It's not a stretch to say that I just like to put on my running shoes and go

I'm thrilled to be running again, but not so thrilled that I now have to do several  stretches twice a day and two stretches that I also have to do before and after each run.

My initial guess when I started having issues with my left leg in early November was that it was a very tight hamstring. The sports-medicine doctor got me worried that I might have a femoral stress fracture of the leg. Thankfully the MRI showed that this wasn't the case.

At rehab, one of the specialists told me that my left hamstring was about as tight as he's for with a runner. He also says that my right leg really could use 30 percent more flexibility.

I remember being frustrated about 12 miles into the Detroit Marathon (see my race report) that I couldn't maintain my planned race pace. I'm sure the tight hamstring, even though I had not noticed it at that point, had something to do with it. Given my Mulberry Half Marathon time, one of those conversion tables suggested that I could have even run a marathon faster than my goal time.



I've always been about as excited about stretching as Allen Iverson, above, is about practice. If I had no issues, I just laced up my Sauconys and hit the road. That mentality obviously caught up with me.

The strange part is that of all the stretches that they gave me, only one was close to a stretch that I had been doing in the previous month, and they have me doing that one differently. The "piriformis" stretch, above, is one of the stretches that I have to do before and after each run.

Hopefully these stretches will help loosen up my hamstring. I got fitted with orthotics that are supposed to come in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping that I'll be able to work my way to regaining the fitness level lost through marathon tapering and a month away from running during which I rode the bike.

My sports-medicine doctor suggested that it might be a good idea to switch from the marathon at the Tobacco Road Marathon on March 21 to the half marathon offered there. I haven't switched and will make a decision on that sometime in mid-January.

I ran 8 miles today and it felt good. Still notice the tightness, but at least it never has really been painful and I know, hopefully, that the stretching will make it better.

Roy's encounter with a Presbyterian fan

The ejection of Presbyterian fan Brian King has been spun in many different directions and, for the most part, North Carolina coach Roy Williams has been heavily criticized for what happened. Roy critics are piling on while folks looking through Carolina-blue glasses are saying that it's been blown out of proportion.

The above video gives you some idea of what happened after Roy heard King yell "miss it, Deon" to Deon Thompson as he was attempting a free throw.

It's clear to me that Roy overreacted by even interacting with the fan over this considering I've heard nobody say that there was any profanity. But I'm not sure it's fair to say that Roy "had him ejected." Obviously his actions led to the ejection, but I think that King was ejected only after security decided that he looked drunk.

According to King, he was told that, "this is Roy's house, and when Roy says you need to go, you go." Whatever you believe, King wouldn't have been ejected if Roy had ignored him.

King has admitted he had a couple of beers, but claims he wasn't drunk. A caller to David Glenn's radio show who was sitting in the area said that King was moved by security earlier in the game because he was sitting in a seat for which he didn't have a ticket.

Was Roy too sensitive? Probably, but the following comments he made on his radio show Monday give you some perspective about why he didn't like it (transcript courtesy of Inside Carolina):

"It’s strange that it has gotten a heck of a lot attention, but the good news is that I haven’t had to pay too much attention to it. I haven’t heard it, but people are telling me about it. It was unfortunate. Just to tell you in my opinion what happened… Let me give you some background first. In New York City, when we played Ohio State, it was the absolute worst scenario that I’ve ever had to put up with.

“A couple of guys about 10 feet from our bench screamed and yelled at us all night long. Yelled at our players and would say, ‘Deon Thompson – you stink.’ But they didn’t use the word ‘stink.’ Or ‘Dexter Strickland – you stink,’ but they didn’t use the word ‘stink.’ We had to listen to that garbage all night long and we had two different parents that sort of got a little disappointed, a little upset, could have gotten into a confrontation. The security guards did absolutely nothing and it really ticked me off. So I said, ‘I know we have to put up with that on the road, let’s just go.’ We didn’t say anything. Joe Holladay was sitting two or three feet from the guy, but we didn’t say anything whatsoever.

