Category: injuries

Ankle ouch…

Ow, quit it. ~ Bart Simpson

So going into SFO, my right ankle was bothering me. Felt like I sprained it but I have no recollection of doing so. During the race (report to come), it felt fine. Seriously, zero issues. Post-race, however, is a totally different story. Not a happy runner does this thing make.

I ran last Thursday because I felt like running. My ankle had other plans, however and I had to bail a little early. So I jumped on the bike(s) for the next three days. Singlespeed Friday, Mountain bike on Saturday and a road ride on my ‘cross bike Sunday. Good times, actually. First time in about 10 years for me to log 3 days in a row on bikes. Ran again Monday. Not happy. So I am in recovery/rest/cycling mode for a bit. The ankle feels a lot better today (Wednesday) so I am planning to cross-train again today and then play tomorrow’s race by ear. It would probably be smart to skip it but you know how I am when it comes to being smart…

~stubert.

Catch up…

Vanity is the enemy of funny. ~ Rach

Thurs: 00:38:28, 4.54 miles, Boulder Creek Path recovery
Fri: 00:32:54, 3.73 miles, Eldora Skate Ski
Sat: 00:40, 4.25 miles, Treadmill surges
Sun: 3:36, 22.5 miles, Niwot/North Boulder LSD

After Wednesday’s effort, things started to settle down a bit in the injury department but I didn’t feel 100% the rest of the week, that’s for sure. Still had some good runs and got in a bonus skate on Friday so I ended up with just shy of 50 miles for the week. Not too shabby all things considered.

Thursday, I just did a quick, recovery run and felt decent. Ran in Boulder on the Creek Path and actually logged some quick splits given the continued crankiness I was experiencing in my right leg. Far less uncomfortable than the previous day but still there a bit for sure. Felt like I was constantly adjusting my gait to try to smooth things out. Overall, however, I was super relaxed and spun easy mid-8s without feeling like I was pushing things at all.

On Friday, I normally take the day off to rest but had to get outside to clear my head so went up to Eldora for a quick skate ski. My second day out on the twigs was MUCH better than my first. I am sure I still resemble a spastic turtle or something but I was actually able to glide uphill and felt like I improved a ton from my first effort. Hopefully it just keeps getting better.

Saturday, Rach and I went to see Les Contes d’Hoffman, presented by The Met. Amazing performance by an outstanding cast. Really enjoyed it. I even had time to jam up to the Rec Center and get in a quick run. Still felt some residual effects of the injury but much better. Just did 30 minutes of warm up at a 10:00 pace then 5, super easy 1×1 surges. Relaxed and fluid.

I got up early on Sunday and headed back down to Boulder for the weekly big run. Met with the group after spinning around on my own for about a mile then we headed out on a Niwot loop. Super leisurely pace for the first few miles then the group split and we started rolling 9s. I felt okay, never completely great and felt that my heartrate was up a bit from the week before (though at the end of the day, it wasn’t up by much, really). I was starting to feel it by mile 15 or so but had stretches of decent recovery/feeling okay in the last 7. With 2 to go, we were really moving (mid 8s) as this seemed to be the only way I felt okay. We got stopped by a light with about 1 to go and that pretty much ended it for me. I pretty much just noodled it in and actually walked the last 1/2  mile or so. Was just a bit done by that point, which, given the week, was not too demoralizing. Ended up with about .25 miles less distance than last week with a longer warm up and about 10 less minutes so all in all, I am pretty happy with it.

Today, I planned to go ski with my buddy, Caleb but had problems sleeping due to an achy knee so I decided that it would be best to just rest it today. I have done something 6 out of the last 7 days while recovering from an injury so I decided to be smart for a change and take the day off to try to recover a bit. I ended up with over 50 miles for the second week in a row, which, at this time of the year, is not too shabby.

~stubert.

Crash, boom, bam…

You take the good, you take the bad… ~ Alan Thicke (Who knew?!?!)

This has been a pretty stellar week for some of us. Others, not so much. I’ll start with the some and move on to the others…

After Sunday’s long run, I thought I would be a little worked. However, Monday morning I felt awesome and hit the gym for some weight-training and just to get the blood flowing again. Did about 10 minutes on the rowing machine then circuits. The gym is not my very favorite place to be but if one is efficient, one can minimize the time spent. Plus, the Gilpin County Rec Center is very nice and rarely crowded. So it’s all good.

Tuesday, someone decided to kick the blower into high gear and it was howling up here. So I headed back to the gym to run on the treadmill. Just put it in cruiser mode for about a half an hour warm-up (10:00 pace on an XC course that didn’t ever really tax me) and then stepped it up for a whole boat-load of surges. Amazingly, these felt awesome. Yes, I was working pretty hard but was able to stay relaxed, even at a quick clip. 50 minutes total for somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 miles.

On Wednesday, I headed down to Boulder early to meet up with a group that does tempo runs every week. I parked a few miles from the start and got in a good warm up, did some short strides with the group then we split into 3 or 4 packs for the tempo work. I was in the last group that consisted of Tim, Rebecca and me and we chased the rest of the runners. I am guessing there were 10 people total including my running coach, Janet Runyan. Fun to finally get to actually run with her.

I pretty much just stuck with Tim for the first 4 miles (where he stopped) and we spun low 7s for most of that period. We would catch other runners then they would take a shortcut and meet us farther along the route so we all got to run together for at least a little while. After Tim dropped off, I kept going for a full 50 minutes of tempo. Ended up back at my car in sub 1:30 and a total of 11 miles. I did about 25 minutes warm up, 50 at tempo and about 10 cool-down. This was actually a really great run and I felt awesome throughout. Covered lots of miles in a short period of time. Good stuff.

