The Long Run

I decided it would be best to take at least one day off from running and then see how it goes after that.  I booked a massage for later in the afternoon, fortunately there was an opening available with such late notice.

Felt a great deal better after the massage.  I was encouraged that during the massage there were no points on my leg that hurt during the stretching and massaging.  Afraid that she would hit some specific area and it would hurt,  but that was not the case.

Felt pretty good this morning.  Plan was to run with Jenny.  Start out with her at least for the loop around the neighborhood, see how I felt and return home if there was any pain before heading out further into the next neighborhood.  

Felt good and headed out towards the golf course.  It was a nice cool morning and was also nice since it is not so dark anymore with the time change.

Jenny was doing 11 miles, so I headed home while she was doing one final loop (the opposite of our runs the past few weeks).

I stretched out after the run, noticed a little bit of soreness that went away as I stretched more.  Felt good that my leg was not hurting.  Maybe I'll be ok?

 Later that morning while at work, noticed my leg hurting.  It is a very low level pain.  It's a very tolerable discomfort but one that I am not going to ignore.  Made Dr. appointment but can't get into see her until next Wed. (11/11) because she is going out of town the end of this week.

Going to rest a bit and then try some cross training if it doesn't hurt.

No running this morning.   Slept in a bit but did wake up when Jenny woke up as she got ready to run before I went back to bed.

No pain today.  Glad that I can at least walk around with no pain.  Up and down stairs is also not a problem.  Almost tempting to run but I'm going to wait a bit longer.

Another day of no running.  Feeling more and more back to normal. Would love to test things out but want to wait some more.

I can't believe the week has mostly gone by already.  No running this morning.  Also, felt very tired when I woke up despite getting more sleep than I had been getting.

I'm going to hit the gym tonight for some light cross training on arc trainer and maybe some upper body weights to get the blood pumping.

P.M. - went to they Y after work.  Everyone went along.  Jenny helped out Andy on some of the machines and some weights.  I did a very conservatively paced 20 minutes on the elliptical machine.  No pain during (of course, but that is not what I am worried about).  I don't think there was any pain afterward either but my mind was playing tricks on me, too.

Another day of no running.  Slept in and went with Jenny and the  boys to watch Tae Kwon Do class.  While at the Y I did a total of 11 minutes on a recumbent bike.

Went to Costco after class for Saturday afternoon fun.

Did some backyard camping that evening.  While getting ready, Jenny said that she did not have anyone to run her 16 miler with the next day.   There happened to be a half marathon, so she would do that with a 2.9 mile warm up before the race.  No intentions of  "racing" it but most likely wanting to run it at goal marathon pace (8:35).

I woke up a lot during the night due to sleeping on the ground.  But the oddest thing was that in the morning my body felt great.  I think it might have had something to do with having no mattress to sink into, I must have stretched my body in ways that must have helped.

At 4:30 I heard the sprinklers starting to come on, so I got up and turned them off, this of course woke up the dogs.  One dog was sleeping in the tent with us and he wanted to go in, one of the dogs in the house wanted to go out now, so the dogs were in and out.  At one point, the dog with us in the tent (Sammy) went charging into the house but did not know that the sliding glass door was closed.  He slammed into it with a thud, causing the rottweiler next door to wake up and let out one big deep woof.  Fortunately, the kids stayed asleep, the dogs settled down and I got back to sleep and slept until almost 5:30.

We left the house before 6:00 and went to Pop Stansell Park where the race was starting, in time for Jenny do race-day register and do her warm up.   Kids had fun playing on the playground and cheering on Jenny.  It was a beautful day for a race, very pleasant in the low 60's.  Jenny ended up with a bit faster than her hoped for 8:35 pace and felt fresh at the end, too.

Went to the Y this morning.  Did a total of 26 minutes of cross training (bike and elliptical) then did some weights.  It wasn't much but I'm at least trying to stay in a habit of doing something while I wait for the Dr. appt.  It hasn't been that long since my last run but it has been long enough that I'm starting to feel like it's been forever.

