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.

Building confidence

I had a good run today. I needed it. After having to cut my 9-mile run short a couple of weeks ago I was a little worried. While I did run in the morning today (not my best time of day) the weather was rather nice and my performance was much improved. I managed the 10 miles pretty easily and I'm feeling good about my training again. I'm hopeful that the weather will continue to to get better. Today it was humid (97%) but cooler and overcast which made it far more comfortable than it has been in a long time.

Getting serious

I've now got 7 weeks of training behind me. There are still 13 more ahead of me but it's already starting to get serious. Last weekend my long run was up to 9 miles. Unfortunately due to a crazy schedule I had to run in the afternoon on a very hot and humid day. I ended up cutting it short by a mile because it was just too much. I was certainly disappointed in myself but I know these things happen and it's not the end of the world. This week I had my first tempo run. This is where you run at a significantly higher intensity level for short periods of time. Speed work. It was fun just to shake things up and I managed to get out early enough in the morning that the heat wasn't so bad. Yesterday my long run was only 6 miles (a fall back week) and it actually felt easy. That was very nice. But next weekend I will be doing 10 miles and the weekend after that it will be 12. The numbers are going up at a rapid pace now and I feel like I'm not ready. Especially after the defeat of last weekend. Of course, I won't be so stupid as to run in the afternoon heat again. Hopefully the summer temps will be easing up (I was actually thinking about how great it would be run in the snow last weekend!) and the training will do what it's supposed to do. In the meantime I'm trying not to think about the 10 miles looming in the not-too-distant future.

Hills and flying squirrels

I've now finished 5 weeks of my training, with 15 more to go. I spent the past week in Portland, OR visiting family. It's always nice to run some place different for a bit. The change in scenery is usually a good distraction while running. That is, except when I'm at my folks' house. You see, they live at the top of a pretty good-sized hill. No matter which way you go from their house you're going to be running hills. And it's not just a simple downhill stretch to more level road... the roads snake around all over this hillside so the slope is always changing and there are just as many uphills as down. It's pretty harsh. I also did some running at the beach during my trip. I was mostly on the wet, packed sand but it's still different than running on the pavement. What this all meant was that my calves were a bit tight by the time I came home. It's OK, though. It's good to mix things up.

Yesterday I ran 8 miles around campus. I was looking forward to being on level pavement again. Of course, Pennsylvania isn't without its excitement. As I ran past a trash can I startled a squirrel that was foraging and he took a flying leap to the ground right in front of me. Had our timing been just a few seconds different I might have been wearing the rodent. That would have been one for the record books.

Tomorrow we're supposed to have record heat. Depending on how the day plays out I might be running on the treadmill. I'm not sure I could take the heat + humidity outside. I'll be glad when the summer weather starts easing up. My runs have seemed especially hard lately. I don't recall them being so hard last summer. Some folks would blame my age but I'm sticking to the weather.