From couch potato to Ironman training.

Geez, if you asked me a few 3 years ago at this time if I thought I could ever finish a marathon I would tell you; "take a hike".  If you asked, Hey I'm doing a 1/2 Ironman, want to do it with me, I'd say, "your an idiot".  If you said Hey, I bet you can't finish and Ironman, I'd say; "You are absolutely right"!  OK, I probably wouldn't be so crass but you get the idea. 

In the winter of 2010 I was going to the chiropractor 3 times a week for back pain which was the result of a on duty motor vehicle crash a year earlier.  I had gained some weight, and wasn't happy with what I was becoming.  It took a full year for me to do SOMETHING about it.  So, on Dec. 28th, 2011 I ran 1 single mile.  It took over 14 minutes.  Yeah you heard that right, 14 minutes.  Dec, 31st, 2011 I ran 3 WHOLE miles and it took an excruciation 40+ minutes.  That night I went to my buddies house for a New Year's Eve celebration.  4 of us all made a pact that we would run the Marine Corp Marathon on the last Sunday of October. 

The first 3+ months of training where the hardest for a number of reasons.  I had some extra weight to get rid of and I was still struggling with lingering back/neck pains from that 2009 crash.  By June I was off to the races. Times were improving even though I had no idea what I was doing. I was just following Hal Higdon's novice marathon training program.  Just getting out there was making me faster and stronger.  So, I completed the Marine Corp Marathon in 5 hours 10 minutes and 25 seconds.  The last 6 miles is what really ballooned my time but I didn't care, I finished.  

A few weeks after the marathon I started to run again and stay active.  After seeing the Ironman World Championships I thought it would be a good idea for me to take up triathlon. I signed up for a 1/2 Ironman.  That's right nothing like going in head first!  Problem is, I can only swim to save my life, not to be competitive.  I spent 3+ days a week from November through April learning how to swim.  I had some people give me tips and pointers and of course watching youtube helped too.  As soon as the weather got warm I was out on the bike and running again.  the bike I borrowed from a good friend of mine.  After competing in my first sprint tri I was hooked.  

I did a few more and it was time for the big one.  A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and then a half marathon.  70.3 miles to glory, or something like that.   I have never felt better or worse during an event than at Timberman 70.3 . Even when I felt terrible I knew I was going to finish,   it was awesome.  So, after Timberman I said, if I can do a half Ironman why not do the real thing!  So, I signed up for Ironman Lake Placid (IMLP).  IMLP is the second greatest Ironman event in North America behind only the Holy Grail; Kona.  Actually, I was quite lucky to get in as I hadn't volunteered for IMLP 2013.   I was able to secure one of the few spots that were released on Active.com.

One thing I had learned from the 70.3 was that I couldn't do this by myself.  I really am to "green" to figure out the schedule, nutrition and all the other stuff.  I can follow a plan though. So I hired a triathlon coach and this was probably my best move yet.  Now training for IMLP is going to require a lot of time and sacrifice as well as patience and understanding by my family.  Can't wait to see how this journey progresses, especially with the great people I'll meet along the way!  Although triathlon is really popular the communities are relatively small.  You often see the same competitors on race day from other races. 

What a difference a few healthy years makes.  Until next, time, Keep training

on twitter at @1st_marathon
on Facebook at Averageman to Ironman.

Volunteering as a Swim Buddy

A few weeks back I was asked by a fellow triathlete if I could be a “swim buddy” for  the Title 9 sprintTriathlon that was coming up in Hopkinton, Mass.  I really never heard of this but I looked at my schedule and it fit so I said sure.  Now, I was going to compete in the FirmMan Half Ironman, BUT, I had recently completed Timberman 70.3 and wasn’t sure If I could get enough workouts in to be ready for FirmMan. When my friend Laura asked I thought  1) It was a great excuse NOT to compete in FirmMan and 2) I kinda wanted to see a triathlon from the “other side”.  I told Laura (who was the swim buddy coordinator that I was “in”. 

I received an email a few days prior to the event to make sure I was there for the “swim buddy meeting” by 7:15am.  I thought that it was awesome that I could “sleep in” while going to a triathlon. By sleeping in, I mean that I set my alarm for 5:50am.  Prior to training and competing in these events that would be early but now this is definitely, sleeping in. 

I got up and got ready.  I really hadn’t volunteered before and wasn’t sure what to expect.  I got in my car and took the 40 minute drive to Hopkinton State Park. I did make a stop at Dunkin Donuts to pick up some coffee and food.  I checked in at the volunteer booth, got my free T shirt  and headed to the Swim start where the meeting would be.  

