Back to the grind...

As Tim predicted, there was no way that I was not running today. After stretching a ton, I set off with Mom's group (2:2). My ankle felt great...my legs felt great...things could not have gone any better, honestly. Until the rains came, which was pretty quickly...it poured on us from about mile .5 until the very end. We were slated to run 8.5 miles from the Concord YMCA in Brentwood. It is a pretty difficult run, it is flat at the beginning (and end because of it being an out and back), but then gets really hilly in the middle.

We plowed through the first 3.5 miles easily to the water break...from there, I took the last of my Hammer Gels (orange flavor) which tasted terrible. I purchased some GU (strawberry banana flavor) for next week, we will see how that goes. We are supposed to eat something once an hour to give our bodies something to break down and get energy from. I really like the ideas of gels...they come in small packages, so that they are easy to carry, but as of this point, I have not found a flavor that agreed with me. Maybe the Strawberry banana will work...anyhow...the gel did not kick in until around mile 4.5...so I had a rough mile in there...a funny thing happened though at mile 4.75...we had not turned around. Apparently, the course was mismarked, no worries, instead of 8.5, we would do 9.5, which would be the most we have done so far.

I was fine until about mile 7, that is when I started to hit a wall...I am thinking it is because I had had a glass of water, glass of cytomax, my hammer gel, and that was it...no breakfast of any kind. My next step is to find something I can eat for breakfast before the long run that won't make me want to drop a deuce during a race or long run. Anyway, at this point, Mom was getting a bit tired too and our mantra that we repeated a bunch that got us through the rest was "coffee, hot tub" due to we were going to go to Starbucks after the run and then to Mom's hot tub after that...

Not only did we make it, but we finished in pretty stellar fashion considering I had not run in 2 weeks and Mom had not run in 3 weeks...

Joe and Mom 9.5 miles 02:06:31 13:25 mile...
Karen 9.5 miles 01:50:00 - approximate time...

So, we got our coffee, got back to Mom's and WHAT! Gordon made pancakes...what a great surprise. So, long story short, great run today. I still feel good...I think I finally have the right shows, I FEEL NO PAIN...I may be sore later, but I do not hurt like I have. To close, here is an interesting statistic...using the finish time calculator at runnersworld online, after our run today, our predicted finish would be 2:54 minutes for the half. Now mind you, I have several goals in mind for this race.

1. Finish
2. Beat a 3:30 time...
3. And this is the big one...beat 3:00, I would be ecstatic if I could accomplish this...

Even at running the 2:2, this puts us in a good place...


Thank you for your support.

J

I did not spellcheck or grammar check this, so sorry if you find anything messed up.

I am going tomorrow...

After a lot of thought and about $100 in co-pays, I have decided that I am going to walk tomorrow with Mom and Karen. Of course, they will be doing their own thing, but I plan to take it slow...walk the first few miles, then maybe step it up to a 1:2 if I feel up to it. The good thing is that it is a long run tomorrow, I can take it easy, then hopefully be closer to normal for next week when it is a recovery run.

I am also going ot be testing a new app for the side of the blog that tracks running times and distances...

I will post again tomorrow to follow up. Be sure to check out Mom's blog as well, she has been doing well updating hers...

What is it about Tuesday Nights...

So, I went to the rec center to ride the bike for a bit, but all the machines were taken. Instead of waiting around, I decided to go up to the track and walk a few laps. I decided that a mile would be fine since I did a half the night before with relatively little discomfort...this time I would just walk. When I was about 80% done, my ankle starting throbbing, so I finished my mile, then hobbled down the stairs, gathered my shit and went home. I then received word that Claire not only has Strep again, but also has the flu on top of that...bummer. She has been fighting this crap for the past 2 weeks.

Needless to say, I was really upset about everything...I really felt I was making progress, but this made me feel like I took a step back. I questioned the doctor guy I was seeing (since he really only scraped my foot with tools and prescribed the same 3 exercises) and then I called my Mother, who is always the voice of reason. Of course, I upset her because I was upset, I honestly feel bad aboot that because she is all the way in Canada, but she does always make me think about things a little clearer. An email from her last night with the subject line "life and shit" made me feel much better, THANK YOU MOM.

Anyway, I think I may try to see an ortho/sports medicine person this coming week (there is an office walking distance from the office, just need to make sure insurance covers it), not sure about going back to the spine and joint guy...not going to walk the 8.5 on Saturday...still going to finish the 1/2 marathon.

J

Monday Afternoon Doctors Visit/Monday Night Workout

Had another Doctors appointment this afternoon, he said I was progressing well and as long as the pain was gone, he could teach me a few other exercises to continue the rehab process. Of course, before that he had to work my foot over with those steel instruments...which again was terribly painful, but once he was done, my foot/shin/ankle felt great. It was a short visit, most importantly, he agreed that I should be good to WALK on Saturday. More on this in a moment....

