Touch down

When I wait til Wednesday to write a post, I forget a bunch of my ideas. But last week was a busy week if nothing else.

My running has been on hiatus for the time being. The butt feels better but the hamstring is still acting up a little....not as bad as it was when it first acted up, but it's still there. I probably mentioned this before but we have a free injury clinic each Wednesday night at Playmakers where physical therapists and sports med doctors from the area spend a couple hours in the store and help people out with their running ailments. One lady who is there each week as well is a massage therapist, and I've been talking to her about my hamstring and getting it worked on. She's the one who told me about the protein I should be having in my diet. Anyway last week she gave me some good exercises and stretches to do, and I have been doing them. Today it was feeling ok, so I ran 4 miles after work and them came back for the clinic to talk to her. Everything felt good during the run, but now it's sore. Basically she said I can run and heal at the same time, which is what she said last week, as long as I stay on top of the healing process. The only thing is I can't do speedwork or run fast, which I wasn't planning on doing anyway until I'm pain free. Sooooo we'll see if anything improves in the next few days. I'm so sick of being injured but I'm sure everybody knows that by now.

Last Thursday, we were definitely fighting with Mother Nature. We hardly ever get bad storms around here, but that night was something to remember. Between 6pm and 1am, we were under FOUR separate tornado warnings....we're usually lucky (or unlucky?) to get 4 warnings over a span of 3 years. Most of the storms had funnel clouds but nothing touched the ground, however one actually did touch down about 15 minutes east of here in the relatively small town of Williamston. A couple homes were destroyed and many were damaged, as is often seen in a tornado, but it's weird because it's so rare to see that around here. At the end of the post I added in a youtube video of a local newscast interviewing a guy named Vance, whose house got destroyed. Vance lost his eyesight 6 years ago after an accident with a drunk driver. He's a part of the Playmakers family (as you'll see with the shirt he's wearing) and he often comes in the store to say hi and even help out as much as he can during the big sidewalk sale we have twice a year. He also runs many local races with the help of someone who can see being tethered to him. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met and has always been positive with everything that has happened to him...my best wishes go out to him in hopes they can quickly rebuild his home.

Saturday was the MSU/Ohio State game and it was pretty much a one-sided affair. The final score was 24-17 but it wasn't nearly as close as the score says. OSU was up 24-0 when one of MSU's defensive backs returned an interception for a touchdown. Then three plays after that, MSU forced a fumble and returned that for a touchdown too. That made it 24-14 in the 4th quarter, but MSU's offense did nothing all day against a stellar Buckeye defense. It just wasn't meant to be that day. At any rate, MSU is 5-3, losers of 3 out of the last 4, and still one win away from being bowl eligible with four games left against Iowa, Michigan, Purdue, and Penn State. How they finish the season is anybody's guess...

Sunday was the Detroit Marathon! I knew some people running it....Scott in 3:19, Krista in 3:50, and then in the half marathon it was Shannon in 1:31 and Jake in 1:16, both winning their respective age groups. Also, BJ's relay team won with the lowest overall time, so congrats to all. Overall it seemed like a nice day for a marathon....sunny and windy but a bit warm with temps in the 60's.

I suppose that's it for this week...we'll see what this next one holds.

"We'll take this and build on this - the fact that we stayed together, didn't split apart, didn't blame people, didn't cash it in, didn't go in the tank and let it become a 41-0 game." --MSU head coach Mark Dantonio

"We've got four games left. And I feel we can win all four of those." --MSU quarterback Brian Hoyer

"I didn't hit the wall. At mile 16 I had to pee SO bad. I've never peed so much in my entire life!" -Scott, on why his second half was slower than his first half.

Turning things around

It's nice when things get turned around for the better, isn't it?

The MSU football team sure did their job on that note, beating Indiana 52-27. I won't say much about the game because I said so much about last week's game...but it sure looked like MSU came out hungry and played a full 60 minutes. The offense is playing as good as anybody in the nation, and that's a great thing because look what happens this Saturday - they travel to Columbus for a date with the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. I just hope they can make it respectable, or maybe even pull out the win....I mean, it happened in 1998 in the same scenario. So who's to say it can't happen again?

My running, on the other hand, looked like it was turning around for the better, but in actuality it's just kind of stagnant right now. Friday afternoon I did an easy 4 miles and Sunday morning I did 4 more easy miles. Problem is, I'm still getting a little it of discomfort in the left hamstrings. It's frustrating, but I know I can stretch and strengthen and everything.

