Medical Monday

   The day before yesterday was Medical Monday (yes, I enjoy alliteration as much as the next blogger) and I found myself headed off to do bloodwork, get x-rays done of my problematic right knee and then, to top it off, set up an appointment for a physio assessment for that same right knee. Then, after all that was completed, it was off to the gym for a workout!
   I went about all of this with a little bit of glee in my heart. Part of this had something to do with the fact that it was finally a sunny day. Sunshine's been scarce in these parts and to once again experience it was a true mood-elevator. Principally, though, I was happy because I was actually doing something.

There's the bastard. On the left. YOUR left.

   My knee has stopped me dead in the tracks from doing many of the things I'd like to be able to do, training-wise. I have this desire to be training for running sprints and a right knee that will allow me to hike and run through a forest but will not enable me to run full-out is stifling. Even attempting a swift jog a couple of weeks ago gave me grief for several days afterward. So, setting in motion some of the things I need to do to finally deal with this situation was a welcome change to limping around and feeling sorry for myself.
   

It seems as though I may have touched down gently...

Today, my doctor's office called and informed me that the x-rays of the knee were normal. Now, my knee is certainly not "normal" but the fact that the x-rays did not indicate anything structurally wrong was encouraging. The best part about this result, though, is that it kind of rules out arthritis as a major contributor. I was kind of worried about this, I have no qualms in stating. This also allows me to meet my physiotherapist next week and tell her that I'm already this far into the investigation and what the results were.

Is there no end to my dirty
right knee pics??

   Having said all this, today the knee doesn't feel all that bad. This has been the trap I've fallen into ever since I injured it last spring. The knee will give me tons of grief but then gradually start to feel better, at which point I think I'm healing all by myself, so I don't get the medical attention I probably need. This was the cycle I was on all last summer and fall. In fact, the knee did heal enough that I was able to run on the trails and gradually increase the mileage. I enjoyed all that but now I want to run fast and the knee won't let me.
   Today, one of my co-workers (one who actually follows this blog) asked me if I had hooked up with physio yet. I told her I had and where it was and she herself had been a patient there and said they were very good. This was encouraging and I will go there next Medical Monday and let them do their magic!

   

"I Come Bearing Bad Knees"

   I had my semi-yearly physical earlier on this week. My priority at the moment is to figure out exactly what is going with my bum right knee. I hurt it last April and, even though I've managed to do a ton of running and hiking in the interim, there is still a nagging pain that won't go away.
   As it happened, I didn't actually get to see my regular doctor because there was an intern (not the right word) who is currently assigned to my doctor's office. He seemed like a very bright young man, though, and I was happy with the visit. He did the usual check-up things and then we settled in to talking about my knee.

My bum right knee, in a better (albeit dirtier and bloodier) day!

   He went through a range of motion test, pressed it here and there and discovered the 2 or 3 sore spots. After all was said and done, he was of the opinion that arthritis was involved and gave me a Rx for an x-ray and physio. I could have seen a physio when I first got hurt but the knee always seemed to be on the mend and so I never ended going. This time, though, it's physio for sure.
   I am not sure about the arthritis thing. I'm certainly at the age when arthritis enters the conversation but, at the same time, I know my body pretty well and it's not that the knee is constantly sore, it's that the knee feels like it's gonna give out now and then. The x-ray, I guess, should at least be definitive on the whole arthritis thing. After that, we'll go from there. I did ask about the possibility of getting an MRI but this is complicated a little by an almost 65-year-old chunk of metal in my brain. No real desire to have metal fly out of my head and clamp on to an MRI machine!
   The worst part about all of this is that I've temporarily shut down any kind of a workout that affects the knees. I've actually been pretty good about getting to the gym regularly but I've necessarily avoided doing leg work because it just aggravates everything. Kind of pisses me off because I'd just joined Ontario Masters Athletics with a view to running some sprints and, right at the moment, I can't sprint!
   So, likely this coming Monday I'll get in for that x-ray and there happens to be a physio place in the same building so I may stop in there as well. Maybe even get some bloodwork done cuz they do that there, too!
   The joy of it all....

