A week off?

October 19 – 25          Total Miles: 0

With 26.2 staring me right in the face, what do I decide to do?  Take a week off.  Not that I planned it per se, it just kind of happened.  Traveling to Denver totally wiped me out Tuesday.  It was 78 degress on Tuesday when I landed.  The only reason that I mention this random fact is that it started snowing Tuesday night (and not pretty snow either, it was the serious wet and heavy snow that made driving to and from dinner a challenge.)  While I’ll admit that I thought about throwing on my running jacket and gloves and going for it, I decided not to do something stupid.  I’m pretty sure that Vibrams and snow don’t mix.  I’d probably get frostbite.

So I took the three days that I was there off.  Then we were in the bay area for the weekend, so I figured why bother to try to squeeze in a 12 miler when I could just get some rest.  It’s a little sad when you realize that the 12 mile run is considered a “taper run”.  The rest did give me the opportunity to watch my Giants win the World Series (Take that Dodgers!).  I also took the kids to the park, where I slammed my shin into a playground stair while I was not paying attention.  It looks like there is a half a golf ball under my skin.  Awesome, that should make it fun to put on my compression sleeve. 

Somewhere in the adventure of traveling to Denver, then to the Bay Area I lost my bag of ankle braces, shin splint sleeves and heart monitor.  Its not a trip without losing something right?  I’m positive that I brought them home from Denver and I took them out of my bag before we left again.  Who knows where they could be.  Hopefully I find them soon, whether placebo or not, I don’t care.  I just know that I feel better running with them than without.

I thought it was supposed to be 18 miles.

October 15 – October 21                    Total Mileage – 37 miles 

Last week I said that I was looking forward to this week because it was a taper week.  So I was wrong.  Now, not completely my fault, but alas my long run that was supposed to be 12 miles, turned into a long run that was 18 miles.  How does that happen you ask?  Well I have to go to Denver next week for work and I figured (aka my wife convinced me) that landing back in Sac late at night, then trying to leave early  in the morning for an 18 mile run was probably not the best idea.  I could not argue so alas my taper week is moved to next week. 

It needs to get here quick.  By my third run of the week (5 miles) my legs were totally spent.  I’ve been eating extra bananas and “good” carbs to try to help with the muscle fatigue but no luck.  I was quite concerned heading into 18 miles.  I got up early and was out of the house by 6:45 am.  To get to 18 miles I knew that I would have to change up the route so I headed towards "old downtown" Roseville, towards Luke's preschool and back.  I got into a good rhythm early and I could tell that this was going to be much better than last week.  At mile 8 I grabbed a gel.  I have not learned to take one on the run yet, but I'm working on it.  I was ahead of my normal pace at 10 and 13.1 miles.  I grabbed another gel at mile 14 - home stretch.  Miles 15 and 16 fell by the wayside and then I came to the fork in the road.  Do I continue down Fiddyment Farms, or through Sun City.  I knew that I would be a little over the 18 miles, but a little walk after 18 would be good for me to stretch out.  I hit 17 then 18 and a little voice in my head said "go for it."  "No" I thought to my self.  "Stick to the program." 

I couldn't help myself, my legs were feeling strong and I still had water left.  So that was it, it was time to go for 20.  I got to 18.75 miles and I hit a wall.  My legs began to cramp and I started to realize that this may not have been the best idea.  Then again, even with me pulling back I still finished with a time of 3:46 for 20 miles.  Just another 10k to add on...  Seriously...

On a side note, please remove your caps in a moment of silence for my Black VFF Bikilas.  After 379.85 miles, I finally wore through the inner lining and the sole is so thin you can almost see through it.  I know that it sounds weird but I’ll miss them.  They got me through the SF Giants Race and a countless number of training runs.  Now I’m going to go back and “dance with the girl that brought me” so to speak and slip back into the Blue VFF Bikilas (my first VFF’s).  I have a feeling that these may not make it to CIM since I may wear through them as well.  I estimate that I have somewhere between 150-175 miles to go before CIM on top of the mileage that I have already put on them. 

Off to Denver!

I'm not flying. I'm falling with style.

October 8 – October 14          Total Mileage: 32 Miles

I should have listened to myself.  “Take the weekend off, you are not feeling it, it’s supposed to be fun not work…”  By the time Sunday came around I just was not feeling it.  It felt like I was about to handle a chore that was on my to do list.  This partially may have been due to the fact that it was 16 miles and roughly 3 hours of running that was ahead of me.  I have read that this happens when you train for a long time and you just have to push through.  I grabbed my gear and set out for a run.  I should have stayed home.

I had a tough start getting going and was over a minute off my pace through 5k.  By the time I hit 10k I was over 4 minutes off.  I was burning through water pretty quickly even though it was 65-70 degrees outside.  I pounded an energy gel around mile 8 with no noticeable effect.  I was coming down the trail near Veterans’ Park when the unthinkable happened.  I caught a small defect in the concrete and went flying. 

It all happened in slow motion.  You have that moment when your brain lets you know that you are totally screwed and you better act fast.  I have no idea how, but I had the wherewithal to tuck and roll.  I hit right shoulder first and did what felt to be a somersault before coming to rest flat on my back.  I was able to get to my feet, and then my body started to go through the self check. 

Breathing…ok.  Labored but ok.

