Okay,
once i tell you this I know your going to think, "Man, he's stupid."
But I got this little game for when my mind starts to wander out there on the long runs.
Now, the conditions have to be right and believe me you'll know when they are right.
But I like to count how many steps I can run with my eyes closed... Alright, everybody
together, "He's stupid." I know, I had it coming.
But like i said when the conditions are right; no traffic, no curbs, no steep drop-offs I
challange you to try it. It makes you focus on sound and like balance or something.

Now, I'm flashing back to the movie "The Jerk" with Steve Martin and the "OPTI-GRAB."
I can just see me being sued by a bunch of runners because they tried my little game and now
they can't pay their medical bills.
The game is definatly not for everybody so please be careful and remember I am a trained athlete.
if you have trouble rubbing your stomach and patting your head please use extreme caution. In fact I
suggest you having a partner the first couple times you play. Someone you really like and trust and more importantly someone who likes and trusts you.

Have fun, Shut up and Run,
Deano

Wow!!!
2009.
Good thing that Y2k thing didn't work out the way "they" said.
I'm ready for it, Bring it on.
Things have been great! Still haven't fixed my toe problem 100%
but we're working on it.
The doctor doesn't want to cut and quite honestly I don't want him to either but I
don't want to find out in June that it wasn't what they thought it was and the orthotic
didn't work so now we have to consider surgery. I still have New York to run this year.
But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I'm registered for the Nashville Half,
so that will be a good gauge for hor things are going to feel.
I'll keep my fingers crossed, but for now I'll just...
Shut up and RUN.

Deano

Well I met with the orthopedic therapist and I discovered some interesting things.

First, as the doctor mentioned, I don't have a neuroma. There's no numbness or tingling going on down there to suggest my problem is nerve related. The only pain I've ever experienced is a burning sensation between my second and third toes after about eight miles. Seems as though neuroma symptoms are constant.
I also found out the arch on my right foot, which is the one that usually hurts the most, has fallen a little bit.
Not completely, just enough to make me pronate a little more than usual.

Also, and the most interesting, is I've been running in the wrong type of shoes.
I've been running in Brooks Beasts for about the last 8 years. I figured, I'm a heavy... um, BIG BONED guy I need a shoe that can support me and give me comfort as well.
I knew the Beasts were a motion control platform, so I figured even better, keep me running straight. No pronation no supination, just nice straight running.
Well, the shoe was doing just that. Keeping me on the balls of my feet and not allowing my feet to perform the natural pronation that is required when running. I never let my other metatarsals have any fun. It was always the ones in the middle doing all the work.
So much, that I developed calluses on the balls of my feet.

Well Surprise! Surprise! Who'd a thunk it! I was totally blown away. I thought I was doing myself a favor by choosing a motion control / stability shoe, turns out I was wrong.

I went through with the casting, waited for them to come in like a kid waiting for Christmas and went to Fleet Feet here in Brentwood, Tn., By Dr. orders, to be fitted with new shoes. I hadn't done that before, I just went and bought by feel.

I must say having someone analyze your gait and the way your knees track, etc., etc., makes you feel so special. These folks were serious. And it wasn't a hurry up commissioned sales person rushing me through a couple pairs of shoes to make a sale and move on to the next person in line. It was a concerned associate who would have sat there with me all day until I was completely satisfied. I was thoroughly pleased!

So now with new orthotic insoles, new shoes, I should be ready to have a new out look on running. I'm so ready for it too.
A couple of days ago I ran with Jeff and Tom, a team member from Florida, and it was killing me to hear all the talk about New York. I so bad wanted to tell them...

SHUT UP AND RUN,
But I can relate to their excitement. I'll feel it again!

Run strong my friends and always have an experienced opinion when purchasing new shoes, it will make a world of difference.
Bite that Big Apple
And bring a piece home.
Love ya,
Deano

P.S A special Thanks to Heather Stacey at Orthotic Therapy for getting me back on track.
Hope they didn't smell too bad... I washed them extra good.

