Saturday, October 29, 2005

Letter to my foot.

Dear left foot,

We've been together for as long as I can remember, and I hope you know that I love you and your brother more than any other appendage. I know you've been abused with all this training, and I know I could probably stand to lose some weight, and make things easier on you. We can talk about that later.

I often think of the wonderful times we've had together.
Remember the time we ran through that stream in upstate NY? It was so cold I thought I was going to pee my pants!
Remember when we tried that robo-massager at the Sharper Image? Good times.

But I'm not just hoping to pull your heartstrings so things can get back to how they were. I see now that the old pattern of our relationship wasn't fulfilling for you, and I'm willing to work on myself to change. If you like it, we can do some stretches or something, or maybe we could add a small amount of barefoot walking and running so that you become stronger. And we'll definitely buy new shoes at 400 miles instead of 500 miles, and we'll get the Nikes you like, and I won't insist on trying different shoes every time, even if they are beautiful and exciting and promise to do things the Nikes won't do. I know now how much it hurts when you and I are at odds like this.

So, I'm willing to do my part, and you seem to be coming around, not hurting so much, and I appreciate your effort too. On the other hand, foot, just so we're clear on this, if you make me drop out of this marathon, I'll cut you off, and I'll throw you in the East River.

Love,
Keith.

P.S. Sorry about the toenail.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

My next obsession?

I registered for the NYCM lottery on January 31st, the first day it was open, and it was running around in my mind even before that. Actually, I started running in October 2003, and watched the NYCM special on TV about a month later. I taped it. I've watched probably 20 times, same thing with last year's race.

After I run it, what will I do? Will I stop running? Doubtfull. There may not be much of a gap between obsessions, I've been working on another one for a while already.

I have some friends I was planning on visiting next summer. And at about that time of year, there's a little footrace they have, at a little mountain they have...

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

The Poll is back up. You can relax now.

So the majority of people that responded to last weeks poll question - How Macho are you? - are 50 miles worth of macho. I think I would have answered the same way. At least I wouldn't voluntarily walk for races less than 50 miles. Even though I'd probably benefit from walking breaks, if only just to hydrate, but I'm just TOO DAMNED MACHO.

The One Question Poll wasn't working earlier in the week, so I took it down, but it seems to be back up and running now. The problem was on earthlink's end, not mine. And I spent about 45 minutes on an online chat with an earthlink representative trying to convince him that there was nothing wrong with my code, it was their code that was messing up. And during the process, he hit my webpage like 20 times, and my StatCounter showed that he was in India, which was funny because he said his name was Darryl! Darryl finally admitted that I was right.

Anywho, my foot feels fine, as it usually does after a couple days rest, but for some reason my other foot hurts. I think I might fall apart before I even get to New York.

Okay, gotta go, tie game, bottom of the ninth, throwing error on #1, burke steals third. Biggio's got 3-0 count.

Rock on.
Keith.

Monday, October 24, 2005

References on Subluxated Cuboid Bone.

I seem to be getting a lot of hits on this page for people searching for info on subluxated cuboids! Perhaps there are hundreds of us out there suffering in silence, when everyone believes our pain is imaginary! So I'm considering this a community service, this post is for them. You are not alone! I feel your pain! I'll provide a reference here for links and everything I've learned about lateral foot pain.

Cuboid Syndrome information at MyFootShop.com!
Nice article, includes treatment, description of the anatomy and biomechanics, and procedure to pinpoint the location of calcaneal cuboid joint.

CUBOID SYNDROME
Very long and detailed article. It's worth the time and effort to understand it, as it is a bit heavy on nomenclature. Google is my friend in situations like this, you can type "define:anyword" into the google search box and it usually comes up with something good.

Subluxated Cuboid Bone
An easier read and a good overview. I think Subluxated Cuboid was the injury of the month for Instep Dance Magazine for November 2002.

Pubmed:Cuboid subluxation in ballet dancers.
Primary research article on cuboid subluxation. Only the abstract is free.

