Cross Country 365

Sometimes I hate running. Wait, that's a lie. Sometimes I hate racing, not that it makes me nervous, or I'm scared of competition or anything like that. I picked up the sport of cross-country because of two things.

1. The classic: Not good at other sports.
2.  Wanted to see more of the world.

Me running has never been solely about winning a certain race, or running a certain time. That is just the bonus. I run because I like to explore, I like to push my body to its limits going farther and farther eventually breaking through stronger on the other side. Back in grade 8, our XC program was simple, go out and run said loop. if you get back before practise is over, do another loop. Not that I was a child protege in grade 8, but I was running 5 or 6km faster than most of the team could run 1.5km. I just figured if I was faster, I could go further and explore more.

Four years later, my love for exploration continued, but I was never a good runner in High School, I made one OFSAA XC and that was in grade 12. That only occurred because during that summer my girlfriend broke up with me and to get back at her I thought I would just run really fast. But to do that I had to run more and explore more.

I really have no idea where this is going, and lawlz if ex-girlfriend reads this. I think what I'm getting at is, I need to take a step back and start loving the sport again, forget about competition.

That's where the title Cross-Country 365 comes into play, there is about a year till the next CIS XC championship, and the last three years I have put a lot of pressure on myself to preform a certain way. So next year it is going to be simple. I have one plan: enjoy it.

Have a nice day.

rj.

Guessing Game.

    "hey, what are you being for halloween?"

     "I'm a guy wearing a t-shirt with a pumpkin on it." 

     Pretty eventful couple of weeks, we finally booked our tickets to the rock with a pretty stellar set of results at our conference champs. I would say I ran decent, but I don't think I did. I mean, I ran the perfect race to obtain a medal, but I didn't run to win. It's over now, can't change anything. But it is nice to have a 10km in the legs, especially on a tough course. Is it ever going to be nice to get on a grass course in awful conditions. 

     So just for fun, I am going to post my personal predictions depending on certain conditions:

 Option 1. Temperature 4 degrees, 2 feet of snow on ground, 50km/hr winds, thunderstorm occurring, each step legs sink 2 feet into snow and 6inches into mud, with 7mm spikes on.

prediction: 35:23 good for 8th place. 

Option 2. Temperature 11 degrees, has rained heavily for passed week, girls run before, anywhere from 1-3 feet of mud, slight wind, huge rainfall occurring, with 9mm spikes on.

prediction: 34:14 good for 11th place. "his mother was a mudder, and his father was a mudder"

if you don't get the quote get outa here!

Option 3.  Temperature  9 degrees, 30 km/h winds, rained on and off all week, slight rain, low areas of the course a lil muddy, with 7mm spikes in. aka normal NFL conditions.

Prediction: 31:54 good for 25th.

     Hey, do I know what I'm talking about? Naww I haven't raced ya'll since last november, I don't even know if I'm in good shape, guess I'll find out. But seriously, running is all about having fun. Just give it your all, and get a mullet.

get the cut, get the confidence.

rj.

p.s. stop by after the race, there is a slight chance we might be trashing a hotel room.

The Sock Hop.

   
       I don't know why, but for the strangest of reasons races are called dances, and the more important the race, the more formal the dance. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that as a team we participate in a "loose" sober october, and need to find a way to make races seem like fun. So naturally inter-lock gets named the Sock Hop. You know, its a good time, people from the french land join us, we kick off our shoes and hit the d-floor for a good time, not to serious. AUS now, its the Semi-Formal, I mean, its a big deal, need to win that to go to the big city on the rock. Finally CIS is simply known as THE BIG DANCE. I don't think an explanation is necessary.


      Alright, because they other two haven't happened I'll start with Inter-lock. I don't really know how to describe the race, our goal as a team was to keep up and possibly beat Laval. My goal for myself was to stay in contact with the leaders and make a push with 3km to go. Our team has had some injury problems putting a guy out that could have helped us, but being 5 points back from Laval is a good start. More importantly the positive comments we received from everyone including our competition at how surprised they were of us competing so well. Individually after the first lap, I gave the leaders 50-75m. I can't say why I did this, possibly to gain control over my race and not run someone else's and possibly to pick up the pieces of guys who went out a lil hard. In which I can say I defiantly did. Overall a good sign of the road to come.

     As I type this out for everyone, I am also half asleep on my desk, it has been one gruelling week for us in our lil university town, many miles and some final prep work for the weeks to come. The question on my mind... Nap, or Study?

