New Castle YMCA Thanksgiving 5k - 2019

After battling foot issues and just not having time to train, Heather and I finally ran a small 5k while visiting her mother up in New Castle, PA called the New Castle YMCA Thanksgiving 5k.  We have been training for a 1/2 marathon on December 7th, 2019 so we figured we would just use this as a decent training run.  We get there around 7:30 to get bibbed up given they said it race was starting at 8:30am.   Hit the dumper and ran a 1/2 mile around 8:15am, got back and found out the race was not starting until 9am.  Apparently the fun run for the kids was going to happen before the actual race - not sure why they did that but oh well.  Neither one of us was going to run hard so we just wanted to get the run done.  So we get to the line, queue the National Anthem then they have some crazy lady come out and have us do stretches before the race.  Before the race started, heather and I got a shot of us:

It was around 33F with 15 mph winds but the course was relatively flat.  I used the race as a decent tempo run running the following miles:

Mile 1:  7:49
Mile 2:  7:59
Mile 3:  7:56
Mile .1:  53
Conditions:  33F and Windy as hell
Elevation:  89 Feet, lol
Course type:  road through the town of New Castle, PA
Issues:  Right ankle rehabing, out of shape
Bathroom situation:  Plenty of shitters at the YMCA so I give this one a A!

The race was kinda cool as I have done this before finishing 29th overall out of 159 running a  24:38.80 7:53/M coming in 2nd in my age group.

Heather ran a 9:47 pace for the race but again, was not really trying to race as we are focusing on the upcoming race.  Heather snagged some pics of the race while running and here they are:

After the race, she got another one of us:

We have a 10 miler tomorrow (12/1/2019), then the half marathon next week.  Hopefully my right ankle holds up!!

Beaufort, NC Resolution 5k - 1/1/2019

The family was scheduled to run the Carolina Beach 5k down in Carolina Beach, NC on 12/29/2018 but we decided to bail on the 5k since it took about 2 hours to get there and the weather was finally nice that day.  So we said we would do the Beaufort Resolution 5k instead, it was close, flat, and easy for the whole family.  They finally got their act together and hired runtheeast.com timing company instead of doing it via a chalkboard like they had in previous years.  The race course did not change and was about 1.5 out and back, flat, and windy.  My right hamstring had been giving me issues all month and decided to take it easy on the run.  Zach and Mom decided to run together and Nic wanted to just go out hard and see what happens!  The race provided no real excitement and I ended up running a 25:21/8:06 coming in 6th out of 19 and 19th out of 93 in the race.  Nic, on the other hand, came in 3rd in his age group running a slower than normal run at 27:46.  Mom and Nic took it easy and jogged the race out given most of us were not in shape at all to run hard.    Yes, I was out of shape and slow since I have not been training like I had in the past:

Splits:
Mile 1:  8:07
Mile 2:  8:11
Mile 3: 8:05
.13 - 1:00
Conditions:  70F and Windy as hell
Elevation:  34 Feet, lol
Course type:  road, out and back
Issues:  Hamstring rehab and out of shape :)

Carolina Beach Trail Race - 12/30/2017

After we ran the Thanksgiving 5k in New Castle, PA this year, we decided to setup a race in Carolina Beach, NC while on vacation to Emerald Isle, NC.  Carolina Beach was about 100+ miles from Emerald Isle so I roused the family up at 4am, in the car by 0430 and on the road.  Traffic was obviously light due to it being a Saturday and it being North Carolina.  Got there around 6:30am after a visit to the Marriott to drop the kids off and see if I could snag something to drink before the 5k race before it started at 8:30am.  So we finally got to the beach and parked - this was the first annual 1/2 marathon and 5k and surprisingly things ran smoothly.  Shitter update - 4 port of shitters and 2 more inside dumpers to handle 250/300 people so yea, it was crowded.  I decided to only run the 5k given this was my second race back after the Thanksgiving race plus was having left achilles issues for two weeks.  Placing for these races was a non-factor to me for several reasons, out of shape, only been running 10 miles a week, left achilles been tight and achy for about a week and it was a 40-49 age group where only the top one in your group won.  That said, I figured I would run with Nic and hope all would go well.    After the 1/2 marathoner cleared out, we got setup and were off.  Most of the crowd was filled with either people who ran trails alot or they had never run them at all - and they were way overdressed for the 35F temps, some had full coats and face masks.  That said, we were off.  The first .9 miles was on pavement, yes, pavement.  I was wondering if there was going to be any trail in this race.  Welp, after the 1 mile mark we mov into the trails which were nice and flat.  Nic and I ran together for the first 2 miles, he pulled away and my left achilles was not feeling BUENO so I just let him go.  Most of the trail was flat, some roots and a small wooden bridge.  Below are our splits which were slow but ok for not running at all:

