Optimism

Something is just wrong with runners.

We engage in an activity most people avoid or consider punishment from their days in High-School sports.  When we encounter an overuse injury we are frustrated at trying to reach levels that we used to easily attain.  Maybe we step back for a while, but at the first signs of progress, we push it.

Maybe something is just wrong with me.

After months of pampering my left foot and getting to where three or four miles felt pain-free, I started off on a nice run in Alameda CA, just north of the Oakland airport.
The day was cold and rainy, but I was well-dressed for the weather.  My heel felt good, my legs felt good, I had the time to not hurry.  I had a great prescription for an easy five-mile tempo run at 10:15 pace.  Just trying to build miles and return to a marathon-training program.
I watched the rainclouds boil across the Bay from San Francisco.  The concrete sidewalk gave way to an asphalt trail, then a gravel path that ran along the water.  The miles went quickly and I had to keep watch on my Garmin and keep telling myself to slow down.
At 2.5 miles I saw my turn-around point glide past, thinking I would not add that many more miles by going clear around the peninsula.  On a fine, cool day a faster pace would be OK. Wouldn't it?

Back at the truck I was already starting to feel my calves and heel.  I finished with eight miles, one of them under 9:00, another at 9:30.  I gave up the next week's running to enjoy my day at the Bay, and risked a flare-up of the plantar faciitis.

I did enjoy the run, though.  Something must be wrong with me.

Third?

Looking back over my running logs, I can see where the problem started.

In June, I was trying some quarter-mile repeats to increase my speed.  In the past, I had had some over-use injuries when attempting speed-work, but after two marathons, and currently running 25 to 35 miles per week, I thought I could ease some speed-work into my routine.

"June 9th: Intervals   4X400, 1X600  (Maybe too fast on pace, left shin pain high, heel pain.  Light rain 62 degrees. Path near Pilot Truckstop in Austintown OH)"

"June 14th: Easy  3 miles in Dubois PA  (heel pain after, maybe try stretching?)"

"June 25th: Tempo 4 miles in El Paso TX  (left heel pain--WHAT IS UP?)"

After months of dealing with a classic case of plantar faciitis, I finally cut my miles down to less than five, easy, miles per WEEK!  After four weeks of getting jealous of people running over crosswalks, or complaining about putting in a few miles, I ran 2.25 miles and felt only a hot spot.  Today I ran 3.5 easy miles and felt little pain.

So far so good...

For a person who used to hate to run, it is frustrating to finally convince myself that I LIKE to run, then be unable to do it.  I wanted to run a nine-minute-mile marathon (3:55:48) but now that running was taken away from me for five months, I am determined to train for, and DON'T MESS WITH ME I will run a nine-minute-mile marathon.

I have lost a lot of fitness and leg-muscle tone.  I know how to deal with being out of shape and I know how to deal with my legs being sore.  It will not be easy, but I will return!

Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon

I woke up without the alarm in our downtown hotel, updated my facebook page with: "Up early getting ready to run 26.2 miles as fast as I can. Whose idea was this anyway? Oh yea, mine. Well... I'll make sure I pay for this later!" , put on my gear, and went to meet the shuttle bus to the start line.


As the sun was coming up, I checked out the location of my start corral, used the porta-potties before the lines got long (they did!) ate free bagels and bananas, and visited with some of the other runners in my corral.






The starter kept talking up the sponsors of the race, interviewed the mayor of Tukwila, and gave some stats, Turns out 70% of the racers were female. His theory is that since the race sold out, only the diligent women were able to get into the lineup. Finally they began the rolling start! Corral 13 took 18 minutes to get to the start, but my time did not start until I crossed the start line with my timer chip in my shoe.







I wanted to reach the halfway mark before any of the elite racers actually finished. I made it on chip time and in real time. They have timers with the clock times evey mile and at the 13.1 post. I crossed it at 2:17:00 or so, giving me a chip time under two hours. I found out later that the Kenyan who won crossed the finish line a minute or two after that!




Cindy walked down from our hotel and cheered me on twice. This picture was at about mile 22.

I finished at 4:17:34, taking more than 30 minutes off my best time. I was dizzy and cramping up the last two miles, maybe from the heat. An ice bath at the Nutrilite booth was just what I needed.

The two-mile walk back to our hotel was probably good for my legs as a warm-down, but it took the rest of my energy. We had our victory dinner in the room with some take-out pizza. Cindy entertained herself while I slept 14 hours by taking candid photos and posting them on the internet.

Taper

The rest of my taper for the race was also our busiest time of work yet this year. I got in an eight mile run, and a two-mile run the day before the race, some crosstraining, but that was all we had time to get done. I bought some used (returned) shoes at the expo, some GU, and Cindy bought me a SPI belt for the race.

Carlisle PA

Got in four miles today. Feeling more like running, but do not want to push too hard and get sick again. Good thing this is my taper.

Oklahoma City OK

Feeling a bit better today. Good thing, USX decided to lease our Peterbuilt and had us move into a new International. Nice truck, but it took us eight hours to do the move. I am counting it as a cross-training day, even though I tried not to get too cross.

Oakland CA

We delivered to the Oakland airport on Bay Farm Island, which is actually a penninsula as far as I could tell. Cindy stayed with the truck while I explored the island for places to run. A trail runs around the outside of the island with nice views of the bay and San Francisco to the northwest.

I had just watched Bruce Dern in "On the Edge" the night before and I probably overdid my run a bit. Maybe I inspired the other runners, joggers, and bicyclers on the path with my intense focus. More likely that I inspired the homeless on how to look crazed.

I came down with some flu symptoms immediately after my run. After four days I felt better, but I still am not quite sure what had happened. I read somewhere that runners immune system can be down during hard training. So if I did not catch a cold sometime I was not training hard enough, right?

13 miles
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