Run me Tender

I'm trying to kill some time at work because it's Friday and my boss is working from home today (woohoo!). I've also gotten caught up on all the tasks that are due this week, and have hit that Friday afternoon lull where you're really just interested in going home and enjoying a few days away from the office.

To pass some of the time, I thought I would post an entry. I ran yesterday morning and did another five miles. I felt good during the run and didn't encounter any real problems until later in the afternoon when my right shin started to ache; a sure sign of shin splints. I could feel that my foot strike was a bit off yesterday morning, as the ball of my right foot was hurting for the first 2 miles or so. It eventually went away as I concentrated on getting a more square (squarer? that doesn't sound right) heel strike, which would correct the weird foot movement. However, I think that problem put a lot of unusual stress on my shin, causing the tenderness.

It was tender the rest of the day and in the middle of the workday I wished I had an ice pack at work I could use to help the inflammation. I did ice it twice last night and took some painkillers, which helped a lot. This morning the pain is gone, which is good news and leads me to believe that this was a minor case that I should monitor in the future. To be safe, I didn't run this morning and took the whole day off to rest up for tomorrow's race. That, some more icing tonight after we get to my parents' house, and a conscious effort to correct this occasional pronation problem should help treat the shin splints. Oh, and I also need to stretch much more effectively, as I think this contributed to the problem. Tomorrow I'll dedicate 10 minutes before the race to stretching and warming up. This is perhaps the weakest part of my running routine, as at 6 AM I'm not at all interested in taking time to stretch and need to get going to stay on schedule for work. But to prevent a more serious injury I'll have to start stretching more actively.

Since I forgot to take our digital camera with me to the National Half Marathon (although Annie did get one or two pics of me after the race, which I will put up once I get around to it), I'm going to make a concerted effort to take the camera with me tomorrow morning to take pictures before and after the race. My hope is to have some pics from each of my races this season.

And with that, I'm off to kill the rest of my day before leaving relatively early at 5:30 so we can head out for WV by 6:30.

April Showers Bring Me Down

I went out for a run yesterday morning and it felt great to get back out on the road. I did 5 miles without much in the way of exhaustion, which is a great sign. I was certain that I'd get about 2 miles into the run and my endurance, such as it is, would crap out on me. But no. Although I didn't push it (I think I averaged around a 9:15 pace) and the cooler weather this week probably helped my body handle the exercise, I'm pleased with that result. Adding another mile, and dropping the pace a little bit is definitely within the realm of possibilities.

This whole week has been largely a bust in terms of enjoying Spring. Monday was a horribly rainy day with wind, etc. That brought a nice cold front through, dropping temperatures from the nice mid to high 70's we got last week to the low 50's. Tuesday morning it was about 45 degrees out, which isn't bad when compared to mid February temps in the high 20's at that time of the morning. This morning was even colder, with temps hovering in the high 30's. Even though it was otherwise a fine day to run, I went back to bed. I'm tired of running in the 30's. It's the last day of April and I shouldn't have to settle at this point. Early and even mid-April, I can admit that one shouldn't turn their nose up at 38 degrees. But now? Memorial Day is less than a month away and people are wearing winter coats. That's just not right and I won't be a part of it by bundling up to run. I'm taking a stand...like Ghandi, only like a million times more important (kidding!).

Anyway, tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer (mid 50's in the A.M.) so I'll get another 5 miles in tomorrow, followed by maybe another on Friday, as my legs had recovered from yesterday's run by noon time, which is a good sing that my body hasn't lose its memory for running!

Then it's the Apple Blossom 10K on Saturday morning. It should be a nice day for a race with temps in the 50's and overcast. It won't be like running the Frederick Half Marathon, but hey, there's always next year. And afterwards, I'm meeting my parents and Annie (who is going to stay in bed on Saturday morning) at one of my favorite restaurants, the International House of Pancakes, nearby to enjoy a post-run feast. That's so much better than a bagel and banana that I usually get.

