The Doc told me that I was halfway through my free form run, and that I was looking good.
“Thanks, doc,” I said, even though I knew she couldn’t hear me. We’ve spent a lot of time together in the last two months, so I feel like I know her, even if I’m just another Runner 5 to her.
Another runner came toward me. As we passed, we waved to each other, sharing a little bit of strength and encouragement. It’s part of the camaraderie that I feel like all runners share, without regard to our individual levels of fitness.
My spirits lifted, and I involuntarily picked up my pace a little bit.
That’s when I felt the first twinge of tightness in my left calf muscle. I slowed immediately to a light jog, and then a walk. Fifteen feet later, I was sitting on the curb, trying to massage out what had become a full-on charley horse. I tried active and passive stretches. I massaged all around my calf, my knee, my ankle … nothing was working.
“Just two minutes to go, Runner 5,” said the doc.
“I’m down, doc,” I said. “My goddamn fucking useless body just cramped up for no reason.”
I pulled my phone out of my armband, paused and then stopped my mission, and felt a wave of fury overwhelm me. There I was, on the curb, not even fifteen minutes into my fifty-two minute training run, and I was pissed. I couldn’t walk, I certainly couldn’t run, and it was all because my body — my own goddamn body that belongs to me — broke down. I felt helpless and frustrated. I slowly stood up, and took a few tentative steps toward home. I wasn’t that far away — probably a half mile — but it was going to take me a very long time to get back to my house.
I limped a few steps and had to stop again. I sat back down on the curb and tried to work out the tightness that had now spread from my knee to my foot.
“What’s your fucking problem?!” I said, to my leg, completely aware of how dumb it was to talk to my calf, and too angry to care. “I’m trying to take better care of myself, get myself into better shape so I have a stronger body and a better life, and you pull this bullshit?! Fuck you!”
Then I laughed. Pull this. Ha. Ha. Ha. Durr. Puns are great.
I called Anne and got her voicemail. I left a message with my pathetic status and asked her to drive down the street to pick me up when she heard it. I began limping home, slowly, painfully.
“I can’t even listen to the story now, because of you,” I thought at my knee, in full on ranting dad mode, “It’s week six of training and something new is going to happen and now I can’t find out what it is because you couldn’t do the one fucking thing you’re supposed to do, you goddamn quitter!”
Anne flashed her headlights at me as her car came around the corner. I stopped and waited for her to make a U turn. I got into her car.
“Thanks for picking me up,” I said. “this is pretty annoying.”
“Yeah, I bet,” she said.
“I don’t know why this happened. I didn’t do anything different than what I normally do. It’s really frustrating.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’m sorry.”
“Getting older is awesome,” I said, as we pulled into the driveway.
Anne turned off her car. “Ask Nolan what you can do to help prevent this in the future. He’ll know what do.”
Our son, Nolan, is a trainer. He has helped me in the past, and I knew he’d be able to help me now … and he did. He ended up recommending some additional strength exercises to do on days I don’t run, stretching to do during and after running (you should never stretch before you warm up your muscles) and he showed me how to do some trigger-point massage with a golf ball, a tennis ball, and a foam roller. It’s a lot of stuff that I’ll have to make time for, but it will be worth it. It may be hard, but everything worth doing is hard, and at least I have a choice about it.
And that’s the thing: the choice I have about it, because even though I was pissed and frustrated, my body will heal. I will continue to do the things I’ve been doing to make it stronger. I will do additional things, like yoga and stretching and adding potassium to my diet so my muscles are less likely to — hurr hurr hurr — pull this again. But I have friends who live with MS and lupus and cancer, and I never hear them complain about it. Yes, I had an annoying and — in the moment — infuriating injury, but it will be better in a few days, and I can get back on the road with Sam and the Doc, getting closer to my first real 5K race, one step at a time.
Raise the gate! Runner 5 needs to go to the infirmary for a few days.
Open the gates!
Glad to have another Runner 5 spreading the gospel, Wil. I’ve been talking up this wonderful game/story/trainer thing for a couple of years, now.
