Injury Update - NOT Horrible News!

>> Saturday, August 31, 2013

First of all, thank you to everyone who commented, facebooked me, and e-mailed me regarding my injury post on Thursday. Everyone made me feel better that even though it hurt bad for 2 days, it probably wasn't broken. THANK YOU ALL! I love getting those thoughts from all of you!

THE SHORT STORY: It's just tendon issues. Nothing is broken in my foot, and I can't do (much) damage to it if I "run through some pain" for a few weeks.

THE LONG(er) STORY: The pain started early Wednesday morning at the very end of a run. (My LAST long run before next weekend's half marathon... of course.) I iced and took care of it as mentioned in Thursday's post, and I was STILL limping on it Friday morning. So I made an appointment in a Sports Medicine clinic. Once there, I tweeted this photo:


"I tend to like doctors who have stuff like this on the walls of their exam rooms."

I saw their Fellow first, and then the senior doctor joined in shortly after. Both had great advice and good news. Nothing was broken (and I finally really started to believe that a few hours before going to the docs). It was just overuse of the peroneal longus and/or brevis (sometimes called fibularis longus and brevis) tendons in my foot.


My pain is along the bottom where they flare out and connect to the foot.

It will take running through a fair amount of pain to lead to any serious issues. I should keep massaging, rolling, icing, AND I should keep moving on it - becoming too sedentary won't help it. (Which explains why it felt pretty good as I've been working on the foundation of our house these last few days.)

So the plan is this: I'll test it out tomorrow on an super easy short run. If it feels OK (which I'm NOT expecting it to), then I might run the Victory 10K on Monday. If it's still too iffy, then I'll hold off on racing because I want to be ready for my 13.1 in a week. But it's just good to know that if I push through some pain right now, I WON'T be hurting anything long term!

p.s. The fortune I got in my take out last night leads me to believe I'll be racing my first double-header on Monday:


Doubtful.

Watch my twitter on Monday morning (Labor Day) to see if I'm at the races or not. Happy weekend!!

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Friday Funny 577: More Hilarious Notes Left by a Roommate

>> Friday, August 30, 2013

I posted some funny notes like this last week, and because it's back-to-school time, I figured it's time for some more.

WARNING: some dirty language. Funny, but dirty.

































Check out steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com for more funnies!

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Friday Funny 576: The REALISTIC Game of Life




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Friday Funny 575: What to Do When You Find a Spider In Your Running Shoe




Black widow? Yeah, that's an appropriate response.

More funnies 10 times a day on http://steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com.

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Friday Funny 574: Twelve Parents Owning Facebook

Buzzfeed just showed 12 parents who really got their kids good on Facebook:

#1: This parent who’s a proud grammar nazi:



#2: The dad who’s totally hooking it up for his son:



#3: The dad who remembers the first night he met his son... kinda:



#4: The father who isn’t afraid to teach his son a tough lesson in tYpINg:



#5: The dad who knows how to gross out pretty much anyone:



#6: The mom who totally OWNED her kid:



#7: This songbird:



#8: The mom who basically wins everything:



#9: The mom who won’t be sleeping with her son:



#10: The parents who have a Ph.D. in Stop Complaining:



#11: The dad who knows how to handle pressure:



#12: The mom who definitely has Facebook, and doesn’t think you’re funny:



Lots more funnies at steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com!

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Lots of Running = Injured

>> Thursday, August 29, 2013

I went on my last long run yesterday morning before my 10K and 5K this weekend, and my half marathon next weekend. I had hoped to go 14, but just before mile 11, the bottom/outside of my left foot got really sore really quickly. I stopped and adjusted my heel lift thinking that it maybe just slid forward a bit. But when I started running again, the bottom of my foot started hurting pretty quickly again. I got back home after 12 miles and called it good.

It was really sore for the next few hours - to the point that I was limping. I massaged it, foam rolled it, and stretched my legs (because people on twitter [including Coach Jen] noted that it's all connected, and looser legs will help a sore foot). I iced it when I could throughout the day. It was sore the rest of the day, but it was OK.

This morning, I barely felt it while in bed, but now I'm really limping around the house. It hurts a LOT. I'm afraid it's not just a "tendon thing" and I maybe broke something in my foot...

Crap.

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Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Boston-Related Crop Art at the MN State Fair

>> Wednesday, August 28, 2013

When Henry and I went to the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair last week, we spotted this in the Horticulture Building among the "crop art:"


"Crop Art dedicated to Boston at the #MNStateFair."

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Upcoming Races

>> Monday, August 26, 2013

Lots of racing ahead... 4 races over the next 6 weekends!

First is the Victory Races 10K and 5K "Double Header" next Monday (Labor Day). I won a free entry into this race at the Lake Johanna 4 Mile back in March, and it was good for the 10K, the 5K, or the "double header." I figured if it's free, I might as well suffer through BOTH races.

So I'll be racing the 10K at 8:00 a.m., and then I'll be racing the 5K at 9:30 a.m. That sounds like fun, right? They have special results for those doing the double header where they add your times up. Last year (when it was HOT and slow), the winner of the double header did it in 49:00, which was a 32:xx 10K and a 16:xx 5K. That's nuts. I'll see if I can crack the top-10 in the double header. Check back next Tuesday to see how I did. (And watch my twitter for race updates on Labor Day.)


Me being out-kicked by a 16-year-old girl at last year's Victory 10K.


The week after that, I'm probably doing a half marathon. I've been sworn to secrecy about this, but you'll learn a bit more as this race gets closer. This should be entertaining... I promise.

