Another July 4 5K

Back in business as I finished the Santa Clarita 5K this morning. Unlike 2007, the day was perfect, cool with cloud cover until well after the finish.

Part of Chi Running involves keeping cadence with a metronome. Running uphill, I shorten my stride; downhill I lengthen it out behind me; and to speed up on the flats, I lean forward from my ankles ala a ski jumper only not so extreme or I would be badly hurt in a different way.

But the cadence is always the same.

I really noticed this going uphill today. My heart rate didn't spike, my breath stayed constant and I steadily passed huffing runners.

My goal was to have a fun, injury-free race, though I did pick it up on the last straightaway to the finish line. An old guy passed me. I am an old guy, but this runner made me look like Justin Beiber. (If Justin's nose was all funny from skin cancer.) I leaned from the ankles, sped up and passed him. The old codger put on the gas and passed me again. Leaning further, I sped up, dropped the codger, passed a teenage girl and finished in an unofficial time of 29:37. (Santa Clarita is old school - tear the tag off your race bib and hand it to the kid at the end of the chute.)

In an interesting decision, the race directors choose not to display mile signs or have anyone calling out splits. I guess they figured its a 5K, not Boston. ("Next thing ya know, they'll want race videos.") However, they made up for it with a nice technical tee-shirt in a color I don't have.

Oddly enough, the 2007 event was my first race back after tearing a calf muscle that spring. Santa Clarita appears to be my rehab 5K of choice.

An enjoyable run that showed me the potential of chi running. More importantly, no pain or soreness in my knee.

Happy July 4th to all! Cook! Blow something up! Sleep in! The Founding Fathers would've done all those things, but John Adams yelled at them so they declared Independence instead.

Paper Wave; Writing/Running Update

A mound of unread books and magazines has drawn me away from the Web along with a desire to reestablish myself as a guy who can focus with single-minded intent on the printed word, as Internet use has gradually eroded my ability to do so. I've officially begun the other two sections of my novel. Rather than a detailed outline, which has killed two other book attempts, this time I'm filling chapters with stream-of-consciousness notes, thoughts, scenes. That way, I'm more open to the sudden, unexpected changes that will arise. I'm quite excited after avoiding the start for months. Halloween remains my deadline for a first draft. Went a'hiking with Paul Rugg the other day. Paul's not afraid of a vertical trail. However, coming down those vertical trails pounded my knee into soreness. Ran two miles and walked one on Thursday with lingering knee tenderness. Iced on Thu. and Fri; did yoga yesterday, then walked two/ran two today over at Griffith Park. Much improved knee and I finished the run relaxed and pain-free. This Chi running style is quite different and will take a long time to master, but it eliminates the jarring heel strike I practiced successfully for 40 years (give or take a few years off for drunkenness or sloth).

Sore Knee and Novel Progress

Walking too fast on too hard a surface. Plenty 'o ice the last few days. Plus I've been cutting down on my Internet time. Excessive on-line use makes it difficult for me to concentrate on things like reading and writing. Fast instant gratification erodes discipline, especially since they've added video to my favorite hot coed sites. My novel has not progressed beyond more 3x5 cards. (I now remember setting Halloween as a first draft completion deadline. My, how time passes when you procrastinate.) Sent the first 70 pages out as a novelette to an English publication. The editor's reaction was similar to his American counterparts: "Where's the rest of it?" In my head, alas. However, I do have enough material to try and get a literary agent. Plus, there's already interest from a small publisher who'd like to see the finished product. (The publisher's business model is small. He may be small personally, but I have no information on that. Nor would his stature effect any of my monetary decisions unless he did creepy things with his height, like hide in baskets then jump out and hit people with a TV tray.) Rare paying work has inserted itself into my schedule. I need to attend to that at once before the novelty evaporates.

Walking Fast

Stopped by a local high school track last night and walked 3 miles as fast as I could. That turned out to be 41:35, a 13:51 pace. Too much, too soon I think, since I'm tired today. But my final mile was 11:28, which is minutes faster than the running pace for my first marathon. The goal is to let the running happen naturally, but I'm close now. Tonight, I'm going to watch a documentary by Werner Herzog on the late Rev. Gene Scott. He was big here in Southern California during the 1980s and 90s. Quite a character; no other TV preacher quite like him. Herzog never has trouble locating fascinating subjects.

