When suffering becomes normal.

I was lying on the floor yesterday in the transition area between the kitchen and living room, using my foam roller to work the never ending lumps that form randomly in my legs. It occurred to me as I found the most sensitive spot requiring "massaging" and vocalized my low level of comfort, that the pain was not as significant as it used to be. Not for myself, I was wincing at a close nail clipping the other day. My wife was intently downloading music to the 'cloud' for our upcoming trip,  about 3 feet away from my grunting and when I looked up to see if she appreciated the amazing temperament I was exhibiting through mere moaning instead of screaming, received not nary a glance!

Interesting that her level of complacency to my pain had set in long before mine had. I figured at some point those neurons that receive pain messages will eventually wear out and it would be come a dull ache. Seems like it has managed to get stronger, something about 50 miles a week might be attributing to that. 

What do I do? Men suffer self-inflicted pain for women's benefit, for our benefit - to be macho and receive praise for machoness. Circle of life really. I've come to the conclusion she has developed a filter for my macho aches from the actual ones. This leads me to think I'll have to start taking up new sports and physical activities. I figure, like Star Trek as they fight the Borg, if I alter my whines to a new activity and then length of time the condolent comments and hugs should continue. Of course at some point I'm gonna have to take up the life as a stuntman if I keep upping the ante. I suppose I could just find somewhere to suffer in silence and be a real man. Nah, that's for girls.

Trail Running Camp with Team RWB

February 18, 2013

Happy Birthday Jen!!

Seems these blogs are a little more appropriate for musing and race reports as the time to write up blogs is too time consuming for me.


Anyway - Had an amazing, life event last November in Texas running trails with one of the greatest ultra runners in the world and a plethora of other elites!  I was in awe for the entire weekend.   Mike Morton, Marshall Ulrich, Dominic Grossman, Liza Howard, Pam Smith, Notorious Race Directors Joe and Joyce Prusitas, Matt Hart, Joe and Alison Bryant, Ultra Nutritionist Sunny Blende, David James...I was in awe.

Morning run, eat, learn, short break and repeat two more times. And hills, lots of wonderful hills to run; though the terrain was often very technical with loose sharp rocks covering much of the hillside.

 David James

 Liza Howard

 Joe Bryant and Pam Smith

 Matt Hart (Nolan's 14er!)

 Mike Morton and Marshall Ulrich

 

Running w/Mike Morton!

Here's the link by one of the sponsors - featuring me and a few others! Can't wait 'till next year!

October 8 - 21, 2012

Vacation and long work weeks have limited time for updates. The SI joint in my back finally fell into place after therapy with Dr. Nolan on the 8th. For 2 weeks I ran pain free until slipping on a rock while vacationing at the North Shore. After one visit back to Dr. Nolan and Rapp chiropractic it's feeling better but not the absolute perfection of movement I had been enjoying.

October 8, 2012
2 miles 18:38, 6:30 am Jensen Lake
3.6 miles 35:00 6:30pm Neill Lake (2 laps)

October 9, 2012
2 miles 20:25 6:30am Jensen Lake
3.1 miles 28:15 6:00pm Jensen and 2 Ponds

October 10, 2012
OFF

October 11, 2012
2 miles, 20:00 6:30am Jensen Lake - felt worn out after the hard 3mile yesterday.

October 12, 2012
3.6 miles, 29:33 5:00pm Neill Lake (2 laps) felt good so went pretty hard.

October 13, 2012
8.0 miles, 1hr 20:13 Hyland Park - Hills!
First run in my new Altra's went well but the ironman socks were bad and had to stop and take them off the last mile due to chafing. AAANNND, speaking of chafing - it was cold but I was sweating heavily and the stiff wet polyester rubbed into my chest I had blood spots where my nipple were bleeding. Awesome! I've read about happening but thought it would only happen if one were to wear an all cotton shirt. Now if I'm going any further than 5 miles I band-aid up.

October 14, 2012
OFF

WEEK TOTALS
24.3 miles, 3hrs 52:04 elevation ~2000'

October 15, 2012
5.4 miles, 1hr 05:00 Tofte, Temperance River TH to overlook
Running on the Superior hiking trail was awesome while my back was feeling good. 1300' feet of elevation gain in 2.5 miles was tough but so enjoyable.

