Arthroscopic Anke Surgery

Well I finally had the surgery a few weeks ago at the Hospital for Special Surgery and it went well for the most part. I went in around noon and they were running ahead of schedule so they took me in earlier. You know you're at the right place when that happens.

The pre-operating procedures are numerous. A number of nurses and doctor's would ask me a bunch of questions and some were very redundant. They even took a permanent marker and marked which ankle I was going to have the surgery on. I guess it would be a travesty if they went into the wrong foot. I got into my scrubs (are they called that if you are the patient?) and they hooked up an IV into my wrist which feels like a constant pinching but not too bad.

Dr. Elliott and the anesthesiologist said they would do the following things:

1. A sedative through an IV
2. A local anesthetic in my left leg to numb my leg
3. A spinal anesthetic injection in my spine which would numb my entire lower body. The spinal freaked me out naturally but they said it would be different from an epidural because it would be a very tiny needle that would permeate the spinal membrane and administer the anesthetic.
4. 2 small incisions in my left ankle where the camera and other instruments would go.
5. If they found damaged cartilage, it would be shaved down or removed. Any exposed bone would be drilled into to create small fractures and promote growth of fibrocartilage and blood flow. The cartilage that grows back is not the same type of cartilage I used to have which is a bummer. However, from what the doctors tell me, it would allow me to "do the things I used to do with little or no pain." Not sure what that means, but hopefully it'll be fine.
6. A needle into my hip bone would remove progenitor cells and then they would be injected into the effected area in my ankle. According to the Dr. Elliot, this doesn't do any harm but could do some good in promoting growth of the right type of cells. There hasn't been any research supporting this but is harmless and I opted to try it out.
7. Finally, they'd patch me up and put a cast on my leg which would stay on for 2 weeks.

When they took me into the operating room, it was quite the scene. I've never been in one before but there were all sorts of monitors and cameras all over the place. I was freezing because the vents and fans were on full blast and I was barely wearing a blue sheet for clothing.

They started with the sedative through the IV and said I would feel it in about a minute. After about 30 seconds, I remember saying, "whoa, there it is!" That was it, I don't remember anything except when I woke, they were putting my cast on. Then I remember saying "That was fun, I could do that again." Naturally, the anesthesia was still in full effect and I was delirious.

I was out of the hospital in the same day but barely have any recollection of that day in hindsight because of the anesthesia. They gave me some pain killers for the next few days and advised that I take aspirin every day for 6 weeks to prevent blood clots in my heart.

Well that's it, I hope this proves to be useful information to anyone considering the same type of surgery. Feel free to contact me about any questions you might have. More details to come about the recovery process.

"The Men Who Live Forever"

Tarahumara men have a taste for corn snacks and beer, for instance. They're hard workers, but come downtime, they party like a rap star's roadies... Tarahumara men love sports, booze, and gambling so much, they'll stay up all night to watch a game, down enough beer in a year to spend every third day buzzed or recovering, and support their teams by literally betting the shirts on their backs.

Sound familiar? But here's where American and Tarahumara men part company: Many of us will be killed by heart disease, stroke, and gastrointestinal cancers. Almost none of them will.

That's an exerpt from an amazing article in Men's Health written a few years ago by Christopher McDougall that still doesn't cease to amaze me. A friend of mine pointed out it out to me and I've referenced it in my NYC Marathon blog post.

It's a long article but worth the read if you want to hear about how these people can run for miles, party like rock stars, and live for a very, very long time. The main point of the article is whether or not an outsider can live like these people, do the same things, compete in long distance races, and run for miles on end without injury.

In particular, McDougall goes through a number of factors that contribute to their success. Their running form lands them squarely in the group of people who don't land on their heels when running.

Mierke believes there is a perfect, Tarahumara-like footstrike that can guarantee you will run longer and faster, and drastically reduce your chances of injury. The key is to stay off your heel and to use your leg as a pistonlike shock absorber.