Nose Stitches Out

At the doc's again to have the last stitches removed from my nose. I take it for granted that it looks somewhat okay, minus a bit of discoloration. But the nurse told me, in addition to how well its healing, that odd, unpleasant things often happen with skin grafts and that past grafts she's seen look like something that fell off a tray and landed on the patient's snout. Fortunately, mine still looks like a nose.

My wife reminded me yesterday that we started dating 20 years ago this week. I have trouble reconciling being in physical proximity to the same person for that long. I didn't last 20 years with my family, departing for the USMC at 19. In any case, there have been many ups and downs, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer just like our eventual wedding vows. Glad I took them as the adventure continues to unfold.

I consider an almost-run a walk so fast that running is the next step. Using the dirt trails around Griffith Park, I've been practicing walking gradually faster. Today bordered on a run for a few minutes. Now I'll see how my knee feels tomorrow. But it was fun to actually pass someone for the first time in a stinking long while.

Marathon Bomb Scare

Bomb found near the finish line of the Pittsburgh Marathon. Thankfully, no one hurt. I never had to deal with high explosives on a course, just running out of energy goo. On the walking scene, I haven't been out since last Tuesday - slight soreness in the knee. I may have overdone it, covering 4 miles at a 14:33 pace. Not wise. Longer distances should never be attempted quickly on the first try. I didn't give myself time to grow accustomed to the additional mileage. I keep forgetting that, which is part of the reason I'm walking. Reduced walking, very little gym and no swimming have led my weight to creep up again. I keep sliding back and forth over the same 10 - 15 pounds. My scale is getting sick of me. And I of my scale.

A Blister!

It's been awhile, but I developed a blister from walking. Now I'll have to use Body Glide on my feet — an act of pure nostalgia.

I've decided to take the great long story I worked on last fall and expand it into a novel of about 200 pages. That means I'm only 130 pages shy. The theme is redemption through suffering, a bit lofty sounding for a story involving a forest monster running around eating people and livestock. But I've been invited by a publisher to submit the finished product which torpedoes my excuse that no one's interested. I'm plotting out the next two sections on 3x5 cards. In the past, tapping out a detailed outline fried my brain, as if I'd already written the book. Room must be left for the subconscious to plot various twists and turns. Hopefully, I'll add final changes around Halloween, a suitable time to submit a (hopefully) scary story.

There. Well. Ha! I've said it. Halloween. Inquire often. Ask me how the story's going. Hold me to it as you would hold a great round fellow to a diet.

Cancer Skin Graft, Walking, Writing

Graft Dodger. Not really, but I liked the sound of it. My stitches stay for another week and I need to keep the nose moistened to facilitate healing. A year shall pass, said the dermatologist, before my old honker appears normal. (If it ever did.)

Walked 52 minutes this morning, speeding up at times to a brisk pace. My plan is to gradually acclimate to faster foot turn-over so my transition to running will be seamless. Walking for almost an hour 3x a week, I have to say the knee has held up well. Alas, my weight ballooned again so, with no swimming for three more weeks, I've got to eat less and get into the gym more. I feel like I've said the same thing over and over for the last 18 months.

Several potential writing projects, lean with promise, seem to have dwindled away, joining the ghosts of many others over the last decade. Perhaps there is a Project's Graveyard, similar to the Elephant's Graveyard only without big, round tombstones. One can only speculate.

Johnny Black Nose

Skin graft has turned blacker than a collie's snout, making it appear I feel asleep on a barbecue grill. Itches too. The divot behind my ear was leaking but appears to have stemmed. Tomorrow I get the stitches out. Yeah. Walked early on Tuesday, logging 52 minutes at a moderate pace. Last week, I lost momentum with pitch meetings and surgery. For the next three weeks I'll focus on establishing consistent work-outs 3x a week. On week four, the focus will shift to walking faster. (I may incorporate a session at a local high school track.) The goal will be to eventually walk 3 miles in 39 minutes - 13 minutes a mile. Afterwards, I'll look into slowly running the distance. But everything depends on the knee. Any soreness or pain, and I stop. And I can do all that regardless of nose color. Though I prefer it wasn't puppy black.