After the appointment, I went over to the rec center to ride the bike for a bit. I did my half hour, and it felt great. Afterwards, I had sort of a wild hair and decided to go up to the track to walk some. I did the equivalent of a half mile...did not worry about time....walked the first 6 laps, then jogged the last one. After the last lap, my ankle did feel a bit weak. It made me think about what someone at work had asked me earlier when they learned of my injury. "Are you still going to be able to run"...as of right now, I may be able to safely say that I may not be able to run at the speed that I was 2 weeks ago, but I am going to try and I am going to finish...whether I have to walk the last half. It is going to happen. After that, I will have the whole year to train/rehab so that I will be in perfect (as can be) shape for the WDW Marathon.

J

Saturday Morning Run (I was absent)

So, with the ankle injury, I missed the run however both Mom and Karen went. Mom walked but came close to beating out the 2:2's which is very impressive and Karen ran with the 6:1's but found them to run slowly, so she pulled ahead of them towards the end.

I do not have a time on Mom, but I do have Karens:

Karen 6.7 miles 1:17 11:29 minute pace

I do not know much about the course they ran, but what they told me which was that it was nice and they passed Alan Jackson's house.

As far as the injury goes, I feel a lot better today. I can feel a slight "twinge" every so often on it, but no real pain anymore. I am going to keep doing the exercises that the doctor told me to do and if all goes as planned, I will go and either walk or do the 2:2's next week...we will see.

J

It's Official...

...I have a sports related injury. The spine and joint guy said that I had torn up bunch of tissue and stuff near the base of my achilles. He advised that the way my feet were hitting the pavement he was surprised this did not happen earlier. He gave me a number of exercises to do and scraped the crap out of my ankle with these steel instruments. It was really painful.

He advised no running for up to 2 weeks although I can do the recumbent bike and stepper at the rec center to keep my cardio up.



I am going to do my best to stay positive. I miss the recovery run this weekend and could possibly go back to walk the 8.5 next weekend....but I would be just walking.

Joe

Frustrated and Hurt

Yep...so, I tried to blame tennis and shoes last week (although, I still have not given up on blaming the shoes, the old ones that is)...anyhow, this week, it is my left ankle...at the end of my first mile started pulsing with pain. It got so bad that my trot turned into more of a fast limp.

I am really really disappointed. I have come to not really look forward to Tuesday training. I seem to always hurt myself. This week, I think it may have been me compensating for my right ankle from last week. The only thing I know for sure is that I need to see a doctor. Mom has been seeing someone for her joints and 'biodynamics' since she has been hurt. I will be calling him in the morning. The last thing I want is for me to 'kill' my long run like I have been on Saturday, but then can not run the rest of the week.

What I am hoping is that this is just leftovers from my last injury and I now have the right shoes and can move forward and finish training for the half injury-free.

I just want to run.

Saturday Long Run (PARTIAL RACE COURSE!)

We just got back from our long run for the week. We did 8 miles, about 7.25 of it was on the actual course we will be running for the half marathon. Each week, the runs become more of a rush for me...

Mom is off this week due to her leg issues, but Karen came with...she started out with my 3:1 group but as we expected, it was too slow for her, so she moved up a few groups and finally settled in with the 6:1 group. She was really nervous about it this morning, but she really ended up enjoying running with everybody.

For the most part, it was business as usual, until about mile 4 when one of the other pace leaders was following me and at the next water stop told me that my right foot was pronating and those were probably not the shoes for me. I need something with more support. I asked him if this would cause ankle pain...he advised yes...so, needless to say, he asked me to come back in and they would get me in something else. I will post about that later...her are our times for this week:

Karen 8 miles, 1:32 11:30 minute pace
Joe 8 miles 1:37 12:07 minute pace

This week was really not that bad, even with the hills...the best part is that I could have kept going after 8...the way things are looking now, as long as I do not get injured, I should be good to go for the half!

Thanks,

J

Thursday Night Run...

I left work pretty excited today because my ankle felt great and I had an easy 4 miler to look forward to. I mapped out a new course through the neighborhoods that was not lousy with hills. I complained last week about our 3 mile course to Tim and of course he had to remind me of the name of the town I live in...

The new course was a slight upgrade. From the car, it seems very flat, but what I learned tonight was that it really is an incline one way, and slightly downhill the rest of the way...good thing is that it was not too difficult to run. I ran 3:1's tonight and kept to the Galloway approach of walking a bit at the beginning. I stuck to my 3:1 after that slowing my pace at the beginning (the uphill battle) so that when I turned around, I was able to pretty much trot at a much faster pace back until I got to the entrance of our neighborhood which is a pretty steep hill.

It was a lonely run tonight, just me. Mom is nursing some leg issues, Karen was at the dentist. I had my ipod to pass the time though so that was nice. Karen will jog on the treadmill later...

Joe 4 miles 47:36 11:54 pace

I believe that is my best pace time yet. I am getting to the point where I feel like I can conserve my energy, miles 2-4 were easy tonight just like miles 3-6 last Saturday. Granted, from about 2.5 -->3.5 it was downhill, but still...

J

Last Few Days...