Runner has pain on lateral edge of foot.
My thread at heelspurs.com where I asked some doctors about this. They were helpfull and responded very quickly, which was cool. Basically they told me to see a doctor, but one guy did include a nice list of possible explanations for my pain.
Dr. David S. Wander said: "I know you said you're too stubborn to see a doctor, but the bottom line is you really have to see a doctor to receive an accurate diagnosis. I can make some educated attempts at your diagnosis, but without an examination I am simply guessing. Differential diagnoses can range from a slight subluxation of the Cuboid, Cuboid syndrome, a stress fracture of the Cuboid, a fracture of the base of the 5th metatarsal, a fracture of an accessory ossicle of the Cuboid, peroneal tendonitis, a partial tear of the peroneus longus or brevis tendon....etc., etc., I know you wrote "thanks for curing me over the internet", but I have a feeling that you're smarter than that and realize that a history and examination are crucial to determine the actual pathology. It is extremely important that you seek medical attention to prevent a possible long term disability if in fact you ignore a potentially significant injury. Get off the computer and get over to the doctor to make sure that you're able to keep running. Keep me filled in on the actual diagnosis. Good luck."

I did spend some time on these articles and I have 5+ years post graduate study in Biology, so if you are one of my compatriots stricken with this malady, and are having trouble with them, I can help. Just email me. And those cats at heelspurs.com are pretty good too.

Rock on.
Keith.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Nobody Touch Me ! (updated with additional paranoia)

Nobody touch me for the next two weeks. I have to heal up and I don't have a lot of time. I can't risk you doing additional damage to me. I've worked too hard, in the hottest part of the Texas summer, to risk getting tripped up by you, or poked in the eye by you, or infected by whatever it is you're culturing in your body. I think a 20 foot donut of free space around me should be enough to prevent most injuries, at the same time, it isn't tooo crazy. A 100 foot donut would be crazy, a 20 foot donut is sensible. So that's a 20 foot donut for people, and maybe a 200 foot donut for birds. I'm freaking out about the birds now too, today I saw a mockingbird that seemed to be exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

I'm still limping a little bit from yesterdays 10 miler. The blisters aren't the main concern, but the aching cuboid. I'm really going to rest up these last two weeks. I'm not too proud to use the little motorized shopping cart at the grocery store. Maybe I'll even rent a Segway for these last two weeks. Then I could still join in the group runs on my Segway, and maybe I could even keep up with the rabbits.

Maybe I should be doing things like this all through training. I think I'd get the most out of my running, if I was resting as much as possible, and zipping around in a little motorized wheelchair whenever I'm not running. I should probably even set up the mechanical breather, to save my lungs for my intervals. Instead of wasting my breath talking, I can communicate with blinks. I'd only get up to run, and to sleep, and to empty the jar. Everything else can be done by my helper monkey.

Rock on. Don't touch me.
Keith.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Ten miles in my new Red Shoes

I ran 10 miles with the club this morning. It was difficult getting myself out of bed since I've been out of the morning running routine.

My left foot began to hurt again about eight miles in, but it wasn't too bad when I was running. It does hurt a lot more now though. I've vowed not to run more than 6 miles from now until race day, that seems to be a safe distance before it starts to hurt.

But I was preoccupied with other pains from about three miles on. And I kept cursing that stupid "no socks" rule, and that stupid mayor. I know it's a bad idea to go without socks for the first time on a ten mile run. And I knew beforehand that I'd get a couple of blisters and it would hurt a bit, but it seemed like I'd be doing my part for the team. It's troubling that I knew it was a bad idea and I still did it.

I hardly ever get blisters, and I guess I forgot how bad they hurt. At times it was like someone holding a match to my toes. And I didn't expect to see at the end that I'd bled completely through my shoes, and the whole insides of my shoes were red. I'll spare you the imagery of what my poor feets looked like when I took my shoes off.

Stupid mayor.

Keith.

Friday, October 21, 2005

Posting via email.

If you see this then it works, I've posted via email!

On a suggestion by RunSteve on JonWalks blog, I'm setting this blog
up to recieve email alerts from the NYCM athlete update thing. So
you can log on to this blog and see where on the course I am!

Rock on.
Keith.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

New feature: The Community Mural.

Okay, so in the past couple of days, I think I said that the new blog feature would cure poverty. I may have even said that it would bring forth a new world order. On second viewing, such statements may have been a little over the top.

