Pre Race Doc Visit

I am lucky and perhaps a bit crazed.

Yesterday I had a visit with our family Doctor to discuss Pain Management, the "Main" pain I deal with comes after I get "Slammed". That term for anyone new to my blog refers to a day in which my running is directed to short sprints to the "Head" "John" "Loo" "Bathroom" or whatever happens to be available at the time. I imagine I should just buck up and take it but after a mere ten or so repeats, things get sore downstairs and I would just assume take a pill then "Tough It Out". 

Anyway, I explained to the Doc that I intended on running a 50K+ in hot humid weather and then turn around to drive ten hours the next morning to add four days of hiking in the High Peaks Area near Lake Placid, New York. She was kind, agreeing I may not be feeling quite "Peachy" as I arrived in New York; she prescribed something that might help.

So..................On with the unknown. I'm apprehensive especially since I tweaked my Achilles tendon carrying something heavy a couple of days ago but I'm as ready as I have ever been.

I would like to recognize a few of my training partners for all the hours we have spent together over the past couple of months; Craig, Larry, Randy, Steve and Dennis. I have enjoyed the hours, heat, hills and conversations that made time fly and training fun. Of course I also enjoyed a cold beverage and good conversation after our runs concluded !

Good Luck to Me and To All

Mike

Jitters

I always get a “Case Of The Nerves” prior to a big race, with a week to go before the Catoctin 50K the self questioning and doubts begin.

Most runners I imagine struggle with pre-race jitters questioning their training, resolve and for this race their sanity. This race is thirty two plus miles of hot humid hills, rocks and bugs. It is hard enough on anyone of any age in good shape. At last years finish I assisted several friends walking around babbling after the race had taken it's toll.

Why am I doing this?

To be honest I just don't know. 

Mike 

Friday the 13th

Feeling sorry for yourself is useless waste of energy.

As ludicrous as it sounds I got up yesterday planning to run eighteen or twenty miles only to realize that my insides were reluctant to comply, I was to say the least very unhappy and border line depressed. After several morning trips to “The Can” I decided I'd head out with Molly for at least something. Something, ended up being five miles, actually, dispatched rather quickly, I felt relief.

Relief did not last, so a couple of hours later sprints to thee loo replaced L.S.D (Long Slow Distance, for any of you wondering)

Around noon, I just couldn't stand it anymore so I headed out for another run, this one somewhere around six miles. It helped,  but running, while normally suppressing a lot of bad feelings doesn't last. By eight o'clock last night I was “Toast”, the seat of my toilet and my “Arse” would connect about eight times prior to midnight. I was getting sore, pissed off and feeling sorry for myself. Having pain pills left over from surgery I downed one and finally sometime after midnight got to sleep.

Today, my hands hurt, my feet are going numb again. I realize I am ahead of the curve but do not have the ability or strength to shake everything off .

Tomorrow, tomorrow is another day and probably will be better. On second thought tomorrow is Friday the 13^th. Yikes !

Mike

PS> Not trying to be a “Debbie Downer” but I think I should be honest

Good Results

Last night I woke up chilled, pulling a light blanket over me to get back to sleep. What a great change after multiple one hundred degree days and hot muggy nights !

There is much I could write since my last post but perhaps the most important tidbit of information are the results of the latest “Journey Up The Colon” came back and they are good. I can admit now that I was on “Pins and Needles” since the Colonoscopy but now I breath a little easier.

Training is almost over for the Catoctin 50K, I am hoping that time spent here instead of Michigan will pay dividends. Last week I managed fifty five miles, most miles coming from three jaunts in hot, humid, bug biting conditions. This week I'll probably get in at least one long one of fifteen plus miles and then start a two week taper before the race. Overall, I'm pleased with my progress, still, “The Price To Be Paid” after some of these runs is difficult to deal with. Even so, I am pretty sure that as I push my limits it slowly extends them, I see no reason to change course.

My hands and feet are a concern as I see no improvement, there are times in the morning it feels as though progress is made but as the day wears on my hands hurt more and my feet loose feeling. Most of the numbness in my feet is limited to my toes but on occasion it can extend back to mid foot.

As I have posted before, Reiki has been instrumental in my recovery and every so often I have an experience, almost “Out of Body”, this happened Friday. I had started the day, taking the dog for a few short miles feeling good. Later, while getting ready to leave for my Reiki session I got a headache, one of those thumping temple types that informs you each time your heart beats.

Just before my session started I mentioned the headache to Dee and Lorette. Lorette started reflexology on my thumbs, minutes after Dee started Reiki a chill descended upon me, almost like stepping outside after a hot summer storm into “The Fresh, Cool, Clean Air”. The headache was completely gone and had there been a bed nearby I could have been completely out on it.

Summer is halfway through, it won't be long before leaves start to turn, cooler days lead to crispy nights nights and I may wake up one morning realizing I can feel all my toes. Now that's something to look forward to.

Stay Happy All............ Mike

Dis and Dat

The storms that rolled through our area Saturday Evening caused widespread damage leaving more then a million people without power.

Saturday evening we were entertaining, good wine, food and company was followed by this storm. This proved to be great entertainment for my best friend Joe, his wife Mel and daughter Laura, back east from San Hose. The lightning show was exquisite, bolt after bolt providing a stroboscopic effect, raindrops frozen in mid-air as claps of thunder echoed across the hilltop. Soon, we became part of the million people without power but flashlights, quickly located kept our evening rolling on.

After twenty some odd hours power was restored, only to have it knocked out again by a UPS driver backing into our driveway Monday afternoon. We have a backup generator that allows us to power some devices, but, as I tried to complete a job involving a computer (not on the generator circuit) it's uninterpretable power supply could not handle the generated power. Damn, UPS I hollered out loud..... Kevin..... managed to catch the irony that I had missed. UPS (United Parcel Service) and Uninterpretable Power Supply (UPS). Well, it made me laugh.

All right on other matters, my training is going well even if there is a “Price to Pay”. It seems that any run over fifteen miles will send my guts into some sort of satanic rite for a few hours afterwords. To be honest I am amazed that I can possibly carry so much undue and unnoticed weight for everything exiting is some sort of solid. Sorry guys, hate to talk “Bathroom” but it's a normal part of my life now.

We are not going to Michigan this year which is just tragic, I had hoped for three weeks but it simply won't work out. Kids have different needs, money is tight and JP simply is not available. The “Good News” is that instead of running early in the morning in fifty or sixty degree low humidity temps of Michigan, I'll get to train for my “come Back Catoctin 50K” in the wonderful hot and muggy conditions of Maryland in July. As “Bill Murray” once said, “Caddy Shack”, “I've Got That Going For Me and That's Nicccccce !

So, July the Fourth, instead of being at the “Log Saw” at Amasa MI, I'll be out on the trails running a relaxed twenty with friends.

The past week returned me to the times whom I was prior to cancer, it is amazing how the presence of a special friend can make you forget the present and transport you directly into the past. This was my week with Joey, I was no longer “Cancer Survivor” I was just Mike, we just played golf, drank some beers and enjoyed a couple family dinners . I only wished the “Golf Gods” had been kinder to my friend, but with a bum elbow they punished Joey, .... until and until ..... they decided they should entice him back with some stellar play on our final two holes.

Thanks Joe, I had a blast !

Mike