Yesterday's Gone!

It’s not over until the fat lady sings as they say. Well if anyone has a request, she took to the stage today and has been belting out hit after hit. Her opening number was this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDN9y2vTdUs

I started my running program on Anzac Day and within 60 seconds I knew it had to be the end. There was pain in my foot. It was bearable but it was far from encouraging.

All along I have pushed to be ready for this event. In training when all was well I did many weeks of 100kms approx. One week I got close to 130km. I have run up and down agonising hills in the Dandenongs in the middle of the night. I have run in pouring rain and in over 40 degree heat. I have done several ultra trail events. I have run 80km in 8 and a half hours. I have run 6 days each week for well over a year.

Since I have been injured on February 20, I have done everything possible to recover in time. Professional advice from a GP, a Physio, a Sports Med Doctor and a Podiatrist has all leant towards the thought that it would not be so wise to do the event. I chose not to ignore that advice but rather take it on board and find out for myself if it was going to be possible. I followed a program from my doc religiously, wore the ‘moon boot’ every waking hour and felt that if I could get through this program and be running pain free prior to the event then I would give it a crack. As stated earlier, I haven’t been able to Run Free. So now there’s 382 days to go(2012).Maybe even 747 days(2013). Who knows? Who knows if my Maths is correct?

A while ago the thought of being unable to do this event was just plain ugly. I imagined I would be devestated but I’m not. Far  from it. My very awesome wife made things clear for me on Anzac Day. She said, “you are missing out on one event but you get to keep running forever.” The damage I could have done if I pressed forward might have had me out for months to a year or more. Now that I’m not doing the event, I know for sure I’ll be back to running normally pretty soon-ish.

So today I joined a gym for three months. I am going to go every week day while I’m on long service leave. I can build up core strength and flexibilty, focus on nutrition and all those other things you’re meant to do when running long.

So if no one else has any requests, I might aske the lady to sing this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8arvEzHsA8

22 Days to Go

I saw a podiatrist today. She checked me on video while I walked on a treadmill. The upshot being that I could do with some orthotics. Apparently my metatarsals are at quite a pronounced angle and and there’s a fair bit of pressure smashing down on them poor little suckers. So the Pod. , whacked a bit of plaster on both feet to get a mould for some custom made supports. They aint cheap but they’re going to minimise the chance of fractures in the future.

We also spoke of the pros and cons of taking pain killers during the race. The cons being I won’t know if I’m doing damage during the run and the pros being I won’t know if I’m doing damage during the run.

The program from here is

To 25/4 – boot off when home, deep water running, exercise bike and some x-trainer

25/4 – Start walk/jog program – on alternate days, in between days bike and DWR.

Level 1 – 4min walk, 1 min jog x 4 = 20 mins followed by ice

Level 2 – 3min walk, 2 min jog x 4

Level 3 – 2 min walk, 3 jog x 4

Level 4  – 1 min walk, 4 jog x 4

Level 5 – 20 min jog

That will take me to May 3^rd. Hopefully continue running gently for another week then head to the Blue Mountains on the 11^th, couple of days of nothing then 100km in hopefully between 17 and 20 hours. Starting to get a little bit nervous.

On Track

It’s been a good week. Not only is it the first of 14 weeks worth of holidays but I went and saw my Sports Med Doc and she was really pleased with my progress. She had me jumping and hopping on the ‘sore’ foot  and I only really felt it on very minor level. So that was good, my flexibility was good and any difference between the fractured and the good foot when she poked and prodded was hardly noticeable.

The Doc has given me a program to follow that takes me right up to a 4-5 day taper before the tip-toe through the mountains. I start walk/running in two weeks and will hopefully cope with that without any flare ups. I am also going to see a podiatrist and get fitted with a small orthotic that will make the 2^nd metatarsal float like a butterfly, it will be that well supported.

Finally got back to training, on a bike, with Seb and Gully on Sunday morning. We went up and down Waverley rd hill near Springvale rd. It’s a teenage skater’s biggest challenge and it’s a skater’s parents worse nightmare. A monster of a hill. I will be back again this week for some more quad pain.

So with 30 days to go I am still being cautious but getting more confident that all will be OK. My Doc was concerned that if I get too excited about the fact I am virtually pain free then I would do too much too soon. I assured her that if I break down it will be in the race, not before. Just got to get on the start line.