I heard napping increases HGH. Hmm, I think I could use some of that.

rj.


   

Appendix 2: Racers.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately of how XC races tend to be run, and this past weekend I got the rare chance to watch one of the meets. I noticed 3 different types of racers.

1. The FFTF
     The classic "fade from the front" made famous by everyones favourite marathoner Rob Watson, but surprisingly enough after how much he has told everyone it sucks people still go out way to hard and pay for it in the final few km's. It doesn't surprise me that this tactic is often used in collegiate racing, but still, come on guys! Know your place.

2.  The Confidence Booster
     I must say that I myself am a big fan of this style mainly because of the benefits of boosting the confidence. It's simple start the race at tempo pace and keep the place you wanna finish in your sights and slowly creep up through the pack and boom, you feel great and you just passed a ton of people. But the downside always is you wish you either did more during the race, or just ran a workout instead.

3.  The Winner.
     Pretty self explanatory here, the winner of the race, the guy who often did everything right, usually the right mix of guts and blood gets this one. But not always the winner, even 5th place could race like a winner, if they didn't execute either of the 2 other types of racers above, if they ran the perfect race for themselves. That's winning too.  


In a Championship race on the other hand, everything goes out the window. Everyone leaves a little blood on the course.

rj

Running Sucks.

I bet if I didn't run as much as I do my grades would be better.

September 22
Mon: PM: 65min
Tue: AM: 25min + strides
         PM: 20 WU-12x400m hill @ 75-69sec-20KD + strides
Wed: AM:25min + strides
          PM:65min
Thu: AM: 25min+ strides
         PM: 20min WU-8x3min(90sec rest) (950-1050m)- 20KD + strides
Fri: off
Sat: AM: 20WU-Alternating 1mile tempo (avg 5:55)-1mile race pace(avg 5:04) for 8 miles- 20KD
        PM: 25min + strides
Sun: AM: 105min.

total mileage: 87 miles

September 29                  
Mon: PM: 65min
Tue: AM: 25min + strides
         PM: 20 WU-12x400m hill @ 75-69sec-20KD + strides
Wed: AM:25min + strides
          PM:65min
Thu: PM: 20min- 5x1400m loop progression from 4:28-4:12 (3min rest)- 20KD + strides
Fri: AM: 25min
Sat: AM: 20WU- 20min tempo (5min rest) 10x 1 min on (3km pace)-1 min off (easy)
        PM: 30min + strides
Sun: AM: 90min

total mileage: 84 miles

Onward
rj

Peiche

I just want to points something out. There was this guy that worked for the Japanese air force that could predict with 80% accuracy which new pilots would become successful - by looking at their faces.

Check wikipedia. Its a thing. Maybe not to the scientific community. But its still a thing.

Based on your facial features, old greek people used to think they could tell alot about your personality. So I analyzed my face.

Judging by the best [worst] picture of me I could find, I have a "square-round face". So, this gives me the following charming characteristics:

"They are known as water-shaped faced people. They have plump and fleshy face. They are known to be sensitive and caring. They are thought to have strong sexual fantasies. If you are looking forward for a long-term, stable relationship, these people will prove to be the right choice."

I think I did it wrong. My lack of long term, stable relationship history coupled with my insensitive and uncaring nature makes me wonder if this pseudoscience is nothing more than a cousin of the horoscope.

But the real question is, if I put on lots of weight, and get a rounder, and plumper face, will I become more sensitive and caring, and will I get strong sexual fantasies???


D.C.

Chapter 2: the fight for survival.

    In the past, the weeks immediately after training camp are pretty crucial in the grand scheme of things, although they are relatively easy weeks, they just build a foundation for bigger and harder weeks in the future. That wasn't the case this year, the reigns were loosened just enough to allow for some changes in the workouts, aka, we made the easy workouts just a lil harder. Pretty good news for me as I often feel pretty flat until the bigger workouts.

     Now some not so great news was that I have class random thursdays throughout the year during our practice time. Pretty stupid if you ask me, but I must endure, and that sometimes this means getting up at 6:30am to grind away while the rest of the team sleeps. Not gunna lie, I did feel pretty hardcore. And it did give me an extra 12 hours recovery before the race...

     First meet of the year, the simple thought is, "its gunna be a tempo, no one wants to play just yet, lets have some fun lads". But just as easy as that thought popped into the head, it got blown out. Apparently that was the day we needed to push from the gun. Turned out to be a pretty damn good idea too. Bunch of us under 26min, and even a couple of us beat the AUS champ from last year. Let us roll baby, roll! 

