Bret

PM - nice run at lunchtime from my office into Brookhaven and a newly discovered park trail - 7.5 miles.  Feel a sore throat and a cold coming on.

Awoke with a cold.  Did not feel well enough to run in the morning and was too busy during the day - and too tired to run after work.  

AM - run on the treadmill at home before work.  Travel day.  

AM - early morning very cold run along the Detriot river.  Up and back and up and back again on the relatively short riverwalk path - for about 7.5 miles.  

PM - got in 5 miles on the treadmill after work.  Went with Tracy to see David Benoit (jazz pianist) play a show of the music of a Charlie Brown Christmas.  Very well done.

Just not feeling well - can't seem to shake the cold.  Decided to take another day off. Not in training for anything in particular - so ...

AM - 8 chilly but enjoyable miles this morning.  

PM - 4 miles easy on the treadmill.  Long day at work.  Still hanging on with this cold too. 

AM - 7 miles easy around the neighborhood early this morning.

AM - 7.5 miles easy on the treadmill this morning before heading to the airport.

PM - 6.5 miles with Richie and Ken in Feathersound.  Here on business and got time to catch up with some old running friends.

AM  -  11 miles early sunrise run with Richie in St. Pete - started from Coffee Pot Park and then ran along the waterfront around the Pier and Bayfront and retraced our route back.  Beautiful morning in the upper 40's and good conversation before heading back to ATL later this morning.

PM - had a nice longer run this afternoon.  Bit cool with a breeze, but bright sunshine.  Covered about 13.5 miles.  Used the jacuzzi tub in my house for the first time after a run. Left foot was sore/painful yesterday and so I took a couple Aleeve which eliminated the discomfort; no noticable pain during the run today, but feels like I have a stress injury developing there now that I have had a hour or two since the run.  Will try a new pair of shoes tomorrow or the next day...otherwise I may need to switch to cross training for a while.

PM - cross training to give my achy foot a rest.  Indoor water rower - 8000 meters in roughly the time it would take me to run that distance.  Technique requires some concentration and focus - but no impact for my feet which is what I wanted.  

No cross training or running today due to work related conflicts.

Cross training equivalent - indoor rowing machine - 8000 meters.  Not crazy about the machine - but it is good cardio and engages many muscle groups neglected with only running.  When my foot issue subsides, I will want to incorporate more use of this in my normal training.

Rough equivalent of 7.5 miles on an indoor cycle in my hotel in LA.  No rowing machine in the fitness center as an option.  

Travel day back from LA to ATL.  Then prep to travel to WV tomorrow.  No time for cross training.

All day drive to WV from ATL.  No opportunity to cross train.  My foot is still achy and the options for cross training are pretty limited at the in-laws where I will be for this holiday week.  I packed running gear, but I am not sure this is not a blessing in disguise to keep me off the achy foot a bit longer. 

Staying off the foot - so no run and no options for cross training.

Same as yesterday.

Same as day before.  Foot is still achy.

Tested the foot today.  Probably premature - but without a run or cross training opportunity in days - (and seeing my wife's cousin just finish a run this morning) - I decided to go out for a light jog.  Felt terrible - used a insole to take pressure off of the metatarsals- no discomfort on the run, but a bit of  achiness afterward.  

PM - Christmas day run with Riley along the Glen Dale to Moundsvillle Rail Trail which runs along side the Ohio River.   I was surprised that Riley had never been on the trail, and had forgotten that I had introduced Delaney to it previously when we have visited Tracy's family here.  Anyway, foot really did not get too much more achy after the run yesterday and I was itching to get out again.  Running with my daughters keeps me from going too quickly - and I get to chat with them and catch up on things.  By far one of my most favorite blessings I get to enjoy.

It is not a long trail, so we made our way back to Moundsville on a route through town.  Wore insoles in both shoes today.  This was a much better experience than yesterday.  A nice gift to me - possibility of a recovery from a bit of an injury!

