Slow & Steady Wins the Race :-)

9 holes of golfing - I golfed a 48!  And I putted horribly, so if I'd putted better I would have really done good!

Then did a short, easy, 8 mile bike ride (about 37 minutes) just around the neighborhood.  Sad the weekend is over already again.  I am ready to be back home.

In running news, I am very very very worried about my ankle.  AGAIN.  Very ridiculous. 

Reasons I think I might have a stress fracture - I feel it sometimes on weight-bearing.  I have a bruise that is VERY sensitive to the touch in a very popular spot for stress fractures on the tibia.  My ankle feels weird. 

Reasons it might be something else - I'm a hypochondriac (we all know its true!).  This has happened twice before this year (January and April) and after 2 weeks off I was better.  The pain level is so low, a 1.5 or something, though it does seem that I have a very high tolerance for pain when it comes to running (based on the running on a broken fibula evidence).  I am still passing the 'hop test', or being able to hop on that leg alone 5 times or more with no pain. 

I'm trying my best not to get depressed.  I have to put this in perspective.  If I can bike and golf and be active, I'm a much much happier person than the immobile person.  There will be other marathons (though I so badly want THIS marathon), I will still drive the van for H2C (though I sooo want to RUN H2C!).  I will wait it out a week or two before venturing to the doctor, especially since I am 3 hours from my doctor which makes it difficult!

I definitely think I may need a coach or some professional running my training.  Clearly I am doing something wrong.  And its NOT bad shoes or increasing training too fast, as I have been more than careful on those fronts.  However, the strength training issue IS an issue, and my reading tells me that running to the point of fatigue can cause this, and that's pretty much my favorite thing to do.  We'll see. 

20.78 miles of bike riding at the Esplanade/Springwater Corridor.  Rode down to Omsi and back, then on the corridor until I reached the bumpy part that I couldn't handle anymore!  Nice concert in the park there so it was really hard to find parking and very busy.  Quads were burning.

TT: 1:28:17   AP: 14.1 mph      TD: 20.78

Splits: 13.0, 15.3, 14.0, 13.0, 15.1, 18.1, 15.2, 11.6, 12.9, 14.0, 14.1, 13.6, 16.0, 16.6, 11.8, 15.0, 15.7, 13.4, 16.6, 15.5

My ankle maybe feels a little bit better today?  I hope its not tricking me.  If it keeps it up I'll try a run on Wednesday. 

8.37 miles of biking at the Esplanade.  Slow, strong headwind and just wasn't feeling it today.  Ankle was tricking me yesterday, its scaring me again today. 

TT: 38:18   AP: 13.1 mph

Then took Bogey on a walk. 

Blahhhh!  Walked a mile on the treadmill, tried to run for 10 seconds but pain (minor, but still) was immediately there.  Why????   Weird because it felt pretty good today just walking.  

4 miles of trail running at Forest Park with Kasey.  What a great reunion!  My ankle felt okay.  We'll see.  I wish I could trail run at every run!

What a busy week.  So sick of my spreadsheet I've been making all week, and then stuff is just blowing up at work back home too.  Came home and worked a little, then went out and did 15 miles of biking, and now back to working.  Hopefully Justin will get here soon and rescue me. 

15 miles of biking around the neighborhood.  That is an important note.  This was NOT the Esplanade.  There were hills, and lots of stop signs and turn arounds. Keep that in mind and continue reading.

TT: 58:29

Splits: 14.0, 16.3, 15.8, 15.5, 14.5, 14.0, 17.3, 15.5, 15.3, 14.3, 16.4, 16.2, 15.6, 16.4

Notice something different?  I AM FASTER!  And this is even considering the stopping!  Now while I would love to take credit for improvement, I have a different secret.  I raised my bike seat about 2 inches!  I've been meaning to do this for ages, but mostly because I thought it was aggravating my ITB, but it turns out it was hindering my speed too!  I felt much more powerful today and really enjoyed it a lot more.  I think all my 'potential energy' or something else I learned in physics but forgot wasn't being transferred.  Kind of like the fulcrum being in the wrong place in a pulley, or something else totally wrong!  My dad, who is actually likely reading this right now, is probably sooo ashamed of my lack of engineering knowledge.

 Anyway, I was pumped!

14 miles around the dog park.  Wasn't sure how far I would be able to go and really wanted to run on the dirt path so went down there even though it was a million laps (aka boring!).  My ankle is still weird.  However, the pain is so minor it seems a waste to give up on everything just because of it.  So I will persevere.  I will just keep it easy, 3 runs a week only (every other day) for now, no speed work until the feeling is gone.  Would have done a mile or so more but didn't get up early enough, was running late for golf. 

 TT: 2:16:19   AP: 9:44

Splits: 10:45, 9:53, 9:48, 9:39, 9:45, 9:30, 9:27, 9:24, 9:32, 9:23, 9:26, 9:31, 9:52, 10:21 (I let myself walk the steepest part of Hillside)

Then golfed 9 holes, a niece's birthday party, and Inception!  Walked most of golf but at 8 or so my legs were just dead.  Busy, but a great day!