Final Piece of the Puzzle?

For the past 2-3 weeks I have been trying to locate an old friend, and I feel like it's turned into a puzzle that is finally about to be completed. The reason I'm trying to get in touch with this old friend (Doug C) is because to my knowledge, he is the only ultramarathoner that I know. If my memory serves me correct, I have not seen him since I was about 9-10 years old. We used to go to church with him back then until he moved to Katy, Texas. I've always thought he was a neat guy, for several reasons. In 1970, he led, with Joey Abboussie, the Wichita Falls High School Coyotes' football team to the state championship game as the quarterback. They lost by one point. He used to take a bunch of boys from church to Lake Texoma for an annual camping trip. It was on one of these trips that I experienced my first snipe hunt. It was either me or my brother that got so scared at the sight of these snipe birds that I(he) literally ran across water. It was also on one of these camping trips that Doug got out of his sleeping bag (not in a tent) and approached the female park ranger who paid a visit late one night in only his underwear! HA! I also remember being in his wife's Sunday School class and getting in trouble with 2 other boys for writing bad words in the Sunday School book. We were in the 2nd or 3rd grade. Doug sat us down like adults and explained to us that we should not have done that, told us he understood we were just being boys, and told us he wouldn't tell our parents what we did. It was also Doug that participated in a Hands-On-Marathon where he kept his hand on a truck for many many hours (maybe a few days) hoping to be the last one standing to win the truck. If you took your hand off the truck, you were out of the competition. On occasion, the contestants would get a short break, and Doug would choose to run instead of rest. He made it pretty far, but got tricked into checking a little message attached to a sandwich causing him to remove his hand from the truck and consequently himself from the competition. It isn't until now that I more fully appreciate something else he once did. He, along side a doctor, giving him a special solution of electrolytes, attempted to run the 100 mile course in the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred bike race. He made it approximately 75 miles before stopping. Amazing!

So lately, I have had this burning passion to become an ultramarathoner. For those still reading who don't know what an ultramarathon is, it's basically any run that is longer than a marathon, or 26.2miles. My goal is to run a marathon in December and then run my first ultramarathon next spring. I'll start with a 50k race, which is 31 miles, and over the next few years, hopefully work up to 50 or even 100 miles. I LOVE the challenges of endurance running - you have to have a lot of stamina, learn how to treat your body during the run, stay hydrated, stay fueled up with carbs/protein, stay smart and focused, and ignore the pains until the endorphines kick in and then keep hydrating/refueling so you avoid exhaustion (the wall) where your muscles fill up with lactic acid and are unable to burn up anything else. It's much more a mental challenge than a physical one. Anyway, I'm very driven to train towards this.

