Third Time's a Charm-Revised

Went 36 years without a broken bone. Now have had one in three consecutive years. Two small fractures in the foot from a severe sprain as a result of trying (note I said trying) to dunk a basketball at a trampoline park. Seriously? The good news is that the injury is fairly minor and recovery time shouldn't be long. But c'mon.

Test of Metal: Take Three

This is the third time I've registered for this race. First time, i had a mechanical DNF, the second i had an injury DNS. Wonder what this year holds? Third time's a charm? Hope so. I've registered under the category 'recreational' as they didn't have 'middle aged fat guy' as an option. Although, with a moments reflection, the two may be synonymous. Looking forward to it. 

Arm

This is a bit old, but here's a couple 'snaps' of what the arm looked like before it was repaired and after the dressing was removed. Inside is 6 bolts and a plate. Two weeks plaster splint and gauze. The bandages were black which i was told is normal. It seemed like a lot of blood. Bruising on the underside of the arm was hard as a rock as it was filled with blood.

Bike Racing

Been a while. Lots going on since last post.
Three big things to note: I broke my arm, it seems I'm morphing into a cyclist, and we added another member to our family.
First, the new addition. Our youngest was born January 21, 2013 and we named her Dora after my wife's grandmother. For those of you keeping score at home, that's three girls with no more kids to come. In 13 years I will have a 19 year old daughter, a 17 year old daughter, a 14 year old daughter and a 51 year old wife. I'm scheduled to begin my Ironman training in 2026.
Second, I spent more time riding my bike than running this year. Well, that's not technically correct, but I 'raced' 5 times on my bike ( 3 CX races and two fondo type long rides) registered for the Test of Metal but had to miss it due to injury and only raced one running race this year. I partially blame RunningGunner's bad influence, but in reality it's mostly because
3) I broke my arm, more specifically my olecranon, basically the tip of my elbow. I fell off my bike commuting home and broke the end off. 6 bolts, a metal plate and a few weeks recovery had me good as new. I've almost got full use back but cant quite straighten it all the way and likely wont be able to again.
I have some gnarly pics of the arm and some adorable pics of my little girl. I'll try and make a point of posting some of each this week.
Off to St. Louis on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. Looking for ideas of things to do and good run route from those in the know.

A Failing Grade

Toed the line at another event that Brian talked me into. This time, it was a 67km mountain bike race, the Test of Metal, in Squamish BC. I've never really put in any serious miles on the bike, and at 67k the race would be about the longest I'd ridden a bike, period, through some pretty epic terrain.
I didn't really know what to expect but figured going into it worst case scenario, it's a nice long slow ride through the scenic Howe Sound forest.
Weather reports were looking pretty good at the start of the week, but by Friday morning, the weather for Saturday race day was warm and 100% chance of precipitation. They were calling for about 30 ml of rain in the afternoon and we got every drop.
Saturday was pouring rain as expected, and me and Gunner lined up with the other 800 riders to get to it. Self seeded and lined up near the back of the pack.
Race started with a long climb out of town through the neighbourhood and even in the nasty weather there were still quite a few families that came out to support the riders. Thanks for all you who showed up. It was much appreciated.
After about a half and hour, the course cut into the singletrack, and about 10 seconds after that, I was covered in mud and had a half pound of sand in my eye.
Rolling singletrack, fire road descents, sweet rooty snaky lines under the heavy canopy. It was awesome, and with the heavy tree cover I really didn't notice that it was raining that hard. or maybe it's because I was already soaked. Either way, feeling good and starting to move up through the field. Our self seeding had been a bit conservative.
After the course popped out of the canopy, Brian dropped me on a windy steep section. I caught up to him and he took off, encouraging me to hurry up. The top of the climb was close and the next few kms were banked downhill corners where we could make up a lot of ground on the field if we hustled.
At the top I noticed that my brakes were getting a little spongy and mentioned to Gunner that I should have got new pads. within a minute or two, my levers were to my bars and the wheels were still rolling. I had lost all stopping power!
I popped my feet out of the pedals and dragged them in the mud to stop and jumped into the bushes at the side of the course to prevent from getting run over.
The lines of my brakes had blown and I lost all the fluid as I pumped my levers coming down the hill. Nothing that could be repaired except in a bike shop, so my race was over after about 2 hours. Had to run my bike down this killer singletrack that I would have loved to ride to get to the junction and ask how to get to the finish line.
Long walk back to the finish. People were really cool about asking if i needed anything on my way back, but i got kind of bummed having to keep saying 'No thanks, i'm done'.
Got back to the finish line and had a realization: Brian and I rode up together and I don't have a key for his vehicle.
He was expecting a 5 hour finish, meaning I had three hours in the rain to wait for him.
Luckily, the guys from Daryl Evans racing had a trailer and a tent up there so i managed to find some shlter for a bit and mooch a jacket.
After a long wet wait, gunner came rolling up with a broken bike as well. Done in by his own kindness, his race report is on his blog.
So, all in all, a short day, and a disappointment. But, legs felt good and I was having a blast up till the mechanical.
The event was great: right at the finish line they had a bike wash set up to hose off the mud. The race starts and ends at a rec center, and outside the pool there they had two dudes with garden hoses using warm water to hose down the riders. Race entry included a free pass to the aquatic center, so after the hose bath, into the pool for a nice warm shower and a hot tub.
Definitely heading back next year with better training, repaired bike, and hopes for better weather.

