TENEX

DOS 3/20/2015
A few weeks back I decided to have TENEX done on my Achilles tendon. I had strained my left calf in a workout several months back and just kept pushing it. My calf began to really hurt and again I just kept pushing it. A few months later I finally decided it might be time to go get this checked out after it hadn’t gone away. Some dry needling was recommended to me by my coach so I jumped right in and got it done.

Holy WOW that was painful…I might have had some moisture build up in my eye balls. Non the less the calf started to feel better and better and the pain of the treatments were lessoning…kinda like foam rolling for the first time. After a month or so all pain my leg was gone except for one little micro spot about the size of a BB. My tendon could be squeezed, poked and prodded completely pain free everywhere but a BB sized spot on the back. If you touched that spot I would jump off of the table. Visible swelling was also there.

My Doctor recommended I check out a newer procedure called TENEX. I had what I thought was tendinitis on my Achillies but after 3 weeks of ice, stim, Motrin, and biking, it still would not go away. So I decided to go this route. The other alternatives were PT, Nitro Patches, Blood Spinning, all good things but work much better on Tendinitis, turns out I have tendinosis. Which means the tendon is jacked up but NOT inflamed which is why non of the usual tricks were working.

This is supposed to be a quick minimal procedure to go in break up and suck out that bad tissue without messing with the good tissue. Sounds like hokus-pokus until the Dr. told me where the tech came from. It’s basically Cataracts surgery on your tendon, blast the eyeball with some sonic waves slap on an eye patch for a week or two and KaBOOM you can see. Praise Kim Jong!

The procedure was actually pretty quick and easy. They started with numbing the area. They did this with three shots. The first one was fine but the second one they shot right into the pain spot on the tendon…that you could say was unpleasant. Luckily while I was waiting for the scalpel I was too numb to even notice it. The thing he tells me is that he is inserting the probe. He quickly got to work using the probe and ultra sound as his guide. In about two minutes it was all over. I think I was sweating through my shirt due to nerves but there really wasn’t much to be worried about once it was all done.

I should be looking at a week no weight, then a boot at week two and starting band exercises. No impact cross training can start around 3 weeks provided you do NOT push through the pain. Should be able to put my running shoes on by week 5 or 6. Spikes by week 8. I’ll keep ya’ll posted.

3/23/2015 (3 Days Post)
Update. The first 36 hours I took a total of three Norcos for pain/sleep. By 48 hours the swelling in my foot was almost gone. By 72 hours there really isn’t anymore pain…especially when I drop it off the bed in the morning. Jamie also removed my splint and started gently working a little motion into my ankle. Also if you zoom in real close you can see the tiny little hole where the probe went in. I am still 0% percent weight for at least the first week. I have a walking boot but I’m not supposed to walk in it for at least 7-11 days. Then it’s cross training.
image

3/31/2015 (11 Days Post)
Quick update. I have been putting nitro patches on the area to increase the blood flow to the site area. The Dr. follow up went really well. The Ultra Sound showed progress, the Dr. was able to press on the site area with minimal discomfort. Before if you just looked at it I would yell, now you can apply several pounds of pressure to the are with little pain. I have been full walking boot for two days and am getting around pain free.

4/3/2015 (14 Days Post)
Walked around the bedroom a little at the end of the day with no boot and the foot feels great! I’m still going to keep wearing the boot more so to keep me in check. I did do some very very slow and light calf raises just to test the area and again 100% pain free. The area still has a bit of swelling or a lump but the pain is gone. At the end of next week I’ll be boot free and starting cross training.

4/26/2015 (37 Days Post)
First run back 6.5 Miles 7:35 pace. Pain was there but lessoned. At this point I feel that I could be doing full training on a Alter-G at about 80-85% body weight and would have been pain free.

5/11/2015 (52-59 Days Post)
Ended up with 30 miles in this week there was a very big scare at about week 4-6 that the pain was holding steady but now I feel like it’s starting to move in the right direction. Yes it still hurts around the pain site but the exact spot where they worked on is now 100% pain free. It was hard to realize how bad the area was as the epicenter was so painful. The best way I have been able to describe this is if you took a quarter and tacoed it over your Achilles tendon, that is where all of the pain is. Now if you overlayed a dime that is what is fixed and pain free now. I THOUGHT I knew exactly where the bad spot was, and I kinda did, and we could see it on the ultrasound. Looking back or if I ever had to do it again, I will make sure he works the whole general area just to be sure.