Good luck Runner 5 be a majestic (If sweaty) eagle when you cross that line
I purchased a Fitbit for my boyfriend last Christmas after reading to him your blog on the product and how it worked for you. After starting his new job and competing with his new co-workers there have been some crazy results. Recently, I bought him a new belt this year for the same holiday. You inspire, and I am thankful for you sharing these experiences with the world. I don’t think he even remembers the reason why he agreed for me to buy him that step tracker.
Now I’m texting him this app. Hopefully it’ll add more fun to his daily trip to the treadmill each night (it’s too cold and snowy in Colorado to run outside). Keep trucking. You’re awesome.
I’m training for my first marathon in south Florida where it’s 80 degrees and humid before 9 a.m., and I had a day like this today. One of the things I’ve learned is to STOP when things don’t feel right, whether your joints feel sore or your breathing is weird. Congrats on realizing discomfort and getting help when you need it. Stretch, hydrate, and good luck on your running journey!
Runner 5 is ALIVE! robot dance
Heed your son’s great advice and also, if you’re inclined, I’d check with a nutritionist. If you haven’t already had a recent checkup with your doc, you might want to do that too. Nothing serious. Just saying it’s entirely possible you might be missing something in your diet that a supplement could help you with, especially since you’re working your way towards a different physical you. Though, I’m willing to bet it’s more likely what your son’s focussing on (stretching, getting blood flow into those calf muscles when you’re not working them on a run, etc.).
Jeez. Now I feel like I should pick myself up and head to the gym…been a while but something about just talking about exercise that stirs up old memories. 🙂
Hey Wil! Keep on keepin’ with the running. I’m sure Nolan can give you lots of good stuff, but here’s the best I can offer. I’ve enjoyed what you’ve had to share on your podcasts and blog, so I thought I’d give back.
1. The first mile always sucks, no matter whether you’re running one mile or 26.2. When my will to get out and go is failing me, I make a deal with myself to run the first mile, then negotiate from there. I’ve only turned back and gone home once, but hey, I still got 2 miles in that day and I felt like crap. Usually, I wind up with a minimum of 3 miles, but most often 5 or 6.
2. Run 80% of your miles slower than you think you should (easy conversational pace) and then 20% with focused workouts that really push cardio and speed. Studies show that ratio is truly the best and any variation is less effective for improvement. Nolan probably can help lots with all that stuff.
3. Do strength training, ride, swim. It ALL helps your running and helps you stay injury free.
4. When it comes to racing, run YOUR race. Comparing yourself to anyone else is a damn waste of time unless you’re planning to go pro.
5. Always run the first race of a new distance to finish healthy and happy. If your upcoming 5K is your very first, it is a guaranteed personal best. Enjoy it. Some of the legends of marathoning would even tell you to sandbag it so your next one shows remarkable improvement. This has been such a big thing for me. I tend to be super competitive, but I am NOT a fast runner, so I really have to suck that up.
6. Recommended podcasts: Runner Academy and Marathon Training Academy. By far the best two out there I have found.
7. For inspiration, watch Desert Runners. It’s on Netflix I think. If there’s a runner in your heart, you will f-ing love it.
I’m still a relative newbie, but I’m 15 months in, steadily improving, healthier than ever and still having fun. I set my goal to finish 50 races (of any distance) by the time I turn 50 (that has me completing a race every month). I’m a bit ahead of schedule (21 down, 29 to go) because I now get antsy when more than a few weeks go by without a race. It’s been super effective on keeping me focused on the long game. Each time I do a new distance, I think, “I couldn’t run that far a few months ago. I wonder if I could do a…” Finished my first marathon happy and healthy in November. It was pretty cool. I will do another.
Hydrating with electrolytes helps prevent cramping, but a charley horse is a whole different thing and on a short run, that shouldn’t be the issue. Your body was just giving you a WTF and it’s well within its rights to do so. Hope this helps. Have fun!
Thanks for all these thoughts! I’ll heed your advice, and look into doing the 80/20 thing, which I didn’t know about.
Just signed up for the virtual 5K! Woohoo! Didn’t know about that until you brilliant people mentioned it. I haven’t used my app for awhile.
