Yesterday was the Hallowed Half Marathon and 10k race run by WeTriSports (of which my wife is a co-owner). It went off REALLY well…a hit on FaceBook, very positive feedback and the weather held and no one got wet, despite having Hurricane Sandy hanging offshore. I did not see a single runner start the race or cross the finish line. My good friend Tom Barbieri and I were in charge of a Halloween Trail…but it would have been nothing but a decorated path without the massive team of volunteers that came down to be zombies, witches, Jason Voorhees, surgeon and ex-patient-to-be, scared runner, electrocuted woman and don’t go in there guy…I played a crazed “Friendly Clown”. It was a blast. We could not make a video during the race..we started set-up at 6am when piles of volunteers showed up. We hung everything along 3/4 miles in 2 hours and then the video below is before we pulled it down and the volunteers left. What a day. Complete satisfaction and so much fun. To everyone who ran, to all who helped, we hope you enjoyed the “entertainment”. To the ladies who hosted the race..CONGRATULATIONS on a race well done.
Oct 16
Another Medoc Trail Race Under the Belt
This past weekend I ran my FAVORITE race in Hollister, North Carolina – The Medoc 10 Mile Trail Race. It was a trail race, the first time I had run 10 miles on a trail since I blew out my ankle (see this!) and joy to run. This race is the best organized race of any race I have ever done. It runs on time, in the middle of nowhere. It is fun…the emails alone are enough to get you laughing and showing up to experience the rest! If you have never done a trail race and want to experience 10 miles of fun put this one on the list for next year. It’s the best…truly.
At the end of the 10 mile Medoc Trail Race…Mr Medoc and Me
Sep 03
To Half Iron Man …or not?
Triathlons take a lot of commitment. Heck, most things I do take a lot of commitment. Being a good husband to my wife, being a good father to Taylor and Tyler, being a good employee, authoring books, writing lots of scientific articles, lifting weights a few days a week, running regularly…and there is that thing called sleeping. Believe me…even THAT takes commitment. I literally have to force myself to go to sleep some nights as there is so much I want to do. That’s the nature of our household…high energy and go, go, go. So, when I heard that the Half Iron Man was coming to town next year it was really a matter of damn it…don’t dangle that in front of me. Same thing for my wife…she has a very similar make up and loves the challenge.
It will take a LOT of time. It will take time from my family…for both Sharon and I should we choose to do it. It will mean independent training as well as camaraderie and group runs, cycles, swims. it will mean a change in training regime, less weight-training with my friend David Nelson in order to free up time for more swim/bike/run. But it will be a challenge…almost certainly will hurt..a lot…and will add one more on the belt of been there..done there. All that on an ankle that swells a lot after a long run….
What the hell…coin toss to decide? Shaming by my friends? Stupid decisions after beer. What do you think….should I do it? And who wants to train with me? I’m hoping Sharon will give me swimming tips because she’s a damn good swimmer…me, not so much!
Sep 03
Come and join the Hallowed Half Marathon and Find Tom and Mitch
This year will see us host Wake Forest’s first Hallowed Half half marathon and 10k race. It is hosted by my wife as Race Director (Sharon Williams) and it should be a lot of fun. Especially if you want to help to find out what happened to Tom and Mitch. What happened? See this movie….
Apr 22
Come and RunLikeAMother in Raleigh on Mother’s Day
Sharon with Taylor and Tyler
My wife is a heck of an athlete. She has run two half marathons, participated in multiple sprint triathlons and has run many, many 5km races. She is also a dedicated employee, mother to our two wonderful sons, business owner of WeTriSports.com, VP of a local running group (Wake Forest Area Runners) and now the race director for RunLikeAMother, a race dedicated to mothers, for women only.
She has spent the past few months working on the arrangements for the race to be held in Raleigh (at the Kerr YMCA close to Wake Forest where we live). She has engaged the community, led it with passion and commitment and with her usual gusto to get it done! Why not come along and sign up as a runner? Encourage your mom, wife, partner, sister to come and get the 5km under their feet. It will be a wonderful event based on what I know about the arrangements and it will be an event to honor the women in our lives. Registration is online here and there is a $5 promocode at www.fitstudio.com.
Mar 19
When Tony Started to Get His Groove Back Thanks to OPTA Wake Forest!
When my running career came to a crashing end right at the end of 2011 (December 30th to be precise!) I ended up with quite the injury (see attractive photo here). Seven weeks later I was making very little progress in terms of running…i could walk but the slightest attempt at speeding up was painful, to say the least. I could swim but couldn’t kick off the wall. I could cycle but couldn’t get out of the seat on a hill very easily. Eventually I had to choose a different path, despite my preference to tough it out. Sometimes you need to think with your head rather than the testosterone of suffering …certainly the way I tend to go. So, choosing a physical therapist was easy…I went with “OPTA”, the company that has hosted a couple of the runs for the Wake Forest Area Runners. Orthopedic Physical Therapy, or OPTA as we know them locally, have been a wonderful host to us as a running community. But, based on the experiences of a lot of people I know who have personally used their services, they offer superior treatment. So, off to see them I went.