But I think the it's pretty cool. It's called the Community Mural, and it is a online drawing program, written in Java, where everyone works on the same picture, and people contribute something of themselves to the whole. Stuff you draw and save will be visible by anyone who views the mural from now until the end of time. It definitely would be more fun if many people contribute to it, so if it doesn't turn out to be all that cool, it's probably because people don't use it, and then it's kind of your fault, not mine.

So I hope it works on your computer, it works on Macs (requires OS 10.3+ and Safari 1.2+) and all Windows PCs that I have access to, and I don't have a linux computer so who knows about that.

Here it is.

Rock on.
Keith.


Edited to add this:
I kind of decided not to contribute to the mural myself, but I already broke that rule, I couldn't resist. I drew a small picture of totoro in the corner. :)

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Congratulations to the Astros!

Of course, I had to mention this, as I'll bet a lot of other bloggers are too. But I'm proud of the Astros, they've waited so long for this, and it's good to see them celebrating. I've always had a lot of respect for players that stick with their team through difficult years, so it's great to see Biggio and Bagwell finally get what they deserve. And there are still players like that, not everybody is just out for the paycheck. I'm sure if I was kid growing up in this area, one of them would have been my hero, much like Don Mattingly was to me as a kid.

Just an update about my running, because I guess this is supposed to be a running blog. My foot is doing pretty well. I've been keeping my running short and slow and it hasn't bothered me for a while. I am still worried, because if it is a subluxated cuboid bone, as Dr. Keith diagnosed, it seems like if I do run until it hurts, I will be completely back at square one in terms of healing, because it will mean that the bone is again out of position. I've trained so hard all through the hottest part of the summer, and an injury would be the only thing that can keep me from finishing the NYCM.

And I know I promised to release a new blog feature today, but I can't step on the Astros like that. I'll let them have their day, and then the world can go crazy for me tomorrow.

Rock on.
Keith.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

nycm countdown.

Many of my loyal readers will notice the "nycm countdown" at the left of the blog. Don't worry, this is not the groundbreaking new blog feature that I've been pimping for a couple of days. I think the countdown is only mildly cool. The new envelope-pushing feature will be out tomorrow evening. And I promise you, it will freak out your brain.

I can't wait to vote for another Clinton.

George Clinton and the Cabinet Funkadelic



Sorry, I'm in a strange mood. I have too many deadlines coming up.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Haile is unsatisfied with victory.

"I am not so happy," he said. "The last five kms I was not pushing. I need more training."

This was Haile Gebrselassie's take on his 2:06:20 marathon victory in Amsterdam yesterday (Sunday 16 October).

I know he want's to break the world record, and I think he can do it, but it illustrates a commonality he has with me and probably you too. We're never satisfied. There's no finish line. Goals met are merely an advertisement for bigger and brighter goals just a few miles down the road.

Just a little nonsense for you today, that's all, no running to speak of. I'm going to work on the super fabulous bloggalicious new feature that will probably bring forth a new world order, which will undoubtedly reverse the trend of increasing violence and poverty on this crazy little blue marble we call home.

Rock on,
Keith.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Taper time.

There's a lot to talk about today.

I'm starting the taper as of this moment, and it is going to be very light on running, even more than a taper usually is. I headed out for a 15 miler yesterday and was delighted to learn that my foot was completely pain free, for about 6 miles anyway. Then it set in, gradually increasing in intensity, and I made what I thought was the mature decision (a rarity for me). So I bagged it after 8 miles, and decided to start the healing immediately. I had two 21 milers and two 18 milers and a handful of 15+ milers, so hopefully that will be enough.

I think the majority of the training is behind me, and I don't think I can make significant improvements to my fitness in just 3 weeks. I can, however, blow it. If I keep pushing it and my foot is in its current condition, or worse, on race day, I'll be looking at a very long and painful 26 miles.

The pain is rather dull, but increases as I go, but by my estimates I think I can still complete this marathon. For yesterdays run, I had two good days of rest, and my foot was pain free for 6 miles, but I made 8 without too much trouble, and I think I could have gone 12 or so before it got too bad to continue. So with 3 weeks of high quality rest, perhaps I can heal up to a point where I can go 16 without pain, and 26 without dying.

I think the key will be to stick to short slow running, making sure to stop before it starts to hurt.