This past Saturday morning I had the opportunity to work the Greater Lansing Cross Country Invitational. It's a very cool meet, where 35 local schools send their top 7 runners against each other to see who comes out on top and who can claim bragging rights as the best in the area. I've never been to the meet, so it was very cool to be able to watch it for the first time. It was put on by Playmakers, so I helped set up and sell shirts beforehand, then videotaped a little bit of the races for the store. It was a crisp, cool morning, but the course was definitely in a fast condition. East Lansing junior Maddi Reeves won the girl's race in 17:51 (a PR by 37 seconds, set earlier in the week) followed by Grand Ledge's Jennifer Snelgrove at 18:03 and Allison Rademacher at 18:06, both also setting a PR. Grand Ledge got the last laugh though, as they won the event as a team with 80 points to East Lansing's 95 points.

On the boy's side, it was a treat to watch Ovid-Elsie senior Maverick Darling. He's a man among boys, and is arguably the best runner in the state since Dathan Ritzenhein graduated from Rockford High School back in 2001. He claimed his third straight individual title with a blazing time of 14:58, the first time he has ever broken the 15 minute barrier. We were watching video of him in the store yesterday and it seems like he overstrides a little bit and swings his arms a little too much.....clean that up a little and who knows how efficient and fast he could be? It's scary, for sure. Williamston won the team title, as they placed three guys in the top 5, all under 16 minutes. I'm convinced there's something in the water out there because they're loaded every single year. Anyway, they totaled 49 points, way ahead of Grand Ledge in second place with 190 points.

I guess that's all for now. I think I've become a believer in these quotes that I add at the end of posts....hopefully they are motivational for everybody.

"I heard 14:14 when I turned the corner (before the last stretch), and thought 'now's the time.' Then, especially when everyone's yelling your name, it makes you want to go so much faster." --Boys winner Maverick Darling

"My goal was 18:15. So I'm shocked. My coach has been telling me for the last three months I could do this, but I never believed him. Last time I raced Grand Ledge, they got me during the second mile. So I knew I had to work really hard that mile." --Girls winner Maddi Reeves

"We play for respect every week. We have to. ... When the chips are down, that's when the coaches and leaders better be at their best." --MSU head coach Mark Dantonio

Scorched

We're gonna start on the sports soapbox...

I was beginning to think MSU had a decent football team this year. The defense had played well in getting the team off to a 4-0 start, but then lost a heartbreaker to then-#9 ranked Wisconsin. The defense wasn't as stellar in that game...but isn't that somewhat expected when you play the #9 team in the nation? Well...last Saturday they played Northwestern, a great chance to regroup and get things back on track......right?

No way...Northwestern's offense had its way with the MSU defense ALL day, racking up 611 total yards, 520 of those (a school record) and 5 touchdowns through the air by their QB in a 48-41 overtime win. Now let's Tarantino this thing....you know the end result, here's the details. It was a back and forth ordeal where NU would score and then MSU would answer back, and MSU never led in the game. MSU's defense was missing tackles left and right, but the offense was doing everything they could to keep the team in the game.

With the score tied at 41 with 3:06 left in the game, NU tried a field goal but botched the snap and turned the ball over to MSU. While the running game had been very successful during the game, MSU totally went away from it on the ensuing drive and turned the ball over after three incomplete passes...so NU had another chance to win. They set up a 36 yard field goal to win the game as time expired, but the ball sailed wide left.

Overtime now....NU scored a touchdown with ease of course. MSU's turn....what do they do? Throw 4 straight passes to the end zone, all of which fell incomplete, none of which were aimed at Javon Ringer or Devin Thomas. Ringer had a field day, running for 185 yards and three touchdowns and catching 6 balls for 54 yards. Thomas also had a decent day, running for 61 yards and catching 5 balls for 61 yards. So WHY did they not touch the ball in overtime?? I've lightened up a bit since Saturday afternoon, but still it's frustrating. That's what I get for being such a fan of Spartan football I guess. This weekend is a home game against Indiana, and we sure as heck better have our crap together. End rant.

As far as running goes...I tried 4 miles on Friday night and it felt ok. My high school was playing East Lansing so I ran two miles to the school and watched part of the game, then ran back home. Let's just say East Lansing had their way all during the game....which is ironic when you see the quote at the end of the post. Like I said, it felt ok but I still had a little bit of pain in my butt. So Saturday thru Monday I did some exercises and stretches and stuff, and that definitely helped. Early Tuesday morning I did another four miles and it was much better. There was a little discomfort in that area near the end of the run, but no pain to speak of. So that's a positive sign, right? Tonight it's feeling a little bit tender though. Seeing as though I have no races in the immediate future, I have no pressure to rush back for anything so I'm just gonna take it easy and make sure this heals well.

This past Sunday was the Dino Dash 5K, which was the last race in the Playmakers Race Series, so that's all over with. It was also the Chicago Marathon! And I'm sure everybody heard about the debacle they had with the heat. My sister ran it and walked the last five miles because of how hot it was. She said it was so surreal, it almost seemed like a war zone out there with all of the ambulances and wheelchairs and such. One guy I work with ran the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon that same day and he said the heat was unbelievable. I feel bad for first time marathoners....they really got a poor deal.