White Blazes And A Tiny Bit Of Running

   This past Wednesday, I decided to go for a bit of a hike and, because I had not run in about two months, a short run as well.
   For the past while, my problematic right knee has kept me from running and, just when I thought I might be able to run again, I've aggravated the injury so...no running. Wednesday, however, seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a bit of a go.
   Instead of my hiking boots, I wore my trail-running shoes and headed into the woods right near our house. From here it was a short hop into Warbler Woods and, once out of Warbler, I was headed for Kains Woods, less than a kilometer away.
   My plan was to take the tunnel under Commissioners Road and then on to Oxford Street, down toward the Oxford Street bridge and then on to the Kains Woods entrance near the bridge.
   As I left Warbler and headed up the street toward the tunnel entry I noticed, for the very first time, the white blazes which mark the Thames Valley Trail (TVT). The TVT is a system of trails which you can follow from just southwest of London, through London, and then on north to St Mary's. There is already a system of trails here in London's environmentally significant areas (ESAs) and, as it passes through London, the TVT overlaps many of those systems. Because of this, I am quite familiar with the portions of the TVT inside London. 
   The ESA trails are marked with yellow blazes so, in the forested areas which also house the TVT, the white and yellow blazes are posted together on the same trees. This I'm used to. What I was noticing (somehow or other for the first time) on Wednesday, though, were all the TVT white blazes along the urban streets and pathways. Although I already knew where I was going, I decided to follow the blazes, almost as if I didn't, as if I were seeing them for the first time.

The first trail marker as you leave Warbler Woods. The top blaze
being offset to the left indicates you need to head left.

The next marker you come to has the top blaze offset to the right,
indicating a right turn up at the end of that row of houses.

That right turn takes you into the tunnel, also marked by a white
blaze, which then takes you past a collection pond and up to...

...Oxford Street, headed east toward the bridge.

Down by the bridge is another slightly offset blaze
which directs you down and...

...under the Oxford Street bridge. Note the white
blaze on the bridge's under-structure.

After passing under the bridge, you scramble up the other
side and come across another marker. This marker is for
hikers going in either direction. For me, it
        meant a turn to the right and up the hill and into Kains Woods    

   Once into Kains Woods, I decided I would wait for a less technical part of the trail in order to test out the actual running. I went up and down some gullies and ravines and then I decided to try a slow trot. The right knee had been feeling pretty strong lately and I had actually tested it a few times by running across rooms and things and it had given me no problems. Occasionally, though, just walking around, I would get it into a funny position and it would give me a good jolt. I also knew that trail-running gets your legs and knees into "funny positions" sometimes, so I had a little trepidation. 
   Well, I guess I shouldn't have been worried. The knee held up just fine and didn't feel really any different than the last time I was able to run regularly. My plan was to run for only a kilometer and I stuck to that, feeling good about how the little experiment had gone. All in all, I hiked 11K and ran 1K.
   I think I did, however, overdo it. My knee for the next few days was toast, and any little misstep caused great pain. I believe that this was as much from all the extra walking as the little bit of running so I may do things differently the next time. After four days of rest it is only now starting to feel good once more. Lesson learned I guess!
   But, man, it felt good to run through the forest again....









   

                   

   

    
   

   

Random Thoughts

  I haven't run in well over a month. The first couple of weeks of that time period were taken up with healing a strained back. The rest of the time I have not run for no reason whatsoever, I just haven't.
   I've had plenty of opportunities to get out there but I've managed to rationalize my way out of all of them. Occasionally the weather's been iffy but even when it's been perfect I still don't run.
   Because I'm not running, the pounds are slowly creeping on, as well. I think I was up to 232 the other night.....
   Okay, no real running to blog about so I think I'm going to toss a few random thoughts out there!

1. Watching skinny people run by

   We've all seen them, their lithe bodies effortlessly gliding along the road or sidewalk, breathing easily, looking like they weigh about as much as your leg. What I would really like to do sometime is run up alongside one of them and give them a fifty pound back of cement to carry, just to even out the weight differential!

2. Being able to lose weight easily

   Knowing you can lose weight reasonably quickly and easily is a dangerous thing sometimes! Pretty well anything you want to will go in your mouth if you know that you're not going to have a problem shrinking it away later on. I actually got giddy once when I stepped on the scale and had maxed out at 235 (the heaviest I've been in years) because of the fun I was going to have losing it all again. Which is okay if that's what you actually do...

