Learning to Run

Physical therapy, that was the answer. Rest, orthotics, swimming, stationary cycling, wearing a sock that pulled my toes toward my ankle while I slept, acupuncture and consultation with an orthopedic specialist didn't work. Physical therapy has been very effective. The other methods have their strenths, and I would suggest that anyone with an injury pursue any of these methods to see what's effective. Cycling and to a lesser extent swimming helped maintain a floor of running fitness. Acupuncture brought the most immediate relief, but didn't sustain. My podiatrist and orthopedic specialist recommended physical therapy, so their suggestion proved correct.

My first visit was not unlike those with other medical professionals. I described my symptoms, which the practitioner found puzzling, and then I was given a hypothesis. In my case my physical therapist Imee said the muscles in my legs were too tight and she observed that when I walked my foot didn't rest on my heel as much as with most people. She suggested that I focus on landing on my heel, advice that I have not followed, at least consciously. I figure I know how to walk.

A lot of research indicates that stretching brings no health or performance benefits, although there is not a consensus on the topic. I followed the practice of avoiding stretching for more than five years, and felt that soreness and tightness in my legs indicated that I was working hard and getting fit. Assuming that tight muscles equaled strong muscles, I only stretched after really lng runs when I made time for it, or before some races.

Other than changing my walking gait, I strictly follow everything Imie says. I'm a very good patient, and motivated to get better. She prescribed some stretching exercises at first and said that I should not expect to run for five weeks. My second visit she massaged the back of my right knee. She was looking for the source of my pain, and she found more pain than I could by myself. This ordeal feels like nails in the soft tissue below the knee. The shoots of pain caused me to break out in sweat, a response that she still triggers whenever she tells me to lie on my stomach.

On my second visit Imee prescribed strength training, including leg lifts and clamshells, both while lying on my side, and leg presses and hamstring curls at the gym. My third visit was an epiphany. Imee observed me running on a treadmill. It was my first run in several weeks, and I really enjoyed it. More importantly, I ran two miles with no pain. Imee discovered that I was not following through on my right leg. I was speeding through the right side, almost like running on a crutch. She also noted that I seemed stiff as opposed to fluid, and that my back kick was abbreviated on both legs.

The session went so well that she said I could run five miles at a time. She said I should focus on her observations. Even better she said that I could skip my next semiweekly sessions with her. That week I ran three five-mile sessions 100% pain free. The next week was three six milers.

I reported back to Imee at my next visit. It was amazing to not expect pain while running. I do have some residual sensations of injury in the knee, so I know I have to ease back into my routine. Imee said my plan to increase mileage about three miles a week seems reasonable, but to back off if it hurts. She gave me another break from visits, and I'll see her the week after next. That will give me a respite from breaking into a cold sweat.

I have to give credit to my colleague Anne Selting for suggesting Physiotherapy Associates, where I get my treatment. They are very close to the office, which eliminates the biggest obstacle to my frequent visits for therapy.

Family Ties

Encouraged by my decent showing at the corporate challenge on September 16, I decided to run a 5K while visiting my family in St. Louis. It’s the St. Michael’s Day Dash, a race to honor the patron saint of firefighters and police officers. I had no idea that St. Michael held this position, but I suppose that St. Louis looks for the Catholic connection whenever possible. My siblings and I all attended Catholic grade school and high school, and my sister Diane met her husband at a Catholic university. Not until I moved from St. Louis did I realize that most cities don’t have a lot of Catholic schools, and the schools they have are small and relatively insignificant in athletics.

The race’s connection to public safety means that it features an array fire and police icons like fire trucks and a bagpipe ensemble that leads us to the starting line. Maylee would have loved it, but she and Mandy are back in California.

I haven’t run since the 3.5 mile corporate challenge 11 days earlier. Yesterday I ran around the block to test my knee, which responded favorably. I’m not in great shape, but I think I can run under 20 minutes, which would be two minutes slower than the last 5K I ran on July 4. I want to finish in 19:21, which will require the 6:15 pace that I ran the shorter corporate challenge. This course is hilly and has eight turns, whole the corporate challenge is flat with long straightaways.

The start of the race is marked by a race volunteer who had to avoid us like a dodgeball target when he forgot to get out of the starting lane, and then a car that crossed the course 20 feet from the start, missing the lead runners by about five feet. Once we navigate these two hazards, we’re on our way.

I’m somewhere in the top 10 as the race begins, feeling pretty good. About a mile and a half in, a runner catches up to me and I instinctively slow down, so subtly that it’s almost imperceptible.
“Stay with me,” he says. His name is Don Kueneke (M53) of Kirkwood, Mo.

I barely pick up my pace and run alongside. “Nice job,” he says.