    Now of course it is XC and the nose hasn't won a battle since at least grade 8, but with a constant supply of kleenex and tylenol and of course water we toed the line for a second saturday with a different strategy. 600m(@ 10km effort)-1km(@tempo). It took a while, like 7km to finally break everyone, but it worked, a solid finish, a solid workout, nothing to do but look ahead. My body on the other hand, wasn't a true friend and cramped up in the last mile, and I dropped 5sec in the final km. 

     I do have a handle on this cold, I'll be fine. (Some guys on the team are starting to chat a bit about maybe taking me down, I think they keep forgetting that the real races are 10km, giddy up)

     The fight: not only to stay on this all-star team but to built this all-star team to what it can be, to prove ourselves as one of the best in the nation, or even something as simple as to prove the nation that we do belong and that we aren't scared. The fight is on! Hail and Hell!


cough cough sniffle sniffle.

rj

Appendix 1: food for thought.

Alright, so first off I'd like to say as a runner, an endurance athlete, our diet needs well organized. It needs to have lots of the 3 main food groups: carbs, water and meat. A fair amount of the 3 middle food groups: fruits, vegetables and peanut butter. And a little bit of the bottom 3 food groups: beer, pizza and salad dressing. Now when to eat certain things and how much to eat of each is of course the hardest question. So, I will break down how my diet works while competing, and its a pretty simple guide. It can be used for anyone who wants to drop 10, 15, 25 pounds****.

Monday: easy run. basically eat whatever i want, its Monday.

Tuesday: workout + morning run. Need to recover from workout, eat whatever i want.

Wednesday: easy run + morning run. need to fuel up for tomorrow's workout, eat whatever i want.

Thursday: workout + morning run. need to recover from workout, eat whatever i want.

Friday: easy run. carbo load day, basically eat all carbs in house. and i shall call it mount pasta.

Saturday: workout or Race. come on, its race day, eat good before race, eat everything after.

Sunday: LSD(not the drug). yeah, must not do any moving other than eating.


**** for best results run 70-95 miles per week. otherwise you might get fat.

eat up, because you know what they say about big bananas.

rj

Chapter 1: Get Hydrated and Stay Regular.

     I guess we are doing this, some questions were answered, and for now the running gods are in my favour. Training Camp and Frosh Week happen to mingle pretty good, and 7:30 am runs are pretty killer... But not for this guy! I got to sleep early! Oh ya I'm the man! Seriously though, finally getting back to the team, and all the craziness of XC is exactly what I needed. If the coaches or media crew is reading this, the rookie party didn't happen and it wasn't awesome.

     Of course as the week progressed, the long days started to get to me, and once school started it was worse, I will admit I was kinda blessed and I had a class during one of our practice times so I had to partake in a solo venture. And not only did it recharge the batteries, but gave me the confidence I needed to realize that although my summer wasn't perfect, it was enough so that in the next 2 months I can still become the runner I had dreamed of being before CIS last year.

     Finally Saturday rolls around, the day of our TT, and some of the guys are a lil nervous, and being the person I am, can't let people get to worked up with the TT. My sister had got me a pair of FLASH boxers with a cape on them for X-mass. I figured what would lift some spirits and calm some nervous??

     Yeah, I ran the race in Boxer shorts!

     Now a team TT is always suppose to be pretty chill, but as always it never really turns out that way, for some reason, I put myself in a chase pack behind a lead group of 3. with about 1.5 km to go, I mad a decision to enter "no mans land" and try to move on the lead group. Now I know you people know of "no mans land" and there are two options, 1. Just keep slowing down, 2. Catch the group ahead. everyone knows the latter is very rare. So I put myself in a position to fail and kept working until I finally bridged the gap! The race ended shortly after.

You know what they say eh?
Not bad for a beer belly.

onward and upward from here my friends.

rj



ECA

THE PREFACE.

     The nerves I feel every XC season are always so different, it's a combination of excited, scared, fired up, anxious and this year worried. Only worried because I must pray to the running gods to let the knee hold out, I have been doing a fair amount of maintenance work to stay out of danger but knowing that I am no longer invincible frightens me. Can I handle the 140km weeks? Can I handle the intense workouts? Can I manage with minimal R&R? Questions I do not know the answer too and am very eager to find out.

     As per the rest of the summer, I managed to average about 8-9 hours a week, ranging from 110-125km for 12 weeks, mainly singles as well. For the first time in my life I convinced myself to take a down week, which felt very weird, and I am not sure how I feel about it.

