Home Stretch

It’s hard to believe, but the big race is less than five weeks away, 31 days to be exact. It’s been a long road back from surgery and rehab. Less than a year ago, I was running for just a few minutes at a time. Now I’m doing long training runs; this past Saturday I did an 18 mile run, the farthest I’ve run in over two years. The first four miles were uneventful, but then at about 4.5 miles, I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle. I had to stop running. Panic set in and I started to freak out big time. The pain felt eerily similar to what I experienced two years ago and almost in the exact same place! Thank goodness I was running with Anne. She calmly assessed the situation, had me do some stretches, and did a little Mr. Miyagi action on my ankle, and as quickly as the pain came on, it disappeared and we were able to do the remaining 14 miles without incident.

These days I’m feeling very optimistic. The 18 mile run was tiring, but I felt strong throughout and finished with energy, not exhaustion. For the first time in a while, I could actually visualize myself finishing. After two years of injury and pain, surgery and rehab, doubts and worrying, I’m finally starting to believe again: I’m starting to believe I’m a runner, not an injured runner, not a runner recovering from injury, not a runner who is out-of-shape or a runner trying to get back into the swing of things. No, I’m just a regular runner who is able to go out and run without worry. This is such a huge relief. In the darkest hours and weeks after surgery, I wondered if this day would ever come. Now I’m coming down the home stretch and those dark days are but a distant memory. Brighter days are ahead, and for that I am truly grateful.

Training Rut

I’ve hit a rut in training, something not totally unexpected, but very frustrating. I’m trying to do all my runs, but it’s quite difficult these days. First, the weather has been absolutely lousy. Over the past week here in the DC area we’ve had snow and sleet, freezing rain, and the biggest enemy of any runner, particularly me --- ice. I admit it, I have an ice phobia, and for good reason. In January of 2008, I slipped on black ice and fractured my left radial bone (left elbow). This was a particularly nasty, and painful, injury as the elbow cannot be set in a cast, nor immobilized for extended periods of time. The pain of pt for this particular injury was worse than even rehabbing my ankle. So anytime I even catch a glimpse of ice, I'm homebound.

The second impediment to training over the past couple of weeks has been a lingering sinus infection. My nose is quite stuffy, my ears ache, my sinuses kill me, and my balance is a bit off --- not exactly a recipe for going out and doing a 7-8 mile mid-week run, let alone a long training run on the weekend. I’ve probably missed about 50% of my scheduled training runs over the past two weeks.

None of this is the end of the world. My sinus infection has finally started to clear up, and the weather seems to be improving, though the forecasters are predicting snow showers tonight and possibly tomorrow, with “minimal” accumulation. My motivation, though, is a bit lacking. I’ve spent the last year getting back to my old running self, and I’m probably 75 to 80 percent there…the last bit shouldn’t be that hard. My fitness level has dramatically improved, my legs are strong, and my endurance is improving by the week. Mentally, though, I’m struggling to find my motivation and I’m not sure why. I have so much to run for, but when I don’t feel well and the weather is less than desirable, my first instinct is not to lace up my shoes and power through, but to hit the couch and watch ESPN.

I will break out of this rut; I always have in similar situations in the past. I just need to find my groove again. A week of decent weather and good health would help, but irrespective, with less than 50 days to go until the big race, the fact that I will soon be running 26.2 miles is motivation enough.

Da Bears

I’ve decided to add a new race to my schedule for 2009, the Soldier Field 10 in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. The finish is the 50 yard line of Soldier Field. How cool is that? Football legends such as Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, and Dick Butkus have graced this stadium. Now you can add Fullenbaum to the list! I’ll certainly write more as the date approaches. Needless to say, I'm very excited and look forward to proudly wearing my Redskins hat as I cross the 50.

Winter Running Blues

The one downside about signing up for a March marathon is that a majority training takes place in wintertime. In years past, winter running was a piece of cake. I’d run in snow, sub-freezing temperatures, and I would do it most of the time in nothing more than a pair of shorts and long sleeved t-shirt. I still remember running in the Jingle All the Way 10k years ago in nothing more than shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt, despite the fact that it was snowing and 29.

These days, however, I find it more difficult to get outside when it’s cold and dark, damp and dank, and just downright depressing. I don’t know if it’s old age or the long layoff from running during the recovery from injury, but now I’m wearing long pants instead of shorts, three layers of shirts instead of one, and I’m even running inside a couple of days a week. Everyone from friends and family, to running buddies and pt’s, have even suggested, gasp, running on a treadmill. The treadmill, in this man’s opinion, is an evil piece of exercise equipment. It reduces you to nothing more than a gerbil, just running in place second after second, minute after minute, mile after mile. I can think of nothing more boring.

So I’m in a bind. I’m having a tough time running outside 6 days a week, I despise the treadmill, yet I have lots of training still to go before the big race in March. The solution --- an indoor track. Unfortunately, there are very few in this area, most are on college campuses or that far away land of Virginia. There is a little know gem, though, at Bally’s gym on Rockville Pike. The have an indoor track, 1/10th of a mile in distance, that should do the trick. I joined about a month ago and run there about once or twice a week. It’s a pain for sure; having to turn so often puts pressure on my hips, yet this slight discomfort is far preferable to the boredom of the treadmill.

The weather forecasters are predicting an arctic blast to move through the DC area on Thursday and Friday of this week. Originally, I was scheduled to do a 15 mile run on Saturday, but I’m going to Florida to visit my 86 year old grandfather and won’t have time to do such a long run between playing golf and eating early bird dinners at his Del Boca Vista retirement compound (think Seinfeld). I’m going to get creative and instead do my long run inside on Friday night --- 5 miles on the track followed by 5 on the treadmill, and then the last 5 on the track again. Is this ideal? Nope, not by a long shot, but it allows me to get the miles which should payoff down the road in March.