Took my son to his Tae Kwon Do class after I got home from work.  While at the Y, I did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike.  Took it easy so as to not make anything worse.  Felt pretty good but I'm getting all sorts of imagined twinges, hopefully they'll all go away once the doctor says that I'm ok ( I have a history of that ).

One more morning of no running.  Doctor appointment this afternoon. Hoping to get the green light.

Dr. appointment went pretty well, I was given a yellow light for now.  She didn't think it was a stress fracture, but since the focus here is the femur and really bad things can happen, she ordered an MRI just to make sure.  Standard X-ray did not show anything out of the ordinary.
Advice for now is, if it doesn't hurt, ok, if it hurts stop.  Next appointment on Friday morning to discuss the MRI.

MRI was originally scheduled for 10:00 pm, so Jenny and the boys met me at my office so we could go out to dinner together and then I would work until time for the appointment since the MRI place is nearby.  While eating dinner, the place called and said they had a cancellation for 6:45 pm, ok I'll take it!

Decided to try for a short run this morning since I had been given a yellow light.  Run went pretty well.  Felt kind of stiff at first for the first mile, better the second mile.  Jenny and I ran 3.5 miles together before I turned to head home.  At four miles I thought I started to feel a pain in my left leg in the groin area (uh oh, better stop).  Stopped and stretched, then got going again feeling much better (almost perfect).  Ran past the house a little bit then walked home for a cool down.

Average pace: 9:13

Soaked my legs in the pool for a bit (water is chilly now with the heater off).

Legs still feel pretty good a few hours after the run

6.25 miles @ 8:14

Decided to go a little bit farther than yesterday.  Warmed up first with a lap around the neighborhood on the bike (1.7 miles).  Had to wear a jacket while on the bike since it was a pleasant (for running) mid 50's this morning.

Started out my run with a loop back in the opposite direction and then did an out and back past the golf course.  First mile was around a 9:00 pace, then got a little bit faster on the rest of the miles with the last one at about 7:45 pace.  Stopped once at 3.2 miles for a quick drink of water and a Gu (the Gu was completely unnecessary today but I kind of missed them so it was more for sentimental purposes, also I usually don't have the actual Gu brand gel usually but that's what I grabbed today, vanilla flavor).

The heal of my right foot hurt for a good part of the run but was better towards the end.  Ironically it seems that the week off from running made my PF a little bit worse.  However, less running meant less stretching so that is probably what happened.

After the run, the heal felt better today than it did yesterday after the run.

In other good news, the "down" volume function on my ipod shuffle started working again which was really nice.  Only the "up" had been working and the only way to get the volume back down was by plugging it into the computer and using itunes.

And finally, in the best news, the MRI came back normal.  The Dr gave me the all clear to resume full training. After having a good run this morning I had to remind myself that there still could be bad news on the MRI (but I was pretty confident that would not be the case).

I must give my sports doctor a plug here.   If you live in the Tampa area and need a sports doctor, then Dr. Denys is the perfect choice.  Besides being concerned about whatever issue I'm having, I always get the distinct impression that her goal is to get me back running as soon as possible - it's a refreshing perspective compared to some horror stories that I have heard from people who are told by their doctors things like, you'll be fine as long as you stop running.  Her staff is also very professional and personable.

So, I'm going to try for 10 miles tomorrow, then over the next two weeks will be a cross between ramping up and tapering.

11.2 @ 8:00 pace, Starkey Park

Beautiful morning for a run.  A little bit cold while still dark but nice once I got running and it became a little lighter out.  It was foggy at first, slowly burning off as the sun came up, made for some spectacular scenery across the palmetto fields and trees.

Started off with Joe M, more or less stuck together until 5 miles when Joe turned around.  I went out a little bit farther, feeling better than the planned 10 but wanting to play it safe and not push for 12.  Lots of others from the Striders out this morning.  David and a group were going out for 13 and beyond, but I was happy to be able to get my 11 in this morning.  I felt pretty good through out the run except a little bit tight all over and some pain in my right foot that I wish would go away.  Left leg was all better.  Hope to get back to form by the end of next week, just need to be patient.