This will most likely be my only half of the year, whereas last year I did 3 half marathons and a 25K (15.5 miles). So I'm a little nervous having not raced this far in the last 12 months. But I've been getting my mileage up there: in April, May, and June, I logged 80, 82, and 90 miles of running. July was lower (70 miles) because I was doing a lot of shorter and harder workouts for the Midsummer Mile. And so far in August, I've ALREADY CRACKED INTO TRIPLE DIGITS!! That big of a spike would USUALLY be scary for me, but I've learned that running FARTHER is easier on my body than running HARDER, so these 100+ miles in August will be less injury-prone than my 70 miles of hard running / racing in July. I went 13.5 nearly 2 weeks ago, and 14.6 just a few days ago. I think I'll be ready! (I hope!)


Photo taken 2 days after my 14.6 miler - this blister on my pinky toe looked nastier 36 hours before.


Then 2 weeks after that (Sept 21st), I might be doing a duathlon relay at Treadman Duathlon. You'll never guess who I'll be teaming up with. You all remember pro triathlete Devon Palmer and the smack talk that lead up to the highly anticipated Gear West Duathlon relay showdown, right?


Intimidation.


Relay team vs relay team.


Post race smiles.

Well I think we might be joining forces for this race!


He's better at smack-talk than I am. :(

It's not a 100% "done deal" yet, but we're hoping to be racing together in about 4 weeks.


Finally 2 weeks after that (Oct 6th) is the TC 10 Mile. My family got in again this year! We got in 3 years straight (2009-2011), and I ran 1:02:43, 59:05, and 1:01:20. I'll have a better sense of what I could do at the 10 mile after my 13.1 in a few weeks, but I'm thinking it'll be in the vicinity of 1:02:00.


2009, 2010, and 2011 at the TC 10.
Gee, what should I wear this year?

The TC 10 Mile and the Victory 10K / 5K Double Header are slightly more "for fun" races - I'd call them "B races." (The TC 10 could end up being a "B+ race.") But the half marathon and the possible relay with Devon will be closer to "A races." Stay tuned for all the action!

p.s. If you missed it, check out my last post for some good news in my job search. :)

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Good News on the Job Front

>> Saturday, August 24, 2013

In early February, I posted about the closing of the College of Visual Arts - my alma mater and where I'd been teaching for 8 years. (Follow that previous link for more info on that.) My only real update since then was at the end of May when I was about to be jobless for the first time.

Well, the short version of what I'm about to share can be summed up with this:



I met with the Chair of Fine Arts from Hamline University back in April when they were looking at purchasing a lot of the equipment from the CVA Photo Labs to start their first "wet" labs. (Hamline has had a digital lab for years, but they've never had a traditional darkroom.) As the Photo Tech at CVA, it was my job to help sell everything in the labs as the school was closing. Hamline was looking at enlargers, easels, drying racks, film processing equipment, and even things like sinks, eye-wash stations, ventilation hoods, and revolving doors - the WHOLE shebang. The Chair was THRILLED with the equipment they were going to get (along with the deal they were getting), and I was THRILLED to see CVA's Photo Labs live on in a different location.

Well, the photo labs at Hamline ran into a snag, and they didn't end up taking any of CVA's photo equipment. The Chair and I were both disappointed.

Then in early June (after being officially jobless for 5 days), I was contacted by the same Chair of Fine Arts at Hamline basically saying I'd made a good impression on her, and she was wondering if I'd be interested in interviewing for 3 Digital Photo classes and some Independent Study students over the 2013-14 academic year.

I had an interview with the Chair and with 2 other full time professors, and I heard back pretty quickly that I'd "be a good fit for our program." I officially turned in my contract a few days ago, and Henry and I stopped by Hamline yesterday so I could get my ID shown above - you can see the horns from my "Hammerfest" Trinona Time Trial shirt in the photo.

It's not a full time position, but it's a good start. And knowing that it's been in the works since early June has really allowed me to enjoy more of the summer with Henry knowing that I had SOMETHING in the fall.

Now (something I'm happy to write).... time to work on my syllabus.

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Friday Funny 573: Random Funny Stuff

>> Friday, August 23, 2013

Here are some of my favorite posts from the last few weeks from my tumblr page:

Athletic-related funny things:

A great sign for cheering at a race.

[GIF] Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin is a BOSS.

EVERY MAN who goes for a swim in a lake. One of the truest things I've seen in a long time.

Awesome (blunt) cross country t-shirt.

If you're swimming next to me...

[GIF] Bike fail. WTF?

Gatorade: I admit it.

[VIDEO] Helpful tips on how to pee in a pool.

[GIF] Basketball fail.

This little girl has an awesome shirt.

Non-athletic funny things:

Pharmaceutical commercials suck.

How to tell a lot about a women.

[GIF] Do what this guy says, and then smile.

The difference between your opinion and pizza.

Grammer.

The best of the "Overly Manly Man" meme.

Kids these days.

[GIF] The truth about diamonds.

[GIF] Poop humor.

[GIF] I've only mentioned it about 497 times: I love infomercials.

How men shower. Right guys?

[GIF] Poor kid.

Some sex humor.

[GIF] I love The Three Amigos.

Sing the Barney song.

What does an orgasm feel like?

[VIDEO] Porn sex vs real sex explained with food.

[GIF] A handful of "fail" gifs.

Remember, check out steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com often for funny stuff. I have some good news coming tomorrow - check back! Happy weekend!!

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Friday Funny 572: Shoulda Seen That One Coming....




More funnies on steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com.

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Friday Funny 571: 15 of the Funniest, Craziest, Most Entertaining Notes Left by a Roommate

WARNING: there's some foul language in here. These ARE mainly college kids, after all....








By the adjective use, you can tell this person is college educated.








Well OK then.




How does one go about obtaining cat piss?....











Check out more funnies here: steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com.

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