Winning Back What I Lost

sick w/ flu

sick w/ flu

sick w/ flu

T/M; 9 min pace at .5 incline; 1.5 miles of hill work; 1 mile of speed work at 7:30 pace

T/M: Interval training w/ alternating 5 min intervals of 9:30 pace and 7:47 pace

Ran w/ my son Martin outside; easy conversational pace; further than he's ever run before by at least a couple of miles; beautiful day, temp in the 60's w/ light wind; Overland to Five Mile down to Victory Rd and back home.  Lots of off-road running on Victory for the last 2+ miles as there is no paved shoulder on Victory Rd.

Evening run w/ my son accompanying on his bike; low 60's w/ light breeze; lots of loose gravel shoulder running w/ rolling terrain and a couple of good hills; 8:48 overall pace; Victory to Eagle to Columbia Rd to Cloverdale back to Victory Rd and home.

Quick run before bed to stay loose for tomorrow's long run; 7:52 pace

Ran to Kuna and back home; lots of rolling hills w/ one big one on Locust Grove and Amity; carried a water bottle w/ me; i'll never do that again; my shoulder's jacked up from holding it; planned on using my camel but it felt too weird to run in; didn't have any gels or gatorade; too long of a run w/o some fuel source; lots of loose shoulder running; overall not a bad experience but I'm learning what works for these longer runs; overall 9:12 pace felt much quicker.

Got home from business trip and decided to go for a late run w/ my son on his bike; top of my right foot was still hurting from my long run on Saturday; I think I injured it on the loose gravel incline shoulder of the road; swelled up pretty good and I may have to rest it which is a problem so near to my half marathon (12 days) and marathon (33 days); I'm going to ice it and soak it in epson salt real good and see how it responds tomorrow; 8:20 pace w/ one really good hill around mile 4.

T/M; decided to take it easy on my injured foot and run indoors; applied biofreeze to my foot and ankle and bypassed the middle laces on the top of my foot; the result was a nice pain-free running session; iced the top of my feet after the run; I'm now largely convinced that my injury was the result of tying my laces too tight on my long run; the loose fit took a little to get used to; felt like I was going to pull out my shoes at first but once I grew accustomed to it I  felt really strong; 8:15 pace; Post-run leg workout: 2 sets each of leg extensions; leg press; hip abductor; hip adductor; seated leg curl; and standing one leg press. 

Returned home from a business trip at 9:30 pm and was on the T/M by 10:00; my head was still spinning a bit and my ears hadn't fully unplugged but other than that I felt fine :-); Interval runs of 10 min at 7:50 pace and 5 mins at 8:57 pace; foot felt fine; ankle is feeling a bit wobbly though;  will have to watch it

T/M; Speed work today: 4x800 & 4x400 at 7:18 pace; 10 minute warm-up w/ 5 min cool down; I planned to do 8x800 but I was really gassed after 4; frankly, I was afraid that I would fatigue to the point that I'd end up flying off the back of the treadmill.

Returned home from my daughter's school fun night and decided to hit the road knowing that I'd be in Twin Falls all weekend at my son's soccer tourney; tried to do a tempo run at 7:45 and that lasted about 2 miles until I was totally gassed; 8:20 overall pace with the last 3 miles around 8:45

T/M; Spent all day in 90 degree weather outside at my son's soccer tourney; returned to hotel around 10pm and decided to hit their treadmill; I was more than a little worn out from all the sun but I managed to squeeze in some mileage; very proud of myself; 8:20 pace

T/M; I'm winding down the mileage in preparation for the Sun Valley 1/2 on Saturday; quick run building my pace from 8:57 to 7:47 from 2.5 miles to end; my legs felt very strong for a change and the soreness on the tops of my feet is almost gone.

