Damned Foot

It might have started a couple weeks ago when I jammed my left foot and tumbled onto the ground while running trails in Cabin John, or perhaps it came later when I decided to give running with Super Feet a try. Regardless, the top of my left foot has been aching for about a week. I took last Monday and Tuesday off as a result and the pain went away. The Turkey Trot went fine as did the rest of my runs during the rest of the week, but now I seem to be in some serious pain…

On Sunday I ran “long” with Joe Navas at Nickerson State Park on Cape Cod. Joe is an interesting cat to talk with and he’s a very tough little racer. Relatively new to running, Joe, 41, started only about 10 years ago. Now he boasts bests of 4:33 all the way to 2:33 – all run as a master! It’s really quite impressive. I intended to run further than 12 miles, but a string of good, upbeat running days left my legs tired and I didn’t want to overdue it. My foot problem flared up later that day and I decided to take Monday off.

On Tuesday I ran 10 with the NBDP and on Wednesday I ran a solo 8 in the morning while exploring some new trails that meander off the oft run Fox and Deer Trail. About 35 minutes into the run, my foot really began to hurt and I bee lined it home. I brought an ice pack to work and have been chilling the foot all day. Needless to say, I am going to rest up because I don’t want this to get any worse.

Below is a photo of my foot. The “X” naturally marks the spot that hurts the most. Any ideas?

Sealing Great

On Friday I set out for ten miles in the early afternoon. I always seem to run at weird, random times of the day when I am back home. Often times I crash or my stomach hurts when I run at these odd times, but yesterday I felt surprisingly good especially considering the fact I had a race the day before. I looped around Barnstable Harbor where I spied a seal sunning himself on the rocks. It kind of looked like this. I stopped and stared for a moment and then continued on my way. I next stopped at the grave of a childhood friend who passed away about a decade ago. I made another quick stop to visit some neighbors a few miles later. The weather was unseasonably warm so the stops didn't cause the old warm-cold-warm-cold feeling you get when you stop a lot in the colder months. I got moving at a very good clip and it felt like I hadn't even raced yesterday. I floated down the road back home in 5:45 pace and then slothed around on the couch for the rest of the day. Black Friday is great.

On Saturday I helped put on our annual high school cross country alumni race. I didn't race this year, but ran the 2.9 mile course as a warm-up and as a cooldown with old pal, and frequent Red Fox blog reader, Seth Reid and then ran home, exploring some trails along the way. Again, weather was quite warm for this time of year (60) and the sun made it feel more like spring than fall. I got in 11.

My time at home is quickly coming to an end, but not before I run long tomorrow with Sir Joe of Navas at Nickerson State Park.

Turkey Trotting

The air was cold.

Although the temperature was only 36, I was chilled to the bone when I arrived and remained shivering despite my 2+ mile warm-up. In fact, my hands were in pain. I slithered into the front seat of the car and slipped off my tights and disrobed down to my singlet. I left a wool hat on the top of my head and squeezed my hands back inside my cold gloves. It was 7:57am; time to roll.

We started out fast and I tucked back behind 3 younger foes. It felt good to open up and double down on my stride. The first mile was downhill and I slowly made gains on the young chaps just ahead of me. By the time I hit mile 1 (4:56), I was in 2nd place. Shortly after the mile the course had a sharp uphill and I began to walk down the leader somewhere near the top. Once there I hit the downhill hard and then opened it up for the next 5 minutes. My pace had slowed considerably by the time I hit mile 2 (10:10), but I seemed to have the race in the bag at that point. I felt strong and comfortable and reminded myself to keep on trucking.

I hit the tape in 15:56. My last mile was my slowest (5:16), but I wasn't too tired so I think I just got too comfortable out on the course and just got into my own groove. Essentially this was exactly what I was hoping to do; get a W and run sub-16. While not fast, the silver lining is that I ran this same race 2 years ago in more favorable weather and hit 16:01. This was before my "dream (spring) season" of 2010. If I can start putting in some miles while continuing to keep things fresh, I might be able to turn things around. The shorter, more poignant analysis is - damn, it felt good to race again.