In the end Nic ran a 26:58 and I ran a 27:07.  Mom and Zach took it easy on the trails and I probably should of done the same thing.  All in all, it wasn't a bad time but if I would do it again, would only do the half.  Not sure how much variety was built into the 1/2 however any run is a good run.

Nic:

JD:

Hopefully, I can start building up my miles and move up to a 10k next and marathon by summer/fall.  Below are the stats on the 5k race which was 3.29 miles:

Distance:  3.29 miles
Final Time:  27:07
Pace:  8:16/min
Elevation gain:  33 feet, lol
Avg BPM:  155

Onto the next race!

New Castle YMCA 5k

Well, after two years of ankle and foot injuries, plus life shit I entered a thanksgiving race in New Castle, PA called the New Castle YMCA 5k.  I have been on a roller coaster of injuries and realized foot injuries can be some of the most frustrating to get over.  However, the feet were feeling good but had a slight hamstring tightness in my left ass so I figured I would run the race but not hard.

Got the YMCA in downtown New Castle, PA - a town that lives about 25 years in the past.  Got the bib, shirt and bottle.  Hit the dumper to clear it all out.  Both feet have been giving  me issues in the past couple of years such as peroneal tendonosis (from an ankle roll on the trails), sesamoiditis (from hiking in shitty boots), and the winner of them all lisfranc sprain - all of which sucked ass.  However, we are all feeling good except for some left hamstring tightness going on.  I told myself I would keep it at 8 minute miles for the race and that would be fine by me.  Nic, Zach, Heather, Charity, and my brother-in law all ran the race.  As stated, I ran a pretty slow race finishing second in my age group and 47th out of 294 which wasn't that bad for no races for years.  Hammy was a little tight at the finish but not bad at all.

I ended up with a 24:54/8:02 mile pace.  Not exactly 6:30's like had was doing a few years ago.  However, I will take and keep working on those tight hamstrings.

Sesamoiditis is a show stopper!

Back at the end of July, I went on vacation to Vail, CO and did a pretty decent hike - Booth lake trail which has about 4k elevation gain however the first 4.5 miles were 4k up.  It was a single track trail and about 2+ miles in got pretty technical.  Because I was already dealing with extensor tendinitis in my right foot, I may have been put more weight on the left foot more.  I had the Merrill boots for a couple of years but they had a narrow toe box but were broken in.  The hike took us under 6 hours which included frequent breaks with the kids and was about 9.1 miles at almost 12k elevation.  After I got back to the hotel, I took off my left boot and could see my left big toe was swollen and thought to myself I don't recall feeling this during the hike.  However, I had hurt my big right toe many years ago and remember how long that took to heal.  I was hoping that was not the case here.  Having another week of vacation, I KT'd it up and and iced it every night however it was not like I could rest given we were going to be in Vegas.  Given that I have had foot injuries in the past, I went to my usualy podiatrist who had been pretty honest with my in past years.  It had been 3 weeks and he told me that I should be ok in another 3 weeks.  SO, I did the ice bucket every night after riding my spinning bike and doing upper body workouts.    After 6 weeks, it still hadn't pregressed as I had hoped.  Lets hope it heals quickly.

BRATS T.A.P.S. 5k

Last week I ran the Veteran's Day 5k and felt pretty decent and ended up with a low 22 min 5k.  Horrible any other time but since I haven't ran much all year, I was happy with it.  The whole week I was dealing with a sinus infection that just seemed to never get any better.  Went on to the doctors on 11/11/2015 and they gave me a bunch of medicine that I probably didn't need as the infection was on its way out.  I ran two miles on Tuesday and then 4 on Thursday.  After the 4 miler on Thursday, I felt my left hammy tighten up during the run.  Of course, I finished the run but on Friday knew it was a little more sore than usual.  Both were tight as were my glutes so I did some yoga with Heather and then stretched some more, rolled and did the stick.  It started to feel better but the next day I was supposed to run the TAPS 5k with the family.  So I woke up, took a hot shower and hoped it would feel better.  Didn't.  Hmm, ok, let me get the clothes on and see how I feel when I get there.  Of course, it was about 40F with 15-20 mph winds which made my hammy feel like shit.  I decided I would warm up and it felt ok enough to run but not run hard.

