Up and over Tibidabo ... almost....

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/70016030?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4d6be63ecf82c7c1%2C0
I took it "uphill" on Friday ... and conquered Tibidabo ...
I think this one is going to become a monthly fitness test (or
personal challenge) for me ...
Whew!

Back on track ... almost ...

I'm trying to figure out how to link my Garmin to my blog so you can follow my progress ... New York is behind me, and spring is right around the corner ... I've decided to pass up the Barcelona Marathon this year as a runner and give it my all as a volunteer ... I think I've decided to set my sites on Berlin in September ...

I'm still trying to get myself to sign up ... and start the countdown ... there's less than 31 weeks left until the starting gun, so I better get my act together.  Hopefully this blog will remain up-to-date and that way I can cronicle my progress and share the experience of getting prepared from the "get go" right up to the race.

Here's just a sample of my latest training runs ... to give you an idea of what kind of shape I'm in before I kick in my Marathon Nation training plan ... I hope to keep y'all updated ... Look out Berlin!

Upper Half DIAGONAL - Barcelona by ryan.mingo at Garmin Connect - Details

A "MESSI" SITUATION

I'm BACK! ... And I did it even faster than Barcelona's Messi ... but then again, if you look at that photo, he's dealing with something a little more "heavy duty" than I am ...

I cranked out some KM's last night (I know, you're asking now, "why does he keep running at night??!! ... you'd think that a little scare like that would set him on a better path" ...) Well, there are several reasons.  Here's a couple I can think of right off the top of my head:
 
  1. My days are filled with work, kids, "real life", etc ...
  2. The daytime streets are filled with scary cars, clueless pedestrians (and tourists) and lots of automobile exhaust .... (cough cough)
  3.  I save money on sunscreen.
  4.  .... because Ray says so ... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4rG4GRTVB4&feature=related)

So I did some slow, some fast and some quality KM's ... and today my ankle's a little sore, but I'm in no way in pain.  Today's (or should I say tonight's) workout is INTERVALS ... we'll see how that goes ... I'll let y'all know ...

A royal pain the the asphalt! ... (aka: ankle twist)

Thursday night's Tempo Run was cut short with a Close Encounter of an Urban Kind ...

We all know that putting one foot in front of the other should be easy
... we've been doing it since we began to walk. But when you start to
mix in factors like an increased pace and typical urban obstacles
(traffic lights, vehicles, people, etc) and then you throw in other
variables like darkness, mild training fatigue and a nasty pothole ...
well, bad things can happen ... and they did.

I took a big "digger" last night. About 30mins into my run I was
beginning the 8'@4:15/km leg and wanted to stick to the pace ... but a
pothole swallowed my right foot and spit me out right into the line of
traffic! ... It was amazing how many thoughts can run through your
head in the split seconds of flight (or freefall) .... they say you're
supposed to see your whole life flash before your eyes, but I mainly
saw myself on crutches watching the NYC Marathon from the sidelines
... damn!

When my foot went into the pothole, I think I had some reflex reaction
to pull it up and take all my weight off of it ... It sent me through
the air and onto the palms of my hands, followed by my shoulder, my
right knee and then onto my back ... traffic screeched to a halt
(luckily) and I got up and brushed myself off ... the taxi that almost
helped me to complete my "final lap" even offered to take me home ...

I preferred to walk it off a bit, wash my scrapes out and even try to
keep on running ... I finished my 8' TP interval followed by my 2' LR
interval and began my next 8' MP interval and decided it would be
better to listen to my body and take it easy ... I hobbled home and
hit the shower ... followed by 30mins of ice packs ... all topped off
with a Naxopren and some topical Piketoprofen gel (Calmatel) and off
to bed to sleep it off ...

This morning I'm surprised (and very pleased) by the minimal swelling,
even though I've got some nice purple and red bruising on the top and
sides of my foot (all within the area that would be inside my running
shoes ...I guess it's more like from the ankle down) ... and the
absence of general pain that I was expecting. I'll deal with the
scraped hands and knee. Here's what I've got though, serious pain
when I roll my foot/ankle to the inside or outside ... forward and
backward motion is fine ... I can lift my toes up toward my knee and
it feels normal ... I can point my toes down and things are perfect

... So, what to do?

