Bad News!

Runner's knee is back!

I had planned another 30 mile run today, I started at the track at 5:45 am and ran 2 hours (13 miles) and when it was daylight I was going to run my 17 mile loop to finish out the 30. I started down the road and as I went down an incline, my right knee began to hurt. Classic runners knee (it has felt funny since Wednesday afternoon), it feels fine when you run uphill, but going down is a killer. I was determined to get my 5 hours of workout in, so I backed up and headed to the Y and finished the other 3 hours on the ellipical trainer. Another key that this is the same thing I had last January. I could swim, bike and use the elliptical trainer, but not run.

So, I'm taking 3 full weeks of running off. My 3 runs a week will be at the Y on the elliptical trainer. I'm just glad I have this option!

I'll just see how it goes in 3 weeks (middle of January) to see if I'll be in good enough shape to try the 50 miles, but last year it took me 6 weeks to get over this, but then I didn't quit running, I just cut my miles in half and ran in pain. But I'll try this method this year.

Here is some information about runners knee if anyone is interested.

Runner's Knee Link

Things can start to turn around now!

WINTER SOLSTICE!

It is finally here! The shortest day of the year. Now things can start to turn around and I have more daylight to run/bike.

Here is the information about this if you are interested: http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/WinterSolstice.html

Dazzle - Video Capture

I just purchased one of these at Best Buy, hopefully it will work as adverized. The computer I bought from work has a DVD burner and I'm hoping to convert all our VHS tapes and 8mm tapes over to DVD.

This device has inputs for video and audio from your camcorder or VCR and then has an output to USB to your computer.

If this works, I can put some movie clips on our family blog.

Stay tuned....

Audio Blogger!

I discovered AudioBlogger last night and it is pretty COOL!!!. You can setup your blog so that you can call into a telephone number, key in your pin and start recording. Then you have the option to post from the phone. I tried this out with the kids singing Jingle Bells last night and it works really good. (See the home page). It is a long-distance call, but we haven't paid for long-distance in a long time. We either use our mobile phones or our home phone we get all the long-distance we want for one low price of $1599.00 per month. OOPS, it just seems to be that much, but probably is around $50 or so.

Here is the link and information on how to setup your blog. http://www.audioblogger.com/

Great News!

I have great news! I ran this morning (6 miles) with no knee pain. So Saturday’s knee soreness that stopped my run short must have been a temporary thing.

I’ll be testing it out again tomorrow with a 10 miler around the track before work.

Saturday's Run

Last Saturday I planned a 30 mile run. I was going to run on the street, but Tim Nickar was coming up from Houston to map out the Cameron Park trail run for March. I couldn't miss the opportunity of meeting someone like that. Tim is a ultrarunner/triathlete from Houston that is putting on a 50k trail run here in Waco.

Anyway, it was about 38 degrees and a 20% chance of rain, so I didn't want to get too far away from the truck.

I started my run from the Redwood Shelter at Cameron park at 6:15 AM. I didnt' want to run the trails before daylight, so I headed toward the Balyor campus. I ran to Baylor and two laps around the Bear Trail and then headed back to the truck. It was daylight at this point and about 9 miles into my run.

I have a 7 mile loop through the trails at the park that I usually run. It is a mixture of some easy trails with some really hard ones. I completed the first loop and that is where I met Tim. I didn't want to take too much of his time, as he was stopping his stopwatch on my account. We chatted about him mapping off the course and his GPS not working in the trees, then off I went to do another 7 mile loop.

My pace was really slow through the trails (one of these days, I need to take my camera out there) - many of the trails are winding and just about straight up at times, in fact there are a few places, I think I can reach out and touch the ground it is soo steep.

About 4 miles into this loop my left knee began to get sore on the outside all of a sudden. It seemed to happen within a few strides. I ran for a few more minutes to see if it was going to go away, but no luck. I have been trying to listen to my body, so I walked back to the truck and cut my run short. I only got in about 23 miles - this is the first time I have had to do that, which is disappointing to me, but I know how it feels with an injury and I don't want to go down that road again.

Michael Martin Murphey

Today Farm Bureau is hosting a fund raiser here at the building to raise money for the Waco Hippodrome (an old theater here in town).

Michael Martin Murphey is coming to the fund raiser and will also be performing at the Hippodrome later tonight. As part of the FB staff, I got tickets for the show, but had to chip in my $50 - to the fund raising effort. I haven't been to the Hippodrome yet, but hopefully my $50 will go to good use. At least Tammy and I will get a BBQ diner out of it. The kids are going to Play n Stay, which they haven't been to in awhile, so I assume they will have some fun.

Well be getting to bed late with them I'm sure, so hopefully Friday AM will not be too bad.

Other News: I purchased my old work computer for Tammy to have a new one at home. It is PIII - 866 with 512 memory, with 2 40 gig drives. Now we'll have alot of space to store downloaded music and stuff.

Oh btw, I found a cool web site yesterday that has MP3's of endurance athlete stuff. I'm going to download these and burn to CD so that I can listen in the car. The web site is: http://www.enduranceradio.com/ you can go to the archives and download the MP3's or listen to them on-line. - This is for the hard-core endurance geeks like I have become lately.

50 Miles - I can't get it out of my head. Crazy, I know. But that is the fun part, if I can actaully do it - then I feel like I have accomplished something. Or, I may be then looking at the 100k race or 100 mile. God, I hope I'm not that crazy!

I just got the email back from Tim Neckar, the race director that is putting on the Waco Five-0, on March 11th of next year. This will be Waco's first Ultra and of course I plan to run it. Hey, anytime you can do a race in your home town, you better jump on it. No cost of travel, meals, etc... and for a mere $45, you can sign up for a 50k run through Cameron Park too. Here is his email about my question reguarding the course.

I'll be there on Sat. measuring the course. If you have been there before, most of the course will follow the "running trail" that has been marked by the Waco Striders. So just follow the circular signs. I will also include the Highlander trail in the mix too.

Great! Highlander is on the course!. Is he trying to kill me? The 50k will be 3 loops of 10.33 miles, so that means I have to run Highlander 3 times! YIKES! Highlander is a winding single path trail that is brutel to say the least. This race will hopefully produce some hard-core ultramarathoners, so I hope to learn something about myself. Like, "What is wrong with me?".

Sunmart 50k

I did it! I completed my first ultramarathon and now have the bug. Crazy as it is, I'm excited now to start training for a 50 mile running event in early February.

My training will consist of 3 runs a week with cross training on the bike and swimming on the non-running days.

Tuesday AM - 4 miles
Wednesday AM - 10 miles
Saturday or Sunday - 30 to 40 miles

Monthly mileage in December will be around 175 and January I should clock in around 200 miles. I have to sign up before January 14th, to avoid to the late fee and also guarantee a t-shirt. Hey, if I'm going to run 50 miles, I need that t-shirt.