It was good to feel like I was back in a routine today.  Went to the Y, warmed up on the bike followed by some stretching and ab work.  4.2 miles on the treadmill at about an 8:05 average pace before heading outside.  Beautiful morning in the high 50's.

Ran another 5.8 miles @ 7:28 average pace.

When I went to bed last night I thought that maybe I would miss another run due to a worsening sore throat and the general feeling of coming down with something.  Woken up at 12:00 and 2:00 by my son who was also not feeling well.  Miraculously, whent the alarm went off just after 6:00 the sore throat was gone and I felt better for the most part.  I'm hoping to shake this all later this week so I can feel fresh next week for the taper.

Ran with Jenny this morning on our usual routes.  Nice and cool morning for running.  Felt pretty good still after yesterday's run with the exception of my right foot which is fluctuating between maybe getting better and staying the same.

Towards the end the run was starting to feel "long" which is not a good feeling.

Average pace: 8:50

Soaked in the pool for a little bit which is now starting to resemble an ice bath (although not quite) as I don't have the heater turned on.  Partially to save money and partially so I can soak my legs after a run.

I think it is time to start to do some tapering.  Less than 10 mile runs until Saturday when I'll do 12 or 13.

Ran with Jenny again this morning.   She had 10 on her schedule but I started out thinking I would do 9.  When she saw me stretching at a water stop she suggested I cut back to 7.5 miles, so I said ok, why not.   Run went pretty well.  It was another very pleasant morning.  I wore shorts and short sleeves but could have gotten away with sleeveless and still been fine.

We split off at the neighborhood we started using as an add-on and I went directly towards home.  When I got close to our house I was at 7.6 miles so I went a little bit past it to get to 8 miles.  Soaked in the pool afterward, feel pretty good.  Glad I cut back a little bit.

Average pace: 8:42

Ran with Jenny on her set of 1600's which she had to do at 7:28 for each one.  Like before, I did the first 1200 with her and the last 400 I sped up (although I had debated as to doing this or just staying with her).  We warmed up with an easy 2 miles then got started.  Run felt pretty good and when it was time to speed up I was happy to find that I could still go faster when I needed to.  Jenny did great and finished each of her splits a bit ahead of pace with the last one at 7:08.

Cooled down with 1.5 miles back to the house.  I felt pretty good afterward also, maybe not 100% but pretty close.

Average pace: 8:32

Easy paced run this morning and a little bit shorter also.  It was cool but very humid with a bit of fog reminding me of the 5K I did last December.  Ran with Jenny for 4.5 miles before I turned around and headed home.  I didn't speed up very much for the last 1.5 miles, body didn't feel like moving quickly, just saving it up for the race I suppose. 

Average pace: 8:42

I go a bit longer tomorrow to finish off the week.

After work, we drove down to St. Petersburg for the packet pickup for Jenny's half-marathon on Sunday.  We ran into David at the expo who was picking up 12 race packets for many of the Striders.  He mentioned that Boston was sold out already, I thought he joking but it soon became apparent that he was not.  Kind of a bummer, although it does take some pressure off Jenny and also one less trip we would need to fit into a pretty busy schedule.

I managed to finish a pretty good week of training after missing most of the last two weeks so that was a pretty good accomplishment.  I had a plan of doing somewhere between 10 and 13 miles this morning with the return trip as a fast finish.  I didn't go out of my way to wake up extra early since I didn't have any specific meeting plans with other people, the weather was going to be good and it wasn't a super long run.

I ended up getting to Starkey park at almost 6:30 and for the first time ever had to park in a different parking lot since the one right next to the trail entrance was already filled up.  Almost everyone had left already.  I saw Karen and Alpana heading out to walk Karen's dogs.  I headed out with them and when I got to the main trail I saw Eudair.  It was pretty unlikely to see her at that exact time.  I sometimes go months without running into her but have seen her a few times these past few weeks.  She was going to be doing over 20 miles but it was good to have the company for the 5.5 miles I'd be going out before heading back.  At about 5 miles I saw a bunch of the other Striders heading back from various assorted lengths (I'm guessing anywhere from 13 to 18 miles).

