People have compared me to the class clown.  One of my college teachers suggested I give up training for the professional she taught and take up stand up comedy.   But today I am giving up the class clown for a serious topic.

I went to the CBC website today.  It is one of the few websites I can get at work.  Then to the news portion.  There as one of the top headlines was one that jumped out on the page at me.

“Mounties scour Vancouver park for clues in jogger’s killing. ”

I read the article.  A very nice lady in the Vancouver area was killed while  she was jogging.   The story explained how she went for a jog everyday in a park.  And how passionate she was about running.

It got me thinking about safety tips for joggers.  Both men and women. 

One of the first tips that came to mind is to always have a running partner.  Which is why I think joining a running clinic, like the Runner’s Den is such a great idea.  You not only get encouragement and support from people who enjoy the same activity as you, but you get the added bonus of a number of people running along the same course.

Another tip if you do have to run by yourself, is make sure someone knows where you are going and when you are going to be back. 

One safety rule which I sort of break, don’t wear earplugs or anything that is going to distract you from the sounds around you.  I wear my MP3 player when I run, but I try to keep one earbud out.  I hope that having one ear free will reduce my risk.

I’m going to think about other tips and post them.  If you have other tips, please feel free to pass them along.  And I’ll try to include them in the next blog.  In the meantime, in the immortal words of the Sargeant on Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there.”

My colleague Jackie walked past my desk today.  She usually stops by and asks how the blog is going.  “I really like” whatever my blog from the night before completes the comment.  But today when she walked past, she looked a bit down.

Sarah laughed and said that Jackie had just got bad news.  I looked puzzled and Sarah continued.  “Her boyfriend is a Trekie.”  I didn’t think that was such a bad thing, but I guess its all in the perspective.

So I laughed with her for a minute.  And then Earl threw down the gauntlet.  “Write a blog about that.”

I put on my serious blog writing face.  And thought whether to accept or decline the challenge.  I was going to decline, but then Earl continued and asked if I watched Boston Legal.  He explained how Denny and Allan were friends.  The only friend that each other had.

Ahh, I thought, I CAN relate that to running. 

I noticed a couple of races back that runners are a really cool breed.  We can sit down just about anywhere and make friends.

On the shuttle bus back from the Bay relay point, I sat down in a seat that I could see through the smear on my glasses.  There was a really nice lady sitting there too.  She moved over to make space for me.

At first the conversation was a little awkward.  We were both letting the adrenaline that was surging through our bodies settle down.  And I was trying to find something to snack on.

But by the time we left the bus about 15 minutes later, we had made a connection.  I looked around me and similar conversations were taking place all around us. 

No matter how hard I look, I can’t not find someone to chat to.  Don’t call me Denny Crane.

Isn’t it funny when you talk to someone right after a race.  You get one of two responses when you ask what the next run is going to be.

The first one would be the same one you get when you ask a woman who has just given birth when she is going to have another child.  Not in this lifetime.  Opps, Sorry I confused my own experience with someone else.

The other response is the one that the Gazelle and I answered.  Heck, yeah, bring it on!  Let’s train for a half marathon.

After doing Around the Bay, I spoke with one of my colleagues from work.  She ran the full Bay.  She did pretty good.  In my estimation anyway.  While we were  discussing trading Bay shirts, I asked her what she had planned for the next run.

Her immediate response was, not in this lifetime.

She was thinking of taking some serious time off from running.  She plays volleyball, basketball and has two kids and a husband, so time is a real issue for her.

So a couple days later we do the actual Bay shirt exchnge.  My shirt was orange, hers was red.  I wanted red, she wanted orange.  It worked out.  She has this mischevious grin on her face and said, remember what I said about running the next race?

Sure, I said, not in this lifetime.

Well, she said laughing, my husband found me a running partner.  Seems I am going to be doing a full marathon after all.

Great, I said, where do you sign up?

If you read my last blog you know that I injured my back on Wednesday and had a close call with having my most embarrassing moment ever!  I wish I could say that it was all better and I was getting ready to run again but when my back goes it is not something that is going to fix itself quickly.  That’s why I married a physiotherapist!  So that when this happens I can rely on her to massage and traction me back to health!!  Only problem is this time she is 5 hours away!  So what do you do when your physio is 5hrs away!  You jump in the car and go get a treatment! Sounded like a great idea, I haven’t seen my kids in 10 days, there was no way I was going to play hockey this weekend and my back was killing me!  Only problem is the one thing that hurts my back more than anything is sitting, and sitting for 5 hours in a small car is not the brightest idea that I have had. 

That being said I am in Parry Sound have had a small massage and my back is getting better everyday, still not overly close to going out for a run though. I know my physio wife thinks that my core or lack thereof, is the cause of all my problems and that I should be diligent in doing some sort of strengthening for it to help prevent future flare ups.  But doing core training can be so boring. Get up on your hands and knees, lift one leg off the floor, then one arm, now the other leg, and then the other arm, now…wait for it….one leg AND one arm! Crazy eh!! 

If only there was some magical solution to back problems that was easy and cost effective………..hmmm……wait!! There it is!! Check out the Teeter Hang Up @ http://www.teetertv.com/  not only will this relieve my back pain but apparently it can improve circulation, increase flexibility and range of motion, correct posture and reduce the effects of aging caused by gravity!   Can this possibly be true??  The website says that for less than $15 I can have this contraption sent to me and try it for 30 days! That’s the same cost of 10 Tim Hortons coffees! Maybe this ‘Inversion table’ would help me, but I have a hard time betting the health of my back on a table that hangs me upside down like a bat!

