20 Minute Challenge 2014

Wednesday marked the 30th anniversary of the Running Room and to commemorate the date was their annual 20 Minute Challenge.  Not sure why it's called a 20 Minute Challenge when the distance to walk or run is 5km.  It's a free fun run and you also get a free collector's cap.  I decided to sign up the night before for my second go at it.  Last year I received a grey hat and this year's is white.

 

I arrived at the Pembina Running Room (ran out of Keneston last year) and received my hat.  It also came with a 15% coupon attached.  Immediately upon exiting the store, an older gentleman with his wife noticed my knee braced and inquired about my injury.  I chatted with them for a bit, telling my story while we waited for the run to begin.  The regular group was to run 10k to the east into St Vital park.  Everyone else was running or walking west down the bike path to Waverly and back.  I quickly dropped off my keys inside the store and fell behind the running group.  I took up the rear as everyone ran through the parking lot to the bike path.  Once I reached the bike path, I took the the right as to let other pass me on the left should they choose.  Then came the annoying part.  There was these 2 mothers running with 2 young girls while one mother pushed one of those big wheeled running strollers with a 3rd child inside.  Now they were running behind me, and the girls kept running ahead of them.  One at a time they would run ahead of them and pass me on the left.  They would then pull to the right, slow down in front of me and turn to face their mom.  I would have to dodge them as they kind of jogged back or stop right in front of me.  This happened 4 times as they alternated doing this.  I got really annoyed, but as we approached a downhill, I gained some speed and eventually lost them.  They never caught up the rest of the run.  

So I've ran this route several times last summer, but due to my injury, I haven't done so this year because my distance never took me this far from home.  It's a hilly route, as opposed to the Keneston location's flat route I ran last year.  I started off running 5 min, then walking a minute, but after a 3 intervals, I was walking a little bit more.  There wasn't much to say about this run, as it was pretty uneventful.  I ran 5.14 km in 39:50.  My pace was 7:44 min/km, which is faster than any of my runs this spring/summer thusfar.  None of my runs had a pace under 8:20 min/km.  I'd have to attribute running with a group, as I want to perform better in front of others.  At least it's an improvement.  I'm going to continue running just 5-6 km, until I get to a pace that I'm happy with, and then I'll start to increase my distance.  

I arrived back at the running room and they had various refreshments for our post run.  Ice tea, some juice samples, power bar samples, orange and apple slices.  I picked up some take home samples of a vegan protein shake, hemp seeds and a deodorant. 

Post run selfie in front of the Running Room

This year will be uneventful in terms of running.  I have booked my ACL reconstruction surgery for September and will be off work for about a month.  I have no plans on running any races this summer, as I'm not running any long distances.  I also won't be able to run the WFPS half in October, so I'll end up selling my bib.  My friend Oskar from Calgary also had knee surgery recently and their insurance covers the cost of a cooling machine.  Here, I'd have to rent one for approximately $125 for 3 weeks.  He was kind enough to lend me his.  He conveniently lives close to some other friends in Calgary and dropped it off.  It was to be picked up by some of my friends visiting Calgary during their Western CA/US roadtrip.  Borrowing the cooling machine will be better since I won't have to return it if I need it longer.

2014 Fargo Half Marathon (race recap)

As mentioned in previous posts, I tore my ACL playing soccer back in January.  I had already registered for the Fargo Half and was considering dropping down to the 10k or not participating at all.  I began running short distances, 5-7k, taking lots of walk breaks.  I wasn't confident that I would be able to run a full 21km.  Last year in Fargo, I ran into a former high school classmate who was also running the half.  At the time, she told me that her husband was in the process of dropping down from the full to the half.  I thought that I'd be able to do the same thing and drop down from the half to the 10k.  One evening, I decided to look at the website and I had missed the deadline to drop down or even defer my registration to next year.  Hmm, now it appears like I'm stuck with the half or dropping out and losing my registration fees.  I contacted my classmate and inquired about her husband last year.  She informed me that he was unsuccessful in doing so and that a volunteer had told him to just run the half with the full marathon bib.  They thought it was a bit shady, so he decided to just run the full and injured himself in the process.  That was the last thing I wanted to do with my recovering knee.  Closer to the May 10th race, I consulted my sports doctor, my surgeon and my family doctor regarding the race.  They also said that I can run the race and won't do further damage to my knee as long as I wear my knee brace.  If anything, I could run what I can and walk the rest.  My friend, who is a physiotherapist, told me the same thing.  Going back to the website faq, all races can be walked, except for the full and have a max time of 7 hours.  With very little training prior to the race, I decided I would go and run maybe the first half and then walk the rest.