For runners with chronic tendon pain I almost feel like this could be an every 3-5 year maintenance phase of training. Run That fall marathon then have this procedure done in November and ride the bike for two months then hit the roads in January. As I said before the machine ran a total of 49 seconds while in my leg, I think we could have easily doubled that amount of time and really scrubbed the tendon. I also think it would have speed up the recovery time. I hope someone finds this blog helpful in making a decision on this procedure. If I had to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. To be able to take a tendon too painful to touch, down to pain free in a few weeks is really amazing.

No Scar

No Scrar

No Scrar

1 in 50,000

Image

This is a post about a great weekend. I went out to Spokane, WA for the 2014 National RRCA convention. This was by far the best trip to the RRCA conference I have ever had.

For starters RunSignUp was very well received by all of the attendees and we were also able to be a gold sponsor which made our little company very proud. Also the Bloomsday Road Runners just put on an outstanding convention.

This trip started out as me seeing that Bernard Lagat was going to be there…and I was going to make sure I got to go for a run with him. Sure enough at the cocktail hour I slinked on over to him and introduced myself and asked when he was running in the morning. He told me he needed to do 10 miles at 6:00 flat pace. I said no problem let’s do it…he asked if I was racing in two days and I said “Yes.” He then looked at me like I was crazy for going with him for a mild tempo two days before the race. I knew this would affect my race buuuut this was a chance in a lifetime so I smiled and said “It’s no big deal.”

Some wonderful folks from the Bloomsday Road Runners Club picked us up in the morning and took us to a nice rail trail that had a very subtle 300ft climb over 4 miles. So we set out for a run with Mariko, Jody, Evan, Tate, Lagat, and myself. Side note: Bernard’s coach wanted him to drop down to 8 miles instead of 10…this was good news for me. Until we stopped running 6 min pace 🙂
6:34
6:06
5:56
5:38
5:24
5:22
5:30
5:18

I was now a little worried about my race in two days on an extremely challenging course…again it was all worth it.
Lagat and I

The Bloomsday 12K was here!

What a great morning…there were so many people running around warming up and getting ready. The weather was amazing, Mid 50s with a little wind and nothing but sunshine. All of the elites had their game faces on and I was just happy to be there.

The only thing I was worried about was dropping a 4:20 mile on the downhill at two miles.

The gun went off and everyone was out HARD. The GPS watch was started at 3:55 and slowly worked it’s way up…I put on the breaks and made sure I strolled through mile one in 5:05…the leaders were gone.

The first mile is a basic city mile with very clean businesses along the way and some really cute houses…but once you hit the second mile you start your decent and there is the beautiful river rushing down through the mountains, just an amazing view. Bridge over Water

Mile 2-4 is a lot of climbing…then you bomb down another steep hill and everything opens up and you can see the river again and the leaders making their way up Doomsday Hill. That hill is very intimidating from this view.

Elevation Chart

Elevation Chart

So I hit this hill with a smile on my face. It reminded me of running ARB hills in Ann Arbor, MI. I kept telling myself “At the top is when you will start to push.” I started passing some guys that had obviously hit the wall. I also came across a couple wheelers that were working their way up the hill…I put a stick in their spokes 😉

Actually I had plenty of time to study them as I was catching up…It filled me up with joy and pride watching this woman fight for an inch at a time on this hill. She had to push forward one inch then hold tight on the wheels as she re set her hands to push again for another inch…I just wondered “If that was me, would I have the perseverance to keep pushing?” I couldn’t help but clap and cheer for them as I ran past.

I finally got to the top of Doomsday Hill and of course, Eye of Tiger is playing. So I had no choice but to fist pump and all of the volunteers (about 100+) started cheering and yelling “RECKLESS!” at me. It was too much fun.

That being said this great move/pace pick up I was gearing up for…just didn’t happen. I was whipped from that hill. I salvaged a 5:23 mile with half of it being on the up hill. After that I clocked a 5:02 as I pushed to catch a few more guys as we began to bomb down the little hill toward the finish line.

