The Mind of the Injured

A while back, I wrote a blog questioning "when are you a runner?". Some of the responses were hysterical and mostly based on what one is not - "a jogger". A jog is "what you do to warm up for running" or "that is what my high school PE teacher made us do", were some of the responses.  Would a jogger force him or herself out the door to train for an upcoming race regardless of pain? No way! This is the job of a "runner".

For this reason, I evidently think of myself as a runner for injury has once again reared it's ugly head in the form of foot pain.

Something strange is causing numbness, tingling and spear-like pain in my feet. It started a few months ago as a warm sensation on the lateral and distal portion of my right foot and has slowly wormed it's way into being occasionally debilitating. Several recent runs have become beautiful forest walks, but still I race, 5 Peaks Squamish on June 9th, Redbull Divide and Conquer, on June 16th, and Comfortably Numb, this coming weekend. The training runs that haven't been debilitating are just the dangling carrot I need to convince myself I still CAN race. 

Here in lies the problem for most runners with injuries however. We tend to bargain our way back out the door. Who wants to miss a day? We're driven and seldom do you meet a runner who says, "I'd rather  not run a P.B. at my next race so I can skip some training days".  When we are plagued we hit the computer and after a short Google search highlighting our personal ailments and a hasty self diagnosis, we find a way to justify the most conservative approach to managing the injury. Rarely is rest accepted and no way could surgery ever be required. And who's going to let a physiotherapist or chiropractor tell them what to do? A couple ibuprofens and some favoring of the injured area and off the runner goes to tackle his long run day which becomes even longer and slower due to walking back to the car in a puzzled and depressed state. "What could've gone wrong out there?",  he thinks., while completely ignoring the fact that he ran with his fingers crossed the entire time.

So why do runners do this? Betterment. In John L. Parker, JR.'s book, Again to Carthage, the sequel to Once a Runner, he writes the following and it totally wreaks of our will to rationalize running injured.

"When you're a competitive runner in training you are constantly in a process of ascending. 

That's it. 

It's a simple idea, but the more I thought about it, the more profound it became to me. 

It's not something most human beings would give a moment of consideration to, that it is actually possible to be living for years in a state of constant betterment. To consider that you are better today than you were yesterday or a year ago, and that you will be better still tomorrow or next week or at tournament time your senior year. That if you're doing it right you are an organism constantly evolving toward some agreed upon approximation of excellence. Wouldn't that be at least one definition of a spiritual state?" 
Quenton Cassidy -

The issue of injury, as it pertains to the true and injured runner is simply that the constant state of betterment is halted. And more poignantly, that others are continuing to develop and become better while you sit and wait out your ailments. If running is so deeply seeded in your mind and body so as to be spiritual, it is easy to see why injuries that prevent one running can be so depressing. And why we push ourselves to get out there in pain seems sane and justifiable. 

Two pain free runs this week following a decent, but conservative race weekend, and I look forward to Comfortably Numb this Sunday. The odd throb in my foot tells me I should lay off until after receiving professional advice, but my spirit says race. If it goes well, I'll convince myself  I'm fine. If it goes badly, that little voice inside my head will be saying I knew it!

The last week

Over the last week, I've had some incredible runs and races (that I watched). I've heeded some of the advice of Adam Campbell and have been enjoying climbing and descending more than ever before. My lovely Lara ran the Iron Knee last Sunday and I got a chance to watch a race for a change. Seeing the lead group come through still blows me away. Oliver Utting barely looks like he's working, but I guess when you weigh a buck twenty-two, how much work is required. For the record, he said it was hard.

The day before the race I volunteered at North Shore Athletics for the package pick up. It's my first time and I love this job. You get the chance to see everybody in their civilian clothes, not covered in salty residue, and smiling. I had some great chats and loved getting to know a larger group of the North Shore's running community. The next morning I was able to cheer on so many people by name and I loved it. Some of them had no idea who I was, but smiled and pranced away in a better place...I think.

