Medical Monday: Better Knee And Good Head!

   *giggle*
   Okay this is a Saturday but for the purposes of clearly delineating what this post is about and allowing the reader to either sit there, rapt, or move quickly on, I present to you another Medical Monday post! 
   I could almost have actually posted this on Monday but I really wanted to wait til at least Tuesday because that was the day I was getting the results of the excisional biopsy they did on my head three weeks ago. There was a spot on my left temple which an earlier punch biopsy had determined was squamous cell skin cancer. The excisional biopsy (a considerably larger removal of tissue around the affected area) determined that there were, indeed, no remaining cancer cells! So...basically...YAY! What I will have as a reminder of this procedure is about a 2 inch scar along my hairline (which will in the future be known as the "knife fight in the alley" scar!) I will now return to regular visits with my dermatologist and the adventures of The Old Man And The Sun will continue. I use a very light tone when talking about all this but, essentially, and as nice as it seems with its warmth and ability to gladden, the sun is a fucker....
   Now, back to my right knee.
   My physio appointments have ended and it is now my job to take care of and assess my knee on my own. It is quite clear to me that the knee is fine for hiking and trail-running, so that part is all good. What has not been so clear is whether the knee will hold up under the duress of sprinting and/or sports.
   

My taped right knee. I've learned how to tape
the knee so that the kneecap is tracking securely.

It was the nagging suspicion that it might break down while running full-out which took me to physio in the first place but I've had a hard time finding a way to test it comfortably. Some of this has been due to the weather, more of it has been due to the psychological barrier I've set up around possibly injuring it all over again.
   This past weekend, I decided to head to the nearest football field and try my damnedest to run hard on it. I wanted to run on grass---something has been telling me that if the knee gives out while I'm running my fastest on a hard track then I'm gonna be in much worse shape than if I'm on a soft, grassy surface.
   It sort of worked out okay.
   I headed to nearby St. Thomas Aquinas high school, slipped on a pair of football cleats, measured out about sixty metres, warmed up a little, and then tried running hard.

Where I ran--football filed at Thomas Aquinas

 
   The knee didn't give out and I was running faster than I'd run in the last two years. This was encouraging. There was no pain, just a nagging sensation that a part of my body was being asked to do something it had almost forgotten how to do. I am hoping that this sensation eventually goes away, with more training and practice. 
   However, I was not running at full speed. I was running very fast but not full speed and that is the remnant of the psychological barrier I was just describing. I have the funny feeling that I actually need to have a reason to run at full speed and I suspect this will only happen by getting re-involved in some kind of sports.
   Maybe ball hockey...
   Finally, to cap off the week that was, I made it out on to the Thames Valley Trail on Monday for a hike with my co-worker friend, Philip. Philip followed my last summer's tales of hiking the Trail end-to-end and was intrigued enough to purchase the guide book and also join the Thames Valley Trail Association. His plan is to do the trail as part of his Type 2 diabetes recovery so more power to him!
   

Philip's first visit to Kains Woods!

We met at the Kains Woods section of the trail, near the Oxford Street entrance, and left Philip's car there. We then drove to the other entrance off of Westdel Bourne and hiked the trail from there. It was pretty summery and an excellent day for hiking! We took a couple of water breaks and another break for munchies along the way. It was wonderful to see the very beginnings of the plant life starting to re-appear. It was also possible to see the aftermath of recent, almost historical, flooding in the area. Sections of Kains Woods go right through the Thames Valley flood plain and it was very clear that where we were walking was clearly underwater not all that long ago. The bases of the trees off to our right (the river was on our left) had piles of debris gathered around them, from where limbs, leaves and branches had been swept downstream and gotten caught. Quite the sight, really!

Piles of debris at the bases of trees!

   At the end of the hike, Philip seemed to have managed well and we agreed to get together again and hike another portion sometime soon. Looking forward to it!
   
   

Old Man Playing A Young Man's Game

   Yesterday was a run day.
   So I ran.
   My ass off.
   Up and down a warm, sweaty gym floor, chasing around (and being chased by) a bunch of young ball hockey players in their twenties and thirties, all of whom play pretty well every single week of the year. And not just running but stopping and starting, twisting, turning, reaching, sliding, and diving. Running forward, backward and sideways.

Not me last night, but me back last summer. I'm the player in red on
the far left, bending over to hopefully prevent a pass...