For now I will continue to get my treatment from my personal physio, take it easy and give it time.  In the meantime I will try to figure out a way to cope with not being able to have any physical activity without going stir crazy!

I would love to know the different things that people do to cope with not being able to get out and run when injured.  If you would like to share your tactics please email me at tchase19@yahoo.com  and I will make a list of the top coping skills that you all have!  The more creative the better!!

My friend , Earl,  has talented children.  Evan is a world traveller.  Kaylee swam for Canada in the Children’s Games.  And son Dan, is a runner. 

A talented one at that.  He was asked to be the pace bunny for the Around the Bay Road Race. 

And then a couple days before the race, my friend Earl got a call that went something like this.

“Hey Dad, remember how I asked you to pick up my race packet and bunny ears for the race on Sunday?  Well, I’ve been feeling pretty crummy the last two days.  The kids have had something and now I think I’m getting it.  I’ll let you know for sure tomorrow but it looks like I’m gonna scratch.”

As disappointed as Earl was, I was even more disappointed.  How could I brag that I knew someone, who knew someone who was a pace bunny in the Bay?

I had this amazing post all worked out in my head.   Something about how cool it is to know someone who is the parent of a pace bunny.  My own children have brushed with running.  Maybe one day they will join me in a race.  And leave me behind pushing my walker.

Then my idea for the post was dashed in a moment. 

I was pretty happy when Earl got another call today.  His son is feeling better.  So, we’re back on.  I get to say I know someone who knows someone.  Let me sharpen my pencil and have a chat with my friend.  I’ll let you know how it feels to know someone who knows someone.

I was looking at an internet commercial the other day.  What made it a commercial for me was the fact that it was advertising something that  I’m really not interested in, but have to put up with to get to the good stuff.

It was an ad for singles running.  Maybe it is like eHarmony.  A friend met his wife through eHarmony.  I could send in my runing profile … something like, “relatively attractive female, of a certain age.  Loves loud music and  going for 5 km runs.”

Then they would match me up with a similar person and we could get to know each other before eventually deciding to meet.  Our first date would be something like a 5 km run along Pier 4 Park.  We could run hand in hand, dodging Canada goose poop.  He would know I am the one as soon as he set his eyes on my really nice Brooks Glycerin 6 shoes.  Because he had a matching pair.  He would ask me to marry him while we are doing our very first half marathon.  I’m thinking Road2Hope.  And we would get married  on the course for Around the Bay.

Or I could go speed dating.  There would have to be a bit of prelimary work done by the co-ordinators of the dating sight.  They would have to make sure they had a course for all sorts of runners.  Everything from beginners to marathon runners.  We would spend at least 1 km with each of our potential partners.  Just think of the stories we could tell our grandchildren. 

Or maybe I could skip paying for the pleasure and just continue to run with friends.  My married friends tell me that its important to have our own interests.  But when I’m out in -17 degree weather shouldn’t I share the misery, I mean joy?

So the move is over (for now) my kids and wife are gone to stay with family until our new home is completed, I am free to sleep and run as much as I want and I have made it to the final 5!!!!  In the first 5 days since my move was completed I ran 5kms and slept for about 20 hours, yes that’s right only 20 hours in 5 days. Why you ask only 20 hours of sleep and only one run?? Well I played in a hockey tournament over the weekend and played 4 games of hockey in those 5 days, the last of which we only had 6 skaters so I have been getting plenty of exercise. But the sleep, well let’s just say that when you get a bunch of guys together for a weekend away from their responsibilities they revert back to their younger days and spend it with beer bottles glued to their hands, stay up way to late and become rather loud (Sorry Amanda)

Anyway, now that I have that out of my system I am primed and ready to go…or so I thought. Here’s the deal.  I woke up this morning had a coffee and said to my roomie Tory, ‘I’m going for a run tonight’ There it was, out in the open, no turning back, no reason not to go, no kids to put to bed, no nothing.  So I finished my coffee, had a shower and went into my room to get ready for my day.  Now here is where the problem started.  I grabbed a pair of boxers, went to put them on and WAM!  My back seized up in a spasm so bad it knocked me to the floor!  Thankfully Tory had left because I am sure my scream (which resembled a baby and may have been followed by a profanity) would have made her run to see what had happened and with me lying immobile half naked on the floor I would have been so embarrassed I would have had to leave and go to a hotel!   Anyone who has every had acute back spasms knows that they can be very crippling and moving at all is almost impossible, so basically I was stuck on the floor and spent the next 15 minutes or so trying to move enough to lean on the bed.  Once I got there I called my wife for some reason.  (Not sure what my thought process was there as she is still visiting family 5 hours away!) After hanging up the phone with her I spent the next 20 minutes getting from my knees up onto the bed, where I spent the next 30 minutes waiting for the spasm to subside and cancelling my meetings for the day.  Needless to say the run will not be happening tonight and I have spent the day working while standing at the island in the kitchen!

Sadly this is not the first time that this has happened to me so I know how long it may be before I am fully functional again. The good news is that I am mobile, able to walk slowly and it seems to be loosening up fairly quickly so hopefully in the next few days I will be able to resume some sort of exercise.  The bad news, it hurts like crazy, sleeping is going to be tough and going to the bathroom…..well lets just say that sitting is not the most comfortable position.

As this is April 1^st I am sure some of you are thinking that the next line I am going to write is ‘April Fools!!!!’  I wish!  As I said to my friend Jay when he asked me that question “the only fool here was me stuck on the floor with my underwear halfway on crying like a little girl” and that’s no joke!