I was traveling to Fargo with Steph.  I'm sure she was happy to hear I was going, so she wouldn't be traveling/running alone.  Steph had registered for the half last year, but became ill prior to leaving and had to bail.  I ended up going to Fargo with her 2 coworkers who were in it for the shopping and were not running.  Well this year, Steph was going to get her chance to participate.  She had initially booked a room in Fargo for 2 nights, Friday and Saturday, but suggested we cancel the 2nd night and come back following the race.  She called the hotel, but they wouldn't let her cancel.  They said due to the marathon weekend, there's a minimum 2 nights stay.  Oh well, guess we were staying the weekend.

We left Friday afternoon just after 3pm and drove straight to Fargo.  We had no hassles crossing the border, just asked where you were from, where are you going and for what reason.  Answering Winnipeg, Fargo and to run in the marathon, he let us through.  We arrived in Fargo and checked into our hotel close to 6:30.  Steph chose the Howard Johnson downtown due to the close proximity to the starting line.  After unloading the car, we immediately walked over to the race kit pick up.  The bag we received was a vibrant yellow and teal, which matched my shoes perfectly.  Nike Air Pegasus, left shoe Volt yellow and right shoe teal.  We also received a similar shirt as last year's but in a different color scheme and of course our bibs.  We scoped out the Expo, but we didn't get anything other than a free sample sized bag of chips.

Race kit

Matching bag and shoes

We returned to the hotel to drop off our gear before heading out for supper.  We attempted the Spitfire Grill, but the wait was too long, so I suggested Kroll's diner which has a 50's diner motif.  We both got club sandwiches w/ fries and I opted for a caramel milkshake.  following dinner, we popped into Walmart to get water and a few pre race breakfast items.

Morning arrived and I had barely slept.  We both got ready and had a bite to eat before heading down to the bridge.  We made our way across to the other side and was then corralled down the center.  Half on the left, full and 10k on the right.  Music was blaring, some spectators stood on their balconies and a helicopter flew above.  The race began, I started my soleus watch and got into a comfortable pace.  I decided to listen to some comedy podcasts instead of music, since I didn't feel the need to listen to music to keep me at a pace rhythm.  I was going to take my time in hopes of finishing under 4 hours.  Steph lost me a few minutes in while we weaved around some slower runners.

Selfie near the starting line

I ran the first full mile before taking my first rest walk. So far I felt fine and seemed to be well ahead of my pace to beat 4 hours.  Not unlike last they had many bands performing and speakers from radio stations playing music throughout the course.  These included garage bands, polka bands, marching bands, highschool bands, etc.  Although, unlike any races I've ran in Manitoba, there were lots of spectators cheering on the runners.  There were also many more water and gatorade stations as well as some orange slice, GU (sports gels) and even Jolly Rancher stations along the way.  Not a whole lot of people dress up for these long races, but I saw one guy carrying fake barbells on his shoulders.  It's one thing trying to finish a half, but to do it with an inconvenient accessory is another.  I would have ditched it early on.

Dude running with fake barbells

I ran as much as I could with rest walks in between.  As time wore on, my runs shortened and my walks lengthened.  At around 6 miles, I started to develop pain in my knee and my soles were getting sore.  I walked for a extended time and the pain in my knee eventually disappeared.  My feet and my legs were not accustomed to these distances since my injury prevented me from putting in the proper training.  I decided I would walk the rest of the way, although I made some brief attempts to run a little.  One odd thing occurred that had never happened before was that my fingers seemed to have swelled up.  Squeezing my fingers into a fist seemed very tight and until now, I don't know what caused it.  Not a lot happened throughout the race.  Spectators cheered us on and I high fived kids which often gave me a boost as I ran by.  Throughout the race, in my head, I would calculate my pace and figure out the time I would finish.  It seemed like I could finish under 3, but slowly over time, that number would increase.  At mile 12, I took an obligatory pic of the marker.  By this time I could tell that I would finish under 3.5 hours for sure.