October 16, 2012
8.0 miles, 5hrs 30mins Lutsen Cascade River Loop 
Hiking with Jen. Just sick hills up and down along the river up to highway 45 and back. Got my ass kicked on the return loop when Jen picked up the pace and I was lumbering over tree roots and down hills. Female endurance, what can ya do?
I'd like to have some long runs that go for 5 hours - epic!

October 17, 2012
6.4 miles, 1hr 15:24 Tofte, Temperance River to Carlton Peak
Awesome last day run to the overlook Jen and I hiked to last year on our Honeymoon. "Where's the Lake?" She was pretty tired after I dragged her all over the North Shore for 3 days.

October 18, 2012
4.3 miles, 37:52 Duluth from Motel to Lincoln park
Running on concrete again was agonizing. Cut the run short when the left lower knee had a sharp pain. Initially this was supposed to be an easy run. But like all routes in Duluth any turns to the west go up steep hills.

October 19, 2012
OFF

October 20, 2012
8.7 miles, 1hr 43:00 Hyland Lake in Reverse
This was a lot of fun getting to the ski jump quicker. Wasn't a great run, forgot my watch and stopped back at the car after 4 miles for a drink. Then at 7 miles that sharp pain in my knee returned and I walked for a half mile until it subsided and jogged back to the car. I'm fairly confident the time I actually ran was much less than what I estimated.

October 21, 2012
6.6 miles, 58:33 running intervals at the track ~ 7:30 miles x 4. 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cooldown barefoot on the infield.

WEEK TOTALS
31.4 miles, 5hrs 40:19 total elevation ~ 5500'

Trails up temperance river were fairly technical but not to the point where one might feel they will trip every step.  Many of the sections where the trail is washing out have plank bridges that felt bouncy and give the slightest bit of nerves while crossing. Near the trail heads of many routes to the Superior hiking trail are maintained by a hiking club and are extremely well maintained.

I already miss the runs up north, though the mpm drops so much, the views the feel of the dirt,and bouncing around all the technical parts with each step were exciting. I'd like to take a few camping trips up there next summer for more!



October 4 - 7, 2012

Work has been extremely busy so time for logging runs has proportionately decreased.

October 4, 2012
2 miles (22:14) at Jensen Lake  6:00am
2 miles (22:10) around Neill Lake 6:30pm (With Jen)
Legs destroyed, and just did a couple recovery runs after the hard/hilly 5 miles at Lebanon hills. A strange click started in my left leg hamstring tendon. Stretched out really good after and it went away.

A small narritve I wrote about it.
Ow. Ouch. Damn, my foot hurts.  Same one, the right; same place, the top. My legs ache. And I'd like a nap.  But I feel the need to run more!  Trails are fun, and just going to become exhilarating one day! This day, my foot hurts from 210lbs + gravity pounding down dirt hills for 7 miles yesterday.  Going out this morning I knew would be slow and the lower half of my body so tender I walked up the two big hills. Easy run indeed.

Long runs share much of the after effects of an all night drinking binge. The next day you don't want to move. Instead of your head pounding your legs are throbbing and feet swollen. Rays of light and noises above the normal speaking tone make you wince and retreat when your brain is embalmed in liquor. A pace faster than


October 5, 2012
2 miles (19:24) at Jensen Lake  6:30am
2 miles (17:21) at Jensen Lake 1:30pm
2 miles (16:54) at Jensen Lake 6:00pm
Started out slow in the morning still feeling the 5 mile fast tempo run deeper into the east side of Lebanon Hills park from Wednesday. Later in the day I felt good enough and fell in behind another runner to push a PR pace around the lake.

October 6, 2012
OFF - knee was stiff, body extremely worn out. Just recovered.

October 7, 2012
8.5 miles 1:27:00 at Hyland Park 8:am
Set out for an intended leisurely and 6 mile length run. In addition to some lessons learned I found my way around for hopefully a smoother run next time. Downed a GU just as I jumped out of the car as a test to see how it would hold as opposed to the 15 minutes prior to workout the packaging recommends.

