Steve's Ramblings

Today, Sara, Melanie and I completed a 9-mile trek through Richmond. It was a moderately warm, rainy day, in the low 50’s (F); warm for late December. At times, it rained hard – but never for long. We ran mostly on sidewalks, so were jumping left and right to avoid puddles. The best we could was to try to avoid them… our feet and clothes were soaked through early on. We got somewhat lost, but friendly neighbors pointed us to the next major street without incidence. One correcting turn and we were back on course.

While I was the slowest of the group, I kept up through the more than the first half, but took a few walking breaks in each of the following miles. After 4 miles, Sara and I ate our Gel (goo?). Mine was the slightly strange tasting PowerBar Double Latte Gel which contains 50mg of caffeine. Fortunately, I ate one yesterday before running a dozen or more miles from home, so knew it would sit well. That single bowl of oatmeal seemed a long ways off by then!

We netted out to 9.28 miles, a few feet short of a 15K. Of course, I forgot to restart my Garmin 205 for a short while after we stopped for a teammate’s bathroom break. So, this was the farthest I have ever run, by 3 miles. It was hard, but know now that I can actually complete a 1/2 marathon even if I need to walk a portion of the course. That said, 9 miles is a long way!

My usual long-run encouragement, other than my new found friends, is my LiveStrong bracelet always found on my right wrist. I try to think that if Lance could do what he did, I can certainly keep myself moving. I hate to admit that I talk to it (in my head) when the going gets tough, but it is what helps when I’m by myself on a long stretch of a deserted road.

Today, my foot held out well after taking care to not lace the shoes up too tight. I apparently broke a blood vessel in my right foot, under my longest toe. It’s a bit tender, but better after some drainage. I will enjoy resting tomorrow and putting it up with some ice tonight! Total distance for the week — over 20 miles!!!

Click here for the run details…

Tomorrow morning, I will be attempting my longest distance ever. 9 miles. The distance doesn’t bother me, but I am very concerned that my foot will. I have read that this may be caused by too-tight shoes, so I will not tie them so tight. Additionally, I will walk when needed if it acts up. I don’t believe that if it hurts like it did Thursday that I can finish the full 9 mile course.

Therefore, I have mapped a shorter 6.4 mile course if needed. We are running downtown for the first time other than during a race, so I am also concerned about bathroom needs, carrying my accelerade, and a snack mid-course. I have packed one PowerBar gel (one with caffeine) to help cover the distance. I purchased three of them today as an experiment, but took one this afternoon to see how it reacted with my belly. I was happy to say that there were no ill side effects.

Time for bed so I can try for a new PDR (personal distance record — but I think I made that up)!

The good thing about having a holiday week is that you sometimes get a chance to run during the week. Since this was a week where we started to get our mileage ramped up, we moved the Wednesday long mid-week run to Thursday. On Monday, we ran together for a short 3 miles. We actually had the largest mid-week group ever, with six of us. Because Tuesday was Christmas, no one ran. Wednesday, I trudged through 3 miles on the treadmill which I have grown to hate. However, it was raining (a cold rain at that), so at least I stayed dry.

Thursday, we ran 5 miles outside, again with a fairly large group. At about half way, the congestion got to me and I had to walk long enough to blow my nose. I figured out a long time ago that I cannot blow my nose and run without paying for it for at least 1/4 of a mile — it really screws with my breathing. Anyway, just before mile 4, the bottom left of my left foot started to hurt badly. I have had this pain in the past, but it always seems to correct itself. I walked for almost a minute, then started running again. Part way through the 5th mile, it did the same thing. A brief stint walking and I was back to muscle through the final mile. We’ll have to see how Saturday goes!

I’ve got a bad case of loving you. (Bad Case of Loving You by Robert Palmer may he RIP).

Well, I was very happy with the Doc on Wednesday. She found that there was no stress fracture, and based on the reduction in pain, no tendinitis either! I was given a few exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in the foot, then immediately cleared to run. It really was the best news she could have given me. That night, Melanie and I ran a bit less than 2 miles, just to “try out” the foot. It hurt a bit, but none the next day.

Saturday, three of us started off running. We were scheduled for 8 miles, but I knew that I would be foolish to go that far after the running break. So, I figured I would do 4 miles. Sara ran all 8, with all but the first 2 by herself. I was so proud of her effort, and she was looking good after 6 when I drove out to find her. Lori has had a cold, so stopped to have hacking attacks a few times. This gave me the chance to take a few extra loops to increase the mileage. I have also been fighting what I think is more of a cold than a sinus infection, so stopped once to cough. While I certainly didn’t break any speed records, I ended up with 4.4 miles in about 43 minutes. My foot felt good after the distance, so believe that he worst of it is behind me (until next time).

