Fall Hikes



Chasing Elijah

Yesterday was another long day in the ICU. Out the door at 628AM and back home at 827PM. It was also a trying day. It's amazing to come home from work to the smell of good food, my beautiful wife, and the sound of a loud, happy baby. I've got two ED shifts this weekend and then a solid block of time off. We are looking forward to a "vacation" in SLC.
Today I went for a run with Katie and E. I'm glad shoes can't flat like the jogger. Tonight is soup night at Jen's house. Should be fun. Gotta run.
Thursday: Work.
Friday: 50 minute run. Monster walks. Basic core. Stretching.
KNEES: They felt pretty good at work and during the run. This on-off deal with the pain is odd.

The Ferrous will see some leaf crunching action next week.

One pic. No over-the-top rambling. Just a quick update. Here goes:

1) Knee exercises (- 1), Core, Stretching, Speed Lap of Da Hood.
2) The left knee is pissed about me being on my feet for 12.5 hrs at work yesterday. This is the worst the pain has been for a while. This really bums me out. It seems like I get 1-2 weeks without pain followed by 1-2 weeks of pain. I'll just have to see how my follow-up appointments go.

Activity Log:
Mon: Long walk at liberty while Katie ran. Knee exercises. Core. Stretching.
Knees:
They're feeling much better. The pain is down to an ache from stabbing. My follow-up appointments are coming up.

What's that noise???

Can't walk. Won't take a bottle. No problem.

Activity log:
Night shifts and a wicked head cold have put the brakes on my plans for this week.
Knee Report:
The insoles seem to be helping.

Elijah just realized he likes baby food. We just realized how fast time flies by when you're chasing little E around.
I'm starting to make some progress with the knee issues. I over-pronate in a big time way. Between the insoles I just started rocking and my exercises/stretching this thing should be history by next cross season. I'll be sitting this season out. It's taken me a while to see this as a good thing. So instead of racing this fall/winter I'll be working on my knees and laying down some serious base miles for racing the SS and CX in 2008.

Here's A Photo Dump

Wednesday: Short on time. 1 Hr on the "B" bike. Tried several upper endurance intervals. Knees seemed to tolerate the additional strain.
Thursday: 2 Hrs on the "B" machine. Knees ached afterwards. Upper body stuff. Knee exercises. Stretching. Knees seemed to get more painful as the day progressed.
Friday: 1 Hr mellow on the ferrous. Knees still ache a little from yesterday. Core. Stretching. Knee exercises.
Some conclusions about my knee pain:
1. No more flip-flops or old clogs. These both seem to contribute to the issues. I'm going to be sticking to my PI running shoes.
2. I really feel that the PT stuff is helping. I just need to keep it mellow on the bike a while longer.
3. Need to get my position looked at again.
4. The ferrous does not bother my knees. I can ride at a moderate intensity on the ferrous and experience no knee pain.


5. The "B" bike can really flare things up at times.


Gotta run. It's pizza night and time's a wasting!

The boy is getting bigger and bolder.
Worked another 3 day run in the ICU. This 50% ED and 50% SICU deal is nice. Just when you start getting in the groove, you get to start working in the other unit. The only drawback is the scheduling. There's also the crap that my co-workers, from both units, give me for not being full time.
Activity Log:
Sat: 13 hour day in the SICU. Rode the ferrous to work.
Sun: Another 13 hour day in the SICU. Rode the ferrous again.
Mon: Yet another 13 hour day in the SICU. Rode the ferrous to work again.
Tuesday: 1 hour mellow spin on the ferrous through the hood and up into the Avenues. Knee exercises. Stretching. Upper body stuff.
Goal for Weds: 2 plus hours on the bike. I'm thinking "B" bike on the road with some warmish wheeler farm laps thrown in.

No Pics. Damn that's lame of me. Just a quick update prior to heading out the door. Today was a yard work and bee dodging day. Great cross-training! I may be doing some cross racing starting late October. If things keep going well and my knees can tolerate the strain I'll try to show up and race for training/experience. Later.
Thur: Errands. Knee stretches and exercises.
Friday: Rode the cheater bike to the shop. Mowed the lawn. Ran away from bees. Picked up dog poop. Pulled some weeds. Worked out the core muscles while Elijah laughed at me. Knee exercises and stretching.

What happens when you put shoes on a 6 month old? He gains much needed traction for high speed crawling and pulling things off the coffee table. Thanks to whoever handed the kicks on down to little-E.


SAT,SUN,MON: Worked in ICU. Commuted to work on the 9spd Ferrous.
TUES: 2hrs on MTB. Knee exercises, stretching, and core.
WEDS: 1.5hrs on MTB. Knee exercises, stretching, and upper body stuff. Air safety class.

So, Elijah's still a handful and life is good. Going to get some new baby pics later today.
Thursday: 1hr 30min, knee exercises and stretching
Friday: 2 hrs (with some wheeler farm laps), knee exercises, stretching, upper body stuff.

I wouldn't be suprised if Elijah's first words are "Bring it on!" or "Is that all you got?" He is constantly finding new dangers around the house or turning harmless objects into items of peril. I bet that if a butcher knife, a frayed power cord, 12 baby books, and 5 plush stuffed animals were placed on the floor Elijah would go for the most deadly object first.
What else has been happening? Here's a quck recap since the last post:
Sat: No ride. Stretching x2. Knee Exercises.
Sun: Work. Tried to do some stretches while at work, co-workers thought I was weird.
Mon: Work. Crazy day at work. Lots of running around. No stretching. No knee excercises.
Tues: Work. Very crazy day. Hardly had time to sit and eat. Did some quick stretches waiting for a brain-attack to show up.
Weds: No Work. Daddy Day Care. Will spend the day chasing Litte E around the house, stretching, getting cx bike dialed, doing my knee exercises, fixing doors, walking dogs, and enjoying life away from the insanity of the ED.

This week has been one of those sleeper weeks. Things looked pretty mellow going into it, but it ended up being crazy. I worked Sun/Mon/Tuesday. Wednesday was daddy daycare with a challenging job interview thrown in for good measure. I was lucky that Uncle Zack was able to hang out and test Elijah's babe magnetism while I got grilled. While I didn't get the position the interview was a great experience.
Thursday was physical therapy. It felt like going to check the score of a test that you did not study for. You know it's going to bad but it always hurts to see your weakness quantified. Here's the quick story: I am not a flexible person, my pelvis and lower back are twisted, and my left hip ad/abductors and glutes are weaker than the left. I now have exercises and stretches that I'll be doing in addition to my regular core/stretching routine. I almost forgot that I'll be doing low-intensity miles until I get my body into alignment and the pain subsides
Thursday was also Elijah's 6 month check-up. He's a happy, loud, chunky 16lb 9oz baby who is really quite unhappy that he got 3 shots yesterday. Little E is now quite capable of army crawling around the house and getting into anything he wants. Today we'll be taking baby proofing to a new level and tomorrow he'll figure how to get into everything anyway. I guess that's how the next 18 years will be.
Friday: 1hr 30 minutes of recovery paced madness, stretching, PT exercises and stretching, chest/shoulder press, and tons of baby curls.

Elijah had baby food for the first time. He was indifferent to it, he was more interested in the spoons! This is one of his action shots, while army crawling. He is always on the move now, getting into things and coming up with new bruises.

This is the last picture my camera took. Kinda sad.

"You're lucky he's holding me back!!!!"
Family good. Baby big. Knees Better. Stiil swimming.

Family Good. Knees Bad. Too Hot In SLC.
Now that I'm 29, I feel that I can ask a simple question. When do we grow up? I'm just wondering..............

A Lot Changes In A Month