Moab Facebook

Took a trip to Moab a couple of weeks ago and did a lot more hiking than I usually do out there (always running/biking).  It was great to spend time with the family and take the kids to some really cool places.  We had fun spotting ‘faces’ in the rock walls.  Here are a few samples:

 

The rest can be viewed here.

During the week we were in town, my 7th grade daughter spotted license plates from 44 states and 4 Canadian provinces!  Maine, Louisiana, North Dakota, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Hawaii were the no-shows.  Y’all missed a great time!

4 Seconds of Fame!

As I pulled into the Mount Falcon parking lot last night after work, I noticed a TV news crew interviewing some people.  It was starting to rain and they were quickly wrapping things up.  When I passed by while starting my run, I overheard the park ranger being interviewed say “it’s important to stay calm and not panic” or something to that effect.  That’s all of the words I caught, but I immediately figured they were most likely talking about a snake bite.

I finished my first loop and came back to the parking lot to refuel and found the parking lot nearly empty, no more sign of cameras or people.  As I started my second trip up the mountain the news helicopter showed up and hovered over me for several minutes.  I assumed they were splitting off from their normal rush hour traffic watching and gathering some additional footage for the spot being filmed earlier.  Turns out that was the case.

A lady had been bitten by a rattlesnake in the park that morning and had hiked out a mile and a half to get help.  They were interviewing some other people and also the ranger for the story.  Turns out I got 4 seconds of coverage!  Yee haw.  No matter that I’m all of about 3 pixels high and the camera is pulling back in the shot…  Hey, it was the opening story!

Video here.

My part starts at 54 seconds into the clip.  I’m wearing a white shirt and am just rounding the apex of the switchback on the right side of the screen, heading towards the camera.

Get out your magnifying glass!

Squint!

The hikers in the opening shot were one switchback above me, I passed them soon after the helicopter left.  Scene stealers.  I should have been running faster!

Heeling

I follow a lot of running blogs, it seems like 3 out of 5 mention heel/foot pain or achilles injuries.  I feel your pain, guys!  I shut down the running for 3 weeks and have been going to PT twice a week.  The treatment that has had the most effect has been iontophoresis.  After my first 10 minute round last Tuesday I felt like I had gone from being at about 30% healthy to 90%.  It was amazing!  I had one more treatment on Thursday, but without the dramatic improvement.  Now that things have settled down over a couple of days, I’m not sure if I’m really gettting any better or not.

Thankfully, riding the bike has been a good distraction and doesn’t hurt my heel at all.  I have been catching the single speed bug and have even done some rides on my mountain bike where I’ve parked it in the 32×16 and left it there.  I really enjoy it and am thinking of selling off one of my other bikes to finance the purchase of a new SS 29′er.

Been a while since I've had bike fever, but I feel it coming.

My current MTB is a 1997 S-works hardtail.  I’ve about ridden that thing to death, but I still really like it.  Great bike.

My trusty ride.

I don’t get too excited about the latest and greatest full suspension rigs.  I’m thinking the SS 29′er will be perfect for my style of riding.

I pieced together a nice 24 mile ride from work that includes about 1,000 feet of climbing with lots of rolling hills.  Nothing technical at all, but the nice thing is it only crosses 3-4 roads (it goes under the busiest ones) so you can put the tunes on and just cruise at a steady pace.  Not bad for being in a densely populated area.

View from the lunch ride.

It's not the mountains, but it'll do for a weekday.

Friday I started thinking I should test the heel a little.  I was feeling pretty good and it had been almost 3 weeks.  I tried a small 1-2 miler last Monday and it went badly.  Had to walk most of it, and my heel felt just the same as it did before I stopped running.  With a couple of ionto treatments, though – I felt good enough to give it a go again.  So it was decided – 4 miles at lunch.  The only trouble was I had packed all of my bike stuff thinking I was going to be riding again.

I happened to have a new pair of racing flats and a pair of 4″ splits still in the back of my car from a trip to the running store a few days ago (when I was feeling optimistic).  I grabbed the splits because they were on clearance and I’m always on the lookout for cheap (but good) shorts I can use on the treadmill.  I got the flats because I have been craving a more flexible sole in my shoes.  I can’t believe how stiff most shoes are these days.

I headed out in a long sleeve bike jersey, 4″ shorts, and racing flats on a crushed gravel trail.  I think the look on people’s faces when I passed by was one of “what the hell was that?”.  Good thing I wasn’t in the mood to care.  I was testing my heel dammit!  Oh, and setting the whole outfit off was my nicely defined cycling tan lines 3-4 inches below the hem of the shorts.

Get some longer shorts...

The actual run went very well.  Apart from my heart rate being 15 beats higher than normal, and feeling like I was 50 pounds overweight, I was really happy with being able to run again.  I cruised 4 miles at 7:30 pace and was happy with how the heel held up.  I knew the real test would be waiting to see how it fared the rest of the day and especially the next morning.

