I caused the death of a running partner

Although the weather is amazing, today's run included in a tragic event.  A running partner that I have been running with for months fell to his tragic death.  The story of his death follows:

Any run that starts from home includes a pass through the "tree tunnel".  The first 3 miles of the road is corn and bean fields except about a 200 meter stretch where huge oak trees line the road and have created a tunnel.  In the summer, this tunnel is the only shade in that three mile stretch.  This winter, the tree tunnel became a race course.

More often than not, a squirrel would meet me at the start and race to the end.  He would jump from branch to branch while trying to stay ahead of me.  I always lost the race, but it was a great 200 meter sprint.  
 
Today, the weather is an incredible 65 degrees which is amazing since two days ago the high was 20.  I went out at lunch for my run and headed toward the tree tunnel.  The plan called for half mile repeats so I was ready to give Mr. Squirrel a good run today.  Sure enough, I entered the tree tunnel and could see him bounding from limb to limb.  He must have been enjoying the weather as well because he was moving exceptionally fast.  All of a sudden, there was an odd screeching sound and Mr. Squirrel landed about 3 feet in front of me.  I looked up and there was a dangling branch about 25 feet above us. 

I kept running hoping he was just in shock.  On my return to the tree tunnel, it was obvious that Mr. Squirrel did not survive his fall.  Not sure why but I felt compelled to grab a stick and push him off the road.  It was fun while it lasted. 
 


  

Trail Running Challenges

This is a cut back week on my training plan and I only needed to get 8 miles in this morning.  Between some family challenges and work, the week has been rough and I really needed to get in some trail time.  Forecast called for sleet, ice and rain but thankfully it was cold enough to all stay frozen.  

I woke up at 7 and went outside to find the weatherman was right, 25 degrees, with a rain/sleet coming down.   I laid back down for a fews minutes until I decided it was time to "man up."

Made it to the trail by 8.  As I prepared to run, the park ranger was closing the trails, except for hikers.  The first three miles was a combination of snow and sleet.  4 miles in, it changed and rain and sleet.  Thankfully, the wind was light but I was really starting to struggle. 

The frozen trail, snow, sleet, and rain were not the problem.  During the thaw this week, they allowed the horses on the trail and it was like a giant waffle iron.  For nearly 4 miles now, I have been doing almost as much lateral jumping from one side of the trail to the other trying to avoid injury.  After 7 miles, my legs were exhausted and my form was quickly slipping.  I decided to play it safe and call it a day.  I cut the mileage short according to the GPS but with all of the lateral movement, I probably covered the distance.

I've learned many lessons on the trail:
 * Always yield to what is bigger or faster. 
 * Horses can be really slow on a trail and often spook easily.  Most feel better if you talk to them.
 * Winter thaw really makes a mess of the trail.  Frozen dirt is better than thawed mud
 * Take your GPS distance as a guide, not the gospel

Today, I was reminded that horses can kill a trail and it will take weeks for it to be smooth again.  I know the horses don't care but I wish the horse owners would have some consideration for the rest of us. 

Mother Nature's Little Joke

I'm working the plan and things are going well so far. Weather here in the midwest has been a little crazy and we had an amazingly warm couple days.  Freakish weather reminded me who is boss.
 
Friday - nice warm day - ran 6
Sat - warm morning - finished a 12 miles run before the monsoon and freeze  Temp drop from 50 to 15
Sun - cold windy day - ran 4
Mon - 15 degrees - ran 4

Sunday was a cold yet sunny day.  The 12 miles from Saturday beat me up pretty good and I wanted to run the trails for a softer surface.  I knew we had a lot of rain and sleet on Saturday but temps stayed under 30 for almost 24 hours so I figure everything would be frozen. 

I opted to run a 4 mile loop at Indian Camp Creek.  When I arrived, I was happy to see sheets of ice were I expected puddles.  I cautiously walked over the puddle, solid ice.  I jumped on the puddle and no issues so time to run.  After a little over a half mile, I was crossing just another sheet of ice when SNAP the ice crack and both feet went straight in.  I quickly jumped out but both feet were soaked ankle.  Quick decisions time:

• 2 wet feet 
• Temp 21 / windchill 14
• half mile in
• 30 minutes till sunset

Two choices:
Option 1 - Run half mile back to car, go home to change, and run in the dark
Option 2 - Laugh in the face of Mother Nature and keep running


Time to man up and show Mother nature who is boss.  I ran a slow and painful 4 miles but I finished it.  As soon as I finished the run, I ripped off the shoes and socks and held them under the car heater.  Felt good to watch the ice melt off them.  