My intuition tells me to take it a little easy, keep icing for a day
or two and stick with the anti-inflamatory pills/gel ... the pain
doesn't seem to warrant a visit to the doc's (even though my wife is
insisting) ... what do y'all think? .... Should I attempt to stick with my training plan and see how it feels tonight or should I take a day off? ...


In the meantime, run carefully ... run safe!

Ryan

Physical Therapy: Want a side of fries with that?...

It's now 2 weeks later and I've just finished my second session of PT ... I had to postpone the start due to the fact that I "threw out" my lower back last Sunday picking up Noa from her crib. (ouch) ... After 5 days of back spasms and crazy pain, the shot of Voltaren right in my ass/lower back, Ibuprofen pills, and "Happy Pills" (muscle relaxants) things felt just about right .... so off to PT I went. 

Yesterday they started me off with the new routine ... that will last 10 sessions ... they will vary, yet it appears that we will always begin the same way ... when I show up, they lay me on a cot (face down) and give me 3-5 mins of ultrasound right on the spot (apparently they've decided it's the PIRIFORMIS they need to focus on) ... the ultrasound is supposed to reduce inflammation. Good.

Then from there they take me into the next booth where they aim a crazy boom-arm apparatus thing at the same zone (yes, my ass) and say, "This is microwaves ... you'll feel heat, but it won't burn ... relax..."  (I'm uneasy by the "microwave" thing and wonder if I should order a side of fries with my rump roast)... they leave me baking for 8 more minutes ...  not bad ...

From there we move into the stretching/exercise zone ... they walk me through 3 different stretches and leave me on my own to do 15 reps per leg for 10 sec holds of each stretch ... (kind of trying to make up for all those days, weeks or years I neglected stretching ....whoops. )

Then the PT takes me to the massage cot where she starts to twist turn pull dig press and whaterver else to see where the problem is and how to untie the knots ... as she interviews me to collect more info I confess my poor discipline for stretching ... and she replies, "you don't have to tell me, I can feel it ... and you're damn lucky you haven't done more serious damage sooner ... get on the ball with this one, it's not too late..."

She aligns my "sacrum" and tells me to run through the stretching again at night and to return the next day for more .....   that was easy and far less painless than I was hoping ... I feel like I need someone to really dig the knots out with their elbow ...  more tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Next Step: Recovery ...

Good news! The ST (Sports Traumatologist) read the test results of my MRI and X-rays and told me that although there is mild compression on my semi-dehydrated disk between L4 and L5 that there is clearly no pinched nerve ... whew! ...
The x-rays show no problems either (except for the fact that he pointed out that my "femur heads" which are normally spherical are more oblong or oval shaped ... which may lead to problems some time down the road  - I guess he added that just so I had something to look forward to when I get old ...)
So, he prescribed 10 sessions of "functional rehabilitation" (I've translated that directly from his presciption ...) i.e. PT (physical therapy) ... massage, etc.

I've got my first visit lined up for Friday on my lunch break ... I'll let you know how it goes ...

I gotta run (soon)-
Ryan

...A little bit of "down time" ...

I'm really struggling with this hip/ass issue ...
It's still buggin' me and not going away, as much as I try ...
Stretching, running, resting, etc ... all help, I'm sure, but they don't resolve the problem.

I went to a Sports Traumatologist yesterday.
He prescribed and X-ray and MRI ... got that done.
I just picked up the results:
What does the report say? Can't stand the suspense? ....


My rough translation would be as follows:
________________________________________________
COMMENTS:

"There is no observation of loss of vertebral alignment. The L4-L5 the disk shows signs of partial dehydration as well as a partial overall (global) distention with the rear half portion compressing the "hard casing" with no evidence of true significant compression nor any root consequences ..."

"Signs of overload on the "interapofisarias" L1 to S1 with no "foraminal" reprocussions. (Big words there, huh?)

DIAGNOSIS:
Grade I Degenerative "discopathy" L4-L5 with no evidence of saco-radicular impact/influence. ________________________________________________

Now, I'm no doc, but I think this sounds good ...

I think I'll be able to convince my ST that some good PT time will do me good to get everything more flexible and relieve some of the pressure that's reducing my range of movement and really draggin' me down ...

I go back to him on Tuesday to see how we have to tackle this ...
 I'm getting antsy ... and really REALLY want to run "normal" again ...

I'll keep y'all updated.

R.