It's easier to be Puff but It's harder to not Run

(Warning: I am actually Batman, duh)

As I let my self accept that I'm resting and healing, every day that passes feels like an eternity for the running portion of my brain. Shelving running purposely for even a day is rough. Like a superhero hanging up his cape.

As I mentioned before, I'm trying to do something active every day to keep this from happening:

and slowly get lazy:

Monday: Weight room for 45 minutes. Although all health benefits were shot with lingering Halloween candy around the office.

Tuesday: The Mrs. wasn't feeling well so I stayed home from work to watch the kiddo and let my wife rest. I got to take her to gymnastics:

If I was at work, I planned on using a stationary bike for 30-40 minutes then do some stretches from physical therapy.  To stay active, I decided to take a walk instead. I got my tot in the jogging stroller and headed out.  Unfortunately it rained most of the time, even though weather.com called for no rain. About four and a half miles just to keep the crazy away and burn a few calories. Could easily feel where the stresses are on my legs. Keep resting.  The plus side, it is easier to take photos while walking:

My walking friends

Onward Mighty Chariot!

Ducking under the bridge when the rain picked up

Shiny

Quack

I took a lot of photos here over the summer

Wednesday: Back to the weight room (M/W/F) where I'm sure the Goliaths are internally going like this at me:

Don't like this post?

I was going to ask you to talk about how your pre Friday eve is going (Wednesday for you non Weekend Warriors), but..

So just say something totes awesome about yourself!

Last Rest Day before the Chicago Marathon!

The last rest day before the Chicago Marathon!

Random topics. First off, read Annabelle's post on why Running is HARD. Great read and much better supported by training events that my daily musings and debauchery.

And one thing I'm taking with me from this training, aside from follow your training plan and don't hurt yourself like I did, is that your body is capable of amazing things.  The things motivation does for you, gets you out of bed.. before 3:30am just to run at 4:00am. Why? because you can. Because you are bad ass.. Because you owned the paths before most people every took a morning piss. Don't think you could do it?

This is also how tired I look by the time my kid goes to bed. YOLO? (I think I used this gif before..)

Maggie, stop looking for more Ryan Reynolds GIFs, I will not give you what you are looking for

STOP LOOKING

Few more gifs to cover up for my lack of writing ability:

What a lot of runners will look like when they realize that they are going to break more than wind at mile 18:

My face as I eat carbs all day:

My reaction when someone compliments my sneakers as I have on dress slacks today:

And with all the goodies you bring for the marathon, don't forget to bring one of these:

And if you actually want to READ something, check this:
What is your running mantra?

Okay, I'll catch up blog reading soon!

Take care and Happy Friday Eve!

Rest Day Thoughts - Rehabbing on the Run

This is a post about rehabbing on the run.

I'm not a physical therapy virgin  Prior to this current stint, I was rehabbing my other calf last November/December.  About 60% of the stuff I'm doing now, I was doing in my last PT jail time.

The difference?

Last time I could take a couple weeks off, gently start running again, and not worry about my pace. I could rehab my injury in prime speed. This time... not so much. I'm exhausted in the process.

Note: Your experience may vary

I asked my physical therapist how long this would take the heal if I rested vs my current training needs to feel "normal" again. 1-1.15 months if I rested and eased back vs 3 - 4 months of doing what I do now. So <20 miles a week to recover vs >60mpw. Mental ouch. I obviously won't be going to therapy that entire time. Likely only a couple more weeks.

Don't take me wrong, I'm happy to be able to push through my runs and be close to my times, but how I feel the rest of the day after my run is completely different.  I normally feel super human all morning and want to run again.  Now my legs are just like NOPE! Sit down mofo, we hurt.

It is sort of like being Yoda in  Attack of the Clones. Hobbling around most of the time, trying to conserve your running force and channeling it for your hard runs.  You know you got the ability to do it, just have to believe in yourself, and maybe take an Ibuprofen the night before..You run it, then hobble again.



Now in my head, I always pretend that injury/rehab/return process is like this:


Except it isn't.  Therapy feels good at the time (painful good) , but they don't tell you that for one to a few days after, that worked on area can be a wonky mess.

