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In a galaxy far, far away...

It's snowing or raining or sleeting outside. Whatever it's doing it's ugly. Who needs a good laugh?


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Happy Inauguration Day!

So we weren't in Washington D.C. freezing our butts off with the massive crowd or Grant Park where the hometown crowd was probably insane with joy. We were sitting at a table overlooking part of the hospital campus watching choppy video that amounted to a slideshow as the internet servers were overloaded with employees trying to catch the inauguration on one of the internet feeds, and listening to a radio station out of Chicago so at least we could hear the inauguration and following speech.

The message came through loud and clear. It's a new day of hope. I'm glad we got to see it and look forward to watching it again later.

Rehab

"Does that hurt?"
"No,it's cool."

I think the sweat that broke out on my forehead betrayed my exterior cool as she dug her knuckles into my IT band and pushed down toward my knee. Damn, that hurt, but I certainly wasn't going to let her know. I'm cool as a cucumber, until the next push down the leg that elicits a groan that I couldn't hold.

"Ok. A couple more then I'll show you some stretches that will help."

Damn. She got me. So, I'm back in physical therapy for what I thought was a knee problem, but turns out is Iliotibial band syndrome. The tightening of the IT band was putting extra stress on my knee causing the to ache. It's a relief to find out that it isn't a knee issue and with some PT and stretching I should be good to go in short order. Go ahead dig those knuckes in. Let's do this.

Now that I know that I should be to go for racing this spring I'm starting to get the bug again. It's time to find some races (short races) and get training. Definitely on the schedule is the Flying Pig Relay and the Heart Mini-Marathon. I'm also gonna take a shot at the Trail Run Series this summer. The last time I ran the East Fork Backpack Trail Run was in '06 and it took a pair of sun glasses and some skin off my knees. I want revenge. It's time to get out and run.

Show No Weakness

I first read about David Goggins in Runner's World a couple months ago. He's a Navy Seal that runs with a purpose. An inspiration.

What's My Motivation?

I've been finding it difficult to get motivated to get into the gym or workout over the last couple of months. I've tried to run a couple times, but it has always ended with the flaring up knee pain. Without the races and the goals it seems that I am pretty directionless and umotivated. With a new year and a new year of races ahead of me I'm hoping to shake this lack of motivation and get moving again.

The first step is to get my knee healthy again. I have an appointment with a physical therapist next week. I'm hoping I can get some advice on what to do about my knee. I'm hoping it's just a ligament strain and some stretching and such will fix it up. It's had more than 2 months of rest certainly I can get moving again. I hope.

Provided that all goes all well at the physical therapist I have a couple goals for the new year. I will be concentrating on short races of the 5k and 10k variety this year with some bicycle riding to mix things up. So for 2009 my goals are to get that knee healthy, run a sub 19 minute 5k and a sub 40 minute 10k. Other than that my goals are to get into nursing school and update this blog more than the occasional update that has been the case recently.

'09. Year of the Unicycle

Here it is 2 months since my last post and about the same amount of time since my last run. It seems that the damage done to my knee during Columbus was worse than I had originally thought, so running and I have been on a break. I was planning on taking a break after Columbus anyway, but not quite like that. I've tried to run a couple of times since Columbus, but it always ends with knee pain and broken dreams. Hopefully running and I will be giving it another try over the next few months to prepare for some races in '09. We'll see. We're going to take it slow. No marathons this year. It's all about short races and speed.

In mursing news: With some greatly appreciated assistance, support and an occasional needed kick in the ass I finished up a tough semester of Anatomy and Physiology and took a nursing assistant class along the way. It's been all about bedpans and bone structures. After a nice winter break we'll be heading into A&P 2 and applying for the mursing program. That will be when the real stress begins. Until then I'll be enjoying the rest of winter break doing some fun stuff.

Finally I leave you with a couple predictions for '09. Forget your SUV's, hybrids, and even bicycles. 2009 is the year of the unicycle. It's the ultimate green vehicle. So, run out and get yourself a unicycle and save the environment. Also there is this little coffee shop out of Seattle that I think is going to make its mark this year. I think Starbuck's will finally get it's big break. Ride your unicycle on over and try it out.