunar5K. I'm looking forward to it but it's a bit weird having a race at night. Can't workout this afternoon like usual and just seems different LOL

Run: This ones a winner! When I couldn't make run club I went to a local park and had what might have been my best run yet (Ok I did run 38 seconds faster pace once but it was a race, 40 degrees cooler, and not as smooth). 3.02 miles. 9:26 pace, 176 spm and my first successful negative splits...

10:14

9:35

8:31

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Bodyweight Squats: 1x30

Weekly Mileage: 14.40 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1494.47

....and now it's rest time until race day (Hosparus Lunar 5K on Sat night ). A night race with glow swag and running it with Robbie(his whole family is walking it too). Should be a blast. 

Run Club - Wed: 6.12 miles, 10:19 pace, 177spm. Finally a break in the miserable humidity. Was around 85 and  reasonable humidity. I'm really happy with this run. Pace is a lot higher than my last two 6 milers and the cadence is right where I want it. I started out strong but really burned at around 40 minutes. Not tired so much as just out of energy. I'm told I need to get more carbs in me. Going to have to examine my run day diet.

My knee(the other knee, not the one they are cutting on LOL) that's been bugging me was solid tonight. I think I'm good to go.

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Weekly Mileage: 11.38 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1497.49

So normally I'd lighten up on my running past mid week to have fresh legs to PR on Saturday night's Lunar 5K but the surgery next week will take me off the road for a short while, I think I'd rather get the most miles in I can this week so I'll stay the usual schedule and Saturday I'll just run for the SWAG and not sweat the clock

Physical therapy: Tons of shoulder exercises. Burning electrodes on my f'ing shoulder and painful physiotherapist medieval muscle manipulations. Shoulder is making improvements.

Treadmill Warm-up Run: 1 mile. No running dynamics recorded today

Dumbbell Y Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell T Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell W Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell Bench Press: 5x5 (55lb dumbbells)

Inverted Rows: 1x10, 1x5, 1x4

Push ups: 3x10

Standard Core Routine: 2 sets

Bicycle: 10 x each leg

Plank: :30

Marching Bridge: :60

Side Plank: :30 each side. 

Bird Dogs: 10

Weekly Mileage: 5.26 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1503.61

Thought of the day: Free entry = free swag = SCORE!

Run Club - Mon: HILLS DAY!! 3.26 miles, 10:08 pace, 176 spm. 93 degree heat index. Was a tiny bit slower than last week but DAMN was it hot and sticky. Surprisingly I've really become comfortable with and are actually beginning to enjoy hills(Up more than down). They are tough on your stamina but my legs just love them. I attribute it to a whole lot of squats.

I really wanted an ice cold beer. Damn this stupid allergy diet!

The Kinvara's are a fantastic shoe for me. They extremely light, very springy and after about a half a mile or so the calf hurt went away.  I really think I could become addicted to a lower drop shoe.

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Bodyweight squats: 1x30

Weekly Mileage: 4.26 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1504.61

I'm starting to think about my week or more away from fitness coming next week after surgery. I think I will need to ramp up the diet to offset that. I'll probably severely limit fruit and sugars for the week. I hope to get on the treadmills at Planet Fitness and walk while holding on handrails within a day or two. Will see my my orthopedist says

Off day workout (WTF? if I workout, how is it an off day? /boggle)

Standard Core Routine: 2 sets

Bicycle: 10 x each leg

Plank: :30

Marching Bridge: :60

Side Plank: :30 each side. 

Bird Dogs: 10

Test Run: 1 mile, 10:06 pace, 172 spm

This was a quick rest day test of my Saucony Kinvara 6's and my first time running in a tank top. It was a difficult run. My calves were throbbing. The 4mm drop is a big change from the 8-12 I'm used to. The shoe itself felt really comfortable and rather springy. They felt like a very fast shoe(and I'm not sure what that means. It's just a gut feeling) I can see this being my new race shoe(instead of the Triumph ISO's) but not this Saturday's race. I'll need some time to work up to running in these and sure as hell don't want to run a race in untested shoes(that set fire to my calves).

I did not like running in a tank at all. My underarms felt like a  Slip 'N Slide

Weekly Mileage: 1 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1504.61

Big day...

Run Club - Sat: 2.80 mi, 12:09 pace, 169 spm. Today was one of if not the most brutal running days I've experienced. It was nearing 100 degree heat index with ridiculous humidity. I ran Week 7 Day 1 with Basil. Run 25 minutes non stop. For a big guy running in crazy heat, pushing to his extreme limit in training, while fighting heat he is not accustomed or acclimated to, I can't say enough about how proud of him I am. I usually just zoom off as soon as his timer ends and he walks the rest of the 5K. Today I decided to walk another 5 minutes with him just to make sure he was OK from the heat. He looked good so I popped off an easy 10:30 pace for the last mile. On a side note, i have acclimated to the heat. It sucks but I'm able to tolerate it now.

