Me? A "Visor Guy?"

OK, so here I am sitting around on what seems to be one of those "bonus" days off. I guess my boss figured I'd need an extra day to recover from staring at a million hours of streaming Ironman Wisconson video. Lol... My eyes are still kinda blurry... Anyway, his instructions to me were to take the day and "see if I could get some running done." Uh, sure, no problem, but do I really need the full day off to do that? And right now, I can't go swim any laps, 'cause the aqua-class thing is going on. I'm not sure what all the class entails, but it involves standing around and talking while using foam noodles. They should be gone in a few hours, so for now I'm just kinda surfing around and killing time...

Which brings me to the whole "visor thing." I've never been a "visor guy." Heck, until last year, I never even wore a hat while running! Just seemed like one more thing to keep track of. And don't we all already have WAY too much STUFF to keep track of? If someone had sat me down and explained just how much STUFF you had to have to do triathlons, I probably would have stuck with hockey. At least all of that STUFF stays in it's own bag out in the garage. (Those of you who have ever played know exactly why the hockey bag stays out there. Phew!)

But back to the visor. When I ordered the magic shoes (aka Newtons), there were a couple of surprises in the box. First was an extra pair of laces ('cause everyone wears out the laces of their shoes faster than the shoe itself?). Second was a pair of socks. Cool, we can never have enough socks, right? And the final surprise was a visor. I pulled it out and promply tossed it aside. I mean, what would I do with a visor? I'm more apt to use those extra laces! Right?

Eventually I picked the visor back up. It is made by a company named Headsweats. OK, so I'd heard of Headsweats before. Sounded to me like more STUFF I had to keep track of (and spend money on). But seeing as the visor was FREE... So, I tried it on. Yeah, I looked like a dork. But I look that way even when I'm not wearing a visor too...

So, one moring last week, right around 6am or so, when I knew there wouldn't be many people over at the park, I decided to take the visor along for a test spin. Just to see what it would be like. The temperature was already in the upper 80's, which is about as cool as it ever gets here this time of year, so it was the perfect opportunity see how it worked.

And you know, I kinda liked it. It shaded me from the sun, it kept my head cool-ish and it sucked up a lot of sweat. I know, eeewwwww... The downside is I still feel like a dork in it. Hmmm, cool-shaded-fairly dry head versus dorkdom.

So, maybe the visor crowd is onto something? Aw, heck, I guess there was a "visor guy" deep inside me the whole time...

Must be the shoes

Maybe those Newton guys are onto something. I probably shouldn't be running at all right now, but I've been sneaking out more and more. I think I'm going to blame the shoes.

I mean, what else could it be?

I'm not THAT stubborn, am I? Lol...

Just had to try again...

OK, so yesterday morning, my foot was pretty sore and swollen and justifiably angry at me for taking it for a run the day before. I can't blame Mr. Foot, 'cause I'd be whining just as loud as he was.

So, what do you do when you are limping about and feeling pretty down about life?

That's right - - - you go over to a friend's house and hang by the pool! ChuckMoe's pool was the perfect prescription for a sore foot. And I think the beer helped too...

So, when I woke up today, and the Newtons were calling my name I took a few cautious steps. I walked all the way to the kitchen, then back again. "Hmmm, not tooooo awful," I said to myself. "What do you think, Boca?" My cat just looked up at me and said, "Feed me now." Yeah, that's pretty much how ALL of our conversations go...

Anyway, I didn't feel like going to the gym. Besides, with my luck, today being a holiday, I would probably get there and find out that it was closed. But I was still curious to see how my foot had rebounded from the treadmill.

I didn't want to just open my front door and start running. I mean, what if I went a hundred yards or so and had to turn back? I wouldn't want my neighbors laughing at me for being such a wimp. So, where could I run? I could head over to the track at the community college... Wait, back to that holiday thing. Maybe it is closed? I've hopped the fence before, but always knowing I'd be able to outrun a grounds keeper if it came down to that. No confidence in doing that now!

Then I remembered that there is a park nearby where the community college's cross country team (or maybe it is the local high school team?) runs a 1K loop. Perfect! Even if my heel made me quit halfway around the first loop, I could just cut across and hobble back to my truck.

I started slowly around the first loop. Hmmm, not too bad. I switched from running on the road loop to the inside grass for the second loop. 2K down. Maybe a couple of twinges, but nothing too bad. Should I try a third loop? Aw, heck, why not? But by the end of the third loop, the left heel was getting sore, so I called it a morning. Normally I'd be all depressed by only going 3K, but I'm quickly coming to the realization that I'm lucky to be running AT ALL.

So, that's my plan for now. Short runs on grass. I have nothing to prove to anybody. Forget about distance. Forget about speed. None of that matters right now. Sure, I've only got until April to get into shape for Ironman Arizona, and either that will happen or it won't. Maybe the feet will be fine, or maybe they won't. I'm just happy to be running tiny little bits right now.

I just have to stay positive and take it 3K at a time.

Then Again... Maybe Not...

OK, so maybe running yesterday was a bit... premature. Uh, ouch! But at least I did it and now I know. Sigh...

I couldn't help myself.

OK, I'm weak. I admit it. I shouldn't have done it. But I just couldn't help myself.

The Newtons were calling my name. I could hear them begging to be let out of the closet. So, I took them out. But once out of the closet, they got even louder.

So, I did the unthinkable. I put them on and decided to go to the gym.

My plan was to take them for a spin on the treadmill. You know, just set the treadmill to a nice, slow pace. And walk a bit.

Well, that was cool for a minute or two, but I kinda wanted to see if I could tell the difference if I were to, say, jog slowly... So, I cranked the speed up a bit. Just a wee bit...

And they felt OK.

So, I cranked the speed up a wee bit more. Just to see, ya know.

My right foot was feeling OK, but I could feel a bit of soreness in my left foot. Two surgeries will do that to you, I guess...

So, I cranked the speed up a tiny bit more.

The treadmill at the gym seems to default to 30 minutes, so I figured that was a safe number. The teadmill knows better than I do, right?

Well, at the end of the 30 minutes I'd gone... 3.1 miles. Hey, a 5k! Not bad for not having run a step in many, many months. Of course, as I sit typing this, my feet are in an icewater bath and my teeth are a-chatterin'.

So, did I notice a difference with the Newtons? It is really too early to tell. My left heel is now aching, but I'm not sure that I was ever really a heel striker to begin with. Just soreness from the surgeries. At least that's what I'm hoping. Of course, tomorrow could come along and my feet could be all swollen and gross... We'll see...