I'm Back! (where have you heard that before)

That's right, I'm back. Supposedly. It's entirely possible, quite possible, perhaps and tentatively, that there's a rumor about the slight inkling I have to, maybe, write in this blog. Really.

I have this thing about not writing when I'm down. I'm not entirely sure why, I think I just hate reading blogs when they're always negative, always talking about NOT doing the something the blogger is normally talking about doing. In the process, my blog entries have consisted entirely of my Twitter activity.

That is, until about a month ago, when LoudTwitter broke unceremoniously, and without announcement. I suppose it's my fault for not noticing, which just goes to show how much I've thought about this blog for the past month. I do apologize.

Shortly after running the Avenue of the Giants Marathon, I started having pains deep within my left hip joint. My first thought, of course, was to take a short break. I took a few days off, and it happened again. So I thought ok, it's my shoes... I had about 350 miles on my shoes at that point, so I went down to buy new ones. They were out of stock.

I thought of buying elsewhere, but realized that if I had them order the shoes and not run at all until then, it would force me to take a break to heal. I did this, but when the shoes came in, I didn't have the money to pay for them. This pushed it out another week, giving me a full two weeks of rest.

When I started running, BAM, the problem occurred again. I went to the doctor, who gave me an xray. After a week and no call, I called his office only to find him saying there was nothing wrong. It's the same old story. My response to them was, "Great, so I'm on my own again?" The doctor then referred me to an orthopedist. :)

A week later at the orthopedist's office, I found out he doubled as a sports medicine doctor as well. Finally, someone who knew what they were doing! He looked at my x-ray for a while, and had a 30-minute talk with me. He wasn't a runner, but didn't have anything against it. The advice he gave me was:

* Take glucosamine (I'd already started by then)
* Take Aleve regularly in almost prescription strength (doubling OTC dose)
* Stretch religously after runs
* Use the foam roller religiously before AND after runs

So the past week I've run the same schedule as Hal Higdon's Intermediate I marathon training program, albeit with less mileage. Am I in pain? Yes, although a bit less (it was already starting to get less when I saw the orthopedist). I'm not sure doing what the doctor told me has helped yet, because I still feel the same. At the same time, recovery is quicker (I'm usually recovered enough to run the next day).

In faith, I registered for the California International Marathon.



The 18-week Hal Higdon training program starts August 3, but the first week starts with 24 miles. Leading up to August 3, I've been slowly building up my mileage to at least that point. I actually managed to run 19 miles this last week! Pain's been managable, so I really think I can do it.

Meanwhile, I picked up a wireless bluetooth headset.


Along with the Palm Pre, I honestly can't believe I managed without it. Seriously, running with a wire either hanging loose or threaded through the arm & neck of my shirt was just not cutting it. The range is great as well, I can put the Pre in my fanny pack while wearing the headset, and make all adjustments remotely! The headset also works to answer the phone, and while the quality for phone calls isn't the greatest, it does work.

So that's where I'm at. I plan on posting regular workouts starting immediately, and want to build up the habit once again. I'm looking forward to it all!