36 days to go

Slow and steady is going to win my race. That will be the motto on May 14 on the start line. I won’t have any choice but to go super slow. For one thing since Feb 20, I haven’t got one single real kilometer in the legs and secondly, well it’s a hundred kms. I keep forgetting that minor detail. I have been completely focussed on my injury. Every step I take is an analysis of degree of pain to assess where my recovery is at. It isn’t quite doing my head in but it is probably dominating too much time & space in the cranium.

However, there have also been a stack of moments recently when I have thought of how I am missing running with the D-Mac crew and The Glow Boys. D-Mac crew is a bunch of guys, most of whom I went to school with and the Glow is Seb and Gully, my long run, running mates. These are the facts and they cannot be denied – I do miss all of them because aside from the running there’s a truck load of social chat that goes on as we step, step, step. It’s so social sometimes that you forget you’re running and a couple of free kms clock up.

One door closes temporarily and another opens maybe forever. The amount of people that I’ve come into contact with and the support I’ve received because of the injury has been amazing.

It started with my Physio, Phil. When you walk in not knowing what’s going on it’s very comforting to be in the care of someone so knowledgable, skilled and honest.

My Sports Med doctor Bianca suggested I shelve ideas of doing the upcoming ultra but as soon as she realised I was still keen to attempt it she was on board and giving me a program to get there.

My sister, the nurse, gave some of the best advice ever when Seb and I were wondering about the possility of irrepairable damage. That advice is that unless I pretty much sever my spinal cord, I’m not gonna be doing any irrepairable damge on this run.

People I have never met personally but have chatted with on TNF100 forums have been so supportive and the realisation is that there are many other struggling to get on the start line. We’ll help each other on the day too.

Parents of kids I teach – One today, a podiatrist, said to come and see him if need be. Another last week dropped off an aqua jogger for me to use in the pool. I love that aqua jogger, it works a treat. Others have just been wishing me well constantly.

There’s so many more positive people who keep pushing up and encouraging me to get well and get running. It’s been huge. Today I received a card (see above) from my year 5 class as I left them to go on long service leave. I will carry the card on the run in my pack. When I cross the finish line I will get a photo taken holding that card and send it to the kids. Now when you make a statement like that, you just gotta get it done. We’ll see.

Thanks so much to all mentioned here and the countless others who keep me moving forward.

Positives Everywhere

48 days to go and this is where I’m at.

It’s 21 days since I last ran.

36 days since I ran free of pain and injury.

I can’t remember what it feels like to run.

On Tuesday this week I saw the Sports Medicine doctor and she recommended that I shouldn’t do the event due to the fact that there is a possibility I could hurt the foot again and maybe worse than it already is. I said, “ I hear what you’re saying but....”  After outlining all the reasons that I have for wanting to do this event this year she said ok, this is what you need to do to be a chance of being on the start line. She has put me in a moon boot for six weeks, given the ok to do exercise bike and deep water running , sent me to get a blood test to check Vitamin D levels, given me a bunch of stretches to do and booked me to see her again in 3 weeks.

Her main thing was about the danger of re-fracturing but in my mind I am ok with the possibility of a months long recovery. Obviously I’d prefer everything to work out but if the worst case scenario becomes my reality then I’ll accept that with no regrets.

So for the next few weeks I’ll be on the bike and in the water. I really wish our pool was heated but I spose it aint gonna be too warm in the mountains.

Raffy Boy has loved the bike. I like that I can punt on the horses and watch it all on TVN while I ride.

I was very happy to get the boot because it will aid recovery but even better it means I can wear sports uniform to work for the rest of the term.

Kiki wasn't quite up to running 30 or 40kms but now she can join in my training with me.

See there's positives everywhere, you just gotta look really hard or make stuff up.

Play The Cards You're Dealt.

57 Days to go...........

It was a big day today (Friday 18/3). After having had my foot x-rayed last week with nothing showing up I needed to move on to the bone scan which is the next level of peek-a-boo. For this procedure they inject a radioactive dye into you then scan the affected area four hours later to see if there’s any activity. Activity is bad on these occasions.

As it turns out there was some activity found in my left foot today.