The race was at the Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville, VA so we go there around 0730 for an 0830 race.  Went inside to packet pickup, bib'd up and started to see if I could run.  It felt tight at first but started to loosen up which made me feel better.  I ran about a mile just to get loose and walk down to the start which was behind the church.  The RD said we would have to wait 10 or so minutes b/c the paving company was paving a road on our course.  Meanwhile, the wind is whipping pretty good I am freezing my ass of.  Finally, after ducking in and out of the church to stay warm, he announces he is going to start the race.  He says GO and we are off, of course half the kids are out of the gate like Usain Bolt up a nice incline.  I hold back hoping I don't feel any pain in my hammy and I don't which is good.  We make the turn onto the road by the church and its a straight shot to Wellington which is about 1 mile away.  The first mile had us running directly into the 20mph wind and it was like, fuck are you serious.  The time for the first mile was 7:11 and the hammy wasn't feeling great but not hurting, the second mile had us run up Wellington to turn around and then come back to the Church.  The second mile for me was a 7:13, still shitty.  Somehow, I ran a negative split third mile with a time of 6:42 for a time of 22:13.  The results had me down for a 6:51 pace which means the course had to be 3.24 miles long yet I didn't have that.  Whatever.  The last mile, I was behind the master's winner and could of caught him however, I told myself not to run hard as it may injure my hamstring even more and so I ended up 7th overall and 1st in my AG (40-44).  Of course, Nic won his age group which was the 10 and under crowd with a time of 24:33 and Zach came in 3rd in the 11/12 group with a time of 24:59.  Not bad for the boys.  Heather got a 25:04 but this was a tempo run for her and knows she could of ran harder.  Her A race is in about 2 weeks so we will see if she can get a PR.  Me, I am going to rest the hamstring for 2-3 days and see how it feels for a small run Wednesday or Thursday.  If it feels ok, I should be ok to run the Thanksgiving race on the 26th of November - we will see.

Below are some pics of us at the award ceremony afterwords:

Me, receiving the 1st place aware for the 40-44 males.

Nic receiving the 1st place award for the 10 and under boys.

Zach, for receiving 3rd place for the 11/12 males.

Hopefully the hammy is just a tad strained and will see how it feels in a few days.

PR IBC Veteran’s Day 5k

 After taking 10 days off running to heal my "pain" on the right lateral side of my right foot and dealing with a above average head cold, I figured why not run a 5k today.  We decided to run the PR IBC Veteran’s Day 5k in Fairfax, VA.  Nic had a 9U Cannons tryout later in the day and Zach had a VSA game in West Virginia so Heather and I let them take the 5k off.  However, Heather wanted to get a tempo run in and I just wanted to get a run in b/c I had run 2 miles in 10 days.  The 5k was at 11895 Grand Commons Ave., Fairfax, VA 22030 at Fairfax Corner, VA and it was a course we had just run two weeks prior so we both knew it.  My legs were pretty fresh but with the head cold just wanted to see if I could get a decent run in.  I had no idea what time I would run.  So Heather and I do a .75 mile warm-up.  I could feel week from not running and being sick but figured getting a nice run in would be good. 

The race started at 8:00am so we got to the starting line around 7:50am.  I usually like to hop in the front b/c I can usually keep a nice low 6 min pace but today, I figured I would be a min slower so I stayed in the back and wasn't in a real hurry to get out.  Anyhey, the gun goes off and the first mile is a tad up and down.  After the first mile, I had a decent split of 6:55, not bad for not running at all and just coming back from peroneal tendonosis in my left ankle.  My next mile sucked as the second one always does which was a 7:16, I followed it up with a 7:15 third mile and sprinted to the end for a 22:05/7:03 pace good for 37/216 males and 5th out of 28 males in the 40-44 crowd.  PR races are always stacked especially on Veterans day when the services run against each other.  Anyhey, the only issue I had was a little aching in the left peroneal after the race but that was probably more tightness in the left calf area.  Below are some shots of me in the race:

Me finishing the race - I sprint the last .2 of a mile so I was wiped out.

