M'kay

LM warmup, 8.06 miles in 1:03:26, 7:52/mi, HR 158 w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints, core workout & stretching.

Ah, the wonders of the interweb.  Today, I diagnosed my foot pain as Cuboid syndrome.  Fortunately, when you get a "subluxation" of your cuboid bone, the treatment is highly successful and relatively easy....manual manipulation.  Fortunately for me, I've got a pretty sharp Chiropractor a short 5 minute drive away from my house who's very good at fitting in patients.  After a short phone consult and a quick drive into town, several "ahs" and "hmmms", there was a loud pop (my cuboid subluxation being "reduced") followed by a yelp (me hearing a loud pop coming from my foot) and immediate pain relief.  Unfortunately, the immediate relief was followed by some pretty substantial soreness about 30 minutes later, but definitely better.  

Today's run was done at the direction of my chiropractor.  Well, okay, he said to go try it out and probably didn't mean 8 miles w/ hill sprints, but hey, who's counting?  Decent run, slow turnover on the hill sprints, and very little pain until the end of the run.  Will treat with ice and see if it recedes or if I need another trip in perhaps after a run tomorrow.   

LM warmup, 1.5 miles total.

Foot felt okay before the run but 1/4 mile in was killing me.  Stopped and started the walk of shame back to the house.  About a dozen steps later and it felt fine.  Turned around and got another 1/4 mile before walking back to the house with some lingering pain this time.  Headed down to the chiro, who examined it, did a minor manipulation, then tried a tape job to support the cuboid.  This worked to an extent.....the pain on essentially resolved on that spot and I got about 1/2 mile into a run before the PF started hurting in the center of the foot towards the heel.  A tad over 1 mile total with bearable but not great pain levels.

A work trip over the next couple of days was going to curtail my running anyway, so taking the next 2 days off isn't a stretch.  I seriously hope I don't need more because Boston is looming and I'm not anywhere close to race shape.  Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling that its going to take more than a few days to get this fixed.   

LM warmup, 8.15 miles in 1:04:37, 7:56/mi, HR 160, core workout & stretching.

After 4 days of complete rest, the right foot has now been pain free for 2 days, so an easy run was in order.  Wound up being 2 x 4 mile runs when I stopped to introduce myself to a neighbor I'd not met before at the 4 mile mark.  Foot felt good the entire way, although the typical high HR and felt-like-I've-never-run-before legs were present.   

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:03:02, 7:53/mi & stretching.

Late day run.  Cool but dry.  Legs a bit tired from yesterday.  Garmin's battery was dead so no details. 

LM warmup, 8.16 miles in 1:04:20, 7:53/mi, HR 155, & stretching.

Another late day run.  Chilly outside but dry.  Not quite as laborious as the last couple runs, but the legs were a bit sore in spots.  Maybe tomorrow I'll throw in some fartleks. 

LM warmup, 10.06 miles in 1:15:56, 7:33/mi, HR 163, with 2 mile warmup, Fartleks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1 min on, variable rest, 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Sunny, crisp and dry.  Started off as an 8 mile run where I was planning on throwing in some random fartleks, but I evidently crave structure and after feeling okay on the first surge, decided on an ascending ladder with a fast short one at the end.  Felt good enough to extend the run by 2 miles, so all in all a really good run and perhaps a sign that not all is lost. 

LM warmup, 20.31 miles in 2:41:01, 7:55/mi, HR 159, w/ 2000' climb and descent & stretching.

First long run in a couple of weeks.  Managed a good run in decent weather, although I could've done without the sustained wind gusts of 20-30 MPH.  Decent on the climb outbound, felt tired by the turnaround so the last half was mentally getting myself to maintain a decent clip without dropping into a walk.

At 8am this morning, I pulled over the car (on the way to puppy kindergarden, week 5) to sign up for the Cascade Crest 100, when registration opened.  Good thing I did because *after* kindergarden, I checked and registration had already closed.  So its a good thing that I was able to spend nearly $200 so I can run 100 miles in August.  Yeah. 

LM warmup, 10.01 miles in 1:16:35, 7:39/mi, HR 162, w/ 2 mile warmup, 4 x 1 mile repeats (6:28, 6:01, 6:11, 6:14) w/ 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/1 min off (5:11, 5:21, 5:22/mi pace), 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Spent yesterday traveling from WA to VA, 1 canceled flight, 1 delayed flight, re-routed to a different airport and a long car drive turned a fairly routine flight into an 18+ hour odyssey.  Today, stiff winds blowing off the river made running in certain directions tough.  The first mile repeat was slower because of the winds but because also because I skipped the strides/drills.  #2 was fast with the wind at my back for about 40%.  #3 was mostly neutral, but #4 had about 60% into the wind (average pace for that part was 6:51/mi), 10% wind neutral and 30% with a pusher wind.  All the 1 min repeats were fast and strong and into the headwinds.  All in all given the 2-day sleep debt, the winds, and travel stresses, very happy with this workout. 

LM warmup, 8 miles in 59:19, 7:25/mi, HR 157, & stretching.