     On the flip side to that, found my way back to school, after a brief solo training camp very similar to what I believe life at Percy Cerutty's Camp would be like. Good food, and 10 miles of beautiful beach to run on. Many say beach running is over rated, I could spend hours running on that beach. Never wore shoes for all 3 days. Was wonderful. 

I guess to finish this all off, 

CIS is in ten weeks,
The beard is beginning to emerge,
So let the battle begin.

rj

The Two French Idiots

Its that time of year again. Nope, not Christmas. Not Festivus. Cross Cuntry.

But I guess I overdid things and have been stuck on the elliptical for the last 3+ weeks. Which sucks cause training was going just swell. Best (read: second) build of my life. I did the strength work, I did the drills. I did the stretching, I ran the hills. Things don't always work out.

There's an idea among those who care to study injuries and running - as one's volume increases linearly, their risk of injury increases exponentially. While the actual values in this formula differ from person to person, the relationship nevertheless exists in everybody. I like to think it changes as we train from year to year, getting stronger/smarter we can handle more volume, but it is still up to every athlete to figure out what the optimal point of training is. Where can we reap the largest benefit at the most cost-effective risk?

This point for some is effectively limited by the mileage that they can handle mentally. I think for me, personally, I shouldn't run more than 7-8 hours per week until down the road when I can handle more without getting hurt physically. I'll follow that rule in the future and simply supplement with the e.t. I've said this in the past when injured, but if I don't stick with the plan this time, I'll get hurt again and no progress will ever be made.

Time to smarten up.

D.C.

Bring Sally Up.

     I forgot what it was like to start from scratch. Six weeks ago I was at ground zero. Basically no running for 5 months. And now after 6 weeks of running, I have no clue where I am at. I don't know if I am fast, slow, strong, fit, or any combination of what we runners use as adjectives to describe our fitness. The lads around me say that I am fit, but one workout can never really provide the knowledge needed to say: "yes, i can run fast" or "nope, i'm garbage". But when I start to think about it, last year at this time in the summer I also felt this way, and didn't start to feel fast until I started doing VO2MAX workouts. So I am hoping for a similar result this year. 

     As for mileage it is pretty similar to last year, but as for workouts I am trying a total different buildup. My standard 4 week base phase went well. Instead of doing a program where I hit each training system each week (a tempo, a VO2, a speed session) I have just been focusing on general speed, and tempo. Once back at school we tend to hit a lot of VO2 and its not important till then anyways, so I'll wait. This summer is about working on my weaknesses, speed, and increasing the pace in the last couple km of the race. 

     Thinking long term I would love to experiment a little more with both a Lydiard style and a Canova style build up, I have always ran out of time and could not get a proper build in. Stupid injures. But thats for next summer seeing as come September I no longer get to experiment. 

     I guess looking toward this season, I can't wait to get back at the in-season grind. Work is so depressing and sucks the energy right out of me. School is great. Having so many extra hours to train, to get in some precious morning runs, to do push-ups.

     Speaking of push-ups, ever do the Sally? Turn this song on and get into push-up position. When the lyric says "bring sally up" push up and "bring sally down" go down. don't let your stomach touch the floor. My PB is pretty weak at 1:40, but my first goal is to complete the song by the end of the season.

g'luck.

rj

Beer Mile Research

So much has happened in the world of beer mile in the last year. A new world record was set (4:57) by James Neilson and the inaugural beer mile world champs are being held in Austin TX this summer, hosted by flocasts.

For a previously hidden, niche, word-of-mouth sport coming into the mainstream, there ought to be some research done and training methodologies discussed. Until that happens, lets look at what we do know:

Look at what happens when carbonated soda is exposed to iodized table salt. Is it reasonable to assume that with enough salt in the stomach the beer would react in a similar way, becoming CO2 unsaturated? Would this amount of fizzing be beneficial? I would say yes, especially for those who have trouble burping. The more air volume that leaves the stomach the better. However, this might only be an advantage for the first beer, as the salt in the stomach would become diluted after the first beer.

Warm beer would also be easier to consume (if you are used to the taste) since the gas would increase in volume compared to when cold, exiting the can upon opening and thus reducing the total volume of beer/CO2 mixture consumed.

Enough of the chemistry, what about training? I fear all we have to go on at this point is that Neilson mentioned crushing a warm beer as fast as he could every day after work, along with maintaining high running fitness. Since it is so easy to die during these races, it makes sense to even split at a reasonable pace. See this table for calibration based on your individual chugging and running strengths/weaknesses.

