Del Distance Classic 15k RaceReport

A bit overdue, but here we go:

Weather was ideal. Cold fall morning, not a cloud in the sky. I think the start temp was around 45. Some runners had gloves or arm panties. I like to run in the cold so I was as bare as possible.

Since I know the course and this race is very close to my house I had volunteered to help with set up. I put up a few banners for our club (race sponsor) and the RRCA. But there really wasn't much else to do. Being a local race, plus the good club turnout, I saw lots of folks that I know. I pretty much said I would go out at a PR pace and just hope to hold it. This was based on PDR Half marathon 3 weeks earlier, and I felt rested/hadn't pushed too much in the week leading up to this race.

I did very minimal warm up - which for me is typical of 'longer' races. My outlook is "the first mile is the warm up for anything over 10k." Actually I farted around long enuf that I barely got my Gu on time & then changed into my race shoes before it was time to line up. I tried to be about 5 or 6 rows deep figuring that 50 or 60 guys in front of me is about right for the finishing order with a race of this size (300 entries). As it turned out I crossed the line 45th so that's just about right.

It's cool how during the first mile some of the runners along side will end up being far ahead, and others will be way behind. Only a few match my pace all the way. I enjoy noticing stuff like that. A few young kids were on the front line. I passed them within the first half mile. I fell in behind Greg Vitale (who I was introduced to after the race, but I already recognized from the circuit) who was obviously running together with a woman (maybe they are in the same club?). Anyway, as we approached the 1 mm he accelerated away never to be seen again, and I was left running alongside his partner. As things worked out, she & I spent the entire race trading the pacing efforts, spoke just a bit over the course, and met after the finish. Matching up with somebody about the same speed as myself is a huge advantage during a race. Keeping up with Mary, and trading the pace making with her, definitely helped me PR this race. The early splits:
1 - 6:45 PERFECT PACE FOR NEW PR!
2 - 6:58 small uphill
3 - 6:41 the downhill
4 - 6:41

It was during that forth mile that I really decided I would try to stay with Mary's pace. The water station at ~3.25 slowed me a bit (hydration is key for me when going longer than about 5 miles). I fought hard to catch back up with her along the Riverwalk boards section. I remember seeing my 4 mile time, 27:05, and thinking 1 minute under a 7:00 min mile pace ... 7x4=28 ... math is so difficult when giving 100% effort . . . wait for it . . . ah ha, 6:45 pace thru 4 miles. I knew this was right on track for a PR. But could i hold this pace? The middle splits:
5 - 6:48
6 - 6:59
7 - 6:56

There's a water stop just after the 5 mm - I really wanted to slow down and drink a full glass. It wasn't the water so much as I just wanted to slow down. Do you ever get that feeling during a race? It used to happen to me alot, but not often the past few years. Anyway, I knew I'd lose 5 or more seconds to Mary and so I just got a small splash to gulp down. She moved ahead on the small hill at 5.5 and I tried to make it back on the downhill side. I was pushing hard here and after the turnaround point we approached the same hill again. I forced myself to catch up with her before the hill. I felt like I was working very hard. I was actually weezing a bit at the top of the little hill, and then on the way down, past the 7 mm, I saw several runners going up from the opposite direction (they were at 5.5) and I got a boost of energy from exchanging greetings. Later at the finish line when Mary & I introduced ourselves she said "well I know your name's Dean from so many people calling out to you on the course." Mental math game #2: at 7mm my time was 47:48 which I figured was close to 48 mins. 7x7=49 so now I was still about one minute faster than 7 min.pace. Not good since i was slipping away from PR pace. I told myself I still had a shot if I could accelerate ever so slightly over the last miles. We were side by side thru the water station at 7.25 ... I didn't even think about any more water breaks. This race was oN!

