Client 9 once wore Bib No. X887

Late in 2006, before he was the New York Governor or the now infamous Client 9, Eliot Spitzer was the New York State Attorney General, and who would have thunk it: A runner.
The astute editors at Runner's World combed through their archives and found an interview they did with Spitzer in their monthly “I'm a Runner” feature.
In the interview, Spitzer said he runs two or three miles five times a week and listens to Springsteen or Dire Straits on his Ipod. In 2006, he was running for governor, which made for many long days. “My wife doesn't mind when I slip out at 5 a.m. She just asks that I don't turn on the lights,” Spitzer told Runner's World's Toby Tanser.
And get this, Spitzer ran a marathon, the New York City Marathon, in 1983. His time was 3:58:43. He wore Bib No. X887.
Here is the Runner's World interview with Spitzer, which was published in December 2006.
This picture of Spitzer is courtesy of Flickr. He is running the Utica Boilermaker 5K last July. He finished in 26:15, an 8:27 minute/mile pace.

Putting the brakes on a bad wheel

So, what’s wrong with my leg?

My normal doctor, who has run many marathons himself, was not in today so I had to see his partner. And the news didn’t get any better after that, though, it could have been worse.

After getting poked and prodded and questioned like I was Eliot Spitzer - (Ooops, he didn't stick around to answer any questions!), the doc came up with this prognosis: Gastrocnemius muscle strain (calf); Achilles tendinitis, and a slight case of plantar fasciitis.

He gave me a script to take a cortisol pill once a day for five days, and said I should not resume running for three weeks, though he added that I could start stretching my calf after I finish taking the pills. So, maybe that means I can actually start running in five days instead of three weeks.

I’m going to make this promise to myself: I will not run until I am pain free.

I’ve got an appointment with my normal doctor on April 2. So for the next three weeks, I’ll try to stay sane by drinking wine (I know I promised myself not to drink during the week _ but hey, what am I to do when I can’t run?), playing with my 7-month-old son, who I am absolutely in love with, and blogging.

I may even, gulp, get on an exercise bike just to keep up my cardio fitness.

Speaking of Spitzer, the guy who is going to take his place as Governor of New York, David Paterson, is a runner. In 1999, he ran the New York City Marathon in 6:06:00. But don’t smirk at that time, folks. Paterson is legally blind.

Go here to see a previous post on marathon times of famous people. Credit: Wikipedia.

It's Super Tuesday. How fast can your favorite presidential candidate run?

Obama or Clinton? Romney or McCain?
What if we picked our president based on their marathon time. Here are some political figures and their marathon times.

George W. Bush, 1993 Houston Marathon, 3:44:52
Michael Dukakis, 1951 Boston Marathon, 3:31:00
John Edwards, 1983 Marine Corps Marathon, 3:30:18
Al Gore, 1997 Marine Corps Marathon, 4:58:25
Mike Huckabee, 2005 Little Rock Marathon, 4:39:04

For a list of other famous people who've run marathons, go here.

Off the beaten path...
This morning, I went out on a tempo run. These are my favorite training runs. I can fly without running so hard it feels like a race, and I'm done in an hour, so its not a long run.
I ran with a group of runners that meet at Luke's Locker off of University Drive in Fort Worth. It's a 6 a.m. run. I did seven miles in 56:21, which is about a pace of 8:05 a mile. Heart rate averaged about 87 percent, but it soared to 92 percent the last 15 minutes because there were some crazy hills. It was also 62 degrees with humidity of about 80 or so percent. So, I feel pretty good about the shape I'm in. I had a shin splint flare up on mile 2, but gutted my way through it. Afteward, I had an endurox shake for recovery. Ah, sugar never tasted so good.