I walked down and changed into my wet suit. I saw Laura and made some small talk with her and some of the other swim buddies.  I later learned that Chrisann from TeamRefuel was a swim buddy.  How cool was that?  She was selected by Team Refuel to train alongside Hines Ward for Ironman Kona.  Now, if you aren’t too familiar with Kona.  It is the Holy Grail for triathletes.  It’s where we all want to compete and very few of us will ever get the opportunity to be there. 

So 7:15am came and Laura gave the 8-12 of us the instructions for the day.  Laura is also an aspiring Ironman.  She is slated to compete in Ironman Florida and has her own blog titled a “Fat Girl’s IronmanJourney”.  She is truly and inspiration to many fellow current and aspiring triathletes. By her own admission she is not fast.  I asked her “so how long do you think it will take you?”. Laura told me that she wanted to finish in 16:59:59.  You have 17 hours to finish an Ironman and be considered an “Ironman”.  Every perspective Ironman wants to hear Mike Reilly say your name at the Finish line followed by “You are an Ironman”.    Laura told us all what we should be doing, where we should be in the water and what to look for in distressed swimmers.  The Newbie swimmers would be in the last three waves.  We all grabbed guard buoys or swim rings.  I grabbed a guard buoy.  The swim buddies also where a distinctive blue swim cap.

So, I was in the water about 150-300 yards from the start.  It is supposed to be a .25 mile swim but I think it is actually much further than that!  The first 5 waves of swimmers went past me with 5 minutes in between starts and no one needed or requested any assistance.  Normally, many new swimmers will have trouble shortly after the start.  It’s the intimidation of the water coupled with the nerves and adrenalin with can make the swim start challenging.   The 6^th or 7^th wave of swimmers came and “Michelle” was in that wave.    Michelle had swum about 150 or so yards and she was having some trouble in the water. She spotted me in my blue cap and life guard buoy and waved at me telling me she needed some help.  I swam over and she grabbed the red guard buoy.  I asked if she was ok which she said yes but she was out of breath and seemed nervous.  I told her not to worry that she was going to get through the swim.  I asked if she wanted me to swim with her and she said yes. 

In triathlon’s you can hold on to a swim buoy or a kayak or whatever else you want to as long as you don’t advance your position.  So Michelle and I had to make it past 4 marker bouy’s before turning for shore.  At first I let her try to compose herself and figure it out.  She got to the first buoy by a combination of swimming on her back as well as free style.   Michelle was not the “quitting” type and kept moving forward.  Midway between the first two buoys Michelle saw that the next wave of swimmers was beginning to overtake her. This was probably her “low point” in the water.  I saw it in her face.  I told her not to worry, and that it was very common for the faster swimmers in the later waves to overtake swimmers in the previous waves.    In order to try to get her in a rhythm and get her mind off of the fear of not finishing I told her;  “OK, this is what your gonna do, You are going to take a stroke and count 1 take another stroke count 2 and then breath.  Your going to do this at least 20 times before we stop again.  Don’t go to fast, don’t crush it. Got 1,2,breath, 1,2,breath.  You are gonna get there. Ready?”

Michelle was off.  I watched her swimming and she was SO MUCH smoother.   We made it past bouy two, then three.  I think it was here where she started to gain more confidence.  At the last buoy she started to make the turn toward shore and stopped.  She said “is it Tim”.  I said “no Its Nate”.  She thanked me and went on her way. 

I am sure she finished her first Triathlon and to tell you the truth I was really “Proud” of her as weird as that may seem.  This was such a rewarding experience to help a fellow triathlete.  If you ever get the chance to be a swim buddy I say go for it.  I also got a great swim workout in too!  Until next time,  Keep Training!

 Nate

First Timer's 70.3 recap for the Timberman Half Ironman

First Timer’s Timberman 70.3 race recap

Grab a cup of coffee or put aside a few minutes because this is going to take a while.

We had been staying at the Gunstock Mountain Campground for the past few days in our travel trailer. The mattresses that these Campers come with were NOT built for comfort.  Anyway, the day started even earlier than most training days. I got to admit, I enjoy those long training sessions.  So, the alarm was set for 4:41am but I didn’t need either of the two that I set.  I was wide awake by 3:00am.  I stayed in bed a while thinking about how today was going to go.  I knew what my goals where and how to accomplish this.  Hell, I’ve been training since last November when I registered for Timberman 70.3.   My goals for swim/bike/run where 40ish/3:45ish/2:20ish.  I was really hoping to finish in less than 7 hours.  More on that later, lets not get ahead of ourselves.  I got out of bed around 4:15am and started to get ready.  My transition bag was carefully packed the night before and I am certain that I hadn’t forgotten anything.

