It’s official, the Tor will have to wait

Here it is. The official email. I wasn’t disappointed. It just allows me to prepare more knowing I will get in in 2021 or 2022. I guess this injury isn’t helping either. 

Anyway, if you’ve got 45 minutes to kill here’s a decent YouTube video from a Canadian guy who ran the Tor. I watched it last night, the photography is great. Looks like a mix between the Sierra Nevada and the Rockies. Not too much talking either, just the right amount! More and more I’m intrigued by these uber long races. The Spine Race here in the UK is definitely peaking my interest, 268 miles following the Pennine Way in winter. 

Peak District Shoe Testing

Well I did it, and am slightly regretting it. I overdosed on ibuprofen and had a great day, maybe two, running in Saucony Peregrine 10 and Peregrine 10 ST trail shoes around Peak District National Park. 

It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from my house to Buxton, where Buxton bottled water is sourced. There was a nice few inches of snow on everything but was rather mild with the sun temporarily showing itself only to be covered off and on by clouds. I arrived at the Old House Hotel (supposedly the oldest hotel in the UK) and people were already dorking out on running. It was fantastic. Saucony UK were having a retailer testing and training on their improved Peregrine line of trail shoes. About 12-15 people had arrived from all over the country. I met our rep Pete as well as the other Saucony folks. Then as people slowly warmed to each other conversations started. 

Initially we had a presentation about the shoes which most of I already knew however did glean some new info from which can help us sell more of the trail shoe line. Soon we were each given two pairs of shoes and a bag of swag. Changed into our running kit and hopped on a bus. Off to the trails we went.

Everyone had on Peregrine 10 ST, the more aggressive version for muddy, sloppy terrain. We also were asked to keep other brands logos to a minimum if not zero. Fortunately the swag bag had a decent bright orange wind jacket, a base layer, and hats and buffs were handed out as well. Saucony logos everywhere!

After a 45 minute drive through erratic weather of  snow, sleet, sun, and wind we arrived at our starting point. We parked outside a pub, of course, where Saucony banners, tents, and vans were parked. Off we went straight up hill.

The loop was about 6 miles and 1000 feet of vert. It was fairly windy but warmish, warmish for me! It snowed, rained, clouded over and the sun poked through as well, just as it had all day. It was perfect conditions for testing the Peregrine 10 ST. We ran on rocks, mud, ankle deep streams and puddles, smooth flagstones, pavement, grass, and snow. Other than the wind the conditions were decent with hardly any rain. 

Oops, deep friggin’ puddle! 

Through the entire run my leg was fine and towards the end became a bit sore but not too bad. 

We returned to pub, had beer and chips (British  fries), and soon were on our way back to the hotel for dinner, all the time talking running, the running business, products, etc. I crashed out around 930pm.

After a marginal night’s sleep I woke and I could hardly walk. My quad was swollen and I wasn’t sure if I’d be running the short 3 miler that was planned for testing out the other shoe. Not wanting to be the guy who stayed back I did my best to stretch, massage, and of course ibuprofened up! 

Hotel window photo.

More snow had fallen leaving outside even more intriguing. The pain in my leg soon was masked by drugs and I was hopping on the bus again! 

A shorter bus ride and easier loop around a reservoir was taken to test out the Peregrine 10. The all around version of the shoes. My leg was sore but I managed and soon we were back at the Saucony vans, tents, and flags and were eating warm sausage and bacon sandwiches (had the vegan sausages), a popular breakfast food here. Some small talk over food and back to the hotel. 

A quick shower and on to a bit more training and business talk, aka dorking out on running! Soon we were wrapping up and heading home. A fantastic short trip to not only run in new product, but see a new place and meet other runners. 

The right is swollen, no muscle definition.

At home now my leg hurts bad. Ice helps, it’s definitely swollen. I even skipped JKD tonight. I’ve got another PT appointment on Tuesday. Let’s hope I can ride this running buzz out until then. Definitely worth it. 

Thanks to all those who shared photos! 

And huge thanks to Saucony UK. Both Peregrine have a place, are fantastic shoes that I’d definitely recommend to anyone! 

Peregrine 10 ST and Peregrine 10

Tor des Geants

I got home from work today and saw this:

Gulp. I did a little searching and looking under Great Britain and United States. And found “Andrew Stevens:”

It’s not “green” so I’m assuming I’m not in. Not sure how I feel about that, supposedly I’m guaranteed an entry next year though for failing three in a row! To quote Carl Spackler from Caddyshack  “So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”

Edit: Oops. Just double checked the “three times you’re in” and it’s actually four times. I swear it was three. Well, another annoying lottery next year with 2 (n-1), n being the number of failed entries. 

Sunday I was hoping for the best.  Got on the bike for an hour, felt alright. Later in the evening did a solid strength routine focusing on my legs. Felt fine. After the kids went to bed attempted a run around the neighborhood. Was limping within 100 meters. Down we go. Can’t afford another physio visit until I get paid and I guess I’m unsure of availability anyway. 

Probably OD on ibuprofen and hope for the best when up in the Peak District this week. Such a shame the one opportunity I get to run on new trails with like minded people and I’m injured to the point I can even just take it easy. 

Trying to stay positive is hard when no one around understands the importance of this activity to me. 

I’ve been hammering my quad with the foam roller. It’s sore of course. It was fine in JKD and Muay Thai so today I had an opportunity to get out for a daylight run. I could hardly walk. Disappointed and trying to stay positive I went home and hit the bike indoors for a hour. 