update

saw the specialist at the cast clinic at the hospital last week. hairline fracture of the patella. luckily, the crack didn't go all the way through and the interior face of the patella that makes up the knee joint was not displaced. meaning: treatment is no lower body exercise for four to five weeks, another set of x-rays and a gradual return to running etc provided that things are healing up nicely. avoided a big splint and more importantly surgery.
feeling very fortunate. 

Snap

finally went to the doctor. doctor sent me for xrays. back to the doc. back for more rays. wait. wait. wait. fractured patella.

Receptionist phoned me Tuesday: you need to see the orthopedic immediately, you have an appointment at the cast clinic at the hospital on Friday. Bring a book. oh, and take it very, very easy between now and then.

*click*

so there's that. 

still spectating

still sidelined with the knee thing from the fall four weeks ago. it's getting better slowly. mobility is coming back but footfalls still cause pain in the joint. did two, one hour runs last week to test it out. i still had increased pain yesterday from Thursday night's run. originally was thinking of doing some loops this AM as an attempt to see how it would hold up on a run greater than two hours but decided against it. this weekend was pretty well the last chance to get a long run in to test the knee and the nutrition before the Chuckanut 50k on March 17th. It's starting to look more and more like I'll be giving away my entry for that one.
off to the doc tomorrow. we'll see how it goes. discouraging to be injured and unable to start my first 50k , especially from something that was caused by my own stupidity and totally avoidable. but, there are other events on the calendar, this year and the next, and the next, and the next, so no need to do long term damage trying to get to the line for one event.

Sidelined

long time between posts. again. like the training, without a firm goal the output slides. Busy time of year at work, the family moved to a new home, Christmas, etc.
had a pretty exciting year mapped out. signed up for the Chucknut 50K in Bellingham on March 17th. Once again, talked into something by runninggunner. so far, his advice has been painfully good for me and i expect this time to be no different. have a free entry to the vancouver first half and am planning on using that as a nutrition 'test day' by stacking on some miles before the race and seeing how the fluids stay down. I should say 'was' planning on it, because as of right now I am on the shelf with a banged up knee.
With the 50k looming on the calendar and a long run scheduled, i went out last Sunday knowing that conditions were rough and the footing was a little dicey. it had been snowing and warm throughout the day and then clear and cold at night making for some slick, glassy streets.
I had cut the run short and was carefully picking my way back through the neighbourhood when I just lapsed for a few seconds running down a hill. planted the right foot and it shot right out from under me. I went down pretty well right on top of my left kneecap and rolled over on my hip/shoulder and into the intersection. luckily, it was early and i didnt get run over to add insult and more injury to injury. my Salomon jacket held up to the concrete slide. i was amazed.
running the 2.5 miles home from the crash site was probably a bad idea but it was rainy and cold and my family was getting out of bed.
anyways, i took a week off and mentally committed to a rest week off to keep myself from getting ancy about approaching races. well, a week plus 2 has passed and i'm closer to running but not back yet. trying to  stay positive but a little discouraged and watching the red circles on my calendar get closer and closer.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone. I wish the best for you and your families.

200

This is my 200th post two days after my 37th birthday. One of the best birthdays in a long while. My good friends and family came through with many things that I love. Jamie got me a sweet new dress watch to wear when i'm Suit Guy and planned a surprise dinner with a bunch of our friends. I had super tasty ale braised short ribs. Runninggunner was supposed to be there but he doesn't like me was sick. My homie Ryan hooked me up with a pound of red licorice, I scored a Value Village gift certificate for more thrifting treasures and Andrew scored me the hunter green Snuggie I have wanted for ages. An All-Snuggie photo post coming soon.
Spent the afternoon with Violet and hit up the new Muppet movie. It was her first time to the theater and the show was excellent. Very wholesome, very earnest, very Muppet-y. A great experience, aside from the fact that they initially loaded the wrong film into the projector. The previews seemed a little intense for a kids movie and when the 'Feature' started it was Twilight-Breaking Dawn. Needless to say, my 4 year old daughter was not a fan of the werewolves. Crisis averted with a minute or two outside the theater while they shut down the wrong film and got it sorted.
Great run on the back 9 of the canal course of Northview Golf and Country Club. Great run, scenic, quiet, rolling. Would be a great spot for a little race. Maybe next year in support of Mo-vember. Felt fast-ish. Soundtrack was the Fanfarlo album from a few years back.

