Multimedia message

Multimedia message

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.

I Broke Up with Running

Running pulled a Tonya Harding and clubbed my right knee during the Columbus Marathon. Not cool running. Running and I needed a break from each other. We both knew I wouldn't be able to stay away. Running and I are getting back together soon.

Vote!

Yes We Can!

C=RN

Recently I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed and concerned about my A&P class. I got my ass handed to me on the first exam. I never really had any problems while I was going back to finish my Elementary Education degree so I was worried. As the second exam was approaching I was starting to feel stressed. This could really be a make or break test. If I didn't do well I probably wouldn't pass the class screwing up the rest of my school plans.

The week before the test I got a little intervention. One of the nurses that I work with told me how she was having trouble during her nursing school. This is a nurse that I respect and seems very intelligent. At the time she was thinking about dropping out of nursing school if things didn't turn around. One of her professors pulled her aside and gave her this advice.

C=RN. Don't stress so much over your grades. I can see that you will be a good nurse. When it comes time and you're dealing with a patient that is coding they aren't going to ask you what your grade point average was during school. You just do your job.

So that has become my approach. It's not that I won't try to do my best, but that I will do the best that I can and not stress too much over the grades.

Columbus Marathon Race Report

The starting line of the Columbus Marathon was jam packed as once again I got caught somewhere in the back around the 5 hour pace group. This was not what I was hoping for. What I was hoping to to do was get in with the 3:30 or 3:20 pace group and cruise along. No worries though. Certainly I would be able to catch up with them right? They were up there somewhere. So began my 4th marathon and another attempt at breaking 3:30. Columbus is a flat course that is known for producing Boston qualifiers. This was an excellent course to PR on and it was a perfect day for it. It started out at somewhere in the mid 40's and clear. It warmed up to somewhere in the mid 50's.

I was feeling ready. My training went well, and I had completed all my longest runs with very little problem. Although unlike the flat course of Columbus all my long runs involved major hill climbs. This was a minor cause for concern as I wasn't sure how I would handle the flat roads of Columbus. Another concern was endurance. I know I have the speed as I've run well all summer in shorter races. The question was would I have the endurance to push through the final miles.

The first half was flawless as I cruised through at 1:39. I knew I was pushing it, but I decided from the beginning to go all out and let the rest take care of itself. A great time for a half, and I felt good. I got a banana and some words of encouragement from marathon super fan Gina. I think her words of encouragement were something along the lines of "Move it Iker! You're going too slow!" After seeing the 3:30 and 3:40 pace groups go by she was thinking that I was crashing and burning. She was unaware of the fact that I had crossed the starting line a good 7 minutes after them.

What could possibly go wrong? It was somewhere between mile 19 and mile 20 that I began to feel the twinges of cramps. Oh yeah, that's what could go wrong. I stopped to stretch and hoped that I could hold off the worst of it as long as possible. Unfortunately that wasn't so long. Within the next half mile it began in my left calf. I shortened my stride and slowed. This seemed to help for a while, but only for a while. The cramps came back and by mile 23 my hamstrings were completely wasted. The miles and miles of flat road and continuous pounding on the same muscles had taken its toll. It was frustrating, because mentally I was feeling strong. I wasn't dehydrated. I still had fuel left, but the muscles were just spent.

At mile 24 I was pushing through slowly just wanting it to be over. At mile 26 I caught a wave from Super fan Gina. After that it was a short sprint to the finish, and by sprint I mean hobbling, limping jog. It wasn't the last 6.2 that I was hoping for or the finish I was hoping for, but still it was a PR at 3:34:37. This is my Columbus Marathon report or what will be remembered as 20 miles of awesome and 6.2 miles of brutal, or as Gina put it I crushed 20 and got crushed by 6.2, but still crushed it.

It's been a fun/tough run of 4 marathons over the last year and a half. The marathons are going on hold for a while. Next year is all about short, fast races and mursing school. After I graduate...we'll see.

Happy Finisher

Mile 20

Mile 15

Go!

Starting Area Crowd

Countdown to Columbus

A little over a day away from the marathon and I'm getting it all together and ready to run.

Mursing School

After returning to school to get my bachelor's degree in Education you think that would be enough right? You'd think I'd be teaching right now, but no. I am, once again, in transition. I've been at Children's Hospital for the last four years. A job that I took while I was in school that I could work while attending to my full time class schedule. It turns out I enjoy working at the hospital and would like to stay there. I've been working in various offices over the last four years doing customer service and admin. type work. It's good work and it's not something I don't enjoy, but not necessarily what I want to do for the rest of my working life at Children's.

This is part of the reason that I'm back in school to become a murse. It's something I've vaguely considered in the past but never pursued. This decision to pursue it was spurred on by what seemed like an inconsequential conversation, almost a joke. It all seemed to happen very quickly. One day we were talking about it over chat. The next day we were talking about program options. A few days after that I was at lunch with a co-worker and friend that was looking at nursing programs and had applied to one of the community colleges. The next thing I know I'm filling out applications, visiting school counselors, and signing up for classes.

That brings me to now. I'm currently taking Anatomy and Physiology, which is one of the few pre-requisite classes that I need to take before applying for the program. I have to admit it is quite a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. I've never thought of myself as a great student of science. English and Literature were more in my wheel house, but I'm working through it.