In my bag in addition to all my gear, I packed 3 packs of GU chomps, 2 GU’s, 2 bananas and 2 Power Bars.  This is the stuff I trained with so I was really confident that I would be ‘good to go’ for the race. 

Around 4:45am I had already had my coffee.  I grabbed the bagel I set out the night before, put some peanut butter on it, grabbed my gear bag and off I went to grab the shuttle at the top of Gunstock Mountain.    It is still dark out this time of year and I enjoyed the solitude of the walk.  For a minute I thought perhaps I’m heading out a bit too early but my doubts were quickly reversed as I saw car load after car load pouring into the lot.  It reminded me of the movie Field of Dreams; appropriately so.  I boarded the bus and the driver took a wrong turn into a parking lot.  OK, no big deal, she turned around and off we went. 

It was about a 15 minute bus ride to the transition area which this time was passed with some nervous conversation with a few athletes adjacent to me.  I couldn’t believe that this day had finally come.  Had I trained hard enough? Can I do this?  And I got this! NO matter what, I am going to finish, I don’t care if I have to crawl over that finish line!  It seemed like a healthy bit of doubt, and confidence. 

I arrived in transition a little after 5am and saw that my bike was on the rack the opposite way from which I put it on there.  I must have put it on backwards and the volunteers probably fixed it.  I got my transition area ready and headed out to watch the sun rise over Lake Winnipesauke.

  It was a perfect day for a race.  The air temperature was about 56 degrees and I was taking everything in.  I went back to transition and walked around a bit. I ate a banana and I walked to see if the Pro’s had arrived yet.  I saw the only pro I recognized as Andy Potts.  He was putting together his transition area.  He had an air of confidence about him.  He just looked relaxed and ready to go.

I milled about for a while then at around 6:20am I went back to transition to grab my wetsuit, cap and goggles.  I had my cell phone on me and got a text from my wife telling me that she would be there as soon as she could with our 2 rambunctious boys (ages 2 and 5).  I knew she wouldn’t be there for the start but that was not a big deal.  She was having her own race trying to get the boys ready.  Transition would close for all athletes at 6:45am and I didn’t want to push the time.  I put my phone on airplane mode and put it in my bag underneath my bike seat.  I always carry my phone with me; so I figured why change today?  I also took off my sweats, put them in my “morning bag” which was given to us at registration and brought it to the nice volunteers who placed it with all the others at the morning bag tent. 

I watched the Pro’s start at 7am and I was getting pretty amped up.  I knew my parents were coming up from the Worcester, MA area and I started looking for them.  Their day started about the same time as mine and they had a 2 ½ hour drive ahead of them.  My parents have always supported me in my endeavors and I already knew that they weren’t going to miss this.

My race started at 07:45am.  About 4 minutes before our start we made our way into the water to the first Buoys.    My goal for the swim was to be somewhere around 40 minutes.  I had just bought new Swim goggles and used them once.  I always have problems with sighting usually due to my goggles fogging up.  The horn went off and I started.  I swam well.  I was really happy with my breathing and sighting and my swim goggles were awesome.  I stayed a bit more reserved because I knew I was in for a long day.  I made the first turn. The water was 69 degrees which was perfect for this event.  The lake was also awesomely clear.  It is by far the best lake I have swam in.  I continued the swim and looked at my watch a few times.  I stuck to the buoys and didn’t really get pushed around much by the other athletes.   I got to the point where I could exit the water and looked at my watch.  I was at 46 ish minutes.   I said to myself; “Good job, nice swim, now keep it going”. I ran to the wetsuit strippers and they were awesome.  I also got to see my parents for the first time at this point and was so happy that they were at my race.

 

I went into transition (T1) and got ready for the bike.  I was feeling fantastic.  I knew everything was going as I had planned.

  I ran to bike out with a lot of energy and hopped on the bike. As I biked out of the shoot I got to see my wife and kids and it gave me an extra boost.  My kids looked so happy to see me.  