Saturday things felt decent so I got up before dawn today and did another 5.  This run wasn’t very good – still have quite a ways to go on the healing front.  The plan is to stay on the bike for now and mix in a short run every 2nd or 3rd day, and get one of my road bikes ready for Craigslist.

Spring Broke

Instead of having fun on Spring Break this week, we’ve spent 5 days in the hospital with Jessica.  She had to have surgery to repair a problem with her bladder.  The surgery went very well and she is recovering quickly.  The reason for the lengthy hospital stay was due to them using a piece of small intestine for the procedure which mandated that she go without food for 2 days before the operation, and 2+ days after.  She was able to subsist on a clear liquid diet and an IV, but couldn’t have been happier when she was allowed to eat again.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bigger smile than when she was given that news.

Jessica working in the sticker book that Grandma and Grandpa sent.

We had incredible family support in taking care of the other kids and that played a huge part in us being able to focus 100% on the task at hand.  Jessica’s doctors and nurses have been great and have taken good care of her.  They all love to be around her.  She is such a happy little girl despite all of the challenges she has lived through.  I stand in awe of her sweet disposition and patience.  Whenever I am hurting or having a hard time I just get grumpy and want to withdraw.  There is a lot I have learned from observing her during trying times this week.

Speaking of hurting.  I was supposed to race a 50 miler in Utah today.  Jessica’s hospital stay took that option off the table, but I doubt if I could have run anyway.  I’ve had a pretty bad pain in my heel since December 1st and finally went to an orthopedic podiatrist to get it checked out.  The pain is right on the very back of my heel and started after running a half marathon.  I felt fine after the race, but when I got home after the two hour drive I could barely walk – I had to employ a VERY pronounced limp to get around for several days.

Ouch, that hurts.

After x-rays plus an examination the verdict is equinus retrocalcaneal exostosis, retrocalcaneus bursitis, and maybe a dash of insertional achilles tendonitis.  It basically means I have super tight calves along with a bony growth on the back of my heel (spur), and an inflamed bursa.  I’ve been running with pain every day for almost 4 months now and while manageable after some time off following the initial injury, it finally broke me.  What really drove me into trying to get it resolved was that I was starting to have pain in my knee and knew almost immediately that it was from my stride compensating for the heel pain.

I ran an 18 miler last weekend on some of my favorite trails on earth.  I was miserable for the most part and ended up walking the last mile or so back to my car.  If I can’t even enjoy running on trails that I love, what’s the point?  The really tough part about it is that everything else feels as good or better than ever.  I’m in the best running shape I’ve ever been in, which makes it that much harder to put on the brakes for a while.

Mary's Trail near Fruita. I love running desert singletrack like this!! When I'm not limping...

I’m now on a month-long anti-inflammatory prescription, PT a couple times a week, and go back in 3 weeks for more x-rays to see how things look.  Time to dust off the bikes and start pedaling.  Fortunately that doesn’t make my heel hurt.

I’m optimistic that I can get healed up fairly soon, although reading people’s stories after a google search yesterday had me just about ready to toss all of my running shoes and order a wheelchair.  Yikes!!  Scary stuff.  The one thing that really gives me hope is my IT Band problem 2 years ago when I started running.  The pain from that was so intense!  It felt like an ice pick was being jammed into the side of my knee.  Eventually it healed, and has felt totally bomb-proof ever since.  I’m hoping for the same result with this.

Having the best engine in the world does no good if you don't got da' wheels...

For the first time in a couple of years, I’m not currently registered for any races.  I’m reluctant to sign up for anything until I can tell how my recovery is going.  Several of my plan-A races look suspect, but I do have a few plan-B ones in mind that I should be able to register for closer to the event itself.  I’m tired of sending a check weeks/months in advance and then not being able to run.  I’m out 200 bucks over the past 6 months from missed races due to sickness and injury.  That’s a lotta scratch with nothing to show for it!  I know other people have had it much worse with WS being canceled last year by fire and now MdS getting dumped on by water, but it’s still a little bit of a salt-in-the-wound kind of feeling.  I am in no way, shape, or form saying I want a refund for anything, that’s not the issue – I’m just lamenting not being able to participate in something I had been training hard for and looking forward to.

Maybe it’s time to start looking into doing runs like crossing the Grand Canyon where I can set my own timetable and don’t have to pay a registration fee.  That said, if this sucker gets better fairly soon, I’ll be the first one in line for the great races like Jemez, Bighorn, Speedgoat, and Leadville.  I just want to run without flinching every step of the way.

Brooks Dream Video

Hey, take a minute to watch this video and raise money for breast cancer research.

“Brooks is donating five cents for every view of the Brooks Dream video between November 13, 2008, and December 21, 2008. Once the views have been tallied, Brooks will donate up to a maximum of $25,000 to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, earmarked for the support of breast cancer research. Tell your friends!”