Jax Has Arrived

   

   
     Eight to ten weeks ago Mandy and I had been really talking a lot about getting another dog, why I don't know, we needed one like we needed another hole in the head.  We follow a ton of dogs and dog specific streams on Instagram of dachshunds and were just falling in love with all these puppies.  We, and when I say we I mean Mandy, started looking for new litters of puppies in the area and managed to find two.  We visited one and just weren't getting a good vibe or maybe we were just still unsure and we walked away.  Mandy called the next day and he was already gone, so we knew if we wanted one we would have to make an on the spot decision and live with it.

     We went to see another litter that wasn't ready to come home, but we found out that there was only one still available.  The minute we saw him we fell in love.  I am not much for a white dog, and maybe that is because I wear a lot of black, but the markings on this little guy were amazing.  We didn't hesitate to put down the deposit started counting the days till he came home.  

   

 We had about 8 weeks to weeks to wait and at week 4 we really wanted to see him again, so Mandy texted the owners and they were more than gracious enough to allow us to come over and visit.  By this time his eyes were open and all the puppies were moving around a lot more.

     Fast forward to a week ago and we brought our little Jax home.  We named him Jax because we wanted a cute name that sounded good with Jedi and Jax is the name of Mandy's favorite character on the show Sons of Anarchy.  Plus I got to name Jedi so it was only fair she got to name Jax.  He sleeps a lot, which is common for puppies and he has some trouble right now with separation anxiety, but we are working on it.  He is just so freaking adorable, and I can't wait till he grows up and I can start taking him for a run every now and then.  

I've Got A Plan

     Yeah so things have been a little crazy around here with the addition of our new puppy, Jax, and this being the start of our busy season at work.  As you read in my last post surgery update, the doctor has released me from any further follow ups and now I can look to the future.  

     Last Wednesday I went in to see my physical therapist to create my plan for the rest of the year, so I can get back to running marathons and beyond.  When I got there, we sat down and talked about what I would like to accomplish.  I talked about obviously wanting to run a marathon again and wanting to look towards at least one ultra marathon.  I also mentioned that I wanted to do a trail race at some point, and she brought up the race at Oak Openings park.  They have a 25K and 50K race on the trails through the park.  We both felt that my first priority should be to get my strength back and build a good solid running base before I tackle a full or an ultra marathon.  I decided to run the 25K (15.5 miles) race and possibly a half marathon as well this year and I am officially announcing that I WILL run the 2017 Glass City Marathon in April.

     How I will get there is a strength and running plan that is set in a 4 week rotation.  The strength training will be done at home with resistance bands and body weight exercises that we went over during my appointment.  Running will be done through the usual combination of recovery, long, tempo, interval and hill runs.  Weeks 1-3 I increase the length of the long run and raise the intensity of the other runs, while week 4 I cut everything down to a nice light recovery week, to reset for the next 4 week circuit.

So my plan will go as follows

Monday - Upper body

Tuesday - Lower body

Wednesday - Long run + Upper body

Thursday - Recovery run + Lower body

Friday - Tempo run

Saturday - Rest day

Sunday - Hills or Intervals

Post Surgery Update #10

      So Wednesday was what I was hoping and expecting to be my final followup visit with my surgeon and it turns out I was right.  After I got called back to the exam room and got all my vitals checked and what not, I had a 5 - 10 minute wait for the doctor to come in.  Today he had a bit of an entourage with him as he was followed in with one guy that was taking all his notes for him and another guy that was just their to observe what he was doing.  They were defiantly training to be doctors so I would say it seemed like a internship would be for us non medical types.  Anyway he ran through a few questions about how I was feeling and asked me what my activity level has been.  I told him how Alisha had worked me up slowly doing 2-3 days a week of running and slowly progressing the distance.  He seemed pleased with my report and asked me to get on the exam table for a few quick tests.

     He went through a series of leg manipulations that he did pretty much at every other visit I've had with him.  He was checking for any symptoms of my issue still lingering and checking my flexibility as well.    By the end he instructed me to continue to increase my activity level, but stressed to take things slow while reminding me it could take 8 months to a year to feel completely back to normal.  The only thing he found that I need to work on is getting a little more flexibility in one area and gave me a couple of good stretches to do.   It was at that point that he told me to come back and see him if any problems should occur in the future but I was officially release from care.  

     I walked out of that office with a great big smile on my face and just happy that this was all behind me.  If I am not mistaken we are around just a month shy of one year since the first symptoms reared its ugly head.  Looking back now I am amazed at how quickly I was able to recover, but during all this it sure did feel like an eternity.

     Now I have to create a plan for the foreseeable future or I may run myself right into another injury so I called Alisha.  We setup an appointment for this coming Wednesday to create a strength training plan, talk about a running plan and I want to ask her opinion about when I may be able to tackle marathons again and my next big goal of an ultra.    

 

     So how does one celebrate this fantastic news, well with a race of course!  To be honest I in no way planned this it just kind of happened, but I couldn't ask for a better race to celebrate at.  Wednesday was May the 4th which if you are Star Wars nerd or even just a casual fan I am sure you heard it was Star Wars Day - May the fourth be with you, as they say.  The Toledo Roadrunners club put on a fun run called May the fourth be with you 4K and the Wookie 1k Younglings run.  Kids of all ages were encouraged to come out and run and dress up in cosplay.  I ran a solid race and didn't worry about racing it, just enjoyed the privilege of being able to run again!