Fun. Run. Rest. Swim. Run. Shop. Snow. Shovel. Tendonitis

Ok, so I didnt post my update for the last week like I thought I would on Sunday (and now I have to remember what I did!).  It was a long week, interrupted by SNOW!!! sigh. Good ol' MN winter...

However there was something(s) pretty special: My daughter's 6th Birthday on Valentine's Day, and my 8th wedding anniversary on Feb. 15th! Check out some pics below:

The birthday girl! 6 and Sassy! (You have no idea!)

A house for her Zoobles. Dont ask.

Her little brother likes the cake too!

I did manage to get some gym time in, however despite the pain in my ass (see previous posts) but my leg was still bugging me.  I rested on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we had our TNT group run at Lake Como.  Now, its really dark by 6:30 here in MN and it was chilly!!!! A very brisk 30 with a strong wind that kept blowing (it was 52 and sunny earlier!).  It was a nice moonlit evening and the lake looked ethereal with the moonlight glowing on it.  Unfortunately, no pictures since I forgot my camera.  I managed to do 3 miles, but had some pain in my lower right calf (I ran/walked 3 miles). 


Now on Thursday I had my appointment with the sports chiropractor.  Ok, it was my first time ever at a chiropractor (I wanted to get some help with my hip and leg but the physical therapist I saw last year was booked til March).  A couple of coworkers recommended Accu-practic in Eagan, and off I went.  I was worried about quacks (the first chiropractor I called also did large animals....no joke) but Dr. Jenny Schulz put me at ease.  Despite her dimunitive size she was able to pop my SI joint back into place, and also work on that pain I was having using the Graston Technique, which at first looks like modern torture check it out:




She uses the steel instruments to run along your muscles to find and work out the knots, fibrous/scar tissue and to promote healing...it felt really weird, but I could feel her hit the knots.  Ouch. I am going back next week and hope I get better (fast forward, she thinks I have achilles tendonitis, so no running for me for awhile ):

The weekend was good, we had our TNT group workout at Run N' Fun and had an info session on shoes and gear.  What was really touching was our Mission moment (someone shares a reason/story why we are running and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Soceity)  by my friend Kristine (also co-worker AND TNT Head Walk Coach Extraordinaire!).  She is a 12 year Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) survivor, and what was so poignant was that February 19th was the anniversary of the date when she was diagnosed in 1999.  More importantly, the reason why she was still alive, her sister Michelle, who donated her own bone marrow to save Kristine's life was there training with her.

Krsitine was striking a pose in front of the shoes. 

Kimmi checking in all the runners/walkers

One of the owners talking to us about shoes and running clothes.

One of the many reasons why I love TNT and the mission of LLS!  We then ran 4 miles (well I did some people did 7+ by accidently following the wrong trail along Shephard Rd.)  It was cold. 18 degrees. Yes thats right I ran in 18 degree weather.  However, when done I got to do some shopping!  I got me a new run jacket and some socks (TNT got a 30% discount) wahoo!

Later in the day we had some friends visiting from North Dakota (one of my good friends from back home in NC that lives in ND with his wife Tracy) check our their blog http://ourmomentarylapseofreason.blogspot.com/
They traveled around the world for almost 2 years! They have some amazing stories and beautiful photos.  The took us out to dinner (thank you!) with the kids to Perkins (when you have kids they dictate where you eat lol and no we are not 50! I did drink some coffee there though).  It was nice, because it wasnt too loud and we got to talk and the kids behaved (thank you balloon guy for giving them something to play with while we talked).  They were going to stay, however we had snowmageddon #2 that was on its way so they headed back to Fargo instead.

And the snow cometh and it conquered...we had a grand total of 19 inches from Sunday til Monday night. S U C K S!  I will post some pictures of our 8ft+ snowdrifts at the end of our driveway.

Whew, ok I need to do that blog post daily not weekly!!!!  Stay tuned....

First Team in Training Group Run 2-12-11: Phreezing in Phalen

Well, after my week of having my feet hurt, and literally having a pain in the ass, it was time for the East Marathon Team's first group run!  I had meet at all my Team in Training friends and my mentees (yes that's right, I am mentoring people! To RUN! Amazing (: ) so I was excited despite the aches and pains. 
I was in charge of the water support, so I enlisted the aid of my lovely wife, and since her parents were visiting from Iowa, her dad, Larry, tagged along. 

My very nice and lovely wife signing TNT runners in

Maria's Dad Larry, and Val's husband Scott

The snow covered up the sign to turn on the road to Lake Phalen, so we went a little too far, but turned around and made it to our meeting spot.  It was a chilly 28 maybe 26 degrees ( or balmy they way our weather has been, take your pick) overcast day, but it wasn't snowing at least!  We had about 35 of the mentees show up, which was a great number that showed up!  Val, Run Coach Extraordinaire, gave a mission moment about a 18 yo girl who has been diagnosed 3 times with leukemia since the age of 17.  It underscored the fact that despite my complaining about the cold, we were out there to train for a reason, and this girl was one of those reasons.

We all headed out on our run, and I got a late start, but slowly ran around the lake meeting some TNT runners, shouting encouragement, and even stopped and spoke with a guy and his girlfriend, and told them that you might not think you can do the half-marathon, but you can have fun training for it with the Team.

I continued on, meet Kimmi, LLS Staff Extraordinaire, and was waved on home....kinda. Well, I didnt realize that I ran past the entrance to the trail and kept going til I realized I had passed by this one bridge before.  AND I HAD!  Because I was beyond the turnaround!  So I ran back and was finally finished.  I cant say it was effortless, but I can say that it felt really good to run again, despite my hip pain and in my calf.  I am ready for Wed. group practice, bring it on! 

Here are some pics of the mighty East Side Team:

A lot of happy faces after a 3-4 mile i

I like the dog!