40 less 2

last day of my forty day stretch. great run tonight, clear skies and a nearly full moon. Christmas lights up everywhere. beautiful. ipod on shuffle: plants and animals, the pains of being pure at heart, wilco, yeasayer, bon iver, real estate, lady gaga, fleet foxes.
since i posted two zeros during my 40 day stretch I'm going to extend the streak two more days to 'make up' for the missed days. cause i'm obsessive like that.

39

good run this AM. legs felt good, head felt good. cold and dry. saw some blue in the sky in the afternoon, a rare treat in Vancouver this time of year. great day in the city.
decided to take a stab at learning a new language. wanted to try Punjabi but could only find Hindi language podcast for free. learned all the consonant sounds and vowel sounds today. thinking about my little girls and how they managed to learn to speak without formal instruction. mind boggling that any of us learn at all. a fun challenge, so far the 30 min i spent listening to podcasts is 29 minutes longer than my attempt to learn mandarin.

testing testing

exam coming up on friday. that has stolen my focus and is dictating my schedule. still managing to get some miles in before work but short and easy has been the theme. body feels good, a little tired I think, but hard to discern the source. likely a cumulative effect. was very tempted to skip the run this am. was trying to convince myself that 36 days was was plenty and that really, a zero or two in the last week wouldn't diminsh what i had done up till then. kind of like packing it in during the last 6 miles of a marathon and then making sure to tell everyone your half split so they can still be suitably impressed at how well it had gone to that point.
telling, a good insight into where my head is at and has been.
starting to look back on my little experiment and evaluate how it went. more to come.

last 5

last 5 days of my 40 day challenge started with some sprints at the local all weather field. feeling good. the momentum has definitely swung back towards training as the default and not the exception. Some of the other areas of focus still need a little more attention: the strength training, the no candy rule. but, the heavy lifting of getting a running routine reestablished is done. now, maintenance.

confused

having a hard time keeping up. thought for sure i had posted here today then realized i was remembering a tweet...dur...
good npr podcast this AM about the music scene in NY in the mid seventies. Amazing the things that came out of that era, the live music club being the one that blew me away the most. hard to believe that prior to CBGB's in the mid 70's there weren't public places an up and coming band could play original music.
looking forward to tomorrow. got a new backpack with bottle holders and all sorts of cool features and tomorrow on my long run im going to try it out for the first time.
Also, i may start learning a second language by way of podcast with some of the time i'm out jogging about.

wup

missed a day posting again. glad it was just a missed post. Thursday Friday got out both days. Stopped by a local 'nutrition' store on my way home to see if they had any maltodextrin. nutrition has been a issue in the past and I'd like to get it ironed out. The girl there was quite striking: 6 feet tall, blonde and buff. Nordic warrior, like she should have been wearing fur boots made from wolves instead of lulu pants. sadly, she was only somewhat helpful. found hammer nutrition, which was the only product there which had a first ingredient of malto. at $55 for about 100 servings, it was still cheaper than gels but i balked.

obliged

nothing of note today. just posting because it's day three of week five of my forty day 'post and run-a-day' challenge and i feel obliged to the commitment. which, i suppose, is in some respect analogous to the training days where i put on the shoes for much the same reason. there's growth in that.

Donut

posted a big ole zero today. Was laying in bed having an argument with myself about whether i should get up. Next time i checked the clock, the decision had been made for me: must have fallen back asleep and not known it.
on the plus side, hip feel great.

Hip-ster

sore hip. nothing serious but more 'injury' sore than 'tired muscle' sore. Took it easy today and ran in the PM rather than the AM to give it a little more time after the long run yesterday. Felt better as the day progressed and fine after the short jog around the hood. we'll keep an eye out for changes.
legs otherwise felt good today. poppy. the combination of sprints/long run on alternating days seems to leave my legs feeling light and bouncy.
listed our current house for sale today. i'm glad that barring something unforeseen our next house will be our last. i have not enjoyed the process.