Through the 8th mile Mary & I traded position several times and I tried to push the pace. The split was 6:52 Ugh, not fast enough to guarantee a PR. This was going to be very close. Starting at about 7.75 mm I decided to play the game where you try to pick off a runner (or 2) in front. We had been gaining on the solo runner in front of us, and so I put in a push to close the gap. We caught & passed at around 8.25. Turns out he was a runner I know thru some other folks (Chuck from Y). He didn't seem to be working too hard because he was able to give me a few words of encouragement to which I could only reply "garble gurgle". I tried to say something (what?) but I swear it came out all mish-moshed and I'm sure it was completely un-intelligent. Whatever. I'm working hard over here. He's striking up a conversation like this is an easy effort or something!

At this point I was no longer aware of Mary's location. She was behind me but I don't know how far. I focused onthe guy in front of me. But he began his own finishing burst and really took off away from me. As I approached the 9 mm there was no one in front of me within striking distance. That other dude had moved up to a small group and was passing all of them, but they were too far ahead for me to even think about it. I really focused on my own thing at this point. Strong finish, don't let anyone catch & pass me, run for the PR now. Mile 9 split was 6:44. Yes. I'm doing it. Total time now 1:01:24 with a third of a mile to go. Mental math #3: if the final stretch takes 2:30 I'll still get a PR by a few seconds. And if it's more like 2 mins flat then I'm totally rockin' this PR!

I cover the last .3 in a 2:09 and PR with 1:03:33 which is about 30 seconds better than last year's race. Chuck was only a few seconds behind me, and Mary another 5 seconds back. Wow, good thing I didn't let up because they both would've passed me.

I worked so hard during this race. This was an evenly measured out effort with the pain spread across the entire distance. I've certainly had races where I felt more pain, but those were all bad situations when I had gone out too fast and couldn't hold pace. I really worked my ass off for this race. This has got to be one of the best executed races I've ever done. Honestly, I don't know how i could ever get another 15k PR without somehow getting my fitness level lifted up one whole step to a new plateau. Because for the level of fitness I have now, this race was run to the max for the full 15k's. Very satisfying. But I'm not sure where to go from here and how on earth to get there? One observation of this race: I was focused 100% on the race effort for the entire distance. Usually that happens for me during a 5k or 5 mile, but longer races are always marked with a 'zone-out' during the middle somewhere. Usually I catch myself checking out the scenery, or spectators, or architecture, etc. This is the first time I remember almost nothing except the race effort itself.

15k PR . . . and having fun!

Of course, by now you have figured out that life has become very busy for me, and blogging is taking a back seat to my other stuff. But the good news is that I've been insisting that running should not slip off my priority list.

Since my PDR half marathon PR i raced an amazing trail race, the Conestoga 10 Miler. http://www.lrrclub.org/Conestoga.html the course is approximately 3,000 feet of climbing in just ten miles. Think "steep ass hills" and then don't forget the downhills which were really kind-of dangerous in places. I had fun. My legs were completely shredded for a full week. Photo above is about half a mile till finish line.

But I managed to recover in time for this past weekend's Delaware Distance Classic 15k race. It's like the only 15k in Delaware and the whole Phila,PA region that I'm aware of so I try to do it every year. Result: a new PR @ 1:03:33 (6:50 pace). Also very interesting that in these last 3 races I've run side by side with fast women. And that seemed to motivate me greatly. All 3 cases I met these competitors during the race; the situation makes me think that maybe I should spend time with fast women more often! {PDR was Urszula, Conestoga = Marsha, and DDC I paced together with Mary. That's one amazing trio of hot chicks}

More later, I'm running late again...

Summer Trail Running+Pre-race Pasta@Mrs. Robino's=PR!

race report to follow, just a quick post:
I wasn'ty sure what would happen, but when out fast. Absolutely perfect weather for a run: cool & sunny September day. Had some issues mid race. After they cleared I was able to finish strong with a new PR! 1:31:10 on my own watch. Will wait to see what the PDR chip time is. Heard that Ryan Hall beat all the Kenyans to win with a 1:01:xx

Legs are beat up

This is a recap of Sunday, Mon., Tues since I've been busy and not blogging.

