7 am. Another non-planned, solo long run on Saturday morning. I'm tricking myself into not getting ready for a marathon. If I don't make a big deal out of the long runs, then getting ready for the marathon isn't happening, right? I've been fond of saying there's no point in running over 12 miles unless you are getting ready for a marathon. Well, 3 out of the past 4 weeks I've been way over the threshold, so I guess it's on. I took pavement to Farmington pond, with pauses at Smoot and the Farmington pool for drinks. For reasons unknown, the bathrooms and fountains aren't on at a public building in South Farmington and at the pond, so I was pretty thirsty for the third section of the run, from the pond to Freedom Hills via BST. Once I got down the switchbacks, I completely soaked in the firehose sprinklers, and got enough drink to get home. Miles 13 and 14 were quicker, 7:10 and 6:45. I should have done more tempo, but without better planning, it's tough. I was happy to see that pace on flat after a very minimally fueled 1:45 minutes of running. After the run my back is very sore, lower left side, with numbness in the leg, and difficulty walking. Picking up Jack is a misadventure. This is residual from the tempo tuesday; I'm not sure what to do about it. It doesn't pain me much while running, but afterward, things definitely aren't right. I'll get into the chiropractor a couple times this week and try to sort it out. One night last week I crawled to bed, rather than walk, it was bothering me so much. | 