A few months ago I purchased a tenkara rod and decided to take up this Japanese style of very minimalist fly fishing. This month the small streams in the area finally opened up and I’ve felt like a little kid with a cane pole going out fishing. I’ve been out a half dozen times on streams in western and eastern Washington and have caught easily over a hundred trout now on my 11′ Iwana rod and a single kebari that I tied. This is the most fun I’ve had fly fishing in a long time and I’m only catching 6-10″ fish for the most part. Recently I began exploring a small stream only 15 minutes from the house and am having a blast catching dozens of small trout on each outing with a few big-uns up to 9-11″. It brings back memories of being 10 years old and first learning to fly fish when an 8′ rod seemed way too long and I couldn’t really cast but could lay out 10′ of line and pull a bluegill out of a farm pond. I’m totally hooked now and plan on spending the rest of the summer wading small streams and working on becoming a tenkara bum.
Monthly Archives: June 2013
Dealing with Upper Hamstring Tear
Where my tear is located
Three months ago I was out on a light morning run in St. Edwards Park with some other local runners, doing a few laps of a 5-mile course. Somewhere after the big uphill I felt a bit of a pull in my right hamstring. We finished the lap and stopped to meet up with some other runners and I could barely walk. I bagged on the rest of the day and went home to ice the leg. I rested it most of the week, iced and took ibuprofen. Five days later I tried to do a light 2 mile run and couldn’t do it.
Off I went to the doctor to get this checked out. Grade Two hamstring strain was the diagnosis and I was told 4-8 weeks of recovery and sent off to physical therapy. The PT consisted of a lot of balance and squats along with stretching, electro-stim and ultrasound. About two weeks in the pain moved from my hammy up into my butt and hips to the point where I could no longer even sit let alone run. A friend recommended a different sports clinic so I decided to give them a try. At Elite Sports & Spine I started getting A.R.T. (Active Release Techniques) and Graston treatment and within three weeks was actually feeling a bit better to the point where I was told to try some light running. Running didn’t really seem to make things worse and I slowly built up a bit of mileage, I even did an event. Once I got to the 5-mile mark though I just could not seem to go any further and the pain started up again.
Becoming a trail running photographer
This past year I have spent more and more time behind the camera at events and for the rest of this season it appears it is going to be my primary way of participating in runs. How did this happen?
Way back in high school I was introduced into the world of photography by a friend who I met in my summer driver’s ed class. He happened to be in the journalism class and worked as a photographer. I got interested and soon joined the darkroom gang and learned the basics of photography on an old Pentax camera using B&W 35mm film. I shot sporting events, yearbook groups, activities in the school, etc… and was soon in charge of the darkroom and photographers for my senior year.