Tues: whew, my legs are sore. Some aches & pains in feet & knees, but nothing too bad. Main problem is quads very beat up from Sunday's long trail run. Glad I did it, but paying the price of DOMS today. Rest day, no workout.

Mon: Legs tired & sore from yesterday's really long hard effort. But I really forced myself to get out there and put in a few miles. Alot of times Runner's World and/or other sources say to clear out the legs by running a few miles the day after a tough effort. We'll see if there's any truth to that. I've always taken the approach that easy 'junk' miles are counter productive and so instead will usually just take rest days totally off to recover. I can see the mileage benefits of a more active recovery... just hope the body holds up okay with this new approach. 5 miles ez.

Sunday: Great long trail run - done solo - with plenty of hills. 14 miles total, about evenly split with flat sections and hills. Some hills very steep. Really took my time, 10 minute pace. Also took 2 five minute breaks back at the car to refuel/hydrate. So that would make it more like 11 min.pace but I stopped my watch during these breaks. Total climbing approximately 700 - 1,000 feet. I just looked at the Topo maps and seems to be closer to 1,000 ft. Also add the same for downhills, some of which were very steep/not traditional trails.

I am toying with the idea of a very long trail race/hiking challenge in Sept. The Susquehanna Super Hike is a running and/or hiking event. It is 25 miles and features 4,200 of elevation gain (8,400 total up and down). Link is here. I came to find out about this by chance, but it's interesting. Problem is that the PDR 13.1 is 8 days later. However, I am increasingly doubtful that I can take a real shot at a new personal best because my workouts just don't seem to be showing me that I've got it right now. So the trail race is appealing in leiu of a PR attempt.

So I'm thinking about it. And the long long trail runs with tons of steep hills can't hurt no matter which way I decide ... right?

Thanks For Asking,,,

Yesterday I did the final 20 miler of my marathon training plan whilst at the Broad Street 10 mile race. It was actually about 19.5 or so - I parked down at the stadiums, and instead of taking the subway up to North Philly (like everyone else) I ran up there. Then raced back down tothe Navy Yard. Of course my race time was alot slower than last year, but that wasn't the main goal.

Marathon is in 20 days.
Now I just rest (and recover from yesterday. My legs r sore & my toes have been taking some severe beatings lately). My marathon question in the past was always "could I finish the distance?" Now I'm confident that I can. The race pace is the only remaining item to be determined. If I go at 8:30 miles then I'm sure I'll finish reasonably strong; if I go at 8:00 then I'll qualify for Boston but I might hit the wall, bonk, blow-up and/or melt-down in the final miles. If I go at 8:15 pace then I definitely don't BQ and I might not finish feeling strong & Happy anyway. So what to do, what to do?

Broad Street 10m raceReport: The 10 Mile Warm Up Club

This is long overdue, still trying to catch up on blogging...

Overall the weather report: cool, rainy, no wind. This is the first run in my new shoes (glycerin7) where they got soaked, dirty. So they looked new for a long time, but ya knew it wasn't gonna last forever.

Cue dramatic NFL music: the day broke cold & grey & wet on the streets of Philadelphia. The runners -, 25,000 strong - huddled in masses, trampling front yards, peeing in parks, moving as if one to the intersection of Broad & Olney in North Philly. OK, enuf with that. But really the entire setting is epic, inspirational, and awesome.

The course description has been written about so many times, suffice it to say it's a net downhill point to point straight line 10 miles long with a slight curve around City Hall and a few slight rises in the first half. In a word: Fast.

I got up extra early, couldn't get back to sleep once awake, and did all the prep ritual correctly because I was out the door right on time @ 6a.m. There was already a huge traffic situation at the stadium off ramp. I don't ever go to the front and cut in, but this morning I did go about half way up and then got in...only because I knew that I was running 10 miles before the start and all the rest of these people were going to be on the subway up to the starting line. My goal was to start running before 7 a.m. to give a bit of a cushion in time. Race starts at 8:30.

