Chaire Herodikos Selymbriaios!

530 with DG. Begged off yesterday as foot was quite stiff, but after a warmup mile this morning it started feeling pretty good and now is AOK. Having been through it once before maybe I have a better idea of how to manage.  

Nimbus orange.

530 w/ DG. Slept abominably: up at 3 and couldn't do nothin so I ended up working for an hour or two before the run. We went slow and talked politics, so that was fine. Fortunately I had nothing all morning so I called in, took a pill and got up at 10. I'll be glad when this is all over.  

Nimbus orange.

1 x lake in the PM. Felt very strong, had to hold myself back. Foot felt fine, good stretching afterwards.

Nimbus orange.

530 with DG. Yest and today was like, you know, night and day. Very stiff, ran like a granny. Then figured if I was going to be sore anyway might as well tack on three more miles. Don't know if that was the right thing to do or not, but there you have it.

Nimbus orange.

Misty morning hop on the island out to Fay Bainbridge and back. Worked kinda late and somehow was up at seven, so bleaaary eyed, but legs felt nice and toasty. Kept the pace slow and easy the whole way; nothing from the left foot until about 0:55 in (about the same as last week, but much less intense). It got noticeable at about 1:30, was eventually subsumed under general muscle fatigue and not a particular problem by the last mile.

Pretty satisfied with the run. Total time of 2:29. Nimbus Orange.

Kudos to all St Georgians. Slay dragon!

530 w/ DG + Fremont. We must have been slow, hit the street cleaner much earlier in the route. Waverider.

530 with DG + Fremont to 105th. The street cleaner is definitely coming out earlier. Foot took a while to warm up, then I didn't feel it again until the 55:00 mark. Amazingly consistent: you could tell time by it...

Waverider.

Very interesting run today. Been sleeping very little. Last night I was determined to get at least seven hours, which left relatively little time for a run before work. So I decided to go 4 miles, with two or three of it at something around my average marathon pace. Left foot was still stiff at the beginning. Did half a mile of 8:30ish, then to 7:10 for about 2400m. The foot has been acting up when I overdo, so I dialed down to 7:20, just under BQ pace. Could have kept that up for quite some time (one hopes, 26.2).

By this time I was feeling really good, and quite bummed in fact that I'd have to break it off and head to the office. Two meetings and three hours later, it still feels great. This is in stark contrast to previous occasions in recent days on which I've tried to stretch out a bit; although it always warms up after a mile or so the inflammation has been annoying, and anything over 8:00 was rather painful once I cooled down

Hard to disaggregate the variables, and granted I didn't run as far today. But I wonder if the inflammation in my foot may be partly a function of sleep deprivation. Waverider.

530 with DG + Interurban Trail to 145th. First four miles slow and then picked it up a mite, though the body wasn't moving that fast today--high sevens, I'd guess. Not feeling bad, just not-fast. This week is a high-water mark mileage wise anyway.

God stretching afterwards. Waverider.

Perfect running weather, thick layer of mist with sun behind it. Foghorns blowing up and down the Sound. Out to Fay Bainbridge +.  Objective was (a) to keep most of the miles under 8:30, and (b) not to ride the horse so hard he's out of commission for the rest of the week. The first went great: through 7 I had it well under 8 (until I decided to actually run down *into* Fay B. Park, whose access road is, I remembered belatedly, a 20% grade, kinda breeaking my rhythm) and I'd say 9 or 10 of the miles were also in the sevens. About (b), we'll have to see. Made the mistake of wearing big puffy socks instead of my usual hi-tech ones, and got a pretty impressive blister on the left instep. But other than that no obvious damage. Did get a bit bonkalicious at about mile 16, had to fight through that. Maybe it's time to start bringing some kind of sugary substance along, or maybe just a bottle of gatorade.

2:29 (8:17 average). Nimbus Orange.

530 w/ DG plus 4. Felt strong, ran easy. Could have run yesterday, but decided to keep the recovery day after long and medium runs until the marathon, while adding a mile or two to the daily total. No soreness yesterday, in any case, which bodes well. Ready for a good week.

530 with DG + Fremont to 120th. Moron bicyclist decided to yell profanity at 6:00 in the morning instead of calling her side, inspiring 1 x 200m strides on my part. I think she'd intended a hit and run, but I was keeping up with her pretty good there for a moment!

There was a lecture that everybody at work went to, so I came home a bit early to get a run in. Thursdays I'm on my own, and I wanted to see how my pace was looking. So after a mile and a half of warmup I started around Greenlake at a 7:20 pace, just sub-BQ. Took a mile or so to get the lead out, but after that I felt totally comfortable, it was great. Definitely capable of sustaining that for quite a while--whether for 26.2, that is the question. But with a couple of surges thrown in here and there, I'm feeling pretty good right now. An added bonus: the weather was totally inimical, with a ferocious wind that blew across the surface of the lake sending breakers all the way to the other side of the jogging path. (For those that don't know Seattle, Greenlake is basically an oversized duck pond.) Anyway, I averaged about 7:15 for those MP miles, and maybe I can knock five or six seconds of that for sheer meteorological cussedness.

