Back to the ankle. It’s still a bit achy but I can’t see it being an issue for next Saturday. I ran 10k yesterday at various paces over trail and fared well. White River looks like it will be a huge race with 230+ people. (Big for the Ultraworld, anyway)
I pass a great oak tree on my to-work route most mornings. The base is enormous and it must be infected - symbiosis in action….
I kept running this week, 8 days straight (about 13 hours in 7 days) I couldn’t stop…at least until Saturday when my legs literally went dead.
I was running 20km at 4:30/km and it felt easy until about 17km - I wear a Garmin to track time/distance. At 17km my speed fell off precipitously and I felt cooked. Maybe too much?
Chuckanut is 2 weeks away and I am really looking forward to it.
I am facinated by space flight and last night I rented “In the Shadow of the Moon” about the Apollo missions in the late 60’s - early 70’s. Great movie but one thing I couldn’t get over…the astronauts are really old, gray hair and all. In my mind they are young but to see them on the screen it’s almost hard to believe that they were the chosen ones (24 men who are the only humans to have set foot on another planet)
The other thing that struck me. Neil Armstrong was 38 when he touched down on the moon. 38. To be 38 and that accomplished is amazing. (I still have a few months!)
This summer is my 20 year high school reunion. I came into work this morning and there was an email message from one of the organizers… If I can make it (i.e. not racing that weekend), I’ll be there. The 10 year reunion was hilarious - no one (including myself) had changed a wink.
Two insights from the past 4 days in bed:
1. I listen to “As It Happens” on CBC radio every day (even when I’m not sick). Great show. The thing is that lately I’ve been checking out boingboing.net for ‘the latest’ and apparently so have their producers. Want a preview of the ‘odd story’ that they will run in the evening? Check out boingboing.net during the day.
2. We have a television and cable but don’t watch it. (the cable is for a certain family member who needs tv to function well) Being as sick as I have been, though, I have been dipping into that world. I still think tv content is pathetic and have been searching channels for semi-educational content a la Frontline, CBC Newsworld, etc. Anyway, I’m not a religous man but I’ve been finding myself ‘asking for forgiveness’ before I hit the power button! As in, ‘forgive me father, I’m about to sin…’
I’ve got a nasty flu bug right now. You don’t want it. Woe is Rob.
So to cheer myself up, here are some positive aspects about having the flu:
See? It’s not so bad.
I am off for 4 days at the behest of Michael (physio). With Chuckanut 6 weeks away, it’s early enough to get on top of the knee pain, still maintain the aerobic level and compete.
I saw him on yesterday and he came to the conclusion that the fall I had at Capital Peak jarred my lower leg into a strange twisted position. On one of his “yank and pull” exercises, my knee let out a massive crack. He mentioned that was what we were looking for…the acute pain went away and it has been much better since.
(I am liking the short break from the hard training)
Injuries are part of the game.
Some are ‘runnable’. Like my knee pain - the lack of stretching thing. I have been lucky, just ignorant. 8 more hours of rest time and then I’ll be running tonight.
My knee is cooked today. I did the ’smart’ thing yesterday and hammered out 3 miles at 6:00/mile (one of the best workouts I have had in 3 months and I fell like my aerobic level is finally coming around). Felt great but my knee today is tight and trashed. Looks like I’ve got a few weeks of serious quad stretching ahead of me…