What Could It Be?

     So after last Sunday's run I contacted my physical therapist and gave her the bad news of how the run went.  She pretty much said what I new she would say and what I was thinking as I walked/limped back home, "you should have rested today and not pushed yourself".  She wanted me to rest on Monday and Tuesday, then attempt an easy 2 mile run on Wednesday.  

     I woke up on Wednesday and my hip joint area was aching a little bit.  I thought about not attempting the two miles, but I stretched out and went anyway.  I kept slow, around a 10 min pace and did fairly well, but I would get an occasional twinge of aching type pain.  Nothing to make me stop or want to stop, just reminding me that its there.  She wanted me to stop at the end of the first mile and do a few light stretches, so when I hit mile one I stopped and did the stretches and turned tail and headed for home.  At mile 1.66, that same twinge of aching type pain with an occasional sharper pain (nothing intense) would come and go much more frequently till I finished the full two miles.  When I was done, the aching pain hung around and lingered for awhile afterwards.  

     I contacted my PT and she decided it would be best if I came in for another session that afternoon.  She seemed concerned that the pain was coming on sooner and sooner with each run.  So after a lot of questions and the usual pushing, pulling and twisting the theory changed from a muscle issue to possibly being a tear to the hip joint cartilage know as the acetabular labrum or labral tear.  Basically from what I gathered on the Internet, that this is the cartilage that separates the ball from the socket in the hip join.  

     Obviously my PT wasn't making a diagnosis because the only true why to know if it is a labral tear is to have an expensive MRI, but based on the symptoms I have described to her she thought this to have a good probability.  According to her and what I read online, there are two main ways of treating this.  First is a non surgical option, which means a lot of physical therapy and strength training to strengthen the muscles around the hip to better support it and minimize the onset of pain.  The other is surgery which then would be followed by lots of physical therapy and no guarantee that the pain will end and running can continue.

     So where do I go from here?  Well because she is on the fence about it being a labral tear we decided for me to take one week off from all activities and completely rest it.  It was recommended, but not prescribed to take whatever anti inflammatory I am comfortable with taking and icing the area several times a day.  Next Wednesday we will talk and reevaluate our options.

     Part of me really wants to pay the money to have the MRI done just so I know for sure what I am dealing with, but the other part of me knows I don't really have the cash to pay for a test that could, even with my insurance, cost me 1-2 thousand dollars.  Mostly though, this is turning into a real test for my patience.  This could be a very small blip on my running life, but damn it, when you are going through it, it feels like an eternity.       

GCM Owens Corning Half Marathon Training Week 7 & 8

     Jedi and I wanted to start by saying Happy Easter Everyone!  I hope everyone got some time to enjoy the day with family and friends. 

     As you can see from the title, I missed my post last Sunday about how my training was going.  It is funny that these two weeks would be combined together because they couldn't be more opposite of each other. 

     Week 7 training couldn't have gone any better for me.  I got all my miles in, and only missed one cross training and one yoga session.  The only thing that could have made the week go better would have been if the weather would have been better.  I was dodging rain, fog and cold temperatures all week, but despite that I was feeling great.  Normally I like to get up and get my run out of the way otherwise it becomes easier for me to skip it, but for my long run on Thursday, I had to wait till almost 2:00 before I headed out.  I was really hoping it would warm up more that it did, but I dealt with it.  

     Sunday is where things all fell apart for me.  As you might have read in my post on Thursday I had a long three days on my feet at work, along with strength training and intervals to do on Sunday.

     Like I said I have hardly run any miles since Sunday, and I owe it all to my interval training.  I did my strength training before work and headed out to get my intervals done after work.  My hamstrings paid the ultimate price, and by the time I was done, I could hardly walk, let alone run.  I woke up Monday with my legs feeling really really sore and I just knew I wasn't going to be doing any running anytime soon.  

     I skipped all running and all workouts Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday I decided to give a short 3 mile run a try, at a super slow pace.  I got to the halfway turnaround and realized I was probably not going to be able to finish.  I pushed on, but told myself if the pain and aching got to a 4 out of 10 then I would stop.  I quit at mile 2.5 and walked the last half mile home.  Even though I had to quite early, when I woke up on Thursday my legs were still a little sore, but were feeling better.  It was raining almost all day so I decided to just relax until the it cleared up.  I ended up getting out around 6:30pm and limited myself to 2 miles, which turned out to feel really good, even at the faster pace.

