~The BOT Battalion~ BOTS On The Run

[lourodrigis]

Hey everyone!

Had a bit of a scare yesterday while doing some yard work. A decided to saw down this big tree branch and was having a hard time. Like an idiot I decide to get a ladder so I could get a better angle. Well, the branch snapped, I threw the 12' trimmer to the side, fell off the ladder, and the branch slammed on my shoulder. I have a nasty welt/cut on my shoulder and cannot figure out how it didn't break or separate.

The PDR was great. Saw Howard, Cam, Jen, Butch, Megan, and a couple of other WISHers that I did not know before the race. It was a little chilly waiting around but nice to have a group of friends to hang out with.

For those not on FB my time was 1:37:24 which is my PR by about 5 minutes. The great weather and flat course made this feel real easy today. The start was pretty cool as I was able to stand at the starting line for the 4th wave and managed to hold the lead on my pack for about a mile, until we caught wave 3. I don't think I ever lead anything before.

Ryan Hall won the race which was pretty cool. I never saw even a glimpse of him but it sounds like it was an exciting finish between him and 3 Kenyans.

Well, that's it for the PDR. LBI 18-miler is next.

Lou

 

[Optimator]

Paul Bunyon - Wowza! That's just smokin' fast! I still say at that pace you'll be able to sip a latte and sign autographs for the 2nd half and easily break 4 hours for a full.

Howard and Jen - Race reports?

Colleen - Sorry you were relegated to the TM. I always feel worse after a run on one of those contraptions of torture.

Matt and Cindy - Sorry for your loss. Safe travels.


I actually got up way too early this morning to run. Got 15 in before I ran out of time. Way too slow, but I didn't die.

 

[KeenHo]

Howard and Jen - Race reports?

I actually got up way too early this morning to run. Got 15 in before I ran out of time. Way too slow, but I didn't die.

Mike~ I can't speak for the others around here (especially Jodi), but I'm glad you didn't die out there this morning.

Race Report? Sure...

I got up at 5:05 AM and prepared myself to travel the 40-45 minutes up to Philly for the run. On Lou's suggestion we tried to park on the street in a different area than we had parked last year for the PDR and The Philly Marathon. We didn't find street parking, but we managed to park in a lot that was relatively inexpensive and not full. Good going in my book. We walked to the starting area and met up with Lou, Jen and Butch who were at the designated meeting area. We later walked over towards the Rocky statue and met two other Wishers (Duckie and her DH?). We then were joined by Megan. It was nice to see some other WISHers there in their neon WISH green. We made our way to the corrals and I was in #9. Lou went further towards the front of the line and the announcer's podium which had The Penguin, John Bingham, perched up there saying some words and starting the respective corrals. They did stagger the starts a bit. As I made my way towards the one mile mark, I saw the press truck and heard some sirens. I managed to see Ryan Hall almost surrounded by Kenyans (maybe I am profiling?). They were moving in a fluid motion with strides three times longer than mine. It was great to see. I am really glad Ryan Hall rallied to win the race. Cam mentioned that when she saw him, he clearly wasn't leading. Now I can say I ran in a race with Ryan Hall. Yes, he beat me.. a lot of people did. Here is the scoop on my efforts today:

Miles: 13.24
Time: 2:03:28 (Garmin) 2:03:25 Chip
Pace: 9:19
Splits: 8:55, 8:38, 8:59, 9:23, 9:10, 9:26, 9:21, 9:56, 9:34, 9:39, 10:14, and 9:26.

I ran pretty well and was ahead of my 2:00 pace band by a minutes or more until mile 11. That is when time drew even, then surpassed me. I did stop to get a couple hugs (Cam and her partner from her law firm), and stopped at all but two water stops. I didn't carry liquids this time.

Overall I am really happy with my effort and the results given my lack of training and health history since March 6. After the race, I made my way to the meeting area where Lou had camped out. Cam, her partner and her DH (Jay) came over and we chatted for a while. Jay had also ran the race and finished around 1:42 something. They left us and Lou, Cam and I made for our parking areas together.

I didn't partake of any of the post race beer, or lettuce wraps supplied by PF Changs. I just wanted to get out of there and home to the shower and some football.

To put this into perspective, this was my first race (over 5 miles) since Disney in January. During the Goofy, I ran the half portion with Mike and we finished in 2:01 something (despite the jammies ). So, I have something to be thankful for - that I was able to run and complete this at all is a small miracle. To do it in just over 2 hours was an accomplishment for me this year. I am a bit sore from earlier today but nothing catastrophic happened with the knee or foot today.

