Hurricanes

Since the pain in my achilles area still hadn't gone away, but had instead spread to my right leg as well, I decided it was time to possibly try a different shoe style. I have been wearing Mizuno Wave Creations for quite awhile, and have always liked the firmness of them, but a little reflection helped me realize that maybe this was the problem - especially considering the weekly mileage that I have been averaging.
I went to the store last night in search of something with a little more cushion and some moderate pronation control (I slightly overpronate at best, but figured a little support in this area might help the pains I've been having). I came out with a pair of Saucony Hurricane 10's. I already put 20 miles on them this morning and couldn't be happier with my decision to switch to them - I didn't know what I had been missing all this time. I felt great the entire 20 miles, finishing stronger and faster than at any other point during the run, and had none of the achilles area pains that I had recently been experiencing even on shorter runs. The area is a little tight right now, but nothing like before and no more than what I would normally expect after 20 miles. If the family weren't waiting for me a tome to get to church, I would have liked to have kept going longer today - the extra cushioning in these shoes compared to what I was used to really helped keep my legs fresh.

Next week I'll get an extra early morning start and go for 24-26 miles, then I'll probably go down in mileage for a rest week before building the mileage back up again.

Running is an all-weather sport

I logged 18 miles yesterday in single digit temperatures, and during the 2.5+ hours that I was running, I had plenty of time to contemplate my sanity. Not sure that I came to any definite conclusions, but I knew that I was happy to be running despite the icicles forming from my eyelashes.

Actually, it really wasn't that bad - I was slightly overdressed and working up quite a sweat (an odd sensation when the temps are that cold). For my upper body, I wore a long sleeve tech-T, a long sleeve 1/4 zip heavy tech-T, and my new running jacket with fleece vest liner. For the legs I wore tights with running pants on top, regular running socks with thin dress socks over them (mainly to ensure I had something over my ankles), light gloves inside a pair of my hunting mittens, and a face mask. I put Aquaphor on the exposed portion of skin around my eyes.

Normally, if I overheat, I would just shed a layer, but due to the extreme temps, I was afraid of shedding a layer and then exposing sweat dampened clothing and figured that wouldn't be very good. Fortunately, I was able to get used to the extra clothing and monitored the situation by lowering/raising the zipper on my jacket - it's amazing how much heat can be released or retained by doing this. I was also afraid to pee behind a bush as I normally would from a real fear of a mid-stream freeze possibly leading to even more troubles.

Aside from the shear weight of all the extra clothing, the mask also made for very labored breathing. It has holes in the mouth and nose area, but still obstructed the air from flowing freely. My water bottle froze too (guess I should have been able to predict that), but luckily my route looped back by my car a little past midway where I had another bottle that was still in liquid form.

I didn't really want to be out in the cold yesterday, but not running would have made me very grumpy, and I didn't think I could last that long on a treadmill. As I told Mendy, "I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't get my run in." Oh well, I guess there are worse hang-ups to have.

Back in Action

Finally! After 8 days of virtually no running (1 mile total for the duration) I couldn't take the rest for my ankle any longer and decided to try it out this morning on the treadmill. Despite a dull, but tolerable pain in the trouble area, all went well. I had been nervous that I might start losing my running fitness soon, and I had a ton of anxiety from not running for this long. The anxiety wasn't because I wasn't exercising, I have been doing plenty of other cross training for that aspect, but just from not being able to do something that I so enjoy.
After a few minutes warm-up, I started running at a fairly conservative 8:30 pace. As I realized things were going well, I ended up turning the 5 miles into a progressive run and accelerated a bit every 1/2 mile to an ending pace of 7:20.
Funny thing is, prior to the injury, I had just decided to start working on developing more of a mid-foot strike as opposed to the slight heel strike that I currently have. As I employed some of these techniques this morning, the slight lingering pain that was still there seemed to improve and lessen with the mid-foot strike...all the more reason to keep working on it I guess. It's too early to tell for sure, but as this was the first time I had consciously tried working on this while on a treadmill, I could tell a noticeable difference in the ease of speed when using the mid-foot. It was apparent that I was running slightly faster - without more effort - because I would creep toward the front of the belt clipping the frame with my toes every time I did it for a while.
I've got my new bike set up on a trainer next to treadmill, so I hopped on it after the run for about 10 miles of cycling.
I need to remember to be cautious and take a couple more easy sessions as there was still a little discomfort, but I am thrilled to be back in action.

Itching to Run

I haven't been able to run since last Sunday's 12 mile recovery run after the the Gobbler Grind. Everything felt fine during and even immediately after that day's run, but later in the day I started developing a soreness in the tendons on the back of my left leg below the calf. I don't remember any specific twist, turn, or otherwise damaging event, but the pain developed none-the-less. I've laid off the running all week to give it time to heal as it may simply be from over use, but I'm getting really sick of this. It doesn't hurt anymore to walk around throughout the day, but as soon as I start the running motion is when it kicks in. This past 6 days has been the longest stretch I've gone with zero running in a long time and I really miss it. I'd rather be a little cautious now and let things heal correctly than risk some sort of more serious injury that could have me out for awhile.

This forced week off did help me decide to definitely not run the Fat Ass 50K on January 1st. My early '09 schedule is getting pretty full and I had been debating the merits of trying to squeeze this run in and whether it would be too much to try and be ready for in just a few weeks, and then have time to recover and be ready again for another 50K in February. Without this week for training - the deal is off for that event, which is probably for the better in terms of the long term plan.