   I was there at the suggestion of Charles, a young ball hockey player I've known for a few years who runs a couple of different teams in the London Ball Hockey Association. I'd been asking around for the past few weeks in an attempt to find a team to play on this summer and it was Charles who got back to me. He runs a night of pick-up ball hockey Tuesdays at a secondary school here in London and he thought it might be kind of cool if I showed up and played. This, then, would give him an opportunity to see what kind of player I was.
   The results of the evening were kind of a mixed bag. It's always a bit of a challenge to play with and against a bunch of players you weren't familiar with and and it took me some time to find my way and feel comfortable. What happens is you find out which guys have "moves" and which guys have "shots" and you either cover them more closely (if they're on the other team) or you make sure you get them the ball (if they're on your team). 
   All of this I think I did well enough at. For the life of me, though, what I couldn't do was catch up to the damn ball on one-timers. A one-timer occurs when someone passes you the ball in a good scoring position and, rather than cradling it and moving around with it, you immediately fire it at the net without even stopping it first. And this I could not do, all night long. There were probably about six separate opportunities for me to take beautiful passes and convert them to dangerous shots on net and I flubbed every single one of them. I would take this energetic wind-up and then the pass would go right through me. Prior to the game starting, I knew it might take awhile for the hand/eye co-ordination to kick in and I was prepared to whiff on a few near the beginning, I just never expected it to last the whole game!

Once again, not last night but several summers ago.

   Today, I am as sore as hell. My back and legs have stiffened right up and my knees this morning barely supported me. It was my first day back at work after a 5-day Easter weekend and, as long as I more or less kept moving, things weren't all that bad. Sitting for twenty minutes at a Timmy's was probably not a good idea but the rest of the day was go, go, go and that really helped. The other thing that wasn't a good idea was sitting down for the length of time it took to write this blog post.....
   So it is likely that I will be back playing with the same group of guys next Tuesday. Prior to the game I'll need to do a little work on one-timers, that's for sure. As well, I think I'm going to need to change the running routine a little, these leisurely 5K's I've been doing as training runs don't quite cut it on the ball hockey floor!
   

Part of what motivates me

   Today marked the sixth day in a row I've either gone for a run or headed to the gym. Now, you need to understand that this is somewhat unheard of in my life. I've gone through periods where I've run on a pretty regular schedule but I've never really included any form of cross-training at the same time.
   New stuff always scares me a touch and when I decided on the run one day/cross-train the next schedule I was a little apprehensive as to my ability to keep at it. Most of the apprehension centred around the gym component--I've never been a gym-goer before and wasn't sure how I would like it.
   Well...I like it!
   Doralyn and I have been to the gym three days out of the last six and I have used her as a little bit of motivation to keep me going. There was once or twice when I looked over at her and asked, "So...we going to the gym today?" Her answer invariably was "Well, we really should, don't you think?" And then we go. If she had replied any differently, we might not have. So kudos to my cutie!
   At the Goodlife Fitness we attend, there is a double row of machines down the center of the gym floor which basically separates the cardio machines from the free weight area. These are the machines I use.
   They are part of what Goodlife calls its 20-Minute Fit Fix and are designed to very quickly run you through most of your major muscle groups. Right at the moment, this is what I'm mainly interested in. Particularly, I'm mostly interested in increasing my upper body strength. This has always been a bit of a weak point with me, especially when it comes to sports. My legs have always gotten me to where I needed to go with plenty of time to spare but, when I got there, I didn't have the upper body strength I needed to help complete the task at hand. Well, that's gonna change.


Me, on the ball hockey floor.

   One of my resolutions for the New Year is to get back to playing ball hockey, this along with a couple of other running ones. I've now gone a whole year without playing and I'm itching to get back at it. I haven't been playing primarily due to last year's bout of PF which has now healed forever (right?) and I can think of no reason not to play anymore. Part of the problem, though, is finding a team that's willing to take on a 61-year-old. I've been playing in a league of 20-and 30-year-olds and it's a bit of a hard sell; unless you have some history with a team, then its players kind of look at you and more or less write you off, at first glance. So I really need to be in better shape!
   As I mentioned above, I'm liking the gym. I'm liking it so much that I'm going to miss it tomorrow, due to it being a run day. Hmmm....could I possibly do both?

