1

hour. No more, no less. Today really hurt. I had no idea one's muscles could get so sore.

The Soreness

one and 1/2 short and easy runs and my quads are pretty sore. not sore like i went to the gym and knocked out three sets of squats at 225, but sore nonetheless. anyways, i planned to go for a short one today also. four min warm-up, some light stretching and i was off. ran for 32 minutes during the lunch hour: i decided to try a different route and ended up running about 3/4 of a mile along eastbound ben white (think burleson rd). not exactly what I had planned. still, the run went pretty well. tomorrow, i may go for an entire hour...if it doesn't rain.

4 min warmup, a few minutes of half ass stretching, and then 41 minutes of relaxed running.

the coolest guy on the trail award goes to the dude who was riding his bike (at a brisk pace), weaving in and out of the foot traffic, and talking on his phone at the same time (no headset). he literally had his head tilted to the side and was using his neck/shoulder to hold the phone. seemed to be a pretty intense conversation too.

that aside, it was a great day to be outside running. I could not have asked for any better weather.

Easing In

It has been over three weeks since the marathon, and during that time period, I have run no more than 10 miles (total). That is okay, and was somewhat planned. However, I did not expect to take that much time off, but I wanted to try to get 100% healthy, so I did what I had to do. I am still not 100%, so I plan to continue to take it real easy in the coming weeks. That written, it is time to get back to running.

Today, I had planned to run on the trail, but apparently, mother nature had other ideas. Unlike most, I don't really care to run in the rain. Especially not in my delicate state;-) So, I opted for an indoor mini-workout: 5 minutes on the stationary bike, 5 minutes on the elliptical, and 20 minutes on the treadmill. All in all, I felt pretty good. The guts did not do too bad. Tomorrow, the weather should be awesome, so I'll get in some real miles then.

Head up

Random sight/thought of the day: I was headed down S. Congress and passed by the middle school w/ the football field/track. As I passed, middle school youngins were engaged in football practice and in the midst of drill. The goings on made me laugh out loud. The kids were doing a drill often referred to as "head up" in the football world. In this drill, two long (usually 4-5 ft) blocking pads are set up about 4-5 feet apart so there is an alley of said width. One group of kids gets on one side and another group faces on the other end. One kid gets a ball and runs directly toward the opposing tackler; the tackler runs full speed toward the ball carrier. The objective? A violent collision. I watched the ball carrier get knocked flat on his ass this afternoon as I passed. This made me laugh because I could relate. When I was in 7th grade, we did this drill once. It sucked. I got knocked on my ass a couple times while trying to make the tackle. :-( Fortunately, we only did that drill one day that year. It was at that time I decided I wanted to play offense. ;-)

Non-running running update -- I went to see a dr today because my abdominal issue persists. I have all the symptoms of a sports hernia, and a couple of knowledgeable folks advised me to get it checked out by a pro. So I did. The doc does not think it is a sports hernia. He believes the issue to be a lower abdominal injury. Which is great news...I think. I am clear to run from his perspective. No hills or speed work for a couple weeks though. Sweet PT for me over the next several weeks. Hopefully a little more rest and PT will nip this puppy in the bud. I am going to rest a few more days and begin the come back on Monday. That's the plan right now. I can't wait to get back at it.

BOS Recon

Tomorrow, I'm headed to Boston for one week. Dustin is running his marathon on Sunday so that will occupy my time on Sunday. Saturday, we'll watch TX-OU of course. Other than that, I have 0 set in stone plans. Any recommendations will be closely considered. For sure, I will make my way down to Newton to run that stretch of the marathon course. I'm tentatively thinking of running from "the fire station" into town. That's the most important stretch, right? Right!

Not so fast

Went about 43 min w/ some of the guys today. My ole psoas/hip flexor issue is still there. This is a minor deal that i've run w/ since march, however, i'm determined to give it some rest so hopefully it goes away. I thought it had, but was wrong. More than likely, I am going to take the next 5-7 days off to get it well. More to come...

Shakeout

Yesterday, I decided to get in an easy 3 miles to see how I felt. Almost all of the soreness was gone, but I am still pretty tight. I loosened up after about 15 minutes so that's good. My legs, though, were still quite dead, to be expected I guess. No injury pain after the fact this go around (a 1st for me). I plan to get in an easy 5 or so on Saturday. Until then.

Propspective Races

I'm glad the fall is here. Not sure if I will run all of them, but I'd like to run... say...at least 5 of these races. We shall see if it works out that way.

***Uh, I guess I can strike the Cap 10K off this list due to proximity to Boston...

Portland 2009 -- In the Books

I have had a chance to think this race over some, and now more than ever, i know i had a sub 3 in me this past Sunday. Still, the only thing that can be said is that I failed to get it done. Plain and simple. The two mistakes I made were blaring, and my performance (or lack-thereof) during miles 19-21 was what has bothered me the most. I'm going to add some additional details regarding each so I can lay these issues to rest for good:

The restroom disaster -- I stopped at the one set of porta-potties that were padlocked (except two) and of course they were occupied. I sorta freaked out once I stopped, and rather than go behind a tree or something, I waited for someone to come out. WTF? I don't know why I waited. Froze up I guess. Now, the worst part is that I really didn't need to go the restroom that bad. I had this come up at Boston and ran for another mile or two and the issue passed. On this day, I stopped. Never will I do this again!

19-21 -- Rewind back to mile 18 (after we crested long hill at the bridge); once I hit this point I decided I was going to push it some. On the big downhill, i looked at my pace and was at like 640 (i think), so I cruised at the same effort until I heard the Garmin beep. I saw 653 or whatever it was and began to feel defeated because I was pushing it and ran a freaking 650. I do not remember the terrain on 19, but don't think it was hilly. I saw 7 min pace and began to freak out...thinking I might blow up. I did not want this obviously. Thus, when I came to mile 20 I made the decision not to push it, contrary to my plan. I just did not feel confident I could close for 6 miles. WhY? Who fucking knows! Anyway, I just sorta coasted during 20 and for most of 21. Looking back, my breathing was fine. My legs did not feel great, but they weren't bad. I just got in a bad place mentally. I have no idea how or why, but about mid-way through 21, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and give it one last go to see what I had left. Because, shit, I had practiced closing for 4 miles pretty much all summer.

Really, it wasn't entirely all bad. I ran a pretty disciplined race overall. Yes, I made some mistakes, but I will learn from them, and they will make me a better runner in the future. I am extremely happy with how I handled miles 22-the finish. And as noted previously, no one passed me in the latter half of the race.

The next time I toe the line for 26.2, I will break 3 to an extent that there is no doubt about it. Boston here I come!

The above is from the marathon website. I like it.

Too many mistakes

I believe I ran 301.01. fuck! Mistakes I made today: 1. lost a min plus at mile 6 at the restroom (doors were locked)...haha; 2. probably went a bit too hard up the hill at 702; ran miles 19-21 w/ no heart and decided to give up (mentally) at 20.

this course was pretty tough (to me). give me rollers or the boston course any day of the week. still, not a terrible day overall.

garmin said i ran 26.44 miles in 3:01:05 (at an avg pace of 651, doh!); the restroom detour didn't help w/ the extra distance. splits were as follows:

1. 647
2. 648
3. 655
4. 646
5. 640
6. 745 (got damn it!)
7. 645
8. 643
9. 650
10.646
11. 652
12. 655
13. 642
14. 653
15. 645
16. 654
17. 702
18. 653
19. 703
20. 706
21. 716
22. 649
23. 638
24. 702
25. 626
26. 614
.2->247 for .44 garmin miles (618 pace)

on the bright side, i closed shop pretty good toward the end.