It occurs to me that in this relatively small field I have the luck of running not only with a pacer, but also a very supportive one, if only I can keep up with him. I ask him his goal time. He says 18:40, to which I respond that’s probably going to be too fast for me. He replies anything under 19 minutes would be good, and I indicate that we’re on pace for that time. I consider telling him that I’m injured and not in the best of shape, that my PR is under 18 but that was on a flat course, and if my lungs don’t give out my foot might wither, but I’d rather run than talk, and he surely feels the same. I spare him my drama and figure he and I will find out the level of my fitness in about 10 minutes.

We hit the second mile in 12 minutes, comfortably within reach of a 19 minute finish. The third mile has a series of hills, and I take the lead for most of it. I’m going full speed and he’s cruising, so he passes me before the last turn. I finish in 19:10, eighth overall. I would have placed in the top three in any age group other than my own (M40-49) in which I finish fourth. Fortunately for me, the race gives masters awards to the guys in my age group who were ahead of me, and because the race doesn’t allow double-dipping it declares me as the winner of my group. The generous $20 gift certificate covers my registration fee.

The men’s winner is Seth Kelly, who works at the running store that I will visit later today to redeem my gift certificate. The women’s winner is not a woman at all, but a 13-year-old girl named Sophia Racette, who I thought was no older than eight years old. She’s about four and a half feet tall. Looking like a mini Kara Gaucher, she sported professional running attire that included form-fitting shorts and singlet, aerodynamic sunglasses and arm warmers, and had her hair in a ponytail. She reminds me of kids who wear full football pads in Pop Warner leagues or for Halloween, as if she was wearing a costume or the clothes are for grownups. Her time of 20:13 proved her ability matches her clothes, and undoubtedly she’ll make some high school and perhaps college coach thrilled to have her on the team. I later learned she’s posted one of the top 20 times for 3000 meters among girls nationwide in her age group.

After the race I meet up with my brother Andy and sister in law Kathy. They finished in 27:07 and 28:28, helping us set a record for the most Wittes in a race. I meet with other runners as well, including Don Kueneke and James Marino (M30), who raved about the San Francisco Marathon that I missed a few months ago when my foot screamed in pain. So many friendly people. I’m having a great time.

I love St. Louis races. In the three that I’ve run, I’ve won prizes and money, and tonight I made the evening news. Channel 5 did a story on the race, and featured my finishing kick as its running clip. Above is a still shot from the newscast. I even met Fredbird, the mascot of the St. Louis Cardinals, who had clinched a playoff spot the night before.

That’s a lot of activity for a small and short race. My hope is to run three times a week for 20 miles. If everything goes well, I’ll run the 5K at the Primo’s race in two weeks.

Which Doctor

Acupuncture doesn’t sound like a bad idea. More than two months since my breakdown in Chicago, I’m still looking for answers to my injuries. My regimen has shifted to no-impact non-competitive training, but I’ve noticed no improvement in my feet or knee. Actually the problems seem to be increasing. The plantar fasciitis that exploded in my right foot has crept into my left foot. When I ran the Corporate Challenge last week I nearly dropped out of the race after the first third of a mile after the start, but then my right knee and then left hamstring improved during the run.

Last year’s miracle cure of orthotics didn’t work. My feet still hurt and I’m probably putting more stress on the knee as I favor the feet, whichever one is hurting.

The symptoms are weird and the diagnosis is unclear. I saw Dr. Gordon Lundy, orthopedic specialist, on Wednesday, who had no explanation for my injuries. He stretched my legs and knees and said of my knee that “It’s a rock’. There is no obvious damage or weakness in the joint. He prescribed six weeks of physical therapy, describing my condition as a strained hamstring and tendinitis. If my condition doesn’t improve then we’ll do an MRI.

I'm not one to go beyond the traditional medical establishment, but the lack of progress has me searching input from non-western medical sources. Among the suggestions I’ve received:

• Kat, the spinning instructor at the gym and triathlete, and Hillary, a very fit gym member, swear by their acupuncturist. I plan to make an appointment.
• Suzette says that when her and Tony’s high school athletes get inexplicable maladies, ice sometimes does the trick. I purchased an ice wrap that I’ll try to use while visiting my family in St. Louis this weekend.

So what does a hobbled runner do? I think there are tips for coping. First, be patient. I have paid attention to the pain. I had hoped to run the Banana Chase 5K two weeks ago, and then the Primo’s half marathon next month. I missed the Banana Chase and will skip Primo’s. I felt obligated to run the corporate challenge, and I’m glad I did since I managed to complete it in a respectable time with no lingering effects. I’ve registered for a 5K in my brother’s town of Kirkwood tomorrow. Basically I’m limited to three-mile races. Even though I can’t train hard and can run only minimal distances, my training regimen has kept my cardio vascular system strong. I never thought I would be running so little so suddenly, but there’s no use forcing it when the outcome will disappoint.