Inspiration

   I am at the point now where I look forward to my every-other-day 5K run. During the work week I run in the evenings and several times a day I remind myself that it's a "run night" and this gets me a little pepped up.
   As I'm walking down the driveway after my warm-up, however, I always find myself wondering how the hell am I going to be able to run the whole way tonight, I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Still, I manage to finish.
   Along the way, though, there are times when I want to stop. I really want to stop. Like a man in a desert, I can almost feel the cold, wet taste of it and I give myself every reason or excuse to do so. And then I remind myself about Rob.

Rob and his wheels

   Rob Buren is my brother-in-law and a little over four years ago he was involved in a mountain biking accident which left him a paraplegic. Rob had always been one of those driven, active kinds of guys and, as much as this type of injury would be devastating for anyone, it was particularly devastating for him.
   In the aftermath of all this, though, Rob showed a side of himself which was, well, amazing. And amazing, I think, is truly an understatement.
   As soon as he was able after the accident, he began rehab. This is obviously standard procedure for anyone and is designed to get a person to a point where they are able to perform hopefully acceptable daily living skills. Rob, however, took rehab to a whole new level.
   In much less time than it would have taken anyone else, Rob was out of the rehab hospital and tackling what he refers to as "the new normal". For him, this meant learning new ways to perform all the usual daily routines and simply getting around his re-modelled home. It meant getting back behind the wheel of his car, getting back to work and, even more importantly, getting back to raising a young family.

Rob, his handcycle and ever-present smile

   For many of us in a similar situation, this might have been sufficient. But this wasn't enough for Rob. He had a burning desire to continue doing all the things he enjoyed doing before the accident. So this is exactly what he did!

Rob, satisfying the "need for speed"!

   Whatever his legs were unable to do, his hands and arms now did. He found all manner of wheeled contraption that would get him back on forest trails and asphalt highway. He swam, he boated and, when the "need for speed" peaked, he hit Mosport and Calabogie. His beloved motorbike was modified so that he could leave people in his dust on that as well. To put an exclamation point on all of this, Rob and his wife Sabrina also now compete all over North America in half-marathons, marathons and triathlons.



Rob and Sabrina

   So Rob is who I think of when the urge to quit hits me while out there doing my 5K. I imagine all the countless times he must have wanted to quit. I also simply imagine the joy he would have to be back on his two feet again and running. I am out there for about forty minutes a run and if Rob was given just one forty minute session with which to run again it is unthinkable to me that he would consider for even a second stopping! The ability to walk and run (and a whole host of other physical and mental abilities) is a gift most of us truly take for granted. Rob knows how much of a gift it is and if he wouldn't stop in the middle of a run then why the hell should I? 

Head-down running

   I wrote a blog post in "Neanderings" fairly recently entitled "Head-down walking". It described my habit of only being concerned with the five feet directly ahead of me as I walked.
   My feeling on this was that it enabled me to be a little more contemplative as I was walking and not that concerned with what was going on around me.
   I have discovered that I run pretty well the same way. I'm not sure if I should be surprised about this or not, it kind of seems to make sense when you think about it. I do tend to look farther on ahead than five feet, simply because i am travelling at a higher rate of speed. Even at that I find I'm all of the sudden on top of people I really should have seen a lot sooner. No "tramplings" so far though!

Some one running with her head down

   There's a slightly different dynamic at work with head-down running, I find. One of the advantages of this style is that you tend to surprise yourself when you get there. You're not constantly looking way off in the distance and thinking to yourself how much pain you're going to have to go through before you get there. You just plug along, maybe looking at the leaves or the sidewalk cracks, thinking about life and then, before you know it, you're there. I guess it's a way of focusing on smaller parts of a run rather than the whole thing. This seems to work better for me.
   Unfortunately, it seems to go against what seems to be the prescribed way for running. Most experts will tell you to run with your head up, it promotes better posture and breathing as you run.
   I have tried running this way for short periods and find it just as disorienting as walking with your head up. I suspect that I am not a lost cause, though, and will likely flirt with paying a little less attention to that five feet just in front of me and maybe more to where I'm actually headed.

Ouch!!

Just SOME of the parts of me that hurt...