Now, Timberman’s bike course is really hard.  Right out of the gate you start climbing elevation.  The first climb lasts about a mile and I averaged about 12mph.  I was happy with the climb.  I continued on, and my plan was to eat my GU Chomps every 15 minutes.   I would alternate water and Gatorade.  Initially, I told myself to take it easy for the first 15 miles because these are the toughest miles on the course.  That being said I know I averaged better than 20mph which is by far the best I have ever biked.  Mile 14 was a long and big hill.   I saw several bikers actually get off of their bikes and walk up the hill.  Just after that  is the 1st aid station.  I skipped it as I had plenty of water.  I was still eating my chomps on schedule and was feeling really well.  I made it to mile 28 and the turnaround point.  This is the strongest and best I have felt all morning. 

I was on the return trip and I didn’t know it yet but my body was starting to break down.  I wasn’t following my nutrition plan.  I was so into the race I forgot to eat my bananas and Power bars.  This stuff is essential in this type of race. This is a rookie mistake which I will pay dearly for in the hours to come.  For now, my mind is realizing what my body is not telling me but I need more food. 

I start to fatigue around mile 33 ish.   I notice that all the people I was passing (I had to have passed at least three or four hundred riders)  where starting to leap in front of me.  Before the only athletes that were passing me were the strongest age groupers that started after me.   I continued on until I hit mile 50.  When I saw that mile marker sign I was instantly refreshed.  I pedaled hard the last 6 miles and back into the transition area.  My first 30 miles I averaged almost 20MPH and on the last 26 miles I only averaged 15MPH. 

I biked into transition and looked at my watch and knew I was having an awesome race.  I was in at 4:04 ish.  I racked my bike, changed my shoes, hit the head and off on the run I went.  I again skipped my power bars and banana’s that I had so carefully packed the night before.  My plan was to eat a GU then drink some water which I did at the 1st aid station (which is in the initial run shoot).  I looked at my watch and saw that I was at about an 11:18 mile. I wasn’t concerned yet.  I wanted to average a 9:30 mile.  This would put me at the finish line in about 2:20 and I would finish well under 6 ½ hours.  Seriously, this was awesome!

I was just shy of ¾ of a mile into my run when I realized my mistake.  I hadn’t taken in any banana’s or power bars.  I became EXTREMELY nauseous.  I can’t tell you how disappointed I was that I made such a dumb mistake.  NOW, I couldn’t eat ANYTHING.  The 1st aid station was ¾ of a mile into the run.  I just passed it and couldn’t take anything.  I got to see a High School Friend of mine (Lindsey Knox Lerit) who I visited the day before. Lindsey was just finishing her first lap.  If you know Lindsey you KNOW she is an infectiously positive person.  She came over to me, told me I looked great and that she would see me on the next lap.  I knew she was just trying to keep my mind in a good place because I looked and felt like hell.  I looked at my watch and realized I was “jogging” a plus 13 minute mile.  I went through the next aid station and tried to eat some pretzels, drink some water and took two sponges.  At these events they hand out water soaked sponges to help keep your cool.  The temperature was about 80 degrees and it was also pretty humid. Those sponges were like a little piece of heaven.

I knew at this point that it was now about SURVIVING the run.  I knew that my half marathon would be my worst time ever. My legs were starting to hurt.  I was not winded at all but my body wouldn’t do what I was asking it to do.   The volunteers were simply amazing.  They were full of energy and cheering us through.  The other athletes were also trying to cheer each other on. All the athletes I passed on the bike were now passing me like I wasn’t even moving.   I said just “keep going”. You need to make it to the turn around.   At the turn around I said make it to the second lap.  This was probably the most difficult part of my race.  These 3.3 ish miles back to the second turn around.  It was demoralizing knowing that other athletes were on their second lap and going much faster than I.  As I was finishing my first lap I saw Lindsey again. She gave me a high five and AGAIN told me “you look great” keep going.

I made the turn for the second lap and one of the volunteers told me “I'd say that you look good but I’d be lying”.  That made me chuckle.  We all have our names below our numbers on our BIB and I was receiving a lot of support from the onlookers, other racers and volunteers.  I saw a woman named Kelly.  I jogged and walked with her for a bit.  I wasn’t sure if my nausea was getting better or if I was just getting used to it.  I could see that the field of athletes on the run was much thinner than when I started.  I kept saying “just keep going” “you can do it”.  I wouldn’t allow any negative thought to enter my brain.  I remembered seeing a sign on the bike course that said “If your brain can believe it your body can achieve it”.   This would be my motto to the end of the race.  I made the turn and knew that I only had about a 5k left.  I ran with another age grouper that I had met in the starting area(I think his name was Kyung).  We chatted a bit as we walked.  Before I knew it I was at mile 12.  I felt a renewed energy because I knew I was almost done.  The battery on my Garmin finally died. I made the final left turn towards the finishers shoot.   I can’t tell you how happy I was!  I saw my Dad again and my mom (whom I didn’t see) was able to snap a picture with her smart phone. 