Second, be happy for what you have. I belong to a great gym close to the house. The gym has all types of cardio equipment, weights and resistance equipment, a pool, a variety of classes, and very nice people who have been encouraging me. I’ve experimented and found that swimming is great but doesn’t stress my cardio vascular system as much as I would like. Spinning is surprisingly easy. I probably need a tougher instructor than Kat, or maybe I need to figure out what resistance I can tolerate. Stairmasters are too easy, and Nordic track is even easier. I put all the machines on their highest level and get bored. The only workout that comes close to my typical run is the stationary bike. I choose a preset routine, Kilimanjaro or Cascades, put it on the highest setting of 25, watch CNN, or ESPN and pedal for 40 minutes. If the corporate challenge is any indication, the cycling maintains a high level of fitness without any impact.

Third, don’t have any expectations. I thought I’d be training hard in September, but now I have no timetable. I hope I can run in the spring, I’d like to do the Tahoe Relay again, and I’d like to run some distance at the Oakland Running Festival in March and return to St. Louis for the Go! St. Louis half marathon. All this is up in the air. These are all worthy goals, but maybe it won’t happen.

Fourth, stay involved. This one I have to work on, but there are a lot of opportunities to help and stay active in running without racing. Maylee’s getting close to the age that she could volunteer at a race with me, and I should do it regardless. Plus, it’s also a way to stay in touch with running friends and their success.

Fifth, diversify. If the running doesn’t return soon, I may have to branch out into other activities. Swimming doesn’t come as naturally as running, but I do have convenient access to a pool. I have no bike, so cycling would be more difficult, but I think I would be pretty good in that sport based on what I’ve done the last two months on the stationary bike. Maybe a bike is in the future.

Sixth, stay interested. I read Runner’s World a few days after it comes in the mail and I do my best to follow track and field. We watched the world championships last month and I recorded the last track meet of the international season. It’s exciting to see Bernard Lagat, Shannon Rowbury, Nick Simmons and others running in big meets.

*************************************************

Maylee's famous: My sister-in-law Kathy Doan gave me a copy of the Pamakids newsletter that was distributed at the RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) conference in San Francisco in March. Lake Merrit Joggers and Striders (LMJS) was one of the co-sponsoring organizations, descriptions of which were included in the publication. Among the photos from the club is one of Maylee at the starting line of an LMJS kids race, looking up at the kids a head taller than her.

Happy Birthday Mom: Today my mom turns 70. My uncle Jay and aunt Lynn are having a party for her tonight. All of my siblings except Valerie and I are in town for the party. Valerie comes to St. Louis in a few weeks. Mom looks great and is in good health. We're very lucky. thanks Mom, for everything you gave us and continue to shower on us and our children.

Good Company

This year five members of our office represented Standard & Poor’s at the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge. With three men and two women we had the right mix for one coed team, two males and two females, with one extra runner. Weather was ideal and the stunning scenery made one forget about the pain, or maybe a little of it.

Eighty percent of our team is shown above. It's me, Anne Selting, Jessica Schultz and Chris Morgan. The team results for the 3.5 mile race:

• Larry Witte: 21:49 (99th among men)*
• Chris Morgan: 29:10*
• Paul Dyson: 29:49
• Anne Selting: 31:46*
• Jessica Schultz: 38:12*

*Times includes in team scoring.

The combined coed time of 2:00:57 was eight minutes faster than our coed team from 2008. For comparison, our male team from last year was about 20 minutes faster. As a team we finished 54th among coeds, exactly in the middle of the 107-team field in that division.

After the race we held the second annual S&P JPMCCC Awards Ceremony at Amici’s. Awards went to:

• Chris Morgan: Rookie of the Year for having the fastest time among first-year runners.
• Paul Dyson: Johnny Kelley Award. (Also ‘AAA’ winner, see below.) Paul has the longest streak for running this race among those in our office. Johnny Kelley ran the Boston Marathon a record 61 times, winning it twice, finishing second seven times, and placing in the top 10 18 times. The marathon was a smaller affair in Kelley’s heyday (there were no Kenyans, Ethiopians, or professionals), but his time of 2:30 in 1945 translates to a pace of 5:45 per mile. He was named Runner of the Century by Runner’s World magazine. Kelley passed away at 97 in 2004.
• Anne Selting: Most Electrifying Runner. Anne was our first corporate runner ever and she’s a utilities analyst.
• Jessica Schultz: Oldest Shoes. At least three years old. I'm very proud of Jessica. This was her first race ever. She did well and without her we wouldn't have fielded a team.

Above is our whole team at Amici's. Paul, on the right, joins me, Chris, Jessica and Anne. The day after the race the panel of judges (me) noticed the oversight of not naming the ‘AAA’ Award winner for predicting the closest actual time. Paul won, coming within four seconds of his predicted time. Anne was a very close second, 14 seconds from her predicted time.

