November 2015: The Post-op Trail to Recovery

1-7 November (Just 2 weeks after knee surgery):

Monday, 2Nov15: Walked 2+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track. Nice easy walk, knee felt good.

Tuesday, 3Nov15: Walked 4 miles on FT Dix trails.

Wednesday, 4Nov15: Walked 2+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track.

Thursday, 5Nov15: Walked 2+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track.

Friday, 6Nov15: Walked the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) after dark with my dog Sparta. I also tested my knee with some very slow jogging. It felt good; no problems. We also saw a shooting star which was a pretty cool addition to a great night in the bogs!

Saturday, 7Nov15: Rested my knee, only did some long slow stretching.

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

8-14 November (Week 3 post-op):

Sunday, 8Nov15: Slowly jogged the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) after dark with my dog Sparta. This was my first real test of my right knee and it felt good.
Monday, 9Nov15: Walked 2+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track.

Tuesday, 10Nov15: Walked 3+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track.

Thursday, 12Nov15: Walked 2+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track.

Friday, 13Nov15: Walked the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) after dark with my daughter Asia and our dogs Sparta and Honda.

15-21 November (Week 4 post-op):

Monday, 16Nov15: Slowly jogged the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) after dark with my dog Sparta. Once again, my knee felt good but I am still wearing my knee brace on these evenings just in case but I haven’t really needed it.

Wednesday, 18Nov: Walked 3+ miles on the Lawrenceville dirt track.

Friday, 20Nov: Ran the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) after dark with my dog Sparta. It felt really good to be able to run pain-free even if it was slow.

Saturday, 21Nov15: Ran the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) after dark with my dog Sparta again today. Two days in a row with no pain. I concentrated on running smoothly and landing with my feet under me, not in front of me to limit the force on my knees.

22-29 November (Week 5 post-op):

Monday, 23Nov15: Ran the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) again today with Sparta. I felt great but still wore the knee brace to make sure it is tracking correctly as it continues to heal. Ran a little faster today. The best part was being pain-free. With both knees fixed and my Achilles reattached, my immediate goal is to run pain-free. Once all works well, I can start actually training toward my real goal of running the Batona Trail 53 miles end-to-end next winter.

Friday, 27Nov15: Hiked a few miles with my kids Asia and Egypt on Mount Olga (site of the former Hogback Ski Area) and on the slick rocks to see the Petroglyphs in my hometown of Bellows Falls, Vermont. The petroglyphs are disputed as to their age, meaning, and creators.  Some say they depict Native American history, some say it’s the site of “evil spirits”, while others suggest alien visitation. No matter what the real story is I’ve always loved visiting them as a kid and I was glad to share them with my kids today. More photos are posted on my daughter's blog: http://www.asiagoesplaces.com/ 

Saturday, 28Nov15: Ran the Whites Bog Inner Loop (4.1 miles) slowly with Sparta. It was a nice afternoon run with temperatures near 60F and a constant cool mist falling on my face.

Sunday, 29Nov15: Spent the day relaxing with my family. I did 1 hour of yoga and I felt so good after! It’s been a while and it was much needed. This was a good month and easing back onto the trails felt so good. My dog Sparta looked pretty happy to hit the trails too.

December 2013

December was another great month. Besides increasing my mileage, high points were watching my dog Sparta enjoy his first night trail run and his first run in snow. He reminded me of myself, when as a kid, I couldn’t wait to hike or run trails no matter what the Vermont weather threw at me. I finally have that feeling back again. I don’t care how wet, how cold, how windy it is. I enjoy every rain drop on my face, every snow flake on my tongue, every puddle I splash in…I just love to run again!

 

I started the month by running 22 miles on the first. Dee Perkowitz, Jim Pate, Trail Dog Danny and I ran an extended Mount Misery loop. After a quick water bottle fill and snack at the cars, Dee and I ran a second loop. It was a beautiful day to run with temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s and no wind. We saw flocks of tundra swans in the cranberry bogs again and the local dog sled teams practicing for the upcoming race season. This was my longest run in about 3 years and about 9 miles longer than anything I’ve ran since my knee surgery. Although my legs were tired when I was done, my knees were fine and I couldn’t stop smiling. It was a great feeling of accomplishment. It looks like my recovery is finally complete.

On Sunday the 15^th, I ran the Batona Trail leg 4 with 19 other Pineland Striders. This section of trail traverses 9.2 miles of pine-oak forest and a few cedar swamps between historic Batsto village in Wharton State Forest and Evans Bridge on Rt. 563 where the Wading River meets the highway .Ten of us ran an out & back for 18.4 miles. The weather turned out great. Winter Storm Electra passed thru over night with rain washing away most of our snow and leaving plenty of cold puddles in its place. The best part of the day was seeing a bald eagle flying overhead near Evans Bridge. It was the first one I’ve seen in years. They’re such beautiful birds. The worse part of my day was almost impaling myself with a downed tree. Even though my chest hurt for days I’m still glad I ran. It was a great run, great trail, great group… a great day to be running trails!

Photo by Robert Zmirich

Photo by Jim Pate

 

We continued our Wednesday night Cranberry Trail runs. December 11^th was a fantastic night to run.

The moon reflected bright enough off the snow that we turned our headlamps off and ran by moon light. This might not seem exciting to road runners; but, night running in the woods without a light is a rare treat that only happens once in a while.

 

On Sunday the 22^nd I returned to run Fall Mountain in North Walpole, NH.  It was the first time back since August. That time I was just recovering from knee surgery and had to take it easy. This time I felt great and got some good hill work in. The trail down the back side was pretty challenging with lots of snow, ice, and water running over slick leave-covered rocks. Check out the photo of the fog and snow blowing through my hometown of Bellows Falls, VT.

 

My month ended just as it started, with a 22 mile run. About a dozen Striders showed up for Trail Dog Danny’s 10^th birthday run on a rain-drenched Mount Misery white trail. While everyone else ran one loop, Dee and I ran a second loop. Although my toes were freezing from being wet so long it was a great way to end the year!

Fall Mountain 03 Aug 2013

After months of knee pain followed by surgery, I finally used my newest pair of Inov-8 Bare Grip 200s last weekend. Now they look just like my old pair, muddy! I love these shoes. They have superior grip and with no midsole and zero drop these shoes offer amazing feel for the trail. This past weekend I returned to my roots in Vermont. As a teen, a couple times each week I’d run from my house in Bellows Falls, Vermont to the top of Fall Mountain ( Mount Kilburn)located across the Connecticut River  in North Walpole, New Hampshire. I would hang out there for hours eating my peanut butter and onion sandwiches and watching the hawks float effortless below. The mountain’s 1120 feet of elevation is not large but the old carriage road has sections exceeding 30 degree inclines to raise your heart rate along with a seemingly endless supply of loose rocks. Inclines of 70-80 degrees await the adventurous who assault up the face. There are lots of single track trails, logging roads, and power lines traversing the ridge but the most popular spot is the Table Rock overlook. It offers close to 180 degree views of the Connecticut River valley and my home town of Bellows Falls. I’ve been disappointed for so long not being able to run but that all changed on this day. It felt awesome to be jogging and to be back on the mountain. I have renewed optimism.  I can’t wait for my next run!