Last night, we had a party at the house. I was on my feet all day and literally didn’t sit down except to put shoes on from 10 AM until 12:30 this morning. Once I sat, I was asleep within minutes. My ankles are swollen today, but it is from the standing, not the running. My goal is to be back to the scheduled distance within 2 weeks, but will try to run the scheduled 9 miles on Saturday. We will need to plot out a course that is as flat as possible, since this will be my longest distance ever (6.2 was my previous record). I could have definitely gone longer yesterday, so know that I can do 6 easily (I have done this 10 or more times). So, it’s really only miles 7, 8, and 9 that worry me!

For a couple of weeks now, my left foot has given me some pain. Tuesday, I ran a quick 2 miles on the treadmill, then had to scoot since Sue had an early meeting so it was my day to get the kids out of bed and to school.

On Wednesday, the team met at a local YMCA to start a 5-mile run. My foot was hurting more than in the past, so I stopped after less than half of a mile and walked back to the car. I knew it was time to see the doctor and had the right doctor in mind. She is a sports medicine specialist and very well known by most of the people I run with. I called Thursday and was able to see her the next day. She is unsure of the exact nature of my injury but is either a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal or peroneal tendonitis. I got an anatomy lesson.

The fifth metatarsal is basically the bone that connects to the little toe on the left side of my left foot.

The peronial tendon is the tendon that wraps behind the ankle and connects to the fifth metatarsal. Peroneal tendonitis is the inflammation of that tendon.

To determine if it is a stress fracture, I am having a bone scan done on Tuesday. That is basically a reverse x-ray where trace radioactive material is injected into my body and a few hours later is read by (basically) a Geiger counter). Oh goodie — I get to have even more radiation than I got from living almost next door to the nuke plant at Three Mile Island during the near melt-down in the 1979 accident. The good doctor is seeing me on Wednesday to review the x-rays and plot out a course of action. For the tendonitis, I can run while fixing it. For a stress fracture, I get to rest for a month and call off the half-marathon quest.

Five of us ran this morning – 6 miles in a place called West Creek, just west of where we normally run. This is one of my favorite runs, not because of the flat terrain (it is NOT flat) but because of the lack of traffic, ease of getting there and back, and the options when you are there. From where you park, you can do a 2-mile loop, a 4-mile loop, or combine the two for a 6-mile loop. That is what we have done in the past and did again today.

The weather was strange – making dressing correctly very difficult. It was 42 degrees and a cold muggy (almost misty). I ended up wearing shorts and a single long sleeved shirt, along with a hat. No gloves, earmuffs, or long pants, so I was quite cool to start, then perfect as the hour wore on. When all was said and done, I had a sweat-drenched shirt, shorts with sweat spots, and a hat that I could have wrung water out of if it was flexible. A bit of stretching and rehydration later and I was heading home.

For the week, I have to figure out how to count it. 3.1 miles on Sunday (a 5K race), 3 miles on Tuesday, 4 miles Wednesday, and the 6 today for a weekly total of 16 miles. However, according to the schedule that has been provided, Sunday’s 5K goes to last week’s distance, so it was just 13 miles for the week where 16 was scheduled. Just under 32 miles run total out of 37 I should have run to date. I need to figure out how to get the three mid-week runs in, so will likely be a bunch of treadmill runs on Tuesday and Thursday, then team runs Wednesday and Saturdays.

On an upside, 32 miles is further than from here to Kings Dominion!

Today is the first day of the 16-week half-marathon training that I have chosen to undertake. I’m not sure where this journey will take me, but I am going to do my best to complete all of it. The mid-week runs are the hardest to complete which, by design, make the weekend runs easier. By skipping a mid-week run, I will pay dearly each Saturday. However, if I complete all of the runs, I will have run 348 miles by the time the half-marathon is done.

348 miles seems like a long way.  It is, in fact, that Google Maps says is the distance from my home in Richmond to New York City. I’m not sure where in NYC, but the point is that it’s a long way away. Without traffic, that is a 6+ hour drive. In perfect weather. Certainly, we will not have perfect weather as we make this journey. This morning, for example, the temperature is 24 degrees. By the time we run, it might be up to 28 or 29. Dressing for the cold like this is always a challenge. You start off so cold you don’t know if you can get started. But, a couple of miles into the run, I get hot — since my body is apparently an incredible heat-generating machine. The oatmeal breakfast helps keep me going. Injuries have generally alluded me, after working through the shin splints and sore feet.

Today is about the willingness to push myself, to get up and run without regard to cold weather, or a sore body, or the deep desire to sleep in. Today, I start to figure out if I have the guts to continue a difficult task for more days each week than I take off. Today is the day I look at running not as a task that lasts one day, but as the start of a journey.

Today is the first day of that journey.