   Okay, yesterday I was all excited about running 5K for the first time. Today, all I want is the licence plate # of the truck that ran over me!
   I am at that age where I wake up pretty well every morning with some kind of ache or pain. I never jump out of bed, I slowly swing my legs out over the edge, make sure they've made full contact with the floor and then I slowly roll up into a standing position. From there, I test my ability to pivot to the right. Then come the first faltering steps. About halfway across the bedroom floor, I have a bit of an idea what my morning's going to be like.

That's my motto

   Part of my problem is that I still do things younger men are supposed to do. I play ball hockey with a bunch of younger studs and they quite often forget to respect their elders when it comes to the rougher aspects of the sport. I also have no problem with trying to block 100 mph shots and diving to make some sort of play. I just don't have that hey, take it easy, you're getting kind of old thought process totally ingrained yet. Around the house I quite often lift things I probably shouldn't be lifting. So aches and pains are not that uncommon.
   This morning, though, was a little uncommon in the discomfort department.
   Like I said, I felt like I had truck tire tread marks all over me. I don't normally feel quite this bad and about the only thing I could attribute it to was tacking on the extra 1K yesterday. That and possibly the fact that in the space of four days I'd run a 4K, played ball hockey and then had done another 5K.
   I am one of those people, thank goodness, who doesn't mind the pain too much in the morning. More than anything, it is an affirmation that, firstly, I am alive and, secondly, that my body is acknowledging that I have worked it hard. I appreciate the feedback, as weird as that may sound. I remember back in my teenager days, my friends and I would spend many a fall afternoon playing tackle football with no or very little equipment on and would then need to walk home with cuts, bruises and all manner of bloodied parts. Through all the limping, it felt wonderful! Yes, a little hard to explain...
   There have occasionally been real and actual hurts which stopped me right in my tracks.
   The first of these was a charley horse incurred playing one of the aforementioned games of neighbourhood tackle football. I got tackled and the guy's knee drove right into the side of my calf. It didn't particularly hurt at the time. When I stood up and tried taking a step, however, my leg buckled right under me. This one took forever to heal, the problem being that it didn't really hurt. Because it didn't hurt I kept aggravating it. This was my first and only charley horse and were I to receive another, I'm pretty sure I'd heal it a lot faster.
   Possibly the most serious injury I had was a badly sprained ankle with a hairline fracture. This was a ball hockey injury, stepped on a guy's stick blade and my foot hit the wall and turned right over. This one hurt and I nursed it quite a bit better than I did the previous injury. A handful of visits to the Fowler-Kennedy clinic here in London greatly helped the process and I would highly recommend them for injury treatment.
   Just as debilitating but not quite as long-lasting was a case of plantar fasciitis I had last summer. Once again, this was a ball hockey injury. This is an inflammation of the thick band of tissue which runs across the bottom of your foot, connecting your heel to your toes. It is extremely common with runners (I can hardly wait) and is characterized by a sharp pain in the heel area. The pain is particularly bad in the morning when you try walking on it the first time. Some relief is provided with anti-inflammatories, icing and stretching. Preventatively-speaking, what helped me the most was buying an over-the-counter orthotic which gave me more support in the arch area. So far, so good with the plantar fasciitis.
   The other condition I've suffered which is extremely debilitating was a suspected case of gout. This attacks your feet, especially the big toe, and is due to a buildup of uric acid. This causes essentially an arthritic condition in the joint of the big toe. This one hurts a lot. Frankly, it was easier to walk with a sprained and fractured ankle. It can be diagnosed symptomatically in conjunction with bloodwork. Once again, I found icing helped and my doctor has given me a NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) for the next time the symptoms hit. There apparently is a genetic aspect to gout and the little bit of research I've done indicates that red meat and asparagus in significant doses only exacerbates things.
   The last thing that stopped me running was the strained calf muscle I believe I mentioned in a previous post. I think this one could likely have been avoided with a more conscientious pre-run calf stretch. I've been careful to do this ever since that injury and it has not bothered me further.

This has nothing to do with me, not sure why I included it!

   So there you have it, a minor compendium of some of my running-related boo-boos and ow-ies. I read somewhere that if you are a runner then, at some point, you will be injured. Hopefully, every little injury serves to heighten your own body awareness so that, hopefully, the chances that you will incur the same injury in the future will either be eliminated or greatly lessened.
   Healthy running to you all!
  
  
  
  
  

5km !! (sort of by accident...)

