Explanation

I feel like I owe yall an explanation for why I haven't been posting lately.

I hurt my knee pretty badly two weeks ago. I tried to tough it out, but I really, really struggled with it. I honestly was scared that I had torn something in my knee because it lacked stability when walking. It kind of felt like Willis McGahee's knee after this hit...



Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration...

Anyway, I went to the doctor this week. I was very, very nervous that he was going to tell me that I needed some sort of surgery. Frankly, I was a bit depressed by the notion; however, his diagnosis wasn't nearly as bad as my neurotic mind had dreamed of. Essentially, he told me that I upped my level of training too quickly and my knee was just massively inflamed. His recommendation was 2-3 weeks of physical therapy until I can resume running.

Yah, so my dream of running the marathon on May 19th is over, but I am not giving up my quest.

As my friend Kunu would say...

Warning: The following five-second clip has been deemed rated "R" by the Motion Picture Association of America.





I'm going to figure this thing out. Just got to let the knee heal up first...


"Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." - Vince Lombardi

Hiatus

Yesterday, I was warned by Ben Kettle (@thelastlow <--- follow him on twitter) to take it easy on my knee. I scoffed at him, informing him my knee felt much, much better after resting on Friday. Ben, you were right…

After doing the elliptical on Saturday afternoon, my knee started to feel progressively worse throughout the night. Today, I had searing pains in my knee during my flight(s) from Austin to Mobile (putting in some QT with the familia this week). I probably could have gritted through my run this afternoon, but I would have felt Lt. Dan Taylor in the morning.

Because of my knee pain, I am shutting down training until at least Thursday.

Frankly, I am ahead of schedule in training for running my marathon. I can afford to lose a week or two of training; however, I cannot afford to have this knee issue linger much longer than that.

Having to write this blog post bummed me out. I don’t like admitting that I’m struggling to my millions of readers (again, indulge me…), but I want to be honest with yall. At least I have this to cheer me up…

This is my parents’ dog – Pheona. She has a rather peculiar talent…

"I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently." - Ernest Hemingway

MONTAGE!

Training for a marathon isn't easy. It is a long and painful process. I do enjoy it; however, sometimes I wish that I could take the Hollywood approach to training. A MONTAGE! The best training montage in history occurred in Rocky IV - Hearts on Fire.

What's better than a montage?!

A well-executed parody of a montage.

Here is the real "Hearts on Fire" video montage:



Here is the parody version:



"Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin

Terry Fox

Last year, ESPN debuted a documentary series called “30 for 30”. It was a fabulous series with many great films. Personally, I thought Two Escobars was the best piece of filmmaking I saw last year. However, the 30 for 30 documentary that touched me the most was Into the Wind, which is the story of Terry Fox.

While watching Into the Wind, I felt so small. The grit, determination, and bravery Terry showed in his “Marathon of Hope” is something that I couldn’t even relate to. By the film’s end, I had tears streaming down my face.

How could someone that amazing be taken from the world at such a young age?

I often joke about my heroes being fictional movie characters, famous athletes, or pop culture icons. I honestly shouldn’t do that. Terry Fox is a hero.

“I don’t feel that this is unfair. That’s the thing about cancer. I’m not the only one, it happens all the time to people. I’m not special. This just intensifies what I did. It gives it more meaning. It’ll inspire more people. I just wish people would realize that anything’s possible if you try; dreams are made possible if you try." –Terry Fox

Vlogging

"Our strength grows out of our weaknesses." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day #19: 6.75 miles - 52 min

Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast

This morning didn’t start off well. My knee didn’t feel 100% as I walked home from McCombs’ business library. I contemplated not running today. My feeling was maybe rest would do me good. Then, after about thirty minutes of icing my bum knee, I decided that I should give running a shot. I would run a mile and see how it felt.

I was ready to bail after about 200-yds. My knee hadn’t made any progress from the day before.

Then I remembered something from Born to Run:

Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast.

In the book, Micah True, a gringo who lives amongst the Tarahumara, explains how to run in the following excerpt:

“Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high that hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practice that for so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smoooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”

Until today, I hadn’t taken Micah’s advice about taking it easy. I’ve honestly been pounding the pavement trying to get ready for this marathon. Well, at the 200-yard mark today, I decided to take Micah’s advice. I told myself to throttle down and find a rhythm that doesn’t hurt your knee. After about 400 yards, I found that rhythm. It was a much less violent running style than I had been employing. If I tried to push the pace, my knee would give me a quick jolt as a reminder to take it easy.

The run was the most enjoyable I have had since this quest has started. All the tension that is usually is in my body vanquished. By running at the pace my knee dictated, nearly all the pain in my knee dissipated. I ended up running 6.71 miles. I felt like I could have run double that distance.

The incredible part of this experience came at the end of my run. Naturally, I figured my time would be slower because I had made a conscious effort to take it easy. I hypothesized that I probably was running at an 8.15-8.30 min/mile pace. Then I checked my Nike+iPod workout summary…

6.71 miles – 51 min – 7.38 min/mile pace

That is within seconds of my fastest pace for a run over 5-miles.

Maybe there is some credence to Micah’s advice. If you focus on easy, light, smooth then fast will come. Count me as a believer.

“He who loves his body more than dominion over the empire can be given custody of the empire.” – Lao Tzu

First Setback

I didn’t complete my planned 7-mile run this morning.

About two miles into my run, I experienced some slight pain in my right knee. I dismissed it at first, telling myself the pain would dissipate. That wasn’t the case. At the halfway point, I felt like I could have pressed on, but I decided to listen to my body and stop. I’ve got too much invested in completing this marathon to injure myself by overtraining. I discussed the problem with my dad. He seems to think it is an IT band problem, which often occurs in distance runners. He suggested some stretches to do before I run.

I’m going to spend the rest of the day with an icebag around my knee. And maybe some hot ice?

I’ll test my knee again tomorrow. If it still is problematic, I’ll do my workout on the elliptical. Making lemons into lemonade.

“Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.” – Les Brown

Day #17: 3.88 miles – 29.35 min