 After turning around, I started to pick up some speed and once I was at the 6 mile point decided to pick it up to what should have been about a 7:00 pace.  I ended up going a bit faster than that for all but one of those miles and averaged about 6:45.  It was good to know that I could still pick it up when I needed to.

Cooled down after the fast miles to get back to the parking lot.  The left leg felt great the whole way and afterward also, however the right foot was maybe a little bit worse.  I'll need to do the best I can with it this next week before the marathon.

Average pace: 7:27

Chatted with a bunch of the Striders at the social hour before heading home.  It was a great morning for running and gives me some hope for next week.

Easy run at the Y on the treadmill.  Just 4.3 miles, at about an 8:10 average pace.  Did some warm up and stretching beforehand, followed by cool down on the arc trainer and a few sets of weights.  A pretty light day to try and get nice and fresh feeling for this Sunday.

Rest day.

Ran with Jenny at an easy pace for 8 miles.  It was cool and humid which reminded me of the start of the Jacksonville marathon almost 2 years ago.  Run went pretty well and nothing was hurting too badly :)

After 8 miles, I went ahead a little bit and did a few striders to stretch out a bit.

Went down to the Clearwater St. Pete Times Turkey trot this morning.  This was the first time in a while I was not doing th 5K since I have the marathon coming up on Sunday.  Jenny decided to do the 5k and the 10k and I would run the 1 mile run with the boys between the 5k and the 10k.

 Last year, I earned a mug (top 125 finisher) and Jenny missed it by just 3 people.  This year she earned two mugs!  She had two PRs and they were pretty, pretty big.  22:26 for the 5K and 48:12 for the 10K, quite a feat and a great confidence booster for her marathon coming up in just over two weeks.

The boys and I had fun on the 1 miler.  It was crowded as usual and always a challenge to do the weaving but we managed an 8:04 and were able to stick together.

As usual we had a great time going down there to watch and participate.  Lots of fast people, lots of families and kids having a great time.

Nice easy run with Jenny this morning, will be our last one together for at least a few weeks.  It was nice and cool (ok, a little bit colder than I'm used to), about mid 40's.  Jenny was doing 7 so I turned back earlier than her.  Yesterday, my left foot found itself underneath a rocking chair, ouch.  I was pretty sure it wouldn't mess up my running but it sure did hurt at first.  Fortunately it didn't seem to bother me much this morning while running on it.

One last brief run before the marathon.  Felt pretty good but not sure I felt like 100%, I think (hope)  I'll feel better tomorrow.  Left foot getting better, right foot still troublesome but getting better.

Arrived in Cocoa Beach area and went to the race expo (which was actually about 20 minutes away from the hotel) and then headed over to the hotel and checked in.  Next, went over to Ron Jon's Surf shop to buy the boys some swim suits and also since you have to stop by Ron Jon's if you are in Cocoa Beach.  Had dinner at a little pizza/pasta place next to the hotel called Kelsey's which was just right, nice but not too fancy/expensive.

Woke up at 4:40 this morning to try and leave the hotel by 5:00, which we did basically.  We thought we had a good handle on where to park but it was a bit confusing with no one there directing you.  We found a spot, walked to the start line then I ran back to the car to get the camera (about a 5:00 minute total jog which was my warm up).

Race started a few minutes early.  For the start of the race they had a video of a space shuttle launch which ended with a (10-9-8) countdown to start the race.  Weather was a perfect 55°, no wind and no noticeable humidity.  So, I had missed almost two weeks of training this past month due to injury, had just gotten over a cold, jabbed myself in the side with the coffee table corner, and had my foot run over by  rocking chair on Thanksgiving day.  That's ok, because it balanced off the PF in my right foot.  So, I wasn't completely sure how the day would turn out.  At this point I was actually not feeling too bad. 

Miles 1-5

7:29, 7:16, 7:31, 7:19 (plus 16 seconds garmin adjust), 7:26

We took off and the first mile felt ok, second mile a little faster, and then third mile slower.  For the fourth mile my garmin beeped way earlier than the mile marker (16 seconds early), fifth mile was the same.  Now it wasn't looking so good but I also remembered that a lot can change in a marathon and can even change for the better.