The line of cars was moving soooo slowly. I needed to prep in the car. Ever strip from the waist up while in traffic to apply Superman band aids to nips and then get into your singlet? Done it. Went thru some motivational tunes: Chili Peppers, Offspring, Green Day. Got the sweat pants off whilst driving, loaded pockets with Gu and filled Fuel Belt bottles. Finally got parked in front of Spectrum and needed to go pee very badly from drinking water, Gatorade & diet Coke for the past hour. Time check, 6:59. That sux. In a flurry of activity I got my hat on (rain still lightly coming down) then belt on, tightened & tied laces, watch, pinned number (duh, almost forgot) and put chip on shoe, popped can of Red Bull and finally headed to the port-o-johns in south corner of parking lot - the opposite direction that I need to be running.

Business done, start running. Time check, 7:04. Crap, I've got to run quickly up to the start to make sure I make it there before the gun. I'm drinking a can of Red Bull as I pass small groups of runners moving toward the subway station. Mostly they give me looks like "why is he wearing on singlet with bib on it already?" and "why is he running...there's still over an hour to the start plus the subway ride?" At the far side of Pattison there's only a few runners standing around trying to stay dry by hugging the subway station building. They all look like they're waitign for a friend. They look at me with those same curious questioning eyes. I want to stop and explain to them, but I'm already late. I want to tell them that the main subway entry is one full block south, that it's mobbed with 100's (maybe 1,000 now?) of runners, and that their friends/co-workers/etc are all probably standing down there wondering where the hell are they? but I run on.

Dodging cars on Broad is my next fun activity. There's like inner lanes & outer lanes & merging going on here. I need to get to the other side to follow street northbound. Once over there I use sidewalk & street all the way up. For now I'm up & down trying to decide which is better/safer. I prefer blacktop over cement but there's too much traffic. I'm already soaked. And the streets are filled with alot of dirty trash. Bummer. Mile 1 fairly slow, I dropped the can into a community trash pile and begin the search for any definitive mile markers. This quest will not be satisfied for quite a long time. I pick up the pace with 9 miles left to go before the start.

The next few miles go by at a comfortable 8:15 pace (est). I say Hi to everyone I see. Yo South Philly. Some look at me like "WTF" but most don't seem to realize today is even race day. @ or 3 people call out "You doing the race today?" to which I answer "yeah, with a 10 mile warm up!" They seem to appreciate that by shaking their heads in a disbelief fashion. Ha, luv that. At the first few water stations there's no activity but the tables & boxes & water are all there waiting. That's kind of cool to see the progression of readiness as you run backwards up to the start. I'm thinking this could be an annual 20 miler for a group of runners. The 10 Mile Warm Up Club. With about 15 or 20 runners sporting matching t-shirts that would be cool.

I can find absolutely no pavement markings for the mile splits. I don't know where I am/how the time's doing. At the next several water stations I ask for the mile marker but no one has any clue what I'm talking about. Some of the vol's are nice and friendly (and cute), but others are grumpy & appear to be working off c.s. hrs by court order because they obviously don't want to be there. How am i doing on time? Don't know, pick up the pace.

As I approach downtown - which I know City Hall is the unofficial half way point - I realize I need to pee (again). Of course now there's many more people milling around on every block. At every subway stop there's small groups or individuals hurrying down the steps. Or waiting outside. Where's my training partner/friend/lover/co-worker? they are sipping coffee, some are talking on cell phones. I want to ask where's the nearest toilets but none seems to want to engage me in conversation. They see my bib, realize I'm running...not taking the subway, then they turn away! Interesting psychology experiment at work here. The rain is still litely falling. I'm soaked but notice that the cooling effect is wonderful. I really got to pee and the rain doesn't help that sensation. No body knows the mile markers. I begin to see cops during this section. One about every-other corner. Some say hi back to me, others give me a hard tough-guy look. Some are smoking cigs and texting on their cel's. There's supposed to be port-a-potties at certain mile markers...this I should've put to memory for the duel purpose.

