What do you think?

I'm going to see the Dr. in the a.m. Swelling has really started to increase in the last several days. I'm not running at all and yet, it appears to be getting worse. I'm thinking something has to be cracked or torn. I guess we'll see.

not exactly what i was thinking.

well, it's been 9 days since my last post. 9 days since i last laced them up and tried hit the trail, only to be sidelined. unfortunately, it hasn't been 9 days of healing. it seems that even without running, my shin and knee pain have continued (mostly my shin) with the last couple of days resulting in swelling on my lower shin. it basically throbs all day and even hurts when i don't have any pressure on it. the few times i've taken a quick step or landed harder than usual, it has shot a pretty sharp pain up my leg. so, i guess it's time to get to the doctor. i guess i'll try to get in and see somebody in the next few days. i don't really know what to figure that it is so i won't speculate. hopefully, the diagnosis will be another week off and then a slow mileage build back. wishful thinking maybe...we'll see.

as far as the rest of things go, i guess life is pretty ok. the bankruptcy continues to move toward a 12/31 finish which hopefully means that the uncertainty of employment can go away. you know, it's funny, in spite of the situation we are in, i really have yet to contemplate whether or not this will work out or not. i think i have just been working off the assumption that it would as the alternative would be a bit life changing. as i think about this now, i guess i should have probably been working on a backup plan all this time. but then again, it has been bathed in prayer and so maybe it is not all that uncertain after all.

there is still no doubt that God is doing some really neat things around me. many of the circles that i move in and around have been a real blessing in my life lately. through church, sunday school, my Man Time group, God has been taking us in a direction of being much more aware of His desire for our lives and certainly the accountability that he wants for us. as a family, we are moving into some interesting times where the kids are growing up and being faced with their first run ins with peer pressure and learning that it is ok to be different, to go against the grain. i'm scared out of my wits as my girls get older (12 & 10 now) and ed, jr (8) begins to reveal more of himself and the character that he has developed so far. it seems that we are already running out time when it comes to that parental fingerprint that we would like to leave with them. mostly, i wonder with the time that we have left, what is needed to ensure that they understand how important it is to know Jesus? to know right from wrong? to be confident enough not to be persuaded by to do something stupid by the logic the world will throw at them? man, it's overwhelming! but God is good and He is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! Lord help me translate that into a vibrant relationship for my children with you.

My Shin is Splinted!

Starts and stops. Work related, life related, injury related. This attempt of mine to become a runner, not just a hobby jogger, but a runner...marathon competitor...weekly distance goal achiever...limit pusher....i guess you get the idea, has been filled with fits of starts and stops. And this latest may be the toughest of all. My old friend, Mr. Shinsplint, appears to have come back with a vengeance.

Since I have not posted in a while, you wouldn't know that I have been getting my mileage back up, tackling decent length runs and pushing things a bit trying to get back from my earlier layoff in October and early November. So much have I been working at it that in the last couple of weeks of November, I got in 60 miles (I know what you're saying, "That's your problem, Ed"...I know). But everything was hunky dory until my three day running streak that saw 12.25 on 11/28, 12.01 on 11/29 and then a nice recovery 5 miler (turned 4 miler with .85 mile walk) on 11/30. After running my 12's on Sat. and Sun. Timm and I decided to get in a recovery style run on Monday night. I felt great as we started out...Then fairly suddenly, about 3.5 miles in, my right shin and knee started to throb on every footfall. After trying to run through it for the next half mile, it got to the point where I was worried that on my next step, my leg might buckle and send me tumbling...So I stopped. First time in my running life that I didn't finish a run running. Got home, iced everything that hurt, took ibuprofen, slept, almost fell on my first step out of bed the next morning (and the next 2 mornings after that), finally felt a bit recovered by Friday (still some tenderness in my shin, but the knee was good), talked with Timm and decided to get a run in on Friday night before the cold weather hit. Well, we met out at the marina at Lake Oliver to get a river walk run in, bundled, leggings, 45F and falling, but ready to go. I run a 1/4 mile and my shin is killing me (knee is fine)...stop stretch some more...run another 1/4 and I can't bear the pain and have to stop again. Timm goes on (he got a new Forerunner so he was pumped to use it), I again walk back to the truck (more dejected than i have ever been about running and about anything else for that matter).

So now, here I sit, later on that same Friday evening...fire in the fireplace, leg elevated, iced (or at least frozen pead), wondering when I'll get to run again. My January marathon hopes are gone. I plan to take at least the next week off...debating going to see if I have a stress fracture, but not really wanting to find out either...and then I guess we'll see.

What I know is this, starts and stops are part of life...but they are a lot easier to recover from when they are of your own doing...Shin splints in the past may have been a welcome reason to stop running and start being normal again, but this time, it just sucks! Injury is one of those things that comes without warning and disrupts until it is resolved...I guess I'll take my bike down and get it tuned up...looks like I'll need some non-impact exercise here for a while.

