The Happiest 1 Mile Ever...

So last night I had my doctor's appointment and he told me at that time "Let's see what happens to your knee when you run." Which translated, means to me....You can start running...So I went home a little nervous about if I really wanted to do this...The knee was still feeling a little tender and sore, so I thought, thought some more, watched the season finale of Heroes, and then chose to be smart and wait another day.

This morning I woke up and packed my bag for work. Which today, for the first time in two weeks meant my running shoes and workout clothes...I cannot possibly explain how that felt...As cheesy as that may sound...It felt good.

At lunch I decided to head to the gym..which is a 5 minute walk(if that) from my office..It was one of the most nervous times I can remember. I was mentally examining my knee with every step I took...Am I ready, should I wait...or should I just do it...

So I changed and decided to start with a 15 minute warm-up on the eliptical. Felt good..and for the first time in 2 weeks had a good sweat going...

Then it happened..I stepped on the treadmill and pushed the button...Started at 5.5 just to be safe...God for bid, the knee lock-up and I fall on my face...Within the first minute I jumped it to 6.0...Then 6.5 by the end of the 2nd Minute....At minute 5 I increased it to 7.0...What the hell are you doing....I kept thinking about the knee, was it stiffining or was I alright....At minute 8 I went up to 7.5....and then for the last minute and a half, 8....1 mile...9 minutes....The best 9 minute run in two weeks....and a huge boost to my self-esteem...

I stepped of the treadmill, because thats what I said I would do(and checked for swelling,,none)...1 mile today, 2 miles tomm., 3 miles on Thursday, 4 Miles on Friday and 5 on Saturday....Then come Sunday....who knows..maybe the Half will be attainable...and maybe it will not....Either way...I am back...and it feels good...

Cautiously Optimistic....

So what a difference a week makes...Last week at this time I was sitting in the ER getting my knee drained like a zit...Today I am sitting here typing away, and the knee is feeling great...The incision hole is still healing, and I have some serious dry skin on the knee, but I do not dare put any lotion on it with the fear of introducing infection.

So where does that leave my training...Last week I was talking about changing my registration for the 28th of June to a Half-Marathon...That thinking is now waivering...and I was thinking of not running this weekends half-marathon in Vancouver, Canada. Hmmm...read on..

Here is the update and where my mind is right now.

1) 4:30 p.m tomm. I have a follow-up for my knee...going to see what the doc has to say. If he says all systems are a go, I will try and run a mile our two after my appointment.

1a) If he says systems are not a go, I will go into a major depression, eat a box of dougnuts and sit in front of the TV and watch the Season Finale of LOST...OK, I am lying, I would just wait a few more days, but I will watch the Season Finale of LOST...

2) If systems are a go, I will then proceed to add a few miles a day through Friday, making sure that I am resting, icing, heating, and continuing to take my antibiotics.

3) Friday..whether I run the half-marathon or not this weekend, we will load the Saturn for Vancouver. Vanessa, Emma, Camden and I will get to Vancouver sometime Friday night, check into the hotel and get ready for some touring on Saturday.

4) Saturday we will tour Vancouver as well as take in the Race Expo. At this time I will be monitoring the knee and praying for some luck. Will also be monitoring my meals...Do not need a repeat office trip before this race.

5) Sunday with all things going my way, I will run the half-marathon, with my only goal for this one, being to finish..If that means walking, so be it.

6) Finish the Half.

7) After finishing the race, evaluate where I am at physically...

8) Monday will again look at how I am feeling and see if two months will be enough for my marathon on the 27th of June. I had got up to my 16 miler in training...so I think I should be ok..Again it all depends on the knee.

9) I remind everyone that reads this...My knee injury was not caused by running...

10) Wish me luck and say some prayers...

Holy @#$$%^& that hurt...

So at 1:00 p.m. today I went into the Ortho to get my knee looked at..Was feeling pretty positive...It was feeling better, but could not see it, since it had been under wrap since Sunday morning. So Doc took off the wrap and took out the Wick...The Wick being the piece of something that keeps the hole from closing, allowing my knee to drain...Ewwwww, I know...

So he looks at it, and says.."Yep still pretty red, we will try and get more out of it...This is what happened to Peyton Manning" This may be the only time in my life, that I am compared to a Professional Athlete...but, to the getting more out of it I think..Really...Cool...no problemo...I mean at this point I am saying to myself, this was no big deal yesterday after the guy put the pain killer into the knee before draining it...