     I decided to give myself Friday and Saturday off and hit it again on Sunday.  It was freaking windy as hell, but it felt so good to not have to bundle up like an Eskimo just to go for a run.  I still had a little light pain in my left hamstring that hung around for the entire run, but was very manageable to deal with. 

     After I got back, Mandy and the boys were ready to go for a walk and I thought it would be a good way to stretch out the post run legs.  Mandy is registered for the 5K that is going on at the Glass City Marathon to give her something to do while I am running the Owens Corning Half Marathon so she needs to get a little training in as well.  We headed out on the bike path at a brisk walking pace with a few spurts of light jogging.  Jedi is starting to get better at walking on the leash and is loving to pick up the pace and get a full run on.  

When we were all done I ate some lunch and enjoyed my Easter splurge on a few Peeps!

 

WARNING!!!! IMAGE MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS!   
 

The Self Loathing Ramblings of a Frustrated Runner

     When I started running I had no thoughts of running races or setting personal records (PR) all I was trying to do was lose the weight.  As my mileage increased and my per mile times decreased, the idea of actually running a race seemed like the thing to do.  That first year I tried to run every race I could get my hands on.  I was constantly scouring the internet looking for races that I could fit into my schedule, which I know was annoying Mandy quit a bit.  This past summer I put all my training eggs into one basket for the marathon and totally skipped out on a bunch of other smaller local races that I did last year.  I had planned on doing a 10K right in the middle of my training, but thanks to my knee pain I was having at the time, I skipped the race so I could continue to rest my knee.  In fact if it wasn’t for my sister being involved with that 5K a couple of weeks before the marathon, I wouldn’t have even done it.  I put all my focus and energy into preparing for the marathon which is why, I believe, I had such a great race day experience.  I loved every minute of that race and to be quite honest I can’t wait to do another one, but every since that race my running life has been a frustrating chain of events. 

    

     First I have pain in my ankle, then my knee pain comes back while running anything longer than 2-3 miles at a time.  I keep telling myself that I just didn’t let my body heal up enough after the marathon, so I gave myself almost two weeks worth of time to rest and what happens my first run back, freaking knee pain.  Because of this issue, I have missed out on a half marathon I wanted to do and at this point there is know way I am running the local turkey trot on Thanksgiving.  It has really thrown me into a funk right now, mostly because I don’t know what to do.  I know it is my IT band acting up again and I have read every little thing on this issue and no matter what I try nothing seems to work.  Rest seems to be the number one prescribed treatment, but I have read so many stories about people who have rested for 6 months and on their first run back the pain returns.  I have been icing, foam rolling, stretching and no matter what I run two to three miles and the pain returns.

      

     This shit is so frustrating because all I want to do is run.  I keep thinking do I really need to worry about getting faster and setting new PRs?  The primary reason I fell in love with running is because it worked so well in aiding my weight loss.  I would not be anywhere near where I am at with my weight loss if I couldn’t run, that I am sure of.  The thing that I can’t stand is that I can’t run long distances right now, even if I slowed down to a turtle’s pace I would still have pain after a couple miles and long distance is what I am into right now.  Hell I even started researching ultra marathons, but that is a freaking pipe dream with this knee pain.  I had been thinking hard these past couple of weeks on my goals for 2015, I have even started writing about them and was planning on posting it this week, but at this point I don’t even know if consistent running is in my future little lone setting a pretty aggressive time or distance goal.  If I can get this knee pain solved, I think running and having fun doing it will end up being my goal for 2015.  Maybe get back to my attitude from 2013, were I was running any race I can get my hands on. 

      

      A couple of things I have read that can cause IT band syndrome is weak quads and core, shoes and running form.  With this in mind I have started a body weight exercise routine that will hopefully help my entire body get stronger.  I am also going to go this week and look into a new pair of shoes.  I have been hearing great things about Altra brand shoes helping to correct and promote good running form with their zero drop design, so I am seriously considering  going them a try as well.  The last thing I am going to do after I give myself a little more rest is keep my runs short, 2-3 miles max.  I think if I keep my IT band from getting irritated while getting stronger eventually I will be able to get back to long distances again.  At least I hope so, I got a lot of important races coming up in April and early May.

