A clydesdale no more!

Ran Pages Lane loop. First 6 miles felt good and was able to maintain MP. At the end of the 6th mile, my calf/hamstring really started to hurt. Backed off pace and just plodded my way home.

I usually run 2 easy runs per week (6 miles at an easy pace). Until my leg feels a little better, I am going to replace these days with complete rest days. I hate taking extra days off but I think that this is the smartest approach to let my leg heal. My biggest concern is the loss of fitness. With the taper for Des News and now this, my miles have really dropped the last few weeks.

Was planning on running 9 or 10 today but right leg really hurts. Decided that limping an extra 4 miles would do more harm than good. This injury is becoming very discouraging. I am having a real hard time pin pointing exactly what it is. The pain is either at the top of the calf, behind the knee or at the bottom of the hamstring. It is a stabbing pain everytime I push off. It only hurts when I run. As soon as I stop the pain is gone. When I poke and prod at the area I can't find a specific area where the pain is. The most frustrating part is that everything else feels really good and I am ready to bump my training up.

Leg still hurts. Almost stopped running after 1/4 mile but decided to play with the pace to see if I could find a pace that didn't hurt too bad. Found that if I run slow (8:30/mile) then the pain is manageable.

With 3 marathons in the next 2 months, I have to decide how to proceed. Do I take an entire week off and hope the leg heals or run everything at a slow and painful pace and throw all time goals out the window? At the start of the year, I signed up for the grand slam with the goal of finishing in the top 10. Assuming that things do not improve, this is going to be difficult to achieve (currently in 6th with 11th just 18 minutes behind). I guess that I will just take it one day at a time.

One of my biggest flaws in running form is that I lean forward from my waist. I found that if I run taller then my calf does not hurt as bad. Spent a lot of time watching my shadow and reflection in buildings to make sure that my lean was correct. I think that this was a contributing factor to the injury. I got pretty dehydrated towards the end of the run. Ended up losing 6 pounds during the run. Not the greatest run but at least I was able to get in the planned miles.