A little running...a lot of sweating

Sunday, August 5, 2012
I entered the woods for the Survival Workout with my knee feeling strong and wondering whether I should test it.  I decided a medium hard Indian run through the woods wouldn’t be a bad test since it only lasted 60 seconds, so I bolted in and began hurdling logs and dodging trees and roots. I emerged back on the bath breathing heavily and walked slowly testing the knee with each step.  It seemed fine. 

I climbed a steep hill karaoke-style for my second knee challenge.  I broke the hill into three segments and performed each one without pain.  I was starting to be encouraged.  For the remainder of the workout, I jogged 2-minute segments between stations and by the time I returned to the car, had completed 10 minutes of running pain-free.  Though this was a good sign, I knew from previous experience that the pain would likely come later…if it was coming at all. 

It was extremely humid and I’d lost a few pounds of water during the workout.  Once home, I bathed in the neighbor’s pool and then began building some new shed doors and painting the trim on the shed.  The sweat kept pouring off me and I needed to more cleansings in the pool over the next several hours.  I enjoy working in these conditions.  I feel like I’m getting a second workout it just breathing.  I probably dropped another 5 pounds through the course of the afternoon, being the world’s sweatiest human, and was likely completely destroying the pH balance of the pool.  I paid attention to my knee as I worked, and at no time did I have any pain.  I probably should have iced it that evening, but lost track of that thought in the excitement of the Olympics.  Well…I should be able to run.  It’s been 8 weeks and 3-5 was supposed to be the waiting period.  I’ll know more tomorrow.

Survival Workout: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150.
Calories burned:  600.

Tigers Stadium...

Saturday, August 4, 2012
Savannah and I had talked about how great it would be to visit every major league ballpark in the country over the course of the rest of our lives and Saturday, we began that trek with a visit to Comerica Park and the home of the Detroit Tigers.  We’d originally planned the trip to include camping overnight somewhere in Michigan and a trip to Cabela’s, which is a 225,000 square foot shopping and entertainment extravaganza for camping, fishing and hunting gear.  It’s just one of those places you need to put on your Bucket List and see, even if you don’t like anything about the outdoors.  We would be looking for some hiking shoe deals and I wanted her to see the taxidermy mountain and try one of the exotic, wild game dishes for lunch.  Anyway, it’s in Dundee, Mi., and not that far off course for seeing the Tigers…so we went.

We found a good pair of Merrill hiking shoes with Vibram soles (vibram is known for its grip), something that may give her a little more confidence on our upcoming trip to the Adirondacks.  I know she’s squeamish about coming down the mountain, but part of that stems from her footwear and a fear of slipping and falling.  She’s worn running shoes to this point, which just don’t grip the bare, smooth rock above the tree line like a good pair of hiking shoes will.   Then we proceeded to the cafeteria where she sampled the bison burger while I ordered a smoked Elk sandwich.  Both were excellent and she was feeling rather adventuresome for sampling two unusual dishes.

We arrived in downtown Detroit around 5:30 p.m. and with 90 minutes to spare before game time.  I’d hoped to make it early since I didn’t know my way around the area and wanted to find cheap parking and tour the area.

I found parking for five bucks…normally I won’t pay for parking, but I didn’t know the area and didn’t want to come back and find my car missing.  We had a short walk to the park and since we were early, began to walk around.  On the far side of the stadium, I saw three men standing in the shade of a tree talking.  I’ve been watching Indians broadcasts for many years and easily recognized one of the men as color commentator, Rick Manning.  Rick was an above average major league player with a career spanning 12 years with both the Indians and the Milwaukee Brewers.  He was an excellent defensive centerfielder, having won a gold glove, a good base runner, but always a light hitter.  I really enjoyed him in the broadcast booth though…he always called it like he saw it.

“Hey Rick…my daughter and I are big Indians fans and came to Detroit to see them play.  I was hoping you wouldn’t mind taking a picture with us,” I said when I got his attention.

