Why is my throat scratchy?

I've almost been afraid to myself, but the back of my throat has been itching all day. Almost as if I were about to come down with a cold.

Not surprising since I really pushed myself on my last run and then did a relatively hard 45 minutes on the stationery bike the next day. We'll have to wait and see.

My main concernis trying to do my run this evening. Not sure if I should risk it with a cold coming on. I will see how I feel when I get home.

Wow, I'm on Google!

This blog was originally started as a documentation and motivation tool. I realized that it would be available worldwide but figured it would not be seen beyond a number of family members that I told about the site or fellow marathon Bloggers.

So imagine my surprise when I googled the terms "Atlanta marathon blog" in the hopes of finding a kindred spirit and two hits lead to my site! I then googled "onyeije's". And got the same links. In fact, my humble blog is now the leading entry when the name Onyeije is googled.

Wow. Fascinating and a little scary at the same time.

Audio Ramblings #2

Addendum to Audio Ramblings #1

Audio Ramblings #1

My thoughts on my Sunday long run, pain and overall assessment recorded 26 hours after my 11 mile run.

More Info About Dogs and Running

Just saw this on the Cool Running website. I think it is appropriate given my recent "encounter": This was taken from this article

Dogs>

Every runner has a dog story. You're running innocently along
your course, when you suddenly find yourself nose to snout with a pooch
that's all teeth. Scary stuff. Dogs are very territorial, and while most are
perfectly mild-mannered, others seem to have a bloodlust when it comes to
guarding their turf.

Obviously the best way to avoid dog trouble is to respect the borders of the dog's territory. Cross the street when you see a dog, and you'll probably get only a few harmless barks. Try not to act afraid, though. Look and act confident.

If this doesn't work and the dog is hellbent on coming after you, don't run. Stand your ground and shout "NO!" as loudly and with as much authority as you can muster. The idea here is to intimidate the dog and make clear that you are not an easy lunch. With a truly unpleasant dog, the nice-doggy routine will not work and you have to act tough. Or even crazy. If "NO!" doesn't work, try waving your arms,
looking mean, and screaming at the dog. Like any other thinking, breathing creature, even a mad dog doesn't want to get involved with a crazy nut. This often works.

If it doesn't, try squirting your water bottle at the dog. If this is a dog that frequently causes you trouble, you might even consider bringing along a bottle of diluted ammonia and giving that a go. A squirt of ammonia on the eyes and nose should stop the dog in its tracks. Likewise, some pepper spray (not a bad idea to have around if
you run in a potentially dangerous urban area) should also give the dog pause.
It should go without saying that you should only use these defensively and as a
very last resort. You might also avoid using these in front of the dog's
owner...

I could not agree more

Not Just a Run, but an Adventure

Wow. Sunday's long run was supposed to be 7 miles at an easy pace. Just enough to get me back on track. My previous longest run (before my injury) was 7 miles and I thought that it would be good enough to be back at that point with only 2 solid weeks back on the road.

So much for planning.

I ended up doing 11 miles. And although my legs are very sore this morning, I am encouraged by the following factors:

1. I took off at a reasonable pace and did not experience the drudgery that I usually experience in the first mile of a run.
2. As usual, I got my best splits on miles 2 and 3. Not sure why this is... probably the fact that I am warmed up and not yet fatigued gives me the best times for these two particular miles. Hopefully, with more training I will be able to extend the speed for these two miles into more miles early on.
3. I DID NOT hit the wall at the fourth mile like last week. While my pace slowed down a bit, it was still consistent and did not feel like the end of the world. I think the big difference is the fact that I got a good night's sleep last night (in contrast to last week when I barely got 4 hours of sleep before dragging myself out to do the infamous 5 miles noted in my previous post.

The adventurous part of this run was based on the fact that:

THE CONFEDERATE SHACK

At one point in my run I came across a house (shack really) with 6 or 7 confederate flags and a small building in the backyard that looked like an outhouse. Don't get my wrong, but I assume that these people and I do not share the same political philosophy.

THE MAD PIT BULLS:

I was still trying to get over the "Confederate Shack" when the pleasant tunes from my ipod were disturbed by the loud barking of two HUGE pit bulls running right at me. By the time I was cognizant, they were about 6 feet away. My instincts only allowed me to face the two of them, and basically "roar" at them. They stopped in their tracks. Now keep in mind that they had already crossed the street from their own property and this little drama was taking place in the middle of the street. The white pit bull immediately retreated, but the black pit bull stood in the middle of the street barking at me as I jogged off. Stupid dogs. My guess is that I will not run in this area again, however, I also think it would be a good idea to purchase a little spritzer of Mace. Just in case.

mace
Posted by Hello

LOST IN SPACE:

At about 8 miles into my run I was hopelessly lost. I wanted to do a large loop which runs north and west of our house (into Forsyth County) but at one point realized that I was going North when I thought I was going South. Essentially, at 8 miles, when I was yearning to get back home I was running in the wrong direction. Thank goodness for my Garmin GPS watch. I was actually able to pull up a GPS map which showed me I was running in the wrong direction. I mad a Uturn, and I was back on my way.


Garmin 201
Posted by Hello

The Garmin Forerunner is a tool no runner should be without!

More to follow.

Three Brothers

The Boys
Originally uploaded by onyeije.

The boys relax in the backyard.

Missed AM workout on 5/2505

I wasn't able to do my scheduled time on the stationery bike this morning. In a way that is probably a good thing because I was somewhat tired yesterday. Right now I feel fresh. Only minimal ankle pain, and no knee pain
Sent from Onyeije's Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The King of Multi-Tasking

I must be the king of multitasking. Every day I seem to be doing more things at once. Forget about listening to the radio and scanning a magazine, that's an old trick for me. I also drive and do my dictations while in the car and go back and forth between two computer screens (with different information) at the same time regularly. Many times I will be answering a phone call and typing on the computer.