Another shot of me coming into the finish line.

I think this was around mile 2.8 or so coming into the final turns of the race.

Beginning of the race.

Love that heal striking!!!

Goblin Gallup 5k, Fairfax, VA - Finally back running!

Well, its been a tough 7 months.  I am not back to full form but I am running which is alot better than where I was just 2.5 months ago.  In March/April after a hard training cycle in the Winter, I rolled my ankle at Battlefield during a 7 miler and it developed into peroneal tendonosis in my left ankle.  I think I was already on my way to developing it but the roll didn't help.  Two negative MRI's and 12+ weeks of rehab, many othro visits who wanted to do surgery (even with no tears), it finally started feeling better.  During that period I hiked and biked but unfortunately, rest and limited strengthening was the key to getting it better.  Additionally, massage therapy on the ankle that contained all the scar tissue on that tendon helped as well.  During this entire period, it felt strong but was aching just under the ankle bone and was tied to two knots in the gastrocnemius muscle part of the calf.  I am still in the process of trying to keep my calves loose during all my training.  Additionally, in coming back, I ended up getting orthotics.  For me it was a big mistake as it caused issues in my right (non-injured) ankle.  So I scraped the orthotics all together (after 2 months) and bought a pair of new Brooks Ghost 8 Aurora's and have not been using any other soles than the ones that came with the shoe.  So far so good and I am back up to around 20 a week although this week was a short week due to me rehabing the right ankle.  Below is a snapshot of my comeback miles:

As you can see from the graph, I started back running 3 miles in early August, then moved to 5 miles, then slowly moved up from there.  Next week, I plan on getting back to a 20+ mile week again.

Goblin Gallup 5k:
So we arrived at Farifax Station around 7:30am, hit the dumper as usual.  Zach and Nic had baseball tryouts the night before so I knew they were pretty tired and didn't know how they would do or even if they felt like running.  I was somewhat excited to pace Nic as he had been doing better and better each 5k he ran.  His previous 5k PR on this course was 25:13.  The 1k fun run was at 8:30 in which most of the kids dressed.  Meanwhile, nic, zach, and I warmed up with a small .75 mile jog.  After that, we head over to the start.  9:00 rolls around so we are at the line and we are off.  Nic takes off in a dead sprint, you know, the kind where they run balls to the wall and just know they can't hold that pace.  I told him to just go at his pace and I would follow.  I lagged a little behind b/c this was my first race back and didn't need to injure anything again.  I look at the watch after .50 miles and its in the high 6/min mile range and am thinking thats pretty fast for an 8 year old.  Finally, we it the first mile at 7:32 which on this course was pretty good.  Just a note, it had been raining pretty decent most of the morning so the road was kind of slick but nothing that bad.  His second mile was his worst which was a 8:19.  To be fair, it had a decent amount of hills in that second mile.  So at mile two, he asked me if he could run harder and I said, umm, your not running hard now?  He gave me no response and he took off like he had at the start of the race.  Straching my head, I just didn't know how he could go from running to sprinting at mile two.  Oh well, I let him dictate the pace and we had a couple nice hills the last mile.  He powered up them and got a 8:09 third mile and finished the 3.14 mile race in 24:55/7:57 pace for a new PR.  However, since he is competing against all 13/14 year old, he came in 8th out of 32nd and 41st out of 150 male runners.  Not bad for someone who doesn't run at all.

Me, I felt pretty good the whole way.  After the race, the left ankle was aching a tad but that is usually b/c of the tight left calf which felt better after I stretched it.  Oh yea, I came in 5th in my age group but wasn't really running since I was pacing Nic.  Big Zach who took a baseball off his face last night, powered through with a 25:50 for a new PR himself.  I could tell his face was hurting and he is just like me.  I had to work for every improvement I got - nic, it just seems to come easier.  Mom came in 27th out of 100 females, not bad for not running hard.

Here is a pic of us goofing around before the race:

After the race, Mom was quick on the phone to snap these:

Other than that, its nice to run a race and not be in pain.  We'll see how the rest of the fall goes and see if I can get back into Marathon shape for early next spring.  I am going to run some smaller races this Fall while trying to up my mileage.

What Happened to the Other Three Running Duricks?

We are still running.  I just haven’t blogged since January which is insane.  The kids have been doing great in their races lately.  I had some epic winter training and then got sidetracked with a minor foot issue and ended up bailing on my spring races.