I was going to try some Powergel for the first time on this run too. Lisa and Cassie, who were kind enough to respond to last week's One Question Poll Question - "To Gu or Not to Gu," convinced me that it did have a place in a training plan, and I should find out how it affects me. They've reawakened the experimental spirit in my training.

There is a new One Question Poll Question this week. This one will test your running limits, when I try to find out "How Macho are You?"

I have more to talk about, I told you there was a lot to cover. There is something else I have been working on. Probably the coolest new feature to this blog, or any blog I've ever seen. I don't want to oversell it, but it will absolutely revolutionize the free world. But it's not quite ready yet, I think I'll put it up on Tuesday or Wednesday. So tune in soon and I will freak your mind out with this revolutionary new technology.

Rock on.
Keith.

it's a crying shame



Poor Seminoles.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

It's time to run the bridge again.

I ran 4 miles or so on the Kemah bridge this morning. 5:00 AM, which seems early, but one member of our group, Bob, mentioned that he started his long run this weekend, even earlier. Get this... Saturday morning... I started my 21 miler at 4:00 and I thought that was early, but guess what time Bob started his long run... One twenty A. M.

There are a lot of really impressive runners at the club. Go ahead, ask Bob how many marathons he's done. He doesn't even know anymore.

My foot isn't any worse than yesterday, so that's something.

It took every bit of energy I had to wake up this morning. Getting down to the bridge by 5 means I have to get up at a quarter to four, and I've been out of rhythm for a couple of weeks now. I stay up late, and sometimes oversleep. I did make it down to the bridge on time, but I slept for another hour after I got back home.

Rock on.
Keith.

Why don't you go buy yourself a present today? You deserve it.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

possible subluxated cuboid bone.

update : For anyone searching for information on lateral foot pain, I've compiled a list of sites and stuff for everything I've learned about it. I'm not sure it will be any more helpful than google, but here it is anyway.
Compilation of my knowledge

--

Well, Dr. Keith, with a consult from Dr. Google, has diagnosed my foot pain.
Subluxated cuboid bone.

It's a partial dislocation of one of the bones on the lateral portion of the foot. It's described as a dull pain, which sounds about right, and I do sometimes feel like there are some bones moving around in there, in ways they shouldn't. But it's not too bad when I'm running, although I did pay the price a bit more a couple hours after yesterdays run. It's an injury that supposed to be reserved for dancers, because they move side to side a lot more than others, but I guess I can have such an injury because I'm a big clumsy idiot.

Dr. Keith did the appropriate chiropractic adjustments for me and made me a subcuboidal support pad which may or may not help, we'll see. I think it can be managed.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Alarm didn't go off this morning...

... so I had to fit this one in this evening. 7.5 miles down Nasa Road 1 to Galveston Bay and back. This has become one of my favorite routes, and I drove down there because I just couldn't bear to run another hour plus run around my house. My foot hurt me a little bit at the beginning and then again at the end, but it was quiet for the majority of this run.

Re: lisaleese's question



Go Seminoles! 5 - 0 !

Monday, October 10, 2005

Recovering from my long run.

Hey America,

Well, I hobbled around the rest of the day Saturday and Sunday too, but my muscles are pretty much recovered now. Although there does seem to be something wrong with my foot. There's some pain on the outside edge of my foot, when I stand or walk for long periods of time, and I've had something similar about 6 months ago on my other foot. I searched all the right messageboards to figure out what it is, but no one seems to describe it the same way. Last time I blamed it on a new pair of shoes that I had, and I do have a fairly new pair of shoes right now, so perhaps that is the problem again. One of these days I'll learn to stick with the brand of shoes that work (I like to try different shoes each time). So I've been icing it a little bit, but I am such a pansy. It's too cold for my poor little feets.

I saw on Jon Walk's blog, that there is going to be a houstonbloggers page and logo which is really cool, and I'm glad to see that my name is included there.

On another note, one person has already noticed the new feature for the blog. A "One Question Poll," with this weeks question asking whether or not replenishing glycogen during your long run is essential to finish strong, or is counterproductive to your training. You can submit your opinion if you have one.

So far the leading answer is "Keith sucks."

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Feeling like I'm back to my old form.

Like it says in the title, today I felt like I was back to my old form. Not my old old form, that would be bad. My old old form involves a lot of couch potatoing and unhealthy eating. The only goal that I had back then was to be buried in a piano box.

