Back at it Sorta!

I feel a little inferior on here with all the Dr.'s. Oh well someone in the group has to be blue collar.

 Well folks I'm FINALLY back in the game, I started on the elliptical this week and will be going outside for my first run today. I have to get my butt back in shape because for this years marathon training I will actually be coaching. That is just scary as hell to think of! I go from 241 lbs in '06 to coaching a marathon training program in  '09, what has this world come to? I will be one of three coach's on hand during runs. I will be working with the people in my pace range of 9-10, I'm really excited about this opportunity. I plan to go for a 2-3 mile run today and work my way up from their. Actual training begins in mid February and I need all of this time to get back into it. Because of injuries I haven't ran since July and before that it was sporadic. I feel huge right now and not in a good way, I've been eating like I was still running and I'm paying for that. I have wanted this day to come for the last seven months, I'm pumped and ready to go. I just have to remind myself not to push it. It will be a little different this year not having the sibling rivalry with Six Pack but he'll be back and we'll pick up where we left off. Well folks I guess that's all......... happy running and happy core building. Push on runners!

Sixpack Hangs Up His Shoes?

Hey folks,
It's been awhile since my last update, and that is because I haven't run. I have been having knee problems again. This time the right knee. I don't notice it much unless I'm climbing stairs or running more than four miles. Which has been enough to kind of scare me.
Add this to a trip to Wisconsin where nice days did not have a threat of freezing rain, the first chance in months to sleep in (with someone else in the bed), and you start to get the picture. I got back to Berlin on Tuesday Jan 6, and have had continued knee troubles.
On Clyde/Forest's advice, I have started drinking ginger tea, and that seems to be helping. He suggested ginger as an anti-inflammatory. It seems to be working. A week in and my knees feel better. So far it's done an amazing job. Since I don't often eat at home I have begun making a ginger tea and it does the same thing. Climbing the stairs to my apartment is much easier than it was in December.
All of this said, though. I took a long walk yesterday and I think I still have some recovery time ahead. It was admittedly a long walk, 8 km, on ice, but I was in a lot of pain at the end. And that is the point. All of the running paths here are covered not in snow, but in ice. And it's so dangerous, let alone unstable to run on them that I don't think I want to risk it.
In fact, the instability had me so sore when I got home that it was all I could do to walk down the four steps I had to traverse to get to dinner, which BTW was at Ron Telesky Canadian Pizza.
I have decided to give my legs a rest and to work on other aspects of my body. When my financial aid comes in I'm going to buy a pilates DVD. I won't be running again until the streets here are clear which could be awhile. I've also decided that the Paavo Nurmi Marathon will not be run. With my work schedule this summer I have little hope of even being able to get the time off, let alone the time to train, so I'm cancelling all marathons in 2008, which is a harder decision to make than you might think. I have run a marathon every year since 2006. Not a huge feat in my mind, but then I think of all the marathons I ran in the previous 35 years. I've got a lot of life changes coming this year, and I think it's best if I give my body the chance to adjust. I'm goign to continue running as much as I can, but right now I need to focus on being healthy and getting back the mobility I had 10 years ago. Perhaps not possible, but I've never listened to anyone that said I was too old, or too young, to do anything. So, pilates and some running here I come. In the end I hope to enter 2010 in much better shape than I have been in for awhile.
I remain your fearless leader, and will support you all in your ventures. I am still a runner. That is for sure! However, I just need to lay off a little.

Peace,
Sixpack Chopra