Finally, Ben's first post: A look towards 2011

Its not for a shortage of things to say, but I always put blogging low on the priority list... so I end up never posting. Today is my (Ben) turn to do some catching up.

My 2011 'athletic' goals differ from years past. I used to be obsessed with trying to run faster (or recovering from injury) and proving to myself that I am capable of times that I have in my head. 2010 started out very modest, not really getting over nagging injuries to consistent running until May. But, I found myself in what I would consider a top 3 "best shape of my life" and with much less mileage than before (50ish compared to 70+ over the other top 3).

I was finally able to make it to a marathon starting line and put together a solid even split 2:46 marathon. Now there will be people that are blown away by this time and others that will congratulate me on a solid run... but personally I was just happy to have made it to the starting line and run what I felt I was capable of on the day (and in my training). Certainly I think I can go faster, but I also can sigh a relief to have an effort (and time) that makes me proud even if my running ended today.

Where does this leave me? With a chance to put my running demons aside for awhile so I can set out to achieve one of my 3 lifetime athletic goals; finish an iron distance triathlon (2.4mi swim, 112mi bike, and 26.2mi run). So, this year will be about exploring the world of endurance cycling and running (with a little swimming in there, ughhh). I would be lying if I said I didn't have a time goal for the race, but I feel no pressure to hit it. It'll be more in the experience for me.

I have already committed to the September 11, 2011 Cedar Point Rev 3 Iron Distance Triathlon... so time to get ready?

This world of triathlon is responsible for four of my goals for the year:

1. Ride with Rick Hullinger's group from Muncie down to the Indy Mini (running the race of course)

2. The ultimate weekend: Ride-Run-Sleep-Run-Ride. We'll ride 50mi south to Delaney Park where we can run the Knobstone Trails, campout, run the trails again, then ride back!

3. Ride my first Century (100mi) -- my "place where all the burritos go" hurts just thinking about it.

4. Finish the Cedar Point Rev 3 Full (mentioned above)

My other set of goals for this "year of fun" sprouted from getting to know Scott Breeden over the last year. Before him, I never would have considered an ultra marathon... but between him, annual trips to Colorado, and Tony Kupricka, I know think it is possible. But, that's for another year.

Three of my 2011 goals do stem from this future ambition though:

1. Run a two-day, stage run (4 legs) of the full Tecumseh Trail (~55mi). I envision this a bit like the R-R-S-R-R from #2 in the triathlon goals, but here all of the Rs stand for Run.

2. Run 4-man teams of the Red Eye Relay (100mi in 21 legs), giving a runner about ~25mi through some nasty backwoods Bloomington hills over the course of 5-6 runs in about 11 hours.

3. Possibly pace (or at least crew) part of the Leadville 100mi with Scott in August.

Conveniently, the Leadville 100mi run is about the same time as Steph and I make our annual trip out to Colorado, so hopefully this can work out... but, I don't plan on coming away from Colorado with just a Leadville experience.

Two other Colorado goals exist in the ~2 weeks we'll spend there:

1. Ride up to the top of Mt. Evans (14mi from Echo Lake, 10,600ft, to the peak, 14,250ft). This delusion started last year when we drove to the top and saw people biking it... there's also a 27mi starting point, but I'll start off with a small goal ;)

2. Hike up at least one more 14er (14,000ft peak). Last year, Steph drove Mt. Evans and hiked Greys and Torreys Peaks for three 14ers. It is a wonderfully amazing view and a lot of fun, not to mention difficult.

Whew! That's about it... I should note that we (Steph and I) will be running the Boston and NYC Marathon as well, though not to try and run a PR... more for the experience.

Hopefully, the recounting of these adventures will be the more entertaining of posts in our blog (as compared to a rambling of goals), but at least it is known what to expect...

This was exhausting just to type!

Maybe I should call this the year of the experience (or experiments)...

My "Growing Personal Following"

I went to Dr. Jon Grant at St. Vincent Sports Performance last Friday in Indy. The man is AMAZING! He works on the Indiana Elite guys, and also pretty closely with some of the IndyCar drivers and Pacers players. While I was there, the U.S. womens synchronized swimming Olympic team was there, too, just hanging out.

During my 2-hour session, he offered some insight and solutions, along with some drills to do twice daily. Then, he told me I probably wouldn't need to come in to see him again. Totally worth my hundred bucks. Finally! A doctor who tackles the root cause and doesn't want you to come back!

Ben visited him a few weeks before. Coincidentally, we have the exact same issues which are causing us injury when running. We each walked into the place with our injury resumes (yes, we made 'em)... mine detailed the last few years of pain I've had with my lower left leg, left hip, and left and right cuboid (foot).

Outcome:

• My legs are the same length, despite the CT scan results. I walked in with my left leg about 5-7 mm longer than the right.
• My pelvis is in torsion, making the left leg longer, and causing it to place all the stress on the left hip/hamstring/calf/foot/everything else in between.
• The foot issue is probably related to my hip and the lower leg tendinitis -- something I'd never even considered!
• A few adjustments and exercises later, my legs were the same length.
• To prevent torquing my pelvis, I can't cross my legs in any way (not even shins!) for at least 2 weeks.
• I don't use my glutes when I run - just hamstrings. This could be causing fatigue to the hamstrings, hence the pain.

He gave me some drills to do, especially one that trains my brain to "fire the glutes!" when I'm running.

So, in honor of the all-important glutes, I present to you the lyrics to the closing song at the Blue Man Group show last week (courtesy of Rick, who listened closely and wrote all out!). Honestly, I don't even know the song title. It's just about butts. And if you haven't figured it out already, the title of this post is another one of those ways to refer to your butt. I challenge YOU to come up with one that's not already on here!

Your heiney

Your keister

Your tush

Your buns

Your bumcakes

Your junk in the trunk

Your badonkadonk

Your squash tart

Your fanny

Your double slug

Your wiggle bags

Your mud flaps

Your rump rocket

Your fleshpot

Your second face

Your bounce house

Your jiggle twins

Your jar jar binks

Your bubble pop

Your medicine ball

Your sonic boom

Your booty

Your money maker

Your sit biscuit

Your mumbler

Your chocolate cluster

Your rock tumbler

Your fun cooker

Your subwoofer

Your horn section

Your Frodo

Your John Madden

Your launch pad

Your Mothra

The outback

Your routunda

The closer

Your crock-pot

Your jumbotron

Your airbags

--

Shake that freckle muffin

Bake that turkey stuffin’

Let your ?? bulldog lose

Put some juice in your caboose

Wiggle that rump hump

Jiggle that jump bump

––

Your happy walrus with no tusks

Your two bulbous friends

Your George Foreman grill

Your Dinner With Andre

The place where all the burritos go

Minneapolis and St. Paul

Your giant fluffy bears

Ali vs. Frazier

Elvis Aaron Presley

Your butter cup

Your monster truck

Your mag wheels

Your life’s work

Your waffle iron

Your skin smurf

Your wiggle clowns

Your flab cabbage

Your bum puppets

Your Gigantor

Your two mounds of mischief

Your wiggle monkey

Your gripper

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb

Your hamster

Your diablo

Your Canada

Your gelatinous avatar

Your flubber chunks

Your pants pillows

Your growing personal following

Your firecracker

Your reporter at large…or in this case Very Large

Your flounder that’s rounder than a giant

    Quarter Pounder

That thang

Enjoy. It's time for me to get my wiggle clowns out of here and get running!