Wednesday Weigh In

     11/5/14 official weigh in

177 lbs

Change: -2 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 140 lbs

Current BMI: 27.7 (overweight)

Change: -.3

     Closer and closer I get to that "Goal Number" I have chosen as my stopping point.  It is strange to think that I am only four pounds away from my freshman wrestling weight.  Yes that is right, I said my freshman wrestling weight.  When I started wrestling my freshman year I weighed in at 200lbs, which was the heavy weight division.  I was getting my ass handed to me because most in that class were six foot or taller and no less than 260lbs.  I spent that first month working my ass of getting down to the next weight class, which was 175.  When I finally achieved it I pretty much hovered right around the 173 mark for the remainder of the season.  Why did I choose that as my goal weight?  Well mainly because that was the last time in my life I remember being in such great shape, so it seemed like the best place to get to.

     Today I wanted to get a run in, but with my injury from my last run I didn't want to push it.  I decided to head to the gym for the first time since February or March and get my foot pod calibrated for indoor use.  The indoor track at my local YMCA is 9 laps to equal a mile and even though it is so much better than running on a treadmill but it can still get a little monotonous.  I walked a couple of laps to get warmed up and then turned my GPS off and linked my shoe pod.  To calibrate the shoe pod I first ran 9 laps at an easy pace.  When I finished that ninth lap I stopped my watch, which showed a final distance of 1.09 miles.  Through some minor mathematical calculations I got from my friend Katie's blog runsforcookies.com  .  I reset the calibration on the foot pod and ran another 9 laps at an easy pace to see if I needed to make another adjustment.  What do you know, it was spot on.  Each lap was calculated as .11 of a mile and the total added up to exactly a mile.   

     Now that my foot pod was calibrated, I really wanted to get six miles in for the day and I also wanted to see how the pod would do on an extended run.  I had two miles down, which left me 36 laps left to get my six miles in, well my knee / IT band had other ideas.  I was doing just fine until I got started on mile three.  I started to get light pain on the outside of my right knee again, but it felt like a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 so I continued.  When I got to mile 2.5 the pain jumped up to 4 or 5, but stubborn me wanted to keep going.  I stopped when I got to the end of mile three.  I just couldn't do it anymore, the pain was up to a 6 or even a seven.  It almost immediately went away when I started walking, but an aching pain slowly returned.  As far as the foot pod goes, it was pretty damn accurate after the three miles.  When I finished, the watch registered a distance of 2.99 miles.  If the pod stays that accurate throughout this winter, I will be a happy runner.

     As for the knee, I guess I am pushing myself to quickly since Columbus.  These little nagging injuries are starting to piss me off when all I want to do is run.  I am not really sure what I should do.  I am sure the smartest and best option is to just stop running for a while, but that is like asking me not to eat.       

I'M BACK!!............Almost

     So much for daylight savings time and getting an extra hour of sleep when you have a puppy.  Yesterday I had a really long day working a little over 12 hours and I was hoping to be able to sleep well into the morning, but Jedi had other plans.  We played with him for awhile till we could get him all tuckered out, but by that time I was wide awake, so no more sleep for me.  I took this picture of him just after he woke from his nap and it was so cute I had to share it.

     What a great run I had today and I owe it all to the clock that I forgot to turn back for daylight savings time.  I recently renewed my track membership at the YMCA and I had planned on going in at noon for an easy run and to calibrate my foot pod.  I got all geared up and ready to go when I saw the time on my phone and realized I still had an hour and a half till they opened.  I didn't really want to wait and it didn't feel as cold outside as it said on my phone, so I said screw it, outside run it is.

     For a cold day the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  The sun was shinning with not a cloud in the sky and barely a breeze to even mention it.  I was feeling pretty good, but I really didn't have an idea on how this run was going to go.  I planned on doing four miles and stretch it to six if things were going well and as far as my pace goes I though I would let how I felt dictate it.

     Within seconds of starting this run I felt like my old self again.  My pace immediately was hovering around the 8:50s without feeling like I was putting in much effort.  Once I hit the first quarter mile I told myself that if I still felt this good by the first mile mark I was going to go for the full six miles.  Surprise, surprise, I was still feeling good by mile one and so my run went from four to six.  As the run went on I picked up the pace taking the next two miles into the mid 8:30s.  When I hit mile four I was starting to get a little light pain on the front of my leg just above my ankle.  I slowed the pace into the 8:40s and then into the 8:50s.  The pain started to subside and I got a little over zealous and pushed it back up to an 8:30 pace for the last mile.  I got through it just fine, but sitting here typing this the pain is back and hurts when I point my toes and then bring my foot back toward the front of my leg.  I am gonna give it some ice therapy, rest and the next couple of runs I won't push the pace either.  After the run I stretched out and did my push ups, first set 40 reps, second set 20 reps and the third set 10 reps.  I think I am gonna try and hit 100 reps by the end of the year. 