I got to work with Olivier Chassin, one of the owners of the company and, without doubt, the best physical therapist I have ever worked with (and there have been a few based on my way of living and injuring!) Olivier was thorough in his examination and diagnosis (not as easy as just a sprained ankle). He was able to focus me on self-treatment exercises at home as well as pushing me through exercises at his facility. Lots of stretching, weight training to compensate for the injury and develop my core, ultrasound and electrostimulation and deep tissue massage around the ankle to reduce the swelling. By week three he had me jogging on a treadmill at 3.3 mph for 5 mins. It felt like a MAJOR accomplishment. Today I hit 4mph for 10 mins on the treadmill…and it really feels like I’m getting back into the groove and may actually be running some races in the enxt few months.
Thanks to Olivier, and ALL of the skilled staff at the Orthopedic Physical Therapy facility in Wake Forest I am optimistic I’ll be back out there in the next few months and, hopefully, running the next WFAR crawl from the OPTA facility. Thanks Olivier!
Feb 12
No Running in the Near Future
Ever since twisting my ankle I’ve gone from good days to bad days. I have reinjured the ankle twice and for the past week, while in the United Kingdom for business, have had to do a lot of walking around offices and buildings and my ankle is killing me. I am looking forward to getting home to my family and keeping my ice rested and iced. I doubt I’ll be running for a few months at this point. Every morning starts with stepping gingerly out of bed and down the stairs. I am going to get back on the bike and hope for the best and back in the pool and get in some laps. My body is starting to soften so I will get back to the weights. I REALLY miss running and connecting with the many friends I had made in my running circles and I desperately miss the joy of running trails. I expected to be recovering much faster at this point but so be it…back to other forms of exercise so get back in shape for the summer months….and some dietary controls to stop the paunch starting to appear….
Jan 05
Thanks for Following The Blog
I run and contribute to a number of blogs. When I transitioned 1000milesin1year over to this blog, now renamed to WelshManInAction in honor of my heritage, I was hoping for a small following. I am happy to know that you are interested in some of my comments. Thanks for visiting…the traffic stats are quite impressive for a new blog.
11 days of visitors
Despite the fact that I am presently injured with the sprained ankle I hope to find time to keep you aware of training tips and, as I move to cycling and swimming instead of running for a while, I will talk about how, and if, it helps me recover. My foot is now purple and blue but I am walking without crutches so on my way back….
Jan 05
Typical Post Cycle Ride Conversation
I am not sure how many of you are cyclists and how often you ride with a partner, but when your partner is serious this is the type of post-ride conversation that can happen. It’s more common when there is testosterone involved and can really take a turn when you are close friends. Me, I prefer challenging rides where you push each other, take care of each other and don’t do anything stupid to get hurt. Been there….done that. No point in getting hurt…it takes way too long to recover!
When I’ve been watching these movies I was trying to figure out how they were made so last night, while helping my friend Mark Jensen of GardenstoDieFor I decided to figure it out. The result of my first effort is below and relates to the blog I did about Pornstars and Scientists on Wikipedia. Enjoy…
Jan 01
Day Three after an ankle sprain while Trail Running
Day 3 after spraining ankle
It’s day three since I sprained my ankle on a 12 mile trail run. I’ve been rigorously following the advice of rest, ice, compression and elevation, commonly known as RICE. For sure the elevation is helping as when I don’t elevate for a couple of hours my foot swells up. The icing has been every two hours and if nothing else helps keep the temperature of the foot down since it has a nice warm glow otherwise. The baseball-sized initial sprain has expanded to bruising and swelling as you can see on the left. A nice rainbow of blue-purple has started from the base of the foot and I’m sure yellow will follow on soon.
As I’m a little more intelligent in terms of taking care of injuries after my calf injury a couple of years ago I am optimistic that I will have a fast recovery and am hoping to take the running “downtime” to log some miles in the pool and some miles on my bike over the next few weeks. I am aiming for one week to getting in the pool and 2 weeks for getting on my bike. Fortunately I have a logical and objective partner who lives with me and keeps me honest with what I am capable of. Fortunately! I have a habit of pushing too hard, too early, and reinjuring.
And before there are any comments about my furry feet, my Hobbit-like appearance I am Welsh…years of running in the fields in bare feet and hair is a natural response!