A Long Run Throwback

Until today, my handful of long runs this year have been on the very flat, Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Virginia. In fact, there isn’t a significant hill to be found on the stretch from Shrilington out to Falls Church. Plus, I did these runs under the careful supervision of Anne, who would ride her bike to pace me, and also carry Gatorade that I could gulp at any time. I was in heaven. I was spoiled. I was on easy street.

Since Anne is out-of-town for the holidays, I decided to do today’s long run along a classic course I developed years ago, the brutal Capital Crescent-Wisconsin Ave route. And I ran it with my other running friend Kate (yes, I have two friends named Kate) who is a speed demon and pushes me to my limits. We started out this morning in front of Barnes and Noble, making our way down the 7 miles of the Capital Crescent Trail into Georgetown. So far, so good. I was a little tired and a bit overheated since I over-layered again, but once we reached M Street in Georgetown, I was feeling okay.

Then the madness began. We hooked a left on Wisconsin Avenue to go straight back to Bethesda. It’s only 6 miles, but it’s the most difficult 6 mile stretch anywhere I’ve ever run. You basically run from sea level to over 400 feet asl in three incredibly steep hills. To put this in perspective, the famous Heartbreak Hill on the Boston Marathon course is only 88 feet. The first hill from Georgetown to Glover Park was tough. I struggled mightily; my legs were tired, my breathing was heavy, and I wanted to give up. Thankfully, after the first hill, we stopped at a CVS for Gatorade. Then it was on to the next hill, which goes from Glover Park, past the Russian Embassy, and up to the Cathedral area. Maybe it was the Gatorade and quick rest that helped, but I handled that hill just fine. Kate and I continued our journey on Wisconsin, through Tenley/AU and Friendship Heights. When we reached the Maryland line, I knew I was in trouble. I had no energy whatsoever, and there was one last big hill to climb to get back to Bethesda. I told Kate, half joking, half serious, that I wanted to quit. She wouldn’t let me. Somehow I made it back to Bethesda, but by the time we finished, I couldn’t run another foot.

Although I’m very sore and extremely tired, I feel as if today was yet another step toward getting back to my old running self. Running with Kate along an old, tried and true route made the last two years of surgery and rehab seem like a distant memory. I like that feeling.

Final Race of 2008

Yesterday’s Jingle all the Way 10k marked my 8th and final race of the year. From outward appearances, I did pretty well, finishing in 47 minutes, 59 seconds, for an average of 7 minutes, 43 seconds per mile. Not a bad way to end the year, and it certainly shows I have come a long way in my comeback from injury. Just a year ago, I couldn’t run for more than 20 seconds at a time. Yet, I was somewhat disappointed with the result; I could've done better. So what happened?

First, I was too layered. The temperature yesterday morning was chilly, about 30 degrees at the start of the race. Now in past years, I would’ve worn shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt, nothing else. Why? Because one of my big rules of running has been to dress like it’s 20 degrees warmer than the actual temperature. For whatever reason, I decided to layer up yesterday, wearing long running pants, a t-shirt and then a long sleeved shirt, plus a running jacket to boot. By mile 2, I was overheating big-time, but because I had my bib pinned to my jacket, I couldn’t de-layer. Second, I was tired. Instead of relaxing the night before the race, I stressed and worried about the conditions for the race, and consequently did not sleep well and got maybe 5 hours total.

Last but not least, I was too heavy. For a year after ankle surgery, I wasn’t really able to exercise on a regular basis, and as a result I gained some weight, about 15 pounds to be exact. Most people haven’t noticed, and I don’t exactly look heavy or obese, but it does impact my running stamina. I’ve already lost 5 of those pounds, but I still need to drop another 10 before the marathon.

I’ve worked extremely hard during my comeback and it really is paying off. My fitness is improving each and every week, which is reflected in my improving race times. What’s frustrating, however, is that I’m really close to getting back to my old, pre-injury self, but I’m not quite there yet. There’s no doubt in my mind that if I had been well rested, dressed in fewer layers, and weighed less, I could’ve finished yesterday’s race in about 45 minutes. That’s the kind of time I used to clock with ease prior to injury. Some people might say that I shouldn’t be so negative, that I’ve come so far since 2007, and to take the long view. I’m probably about 90% back, but sometimes it’s the last 10%, that final push over the goal line, to borrow a term from football, that is the most difficult. Nonetheless, I’m very confident that I’ll pick-up those last few yards (unlike my pathetic Redskins yesterday against Cincinnati) and will make a big score next March at the National Marathon.

2009 Race Schedule

This is the time of year when we start planning out the new year, and I’ve just finished developing a preliminary 2009 race schedule. The big highlight is the Sun Trust National Marathon on March 21st here in Washington. All of the other races are ones I’ve done before, and there are some particular classics I look forward to running like the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia and the Army 10 Miler. I may add or subtract a race or two, but for the most part, this is how my 2009 is shaping up.

03/21/09 – Sun Trust National Marathon
04/26/09 – Pike’s Peek 10k
05/03/09 – Broad Street Run
06/13/09 – Lawyers Have a Heart 10k
07/04/09 – Potomac 5k
08/30/09 – Annapolis 10 Mile Run
09/20/09 – Philadelphia Distance Run
10/04/09 – Army 10 Miler
11/22/09 – Philadelphia Marathon