Wednesday Weigh In

     10/29/14 official weigh in

179 lbs

Change: -1.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 138 lbs

Current BMI: 28.0 (overweight)

Change: -.2

     Well its been a little over a week and a half since Columbus and I am finally starting to get back into a bit of a routine with my life.  The one thing that I thought would be the biggest challenge for me, really wasn't to bad to be honest.   All this week I have been slowly decreasing my daily calorie limit back to where I should be now that I am not running the volume of miles I was pre marathon.  I had a couple of days were my stomach grumbled a little trying to tell me it wanted something when I knew it didn't really need anything.  I try to put that fire out with a large glass of water which seems to help it subside.

     To get the time I needed off for the race I had to switch around my days off which meant when I got back to work Tuesday of last week I had eight straight days before I would get another day off.  I know that doesn't sound that horribly bad except I had just run a freaking marathon and all I wanted to do was rest!  Today was finally the day I could truly just sit down, relax and not have to worry about anything.  Now don't think I was a complete lazy bum, I did get out of the house for a run and I headed into town to take care of a couple of things. 

     After Mandy headed off to work this morning, the pups and I decided to sleep in till almost nine before I got up and headed out for my run.  The temp was hovering in the mid 40s with the sun shining and a decent breeze to contend with.  My idea for this run was to just get 4 easy miles under my belt.  As I walked out the door I told myself not even to look at my watch, which is impossible for me, but it was a nice thought though.  During the two miles out I had that cool wind coming right at my face making it feel a little cooler than the temperature was saying it was.  When I would glance at my watch, it was mostly just to check my mileage, which is basically a lie because I know exactly where the 2 mile turn around spot is, so really I was checking my pace.

     For most of the run my knee was a non issue, but somewhere around the 2.5 mile mark a little light pain crept up on me, but quickly subsided.  The one thing I am still having issues with, is my calves.  I made it further today than on Sunday before they started to ache, but the fact is they still did.  The aching pain never really got to horribly bad, but I did add some walking at the start of miles 3 and 4 for maybe a tenth of a mile each.  I thought it would be a good idea to break it up a little and give my calves a little break.   When I got back to the house the aching diminished a lot quicker than it did on Sunday.  This tells me I am healing and if I continue to take it easy for the rest of this week I should be back to my old self really soon.  My plan is to rest Thursday and Friday; I was planning on running Saturday, but with our event that evening at work I'll be putting in at least 12 hours on my feet.  I thought it best to skip it and do my next easy run on Sunday.

     I might as well say it now, I am skipping the Monroe Half Marathon that's coming up on the 9th.  This decision was made for me by fate when I was trying to register for the race.  I spent an hour and a half trying to register, but every time I submitted my info to get to the payment screen it would kick me out.  I eventually took that as a sign that maybe I shouldn't be running it.  The more I thought about it, I felt like if it is taking this long to get my legs back from the marathon I don't know if I'll be ready to race by then.

     Anyway I have been thinking long and hard (#) about where to go from here with my running and my goals.  I have started to formulate a couple ideas that I will run by you all soon.  I think next year is shaping up to be fun and quite challenging. 

1st Post Marathon Run, Whew!

