I've Had A Gut Full

Confession they say is good for the soul,so step back because I'm about to spew my guts.........

To say I'm beyond fucked off right now is like saying Atilla The Hun may've had "anger management"issues,no matter how bad things have gotten in the past I could in the last eight years go out and run to deal w/ them......well not now I can't,so I bought a bike,but because I have zero mechanical skills I couldn't put it together when it arrived Wednesday so I had to take it to a local bike shop who in turn told me the earliest they think it'll be ready is Tuesday.........
Granted what's a few more days but I had hoped to be out doing loops on Kelly Dr and W.River Dr over the weekend......ah the best laid plains of mice and men.....and runners!
Glass half full my walk w/ the bike from 57th and Cedar to 31st and Walnut meant loosing the cast boot for an hour,it was bad enough having to walk it that far,much less wearing the boot while I did it,after a week and a half of clunking around it felt weird to have both my shoes on again.
I swung by Franklin Field on my way home since I was in the neighbourhood,and while it was painful to watch others jog around the track it felt good to be back there again,here's hoping it won't be too long b4 I'm back on the track sooner rather than later.
Mad props and much love to my friend Kim the security guard there,we share a common bond w/ all things BBC America so it was good to have someone to talk to about the likes of ''Doctor Who"''Torchwood"''Robin Hood"""Gavin And Stacy",believe me the hour or so we chatted was one of the better hours I've had in recent weeks.

Another good hour or so was Wednesday when "The Queen Of The Slipstream"and I had lunch together.....I know I was shocked too,I never take lunch!!!!
Things have gone very quiet on the "QOTS"front over the last few months but we're still good friends and we usually chat once a week,it was fun to sit and have lunch together for a change and at a time when several people have for whatever reason chosen to avoid me I'm grateful to those who take the trouble to remember me.

It's not lost on me that tomorrow marks a year to the day I flew home to Ireland and it's hard not to think about those magnificent 6 mile runs along the beach every morning,right now I'd just be happy w/ a 6 mile run.
I also knew this time last year I still had Nationals to look forward to,Outdoor Masters Nationals have been the highlite of my summer for the last three years and it was always a sore spot w/ me that I couldn't go this year as I'd opted for Worlds and not only can I not do Worlds but I can't do Nationals either now,which I hasten to mention began yesterday.

I was delighted to learn yesterday that my good friend,team mate and more often than not room mate on Nationals road trips Ray Parker won the Pentathlon after two years as runner up,I'm delighted for Ray he deserves to be a National Champion,I'm just sorry I couldn't be there to share that w/ him,much less be in Oshkosh to compete and be w/ my teammates and the friends I've made since my Nationals debut in 06 in Charlotte.

Ok I've vented my spleen a little,it doesn't alter the fact I'm still as miserable as sin right now but as a wise man once told me,"bury it deep in the tough shit cemetery".

One Down,Two To Go

Well that's the first week of my cast boot behind me.....and the first week of barbed comments to all and sundry who've dared cross me about it,my favourite snide comment came yesterday after the three day weekend when someone rather stupidly asked"so what did you do over the weekend"?....................
"you know,ballroom dancing,rollerblading,skateboarding,windsurfing,absailing".....the usual activities one does while they're wearing a goddamn foot cast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Therein lies part of my dilemma,as of today I've ran once in the last five weeks and frankly I'm going out of my everlovin' freakin mind here,to the point where I went online today and ordered a road bike.
I'm looking at at least two more weeks of the boot and frankly I need to be able to jump on a bike and ride post work and on the weekends to not only stay in shape but also stay some what sane,I thought long and hard about the bike,there are risks w/ it but I figured cross training mightn't be so bad,I'm looking at my third injury in four years and at almost 46 the wear and tear on my body isn't helping any,lest we forget my line of work keeps me on my feet most of the day,plus w/ a bike come winter if it's brass monkeys out there I can put the bike down in the basement and prop the back week off the ground and make a stationary bike out of it so here's hoping it's a win/win for me.

Robocop

The first tentative if not clunky steps of my rehab will begin tomorrow as my cast boot arrived today.
As I said yesterday I've put no time limit on my recovery,for the next two weeks I'll be clunking around like Robocop getting used to the cast boot b4 begining physical therapy and going from there.