Thursday September 25, 2008

Well, unfortunately it's come to this.
I've been knocking it around for the past few weeks and I've finally decided to pull out of this year's marathon.
This has been the most difficult decision I've had to make in a long time.
The neuroma has become too much for me to handle and I'm going to seek medical help.
I've made an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon to figure out the best way to tackle this thing. And whether it's an orthotic, or surgery, I will do whatever it takes to make it better.
Realizing I won't be able to participate in this year's event kills me. All the hard work that everyone has put into making it possible for me to be part of this, I feel as if I'm just throwing it out the window.
But please understand it has never been in my character to leave something I've started, unfinished.
I've been running with this neuroma since 2000 and in 2003, during my training for my first NYC Marathon I began to get concerned and saw a podiatrist. I was so far into my training, that surgery, nor orthotics was an option, so I ran through it. In 2007 during my training I was in quite a bit of pain so I thought I would try a cortisone shot. I will NEVER do that again and I highly recommend any one who is considering a cortisone shot for a fix to reconsider. It's painful and makes the injected area so tender that it was difficult to even walk on it the day after.
I have to listen to my body and stop trying to run through the pain and I refuse to train to finish with a slower time than last year.
Isn't the whole idea behind training to get better?
So my plan is to see the surgeon on Tuesday the 30th, find out what his diagnosis is and get on track to getting better so I can run the marathon in 2009 and do the best I've ever done.
I may be down but I'm not out.
I will continue to blog throughout this period and hopefully, be able to help out in the up coming races but it's time. I'm tired of running in pain.
Thank you everyone for your countless hours of work and all the heart felt support. I will miss the excitement, the anticipation, the boroughs, and the bridges but mostly the friends and faces that make me want to be a better runner and ultimately a better person.
Say "Hello" to the park for me,
Deano

8.28.08

Today has been good. I had the wonderful privilege of taking my youngest to rehearsal with me. He had a blast! He insisted on taking his fiddle and sunglasses. I guess you could have called him my "Mini-me." I love my job, I thank God everyday for the blessings he has bestowed upon me and I wouldn't change a single solitaire thing. But it was hard getting to this point and even now things aren't always easy in fact, things aren't ever easy. And I sometimes wish that they would choose another choice of occupations to avoid the harsh life of a true starving musician. I've been there and I'm not sure I'll be able to watch my little ones go through it. But who knows, I'm in a different place than my folks were and I might be able to help them through the rough spots if they do choose to follow my footsteps.
Crazy things you think about when you become a parent.
Well, we head to Red Wing Minnesota tomorrow for a show. Looking forward to jamming with the fellas.
Not looking forward to the flight there but whadayagonnado?
Supposed to get my long one on Saturday I'll have to get there and see if the area works in my favor if not I'll have to wait until I get home.
No biggie! It's gonna do what it's gonna do baby.
I'll quit for now, I need to throw some stuff in a bag and get ready to fly.
So for now I gotta shut up and run,
Deano

Okay,
When we set out on our vacation our goal was not only see family and friends but to make the trip special. Give the boys something they'd remember forever. We made some cool stops along the way, but I think the events of the last few days here in my hometown will overshadow the memories we made on the way here.
Tropical Strom Dolly began to be the subject of everyone's conversation here in south Texas on Monday the 21st. Still unsure if the storm would become a full-blown hurricane or not we went about our business as usual. Tuesday would bring the news that everyone hated to hear, Dolly was now a category 1 hurricane and headed straight for the Lower Rio Grande Valley . . . US.
Our plans of visiting South Padre Island would have to wait for now, it was time to stock up on the necessities water, canned goods, bread, batteries, candles. Although Dolly was only a category 1 it still had the potential to grow and grow she did. By the time Dolly hit land on Wednesday she was a category 2.
I was born in 1967 the year that hurricane Beulah ripped through this area and although I don't remember any of the details the stories of the flooding and roofs being ripped off and telephone poles snapping like tooth picks made me worry for the well being of my vacationing family.
The boys were freaked as well. They witnessed first hand a city preparing for the worst and praying for the best. The sandbag frenzy in the city square, people taping up their windows and bringing in anything that Dolly could set in flight, the lines at the gas stations, put a realism on the situation that showed on their little faces.
The lights went out 6:30 pm on Wednesday night the wind gust by that time were down to 85 miles per hour, and we were riding it out it true hurricane party fashion at my mother-in-laws. We convinced the boys that everything would be okay and they finally went to sleep to the sounds of Dolly screaming outside our door. Before we knew it; it was morning and all was calm but the destruction was visible everywhere.
We spent all day yesterday helping my brother clean up the debris from the downed trees and limbs that landed in his yard. Today the flooding has gone down but power is still out to over twelve thousand people just here in my home town, wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't 98 degrees with 80% humidity. Over all we are all safe and sound and all of our family is doing great everything else can be replaced or fixed. As for our vacation...we're still here I'm still running and Dolly will forever be a part of the Brown family

