Down But Not Out

OK so it's been a while since I posted. There have been a few distractions. After the strong showing at Houston I took a week off the road. Work was very busy and I had some mega travel coming up including a business trip to Brazil.

My next race was not until March and I felt I could use the rest. If I restarted my running on the Brazil trip I could tune up over the few weeks before the B&A in March and put in a respectable showing on the flat home course. Plus I would write this great blog post about running in the Southern hemisphere in the sun with the beautiful Brazileans...It was not to be however.

Brazil was beautiful and hot and hilly (I was in a town called Belo Horizonte where our company has a large factory). The area where we were staying was very nice but only for a few blocks in every direction. The site was chosen more for its proximity to the factory than for its runner friendliness. Additionally we were on a very tight schedule which left little time during daylight hours for anything but work. Bottom line...no running occurred in Brazil.

Meanwhile back at the ranch a little snow was falling. Then a little more. Then a little more. You get the idea. The winter of 09/10 in the Mid Atlantic was one for the books, literally. The weather was so bad I got stuck in Houston for an extra day and a half on the return trip and wound up watching the Super Bowl at my hotel. A new low for the time honored tradition in my experience. Once again, location of the hotel (out by Bush Intercontinental Airport so not much in the way of running room) was against me and no running. Are we seeing a theme developing here?

So I finally get home and find 36 inches of snow blanketing the homestead, the surrounding counties, and every road and trail for miles. It was cold too. Very cold. Translation-no running. But wait, the best is yet to come. There was another wave of snow the second week I was back. Full of guilt over my wife having to deal with the first one pretty much on her own while I basked in the Brazilian summer sun I was determined to make this storm as painless as possible. And it was. For her.

I am 43. Not 33 or 23 but 43. While I consider myself in good shape for a man my age a man my age should think twice before shoveling a 165 foot driveway by himself when it is covered in 12-18 inches of heavy wet snow. I was almost done. Really. I mean I was down to the last scoop or two when it happened. Tossing a shovel load of the white stuff into the hedge I wrenched my back, dropped to my knees, and said words not fit for print. I knew I was in trouble.

Two weeks later I broke down and went to the Dr. I am told this is not unusual for the 43 year old male of the species (both the injury and the reluctance to seek treatment). I could only walk with the use of a cane and things were not improving. An MRI revealed 2 bulging discs in my lower back. Prescription? Physical Therapy which of course I have all kinds of time for...NOT. It was about here that I realized (this is like a week before the B&A Trail Marathon and the snow is still everywhere) that I was not going to be running. It was a disappointment. I have gone into races both prepared and unprepared but I have always run. This was the first time I could not run. I could barely walk.

So Physical Therapy...I have always been a fast healer so this was a first for me. I must say I was skeptical but a week into it the exercises are actually helping. When I told the therapist my recovery goal was to run a marathon in 8 weeks (Frederick where I ran a PB 4:36:25 last year) she said something like "Great, heh heh, uh OK?". She just doesn't know me.

The good news is that she said I could run if it didn't hurt. I am pretty sure she said if it didn't hurt too bad. So I ran and it did hurt a little but definitely not too bad. I managed an easy 3 on Tuesday and 4 on Wednesday. Then, guess what happened! God sent rain. A lot of rain. Biblical rain. My basement is soaked, there is a small pond in my neighbor's front yard, and, you got it, no running. (Just wanted to say that I don't mind running in the rain but it was in the 50's and coming down in buckets and I figured better not to get pneumonia on top of the the PT back recovery, haven't run in 6 weeks thing...just saying).

Today however it is not raining hard and it's Sunday which I often use for an LSD run. LSD at this point in my training is probably 5 miles. Sheesh - it used to be in the high teens. I am planning on hitting the trail as soon as the temp breaks into the 50's. I have a little less than 2 months to pull it together for the hilliest Marathon on my schedule. I can do it.

See you on the trail.