Finally at City Hall. This is at least 5 miles done. I decide to short cut (bladder near bursting. gonna have to find a side street and do the public urination thing very soon) up sidewalk, across courtyard to the other side (saves about 100-150 yards). As I round the corner I see them . . . their bright blue glistening majestic line up is like a holy grail - a row of port-o-johns! Things are looking up! I'm in, pee like a race horse, then out in a flash. Hardly even broke stride. A few blocks later, more good news: mile marker 4. So I've gone 6. Time check, 46:00, which is sub-8 min pace. Yikes, too fast. Yet good news in that I'm definitely going to make the starting gun. The next water stop is nearly fully set up. Now i'm getting closer. Still seeing runners at every subway entrance rushing to get onto trains. I invite a pair of guys "C'mon with me, only 3 miles to the start" Response: "the subway stops right here, come back...you can take the train."

The road begins to have some uphill blocks. Mile split 8:25. That feels better, and only 3 more to go. There seems to be less traffic now, but roads still look open. Cop on every corner now. I pass a guy drinking coffee in front of Starbucks (Temple campus?). About 5 mins later he catches up to me but instead of falling into stride together he moves steadily past me. Huh. No love for The 10 Mile Warm Up Club? I pick it up to stick with him, but on each uphill he puts more distance between us. We get to an intersection with the El tracks (?) above and police and directing traffic. No cars allowed to go north from here. Mile split 8:18. One more.

Now there are other runners walking & jogging toward start area. It's weird to see the transition from cars and very few peds to lots of walk/run and total absence of cars. No one notices me now. I'm blending into the scean. I pass other runners jogging...they don't know I've already done 9 miles. Some of the up hill blocks are now noticeably steep. Funny, never noticed that when running the opposite way! Irealize that I'm beginning to feel fatigue. I slow it way down, I'm going to make the start so I'll conserve energy. I can still see coffee guy up ahead, but he's almost a full block ahead. Then I lose him altogether. I move to the middle of the street. I actually feel pretty damn good.

i can see the starting line. The wheelchairs haven't begun yet. This final ascent seems steep. Yes, I am tired and burned a lot getting up here. Last mile split, 8:51. The elites are coming off the front to heat up their legs. Kenyans, real ones. I recognize the local speedsters. I see DavidJ - wave & hello. My friend TJ - "do we need to go around timing mats" i ask, but he says no. Asks if I ran the 10 warm up. "Yep" is about all i can manage. As I go past the start line into the throng I see that my bib doesn't match. I'm in the second corral. I move straight thru the middle and get to my own bib-color mates. I am out of water and can't fight thru entire 25,000 to find more. Start is less than 5 mins now. I move to the side where brick park is to be and see assorted water bottles on the ground in various stages of near empty/near full. I really really don't want to pick up a bottle off the ground and re-fill my Fuel Belt bottles, but they probably are safe, right? i see a dude with a almost full bottle stretching on the sidewalk. Dude - can I refill? No problem. I use about half what he has to fill both tanks half full (will carry 6 oz total on race,,,had 12 oz on the way up to start). He makes a good grab as a throw the the bottle back. Thnks, have a great race!

I wonder how sweaty tired I look? I see Theresa. She's about 10 rows behind hubby & I'm inbetween. She asks if I did the warm-up & I feel better calling back "Yep, just got here, made about 8:30 pace for the 10 mile warm up". It's go time. When I click the next split it says that my standing around was only 6:12 - man I barely made it on time.

Here's the splits for 11 thru 20 (the BSR 10 mile race):
1. 7:26
2. 7:17
3. 7:27
4. 7:40
5. 7:37
6. 8:24
7. 7:44
8. 7:56
9. 7:36
10.7:35

They had my chip time as 1:16:16 and I had my total running time as 2:42:50.
This post is long enough without a total report, I'll give you highlites: I wanted to go 8 pace. The first mile I was pulled along faster adn then figured why not hold pace as long as possible. Between mile 3 & 4 must be where the downhill becomes flat because that was the first slowdown.