On the plus side, look how far you’ve come! You WANT to be out there running. You’re frustrated that you can’t. It wasn’t that long ago that you would have been grateful for an excuse not to run. Your body may have failed you today, but your mind is already a runner.
Take your time, Five. The rest of us runners will cover for you until you’re ready to head back out.
(And the virtual race is coming!)
I am so excited to do the virtual 5K!
As someone living with a painful course of multiple sclerosis, thank you for acknowledging what I live with every moment of every day. <3
Wil!
I’m not new to running but I am new to your site and fairly new to the geek world, (not really) ;). I have nearly made the Olympic trials in the marathon distance 2 times in the past and very competitive in all other distances. Now I run and have added Skate Skiing (MN guy) and racing in the Winter. Skate Skiing can be done on roller type skis also and is a huge overall workout with great benefits to running. This can be watched on YouTube!
If you need any running advice I’d be happy to help. Like using hill sprints added occasionally to help strengthen yourself as a runner. In the end it’s best to not just run. Adding simple workouts help balance your results. Also a Surly Furious doesn’t hurt either from time to time. I gave this advise to Sean Austin also at Comic Con as well a couple years ago but it’s hard to say if he tried the Surly or not.
Thanks for all you do. I’m a huge fan of TableTop and donated well to it, very cool to see my name on the brick wall.
The first time I became aware of my aging body was as I was holding my 7-yr-old daughter above my head in a riptide (because the lifeguards hadn’t put up flags yet) while we got pounded by waves. I knew I could have made it to shore by myself, but I was struggling desperately to keep her head above water even though she had on a life jacket. We managed to get around the current and onto a sandbar before I gave out, but it demonstrated to me just how important it was to admit that I needed to acknowledge the stiffer tendons and softer muscles. I crawled out of the water on my hands and knees vowing to figure out how to improve…
I wanted to thank you for introducing me to Zombies, Run. I don’t do the C25K version and I’m more of a Walker 5 (genetically weak joints and an large bust do not make for pleasant running) but the story and my new Fitbit are really helping me stay motivated to keep walking nearly 3 miles per day 5 days a week, and get my weight and cholesterol down.
I only wish I lived in the future so I could play on a holodeck and actually interact with these people and maybe kill some of the zoms from time to time. I’d probably even spend an hour or so hanging out around town talking to people on off days if I had time around errands and chores and stuff.
I find that my muscles cramp more when I am not keeping up with my hydration. It can be as easy as adding another glass of water or two to your day. You are inspiring in your determination. Good luck!
This. I wake up in the middle of the night with charlie horses sometimes. Drinking a glass of water before bed helps prevent them. I can only assume the same applies during the day.
Add some magnesium with the potassium, they work better together. Even a gatorade before a run can help.
I was out jogging my usual route where a small fence, about four feet high, resides at the entrance to a park two miles from my home. I always hurdled the fence when I got to it.
It hurt like a son of a beach ball.
I thought it was an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) snap at first. I ran 5 miles every other day for years and then it came to a crashing grind and I piled on 15 pounds of weight overnight.
The pain in my knee was excruciating for weeks because of the tendinitis and I finally went to the clinic for x-rays.
I tore the meniscus cartilage on the inside, right side, of my left knee in 2005 during that miscalculated hurdle when I came piling down on my left leg the day of my usual run.
I ran into Pat Boone (“Love Letters IN the Sand”, white shoes, etc)., while I was at Elvis Presley’s house visiting a few years ago. Pat was there for the same event I was invited to attend.
We were talking about running and I told him about the tear, the pain and that the interns at the orthopedic clinic wanted to log some hours sawing on my knee cartilage.
Pat told me that he did the same thing and insisted that I start working out with a recumbent leg press starting out with a couple of hundred pounds.
He also said, “stay away from the surgeon’s knife” !
I took his advice. My knee got stronger, the inflammation and tendinitis nearly all gone, and I was leg pressing 800 pounds before I stopped going to the gym.
Best of all, my knee wasn’t sawed on by a third year medical student.
I just use the treadmill now.
The urge to hurdle is gone, unless I’ve eaten spinach and peanut butter.
Cheers Wil.