   Today was yet another scheduled running day. The plan for today was to run 4K  and this is what I set out to do. It had warmed up a bit so it was kind of nice not having to wear any extra layers!
   I had still planned on taking a scheduled walk break about half way through but this time I didn't set the timer, I just remembered where I stopped the last time and figured I would simply try and run a little farther this time.
   This part was not a problem. I did get a little farther and then walked for about a minute. I wasn't really happy about walking for the minute but it was part of the plan so I stuck to it.

Where I am headed

   The last couple of times I've finished a 4K run, it seemed as though there was still a little left in the tank and I had been wondering those other times how much further I might actually be able to go. Today I decided that if I felt this way again I might just add another half K to the run.
   When I finished the 4K there was still a little left in the tank so I did tack on the extra half. While doing this, I then decided if there was still some gas at the end of it all I would simply add another half K and that would bring me up to 5K. Which is what happened! Coincidentally, 5K is the length of my target run right at the moment, so I was pretty excited (in a sweaty, tired sort of way)!
   The fact of the matter is that I could probably have kept on running. I would have been running with that what the hell do I do now mindset, though, and I like to plan things out a little more than that.

I may need this on December 31st!

   So at this point my expectations have changed just a little. I can only imagine that I will try and do another 5K with my next run on Monday and see how that goes. Running the 5K today kind of crept up on me and took me by surprise and the next time I might just not feel like it. We'll see!

Expectations/ Rationalizations

   In the first couple of months of the Learn-to-Run clinic I recently completed, the process involved starting with a combination of walking and running in timed intervals for a certain number of repetitions.
   Gradually, the ratio of running to walking increased so that, by the end, we were running for twenty minutes and walking for a minute about halfway. C0-incidentally, this had us running approximately 3K. This then took us all to our target race, the Gobbler Gallop 3K, here in London, which we all completed successfully.
   At this point the clinic was finished. In the meantime I have continued to run on my own and, at this point, am signed up for a 5K race on New Year's Eve.
   In any training run I have done, there have been scheduled and timed walking breaks. I had been wondering to myself, though, whether or not I might be able to run an entire 3K without stopping. I had a certain amount of trepidation around actually attempting this. I had had similar trepidation around every running increase during the clinic--I simply did not look forward to them and secretly wondered how well I'd be able to handle them.
   Putting my fears aside one evening, I set out to run a 3K without stopping.
   Piece of cake. I had no problem whatsoever completing the distance all in one go and had enough energy left at the end that I actually contemplated turning it into a 4K. That, however, would have been something.....well....new. And I don't handle new very well, so I didn't.
   This seemed like a major turning point to me, a sign of real progress. Two days later, at my next run, I attempted to do the same thing again.

   Didn't even come close. I had to stop at least three times and walk. I was gasping for air and couldn't understand what was going on.
   I wasn't happy but , at the same time, I realized what had happened.
   On the basis of one successful training run, my expectations had totally changed. My new expectation was that I had mastered the 3K distance and would no longer require breaks, simple as that.
   Any experienced runner would likely have told me just how unrealistic an expectation this was, given the fluidity of the human body and all the variables involved. The fact of the matter was that I had been out in the fresh air, running, and that this was a good thing.
   So I think I now have an altered and slightly more realistic idea of what my expectations actually are or should be and how to use them.
   What still continues to bother me about that "unsuccessful" run are the lengths I went to in my head to allow myself permission to stop running. Stopping was the last thing I intellectually felt like doing and I ended up going through a wide range of "reasons" why stopping and walking should be the thing to do.

   The cold air was hard to breathe. I was risking injury. There was not enough recovery time from ball hockey the night before. My heart felt like it was labouring and why risk a heart attack on a dark and lonely side street. Nobody will know. Learn-to-Run says planned walks are good.
   There I was, giving myself all these reasons to stop running in a desperate search for the permission to do so. I was, of course, rationalizing.
   I knew at the time that I was rationalizing because there didn't seem to be one compelling reason above all the others to stop. I was simply tired and, at the same time, wrestling with some altered expectations. Perfect storm conditions for rationalization. What made it harder was that I was by myself and free to rationalize in my solitude. I didn't have a group of running partners who, when they realized I had stopped, would turn around and say what the hell are you doing?