Mile 6 includes a 45 second pee break becuse I had to go yet again. I must've hydrated exceptionally well this day! My buddy G passed me here - he was with his BOMF participants. Mile 7 & 8 were the slowest again this year. Somehow I always lose focus and feel so tired here. I remember looking up at windows of hotels/ apartments/ houses and each person I saw I would wave to. They all responded but several took a while to see me in the crowd. there wasn't enuf cowbells ringing! There was a guy giving high fives somewhere near mile 7 so I moved over to his side of street. I miscalc'd and slapped his hand really hard! I heard his friend/wife laughing as he was saying "that one hurt." Near the end I was really very tired. I heard my name being called out but I couldn't find the voice in the crowd. At the last second I saw Dr. Dan with a megaphone but I was already gone past and was sooo darn tired I couldn't respond or acknowledge at all.

The last mile: some people began passing me- they had gone out too slow. One was a beautiful redhead wearing red shorts & top. I think maybe the back said Hawks. I tried to stay with her but she was really moving. Several teen/20-something dudes with a lot left in the tank sprinting it in. I felt i could give it something more, and I tried. There was a girl just in front of me wearing green socks, 2-tone green layers top and she had a shamrock tat on shoulder blade. I'd been following her for a few mins. As I surged I paused at her side and said "c'mon Irish, let's kick in in together" but when i looked at her face I knew she was already max'd out. She didn't smile or say anything,,, and I never saw her again. Looking at the split it doesn't show it, but i was working hard that last mile.
Exhausted, soaked. I more or less went straight to my car and drove home. I was so completely exhausted that I almost felt like crying. Very strange. It happened a few times on the drive home. I drank gatorade thinking maybe something was very out of balance. Was I hallucinating? I almost cried but i don't know why. It felt like something about being tired(of course) and being alone in a crowd of 25,000 runners. Hopefully that doesn't happen at end of marathon. weird!?! It was a very lonely feeling...but not sure if it was real or maybe was induced by some type of physical chemical inbalance.

My son had a soccer game at noon which I was challenged to make it there on time. I did. But they lost the match. I know i was a bit grumpy standing in the rain watching us get beat. I tried to make the best of it and then went home for a nap.
My toes took a brutal beating on this 20 miler. But it was a good longRun. Basically 8:30 pace uphill 10 followed by 7:40 downhill again.

First Ever 20 Miler...and 21, 22, 23, & 24 !!!

Wow, what a feeling to have a great day running. I was scheduled to run 16 - 18 for my long run this weekend. This was the absolute last chance to get my marathon schedule back on track. I was sort of dreading the whole thing. The last week or more I've been making plans on pushing the marathon back to the fall and focusing my spring season on a few PR attempts. But then there's days like today!

Big SHOUT OUT to my buddy Ray for pacing me on the first 6 miles. That sensible steady pace was a big part of feeling good for so many miles. As the miles went down I just felt fine and kept going & going. Amazing. I know I'll be paying for the effort over the next few days...thinking that the recovery may take 7-10 days or more. I can work with that. At the moment the worst of it seems to be general swelling/soreness in the R knee and the big toes on both feet took a brutal beating (both were already blackened from the half marathon). I was feeling a lot of tightness/strain the calves & arch/plantar areas, so we'll keep on eye on that.

The total time was 3:29 and change. Just happens to be under the BQ standard for me. Now I just have to figure a way to run an extra 2.2 miles inthe same time and I'll be all set. More details later, right now I've got to take a nap so I can get up in time to see the Tar Heels later this afternoon.

Later today: log into Vermont City Marathon website and register for the racE!

Long Run ---> 14 miles

Today was a biggie for the training plan: first 13 miler scheduled. By the end of the run I felt so good that I tacked on 1 extra. Taa-daa: it's my longest run in years, 14 miles.

