The Long Run

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.