All about that pace.

I saw the doc today and got another cortisone shot in my foot. He got a bullseye right in the middle of that nerve! I almost hit the ceiling. The last one I got in October lasted almost 4 months so hopefully this will get me through Boston. The doc also suggested having alcohol injections to permanently fix that tumor if or when it flares up again. He said there is about an 85% success rate which is pretty good for a non-surgical procedure. Baldnspicy was having the same procedure done right before he disappeared off the blog... I wonder if he was one of the 15% fatalities? Seriously, the doc says there are no side effects and almost zero risk aside from maybe getting infected where he sticks me with the needle if I don't keep it clean.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my run in the morning to see how it feels.

4:30am 1Kings 20 - 2Kings 14 (I guess there was plenty of punk kids back then too. Go bears!) I don't know why these weird details always catch my attention.

No pain in my foot at all! It would have been a perfect run if not for the cramp I got in my right calf. At first it was a welcome change from pain I expected in my foot and I figured it would just go away after a mile or so. Not the case at all. It nagged me for the last 3 miles. I need to find my stick.

Distance    Split pace
1.00    7:17
2.00    7:18
3.00    7:17
4.00    7:24
5.00    7:09
6.00    7:27
7.00    7:25
8.00    7:42
9.00    7:26
10.00    7:16
11.00    7:12
12.00    7:12
 

4:30am 2Kings 14 - 18

3 miles, same pain in my calf. I quit before it got unbearable. 

9:30am 2kings 19 - 1Chronicles 8

19 miles on the suburban assault bicycle today. I'm kicking myself now for not riding all last week. I assumed it would aggriavte my injury so I wasted a whole week of potential cross training! I managed to keep my heart rate up to running levels and I rediscovered a few leg muscles I had long forgotten about. The good news is that my calf actually feels better than when I started! It may take a while to get my running mileage back up, but at least I can do something while I'm waiting on this dumb calf muscle.

4:30am

brrrr.. num figerx I could only make it 13 miles before all my fingers and toes were numb.

13.6 miles 52 min

11:00am

Big workout, "slacker style" at the YMCA.

1 mile warmup on the track. Didn't feel good, but it was bearable.

65 minutes on the recumbant bike avg. HR 161

1 mile on the track. Felt better than the first one, but still not good

65 minutes on my old friend the Precor AMT machine avg. HR 162 This hour went by really fast compared the one on the bike. I could feel that calf muscle more than usual, but it wasn't really painful.

1 mile on the track. This one was about the same as the second mile. meh....

Total workout time: 2 hours and 34 minutes

5:00am 1Chronicles 9-22

5 miles! I started getting a little pain in my calf during the 5th mile. It was a little higher and more to the outside than where it was hurting before. It was probably just a little cramp this time, but I figured I'd play it safe and quit while I was ahead. Thursday night I'm going to run a few miles with the Tacoma Runners. They meet once a week at a different pub/restaurant around town to run a few miles and hang out. Sounds fun.  

6:30pm

Thursday night beer run with "Tacoma Runners". My leg felt pretty good, still a little sore, but getting better I think. I met some new people and had a great time. Looking forward to next week.

Distance    Split pace
1.00    7:33
2.00    7:03
2.72    6:40

5:00am 1Chronicles 23 - Ezra 1

Another big workout at YMCA.

2 miles 15min

65min Bike

2 miles 15min

65min AMT

3 miles 21min

Total workout time 3:01:01

Avg HR 158

1:00pm Ezra 2 - Esther 7

YMCA

5 miles

65 min. Bike

3 miles

Total workouttime: 1:59:49

Avg. HR: 175

11:30am Esther 8 - Job 15

6.7 miles outside! It was really windy and I started out way too fast running into the wind. I tired out pretty quickly and didn't recover as well as I hoped once the wind was in my favor. My calf was good through the whole run. It's still a little tender going up stairs or when I stretch, but I'm encouraged after this.

5:00am Job 16 - Psalm 5

My calf is still tender and my foot was aching, but my pain is nothing compared to that of Job! I got to put the first set of tracks in about 3 inches of snow this morning, it was perfectly calm out, and so peaceful. What a blessing to be able to run at all.

Distance    Split pace
1.00    7:24
2.00    7:31
3.00    7:29
4.00    7:30
5.00    7:27
6.00    7:38
7.00    7:37
8.00    7:13
9.00    7:23
10.00    7:17
10.05    7:15

6:45pm

Thursday night "Beer Run" with Tacoma Runners. The 3.1 mile route ended up being 4 miles with one wrong turn. We started and finished at Cork! wine bar, kinda lame, overpriced fancy meat and cheese plates and I don't even like wine. They did have some beer just for the runners, but it was all a little too high class for me. Maybe next week it will be somewhere better. The run was great, no pain at all anywhere! Even though my foot had me limping all day at work, running tonight felt awesome. The ground was still covered with snow and ice so I made Kym some screw shoes and brought my cordless and a box of screws with me to do the same for John and Scott before the run.
Rest and massage tomorrow and then15k on Saturday. I still haven't decided if I'm going to race or just run it...

Distance    Split pace
1.00    7:44
2.00    7:22
3.00    7:34
4.00    7:35
4.07    7:19
 

.

9:00am w00t! another PR! More details later...

Update: I had no idea what to expect today after taking most of the month off of running. I thought maybe if I was lucky, I might be able to finish the race at around a 7:15 pace... My calf didn't bother me at all during the race and seems to be almost back to normal now, but I was still scared to push the pace until the last mile or two. During the seventh mile the first place female passed me and I felt the need to try a little harder. We ran side by side for most of miles 8 and 9, but once she dropped back a little I kind of lost my incentive with nobody left in reach. The closest runner was at least a few hundred yards ahead and he cut the corner at the library to pass the guy in front of him. I had to leave right away so I didn't stay for awards, but I was curious if he placed after taking a short cut. I mustered up a little kick at the end and finished with a surprisingly big negative split(32:19/31:27) and found out later that I placed 2nd in my division. I am feeling better about Boston after this even though my foot is still giving me grief. Hopefully the treatment for this stupid neuroma will work so I'll be able to get some long runs in and get back on track for the big event. So, what's the right thing to do when you see somebody cheat in a race? Do you tell or just worry about your own race and let it go?

Distance    Split pace
1.00    6:43
2.00    6:56
3.00    7:05
4.00    6:45
5.00    6:51
6.00    6:56
7.00    6:45
8.00    6:32
9.00    6:43
9.42    6:00