Summary of workout: Planned to due 13 miles of loops around neighborhood. First mile 8:10 then forced myself to slow down. In hindsight I'm thinking the slower pace is unnaturally changing my gait and leading to the new pain. Pain set in around mile 5 as I settled into a 8:45 pace. By mile 7 the pain was really bothering me and I decided to cut the workout short, down to 10 miles. Decided to speed up to get it over with sooner...also had a busy day ahead so less time running would be more time with family. Mile 8=8:16 and then mile 9=8:02 and by that time the pain had subsided almost completely. Changed plan back to 13 provided the pain doesn't return. Mile 10=8:22, mile 11=8:16 and feeling fine. Had gatorade & Gu on front porch, could only pick those up at mile 6, 7, 12. Felt good, had fully hydrated before, and took a Gu before too. Mile 12=8:38 which included at least 30 seconds of walking on driveway to down a final Gu. Felt so good - and pain totally gone in an endorphin bath of huge proportions - so that I decided to blast the final mile. Mile 13=7:30. On cloud nine, trying not to sprint but feeling an enormous surge of energy... decided to tack on just one more. Mile 14=7:32 and I could've done much faster than that. Or, certain that I could've done 5 miles if I hadn't blasted the final 2 miles.

Total: 14 miles in 1:56.
All did not go smoothly. I planned to run slow, as everything I read says do the LSD runs one minute slower than your goal marathon race pace. Goal is 3:30 @ 8 min. pace, so long efforts should be 9 min.pace. I did the first 5 at easy pace and I just couldn't go any slower, not nearly 9 min.pace. As i've said before, I find it difficult and ackward to run slower. It just doesn't feel natural. So at around 5 mile mark I began to get a pain in my lower left leg. I've had most of the common runner's aches & pains before, but nothing like this.

Description: on the outside (lateral) left leg, about an inch & a half below the knee is a bump, which after looking up in my anatomy book I know it's the lateral tuberosity of the fibula (or superior terminal?). Anyway, the pain originates there, and shoots downward several inches. Pain fires on each foot strike, and is somewhat sharp. Pain gone when walking, standing, resting. Again, from my anatomy book: there are two tendons which anchor onto this spot of the fibula. Above is the biceps of hamstring. Below is the perioneal, which is a small muscle on the front/lateral lower leg... looks like it works in dorsaflexion of the foot. I'm assuming the lower muscule is the problem with the pain radiating downward. Could it be tendonitis? Or a fasciitis of the covering sheath?

Today was also the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, which meant that i was on my feet helping to work the track & event for like 4 hours immediately after the run. I should've been home with ice & elevated rest, etc. What's that RICE stand for again? LOL. More on new pain/injury as things progress.

Attack of the Angry Groundhogs

Don't you think eventually these groundhogs would get sick n tired of being woken up from their winter's sleep and revolt against their overlords? Watch for headline soon: Angry Groundhogs Rebel And Attack At Dawn!

My legs are kind of hurting from yesterday's long run. A few times my feet slipped out from under me, almost falling but somehow staying upright. I'm feeling those strains & stretches today. Muscle soreness isn't really an issue. Also my right foot is achey, need to rest a few days this week.

But I'm feeling pretty darn good about the distance & terrain. The time ended up at 1:50 - so that's exactly half as much time on my feet that I need to be ready for come marathon day. I was happily exhausted at the end. Thinking about double the effort is still a long way away, but I'm moving in the right direction. I was also thinking that this long run was about 100 feet of elevation climbed per mile. That would already exceed the hills of my marathon. So I've got that. That's something.

Super Bowlin Prediction

Well on Super Bowl Sunday what better timing to make my postings today really really over the top testosterone loaded guy-stuff. Ladies, if you're faint of heart then please skip today's entries.
Not that my blog to date (yes - I've now cleared the one month hurdle) has been dainty or feminant, but today before my run *GREAT RUN TODAY* I had an idea for a grossly humorous post based on my pre-run ritual. Then while out in the woods I came across the evidence of one animal enforcing the food-chain pecking order onto another animal. Photo below shows the remains of the carnage.

Bottom line: Based on remains of chewed up cardinal - I'm going "out on a limb" to predict the the poor Cards will be utterly destroyed today by the Steelers. Second prediction, halftime score: I'll be high as a kite by then.