The Price of Commitment

For over five years I studied t'ai chi. I learned the Yang Family long form, short form, fast set, push hands; attended t'ai chi camps and workshops; assisted the instructor, read books, bought videos, checked out websites and practiced persistently. But there came a time when I was faced with moving up or moving on. To move up would have required me to drive cross-town in rush hour traffic twice a week and study at the main guy's school. I would need to make a big financial commitment as well as up my practice time. This decision came just as I began running again, mentally committing myself to finishing a marathon after years of false starts. So I moved on, ran, and eventually joined Team in Training, completing 5 marathons. And while I still practice t'ai chi, I have decided the level I'm at is the last level I'll reach. Which brings me back to running. Every setback is a time to examine commitment. Do you renew or fold? This cancer business on top of last year's knee operation, illness, learning to chi walk, tendinitis, anemia and all the hurdles I've faced since September 2008, including misdiagnoses from a hack doctor, have made 'fold' seem not only realistic, but the smart play.

• Any outdoor exercise must now be tempered by the knowledge that I'm very skin cancer prone. So its cover-up exposed skin and train in the early morning or evening. (Or retire to the state of Washington.)
• I'm pushing 60 and have sustained a fair amount of damage over the decades from a severe leg wound to broken bones to sprains and torn muscles.
• Odds are that I'll never again equal where I was physically in 2008. That means I'll probably never qualify for Boston or run Heartbreak Hill.
• Maybe the point of all these set-backs is not to press on, but to quit before something worse happens.

I'm caught in limbo, unable to sustain a training program that will get me running again and unable to move on. I wish I could let running go and take up cycling or Candyland. I'll be like Chuck Liddell, the Ice Man, who could've eased into training fighters after the Rampage Jackson beat-down, but returned to the octagon, losing four of his next five fights, one of them a knock-out. That's not a graceful exit. But that's how I'll leave running. Painful as it is to keep starting over, I'm going to need another series or two of smack-downs to prove I'm finished. And I may not believe it even then. 'Cause if I'm not moving on, I'm moving up. Moving on up. Moving on up to the Eastside, to a de-luxe apartment in the sky. From now on, I'll run a dry cleaners. Wait. Skip that part. Run again soon, I'm believing.

3 Again

Walked 3 miles on Tuesday, covering that distance for the first time in almost a year. Today I commenced to see how fast a 3-mile walk could be. Clearly there's limit, as mild soreness in my knee said 'Slower, you great oaf.' I'll make one day a week the fast 3-mile-walk test, gradually dialing up the pace. At some point early this summer, I might walk a 5k. Minus pain or soreness, I hope to run a little by the end of June. But I'm a long way from sending my knee doc a marathon finish line photo.

Devil's Gate

Walked through the reservoir today for the first time since Sept. 2008, when I ran the trails on my way to eventual knee surgery. Winter rains washed out so much vegetation, it looked like a dried river bottom. Not so dry though, as there was still low-lying water around to keep the cracked mud company. Knee held up well. No soreness. In keeping with recommended injury prevention - which I never bothered with before - I'm only adding ten percent additional walking per week. (I should reach marathon distance sometime in the early 22nd century.) Meanwhile my swimming has many of the elements of a polka: wild twirling followed by breathless collapse. This isn't proper form, but I believe not-drowning to be the foundation of any successful water exercise program.

Physical Therapy Graduation

Once again, finishing up physical therapy tomorrow. The tendinitis in my shoulder is mostly cleared up, with pain down to a twinge. However, my knee has been sore the last few days. I walked briefly today. I'll rest up and ice through next Tuesday before I attempt another walk. Anyway, glad to be done with therapy, though I'll miss the therapists. They made pain fun.