Further up the road, a woman who was already wearing her finishers medal yelled out saying she loved my shoes.  She too was wearing different color Nikes.  I ran up to her and snapped a pic of our shes.  She was on the phone with her husband and said to him "Honey, I just found my soul mate.  I ran into a guy with mismatched shoes like me".  I continued on, waved good bye and she wished me good luck.  Closer to the end, the crowds of spectators grew.  My friend Janelle, who ran the 10k, was among them.  We waved to each other as I ran on.  I drew as much energy as I could to run the rest of the way across the finish line.  Someone handed me water, another placed a medal over my head and a third passed me some folded up jacket.  A photographer took my picture in front of a back drop and I staggered through the corral.  I was a touch late on stopping my soleus, but figured I finished around 3.5 hours.  There was chocolate milk, banana halves, cookies, granola bars and pizza.  I got a few items and sat down on some grass to eat.  Getting up proved difficult as I was sore all over.  I grabbed a second chocolate milk and head back to the hotel.

A woman on the course wearing mismatched shoes on the left, me on the right

Rockin' my bling

Finisher's medal

Steph was there waiting, already showered and playing on her phone with the tv on.  I laid down on my bed to ice my knee and went on my phone as well.  Steph received an email with her time, finishing in 2:35.  I checked and also received an email informing me that I finished in 3:29:54.  After icing, I went to have a shower.  Prior, my fingers still felt swollen, but have showering, they felt like they were back to normal.  Regardless, we were starving and went out for lunch.  We made another attempt to go to the Spitfire Grill and waited over half an hour for a table.  I had my heart set on ribs.  Steph however said she was ordering the chicken and ribs.  I couldn't allow her to out eat me, so I ordered the same with a side of garlic mashed and skinless baked.  When the food arrived, the skinless baked was basically mashed potatoes with bacon and other toppings.  It was a lot of mashed potatoes.  The entire meal was delicious, especially the ribs.  Unfortunately it was way too much food and neither of us could finish it.  I made sure to finish off the ribs though and as much of the chicken as I could.

Chicken and ribs at the Spitfire Grill

Following lunch, we made our way to Happy Harry's for booze to bring back, Scheel's, Target, West Acres Mall and Best Buy.  Neither of us really bought a whole lot, but got a few things to at least warrant staying 48 hours.  By this time, I was exhausted and was walking at a slower pace than normal.  We headed back to the hotel and took a nap.  Following the nap, it was fairly late and we drove out to Jimmy John's for a late supper.

We got back to the hotel and wanted to relax in the hot tub.  As we got there, an older couple was also just getting into the hot tub.  We didn't care, we just wanted to soak.  Introductions were made.  He was Fernando and she was I believe Sanja.  Both also had a hint of a foreign accent.  They too had also participated in the Fargo Marathon.  Sanja completed her 6th half, while Fernando had completed his 34th full marathon?  Sanja thought he had completed more and was on his 38th.  Fernando has a bucket list, wanting to completed one full in all 50 states.  I asked him what his time was and he said, it's an easy time to remember, 3:33:33.  I jokingly told him that I beat him by nearly 4 minutes.  He was a very interesting man and we chatted a while, mostly about running.  He started running marathons in 1999, doing a couple per year.  Last year he retired and completed 10, but this year by this time he had only completed his 2nd.  The hotel clerk kicked us out at 11pm and we said our good byes.

Steph and I both woke up earlier than our alarms.  We showered, packed up and got some breakfast from the hotel.  Next stop, Grand Forks to gas up, for lunch at Culver's, a little more shopping at Target and then home.  The border again was quick and easy since we were both well under the limit.  This was a fun little weekend and I'm proud to have finished my first half marathon following my knee injury.  Obviously I didn't perform that great, but at least I finished without further injuring myself.  I'm currently registered for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Half in October, as I won free registration for the event.  I do not plan on registering for anything else, until closer to the date due to not having my surgery scheduled yet.  Better to pay a little more closer to an event than not being able to participate and losing out in registration fees.  I shall see what this year holds for racing as it shall be very different than last year.