My Splits
5:01
5:00
5:16
5:02
5:06
5:23
5:02
2:28
My Results

This was an awesome race and experience. If you have yet to do this race then you need to make it happen. P.S. The hotel was about $150 a night for a super nice place and the race is only $17 so this is way cheaper then a Chicago Marathon Trip.

Reckless Finish

Reckless Finish

Also if you want any of this cool Reckless Gear there is a link on the right and if you enter in “JORDAN” as a coupon code you get a discount!

Chicago Chicago Chicago

Some good and some bad. I wanted to take some time before I wrote this to let the emotions simmer down a bit. Chicago was a really cool experience. I had a great time with Jamie, Joel, and Chase. We stayed in a hotel right at the start which was sweet and made for a short walk in the morning.

Let’s talk a little truth first…men and women just peeing in the street at the coral..mind you I’m up front with the elite sooo that was unexpected. I know we normally run to a tree or something but the women generally hide it…not here…again I get it but just wasn’t ready for it.

The race it self was odd…I new within the first few steps that my legs and body just were not feeling normal. There was a sluggishness to my body and a heaviness to my legs. This is never a good thing when you have 26 more miles to go.

I was very foolish in telling everyone I was going to run with the lead women…I was even more foolish is knowing how I was feeling and also being told they would be paced at 2:19 – 2:20 and at best I was going to run 2:22. Being the arrogant ass I was I jumped right up with them and went for it.

We had the TV cameras on us from the start. I was sporting my new Reckless Running jersey being all Billy Badass up there. In the back of my mind I kept thinking…slow down and just let them go…we don’t want a death march in the last few miles.

I tried to take it all in and enjoy this race but the thought of dying at the end was overwhelming. Chicago was amazing in that the streets are lined with people for 26.2 miles…it is insane. Also if you are going to watch the race you need to contact Wes Stoody as he knew all of the points to see us. He should be a paid guide for spectators…provided they can run fast enough to get to each point.

As predicted around the 18 mile mark the race began to take it’s toll on me. The elite women dropped something stupid like a 5:10 and I waved them goodbye. I was quickly in no mans land and ran almost the rest of the race by myself…with each mile getting slower and more painful.

This brings me to my next thought…I think for the next marathon I will be wearing trainers versus racing flats. My lower leg muscles hurt so bad by the time I get to 18 miles when in flats, yet with trainers I can run 20 miles and be fine.

I also have no disillusion of me being able to call myself a marathoner…yet. Maybe once I have run a better time and logged a few more races will I be able to say that.

So here are the split breakdowns
1-?
2-10:58
3-5:24
4-5:21
5-5:22
6-5:29
7-5:27
8-5:24
9-5:23
10-5:27 54:18
11-5:28
12-5:20
13-5:25
14-5:22
15-5:23
16-5:27
17-5:26
18-5:29
19-5:32
20-5:41
21-5:45
22-6:08
23-6:27
24-6:34
25-6:36
26-5:58
.2-1:12
2:27.42.

At 25 Miles I calculated my time and knew that if I pushed I could still get a PR…It wasn’t going to be much but for the $1,000 this trip cost me, I better get something out of this. So I ran my 2:27.42 which bested my Detroit time of 2:28.30 but no where close to the 2:22 zone I was hoping for.

Tom Clifford gave me a very long explanation in how the body builds up lactic acid and what happens if we take off to quickly with out a warm up (since you don’t really warm up much for the marathon) Had I started the run in 5:50 or so I might have had a better day…plus I pushed some of my workouts a little to hard against my Coach’s orders.

There is a lot to learn from this…will I try a marathon again…sure…but only if I truly commit to it and put in the miles needed.

Chillin With The Ladies

Chillin With The Ladies

Clentched Fist

Clentched Fist

Thank God That's Over

Thank God That’s Over

Getting Ready For Chicago Marathon

I’m sitting on a plane right now headed to Denver but I just had to post this sweet workout. I’m committed to run the Chicago Marathon this year, as soon as I can stomach the damn $175 for entry fee, so I have been banging out the longer workouts. So far my mileage is still averaging only 60 miles per week which is weak but back when I ran 2:28 I only averaged 35 miles per week.

