My Running Blog

AUGUST 12, 2006



Ah, the hazards of running! The above was taken after my 16.5 mile run on 08/12/06. The nasty dog bite occurred at about 13.5 miles. I saw him, I heard him, I ignored him...well, until he sank his sharp little teeth into my left leg. Being the dedicated runner I am, though, I finished my run before going home to take a couple of pictures in case I decided to sue later. Which I didn't. After washing and cleaning the bite, I went back to talk to the dog's owners. They seemed truly mortified and apologetic. They were also thoughtful enough to show me their dog's collar and up-to-date rabies tag. Funny, they never asked if I was up to date on my shots...I pity that poor dog.

My leg looked even worse later in the day. It started bleeding again when I was driving, and the blood ran both down and around my leg. I took Sunday off, not because of the bite, but because I needed a rest day after the 16.5 miles. I was back at it again on Monday, no harm done.

In the thousands of miles I have run over the years, my only two running injuries (other than the expected blisters, lost toenails, etc.) both involved dogs. This was the second injury. The first occurred about 6 years ago on a training run with my standard poodle, Chloe. She cut in front of me unexpectedly and stopped. I tripped over her and was going face-first into the blacktop. I extended my left hand to break my fall, and succeeded in breaking 3 fingers in the process. Chloe was not hurt.

AUGUST 18, 2006

Not a good day...I was scheduled to run only 4 miles today, but I stopped after a mile due to a deep pain in my upper left leg. The pain has been there for three days, and it is getting worse. I could have finished the 4 miles, but today was a light day before I do 18.5 miles in the morning. There was no reason to push today and perhaps not be able to finish my long run tomorrow.

There was a bit of good news. When I weighed this morning, I was down to my lowest weight in several years. I've lost 19 pounds since May 1.

AUGUST 19, 2006

Now I'm getting worried...a strange pain in my left leg, no way I could run today. The left leg has had some bad luck recently. First, some outpatient surgery just above the knee about 6 weeks ago to remove a lipoma. After stitches and an hour drive home, I went out and ran 3 miles, so it wasn't that bad. Currently, the incision line is still raised and tender, but that problem is behind me. The dog bite wasn't pleasant, but I was able to finish that 16.5 mile run and it hasn't slowed me down. But this new pain is different, much deeper. It's not joint pain, it's more neuro, but it's hard to pinpoint the site. I also found another lump (likely a new lipoma) on my upper left leg. I don't know if the lump is related to the pain. Time will tell.

AUGUST 20, 2006

Strange...I started to run this morning, and after about 50 feet I thought I would have to stop. I kept running, and the pain went away. I went on to put in an 18.5 mile training run, 2:40:28. The only time I had problems was when I stopped for water. The pain returned when I started to run again, so severe that I thought I would have to stop. Then it went away. I developed a new blister that bled through my sock, but I didn't even feel/notice it until the run was over and I took off my shoe. The blister was on my left foot...I sense a pattern here. But at least the right foot hasn't escaped unscathed. The toenail on my big toe is completely purple, and will probably come off (the toenail, not the toe) during a future long run. The marathon is in 8 weeks...

AUGUST 21, 2006

A rest day.

AUGUST 27, 2006

Okay, a belated update: I ran 6.5 miles on 08/22, 9.0 miles on 08/23, 0 on 08/24, 7.5 miles on 08/25, 0 on 08/26, and (somehow) 16 miles today. The strange pain in my upper leg continues. The dog bite is healing, but the skin still has a very hard texture to it. The lump on my upper leg, which looks like the first lipoma, only much larger this time, seems to be the source of my problems. Although anything ending in "-oma" sounds ominous, lipomas are benign growths that can be removed without difficulty. My concern, though, is that I have symptoms with this one that I didn't have with the first one...a deep pain, and a somewhat vague but still very real weakness. The weirdest part continues to be the fact that walking is uncomfortable, resulting in a noticeable limp, but I am able to run--even as far as 16 miles, which I did today. The start/stop thing is still present. When I make a quick stop for water, it's excruciating when I start up again. The pain goes away in less than a minute, and after hobbling I'm back to running. But I'm getting worse, not better. Time for a visit to the doctor. I think I'm going to a sports med doctor first, to make sure it's not something mechanical (lower back, hip joint, etc.) that causing the problem instead of the lipoma. It's the neurological problems that made me decide to go that route.