“Sure.  Love too.  Hey…you look familiar.  You’re John Locke…right?” he said.

“Busted.  Yeah…in town to do a shoot for a movie I’m filming and I love the Tribe,” I said.

He offered to bring us to the broadcast booth, but I knew when to cut and run.  We headed in and made our way to the second/upper deck where we watched batting practice and sweated our buns off until game time.  Savannah and I were fortunate enough to see a no-hitter being thrown against the Indians during our last visit to ‘The Jake’ and this night turned out to be a repeat.  We had a 40-minute rain delay (something else we always seem to manage…even in a drought) and after 6 innings of the Indians doing absolutely nothing but falling behind 6-0, we headed for the exit since we were looking at a 3-hour ride home.

I’m glad we went, though.  I enjoy baseball and although I’d love to have a winner again, I’m willing to watch any sorry crew of players the Dolans put on the field.  It’s a little disheartening to know that the philosophy of the current ownership is to develop great, young players for six years and then trade them for fear of being unable to sign them once they become free agents after seven years.  Very few teams have reached the World Series using this method and I doubt we will.  I’d like to see a World Series winner before I die, but unless I hang in as long as my 106-year old grandmother, that may be a pipe dream. 

Moving day...

Friday, August 3, 2012
I headed out on the bike thinking that I’d make it a two-hour ride.  Since I’d had no adverse effects following yesterday’s tough workout, I was starting to think I was 100% again.  In the past when coming off injuries, I tend to do too much too soon, but thought riding two hours was reasonable.  And I was right until I hit 90 minutes.

I felt a little soreness coming up a hill and before the point where I would have turned to make it a longer ride.  I had a quick decision to make, and for once made the correct one taking the shorter course and heading for home.  I finished in an hour and 45 minutes, but my back still felt okay, which was a good thing because I had two sofas and a dining room table to move.

Holly’s friend Craig had asked us if we’d like a huge leather couch they were parting with.  I never say no to such items and so took the seats out of the van and headed for Solon.  I had Jack along and he and Craig moved it into the van…I was playing it safe with the elbow more than the back…but knew I’d be doing the unloading at the other end.  Once home, I moved all our family room furniture around, took our sofa out to the van for transportation to Jason’s place and brought the leather sofa in.  At Jason’s, I had two of his buddies do the unloading but then I had to stop at Holly’s folks to pick up a dining room table and four chairs.  Once I had that back home and into the house, I put the seats back in the van and disassembled the table so it could be taken upstairs for storage in Heidi’s room until one of the kids needed it. 

By the day’s end, I was reasonably tired but pain free.  I was careful with the back and the elbow on all my lifts and got help wherever I could.  I wasn’t trying to be macho at any point…a minor triumph…and it paid off.  It was almost like a double workout…and I love doing doubles.

Bike Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1450.

Back to the Survival Workout...with a new twist

Thursday, August 2, 2012
It had been two weeks since my cortisone shot and I’d been on medication for my back for two full days and was feeling much better, so in my mind that meant it was time for a Survival Workout.  Not a full blown one, mind you…I’m not a complete idiot…but certainly the things that didn’t require me to pull or lift things towards me as in pole climbing, rowing, pull-ups or biceps curls.  To make up for what I couldn’t do though, I decided to do a lot more of what I could.  And that would become my first mistake.

I started with dips and push-ups and then headed into the woods for a 60-second Indian run; hopping, jumping and dodging fallen logs and branches.  I then kariokied up the steepest hill in the park.  It was hot and I could tell I was generating high heart rates and found that I’d reached the middle 160’s by the top of the hill…something I seldom do.  I made my way to the pavilion doing log and rock lifts and then I added something new.  I dropped down into a squat-thrust position, did a push-up and then while in the ‘up’ position of the push-up, alternated left foot, then right, between my hands five times before doing another push-up and then moving to the standing position again.  I did five sets of these and was gasping by the fifth.  Clearly, I’d found some new way to torture myself that I was thinking I should just forget.  From there, I scrambled up the hill behind the pavilion.  When I reached the top and checked my heart rate again, I wasn’t surprised that it was around 180.  With an age predicted maximum (220 minus your age) of 163, I was WAY over the top…but it felt great.  The rest of the workout was just a lot of dips, push-ups and overhead presses with about 5 minutes of jogging mixed in, but when I reached the car, my arms were trembling in that good way they do when you’ve completed a really tough workout and feel like puking.  It was easily the toughest Survival Workout I’d done in a couple of months and I was proud of the effort.

