Back is not Back

My back is not back to normal that is. Close, but still having some residual pain. I took my pup out tonight to Sycamore Creek Park here in town for a run in the Arboretum. I wore my Vibrams as I didn't want to cross Sycamore Creek in my Trail shoes and get them soaked before I run my race. I started out slow and noticed my back was really tight. I took it easy and concentrated on lightly hitting the ground with my feet. I was a little worried as 1 mile approached, my back didn't feel all that great. I wasn't in a lot of pain just some radiating from my lower back.
I stopped and stretched a little on a park bench and it seemed to help....a little.
We left the Arboretum and headed out to the open soccer fields. I was pushing Buxton to go a little further so I could at least get in 2 miles. We stopped for a few photo ops, and met up with one of his buddies; an 8 month old Belgian Shepard named Tolkien. Seemed Buxton didn't want much to do with Tolkien as he tried so hard to get away from him a few times.

Anyway, we got back to the car and not sure what it was, but it seemed that last 1/2 mile I didn't think one thing about my back. Seemed it had loosened up a little.
I'm just worried what will happen over a 100 mile span. I may need to just suck it up and work through it. Enjoy the pictures.

He wouldn't cross the creek any further.....so I had to go back.

Tolkien and Buxton playing. He looks like a little wolf.

Seriously?

Okay, now I am totally freaking out. Last week, I was at CrossFit and we were doing Deadlifts.
Nothing major, I only had 275 lbs on the bar doing like 1 rep at a time.
I knew not to push anything since I am getting closer to my race. In fact, I was concentrating on good form the entire time.
The next day I was a little sore but not a big deal. I went to Crossfit that night and we were doing Turkish Get Ups. (Just google it.)
These TGU's are an awesome all over body workout in themselves. I was using a 35 lb KB. Again, nothing major.
Later that night, my back started spasming.
Every once in a while I get this, and a day or two later it's gone. Well, it's been 4 days now, and it's not getting any better.
I am so pissed off right now. It's my luck with my race looming, I may not be able to make it.
My race might become a volunteer adventure for Javelina.
At this point, I think it is only a Grade 1 strain, but how will that hold up over a 100 miles?
They say it takes about 1-2 weeks for them to heal. We'll see.
I've been icing, heating, cursing, massaging, E-Stim, Prescription Naproxen, cursing some more, etc....

Update:
On the other post from yesterday, I found out my bruising and swelling is caused from my medication I am taking. This is totally messed up. It's not an option for me to stop taking them.
My Endocrinologist said that my recovery from running will take much longer than other people. The bruising and swelling in my feet and ankle just won't go away overnight.
No freakin wonder!

Can I catch a Break Please?

I am writing this as the 13th day is now upon me for Javelina. I'm also writing this as I lay here in bed with a pack of ice on my lower back. I've been doing contrasting hot/cold therapy for it for a couple of days now.
Not sure really if this is a blessing in disguise to keep me from running until the race or what.
Also, it seems I continue to have foot problems. I went to watch the Columbus Marathon yesterday and when I got home, I noticed the top of my foot was bruised and slightly swollen. WTH?
I've been bruising really easily in the past few months. Seems like ever since Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone this has happened.
I have no idea what it is.
Maybe I can tell my wife it is from too much housework?
Any questions, comments, concerns, complaints.....leave a post.

On saturday, it was 101 degrees in Fountain Hill, AZ. ................Cool it. Now!

Pup Run

My Pup Leading the way:

I decided to skip Crossfit tonight and take my pup on a run through Sycamore Creek Park here in Pickerington.

He was looking like he needed some fresh air and I need some too.

The weather here sucks as always, but it didn't deter us from going out.

We only made one circuit around the arboretum, and a quick crossing of Sycamore Creek. It was Cold!

We only went a mile, but it was a good one.

I went home and fired up the treadsauna. I taped up my foot and started out slowly. The temp was about 75 degrees but quickly climbed to 95 degrees.

Oh man, this sucked.

I was feeling it about mile 2 1/2. I was running about race pace, but in all, I felt at ease. I am hoping this is a good sign.

My hope is to get acclimated to this kind of heat. I looked at the Farmers' Almanac, and it was supposed be cool and raining at Javelina this year. We'll see.

Totals:

4 miles

1 mile with Vibrams, 3 miles on treadsauna.

My wife says.......

"This has got to be your worst idea ever"

?huh? -She must be smokin something 'cause I think it is the best idea ever!!!!

After some consultation with Mike Keller, it was decided that I needed to build a sauna around my treadmill to do some heat training for Javelina.
Right now in Arizona, the highs are mid to high 80's. Here in the cold Tundra of Ohio, it is in the low 40's. Yeah....worst idea ever? Don't think so.
So I build this "room" out of 2x4's and plastic sheathing. Then I put Mikes heaters in there and got the heat up to about 85 degrees. I walked/ran for about 10 minutes. It will actually work just fine. I have a few more things to do so I can really crank up the heat.

I will report back tomorrow on how I do with getting it really hot in there.