T/M: Quick run; continuing the reverse taper in preparation for Saturday's 1/2 marathon; felt really good after having visited the chiropractor in the morning; seems my left hip was turned out and causing some pressure to my IT band muscles and lower knee; worked up to a 7:47 pace for the last 1.5 miles; 8:12 overall pace

T/M: Final run before the race on Saturday; visited chiro again today for another adjustment to my hip; he gave me a foam roller to help stretch my IT band and recommended some good stretching exercises; short run gradually increasing incline to 4.0 over 2 miles; 8:57 overall pace; my diet has been horrible the past week; gained a couple of pounds; hope to lose them before Saturday so I can be at my best; looks like the weather could be horrible (chance of thunderstorms and wind).

My first half marathon experience was quite eventful.  Rain, hail, no porta potties, steep hill climb at the start, only 4 water/gatorade stations (2 of which were in the first 2 miles); 6200 ft of altitude; lots of rollers and an uphill to the finish line made sure that I finished well below my 1:45 goal time.  Even with all of that, and a bad post race stomach ache from holding it the whole race, the experience was a net positive.  I tried to go out slow, at least what I thought was slow, on the 1 mile hill climb at the start (8:54).  I made up the time right away w/ some sub 8 min miles through mile 5.  I was in good shape to hit my goal but the altitude, lack of water between miles 2 and 7 caught up to me and I was hurting.  I tried to pick it up but another hill between mile 8 and 9 and steady uphill rollers until mile 11 set me back again.  The mile 11 turnaround was a nice downhill where I returned to my roughly 8:10 pace.  At that point I saw that I would salvage some dignity by finishing under 2 hours.  This seemed like a given until the last half mile to the finish which was uphill.  That's right, the start and finish were both uphill as a result of a last minute change in the location of the start/finish line on this loop course.  This was definitely no easy course- or so I was told by more than one racing veteran.  The altitude and the climbs/descents just sapped me.  I've actually had better times on training runs than what I ran today but none of my training runs have come close to the hill work I endured today. 

Nonetheless, it was a net positive experience.  I learned what not to do on this course (i.e. leave my aid belt and gu at home and eat yogurt and a bagel before the start and a cheeseburger and fries the night before.  But first and foremost, my wife and I were able to experience a nice weekend alone!  Hallelujah!

Rest.  Dull pain on outside of left foot. Feels like a bone bruise. 

Rest.  Foot is still barking.  Pain centered around lower left ankle at times and then it moves to heel.  Slight inflammation.  Other than icing it, I don't know what else to do.  Will be in Portland in trial all week and I'd planned on hitting the treadmill to begin tapering back up again after my race.  Really bothering me not to be able to run.  I'll ice and give it one more day.

Rest.  Ankle/heel on left foot is still bothering me.  Wore an ankle wrap all day and the pain has subsided after last nights icing.  I need to run to burn off these extra calories I'm consuming on the road.  Aaargh!

T/M: Got fed up with resting and decided to test my foot; used an ankle brace all day and it seemed to help; ran back from the Metro Station (Portland) after dinner back to the hotel and noted no extra soreness or pain; ran on a treadmill at my hotel; I felt really strong cardiovascularly; 8:12 overall pace seemed more like 9+ min pace

T/M: Awoke at 6:45 and decided to get another run in before checking out of the hotel and heading over to my hearing; quick run; felt good but noted a little residual soreness in my left ankle/foot; began to loosen up after the first mile; 8:20 overall pace

T/M:  Felt good enough to run again in the evening, 6+miles, to make up for my layoff this week; foot doesn't hurt nearly as much running as it does walking; .5 incline; 8:20 pace 

Woke up this morning and decided to run even though I ran late last night as I knew I wouldn't be able to tonight due to a Father/Son Campout; my foot felt even worse this morning; think I'll go to the doc if I can; 8:19 pace

Late run after a dinner BBQ filled with lots of carbs; felt a little guilty so I ventured off into the dark and the rain w/ my son on his bike; 8:30 pace

Note: Visited the local doc in the box yesterday about my foot; X-rays were negative for stress fracture; PA prescribed some strong anti-inflammatory meds w/ refills; early results are positive w/ reduced swelling and pain but still some residual stiffness in the foot and lower ankle; purchased cushioned heel supports that have also seemed to help.