3. Falling off the vegetarian wagon

   I managed to maintain a vegetarian diet for about four months late last summer and early autumn. I was eating lots of vegetables and running consistently and actually feeling pretty good. But I was sad! It wasn't that I was craving the meat so much it was that I had somehow abandoned an important and enjoyable part of my life for what a lot of people likely thought was no good reason. It affected me in social situations where I had to be the one different guy, the guy other people had to out of their way to accommodate. When Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around I desperately needed to be a part of what my family was doing and that's when I fell off the wagon, huge. And when that happened, I wanted every kind of meat there was, seemingly! This does disturb me, I hate the fact that animals suffer so that I can be fed food I don't need to be fed. Grrr

4. I think I'm supposed to be a sprinter instead

   Intellectually, I like to think of myself as a distance runner. My gut feeling, though, is that I just want to run fast, for about a hundred meters at a time. Any sport I've ever played has always involved short bursts of speed with an accompanying recovery time before the next burst. I have always kind of lived for this. In my twenties, on the football field, I was the guy you were going to need to make allowances for if you were going to cover me. In my sixties, on the ball hockey floor, I'm the guy who you're going to need to work a lot harder at running past than you thought, if, indeed, you can run past me...

5. I need to run in the mountains 

   I follow a lot of bloggers from out in western Canada and get to see a lot of pics of people running through forests, on mountains. I was born out west and it kind of eats me up watching runners do this. There is something about forest trails!

6. I am kind of a beast (for short periods)

   Yes, I'm a slow distance runner, at least right at the moment. I'm big and heavy but I have legs that get me where I want to go and, occasionally, they get me there quickly. This is no mean feat and sometimes they amaze me!

*******************************************************

   So there you have it, a short post of mainly random thoughts, a couple of which might have something to do with running!

Some goodbyes, some veggies, some shoes, some dogs, and some thank-you's!

   It is with some shock, regret and horror that I notice I have not blogged on this page in over two months! And I call myself a runblogger?!
   I will attempt to recap the last couple of months.
   One of the principal reasons for runbloggers to cease runblogging is that they might also have ceased running. No running leads to no running to write about. For a large chunk of the past two months this has been my sad story. It's not that there was absolutely no running, but the running that actually did happen was so poorly thought out and sporadic that it didn't seem like it was even happening, really. Definitely a case of lost mojo!
  So why did this happen?
   For a variety of reasons, I seem to run less in the summer. This is partly due to the heat and humidity here in London but also as much to do with the fact there seems to be so much else to do. This particular summer, our property has been undergoing a major overhaul and sometimes at the end of a long day slogging away in the garden or building a walkway the running seems to take a back seat. All of this means less running and therefore less runblogging.
   When I say my mojo's gone, I mean it's almost as if it never existed. My last blog post was a recap of the Summer Night 5K race and what I didn't mention in that post was that when I checked the race results I almost came in last. When I crossed the finish line, my feeling at the time was there was a handful of people behind me but, in fact, I was only ahead of one person! Getting pumped for an upcoming race always helps with the mojo but when you're looking at the prospect of possibly being last in the field, it's a little more difficult to let the mojo do its thing.
   One of the surest signs you've lost your mojo happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was paid and registered to run the 5K in the Springbank Road Races here in London. I picked up my race packet the night before and set everything out before I went to bed. The alarm clock went off in the morning at the right time and I rolled over in bed and didn't bother to go to the race! I just didn't feel like it. I live, literally, five minutes away from the start line and I couldn't force myself to get up and go. And I didn't even feel really all that bad about it. Yes, the mojo was shot. Totally. Gone.
   One of the positive things which has happened in the last couple of months is that I've given up eating meat. I'd been thinking about seriously doing this for the last couple of years and it all seemed to fall into place about a month and a half ago. Essentially, it bothered me that an animal had to die in order to provide me with an unnecessary pleasurable eating experience. I've also been exposed to a whole series of pics of delicious-looking vegetarian meals and this has certainly been an eye-opener as well (thank you, Crystal!)
   This "vegetarian" thing, not surprisingly, has been a whole new learning experience! Mainly, it has introduced me to tofu and a bunch of products which are made from it. I'm pretty sure I've experienced tofu snuck into my Thai food occasionally but this has been my first experience with the original undisguised product. Some things are good and others have already been crossed off my list. One of the good things, though, is that the family has always had some kind of veggie with our meals so the only thing I need to do is complement whatever they're having with a bit of protein of my own. So far so good!