Just before I crossed the finish line I heard the announcers’ voice say my name. He said that I was completing my first half Ironman.  I raised up my arms as if I was Andy Potts who won the race.  The feeling of finishing this race was absolutely amazing!

I have learned a lot from this.  I am no longer a 70.3 virgin.  I will make smarter nutrition decisions in order to help me finish at a better time and so I don’t “bonk” on the run.  I have learned that you can finish anything with the proper mind set.  Although I set this goal it was never about me.  If it wasn’t for my friend Stu I would have never have had a bike to train on.  If it wasn’t for John at the Fairbanks Center and the WAM (Worcester Area Masters) coaches, I wouldn’t have had the skills to finish the swim.  Of course all the support from my friends and family is overwhelming.  Finally, we raised a lot of money for the Myocarditis Foundation in the memory of Devin Kravitz.  Thank you all for being a part of this journey.

BTW. My final time was 7 hours 23 minutes 12 seconds.

Nathan

Shint Splints, Vacation, and new Sneakers!

Hey guys! Since my last blog I had been taken it more or less easy.  I have been experiencing shin splints in my lower left leg and it has been pretty  painful.   Since my last writing I had run twice prior to going on vacation. The first run was 4.8 miles around the lake.  My splits were about average for me ,my first mile being the best of course and then I tapered off through the rest of my splits.  They looked like this;

Mile 1 – 9:04

Mile 2 – 10:37

Mile 3 – 11:35

Mile 4 – 12:23

I did finish 2 yards ahead of the last trek along the lake with an average pace of 11:18.  My second run was on July 6^th during my lunch break from a detail (extra paid road job).  My intention was to run a quick 3 miles but the shin splints were really painful so I only went 1.6 miles.  This was by far the worst workout I have had in the last 6 months!

Next, it was a good time to take a short hiatus from running this week.  My shin splints have been feeling a bit better and I took my family on a vacation to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  We had a great time.  Instead of running we got what I consider a lot of cross training in.  Here is what we did;

Monday (7/9) – We went to StoryLand which is an amusement park for kids.  My cross training on this day was dodging kids and parents, as well as getting miles of walking in over about 5 hours.

Tuesday (7/10) - We went to theLost River caves and gorges.  This time I had a back pack on with my youngest son in it who weighs about 25 lbs. (back pack weight NOT INCLUDED).  A ¾ mile hike up and down stairs and into caves is as much cross training as anything.

Wednesday (7/11) - We went for a about a 1.3 mile hike through some of the trails in Franconia Notch, NH.  Again I was wearing my son on my back and it was a great workout.

The rest of our trip was more relaxed and nothing I did could be construed or mis-construed as training!

I will be purchasing a new pair of shoes hopefully this week before my long run.  The shoes I currently own are Brooks and although they have been good to me they are old and have a lot of miles on them.    I am actually going to go to a ‘real’ running shoe store to purchase some new kicks!  You see, I have no idea what my gate is or whether I am an over pronator or an under pronator or any of the other myriad of factors that go into buying a new quality pair of sneakers.  When it comes to running shoes I am torn between New Balance, Reebok, Nike, addidas et al…  I am going to go see the Pro’s and let them help me out!

Feeling refreshed from vacation I decided to test out the shin(s).  On 7/14 I ran 3 miles which took forever.  I think I may have been a bit dehydrated as temps soared into the 90’s with what felt like 100% humidity.  It took me 39 minutes to complete the trek.  The next evening before work I ran again it only took 31 minutes for the same 3 miles.

As a novice runner I am finding it difficult not to over train.  I also have to take into account my different schedule compared to the 9 to 5ers (seethis blog for my career and schedule).  This all being said I have significantly improved from December (2011) when I decided to take on the challenge of running my first marathon.  I have taken on average minutes off my average pace! 

Until, next time, #keeptraining!

Getting stronger and stronger

As a novice runner I sometimes am afraid to challenge myself.  I get nervous about getting hurt or too tired.  Maybe it's just me protecting my body or my thinking that I can't run "that fast". 