Decided not to run - to give the foot a day of rest - even though it really was not hurting, just a little achy.

Travel day  - long drive back home from WV

AM - went out early this morning in a cool rain - Foot felt a little achy.  Not sure if I perhaps have arthritis in the left metatarsals or active injury resolving.  Light effort.  Enjoyed getting out.

PM - lunchtime - around 7 miles.  Unless it is something positive, I am going to quit inserting information about my foot.  <  >  Decent run - but quite slow.

PM - Lunchtime run on the indoor track at the gym.  There was a cold wind blowing outside and I thought it would be better to run indoors.  It wasn't.  One of my least enjoyable runs.  Got a new set of insole/orthotics which are designed to take stress off of the metatarsals.  Not sure it helped...May have resulted in a migration of discomfort to a different area on my foot.  

PM - 4 miles on the golf course.  For the most part the soft surface was good for my foot, but afterwards it has become obvious that the continued running is at best prolonging the recovery, and at worst, exacerbating the injury.  Disappointing indeed - but I have had experience with metatarsal stress fractures/injuries.  I don't have a formal diagnosis but the symptoms are all too familiar and the treatment is simple (discontinue running and impact to the foot to allow the bone to remodel and repair).  Just takes time and requires patience.  I have multiple cross training options.  Going to give it a month or so and reevaluate.   

So as a year-end summary - I had a few positives this year - no PR's (and frankly don't expect any in the future as I near age 50) - but I ended up running 3 marathons and was able to run most of the year.  In August of 2013 I had surgery to repair torn muscles commonly known as a sports hernia.  Recovery was good, but I probably was a bit too ambitious with a goal of running Boston 7 months later and the training put too much stress on my body which resulted in a tweak to my left hip flexor.   I wanted to be a part of Boston this year, so I decreased my training volume and intensity and made it to the starting line. Was happy to be a part of the event, finishing the race in a very conservative 3:29,  but decided that I was retiring from marathons at the finish, given how much that race distance punishes the body.  

I relocated from Florida to Atlanta in June which was a signficant transition for me and my family.  I ran easy for a few months never too hard or too long as I "ran through" the recovery of the hip flexor tear.  Around the middle of the summer, the injury resolved itself and I was able to resume training, but was woefully out of condition.  Ran the Peachtree road race for the first time ever, and met Meb and got a photo with him as Richie and I participated.

At the persistent invitation of Richie in August, I was convinced to train and run the NYC marathon in November to be a part of the event where he earnestly expected a signficant PR for himself and wanted his closest friends and family to be there with him.  Three weeks prior to NYC, (and 4 days prior to the event) I had an impromptu offer to run Chicago (with someone else's bib number who had a last minute scheduling conflict) as a training run where Richie and I paced our friend, Justin toward a 3:30 marathon goal time.  We were supposed to drop out at mile 20 or 22, but a few game-day decisions led me to finish the race at 3:28 - on a spectacular day - and a very enjoyable experience.  NYC however was not so enjoyable and turned out to be a cold and blustery challenge.  I ran conservatively but struggled late to a 3:14 finish and Richie stuggling even more at the end than me, after being on a pace of 2:52 to finish 3:13.  

I took some days off after NYC and ran at a volume of 30-40 mpw - but started noticing an achiness in the left foot, which became more acute in the middle of December as I began to introduce more mileage volume, and so it seems as I close out this year, I may have a stress fracture, or stress reaction that will sideline me for a few weeks and redirect me to some cross training for the next month or so. 

All in all - after a year in 2013 in which I had PRs in the half marathon (1:25) and in the marathon (2:59) - 2014 was a year of recovery and somewhat unexpected marathon majors which to me was generally positive given that at the end of 2013 I was recovering from an injury so severe that it required a surgical repair. 

I don't have any race plans in place yet for 2015 as I think it will be best for me to recover from the foot injury and gradually build up an aerobic base with perhaps the hope of setting some plans for a race or two in late summer and into the fall.