Well I guess that's it. Let's go State.

"On a hot, humid October day, Spartan Stadium fans and the MSU defense had a lot in common. They both got scorched." --Headline in the Lansing State Journal

"I don't think we'd have stopped East Lansing High School today." --MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi

"The world isn't pretty sometimes, and you have to stand in the face of everything and be strong in the face of great disappointment. That's what we have to do right now." --MSU head coach Mark Dantonio

Moving on

Well.....cutting right to the chase, I didn't run the half marathon this past weekend.

There it is, I said it. It took a lot of convincing on my behalf, but I slowly came to terms that I wasn't gonna be able to run without potentially hurting myself even more. A couple of the guys I work with that are competitive like me were telling me to man up, but it was a girl I work with who reminded me what happened with the Detroit Marathon last October - I ran thru the knee injury and ended up missing the next seven months. So really the cons outweighed the pros in this situation.

The weekend was exciting if nothing else, though. This is the first year of the race being a half marathon (it used to be a 10 mile race) and it is also the first year that they extended the festivities into a whole weekend. It was dubbed the Healthy and Fit weekend, and the kids races and expo were held on Saturday. The keynote speaker for all of this was Dick Beardsley, whom all runners should know as the guy who finished 2nd by two seconds to Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon, also known as the Duel In The Sun. Both runners set world records (Dick at 2:08:53 and Alberto at 2:08:51), but Alberto's time was the one that mattered. Dick was scheduled to speak Saturday night at the expo already, but he was nice enough to make an appearance at Playmakers on Friday night to sign books and also give a talk. His story is very interesting....he talked about his story when growing up and how he became a runner, then talked about the Boston Marathon, and went on to the cruelest parts of his life. A few years after the marathon he was in a terrible farm accident where he almost lost his leg, and a few years after that he got addicted to painkillers and even got arrested for forging prescriptions. His story about recovering from all of that was remarkable, and he definitely had a good message for the crowd. After hearing it, I bought his book and made sure to get it signed, because this opportunity may never come again.

What's really remarkable as well is that he still runs 70-90 miles per week and still has the ability to run a half marathon under 1:20. Speaking of half marathon though, it was definitely a great atmosphere on Sunday morning. It was partly cloudy, not too hot, not too cold....almost perfect. The race started at 9 but I got out there at 5:30am to help setup since I knew I wasn't gonna run. Eventually I drove with Steve (where's your blog, Steve???) to set up mile marker flags and at one point we had to jog a half mile to one point because it was on a trail away from roads. I knew right then and there that I had made the right decision of not running, so I felt a little better then.

There are three guys I work with who we've all been talking trash to, and rightfully so because we all possess similar speed and ability. One didn't run due to exhaustion from triathlons, and the other two finished in 1:25:19 and 1:26:20. My plan was to go somewhere between 1:20 and 1:25 so they were lucky I didn't run, haha. The cool part was seeing the winner of the male grandmaster division - Mr. Dick Beardsley himself, finishing 20th overall with a time of 1:21:04. Later I was thinking it would have been cool to say I ran in a race with him, but it would have been crazier to say (if I had actually done it) that I beat him in a race. But oh well, it was just a thought. Wouldn't that be weird though? Who am I kidding, it probably wouldn't have happened, haha. So that's that, and wouldn't you know....my leg/butt felt much better on Monday morning. But I'm moving on, and I'm trying not to dwell on it. I know I was looking forward to it, but there's nothing I can do about it now. As far as the leg goes though, I tried running today and it's MUCH better, but still giving me a tiny bit of pain. So that's good news, right?

And of course I gotta give my MSU football update before I finish. It was definitely an exciting back and forth game. It was expected to be a low scoring affair but apparently neither defense got that memo. MSU ended up losing 37-34 to the then-#9 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, but there were so many plays and coaching decisions on both sides that could have completely changed the complexion of the game. At any rate, it's a loss....the first of the season for MSU but from what I've read in the papers, they're keeping their heads up high. They went into a hostile environment and almost came back from a late 10 point deficit, so there's not much to be sad about. We'll just see how they respond this Saturday at home against Northwestern.

I'm ending with three quotes....the first relates to my constant injuries, the second has to do with the MSU game, and the third is just downright entertaining.

"It almost gets to the point where it's laughable. I take it for what it is. I'll be back." -Carolina Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan, on recently partially tearing his Achille's tendon and the fact that he has already missed 41 of 100 games in his career due to various injuries.

"There were about 20 instances where if you make a couple plays, you win the game." -MSU head coach Mark Dantonio, about this past weekend's game.

"They had to sedate me. So the doctor said 'take a week off.' But I'll be back for [this Sunday's] Dinosaur Dash." -75 year old local running icon Bobby Crim, who didn't run the half marathon due to a medical procedure three days prior.