What are my two big announcements??

I have two big announcements.  The first is that I can now announce where and when I will be running my half-marathon (assuming my training goes as planned).  The marathon is run by the Lehigh Valley Health Network.  It seems that the marathon supports an organization called Via.  Here is a brief description of Via from their website "Via of the Lehigh Valley is a non-profit human service agency that provides services for children and adults with disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome."  Sounds like a good cause!  The event takes place on September 11, 2011.  Here is a link to the marathon's website.  http://www.vianet.org/events/marathon/index.shtml

Based on the information on the website I have a few quick thoughts.

-The full marathon starts at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township and ends in Easton, two towns over.  I find it amusing that I started this journey as a way to avoid health concerns and avoid going to the doctor and the marathon involves running away from a hospital!

-The website says that they expect people to keep up with a 14-minute mile pace, as they close the course down.  I hope that I can keep up with that pace!  I wonder what they do if someone isn't able to run that fast.  Do they start yelling people for running too slow?

-Are marathons usually one straight run from one place to another?  It seems that it would be much easier if it was a big circle that took you back to your car.  Am I going to have to get on a shuttle bus with a bunch of smelly runners?

-It takes place on a Sunday.  Will I need to take that Monday off?

So, I said that I had TWO announcements.  What's the other? I am proud to announce that my wife is pregnant!  Obviously, this provides me with further motivation to get healthy, not return to smoking, and keep training for the half-marathon!  If all goes according to schedule, our child will be about a month old at the time of my run!  I'm certain that there will be plenty of interesting blogs to come as I get closer to fatherhood!  

Why do I never listen to people?

I should have predicted this.  It was silly of me not to have understood this right from the start.  The title to my first blog says it all and I missed it!  The biggest obstacle to me training and completing a half marathon is not my black, tar filled, smoker lungs.  It's my own stupidity!    Let me explain.  I hate shopping.  When it comes to going shopping for things, I always look to get in and out of the store quickly.  So, when I went to buy my new running shoes, I was looking to make it a quick trip.  I knew the brand that I wanted and was hoping to just find a reasonably priced pair.  My desire to take care of this quickly provides further evidence that I'm a dumbass. 
                 
                   By the way, the more I write this blog, the
                   more I feel like I should change the
                   name to "Evidence of Michael's Stupidity"
                   or something along those lines.

So, I went to one store, found a nice pair of running shoes, tried on the right foot, took a few steps, looked at the price, and said "I'll take them!"  I was done and off to enjoy the rest of my day.  Why is this a problem? It turns out that as I've tried to get back to running, the shoes have been hurting my feet!  Why didn't I listen to all the people that told me to go to a specialty store, talk to someone, let them help me find out the right pair of shoes for me.  Instead, I decided to take the easy path.  I'm sure I bought a pair that is made for people that have a certain type of arch to their foot or run a certain way that doesn't fit my style. 

So, the progress of my training has really hit a wall.  I've only been able to get up to running about a mile and a half.  Once I hit that point, the arch to my foot starts to hurt and I have to stop.  I will have to finally listen to the smart people who recommended talking to someone about the type of shoes to buy.

The bigger issue is, how do I prevent my dumbassedness from getting in the way of my goal? 

Was my return to running a failure?

There is good news and bad news about my return to running ATQNIA fans (yes, I'm trying out an acronym for my blog...didn't feel right, but i had to give it a shot).  So, if you have read this far you know that I stopped my training for the half-marathon because I was feeling some pain.  It didn't feel right and the wisdom of the internet told me it might be a stress fracture.  Well, the good news is that I don't have stress fracture.  I did a two mile run on Sunday and did not experience any pain in my shins.  Did the two weeks off help?  Probably...I've been pretty motivated regarding my training and probably over did it.  (I just re-read that sentence and can not believe that I would be highly motivated for anything!)  I also think that buying new running shoes helped. The internet, ok...and my wife both said that you should not run on worn out sneakers.  Well, the running shoes that I was wearing were about 2.5 years old.  The were great Nike sneakers and I wore them all the time.  I guess I was trying to avoid spending the money on new ones for as long as I could.  Thankfully, I have a brand new pair of Nike Air Max Moto+ 8's and got them for a decent price.  I guess I should listen to the internet (and my wife) more often.