It is like Jenga.  You walk in with whatever junk built up in your leg, they break it down, so your body can put it back together properly. During this process, weight bearing and going full tilt on that muscle is a show of stubbornness and a mental battle to decide when you are hurting yourself and when you are running over the hurt to get better.

This blog has helped me remember what pains and aches I have every day to recant to the therapist for her notes and plan for the day.  This at least helps mentally to have more confidence in the professionals hands that torture me.  They also have been upping the intensity of the exercises, as I'm now building up a sweat for the 75 minutes they build me up and tear me down.

Last night, I was spent by the time I got home.  Getting off the couch and dealing with the tot was a challenge.

But always worth it!

Happy Friday Eve!

Run Down Rest Day

We'll start the post with yesterday evening. I went to my physical therapy appointment and got the normal - oh it hurts so good - treatment, followed by strength exercises.  I was happy that they paired me with an assistant that was also a big Bulls fan. See Red!

I got home and my kiddo stuck to me luck glue. I ended up eating my dinner with her sitting on my lap. She proceeded to stuff my face with pretzels for my post dinner snack. I normally don't mention go into these details, but this one is funny.  During her bath last night, she noticed a couple specks of dirt or whatever came off her feet in the tub. She proceeded to yell at them to GET OUT of the tub repeatedly, screeched, and pulled my hand to the tub to take it out and yelled MESSY! BYE BYE DIRT! This happened about 3 more times. The same girl that likes to sit in the dirt at the playground and throw earth around.

As today is my rest day, I decided to just relax last night as well, skip chores, and try to watch an episode of Orange is the New Black.  Apparently the moment I stop moving and relax, my body shut down.  I kept slouching farther down the couch and dozing off.  I'll be rewatching part of that episode I guess!

I'm not sure if I was more tired than normal with the hot running, weeks of short sleep, or just what happens when I stop moving.

Positive I'm taking from this, I know I'm giving this everything I got and leaving nothing on the table.
Possible down side, I am playing with fire with my limited down time.  Day by day.

Today, I'm still pretty tired. Dress shoes aren't the best support when trying to rehab off a strain/cramp.

I had a few flashes of my calf cramp walking to work, but it hasn't appeared since.  Pretty sure I just need this rest day hard.

Now for Thursday Randomness.

How most of us probably describe our perfect day:

I taped this photo on a co-workers jug of protein powder ( I always call it muscle milk)

How short are your shorts men?

Reddit IAMA with Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant from Reno 911! Includes video response links!


Now Bethany @ Accidental Intentions picked me to answer some questions, so here we go:

1. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were little? I wanted to be in the NBA!

2. What’s your writing utensil of choice? currently, whatever my kid leaves out for me.. a crayon

3. If you need to ask someone a question and that person is not within earshot (i.e.: talking isn’t an option), are you most likely to text them, call them, instant message them (either through gchat or otherwise), or e-mail them? text or email

4. What was your preferred study location in college? (Or now, if you’re currently in school) home!

5. What’s your stupid human trick? (i.e.: ear wiggling, tongue rolling, etc.) i can touch my nose with my tongue and wiggle this little muscle in my lip

6. How many e-mail accounts do you have active right now? 2

7. What did you have for lunch yesterday? PB&J and a Sub

8. What’s your favorite type of weather? Fall!

9. Have you ever met anyone famous? And if so, who? I most recently met Fabio!

10. What’s your ideal mode of transportation? Running... minus the sweat

I was a supposed to include a pic and link people... I'll do that once I think of some WRCE approved questions.

Happy Friday Eve!

Rest Day Ramblings

There is no common thread in what I'm posting today, so just enjoy the randomness.

I completed the normal 6 days in a row of running post doctor approval to run and haven't killed my hamstring.  Although last night I spent a lot of time lifting and bending to get stuff from our current unit to a storage unit.  This caused a light flare up in my hammie, but nothing bad. Good thing today is a rest day.

Nike has a new ad out.. I didn't want to like it, but it is decent! Check it:


 Tonight I'll be going a Charity Fun Run and Sausage Fest, hosted by Anne.

SAUSAGE PARTY!

We (my wife) found a great dessert to make for the event, Chocolate Lasagna:

If it doesn't make it there, it just means I ate it all.

