Running For My Life

The two days of rest and the light training week were evident in the InStep RACC 5K. My time of 18:57 was 20-30 seconds slower than where I should be at this point, but considering my recent situation, I was more than pleased to get under 19 minutes and 3rd in my age group.

The race is run on the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds and the course was fast and flat with very few sharp turns. After the race many runners said it was one of their fastest 5K times. That didn’t make me feel much better, but all things considered I can’t complain.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/31/2010
• Time: 08:30:00
• Total Time: 00:18:57.00
• Calories: 375
• Distance: 3.1 miles
• Average Pace: 6:06.6/mile

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/31/2010
• Time: 08:00:00
• Total Time: 00:17:34.00
• Calories: 255
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 8:47.09/mile

After two relatively pain-free days, I am back to where I was late last week.  In other words, this morning’s run didn’t go as planned.  So it looks like I will be elevating this to a Code R where R = Rest.  So no more running until Sunday’s InStep RACC 5K, which I was planning to do at a slow pace with my son anyway.  Hopefully next week I can resume normal training.

I feel like I am out of alignment, which is causing pain on my right side.  It’s not only the hip, but all the way from the hip joint up to the outside of the pelvic bone.  These kinds things scare me so I will have to get it looked at.  By the way, this is the first injury I have had in two years that has caused me to take time off, and the third ever (back injury in 2002, achilles injury in 2008).

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/28/2010
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 00:24:48.00
• Calories: 376
• Distance: 3 miles
• Average Pace: 8:15.87/mile

I did 5 pain-free miles this morning and thus have declared myself ready to start doing crazy miles again.  I think I will shoot for 11 tomorrow and Friday, and 20 on Saturday.  If my hip flares up again, then I will scale it back.  I guess these “off” days have really helped.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/27/2010
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 00:41:09.00
• Calories: 624
• Distance: 5 miles
• Average Pace: 8:13.83/mile

I have a folder dedicated to all things running, including my running logs going back to 1990.  Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but that’s because I am crazy.  Anyway, this morning when I took the folder out to log today’s run, a results booklet from last year’s Lakefront Marathon fell out of the folder.  Sensing that was a sign, I looked at the results for a few minutes, and that’s when it hit me…the significance of my performance in that race.  I have run the Lakefront many times so I have lot of these results booklets that they send out to the finishers every year.  And I remember when my name was listed toward the back, including one year when I ran so slow that I was in the back third of the book.  But in this one my name was listed on the first page!  How awesome is that to have your name listed on the very first page of 36 pages of results?

As for today’s run, I just went 5 miles and decided that I am going to keep my mileage right there until the weekend.  My hip felt better today and my bad left foot is nearly 100%, but I think my body is telling me to cut the crazy miles for a few days and let things heal.  I am listening!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/26/2010
• Time: 05:30:00
• Total Time: 00:42:16.00
• Calories: 641
• Distance: 5 miles
• Average Pace: 8:27.04/mile

I had been looking forward to getting a long run in today, but I continue to experience sharp pain above my right hip.  It’s almost like I am out of alignment.  So I only ran 2 miles this morning.  Hopefully tomorrow I can resume normal training, otherwise I may have to rest a bit (keep in mind that rest for me means only running 5 miles a day!).

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/25/2010
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 00:17:34.00
• Calories: 255
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 8:47.09/mile

This was a tough one for me.  Not only was I the race director (and founder) of this event, I was also battling a hip injury.  I was hoping to break 1:25 (I did a 1:23:30 last September), but on this day I was lucky to break 1:30.  Part of it was my race director duties kept me from getting into a rhythm.  Then my hip was keeping me from hitting full stride.  After the race I could barely walk straight for a few hours, which has also been the case after my runs for the past week.  Not sure what to make of that.  Maybe some rest?

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/23/2010
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:29:54.00
• Calories: 1660
• Distance: 13.1 miles
• Average Pace: 6:51.9/mile

Holy High Miles Batman…..I just ran 80 miles in the past 7 days!  And if you go back 11 days, I have done 120 miles….and that’s without a day off.  Tomorrow I will take a much-deserved break and then will run a half-marathon on Saturday, with another day off scheduled for Sunday.  So by next week, I should be fresh and ready for more big miles.

This morning I did 11 miles outside and battled steady 20-30 mph winds.   And when you’re running in the dark in the middle of nowhere, you rely on your ears to guide you and alert you to trouble.  The wind was creating all kinds of noises and was actually quite a nuisance.  Every time I passed a flagpole or a plastic bag blowing around, I flinched like it was something coming after me.  I have been bitten by too many dogs while running in the dark to let my guard down.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/21/2010
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:32:50.00
• Calories: 1408
• Distance: 11 miles
• Average Pace: 8:26.33/mile

I am torn this week between training for a marathon which is 15 weeks away and racing in a half marathon which is 3 days away.  To maximize my performance in the half marathon, I should probably reduce my crazy mileage this week.  However, doing that could affect my marathon training.  So in the end, I will still run 60+ miles this week, which means I will probably not PR on Saturday.  However, I am taking Friday off so hopefully my legs will be somewhat fresh.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/20/2010
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:25:01.00
• Calories: 1401
• Distance: 11 miles
• Average Pace: 7:43.92/mile

This was one of those days where the odds were more stacked against me than others.  First, I only slept about 5 hours last night, and then when I woke up I had an assortment of aches and pains due to my recent heavy mileage.  So when I finished my 11-mile run, I felt more of a sense of accomplishment than I normally do after a training run, especially considering a big part of me wanted to go back to bed when I got up at 4:30 a.m.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/19/2010
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:27:10.00
• Calories: 1436
• Distance: 11 miles
• Average Pace: 7:55.56/mile