Sidewalk 1, Me 0

I am such an idiot. I was out for my run today and manage to take a HUGE spill. Despite my insistence that I am still young, I proved once and for all that I am not a member of the millennium generation as I cannot fiddle with my iPod and run at the same time without disastrous consequences. In my efforts to multitask I overlooked a discontinuity in the sidewalk, tripped, and went down hard. Because at least one hand was busy with the iPod I wasn't even able to properly catch myself. This meant that my left knee and the back of my left hand got the brunt of the fall along with my chin. Yes, my face actually hit the cement. In a word... ouch. Of course, the worst part of the whole thing was having to pick myself up and walk back to my office (I was doing my campus loop), limping and bloodied, hoping not to run into any students who might recognize me. In addition to the pain and embarrassment, I was very disappointed to have cut my run short. So after cleaning myself up a bit back at the office, I headed to the gym and got on the stationary bike for a bit. Then I jumped on the treadmill for a little while. Gotta get back on the horse, right? Now I have to deal with all of the "what happened?!" questions. The honest answer is just too damn embarrassing. I've got until tomorrow morning to come up with a good story. Right now I'm thinking of going with "bar fight". I don't want to make it too elaborate - otherwise it's just not believable. Man, I am such a moron.

Firsts

Yesterday was my first pre-dawn run of the season. Also the first run where I had to wear my tights and long-sleeved fleece. I'm not too excited about all of this. 8 weeks to go.

Is that clock right???

Last Saturday I ran the best long run I've ever done. I did 14 miles with 9:17 splits. Now, that's not necessarily that impressive by some standards - it doesn't even qualify me for the Boston - but it's pretty damn good for me! The most amazing part was that the whole run felt great! Start to finish, even though I was running in the morning. Usually it takes me a good 2-3 miles before I really find my groove, especially in the AM. But this time I was 'on' from the minute I got started. It actually felt (dare I say it?) easy! I had a feeling I was running faster than usual but when I finished and saw my time I was floored. I'm not sure what led to such great results but I sure hope it wasn't a fluke. This weekend I'll only be doing 8 miles but then the week after is 16. Only 8 weeks until the race.

12 miles strong

My long run was 12 miles today. While it certainly wasn't easy I finished at an OK pace and am not too much worse for wear. The weather is certainly good for running. I need to get used to running in the morning, though. I'm not sure I'll ever be a morning runner. I wish I were running faster. I had a really good short run the other day - 9:00 splits for 5 miles - but runs like that are the exception to the rule. I think I'm simply not is as good of shape as I was last year. Since I don't have as much time to devote to training I'm really only managing to do the bare minimum each week. I think I'll have to revise my expectations for race day.

I was realizing the other day that it was about this time last year that I developed my stress fracture. Since then I've become acutely aware of any twinge or soreness that I feel in my foot during my runs. Unfortunately there's no way to prevent a stress fracture from occurring (except to stop running) and once you've had one you're more susceptible to them. Hopefully the paranoia will ease up after awhile. There's no sense in obsessing about it. Besides, last year I managed to continue with my training despite the fracture. So I'll hope for the best and trust that if the fracture does come back I'll muddle through again.