...Where to begin (again)?

...Where to begin (again)?

When last I updated this blog I had just run my first marathon. It's been a while and even though no one has missed it I decided to start my blog back up.

So... a brief recap to bring all my millions of followers up to date...

I decided to try to improve my time from the Run the River marathon and I had heard that the St. George marathon was a fast course so I entered the lottery to get a spot. I received notice on a friday morning (21 weeks before the race) that I had been selected in the lottery. I immediately began to plan my training schedule that morning.
An hour or so later I left for work on my motorcycle and less than 10 miles from home I was involved in a crash. I hit my knees pretty hard but was lucky and only suffered bruises and abrasions. I was still able to run in a relay the next day (the annual Cheese Fest run) and completed about 4 miles. I had some swelling but all in all I was very lucky.

Three weeks later I wasn't so lucky...
18 weeks from race day...
I was cutting some trees on my property with a chainsaw and ended up with the tip of my chainsaw blade embedded in my right leg just above the knee. It felt like I had been punched or kicked (not what I would have expected a deep cut to feel like) so I thought I hadn't cut myself until I looked down and saw the blood pouring from my leg. When I saw the blood I turned off the chainsaw (the motor was still running even though the chain had stopped). I laid the saw down on the ground and applied direct pressure to the cut. My son Chad was there with me and a friend and they carried me to our car. We put ice on the cut and I continued to apply pressure. I also put a belt around my thigh above the cut. Not tight enough to be a tourniquet but a little snug and off we went to the emergency room.
I had cut completely through two of my quad muscles and partly through a third. The cut was down to the femur but an x-ray confirmed that I hadn't hit the bone itself. I had severed ligaments and tissues and had cut into the IT band but not severed it. The surgeon spent over 2 1/2 hours carefully stitching each muscle and tendon back together. I was conscious and sitting up the entire time and he gave me a detailed description as he reconstructed each element of my leg. I was on some kind of pain killer so I watched as if it was someone else's leg. It was quite fascinating really.

                  The chainsaw wound (my knee was still swollen and scabbed from the motorcycle crash).

My leg had to be immobilized for 3 weeks. Then for 5 more weeks I couldn't lift my knee so I had to lead with my left leg every time I walked up stairs or up any slope. I finally was cleared to go to a physical therapist 8 weeks after accident. The PT was pleased with my range of motion at his initial exam and he gave me some exercises to help me regain the strength. I told him I was planning to run a marathon in just ten weeks and his recommendation was to forget that.

I had called the St. George marathon organizers to ask for a deferral or a refund but was informed that they don't do that so I decided I would do it even if I had to walk it. I recognized that I wasn't likely to PR.
I asked the PT for his recommendation for a training program to get me ready to run St. George. He told me to plan on 2011. I am too cheap to just walk away from an entry fee once I've paid it so I just began to combine the strength training that the PT recommended with some easy running.

I ran the St. George marathon on October 2, 2010. It was considerably slower than my first marathon. I finished in 4:44:43. Almost an hour slower but I figure it was ok considering what I had overcome. I was most happy that I didn't hit the wall like I had the first time. My last mile was one of my fastest. It was slow and steady and I felt good at the finish.

There's more to bring me up to date but that's all the time I have today...