I’ll have to see what tomorrow brings, but the running things I did may inflame the meniscus.  It’s been seven weeks since the surgery though, and I really should be good to go.  That, and I need to start testing it since the girls want to go to the Adirondacks Labor Day Weekend and I need to find out what I’m capable of.  I don’t want to get there and half way up a mountain to find that I’m someplace I shouldn’t be.  We’ll see.

Survival Workout: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150.
Calories burned:  600.

Jimmy Dimora needs more money. Checks or cash will do...

Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Like many folks, I tend to remember catchy rhymes I’ve heard over the years.  In the song played during the opening credits of the TV cop show ‘Beretta’, I can still hear the lyrics “if you can’t do the time…don’t do the crime,” quite clearly.  I’m thinking Jimmy Dimora either didn’t watch the show, didn’t think he’d ever get caught, or…what he claims…never committed a crime in the first place.  To his displeasure, the Federal Jury hearing the evidence against him disagreed and convicted him of racketeering and dozens of other crimes.  The prosecution was looking for 26 years behind bars and remuneration to the tax payers of Cuyahoga County whom he’d fleeced without conscience during his years as a public servant.

The judge gave him 28.

I suppose his lack of remorse and claims that he was entirely innocent of all charges may have had something to do with this.  I don’t know if it’s a fair sentence, and there is much debate about it, but please Jimmy…don’t tell us you’re innocent.

And then he sent out the letter appealing to friends and family to send money to help him defray the legal costs that will help him with his appeal.

“As you know, I have had the honor of being a public servant for 30 years, and I would never do anything to hurt the citizens of Cuyahoga County, my colleagues or my family.  Over those years, I have personally sacrificed and worked diligently in executing the responsibilities and objectives I was elected to achieve as an elected official,” he wrote.

The Ohio Republican Party Chairman, Robert Bennett said it best when he commented “his moral compass is out of whack.”  Ya think?

Anyway, after reading his heart-warming letter…and then puking…I decided against sending money to him for his legal costs.  If he’d have just saved some of the money he stole and spent in Vegas on food, hookers and great parties and put it in an account that read ‘Just in case the knuckleheads in Cuyahoga County ever catch up with me and I need to defend myself’ legal fund, he’d be sitting pretty without having to ask those he fleeced for more.

I rode the same course as yesterday, but three minutes faster as the back pain becomes more of a memory.  I’m still holding back on the hills since they seem to trigger the pain, but the medication is doing the trick.  I did hear from John about his bike, though.  He called to suggest that maybe it was time he try riding again.  I’m thinking of changing my address and phone number.  After riding ‘The Rocket’, it’ll be hard to go back to a mere mortal bike.

Bike Duration: 79 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.

Nilesh in "World's Toughest Mudder" competition

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

“So Nilesh…before we get into all my back stuff, what’s up with the Tough Mudder thing,” I asked.

“Well…I’ve been invited to participate in the World’s Toughest Mudder competition in November in New Jersey.  I don’t know if I’m going though, because I don’t think I’ll be able to drive anywhere when it’s over,” he said.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Tough Mudder races, it’s a patented competition offered in designated sites throughout the world and are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by
British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie.  Nilesh had entered one this past summer and performed so well, he’d qualified to the finals.  The finals though would be offer a completely different format.  Competitors will have 24 hours to complete as many laps of the course as they can and the winner will be determined by how many laps they complete.  The obstacles will remain a secret but are promised to a Tough Mudder course on steroids.  Anyway, he’s my kind of doc.