Leg was fine and it’s much easier to keep my heart rate in an easy aerobic zone. Post ride my leg was fine, if not better!? Hopefully the cycling stretches it out. Hopefully it continues to improve so I can actually run at a Saucony trail shoes training I’m attending on Wednesday and Thursday in the Peak District. These things rarely come up and I’m psyched to run somewhere new with other people! Fingers crossed. 

Physio update.

So I went to the physical therapist, my bosses’ wife who helped me before Western States with my foot. I had the kids along as well which I was nervous about. Anyway, it was the only option. Booked train tickets to avoid flood traffic and it’s fun for the kids. After booking I look at the schedule and the train has been cancelled. Ugh. So we drive.

Once in town it starts to rain but we deal with it and head toward the physio. We sit down and the kids are being pretty good. Mindy comes out and brings us into her office. She’s start asking a bunch of questions as I dump out crayons and paper for the kids. Then she starts the physical exam with a bunch of mobility checks. Then some digging with her fingers she finds done knots deep in my quad. I guess this is a good thing! No bone issues! She talks a bit more then asks if I’ve ever had acupuncture. Nope! Are you scared of needles? Nope! And a pile more of questions pertaining to fear of needles and blood. Nope! Soon she’s sticking 70mm needles into my leg! After three go in she asks to describe the feeling. It feels like there’s a ballon expanding in my leg. Super weird. Then she sticks a fourth “upstream” of the others. She slowly wiggles them in deeper as the sensation diminishes. It soon returns. It goes away again and she pulls them out. The pain is significantly less! 

I’m told to grind on my quads with a roller to release the tension and to also stretch. I can run on it as long as the pain isn’t getting worse. If need be I should get in touch for another round of acupuncture if needed.

The kids’ drawings of me with four needles in my leg.

She said it’s likely I could still race Stratford and West Highland Way. Time to go to work on my quad. 

Hanging by a thread

Tomorrow. (Actually today but forgot to post this, let’s pretend this is yesterday!) Physio appointment at noon. I just want to know what to do. I’m not like most people who half heartedly do what’s  prescribed. My head thinks it’s a femoral stress fracture, let’s hope I’m wrong, because that means nothing weight bearing for 6 plus weeks. Fuck Dr. Google. 

The area is having the worst flooding since 2007 and it’s great photography right now. Running is a great transportation method to get through road closures and I’m shut down. Not that I’d be out during the daylight  anyway but I guess there’s never a good time to have a seemingly terminal injury. 

Tough week. Kids are off school (so I’m off work), wife is working from home so noise and house mess will need to be kept at a minimum, and the weather sucks. Normally I’m down for whatever but walking hurts so I’m hesitant to do anything. It’s a mental struggle, especially with the kids rotting their fucking brains out on iPads all day. 

Answers tomorrow will hopefully give me some sort of direction to take. 

Well I’m officially injured and not running. It’s painful to walk even.  I’m booked in to see a physical therapist next week. No idea what it is but it definitely has me worried. I also have no idea where it came from. Usually I can look back at my training and pin point exactly what I did to stress my body too much. I’m attempting to keep sane filling time with martial arts which has been great, but it still isn’t the same. I am worried about my mental state. My bike is set up and ready to roll but I’ve yet to commit. Maybe tomorrow morning. Trying to stay positive. 

Nope. Not a hernia.

Well a quick trip to the doctor confirmed it’s not a hernia. I guess that’s a relief but I still don’t know what it is. I’m going to treat it as a muscle strain; ice ibuprofen, rest, etc, and see what happens. And of course try not to go crazy. It may be time to get the bike out and set up in the furniture and toy filled garage. 

Haven’t been messing around on Strava much. I figure most of my runs are boring slow run commutes and with no photos to share who cares, so I keep them hidden. Was back up to 60 mile weeks until this quad thing hit. I’d guess I’d bounce back fairly quick again once this heals up. It’s frustrating seeing consistency go away however. Consistency is key in running or exercise in general if you want to improve. 

Motivation for JKD is returning. We had a black belt class last weekend and received the curriculum for the next phase test. The new curriculum is really fun, and there’s an obvious expectation that comes with the rest of the previous stuff. I need to be practicing more in order to perform at this level. The new curriculum filled a gap that I needed. That gap was structure, as what to focus on at home. I struggle with “what should I be doing?”  

The warm up for the next test (which is at an unknown date as of now) has 50 burpees on it, as well as the other usual exercises 60 each x push ups, sit ups, jump jacks. 50 burpees is hard and intimidating even for me! So I need to work on burpees. We of course have quite a bit of new curriculum to learn, and there’s a high expectation of knowing the old curriculum as well. 

So, physical fitness, shadow boxing (empty hand, stick, stick and knife), new curriculum, old curriculum.  There’s some structure for me! 

Another hernia? A giant race looms.

Things were going really well until last week. I developed an odd pain in my upper quad. I did the usual to get rid of it, rested, foam rolled, stretched, iced, ibuprofen. It’s still there. However after my strength workout yesterday I noticed slight pressure in my groin. 

Above the scar from a previous hernia surgery I noticed a bump when I exhale. Maybe I’m just worried about it and never noticed it, but it appears I may have another hernia. I guess only a doctor can confirm that, but if so, depending on any surgery dates, a spring marathon is out of the question and likely West Highland Way.

On a positive note I’m in the Tor des Geants lottery. I’m likely to get in. It’s 205 or so miles with around 75,000 vertical feet of climbing through the Aosta Valley in Italy. It’s big, scary, and in September. Why do I do these things! With an expedient surgery I could likely still make this happen, much like my last hernia, a fall race worked out fine. 

I guess the first step is a doctor appointment.