Did I feel as if I could run faster like when I was younger and got a new pair of sneakers?? Unfortnately not, which brings us to the bad news.  Taking two weeks off really set me back!  It was a challenge to run those two miles.  Adding to my discouragement is the fact that I do need to try to pace myself with the training so I don't get injured.  I felt like I was making good progress.  I guess I will have to start from the beginning.

On a more positive note, as I was trying to suffer through the two miles, I realized that my training and eventual attempt at a half-marathon needs a slogan.  Something funny...witty....and something that could fit on a t-shirt.  I'm going to devote some brainpower to the idea...but if anyone has any ideas send them my way!  

What did two weeks off from running do to me? Will I survive my first run?

In order to prevent further injury, I took the past two weeks off from running.  It was hard to do, but I was worried that I had a stress fracture.  If I do have a stress fracture, that could cause serious problems in my plan to run the half marathon in September.  They recommend a bunch of rest to allow time for stress fractures to heal.  So, during my rest, what happened?  A few things.  I gained back about 4.5 of the 7.5 pounds that I had lost.  I ate alot of junk during my time off (by the way, if anyone has any easy, healthy recipes send me an email!).  Obviously, regaining the weight made the beginning of my two pack disappear. 
On the positive side, I still have not had a cigarette.

I am about to go do my first run in two weeks.  I think I'll try to do two miles.  I'm a little nervous about the test run.  If I still have pain in my shin, it could mean that I have to take more time off.  It could also force me to actually go to the doctor.  That is the last thing that I want!  I'll post the results of my run in a bit!  Cross your fingers!!!     

How are stress fractures similar to the legalization of marijuana?

In my work, many adolescents tell me that marijuana should be legalized and the drinking age should be lowered.  They are stocked with all sorts of arguments supporting their opinion, some good, some not so good.  They tell me, "Mike, if I can join the army and die for my country, why can't I have a beer when I'm 18?"  Or, "Mike, this Internet study found that marijuana has more Vitamin D than a glass of milk!"  The argument that I never gave much credit to was the idea that when you tell someone they can't do something, it makes them want to do it even more.  I'm starting to think their might be some truth in that.  Let me explain.

I was running on Monday night.  Just trying to do a quick run, probably 2-3 miles.  About half a mile in, I started to feel some pain in my shin.  I had experienced some pain in that area during other runs.  In the past, it eventually went away as I got warmed up.  But this pain wasn't going away and the run just didn't feel right.  So, after a mile, I stopped and started looking for answers on the Internet.
                    
                I should pause this story and tell you that I am the
                last person that should be looking up any medical
                information on the Internet.  I can easily convince
                myself that I have anything if I read about it online. 
                Watch...I have a cough, a cough is a symptom of
                malaria. Oh my God! Do I have malaria?! See how
                easy that is!

Based on what I found online, there could be several explanations for the pain I experienced.  Shin splints (or tibial stress syndrome) can be the result of several things.  Irritated muscles (caused by overuse or increasing a workout before you are ready), flat feet (the impact of your step leads to stretching and pulling of muscles), or stress fractures (tiny breaks in the bones) can all lead to the pain I'm having.  The suggested treatment for these issues is rest.  So, that's what I've done (I'm going to give running a try in few days...I'll let you know how it goes).

Rest shouldn't be a problem right?  After all, I am an expert at sitting on my couch watching TV. I excelled at being lazy for years!  But for some reason, it has been very difficult for me not to run this week.  I found myself dying to get on the treadmill.  Maybe it's concern that this setback will prevent me from reaching my goal.  (which is true...I am very worried about what this may due to my schedule of training) Or maybe it's just knowing that I can't run right now!  My brain knows that if I try to run, I could hurt myself worse...but a huge part of me just wants to get on that treadmill anyway.  It's just like an adolescent who knows drugs are bad for them but they want to try them anyway!! 

Does this mean that I am now in favor of the legalization of marijuana and other drugs? Am I going to take my arguments to Washington and become a lobbyist in favor of lowering the drinking age?  Do I really think that legalizing drugs will make kids less likely to try them?  No, of course not. And there are many other excellent reasons for not legalizing drugs or lowering the drinking age.   However, this setback has helped me understand that sometimes when people are told they can't do something, it makes the urge to do it stronger.  That knowledge will help me make sure I complete my goal of running a half-marathon.  Doubters be damned! 

By the way, I do think it's funny that if I was in California, I could probably convince a doctor to give me a prescription for marijuana to treat my shin splints.  Runners in California have it so easy!