   I am also now a little more into the running on a regular basis. The combination of running and eating more veggies these days has led to about a 6 pound weight loss. All of this combined has me finally running a 5K in slightly less than 40 minutes.This, of course, is ridiculously slow but, at the same time, I haven't been able to run 5K in less than 40 minutes for the better part of a year now. Finally getting under that is huge, mojo-wise.

Inching my way down there.

   So I have been running three times a week regularly for the last three or four weeks. What I've been finding in my march toward getting under that magical forty minute mark is that I've been able to trim about twenty to thirty seconds off of each successive run. Basically, I've looked at the previous run and anywhere I walked in that run I've at least tried to run slowly in the next. Any time I ran slowly one day, I try to run a little faster for that same section the next time out. For sections where I was already running pretty free and easy, I tried to ramp things up a bit. So far, it's working!

Hooray!

   New kicks make this all the more fun! About three weeks ago I picked up a pair of Saucony Ride 8's. I managed to find an elusive Running Room gift certificate and this was all the encouragement I required to go pick up a new pair. They feel awesome---light and cushiony and pretty neutral so the running's good!

Damn!

   While I was at it, thought I'd go to the nearest Talize store (good quality second-hand) and pick up a few shirts. I picked up a red tech shirt specifically for running and particularly so that it would sort of "match" the new shoes. I went out for a run the next day and was feeling awesome in all my new stuff and was looking forward to cutting another thirty or so seconds off when the unexpected happened. As I was running past a young couple and their two dogs, suddenly their beagle leaped up at me and put a paw right through my "new" shirt! Big hole! Now, generally people move their dogs out of the way when they see me coming and I do my part by taking a wider route around than normal but this time we both got a little too close and I think I was a little off my guard due to the relatively small size of both dogs. But never again! The lady with the beagle was very apologetic and if it had been a brand new shirt instead of a previously worn one we may have carried the discussion a little further. To top it all off, this completely destroyed my rhythm and desire to finish the run that day and I basically walked the last kilometer. Bummer.
   Finally, part of what has prompted me to get back into running a little more regularly is that a couple of people I know have just run their very first 5K races and have been awesome at it. One of my co-workers, Tricia, ran her first race and did it in about 35 minutes and the other gentleman, Nacer, is the husband of a runblogger I follow down in Ohio and he ran his in about 28 minutes! Both are times I would die for. So thanks, Tricia and Nacer (and my sis-in-law, Sabrina, for a little bit of a campfire pep talk), for the extra smidgeon of inspiration and motivation! It helps!
   Okay, so for the most part, you are all caught up. I'm trying real hard to get out there at least three times a week. The mojo seems to be slowly seeping back in. Currently there are no races in the forecast. There was a Hallowe'en race scheduled but it now looks as though I will be out of town that weekend. This means the racing is likely done for the season and I will re-approach it in the spring. This is quite fine with me and will give me the winter to build up to a fully-replenished mojo level.
   In the meantime, safe and happy running to you all! And I promise to visit a little more often!
   
    

Hellacious Hills

   In my last post, I sort of described why I hadn't been either doing much running or blogging about it. Due to the sudden insertion of ball hockey into my life, the legs lately just haven't had the oomph required to get me out there.

Entrance to Warbler Woods

   This does not mean, though, that I have been at home simply sitting on my butt. A couple of times lately I have headed out for long walks through nearby Warbler Woods, in an effort to keep the legs moving and, perhaps even more importantly, enjoy the arrival of Spring! Yay! We're now at the point where things have actually dried up enough to make a walk through the woods an enjoyable experience. This time of year, as well, the leaves haven't blossomed yet and you can see deep into the forest, which is kind of cool.
   On these trips, I began by following the same path I take when I'm on a run. I leave my house and am at the woods in about a kilometer. There's a two kilometer stretch through the woods, I come out on the other side and then another two kilometers on pavement to get back to my place.
   I changed things up a bit though the last two times by foregoing the the final 2K on pavement and simply darting back into the woods after I popped out of them and taking a different route back through.

SNAKE! (upper right-hand corner...)