“Saturday night, all of a sudden, some guy stands up and starts yelling at Deon and it came from behind our bench. And you know how when some things happen, you instantly think of something? My first thought was, ‘Now our parents are having to listen to somebody else, and it’s in our own building.’ And so I turned around and I said, ‘Who said that?’ And about 40-50-60-70-80 people started pointing up at this guy. The guy gets up and starts gyrating with his arms and everything like, ‘Yeah, it was me,’ and that kind of thing. And it really did tick me off. I turned and said something to the ushers behind the bench and they started up through there, and I turned around and coached the game. I have no idea what happened. I never turned around to the guy again.

“But my feeling was immediately that our parents who sit right behind our bench have to put up with that stuff again in our own building. So that was it. And after the game, they told me that they had escorted the young man out. Supposedly what had happened was they had asked him for his ticket and he didn’t have a ticket or wasn’t supposed to be sitting in that seat. Supposedly, and I want to emphasis the word supposedly, he didn’t cooperate as much as they wanted, and they chose to take him out.

“Am I disappointed in the whole thing? Yeah, I’m disappointed that it happened. I’m disappointed that I even reacted to it. But again, in our own building, I don’t think that parents ought to have to listen to somebody chastising their son. And whether that’s right or wrong, that’s the way I am. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong. I hate that it happened. I wish that it never happened. Evidently, people have been getting after us all day [on Monday] or getting after me all day. But I tell you what, if that’s the only thing they’ve got to get after me about, I’m a happy young man… If I’m wrong, then that’s good, but I’m not apologizing.”

 He knows that all the barbs yelled at players are something parents are going to have to deal with during road or neutral-site games, but he didn't want them having to deal with it for a home game.

What stuns me is that I was sitting in the lower arena on the opposite side and didn't notice the ruckus at all and my sons didn't notice it either.

I think that Roy accomplished very little by what he did other than contributing to the removal of a PC fan who was irritating UNC fans with what he was yelling. It's also going to give the Cameron Crazies plenty of material for the Tar Heels' next visit to Hansbrough Indoor Stadium (as if they needed more.)

There are much bigger fan issues (see my previous blog entry) that Roy probably can't control: Fans not showing up for the weak opponents and many who show up acting like they're visiting a library.

I understand and support the reasons Roy gave for what he did, but wish he had just ignored Mr. King.

Thankfully returning to running!

I go into today's appointment with my sports-medicine doctor after enjoying zero runs since Nov. 15. I've not been running because he said that it could be a femoral stress fracture. If it was a stress fracture, I didn't want to do further damage. 


Because of insurance delays, the MRI didn't get done until last week. Today, I had the follow-up appointment with the doctor to tell me the results of the MRI. I wore my running shoes for the first time since Nov. 15, hoping that it would be good karma.


The doctor tells me that the MRI conclusively shows that I don't have a stress fracture (wish it didn't cost that much money to determine that!). I've got an appointment at the same place for a gait analysis Wednesday and I'll also be getting orthotics there.


The good news with the money spent on the MRI is that I've now met my deductible and insurance will pay for 85 percent of the cost of my orthotics. 

He said that there was a case kind of like mine where the person decided they didn't want the MRI and just kept running. It was a stress fracture, got worse and they had to put a rod in his leg. So it certainly was good to get the MRI to check.

The doctor said that taking nearly a month off of running definitely was helpful. He's wondering if I might need to switch from the marathon to the half marathon for the Tobacco Road Marathon races in Cary, N.C, in March, but I won't make a decision on that until mid-January.

It only took me 45 minutes after I returned from my appointment to go on a run. I went six miles and was happy that the almost-limping feeling I had experienced before in the first couple of blocks wasn't there. I still notice something going on there, but it's not pain. Now that I know it's not a stress fracture, I'm running through it.

Overjoyed to be running again!