Summary: God is good, Injury sucks, I love my family. (It all makes sense in the end).

17 Miles!

Well, after having quite a layoff after the 15 miler of last month and finally getting back on the road a bit this last week, Timm talked me into long run Saturday that set a new distance record for me! We met down by the riverwalk at 6am and set off on a 2:41 journey that was one of the best runs I have ever had. It was a cool morning, mid 40's, but after the first few miles, i warmed up nicely. The only thing I wish I had were some gloves to keep my hands warm. We ran down to the Infantry Museum and doubled back on our track back up to the Synovus building. With a little over three miles to go, I was feeling pretty good and decided to stretch it out a bit. Ended up finishing the last 3.1-3.2 miles in around 26 minutes. After almost 14 miles, to still have that in me, I was pumped!

After the run, we went to Ruth Annes for breakfast where we ran into a bunch of folks from the SOA watch. As it turned out, that may have been a good thing cause Timm and I were a bit sweaty and stinky, but we blended right in with all of the unshowered, unshaved, hemp smelling, punk lighting, picket signing, free loving, peace singing demonstrators from places like San Francisco, CA and Topeka, KS. And the payoff for the run was a breakfast fit for a king...a really hungry one.

Injury and Recovery

Well, after my 15 miler last month, the effects of the distance finally started to lay hold of me. The shin splint in my right leg came back with a vengeance. I ran three or four more times after that, but none of the runs were great, and all of them hurt like hell. So with my training needing to pick up and mileage needing to increase, I ended up having to rest a bit. For the last several days of Oct. and the first week of November, I didn't even lace up the shoes. The pain started to ease (it was hurting to even walk on it for a while) and as of Saturday, it felt great!
Saturday was the Twilight 10k up at Callaway. So after not running at all for almost 2 weeks, and putting 10 hours Saturday into rebuilding our dock at the river, I drove over to Callaway and posted a 52:46 10k time, a PR for me!

Timm and I got in 3.7 last night after bible study. Hopefully I can get back on track this week.

Recovery and Accountability

Tonight after Man Time, Timm and I headed to the Riverwalk and got in about 5 miles in just over 51'. Great recovery run after my long one on Saturday (I thought I was good with my almost 15, but Timm had gone 20 on Saturday). Good run, good conversation. Cool and clear down by the river. Rest today, 7 on Wed., 4 on Thur., then 10 on Sat.

The guys in my group are getting closer and closer to committing to something special, accountability. It has come up in every book we have done so far and it is also starting to show up in Sunday School lessons as well. There is a real feeling that God is moving us in that direction which is very exciting! but somewhat terrifying at the same time. Accountability means vulnerability. It means pulling off the scabs of old wounds that never healed. It means laying myself open before God and others for the express purpose of transforming my mind and heart after the Lord.

We need to pray for the opportunity and the intent and the method. We need to pray for God to provide healing. We need to pray for each other. Am I excited? Like I've been only at earlier times when I was about to embark on some great adventure that leaves it's mark upon my heart forever, you bet I am excited! And then there is part of me, the condemned man on his way to the gallows, that is scared to death of the changes that God may ask me to make.

2 Corinthians 5:16-18

¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

Romans 12:1-2

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Psalm 139:23-24

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Milestones!

14.89!

Splits

Mile 1.8 - 17:59 (missed the lap button on 1st leg .8 mile)
Mile 2.8 - 9:59
Mile 3.8 - 9:50
Miles 3.8-7.44 - 35:03 (3.64 miles)
Total OUT - 1:12:53
Miles 7.44- 11.08 - 34:30
Mile 12.08 - 9:46
Mile 13.08 - 9:00
Mile 14.08 - 10:07 (killer head wind started here)
Mile 14.88 - 7:28 (.8 in last leg)
Total IN - 1:10:54
TOTAL - 2:23:47 (9:40 pace)

45F this morning as I got started on the riverwalk out in front of the performing arts building for CSU. Longsleeve shirt, shorts, water belt (2 waters and 1 chocolate milk). This was a really awesome run! I felt great the whole way on the out leg. Really no problems and for the most part, save 2 stops for a pic, I ran the whole way! At the turn around, I stopped to drink a little, maybe 30 seconds then ran the way in with 2 stops on both bridges on the way in walking for about 2 minutes. Even with those stops on the way in, I still finished the In leg faster than the Out leg.

So what encouragements do I take away from this run? First, that I was on my feet for 2:23:47 with none of the difficulty that I had on my 12 mile run. Second, I almost ran negative splits the whole way! And that is with a North wind that blew the whole way back up the river. Third, only needing a 13 miler today, it was great to be able to trust my body telling me that I could push on a little farther.

As for preparation, Stac, Ed and I ate at Country's last night, picked Susan up at the church around 9:30, came home and I was in bed around 10:00. Woke up around 6:45 and headed downtown. So a good meal, a good night's sleep...all of that really paid off this time (quite different from my 12 miler).

26 miles still seems like a long way to go, but today's run was the most encouraging one yet!