Savage Thoughts

On Running and Other Matters

Keith Ambrose - My ThoughtsMy thoughts on running. Here is what I wrote back on July 26, 2011.

“I just started this blog today. My pseudonym is Jason Savage. I have been using it in business for more many years. All the runners know me by my given name – Glenn Dennis. I use my given name on race registrations so my old friends will know me when they see results posted on line or in the Running Journal.

Continuing with My Thoughts

I will be sharing my history as a runner and avid road racer. I will also touch on the subject of injury and the issues of dealing with them as one gets older.

I will be heading to Charleston, SC this weekend to attend a very dear friend’s, Coralie Leonard, 99th birthday party. I’m looking forward to that as well as having a few beers with my old British running buddy, Keith Ambrose, pictured here. A couple of geezers pouring down a Guinness. I took that photo when we met in Wilmington, NC and ran the Tri-Span 10K on July 8, 2006. More later.”

In Memorium – To My Sister

Jun 29, 2015 | Misc

My sister, Valli Louise Dennis Schieltz, passed away on the morning of June 29, 2015. She fought a courageous battle against cancer, but it finally took her life. She was sixty-four years old. This photo of Val with her doll was taken outside a home on Harvard Road when we lived in Winston-Salem. That street was only one block over from our house. Val loved her dolls when she was growing up. It was a blessing for me to be able to edit her books and get them into print before she passed. She received proof copies several weeks ago. It seems like only yesterday when we were playing together at our grandmother’s home in Elizabeth, NJ. It’s almost unbelievable how fast time passes. Before you know it, loved ones are gone, and we are left with only memories. Val’s book, Valli’s Valley, contains a lot of photos, including some of our grandmother’s magnificent home. Clink the link and get one or both of her books. You can also find a link to her books on her Web site. I will maintain her site as a tribute to her life. I will miss not hearing her voice and receiving her weekly calls. She is now without pain in her new home. Thank you for being a wonderful sister. God bless... read more

Injuries

Jan 18, 2015 | Running

As you may have noted, I am an older runner. I turned 62 on June the 8th in 2011. When I speak of injuries, I am relating my issues as I have aged. When I was racing in my late 20’s through my early 40’s, I was fortunate not to have any injuries. In my early 50’s I began to have some trouble with plantar fasciitis. A few days off and some ice usually took care of it. I also began to have some hamstring issues. When you get older, unpleasant things can begin to happen. In my mid 50’s I can remember just jogging up a rather steep hill during an easy ten mile run, and I suddenly pulled my left hamstring. That knocked me out for a week. I probably started back too soon because I then pulled my right hamstring. That was a mess. I missed a lot of time recovering. Later I started having achilles tendon problems. In an unrelated accident, I broke a toe back in late November, 2010. That kept me away from running for a while. I began running two miles every other day in early January, 2011. I had put on about twenty extra pounds, so I wasn’t feeling all that great. I felt like an elephant. I built my mileage up very slowly until I reached 50 miles a week in June. I was not doing any speed work. My weight was coming down. I started doing speed work (30 x 30’s) in mid June, and that did my left foot in. Plantar fasciitis struck my left foot with a... read more

Mr. Wonderful. Oh My! Shark Tank

Jan 28, 2014 | Misc

Mr. Wonderful on @ABCSharkTank sometimes speaks with forked tongue. I am a regular viewer of Shark Tank, ABC’s hit show that lures budding entrepreneurs onto the set to, at times, do battle with the rich and famous. If you pay attention, you can learn from the presentations and reactions. But on more than one occasion, two plus two doesn’t add up to four. Case in point. The January 24 episode introduced a musician hawking a pill that potentially could keep a person from starving to death given an unforeseen bad situation. This presentation had its issues, among them, as the sharks so vehemently pointed out, were no research, no testing, no FDA approval, and on and on. They got quite upset with this guy. Enough already. I focused on one point Mr. Wonderful targeted. I’ll paraphrase it. “How can I make money with this product? A person will buy it one time and that’s it.” The implication here – if the product doesn’t generate repeat sales, it can’t make money for the investor. Wait a minute. What about hammers? There are plenty of them on the market. I bought one once. But I don’t buy a new one every month. They’re still on the market making money for someone. The size of the target audience determines a product’s success given adequate marketing. Here’s another Mr. Wonderful pronouncement, “You haven’t got a business, you only have a product.” This statement, or a version of it, has been shared quite a few times. Implying what? My conclusion – so what? In a past episode, a Rabbi presented a plastic sound diverting... read more

Its A New Year

Jan 26, 2014 | Running

It’s a new year. How cold is it here in Raleigh? It has been a while since my last post. My blood work and CT scans all came back negative. So I continued with the walking. I was on the blood thinner Xarelto for nine months due to the DVT in my calf. When my doctor took me off the Xarelto, I thought I would try to do some mild jogging, which I did. The trochanteric bursitis in my right hip would not tolerate it. It hurt a lot! I kept walking and trying to increase my pace. The walking did not bother the hip too much. Over the months I got down to a 10:40 pace. At that point I tried jogging a little during the walks. At times the hip was OK and at times it hurt like the devil. After doing a lot of reading on the subject and speaking with other sufferers, I refused to try an injection. Today I am able to jog 20 miles a week at about a 9:00 to 9:30 pace.  The bursitis seems to be getting better very, very slowly. I don’t want to push it. My weight has a lot to do with the slow pace. I weigh in now at 176 lbs. That’s a far cry from my racing weight of 148. One of these days I hope to get back to racing. I cannot seem to lose weight unless I can run 40 – 50 miles a week. If I can reach that distance goal, maybe I can get the weight off. If I can lose the... read more

Scans

Feb 13, 2013 | Running

Zeus the Cat doesn’t care about my scans! My cat Zeus taking a little nap. He’s cool! Zeus will be three years old on June, 8, which is my birthday as well. I make him a card and get him a birthday cake every year. He never eats the cake. I take care of that. I had dye contrast CT scans of the pelvic region and X-rays of the hip done on Monday. I haven’t heard any results yet. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. I hope it’s a good thing. I’m pushing the walking a little. Today I managed a 13:12 per mile pace. Surprisingly the hip did not hurt much at all yesterday and today. I am hoping the walking will build up muscle around the bursa to take some of the stress off. Maybe that’s working. I’m not counting my chickens yet. I will post the results of the blood work and the scans as soon as they become available. My hematologist may wait until my February 14 appointment to discuss the... read more

A New Issue Has Come Up

Jan 28, 2013 | Running

This photo was taken of me running the 1986 Boston Marathon. Obviously, it was not a serious race for me. After I was diagnosed with trochanteric bursitis, I followed the recommended exercise recommendations to the letter. After months of doing those exercises, the hip still hurts. It’s still a major issue. So much for those. I decided to give biking a try. I built up my time slowly, and before long I was riding an hour or more a day at a fairly good pace for an old guy. On a hard day I was averaging 20 mph. The biking did not hurt my hip. On December 28, 2012 I was diagnosed with a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) in my left calf. My doctor immediately put me on the new blood thinner Xarelto. My hematologist is classifying the clot as provoked, so I am having lots of blood work done as well at a CAT scan and X-rays. They are attempting to figure out what caused this to happen. Due to the blood thinner, I decided to give up biking. If I took a serious fall and suffered a head injury, I could bleed to death. Xarelto has no counter agent to start the clotting process. A few weeks ago I started walking four to five miles a day. I had to do something. The hip still hurt, but I could tolerate it. After a week of power walking I tried to add a little very slow jogging. I would walk 200 paces and then slow jog 200 paces. That didn’t do the hip any good. It started hurting... read more

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