The Beginning

If you run 100 miles a week, you can eat anything you want -- Why? Because
(a) you'll burn all the calories you consume,
(b) you deserve it, and
(c) you'll be injured soon and back on a restricted diet anyway.
--Don Kardong

These are very true words.

I am currently on week 7 of my sacral stress fracture from running those 100 mile weeks. There has been zero running during that time, and my "restricted diet" to which Don Kardong (look him up) is talking about has been primarily a liquid one.

Out of sheer boredom, I have decided to start this blog. I figured why not, and why not now, especially since I am now at another beginning.

I recently ran into a local masters runner on the train. We didn't recognize each other at first because we weren't in our running gear. Once we did, we began talking. I explained my injury. He stated that it was time for another beginning. As a guy who is his late 40s, he stated that he has had close to 50 "new beginnings" whether it be from illness, injury or life. For some reason that stuck to me. I have had a lot of "new beginnings" in this sport, too, but each time came back stronger and more motivated.

When this last injury struck, it came at a bad time. I was running the highest mileage of my life in hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Trials. Then one day... Boom. Done. This sport has given me the highest highs and the lowest lows. For those who don't run it is very difficult to see why anyone would. With this blog, I hope to give a glimpse or my training and write down some thoughts along the way. We'll see how long this lasts, without further ado...

Week I: 12/19 -12/25

M - 15 min bike warmup + 45 min pool run with 10 min tempo and 5x1min on/off

T - AM - 45 min walk in the Res; PM - 30 min walk on SHU treadmill, then wharton stretching

W - 15 min bike warmup + 60 min pool running w/ 6x[3hard-1easy-1hard-2easy], wharton stretching and core

R - 1 hour pool running

F - off, wharton stretching

S - 1 hour bike

S - 1 hour bike