Accountability

Like many of you, it is a time to look at the past and where things are going.   I read somewhere recently, look at the past and focus on the future.  I'd give props to whoever said it but I can't remember where it was. 

My running focus will be on consistency and adding miles.  Ultimately, I'm tired of:

• Saying I really want to run a marathon and an ultra
• Saying I need to lose some weight
• Saying I'm going to meet other runners

In 2013, I'm going to:

• Run a marathon and an Ultra
• Lose the weight
• Join/create a runners group

What am I doing to accomplish this?:

• Registered for the Berryman Trail Marathon
• Running 30 miles a week and watching my diet
• Have the schedules for the local running groups (30 minutes away)
• Bringing life back to the blog.

 I'm going to use the blog the hold myself accountable and to share my success, my failures, and my experiences.  Somehow, running more wants me to blog.  
 

Starting Over

It has been 4 weeks since the Dr. put me on the disabled list. Due to what he described as “extreme shin splints” I have not been allowed to run for 4 weeks. 

Gains and Losses

Unfortunately, I was not very active on my down time so I lost a lot of fitness and gained a lot of weight.  I did make it to the gym a few times but not enough to maintain what I had.  

What’s next

For the past 3 days, I’ve run 2 miles each day.  The first 2 runs felt great although I have clearly lost a lot.  After today’s 2 miles, I was actually a little sore but the shins are fine.   It is sad to think that I was averaging 40 miles a week and now I am sore after two 2 mile runs.  

Since I don’t think I can recover in time for the St. Louis Marathon, I am looking for a new challenge.  Hoping that I won’t have to travel but there are not a lot of options when it comes to long distances.  For now, the plan is to see how the next 2 weeks pan out and to see where my fitness is truly at.  The fitness level will hope determine the next goal race. 

What did I learn?

I need to make sure I am doing my warm ups, cool downs, and core work.  When I was increasing mileage, I was faithful to the routines.  As time went on, I starting skipping them and eventually stopped.  Time to go back to the basics and good habits. 

10 things I love about running.

Even though injury has me on the sideline right now, I still love to run.  In joining the trend of list 10 thing I love about running, my list includes the:

1. Challenge – everyday is a new challenge to see how much better I can be.
2. Simplicity – can be as simple a throwing on some shoes and heading out
3. Trails – heading out to the trails puts everything into perspective.
4. Running Community – Doesn’t matter how fast or slow, how far or short, a run is a run and runners respect that.
5. Me time – love getting out on a run and forgetting all concerns during a run
6. Family connections – Only thing better than running on my own is sharing a run with a family member
7. Feeling of accomplishment after finishing a hard run.  
8. Reality Check – running keeps me from going insane.  
9. Immunity Boost – running boost the immunity system
10. Runners High – both during and after a run

One week away from hitting the roads.  I can’t wait.

Double Whammy!!!

For me, talking about mileage and health have always been the destruction of a successful "good streak." 
 
I've been enjoying my best running/health streak in years and have silently attributed it to my silence of success.  I am averaging 40+ miles a week and haven't been sick for well over a year.

All things good came to an end when I stupidly  inadvertently brought upon my demise. 

Day 1: The wife asks me if I am training for a full since my mileage keeps increasing.  She asked so I had to answer.  First time I had talked about my running in months. 
Day 2: A co-worker simply asked how I manage my sick time with so many kids.  My response, "I don't get sick very often so sick time is used for them."

Two simple comments.  I did not bring up the topics, I did not embellish the answers, I simply told the truth.  The end result is BAM!!!!!!!!!!
 
Day 3: Shin "pops" on a run and I hobble home.
Day 4: Although my legs can't run, the nose sure can.  Use half a box of tissues.

Fast forward (3 tissue boxes later)
Day 8: Try running 4 miles.  Body feels great (minus cold symptoms) but shin is still not ready. 
Day 9: Limping big time from the 4 miles
Day 10: Still can't run.  Time to shallow my pride and call the Dr.

So tomorrow is the orthopedic surgeon.  Praying that he tells me everything is fine and I just need to suck it up. 

Coincidence, maybe,  Cursed, probably. Time to get healthy again and quit talking.