Monday I got an email from my Dirty Duo teammate, Arthur Gaillot, asking if I'd be interested in racing with his fellow Nomad machine, Chris Johnston, in the Red Bull Divide and Conquer. What is that, I wondered?  After a quick Google search of a race that is in my own background and that I'd never heard of, I gladly accepted. All we needed was a paddler. Someone who knows the Capilano River like the back of his hand. A good friend of mine know's paddlers well and hooked us up with James Mole, a guy, he believes has paddled the Capilano more than anybody on earth. Sounds like we found our guy. James accepted the invite excitedly and now we have a team for June 16th's Divide and Conquer.

I started asking some questions and doing some research and found that the route went over some trails I'd never been on. The terrain is my backyard, but I didn't recognize the names, JetBoy, Dreamweaver, or Executioner. This information came from local ultra running star, Gary Robbins so I knew it must be accurate. By Wednesday I'd determined that I'd been on JetBoy and I'd been on Executioner. The latter on a bike and the former about five years ago. By yesterday, granted not in it's entirety, I'd seen the whole course. It's going to be tough. It's a 12-13km course that'll likely take near two hours. Below are a few pictures from the course.

Entrance to Executioner of Dreaweaver

Entrance to Executioner from Mountain Highway (off 6th switchback)

Executioner Steep Section

Cool Archway entrance to Dreamweaver

In the works...

On June 16th the North Shore of Vancouver will be speckled with mountain runners, mountain bikers, and kayakers in Red Bulls first adventure style relay.

I'm currently working on a team and it's looking good. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll be registered with a couple of fine fellas.

Marx and the Nomads

I've never been so proud of the fact that I'm training under Monika Marx. I've seen incredible changes in my performance and overall function as an athlete. Check out this spot light on Monika and the incredible team she trains, one of whom is my 2012 Dirty Duo partner, Arthur Gaillot. A machine and a great guy to boot.

Mondays Chat with Salomon's Adam Campbell

With about 35 people in plastic, folding chairs and paper plates full of cookies and fruit sitting on their knees, Adam and I sat down to share out some of our experiences in running distances of 50k or more with a particular focus on Knee Knacker and training for such events. With all of Adam's successes, I certainly felt a little out of place sitting up there with him, and kept assuring myself that regardless of success every experience can be a teacher for others. Besides, the presentation was more of a "Tom ask Adam the questions and Adam respond as he likes" format. It worked out brilliantly, as many of those who attended also asked some great questions and were able to share their experiences too.

For those of you who really want to know though, Adam is an open book. He doesn't lie about his training and is happy to share his "secrets".  He truly is open to questions and to bettering the trail running experiences of others with his expertise. He tends to practice the obvious in that he runs to become a good runner, he climbs to become a good climber, and so on. Adam does not believe in the gym for himself as a runner, but, in the name of health, encourages others to do what works for them. A point he reiterated many times was just that - what I do works for me...and my unbreakable, 127 pound, 5'6" frame (that last part was my own addition although true). It doesn't mean it is for everyone. Like most ultra runners, Adam runs an incredible number of miles per week, but only estimates the distances. For him, it is more important to log time on his feet on race specific terrain. For example, he spends a lot of time climbing BCMC and the like with his next race having over 8500 meters of vertical, the Ultra Trail de Mount Fuji in Japan on May 18th. How does a lawyer have time to log the 10.5 hours that he ran last Saturday or occasionally run two or three times per day, you're wondering, right? So was I. Adam recognizes his family situation as unique in that it allows him a great deal of independence. As many of us have families on top of our jobs it's tough to get out sometimes. Adam jokingly credits his supportive wife, Lauren Groves/Campbell, and then mentions her living over seas to do her own training.

In his opinion and for his type of racing, Adam says speed work is overrated. Climbing quickly will reap the same benefits and being sure to maintain tempo runs. But the greatest key he says, is consistency. Be out there regularly and often. After many years of pushing his body hard, Adam doesn't believe in over training, just under recovering.

And there are your Coles Notes. It was a terrific night and I cannot thank Salomon West Vancouver enough for the great idea and for hosting. Adam, as I said before, not many people could publicly say they want to be one of the best ultra runners in the world without sounding arrogant. Your modesty and drive are inspiring.

Thank you and have a great trip to Japan. You can bet I'll be watching results. Please let us know where to look.

