So after my long weekend in the Midwest, it’s been tough getting back into a running rhythm. Thursday evening I went and did 4.25 hard miles. I’m not sure if it just seemed hard or if I was actually working harder. I did the whole distance at 6.3 mph (9:30 min/mile) and at 1.0 incline. That and the fact that it had been several days since the Baltimore Running Festival may have made it tougher. Oh, that and the fact that I had eaten a bag of M&M Peanuts ad drank a Mountain Dew around 4 PM so I could make it through the rest of the workday probably didn’t help either.
I’m happy that I got through the entire distance at that clip. It’s evidence that my endurance is picking up slowly and that my body can handle that stress, even with Mountain Dew (liquid cocaine) and M&M’s in my stomach. However, I was really getting tired by the end of it, which made me mad at myself. I guess it was just the frustration from Saturday, my shirking of running while in Cincinnati and then the sluggishness I felt when I got back to the gym that all came together at once. I was planning to stop at 3 miles because I was feeling like crap and could feel a slight pull forming in my lower left calf (is that the beginning of your Achilles? I think so). But I was pissed off so I walked long enough to take a couple drinks of Gatorade and got back to it. I got to 4 miles and wanted to stop again, but again I was still angry at myself for wimping out on Saturday and not running like I should have, so I kept going and finished the allotted 4.25 miles. At that point, I did stop because that’s as far as my mileage has naturally progressed thus far; going any further would have really risked injury.
As it was, my lower left calf was tightening up as I cooled down. I stretched it out thoroughly but it still twinged as I walked home. I was concerned that I had really pulled something so I stretched it again once I got home and cooled my body temp down. I took two ibuprofen to help prevent further swelling, and took it easy after showering. Luckily, it wasn’t anything serious and healed up nicely by yesterday mid-morning. Today I can’t feel anything wrong down there, so no injury report is forthcoming.
I had intended to run yesterday after work but Annie came over and we just chilled since she had opened at Starbucks the last three mornings (getting to work at 5:15 AM each day!) and was tired. In retrospect, it’s probably a good thing I stayed off the calf last night o give it an extra day to regain its strength. I’m not running today because I spent the late morning at the office trying to get this enormous project done that’s due this upcoming Friday. This afternoon we might go to my firm’s company picnic, but Annie has rehearsal until 2:45 and it takes 40 minutes just to get out to where the picnic is being held. The picnic ends at 5 so it might be a waste of time to drive out there for all of an hour. We’ll see. I won’t be heartbroken if I get to spend Saturday afternoon on the couch.
Tomorrow I will do my long run and will aim for a base of 7 miles, with aspirations of 8 miles. I’ll do that in the morning so I have the afternoon to watch football and generally not move too much beyond eating and napping.
I’ve now registered for the Baltimore Zoo Zoom 2007 race on November 11, which is World Run Day and just four days before my birthday. According to the MacMillan Running Calculator, I should be able to run that in about 45 minutes (just under a 9 minute mile pace), so that will be my goal. I am going to try to also get an idea of the course itself so I can have some intel going into the race. Running Smarter. That’s my new motto.
Also, Annie and I are planning on going up to New York the first Saturday in November. She has at least one audition scheduled for that day and I will be going to see the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Central Park. I’m so excited for this; it’ll be awesome to see some of these elite runners in person and to get to see who will make the Olympic team! I’m pretty pumped. We will be back on Saturday night so she can sing at her church job the next morning.
Annie has finally caught the running bug. I knew it would only be a matter of time before she wanted to get in on the benefits of running. I’ve started her off with the walk-run program to build her stamina and her confidence in her running ability. She’s already been doing spinning classes and lifting weights, so she’s not starting from scratch. I’m hoping that I can talk her into running a 5K with me sometime next spring. She’s already running for 8 minutes and walking for 2, which is great! She’ll be hitting the 3.1-mile mark before too long. Her sister just did a 100-mile bike ride down in Salisbury, MD so she has a high bar to meet!
And finally, I was very happy to see that the 2008 Baltimore Marathon will be held on October 11, 2008, which is one week before our wedding. I was concerned because I want to make that my first marathon but if it had been held the third weekend in October for some reason, I would not have been in town. This way, I can run the marathon and have a week to recover and regain the ability to walk before we get married.
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