Well...
where do I begin? so much has happened since I was here last.
I have to admit, I'm not real good at this...Blogging... I keep a journal and have for years, and
getting in the habit to Blog is still new. And to top it off, my typing skills are, well uh, they suck. But hey, I'm making the effort.
The training is going well. We're on a three week run so we have some time to get in to a routine.
I think the hardest part of training out here especially during the summer is trying to get to bed early enough to be able to wake up early enough to beat the heat. Yesterday in Phoenix the high was 114 degrees. Fortunately I was done by then. John Boy, our bass player tried to fry an egg on a rock, not quite hot enough. But if it's hot enough to make someone find an egg and a suitable rock on which to fry it on... you know it's hot.
Today we're in Vegas. I was up and out by 7:00am. I got 5 and other than feeling like I swallowed a sweater,
it was great!



If this worked, I attached a map of the run I ran. I found this Map My Run web site that's been real fun and helpful in locating areas to run. Check it out!
I had a very special Father's Day this year. Although I really wished I could have been home with Cindy and the boys we were in Washington D.C. this year and some of the guys in the band, the Warren Brothers, Lance Miller, and Tim's cousin, Cathy Rainey and I all went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to visit with some soldiers and play some music. It was the most amazing show of the awesome spirit these young men and women of the military have. I met some real Heros... HEROS.
Mike, Curtis, Brian, Steve, are just a few of the guys I met and the impression they left on me will never be forgotten. We actually visited the Mologne House, kind of a Ronald McDonald House for the families of soldiers who have just recently been released from Walter Reed. Many with serious injuries they sustained while in battle, and all were in their twenties... just kids.
And when I would ask them what do they wanted to do when they got better they all said, " go back!"
I left the Mologne House a different person. Forever affected by total strangers that put their lives on the line to insure our freedom and safety.
I know it's not hardly enough but, Thank You!

Indianapolis Indiana...
This morning I rolled out of my bunk and peaked outside where I was greeted by gray skies and rain. The kind of weather that makes you want to get back in bed and snuggle with your special someone... or ... a good book which ever fits your situation. Today it was a book. I'm still reading James Bradley's Fly Boys a true story of some airmen shot down in the Pacific during WWII. I say still because my neighbor gave me this book way before Christmas and Im only about half way through it. It's so atrocious that I can only handle little bits at a time but still a remarkable story. So I read for and hour or so then made my way to the hotel room to clean up and get on with the day.
I was totally clueless as I often am, about our location but as soon as we pulled in front of the venue I recalled playing this place years ago when we were on tour with Little Texas and Black Hawk. The memory jogger was the large pond in front of this venue, The Verizon Wireless Music Center, which I'm sure 12 years ago was called something else. We fished that pond all day!! Until our thumbs were raw from holding open the mouths of the fish we caught to remove the hooks. It was great! Pulling in I wished I had a fishing pole.
Today was a day off for me. We caught a quick three yesterday in Detroit, Michigan and Jeff and I will be running tomorrow in Chicago in the 2008 Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Mile.
That's going to be Great!!
What A crazy life I lead
Runnin', Rockin', and Rollin'
I am truly blessed.