Borderland

I am currently in El Paso, Western Texas, visiting friends, spending the holidays, and definitely enjoying a better place for training with much warmer weather compared to the East Coast. I have been here (EP) since December 7th and will be leaving to Pennsylvania on January 7th. But honestly, I don’t look forward to train in freezing PA weather for the next three months.

Training over the past a month or so has been ok, some ups and downs, which is not quite what I wanted, but given the circumstances of the last six months, I dare to say that I am moving towards the right direction. Nevertheless, the challenges I have been facing lately decimated my confidence and broken down my training consistency. It all started with some pain I had towards the end of November close to the calcaneus bone of my interior left foot. Fortunately it was nothing serious and only lasted ten to fourteen days with two days off from running. However, a compensatory pain developed in my right achilles tendon a week after I arrived in El Paso. I took few days off and did aqua jogging instead, but the pain came back a few days after starting training, mainly because I didn’t use the right progressive training. In other words, I rushed and trained just enough to put me back to square one. The treatment over the past few days has been massaging and stretching the tendon/calf and applying lots of ice, all of this in combination with time off from running, which hopefully in the end will show positive results.

To stay physically active I have been doing a lot of core training. Today, 12/29/08, is the first day I will be jogging after a 5 day time off due to an assumed minor injury. The plan is to only do 20 minutes of running followed by core training. The goal is, by the time I leave El Paso in nine days, to get back to the level of training I came with, which is: 60min of running, 6 to 8 strides, and lots of core, which I’ve been doing over the last month or so. The strides are vital in breaking down the scar tissue accumulated from the surgery. The bottom line is: it’s very frustrating not being able to train due to all kids of minor injuries.

Three months have passed and my left hip is slightly doing better. On Nov 28th I visited my doctor in Philadelphia and was told to keep training like I was 100% healthy. He also put me on a six-week anti-inflammatory medicine plan, which so far helped to some extent. The main improvement since surgery is in my left hip abductors, now stronger and almost painless. The soreness and my main concern comes form the lower left abdominal, and I am guessing is the left internal oblique muscle, which does not seem to improve that quickly. However, I’m going to be patient and give it another month or so and see how things will be doing then.

Two days after visiting my doctor in Philly I traveled to Detroit where I spent the Thanksgiving Day with my brother Constantin and visited some friends I have there. It was really nice spending some time with my younger brother after almost a year. The last time we met was when he came to visit me in Ebensburg in late January. Then I actually raced the mile invitational at the Penn State National Invite. The performance I put at that track meet brought me a sub four minute mile and high expectations for the ’08 year, which where later blown by the unexpected hip problems yet to be completely healed.

Given my current health status, the 2009 indoor season is compromised, which only leaves me with hopes for the outdoors. Training with the goal to race outdoors does not bother me at all, as long as my health is constantly good and allowing me to train towards achieving my goals. I am still restless, highly motivated, and ambitious to come back in competitive track and field. But getting there won’t come to me, instead, I believe I have to go and get it, go and reach it.

Mourning the wasted year is another waste, which I am not going to do, because I don’t usually look back to my past. All I know about ‘09 is that I wanted so badly to do well, but instead I badly did bad. Now, I am looking forward to the year 2009 and hope that it’ll bring my more satisfactions. I am looking forward to school, because I am two courses away from getting my Masters in Education from Saint Francis University this coming May. I am looking forward to coaching the following ’09 indoor and outdoor seasons. And, I am also looking forward to training for 2009 outdoor season, and maybe dare to say World Championships in Berlin this coming summer.

As I said earlier, I am currently in El Paso, TX, “the home away from home” for me. It has been a year since my last visit here, and I am always happy to return to this place. Throughout my visit in El Paso I am hosted by my good friend Dirk. As I am writing this, him and Brook are getting married in Thailand, therefore Dirk&Brook, if you read this, Congratulations!!! I’m looking forward to your reception in Phoenix in late March.

By skipping the details, so far my extended trip/holiday vacation to El Paso has been pretty pleasant and did a lot of fun things. I only wish my friend Paul Zwama did not have to cancel his trip to El Paso, because I think we would have had a great time together. But Paul is transferring from UMBC, MD, to Fresno State, CA this coming January, therefore, he had a good reason for canceling his trip. Anyway, I still have a little over a week left of spending here in EP, and quite honestly so far my roommate Hansy, a beautiful cat, and I are having a wonderful time. Speaking about cats, Brook’s sister, Bridget, has three gorgeous cats, which I’ve been taking care of over the past six days, as she and her husband, Jasper, are in Holland visiting their family for Holidays. With so many fussy cats in care I am like a feline manager.

Happy New 2009 Year!!!

P.S. I’ll try keep this blog updated more often in 2009