One More Thing..

.. before i get cut i figured i'd post an update on what is exactly up. i haven't been blogging lately for two reasons. first i now twitter, which is micro-blogging. so i simply don't feel the need to post as often. i figure if i post on big topics and adventures that is sufficient. but it's mostly because i've been battling with this foot injury, so there haven't been any adventures. it became obvious after an epic 13hr backcountry ski tour in the enchantments that i needed to make a tough decision. i finished that tour in a great deal of pain. something drastic needed to be done. so i took 7 weeks completely off. 5 of those weeks were in an air cast.

now i'll try to make this quick. i haven't raced or trained since after the transrockies race, august 2008. i've been suffering from what intelligent people think is a neuroma, which is an inflamed nerve between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal. i've tried metatarsal pads, new shoes, no shoes, cortisone injections, alcohol injections, acupuncture, physical therapy, no running (then no cycling or skiing), complete rest, orthotics and finally a boot. bone scans, mris and xrays didn't show anything. sometimes neuroma's don't show up in mri's, so after the conservative route dr. neal roberts is "confident" he can fix me... with a knife. so tomorrow at 9:15am he will cut the top of my foot open and try to find a neuroma to excise. he'll literally cut the end of nerve and take it out. then he'll tuck the nerve into the muscle so it doesn't regenerate. if there is no neuroma he will "release the transverse metatarsal ligament".

for the following two days i'll be on my back at the fraser's house on mass quantities of drugs. i can't thank them enough for taking care of me. after two weeks of crutches, i'll be able to start walking around normally again, although likely with a new boot on. this is perfect timing as i'm headed to tahoe for the western states 100 miler exactly 2 weeks post surgery. i'll be there to take some promotional video for my sponsor montrail. after 3 months i should be able to start running again. that puts me out until thurs september 10th... but it's progress, something i haven't had in 10 months.

i will admit to being injury prone at this point. why is that? no idea.. maybe it's poor genetics, poor biomechanics, or both of those coupled with overtraining on rugged terrain. who knows?

either way i can't even tell you how much i appreciate everyone that has sent me a message or information on treatments and drs. most amazing to me are the "i hope you get better soon" notes from those that don't even know me. unfortunately, or fortunately i've seen some friends just disappear because i'm haven't been able to "get after it" with them. true friends are there whether you can hammer out 100 miles or not even run a step - i hope they know how much they mean to me.

i'll be twittering updates through the whole process tomorrow.. while i'm conscious of course.

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A Great Day

two reasons it was a great day -

i saw the podiatrist. she was awesome. after telling me the normal treatment path would include; orthotics, insoles, metatarsal pads and lifts (basically everything i had already done) she conceited that i was not a 'normal patient'. and that i needed some advanced treatment. she then pulls out the needle and daddy travels to dreamland.. or, ah, i mean she shot the nerve with the alcohol solution. it hurt actually. but then.. no pain. well some pain. but it was just the pain of then needle fishing around. but no shooting nerve pain when i walked! no shooting nerve pain when i ran! whoa! i was supposed to give it a test run after wards but i had to rush over to the phinney neighborhood center to talk to team in training.

which brings me to the second reason i had a great day. i presented on nutrition and hydration to team in training. i geek out on all this stuff so it was really quite fun. at this point i've talked about and presented this material so many times i don't need any notes. we had a great group training for three different marathons. many taking notes. just typing that makes me smile. i'm happy i can be of service to so many beginners in one place. it's pretty cool actually.

ok now i've got crazy thoughts going through my head that i can race 100 miles in two weeks. october 3rd is the grindstone 100. since i haven't gone for a real run yet we'll have to see how it feels tomorrow. i'm hopeful.

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i spoke too soon - it hurts.

Some Nonsense

right now i'm hurt and it sux. there are many good things happening in my life which i'm very very excited about. but i can't get over the fact that my hip is a mess. i have two pt's on the case... there has been a bike crash on that hip and a history of imbalance so it's muddy water. i might even have two different length legs. so for the last week i've been wearing an extra sliver insert in one of my montrails. i can't say that things have changed really. yesterday i was treated to some april knee deep powder. with some trepidation i headed to snoqualmie with my long time adventure buddy steve copson. we had some amazing turns. it's pretty awesome how some good high speed powder skiing with a buddy can make you feel. of course i had to "test" the hip out after that and an easy 2.8 mile trail run left me walking the last 100 feet. it feels like i have a torn glute muscle.

i'm headed to salt lake city to pursue an interesting opportunity... more on that later.

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also check out the whereskarl.com website. as i've mentioned i'm starting karl meltzer's appalachian assault with him on mount katahdin in maine. we'll be running 47 miles a day for 6 days covering the 281 miles of AT in maine. karl of course is continuing on in an effort to break the speed record on for the entire 2,174 miles of AT... maine to georgia baby. i like to say "if anyone can do it, it's karl". he'll have a gps with him and with this site you will be able to track and follow along from online... pretty cool.

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"You only ever grow as a person when you spend time outside your comfort zone"- Percy Cerutty

i'm about to get very uncomfortable...