Late day in the lab at work, so punted on the longer run and instead ran a progression.  Focused on staying relaxed while really pushing it the last few miles. 

8.5 miles in 1:06:32, 7:54/mi, HR 152 & stretching.

Easy mileage tonight with a co-worker.  Hips, glutes & calves all a bit sore.

LM warmup, 6 miles in 43:21, 7:13/mi, HR 163 & stretching.

Last day of a tough travel week.  Lots of good sleep last night still left me feeling a bit stiff and sore today.  By the time we got out of the lab, it was too late to fit 12 in like I'd planned, so I figured I'd run 8 or so and hit around MP for as many after 2 miles warmup as possible.  That wound up being 4 fairly difficult miles, at which point I called it a night.  Up at 4am to catch and early flight home in the morning. 

LM warmup, 8.08 miles in 1:02:59, 7:48/mi, HR 153 & stretching.

Early morning travel back to WA and a later afternoon run.  Felt okay the first couple of miles but then got a tummy ache and felt a bit nauseous.  Not sure why. 

LM warmup, 12.4 miles in 1:49:42, 8:51/mi, HR 150.

Cut my long run very short today.  No energy to start and I managed to limp thru 12+ miles on the trails but knew more would be futile and I'd be hiking, not running. 

LM warmup, 10.06 miles in 1:17:51, 7:44/mi, HR 157, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, 4 x 1 mile repeats with 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/off, 2+ mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Took yesterday off to try to get over lingering fatigue (and because I couldn't drag myself out the door).  Had a tough time again today.  The mile repeats were pretty brutal.....just no energy for things.  I did manage to force myself through the entire workout.  Lower back tightened up as the workout progressed, so I hope I'm not paying for that tomorrow. 

LM warmup, 12.01 miles in 1:37:51, 8:09/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Abysmal.  No energy.  Took 8 miles to get legs out of first gear and the tranny still kept slipping.  I feel like I've been taking one step forward, two steps backwards for this entire marathon buildup cycle.  

LM warmup, 8.15 miles in 1:04:42, 7:56/mi, HR 148, w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Dead legs again.  HR seems to be reasonable, just no energy in the legs.  Hill sprints were not explosive at all.  Seems like I've lost leg strength that I need to regain.  The snow and cold didn't help much. 

LM warmup, 9.39 treadmill miles in 1:09:53, 7:27/mi, w/ 2 mile warmup (incline 1), 3 x 10 min Tempo Intervals w/ 3 min rest (incline 5), 2 mile cooldown (incline 1), core workout & stretching.

More snow outside so the treadmill was the only option to get a quality workout in.  Plus, I wasn't keen on slipping and sliding in the snow. Turns out the treadmill was actually fairly pleasant......for a treadmill.  Interval 1 was at a 6:32/mi pace, adjusted to 5:48/mi for the incline.  That seems awful fast.  Interval 2 was a 6:27/mi pace, adjusted to 5:45/mi.  That seems awful fast.  Interval 3 was a 6:25/mi pace, adjusted to 5:46/mi.  That seems awful fast.  Notice a trend.  So either the equivalent pace chart I downloaded ages ago from hillrunner.com is skewed, my treadmill speeds/inclines are suspect, gravity isn't directly downwards, or I'm in much better shape today than I was yesterday.  I'm guessing it isn't #4.  But I'll take a good solid workout.

LM warmup, 8.1 frigid miles in 1:04:34, 7:58/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Frosty.  Roads half covered in snow and slush, so ran in my stabilicers.  Felt okay considering. 

LM warmup, 16.1 miles in 2:07:51, 7:56/mi, HR 145, & stretching. 

Another less than stellar long run.  Tired and dragging at the start.  Been getting up early (not sleeping in) on Saturday mornings to take the puppies to dog training, so the long runs don't happen until the afternoon, by which time I'm tired and hungry.  Not to self.....avoid chili before a run.  Emergency pit stop at mile 14, and I mean emergency. At 16, I packed it in.

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:01:32, 7:42/mi, 12 x 12 sec treadmill hill sprints (incline 15 at max speed) & stretching.

Not bad for treadmill miles. The hill sprints were interesting.  I could've gone faster if the treadmill supported it, but the first step was tricky since I had the 'mill at full speed while standing on the rails, then jumped on and into a full sprint for 12 seconds, then hopped back the rails.  Guess it was also a coordination test and I managed to pass.

LM warmup, 10.92 treadmill miles in 1:23:39, 7:40/mi, w/ 2 mile warmup (incline 1), 5 x 1 mile repeats w/ 3 min rest (incline 5) (6:21, 6:21, 6:17, 6:16, 6:11, or incline adjusted 5:39, 5:39, 5:35, 5:35, 5:30 using hillrunner.com), 3 x 1 min on/off (incline 10), 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Another indoor session since the snow never turned to rain and the roads were a mess.  The treadmill was actually tolerable again today and I had another good workout.  Suspecting that the mill was on a slight downhill slope because it seemed so easy the other day with the incline set at a fast speed, I broke out a level and discovered that at 0 incline, its actually a tad uphill.  Nice.