Recovery, Rain, and Roto-rooters, and Running...

O.K.,

That was a strange title for my weekly post, but it will all make sense at the end. Coming off the Houston Marathon I had to take a few days of recovery. I had somehow loaded my self down with so much stuff that I had reached Pack Mule status (as Steve in a Speedo put it) that the extra weight had caused a fixation of my Sacral joint causing my left Illiopsoas to get more fired up than the Hot Wings at Hooters and in turn triggered some inflammation in my lower right back near the pelvis. I had never experienced this before, but then again I had never run with everything but the kitchen sink. See the last post if you missed the Pack Mule picture.

So just about the time that I was feeling better and thinking about going out for a mile or two run, the rains came. And it rained, and rained, and rained some more. Normally I would run in the rain and I like to run in the cooler temps. But when you combine a nice steady rain that would soak you in a short period of time with temperatures in the low 40's, I draw the line. I really did not want to end up chilled and sick. So last week, I renewed my friendship with the treadmill for a few short 30 minute workouts. The treadmill to me is like the doctor. You hope you don't have to go and pay a visit, but they are always there when you need them.

That leads me to another reason why sometimes getting your workout done inside with a ledge on the treadmill to hold your phone is better than having to run outside and try to carry the phone if you forgot the phone holster for the Fuel Belt. I was in contact with my Step Mom on a sixty to ninety minute basis most of Tuesday through Thursday when my Dad had to have Quadruple Bypass surgery. My Dad is in good shape and was one of those guys who started running in the late 70's when the police would pull you over and question what you were up to. He was a photojournalist for United Press International and spent time running after MLK during the Peach Marches in Selma, running film from the sidelines of a ball game to the developing lab under the stands during a half time or inning change, running with camera bags loaded with Nikon, Cannon, and telephoto lenses to get photos of the Pope, the Presidents, Pele, and Muhammad Ali. Genetics is the cause of his need for the surgery. With a history of diabetes and high cholesterol in the family, the arteries and veins were blocked anywhere from 85% to 95%. The area where he had an angioplasty 17 years ago was still good. My Step Mom is a retired Cardiac Care Nurse so she feeds him well and makes sure he gets plenty of exercise. He did great and is back home and already hitting the stairs up and down 4-5 times, 3 times a day. His only complaint was that his throat was still sore from the breathing tube on the respirator and that sitting on the sofa was uncomfortable so he had to watch the football games in one of the chairs from the kitchen table. Not only did the docs do a great job of replacing areas of vein and artery that needed to be replaced but they did the "Roto-rooter" job on a few others to chip out the hardened plaque.


Dad pre-surgery and post-surgery going home on Saturday!

Well, I finally got to run outside. Normal people would not run more than 5 or so miles a week after a marathon, but I still have the Los Angeles Marathon on March 2nd. So, with the sun shining and the breeze blowing, I headed out my door and put in 17 miles. Normally I go in towards downtown to run the long distances but I thought that I would stay around the house and see if there had been any changes since this summer when I last did that run route. Not much has changed, but one of my roads that does not have a shoulder seemed busier than usual. I did some ditch running and my new "sneeks" got a a little muddy. It was then time for an ice bath and a steaming bowl of Hot & Sour Soup and a hot mug of tea while I sat in the Polar Bear Plunge.

Be on the lookout for fantastic photos in the next entry!

Liz