Running in 2024

[metsmarathon]

Two questions:

1. Did we ever have a running thread in 2024? I forget. I know I’m particularly bad at keeping up with them the past few years, so it’s possible the poor thing died on the vine this year.

2. Did we ever have an injuries thread this year, or recently? I couldnt find anything.

So… the reason I ask.

I was running with ummL & ummR and the rest of the team at cross country practice on Thursday. They were doing 4 loops of a 1km trail through the woods by a local school. The back part of the loop has a couple of short stretches with a few roots lying in wait to roll ankles or trip over.

UmmR was complaining that his knee was bothering him a little, so he was hanging back from the group. I was pacing him and also just trying to impart some coaching wisdom. He was complaining that, when the group started on this part of the loop, it was a bit crowded and hard to see the ground to know where to step. I was telling him that, in situations like that, you want to hang back just a bit so you have room to look ahead for your footing. Typically you want to be able to see two steps ahead of you so you can make any adjustments. I was about 6-7 feet behind him, and made the point that, basically, right here is where I want to be if I’m following him.

As soon as I finished the sentence, like literally, the silence of the period to close the thought had just begun to spread through the forest, when I felt myself drop like a sack of wet potatoes, an audible pop punctuating my prior point well before I hit the ground with a “fuck”

I landed in the soft dirt of the trail lying on my right side, my right leg bent at the knee, my left leg lying on top of it, also bent at the knee. If you visualize the painting of George costanza you’ve got the general idea.

UmmR asked me if I was ok, lying there on the ground as I was. “No. Get help. It’s bad.” Was my reply.

Lying on the ground, I’d already glanced at my left knee. Suffice it to say, it didn’t look quite right. Kneecap was too far up, and I could tell it wasnt quite connected to my lower leg anymore.

Yes, that’s right. I Edwin diazed myself.

Two of the other coaches came out to check on me. One stayed with me and called an ambulance while the other went to make sure the kids were all right, and to direct them to where we were. We were about 1/4 mile into the woods, 1/2 mile from the parking lot with decent hills and stuff. I was not going to be able to hop or limp out. I also was worried about doing more damage in the attempt.

After about 20 minutes I was finally hefted onto a gurney on the back side of an off road vehicle and driven to the waiting ambulance. There were probably two dozen emergency vehicles, all lights flashing. It looked like a friggin rock concert was about to start.

They loaded me onto the ambulance and drove me to the ER, while I made arrangements for what to do with my kids and minivan and how to get each back to my house that evening.

I spent the night in the ER, and was just about to get prepped for surgery before they decided, ‘nah, discharge him instead.’

That was Friday morning at about 4am. They arranged a Lyft to drive me home.

Monday I followed up with the orthopedist. Confirmed that, yep, ruptured the patella tendon right where it connects to the knee cap. Surgery is really the only option.

I impressed the doc with my injury, though. Typically he sees that kind of thing in men half my age. 20- and 30-year olds pop the tendon. Dudes in their 40s usually tear the muscle. But no, my quads are so strong they can freakin’ rip bones in half!

Scheduled the surgery. First for next Monday but they kept on getting openings in the schedule and figured they could get me in later today. And the around noon they called and said they had an immediate opening for as soon as I could get tot eh hospital. That sounded like a better idea than continuing to fast until 6, with a prospective discharge of 10pm.

Got to the hospital, was prepped, knocked out, and woke up 45 minutes later.

My kneecap and patella tendon are now once again in deeply intimate contact, held together for the time being with thread of some sort while my body takes care of the rest.

And so, now that that’s done, I’m focused on whatever I need to do for recovery. It’ll be hard work I’m sure, and it won’t always be perfectly linear process, but I’ll be back out there running again in 6 months. Let’s go!

And while all this was happening, minimm was out there running in a high school cross country meet. He ran a 18:55 for a 5k, sailing clear of the varsity standard by a full dang minute, good for 6th on the team. As a freshman.

Not bad, kid. Not bad at all.

And so, between that performance and the fact that humor dumpy got put back together again, I suppose it’s been an eventful end to my 46th year.

I look forward to celebrating with cake tomorrow.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Happy birthday. Tendons take a while to heal but come back just as strong as before.

We definitely need an injury thread

[metsmarathon]

I’m hoping this is it for me for now. And for the rest of us.

For more bright-siding, I’m really super glad that I did this to myself this month, after the summer was over, instead of before our big ol vacation to all the national parks. Though, in hindsight, I totally jinxed myself in congratulating myself for making it through the summer intact. The solstice was Friday, meaning I did in fact fail to make it through the entire summer.

When will I ever learn my lesson about taunting the fates!?

[Frayed Knot]

minimm was out there running in a high school cross country meet. He ran a 18:55 for a 5k, sailing clear of the varsity standard by a full dang minute, good for 6th on the team. As a freshman.

Dang good indeed.
Good luck with the rest of it.

[whippoorwill]

Geesus.

That happened to my father in law once, though he only fell on some ice.

Get well soon!

[Fman99]

Sucky, man. Sorry to hear this.

I am still running 20-25 miles per week and participating in the occasional race, though I've lost quite a bit of speed over the last 5-6 years.

[MFS62]

I am still running 20-25 miles per week and participating in the occasional race, though I've lost quite a bit of speed over the last 5-6 years.

So have we all.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Holy shit! marathon has a shift key!

[metsmarathon]

My phone auto-capitalizes things. I can’t turn it off (that I know of. I also haven’t checked)

though sometimes I do double back and fix it….

[Edgy MD]

I think my best 5K in high school was 18:51 as a junior. So minimm clearly has lightning in his DNA.

[Fman99]

I think my best 5K in high school was 18:51 as a junior. So minimm clearly has lightning in his DNA.

I didn't run my first 5k until I was 37, so hard to say what I could have done in high school had I been a runner back then (I was mostly only chasing ass back then).

I never broke the 21 minute mark but got pretty close, I think probably a 21:15 or so, circa 2018. These days I am happy to still occasionally come in under 24 minutes. Still not terrible for a 51 year old Jewish athlete with psoriatic arthritis I reckon

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

The best I had on record is 21:46 in 2013 but I'd bet I was faster than that at one time.

[metsmarathon]

I ran a 19:00 in college. It was the day after I ran a 30:36 or in the 8k at the ncaa div 3 regionals meet. It was a small 5k that we had on our college campus to help raise money for the xc & track teams. My only goal was to be the first one up the hill in the first 400m, which I did, burning myself out for the rest.

I’m reasonably certain I could have run a much faster 5k at that one glorious time in my life when I was actually pretty fast, but I never sought the opportunity. Wasn’t really thinking about it at the time. It’s kinda like my mile PR. I have no clue what it could’ve been, only that my fastest known mile was the first mile of that fastest 8k.

After college my pr is 21:14, which I’ve hit a few times, and came darned close to in ‘20.

I think that my approach for the future will have to be to clear the deck on all my pr’s and start from scratch, so I have something to work towards, and celebrate each time, instead of perennially chasing what I once was or could have been.