Cyberware, man. Some muscle replacement, or maybe even full on cyberlegs, and you’ll be fine. Hell, get the velociraptor-style ones and you get claws and a top speed around 100 KPH.
Not sure if this is of any interest to you at all, Wil, but just in case. This book has a lot of interesting ideas about how in our modern world we try to control our body completely with our mind, not trusting the body itself or listening to what it has to say. To the author’s way of thinking, this causes things like you experienced.
http://www.amazon.com/Movements-Magic-Tai-chi-Chuan-Bob-Klein/dp/1892198827/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me= – in case the link is bad, search up Movements of Magic, the Spirit of Tai Chi Chuan by Bob Klein.
Looks like you can read it free if you are one of those Amazon folks; otherwise, the paperback is available cheap. Tai Chi has many benefits, too but this book is more about the thoughts and spirit behind the actual Tai Chi movements, and I found it really, really helpful at a certain point in my life and many times since.
You’ll get there!
Someone smart once said that “Anything worth doing is hard” … 😉
Family and friends were supportive in a “It’s nice that the old guy is paying more attention to his health” sort of way, when my big brother started getting shape in his early 40’s. It was ugly at first. Injuries & etc. as his body was not as enthusiastic as he was, and it rebelled. But about a year later, it was: “Wow, he looks… pretty darned good.” About three years later people were slack-jawed when they saw him… in his mid-40’s – all the “roundness” gone – square-jawed and rocking a Tshirt like a model. Lol. That’s probably not your goal, but at this point he’s closer to 70 than 60 and I just got his Christmas picture-letter and he still looks good. Health is an area where the benefits outweigh the investment in so many ways.
Binge watched the last half of Powers Season One. Ready for season 2.
Wil,
From one older (50+) runner that just got started again a few years ago who’s #1 problem while running is my right calf cramping at the most inopportune times, I’ve only found 2 things that help:
(1) making sure that I keep the electrolytes in balance. I used to use gels, sports drinks, etc. I’ve dropped all of that since I don’t get a good feel for how much salt I’m really getting. I’m down to water and electrolyte capsules. I’ll just drink water when thirsty, but take salt every 45 minutes or so when I’m sweating heavily. More often if its a particularly hot day, less often if its colder.
(2) rolling my calf every day. I think this is the real key. I’ve concluded that even when my calf feels “OK”, there are knots which are ready to flare up. If I roll every day, it keeps those at bay and greatly reduces the number of times I have to walk back to the car.
Hope it helps,
Jeff
Wil, as a runner with multiple sclerosis, I totally feel your pain. My body routinely does crazy shit when I run, sometimes for no good reason except I have MS and my body and nervous system likes to play cruel jokes on me. It’s frustrating. It hurts like hell. It makes me want to stop, but I don’t. I’ve got a whole pre-run/post run routine mapped out and even then, every so often things still go to hell. I know with MS I have it better than others, but sometimes I still get pissed when my body craps out on me because dang it, our bodies should work when we want them to. But its why I run. I run because I figure if I don’t use my legs and my body as they are designed and intended to be used, one day I’ll loose the ability to use them entirely. Even on days when my calf muscles have seized up and my feet go numb on my run and it feels like I’ve got lead weights attached to my feet, I try to remind myself to be grateful for what I am still able to do even though deep down I’m pissed as hell when things don’t work right.
Wil. You’re preachin’ to the choir. I just turned 59, and body maintenance is demolishing my training time.
I started triathlon almost 7 years ago, and that’s when training for 3 sports showed me that my body had silently been wearing out during the decades I did relatively little with it. While I had a great first year, the second year saw the onset of crippling sciatica, which turned out to be caused by disks that had degenerated so badly they barely showed up on the X-Ray. I went from 3 sports to 1 (swimming still worked great).
I was a classic candidate for fusion of my lower 2 vertebrae. But I went to a Sports MD, and he recommended a course of aggressive physical therapy before resorting to surgery. The stats for folks with my level of degeneration is that 93% wind up getting fused. My Sports MD decided to shoot for that 7%, and it worked!