Concussion…nope.  I did not hit my head. (Don’t know how)

Shoulder…not separated.  No popping noise and I could lift it a good distance without screaming.

Hip…not broken

Knee and ankle…ok.  I still can flex them.

Toes…not broken.

I tried to continue but my pace slowed to a nearly walking pace of over 16 minutes per.  I thought about calling for a ride being that I still had 5 miles to go, but I am nothing if not stubborn.  I figured that I was 11 miles in and I was not going to waste it. I finished around three and a half hours, but I feel that if I can make it through that, not much should be able to stop me. 

Other than a torn shirt, some bruising to my shoulder and ribs it seems like I’ll be ok.  I did notice the return of shin pain on my right side (I had almost forgot what it was like to have it since it had disappeared for a few weeks).  Hopefully the shin pain will go away quickly.  This week is a taper week (the long run is only 12 miles…I still find it hard to say only 12 miles). 

Now its getting really serious

October 1 – October 7   Total Mileage – 29.1
Weight - 212.25

Coming back after a week off was rough.  The 5k hurt, the 7 miler hurt, the 4 miler was ok ( I ran that one as a speed workout) and the last 3 miles of the 15 mile run were painful.  15 miles…as a training workout…no aid stations, no medal, no cheering…

I could not have asked for better weather yesterday.  It was 55 degrees outside when I started and 65 degrees when I finished.  I have discovered that I have a few different distance “walls” that I have to contend with.  For no apparent reason miles 2 and 3 are rough.  Does not matter how fast / slow I go out; those two miles are always a pain.  By mile 3 I get into a good rhythm and find a pace.   All goes pretty smooth until mile 11 or the 2 hour mark.  I’m not sure why, I’m not entirely sure how to correct it (other than to continue to add onto mileage) and I can only hope that the adrenaline that comes with race day will be what gets me through. 

Yesterday’s run came with an additional challenge, allergies.  The pollen count is high here in the Sacramento area and brings me nothing but sinus pressure, a stuffed up nose, and itchy eyes.  (That and my voice drops another 4 octaves – very Barry White.)  Running with a decreased breathing capacity probably is not the best idea but I figure that since I’m running a race in December, there is a good chance that I am not going to be 100% healthy.

Anyway, all was well for the first 11 miles and then I could feel my pace start to drop off.  By 13.1 miles, I was up over 12 min per.  Miles 14 and 15 were above 13 min per.  I labored through those last two and am glad to say I have a new distance PR.  If all goes according to plan I will have a new distance PR next weekend too (16 miles is the next distance).  It’s pretty much going to be like that from here on out. 

Looks like I'll be running in the Clydesdale division after all.  I've been holding right around 210 - 212 for months now and just can't seem to get below.  I'm going to try to switch things up and see if I can't jump start the old metabolism for one last push.

A Little Time Off

Sept 17- Sept 23          Total Mileage – 24.1

Sept 24 – Sept 30         Total Mileage – 0

Nothing like jumping right back into it one day after running the half marathon.  Although I guess this is how it is going to be from now on.  No more weekend “long runs” under 10 miles, with only a day or two to recover.  It actually went much better than I had expected and I was running pretty much pain free until Saturday.  The weekend was going to be crazy so the only way that I could get the 10 mile run in was to go really early (5:30 A.M.) on Saturday morning.  It proved that it would also be the only time that it was not going to be over 95 degrees outside. 

The run started out well and I set to pace at 11 min per.  I did not realize just how dark it is at 5:30.  Its one thing for it to be that dark when you are driving to the gym, but running on the sidewalks is a whole different story.  I made sure to wear my reflective gear and I was off.  You quickly become aware of every dog on the other side of a fence, every bicyclist, every car, and the three other runners that were as crazy as me to be out that early.  I finished up with an 11:04 pace which I’ll take since I was not going out to set any record and that my knee was killing me the last mile. I stepped off a curb and as I did so I felt a shooting pain up my left leg and into my knee.  I had a little bit of swelling but it does not appear to be anything major.  Finished up the run, packed up the car, took Luke to T-ball class, and then hit the road for The Bay.  We left from there for Disneyland on Sunday.

I had originally planned to take my gear and get a few runs in while in LA but decided that it since I was merely going to be re-running last weeks mileage and that piling that on top of walking all day at Disney may be a poor choice.  I did however make sure to rock a pair of KSO’s for the trip.  It is at the point now where even wearing a thick soled running shoe all day hurts my heels and arches.  I had a few employees stop me to make sure I was not wearing just socks, high fived one guy in line that was also sporting Vibrams, and had a 10 minute conversation with another guest while waiting for a parade to start about how Vibrams work.  (Not much too it, you put them on your feet, and you make sure not to walk on your heels).  He was trying to sell me on why I should swith back to a heavy soled runner like he had on, but no dice.  Oddly enough, they live about 20 minutes from us and his wife went to the same high school that my brother went too (small world). 

We had a blast, walked a ton (we were on our feet from 10 am till 9 pm with very little down time), and in true vacation fashion ate some great stuff.  My knee is back to feeling normal and I’m looking forward to jumping back in.  (I say that now, since next weekend is a 15 mile “training run”.  Yikes!)

Hot dog...check
Mac and Cheese...check
Bacon...check
Perfection