One of my philosophies in life is in any new endeavor, educate yourself as much as possible by going straight to the horse's mouth. Talk to people who have direct experience with whatever endeavor you are seeking. So, I've decided to try and contact my ultramarathoner friend, Doug. I've gone through quite a series of twists and turns to get in touch with him. I started out by trying to find him on the internet in Katy, Texas, but was unsuccessful. My dad told me he recently ran into an old friend who said he had recently talked to Doug. So, I called this guy's dad wanting to get in touch with him, who coincidentally was sitting right beside him! He recommended I try contacting these other 2 guys who are friends with Doug. I tried contacting one, but haven't been able to connect. When I tried the other, it was actually this guy's father I was calling, whose wife informed me had passed away 5-6 years ago. However, after explaining my situation, she gladly gave me her son's phone number as well as her granddaughter's number (my age) and said either could probably tell me how to get in touch with Doug. I tried her granddaughter several times but could never connect. This guy's mother informed me that he would be out of town until this past weekend. So, I called him tonight and actually got in touch with him!! I also knew this guy from 20+ years ago, so it was neat to talk to him. He said he hasn't talked to Doug in several months, but he knew Doug was about to move to Dallas. He didn't have his home or cell number, but he gave me 2 possible phone numbers to try at Doug's work. He wasn't sure if either number was actually good, but it was more than I had before so I thanked him. After trying the 2 numbers, one was not in service and one was the technical support line for some energy company. So, for grins, I typed in the company name and Houston in google.com. Low and behold, there's a company by that name in Houston! I called the number and maneuvered my way through the voice prompts to the directory. I punched in the letters for Doug's name, and guess what I hear on the other end? A recording of Doug saying his name! So, I pushed pound to connect to his line, heard his voice mail, and left a message. WOW - what a journey to finally reach him!! So, I finally feel like the last puzzle piece is being put into place. Hopefully tomorrow he will return my call and my journey will be a success. Then I can pick his brain about being an ultramarathoner...and if all the stars line up, maybe if he's in Dallas, we could actually meet up and run together! This other guy that gave me Doug's number (sort of) said Doug just had a rare form of leukemia 2 years ago, was treated, and is now completely cancer free. He said he stopped running for awhile during the treatments, but he thinks he's started back up recently. So maybe that was a long and boring story, but it's a big deal to me, and I look forward to talking to Doug. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm finally able to run again. I've been running 5 times in the last 9-10 days, and each time I feel better and better. I am now completely pain free and am back up to 5 miles. My pace is only about 10-15 seconds per mile slower than my pre-injury pace. I suspect I will be back to my 6-8 mile runs at a sub-10 minute mile pace within another week or two. Last night was the first time I was able to let go, relax, and just run...as opposed to counting laps and worrying about aches and pains that could be a lingering injury. All of my running recently has been at the track, which in some respects has been a complete beating! Do you know how intensely boring it is to run 20 laps around a track?? However, I am sooooooo grateful that I'm able to run again, so I'm not complaining.

OK, just so I can say this blog is not JUST about running, is it just me or is Drew Carey an odd replacement of Bob Barker on The Price Is Right?

Injury Update

I'm working from home right now, but there's a lot of waiting while each process runs in the background so I thought I'd blog. I am suffering severely from not being able to run. At first it was endorphine withdrawals, and now it's a physical deterioration. I feel bad a lot now, I'm less motivated at work and home, I can't think as clearly, and I'm obsessed with the fact that I can't run and it's killing me! Running is amazing on so many levels, and the realization is magnified in its absence. I won't bore you with the reasons I love running, but I love it even more now that I can't do it. ARGH! My foot is feeling much better, but I don't think it's completely healed yet. Last Saturday morning it was not hurting, but when I ran a slow mile around the track, it started hurting again so I immediately stopped, went home, and iced it. Since Sunday it has not hurt at all, but I'm resting this whole week too so I don't rush back into running. I will try again this coming Saturday and see how it is. I HOPE it's better. I'm thinking it's probably not a stress fracture, but tendonitis instead...but I can't be 100% sure. Meanwhile, I tried learning how to swim freestyle so I could swim laps until my foot heals. Wow - there's a lot to think about, it takes coordination, and it just flat out makes me tired after 1-2 laps!! I've also tried riding a bicycle, but the last 3 nights I had issues with a tire/tube. Tonight I finally rode, but it was too dark and there was more traffic than I was comfortable with. ARGH! So much for cross training!! I can't wait until I can run again!!

Keep crossing your fingers - the football coach at Boswell called me tonight and there's still a good chance I'll get to do stats at the games! I am so pumped about that!!

Fantasy Football is right around the corner. Both the Texas Thunder Thighs and the Lambeau Leapers will win their respective leagues this year!! Take that to the bank!!

Football Stats and Stuff

OK, so I missed the entire month of June. Sorry! A lot has happened in the last 6 weeks, but I'll just do bullet points instead of my normal 647 page blog.