Wednesday night was when things took a turn. First, we found out that Reggie, my buddy John’s 13-year-old bulldog, had gone missing. He had been sick for quite awhile and was really old for a bulldog and his body was found the next day. He apparently had just wandered off to find a place to die. Very sad for John and the Reg-man will be sorely missed. He was awesome. Then Thursday, Luke, Pete and I went up to the Basin to get in some runs. On run #3, when we weren’t even really skiing that fast, Luke caught an edge and went down like a sack of potatoes. Spiral fracture of his left clavicle. Super drag. He handled the whole thing like a champ, though. We look forward to his recovery so he can get back to the business of kicking our asses all over the ski area.

I hit the gym on the way home for a few circuits and decided that I could take the day off from running since I skied and lifted. Off again today then a short run tomorrow and long again on Sunday. Starting to really feel great and I’m looking forward to putting some races on the schedule soon.

Be sure to get your passes lined up for next week’s Adventure Film Festival in Boulder. A lot of great movies to check out. Don’t miss it!

~stubert.

Long term gains…

Aaargh! My groin! ~ George C. Scott

Tuesday adventures at BCH… or Boulder Surgery Center… whatever.
Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I expected but less pain than, “Whoa that is a weird way for my body to feel,” sorta gig. I jammed down to Boulder for my pre-op at 10:00. Checked in at the front desk. Paid my deductible to the Front Desk Lady who sounded as if she was from Ireland, Scotland maybe, and sat down very briefly to read Wally Lamb’s latest, The Hour I First Believed. So far quite good. Mr. Lamb is a very talented writer and not shy to take on tough subjects.
Then the super-friendly nurse parade began with a whole series of very nice staff who took all my vitals and asked me a bunch of questions and made sure I was all comfy and whatnot. My doc, Sonja Stilp, came out to say “hi’ and walk me through the procedure and let me know I was up next. Then they took me to the xray room and it was game on.
I am certain people exist who don’t get a little nervous at the docs and I definitely am not among that select group. Never really have been – which makes it amusing that I once wanted to do the whole doctor thing. Perhaps that was a career well-avoided. Anyway, I plopped down on a table and I got hooked up to things again (EKG, HRM, BP), got some instructions and talked with the staff about the procedure and how all the stuff worked. Very friendly group of people who seemed to be as interested in my procedure as I. That is a good feeling to have when someone is going to work a needle down into your pubic symphasis.

Now one would think having a hot PA yanking down your pants would be kinda sexy but well… it wasn’t. Not with the threat of stabbings looming in the not too distant future. They got me all situated, instructed me to use my words instead of pointing or attempting to assist and fired up the x-ray machine. Dr. Stilp gave me a shot or two of numbing stuff which truly was the most “painful” part of the whole endeavor. The rest was just more of a “that isn’t right” sort of sensation as she guided what looked like a pretty big needle (on the x-ray, at least) into my bod. At one point she told me I would “feel some pressure” and man, that was not pleasant. Just a really odd feeling that made me inhale deeply. Then another when she injected the medicine.

Then they cleaned me up, took me to recovery and I spent the rest of the day with an ice-pack in my lap. Really not too big of a deal. The awesome treatment I received from the staff made it a lot better.

They really keep things rolling there and had another patient in and out within 10 minutes of my leaving the post-op area. Kinda cool to see efficiency at work.

So I can start running again on Saturday but have to sit on my ass until then. I may do a little work around the house but won’t be getting out for structured exercise until the weekend. Maybe another movie is in my future.

So that is what it is like to get osteitis pubis treated. Now you know and if G.I. Joe is to be believed, that is half the battle. (Though I have always thought that line was malarkey.)

~stubert.

All’s quiet…

Not Axel.

I got a head full of evil thoughts… ~ 50 Cent

…aside from the demons in my head of course. I am not a proponent of cold-turkey in any of its forms (particularly, well… the turkey one) but I must say that running practically daily for 4 months straight then stopping on a dime may not be the best plan for everybody. And by “everybody”, I mean “me” since I am so awesome, I might as well be everybody (except for that Megan Fox rose kid, he’s got way more game than me).

Anyway, I think that immediate cessation of virtually any activity, Dungeons and Dragons aside, is bad for one’s mental state and mine has definitely suffered of late. Pretty much everything either bums me out or pisses me off these days resulting in several soggy, dented ponies and one seriously f’d up Care Bear display. But I am augmenting my lack of running with copious amounts of research on how to be even more awesome once I get back out there. So it’s all good.

In any event, lot’s of good stuff going on including a two-peat at Western States by Hal Koerner and a very impressive domination of the women’s field by Colorado’s own Anita Ortiz who came in 9th OVERALL. There was some ass, and she apparently felt obliged to kick it. Congratulations are in order to all finishers and participants who endured Stu-melting heat on a bad-ass course. Not sure if the WS100 will ever be on my agenda but they put on a helluva race and provide some cool site features to let couch-surfers everywhere join in the fun. Where the WS100 site fell short, near constant tweets picked up the slack. Gotta love technology. Except for this laptop which is currently searing my thighs.

So in the meantime, I have been riding my bike, watching movies (Up is good. Doubt was as well. Paranoid Park, not so much.), and chasing down new business leads. I also need to give a special shout out to Dr. Stephen Paul of Boulder Orthopedics. He has helped me out numerous times and is well-acquainted with the inside of my right knee. I had an appointment scheduled with him next Monday and he called me today to let me know that I would be better served seeing one of his partners for my injury vs. seeing him and then followed up by distributing my MRI results for her review and having her nurse call to set up an appointment for me. Gotta love that patient care. If you don’t have an orthopedic injury in need of treatment, I recommend jumping off a roof or something in order to have a reason to go see him.

Now leave me alone, I have to go glare at a kitten.

~stubert.


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