So what happened next..Lets just say that this Doc must not have been briefed on the Pain Killer part...Tears were shed and I mastered the nurses instructions of breathing in through the nose and out my mouth...If I am not mistaken there is proably some of my saliva on the ceiling...3 times he stuck the 6 inch Q-Tip Tip into the hole and scraped it out....pushing in/out/down and around...Are you squeemish....take that times 10 and you have what I was feeling...

So after the last time of dipping he put in a new wick and wrapped it up. Wednesday I have a follow-up and at that time we may know something...If the infection is getting better, surgery may not be necessary...and if it is not going away...you get the idea...So keep sending those well wishes...I truly appreciate them...

Hole in my knee...

So I woke up this morning in pretty severe pain, and my knee was more red than yesterdays pics...Add a little purple to the equation, a call to the Doc and a call to my folks(still call them), and I was in the ER.

Once in the ER, they sucked some fluid(blood) out....then made an incision and then they put a wick in...The wick is a object that keeps the incision from closing and allows the knee to drain...

So when I left the ER, I was bandaged pretty good and had crutches, and it was official...No half-marathon in Canada...

Currently...mentally I am fighting the frustration of this whole thing..I am scared for my knee and I am scared for my weight...This is a battle that any of you that have struggled with weight feel and know well...

My family has been a huge boost of positiveness...even my little bro, who uses reverse psychology because he knows it works...

Keep the well wishes coming and I will be working to get this thing better...

Love ya all...

Chris

FRUSTRATION is an understatement...

Elite athletes get frustrated when they are injured...My frustration runs deeper...Why? After you have lost 60+ pounds your biggest fear is gaining it back. When you are forced to rest an injury that fear becomes more real...So for the last week I have not been able to do any sort of working out...I have Bursitis of the left knee and it has been killing me...Drugs, Drugs and more Drugs, as I try to get the swelling down and the pain to go away. It is a pretty safe bet right now that I will not be able to run my half-marathon in Vancouver in two weeks...We'll see, but the odds are not looking good...Wednesday I had a syringe of fluid taken off of the knee...Ouch...So I ask you all to send a prayer or two my way, and I truly appreciate all fo the well wishes that people have sent...I used to hate running, now I hate not being able to do it....Enjoy the pics....

14 Miles of Fun followed by 2 miles of pure Hell...

Yep that pretty much says it all....Well let me backup a little bit. Last Wednesday afternoon(1st of April), I was helping to lay down a gym tarp for my big Kid's Camp Deployment Day. This entailed a good hour of me being on my knees, crawling across a gym floor...Really did not think anything of it. So Thursday at the actual event I was on my feet all day, so decided to take the day off from running...On Friday I put in a few miles, Saturday(6), Off on Sunday, 6 on Monday and 5 on Tuesday...Then it happened...I woke up at 2 in the morning on Wednesday...My knee was killing me, so I iced it and went back to sleep. I had not really experienced a pain in my knee like this since I had started running almost 2 years ago, so I was not really that worried. Low and behold, I woke up Wednesday at 6 and looked at my knee...

It looked like someone had put a Tennis Ball on top of my knee cap and it was mushy....Vanessa in her best supportive role, looked at it and said EWWWWWW...Very reassuring....In the past in the MANWICH days, I would have thought nothing of it...I would have put ice on it, grabbed a candy bar and plopped my ass down on the couch...Not so these days...I freaked, called my brother, called my dad, and looked on-line for knee information...I am signed up for two marathons, and international half(Canada), and have already bought my ticket to DC...I CANNOT BE HURT....SO I listened to someone who has become a true hero of mine...my Brother Tim, the Stud Ironman Athlete that he is...."Take a few days off, you'll be fine..."

So I did...Took 3 days off, iced it, took some drugs, iced it some more and took more drugs...All of this while stressing a little bit for my long run on Saturday...A 16 miler...and to reverse even further in time, it is important to know that when I was training for my first marathon, I did not finish my 14 mile run(hit a wall), or the 16 or 18 miler(injured)...

Was my body screwing with me again..or was I screwing with my body...

So I woke up this morning and ventured off for my 16 mile run with a knee brace...my brand new FUEL BELT, and my BRAND NEW Mizuno Coat...A quick sidebar...MY Mizuno coat rocks..simply for the fact that as a larger man, I can breath in it...All other running coats suck the breath out of me, and make my Moobies look huge...