• I got fitted for new running shoes and they are amazing!! My first test run I went 14miles and felt great! One week later, after a few more 6 milers, I got a little too motivated and ran 16 miles (thanks to Dean Karnazes - check out www.ultramarathonman.com). Something bad happened. The outside of my left foot started KILLING me about 2 hours after my run. I sure hope it's not a stress fracture, but it could be a slight one. The pain eventually went away for the most part and this past Thursday I ran a slow and easy 4 miles on the track (soft surface) and didn't have any trouble with my foot. So yesterday I go on my normal 6 mile course and finally, just past the 3 mile marker, I had to stop and walk home because my foot was killing me again. UGH! It still hurts today. This is very upsetting, a big mental setback...hopefully not too much of a physical setback. My marathon is not until Dec 9th, so I have time to heal, I just hope I can find the patience. I've lost 34 pounds now and I can just see the weight coming back on since I can't run for at least a week now. ARGH!!!
• Seriously, go check out www.ultramarathonman.com. This guy seems perfectly normal, but he runs marathons just about every day. Oh except for his weekly 100 mile training run. He has run 262 miles straight without stopping - that's 10 marathons!! He orders pizzas while running. They deliver pizza to him and he rolls it up like a burrito and eats it without missing a step! He ran for 75 hours, through 3 nights without sleeping and actually fell asleep running!! I just HAD to buy his book and I read the first 100 pages Friday night!! I have NEVER read that much in one night! NEVER!!! It is so fascinating.
• We sold Lambeau. It was a very difficult decision, but ultimately my kids' livlihood won out over the dog. They didn't like going outside anymore because he always knocked them over, stole their toys, ran away and chewed them up. I think he went to a good home.
• I also sold my truck! I finally sat down and listed it on autotrader.com, paid extra for the 8 week listing, and less than 16 hours later had sold it for $200 more than what I had hoped to get! If you ever need to sell a vehicle, I fully endorse autotrader.com!
• You know what I love about work? Coming home from it! I'm so lucky to have the family that I do! I love my wife and my kids and I love being at home with them. I think it's about time to teach Caleb how to pee off the back porch. HA! I was throwing the football with him today and I must say...he's pretty darn good! I showed him where to position his fingers on the laces, and he actually kept trying to do it by himself quite a few times! And the girls...isn't it crazy how three daughters from the same set of parents growing up in the same house can all be so different? I love them all and everything about them that makes them unique. Jenn, I love you and thank you for supporting my habit (running-ha!) and for making our home a place I look forward to coming home to and for loving and caring for our kids and being a wonderful mom!!
• I'm giving some serious thought to buying the Sunday Ticket this year. It's a little pricey, but we would LOVE the chance to watch Favre and the Packers every single week!! Since it will probably be his last season. Can't wait until late November when they come to Dallas!
• Have you ever met someone for the first time and then thought about the brief encounter all day long? Well, I did today. At church this morning, I overheard a guy introducing himself, and his name perked my attention. I knew the name but not the face. So I sat there small-talking with a friend while listening to the head football coach of Boswell (Saginaw) tell another guy about some of his expectations for the approaching season. WOW!! How cool is that?! The opportunity didn't come for me to introduce myself to him right then. The service started and I saw him sitting out there, and admittedly, was distracted the whole time I was playing keys in the worship band with introducing myself to Coach. After the service, I tried to catch up with him, but he left very quickly. So as I'm at the nursery door telling Jenn that the head football coach from Boswell was at church, she laughs and tells me she just met his wife and exchanged phone numbers and talked about getting together. Jenn asked if I met him and right after I said no, he comes walking by so I stop him and introduce myself and Jenn to him. Jenn tells him that she just got to know his wife, etc. After exchanging greetings and kid talk and "where ya froms" (didn't like telling him I went to Rider when he asked, because Rider ended Boswell's season last year!), the conversation quickly leads to football, and before you know it, he's telling me he needs someone to do stats at the games if I'm interested! WOW!! You better believe it!! It's a dream come true!! I'm going to call him and talk more about the details of doing it, so it's not a for sure thing yet, but I am literally beside myself with excitement at the potential!! It has been difficult for me to think about anything else all day today! HA! I would absolutely LOVE doing that! Keep your fingers crossed...

OK this is long enough. Maybe I'll try to blog like this more often to avoid the HUGE postings. Hope you're doing well!