 
   Okay, this different route back through is hellacious. Warbler Woods is somewhat bowl-shaped insofar as you go down into them and climb back up out of them. My normal route has me encountering one really nasty hill but then I end up running around the upper rim of the bowl without descending into its depths. Going down into the depths brings you face-to-face with at least six hellacious hills, all of which are even more hellacious than the one hellacious hill I was already (kinda) used to.
   I was exhausted several times and, mind you, I was just walking. I can't imagine running these things. They were all pretty well straight up with bendy curves in them and it wasn't even all that easy going down the backsides of them, due to their steepness.
   

A fine example of a Carolinian forest!!

These woods are quite popular with hikers and casual walkers but I couldn't help but think that there should be some sort of disclaimer posted at the entrance, indicating the degree of difficulty. Or maybe it's just me...
    I remember thinking a couple of times at the summit of the latest hill that I was just as winded as if I'd been running. At the time, I thought of this as a good thing, figured I was at least out there getting exercise if I wasn't actually running.
   Also, the first time I did this new route, I stopped several times to rest. The second time, I vowed I would just plow on through, which is what I did.

Part of the trail

   Toward the end of my second walk, things started to catch up to me. At one point, I snagged my toe on a root as I was descending one of these hills. Nothing major that wouldn't normally have been handled by a bit of a hop and a skip but I discovered my legs would not do that hop and a skip for me. It seemed like the legs would not bend at the knee and all of the sudden it felt like I was walking on stilts instead of legs and I envisioned tumbling head first onto the trail and just rolling and rolling and...but I caught myself, thank goodness. It was then that I started to realize the toll all this ball hockey and walking had taken on my legs! I managed to get out of the forest the second time and was left with about a kilometer on

Bit of a boardwalk through
the boggier portions.

pavement to get me back home. Walking on flat pavement was not an issue, it seemed. Back at home, though, I was faced with the four steps of my wooden porch. Normally, I can spring up them. Not the other day. I pretty well needed to crawl up them and afterwards, sitting on the newly-conquered porch, I resolved to give my legs a couple of days off. No running, no ball hockey, no walking. I compromised a little by doing some yardwork the following day but even that was not pretty.
   In the midst of all this, I was ironically invited to do a squat challenge, by Crystal, intrepid leader of the Canuck Running Bloggers. Ha ha ha, I can't even really sit on the toilet or get dressed properly, let alone do a squat challenge!! Did I mention that I think I might have overdone it??
   I am pretty sure that I will return to these Hellacious Hills, however. It occurred to me as I was walking them that they would be perfect for hill repeats. They're evenly spaced enough that recovery time would be accommodated and they're different from each other, so you wouldn't get bored either! If you survived... 

What I've Been Up To!

   Okay, my stats are WAY, way down and my blog is rife with referrer spam so I guess this means I haven't been posting regularly...??
   Well, I haven't been posting because I haven't been running. And I haven't been running because...well...I've been running. My ass off, to be more specific!
   I finally managed to land myself on a ball hockey team for the first time in the last two and a half years. This means I've been spending the last two weeks chasing twenty- and thirty-somethings (did I mention that I'm sixty-two?) around a rink, twisting and turning, stopping and starting, diving, kneeling, blocking shots and, generally, running into people. And my legs are paying for it!
   Before, when I wasn't playing, it was quite easy to schedule my running and run as much as I wanted, when I wanted. Not so anymore. 

Yes, I play for the Outlaws. Cuz I'm badass.

   Right at the moment, I am on someone else's schedule and I run whenever I have to, not whenever I want to. This means that the kind of running I generally blog about has taken quite the hit, so much so that I can't even really remember the last time I did run any kind of distance.
   There have been days when I thought I maybe should have been out there on a run but my legs were so sore that I simply couldn't imagine doing so. And so I didn't. By the time maybe a couple of days had passed and my legs were feeling better then the next ball hockey game rolled around. So I didn't run. Again.
   I'm hoping and believing that eventually the running and the ball hockey will sort themselves out, once my body becomes more accustomed to the new routine. It would actually be interesting to try and compute just how many kilometers I might actually be running when I play ball hockey. Who knows, maybe I actually run farther!
   