Run Your Heart Out Finish

In February the boys and I did Run Your Heart Out 5K.  It was a new course for this race, and there were some hills at the end.  We had a great time at the race, and even got some warm weather for February.

Run Your Heart Out 5K

 In March we did Run for Haiti 5K.  We love this race because it’s for an amazing cause, and the energy at the race is always terrific. 

Run for Haiti finish

14 and under age group awards with Moise Joseph from the Haitian Olympic team

The boys killed it at this race putting up big course PRs and also grabbing 2^nd and 3^rd places in the 14 and under age group.  This is huge for them because it’s always hard to get an age group award at a Potomac River Racing event.  The even bigger news was that even though I thought I ran a bad race I also ended up with 3^rd in my age group for the event.  It had been my goal for the year to age group in a Potomac River race so I was excited about that.

Some friends and I...we all won age group awards!

 

We were busy with other sports in April so we didn’t do any formal races, but the kids and I hit up the 6K Walk for Water at the State Department in DC.  We elected to run our 6K for water and had a great time on the course. 

 

Next up was Bodies in Motion 5K in May which has an insane amount of rolling hills.  The boys did a great job and PRd the course as well.  Nic just straight killed this race and took 8 minutes off his time from last year.  He almost broke 26 minutes and is having a great year with 5Ks so far with all 5Ks sub-27 so far this year.  I got a 3^rd place in my age group at Bodies in Motion, but they only gave awards for the top in each age group so no fun prize for me.  This was Zach’s only race this year with a 27+minute finish, and he had a rough go of it. 

Zach finishing Bodies in Motion

Some friends and I pre-race

No racing in June, but July brought us the Freedom Firecracker 5K. Fast, flat course that was a revisit of the PR setting Thanksgiving race.  It was rainy to start and humid at the finish so no PRs, but the boys once again brought home 2^nd and 3^rd in their age groups.

So let’s talk about the ultra season that never materialized for me after my huge winter training cycle.  I felt stronger and fitter through this past training cycle than I ever had.  I had done tons of strength work and a lot of specific workouts and had insane volume for me.  I was at multiple 50+ mile weeks.  About a week before Blue Ridge Marathon, I started to experience pain in my left 2^nd/3^rd metatarsal area which was particularly bad during hill work.  I went and got checked for a stress fracture.  Phew!  No stress fracture, just inflammation.  After thinking it through I decided to withdraw from Blue  Ridge in an attempt to save the bigger goal of Mohican 50 in June.  The hills of Blue Ridge would have really put me out for a long time.  I mostly biked and did some running leading up to Glacier Ridge Trail 50K.  I was really excited for GRT and thought that I could do really well at it.  I did really well and was killing the course and feeling very strong running the hills particularly the downhills aggressively.  It was unseasonably warm, but I was dialed in with hydration and nutrition and feeling good. 

Feeling the heat at the GRT

 However, by the 25K mark, the rocky terrain and constant rolling hills on the trail were wearing on my foot.  I could have pushed through and a year ago I probably would have pushed through, but I made the decision to drop at the 25K point.  Oddly, I wasn’t upset and felt really calm with my decision.  Truthfully, I just didn’t have the fire for it.  As many others who have run Oil Creek have said, I feel like I left a little part of myself out there on that trail last October.  Having done something so amazing and been in such a dark place for so much of that race has put some things in perspective.  I didn’t feel the need to prove to myself or anyone else that I could tough it out at GRT.  I knew I could tough it out, but it wasn’t smart to tough it out.  I was changing my gait and risking a longer term injury.  After that, I made the decision that Mohican was not in the cards for this year.  I backed off of running quite a bit and focused on strength and yoga to let my foot get back to normal.  I’ve just started to consistently get back to training this month and finally got a run above 6 miles with no pain in my foot.  I don’t know what I’m going to do for fall races, and I’m OK with that.  I’m looking forward to having fun with the kids at fall 5Ks and on the trails and toying with the idea of trying for a PR half, but who knows?

In more exciting news we will be off on an epic adventure to the Pacific Northwest soon so we will have a lot of exciting hiking adventures and trail porn to post in the next month.

Peroneal Tendonosis - feeling a tad better?