Since Magic Mike is out of town, and The Greek is doing who knows what, I had to call on my third string Kenny Powers for a partner in crime on this mornings run. I do want to thank Kenny greatly as his wife and two kids were out of town and he has been enjoying his time to sleep in but he manned up for me today for a 7:00am start time on the Pinckney path.

Coach wanted me to do a 10 mile build up to 5:20/pace (2:19.44 for the marathon) and try to hold that for as many miles as I can. Well I was feeling pretty damn good this morning and we didn’t hit one 5:20.

1. 5:19
2. 5:12
3. 5:10
4. 5:13
5. 5:12
6. 5:14
7. 5:09
8. 5:09
9. 5:08
10.4:57

Total time of 51:48 5:10-11 pace (2:15.48 marathon pace)

YES YES I know 10 miles is way off a marathon. So I will be shooting to run 5:24 pace which is 2:21.29…if I feel good with 6 to go then maybe I’ll pick it up. I’m not gonna lie, since Wrightsville Beach where I locked up with 4 to go, I’m scared of that happening again. I can push through pain and fatigue no problem but when your body (my leg) just stops working that is a different story.

Check out Kenny’s new online store

Probility 5K Recap

What a perfect day for a 5K. Especially a low key race in Saline, MI where they are offering up $500 1st place. I bet no one even knows about this race…I guess that’s what all of us were thinking. I did have the upper hand since the online registration was through my website…so I might have scrolled the list of runners already registered, looking for some fast names I might recognize.

News flash, most fast guys don’t register. As I’m parking my car I begin to see some fast looking guys decked out is MSU track gear, a guy decked out in brooks (Hanson’s), and a Kenyan looking fella. Figures…but at least I knew the race was going to be fast and that’s all I really cared about.

I was trying to prod the brooks kid asking him if he was going to break 15 min and he gave a silly round about answer then Blacklaws pointed out the MSU kid just ran 4:00 in the Willis mile that took place a week earlier at Saline High School. So now I got excited and knew I was in for a treat. My goal was 14:45 for the day which would tie my road 5K PR.

The race started off pretty damn fast and as usual I find myself in the front…Not the kinda front where I’m saying bye to the rest of the field but the kinda front where everyone is going to make their pace B!C#. I just kept thinking “if this guy is in 4:00 shape then I better run the kick out of him, so I pushed on.

Being that I’m the only A-hole who shows up to a road race without a watch, I had no idea what our first mile was. Someone later said they thought it was around 4:45. Quickly after that first mile we hit uphill and continued to push hard. There was a pack of four of us and no one was giving an inch. After a few more tight 90 degree turns we looped around to the hill we just ran up and everyone pushed the pace on the downhill…My body said “no chance.” These guys were just better prepared for this faster stuff than me.

I didn’t really slow down so much as they picked it up…I tell myself that so I feel better 🙂 The leaders hit the two mile at about 9:20 and I was trailing by just a few seconds. As we pushed on through the third mile the gap started to grow. I finally noticed the 4:00 guy broke and started to drop off the leaders. The two guys in front were battling.

Now here is the hard part of any race. Knowing you are not going to get passed but are also not going to be passing anyone. I had to keep my eyes up at the guy in front of me, maintain my quick leg turnover, and keep pushing. I was now racing the clock…and with no watch I had no idea how fast I was running which was playing on my mind.

We popped back out on the main road where we started and I knew I only had 400m to go. I began a subtle kick…the road was so broken up here you couldn’t get a decent stride. I could see the clock and it was reading 14:30…I thought I might break my PR…so now I started running balls out.

I crossed the ghost finish line at 14:40 then was told to keep running as that was not the finish line…really?!?! the place where you put the clock, first mat, and flags is not the finish line…so I jogged up to the next set of mats on the ground to get my true finish time of 14:42.8 which was still my fastest road 5K.

How many damn finish lines are there?!?!

How many damn finish lines are there?!?!

Even after getting my butt kicked I was still able to walk away with $50, a new PR, and a reassurance that my training was headed in the right direction for Chicago. As for the race, if you are looking for a good fast 5/k next year this will be the place to go. They are going to restructure the prize money a little better, the finish line will be correct, and the course will also be loosing two or more 90 degree turns which of course will make it faster.

