le Tour de Playground 2012

le Tour de Playground

Saturday, June 30th 2012

Michelle and Hannah are off camping with Michelle's friend, Cathy and her son Jacob.  That leaves the little dude and I for a Father/Son weekend.  I was pretty geeked from the outset.  When Michelle told me they would be gone for the weekend the first thought that popped into my head was "Let's go on a bike ride to a playground!"

When I mentioned this to a friend at church, he said, "Why don't you make a tour to several playgrounds?"

BRILLIANT!!!

After breakfast, we loaded up the Burley and took off.  Our first stop was John Ball Park.  They have a nice playset by the main parking area with this really cool climbing area (big kids only for this).  David was kind enough to poop for me.  Thanks David.

Once cleaned up, we were off to the Kent Trails with the plan being to stop at Millennium Park.  What I hadn't considered was how many playgrounds we were going to pass on this whole trip (eight total).  We ended up stopping in Johnson Park and playing there.  While there, we had a snack of grapes and water.  Oh, and David pooped again.  Thanks David.

We then toured through the Millennium Park trails and headed up Maynard to the Standale Trail.  As the trail crosses Sunset Hills, there is a ball field and a playground.  This was our third stop.  I have always liked this playset because it has some really interesting elements.  David decided not to poop at this playground.  Thanks David.

From there, we continued on the Standale trail, hopped on Leonard and went to the West Side Christian playground.  Always a hit.  Once we were there, I realized how late it was getting, so we had a snack of cereal bars, crackers and milk (water for me, actually).

From there, it was a short jaunt home.  A little play time, a little lunch and few books = nap time for buddy boy.  How can you beat that.

In the end, we went 21.4 miles and our time was almost evenly split between bike time and play time.  I would have to call this a win/win for the both of us.

Day 9 - early again

Once again, I woke up early and walked down to the park.  After doing some lunges to get my self nicely warmed up, I took 2 laps around the ball field and up the path towards home.


Distance: 0.67 miles

Weight: never checked

Results: nothing really new or extraordinary.  There is more achy, muscle soreness in my feet.  To me, this is good old-fashioned post-workout muscle soreness.  Nothing to be concerned about.  My feet might be getting slightly, very slightly, less sensitive.  This is probably just imagined.

What I learned: My plan seems to be working well.  Patience is my biggest obstacle.  I just want to go and run a 5K,  but I know that that will likely not end well.  Also, I can certainly see where some type of "barefoot" shoe would be a good idea, just for a little bit of protection.  Oh, and a lacrosse balls work pretty well for foot self-massage and self-mobilization.

Plan: Go out again sometime Sunday.  I'm not really sure when.  The plan will be to go down the neighborhood trail and try for something around 0.8 miles.

Why are you doing this to yourself?

This is a pretty reasonable question, when you think about it.  Yes, I did have to give up running about four years ago and, yes, I have missed it.   But what about cycling?  You love cycling, don't you?

Let's not be absurd, of course I love cycling.  My obsession with cycling is in no real danger.  Cycling still provides me with stress release, sunshine, exercise, time alone, and something to "geek out" about.

But running...running, oh how I desire thee!

In Christopher McDougall's book Born to Run, he argues that we were, in fact, born to run.  He proposes that running is part of our physical, mental, and spiritual structure.  The arguement for this is pretty good.  Not definitive, mind you, but it certainly makes sense to me.

From my point of view, running seems to be such a natural thing.  It makes sense to me.  I understand running.  For reasons I cannot wholly explain, it seems like the thing to do...like I should be doing it.

I experience great enjoyment from physical exertion (some would call it self-flagellation).  Typically, the harder I go and the longer I go, the better I feel.  It isn't too long after a particularly brutal ride that I am thinking about doing it again and doing it better (don't ask me to define better, because I'm not usually completely sure).

The thought of coming home from a hard run, tired and sweaty, fills me with peace.  Have you ever felt "right with the world"?  That is how I feel after a hard ride.  It is also how I would feel after a hard run.

Why wouldn't I want that?

Day 7 - The First Trail Run (if you can call it that)

Work was finished early enough today that I could sneak in a run before picking up the kiddos.  I decided to head around to this weird, little wooded valley/trail that runs through our neighborhood.  My assumption has always been that this land couldn't be used as part of the subdivision so it was basically left as is.  It consist of a long, flat valley (all grass) that takes a right hook uphill and forms a trail running along the top of a ridge.  It loops around nicely back to my house.  Lacie and I used to go back there all the time to take a walk.  My Garmin was having trouble reading while I was running, so my distance was only 0.52 miles.  I was aiming for more like 0.60.  It sure felt like more than 0.52 miles.

Distance: 0.52 miles

Weight: 210 lbs (home scale)

Results: There is some soreness in the medial calf, likely Tom, Dick and/or Harry (I bet my PT friends will be smiling as they read that), but otherwise ok.  Actually, legs felt more stiff before the run/walk than after.  The pavement was pretty hot, once I was off the trail, so I might have just lightly burn the bottom of my feet.

