Sizzling winter ahead

A year ago, when I started this blog, I was a healthy man in perfect conditions to practice. Now I am just half of that, “a man” , who is in the process of getting healthy. Since my last blog update (Nov 1st) it’s kind of difficult to say if things have improved, as far as rehabbing after my surgery. I dare to say that to some extent I feel a little better, but definitely not too much of a difference has taken place. The scar tissue is still persistent in the surgery’s proximity, and that continues making things rough for me when I run.

After the NEC Cross Country meet, held that Sat, Nov 1st, I flew out to Colorado and attended my friend’s wedding, Adriana. The wedding itself was really fun-I met a lot of friends from UTEP, and also a lot of Romanian people, which I mostly knew myself with. The day after the wedding I and my pal Eric went to have some fun in Denver. It was the day Miami Dolphins plaid the Denver Broncos. Therefore, we went to see the football game, which was the first NFL game I ever went to, and believe Eric’s first too. To get in the stadium we needed, of course, tickets, which we did not have when we were heading towards the stadium. Eric and I had two major problems once we arrived at the Invesco Field stadium. One issue was finding a parking place for the car, and the other was getting tickets. After circling around for a bit we found good parking without having to deal with the Tow-A-Way-Zone signs (many in the area). Next step was to find tickets, and that came fairly quick as we were approaching the stadium and some guys asked us if we need any. We negotiated the prices and got one for $20 (originally $110) and the other for $35(originally $297). All the hassle we went through was due to our lack of planning it ahead of time. The fact is, this way was much more fun and we really got a good experience out of it. Inside the stadium the excitement was high as 70,000 fans intensively lived the football game. In the end, the Dolphins won the game upsetting the majority fans. All in all, that weekend in Colorado was a good getaway for me.

My training over the last two weeks has not suffered major changes except that my runs lately have gotten from 30min, two weeks ago, to 50 min, this very week. After my runs I do my stretching and strides and than head indoors to do some core exercises and strengthening specifically for my groin. I also do some light polymetrics and admit I feel just fine with the training I do for now. The thing that I am mostly excited about is simply my runs. I feel fine running 50 minutes a day, despite coming from a three month time-off. Definitely I won’t be pushing things more than my body tells me to. Listing to my own body it’s my number one coach, dictating how much I need to do and for how long, so I’m listening to it.

My schedule for the next few weeks is pretty busy in all aspects, nevertheless that does not hold me back from not looking forward to it. On Tuesday, Nov 25th, I’ll be in Philadelphia for a doctor appointment, which I really put faith in hoping to get some good news. A positive answer from Dr. Meyers will definitely boost up my confidence and motivation, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that that will indeed happen. The following day on Wednesday I have a major exam at Statistics and after it I’m heading out to Detroit, where I’ll spend the Thanksgiving break with my brother. In between this schedule I still have to take care of my training and other attributions, mostly school work and coaching. I was recently assigned 19 SFU distance athletes to work with for the indoor and outdoor track seasons, and that means my work load will be greatly increased.

The trip to El Paso is already set up to leave Pittsburgh on Dec 7th and come back on January 7th. If there is anything I am excited about, this is it. El Paso is, as I many times stated before, my home away from home. It’s the place I have always felt embraced by, mostly because I have a bunch of friends from my time in college. But I’ll talk a little more about El Paso in my next blog as I get closer to flying out there.

The first snow that hit Western PA in late October might have been a mild sign of winter, which did not last long. However, we have been having snow falling since last Monday and temperatures have not gotten over 30F. The fact is, winter is here and won’t be leaving anywhere for the next few months, but I’m.



"Good things come slow - especially in distance running."
- Bill Dellinger, Oregon coach