Here is a link to the results

Here is a link to some pics.

If you like the singlet click HERE to see the Reckless Running store. Enter code “JORDAN” to get 15% off any order you make.

One more shameless plug…click HERE to check out my first road race that I am putting on. Run Thru Helloween

Hungry Duck 13.1 Brighton, MI 7/4

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and found some cool runs to run and races to race. I decided to do the Hungry Duck half in downtown Brighton, MI. This was my 4th half marathon and it was on the 4th, that’s like double rainbow special. Also a quick shout out to my dad the big H.D. for getting off of work at 5:00AM and getting to Brighton to watch Chase since Jamie had to work and there was no way I was gonna get a PR pushing the little guy.

This was also the first half marathon that I have ever planned and trained for. If you have been following my blog you would remember that I just kinda showed up the day of or learned about the race the day before. I always used them as training runs. My wife Jamie even dropped me off six miles from the finish line and followed me while I ran the end of the race. I heard it was hilly and I didn’t want any surprises.

The Hungry Duck was the first race I actually had a plan for. Magic Mike Anderson and I had been planning to run this thing at 5:15 pace. He had a PR of 69:35 and mine was 69:34, 5:18 pace. I had my leg speed like always and he had strength since he was running 130 – 140 miles per week. There was no way we weren’t going to both rock this.

Mike and I said “Let’s stick to the plan for the first 8 miles then just go nuts from there.” You set it up this was because you’re both racers and everyone wants to win but you need each other to get through the bulk of the race. Corey and I had done the same thing in the Steeplechase several times. Work together for 6 laps then race the last 600 meters.

Race day was here and I was not nervous at all…I had been so excited to run this race I was like a kid at Christmas. I even texted Savedes “I feel like I paid for this PR already, I just need to go pick it up.” My dad was here and Chase was behaving to an extent. The weather was almost perfect.

I did make one last minuet decision and NOT wear racing flats. My foot had been bugging me a little so I wore my trainers. I know a shoe like that could cost me 2 seconds per mile and over 13.1 miles that’s around 26 seconds. I also thought not finishing because of foot pain will suck even more.

HOT DAMN…runners take your mark. Let’s do this! The horn blows and we take off. After a solid five seconds Magic and I are all alone. You immediately begin to analyse your body, making sure your breathing is good, the legs don’t feel heavy, no little ache or pain in the joints and tendons…everything seems to be good. Mike and I begin to make small talk. He had a Gramin on so I kept telling him to make sure we don’t go out in 5:00 min mile and blow up. We wanted to keep the first between 5:15 and 5:20 just get things going.

Up and over the overpass, turn down the dirt road for a quick out and back, 5:15 first mile BOOM! Right back out to the main road and everything seems good. Mike was a step behind me and I noticed that our pace slowed a tad. So I said “Hey we just slowed down.” Mike comfortingly replied “I’m done.” I hastily shouted “Are you F–King kidding me.” Mike replied “Nope.” I thought to myself “FML and that’s what happens when you run 76 miles in the three days leading up to the race.” I looked up at the first hill, put my head down, and took off.

5:15
4:51
5:24
5:05
5:20
5:06
5:20
5:10
5:16
5:09 (52:01)
5:08
5:18
5:01
0:43
68:12 5:12 pace 1Min. 21 Second PR

Running the last six miles of this course, two days earlier, made such a huge difference. When you are tired and getting rocked by hills, it’s nice to know how many you have left, so it’s ok to max on this hill because you have half a mile to recover before the next one. It just keeps you in such a better mental state when you are fatigued.

I also made the correct decision with the shoes. My foot started to hurt at 10 miles and I knew had I wore flats it would have started much sooner and the pain would have become excruciating. It was soo cool running to the finish seeing my dad and son there. Chase was in his stroller wide eyed and smiling from ear to ear. I was so happy. I don’t think he had ever seen me finish a race before.

I would love to see a picture of me finishing with Chase and my dad there on the side lines…but I think all of those people taking pics of the race must have forgot to upload them anywhere on the internet. If you happen to have a picture please send to me over Facebook.

