Last Day for $85 Shamrock Registration

http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/Primary_Navigation/registration.htm

"Mr. Greenshoes"

Reuse or recycle your old running shoes. Check out the link below.

Brooks seems to be ahead of all other running shoe companies in terms of changing operational processes to effect less strain on the planet. They're doing some interesting stuff...

The Shoeguy: Mr. Greenshoes
Reducing running's environmental footprint

Sunday Long Run

I did a 20 miler today and felt good. I had some minor stomach issues after mile 10 that I am blaming on the PB I had on my bagel this morning. I should have gone with a little oatmeal instead. Fatty foods always lead to trouble. 4 caffeine free GUs and a couple water stops at friend's houses kept me going.

I did about the same pace as last week's long run (7:40-7:45). I'm thinking a good goal for VA Beach is 3:15. I don't recall running any sub 8 minute long runs last summer and I feel like I'm running faster.

Comparing VA Beach '07 to Hartford '07

About 300 more finishers in VA Beach, 200 male, 100 female. Fastest male and female times about equal. Average finishing time VA Beach 4:19; Hartford 4:09. What do you make of this?

Thanks for the Welcome!

Thanks Ryan for the welcome!. I would love to start logging my runs. Lately I have been running every other day. I have been doing 3 mile runs for about 2 weeks now. Last week I sucked it up and did 4 miles. Its a real addiction and I thank my brother for getting me into this!. I have a hard time breathing on outdoor runs when the temp. is below freezing. Note I was a smoker for 8 years.
peace out
jared

Join me in welcoming two new bloggers (and one new runner!)

If you haven't noticed, there are two new, BIG additions to Endorphin. 1.) My brother, Jared, who recently took up running. I think it was on my birthday, December 1st, when he took the treadmill to the left of me and hammered out 1 mile, his first since it was required in high school phys. ed. He's now doing three miles every other day, in addition to other conditioning, and has gone as long as 4 miles. All of this in less than two months. 2.) My good friend and roommate, Jeff, who is currently training for a marathon with great resolve. Good luck to both!

Shamrock Marathon

Who else is going to Virginia Beach for the Shamrock Marathon on March 16? www.shamrockmarathon.com

Am I the only one registered?

Sunday Long Run

Good, but cold and windy long run today. Almost entirely pavement. I stopped twice for about 5 mintues at friends' houses along the route to get water. It was nice to stop in and say hello, especially not having anyone to run with. Not sure if stopping has any impact on training, but I felt good and ran relatively fast for a long run. I went over 18 and felt great up until the end.

First post-surgery doctor appointment

I had my first post-surgery doctor appointment today. Before seeing Dr. Reach, however, another set of x-rays was taken, then my splint was cut off. My foot looked like it had been put through a blender, and it was shaking uncontrollably. There are four incisions. The two for the ankle arthroscopy needed only one stitch each. The one for the insertion of the titatinum implant needed three stitches. (I finally figured out the medical term for this, after Dr. Reach had referred to it about a dozen times during my numerous visits to his office. It's called an "arthroresis," and, by definition, it's an "'internal orthotic' designed to correct flexible flatfoot conditions in...adult individuals.") The one for the spring ligament repair needed about half a dozen. All stitches were removed, and this was more painful than the surgery.

Dr. Reach said that my foot and the x-rays (it shows the arthroresis) looked great. There was no blood, no swelling (a bit of bruising, but this is normal), just a bunch of incisions and markings. He also said that he'd like to see me back in three weeks (February 7th), when I might get a boot. He thinks that I might be able to start doing exercises well before the three month period expires. Originally, he thought I'd have to wait three months before doing any exercises.

We talked a bit about what he did on the day of the surgery. He couldn't tell the etiology of the injury, but said that it could have been from running. The injury is very rare, but it all revolved around the torn spring ligament (the osteochondral lesion and scar tissue). He assured me that this tear was my problem and that as a doctor it feels great to be able to see the problem and fix it; then tell the patient with certainty that everything will be ok.