On June 11th, 2015, after 2.5 months of dealing with PT, it is feeling a tad better but I am cautiously optimistic.  PT has a tendency to come back if you overdue it.  On the 11th,  I hit the bike for 32 minutes for 9 miles and it all felt good.  What is sort of working:  a combination of ankle strengthening (3 days a week), rest, and stretching....and throw in the ankle brace which I am off of now.  What I have done, dry needling, massage, rolling, stick and foot ice buckets.  Its starting to feel good and will walking be doing little bit on Saturday.  Well, I walked a little more than I wanted and walked 7+ miles according to my fitbit b/c of all the baseball games I had to go to.  Now of course, the ankle is a little sore which I guess is expected.  Today on Sunday, its kinda sore when I woke up.  The gastrocnemius and soleus are tight which is what I expected.  So we will see how it feels today, another baseball game and will try hit the bike later today.  I will try not to walk to much today and stay off my foot and see how it feels.

Either way, I think it is feeling better but who knows at this point.  Will re access next week

peroneal tendonosis or something worse or just impatient???

Family is running the Bodies of motion 5k today and I am in starbucks keeping my mind off the fact I am injured.   According to the MRI, I got a diagnosis of peroneal tendonosis and it has to be one of the toughest injuries I have had, hands down. 

Here is the timeline from hell:

3/30:  rolled ankle at the Manassas National Battlefield and thought it was a sprain (little did I know, I had peroneal tendonosis going on).  Skipped my trail 1/2 marathon in PA, was sick too.
4/1 and 4/2: 
4/5:   Biked all week and ran 3.16 miles to test it out and didn't feel that bad.
4/6 - 4/11:  Biked this week
4/12:  Ran 4.2 miles in 38:30.  Ankle ached a little bit seemed to warm up after running
4/23 Got MRI on left ankle and received results (Negative for tears in peroneal tendons, have tendonosis)

Ligments:

There is mild scarring of the deep fibers of the deltoid ligament without tear.

Tendon Findings:

The extensor tendons are intact.  There is mild juxta insertional tendinosis of the posterior tibial tendon without tear.  Remaining long medial flexors are unremarkable there is a small amount of tenosynovitis about the flexor hallucis longus at the know of henry.  The peroneus longus tendon demonstrate mild to moderate degeneration distal to the fibular tip.  Peroneus brevis tendon is intact, Achilles tendon and plantar fascia are unremarkable.

Overall Impression of MRI:

There is mild to moderate degeneration of the peroneus longus tendon distal to the fibular tip without tear.  There is mild tenosynovitis about the flexor hallucis longus tendon distally.

Got a description of the difference between peroneal tendonitis and peroneal tendonosis:

The distinction between tendonitis and tendosis is important since tendonitis is more of an acute injury, and rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, etc. tend to resolve it quickly (within 6 weeks or so). Tendinosis is when the tendon itself changes (hence your MRI findings) from chronic stress and takes much longer to resolve (hence modalities like PRP injections, Graston therapy, etc.).

However, I am a big opponent to anti-inflammatories and have not used any during this time period.

4/24:  Started PT regimen
4/24 - present:  Biking as prescribed by PT
5/12:  Saw a Dr. Neufeld (he spent a whole 3 minutes with me and referred me to someone else, isn't he the specialist???  Thinks peroneal nerve entrapment)
5/13:  put ankle brace back on for immobilization, keeping it on for two weeks, no bike, just PT exercises and see how that works.
5/29:  Have appt with Dr. Lutta with OrthoVA to go over MRI results again and get a plan.

Days since ankle roll:  48
Days haven't run:  35
Days since PT:  23

So, yea, I am pretty bummed out however, I am looking for any sliver of improvement.  To tell you the truth, biking would be a godsend at this point!

Peroneal Tendonitis - day 27 of no running

So I am up in New Castle, PA and Heather is running the Glacier Ridge 50k trail race today.  It is supposed to be 90F by midday so I can only imaging what that will be like.  She is a real trooper and hope she does well today.  Actually, when I ran the North Fact 50k a few years ago, it hit 92/94 F and that was a brutal 7 hours.  Anyway, sitting in the Cranberry, PA sbux sulking over my foot and dealing with Peroneal Tendonitis in my left ankle/heel.  Hit the Physical therapy 3 times this week and have two next week.  I had this a few years ago and rested more and it didn't take this long to heal and was back to running within 3 weeks.  However, this time around, I am looking at every bit of 4+ weeks after the ankle roll.  Here was my biking schedule:

