Where in the world have you been?

Two Minute Re-cap:

• Injured
• Sick with Flu
• Recuperated
• Race
• New Job
• Back in the Saddle
• Running Makes You Hungry

At the end of January, I was running well, tackling the practices and races, doing all that neat stuff. The February came.

Injury:
On February 1st, I took a little run in Prospect Park. Nothing fancy, just a loop around the 3.3. By the time I got to the end I was like, hmm, my heel really hurts! It hurt so bad I was limping. I limped home, iced it up and figured it will get bettter. It did not get better.

I saw my podiatrist and he took this neat picture. You can't quite see it here, but I have a little bone spur on my heel (towards the backwards 'R') on top of something called Haglund's Deformity.
Haglund’s deformity is often called “pump bump” because the rigid backs of pump-style shoes can create pressure that aggravates the enlargement when walking. In fact, the deformity is most common in young women who wear pumps.

Strange that I would have this condition, because a) I'm not a young woman and b) I don't wear pumps at least not often enough to get this condition.

As it turns out I have a high rigid arch and my shoes might be the culprit. This was not good news since I'd only had the shoes a month. I'm not giving up on them just yet. They still have some life in them.

The treatment- NO RUNNING, ICE and ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES. Well, that's not what I wanted to hear at all, but if I was going to have any hope of running in Nashville this would be the only way.

Sick:

While I was taking my time off from running I still had to fulfill my Team In Training mentor duties. This included watching bags in Central Park at night in freezing cold weather. A day later I came down with the flu. I haven't been that sick since I don't know when. I mean it kicked my A$$. I was home sick in bed for a few days, and then it seemed to be another two weeks before I was feeling somewhat normal! The only problem was I was tired all the time and couldn't train much.

Recuperated:
Towards the end of February I was on the mend. I managed to log a few pain free miles, then came a big run - the Three Bridges--from Prospect Park over the Manhattan Bridge to Manhattan, up to the Williamsburg Bridge over and back to Manhattan, down to the Brooklyn Bridge and head for Prospect Park. My teammate Jess kept me company most of the way.

Race:
The next day, a Sunday, I was feeling pretty saucy so I thought I'd try my hand at a race. Coogan's Pub 5K. The race was in upper Manhattan and started at the New Balance Training Center. The cool thing about this race was free beer and food at Coogan's Pub after the race. You read that correctly- FREE BEER AND FOOD! The beer was cold and the food- well, they had Shepard's pie, corned beef, bread, eggs --- just a note to self here - I do not like Shepard's pie. It seems like I would; ground beef, gravy covered in mashed potatoes. It's not a taste dislike, it is just not a very attractive dish. Once you break through the potato topping, well then it looks kind a like vomit. And I can't get over that looks thing.

New Job:
There was some adversity during February. There was also an opportunity that came up that I just couldn't pass up. I was offered a position with a company called www.thumbplay.com. I thought about it, and decided it was the right move for me. It was tough for me leaving my position with Intercontinental. My co-workers threw me a little party and gave me a most unique going away present; a bunch of bananas.

As you can see they drew my portrait on one, can you guess which one it is? The thing is I hate bananas. Hate them, I dislike the smell, the taste, the texture, the hype, blech!

Most people who know me know this about me. You can try and sell me on the "perfect food," argument, but it just won't work. I've tried eating them; I might as well be eating lima beans sauteed in ear wax. Eeew!


Back In The Saddle:
I suffered through the injury and the rehab and the sickness. I've taken on the new job with gusto! Things are going well. I had a 20 mile run last weekend, and it was fantastic. Yesterday I ran out to Coney Island and am I'm feeling pretty good about the marathon. Which is in a few weeks!

Running Makes You Hungry:

After my 20 miler last week, I was ravenous hungry. And I ...fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha...

Ok, it wasn't that bad. But I did do something you should never do- go grocery shopping when hungry. I was tired and hungry. This is what I came with from the grocery store:

Sea Legs (red and white mushed fished parts pressed together in pieces)
Cocoa Puffs - been craving this for weeks
Chicken Stock
Vanilla Oreos
Bagel Chips
Can of Diced Tomatoes

You'll notice that there's no milk on this list. I took the Cocoa Puffs straight and they were good (much better than bananas.)

So what's on the horizon? The Brooklyn Half Marathon is next weekend and the weekend following that is a four mile race in Central Park, then the biggie - Nashville.

Stay well my friends,

-Jim