My Running Log

Ran through the west part of Billings, MT today. It was pretty flat overall. The elevation is about 3200 ft, so it felt a little easier than the last run. It was windy, but it felt good. The temp was 70, which felt nice. Cloudy day.

The bad news is that my left calf started hurting again. It slowed me down quite a bit, but I felt that I could keep running. I ended up with 10.2. Average pace was 8:43. Probably I run easy tomorrow instead of the tempo run I had planned, unless my calf is suddenly healed.

Calf was hurting pretty badly throughout the day yesterday. It was hurting less today but still definitely hurting. So I waited till evening to run, so I could give it some extra rest. On the run, I started out very slowly and kind of limping to ease into it. I did that for the first 3 miles. After that, I decided to try loosening up my ankle, and the calf didn't hurt too bad. So I tried running with a more normal stride, and that actually felt a lot better. By the end of the run, I was running normal and feeling strong, so I finished at 7:30 pace. The average pace was 8:43, exactly the same as yesterday. I'm really happy with where the calf is, even though it's still hurting.

Interestingly, I think a different part of my left calf is injured this time. I wonder if I just need new shoes. But it seems like muscles in different parts of my legs keep rotating with having strains, so maybe they just each need a turn to get broken in.

P.S. The run was in Billings today, too.

Lots of traveling today. Tonight I simply didn't feel like running, and my calf was still sore, so I ran a token mile so I could keep my streak alive. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I ran it in 9:16 on main street of Logan, UT. Not the best part of town where I am staying. :)

Once again, ran late at night. And once again, calf not feeling too good, so I ran 3.5 miles at 8:00 pace average on the treadmill. But the calf did feel better than the previous two days.

My little brother (18 years old) ran the Deseret News Marathon this morning. He stayed with us, and we got up at 2:30 am to head to the buses. He got on the bus, and I slept for a couple hours in my car. Then I ran up to the mouth of Emigration Canyon and saw him running down. That's when he was starting to hurt (too much downhill). I ran down to Foothill and then south until I found him again. Then I ran with him up foothill for a couple miles. Then I got in my car and went to a couple other places to cheer him on. He finished with a 3:32 on his first marathon, which I think is excellent. He was fourth in his age division. It was kind of fun, too, because this was the same marathon that I ran when I was the same age.

It was also great to see some other bloggers and friends running. I saw Mike Warren and Sasha but didn't get a chance to talk to them. And I saw a blonde gal who I think won or placed high. And I saw MaryAnn. It was also cool watching part of the 10k from my car.

Anyway, in this process, I ran 9.7 easy miles. My calf was hurting more than usual, but once I got warmed up it wasn't too bad. I decided to give in and went and bought some new Nike Air Pegasus shoes. They felt really comfy in the store. Hopefully this will reduce my number of aches and pains from running in old shoes. That's what people tell me anyway. I used to put 1200-1500 miles on a pair of shoes in high school (my current ones have 900), but I'm not the young guy I used to be. 

Went to the tracK for the first time in over a month. It was nice to be bacK. I did 2 miles warmup, then 5x800m. My times were 3:17, 3:14, 3:09, 3:04, 3:12. These times were decent for me. The best was that I felt lighter on my feet and that I could have gone faster. I want to try to do another speed worKout this next weeK to see where I am at. I had to cut this one short because I had to maKe a bathroom stop that couldn't wait. Then I was out of my rhythm and called it a day. The calf didn't feel perfect but it is much better than earlier this weeK.

My weeK was not great for running. I had more calf troubles, so I eased up. I only got about 37 miles for the weeK. I'm really hoping to reach 60 one of these times. Or at least to stay consistently about 50 for a few weeKs in a row.