I have another half marathon coming up in just two weeks up in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Have a great night and a great week ahead.



Howard

 

[Theta]

Lou and Howard, awesome results in the PDR!!

The pics on FB are great!

Hi to everyone, I will try and get on tonight to post more.

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Lou- I just needed to pop in quickly to say I'm glad you're OK after that ladder fall. Wow, that sounded scary.

 

[jbucci]

It was great to see some friendly Bot faces at the PDR. Thanks again to Howard and Cam for the loaner sweatshirt-- it really helped.

We had a great time. We left our house at around 5:15am and had the shortest ride to Philia in recorded history so we were way too early for the race. We walked to the start area in the dark and watched them setting up the flags for corrals and all of the post race tents. It was 52 degrees (according to the scrolling time and temp on a nearby skyscraper) at the start of the race. After what seemed like a long time waiting and freezing we met up with Lou and then Howard and Cam. After a bit of chatting headed to the start. They let each corral have its own start with what seemed like a minute or two between corrals. I started roughly 28 minutes after the "official" start. I felt remarkably good through most of the race considering that Disneyland was just 2 weeks ago and my training since coming home has bee spotty at best. I came in with a PR of 2:38--about an hour slower than Lou's smoking fast time but was pretty happy with my race. Butch did well too coming in in 2:02 (he wanted to break 2 hours but considering the wicked cough he was battling all week I think he did really well).

Post race we got some lettuce wraps and free beer then sat on the art museum steps to relax and eat before heading back home.

It was nice to see some fellow WISHers and run on a gorgeous day.

 

[lourodrigis]

Lou- I just needed to pop in quickly to say I'm glad you're OK after that ladder fall. Wow, that sounded scary.

Dave - Thanks. I'm feeling a little sore today but I'll live. I told someone the story today and they asked "did you go to the ER". I said "my wife is an ER nurse and unless my arm was hanging off she wasn't taking me." She threw some anti-biotic ointment, a big bandage, and some tape on me and I was back in business. By the way, thanks for the donation!!

 

[Jodi]

Hey Bots - sorry I've been absent as of late. Rest assured I've been lurking & following the PDRers on Facebook.

Mike - I know, I know - you have no use for Broadway or homeless animals. Don't worry, when we're all done here I'll come "down" to visit you. BTW, what's up with your training? Have you adopted my less-is-more philosophy?

Lou - Perhaps you should jump off the Empire State building b4 NYC as it seems that Falls=Fast Times for you. Excellent job!!

Colleen - HI. RU trained in self-defense? Sounds like those wacky terrorists are targeting mass transit in NYC. Silly d-bags! I say go easy on those LRs. You wanna get there healthy, right? Is Jeff ready for Richmond?

Howeird - Love the pics from PDR! I need that medal! You did a great job, what w/ all your ailments - fortitude that escapes me @ every turn .

Cam - What the HECK? I am so sorry for all your problems what a freakin' drag! How are you feeling as of late? What have you decided to do?

Mindy - What's up in your camp? Getting ready for Baltimore? Run fast or you may get mugged...or so I've heard. Maybe even by a player from the Ravens?. Hope you're both healthy & ready to go!

Chester - Coolin' down down there yet? How's the ticker tickin'? Take Mike's advice about the Hooters thing. He's not right often, but.... How are the kidlings doing in school? Are they training for January? How's your bride? How come she don't visit us here in the Bot lair?

Jen - Congrats to you & Butch on a great showing @ PDR! Especially after DL 1/2 just weeks ago. How's school going for the little one?

Sara - ? I was going to say something snide, but I'll refrain .

Dave - You're like the resident blogger now. Hope you're getting paid well , or at least an 'attaboy! I'm waiting for you to blog about the Bot team...or at least ME! How is/are the shin/shins? Goofy? ahem.

I've been running - if you could call it that. Sat. I ran the scheduled 8 & like Colleen, I hurt more after that than I did after the 12 the week b4. . Whatever, I'm done trying to figure out my freak-of-nature body/ailments. They make no sense, come & go as they please & do nothing but piss me off ....which actually, isn't that hard to do.

This weekend is a scheduled 18 (yea right). I'll do a local 1/2 (one on Sat. to pick from, & one on Sun.) & add a few miles either before or after to make it like, 15 or 16 or something. Then my last LR will be 17 or so...just like Philly!! That seemed to work out well .

Here's hoping everyone remains/gets healthy (where's that friggin' pixie dust avatar?).

