Category: training

So I think I was in the boot for 9 or 10 weeks. Then in it part time for two more. Then a week with no boot. Then this unusual event called the “Sooo Not Normal” relay occurred and I had to take 20 minutes in the 120 degree heat, even if it meant 3 more months in the boot. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Really!!

The dirt at the side of the road was very soft, but not too soft, a nice benefit for someone taking their first run after a stress fracture. I was supposed to walk, but I couldn’t JUST walk given the spirit of the occasion. I wasn’t breaking any speed records, and I admit, I walked a few minutes out of the 20. Having not run since April, and very little from Feb 3 to April, even at sea level, 9000 feet below normal for me, it was dang hard to keep moving for 20 minutes.

I have been training a little since then. A few short runs and bike rides. My foot is …. well, weird. No significant pain in the location of the stress fracture, but at times it has hurt nearly every place else.

I had an appointment today with Russ Bollig in Broomfield, Colorado, whom I have designated “The Orthotics Wizard”. I am lucky his office is less than a five hour drive from my house and he charges regular rates for his work. He has made orthotics for many professional and world-class athletes. He is also a super nice guy. I have my first fitting a week from Friday, and I’m hopeful that I’ll soon be able to cycle as hard as I want without pain.

For the Spring of 2008, I have signed up for something totally insane. I am a little worried to blog about it since I have withdrawn from or DNF’d every event I have posted about. I am getting insurance. ; )

The photo is in Arizona on the way to Badwater, cuz there can never be enough photos of my pups on my blog and all the photos I shot of the “Sooo Not Normal” relay, and MANY more, are online here.

Adam Jabobs interviews Lisa Smith-Batchen. This was recorded prior to Badwater, but just posted to The Final Sprint, Friday.

 

 

I was having dinner at a neighbor’s house yesterday evening. After we ate, I read an article about the host that had appeared in his hometown newspaper. There was a short paragraph mentioning his idea to use a girdle for running back Terry Miller’s recurring hamstring issues because ace bandages kept slipping off. I saw Terry Miller play many times when I was a kid, but I never knew he was wearing a girdle!

I said, “I think you invented compression shorts!” He replied that Miller had no more hamstring problems after he started wearing the girdle. He also said several articles had been published about Miller’s girdle. I found this one that appeared in Time Magazine in 1976. My neighbor is Dr. Donald Cooper. For many years he was the head physician for the Oklahoma State University Athletic Department. He was also the USA team physician for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and was a long time member of the President’s Council on Fitness. (He also said that when my foot has zero pain my stress fracture is healed. ; ) )

Does anyone know of another candidate for inventor of compression shorts? It is not like Dr. Cooper is going to make any money off this, but it would be interesting to know if he was the first person to come up with this idea.

SportsGeezer highlighted an article about 45-year-old, triathlete, Karen Smyers. She talks about how her training has changed and shares a typical 7 day schedule.

I actually started thinking about races again today. My previously planned schedule for 2007 is completely shot, but this looks like a possibilty, Q50 Patagonia.