Getting back to Boston

Very good run this morning. Not that my legs felt that strong, or that I ran that fast, but it was a good run over a new trail that I hope to use again and again as the years go by. I just learned yesterday that a friend who lives in Northwest Arkansas is also a marathoner; he ran a 3:36 in his first race last fall. He tipped me off that Fayetteville has an excellent (and expanding) system of trails, and I set out this  morning from my hotel to explore them.

Most striking thing about the run was the snapped trees all along the route. Fayetteville and all of northern Arkansas was hit recently by a severe ice storm which knocked out power to most of the area; some outlying areas STILL do not have power restored. Fayetteville's power is back and the trails (fortunately) are clear, but the trees along the trail look like they were hit by a tornado. Or a bomb. BIG trees snapped in two. One huge branch, broken off its tree, was suspended over the trail by surviving branches. If there had been any significant wind this morning, I would have been extremely leery of running under that branch; if it falls, anyone unlucky enough to be under it might well be skewered by the falling limbs.

Anyway, once I got oriented and got on the trail itself, as opposed to streets paralleling the trail, it was a very pleasant run. Temp was about 35, no wind to speak of, overcast, and a little damp after overnight rains. The city of Fayetteville has spent a LOT of money on this trail -- numerous bridges over creeks, a 300-yard tunnel under the I-540 freeway, mile markers set into the pavement so that no one can steal them. And they plan to build more than 100 more miles of additional trails. One surprising thing is how flat the trail is. Fayetteville is a very hilly/mountainous town, but they kept the trail really flat. The way they did that is to run it through creek bottoms, hence the need for numerous bridges. From my hotel on the southwest edge of town, I ran east for two miles to get to the trail system, then headed north until after crossing under the I-540 freeway, then turned northeast for another two miles. At that point, I turned around and retraced my path back, finding parts of the trail that I missed the first time. Of course, the tunnel cut off the GPS signal to my Garmin, so I'm not entirely confident of the distance it gave me, but it says I ran 17.8. Maybe I ran more than that; I don't know. Took me a bit under three hours, a 9:42 average.

Pretty good day for a Monday. Got plenty of rest after an early crash, work was not too bad, the weather's decent and the run went pretty well. Schedule for Sunday was an 8-miler followed by 10-mile GA with strides. Since I did 18 on Sunday, I decided to ditch the 8-miler entirely and do the 10 on Monday as per the original schedule. If I then do 13-8-11-rest-20 for the rest of the week, that would be 80 miles -- my biggest week ever, and what I had planned to max out with on this plan. I may still max out at 80, but now I'll do at least two 80 weeks.

As for tonight, I ran most of it at 8:30ish pace with 10 strides at the end at 6:40 pace. Legs felt really good considering I ran 18 yesterday. After a fairly bad week last week, I feel like I've moved up a level and am in better condition. Maybe it's just because I've gotten a couple of good nights' sleep recently; adequate rest seems to be the weak link in my training.

Back on the TM tonight for 14 miles I really did not feel like running. Talk about having to push myself through a workout for more than two hours. But I pushed through. As sometimes happens with me, the legs started to feel better as I went along, although overall I was very tired.

Speaking of my legs, something weird is happening below my left knee for the last week or so. Intermittently during a run, particularly early in the run, I feel a brief, sharp pain on the outside of my tibia, and my knee feels like it wants to buckle. No pain in the knee itself, only in that one spot. 

But I'm definitely in better shape, maybe almost as fit as I was for Memphis three months ago.  Not as fast as I was then, but in very good shape.

Easy 8 on the TM at the athletic club tonight. Barely felt like I'd run at all when I finished in 73:37. Well on my way to 80-plus this week, which would be a PR, and that's without a Friday morning jog.

Family duties kept me off the TM tonight. So I'll get up in five hours (brain not turning off right now), and head to the athletic club for 10 on the TM tomorrow before work. That will put me on track to finish my first 80-mile week with 20 on Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, that 20 will be with the Crackheads, most of whom are running their one and only 20-miler before Little Rock in four weeks. I'm kinda missing running my hometown race, even though I have my target set for Oregon in May. Thought about running the half at LR, but economics convinced me not to -- couldn't see paying $80 to run 13 miles on a course I could (and have) run in my sleep, and will run essentially in its entirety Saturday morning. I'm paying less than that for the full 26 at Newport, travel costs aside (which are not insignificant). I'll just do another 20-miler the day before LRM, and I may or may not even attend the race. What I really ought to do is find some way to help out at the race, but it's probably too late for that.

Bad night's sleep, very good run. Up at 5 today to go to the club since I could not run last night due to family stuff. Got there at 5:30 and claimed one of  the treadmills that faces the street with a built-in TV. Couldn't see out the window because of reflections from the lights behind me; TV wouldn't stay on for more than 30 seconds at a time. No matter. Legs started to feel pretty good between 4 and 5 miles, and I decided to crank it in the last half of the run. So I ran 3 of the last 5 miles at GMP, which for me right now is about 7:40 pace. Felt strong throughout, even with the lack of sleep.

Now we'll see how a couple of things work out: How I feel through a Friday clinic, always the worst of the week; and how I feel tomorrow morning when I join the Crackheads for a 20-miler. Hopefully 23 hours rest will let the legs spring back. If not, at least I got a good workout in today, and I'm set up to finish my first 80-mile week tomorrow.

Oh yeah, got to try out my new pair of shoes this morning. My adidas Supernova Glides arrived yesterday. Great fit, comfortable, light, good cushioning, nothing rubbing me in the wrong places. Once I discovered that adidas runs a half-size small and adjusted, their shoes have been great for me. Last week's blisters are still there, but they don't hurt at all, they're just loose skin.

What a difference a year (or 54 weeks) makes. On Feb. 9, 2008, I did my first 20-mile run (almost). Took me 3:25, which was a huge struggle with a lot of walking. Today, in a cold rain, 3:09 over the same course, and it was a LOT easier -- not that it was easy. And it was also a full 20.

Talked to Coach Tom after the run about two things: volunteering at LRM, and becoming a coach. Tom warned me that since I'm so OCD, I will have to be really careful as a coach not to push people beyond the breaking point and get them hurt. The idea is to get them ready, but not get them injured. As for volunteering, I still haven't definitely decided to do so, but the option remains open; they can always use more people.

I've always heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way over and over and expecting different results. I have a new definition: Running 20 miles in a cold rain in February.