Stoned and Starving.

I wanna run. I wanna run so bad.

but i can't.


     I don't know what is more depressing, when my knee first decided to f*** off, or 5 months later when it still doesn't want to function. I can't decide weather to cry and quit, or cry and keep pushing for a result where at this point i don't believe is possible. Im entering a dark place and really do not like where it is going. This is a situation that is new to me and i have no idea how to handle it, i am running out of time.

     June, July, August, September, October. That is all i got. Seems like a lot, but when i had 3 months that should have been added to that. it is loosing a quarter of a year. at this point it seems like i might loose june as well... I can't do this... I'm not gunna make it.

I have to make it work, I have to do something...
gahh!!!! what is wrong with me!

rj.

The Rules Of Running.

1. Your peak mileage should never be over the ages of your parents added together, until you turn 18 in which then you can add your age. For guys the number is in miles and for girls in km. example: if you are 16 and your parents are 37 and 43 means you peak mileage should be 80.

2. It takes 2 months to get into good shape, and 2 months after that to get into great shape. Any training cycle longer than that is pointless.

3. Salads make you fast.

4. For optimal performance no more than 350 pushups should be done in a week. As a runner you must stay lean, but have have a big upper body.

5. Sleep is not important the night before the race, it also isn't important the night before the night before the race, it is also not important the night before the night before the night before the race.

6. During the season beers of 4% should only be drunk, post season if you are seen with a beer under 5% and someone says "mile repeats" you must immediately without hesitation complete a Beer Mile.

7. It's not about the bike. 

There you have it. 

Follow these easy tips and you will be great.

rj

Have You Ever Heard Of The....

     Other than the fact that I just received a package in the mail filled with easter candy, the exam season has been rough, later nights, early mornings, short lunch breaks. And all for what? Just so we can spend 14 hours studying. Because we all know that doesn't happen, the truth, we spend maximum 8 hours actually studying. I'm saying this because I needed a opening paragraph and because we, people, myself procrastinate a lot. It is a miracle that anyone ever gets anything done, I mean with facebook and all those quizzes to see what Johnny Depp character you are and what not. Jack Sparrow in case you were wondering. But the one procrastination website/thing to do/whatever is watching TED talks, and I watched one the other day with SD that kinda changed the way I look at tasks. (click here to check it out) It's 20min long. I know after watching a TED talk people always want to change their lives but I think just because I watched this one with someone and the idea is so simple it makes the life change worth while. 

     It's as simple as, if you have a task that you don't want to do, lets say 15 push-ups. If you wait 5 seconds without doing it, those push-ups won't get done. Example: "Do 10 push-ups"

1...2...3...4...5...

   Did you do them? I'm guessing no, who ever wants to do 10 push-ups. But to a runner like SD and myself it becomes more of a personal challenge to complete the little things that do not normally get done. Just last week after watching this TED talk I completed 350 push-ups in 6 days. Another being on friday I called SD. RJ:"Yo, pool run?" SD:"aww dude I dunno" RJ:"1...2...3--" SD:"I'm coming".

    Have it be peer pressure or just your brain realizing what it takes to actually be great. "We do what it takes, because that is what it means to be a Champion, and that's what Champions do" -Mo Farah.

   F*** the London Marathon was funny, I can't believe people thought Mo was going to win.

Gimme fever

rj

 

  

Ain't Gunna Lie To You.

     I will admit that the mental torment of this injury has been much more severe than the injury itself, the constant "is it ready?" that echoes before the run and the never ending "does it hurt?" during the run has indeed left me scarred and scared. The next couple months, and the slow build back into running should help calm some of my doubts about my current situation. Currently the enjoyment of running is coming back to me, every step is no longer "should I turn around now" but rather "I do enjoy this cool breeze". Just being out on the trails in the wilderness again has given me the confidence that soon enough I will be able to once again venture off deep in the woods.

     I find that my confidence in running doesn't come from a workout or a race, but simply how I feel as I float through a forest. Being an advocate of the barefoot/minimal running scene, the feeling of the of the ground beneath my feet is beyond bliss. Where that came from I don't know... have not even made it to a trail yet and I am already getting a lil mushy. Just ran barefoot on the turf yesterday and it was great, that's all.

     I will admit one thing, my time away from running has certainly made me realize how much it truly means to me and why I have been fighting to get back in the game. I have a new respect for those who have been out for long periods of time, for those who have been told they cannot run for up to a year, and those who cant run again. 