 

[Theta]

(where's that friggin' pixie dust avatar?).

Ah, this warms the cockles of my heart!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Dave - You're like the resident blogger now. Hope you're getting paid well , or at least an 'attaboy! I'm waiting for you to blog about the Bot team...or at least ME! How is/are the shin/shins? Goofy? ahem.

I've been running - if you could call it that. Sat. I ran the scheduled 8 & like Colleen, I hurt more after that than I did after the 12 the week b4. . Whatever, I'm done trying to figure out my freak-of-nature body/ailments. They make no sense, come & go as they please & do nothing but piss me off ....which actually, isn't that hard to do.

This weekend is a scheduled 18 (yea right). I'll do a local 1/2 (one on Sat. to pick from, & one on Sun.) & add a few miles either before or after to make it like, 15 or 16 or something. Then my last LR will be 17 or so...just like Philly!! That seemed to work out well .

Here's hoping everyone remains/gets healthy (where's that friggin' pixie dust avatar?).

Hi Jodi Oh yeah, I'm getting paid as much as anyone else is for the blogs. Although I have received some special perks... Good idea about blogging about the BOTS. I will do that. Seriously, if you guys read the blogs, leave comments. It would help me out a lot. They don't have to be positive comments. Heck, you can say you hate the blogs, but comments are good.

As far as Goofy goes, uugh, I don't have the energy this minute to think about that. I'm going to need to work to get an entry because the DIS team fell through. Sheesh. Right now I'm bumming because I'm not going to be able to do Tower of Terror afterall. I was looking forward to seeing Matt, Cindy, and whoever else was going to be there, but it's looking like I won't be able to go. It's just a lot of time away from home and family.

My shins are actually starting to get better. I've been using the stick like mad on my calfs, and I think that is starting to loosen things up.

Good luck with your long run this weekend. Hope you're feeling better than you did this past weekend.

 

[Jodi]

I was looking forward to seeing Matt, Cindy, and whoever else was going to be there, but it's looking like I won't be able to go.

Don't sweat it. Seeing Mindy is WAY overrated! And those "whoever else" people? .

I'll leave some...uh...comments for your blogs, no problem .

 

[rKyDeX]

Chester - Coolin' down down there yet? How's the ticker tickin'? Take Mike's advice about the Hooters thing. He's not right often, but.... How are the kidlings doing in school? Are they training for January? How's your bride? How come she don't visit us here in the Bot lair?

Jodi
It cools down a little bit every night after it rains and the sun goes down. Unfortunately the humidity is at 95% and the temp is 80+.

I've got an appointment to see a Cardiologist 10/7. I did swap out my chest strap with and older one a I had laying around and it doesn't indicate the rate spikes. I also went back in my run logs and found out that I started using the new chest strap at the Country Music Marathon and found some spikes that started occurring about 2 weeks later. A little more evidence that makes it seem like the problem is with the new chest strap. I still want the Cardiologist to check everything out though just to be certain.

The kiddo's are both training, but probably not at the level they need to be. Youth is on their side, so I'm not too worried about whether they can finish or not. It will just matter about how fast they will recover. Miranda will be my teammate for Expedition Everest Challenge this weekend.

Miranda is still trying to get used to the idea that college classes sometimes get canceled or let out early. That never happened in High School.

Tracy is really busy right now and training and Bots are the last things on her mind. Every Tuesday she has Grand Jury duty in Tampa. In addition, her Mother is going through liver failure and they are trying to get her into a transplant program. It seems like every other week they have to travel to South Florida to see the Docs there. Right now she is not healthy enough to be a candidate for transplant, so they are working on bringing her health up and getting her accepted into the program.

Don't sweat it. Seeing Mindy is WAY overrated! And those "whoever else" people? .

I guess that Chet and I are some of the "whoever else" people.


I've been fighting off a head cold and took most of week 6 training off. Working late tonight and will try to get 4 miles in tonight.

Gotta go now.

Chester

 

[lourodrigis]

Hi Jodi Oh yeah, I'm getting paid as much as anyone else is for the blogs. Although I have received some special perks... podcast cruise and mousefest. Good idea about blogging about the BOTS. I will do that. Seriously, if you guys read the blogs, leave comments. It would help me out a lot. They don't have to be positive comments. Heck, you can say you hate the blogs, but comments are good.

Dave - Be careful what you ask for. Jodi may go online and start ripping your blogs.

Chester - You have one serious race schedule coming up. It will be interesting to go from running in dry Las Vegas to humid Hawaii in a few weeks.