“I’ll drive you there and bring you home again.  I’ll take tons of pictures and write a story about it,” I offered enthusiastically. 

He looked at me and quickly determined I was completely serious…and that his primary excuse had just disappeared.  I finished him off by asking, “what would Lance do?”  He knew the answer.

I went through a physical exam and then had some x-rays taken.  We got back together to review the next step.

“Man, John…you’re back looks young.  No sign of arthritis, great space between discs…this all looks really good,” he said while pointing to spots on the x-ray.  “But you sure do have a lot of pain and we’ll handle that,” he said.

That was really good news to me.  During the exam, he’d been saying things to lead me to believe that I had a disc issue.  Instead, it was just some pissed-off muscles in my lower back trying to get back at me for all those miles I’d been riding on the bike.  He prescribed prednisone to relieve the swelling and a muscle relaxant to relieve my brain.  He didn’t say anything about exercise, which meant I’d figure it out...and was probably his only mistake.  That, or he knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't be listening when he made suggestions.

I filled the prescription after work, went home and took the dosage of both, and hopped on the bike.  The relaxant pill bottle advised against operating a motorized vehicle, but said nothing about human powered, so that made biking okay.  I decided to repeat the course I’d done the day before with Kim, but faster.  When I reached my first climb, I rose off the saddle tentatively and although there was mild discomfort, I stayed that way to the top.

Overall, the ride went well and I clocked it 8 minutes faster than I had the day before.  I still had pain in the lower back but it had been subsiding throughout the day.  With or without medication, I was mending.   I was encouraged and began to feel like I’d turned the corner on these nagging injuries.  I’ll know more in the morning.

Bike Duration: 82 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.

Riding through it...Lance would

Monday, July 30, 2012

I called Nilesh, my sports med doc, and managed to get an appointment for the following morning.  This would allow me another day to feel better, though that didn’t seem to be happening, and a chance to put in another ride to see where I stood…or to assure that I’d go in with massive pain and he’d have something to investigate.  Anyway, it seemed like a decent plan.

I called Kim to ask her if she cared to join me.  She’d seen me the previous evening struggling to get off the floor after trying to do some light stretching exercises.

“Are you sure you want to try riding?” she asked with some concern.

“Tell me you’ve never tried to train through an injury,” I countered.

“Well…if I did, I’m sure my coach would have been giving me a ton of shit over it,” she said…not having to mention the coach was me.

“Do as I say…blah…blah…blah...and besides...Lance would ride,” I answered.

I rode to her place, which is 10 minutes away, with only mild discomfort, though once there, I struggled getting off the bike.  She watched this and again wondered aloud if this was the best thing for me.

“Look…I’m gonna ride and if you’re along and I can’t make it, you’ll help me back,” I said.

“Um…good luck with THAT!” she answered.

Kim is very mercenary.  Once she starts a workout, it’s all about her, though I suppose I could have whined long enough to get her to stop and call someone to pick me up.  Such a sweet girl.  We made an abbreviated ride through Waite Hill and I stayed in the saddle on all climbs since standing and riding is what I feel led to the back pain in the first place.  We maintained a decent pace though, riding about 17-18 mph and managed to keep going for 90 minutes.  As the ride progressed, I was pretty sure my back was loosening…at least that’s what I told myself.

Once home, I went for a swim in the neighbor’s pool.  I hobbled over and up the ladder, but once in the water, I experienced instant relief as the water buoyed me weight and relieved my back.  I got out and toweled off and the pain quickly returned to the point that, once in the house, I needed to ascend the stairs on all fours.  I hopped in bed, lying on an ice pack for 30 minutes.  I followed that with time in a chair and later, while watching the Olympics, more time with the heating pad.  By 9 p.m., I was actually feeling pretty good and walking rather normally.  Tomorrow though, I was sure I’d get some answers.  I have a great deal of faith in my doc…I coached his off-season running during his high school years, after all.

Bike Duration: 90 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1250.