Beer and Bacon....something to settle the nerves

I suspect that exactly 24 days from now, I will be sitting on a nice California Beach with a cold Beer in my hand watching the waves come in, the sun setting, and hopefully having the privileged in telling Paris Hilton to get lost. Now, what I am not sure of is that will I have a Javelina Belt Buckle in my hand. Don't want to jinx myself.
I am nervous beyond belief. I started getting this way in the past week or so with the thoughts of the race looming in the near distance. Now that it's October, that nervousness has climbed a little more. I also suspect that it will continue up until the time I toe the line and start my race at 6:00AM MT on October 31. Once the race commences, I will relax and run my race. I will run my race as I see it. I will run my race to finish. Whatever hand has been dealt to me that day, I will go with it. I will DNS this race: Do Nothing Stupid. I will be smart and run as conservatively as I can while giving myself some room to breath for the cutoffs. I don't care if I am DFL: Dead F'ing Last.
I was looking over the Pemberton Trail pictures that Lynn David Newton took one day while out exploring the trail.
This trail is where I will be making my first 100 mile attempt. Now, I know I ran Mohican 100 this year, but my goal there was to go half way, and if I did that in the allotted amount of time, I would go as far as I could go. I made it 64 miles. Much more than I ever conceived.
This time, I am going to attempt to run and finish my first 100. Right now, with the weather changing, I'm nervous. The heat in Arizona, although mild at the time I will be out there, (and I don't give a crap if it is dry heat), it's still hot and will sap all your energy if you're not prepared.
The temps here in Ohio have dropped down into the 40's and soon will dip further.
Mike Keller let me borrow all of his Space Heaters, and I plan on building a sauna around my treadmill. I am also praying for Indian Summer to come and sear us like bacon.......mmmmmmm.......Bacon.....Sorry, I couldn't find a real picture of bacon :)

Anyway, I was talking to a young lady at Dances with Dirt-Hell, and she said be prepared for the heat at Javelina. Most people keel off from the heat. The finishing rate in the past years at Javelina has hovered around 49%. The odds are not in my favor 'cause I don't do well in heat. Although, I didn't have too many issues with the heat like so many did at Mohican. I never felt hot, let's put it that way.
I have a feeling I will learn a lot during this race. I'm doing my best to take in all the advise I can from my Veteran Ultra Crazies. I've decided to heed their advise and not make a long distance push of 60-65 miles for my final long run. It's simply not needed, and they're right, I won't recover in time, and I will just risk getting myself injured.
Well see if I have what it takes to dig deep and push myself past that buzzing pain I felt at Mohican. That pain was stupendous. I can't imagine it would be any worse. Can it?
I'm hoping for some good drugs that will be produced by my body over the course of those 30 hours....or less.

Totals:

CrossFit Workout:

30 squats

30 push ups

100 Flutter Kicks

WOD:

21-15-9 of:

Thrusters: (65 lbs)

Mountain Climbers

500 m Row

3 Rounds for time.

My time: 12:12

Vibrams and some Ninja trail miles.

I went out for a quick trail run with my pup at a local park here in Pickerington. I wasn't really looking for any kind of work out, it was more about getting my pup outside for an adventure.

I finally received my Vibrams on Friday and have been wearing them as much as possible. Today was a perfect chance to get them out on some sort of trail and do some initial testing.

The day before I CrossFitted in them and they did great. I ran a mile on asphalt and was doing Power Cleans in them.

To me this has been my best purchase so far this year.

When I got to the park I knew right away I was going to test these out in the creek that went through the park. I was walking all over rough terrain through gravel, roots, water and dirt trail.

I was amazed at how well the protected my feet. Now, don't get me wrong they weren't like my Brooks Cascadia, but they did offer some sort of protection. The water drainage was great and seemed dry in no time.

I tested them out on dirt trail, gravel road, creek beds, and grassy fields. All around they did very well.

After the run, Mike Keller called me to see if I wanted to go for a night run. If he hadn't called me, I probably would have been a lazy bum and watched TV all night.

We met in Reynoldsburg and went for a run on a trail that I cannot disclose. : )

Mike showed me his recent medals from the North Coast 24 hour Ednurance run and the Akron Marathon. Awesome! We chatted the entire time which helped keep the pace slow. I was in no hurry.

We ended up with 4.8 miles.

Totals: 2 Miles on trail with pup: Vibrams

4.8 miles: Trail

Same old Tune

I am totally lazy about blogging. I hope this all changes after Javelina. Seems I have nothing interesting really to blog about. I'm also slacking on the reading of other peoples blog entries. I have a lot of catching up to do.

I went to CrossFit today after about a week of not going. I am going to do my best to get there at least 3 times this week.

I've been working out at home, but it isn't the same. At least I am doing something.

Sunday I went out to Mohican with Luc, Luca and Bret. The plan was to meet Rob Powell at the CB for a 13-16 mile run.

Rob ended up not feeling well, so it was just us.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was kinda cold at the start and you runners know it changes soon after you get going. The miles just clicked by as we were chatting with each other and harassing one another.

Fun times like this on the trail don't happen often but when they do, I'm loving life.

There is a new trail that Rob had shown us on our last run up there. The plan was that we were going to take the trail back to Bridle Staging and then back to the Covered Bridge. It would give us 16 miles on the day.

The trail was great. Pine needles were everywhere and made for a nice landing with each step.

At one point, I was taking pictures like a dummy and tripped on a root or a rock, and hurt my ankle that was injured months ago during a CrossFit workout.

Not good at all. I don't need this to happen before a race. So, it's back to icing, Prescription Naproxen and easing off a little.

After we got back to the Covered Bridge, I talked Luca to getting in the Mohican River with me to cool down. This would end up being a smart thing as the cold water helped my ankle.

Sunday totals: 16 miles on trail

Monday: Kettlebell workout: Swings, Snatch, Burpees

Tuesday: CrossFit WOD see below:

Warm up:

Run 1 mile

2 rds. of Cindy: 5 Pull ups, 10 Push ups, 15 squats

Skill:

Power Clean

3 sets of 5

WOD:

10 pull ups

10 ring dips

AMRAP 15 minutes

My score: 9 rounds.