Lesson 1: Fall leaves covering the ground are the deceptive epitome of a picturesque run.
Tree roots are hidden under those beautiful piles and make for bad tripping hazards.  Somewhere around mile .25 I was attacked by a lurking tree root, incognito in the colored fauna that landed me straight to the ground. While it was a jarring surprise, I rolled out of it nicely and had only very minor scuffs on my hands. Within the first 2 miles, two other hidden roots tried to take a hit out on me and I finally put the effort into higher steps as I went.

Everything was feeling good, the first two miles clicked off quickly due to the minor familiarity from the last outing.  Coming upon that split in the road with the sign that  sent me the wrong direction last week I went around the now closed fence into the northern most part of the park. 

Immediately the trail turned into several steep downhills through some denser softwood trees and burst out onto a lower slope of a ski area. I knew the trail went around the back area of some kind of recreation area but didn't realize it would be steep ski slopes. Instead of wearing myself out I power hiked up to the center lift and wandered around the back side to the furthest part of the slope. Unfortunately there wasn't any obvious sign of a trail leading out, just a bulldozer,some churned up topsoil and a fully dressed man walking away from the tractor. As I stood there trying to determine the a new route, the guy walked up the hill on a small single track trail and started to crest it when I realized he was a hiker and this was probably my road through.  Quickly I cruised past him on  a very steep downhill and tried to set into a tempo again until I reached the base of the hill and saw a small side road, interstate 494 and several huge corporate buildings. Turning away to get my bearings the next thing I spot -

Near the bottom of that grassy hill is where I found myself gawking back up a 60+ degree slope. Gauging the "No public access" signs to the right  I decided the fastest way out was to hike up to the ski jump hill and find my way back. Trekking up that incline had my thighs burning and huffing heavily. At the top a road split again and I noticed a truck coming up from the right I assumed was some official park vehicle, so decided take the left route right away.

A trail ambled it's way down to the northern section of the park to what should have been return road to the parking lot where I left Blue.  Navigating this small section was difficult if one tries to use the posted maps.

Lesson #2: Not all maps are oriented to point north.

After deciding on a route which showed returning to the parking lot I set off  on some very padded wood chip paths that kept trying to loop back in the direction I began.  Despite my effort to move in a southern direction the non-navigational road sign was suddenly coming up on my left and tacking on a full mile to my trek. Realizing the route I was now on was heading back to the ski jump I cut through a trampled section of woods and emerged back at the bulldozer and top of the ski slopes. Running back the same direction doesn't appeal to me as a new trail or scenery will and I chose to tackle the highest point of the slopes for another route to my destination.  Some random park worker must have spotted me earlier and just as I was starting to descend back towards the trail that led me onto the hill a fella with a CB radio squawked he could "see me" and headed in my direction. A game trail plummeting down the hill was the first thing I saw and really didn't want the hassle of listening to someone go on about private property and making an this run any more tiring.

Single track down hill is extremely technical especially for me, so walking made more sense. Finally I found some familiar sights and set out to finish strong after so many tiring ascents that morning. A forethought before leaving that morning was to bring 2 bottles of Gatorade which I quickly dispatched to my stomach in under a minute after an hour and half of running without any hydration.

This coming weekend I plan to incorporate a lot of the ski area into my long run and hopefully find a way through the dead end on the west side of the park.

WEEK LOG:

33.5 miles 5 hours 27 minutes

By far this is my highest single mileage in my life and I will be looking to top it next week.

October 2 & 3, 2012 (Updated)

October 2
2 Miles, 18:41  Jensen Lake Loop
Much colder today, but still running in just t-shirt and shorts tryin' to keep it Krupicka style.  Low 40's isn't bad after a half mile and after 1 mile it's hardly noticeable.  Had planned on a good 4 mile after-work run but some friends were leaving town and needed some last minute repairs and buttoning up on their new RV, so I just canned it.

October 3
2 miles 18:00 Hyland Lake Loop
With an appointment at Premier Sports this morning I wanted to get in a good 4 miles before hand to try intentionally aggravating my knee but only had to get 1.5 miles when it began feeling really tight. Add that to the lower back pain I thought was on its way out, making movements this morning difficult due to the stiffness.  So, we worked on the back and knee today and both went well.  I was told that SI joint (?) on my back may flare up occasionally but will continue to get better and should be longer between episodes with time.  Left feeling much better and plan to push a hard 4 miles tonight, possibly 6 if I have the energy and no discomfort.