No strides today. Right knee is still bugging me a bit so ran light and letting it off the hook on speed work today.

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Dumbbell Y Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell T Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell W Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell Bench Press: 5x5 (55lb dumbbells)

Push ups: 3x10

Pull Ups: 1x9, 1x7, 1x5 with black resistance band assist.

Standard Core Routine: 2 sets

Bicycle: 10 x each leg

Plank: :30

Marching Bridge: :60

Side Plank: :30 each side. 

Bird Dogs: 10

Weekly Mileage: 16.72 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1505.61

Gained 0.8 pounds this week. No measurement changes. This is getting hard. I feel like I have so little left to lose that it's an endless fight for every pound. I also haven't gained any bulk in a long time. I'm wondering if running is actually interfering with that. Not sure I'd consider it a bad thing. Just spewing thoughts.

7/18

Weight - 206.6

Body Fat - 19.8

BMI - 28.6

Shoulders - 45

Neck - 16

Chest - 43

Bicep right - 12.5

Bicep - left - 12.5

Waist - 39.5

Hips - 38

Thigh - right - 21.5

Thigh - left - 21.5

Saw my massage therapist today. The pain!!!! Oh, the pain!

She advised me to take today off from working out so who am I to argue? Ran some errands and soaked my aching feet it Epsom salts. Not sure if it helped(another suggestion from my medieval torture therapist) but it was relieving.

Made a video this morning to help my fellow rebels who can't yet do lunges. Got an assist by my local gym owner...

Run Club - Thu: 2.91 mi, 10:15 pace, 175 spm. I was keeping up a good clip when my right knee started hurting a bit. I dropped back and cut my pace by  1m/m or so and it started to feel better. Finished the run at an easy glide. I think I'm just fine. isn't bugging me at all. After I warmed up more it didn't hurt again. I think it's just looking forward to its off day tomorrow. (upper body and core day)

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Weekly Mileage: 13.92 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1508.41

Run Club - Wed: WENT BIG. 6.75 miles. 10:58 pace. 172 spm. 1hr 14m. The first 22 minutes of my run was doing Week 6, Day 3 of Couch to 5K with my friend Basil. He did awesome!!

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

I'm feeling quite satisfied!

Weekly Mileage: 11.01 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1511.32

I emailed Jason Fitzgerald (Strengthrunning.com and Camp Nerd Fitness running coach) and asked his advice for my post surgery running. I will be out 1-2 weeks. His recommendation...

If you're currently at 16+ mpw, your weekly mileage after your surgery break could look something like 7, 10, 13, 16 - I think this is fair considering you want to be conservative at the very beginning but you can ramp up fairly quickly IF everything is feeling good.

Light workout day. Did a physical therapy appointment for shoulder injury. Lot's of exercises there.

Bodyweight 1A

Circuit - 3 sets

Push ups: 1x10

Squats: 1x10

Planks: 30 seconds

Jumping Jacks: 30 seconds

Run Club: Hill Day. Humid as all hell. 3.26 miles. 10:04 pace, 175spm. 

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Jump Squats: 3x10

Weekly Mileage: 4.26

Miles to Mordor: 1518.07

Warm up Run on treadmill: 1 Mile, 9:47 pace, 177 spm

Dumbbell Y Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell T Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell W Raises: 1x10 @15lb

Dumbbell Bench Press: 3x5 @55lb DBs

Inverted Rows on the Smith Machine: See? It is a useful machine. 1x8, 1x6, 1x5 

Push Ups: 3x10

Standard Core Routine: 2 sets

Bicycle: 10 x each leg

Plank: :30

Marching Bridge: :60

Side Plank: :30 each side. 

Bird Dogs: 10

Diagonal Single-Leg Balance Kicks: 1x25 (each leg)

Weekly mileage: 1 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1520.33

Run Club: 3.00 miles. 10:14 pace, 175spm. 

Strides: x4

Jump Squats: 3x10

Chakram Routine

One legged balance: :30 each leg

Twisting Lunge: 6x each leg

Single-leg Deadlift: 5x each leg

One legged Alphabet spell: A-M each leg

Weekly Mileage: 15.39 mi

Miles to Mordor: 1521.33

Nothing to report this week. Down 0.3 pounds and the rest remains the same. No worries there.

7/11

Weight - 205.8

Body Fat - 19.8

BMI - 28.5

Shoulders - 45

Neck - 16

Chest - 43

Bicep right - 12.5

Bicep - left - 12.5

Waist - 39.5

Hips - 38

Thigh - right - 21.5

Thigh - left - 21.5