Time Off

Earlier this month I felt soreness in my right knee. The ache came and went, and traveled around the front of my knee to the back of my leg right above the knee. Last week I thought I would stretch the tightness out of my right leg, and when I did I felt a tingle through my calf and heel to my toes.

Something was wrong, but I figured I could run for the rest of the month until tomorrow's half marathon at the San Francisco Marathon. A week ago today I ran 12 miles along the Chicago waterfront. What a great place to run. Unfortunately, the pain that unusually subsides in my knee after a mile or so didn't go away until five miles. Then my right foot hurt. Later that day I found it painful to walk. I was pretty sure I'd miss the half marathon.

I haven't run since. My podiatrist has a cheery prognosis: take a week off and get new orthotics. I'll do him three weeks better and take all of August off, trying to stay in shape by swimming. I also plan to get fitted for shoes, just to see if I should move on from my Adidas Boston Classics that have worked so well for four years.

They Must Be Angels

Today's Run to the Lake shares the same date on the calendar with Maylee's fifth birthday party. The party is six hours later, but there is a cake to pick up, food to pack up, a 5-year-old girl to dress up, and a party space at Children's Fairyland to fix up. After some lobblying with Mandy, I am able to run the race, and I have a great day thanks to intervening angels.

Age is creeping up on me, as my time was more than half a minute slower than two years ago. On the other hand, today's result gave me 10 medals for 2009, the most in any year. I still have the half marathon at the San Francisco Marathon at the end of the month and then the fall racing season after the August/September hiatus. Seven medals came from races that I usually place in, but then I got lucky at Tilden, returned to the Martinez Brickyard faster than I was four years ago, and captained a team that captured the mixed masters crown at the Lake Tahoe Relay.

• Mandy: First angel is Mandy, who made it possible. She said I could run the race if I rush home and skip the awards ceremony. I ran six seconds slower than last year, finishing first among master's runners and seventh overall in a time of 39:04. This kept my streak of six races and six medals since 2004 alive. At some point the inevitable conflicts between this race and Maylee's birthday will keep me from running, but not in 2009.


• Steven Chavez: I finally figured how to finish ahead of Steven Chavez. In his early 50s, Steven runs faster than nearly everyone, and always finishes well ahead of me. As I passed the fourth mile, Steve was dressed in full warmups holding a trash can. "Why aren't you running?", I asked. "I'm volunteering," he replied. I gave him a thumbs up and kept running. By the fourth mile he's usually out of my sight. Maybe I could beat him if he carried the trash can to the finish line.
  
• John Notch: Running the fifth mile, I came upon a man with a full beard and head of white hair. Tall, athletic, and looking like Zeus, it was the legendary John Notch. He carried a crossing guard stop sign, running from one intersection to another to direct traffic. I had a chance meeting with John at a dinner party several years ago. He said he was one of the original members of the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders. The reality is that he founded the club, and recorded several amazing feats, like finishing second in the 72 mile run around Lake Tahoe, a single person event that isn't even held anymore. I said hi as I pass him, and he cheered, "Hey Buddy, looking good!"
  
• Tim Smith: I had to get home so I missed the medal distribution. Tim agreed to stay with his mom Suzette and pick up the award for me. That was a very nice gesture. Thank you, Tim.
  
• Josh McDonald: A young man approached me and asked how I did. He won the race, and it's pretty unusual for strangers who finish several minutes apart to discuss a race. I told him I was a few seconds slower than last year, but felt good about the run. I then asked him when was his next race, and he responded he would either run the steeplechase at the Junior Olympics or attend Ryan Hall's running camp at Big Bear. Thinking that I may be in the presence of a prodigy, I asked Josh if I heard of him. He said maybe, that he finished first and second in consecutive years in the North Coast Section high school track. Impressed, I asked if he was going to run in college. He said he was going to run for Liberty University, and wanted to run for a Christian school. He's a senior at Redwood Christian High. He has wings, he's fast, and is a person who takes his faith seriously. Josh must be an angel.

Social Call

The July Fourth Mayor's RACE in Alameda retained its small size and large crowds to see the parade immediately after. It was a chance to see friends: runners and spectators alike. Suzette Smith (2nd F41+), Jane Watson (3rd W41+), Guillermo Cazares (2nd M41+), Tony Fong (3rd M41+) and Neal Rodrigues (3rd M19-40) placed well as expected.

My race was faster than last year by two seconds. I finished 10th overall and first among men 41+ in a time of 17:52. After the race Tony joked about fighting over the first place medal. Turns out my medal was for third place. When I realized this, I asked Tony if he struck a deal with the race organizers. He looked at his medal and laughed, not knowing he had the first place medal. We switched. Better luck next time, Tony.