The Offseason of Surgery

Alright. Looks like we've got a plan. Anterior Decompression vs Gastroc Lengthening. Those of you that know what you are looking at can see the bone spur on the top of my foot. It appears to be creating an impingement when I attempt to fully dorsiflex my foot. Without trying to impress you with all of the new medical terminology I have learned over the past few months I can tell you that I am in the process of scheduling the surgery to remove this spur. I have the same situation on the other foot but no symptoms yet so I'll wait to get that one straightened out. I am told I will be out of commission for a couple of weeks. Two to three days on crutches (never been on those in my life) and then a slow and easy transition back into "normal" activity. I'm excited about this as it will hopefully put an end to the Plantar Fasciaiiistisisistsisiststssiiss(how the hell do you spell that?) and get me on track to some quality run training. So this will be my second surgical procedure in less than three months. In December I had a Venus Closure procedure to eliminate the Great Saphenous veins in my legs. Again, I now have the medical vocabulary equal to that of a pre med student but I won't "wow" you with my new knowledge of the superficial vein system. I'll just say that my legs feel better, I'm not getting that "heavy legs" feeling anymore, and I am pretty sure that when I get done with this full body-off restoration I will be stronger than Steve Austin after they put that boy back together. In the meantime, I continue to crush my bike workouts with a vengeance. Tuesday I felt like crap and we had a nasty Speed Lab/Endurance Nation session planned. I lasted about four minutes and throttled it down. Not happnin'. Fortunately I got another shot at this workout last night and I knocked it out of the park. You have to know when to back off. When the mind says "Go" and the body says "NO!" it's time to reel it in and live to fight another day. It worked and I had a great ride last night. Felt like I rode all the way to Kennebunk. Those of you that ride with a power meter know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it isn't there and you can let it kind of come to you and you get it done. Other times you gotta cut the cord and bag it. And then SOMETIMES you are riding at FTP and wondering why it feels do easy. So I'll keep hammering. We need to squeeze a surgery in here somewhere so I'll try to work hard until then and pick it up afterward and see where we're at. Either way this is going to be an interesting season, one that may just have to evolve vs be planned out. I'll take it as it comes and continue to be thankful that I only have a foot issue when I know that others actually have REAL issues to deal with.

I enjoyed the Cape 10-Miler on Sunday. It is tough for me to spectate without busting right out into a full blown sprint but I got through it and supported my friends and some of the folks that I help with their training. I would much rather RUN the ten miles than spectate but hey, a little time on the sidelines never hurt anybody right? Right? Hahaha...Screw that, I'll be back running that race next year and I'll be looking to go fast.

I'll be working on my "spectating" technique again tomorrow at The Polar Bear 5K where I'm hoping that one of the ladies I coach will be smashing her 5K best. She's been working really hard and tomorrow is the big test.

Football is over. Sorry fellow Pat's fans. Good game but lot's of missed opportunities. I guess that's why they play the game right?

Before the game Jared and I decided to do an hour or two on the CompuTrainers. We had planned on a nice steady ride. Those of you that know us can figure how that turned out. I think I'll tell that story in my next post.

Until then,

BT

Friday Night Fights, Super Bowl and The Mid Winter Classic

Looking forward to today. I'm up early and ready to race. That would be great if I were racing but I am not. Although I think we made some great progress with my heel/calf this week, I'm not ready to race. I wish I was though,the Cape Ten Miler is a great way to get out there and blow out carbon and see where you are at, so to speak. So I'll be an "athletic supporter" today and go root for my friends and athletes that coach. Jodi and Bailey are coming and Jodi has a new camera. A couple of years ago she got some great shots and I think people really enjoyed having some race photos they didn't have to pay for. Pretty cool. I might bring my road bike and cruise around the course, that way I'll get to see more people and I won't be standing still - HATE that. Not sure yet though. I guess I'll see what the temp is first. So get 'em guys!

Did you know today is Super Bowl Sunday? I wasn't sure you were aware given the limited press coverage this year. Hhehee.. The Super Bowl is a living breathing organism. It consumes the country and I think it's great. I never played football in school as I went to a high school that subscribed to the "we can outfit a whole soccer team for what it costs to outfit ONE football player" theory. I countered that by playing soccer like a football player. My coaches appreciated but I'm not sure the opposition was too impressed. As a result, I never got into football and I don't know the game very well. Sure, I know what's going on but I can't spot a blitz and I get frustrated with all the down time during the games in general. BUT the Suer Bowl is an event, heck the COMMERCIALS are an event! So. I'll watch and I'll root for the Pats and I'll try to avoid pounding 3000 calories into me that will make me hate myself tomorrow. My mother LOVES the game so I'll plan to give her a buzz tonight at about 6:29 just to "shoot the breeze".

AND....The Friday Night Fights. We had a t great time at Maine Running Friday night. I brought some Speed Lab regulars with me and they all did very well. As I mentioned in my last blog I was looking to redeem my effort of two weeks ago against a particular Maine Running employee that likes to get in my grill. It's all in good fun of course but that doesn't mean he isn't on my list of people that I'd like to beat. He "tweeted" earlier in the day that he was "coming after me". I returned fire a few hours later with "sorry it took me so long to reply, I was down at Fitzpatrick Stadium running the bleachers with a telephone pole on my shoulders". As I set the phone down after that one I laughed all the way into Portland. I had to stop at ME Running to drop off my CompuTrainer so I took the opportunity to mess with him a little more. I went in the back door with the trainer and dropped it off. Then I just strolled to the front of the store (he was at the register to my right)and gave him my best game face without saying a word and I walked right out the front door! Hahahah Classic. He didn't know I was headed down the street to grab lunch with a friend and I was in a hurry but it was fun to screw with him. Ah,, fun stuff. Anyway...So we made sure we lined up together to make sure we would make each other good and miserable and we were off. It was a 30 minute TT and it was PAINFUL. My HR was 178-180 the entire time. I pretty much hurl at 182-184 so I was on the edge for sure. I managed to open up a 500' gap on Ryan but he got it back on a climb. Then I got it again and was able to hold it. I don't think there's ever been such a fiercely contested race for 4th place! I was pretty sure Jared was going to tune me up, and he did, but what I was most impressed with was my two athletes David Grover Sr and his 14 year old son David Jr. They both smoked me and I couldn't have been more pleased for them. They have worked hard over the winter to get stronger.

So I beat The Kid. I don't think he had a great night but we'll meet again in a few weeks. We're having a lot of fun with this stuff and it's great winter time competition to keep the juices flowing - especially for an injured runner.
Alright, time to get geared up for SPECTATING. Ughh. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of friends, it's always a good time. I'd love to be out there competing but I'll be back. Promise.