   In everyday living, I rationalize like hell (you should see me trying to get out of attending a funeral or giving a speech) and I really don't want this part of me to invade my running life as well. Of course, I have heard that running is a metaphor for living, so maybe I am stuck dealing with rationalizations in this part of my world.
   At any rate, my next training run went fine, did the whole 3K without stopping. I have this theory that perhaps my failed effort that one particular evening was more due to poor planning and not spacing my athletic activities out properly than anything else. I will try and keep an eye on that.
   There is another training run today. My goal is to run another 3K without stopping and this is what I will set out to do. It will, however, be a goal and not an expectation. I will simply run my best, see what happens, and, regardless of the result, know that it was good!
    
   
  
  

El Caballo Blanco/ Born To Run

   Along with my gift of a Learn-to-Run clinic, one of the things I received for Father's Day was a book called "Born To Run". Now you need to forget Springsteen, this was a whole different "Born To Run", it was written by Christopher McDougall and bears the subtitle "A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen".

El Caballo Blanco

   A simple question posed to his doctor a few years back started McDougall on the quest which resulted in him writing this book. The question was "Why does my foot hurt?" The answer sent him to Mexico in search of the Raramuri (also known as the Tarahumara) tribe, a race of super-runners who inhabit the almost impenetrable Copper Canyons. The one person who might be able to connect him with this tribe is the nearly mythical "El Caballo Blanco" (translated as "The White Horse"). McDougall eventually finds El Caballo (aka Micah True) (aka Michael Randall Hickman) and the adventure begins.

Christopher McDougall

   El Caballo hooks McDougall up with the Tarahumara and he is able to learn a little bit about their temperament, their lifestyle and their approach to running. Their approach is a joyful, uncomplicated and minimalist one. They run hundreds of miles in the highly dangerous Copper canyons in sandals, eschewing the high-tech running wear which is foisted upon us by way of modern advertising and expert opinion. The Tarahumara are also their own nutritionists, taking high energy from the land around them. One of the things that impresses McDougall the most, though, is the complete joy the Tarahumara get from running.
   Along the way, El Caballo gets the crazy idea of staging a race between the Tarahumara and the best ultra marathoners in North America. A large portion of the book is dedicated to his efforts in getting these runners together and competing against each other. It is a fascinating group of runners and it is hard to cheer for any one in particular. While reading the book, it occurred to me that it would make a wonderful movie, only to discover later on that a movie is already in the works.
   McDougall also goes to great lengths to take the physical act of running and give it its rightful place in the history of mankind. It is, after all, an activity that is ingrained in all of us, since birth. More than this, it is what has enabled us to both escape danger and hunt down food since the dawn of time. McDougal proposes that Neanderthal men were awesome physical specimens but eventually were replaced by a species of man that was far less strong and powerful. What this new type of man had that the Neanderthal lacked was the ability to run long distances. This, then, enabled them to hunt food simply by running it down! Assuredly, most prey was initially much quicker than the men chasing it but was not able to keep this up over long distances. As long as the hunters could keep the prey within sight, the prey would, in its fear, eventually drop dead of its own accord.
   Another focus of the book is how technology has done the human body more harm than good, when it comes to running. McDougall supplies medical statistics showing the increase in running-related injuries since the inception of the modern running shoe (read Nike). Once again, he points to the Tarahumara, who run miles in only sandals and are almost injury-free. The foot is described as the perfect running machine, giving you just the right amount of support as you walk and run. Modern technology, with all its arch support and cushioning has taken this away.
   All in all, it is a fascinating book to read and hard to put down. It serves well to re-acquaint one with the spirit of running and I found myself just wanting to get out there every night after I was done reading.

Micah True

   I do need to end this on somewhat of a sad note. After reading the book, I found myself Googling some of the main participants. In doing so, I discovered that El Caballo had actually passed away. Early in March of this year, he went out for a run in Mexico's Gila National Forest and never returned. The authorities and a whole collection of his friends went searching for him and eventually his body was discovered by a friend, lying near a creek bed. Apparently his heart simply gave out on him. He was legendary in a ghostly and reclusive sort of way and, at the same time, not keen on being in the spotlight. His was a fascinating character amongst a host of them.
   I have purposely tried to not tell you too much about the book. It seemed as though once or twice a night while I was reading it, I would go holy crap and would then need to grab Doralyn's attention so I could tell her about the most recent amazing thing I'd just found out about. I heartily recommend it, possibly even if you are not a runner but, most assuredly, if you are one!