That means Out Of Commission (running that is). My Thanksgiving cold came on full bore and only today has it turned the corner. Looks like it might still be a few more days until I’m ready to put the shoes back on. I’ll need some good runs next week as on December 10, our weekend training run will be a 10 miler.

Also, while the ailment parade goes on, my doctors office called last week with some blood tests done in search of an explanation for my on going cough — and it should an infection of mycoplasma pneumoniae, which sounds pretty scary. Supposedly the antibiotic I was prescribed , Levaquin (referred to as the “atomic bomb of anti-biotics:) should take care of it (at the same time hoping it treats my cold).

The info I read on this did not exactly match the duration I have had this cough (well over a year).

All this reminds me of a cartoon I recall from the New Yorker a few years back– an older couple is walking down the beach, and as the man is talking away, the woman responds, “Frankly Marvin, your ailments are not all that fascinating.”

Did you know... H.G. Wells, writer, "The Invisible Man" and "War of the Worlds" was diabetic (from Diabetes Health Magazine)
See more diabetic facts...

Sigh. With a good 8 mile run Saturday, I was hoping to end the litany of body ailment complaints here, and write gloriously how effortless running was, and my abundance of endorphin flow.

Not this week.

Today I woke up refreshed for a scheduled 30-40 minute run. It was extra chilly (for Phoenix), maybe even a few notches below 50 degrees. Right away I started feeling tightness in the back part of my left thigh, just above the inside of the knee. I stopped and walked a few hundred yards. No change. I spent some time doing some extra stretching. Nothing.

I resigned to walk a long loop around Chaparral Lake, running a few short bits here and there, but I did not want to push a sore muscle. So I walked about 2.5 miles.

Now I feel myself coming down with the cold my family has generously passed around over Thanksgiving. My immune system seems to be made of worn Kleenix.

I will stop before I really wear out the 1 or 2 people who actualy might read this.

Today is a good day. It is Team D Saturday run at Granada Park, and today I busted through my distance barriers by doing 8.0 miles, a new PR (Personal Record). But better than all of that, my sore left knee did not bother me at all, so the rest, ice, and ibuprofin did its magic.

And better than that, I felt strong even with not having much running the last 2 weeks. It’s getting near December, and there is no a month and a half until the big 1/2 Marathon Run.

Woohoo!

I decided I should not delay any longer getting back to the runing road. Today is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for many things (family, friends, a great life), and also that I was able to get up this morning and do some running.

Some of the team members are running a locasl Turkey Trot (5, 10ks) and wish I was up to it, but I did my own turkey like trotting with a gentle loop around Chapparal lake, up tp MacDonald, down Granite Reef. For portions I held a good 10k pace, and others a slowed down to a gentle plodding. I’d have to see the knee is not 100% but feels a bit better than it did for the New Times 10k, but not quite all healed. I have a feeling it will be nagging be all along, part of the normal aches and pains on the running path.

More ice. More ibuprofin. Repeat. Repeat.

And looming up ahead on Saturday is an 8 mile Team D run! That will be great and worthy of giving thanks if I can run the distance.

It’s been a week and a day since my last run, the New Times 10k. I’ve been resting my sore left knee, and only in the last few days has it felt slightly less painful. I’m doing lots of Ibuprofen and some ice.

On Sunday, my wife and I did about a 5 mile walk along Coyote and Tomahawk Roads, the highest roads on the north edge of the valley above Strawberry. ALong Tomahawk, the upper road, which is just a dirt road bladed across the sandstone, there are new signs marking new properties being offered.. the word is these unimproved lots are going for $200-300k, which is astronomical for the area. The views are nice, and the north side backs onto the National Forest, but there are very few trees here. mostly pinyon pine and juniper. Anyhow, we bushwacked along the forest boundry for a while. The views were nice, but my knee was complaining loudly on the way back.

I am so looking forward to writing soon about running and feeling good… as opposed to the term my Brit and Kiwi friends introduced me to… “whingeing”.

More knee complaints. On Thursday, I managed to go to work and forget my Advil. I was hobbling all day, and thinking it had taken a turn for the worse. Every person I checked only had Tylenol or Excedrin. On the way home, I had to stop at Costco, and bought a big vat sized bottle of Ibuprofin, and dropped 3 tables dry in the parking lot. By the time I was home, it was already a little better.

And today at work, it even felt less intense. I am still not running this week, and icing it right now at home.