On a related note, has anyone else in the Baltimore-DC area with Comcast service seen the recent ads for the Frederick Marathon on MASN during Nationals and/or Orioles games? They just started maybe three weeks ago and have gotten more prevalent since then. I assume they're trying to get people to come out for the event rather than get runners because, to my knowledge, the races are full or very nearly full. I guess it's an odd position for a race to be in because on the one hand, the benefit of airing commercials for the race months in advance when there are still spots left that new runners or just runners not in the know might want to take is probably outweighed by the cost of paying for the air time. However, by the time commercials are worth the money, your race is full and some touchy people will get pissed when they call to register and are told that the race is full. I think it would be worth exploring running ads in February and March one year to see how that differs from running ads heavily in mid to late April. I just thought it was interesting to see a commercial that makes it sound like you can still run the race even if you haven't signed up yet. What do I know? Maybe there still spots available.

Back from the Weekend

The last two weekends have been disastrous for my running schedule. And the last three work weeks have been even worse. I think I've only gotten out to run once a week or maybe twice since the beginning of April, which is terrible. With my school's Alumni Weekend taking up the entire weekend (I was up at 6:45 AM on Saturday and then had church to attend Sunday morning), the last time I ran was Wednesday! I was hoping to get out this morning but the weather here in Baltimore has been horrible since about February. It's supposed to rain all day today but clear out overnight. So I need to run each day leading up to the Apple Blossom 10K to salvage some fitness. I need to do 5 miles per day with Friday as a rest day.

After this weekend, however, my schedule shoudl normalize considerably. Next weekend we don't have anything planned, as Annie is auditioning for the Baltimore Opera Chorus on Saturday. Then the next week we're going to Cincinnati on Thursday, coming back on Saturday so I'll be able to run a normal schedule, taking Saturday as a rest day before the Delaware 10 Miler on Sunday the 18th. After that, Annie heads out to Opera in the Ozarks on the 21st and I'm left with several weeks of training weekends to fill, which will be great. I am considering going to my school's Commencement on June 1st, but it's a long drive and I'm going to be back there anyway the next weekend for an Alumni Event that as a member of the Alumni Council, I have to attend. The next day (June 8th) is the Survivor Harbor 7 Miler so that will be a great race. So, as you can see, April and May and early June are busy months that conspire against my running schedule.

So, all that being said, I need to get back on the horse and just do it. I anticipate not being quite so exhausted in the morning since the busiest month of the eyar for us (April) is over and I am beginning my real push to get to sleep earlier than in the recent past.

1 and 1

Thus far this week I'm 1 for 2 in terms of getting out and running, which isn't too bad all things considered. Monday I took off thanks to horrendous weather. Tuesday morning wasn't much better weather-wise. Wednesday I got out the door and got 5 solid miles in without any problems. Today, I hit snooze. I didn't get to bed until almost 11:45, which is terrible. I need to start going to sleep earlier but I just don't have enough time in my day to get everything done I need to get done. However that ends up screwing me over for the next day as I end up missing my run, which puts me in a bad mood (totally self-induced, I know) for the rest of the day.

Tonight I aim to get to sleep by 11 at the latest. I have to do about 90 minutes of CFA reading tonight but other than that, not much else. Annie is going to a recital tonight and then heading out with her friends to martini night so I'll have plenty of time to get things done tonight. Then I can get up tomorrow and get another 5 miles in before leaving for my prep school's alumni weekend.

Speaking of which, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get any sort of long run in on Saturday or Sunday. I have meetings and events planned on Saturday morning and then I really should attend the chapel service on Sunday @ 11 AM before driving back to Baltimore. So, my best time, I think, will be Sunday morning, but there's not really a convenient place near my parents' house to run so I think my choice will come down to running or going to the service. While the Alumni Council member part of me says I should be at the service, the rest of me says I should get a good long run along country roads in while I have the chance and then drive back to Baltimore. I could conceivably do both if I woke up early enough, but I didn't sleep in at all last weekend (as in waking up around 8 or 9 rather than 6 AM) and would like one day to rest up. We'll see.

In other news, I'm starting to think about what races I'd like to do during the Summer. With Annie in Arkansas and then Colorado for gigs, I have much of the summer to spend running and studying for the CFA. Right now, I've found the following races which look interesting. I won't do them all, but I want a long list that I can scale down later.

