Frustration
I begin this blog today explaining that if this comes off as being a little harsh, it isn't meant to be. To give an update. I have been sick for nearly a month, sinus and chest cold, and have been nursing what appears to be a stress fracture in my left foot. I haven't gone to the doc but have been resting and doing some different workouts to try and keep most pressure off of it.
It happened a couple of weeks ago. I was on the treadmill, yes it appears that I get hurt every time on the treadmill, and was in the middle of a 6 miler while barefoot (don't blame the barefoot). I was going along fine really concentrating on how my feet were landing, answering questions why I was running barefoot, yada yada yada when all of a sudden it feels like my toe needed cracked. I stopped, cracked my big toe and went on. About 2 minutes later the pain became REALLY intense. Not wanting to risk anything I jumped off, showered off and went back to my desk. Throughout the rest of the day I kept feeling this crazy throbbing on the top of my foot. I knew this wasn't good. I tried to get up from my desk and it wasn't happening. So I did what every man does when they get injured, I looked up my symptoms on WebMD. All signs pointed to SF. In my quest for more knowledge, and to support my denial, I went searching everywhere I could to find any info that would rule out the SF but to no avail. I talked to a few people and they concurred my initial diagnosis. UGH!!!! Now you understand my frustration.
Like I said, I have taken a couple of weeks to recoup and really been monitoring my activity level as not to overdo it. I am starting to act like an addict who just needs a fix. I look at my shoes every morning and think, "maybe I could go out for a slow 5 miler today" but my better judgement kicks in (what I am assuming is God telling me not to be an idiot) and leave them alone.
Aside from that though, I really want to vent my frustration of people and races. I am all about getting people involved in races. I LOVE THEM!!!! If I could race every weekend in some fashion, I would. But in my journey of improving peoples lives through running I also tend to see people make really dumb decisions. I am not going to name specific incidents, but am really concerned when people sign up for races 100% undertrained. I do understand that sometimes people sign up for races and then don't get training in because life gets in the way. But what I really don't want is for them to go in undertrained and potentially hurt themselves severely. I have seen people attempt this and hate running after the fact. Running is a beautiful sport. Even if you don't compete it is still a sport that you have to put time into. If you want to run your first marathon GREAT, but give yourself 6-12 months to train. Don't just dive into something because you think it is cool. It is a lot of hard work. and you have to give yourself some time. UGH!!!!
Then, every fall comes a trail race in Des Moines called Living History Farms. If you've never run this race, it is 100% trails (which is my love) and 7 miles. Perfect distance, perfect conditions. Until you hear that the cap is 7500 people. What does this bring? People that run 2-3 miles and have never stepped foot on a trail who think that they can go out and run it. EHHHHH. WRONG!!!! This race also brings something else that I hate. Costumes. WHY??? Trail running is the purest of all running. Why bring in something like costumes????
Sorry if this seems incredibly negative. Again, I have a couple of reasons I am frustrated. I love running. I love getting other people involved in running. I love talking running. I think about running all day, every day. People need to learn to respect it. People don't run because their friends friend got hurt running when he was training for a marathon. True. Injuries happen. Most peoples injuries don't happen because of running, they happen because people are trying to do too much too fast. You say, "you got hurt while running, so you're a hypocrite" and I say, "No, I was trying to do too much too fast." I was stupid and I recognize it. I did 22 miles the day before and was trying to make it a high mileage week without allowing proper recovery time. Dumb
Here is my final point on this topic and then we will switch things up. Running can change your life if you learn to do it correctly. It can change our world if we get our kids involved at an early age. It can help to reduce health care costs because of obesity caused illness. It can change your life by working as a form of therapy. Do you know how many peoples attitudes could be changed just by stepping out the door instead of sitting around craving a drink? Countless. A lot of people that I have met or spoken to about Ultra's have addictive personalities. They use running as their form of therapy. Some of them used to be addicted to booze. Some used to be addicted to pills. Some used to be addicted to pornography. Some have much different addictions. But with all of the positives that can come from it, you also have to respect it. Even if you are not competitive, it is still a sport. There now I'm done.
On a lighter note, this is my favorite time of year. Not only does it bring cooler weather, football, trail running and the like, it also brings my babies b-days. Happy Birthday Lil' Red and Mini Me. You guys have made my heart strong and mommy and daddy love you sooooo much!!!!