It just seems that there are so many things to do at once...

The pressures of long hours and so many things to do make it nearly impossible to get all of the things done that I want to do. In fact, one of the most frustrating things for me is to find out how much I still have to do at the END of a hectic day.

I fear that keeping an accurate blog of my preparation for the Atlanta Marathon is just one more task in a list that is full.

I also saw an article in the New York Times that outlines some of the dangers of Multi-tasking.

Those concerns aside. I find that I am pretty good at organizing my time between multiple tasks and actually enjoy the stress that comes from trying to do many things at the same time.

BRING IT ON!

Running Quote

I heard this quote while listening the the Audio CD for The World is Flat .

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

Five miles the hard way

Yesterday's run was supposed to be a long run. It turns out that it was only 5 miles. Which is 0.6 miles longer than my longest weekday run the week before and two miles shorter than my longest long run before my ankle injury.

This run (yesterday's) encomassed all of the reasons why I consider quitting this dream of running a Marathon in 2005. But it also had enough inspiration to make me want to push on.

Mile 1: I started off slow with the now everpresent pain in right knee and left ankle.

Miles 2&3: picked up the pace effortlessly. Yea, the splits were only 10:40 and 10:39 per mile buit it really felt good. Felt as though I could do this forever.

Mile 4: hit the wall. Quite inexplicably, actually. Legs felt like lead and every step took effort.

Mile 5: Angry at myself for having a bad run. Not at all focussed. Forgot completely about miles 2&3.

It will be intersting to see what Tuesday's run will bring! I can't wait.

Next Stop: Phidippides - Atlanta

This is definitely my next stop. Phidippides - Atlanta

Phidippides is a specialty running store in Atlanta. I think I need to change to a new pair of running shoes that will be easy on my aching ankle and perhaps try a knee brace.

Wow. This sounds like running for senior citizens, but I am determined to do this marathon.

A Blog entry from my blackberry.

Well, at least in theory this seems to be a good idea. I always have my blackberry with me and apparently this will allow me to quickly shoot an entry to my Blog.

I have my doubts though. Usually things with the Blackberry seem easy initially, but are actually more difficult in practice.

Let's see.
Sent from Onyeije's Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Why is my ankle hurting today?

I've felt slightly anxious all morning. Did 45 minutes on the stationery bike to complete my first "full" week of training after my April 20th accident. But while my ankle has felt stiff in the mornings of previous days and then gets limber by mid-day in the past. The same is not true today?

How come? Was the 4.4 miles yesterday too much? Didn't feel like it?

I haven't taken any ibuprofen today and I hope that is the reason.

Let's see. More to follow.

New Speed PR for 4+ Miles

Went out for a morning run at 5:00 AM. Rather warm compared to previous days. Started slow and stiff (should have stretched) but picked up the pace at the end. Pushed it probably a little more than I should have at the end but still finished strong.

10 min 55 sec per mile for 4.42 miles.

Not quite ready for the olympics, but a major improvement.

My Journey to date

Here is a post from fitnessjournal.org which shows my mileage to date:

Back on the road again.

How can I begin?

Well clearly April 20th, 2005 was a day that changed my life. I had started running about 3/16/05. I was impressed with the improvement I was making. I had some (right) nagging knee pain for which I saw Dr. John Hyman on April 14th, 2005. The doc said it was overdoing it and told me to take it easy for a period of time and load up on the ibuprofen.

So I took a week off after several weeks of progressively increasing mileage and felt better. I got back on track on 4/20/05. Decided to run a new 5 mile loop. I ran hard and fast and felt great. Then I twisted my ankle on the last 1/2 mile. Here is how I described the event in an email to Uzoma and Iheoma a few days after the event...



Your Dumb Brother Broke is Ankle
Date:
Apr 22, 2005 11:27 AM
Just another sign that I'm getting older.
I hadn't told you guys yet but I set a personal goal to run a marathon before I
turned 40 next year. I was (and still am) training for the the Atlanta Marathon
which will take place on Thanksgiving Day.
I was really impressed with my progress. Two months ago I could barely go a mile,
but I had worked my way up to 4 miles in the mornings 4 days a week and 7-8 miles
on Sunday. Then came my Knee injury. I saw an orthopedic surgeon last week who
said it was just overuse and to take it easy for a few days. I took a 6 day lay
off and went back to run on Wednesday.
I FELT GREAT. Did 5 miles and felt like a new man! I was in the last 100 yards
before the house with "I believe I can fly" by R. Kelly blasting in my
iPod when tragedy struck. I landed hard on the outside edge of my foot and twisted
my ankle. I heard a pop sound and hit the ground hard.... iPod went flying. I
was able to limp home and go about my business as usual with some pain on Wednesday,
but by Wednesday night, my ankle was the size of a grapefruit.
Xrays at my orthopedic surgeon this morning showed a broken fibula and a tear in
one of my ligaments. OUCH.
They have me in a ridiculous looking foot brace and I have to go to physical therapy.
NO running for 3-8 weeks.
But believe it or not I still feel inspired to do this marathon. I see this as
only a temporary set back.
Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you soon.
Chuks.

Well, that was a month ago. Lets just say that the last month has been filled with quiet self doubt and palpable pain. However, over the last week, I have been slowly coming back. Very satisfied with my evening physical therapy exercises and Pilates.

I have decided to start this blog to accompany my training log at. http://www.fitnessjournal.org/

Away we go!!