Back in the Water

Kickboarding so as not to fray my tendon; hadn't done any water exercises since August. I was quickly tired out, able to do half of an old workout. Then I used the health club sauna and steam room to loosen up - hopefully - my right shoulder. If I can get up early, I'll head back to the gym and heat up the right pecs and lats prior to my physical therapy. (Then maybe it won't hurt so stinking much.) Started working on another short story. This tale pits politically correct educator/scolds against the Great Old Ones. It's a continuation of a style I tried in another short story, "Dagon and Jill." I'm calling the style, PC Lovecraft. The new story is "The Dunwich Diversity Seminar." If nothing else, I'm having a pleasant time and, I hope, you are as well.

Pasadena Marathon Morning

Not for me, but for other, fitter types. Could be rain on the course again this year. Best of luck to all marathon runners and walkers.

Physical therapy yesterday really hurt. I can't swim, row or do certain other exercises until these knots in the lats and pecs are softened up. So I continue my pt homework until the next time I'm kneaded.

Haven't written anything in about three weeks. Zero drive. Looks like Ten-in-Six will end up Eight-in-Six, with one of those a 69 page novelette. I should add up the total number of pages out of sheer bureaucratic curiosity.

My First Release

A story was released by a magazine after three months. They enjoyed the story but couldn't place it in any of their issues. (The editor was kind enough to include readers' complimentary remarks as they passed my copy up the ladder.) It's somewhat like being told you're perfect for a job, but none of the cubicles fit you.

Shoulder work continues at the rehab as I received an extension on my physical therapy. Movement has improved, but there are still tight, painful areas. Much like writing.

Chi Walking and the Liquid Creature

"Its the liquid creature." A direct quote from the H-Man, but many of you, no doubt, knew that. Spent the late morning with a chi-walking coach, Steve Mackal. He pointed out that I was inadvertently combining a blend of chi running and walking that wasn't exactly cool. So I corrected my style and will continue walking 3x a week for another month. Then I'll see about some running. Now back to the misadventures of 'the liquid creature."

TNT Reunion of Sorts and Chi Walking

Before meeting Ernesto for breakfast over at the Rose Bowl clubhouse, I decided to get in my 2-mile walk. (He was running 10 in preparation for the L.A. Marathon.) A host of Team in Training coaches and mentors and honcho Lindsey were hanging around Lot K, busy awaiting the return of the team from their 3-mile assessment run. Very nostalgic.

My knee hurt a bit at first, then settled down quietly. This is now the first week I've completed 3 walks since I've been cleared to walk for exercise - unofficially - back in October. Because of the excitement of running into old friends, I probably started too fast but settled down and did my pace.

I need to be around people walking Chi style, preferably experienced ones who can correct me and guide my progress. Alas, the only group I know of is way down in Long Beach - a heck of a drive even on a Saturday morning. But strange things happen, often good things and, perhaps, a cadre will form around the Rose Bowl in time. Until then, it's watch the chi running DVD and practice every time I get up and walk to the refrigerator, which should give me plenty of practice.

Cavalcade of Therapy

My excellent Motion Picture Industry health benefits run out in March. Thus I'm on a health binge to use up certain services. I had physical therapy this morning for my shoulder, then rushed over to the chiro's for a tune-up. I've had the same chiro for 15 years. Eric's a good guy, former marathon runner like me, but getting tired of cracking backs. Possessing an undergrad degree in chemistry, he's been putting it to use studying nights to be a crime scene technician. It sounds like a Discovery Channel show: Forensic Chiropractor. In any case, we swapped tales of mayhem. I told Eric about my recent exposure to bridge jumpers, mentioning a SF Chronicle story on how physically unpleasant it is to jump 250 feet into the sea. He countered with a description of a body found recently on the 5 Freeway, so flattened by truck traffic cops couldn't identify it. After our pleasant exchange, we agreed to meet again next week. I left, my back refreshed, glad to be alive and unmangled.

Walking and Writing Fiction

And I'll have walked 3x this week, slightly over 2 miles per outing. So far, no soreness. I'm slowly losing weight and hope to intro a little running into my walks next month.

Another story politely rejected. The editor made a few reserved comments, one of which I thought had merit. So I tweaked the story slightly, cut a few sentences, and sent it out again. Eventually, I'll wear these editors down like water on stone. Of course, that can take thousands of years, but I'm hoping for less.