My Right Foot

   A little over three weeks ago, I went on a 12K run. This was part of my plan to gradually increase the length of my weekend long runs.
   Prior to that run, I had not had any issues with the gradual increase. After that run, however, my ankle hurt like hell. Occasionally.
   It didn't hurt to walk or stand, for the most part. Once in awhile, though, a slight weight shift on that foot would cause extreme pain, enough to almost make me fall over. The sensation was that the ankle was actually giving out on me. It gave out on me once as I was walking down a short flight of stairs and I basically fell down the last two steps. I have had people standing beside me and when I turned to talk to them my ankle gave out and I almost fell over them. I have startled people by yelping as we pass each other.
   The overall feeling was that I'd lost all elasticity in the foot and ankle and that I no longer had the same range of motion available to me.
   It could very well be that I simply overdid it while trying to increase the mileage. I generally wasn't running any farther than 5K during the week and then, on the weekends, I was more than doubling that and this might not have been the best approach. In retrospect, I might have been better off to also slightly increase the mileage during the week as well---nothing earth-shattering, just toss in a few 7 and 8k's now and then.

Blogging and heating my foot
on a Himalayan salt  de-toxifier! If
it works, I'll let you know!

   This past Saturday, exactly three weeks after that 12K run, I hit the road again. For the last few days the ankle has been feeling as normal as it ever does and I thought I should probably test the waters again.
   Initially, the discomfort I felt running was actually in my right knee. The knee has been taking a little extra abuse as I have been favouring the ankle so much for the last three weeks. It got to the point that when I was walking up steps, I would need to angle the ankle off to the right a little so that it was not taking all my weight straight on. This then put extra stress on my right knee. Hence the pain I was feeling at the beginning of my run.
   The knee pain only lasted until I got warmed up and then it disappeared. I really only wanted to test things so I limited my run to 3K. This seemed like an absurdly low mileage for a run but, as I mentioned, I just wanted to do a little wading. The rest of the run, thankfully, was business as usual.
   On Sunday, the ankle didn't feel too bad, going up and down stairs wasn't nearly as problematic as it had been and I was feeling quite relieved. Sunday night, however, I made the mistake at my brother-in-law's place of walking up the hill that is his driveway. I had the option of using steps but ended up taking the hilly route instead. I found this almost impossible. My right ankle would not allow me to roll up the incline in any kind of normal way. This was extremely disheartening, as I felt I'd been making progress up to that point.
   The following day, the ankle ached so much I couldn't even gently do a calf or ankle stretch. Today, it feels a little better.
   Now, every time I yelp, moan, groan or take the stairs on my hands and knees, my wife gives me the so when is your doctor's appointment kind of query or look. I can't really blame her and I am struggling mightily with the whole should I or shouldn't I thing, as far as medical help is concerned. My feeling is that rest will do the trick (because it generally does) and if I could just stay off it long enough it might fix itself. It's just that this is the worst my ankle has ever felt and there's no telling how long it might take to rest it sufficiently.
   To further my anxiety, the lack of running in the last three and a half weeks, coupled with all the extra holiday sweets and meals and I've put on approximately 15 pounds, if you can believe it. I really count on the running compounded with healthier eating to lose the weight I think I need to. Thank goodness the holiday eats are almost over!
   In the meantime, a little more rest is in order and I'll probably wait til the ankle's felt "normal" for a few extra days before giving it another go. And when I do give it another go, it may just be walking!
   

How I Got To Where I Am This Very Minute

   I ran today for the first time in a long time. It's been so long that I can't actually remember when the last time was. I suppose I could dig out the Garmin and check back but the fact of the matter is that it's not coming to me right now.
   I should be able to go oh, yeah, I ran yesterday and that was a hard one or maybe even enjoyed the rest day after that long run on Tuesday but none of that is coming to me.
   I did go for a 10K walk last weekend and that was quite the workout but, prior to that, I don't remember any runs.
   What this all means, of course, is that I'm not running enough. And there's been no cross-training in the interim, either. If that's not bad enough, I've more or less abandoned my gluten-free lifestyle, giving me more access to more carbs more often. All of the above has simply been a recipe for disaster, of course, and my body's showing it.
   Last night, I had a perfectly good chicken dinner with fresh veggies. It filled me adequately but then, as I was passing through the kitchen, I noticed a cooked turkey burger sitting, unwanted, in a frying pan on the stove. It looked lonely so I ate it. And then felt awful afterwards.
   So now we can add "poor choices" to everything I've already told you about and you get a pretty good idea of the dire straits I'm in!
   

How to take a sidewalk and
turn it into a trail run. From
my run today.