     On a brighter note, finally got a pair of Hoka One One shoes. Pretty fired up about it.

Maximum is the new black.
peace out b****es

rj 

The Road Ahead.

The last 2 months have been pretty awful. Not only not being able to run, but not being able to compete, and help finally bring home the conference team title. The hardest part was looking past all of it and trying to move forward. When it seemed everything I did didn't allow me to take a step forward, I was stagnant. There we days where I tried to look 3 years down the road and thought if I am not running then, what's the point to run now. But I seen myself running then. So I simply forced myself back on the horse. I didn't accept defeat. After a couple visits to the Doc, a physio, and a massage, all in one week. I figured I could start the comeback.

Currently only 2 weeks in. But the fear of a relapse has faded dramatically in the last 4 days. I have only been running 25min a day though... So my next issue, before I can take any big steps, I will have to do some aerobic conditioning, and since 25min a day isn't doing enough, the plan is to hit the old pool for some water running. Once I feel like running 40-60min is not going to be a problem, the XC training begins. Like my better half (durr) we have a fascination for both large Lydiard style build ups and the adventures of trail running, so even though maybe miles apart, maybe we will meet up again on the trails of the Limberlost.

Looking at the bigger picture, I have about 7 months till I have to be fast again. So in the time I have by myself in the beautiful summer months, the plan this year is to work on something which I have always neglected. Speed. I am a strong believer in the LetsRun belief that strength = speed, but recently I had the bold idea that strength + speed = more speed. Pretty revolutionary stuff right there. 

Along the way to the upcoming xc season there will be a couple stops including the Ottawa race weekend 5km where I hope to best my 4th place 16:20ish recording at last years event. Then continuing to the Pembroke Waterfront Half Marathon where I hope to defend my title and become a 4 time champion. As a side not, pooped on the side of the road at the last two events. Recap found: here.

onward and upward

rj

life after death.

Too all my fans.
I'm sorry. I have failed you all. There was such promise at the end of October and now... not so much. I am a completely different person, from being invincible, now crying when I see puppies. My walls have been shattered. My knee broken... I don't know what to do.

My first serious running injury is what I am talking about. ITB pain, syndrome, whatever... I just wanna get into some sort of shape so maybe I can come back a run a decent BEER MILE. I can't decide wether or not its humorous or embarrassing or serious that when physio-people ask "When is your next serious competition?"

I say "Beer Mile at the end of March."

Guess all I have to do now is talk about some of the things I have accomplished since my running stopped.

1. got fat.

yeah thats about it... big man upstairs and all other gods, please help me!

slowly...... dying.. inside and.. out.

is there really life after death... only time will tell.

until then,

rj

If Only I Could Walk, I Would Learn To Run.

So, as the title suggests, I am incapable of walking. This however is kind of a lie, as I can walk, but it is extremely painful. People who know me think I am somewhat a freak of nature as I rarely encounter painful experiences which are running related. I wanna then clear some stuff up, firstly due to the nature that this issue effects walking it is considered a walking injury. In the steps of growing up, one starts by crying, then lying on its stomach,then crawling, then walking, then finally running. Now I have cried, and spent considerable time lying down in a state of depression, and I think crawling around campus may be somewhat frowned upon, so now the next step is to walk, but thats where the trouble begins. My knee hurts.

As time goes on and I am continuously is this state of depression where it feels like my world is crashing down upon me, I sometimes snap out and see clearly. And this is what I have noticed.

Day 1: holy f*** this hurts, i'll take a day it'll come around.
Day 2: holy f*** it hurts still, okay, I can still save myself, gym hard!
Day 3: same as day 2
Day 4: same as day 3.
Day 5: enter physio, i am told to stop trying to stay in shape and let it heal.
Day 6: cool
Day 7: Im going stir crazy here!
Day 8: f*** it legs go run!
end of day 8: can't walk.

now a while back durr mentioned something on the top of injuries...
How to properly use an Elliptical.
And something else about the phases of an injury. Now to reiterate them to you is me, I am sorry if I screw up the order or am not as funny as the funny man himself but.

step 1: ahh just take a day.
step 2: this must be serious, better hammer the gym to stay fit.
step 3: denial, there is no point my life is over.
step 4: acceptance, I may actually be hurt.
step 5: I feel okay, lets go! and fails.
step 6: actual acceptance.

Okay lets slowly start putting the work back in focus on the future not the now.
Its a long way till NFL XC 2014.

rj