I am a runner

American distance runner, Adam Goucher wrote a blog post today saying he is retiring from competitive running. He has had a great run: Footlocker champion way back in 1993, NCAA cross country champion way in 1998, US 5000 Olympic trials champion in the year 2000, 6th place in the short course race at the IAFF Worlds Cross-Country Championships in 2006 among other championship races. Adam's NCAA cross-country championship race was highlighted in the book Running with the Buffaloes. He has also cowritten a recently released book Running the Edge: Discover the Secrets to Better Running and a Better Life. On the Run the Edge blogpost about his retirement, I liked the opening quote from his book:

“I am not somebody who just likes to run. I am a runner. This is the difference between a pastime and a passion. I like to play golf, but I am not a golfer. I like to cook, but I am not a chef. I don’t just like to run. I am a runner. It is a passion. It is part of who I am and is woven into the fabric of my personality, character, and psyche.” – Adam Goucher from “Running the Edge”

Yes, I am a runner, too and that quote sums it up for many of us who enjoy the sport for more than just the physical exercise!


That is what has made the last year without running real difficult: not being able to run and compte for the first time in almost 40 years. I can't wait to be fully up and running some day, but it is not going as easily as I would have hoped post-surgery. Improvements are hard to come by, as I feel the same as I did one month ago.

Last weeks total mileage = 20 miles:
Thursday: 8 miles
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday:4 miles

Some days the running feels good and I feel like I am getting right back into it. Other days, I get a pinching pain in my inner thigh and along with it tight shin muscles and discomfort that goes under my knee, around my ankle, under my arch, and into my big toe. I am always thinking it is muscular, but today I learned from my PT that it is probably a pinched nerve of some type in my lower back that radiates all down the nerve. I guess I better call to get that MRI of my lower back that I have been putting off. The back doctor told me that if the MRI shows something then maybe I would get a cortizone shot. I had figured this may be a temporary thing like the diagnostic cortizone shot I had in my hip to confirm the labral tear earlier this year. I was now told that the cortizone shot could be a more long-term solution to a pinched nerve. Today, at PT I got some heavy ART treatment of hamstrings, adductors, hip, and lower back. I think my skin is still glowing with redness, although the PT doing the ART seemed even more sore because his thumb was pressing so hard it was hurting him. This should relieve some of the nerve issues, but if needed it looks like cortizone may help.