As I started out, I felt pretty crappy...not hurting, just dehydrated, so I inhaled a few of my bottles and carried on...Felt really good...At mile 9, I had depleted all of my hydration(the plan), and refilled my bottles at the convenience store...I have started to do this on my long runs...Saves having to have a caravan of support and it is easier to carry a ID and Credit Card...

Miles 9-13.1 felt pretty good. but was a little disappointed in my half time...Went 4 minutes over my last competitive HAlf MArathon 2 weeks ago..I blame the terrible head wind for the first 9 miles(no joke), and the knee, which though was not hurting, I could tell I was favoring just to be careful..

Then I hit Mile 14....HOLY CRAP....It is really funny how at mile 14 it feels as if you are doing a 8 or 9 minute mile, when in fact you are doing between a 10 and 11 minute mile...The legs started to go, and I finished off my last hydration...As I made my way to the car, my body must have looked comical to cars going by...I was hurting, and I knew it.

After was all said and done, I was pretty happy with my results..16 miles at a overall 9:54 pace...DO I have some work to do...Absolutely....But no rest for the weary...Next week is a 18 miler, so stay tuned...It should be a good one...Fingers crossed...

Long Overdue...

So the last two weeks have been busier than I can ever remember two weeks being...Between work, running and family....and to be honest that has been the priority stack lately, it has been hard to breathe. Fortunately I have had family members riding me about the lack of new posts, so I finally got sometime this evening to update the good ole Manwich.

So the running has been going really well. My big goals as stated before are to break 2 hours for a half marathon and to get 4 hours or less on the full marathon.

So last weekend I took another attempt at my Half Marathon goal with the Whidbey Half Marathon on Whidbey Island...Was pretty worried the day before as the temps hit 37 and it was down pouring. We had a great pasta meal and I felt pretty good going to bed...unfortunately my cravings got the best of me and I decided that it would be a good/safe idea to have a Large Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard as well.

At 0600 the Alarm Clock went off on the nightstand in the hotel and in my gut. The next hour was spent in the office as I prepared mentally for the race. My little brother has mentioned to me that I am now becoming more competitive with my races, and I saw it more than ever at this race. Like in HS and college I prepared my outfit the night before, tried it all on, made sure I looked good(or at least thought so), checked and double checked my Ipod, tied and re-tied my shoes, started to stretch and stressed that I would somehow miss the start of the race

After working with Vanessa to get the kids all ready to go we headed out. I got to the race and picked up a few more pins for my bib and some zip ties for my timing chip...and then again headed for the office. Then I headed to the office again.......!#$%^& Dairy Queen.

Then it was time to go to the starting line...Cannot lie, I was nervous....Maybe it was because I was not feeling all so well, or maybe it was because I was really shooting for the 2 hour mark...Whatever it was, the gun did not wait for me and Blamo the race began.

The race started with a nice gradual uphill, which was no big deal considering the hills on my training runs. After the initial uphill was a nice gradual downhill where I started to pick-up the pace...Unfortunately there was a pretty steady headwind blowing right into my face....Fortunately the sun was out and it was starting to warm-up, so much so that I decided to take my Gloves off and toss them to my cheering section at mile 2. That was the last time I saw them until the finish.

The next 11.2 miles were a challenge, but they felt great. The hills were massive, yet I conquered them and never felt like stopping. Even the one at mile 8 that was brutal...It was great going down the mile and a half...but back up....Not so much

So with more than 1 mile left in the race I was left with a downhill and I started to really kick, I was sitting at 1:53...I could make it, I could finish my 1++ miles in less than 7 minutes....I started to kick and kick, and kick some more...I was getting closer to the finish line and then all of a sudden my legs started to wobble and I looked at my watch...1 minute left for the two hours, I pushed, pushed and pushed some more....Ultimately I missed it by two minutes and 12 seconds. but it felt great....The average finish time for all runners was 2:30, so I beat that by 28 minutes...I was in top half of my age group, the top half of all men and in the top 1/4th of all of the runners...Also felt good, because I conquered all the hills and raced a great race in what was by far the hardest I had ever run...

After the race we took in some Quiznos, but no DQ....maybe I will take some in later:) but never the night before a race...Enjoy the pics...

My #1 Fans at the Starting Line...

The dorkiest picture I have ever been in...This is right after I threw my gloves to Vanessa...I am watching them in the air as they travel...

Digging In, I hate this picture because of my gut...but I love it because of the determination in my face...

At the finish, trying to finish hard, but also knowing that I am past my goal...

Daddy's little girl....How can you not love that face.....