First Workout in Months

It was another solid 7 days of running. On Saturday I ran my first workout since mid-summer. The team was running 8 x 1000m on the grass and I was excited to get my feet dirty. I opted before the workout to run only 5 repeats and run by feel. Instead of looking at my watch, I’d base my pace on the competition around me and my own personal comfort. We leaned forward into the incline and almost immediately cold air filled my rusty lungs. This pace seems right, I told myself, but despite my reassurance, I didn’t feel very comfortable. After rep 1 I began to shed some of my layers. Each rep essentially repeated itself: Sam and Witty would take off, I’d run even with Texas Paul. I’d pull ahead of Tex, Tex would then pull ahead of me. I’d pull even with Tex. I hit 2:55 over and over again (note – actual distance was .58 miles, not 1k. This was approximately 5:01 pace). I was pretty beat (cardio wise) by rep number 5 and I slowed considerably to a 3:01. I gathered up my warm-ups and started my cool down while the others kept on fighting. The speed caused my hammy/glute to show some signs of stress, but it was nothing like it was after my mile some months ago. Still, it was good I quit while I was ahead. The name of the game now is patience.

On Sunday I ran 14.5 from Old Angler’s Inn with some of the guys. My body felt a little beat from the cross-country running the day before, but I was determined to get in one hundred minutes of running.

I ended up with 63 miles for the week (7 days of running). I’m taking Monday (today) off because I haven’t had one in a couple weeks and my body is beginning to tell me it needs one. Thursday will be a test of sorts. I am running a Turkey Trot 5k on Cape Cod. I don’t know if the course is *really* a 5k or not, so I’ll again be running by feel. I do want to push it though and I do want to hurt. I need to start working out and getting rid of all these cobwebs.

Seven Days a Week

I got back into the swing of things last week. I ran every day, but I bookended my Saturday long run with two easy days of running. Essentially I ran 45-60 minutes from Monday to Thursday and then ran a very easy 5 miles on Friday. On Saturday I left Grosvenor for the Chevy Chase Store by way of the Rock Creek Trail and Western Ave. The distance is about 9 miles. At first I felt low on sugar and low on steam, which is surprising because I wolfed down coffee, toast with jelly and some Gatorade all within an hour of starting my run. I occasionally checked splits and seemed to hover around 6:40 pace. After 45 minutes I snapped out of my funk and began to push the pace on the ups and downs of Western. I arrived at the store a few minutes after 9am and joined up with the team for a 9-mile run. We essentially ran a big hour-long loop via the CCT, Georgetown Branch Tail and the Rock Creek Trail. I pushed the pace again when I got back on rolling Western for the second time that morning. I finished up the day with 18 miles; my longest run in well over a year. The next morning I ran an easy, stop-and-go 7 miles while watching the team battle local competition at the Veteran’s Day 10k. They won.

I got in 62 miles, my highest week of mileage in about one year. I plan to run a light workout on Saturday before heading home for Turkey next week and trying my hand at a Turkey Trot 5k.

Return to Normalcy...I hope

Last week I traveled to New York City and worked for a television production company filming and producing various marathon-themed projects throughout the week. Highlights included a commercial with Ryan Hall, a promotional video for Indonesia and a chance to ride backwards on a moped while filming a reality TV star running the race. The good news was that I enjoyed every minute of this “work”, but the bad news was my running (again) suffered since every waking hour was spent working. I was able to engage in a few jaunts around Central Park and some street running in and around Midtown. Essentially I ran enough to get by.

Now, I will attempt to, as Warren G. Harding once famously said, “return to normalcy”. Next job withstanding, I shouldn’t have any roadblocks from here on out.

My plan is as follows:

1. attempt to run 7 days per week

2. slowly ramp my miles up to 65-70 mpw

3. increase long runs from 15/16 miles to 2 hours/18 miles

4. continue to stretch rigorously and add stretches as need

5. commence workouts by January

In two weeks I will race a Turkey Trot on Cape Cod. It’s the same 5k I did two years ago, before I had my PR spring. My time was dismal – 16:00 – but a few months later I was running a far faster pace for triple that distance. That being said, the race will be a good benchmark of where I am at and how much work I’ll have to do.