The ultrashea

"It doesn't have to be fun to be fun"

-Mark Twight

"We don't make sacrifices. If we truly love this sport and we have these goals and dreams in the sport, the classroom, or in life, they're not sacrifices. They're choices that we make to fulfill these goals and dreams."

-Deena Kastor

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift"

-Steve Prefontaine

February 6

Mega-update

So, I’ve been nursing a knee issue since I ran 22 miles @ HUFF in late December, and it was steadily getting worse. Saw my doctor on January 14th, which was inconclusive, and they referred me to the local sports medicine clinic. 1 MRI and several doctor visits later, I find out that my right medial quad is a bit weak, knotted to hell, and as a result, the attachment point near my patella is really inflamed. I’ve been doing physical therapy for about a week and a half now, and it’s making a huge difference.

Saturday night Josh came down, and we had another in my string of wonderfully ill-advised pre-race dinners (went to Alexander’s for grill your own steaks, baked potatoes, and Long Island Iced Tea). Sunday I had one of the best runs of my life - went up to Kankakee for the Winterfest 5k with the following plan:

  1. 1 mile warmup
  2. 5k race
  3. 10 mile run immediately after finishing the 5k (no rest, no waiting for award ceremony, etc)

I felt fine during the warmup, stretched a little, then ran the 5k, finishing about 41 seconds slower than my 5k PR, with no significant knee pain. Ran the 10 miler with only a little bit of knee pain at about 6 miles in, which faded by about the 7 mile mark. Got back to the start/finish point where I was meeting Kathleen, and discovered that…

3rd place, Male 35-39, 2008 Kankakee Winterfest 5k

I took 3rd in my age group!