5 miles 38:25 Jensen Lake Long Route (yes another new one)
Trying new trails almost everyday is  an exciting exploration of Lebanon Hills Park. Mostly it keeps any run from becoming mundane even though I run the same 2 mile stretches at the onset and end of every run. Yesterday I decided to loop around the far lake about 2/3 towards the back of the park, my knee be damned. Several insights about the knee pain developed as I ran, and proved beneficial when assimilating into my form. I'll post a separate discussion on it another time. There's a lot of detail to explain.

October 1, 2012

2 miles, 19:46 Jensen Lake 6:30am
October temperatures began wonderful this morning at 58 degrees. After leaping out of my car and stashing the keys I was bounding down from the trail head in a less than a minute. Great thing about warmer days with high dew points are the lack of fog on my glasses that obscure my view of the trail. At 0-dark thirty that is a double impairment.  By the time I got back to the car it was 7:05 leaving me 25 minutes to drive to work, change and open the store.  Quite often I overestimate my pace and think I'll be back at the car in 15 minutes like I was some kind of pro trail runner, and then end up late to whatever appointment I have. 

4.2 miles, 38 minutes 6:00pm Lebanon Hills west and Jensen Lake (backwards)
Really had a hankering for some pain this afternoon. I still love attacking that steep Horse trail at about the half way point on LH west, despite my tightening knee and occasional foot stings. When I got back to the trail head I walked across the parking lot to Jensen lake TH and decided to take an easy run the reverse direction I have always gone. More slow inclines or possibly the steep horse trails made the legs drag on the last two miles. The final mile my knee really stiffened up and I was dreading the walk back and rethinking the extra 2 miles I added on until I noticed my left leg was bowing out. Simply trying to straighten the outward flex helped mitigate the discomfort and I employed my new "hurry up strategy" to increase my pace and in turn decrease the time weight sits on my joints. My split times aren't accurate due to the lack of landmarks for me to gauge the miles but I am fairly certain the final mile ticked off ~7:30.

When I use MapMyRun on the two separate trails they both show about ~287ft of ascent but together it barely has 516ft. Many blogs I've read say the same thing; elevation gains on MMR under value the ascents. Anton has a watch with a barometer to track changes very accurately, something that would benefit a high altitude runner but with only rolling hills in Minnesota I could never justify the purchase.

September 29, 2012

4.5 miles, 42 minutes 8am Hyland Lake Park
Much of what I expected today came true. Not due to sabotaging my run by being negative, more what I've experienced in the last couple weeks taking on hills and new routes.  Following the trails wasn't difficult and I always try to take note of any warning signs posted to avoid running up a section that turns out to be closed;  expending more energy than I have for a "good" outing and most importantly not end up walking back from exhaustion.

Hyland lake is picturesque as the trail rounds the lake, ground covered in woodchips for soft foot placement under a tunnel of softwood trees. I was surprised that first mile ticked off very quickly and I was rounding the lake in only 8 minutes, heading north for the next 5 miles.  Plenty of steep downhills were available to practice speed descents I watched on one of Anton Krupicka's blog Friday.  It looks like a blast cruising down hills like a deer. 

Just at the north section of the trail I see a sign that reads something about going out of the park and assume it's not where I want to head.  So I turn left and at the next trail marker am pleasantly surprised how "fast" I'm heading back to the parking lot.  By mile 4 my left knee is noticeably becoming an issue and that's when I realize the car is about a half mile out.  Now the stiffness is too much and I walk the last of the distance back.  My watch kept running so the pace I recorded is grossly understated. 

Interestingly the last time first time my knee stopped me I was just a half mile from home while on a long run.  A mis-turn on Saturday ended up saving me from hobbling 2 miles in shame past the dozen other runners I had already seen ambly traipsing along the paths this morning. Sunday's run will probably not happen because I don't think my knee will even make a 2 mile loop at this point.

Optimistically, I believe Dr. Nolan at Premier Sports and Spine Clinic will figure out the root cause of this new ongoing pain.. Instead of finishing up the successful treatments to my lower back that has hindered being active over the last year, this week we started looking into my knee pain on Friday and  have a follow up visit this Wednesday.  I sincerely hope it's something treatable while I can continue running. Taking days off when I don't want to just bums me out.