I took the last few days off from training...or at least the normal training schedule due to some ankle issues I got from playing tennis 2 days in a row. Last night, I did got to the rec center and used the recumbent stair-stepper for a mile, then walk/jogged about a mile and a quarter...I feel good today and definitely ready to run my 4 miles tomorrow night.

I do not want to totally stop playing tennis, but I do need to get some court shoes that do fit me. I will be doing some more shoe shopping this weekend. I also got a $25 gift certificate from Fleet Feet which I am strongly considering purchasing a back-up pair of running shoes with.

The key for me is to not get the fear of getting injured in my head...when I ran the other night, I felt like I was favoring that ankle which I think will ultimately cause a "real" injury.

A couple of other side notes:

1. I purchased my first "running" book. Jeff Galloway's You Can Do It: Half-Marathon...this guy is a genius and has totally changed the way I think about running. http://www.amazon.com/Half-Marathon-You-Can-Jeff-Galloway/dp/1841261904/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234397745&sr=8-2

2. Check out my Mom's blog, she just started up yesterday:
http://jerseygrammy.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

J

Off Day, Getting over Sickness

I have to say after yesterdays long run, I feel great. I was expecting to feel really sore and cruddy, but I had no pains at all. It was still not in my best interest to run again today, but being able to walk down the stairs without my knees getting wobbly, that is awesome.

Due to the awesome weather, we spent a good portion of the day outside, Claire and Bella made themselves a lemonade stand and sat outside drinking lemonade, they had a couple of customers, but not a ton...I started the opening process of the pool. It is early, but I was ready to get the cover off and start cleaning the patio off.

I am hoping the weather holds this week so that we can get some outside runs in AND possibly some tennis in during lunchtime at work.

J

The Long Run after 3 days rest

Mom and I went out to meet the Fleet Feet crew at the Concord YMCA this morning to run our long run for the week. Mom ran with the 2:2 interval group while I stuck with the 3:1 interval group. They advised that the marathon group was going to be running the 8 miles, but they strongly encouraged everyone else to stick with the 7 miles due to the course we were running was very hilly. They were correct, it was definitely the most difficult course we ran yet, but ultimately was the most satisfying run yet.

Joe: 7 miles 1:28:15 12:36 pace
Mom: 7 miles 1:35:00 13:34 pace

I was really proud of this one because I ran every interval without stopping. Meaning, I did not take an interval 'off' to walk. I was very conservative with my energy at the beginning because at around mile 6 on the last run, I started to run out of gas. Thankfully, today, that did not happen. Our last 2 intervals, we were able to push a little harder and pick up the pace to around 10:15 which was pretty impressive to me...especially after running 6.5 miles...I really enjoyed myself today and still feel pretty good, although I know that I will sore tomorrow. We are off for 2 days, then we will run 4 miles Tuesday and Thursday, then we are scheduled to run 7-8 miles down near the David Lipscomb U Baseball field for our Saturday run...

Karen was unable to attend the run this morning due to a scheduling conflict, but she did an 8 mile run this morning, it was a 4 mile out and back. She did really well.

Karen: 8 miles 1:38:00 12:15

Have a Good Weekend!

J

Tuesday Night Workout

Due to the extreme cold, Mom and I ran at the Rec Center instead of out in the 25 degree cold with 20 mph gusts...

Update:

Mom and Joe: 4 miles 51:55 12:58 pace
Karen: Have not run yet...

Not a bad run at all tonight...we kept up the 3:1 the whole time, skipping 1 interval to recover. I am glad that we did not go back to 2:2. After last nights terrible run, I feel good again. Now, We have 3 days rest until our Saturday long run with the Fleet Feet people. This week, we move from starting at the store from starting at the Concord YMCA and running towards Ravenwood High School...apparently it starts flat, then gets hilly, then finishes flat. Should be interesting.

I added my gamer card to the blog too, if you haven't noticed. Awesome.

Tonight's Run = Not Fun

Well, it has happened before, but has not happened in a while. Tonights run sucked. It was a 3 miler and really was one of the worst ones in a while. We are trying out a new watch, so we did intervals, but I did not have the normal timer set up, so I do not have an exact time, but I would say it was in the 45 minute range. Kind of sucks, cause we could have walked that and probably did it quicker.

Reason why I think I did poorly:

1. Did not stretch properly...
2. Maybe confidence was too high after I killed 7 miles the other day...
3. Maybe my legs just were not ready...

We will try again tomorrow, this time at a slower pace...maybe 2:2 instead of 3:1...we will see.

J

Sunday Morning...

Just finished reading the paper...today is an off day. I read in multiple places that novice runners should not run a day before or day after a long run. Although I feel fine, just a little sore here and there, I will comply. I may do a mile tomorrow, to work on my interval...we will see...but will be back on Tuesday night and then will need to find some time for another 4 miles due to I am going to Atlanta Thursday night.

Going to run out to Target this morning to price some cheap Timex interval watches and get some terrible food for the Super Bowl. Possibly run over to the book store to check out a Jeff Galloway book, then home to play some Gears of War before the Super Bowl starts...

Have a good day!

J