AUGUST 30, 2006

0 miles on 08/28, 6.5 on 08/29, and 0 today--but a trip to the doctor and a sense of relief. I went to a sports med doctor in Dublin who bent my leg in multiple directions and checked my back thoroughly. My joints and my back are fine and he didn't think they were the cause of my pain and weakness. He agreed with my self-diagnosis of another lipoma. He said I probably wouldn't risk damage if I waited until after the marathon to have the lipoma removed. I don't know if I want to wait that long, especially since I'm getting worse. If I can get an appointment with the surgeon soon, I'll have it removed. I wouldn't miss much training that way. If it won't be for a week or two (or longer), I'll wait until after the marathon. I can make up the training now, but it would be much harder to take time off in the last couple of weeks before the marathon.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2006

A visit to the same doctor who removed my lipoma earlier this summer. He looked at the lump on my upper leg and agreed that it was probably another lipoma. Although it was larger than the first one and was causing symptoms, which the first one did not, he said he could still take it out in the office if I wanted. I wanted, because I was lucky to get a quick appointment with this surgeon, and I figured I would be running again after a day or two off. After a couple of shots to numb my leg, he started cutting. As he was working, we were talking and I was telling him it hadn't been a good summer for my training. I mentioned the first lipoma surgery, the dog bite, and was starting to include this current surgery when he interrupted me. He asked when and where I had been bitten by the dog. I told him it was about 3 weeks ago, and that it was on the same leg. He looked at the bite, then back at me. He said that everything was now making sense, because what he found wasn't a lipoma. He said I had an inflamed lymph node, and that the dog bite was most likely the cause. He removed it and actually held it up so that I could see it. It looked like a rather gross jumbo shrimp! A few stitches and Steri-Strips later, and I was on my way out of the office. The best news was that I could start running as soon as I wanted!

SEPTEMBER 3, 2006

A 4.5 mile run today, after taking yesterday off. Ah, it felt great! The pain is much less now, and I had a fast, strong run. Walking is no longer painful. I'm back!

SEPTEMBER 4, 2006

A 20 mile training run, 2:59:06. I'm happy with the time, considering all the disruptions I've had. I had a small, nagging pain, but if I can run 20 miles in under 3 hours, I'll take it!

SEPTEMBER 5, 2006

A run cut short by a sudden thunderstorm tonight. I don't mind running in the rain, but I draw the line at running along the lake with lightning all around. It's probably good that the weather cut my run short, as my left leg didn't feel as good tonight as it did yesterday. I probably could have used a day off after yesterday's long run, but I was only going to go 4.5 at a slow, easy pace.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2006

I took Wednesday and Thursday off to give my leg a rest. It still isn't right. I ran 4.5 today, very slowly. I'm supposed to do a long run (22 miles) this weekend. I was going to do it tomorrow morning, but I might wait until Sunday. My right leg feels like it could run a 3:20 marathon. My left leg feels like a 4:20 marathon. It's very frustrating. Before all of this, I was training on a Boston qualifier pace. That's out the window now. I'm losing multiple toe nails on both feet and I have a sore, persistent blister on my right foot, but I don't even notice those problems because of what is still going on with my leg. Maybe it's time for another picture. Here is a shot of the toes on my right foot. The big toe nail will likely be gone soon. It's not as sore as the blister on the toe next door. It's hard to see in this picture, but I know that it's there!






SEPTEMBER 11, 2006

An interesting and somewhat disturbing update on the dog bite situation. I was running today, and guess who was loose in his yard again? Yes, it was Jack, the dog who bit me about a month ago. He had a buddy this time, a Doberman Pinscher. Both were off-leash, running free in the unfenced yard, and both headed my direction. This time Jack listened to his owner and didn't venture into the street, nor did his buddy. I stopped and told the woman who owns Jack (and probably the Doberman, too) what I've been through the last few weeks, but she didn't seem too interested. She mumbled a rather insincere sounding "I'm sorry" and that was it. I sustained the dog bite, which wasn't pleasant, and a perfectly good pair of running socks is now permanently bloodstained. I've taken time off work and made two trips to the doctor, plus I had surgery on my left leg. The pain has been constant, and my training has suffered. Yet she still lets her dogs run loose. Everyone who heard about what happened told me I should have reported the dog attack. Some said the dog should be put to sleep because it could bite and seriously injure a child the next time (hopefully it wouldn't hurt a child and it only came after me because I was running--I would never want to see a dog put to sleep just for biting me). Some people have said I should ask for the medical copays I've had to make, plus the expense of taking time off work, driving to medical appointments, etc. Others have said I should sue for more. I wasn't inclined to do anything until I saw both dogs running loose today. That really made me question how concerned the owner truly is. I still don't think I'll do anything, but just in case I do have a number of photos I took the day of the dog bite, plus I made sure to shoot a video as well.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2006

I have received a suprising number of e-mails, so I know there are people out there who are actually reading this. I appreciate your good wishes and your advice about what to do about the dog who bit me and the owner who doesn't seem to be too concerned. Right now, though, my focus is on training and fundraising.