Nice 8 Mile Tempo

Here are my splits with MapMyRun iPhone app. Mark’s Garmin was a little different but they were pretty close. Coach wanted it to be a smooth 5:20 effort…I was not supposed to go below 5:15…If you have run Island Lake Park main road it’s got some ups and downs, as you can see mile 5-6 were up, then we turned around and headed back down for 7-8. Mark pacing me on the bike was awesome! Hungry Duck Half in Brighton next week. I just need to run 5:17 pace to get a PR. 69:34 currently.

5:27
5:14
5:10
5:10
5:18
5:19
5:08
5:01

The 100 Mile Week

For many of you reading this you have probably spent a summer putting 5-10 weeks in a row of 100+ miles. For me, more of a middle distance type guy who put in quality over quantity for mileage, I was never able to hit this cool feat.

I only ever hit 90 miles once in XC season back in college. I also do find it a little funny that some of my former teammates run 100 miles in a day. To that I say “Screw You Hammersmith”

Any how, I got on a good schedule this week thanks to my lovely wife. Also my son has been great as he has been along with most of these miles.

Again I’m excited to hit this even though I’ve been running with Mike Andersen who is hitting 140 per week, or have run with a guy who hit 100 in a day. I can’t let that take away from what I’m doing for the fist time.

This is no different than if you were going to break a 5:00 min mile for the first time. I would still be super excited for you as you should be for yourself even knowing the top marathoners run faster than that for 26.2 miles.

So here is my week and how I hit my best week ever…also my best week since foot surgery, May 21, 2012, has been 65 miles.
Monday
– Morning 8 Miles 6:34 pace
– Noon 8 Miles 6:24 pace
Tuesday
– Morning 8 Miles GPS Fail (pushing stroller)
– Noon 8 Miles 6:36 pace (pushing stroller)
Wednesday
– Morning 8 Miles 6:31 pace (pushing stroller)
– Noon 8 Miles 6:28 pace (pushing stroller)
Thursday
– Morning 8 Miles Workout (10X500 4:41 pace, rest 37sec)
– Noon 10 Miles 7:30ish (Single Track Trails)
Friday
– Morning 6 Miles 6:51 pace (week is catching up to me)
– Noon 0
Saturday
– Morning 8 Miles 6:47 pace (still feeling tired)
– Noon 8 Miles 6:50 pace (It was 91 degrees)
Sunday
– Morning 8 Miles 6:11 pace (pushing stroller)
– Noon 4 Miles 6:37 pace (pushing stroller 90 degrees)

6 Mile Tempo

Damn it was hot out today. Nothing like doing a 6 mile tempo on a black track, at noon, with no wind, and 80 degrees. Luckily it was only 48% humidity 🙂 Jamie and Chase came out to keep me company which was also nice as 24 laps can get pretty mind numbing after a while.

The work out was supposed to be a relaxed 5:20 pace to get me ready for the Hungry Duck 13.1 in a few weeks. Hopefully Mike Anderson and I will run 68:59 and both walk away with PRs in the distance.

Todays Splits
5:15
5:14
5:14
5:13
5:10
4:59
Total 31:08

Make sure to check out my race http://therunthruhell.com/

Work It Out Baby

Well I have been meaning to get this tempo over with. I could not seem to get anyone to help me out with this either, which was kinda disappointing.

So I figured I better try to slow it down a little and just see how the first mile goes. If I came through in 5:05 ish then I would try to push this to a 4 mile tempo. If I came through faster and everything felt good I would try to push the pace a little and just make it a 5K.

Well I came through much faster than I had hoped and it felt much easier than I was expecting. I think after running that 4:20 last Monday (5/27/2013) made this pace seem much more relaxed.

At no point did I stress my body in this workout. This was just a smooth comfortable pace. I was a little distracted in the third mile as the Pinckney High School kids came out on the track for gym class, so my time slipped a little. I thought I was gonna grab a 4:40 on that mile.

I was lucky enough to have Chase sitting in the stroller at the start line. Every lap I pointed at him and he pointed back, smile, and scream. Then offered me up some milk from his sippy cup. I couldn’t stop smiling.

This was a great morning with my little guy and a memory I’m sure I’ll remember for ever…at least if I come back and read this post 😉

4:55
4:44
4:45
0:34
——
5K = 15:00.16