We are headed to our cabin in Strawberry for Saturday through Monday, so I will miss the team run on Saturday. It is the 5 mile route I did my first Team D run with. I am hoping I am o doing 5 on Sunday at the high altiude.

Today I also filled in my application for the PF Changs Half Marathon- this is the real one! It felt good to seal the envelope and seal my commitment to do the run.

It’s another Wednesday night track night with Team D, Coach Dave, and the oval at Scottsdale Community College. Snce my knee is still on the mend, I am going tonight, but not counting on running as it still needs some rest. But I figure I can learn some training techniques and maybe doi a fast walk.

But hmmm, last week’s track run must have been tought, since we are down to maybe 7 team members! Tonight is an exercise in building up lactic acid and trying to disperse it running (I think that is the plan).

We are tun run 800s (2 laps) at our 5k speed, but there is only a short rest in between, at most two minutes. In decent running shape, I would aim for 5 minute times in an 800, but given I am walking, I try and aim for 7 minutes, and end up doing 7:20, 6:40, 6:30, 7:21, 7:30. The 6’s were ones were I tried a slow jog, and after 2 of those I realized I was being stupid, an d went back to walkiing the 7s.

I am envious of seeing people run and looking like they enjoy it! I am tired of complaining, and think I could run again on this knee if pushed, but would like to rest it through the weekend and try to get back into the game after that.

With the knee still in recovery, I’ve crossed from running today to biking.

Today might have been a bit early or not enough coffee…. my wife has been biking to work as well, so when she suggested we ride together, I was thinking of following her route to work in downtown Scottsdale and then following my normal route to Tempe. So this morning at 6 I asked, “If we bike, what time to you need to leave?” and she said, “I’ll be ready in 15 minutes”. That’s earlier than I needed but I got all assembled. Then she wondered why I had all my gear on as she was tihnking of us doing some loops around the neighborhood… we were in different route spaces or frames of mind.

So we did a loop up to the canal and back to our house, so I got a few more clicks than a commute, and then I rode the normal 11 miles to work. Not bad going in, the knee was yummy with Advil.

Riding home was a different story! First there was a hair of a headwind. Then, it’s been so long since I dealt with darkness, so I had to get in the defensive mindset of baeing invisible to drivers, despite my headlamp, reflectors,a nd blinking tail lamp… it calls for extra concentration. Then about 3 miles in, I felt my blood sugar bottom out, so I had to make a pit stop for a few glucose tablets.

As is, I got home with about 20 minutes to shower and get ready for the history class we are taking together at Scottsdale Comunity College. So today was something like:

1. bike
2. work
3. bike
4. sit in class for 2.5 hours and try and concentrate

A long day. It did feel good to get some miles in, even if they are not running. Maybe, the new blog name is “I Miss Running”?

Oi.

My already sore left knee was very uncooperative getting out of bed this morning.

I was already scheduled for a doctor visit for another test in hopes of finding the cause of my long standing cough. They are trying to rule out the long shot possibilities, so today was to get a tuberculosis test (TB is a scary long shot, and I was told they had a few positives recently.) I had her look at my knee, and pressing around, she is pretty sure it is “collateral ligament strain“– some stretching and possible tearing of the ligament on the inner side. The suggesting is to not run (but consider biking), ice, and ibuprofin.

Actually a day after taking Advil, it is already feeling better, so I hope that maybe some biking the next few days will loosen me up for running later in the week.

As far as the cough, the heavy duty antibiotic might be having an affect, and now she is thinking it may be a stubborn sinus infection.

Of things I now “hate” it is being a regular in the doctors office… a 10:00 AM appointment means not getting out to after 11, and on top of commute time, its a big chunk of productive work time. I have always prided myself on going only when absolutely necessary and being able to care it on my own… but I really want to takre care of all the assorted little things so I can focus on good training.

I’ve been checking a bit too frequently, but tonight the times are posted on the CEP Timing site for today’s Phoenix New Times 10k:

Okay, so here’s the analysis… I’m pleased with the time, 1:05:13 which nets a 10:30 minute per mile, faster than I thought I would do. I came in… 2396 place out of 3001 recorded times. Ugh, I thought I was ahead of lots of people. Oh well.

In my 40-44 age range for men, I placed 242nd out of 265, pretty close to the bottom. Wow, there are a lot of really fast guys out there in my age bracket, right?

But all this means little- my goal was to finish as strong as I could, and now I have some benchmarks that I can set some new sights on.