I'm sorry for the gaps between updates, but I've been very discouraged about my leg. My training was going so well this summer, then everything fell apart. I don't like to keep writing about the leg pain I still feel with every step I take (running or walking) so I haven't been writing anything. Hopefully, things will get better soon. At this point, all I can say for sure is that I will run and complete the marathon. It won't be fast and it won't be pretty, but there's no way that I won't start and finish marathon #30 come October 15, 2006.

OCTOBER 9, 2006

When I started this blog/diary, I was planning on making regular entries. I was also planning on 16 weeks of great training, another successful skydiving event, reaching my goal for TNT early, and a great Columbus Marathon. Ah, the best laid plans...I wasn't counting on a number of factors that resulted in the skydiving event raising only $200 this year. I wasn't counting on a dog bite. Or 2 leg surgeries that interrupted my training. Or lingering neurological problems (weakness, numbness, pain) that aren't severe enough to keep me from running, but are aggravating enough to cause their presence to be known with every stride of each training run. Some days I can run through the problems without difficulty, like the 12 mile run at Sharon Woods last week at a pace of 8:32/mile that could have been faster. Other days, like the day after the Sharon Woods run, I can barely complete 4 miles. The marathon is this Sunday. It won't be fun. The one thing I know for sure is that I will cross the finish line--hopefully the same day I start! It won't be that bad, but it won't be the race I was hoping for this year. When I started training I was thinking about trying to qualify for Boston again. Won't happen. Won't even be close. This has also been my most difficult year of fundraising. I am still $130 short of reaching my goal of $1600. Thanks again to all of you who have contributed, and thanks to all of you who have sent me e-mails over these 16 weeks--your support has been greatly appreciated! One of the recent e-mails I received asked me if I had approached Jack's owners for a contribution (Jack is the dog that bit me, for those of you arriving late), feeling that it would be a fair and decent thing for them to make a contribution considering their dog bit me, the pain I experienced, the expenses I incurred, etc. I thought about it, and decided why not. I'll be sending them a letter in tomorrow's mail. I'll let you know if they reply. I have a few other letters to send out (have to reach that fundraising goal!), so I am out of here for now. Again, sorry for the long gaps between updates.

OCTOBER 10, 2006

13 miles tonight, slow and easy. No real problems. Next long run is the marathon.

OCTOBER 11, 2006

I had stiffness in both legs today (my string of unusual injuries continues, as I hurt my right knee over the weekend--nothing major), but I was still going to run 4.5 miles tonight after work. However, it was raining rather heavily. The rain wouldn't have stopped me, but in combination with the leg stiffness and the colds that are going around at work, I didn't feel the need to push myself, risk injury, lower my resistance, etc. A day off won't hurt. Thanks to all for the contributions--please keep them coming! The next fundraising total update will be after the marathon. And finally, I answered an e-mail that I will share here. The person was asking if my leg had healed from the dog bite. Tomorrow will be 2 months. The teeth marks are still red and clearly visible, but it's otherwise pretty much healed. The skin still has a hard texture to it. And to answer other questions in that same e-mail, no, it wasn't the first time a dog has bitten me during a run. The first time didn't make my list of dog incidents (see first blog entry), because it was a small dog and a small bite that drew blood, but nothing like the recent bite. It happened on the trail I used to run in Johnstown when we lived there. I had pretty much forgotten about it until I got the e-mail. My worst running injury was when I tripped over Chloe (again, see first blog entry), but my worst running-related injury didn't happen when I was running. It occurred in March of 2001. The previous October I had finally qualified for The Boston Marathon. In March, 5 weeks before Boston, I accidentally caught my pants on fire. It's a long story and I won't bore you with the details other than to say I had spent the day clearing our woods, and got too close to the bonfire I built that night. It was a very ugly burn, and came at the worst time of my training. Strangely enough, after a few days I could (barely) run on it, but it was agonizing to walk on it. I say "strangely enough," because if you read these blog entries you'll see that most of my pain/discomfort over the last couple of months comes when I am walking, not running. It seems that no matter what is bothering me, be it physical or mental, it goes away when I run. Linda took great, great care of my leg (changing the dressing regularly around the clock for days and days), and I was still able to realize my dream of running The Boston Marathon. I surprised myself with a clock time of 3:45:48. It was truly a day I will always remember.

OCTOBER 15, 2006

Race over! Blog over!