Next post my swimming lessons!

The week in review - Time. Pain. Nerd. Old.

Ok, where to start?  How about some thoughts on this week:

First lets talk about time, or lack thereof.  This week I finally have felt better (no cough, no mucus, no drip!)  and I was determined to get back on schedule for training.  However, life as usual isnt so easy.  There are those other time demands that I need to realize that I have to work around. 

Monday was a Monday as usual, and I was aiming to break in my new shoes for the first TNT East Marathon group run (will be posted later), and what happens?  I get this excruciating pain on the inside of my foot after 5 min of running on the treadmill.  I tried to run through it (maybe its just the new shoes) but the pain continued, so I had to stop.  So I walked and tried to get a feel if the pain was decreasing, and after 5 min tried running again, and bam! Foot pain again.  Damn. So I took my aching feet back home, and thought perhaps its just the shoes (Side note: These were the Asics Gel Evolution 6, the new model for 2011.  I had previously ran wearing the Gel Evolution 4, and 5, which fit like a glove, with no pain). Also I had some pain flare up from my SI joint (an injury that occurred a year ago, apparently my SI (sacro-iliac) joint moves around and pinches my piriformis muscle, causing literally a sharp pain in my left buttock). Not good. I can wear a belt that holds my SI joint in place, so it is stable, guess I will be doing that this week. 

This works wonders, and its made in Minneapolis!

Tuesday I drilled baby drill! Well not looking for oil, but spent 30 min at the pool doing drills in the hopes that one day I will swim. My problem is relaxing in the water, I just tense up, and then instead of smoothly doing the strokes and repeat,  its like thrash, thrash, sink, sink.....but I keep working on it.

Wednesday was a big day (if you are a nerd, that is).  ITS JEOPARDY!  I took the online Jeopardy test, 50 questions, 15 seconds to type your answer online.  I had to wait almost 20 min in the queue (I watched Glee! with Maria while I counted down the minutes).  I thought I did pretty well, of the 50 questions I didnt know the answer to at least 7 of them, one was "this author came up with the characters of Jean Valjean and Javert..." I couldnt think of Victor Hugo to save my life! I was like Les Miserables! but a blank as to the author, until it dinged and I was out of time did I remember.  I'll keep you posted if I get called! (Maria thought I was the biggest nerd ever, but was impressed I knew the answers to the questions (: thanks honey!).

Your Mother Trabeck!

 
Thursday again was the return of the Foot Pain when I did my 3 miles on the treadmill.  I decided that I would go back to Run'n'Fun on Friday and ask about the shoes, and potentially maybe exchage for a different pair.

Hello FRIDAY! I did a workout on the eliptical and felt good, however I did wear my SI belt and it worked wonders for my pain in the ass.  After work I stopped by Run'n'Fun and did exchange my shoes and got last years Gel-Evolution 5's (tried and true, and they felt wonderful on my feet) and since I got money back, I used it to get a pair of Brooks running mittens. 

So challenges to work on:

1. Time, or really Time Management.  I need to learn how to juggle kids, work, training more efficiently.
2.  Doctor, heal thyself: Seriously, I literally have a pain in my ass, and I dont want it to get worse, so hopefully headed to the physical therapist next week (or chiropractor).
3. Getting Old:  no answer to that really, but I am certainly feeling my age!
4. Nerd:  no challenge there, I freely embrace my nerdyness.

Stay Tuned for my post on my first Team in Training Group run at Lake Phalen today.....tonight perhaps some more drills in the pool?

The Calm Before the Storm

The week in review.................I guess could be summed up as recovery. Recovery from a nasty cold (granted to me by my 15 month old son, Noah), then of course after the snot stopped flowing and the sneezes ceased, I get the dry hacking cough (a present from work) which lasted the rest of the week.  Needless to say I felt like this all week:


 Sigh.  The last 2 weeks I have been trying to get a jump start on training, which was a big fail.  Oh well.  However, on the triathlon training front, I did go to my swimming lesson for the week. And I'm a terrible swimmer, imagine that?  After having a near drowning experience when I was 10 (taking swimming lessons believe it or not, nearly drowned when I went in the deep end to tread water).  So, after that I wasn't too keen on swimming, I mean I never even got my Swimming merit badge as a Boy Scout, how sad is that?  So, I am trying to remedy the problem by taking classes til March through community education at our local middle school's pool.  So far, I think my main issue is that I need to relax in the water, and don't over think it.  So, I will keep you updated on the progress, because I am bound and determined to be able to swim my .25 miles in July.

So, why the calm before the storm as my blog post title? Well, starting tomorrow I will begin training for the Minneapolis Marathon (officially) with Team in Training!  Yesterday, February 5th was the Kick Off Party for the Spring Season at the Crown Plaza in Bloomington:

One of our Honorees; a 17yr old with Acute Promyelocytic  Leukemia, currently in remission

 

 

 

 

Paul, a Survivor and Captain of the Merrill Cycle Team

We had over 130 people sign up for our Spring Season!  This includes the Mpls Marathon, the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon, the Anchorage Marathon, Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, and South Maui Triathlon, and America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride.  All of these athletes (common everyday people like you and I) are dedicated to help find a cure for blood cancer.  Some are veterans of endurance sports, many are beginners and to help them there are people like me, mentors.  I have 8 mentees!  I hope to be there for them and aid them as best they can with fundraising and running.  Here are a couple of the great (and a little crazy) Tri mentors:

Ready to Tri!

At the end of the program, Courtney Spiegler, TNT Campaign Director Extraordinaire gave a rousing speech:

I do this for those who have gone before me, for those children, mothers, fathers, friends, loved ones who struggle with cancer. One step, one mile at a time you are my inspiration.  GO TEAM!!!!!!!