I'm Baaaaaack!!!!

I may have found something this weekend that may be part of my post-marathon future.

But first, let me apologize for not putting up a blog post in what has become almost 3 months. As my friends and fellow running people know, it has been a long 3 months for me. April 7 was a day that I have referred to as pure hell. It was the day I found out that I nearly ran my leg into full fracture. So on the first week that the doctor told me I could return to running, I was at teh running store getting a gait analysis, and got to the road. My doctor had advised me to get orthotics, but after talking with some friends, I had decided against it.

The road back from the fracture has not been easy. Most of the base that I had gained over the past year was gone. Back to the drawing board, Bill. Even all that time I spent in spin class didn't add up to anything much to just somewhat hold that base. So I started to try and build my run base again, although I am a little far behind where I need to be for Chicago, I realized my focus should be to complete Chicago, not compete. Last year I had also signed up for the Tupper Lake sprint and the NYC Triathlon, so I had to train for that too.

This past month, Jason, one of my closest friends, and the person who got me to start running, moved to Cleveland to move closer to his and his wife's parents. Jason and I have spent a better part of the last 2 years running, and he's been a supporter of all that I do with running - always encouraging me when I hit a rough spot, and celebrating successful days. He says I have a 3:10 in me, I just have to get the base in and work my way there. I know the day I do qualify for Boston, he will be the first call I would get on the phone, that is if he wasn't with me on the course working towards it. His performance in the NJ marathon made me so happy to have him as a friend as he broke the one barrier that had been eluding him in the past 11 marathons he ran: he broke the 3 hour barrier. I couldn't keep my mouth shut when introducing him, telling everyone that he just ran a 2:56 marathon. One of my usual Tuesday/Thursday running peeps felt intimidated when he showed up to a run, and when asked why, she said that he might be too fast to run with us. He said it was the offseason and just wanted to get some mileage in. He's run 2 marathons with his wife, and now they're going to be the proud parents of a future marathoner in September. Jason, if you do read this, you know how much you have helped me as a runner. Thanks for being a great friend too. And you better run Boston with me when I qualify, although I'll be running it with you this coming spring, I still won't be part of that fraternity that you, Widener, and Zelwin are members of. I'll be pledging it soon.

Ok, back to the tri stuff. Boy, do I hate to swim. When Strouter offered to have a team entry for tupper (and all I had to do was ride the bike), I took her up on it. 3 flats and over four hours later, I pulled back into transition seeing Erin wondering where I was. I exorcised that demon when I got puncture-proof tubes and Kevlar lined tires (thanks Phil). I was never that good at swimming, and once I realized how close the NYC tri was (one month away at the point when I started training, I decided to hit the pool. Thanks to my swim coach (thanks Burns) I got at least 200 meters in without stopping one day. Fast forward to this past sunday, and I am walking toward the pier at 96th street and freaking out. Always being a person who doesn't like leaving his comfort zone - I was freaking out. I realized at that point that I'd have to swim almost 1 full MILE. ONE MILE!!! My heart raced as I jumped in, and my heart rate jumped. About 400 or so meters in, I realized that I'd have to swim the rest, so I relaxed and the rest of the swim was good, although there was no current, I made it through in 39 minutes. All I wanted to do was complete the tri, so I didn't push myself nearly as hard as I could have, but then again, I didn't want to push my shin too hard and ruin a chance at having a good performance at Chicago. For more about the race, look on racewithpurpose.org for my race report. All I have to say is that my body held up and I felt great after the race! My body is holding up now through training and its safe to say that IMMMMMMMMM BAAAAAACK!!!!!