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i had to share this passage from the cookbook wholefood by jude blereau i just picked up from the library: "It seems that we have forgotten what good food really is, where it comes from (not plastic-wrapped from the supermarket) and what it should taste like. Once look at a school cafeteria, hospital, workplace cafeteria, bakery or corner shop will show you exactly what I am talking about: food with little flavor, loaded with refined sugar and damaged fat to give taste. It is manufactured with the cheapest of compromised ingredients. Today, even fresh produce is grown to last - superficial and tasteless." She goes on, "Refined and processed foods give nothing to your body; in fact, they take away as your body tries to digest them. These foods cannot sustain you; they cannot nourish you."

when i thought about this a bit i am reminded of something i read about tomatoes. conventionally they are grown to be tough, not tasty. off the top of my head the other foods that i can remember thinking... "wow, this tastes waaay better organic" are avocados, raisins and best of all orange, red, and yellow peppers... and strawberries! oh the goodness.. i challenge you to try and go a whole day eating just whole foods. and post a comment on how you feel.

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i just bought this song by saul williams from the new nike commercials. it is fantastic. listen to this song on your next run - it is impossible not to run fast! ~ "I ball my fist and you're gonna know where I stand".

What's The Haps?

training: i'm enjoying the off-season. i'm coaching a lot and increasing my client list - i love this job!. i'm still healing from my double hernia surgery, so there is a bit of residual ab pain and even worse are my hips. i used to think my hip issues were related to the hernias, now i'm not so sure. i've gradually increased my volume since my surgery, 11:51; 12:13; 15:06; with this week around 19 hours and next week being my peak volume week of this meso-cycle at 25 hour-ish. got in a good 30 mile road ride today with kimberly and i'll ride 50 miles tomorrow... likely in a downpour. i've gotta be done by nuun so i can watch the seahawks with the boys.

skiing: this seattle weather is killing me! yesterday was supposed to be my first day in the backcountry on skis. the plan was to skin and ski mount rainier.. thwarted! crappy conditions had us then turn our attention to mt baker area, table mtn and ptarmigan ridge. woke up and the telemetry data said 1 inch of rain had fallen overnight and it was still raining below 6,000ft.



we hiked mailbox peak with 30 lbs backpacks instead. i'm still waiting on getting those first turns.

racing: i'm debating whether or not i'm going to do an early season 24 hour solo mtn bike race. i'm undecided partly because i really want to return to run big horn again. i won the 50k last year and would run the 50 miler in '08 if i went.. and i'd hope ty draney would run another distance! however if i did the round the clock 24hr solo i wouldn't be recovered for big horn, or even trained for it for that matter. recovery from a 24 hour mtn bike race is not joke, so i wouldn't be able to race for over a month after, maybe longer. which makes me think maybe i'll do it as two person team. when i think about local mtn bikers to race with... it would have to be my dart-nuun adv racing teammate ryan vangorder - doods a monster.

december 1st is the western states lottery. "there are a record number of entries in the Western States lottery this year (1,352!)... and a dismal 16% chance of getting selected." this is from ajw's blog, he then goes on to list the top male contenders who have signed up. it's an impressive and intimidating list. gets me all fired up to run it!

coaching: coaching has been an absolute joy lately. i've just finished a 5 week session of weekly track workouts and demand was so high i'm doing another one in december!! i've also added to the client list a couple of adventure racers getting ready for primal quest 2008 - very exciting.

quote of the day:
"We have found that there is no conflict between our business model of everyday low costs and everyday low prices and being a more sustainable business," Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott said in the Wal-Mart Environmental Report.

How Much Does a Double Hernia Surgery Cost?

$9,765.09

Hernia Surgery Done!

up at 4am. my saint of a friend cory fraser picked me up at 5am. checked in at the hospital at 5:30am. drugs kicked in at 7:37am.. dreamland. i wake with two titanium mesh patches over the holes in my abdomen. my stomach hurts... bad. i took some oxycodone and next thing i know cory and little baby colin (who just turned 2!) arrive with smiles.

today i had surgery for my two inguinal hernias. now i'm drugged up on cory's couch. i can't situp, or stand up on my own yet so cory and his family are taking care of me. i'm lucky to have such good friends.

read

• grist article - 15 green business founders (#1 is patagonia's yvon chouinard, but there are some other interesting founders in there.
• interview from may with matt carpenter, who at 47 just won the pikes peak ascent and pikes peak marathon the following day!
• poor floyd landis - is he really guilty? i think so.

my status - well i grow increasingly frustrated with health insurance in this country. i spend $280 a month.. for what? with deductibles i still have to put my ct scan on my credit card. anyway i should find out monday if i have two or just the one hernia and what type.

i leave first thing tomorrow for interbike with nuun! - then this young man heads east! flying into portland maine... hanging with family in freedom new hampshire.. visiting friends in portsmouth new hampshire... heading to brownsville vermont for the vermont 50 miler... then recovering on the cape with family! it's going to be an awesome few weeks!

Double Down

surgeon: "put your fingers here. you should feel something pushing through when you cough."
cough
me: "hmm.. i guess." i think to myself, check the other side to compare.
cough
me: "doesn't feel any different to me than the other side."
surgeon: "let me check."
cough
surgeon: "thats cause it feels like you have a hernia on both sides."
scene...

awaiting ct of pelvis for confirmation.