Can I save this one?

Tonight I set out to run for fun. No watch, no gymboss. Just me, my legs and my lungs.

Dave was umpiring a softball game at Widener. The field is about 4.5 miles from our house. I left the house at 6 p.m. figuring that I'd get to the field in the middle of the second game; watch the rest of it and get a ride home from Dave. I called his cell to tell him the plan and my route in case the game finished early he could come by and pick me up.

I can't explain or find the words to explain this run. I just ran. I had some twinges in the usual spots (not my calf though) but nothing lasted more than a few minutes. I paid attention to posture and took inventory of all my various parts. Everything was working just as I would like it to. I wasn't doing any walking and I wasn't feeling like I had to or wanted to. This is good as I have been doing 3 and 1's so long I sometimes wonder if I can go longer. I can :)

I did experience one odd thing and I stil have no idea what it was. I was about 3 miles in and my right side started acting up. At first I thought it was a stitch but it wasn't a sharp pain. It started out as a dull pain; not an ache just a dull presence. It started out just at hip level and moved up so that my entire side felt like I was wearing armor. It was a hard gripping feeling; but not hard enough to stop me or hurt just tight. It didn't affect my breathing or my stride. My brain was still on board with the run so I kept going. When I stopped to navigate crossing a very busy street the feeling eased and continued to do so through the end of the run. By the time I got to the end it was all gone. Very strange.

When I got to the softball field I was disappointed to see that the game was only in the first evening. Dave said they had a 2 hour and 10 minute first game. :( And unfortunately for me the second game went 2 hours as well. I had to borrow Dave's extra umpire jacket to stay warm.

None of that could take away from the feeling of the run. It was awesome. :) Gettysburg here I come!

Taper madness has begun

I missed the 12 miler this weekend. It was rainy and windy on Saturday so I decided to go Sunday after the VF Revolutionary Run. Friends were running in it and USAFit/Philly had a booth there. Well the rain stopped but the wind was still horrible and I bailed. I feel sluggish. Is that real or imagined?

Somebody posted on the Gettysburg Marathon FB page that the forecast (still 12 days away) is for 55 and rainy. So despite the rain and temps in the 50s today I was determined to go out. I tried to focus on form and running relaxed. I was wearing my watch because it was set to alarm every mile and I wanted to do mile interevals. I actually felt good the first mile. Then my calves on both sides felt stiff. That could easily be due to the lack of regular running lately. Could it be something more? The stiffness went away but my left ankle pain came back a bit. I believe that IS real. I did some extra stretching for that when I got home.

All in all it was a good run (weather notwithstanding). I stuck to the intervals regardless of the hills. I ran around Media by the way. The original plan was the Loop but no one could (or wanted) to go with me so I opted for Media which is just as much if not more of a hill workout.

BTW, the same poster put up another check of the weather for Gettsyburg on May 1st and now it's 77 and cloudy! LOL

Confidence run

I hadn't run since the 20 miler on Saturday. I had planned to take Sunday and Monday off. Tuesday and Wednesday it rained. Cold rain. I hate cold rain. Warm rain is ok. Cold rain really sucks. There's no other way to say it. So tonight I had plans to meet Julius at 6 at Pawlings Road.

I finished work at 4; messed around a bit there, changed, ran a few errands and still was at Pawlings Road before 5. So I decided to go out for a run around the Audobon Loop on my own first. I started thinking about it on the drive over. I wondered if I should take that chance. What if I had a breakdown on the course and didn't get back to the parking lot by 6? That was silly since even at 12 minutes miles I'd be done in less than 48 minutes. So I went for it. I decide to run comfortably and relaxed and take walk breaks when I felt like it. In the end I took three short walk breaks and ran the rest. It felt good and I made it back in 44 minutes. When Julius arrived we did the loop again in the opposite direction using 3 and 1's and walked up the big hill. I really enjoyed the company and the run.

Just under 8 miles on a weeknight. Cool.

Getting by with a little help from my friends...

With lots of advice and supprt from my running buddies I tackled the second 20 miler training run toward the Gettyburg Marathon.

On Thursday evening I took Mary's advice and used the jacuzzi in my hotel room (thank you Marriott upgrade) on my calf. On Friday night at home I wrapped it in a heating pad. I took an aleve before bedtime and wore compression socks to bed (Thanks Maggi..although I had to take them off halfway through the night). On Saturday, I ran 5 miles with John, 12 miles with Kristie and walked 3 on my own.

The calf was fine. It was tight when I was finished but not sore. I iced it when I got home and I'm wearing compression socks now. The walking of the final three miles had nothing to do with the calf. My legs just weren't with the program. I've only run three days in the two weeks since the last 20 miler and I was feeling the effects. I will run short 3-5 mile runs 3 days a week for the next three weeks with easy runs. I think I'll be fine.

The run itself was good. Not as wow as the last one but still a good positive run. I took gels every 3 miles (used to do every 5) on Pete's suggestion that I needed more calories on the run. I had a bit of trouble deciding when to take the endurolytes and waited too long at one point. I could feel my heart to that hard pump thing. The endurolytes are really hard to judge. I need less in cold weather and as we move into warmer weather... I'm just going to have to be more conscious of it. I struggled with hydration a bit too. The fountains as Valley Green were off so I started taking in less to make sure I'd have enough to take gels and endurolytes. My body let me know it was not happy with this. I had a dizzy spell (could also have been the endurolyte mistake) around mile 14-15. Not serious but before this I would take sips of water every walk break (3 min run/1 min walk) and then more water with gels and endurolytes. I wasn't doing that and I really think my body was upset at the break in routine. I will be wearing my belt with full bottles on the marathon so I can stick with the routine.

Despite the minor mishaps above I never hit the wall (as I know it ,, and I do know it..lol). So I'm very happy about that. My recovery from my mistakes was quick as well. My calf held up and although I'll be tending to it carefully to be sure, I think it will be fine.

I'm ready and excited! Bring it on.

Please don't let this be anything serious

Went for a modified Media 5 mile run tonight.

Since last Thursday I've had an uncomfortable pain in my right calf. A few times this weekend I limped because of it but usually worked it out after a bit of walking. So today, after getting past the typical inertia issues beginning a run I tried to pay attention to the pain. Oddly the pain was all but non-existent on the hills but came back on the flats. I would have thought it would be the othe way around. It didn't get any worse from the beginning to the end of the run but it didn't get better either. I took extra stretch time on it when the run was over. It's still there though. :(

I still have a weird pain around my left ankle and achillies area as well. The weirdness with that one is that it does not bother me at all when I'm running. Not even a hint. But it frequently aches when doing nothing or twinges when walking. This has been going on for weeks. No worse, no better and there is no sign of it when I run.

*sigh* I don't need this right now. Really not sure how to deal with it between now and the marathon.