7.40

I logged 477 miles from January to May of this year to end at 740 completed miles in September before I decided to have surgery on my right knee September 25th for a right knee medial meniscus tear and osteoarthritis clean up/buffering. That's 263 miles that I logged for the summer while injuried and since my last blog post! Yay. My PX-90 New Balance cross trainers with lynco 405 orthopedic inserts have been my go to treads set-up for the year. They have been a great option for helping on knee loads. They have great cushioning and arch stability for the value. I had my left knee meniscus done for a similar tear in 2016 and used a very similar 993 shoe back then for post op rehab. Back then the healing phase went really well and I'm hoping the same holds true now. I also remember returning to work early, going off restrictions and then being forced out of my day job as a CNC manufacturing specialist due to FMLA mishaps on my companies part. While I miss the technical roles of that job, the long days on my feet really did a number on my joints and I now work as a fleet mechanic where I'm much more able to monitor and work with these occupationial related injuries much easier. At least that's the school of thought. My blood pressure continues to deliver right hooks running at crisis levels at rest sometimes now and I've had to go on new medication stacks to reduce organ/vien damage since my most recent surgery. I also have launched a study plan to see how my pro hormone therapy plays a role, if any, in my blood pressure woes. That will kick off when I'm back to the trails in mid October. I plan to continue biking 35 miles a week and kick up running training on soft terrain @ 5-10 miles a week along with my physical therapy and strength training. My goal is to run a competitive 4 mile race at the end of November. No future races are predicted to go over 4 miles and I will only do them 4-5 times a year max now. Another half marathon attempt is always eating away at me in the back of my mind and I even fundraised and prepare for one as early as this last April, but to no avail as injuries once again sidelined me. Biking will now permanently take precedence over running from this year on out. Indoor cycling has become something that I've really enjoyed as I also hope to add in a periodical cardio kickboxing class into my future exercise plans. Happy exercising and remember quitters are haters. :) 

Broken Record

Well, what can I say? I have almost permanently switched over to biking outdoors and spin classes in place of running due to my right knee meniscus tear. I had to skip the Nashville Rock and Roll Half Marathon in April and today was a sad day as I had to drop out of the Steamboat 4 mile race here in Peoria when the last week of training started. I couldn't get a volunteer time slot that I wanted and was just in to much pain this week to even do it. Anyone who has ever "pushed through" a torn meniscus knows that there is no such thing. At least that's my case with another medial tear on my other leg, partly due to my osteoarthritis that has settled into my knees. I hope to continue to bike many more miles this year and get a game plan set to have surgery to repair the knee. I will continue to do my exercises to strengthen the area and run slow two mile hits here and there. It really is amazing how much slower you become without really even noticing out in the field due to the pain and stiffness. The good news is that it was great seeing everyone's posts and pictures on social media. I do plan to be there next year, as the reality is that I will never give up! Well bone on bone, maybe. I call it a retirement from running, but like anything else in life, we all like to attempt to do what we were once so easily able to do, and perform even better, if possible. Just part of life. I also had a running total of 477 miles running and biking through the month of May! I am very happy with that. I've managed to keep up my cardio with only about three total down weeks for the year. (this week being one of them). I've also found a new shoe that I like for the value. The PX-90 New Balances are comfortable, stable, and are a perfect cross trainer for clydesdale runners in my opinion. I haven't got to really put them to the test but the cushioning and stability is great for a "flashback" shoe. Well I totally meant to sound like a broken record.... Happy Running.

2019 training report

Biking, biking and more biking. That has become my new theme this year as injuries have left my goal for running one last half as just a pipe dream. The four mile steamboat classic is still on deck, and I'm sure I'll be active in 3-6 mile races as of now. Accepting worse race times is almost as hard as not being able to participate, but eventually age, injury and occupation catches up and I'm forced to put more importantance on priorities. So far for the year my mileage has been pretty decent. For March I completed 127 miles biking and running, 105 miles in January, and 55 miles in February for a total of 287 miles. I've also lost 15 lbs since January 1st! I wish I had more running logged in but I can't complain. I started off the year fundraising for my last St. Jude Nashville half marathon and met my goal but injuries have forced me to sideline longer distance running and I'm more focused on biking and supporting other runners that will be running St Jude races.