Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

8 @ 8:09 avg.

I broke out the anti-inflammatories out of paranoia.  When I dorsiflex (new word I learned, means lifting your toes toward your shin) my ankle, that dang tendon really hurts (anterior tibial tendon - 2 more new words).  I guess that motion is not required when running though, because I didn't feel it at all while running.  So how did I hurt it then?  I guess it's ok to run on it.  I'm always wondering if the current injury in question will be the one that sidelines me and ends my marathon hopes.  It was like this when training for my first half too, earlier this year.  Always teetering on the brink of injury.  Guess it comes with the territory...

11 miles, 7:41 AP.  I tried to run easy and got carried away on my pace again.  The temperature dropped down to 50 this morning and it really felt good out there.  I'll call this my workout for the week and really, really try to take it easy the rest of the week until my long run.  Getting faster is too fun.

8:10, 8:04, 8:10, 8:05, 7:44, 7:46, 7:50, 7:31, 7:22, 6:59, 6:46.

Not much complaint from my foot.  I don't think it's an overuse injury because it came on all at once and seems to be feeling a little better, I think.  I stopped taking NSAIDs since I read they are no good for tendons.  Hoping for the best...

8:46 pace.

8:01 avg pace.  A nice even, moderate effort starting around 8:10 and finishing in the 7:50s.

I'm starting to feel a bit beat up...everywhere (I won't bore anyone with the full list of problems), so next week will be an easy low-mileage week for sure, in an attempt to rest tight/sore muscles and heal the little nagging tendons, joints, etc.  I want to get through this week and my 20-miler first though.

Maybe in hindsight it's a bit agressive to go from a total non-runner to 60-mile weeks in the span of a year or so but that's the kind of impatient dufus I am.

My foot stated hurting while just walking today, so I think it's time for a short break.  Pushing out my first 20-miler tomorrow seems dumber and dumber the more I think about it.  So my tentative plan for now is to take the rest of the week off and start running again on Sunday with an "easy" 40-mile week, which is probably still plenty of miles for me to keep improving with.  Hopefully 3 days off plus a light week of running will do the trick, and not cause any loss of fitness.  If I want to run a marathon I gotta get to the starting line...