Earlier on today, I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror (should they be outlawed?) and asked myself if it would be appropriate to do a "selfie", without my shirt on. Ostensibly, it would be the "before" pic and at some point (later and about twenty pounds less) I would post the "after" pic. Then I thought to myself but what if there's no "after" pic to show people. The "before" pic would simply become "the pic" and would just fester there in cyber space. My boobs also rival many women's and I understand there are obscenity guidelines....so no selfies today. You're welcome!

You lucky bastards!

   I ran 5K today in around 40 minutes, about as bad as it's been. My goal is eventually to get under 30. Last summer, I was running around 34 and 30 seemed reachable. Today, a sub-30 5K seems way, WAY off.
   But no big deal; because I can walk, it doesn't matter so much how the running's going and I know way too many people who can't walk. As far as tomorrow goes, I can certainly get out and run again---nothing can really stop me and, if I choose not to run, I can go to the gym and if I choose not go to the gym I can go for a long walk or if I choose not to do any of these things then I can sit here and soak in the world somehow!

Die, You Retic!

   Okay, that was really bad. The title of this post, I mean.
   Because I have absolutely NO running lately to blog about and yet still have this weird desire to call myself a Canuck Running Blogger, I offer up this short little effort about a subject I don't think I've actually seen addressed anywhere in regards to running.
   I take a diuretic on a regular basis (okay, does the post title make sense now?) as a component of another medication I take regularly which helps keep my blood pressure in check. Chances are I'll be taking this med long-term and it's already been several years with no real detrimental side effects I've been able to ascertain.
   It does, however, affect my running.
   Because I am a man and men are (occasionally) stupid, it has happened that I've forgotten to take this particular med from time to time. It's also happened that I've run out of it and time has elapsed before I've acquired more.
   Two years ago, shortly after I'd begun participating in the Running Room Learn-to-Run classes, I was running along a sidestreet in downtown London with the other members of the class and found I could barely breathe. We'd travelled all of half a block and I had the very real fear that I wasn't going to be able to complete the run. I couldn't remember ever feeling quite this way!
   I recall one of the co-leaders of the group realizing I was having difficulties and pulling up along side of me to offer support and advice. Nothing much she had to offer, though, did any good. I finally was able to complete the run but just barely.
   I am fairly self-analytical when it comes to most things sports- and health-related and found myself scratching my head about it all the way back in the car.
   When I got home, it dawned on me.
   About four days earlier, I had run out of meds. I'd called and re-ordered them but then life happened and I never managed to get back in and pick up my prescription. Essentially, the lack of diuretic in my system had filled me up with fluid to the point where my lungs were acting at much less than capacity.
   I might not have made that connection, however, had it not been for my experience with my Dad several months earlier.
   I had received a call from his pharmacy saying that my Dad was there to pick up his meds and that he was having a very difficult time catching his breath. I immediately went to investigate and discovered that he basically was unable to take any more than about ten halting steps before needing to rest and let his breathing catch up. I managed to get him to the nearest emergency department and they immediately began testing and bloodwork. To make a long story somewhat shorter, they discovered he was suffering from congestive heart failure and that his system was no longer able to properly handle the fluids in it. They pumped him full of heavy-duty diuretics and he immediately felt better and could breathe much more easily. Ever since then, I've been much more aware of the fluid levels in my system.
   Once I got "caught up" with my diuretic, life returned to normal, I've not had the same probs anymore (which is not to say that haven't been out of breath while running) and I pay much more attention to taking my meds appropriately.
   Having said that, I did just miss two days of the diuretic again (I'm a man...) and although I didn't experience any breathing difficulties (when you don't actually run, breathing's pretty easy) what I did notice is that I gained a couple of unexplained pounds. I do a pretty good job of explaining away weight losses and gains given how much food and/or exercise I've had so when a couple of pounds appear mysteriously I can usually blame forgetting my meds.
   To be clear here, I am in no way a medical person and I do not endorse diuretics as part of a weight-loss strategy! So far from it! I did want to offer just a little bit of my own insight into a possibly running-related health issue I've never heard anyone else bring up anywhere, so that if perhaps you were already on some kind of health regimen involving a diuretic and a similar situation as what I described above occurred, you might be able to put the pieces together a little more quickly! (whew, breathing hard after a long run-on sentence now!)
   So in the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all and I've gotta go pee now....