9-mile attempt

Tomorrow morning, I will be attempting my longest distance ever. 9 miles. The distance doesn't bother me, but I am very concerned that my foot will. I have read that this may be caused by too-tight shoes, so I will not tie them so tight. Additionally, I will walk when needed if it acts up. I don't believe that if it hurts like it did Thursday that I can finish the full 9 mile course.

Therefore, I have mapped a shorter 6.4 mile course if needed. We are running downtown for the first time other than during a race, so I am also concerned about bathroom needs, carrying my accelerade, and a snack mid-course. I have packed one PowerBar gel (one with caffeine) to help cover the distance. I purchased three of them today as an experiment, but took one this afternoon to see how it reacted with my belly. I was happy to say that there were no ill side effects.

Time for bed so I can try for a new PDR (personal distance record -- but I think I made that up)!

Foot pain - again

The good thing about having a holiday week is that you sometimes get a chance to run during the week. Since this was a week where we started to get our mileage ramped up, we moved the Wednesday long mid-week run to Thursday. On Monday, we ran together for a short 3 miles. We actually had the largest mid-week group ever, with six of us. Because Tuesday was Christmas, no one ran. Wednesday, I trudged through 3 miles on the treadmill which I have grown to hate. However, it was raining (a cold rain at that), so at least I stayed dry.

Thursday, we ran 5 miles outside, again with a fairly large group. At about half way, the congestion got to me and I had to walk long enough to blow my nose. I figured out a long time ago that I cannot blow my nose and run without paying for it for at least 1/4 of a mile -- it really screws with my breathing. Anyway, just before mile 4, the bottom left of my left foot started to hurt badly. I have had this pain in the past, but it always seems to correct itself. I walked for almost a minute, then started running again. Part way through the 5th mile, it did the same thing. A brief stint walking and I was back to muscle through the final mile. We'll have to see how Saturday goes!

Doctor, Doctor, give me some news...

I've got a bad case of loving you. (Bad Case of Loving You by Robert Palmer may he RIP).

Well, I was very happy with the Doc on Wednesday. She found that there was no stress fracture, and based on the reduction in pain, no tendinitis either! I was given a few exercises to do to strengthen the muscles in the foot, then immediately cleared to run. It really was the best news she could have given me. That night, Melanie and I ran a bit less than 2 miles, just to "try out" the foot. It hurt a bit, but none the next day.

Saturday, three of us started off running. We were scheduled for 8 miles, but I knew that I would be foolish to go that far after the running break. So, I figured I would do 4 miles. Sara ran all 8, with all but the first 2 by herself. I was so proud of her effort, and she was looking good after 6 when I drove out to find her. Lori has had a cold, so stopped to have hacking attacks a few times. This gave me the chance to take a few extra loops to increase the mileage. I have also been fighting what I think is more of a cold than a sinus infection, so stopped once to cough. While I certainly didn't break any speed records, I ended up with 4.4 miles in about 43 minutes. My foot felt good after the distance, so believe that he worst of it is behind me (until next time).

Last night, we had a party at the house. I was on my feet all day and literally didn't sit down except to put shoes on from 10 AM until 12:30 this morning. Once I sat, I was asleep within minutes. My ankles are swollen today, but it is from the standing, not the running. My goal is to be back to the scheduled distance within 2 weeks, but will try to run the scheduled 9 miles on Saturday. We will need to plot out a course that is as flat as possible, since this will be my longest distance ever (6.2 was my previous record). I could have definitely gone longer yesterday, so know that I can do 6 easily (I have done this 10 or more times). So, it's really only miles 7, 8, and 9 that worry me!