What I learned: Keep going.  No reason to stop yet.  Running on the firm earth/grass down there felt pretty good, although it was harder to focus on the mechanics of my stride because I had to pay more attention to my immediate environment.  That may be a good thing, in the end.

Plan: Next will be Friday morning, before work.  At the mo, going back to our little mini-trail seems like a good idea.  Today, I will do some stretching and some lower body strengthening.

A Brief History of Mike's Right Leg

Why is it always my right leg?  Can we just get lefty in on the action for once?

I played 3 sports for 4 years in high school - football, wrestling and throwing shot/discus on the track team.  Do you know how many injuries I had?  One.  One sprained ankle during 2-a-days as a freshman.  It didn't even keep my out of the next days practices.  That seems like a pretty good record overall.  Actually, if you count the concussions, it would be more than one...what was I talking about...oh yeah, my right leg.  You will have to forgive me, every now and then things get a little discombobulated.

My first real injury came playing paintball of all things.  To be brief, I ducked down onto one knee to avoid being hit and rammed my knee into a tree root.  There was immediate pain and a complete inability to extend my knee.  Things improved and I was back to normal...almost.  Running in a straight line gave me no issues at all.  Pivoting or quickly changing directions was a different story.  One of these maneuvers was quickly followed by pain, locking up of the knee, and swearing (I try to avoid the swearing now, just so ya know).  It got to the point that I had the knee scoped and the surgeon removed the piece of torn medial meniscus.

Following this, I was doing great.  One hundred percent back to normal.

And then I herniated a disc in my low back.  Crap.

This healed up without the need for surgery or shots but it did lead to one major long-term problem...weakness, specifically in the right calf and hamstring.  Not the kind of weakness you can see.  I look perfectly normal, but when I physically push myself, there is a difference.  I can feel a difference.

The torn meniscus and the faint weakness are not a good combination.  Why?  Well I'm glad you asked.

The only reason I stopped running was because of my right knee.  After my scope, I was fine.  As I got more into running following the low back injury, I found that I had poor impact control on my right leg.  I could feel it.  As I came down on my left foot, I could feel myself absorb the impact and spring forward.  As I came down on my right foot, it felt like a thud.  Kind of like dropping a sandbag.  Thud.  No spring.  No return of energy.  Thud.

As time progressed, it got to the point that I could not run at all without the inside of my right knee aching.  It didn't matter what distance, what shoes or what I tried to do to fix the problem.  Thud.

Back to the orthopod --> MRI --> small meniscus tear on the edge of the old meniscus tear.

"Doctor, if you were me, would you keep running?"

Brief pause.

"No."

"Thank you doctor."

This is when I took up cycling (which I truly love, BTW).  No more knee pain.  No more any type of pain really.  Kinda nice.

So why in the blue-blazes do you want to run again?  That will have to wait for a different post.

Day 5 - A little longer run in the park

Woke up at about 5:30 (ugh, I know) and walked down to the park to do 2 laps around the ball diamond versus one.  Before I began, I did the following:

• Forward lunges x 10
• Lateral lunges x 10
• Rotational lunges x 10
• Push-ups x 18
• Hill Climbers x 20
• Jog in place at a step/minute of 180 for about 2 minutes (I used our metronome to help me keep pace)

Distance running: 0.60 miles

Weight: 208.5 lbs (measured on a scale at a doctor's office)

Results: from a musculoskeltal point of view, I really feel fine.  No knee, foot, ankle, hip or low back pain.  The soles of my feet are a different story. They feel a little...raw.  Just a little.  Walking in the grass on the way back felt pretty good.  The last week was spent on vacation with me being barefoot most of the time.  My tootsies need to callus up some.  Luckily, I will be working all week and there is no option to not wear shoes.

What I learned: First, that I can keep trying.  Second, this really will be a long process of trying to run in a different fashion.  It takes a great deal of focus to learn or re-learn a new motor skill.  I know this perfectly well, but usually I'm preaching it to patients and not actually having to do it myself.  If anything, this will be a learning experience.

Plan: repeat today's workout, hopefully on Wednesday evening (probably once the kiddos are in bed).  I am going to try to stick to the whole every other day thing.

BTW: it turns out walking and standing on rocks about the size of an egg is a good way to self-mobilize the foot.  It also hurts like the devil.  Hurray for me!

