I'm Back, Somewhat Healthy, But Definitely Back

Back at the old cross country house in Dayton, the walls were full of all sorts of random stuff including many random newspaper clippings.  Some of them were humorous stories,  most of them were unintentionally funny.  And in the kitchen, near the back door, beneath the Foster Cans, was a clipping showing a sled dog, sitting morosely in the snow, with the saddest face.  I have tried to remember the caption, but can't recall it word for word, but it was something along the lines of "Sled dogs get very jealous when they see their friends go for a run without them."  I don't know how many people ever noticed it, but it was one of my favorite little oddities on the walls at 434 Stonemill.

It doesn't matter who you are, dog or human, if you are a runner at your core and can't run, you fundementally are not happy.  Oh you might think things are okay.  You go about your daily life, but there is a bit of a funk to your existence.  You think back on those days when you were healthy and could run, but dreaded heading out the door to do so.  How stupid you were.  Didn't you realize how blessed you were.  When you are healthy and just need to take time off, you can exist fairly well.  But when time off is forced on you, you can put on a good face, but deep down it slowly eats away at your core.

I had overdone it back in February.   I wasn't doing the little things to keep my body going and ended up straining my groin.  But initially it wasn't a big deal.  I had a great January and a few weeks off weren't going to kill me.  I could still ski and ended up having 4 wonderful days of beautiful powder in Jackson Hole.  A close encounter with a tree nearly sent home on crutches, but I got lucky and just ended up with a slightly swollen knee.  I could run if my groin got better.

Blue Sky Day in Jackson along with fresh powder.

But as a few days became a couple of weeks, I started to get anxious.  My initial rehab was to do nothing.  After a few weeks, I tried to do an easy 4 miles.  Couldn't finish it.  Another painful session with Heather at In Motion Rehab and things seemed to get better.  I ran 2 miles.  The next day I ran 3 miles.  By the end of the week I ran 6 miles.  Things were back on track.  And then I did something stupid.  I played for my work's co-ed rec league softball team.  First play of the game I re-aggravated the groin.  No more running for another week or so.  

By now, I had put on some lbs.  And began to realize my goals for the summer were not going to happen.  I was in a funk.  I had just started running with the BTC MUTs and really enjoyed having a group to do workout's with.  This was the first time I had a group to regularly work out with since I left Dayton in 2005.  I was really bummed I couldn't run with them.  I needed to break out of the funk.   I hadn't updated this blog.  I hadn't done anything really to get the groin better besides rest and a few dry needling sessions with Heather.  

I started going to the gym.  Started doing strength work for the groin and in general.  In a few days, I noticed I was mentally much happier.  And the groin felt better.  With nicer spring weather upon us here in Colorado, I got re-aquainted with my boy Blue.

I hadn't ridden my bike since probably last September.  Did a couple of rides with Bobby Stuckey and his Saturday group.  Last Saturday, rode up towards Ward.  Bonked about 2 miles from Ward, before turning around and heading back down.  Still for 3rd time on bike after 6-7 months off it, I was happy with the ride.  Those 3 rides within 8 days of each other, totaled nearly 90 miles.  

Another slight re-aggravation set me back a day or two, but now I knew I could get on the bike, stair master or elliptical and still get a workout in without any problem.  This slight setback didn't nearly upset me like the two before.  I was able to work thru it and get back to running.  Last Friday did 5 miles at North Table Mountain in Golden (a favorite of mine in the Golden area). Sun did 6.5 miles on S. Boulder Tr/Mesa Tr/Big Bluestem Tr.  Monday did 4 miles on treadmill, with 2-3 of that with a 10%+ on the incline.  And on Tuesday did an easy 5-6 miles in the snow.  It's slowly coming back.

I had two goals for this year. 

Goal #1: Run an ultra marathon.  Ideally finish a 50 miler.  That goal is probably out the window for now.  I'm not sure how the summer is going to go.  But I got a new running goal as I signed up for the Jungfrau Marathon in Switzerland.   13.1 miles of relatively flat road running (only 500 ft gain over 1st half), followed by 13.1 miles of uphill trail running with a net 4300 vert ft gain, topping out at 7000 ft above sea level.  I'm excited about this race and the chance to go back to the Grindewald region of Switzerland.  I was there during an European tour right after high school and always wanted to get back.  Plus another chance to see Fio in Switzerland.

Goal #2:  To start homebrewing.  As a chemist this is right up my alley and I should have started doing this years ago.  Today my equipment arrived.

It's like Christmas without the wrapping paper.

When I got home from work, the lovely folks at FedEx had delivered my homebrew kit.  I quickly got to unpacking.

Your slightly more than basic homebrew setup

Everything I need is here.  Primary fermenter, Secondary fermentor, bottling bucket, malt extract, grains, hops, etc.  I already had picked up a 19L stock pot for boiling the wort, along with a few other odds and ends.  So I am ready to go.  Brisco's Homebrews is open for business.

Keeping a journal of your brewing process is very important.

So while I have neglected this blog in the past 6 weeks, I will be back to post regularly again.  I'm excited to be able to run again and excited to make my first batch of brew : Brisco's Genesis Dark Mild Ale.   Along with catching up on a number of fine local microbrews that I have visited the past few Fridays, the blog will have updates on my brewing process and my training.