Out Of The Silent Planet

Alright, after two weeks of several differing emotions,self doubt,self loathing,anger,apathy,denial you name it I'm ready to put it all behind me and start over.
I'm currently waiting for my cast boot to arrive,that was my option to deal w/ my tendon injury,the cortizone shot to me was a short term solution to a long term problem,it's akin to putting a band aid on a knife wound and a cast for three weeks was not an option,I had to do that on my left foot w/ my stress fracture 18 months ago,I couldn't do that again,at least w/ the boot I can take that off.
Once the boot gets here I can start my rehab,after two weeks of the boot I can begin physical therapy and we'll go from there,I've set no time limits on coming back,it'll be when it'll be,first and formost I have to get the tendon healthy,once that happens I'll resume running,I've missed just going out to run and I want to enjoy that b4 returning to training.
In lieu of my running I'm currently writing a music blog"For Those About To Rock" at http://fordekevinaol.blogspot.com
For those who doubt the "healing power of music"read my recent entry on "The Story Of Anvil" between that and watching the final day of the USATF C'ships from Oregon I've found the desire to pick myself up,dust myself off and get back to doing what I do best,long live rock and long live running.

Life's A Lemon And I Want My Money Back

This entry should've been written a week ago,the truth is I've had a hard time coming to terms w/ the fact that not only is my outdoor track season now shut down but also my dream of being World Champion has also been taken away from me.
Linford Christie once said and I quote"as an athlete you're always injured"and it's true but this tendon injury just refuses to go away,despite numerous treatments and lay offs I was bothered by it right after my last workout,that after I hadn't ran for two weeks,I realized then that to go to Lahti for Worlds was pointless,I'd missed 4 weeks of training,3 weeks where I couldn't run at all and 1 week of easy miles to get back into the swing of things.
I vividly remembered 08 Indoor Nationals when I was chronically undertrained,I said then I'd never go to a major c'ship that undertrained again and that was only three days in Boston,I couldn't see spending two weeks in Finland at less than my best.
There'll be other World Championships,right now I need to focus on getting my tendon 100% healthy,once that happens I'll begin to run again and start to get back into race shape.
I'll check in periodically to let you know how my recovery is going and what I'm up to.

Judas Is Rising

"White bolts of lightning came out of nowhere,blinded the darkness created the storm
War in the heavens vengence ignited,torment and tempest attacks like a swarm
Forged out of flame from chaos to destiny,bringer of pain forever undying
Judas is rising"
Judas Rising-Judas Priest

Greetings sports fans and fellow metal maniacs,I'm back after a two week layoff to try and rid myself of this nagging tendon issue that doesn't want to go away.
To quote the always quotable Iron Maiden"the sands of time for me are running low"this Thursday gives me six weeks till my opening 800m race while Friday sees five weeks till I fly out to Lahti so I can ill afford anymore down time,I have a 800m race scheduled for Sunday so for the next few days I'm looking to get a little speed work under my belt.

Todays workout was 4x400 w/ 60 second recoveries,to be honest I had no expectation levels on what to expect from myself,I went:68.90,69.45,68.64,64.61.
I really didn't know what to expect of myself off of two weeks of inactivity,the true test will be what I can do when I come back tomorrow and repeat the workout.

Redemption

It was once said of my first sporting hero Jimmy Connors he treated defeats like losing teeth,35 years on from me first discovering "Jimbo"I feel the same way!
Having in no uncertain terms"made a balls of it"on Sunday I was hell bent on nailing this repeat today.
3x800m w/ each one faster than the previous one,my target times were 2.36,2.32,2.28.
#1 having gotten it hopelessly wrong right off the bat Sunday I made sure to go out at an easy pace and clocked 1.14 at 400m which set me up nicely for a 2.36.65. opener.
#2 again identical opening splits put me at 1.14 at 400m but my 3rd 200 was where I made up the 4 seconds I needed and clocked 2.32.26.
#3 when I clocked 69 seconds for the opening 400m I knew having ran w/in myself on the opening 2 800s was going to see me home and how 2.24.28.
Believe me a far far cry from Sunday and my confidence is back up again,hopefully I can take this into the weekends back to back 800s