The doctor at Monash then took some further x-rays with the dye still in my foot and I left there with enough good shots to make any papparazzo happy. Next step was to ring my GP and book in to get the full report of what the activity actually meant for me. Luckily there was a spare time in the arvo and I was off to hear my results. Hanging on the outcome was two and a half years of running that had all been leading towards the toughest event I will ever attempt, The North Face 100 which is just 57 days away.

Drum roll please......................You have a stress fracture,

“so obviously that means you won’t be able to do your event”

I should have been shattered but in my head I was just so sure that the statement just given was not quite correct. Right now I am still going to do the event, it’s just that I am going to do it differently to how I first planned. I think my GP could tell I wasn’t taking this as being the end of the line for me. She started explaining why it wouldn’t be possible without any training as the injury needs 8 weeks to recover. With 57 days to go, 8 weeks means I’ll be healed with one day to spare. That’s gotta be a sign. But really it’s not ideal so I am going to have to find other ways to keep some sort  of fitness up while staying off my foot.

The real clincher for me though was when she said that if I did run on it in a few weeks time I wouldn’t do any further damage, it would just be painful is all. At that point it was almost like I’d won the event. I knew for sure I would be on the start line ready to endure whatever the event can throw at me. It was going to be painful anyway, right.

So from here there’s a few things to sort out.

1)      Go see a sports medicine doc asap

2)      Probably be in a moon boot for 2-4 weeks approx.

3)      Hire an exercise bike and get on it.

4)      Swim

5)      Revise event strategy down from a race to an adventure.

6)      Leave enough Panadeine Forte in the cupboard for a couple of hits on May 14.

People started saying to my face along time ago that they thought I was mad. They would then follow up with several big questions that all started with, WHY?

In 57 days time there is a virtual guarantee that I will be asking the same questions of myself mid-‘adventure’. I hope my answer is still simply, that I love it.

Stressful Fracture?????

Today my son Raferty turned 5. By far I think it was the best day of his life. He was smiling and happy from the moment he woke up until just a few minutes ago when he finally fell asleep. This little big boy faced a few challenges today as well. He said goodbye to his night time dummy and nappies. The dummy especially has been a real comfort for Raf for virtually every day of his life. Imagine giving up something like that cold turkey. The boy must have a strong mind.

Today it’s also exactly two months until The North Face 100. ‘The Face’ is a 100km event in the Blue Mountains that I have signed up for. It’s been nearly two years since I first heard about it. Not long after that I started thinking about it and training for it every day. Every training run has been part of the build towards Face, every event I’ve completed has been part of the education needed to attempt the FACE. Every time I’ve had a big night, I’ve made sure I recovered quickly by hydrating massively so I could get out on the trails asap. In my mind the Face has become the pinnacle, the grand final and the ultimate event that I will ever run.

This week I should have probably run somewhere between 100 and 130km. Instead I have done zero. Since my last event I have tried to run four times in 22 days. Each time, in pain. Each run cut short of what I had planned. Something is obviously wrong but as I write I’m still not quite sure of the extent of my injury. An x-ray was taken and I find out in two days if I have a stress fracture in my left foot or not. I would bet Raf’s birthday money that it’s a fracture.

When I started training for this thing I knew the event would be amazingly tough. However the toughest part of the lead up has been the last 22 days. So many things have gone through my mind.

The facts are that I’ve booked long service leave to do the event, paid for flights, paid for accommodation, organised family to be there with me, organised family to look after my two year old while away......on the running side of things, I’ve run thousands of kilometres in all sorts of conditions at all hours of the day and night.

I had been coping fairly well with the injury up until three days ago when the foot started hurting more and more than it ever had. At that point I thought of everything I was going to have to give up. Everything I was going to lose. I had been thinking I’d just be going into the event underdone but now I was pretty sure I wasn’t even going to make it to the start line. Pretty shattered.

Today, 61 days away from the event I learn from a 5 year old who gave up his dummy. He loved that thing for years and the thought of losing it was actually a bit frightening. When it came to the crunch though and life as he knew it changed, he just took it in his stride like it was no big deal. Keeping the dummy was definitely something he wanted to do but right now he’s sound asleep without a care in the world.

If it comes to it and I can’t do the FACE, although life will change from what I had hoped, really not much will be different. I’ve built this thing up in my mind to be big but is it? It’s definitely something I want to do but just because I miss out on a positive, that really shouldn’t put me in the negative.  You can’t lose if you have a crack, even if that crack turns out be a fracture.