Knee Diagnosis

Following my left knee injury, I was off work for 8 days.  Kris, my friend and soccer/ball hockey teammate was kind enough to lend me his crutches.  This helped a lot.  My injury occurred on Monday Jan 27 and I was able to move around the house without crutches by Friday.  My knee could not straighten or extend very far at first, but improved a little every day.  I visited my sports doctor that Friday.  He thought that it could be a slight tear in the ACL and took x-rays.  Unfortunately due to the swelling, nothing could be determined, so he ordered me an MRI.  I was also given a knee brace off the shelf from the attached athletic shop, to help support my knee and to prevent further injury.  I returned to work on Wednesday and was able to move about a bit with the crutches.

Off the shelf knee brace

 To my surprise, I received a phone call for an MRI on Thursday, only 6 days after seeing my doctor.  There was cancellation and they were able to fit me in on Saturday.  So within 8 days, I got my MRI.  I was very fortunate as my friend with a similar (possibly the same injury), hurt herself in October and isn't due to have hers until later this month.  This was my first MRI or any scan of any kind, besides x-rays.  For those who have never had one, I laid on this bed with ear plugs.  They secured my knee in place and then left the room.  The bed would enter the chamber and I had to keep my knee still for 25 min.  It was noisy and I could feel my knee wanting to lift, but I tried my best to keep it flat as much as possible.  Too much movement would blur the image and they'd have to repeat the process. I haven't looked it up, but the machine uses magnets to create an image of the inside of my knee.

At my work, there's parking available in the adjacent lot at night.  I had not problem driving myself for my night shifts, but during the day, I would have to park 3-4 blocks away.  With the snow and ice, I didn't feel comfortable walking that route at that distance, so I would drive to my dad's and he would drop me off and pick me up.

A week and a half after my MRI, I met with my doctor for a follow up and my MRI results.  I received some devastating news.  I had completely torn my ACL and suffered some bone contusions.  He told me that people can function properly without surgery, but if for those want to play sports, many opt to repair the ACL.  Straight running would be fine, but for sports, there's pivoting, lateral movements and stopping and going, which is unstable with this type of injury.  I do want to play my sports again, so at that point, I was leaning towards surgery.  I was to see the doctor in 2 weeks for a follow up, giving me time to think over the surgery.   In the mean time, he recommended physiotherapy and prescribed me a custom knee brace.

Custom knee brace

I got fitted for the new brace and picked it up a week and a half later.  I also started physio with a girl recommended to me by a friend.  In my first session, the physiotherapist examined me and asked a bunch of questions to get an understanding of my injury.  She performed an ultra sound on my knee which apparently reduces the swelling.  She then showed me a bunch of exercises to strengthen the muscles around my knee to help compensate for the lack of stability.  Finished it off with icing down my knee.  I did my exercises mostly on my days off, as it's difficult to find the time when I work 13 hour days.

I had another follow up with my doctor and I told him I that I would like to get the surgery.  I then scheduled an appointment to consult with the surgeon.  His office isn't at legacy, but he does come in every so often for consulting.  It would be another month before I could sit down with him.  In that time, I did see my physiotherapist again for more or less the same treatment.  This time I was instructed to add a 2 lb weight to my exercises.

The month passed and I went to see the surgeon.  He asked me a bunch of questions like the nature of my injury, how it feels, etc.  He then explained to me the procedure.  It would be on a Wednesday or Thursday and I can't eat or drink after midnight the previous night.  I'd be anesthetized and they would remove a tendon from the back of my leg.  It would be folded over and fed through 3 holes drilled through the bone.  Then it would be attached to create the new ACL.  He told me that I'd be off work for maybe 2-4 weeks and of course I'd go through rehab.  It would be 5 months before I could run and 6 months before I could play sports.  I would have to wear my current knee brace for the first year when participating in physical activity.

Knee Injury

It's been a while since I've posted an entry.  The reason being is that I've suffered an injury that has prevented me from running.  I've had nothing to really write about except my injury which I wasn't really in the mood to do.  I figure it's about time I do.

