Rehabbing from Rehab! Getting ready for the SLO Marathon Con't.

What does it take to get that 50 year old body back on the road?

That's the big question I'm faced with 4 months post ligament tears. It started with rest, and progressed to PT. From there to a bicycle, and then an elliptical. Moved on to a treadmill, and then finally back on to the road about 2 weeks ago.

But bouncing back is not as easy as it once was. Besides the fact that my stamina is shot, and 3 miles feels a little like 13.1, I've had post injury "after shocks" as new and different challenges to conquer.

First up, hamstring tightness. That's a scary one, because I've gone down the "pulled hammy" road before. Hit me two weeks ago when I got back out on the road. So stop down a day or two, check in with the PT, and make sure it's nothing serious.

It wasn't. so I'm back on the road. I think. Nope, next is something called post tibial tendonitis? What's that? Had to google it. More PT, it's not too serious, something about rolling a tennis ball under my arch, and away I go!

Or not. So the combination of the ankle, post tibial whatever, and the hammy, seems I've over compensated and next up were calve cramps. Never had those before, yay.  Back to the PT, a few more days of rest, and should be back to normal.

The only way to know for sure? Jump back on the treadmill and see what happens...

Got my run in, made it through another session of PT, and I'll see what happens as I ramp up the distance and pace one more time.

My goal?

43 Days Until The SLO Marathon!

Now an SLO Marathon Ambassador!

Just want to say thanks to the folks running the SLO Marathon for letting me join their team and help promote their great event! It's great to have a goal now and hopefully take my recovery running back into some real miles training for the event.

Made it through the 2 Rehab miles at PT yesterday, still relegated to the treadmill. But it's starting to feel like me again, and I'm really hoping I can get back out on the road. Injuries are a little scarier then they used to be, and the after effects are a whole different deal. The process seems much longer, and there's no margin for error. In days past it was easy to blow through the doctors orders, maybe take a passing run at PT. Now I have to really focus, do the exercises, stay away from cheating, and I can't get ahead of myself. The other part that's different is the mental game. Instead of ignoring the aches and pains, instead of blowing through cramps, I have to listed to my body and back off, adjust, ask for help. Some of the adjustments for aging are less fun then others. Anyway, I hope I'm talking about miles and splits and hill repeats soon, not PT and Stim and TREADMILLS.

Me in better days...

I'll post a lot more about the race, but for now here's the main site:
SLO Marathon Main Site

1st Mile Back!

Happy MLK Day to all.

The last few months have brought all the joys of aging together for me to enjoy.  Torn ligaments, pulled muscles, and most recently, the flu. I never get the flu. At least I never used to get the flu. Now I do. Came up on me during work last week, but no way I could bale out during production, so forced through and made it to the long weekend. And yes, I finally work for a company that gives MLK day off.

Slept if off for the last three days, and only left the house once. To go to the gym, and put in my first full mile on the treadmill since I injured my ankle November 2nd.

Warmed up for 20 minute on the elliptical, and headed over to the 'mill. Pushed the speed all the way up to 5 (those blazing fast 12  minute miles) and let loose. No pain, no limp, all went well. It's crazy to think that three months ago I was knocking off 20 mile training runs as a 2nd thought, looking forward to them all week. Now I'm stressing over a mile, sweating and panting to get to the finish. Anyway, made it in one piece, and maybe I've turned the corner.

Iced afterwards with "Frozen Peaz"(@frozenpeaz1) I'd share a picture if I knew how to post them, but maybe next time. If you ice after runs, you should check them out, really cool. And sat my ass back down on the couch the rest of the day to recover from my grueling 11 minute journey.

But it's a first mile back, and I can't wait for more.

Much Love & Keep Running!

Marc

A slight setback...

Maybe it's the lack of running from my injured ankle. Maybe it's just getting older. But I'm sick again. It's a chest cold, or a head cold or a mild flu, who knows. Last year, running regularly, I never got sick. The last 3 months off from running, feels like I've been sick the entire stretch.

Can't give in to it, the real world is still out there. Work, family, bills, tuition, all want attention, and can't let a little bug get in the way. So, no workouts this week, no trips to the tables this week, work and sleep, and hope that the weekend comes quickly. Hoping to save a little bit for PT on Friday, at least keep that moving forward!

Back to work.

Anything But That!

Wanted to title this "Test 1, 2, 3..." but that's so cliche there's even a song about it. (that's a reference to "Rent" if you want to check it out) So I'm doing this for two reasons. The real prompt to start today was my mom. She wants to blog about her situation, her battles with Parkinson's Disease. And I wanted to test this template out to see if it was easy to use.

The 2nd reason is more long term. I've been running, I've been making friends on Twitter and Facebook, and even Daily Mile, but I haven't really taken the time to write about the experience, or share my own thoughts about why, how and what I get out of running. Maybe it's time to change that? We'll see if I really follow up on the promise!