For all my weekend warriors, I imagine your work days must look like this:

Happy Birthday to the Mag Mile Runner and Wurst Running Club Ever founding Member!

Vivid close-up view of material streaming away from a newborn star :

Sorry if you thought it would be a picture from the company Vivid.. perverts

You still frowning? This is the last thing I got for you:

Too Soon?

It is Friday Eve, and you know what that means... my rest day and a post with a lot of disturbing links and photos.

First off, I went to the grocery store last night and noticed this by the checkout:

 Way too soon man.. Halloween is pretty much my favorite holiday, but this is too soon!

If you follow my blog with any consistency, you've seen me crying over the fact I got some funky tightness going on in my left hamstring and occasionally groin. I'm super paranoid, and since this is my blog, I'm venting on it until I'm satisfied! It feels best running and for the first 2/3 of the day, then it gets random aches and tight again. Icing and elevating the leg when I get the chance, trying to get up and stretch it out during the day. I'll be interested to see how today goes without a run.  I'm mentally preparing myself to rest a few days if I don't see myself making marked improvement.

Now that the boo hooo woah is me part is over, here are some random photos to make you laugh or cringe:

My reaction this morning when my alarm went off:

I love horrible sloth gifs, click me to see a mildly offensive one.

What are you looking at?

A prayer a lot of you pray daily:

Your reaction realizing this is the end of my post:

Terrible Topics Thursday

Running rest day. Ain't got any hot topic to go write about today or super neat running links that haven't already been shared in the local blogosphere this week.  So I'll just go into the treasure trove of reddit and share some random links that I enjoyed over the last 24 hours!

Carved from a leaf

 I'm a big Bulls fan, so I enjoy watching mash ups like this daily, SEE RED!

Trembling with emotion GIF

If you die in Canada do you...

Epic Conan quote

Sherlock lives!

Ever have a historical question but not sure who to ask?

Only way to make burgers!

I need to find this cereal!

I hope your visit to my blog was fruitful and a delight!

Tomorrow: Pace run

I hope ya'll got to run in this nice change of temp!

Now back to your normally scheduled Maybach Music.

Link it Together Thursday

No run today, scheduled day off. Miss the morning push and body wake up call, at least there is the gym at lunch where I will look a lot like this:

I don't have a lot of deep thoughts or topics for today, so here are some of my favorite links from reddit.com/r/running over the last few days:

• Interviews with average runners who've run a Boston Qualifying Time - A bunch these are a little older before BQ times got cut down, but still insightful. From a discussion on this, the host intends on adding more participants to it. 50+ MPW seems to be a common theme. On it!

• In response to that thread, someone asked - what is the most direct way to go from a slow beginner to BQ (not marathon training, but training to train for a marathon), and the top response was great - see here - a small piece from the response:

 Before I give you my advice, you need to realize that there is no 'right' path to get to a BQ. You can do it in many different ways, but likely what's holding you back is the commitment to do it. It's what separates a Boston marathoner from the rest. Anyone who is willing to sacrifice a Sunday morning every week for a long run for a few months and can get in a few 3-5 mile runs per week can run a marathon. To BQ, you need to NEED to qualify. You have to be hungry for it. You need to be willing to get up at 4:45AM the next day to run a 9 miler despite how tired you are from work. 

        BQ is still my pie in the sky goal, and I'm sure as hell giving it my commitment and will try.

• On a lighter note - Sympathy Cards for Runners

• Chicago Marathon Update Email, ended up in my spam folder, so if you missed it too, check it out.

• Comic on everyone's favorite part of running, a skill I haven't used yet.

• Aaaaaand a Monthly Motivation Thread

Now if you still need something to comment on, lets talk about Vanity Running! You know the type, they worked hard for their summer bodies and are beasts in the gym, but more than a few miles of running is just not what they train to do or enjoy. Two miles along the beach though? Lets strut run! This may be more a guy thing for once.

How do they make you feel? Do you honestly think they are out there for a solid cardio work out? Or doing a bit of showing off?

I've seen them running too hard, legwork is bad, and they are somehow not sweating yet...I realize I'm a bit more negative on them and kudos for anyone that gets out to exercise, but don't you ever feel like the gym is their kindgom and we can feel prouder of our work on the trails?

Happy Friday Eve!