I did have some fun this week with some cross training to offset the lack of running. In addition to adding some leg work back into my weight routines, I started swimming. My first day was a total disaster. Kid lessons were being given at the pool so there were a ton of parents (in street clothes) sitting around the pool watching. Needless to say, I felt a bit subconscious walking amongst all the fully clothed people, and even more so as I flailed along the length of pool gasping for air as 10 year olds passed me with ease. My stroke resembled more that of a golden retriever than the dolphin I had anticipated in my mind. The second day went much better - I went early morning so there were no kids and parents, and I was able to gain a little more confidence in my stroke. I am determined more than ever now to become a good swimmer, I'm even going to take a couple of private lessons because I really have no idea how to swim properly. The only down side to going to the pool early morning is the abundance of naked old men in the locker room...

Gobbler Grind

Yesterday was the Gobbler Grind Marathon in Overland Park. I finished in 3:38, a little slower than my ultimate goal, but I am still happy with the time and a place of 35th out of 202 runners. At 16 miles, I was still on pace for a 3:30, but ended up hitting the dreaded wall somewhere around mile 21 and slowed down significantly. I was able to pull it back together for the last mile and a half, but that stretch immediately preceeding seemed to take forever.

At the finish area I caught up with a friend of mine, an experienced marathoner, who came in just slightly behind me and had set a new personal time record. The competitive side in me was happy to come in ahead of him, but I was truly glad he got the time he was after, and I could see on his face when he crossed the line that he was too.

As we talked and waited for our wives to finish, one of Mendy's friends who had come down to cheer her on found me and told me she had saw Mendy on the course and she wasn't doing well - her ankle was giving her a lot of trouble, and not to expect her too soon. We waited for awhile and eventually I decided to start walking the course backwards to find her and help her in. After walking 2 miles, I found her walking along with another girl. I was relieved that she had somebody to walk with because the course had really thinned out by this point. As it turns out, she had been walking for about 6 miles to that point, and we walked the final 2 miles in together. Obviously, she was upset to have had the troubles, but I was very proud of her for sticking it out and completing the entire distance, regardless of the her time.

It was while I walked the course in reverse for those couple miles and then in again with Mendy, that I gained a newfound respect for the folks in the back of the pack. I've always respected people for simply finishing their event regardless of distance or time, but I had never considered the extra efforts some people go through to get this done. Whether they were injured, elderly, out of shape, or just simply slow, these people were trying and they were trying hard. There were some that were obviously content and had planned on walking from the start, but ultimately they had set out on a mission and completed it, regardless of their circumstances. In many cases, they had more obstacles to overcome and had put in more effort in than the front runners. Not everyone can be the prototypical "runner", but they can put forth the effort to achieve something great.

Somewhere along the course I remember a spectator holding up a sign that read, "only 1% of people ever complete a marathon". I don't know if that's true, but I thought back to that as I witnessed these people pushing through the end of 26.2 long miles. They (Mendy and myself included) were in the processing of completing a task that very few people will ever have the courage to even embark on training for, let alone stick to the plan and ultimately complete. It is this kind of personal drive and motivation that I am happy to be associated with and love to see in people. It is something that transcends money, fame, or even climbing the career ladder. Nobody got a promotion or a prize for doing what they did, but we are all better for it.

Preparations

This past Friday morning was my last true training run before the marathon this coming weekend. I ran my typical route for that day of 7 rolling miles from my front door to the highway and back averaging 7:33 per mile. The weekend before I ran 15 miles at an easy 7:55 pace. Overall, I'm pleased with the pace I've been running over the past several weeks, as I have been taking deliberate training efforts to get it down, but I'm a little uncertain of my overall preparations for the race this coming weekend.
I would have preferred to get a 20+ miler in between the Dogwood 50K and this weekend, but time just didn't allow to safely get that kind of mileage in. Oh well, it's not the distance that I'm worrying about covering, it's a silly little obsession with time - I would be thrilled to run 3:30. I'll be happy with a solid finish, but I have that nagging time goal in the back of mind. Judging by my shorter distance runs, the time is attainable, but is certainly not a given or necessarily even likely. My fear is that I start too fast in hopes of hitting it, and then die off in the final miles and come limping in. But if I don't start out right, chances of picking up the required time with a major negative split could prove difficult. Oh well, I'll just run hard by feel this weekend and see what happens.

Running for Love

Mendy and I had Saturday evening and Sunday to spend alone together without kids this weekend - they went to Meemaw and Peepaw's house. Saturday night we went out for sushi then to see the movie Fireproof (which is a great movie once you look past some not-so-great acting). Sunday morning we decided to run together, which we rarely get the chance to do. She typically runs on Saturday mornings with a group of other girls, and I run long on Sunday mornings. This schedule actually works really well for the boys and our lives, as I'm typically home prior to time to go to church.

She needed to run about 18 miles to keep up with her training for an upcoming marathon we're doing. Due to last weekend's race, I wasn't originally planning on going quite that far, but figured I'd might as well. Although we run at substantially different paces when not together, we stayed side by side throughout the entire run until we hit the college track at the end. It's kinda tough to run slower than what you're used to for an extended period, but I really enjoyed the time together with her this morning. I'm thankful that we can share an interest in running, and that she is who she is. I'm thrilled that we can spend time doing something like this and support each other in our goals - whether they be running or otherwise. It's a great place to be, when selfishness is set aside and loving each other takes priority.