Stay Strong, Run Long
Tha Messenjah
It happened a couple of weeks ago. I was on the treadmill, yes it appears that I get hurt every time on the treadmill, and was in the middle of a 6 miler while barefoot (don't blame the barefoot). I was going along fine really concentrating on how my feet were landing, answering questions why I was running barefoot, yada yada yada when all of a sudden it feels like my toe needed cracked. I stopped, cracked my big toe and went on. About 2 minutes later the pain became REALLY intense. Not wanting to risk anything I jumped off, showered off and went back to my desk. Throughout the rest of the day I kept feeling this crazy throbbing on the top of my foot. I knew this wasn't good. I tried to get up from my desk and it wasn't happening. So I did what every man does when they get injured, I looked up my symptoms on WebMD. All signs pointed to SF. In my quest for more knowledge, and to support my denial, I went searching everywhere I could to find any info that would rule out the SF but to no avail. I talked to a few people and they concurred my initial diagnosis. UGH!!!! Now you understand my frustration.
Like I said, I have taken a couple of weeks to recoup and really been monitoring my activity level as not to overdo it. I am starting to act like an addict who just needs a fix. I look at my shoes every morning and think, "maybe I could go out for a slow 5 miler today" but my better judgement kicks in (what I am assuming is God telling me not to be an idiot) and leave them alone.
Aside from that though, I really want to vent my frustration of people and races. I am all about getting people involved in races. I LOVE THEM!!!! If I could race every weekend in some fashion, I would. But in my journey of improving peoples lives through running I also tend to see people make really dumb decisions. I am not going to name specific incidents, but am really concerned when people sign up for races 100% undertrained. I do understand that sometimes people sign up for races and then don't get training in because life gets in the way. But what I really don't want is for them to go in undertrained and potentially hurt themselves severely. I have seen people attempt this and hate running after the fact. Running is a beautiful sport. Even if you don't compete it is still a sport that you have to put time into. If you want to run your first marathon GREAT, but give yourself 6-12 months to train. Don't just dive into something because you think it is cool. It is a lot of hard work. and you have to give yourself some time. UGH!!!!
Then, every fall comes a trail race in Des Moines called Living History Farms. If you've never run this race, it is 100% trails (which is my love) and 7 miles. Perfect distance, perfect conditions. Until you hear that the cap is 7500 people. What does this bring? People that run 2-3 miles and have never stepped foot on a trail who think that they can go out and run it. EHHHHH. WRONG!!!! This race also brings something else that I hate. Costumes. WHY??? Trail running is the purest of all running. Why bring in something like costumes????
Sorry if this seems incredibly negative. Again, I have a couple of reasons I am frustrated. I love running. I love getting other people involved in running. I love talking running. I think about running all day, every day. People need to learn to respect it. People don't run because their friends friend got hurt running when he was training for a marathon. True. Injuries happen. Most peoples injuries don't happen because of running, they happen because people are trying to do too much too fast. You say, "you got hurt while running, so you're a hypocrite" and I say, "No, I was trying to do too much too fast." I was stupid and I recognize it. I did 22 miles the day before and was trying to make it a high mileage week without allowing proper recovery time. Dumb
Here is my final point on this topic and then we will switch things up. Running can change your life if you learn to do it correctly. It can change our world if we get our kids involved at an early age. It can help to reduce health care costs because of obesity caused illness. It can change your life by working as a form of therapy. Do you know how many peoples attitudes could be changed just by stepping out the door instead of sitting around craving a drink? Countless. A lot of people that I have met or spoken to about Ultra's have addictive personalities. They use running as their form of therapy. Some of them used to be addicted to booze. Some used to be addicted to pills. Some used to be addicted to pornography. Some have much different addictions. But with all of the positives that can come from it, you also have to respect it. Even if you are not competitive, it is still a sport. There now I'm done.
On a lighter note, this is my favorite time of year. Not only does it bring cooler weather, football, trail running and the like, it also brings my babies b-days. Happy Birthday Lil' Red and Mini Me. You guys have made my heart strong and mommy and daddy love you sooooo much!!!!
Stay Strong, Run Long
Tha Messenjah
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