Hoping for good weather

No one's posted any updates for a couple of weeks so here are some random thoughts. I've been getting a bit concerned about what kind of temperatures we'll be seeing for the marathon. It really warmed up here in Oklahoma in March. The week before last, we had a day where the temp got up to 88! I ran that evening and it was pretty warm although not ridiculously so like it is around here during the summer. And we've had a few other days in the high 70s or low 80s. I try to keep in mind that even if it is unusually warm for March, that doesn't mean the trend will continue thru April and May. In fact it's only 62 this afternoon...the coolest day in a couple of weeks, and it's supposed to be in the 50s and 60s next week. I think the marathon starts at 6:30 in the morning too, so even if it does end up being a hot day, it shouldn't be too bad before people are finished.

I've been fighting some aches and pains...left ankle and knee, but they are more of a distraction than a hindrance. I've managed to put in a bit over 20 miles the past couple of weeks and pushed my long run up to 8 mile the past two weekends. I'm planning to do 9 miles this weekend then after a couple of those I'll go for 10 or 11. As long as my ankle and knee hold up I should be ready by the time the event rolls around.

I haven't heard anything from Ross in a while. I assume he's plugging away, working his mileage up. Johnny has been keeping his running up after a brief break for gall bladder surgery, but I think he probably doesn't feel like he'll be ready to tackle the half marathon yet. He's talking about entering a 5K sometime soon though and I'd kind of like to run one before the marathon too. The Red Bud Classic comes up in April and it's one of the bigger events around here so I was thinking about suggesting that to Johnny. We'll see.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks and having a great time!

I Was Fast. . . .sort of

So I am going to brag on my self just for a second. Mainly cause I don't get to brag much when it comes to running. Today I went for a 40 minute run w/Mason. His was supposed to not be a recovery run but at a comfortable pace. In case you aren't aware, Mason's comfortable pace is not mine, but he is tolerant of me and lets me run with him. Off we went, and he complemented me on my form :) I would say about 8 minutes in I was dropping back but not too terribly - that happens later. I won't bore you with the details but bottom line is I ran 3.95 miles in 35 minutes. Yay me! That, according to my mathmetician son, is just under 9 minute miles. I'm impressed even though I expect the only one really under 9 minutes was the first one. It made me feel good though. Too bad I can't do that for 13. Oh well, must train more.

9.9 miles

Last Saturday I ran two hours on a route which turned out to be 9.9 miles. I ran up onto the U of U campus, although not much of it. It was also hilly. I was exhausted by the time I was finished. I was tired all day. I also developed a blister on my left big toe which is still there a week later. I also had a very sore left second toe. It appears to be bruised. It was kind of a tough run and is somewhat frightening to me. How will I handle 13.1 miles?

I also bought some new shoes. They are Aesics and are designed correct my pronating gait. They certainly feel snug.

Oklahoma Running

I went this morning for a run. It had rained last night and was cool and overcast. I went to my usual park and got in 6 miles which is the most I have done in a while. It was a little misty and even rained briefly on me but I think it is my favorite running weather. I watched the news and they said March is the windiest month for Oklahoma but today wasn't too bad.

I have been running in my new shoes and my right foot always starts to hurt so today I ran on the side of the trail in the grass. About mile 4 I stepped into a hole and almost fell but caught myself. I was worried about my ankle hurting but I kept going and it seems to be okay. Thursday is supposed to be about 70, so I hope to get in another good run.

The Daily Mile

I wanted to mention the Daily Mile website to everyone. It's a social-type website with a fitness theme. You join the site and then post your workouts to it. You can "friend" people on it like you do on Facebook and then their posted workouts show up on your home page. It's probably mostly populated by runners although there are a lot of bike riders and triathletes on the site too. Some people (like me) pretty much only post their runs, but others also post their weight workouts and any other cross training they do.

It keeps a record of your workouts so you can review a lot of stats you generate, like total mileage, pace, time spent running, etc. Here's a screenshot of my Training summary for the past 4 weeks (click on the image to see it at full size).

Daily Mile Training Summary

It's a nice, free tool and a good way to track your training, so I thought some of you may be interested in signing up and trying it out. You can see my profile page on the site at http://www.dailymile.com/people/rocketjam

Any of you who sign up can be my friend!

A (hopefully) short interruption

You all may recall I hurt my left ankle last year, right before the SLC Marathon. It wasn't bad enough to prevent me from running, but it was enough to bother me when I was running. The injury hung on for the summer and I was beginning to resign myself to the fact that I'd have to live with it at least until I took some kind of extended break from running so it could heal up.

Then, toward the end of the summer I made some adjustments to my stride and over the next month or so, the pain in my ankle diminished and by the time I ran in the Route 66 Marathon in November it seemed to be completely healed up...at least it wasn't causing me any pain when running.

When I ran at South Lakes Park three(?) weeks ago there was a lot of patchy snow on the south end of the trail and I kind of danced through it on each of the 6 laps I ran. And to my dismay I found afterwards that the pain in my left ankle was back. I basically ignored it, other than maybe trying to stay extra light on my foot landings so I wouldn't make it worse. However, as I worked on stepping my mileage up over this stretch, it kept getting a bit more painful with each run.

Last week on the two runs I did on weekdays I only ran 3 miles each time because I was worried about making the ankle worse. This past weekend I ran 7 miles and felt pretty good...didn't have too much pain from the ankle, but then the next day it was quite sore, causing me to limp a bit when walking. I tried going for a run the next evening, but ended up only doing 2 miles because it was bothering me so much.

That was Tuesday and I haven't run any the rest of this week. It's felt quite a bit better the past couple of days, so I'm intending to go ahead and get a run in over the weekend and see how it is.

It was raining

I did the most unique run of my life today. I ran in my bedroom. It started raining when I arrived home from work, so I decided to take the dogs for a walk first and see how hard it was raining. We got pretty wet. It was clearing up to the west by the time we got home, but I wasn't certain how long it would take to get to where I was or last, so I decided to at least run awhile in the house. I ran barefoot too! My feet got tired and I got kind of bored even though I was listening to NPR. Mostly my feet got tired.

What a great day for running

It was in the 50's today. For the first time this year I ran in short sleeves and capris. I wasn't brave enough to wear short shorts. No gloves and no hat. It was lovely and I had a pretty good run too.

Spring Around the Corner?????

So much for stepping up the mileage. Curt and I got 2 decent long runs in over the last 2 weeks (~9 miles) and then we had a little blizzard last week with sub zero temps and school cancelled which is just a bit too cold for me to run in. Then, it has been snowing since Saturday night!! Okay, not 24/7 but practically. I hardly find it fair. We have probably had 10" of new snow (yuck) and as a result, the running hasn't happened.

I will quit complaining now, but I really do want some nicer weather or at least some dry roads. I made our airline reservations yesterday so we are officially on our way. Yes Jay, at this point Curt is doing the marathon. Me, just the 1/2 and maybe Luke the 1/2. That is what he says at least. We shall see.

Later. ~Sherry