This week I took those fears head on.  I started out  on June 23rd with a 4.4 miler which took me 57 minutes. Not my best effort but not terrible either.  The next day I ran 3 miles in 33 minutes.  After this run I felt pretty good but yearning for more satisfaction!  This is when I took the 25th off and on the 26th I ran an 8 miler which took me a dreaded 1 hours and 47 minutes.  Although, I felt great afterwords.  I accomplished my longest run of the season thus far.  As a more experienced and accomplished runner told me it doesn't matter how long it has taken you to run 8 miles because 8 miles is 8 miles.  I agree with her thinking.  this is also the time where I decieded to go for it and ratchet up my shorter runs

Next, on the 26th I tackled the lake (AKA the resovoir).  Man, I started out like a lighting bolt.  Now to put this in perspective a lighting bolt for me at this time is less than a ten minute mile.  In fact my first mile was 9:44!  I felt like a young sprinter!!!  My other splits were very good as well at:
Mile 2: 10:27
Mile 3:10:44
Mile 4:10:51.

What was really great about this run was that I was extremely consistent for the whole run.  The only time I fell off the pace at all was my last 8/10'ths a mile which is mostly uphill anyways!  Such a confidence booster to run such consistent miles at this early in my marathon training. 

Now as I have mentioned before my days off are scrambled about because of my work schedule.  I can't always have my long runs on Saturday's. In fact, my long runs will rarely be on the weekends! That being said I started my new week of training on Sunday.  It was Hot and Humid out and I decided that for my second full week of 'official' marathon training I would run a 3 miler.  Once again I felt fantastic.  In fact I can see how more experinced runners get addicted to this stuff.  I mean again I ran my fastest mile since High School!  My first mile was 9:09, my second was 10:17 and my last mile was 11:49.  Again the last 7/10th's of this particular track is uphill so I am not terrible disappointed with the last mile.  I would like to run it better, but that will come with time.

Today, I really wanted to run around the lake but my body is telling me to take a break.  Also, Hal Higdon who's marathon book I have read has really stressed rest days, so today is a rest day. I haven't decided about tomorrow yet.  We shall see how the day goes.  I am working OT during the day and back in at midnight and I have to sleep sometime.  Wednesday will probably be another double shift as well and Thursday is my short (or as my wife calls it my long) day.  Let's just see what this week brings.  Until my next blog you can follow me on twitter at 1st_marathon.
 
Nate

Training, consistency and blogging!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I am going to make an honest effort to blog some more.  After all many of us trying to reach a goal like to hold ourselves accountable through writing these blogs.  I am not going to do that.  I will be holding myself accountable on the street.  As a novice runner if I wait much longer to start training I will be WAY behind in the pack. 

My first Goal is to reach 25 miles in a week by the end of July.  I really need to consistently log miles.  I ran 4.34 miles yesterday and as soon as my other half gets home from the market I will log some more miles today.

I am loosely using Hal Higdon's novice 1 marathon training program.  Since I have already been training since December I feel that I want to try to get over some hurdles that have been keeping me back.  My IT band has been giving me problems on my long (10+) mile runs.   This is not an excuse to not go on long runs.. Anyone who has had pain in their leg to to an IT band issue knows what I am talking about.

Finally, I am asking you for feedback. Are my blogs well written, inspiring, dull, boring or whatever.  Please follow me and leave a message here on twitter .  As always KEEP TRAINING! 

In "Running Purgatory" for another few days.

If you have read my last blog you know that I had minor surgery on Tuesday. The Doctor has put me out of work and out of running for 7 - 10 days. I am gauging my progress and would really like to believe that I will be back to work on Monday and running by Tuesday. As of the writing of this blog I am still sore but much better than the previous days. It is difficult to occupy my time without work, OT, and running. I have played a lot of PS 3 with my 4 year old. Who by the way is getting increasingly good at the Cabela's hunting game! I have also discovered "Words With Friends" and that has helped me bide some time. It has been great to spend more time with the kids and wife but let me tell you I am ready to get back to work. By work I mean actual work and training 'work'. It is frustrating to have all this time on my hands and not be able to use it productively. I mean, I guess getting healthy is productive. I have had my fill with the News and ESPN and just want the Super Bowl between my New England Patriots and the New York Football Giants to come already! In fact, the quicker that gets here the quicker my ability to work gets here. I have made so much progress since December and am a little worried that I will take some big steps back but I guess we shall see. As for now I am in "running purgatory" at least until Tuesday. I will keep you all updated!