Nimbus orange.

530 with DG + Fremont to 125th. Started in a pouring rain, which let up halfway through. Air temperature fairly comfortable, and it wasn't as bad as I expected. Otherwise, just took it chill, easy relaxed pace. Met distance target for the week, feeling pretty strong.

Well, that reeked. Objectives today were (1) 20 miles; (2) sub-8; and (3) negative split. Would have been happy with 2 out of 3. Hit none of them. Hit the turn-around in 1:17, feeling pretty good, but by mile 12 I could tell I was starting to break down mentally when I began to feel massive resentment at the big hills that separated me from home. Splits began to creep up into the 8s, and when I got to the top of the hill above Fay Bainbridge (13.66mi) got it into my head that I had a terrible blister which would make it impossible to run next week if I went any further on it. Stopped dead in my tracks. Took about a mile of walking before I pulled it together, and then I couldn't get above 10:00 pace. So I jogged home at that rate. Longest, most arduous 5 miles ever. Blech.

2:41 2500ft climb. Waverider.

530 with DG + Fremont to 125th. Legs felt quite deceased on the off day following last weekend's debacle. Woke up this morning at 4 instead of 515, which didn't help. So I was ready for grimness, and indeed, my head kept saying 'ugh.' "And yet," saith Randall Jarrell, "I find that I've grown used to you..." The head wasn't in it, but the legs took over, they just kept going, and despite myself I had a pretty good run. It was a weird feeling to have the muscles working efficiently when my neural apparatus was (and seems likely to go on being) substandard. But I'll take it.

530 with DG. Feet quite sore to start out, which is not unprecedented; but although it usually clears up within a mile or so it took much longer today, plus felt some signs of incipient RSI, mostly in the shins. So after a glacial circuit around greenlake (referring to the pace, not the temp, which was balmy) I cut today's run short and decided to make this a lower mileage week. Guess you're supposed to do a few of those. Now ruing those lost three weeks in September. C'est la vie.

530 with DG + Fremont to 125th. Crystal clear morning: moon and stars and frogs of the deep. Yesterday was a bear. Got up at 6:30 to give two lectures back-to-back in Tacoma, after taking my mother to the ER for a CAT scan the night before. Didn't get home until 8:30 and promptly fell asleep, which was probably a good thing. This all may or may not qualify as a good excuse for missing a run.

Anyway, the layoff seemed to do me good. The fatigue I felt in my shins was gone, my feet were in pretty decent shape, and I felt strong. 

Nimbus Orange.

a perfect -- tasty -- PSYCHEDELIC -- PM run. I love autumn and Seattle usually has a pretty blah one, but today was sunny and chilly and fine, and the afternoon bit like a perfect Honey Crisp apple. Had some tightness in the right Achilles to start out, stretched at the light and took it easy on the first mi, then settled into a nice loping stride, not straining but moving along at a pretty good clip, sevens or maybe just a skoche faster. Kept it up without undue effort until the theater, at which point, a shoelace infarction. I really like the Nimbus 8s, but for some reason the laces don't stay tied. A double knot later I was more or less home.

Had a look at last Sunday's run on the Garmin: turns out there was 4000ft climb between miles 1 and 14, which probably contributed to my crash. Next week back up above 50, but I may distribute the miles more evenly and add a day depending on how much work I can get done tonight. And we're going on the flats -- Alaskan all the way, baby.

Nimbus orange.

Worked till 9:30 PM then got an hour's run in. Was frustrated not to find more time, and wanted to maximize what miles I could squeeze out of the day, so ran a bit too fast. During warmup the achilles was sticky, and as the run progressed sensitivity seemed to migrate up into shinsplint territory, at which point I backed off. Rest day tomorrow, then we'll see if four ten mile days this week is feasible, plus four on Saturday. But all of it supra-8:00.

I have been meditating a bit on Sasha's physiological model of "neural drive" (as opposed to weak-mindedness) and the various factors that can inhibit it. I find it very applicable right now to the process of writing my dissertation. True or not, it's something of a comfort to imagine, when I'm stuck or blocked--as this weekend--that something "objective" is in the way rather than a characterological defect.

8.00: 8:17, 7:30, 6:56, 7:19, 7:27, 7:50, 8:25, 8:05 (avg. 7:44).

Nimbus orange.

Rest day, but the truth is I could have run. Everything feels great.  A new level of durability, maybe, which would sure be nice.

530 with DG + 145th via Bitter Lake to Interurban Trail. Moderate pace, forgot to charge The Watch, which was fine. Only fly in the ointment: by the time I got back to 80th there was already an unending stream of traffic. May either have to run faster or figure out a better route as I add daily miles. Felt very strong after only 12 miles on the weekend, hopefully it will serve as a good recharge. Right ankle soreness nowhere to be found.

530 with DG + Interurban trail to 145th. Nothing special to report. Felt pretty good, took it mostly around 8:05 which I guess is sort of my Tinman tempo at this point. Joke.