Monday the 4th:  road 10 minutes and did all my foot exercises and heel drops plus tons of hip/core exercises
Tuesday the 5th:  20 minutes on the bike
Wednesday the 6th:  20 minutes on the bike
Thursday the 7th:  20 minutes on the bike
Friday the 8th:  20 minutes on the bike
Saturday the 9th:  15 minutes on bike and walked .5 miles with Heather after dinner

I plan to hit the bike tomorrow for 30 minutes tomorrow and see how it feels.  Getting frustrated with this injury.  Its been 27 days (day 15 of physical therapy) since I have not run but atleast I have been biking some.  Supposed to have a reassessment of my physical therapy on the 26th of May which is two weeks away.  Was hoping to be running by next week but am starting to question that.  Flexibility and strength in left foot is really good but apparently the tendons are still sore.  Hard to differentiate between aches from physical therapy or if it actually aches. 

So as the beautiful days pass, I wonder what if any running I will be doing this month.  I am doing rehab almost every day.  It was feeling better but now seems to be sore, SIGH.  My guess, I am now hoping to be running small miles in two more weeks which puts me around May 25th - a good two months after I actually rolled this thing (however started PT on April 24th).  This is not how I saw this year starting out.  Maybe ultras and marathons aren't for me, don't know but I am at a point where running a 5k would just be fun.

Peroneal Tendonitis from a rolled ankle!

So after about a good 5 weeks of 30+ mpw in shit ass weather,  I started to ramp up my training.  As such, I have been hitting the trails almost exclusively and the ankles have been giving me some issues after runs - most likely due to the trail running.  So on 3/30/2015, I rolled my ankle at about mile 2.5 into a 7 mile run.  Nothing killer, just a decent roll and finished the trail run at the battlefield.  I got home and it didn't swell at all and thought that was a good sign.  For the rest of the week, I thought I would be ready for the 1/2 marathon up in PA that weekend.    Just so happened, I got sick, sick enough to where I didn't feel like I should run the race.  The ankle was still sore but now I was sick so I bailed on the race and decided to rest of the foot.  I ran again on 4/5 and it felt ok but not great so I rested and biked.  Another week goes by on the bike and I try to run again on 4/12, it went fine and did a decent 8:40 something pace but the ankle just wasn't getting any better.  So I went to the same orthopedist I went to when I found how about my hip labrum tears and he wanted to see if my peroneal tendons were tore so he sent me for an MRI.  Results came back with the following:

There is mild to moderate degeneration of the peroneus longus tendon distal to the fibular tip without tear.  There is mild tenosynovitis about the flexor hallucis longus tendon distally.  Plus, they said something about mild juxta insertial tendinosis of the posterior tibial tendon without tear.

Treatment:  Rest/PT - yea, that shit sucks...so much for the 50k and the 50 miler I had planned coming up!

So the doctor sent me to PT which started 4/24/2015 and I am scheduled to 4-6 weeks which takes me to June, 2015.  On 4/27, I rode the bike one mile as I did on 4/29.  On 4/30, I rode it for 10 minutes and got 2.3 miles and today, May 2nd, rode it for 12 minutes for 3.3 miles.  My hope is to continue biking the rest of the week with no setbacks.  Go support Heather in her 50k race this coming weekend at Glacier Ridge ultra in PA and hopefully I can start light running in few weeks.  Whether that happens or not, we will see.

So lets take score - I stopped running on 4/12/2015 and it has been 20 days since I have run.  I stopped biking on 4/16 and took a total of 11 days off doing nothing other than core, hips, bench, etc...

As of today, I am biking 10 min to warm my ankles up, then doing ankle exercises twice a day.  If you were like me and you are looking around to see how long it takes to get rid of Peroneal Tendonitis.  Well, it depends.  If you get it from overuse, probably alot sooner than if you rolled it and kept irritating it.  From 4/17 until 4/26, I wore a ankle brace and don't know if that helped or not.  Last time I had this, it took about 3-4 weeks since the time I stopped running but it was more on the 3 weeks side.  I was just coming off a 100k trail race and it was the end of the year so I didn't mind the resting.  This time, I thought I could get back sooner and that didn't work.  That said, I stopped running on 4/12 but not resting it until 4/17 so if we are looking at that time table, I should be back to running around the  May 11th-ish time frame.  And of course, I can't just jump back into my old mileage which sucks.  Guess I will be looking forward to some cool late summer and Fall races.  Shit happens.

