always somethin' isn't it?

so the wisconsin weather has been pretty ridiculous as of late.  two weeks ago today (wednesday, december 28th) i ran trails at lapham peak with my friend dave.  the day before that particular run it warmed up so much that everything started melting and this turned the trail into a foot-printed pocky rock hard mess.  think i was running a lot on my toes because the next day my calves and achilles hurt SO BAD!

it was really challenging to run on and (turns out) even harder on my legs.   we ran the ice age trail from evergreen grove in lapham peak park out to highway 18 and back.  it is approximately 7.5 miles (give or take a point or two depending on the garmin).  it was slow going and difficult.

 strava data here

we still managed to have a pretty good time, but the run was a struggle in those conditions.  in fact... as of today i have not been back.

so i took the next day off due to the weird soreness in my legs.  i ran that following friday for 8mi and my calves were screaming.  i made the executive decision to take saturday off... partially because i was nervous about the pain in my legs and partially because my good friend anna was in town and we were going out.  going out = drinking and then there would be no way i would be running the next day.  i'm old, man!  i need to recover from such poisoning...

anna & i a couple hours into our night out on the town

so (as it turns out) i can still hang with the youngins... anna and i were out until bar time on friday night.  ugh... we closed the bar.  i rarely drink and i (even more) rarely go out.  suffice to say we had a good time.  so saturday i did literally NOTHING... i sat on my couch and watched hours and hours of television.  by sunday i felt better and ran.  i ran 12 miles sunday and while my legs felt better... my calves were still sort of painful.  mondays are my off days so no running, but this was the day i decided to accept crossfit back into my life.  *sigh*  i'm clearly a glutton for punishment.  i wrote about it in this previous post.

since crossfit basically showed me who's boss i ran a super short run on that tuesday and then (since i was sliding down my stairs on my butt due to pain) i did no more running last week.  i felt much better by thursday and i had also scheduled an appointment with my physical therapist for the calf issues... he needled my right calf so much that i was back to barely walking yet again.

i went back to crossfit on friday and felt great.  didn't run the rest of the weekend and was back at everything normally this week.  monday crossfit and saw the pt to needle my left calf, tuesday 3mi treadmill run, today crossfit and 5mi road run.  so far so good...

i'm (admittedly) a worry wart.  i am so afraid of getting hurt again before my race season begins.  i would rather be safe than sorry.  taking that week off of running did no harm and i'm no worse for the break.  i'm still having some residual discomfort in my right achilles, and left calf but it's not painful so i'm going to go with it.

i begin training for ice age mid-february and i really really want to be healthy and race ready.  i need to be careful of trails given the awful icy conditions and my cranky legs.

... and on that note i've got some questions for you guys:

how have you been making it through the winter and maintaining your training miles?

have you ever had dry needling done and if so... has it helped you?

what is your first race of the 2017 race season?  do you race in winter?

out before i was in

saw my PT today and we've come to the cold hard truth that i have to defer my entry for iceage until 2017.  i'm sort of heartbroken about it.  ok... truth be told i'm very heartbroken about it.

this was supposed to be my A race for 2016.  this was the race where i was planning to kill it and PR and run it like a champion.  this was going to be the best ever!

then my stupid body went and messed it all up.  man, it's hard getting old.  there's something going on with my left hamstring.  don't quite know what it is or what has caused it as it just sort of came on gradually.  a little bit of pain and then a little more and then a whole lot and then i was limping regularly.  so there's that.

i'm good right now and my PT has cleared me to walk 5 miles tomorrow.  woo hoo!  once we see how that goes then i might get to run a couple of miles a day or so after that.  if it causes any pain then i don't get to run.  i've run once for 2 miles in the past 2 weeks.  it sucks.

i'm just going to sit around and eat pie and get fat.

this isn't fair and yes i'm pouting about it.  i just want to be able to run.  it makes me happy.  it keeps me sane.  it helps me sleep for christ's sake!  i NEED it!

instead i'm going to be cranky because i can't run, i can't bike, i can't elliptical... i can't do anything that pushes off.  i can walk so i guess i'm walking until further notice.  yay, walking.

grumble grumble stupid walking...

no running for 2 weeks... 8 days left.

so lakefront was on a sunday, i was off work the following monday (had to see the rheumatologist... more on that after i get the results back next week), back at work on tuesday and still pretty sore.

by wednesday i woke up no longer sore, but when i got out of bed my left shin (the one i've been having trouble with since the beginning of august) hurt pretty bad.  i figured i might want to call my PT and get some advice about when/if i should begin running again. i was told no running for 2 weeks.  *sigh*

 wisconsin orthopedic physical therapy.  i got in to see mike right away that day.  he needled my shin and i had (basically) immediate relief.  then he touched my calf.  ugh... the muscles of my right calf were so knotted up that he decided to needle those to the tune of around 5 needles.  not fun but it works so i'm really not complaining as much as i'm complaining.

then a few more days after that when i got up in the morning not only did my shin hurt but the pain extended down into the first joint of my second toe.  weird, i know.  so i called on friday to make an appointment with my trusty PT over at

so... what's a runner to do when a runner can't run?  "projects".

on friday i went out and decided i was going to do a bathroom "project".  we went to michael's and i bought some chalk paint (not to be confused with paint that is actually chalk or that chalkBOARD paint).  chalk paint is basically very flat paint that feels chalky to the touch.  i'm not going to say it turned out exactly as i envisioned but it turned out and that's better than what it looked like before.  plus... first time so there's that.

before... white with lavender doors on the shelf.  the walls are lavender too but that will change soon.

after... brown with "aged or weathered" areas where some blue is showing through.
natural lighting.

after... brown with "aged or weathered" areas where some blue is showing through.
unnatural lighting.

not only have i done this, but i've also put together my tentative 2016 race schedule... cuz... racing.

it looks something like this right now:

april - sweet home milwaukee 5K
may - ice age 50K
june - summerfest rock 'n sole 1/2
july - dances with dirt either the 1/2 again or the 50K - i'm undecided
august - maybe the strider's 1/2 or some 5K's instead
september - tosafest 5K, instep trail races 1/2 or full not sure, joe's run/walk/roll 5K
october - lakefront marathon (now my nemesis)

i need to get some 5K's in my mix.  i have found that when i was running primarily 5K's i was almost a minute faster per mile so i need to really focus on fitting some in.  once i switched to longer distances and coupled that with primarily trail... i got slower.  a lot slower, and we all know i want to be fast.

what races is everyone thinking about next season?  any fun 5K's that i don't know about?  tell me tell me!  i'm open to suggestions!

lastly,  i'll leave you with this goofy picture of me, my brother and sister. this is probably from the early 90's.  you're welcome.

why yes... my hair is navy blue thank you very much.