Monday, April 24, 2006

Post Boston Marathon - recovery

A week has gone by since the Boston Marathon. Many of us ran quite well as the weather cooperated for the first time in several years.

Except for my lower back, I feel like I'm recovering quite nicely. Have done some upper body weights and spinning on a reclining stationary bike but no running yet. Running can wait until the soreness in the back subsides.

Many thanks to all who have provided advice for lower back issues. I've settled on diagnosis of strained muscles. So, it's a daily dose of ibuprophen, very light stretching when the muscles are warm, and lots of couch riding...and no more lifting lawn mowers into trucks!

The good news is that I have no desire to run. None whatsoever. After training since mid-June of 2005 for two marathons, this break is necessary and most welcome!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Racing superstition

It's now 4 days to the Boston Marathon.

I'm not normally a superstitious person. However....

A few weeks ago, I received a Boston Marathon jacket in the mail. Courtesy of my employer, HP. It's a very cool looking jacket and I decided to wear it to a running club function. Well...a few of my running friends pointed out that wearing such a jacket BEFORE one has actually run the race is very bad luck. As I said earlier, I'm not a superstitious person, so I laughed it off.

Here is what has happened in the last 3-4 weeks. First I strained my left hamstring and had to cut out my threshold runs to rest it and prevent further damage. The hammy took it's time healing and I had to skip one of my favorite 5K races, the Bellaire Trolley Run. As the hammy healed, I noticed my calves getting tight during runs. Fortunately, they are not an issue anymore. The issue now is my lower back. Yep, I strained it last Sunday loading a lawnmower into my truck.

So, yesterday I went to a specialist to see if a quick cure was possible. After $100 of treatment, I've learned that a cure for strained lower back muscles in one hour is not possible.

Today is Thursday. My back hurts. I can barely stand up after sitting. And the marathon is 4 days away. I really did want to run Boston hard...so did Bagwell want to play this season. At this point, I'll be lucky to finish.

If there is anyone out there who knows how to "reverse the curse," please let me know.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

T-minus 10 days and 18 hours...

There are less than 11 days to the Boston Marathon. 10 days and ~18 hours to be a bit more precise.

And it's begun...the obsessing and stressing over everything.

I haven't started reading Boston weather reports but my buddy Scott is emailing them to me and it's driving me crazy. I mean, no way they can predict weather any better than here in Texas. So what's the point? That said, it's only a matter of a couple of days before I'll be checking weather sites...

Am taking a daily inventory of every single ache and pain. That's not so bad but I'm reviewing my running log to see what was up 10 days and 18 hours before last year's Boston...and the year before that. The good news is that the aches and pains are normal; the bad news is that I'm still worried about 'em. The good news is that they went away by the time there was to 5 days and 4 hours to the marathon. The bad news is that I think this time it might be different. Guess I'll have to wait.

I've also been surfing the BAA web-site. It's obvious everyone else going to Boston is doing the same thing...that darn site is S L O W

Anyway, I find myself wondering why their sorting and searching cababilities aren't better. It'd be nice to search and sort by mulitple fields...like state and bib number, age and bib number, multiple cities, etc., etc.

No, I don't have any real reason to search for stuff like that but it sure would help pass the time.

Whoops, it looks like the latest forecast calls for a bit of rain and a slight tailwind. I wonder what some of the other weather sites are saying. Gotta go...