Strategies

So, how am I going to go about this whole barefoot running thing?  As you might imagine, I have a good number of ideas rambling around the cranium.  One of my intents with this blog is to help keep my thoughts organized.  One thing I can say, because I am so new to this, is that the whole process will be evolving on a daily basis.  Potentially even a moment to moment basis.  In now particular order:

1. Spend as much time barefoot as I can.  This should help improve strength, endurance and flexibility in my foot and lower leg.  Basically, I'm trying to get them back to a more "natural" state, if that is even possible.  I have considered getting different work shoes that will allow me to spend all day as close to barefoot as I can without actually being barefoot.  This will have to wait some as I don't have the cash right now.
2. Go slow.  Do I have a schedule?  Nope.  Am I preparing for an event? Nuh-uh.  As long as Mr. Ego can stay in check, I should be cool.  Also, as a PT and someone who seems to like a little self-flagellation every now and then, differentiating between workout soreness and pain shouldn't be a big issue.  My feet will need time to toughen up anyway.  I have always been a bit of a tenderfoot.  To be honest, that is one of my small motivations for taking this journey.  I want to be less of a pansy.
3. Going all in on the barefoot thing and almost never wearing supportive shoes probably won't be a good idea at first.  My regular shoes will be like slowly weaning off crutches, or a cane or an ankle brace.
4. Incorporate single leg balance and strengthening exercises into the routine.  This should also help improve leg and foot strength/flexibility.
5. After I have begun to adapt to barefoot running, add short hill repeats to help perfect my form.  Everything I have read advocates short, quick strides where your feet land underneath your hips.  The picture I have in my head is like a slow-motion sprint.  Or maybe a sprint with a small stride.  I have read in several places people advocating a cadence of 180 steps/minute.
6. On the cadence note, we happen to have a programmable metronome (don't ask why; it's a long story).  Why not use that to help me get the "proper" cadence.

Give it two or three days and this list will probably change.  What do I know, really?  Nothing that I really need to know.  I have to hope that my body will start to adapt, remember it's old self, and Mr. Ego will stay in check long enough to let this happen.

Day 3 - A little run in the park

The only real way to describe today's run is "a little".  Basically, I walked down to our neighborhood park, barefoot of course, did one lap around a baseball diamond and then walked home.  Calf stretching before and after the run.

Distance running: 0.32 miles (ya gotta start somewhere)

Pace: 11:39 minute/mile (setting new land speed records)

Weight: 220 lbs (this is questionable since the scale we have has registered me between 210 and 220 over the last few days)

Results: no ruptured Achilles.  No gaping wounds on the soles of my feet.  The right lateral side of my low back is just the tiniest bit sore.  Related to the running?  I'm not sure and I wouldn't want to pass judgement. Calves a little sore?  Yeah, a little.

What I learned: black asphalt is hot on a mid-80s day (pretty smart, huh?).  There is no obvious reason not to try again.

Plan: do a little more than 2 laps around the baseball diamond on Monday, hopefully before work.

Day 1 - A walk in the park

No really, it was a walk in the park.  Literally.  David and I walked down to the Alpine Estates park, each of us barefoot.

We played around on the playset and then we walked back with David on my shoulders.  While I was there, I trotted around a little bit to test out some techniques for barefoot running.  It felt pretty good.

Later on, I did some good calf stretching (I will need plenty of this) and practiced the "100 ups" running exercise.  Hopefully, on Sunday, I will run a 1/4 mile in the park.

And yes, I know that a 1/4 mile sounds pretty wuss-tastic but I will really need to build into this slowly.  More later.

Can a fat man run?

This could be better phrased as, "Can a fat man run again?"

This is my goal: Six months from today, June 21st 2012, I, Michael David Terrell, will be running again.

All of my PT friends will probably have noted that I have not clearly defined "running again".  That is intentional.  There is no race or event i need to aim for.  There is no number of miles I need to achieve.  I just want to run again.

I want to run again and enjoy it.  I want to run without killing my knees or my back.  I want to trot down the street and have it feel good.  I want to run when I want to run.

About four years ago, I gave up running.  There will be posts later as to why that is, but for the moment you should know that I have always missed running.  Odd that I would miss it since running always beat me up so much.

How shall I accomplish this goal?  The main tool I plan use is barefoot/minimalist shoe running.  OK, raise your hand if you just rolled your eyes.  Yeah, I know what you are thinking.  "He'll give himself Achilles' Tendonitis".  "He'll beat his feet to a pulp (literally)".  "He's not some lithe, lanky Ethiopian guy.  He can't run that way."

I will grant you all this...you could easily be right.  To my knowledge, barefoot running has not been shown to lower the risk of injury or to be a "better" way of running by good, solid reproducible research.  You do have to admit, it does make sense (I'll get more into this later, as well).

Currently, I am not running.  I don't like not running.  What do I have to lose by trying?

With that said, this blog has two purposes:

1. Keep a record that I can look back at to see how the journey has progressed.
2. Keep me honest.  If I wuss out on this, there needs to be someone out there to call me a wuss and badger me to "man up" and get back out there.

Will anyone do this for me?  My plan is to do a brief post after each training session.  The posts will give the basics of what I did and how I did it.  There will likely be reflections on what went right and what went wrong (and, oh yes, something will go wrong).  My feeling is that this is going to be a fun and educational trip.  Wanna come with?