Last run before second surgery

I've decided that the Manchester Road Race will be my last run before surgery tomorrow morning. Overall, the MRR was a disappointment. My brother and I could not get into Manchester, and we found ourselves driving back and forth on I384 between exits 1 and 5 until finally getting off exit 2, which put us about a mile from the start with only 5 minutes until the start. We ran to the start, and by the time we got there, the race had already begun. I have only a gun time. Apparently, I didn't activate the timing device at the start. Ah well. Because I started so far back, I couldn't find a stride and had to jog/walk and trip over people for 4.748 miles.

My next run won't be until sometime during the fourth week of December.

Ryan Hall to Run Boston Marathon: Check this out!

November 19, 2008
FEATURE NEWS: At Last, Good Economic News--Ryan Hall Has A New Job, Will Race Boston Marathon
By Amby Burfoot

Photo By Victah Sailer

The John Hancock Financial company, principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon, yesterday announced that Ryan Hall will be running next April's Boston Marathon. Hall will attempt to become the first American male to win Boston since Greg Meyer in 1983. (The last American female winner was Lisa Rainsberger in 1985.)

In these days and weeks of gloomy economic news, it's nice to hear that someone's got a decent-paying new job. How decent? Only the Hancock, Hall and a few of his best friends know for sure. But we decided to ask a select circle of running insiders how much they believe Hall will be receiving as a Boston appearance fee.

So we sent out an email to: race directors, elite athlete coordinators, elite marathoners, top agents, and informed running journalists. We asked them what they thought about Hall's new job. Many noted that athlete contracts contain several key clauses offering payment based on: appearance, place, and time, to note the most obvious three.

Estimates of Hall's appearance fee ranged from $100,000 to $500,000, with the majority falling between $100,000 and $200,000. However, the one big pop at $500,000 raised the average of all estimates we received to $202,000.

At any rate, we're pretty sure the payment is enough to keep Hall off the assembly lines in Detroit. And on the hills of Mammoth Lakes and Big Bear Lake, CA, where he does his best work.

Estimates were provided by: Deena Kastor, Jim Ferstle, Luis Posso/Derek Froude, Peter Gambaccini, Jim Gerweck, Bob Gordon, Don Kardong, Merhawi Keflezighi, Dan Lilot, Greg Meyer, Brendan Reilly, Dathan Ritzenhein, Bill Rodgers, Victor Sailer, Matt Taylor

Deena Kastor and some inspiration from a voluntary amputee

As you may or may not know, Deena Kastor broke her foot while running the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. Here's the care she has received:

rest
BONE-UP calcium supplement
magnets
acupuncture
a spiritual bone healer
physical therapy on my muscles to negate atrophy
bone marrow soup
a DEXA-scan to benchmark my bone density
ice baths
and visualization

Tom White's left leg was so badly injured in an accident that after several years of worsening pain he voluntarily had it amputated in late-2007. He ran the 2008 NYC Marathon in 4 hours and 40 minutes. Incredible.

interesting thread on balancing work and running...

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2742112

Pre-op appointment and surgery

I had a pre-op appointment with my surgeon on Tuesday. I will have a surgery on 12/1 at Y-NHH to remove the temporary hardware from a surgery in January. I will receive a general anesthetic. Immediately after the surgery, I will be able to bear only partial weight on my left foot. Approximately two weeks later, on 12/16, I will have the suture(s) removed. Then, I'm free.

At my appointment, I learned that the x-rays of my left foot showed good bone and perfect alignment, suggesting that the spring ligament has completely healed. An ultrasound confirmed this. We could actually see one of the sutures that was used to bring the tear together. Kind of cool.

As a final note, I'm grateful to have found such a supportive surgeon. Dr. Reach is not happy unless I am happy. If I want to run marathons, he wants me to run marathons and will help me achieve that goal. If I want to hang up my running shoes and become a great swimmer, he will help me do this.

that sucks...

Dynamic Stretching

Good article in the nytimes about stretching:

www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?em

NYC Marathon

I love watching marathons.

I went out on a limb and picked Kara Goucher to win today, but you just can't beat Paula Radcliffe. She's insane. First of all, she's the best ever--4 of 5 top marathon times ever. Secondly, she had a longer build-up and is much more experienced than Goucher.

1. Radcliffe (2:23:55) -- 8th win in 10 marathons
2. Petrova (2:25:43) -- fastest ever for a 40-year old woman
3. Goucher (2:25:52) -- fastest ever debut for an American woman

For the men, I picked Abderrahim Goumri to win today. No dice.

1. Gomes dos Santos (2:08:43)
2. Goumri (2:09:07)
3. Rono (2:11:22)