Jodi - You can always run 18 miles at LBI with my on 10/11 if you want to torture yourself before NYC.

Hola everybody!

4 recovery miles logged today. I realized this weekend I screwed up by waiting until the last minute to register for Philly. The half and full are both filled. I was really hoping to run it after NYC just to see how I do. Oh well.

Lou

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

I guess that Chet and I are some of the "whoever else" people.

Chester- Shoot, I feel bad for two reasons now. 1.) I forgot you and Chet would be at the Tower of Terror Race. My profuse, sincere apologies , and 2.) I won't get to see you guys there. That would have been a lot of fun to catch up with you.

Have a great time with Miranda at the Expedition Everest Race. All my best to Tracy in dealing with her mother's health. It sounds rough.

 

[KeenHo]

Ola BOTS!!!

Chester~ Nice to hear from you. Tell Tracy we send hugs for her and her Mom. I don't think Pixie Dust will cut it, I'll keep her in my prayers.

I went to my family Doctor tonight to get my leg (most notably my right knee) checked out. I have been fighting with it off and on for about two months. Pain after or during runs, intermittent, better with ice after, good with stretching it out a bit before and during a run, etc. I ran a 15 miler and the PDR last weekend without any pain, but it hurt the day(s) afterwards.

The diagnosis is one of two things: Pes Anserine (Knee) Bursitus or what he terms as a "tweaked" MCL.

The per anserine bursa is located on the inner side of the knee just below the knee joint (Bingo!). Tendons of three muscles attach to the shin bone over the bursa. These muscles act to bend the knee, bring the knees together, and cross the legs. This can result from:

1. Overuse (Possible, but I haven't been running all that much)
2. Repeated pivoting from a deep knee bend (Doubtful)
3. A Direct blow to the area (Not in my case)

Symptoms include pain on the inner side of the knee (Bingo!) just below the joint. I may have pain when I bend or straighten my leg (Bingo!).

Treatment includes: Ice packs on the knee for 20 to 30 min. every 3 to 4 hours for 2 or 3 days (Probably not going to happen). Wrapping an elastic bandage around the knee to reduce swelling (it hasn't swelled at all), taking anti-inflammatory drugs (not prescribed), a shot of medicine like cortisone in the swollen bursa (not going to happen) or leg stretching and strengthening exercises.

That is what the Doctor ordered.

The other possibility is a slight tweak/tear in the Meniscal (Cartilage) (MCL), there are exercises for both that include:

1. Resisted terminal knee extension
2. Wobble board exercises
3. Passive knee extension
4. Heel slide
5. Standing calf stretch
6. Wall squat with a ball
7. Step up
8. Knee stabilization (A, B, C, & D)

He also took an EKG at his office and saw a few blips that went down instead of up and he ordered a precautionary stress-test. I've never had one, so this is just a very precautionary measure to see if anything is awry. I also talked to him about some history in my family with colon-rectal cancer and he said it might be a good idea to get a colonoscopy. So, I am going to get that done in the coming weeks.

Overall, a good appointment with what I'd consider great news about the knee. I just need to work hard at rehabing what is there now and moving forward. I am having routine blood work done tomorrow and he'll verify my current meds are at the proper dosages, etc. After all this, I think I'm good for another 6,000 miles.

No running for me until the weekend probably. Cam and her BFF Marie are going to St. Augustine, FL for the weekend and the guys will be bacheloring it up for a couple of days. I'll get a run in then.

Have a great evening!



Howard

 

[Optimator]

BTW, what's up with your training? Have you adopted my less-is-more philosophy?

Jodi - I've actually given up running completely.

I've decided to travel to all the health care "town hall" meetings and shout at people.

 

[Optimator]

BTW, what's up with your training? Have you adopted my less-is-more philosophy?

Jodi - I've actually given up running completely.

I've been spending all my time learning Morse Code. I've always wanted to know if they interpreted the messages correctly in those old WWII movies. Now I'll know!

 

[Optimator]

BTW, what's up with your training? Have you adopted my less-is-more philosophy?

Jodi - I've actually given up running completely.

I've dedicated myself to perfecting my moves for the next season of Dancing With the Stars.

 

[Optimator]

BTW, what's up with your training? Have you adopted my less-is-more philosophy?

Jodi - I've actually given up running completely.

I just haven't had time since I've joined Facebook.

 

[Optimator]

BTW, what's up with your training? Have you adopted my less-is-more philosophy?

Jodi - I've actually given up running completely.

I've been spending all my time at the lake since they finally shipped my Popeil Pocket Fisherman.