MLK Trail run 10k (1/19/2015) - finally, they got it right!

Welp, we came back for a third year and it looks like the third time is a charm.  This year, they the Metro Run and Walk race had a 10k option that was going to be officially scored but the 5k was not.  Why, I have no f-ing clue.  It wouldn't of been that difficult but hey I am lucky they had a 10k option.  Race was in Wakefield Park in Annandale, VA as it is every year.  Both races were to go off at 9am so we got up around 6am, ate my usual which is raisin bread and justin's nutbutter.  Then we were out the door at 7am to get there and pick up our bibs and shit.  So after we get there, Heather grabs the bibs and shirts while I snap a selfie of me and the kids crapping around in the car.

In the car goofing around before the 10k!

A few minutes later, I see Juan Tisera, a fellow runner I met a couple of years ago at the North Face 50k.  Anyhey, I get out and get in about .5 miles in before the race.  The temps were about 38 to start which was nice.  I went with my #trailsRoc t-shirt compliments of Ron Heerkens who lives up in NY and belongs to that running group.  So the time arrives and we walk down to the start and I get up by the front as I don't want to get behind a bunch a people when we hit the single track trail section.  So we are off and I notice right away this is going to be a fucking sloppy mess with no footing, ice, and mud.  That said, I kept a 7:34 pace on the first mile, how I don't know because I felt like I was running much harder.  The second mile brought us back to almost where we started but we would be heading out to the Accotink Trail.  My 2nd miles was not good with a 8:02 - yea, it wasn't going to be a good day.  At this point, a 35 yo woman passed me which by the way was the only person to actually pass me during the race which is usually the case on single track trails.  However the Accotink Trail was actually quite wide, plenty of room for passing.  So I essentially ran with/behind her the whole way.  Mile three didn't have the muddy hills and leveled out and ran that at a 7:43 pace.  Now we were into the meat of the Trail and was it half done.  However, I could definitely feel the 4-5 lbs I had put on since December.  Mile 4 wasn't to bad as I had a sub-8 with a 7:59.  Mile 5 had us coming back to the start and coming off the Assotink Trail.  I did notice as this point that Mountain bikers were having trouble getting up some of the hills because of the ice and mud.  Anyway, mile 5 had me at 8:17....Coming into mile 6 I passed the woman who originally passed me at mile 6 which tells me I could of run the race much harder but was probably too conservative...Given that its January, I just didn't want to get hurt and I think that was the mindset of everyone out there.  I finished mile 6 with a 7:28 mile to give me 1st in my Age Group (40-49) with a final time of:  47:05:8.   I was very surprised to place in anything because I had run so poorly but I was 1/19 in the 40-49 age group and 15th out of 67 in the mens division for the 10k.  It turns out that its a new PR for me since I have only ran two 10k's since I started running!  Here is a shot of me coming down the home stretch:

Finishing with a time of 47:05 (7:35 pace)

Another shot of me coming in from further out.

We hung around a while and I was surprised to find out that I placed first in my age group:

First in the 40-49 AG.

Of course, all of us were covered in mud:

Just a little bit of mud...

I have no idea where this was, maybe at the end, not sure!

Final Stats:

Distance:  6.2 miles (10k)
Time:  47:05:8
Pace:  7:35/mile - sucked :)
Place:  1st in age group (1/19 in 40-49 and 15th out of 67 in the mens)
Location:  Wakefield Park/Assotink Trail
Who ran:  JD the 10k, Nic, Heather, and Zach the 5k
Conditions:  Mud and ice (sloppy)
Bathroom rating:  One toilet for 100+ people, you do the math.  Although I have had plenty of practice crapping in the woods so I am used to the situation by now!

Overall, they have improved alot and would recommend to others as long as they have an official timing company.  Maybe next year they can score the 5k's as well but doubt it.  Whats next?  Keep building my base and training by adding in hill work.   I do have the Cherry blossom 10 miler on April 12th - shooting for a sub 70 minute run as my best time there is 1:13 and change.   Next signed up run is the Glacier Ridge 50k near New Castle, PA in May.  I have the Mohican 50 miler in June and am really looking forward to that.  However, I may add in a marathon in March but don't know.  Next to work on getting my right hip flexor figured out.