I had 6 weeks of PT (done at a facility that specializes in athletes), and by the 4th week I was running on the treadmill, learning the basics of the all-new running gait I would have to master to isolate my lower back from the impact of the road. I had to become a forefoot-strike runner. My calves screamed and cramped, but they eventually strengthened to the point that, once the new gait became natural, I was actually enjoying running!
And I didn’t enjoy running at all before everything went south.
So I decided to learn as much as possible about running gaits, and see what truly worked for “broken” runners, and for folks who never found joy in running. This includes a massive number of triathletes: One of my best friends says he “runs because it’s the only way to get to the finish line”.
Anyhow, I recommend you learn more about how your body works, what’s not working, and the options available to improve the situation.
If you’d like to chat about it, just say the word.
BTW, I’m not at all shy about sharing my faults as well as my successes. About a year ago I did a presentation at Ignite San Diego (think of it as a 20-minute TED talk done in 5 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifuqWbm75NA
Good for you, for challenging yourself. Marathons scare me, too much of a commitment. Plus there’s the walk back home. Anyway on a less nihilistic level, always run with a bottle of water (hooked to your belt or they also sell covers with shoulder strap). Plus (and do not laugh, at least not much) use Pedialyte (I like the mixed fruit flavor)and it has saved my body numerous times from pre/mid-faint or pre/mid-cramp.
In the entry, you said this: “But I have friends who live with MS and lupus and cancer, and I never hear them complain about it.”
Yes, you don’t hear it, but it doesn’t mean they have those moments where they are angry about it. It’s okay to be angry, but not to constantly be angry.
I have a progressive neuromuscular disease that has no cure. Going to the gym only makes it worse. I’ve had it since birth. I reached my peak of strength at age 12. It has been downhill since. I have gotten weaker. I have lost the ability to do many things independently. I used to be able to bathe myself within a reasonable amount of time. Now, I have to have an aide do it for me.
Do I have moments of anger about it? Yes, I do. But, I have learned, through therapy, how to ‘mourn’ the loss of ability. I’ve had to mourn the loss of close friends with similar diseases who have died from pneumonia that started from a simple cold. I have learned to accept that my body will continue to weaken till the day I die.
Hopefully what happened to you is a minor setback and you can get back to running. If not, it doesn’t make you less than the awesome and great guy that you are.
I was going to say something similar. Hardly anyone hears me complain about my weird mixture of autoimmune diseases that leaves me in more pain daily than the average 70-year-old (I’m 26), but that doesn’t mean I don’t complain to my husband, to my mother, to my sister, to people with the same diseases, and to my therapist. I certainly have internal frustrations and anger that they hear little about as well. I complain far less frequently now, five years post-diagnosis than I did when I was first adjusting to the idea of being in pain for the rest of my life. My therapist claims I bottle up more than I should, but when you feel like you’ve injured numerous joints at every minute of every day, you don’t want to become a burden by kvetching all the time, and it’s unhealthy for your own psyche to allow yourself to dwell on it. It gives us unusual strength in the face of surgery recoveries and actual injuries, because we’re used to making adjustments in order to carry on with a happy life. Everyone complains. Everyone gets angry. The chronically ill are no exception. 🙂
Foam rollers are a tool of Satan, but they really do work. So does yoga, I added a bit of yogawithadriene every week and ran 850 miles this year injury-free.
How things change. In the 1960s, stretching WAS considered warming up before dance class. Now it’s the other way around? Or is it just different rule for different activity? I was around 8 years old then…… sigh…..
The way I understand it, if you stretch a muscle that is considered “cold”, because it hasn’t been warmed up, you can injure the muscle. So I do some kind of warm up, like body-weight squats, or a few minutes of walking, or jumping jacks, or something like that, and then I stretch, and then I begin the actual workout.
Thank you! I know a lot has changed in the area of sports medicine. And it’s been too many years, but I do remember that there were degrees of stretching in class, very gentle and simple at first, then things got more advanced in the stretching routine. We didn’t just fall into splits first thing, lol. We did isolations with the our joints with combined stretching from top to bottom, then started standing stretches, then floor stretches. Then, dance class. I’m partially disabled by ME/CFIDS now, but I still try to keep some degree of limber. I’m going to try the ‘new’ approach though, gently. Thanks for the explanation.