As some may know (unsure if I mentioned it in the past), I play co-ed soccer.  Outdoor in the summer and of course indoor in the winter.  Early January we had a typical game against a better team.  We were down 4-0 and I was standing in front of the net with my back to the goalie.  Early in the second half, my teammate Kris took a low shot from about 30 feet out.  The ball was coming straight for my legs, so I hopped to my left to avoid blocking the shot.  Upon landing, my left foot planted with my cleats sticking into the field.  My left knee buckled and I fell to the ground clutching my knee.  I heard cheering and the ref's whistle.  Not realizing that I was hurt, one of my opponents jokingly said "you're not getting credit for that goal".  I had apparently screened the goalie enough, that he couldn't react to the shot resulting in a goal.  I hopped off to our bench and held my knee tightly for a bit until someone could get me some ice.  I iced it a bit, then walked the sideline to test it out.  The more I walked, the more the pain subsided.  My knee felt better and I decided to re-enter the game.  I ended up scoring our second goal with a sweeping shot off a rebound while sliding to the ground.  We lost that game 5-2.

I didn't have any sports until the following week, so I rested my knee, running inclusive.    Sunday my Sticks team started co-ed ball hockey consolation playoffs and had a double header in round robin play.  Late in the first period, I was battling someone for position in front of the opposing goal and my knee buckled a bit.  It hurt, but wasn't painful.  I knew it wasn't bad, but I couldn't play on it and decided to sit the rest of the game.  I sat and watched our team defeat the 3rd Street Saints with 3-1 and tie 1-1 in the 2nd game.  As a result, our team made it to the consolation finals to be played the following week.  I opted to sit out my soccer game for that evening as well.

I had booked an appointment to see a sports doctor that week at Legacy.  After examining my knee, he didn't see anything too serious with it.  He said I can continue playing sports, but to monitor it.  He wanted to see me in a couple weeks for a follow up.  I took it easy all week to rest it before our finals.  We were again matched up with the 3rd Street Saints as we finished 1 and 2 in the round robin.  We fell 2-0 in the first 2 periods, but we didn't panic.  Early in the 3rd, my teammate Frosty (Jason), took a long shot, which hit the goalie's stick, bounced over and went in.  With under 2 minutes left, one of the opposing guys took a hooking penalty.  We pulled our goalie, Dave, with about a minute left, giving us a 5-3 advantage.  Their strategy was to pin the ball against the boards in their zone, to run out the clock.  Having tried to battle along the boards earlier, I wasn't too confident with my knee, so I let my teammates battle behind, to the left of the net.  One of my teammates kicked the ball lose and I snuck in there and pulled it out.  I curled out around a defender to the bottom of the circle and snapped a low shot that found the back of the net with 3 seconds left.  OT went scoreless and we had our first shootout.  For some reason my teammates consider me a leader on the team and wanted me to choose our shooters for the shootout, 2 guys, 2 girls.  I suck at breakaways, so I excluded myself and chose Frosty, Simon, Jenn with Roni volunteering for the 4th.  Saints shot first and Dave made an incredible stick save, reach back for the ball.  Frosty crafted a nice goal to put us up 1.  No one else scored the rest of the way, so Jenn didn't even have to take the final shot.  Victory!  We even won a trophy which Dave brought with him everywhere, including to bed (there's even photographic evidence).

Top - Ken, Frosty, Simon, Fab, Jenn, Steph, Roni
Bottom - Jim (former backup goalie), Steve, Dave, Me
Missing - Sandra, Carolyn, Derek and various spares throughout the season, notably John and Kris

The next night I had soccer after work.  I was defending a girl who was going to my left, then changed direction to my right.  I planted left to go right, and that's when I heard and felt a pop.  I went down immediately.  My teammates helped me off the field and into my car.  Upon arriving at home, I had to hop to my door in the garage, then sit and shuffle my way up 3 steps.  I could not bend my knee whatsoever.  I called in sick for the next morning and had 7 days off thereafter due to my shift work.  My left knee was swollen and considerably larger than my right, so I iced it constantly.  I was able to move my follow up from the following Tuesday to the upcoming Friday.