I had a great 21 miler this morning. I ran the whole way, with nice mostly even splits, just like the new old me. It is a great confidence boost for me, as you know as a loyal reader, I have been struggling, getting over an illness and getting over some of the mental barriers that I thought were behind me. On top of it all, the overall pace, was a few seconds per mile faster than my 10 mile race last week.

So it seems like pretty good ammunition for me to dispell the negative thoughts I have about that race, and about how "I've lost all my fitness," and "the NYCM is going to be a disaster for me," and "the piano box is waiting for me."

I ran with a woman from the club named Tonia, and two others, Nicole and Phyllis, joined in for segments. I have to admit, that Tonia carried me through this one, because it definitely wasn't easy for me. I could feel my legs start burning, as early as mile 10, and it was getting worse. I might have started walking if I was alone, but I decided to wait until it was really unbearable, to admit that I needed to slow down, but it never got that far.

Then I had breakfast with the rest of the club, and got to hear some stories about the St. George Marathon. I definitely can't miss that one.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Good news from St. George

7 runners from my club, the Clear Lake Fitness Club, ran the St. George Marathon this weekend. Some of them were interviewed for this article in the Galveston County Daily News : Club runners tackle Utah marathon.
Three of them, Rick, David, and Jackie ran fast enough to qualify for Boston, so I'm very happy for them.

I had breakfast with most of this group after our first 21 miler, and hearing them talk about this marathon made me sooo jealous. Ed had run it before and he said the whole race is incredibly beatiful. Running through the red rock mountains as the sun comes up seems like something I might just have to do someday. And it's two hours from Vegas, which seems like the perfect place for a post-marathon celebration. How much would you put on 26 Black?

There are several years worth of marathons on this list now. I also daydream about the Big Sur Marathon, and Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon, and maybe Goofy's Race and a Half. And of course, The Houston Marathon because I love Houston, and The Austin Marathon, because I like Austin too. I'm even under the impression that taking a crack at the Texas Marathon Challenge is in my not too distant future. And now there's St. George. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

While I'm listing this stuff, I have some inclinations beyond the marathon too. Namely the Big Bend Ultra Run, Sunmart 50K, and I hear nice things about the Tetons. This list oughtta keep me busy for a while.

-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------

So I ran a bit last night and felt okay, and I ran 5 miles down on the Kemah bridge this morning, and felt pretty good, so there's some good news.

You see that, America? A week ago I was considering quitting running and getting extra extra fat and dying young and being buried in a piano box. A couple of decent runs later and I'm listing the marathons I want to do.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Space City 10 miler.

What a crappy run for me. I have no shortage of excuses, mainly the heat, and my illness. I finished around 1:44, which was 14 minutes slower than last year, and 10 minutes slower than a training run I had a few weeks ago. I think I'm fit enough to set a PR, but not today. It was too hot, and my legs were rubbery after only 4 miles or so. So I started walking, and it turned into one of the longest days of my life. I might still be out there, I'm not sure how, but I might be.

But I know something about myself. I've been running for long enough to realize that bad races are great for my training. A great race leaves me emotionally drained and sends me into a running slump that could last two months, knowing that PRs are going to be very difficult afterwards. But bad races seem to focus my training and usually are a good sign after all is said and done.

How about that for spin?

It's not just spin, I believe it.

Rock on.
Keith.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

5.4 miles easy

I'll continue to post, even though it will push the big news down the page, where it's less likely to be seen. The big news being, the addition of a guestbook/questionnaire.

I ran with the half-marathon training group this morning, because the full marathon group was doing 12, and that's too far for the day before a race. I felt "okay," and the weather has cooled a little bit, so there's an outside chance that tomorrow's race won't be a complete disaster.

I'm very tired now, I didn't sleep last night, mostly because I was working on this questionnaire and the guest responses page. It came out very well, and like I mentioned yesterday, they have two of the greatest background images on the web.

From time to time I become possessed by this computer, usually it happens when there is some program I'm trying to write, and I'm testing different ways to get it to do what I want it to do. These webpages caused many problems, first of all because my ISP doesn't allow any kind of custom cgi scripts, or asp pages, so I had to make due with the one appropriate cgi script that they provide, and I had to write the GuestResponses page almost completely in javascript, which I am just learning. But they turned out good.