Sunday, February 10, 2008

Sunday 14 miles.

If you haven't read today's entry- then this is not the original post.. the first one I posted this morning was all about "poor me". I have spent the morning with my son and I realize that I never want him to cry about his situation, rather he needs to go about changing it. Having a bad attitude now isn't going to increase my chances of doing well next Sunday. I need to dwell on the fact that I have trained hard and I'll have my son there. I have said I would never quit in front of him- I want to show him how to fight through adversity.. so no more whining.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

8 comments:

Matt said...

Lucho,
I'm pretty bummed for you. There's still time and the fitness isn't going anywhere yet. Hang in there.

I agree with your position on massage, etc. I've had a few over the years and I'm not convinced. I have, however, enjoyed reflexology (i've only gotten that done 3 times), but to me my feet need it more than my shoulder! Anyways, sorry to see you suffer through this.

One last thought: because I played soccer all my life, I have the competitive approach to even racing more than the science of fitness approach. If I'm ready (feeling good) on game day, it's on. It's a given I'm prepared, I'm a competitor.

So, as long as you're feeling good the morning of the marathon, it's on and you'll run like the wind. Maybe taking a few days off are in order. The big game is next week(?), not tomorrow you'll be ready.

Hang in there!

Wassdoc said...

I can't argue with you. You've made a career out of avoiding the "luxeries". That said, I spent part of my run this morning trying to figure out what's going on with your back. Again, being an "expert" in back pain, it is not always the back itself. You mentioned that he worked on you piriformis. Some of the deep muscles in the pelvis can certainly cause lower back spasm if they themselves are in spasm. I imagine you've been poking and prodding to try to figure this out. It is possible that the other muscles were relaxed, but one, again using the piriformis as an example, went back into spasm, creating an imbalance. If you can release the sucker (through self massage or stretching) you could still be ok.

In fact, two weeks ago I tweaked my back (shoveling snow), but ultimately, I've kept massaging my glute, which had tightened up. It's doing much better.

I've noted some of the other people on your blog have made some similar comments. I'd be curious if anyone else has ideas.

Finally, you have a point. Every doctor, massage therapist, physical therapist, etc., has their own take on a problem. Sometimes they're right and sometimes they're wrong. It is often best to know thyself, but unfortunately, we aren't always right either!

The clock is definitely ticking, but it's not race day yet! If I'm correct (which happens occasionally, you can ask my patients), you could snap back to normal within a very short period of time.

Hang in there!

Ironboom said...

Hang in there. You still got a week to recover. You definitely have a the training in. Taking it easy now may be a blessing in disguise and allow you to get you (and your) back in shape just in time for the race. Keep your spirits high. You'll kick ass.

scott said...

Hey Lucho
just had a good weekend with my kids as well....wonderfull that you get to spend so much time with your boy at his age ...its all "money in the bank" for your relationship with him when he is growing up
Just a couple of posative stories for you to finish up
Joan Samuelson before the LA Marathon...all banged up and could only spin on an excercise bike
Zatapeck before one of his Olympics again bedridden
You have the hay in the barn as well!!!
Greetings from Germany
Scott

stageracer said...

Lucho

I was just thinking about you today on Marshall Trail, while running my first 2 hour run in a couple of years, what you must be thinking right now about your back and being so close to the race. I'm glad I didn't see your original post and even gladder that you picked yourself up after this morning and dusted yourself off.

Like everyone already said..."hay is in the barn"...keep it positive and do everything you can to alleviate your discomfort. The race will be what it will be and thats all you need to focus on.

Best-Kurt

JP Flores said...

I can't add anything of value beyond what others have posted.

So...I'll share with you a poem I recently re-read, I think you'll appreciate it. I'm sure parts of it will look familiar, bits and pieces of it are well-known. But as with most classic works....the meaning is best understood when taken in its entirety.

IF - by Rudyard Kipling..

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

kerrie said...

sorry i missed the earlier post ;), it must have been good!
everyone has shitty days(i was having one of my own yesterday...really feeling sorry for myself)and everyone gets injured, but i think the big difference is in how we deal with it all and overcome the obstacles placed in our path.

so deal with it and then go run fast!

BRFOOT said...

Tim, one of my favorite quotes

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do.Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. -- Aristotle

We have all read about your habits, just run.