Here's the story: I'm running a 10 miler thru the woods and about half way in I spot a bird's leg & claw in the snow at the side of the trail. I go back and yep, sure enough it's one leg of a cardinal. I quickly scan around for more, but seeing nothing I take off again. I know for certain that there's Sharp-shin's & Coopers hawks in these woods. I've seen them flying so adeptly thru the branches. And I've seen them devourering their favorite meal of other birds. But I've never actually seen the moment of the catch and/or kill. But now I can say I've found the remains of the parts that these awesome birds can't digest. And let me tell you, there's not much that they leave behind.
After finding someone's bright red ski mask/hat in the cross paths of the open field, I decided to do my good deed of the day & take it up to the ranger's station. While there I decided to double back & explore around to see if I could find more scraps than just the leg & claw. This added about a mile to my run, but I also took a break looking around the area. About 20 or 25 yards off the path I found a half a skull of the cardinal, beak intact. Both these items were very fresh and right on top of the snow. I moved the skull fragment back over to the leg so that I could get a photo of both together.

Bad day for the cardinals!

Weekend Trail Run

I did a really great run yesterday, and haven't been able to blog on about it because I've just been busy with my weekend. But now everyone has gone to bed and I'm just watching the idiot tube so I can sign in.
As planned I went into BCSP. Since there was no snow I wasn't in any hurry to get out there...was actually hoping snow might arrive, but it didn't. Later we got the "wintery mix" of sleet, freezing rain, flurries, etc. Anyway it was cold and the woods were quiet and still. It's supposed to get colder this coming week with highs in the 20's for most of the week!

I hadn't been on these trails for like 2 months and there was tons of leaves covering the trail. I already know there's lots of rocks & roots so I took it easy, about a 10 minute mile pace. Somehow I missed the usual cut-off down to the river. I was almost to the south end where the trail meets the road at the old mill & damn when the trail suddenly became packed gravel. Yikes! When did this happen? I realized where I was, but they've ruined this stretch that used to be single track. WTF?!?! Then some bikers were coming up the trail as I was heading down toward the river. Now they're encouraging mtn bikes on this trail??
I took the river path down & back taking in the sights. I was running thru this area every week during the summer. Really can see so much more of the lay of the land with all the plants down & branches bare. I saw a few steep rock hills that were calling to me. I resisted, and usually don't like to blaze str8 into the woods. I stick to the paths. There is one very steep trail that goes up a 100 feet over boulders. I've taken that way once before and couldn't resist today.
This is the type of steep climb that you need to get your hands onto the rocks and lean into the hill. Grabbing roots and whatever hand holds you can get. I wish I had my camera - there were some icicles from a few rocks. And there were some ice crystals that had pushed up from the dirt and looked like stalks of ice arranged in patterns with small bits of dirt & pebbles on the top of each one. very cool. Anyway I made it to the top just in time to look back down and see another person going by on the path below - a long way down. I found the trail that leads thru the pine grove and then decided to alter my planned 5 mile route. I was getting into this run and didn't want it to end. I went uphill thru the 'rocky run' meadow. All the branches of the briars & berry thorns were shades of blue & purple which was really wild/trippy looking. I went by the big old beech that fell down in a storm last summer. My sons and I cut branches off of this mighty fallen giant. These are still drying in the garage and this spring we'll be making hiking staffs from these branches. My son's initials are carved into the fallen tree trunk. This tree was a great trail obstacle for about 2 weeks until the park cut a wide section of the trunk. bummer.
The biggest stream crossing here, stayed dry. Big uphill, then loop along mtn bike area. The final 1/4 mile back to my car is a constant incline which I couldn't help but to push the pace. I felt strong and I like to finish fast on most of my slow runs. I just can't resist the speed. Final time is exactly one hour. My estimate is 6 miles. Fully stretched immediately after. My calf muscles were really pumped from the final hill. They felt tired for the rest of the day and I anticipated PF pain today. Surprisingly I feel great, no pain! Maybe more running is better? Now I'm really guessing what the best course of action is for the situation. But for now I'm enjoying it. More runs like this one! A perfect blend of effortless while running and then happy exhaustion when done.