My chance at some Campbell Wisdom - Join me

Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about picking Adam's brain a little. Not so I can be an international superstar like him, but to see if I can use his wisdom to get me a little faster and a little further. Not only is this a brilliant opportunity for me, but it is also great for you. If you can't make it on April 30th, send me your questions, I'll ask them, and I'll post the responses here following our discussion.

Restin' n' Runnin'

This is the fifth day in row I haven't run at all, not even to catch a bus, and it's tough. One of my colleagues has been out at lunch three times this week and each time it seems he's even more elated than the last - probably just to rub it in. Either way, I'm jealous but I also know this down time is good for me as a new season begins next week.

The absolute truth of it is that I started my running rest the moment I crossed the finish line at Dirty Duo on March 10th. That was a tough day and I'd been training sluggishly hard since Orcas on February 6th. I just hadn't been able to get a rhythm or an up day for weeks and it carried itself into the Duo. I'm pretty sure my legs went lactic on the word "GO!" before I plowed up that driveway out of Jaycee House. Dragging myself around that course just fast enough to stay with Pricey was all I had. I mean look at that finish face (2:25). In hindsight I could have backed off, let Pricey annihilate me, and let my riding partner get us the win, but that just isn't me. I even tried to tell Pricey I was fine and feeling great at one point. There was no way I wanted him knowing I was in hell. Regardless of how I was feeling, he pushed and pulled the whole way and showed me the beginnings of a what promises to be a very strong season for him. I'm looking forward to some tete-a-tete at the Squamish 50 in August. Anyway, under great pressure, myself and Arthur Gaillott took the relay win in 4:03.

A couple days following Dirty Duo my family and I made our way down to California where I took on an extremely laissez-faire approach to my running even though I was scheduled to race again on March 25th before I put my feet up entirely. I ate well and was sure to enjoy some beer or wine daily; sometimes both. It works in Europe I think. The trails in the Palm Desert area were precisely what I needed. They were less steep and seemed to have a vacation type relaxation to them. The air was dry, the temperature a bit warmer, and I walked the bigger hills and ran some very short runs. One run was 28 minutes long and I was completely okay with it. I couldn't wait to get in the car and hit the Jamba Juice. Most of the trails were in canyons and wound between cactus stands and all had scenic snowy backdrops. It had been cold and snowed above 4000 feet. Painted Canyon to the South may have been the most brilliant. The first part took us through fissures in the earth that were just wider than shoulder width and spat us out at the top of a wide open plain covered in cactus and other dry scrub. Most other runs became mostly hikes and were gorgeous.Before I knew it the 25th had come and we were back in Irvine ready to race the Into the Wild half marathon-ish. At the sound of my 5:25 alarm I immediately regretted my last few weeks of running. On one hand my mind was telling me I wasn't ready for this and on the other I was being convinced that I needed to relax and enjoy the ride. Going with the latter we cruised out to Irvine Regional Park in almost no traffic - I guess Irvinites are all in church at 6:30 because you seldom cruise through any traffic in that part of California. Pulled up my Zoots, tightened up the Speed Cross and there I was at the start line of a course and field of which I was completely ignorant. Within minutes of GO! I was in 5th place. I could see the leader and wondered if I belonged there. The pace felt right and did so for at least four miles at which point I moved into third position. I felt good on the hills but definitely fought them. The dry air seemed to get me when my lungs got demanding. The trail consistently climbed up and then went all the way back down. Not like Knee Knacker up and down but like a loop up and down. After a long climb we'd unknowingly go all the way back to the bottom and then turn up another climb to do it all again. The terrain was beautiful though and I never would have run those trails without this race. Northern slopes were green and covered while southern exposure made for dry, sandy conditions. The last mile was flat, asphalt and was the toughest mile - and I think where the "-ish" comes in. The course was billed as "Half marathon-ish" and various GPS's determined it to be 13.75 miles. I'm thinking that last mile was closer to two because I was in a world of hurt before my 5th place finish in 1:47.

So, since finishing Into the Wild at 9:17am on Saturday I haven't run a speck and I plan to keep it that way until next Monday, April 2nd. I'd rather take voluntary rest when my body asks for it over medically ordered rest. Excited to get back out there, but loving the time out.