Miles 6-13

7:11, 7:08, 7:05, 6:52, 7:06, 7:02, 7:08, 7:08

And for quite a while things got a lot better.  Approaching 6 miles I could start to see the fastest people already turning back.  First the wheel chairs, then the elites.  The half and the full marathons share the course which is 6.5 miles north and then back down the same road.  The road has lots of small rolling hills, pretty easy to run on and good for giving the legs a variety.  On one of these little downhills I finall picked up some speed and was able to finally lock into a good pace which I would hold to mile 20.  I also started to hit all the mile markers just before the garmin beeped.  I was feeling pretty good and even hit one of the miles at sub-7:00, but then no more after that (not the day for that yet).

Heading back towards the start line in Cocoa Village there were a lot of people cheering.  I was pretty much by myself so it felt good to see all those people cheering.  Just past the crowd I saw Kathryn (she and her husband and two kids drove all the way out from home just to see me and another of her friends run this race, thank you very much Kathryn!), at first I was afraid that I had missed Jenny in the crowd but Kathryn said Jenny and the boys were just up ahead.  They had a great spot picked out and were the best cheering squad ever.  Not too far past where I saw here was the half way point, the clock read 1:34:28 (maybe I could make 3:10?).

Miles 14-20

7:07, 7:08, 7:10, 7:08, 7:11, 7:16, 7:11 (+21 second garmin adjust)

After the half way point things were still going pretty well for a while.  It was a bit lonely.  The half marathoners had split off, the faster people were out of sight so it was mostly just me.  It was starting to feel a little harder but I was getting a little more hopeful the closer I got to the turn around point.

Just past mile 19 was the first turn in a series of squiggles for a rough tear drop turn around.  There were volunteers at the first turn but then there were a couple of turns where I was guessing which way to go.  There were more turns than I had seen on the map.  At one point I really panicked but finally saw a runner up ahead, almost out of sight so I breathed a sigh of relief.  I finally made it through all the turns and was back on the road home.  Unfortunately with all of the turns I must have blown some of the tangents and now the garmin was way off from the mile marker, it took me 21 seconds to catch up to the 20 mile sign.

Miles 21-26.2

7:35, 7:31, 7:37, 7:37 (+ 7 second garmin adjust), 7:35, 7:34, 1:24(0.21@6:46)

One of the runners ahead of me was a very fast woman who I had finally caught up with.  Unfortuntalely, I was not thinking logically, if I had caught up to her without speeding up, that must have meant that she had slowed down.  At one point I realized that I was running just behind her at a 8:00 pace.  I sped up but found it difficult to get back to my old pace, but managed to at least get the next mile in 7:35.  At this point I was determined to not blow a good PR by really crashing in the second half.  I wanted to at least get faster than 1:40. 

There were lots of runners coming in the other direction so I no longer had my choice of which lane to run in.  The road was canted to one side or the other and was slightly twisty.  This was causing my left foot to start to hurt on top and the big toe (this was the rocking chair injury foot), maybe from tendon damage or something.  I was getting other random pains but those didn't scare me too much, I just didn't want my foot to blow up on me.  It was a challenge to hang on.  I felt a bit guilty about not trying too hard but it can be a thin line between running a smart race and just not trying hard enough.  Each mile gave me a little more hope and finally I was at the 25 mile marker.   I didn't speed up much until I saw Jenny and the boys cheering for me near mile 26.  They had stealthily constructed and transported the best sign ever.

I turned into the park and managed to get back at a 6:46 pace for the last 0.21 miles.  I had no idea what time I would get until I saw the clock which said 3:11:32 when I went under it (chip time was 3:11:29).  Results were soon up and I had placed 4th in my age group (missed 3rd place by 8 seconds).

We hung out for a bit and cheered on Kathryn's friend Leslie who had a huge PR and took 1st in her age group.  They had a nice pancake, eggs, sausage breakfast. 

Overall it was a great race, weather was perfect.  I was glad to have overcome the little obstacles, show up and run another marathon.  I am very thankful to my family and friends and all of their support they always give me.