1. Sons of Thunder 10K, June 14, 2008 Damascus, MD (the name alone is enough)

2. Patterson Park 4 Miler, June 14, 2008 Baltimore, MD

3. Spirit of Gettysburg 5K, July 12, 2008 Gettysburg, PA (the race is on the battlefield, which is really cool)

4. Shenandoah Riverfront 5 Miler, July 12, 2008 Shenandoah, VA

And then of course there's the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon on August 9 out in Colorado.

So we'll see how the racing season shapes up. For right now, I just need to get my butt out of bed tomorrow morning and try to keep my momentum going.

This Week's Theme has been Acclimatize!

Now that Spring is finally arriving and staying around, warm weather running is upon us once again. For me, this will be the first time I've actually trained outdoors because last summer I spent the season in the gym on the treadmill trying to run more than 2 miles without falling over. It wasn't until I got my Garmin 305 for my birthday in November that I got outside once and for all.

And just like November, I found out this weekend that my body can't just go from running in temps in the high 30's to temps in the mid 60's without some push back. Yesterday I got just about 5 miles in and it hurt! Now, I went out way too fast in the first 2 miles, which I need to work on for my racing strategy, so that probably had something to do with it. But it was in the high 60's yesterday morning when I got out and that temperature change took its toll. I didn't really run super slowly, but those 5 miles felt awful.

Today I wanted to get a nice 10 miles in before my parents arrive for lunch and with the temps a little lower, I thought I might reach it. But alas, no. It was still in the mid 60's (thanks weatherman for saying we'd be lucky to crack 60 today...it's 70 out right now so thanks for that forecast) when I got out and warmed up as I ran. It got more humid out too, as we're supposed to get lots of rain this afternoon and evening. So again, I was struggling by mile 5. I soldiered on and got to 7 miles before calling it a day. I'd walk for a while but my heart rate never was able to come back down enough and would shoot back up as soon as I started running. So, I think my body needs a week or so of these higher temps (even running in the morning when it's in the 50's will help) to acclimatize to the season.

On a better note, my new shoes feel awesome and will make their predecessors proud. I'm going to keep my old pair in case I just feel like running in them from time to time over short distances but with my new shoes, my legs don't feel nearly as tired or sore after 7 miles as they would with my older pair.

So, now it's off to the Rusty Scupper here in Baltimore where I'll meet up with my parents and get treated to a seafood feast! Then we'll go to Annie's recital at 5. After that, I'm off the hook for any family obligations so I'll return to my reading or CFA studying...probably a little of both.

My schedule for the work week is pretty stable but this upcoming weekend I'm going to my prep school's Alumni Weekend, which takes up all of Saturday and parts of Sunday. So we'll see what kind of runs I can get in while I'm at home. Once I have a better idea of my time for the weekend, I'll post my goal workout schedule for the week.

For Shame!

I continue to fight my battles with going to bed on time. Last night was another night where I stayed up too late and thus, had little chance of getting up this morning for my interval workout.

Tonight, I aim to be in bed before 10:30.

Tomorrow I will do my speed workout and then push my easy run to Saturday where it'll be combined with some swimming. Then another 10 miles on Sunday and a renewed hope of actually completing my workout schedule for the week.

Saved...hopefully.

After some tinkering with airfares and schedules, I may have found a solution to our problem! The meeting with the priest is pretty much the only reason we're going to Cincinnati, which gives us lots of flexibility. If we leave on Thursday the 15th in the morning, and come back on Saturday afternoon, that'll accomplish the wedding goals and get us back into Baltimore so that I can make it Wilmington on Sunday and Annie won't have to miss her church job. And, to top it all off, the airfares are pretty cheap for that schedule, so the only things remaining are to make sure her parents are OK with that (since that's where we'll be staying) and that the priest can meet with us on Thursday afternoon, Friday at any point, or even Saturday morning before our flight. These shouldn't be huge obstacles, so it looks like I'll get to run the 10 miler after all, which makes me very happy. I'm waiting for Annie to talk to her mom tomorrow when she's in Cincinnati (she's going home for the funeral of one of her friends' fathers) to get the final go-ahead.