"You wouldn't jump off a ladder and land on your heels, right?" Mierke asks. "Same with running. If you land on your heel, your leg is straight, and the impact is smashing into one joint after the other. If you land on your forefoot, however, with the leg bent, it absorbs shock using elastic tissues instead of bone."

Really? This is unbelievable. And they use nothing but simple sandals as their running shoes. Tell me more...

Running shoes have become so supercushioned and motion-controlling, they allow our foot muscles to atrophy and our tendons to shorten and stiffen. Without strength and flexibility, injuries are inevitable.

One of Hartmann's star clients, marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe, has been training in the Nike Free, a new, minimalist slipper designed to mimic the range of motion of a naked foot. Alan Webb, America's best miler, also works out in the Free. Webb had been hobbled by foot injuries early in his career, but after he started barefoot exercises, his injuries disappeared, and his shoe size shrank, from a 12 to a 9. "My foot muscles became so strong, they pulled my arches up," says Webb. "Wearing too much shoe prevents you from tapping into the natural gait you have when landing on the ground."

Nobody can do this all with this running without a well balanced diet, right? Of course not, the answer is one loaded with carbs.

The Tarahumara are warm and extremely hospitable. The owner of the hut, Avelado, invites us to scoop from the family's pinole bucket, a plastic tub half-filled with a soupy mix of water and ground corn. It's surprisingly tasty, with the texture of instant oatmeal and the aroma of movie popcorn. Pinole to the Tarahumara is like rice to Asians; it's the major component of every meal, occasionally topped off with pinto beans, a little squash, sometimes mice or a chunk of rabbit. Most of the time, Avelado says, he just sips it by the cupful throughout the day.

The full article can serve as a guide to long distance running as well as a motivational tool that will keep you inspired to keep running. Enjoy.

Introplay - A great site to track your workouts and keep motivated

A friend of mine just launched Introplay, a site where you can track all of your exercise workouts and also keep your motivation level high. It's a Web 2.0 site where you compete with friends or other members of the site in workout competitions, or leagues as they are called. Even if you didn't want to participate in the leagues, the site has a great workout tracker so you can monitor your progress.

Check out the blog or visit the site for more info.

Arthroscopic Ankle Surgery

Well, my running career is on hold now that I just had arthroscopic ankle surgery. My foot was hurting pretty badly since I took a spill off a ski lift at Mt. Snow. I guess it didnt help either that I continued to ski on it for a few days and also tried to run on it. Not smart. Seek medical help immediately if you ever have pains after an accident. You'll only make it worse.

The Hospital for Special Surgery is the best place to go in Manhattan from what I've heard and only one ankle surgeon there takes insurance and that's Dr. Andrew Elliott. I'm scheduled for surgery there this Thursday, September 18.

I'll post details and pictures on the surgery in upcoming posts. Wish me luck!

Half Marathon Training Guide

My wife wanted to run a competitive race for the first time before she turned 30 and so she decided to run the Nike Half Marathon in July of 2008. We came up with a training guide based on training guides online and she was able to stay healthy and finish in 2:12 - about a 10 minute/mile pace!

She had a base of about 10 miles per week for about a month and then started the more rigorous training. The key was to run 3 to 4 days a week (every other day) for 2 months. Running every other day helped her stay away from overuse injuries, stay fresh, and heal quicker. 1 day per week was the long run that increased up to 10 miles about 2 weeks before the race. Another day in the middle of the week was the speed workout (aka fartleks). The other days were easy runs focused on keeping a pace throughout the run.

Here's the training guide:

Week 1: 4M 4F 3M 5L
Week 2: 4F 4M 6L
Week 3: 3F 4M 3M 7L
Week 4: 4F 4M 3M 8L
Week 5: 4F 5M 9L
Week 6: 5F 5M 10L
Week 7: 4F 5M 6L
Week 8: 3M 3M 13.1L

KEY
#M=keep a pace for # miles
#F=speed/fartlek workout (includes 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down)
#L=long run