Feel free to queue up some mid 90’s Presidents of the United States for the duration of this posting if you want.

Earlier this week, I noticed a lump on my right calf.  Generally, the finding a lump, conjures up bad thoughts.  I did some research and found that the most likely causes were:

• herniated muscle (which I doubted because there was no pain)
• a cyst
• DVT (again doubted this because I am obvious very active)
• fatty build up

The lump doesn’t cause me any trouble, it is just there.  It is a little tender (like a bruise) when I push on it, but that is it.  I don’t feel it when I am running or biking either. 

In order to play it safe, I scheduled a doctor’s appointment for today to have it looked at.  Originally, I figured I should just schedule a full physical because I haven’t had one in a while.  However, there wasn’t any openings for a full physical until December (talk about ridiculous), but they could see me for the lump.

The appointment was quick and painless.  I have a lipoma which is essentially a fatty build up, so at least it was one of things I had self-diagnosed.  My doctor said that I really don’t have to worry about it unless it becomes a problem.  Usually people have them removed if they are in an inconvenient location or if they are a cosmetic problem.  Mine is currently not even visible without touching it, so I’m not going to worry about unless it grows.  I asked what the down time is if I decide to have it removed and he said there isn’t any.  It would be a quick procedure with a couple of stitches.  I even found a video of the procedure on YouTube (you can find anything online) and it didn’t look too bad.

Other than that, my training has been going very well.  I did a hard, hilly bike ride today and still managed a 19+ mph pace.  I’m going to keep working on my hill climbs in preparation for the Reeds Lake Triathlon which includes the mammoth Fulton hill.  My goal is to maintain 16-17mph on the hill come race day.  Plenty of time to get ready.

Stay tuned!

Today was the Reeds Lake Run, an annual event for us.  Reeds Lake is only about a mile away, so it is nice and close.  The Reeds Lake Run is a great race for a couple of reasons.  First, they have both a 5k and 10k which have staggered starting times so you can run both events for the price of one.  Second, and arguably more important, they have a post race party that can’t be beat.  It is open to the entire community and features live music (by I Need Group Therapy), burgers, hot dogs, fresh fruits and veggies, ice cream, and all sorts of activities for the kids.

My goal for the day was to do both events with the emphasis on the 10k.  I also wanted to keep an even pace throughout the events.  I was able to accomplish both goals, even running the 5k better than I anticipated.  The 5k was more or less supposed to be a warm up for me.  I headed out and tried to run as comfortably as I could without pushing myself too hard.  I finished with a time of 22 minutes even and splits within 10 seconds of each other (7:10, 7:02, 7:07).  I was very happy with these results.  After finishing I waited for CK to finish in about 22:50 and then for KS to finish around 23:30 before grabbing some water and heading back to the starting line for round 2.

The beginning of the 10k

The two events are staggered by 45 minutes, so that meant standing around for about 20 minutes in between races.  As I started the 10k, I could definitely feel that my legs were starting to tighten up a bit.  However, they loosened right up as I got going.  There are three main hills on the 10k course (which goes circumnavigates Reeds Lake) and I was able to reap the benefits of running on my home course and having run the course countless times over the years.  I passed a dozen people or so on the first hill without letting myself slow down which is always a good feeling.  It makes your legs feel really strong.

I passed the halfway point with a split time of 23:09 which I felt was very good beings as all 3 hills on the course are in the first half.  The second half of the race was almost the exact same course as the 5k so it was little like déjà vu.  I was able to pick it up a bit and finish the second half with a negative split of 22:31.  Despite my legs starting to feel tired, I was able to give a very strong kick at the end.  I battled it out with another runner over the last tenth of a mile.  I picked it up at the 6 mile mark and caught him by the 6.1 marker.  Neither of us wanted to give up the position and it was a mad dash to the finish.  I am usually pretty good at not getting passed up the finish, but he ended up beating me about by about a stride length or two, but had the height (and stride length) advantage over me.  That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it. 

My battle to the finish – I was ahead for second or two, just not quite at the end

Like in the 5k, I was able to accomplish my goal of relatively even mile splits.  I finished with splits of: 7:25, 7:13, 7:31, 7:24, 7:17, 7:20, so within 20 seconds of each other.  Overall, I was very happy with my performance as it was about 30 seconds faster than my PR last year.  I even placed very well in my age group for both the 5k and 10k – 17 out of 79 and 14 out of 61 respectively.

Enjoying the post race food

After the run, we headed over to the post race party for some delicious food.  As good as the food is, it is kind of weird to be eating a full meal at 10:30 in the morning.  Regardless, the food was great and the band was pretty good too – mainly a mix of classic rock/oldies covers.  All in all, a great race and a great start to the day.

Official Results

5k

10k