Dr. Reach also told me that he just attended a conference about spring ligament tears, and that he showed pictures of my surgery and discussed the case.

Finally, my foot was cast in a neutral position and sligthly inverted. Dr. Reach seemed to think that it wasn't my understanding that I'd need a hard cast. He said, "The only thing holding together your spring ligament is a suture!!"

Running on Caffeine

Anybody have any thoughts on using caffeine while running? Most GU flavors have about 20mg and I can definitely notice it, especially since my only caffeine intake comes from the occasional piece of chocolate. I've read some mixed opinions on the benefits vs. risks, so for the box of GU I just ordered I went with no caffeine flavors. On most of my previous long runs I had some caffeinated GU and today I felt like I noticed the difference without. Thoughts?

Plan for tomorrow's long run

Balancing Act

I've started a training program for running a marathon in March, and the program I picked ups the mileage from my first marathon training from upper 20s low 30s per week to low 30s-40 miles per week. I don't think this is too aggressive but now I live about 3 miles from campus and have been riding my bike in to work. This seems to be too much for the legs and not enough rest. I'm going to keep riding weather permitting but don't want to lose any ground on the training but also don't want to get hurt.

I read here (http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=1718175&thread=1718126) that a mile of riding is equivalent to about .25-.4 miles of running. I think I'm gonna go with .3 and then reduce my running mileage accordingly if I ride to work and have a run scheduled that day. My bike commute is 6.5 miles round trip so that is just under 2 miles of running. However, if I shorten my tempo or interval workouts I won't be getting all I should be getting out them...

"Spirit of the Marathon"

Any interest in seeing this documentary on January 24th at 7:30?

Go here for more information. (You might have to scroll down a bit.)

First day back at work

When I awoke this morning, I had no idea where to start. I had to hop from my bed to the top of the stairs--not before collecting everything I'd need for the day in my bedroom and on the second floor--and slowly descend them sans crutches. There's no reason for my crutches to be upstairs. After doing a lot of hopping around downstairs, I was ready to leave for work. Driving was not a problem. Getting into my building was not a problem.

Having one foot is tough. I'm not going to lie. BUT, given the amount of time my body will be limited to the use of one foot, I must embrace this reality and treat it as a challenge. After surgery, I resumed my normal diet, which, by many standards, isn't normal at all. It's the vegan diet. Well, the pseudo-vegan diet. I can't be sure that every piece of bread I eat doesn't contain egg, for example. I believe that this diet and a lot of H2O will accelerate healing time. I'm trying to set an all time record for the fastest healing spring ligament tear.

How well the human body's systems perform can be boiled down to nutrition. A whole-foods, plant-based diet is the optimal diet, and this is true no matter the circumstances. It's no secret. Just read "The China Study."

Anyway...

At this point, I'm more worried about coffee being on my desk first thing in the morning than my foot healing.

Surgery

I had surgery on Wednesday, January 2nd, at Shoreline Surgery Center in Guilford, CT. The surgery was done by Dr. John S. Reach.

The surgery took longer than Dr. Reach had expected, but it was successful. Dr. Reach did an ankle arthroscopy and removed an "impressive" amount of scar tissue. He also treated an osteochondral lesion on my talus. The spring ligament tear was small, so he simply freshened up the edges of the tear and brought it together with a suture. If the tear was big, he would have had to use a collagen graft from a cadaver. Finally, he inserted, through the lateral side of my foot, a titanium implant to protect the ligament repair and support my arch.

Before the surgery, Dr. Reach warned me that foot surgery is very painful. I was prescribed Oxycontin and an additional painkiller to top off the Oxycontin in the event it didn't alleviate the pain. Fortunately, I have no pain, so I didn't have to take any of the painkillers. The nerve block and painkiller during and after surgery, respectively, and keeping my foot elevated were enough.

Pain is subjective. What is pain to one patient isn't necessarily pain to another, Dr. Reach informed me.

Running the marathon was much more painful than this.