You’re pissed about not being able to run and seeking advice on how to heal up and get back at it without another injury issue. This is a dangerous path my friend. You plan on racing a 5k, but how long until you make that a 10k? A few of those and you’ll start telling yourself a half marathon doesn’t seem that long. Before you know it you’re signing up for a full marathon or even an ultra-marathon. It seems crazy now, but I’ve seen it happen to not only several running friends, but myself as well. You have been warned!
Not only am I expecting this to happen, I’m counting on it!
First of all, I have to say that because of the title of this post, I now have Van Halen running through my head. Thanks for the earworm.
As for your charley horse, I feel your pain. Nothing hurts more than waking up in the middle of the night with BOTH legs in spasm. Hopefully Nolan’s advice will have you right as rain. I wish I could run, but right now I’m all about not having my knee give out whilst hobbling around with a cane. After the cruise, I will probably get a knee replace, but in the mean time, I will be the multi-tone redhead walking on deck with the coolest wooden cane you have ever seen! See you soon!
I am so looking forward to you getting into the ZR story proper. I’m looking forward to you reaching two episodes in Season One in particular.
Don’t you hate those times when you feel as if your body wants to lead a life of its own?
I’d admire your dedication to running. There are so many types of movement that are fun, motivating, and healthy. I’m offering the idea that running is really hard on the body. I’m 51 and over the last 8 years I’ve done varying degrees of yoga, ballroom dance, and partner acrobatics. I like them all a lot more than running. They de-emphasize competition and result in a lot less injury.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, Wil. Your body is doing the best it can.
I know how you feel. I have a lousy diet, I’m 45, and I’m about 45-55 pounds over weight. I started jogging. Taking it slow. Worked my way up to doing 5k races. Why sign up for a race? Because it motivated me to actually train beforehand – not crazy train, but 3 times a week (I have a family with young kids). Within the year after that 5k, I was signing up for a 10k.
3 years later, I’ve run in 6 10k’s. My body is still overweight (I still eat crap), but I actually feel healthy. Cardio makes up for a lot of other defiencies you can expose yourself to.
Here’s the best tip ever given to me. I read your story and I immediately recalled how useful it’s been for me.
At my (our?) age, it’s not about how fast you go, or how far you go in one run. It’s about the total mileage you put on the odometer. Don’t push it – distance wise, or speed-wise. Just make it a habit and do more of it.
That advise alone will lead you to less injuries, and a healthier body.
Best of luck, Mr. Wheaton.
Sorry to hear you are injured, but not going to lie, I can’t wait until you progress and ugly cry during a mission (all runner fives have done it, it’s a rite of passage, I think)
Wil – Look into a Concept 2 rowing machine. Great cardio + strength building. No impact on your joints, and great for your core. It’s great to use for cross-training when you’re running. I bet Nolan would have some good thoughts on this too.
Good luck!
(No commission/affiliation, I promise. I’ve just used one to help me stay in great shape for years.)
Trigger point massage is the best! Fixed my Plantar Fasciitis. It always amazes me how one bit of your body having a trigger point can affect some other bit of your body a long way away. I hear you re gettint better. Ten years of lyme undiagnosed, four years of treatment, and finally i have my body back better and better every day. For a long time I thought I was stuck with my failing bod, and it did teach me a hell of a lot including the strength of my will and ability to use little stuff to help keep me happy no matter what, but to feel body and mind come back to life, oh man, that is just so unbelievably good I can’t even begin to express it. I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure, and neither should anyone else!
My hat is taken off for you Wil cause I don’t run at all. Being overweight sucks but finally after being almost 50 I’m slowly losing the weight. Running has always been hard for me and I absolutely hated having to run in high school PE class. I think that’s the last time I actually ran sad to say.
I also wanted to say how nice you are. I went to one of the Pasadena Star Trek conventions and you talked w/ me for like 1/2 an hour, Brent Spiner was there too but I think he was a bit overwhelmed with how Trekkers can be. I remember you were wearing a goatie and told everyone you were from the alternate universe. Thank you for being so nice and genuinely interested in your fans out there.