     I have been going a little stir crazy not doing any running and I decided I couldn't wait any longer, I had to get out and get a couple of easy miles in.  Sunday I didn't have to be to work until eleven which was seemed to be a perfect situation.  My legs had finally felt like they had return to normal and I was able to sleep in a little later, which allowed me to get my run in after the sun had up.  I new I wasn't going to do anything to tough, but I thought I felt good enough to do 3 miles at an easy pace.  Well, I felt good enough to maybe walk 3 miles, but to run I truly found out how deep into your muscles a hard marathon run can go.  I don't think I was even a quarter mile in when my calf muscles started barking.  I kept my pace right around a 9:50 per mile, but looking back I think I should have maybe slowed it down or even added some walking breaks in there.  Once I hit the mile and a half mark and made the u-turn back home, the outside of my right knee started to bother me a little.  It was reminiscent of the pain I was having when my I.T. band was bothering me.  The pain was very faint so it really didn't cause me to much concern at this point.  My thigh muscles were not sore, but they did feel a little tired and if I had to make a self diagnosis, my tired thigh muscles is probably the cause of my I.T. band issues.  I would venture to guess it will subside with a little more rest and as I gain some strength back.  Once I got back to the house my calves had had enough.  When I finished the marathon my entire calf muscle was sore, this felt deep like the core of my muscle still hadn't quite healed up yet.  I gave them a good stretching along with the rest of the body before I dropped and did two sets of 30 push ups.
     I decided to give myself another two days off before I try again on Wednesday.  Tonight I'll see if I can con Mandy into giving them a nice massage.  I figure with more rest, a little ice therapy and some solid stretching Wednesday's run should be a little better. :)

Final Thoughts on My First Marathon Experience

     If I was asked to give an overall grade to the Columbus Marathon committee on this year's race I would have to give the whole entire experience an A or A-.  Overall I loved the race, the course and all of the town support to go along with it.  Being as I have never run any other marathons you can take my recommendation for what its worth, but if you are trying to considering where to run your first, I would say to put it right at the top of the list.  Why I didn’t give it an A+?  Well, come on nobody is perfect! LOL! Seriously though, the layout at the expo didn’t make for a great experience and the problem with the overcrowding of the corrals at the start really bugged me.  Another was the temporary fencing they used seemed a little dangerous to me for those running along it with how the legs stuck out into the course. This was especially bad at the start, with all the runners crammed in I was running along the fence and I found myself high stepping a little to keep from tripping.  The last thing that I had issue with was the road during the 24^th or 25^th mile they took us down.   It was a road made up entirely of all brick and had a lot of ruts and high/low spots. Not that I think that kind of road is ever really good to use for any course, but at the end of the race where a lot of people are shuffling their feet vs. running normally made it a little dangerous.

     Other than those little picky things, I loved this race and would totally do it again some day.  Every water/fuel station was well maned and all the volunteers were great.  Plenty of port a potties to satisfy the size of the field and all the spectators alike. Out of the entire 26.2 the only boring part of the race, as far as the scenery goes, was a bike path with fields on either side that only lasted a few hundred yards.  I think the race committee new this because there was a lot of great signage featuring inspirational and funny quotes for a laugh and to keep us going.  This race seems to really pride itself on providing an "all about the runner" race experience and boy did they deliver.  
  

     While I was sitting here reflecting back on the marathon for this post, I couldn’t but help think back to my first ever race experience.  The idea of running a marathon at that time would have been crazy talk considering just running an entire 5K was a challenge to me.  That race was in April of 2013 and I finished the 3.1 miles with a 33:27 and an avg. mile pace of 10:46 and in just 18 months I completed a twenty six point freaking two miles averaging 8:53 per mile. 

     
     As amazing as that sounded to me I really wanted to give myself a little different perspective on this so I looked up what my weight was and what my marathon time would have been if I ran one 18 months ago.  Using the average pace from that first 5K I would've had a 4:42:05 finish time while I was weighing in at a whopping 260.5 pounds vs. Sunday's race which was 3:52:43 finish time at a weight of 177.5 pounds.  That is a difference of 42 minutes & 22 seconds and a weight difference of 83 pound.  I really don’t know what to say to that, just thinking about it out gives me a lump in my throat.

     As for my training, I will have to look back at it little more to decide what, if any, changes I would like to make.  The three 20 mile runs I think really helped me prepare for the mental aspect of the race, so I am sure those will defiantly stay in.  I do like how I kept my training plan flexible to accommodate my work and personal life schedules, while keeping it strict enough to maintain some quality training.  If I was going to make any big changes, it will revolve around doing a little more speed specific training and cross training.  I am not sure what that will entail yet, but it is on my radar. 

     The two things I couldn’t live without when it comes to marathon training, other than my shoes, is my Garmin and my Camelbak.  Despite the occasional issues with the Garmin, it really helped me analyze my runs and kept my pace in check.  My Camelbak was a life savor on the long runs.  It kept all that weight off of my hips from my fuel belt I usually use, which helped my running form and allowed me to carry enough water and nutrition to last the entire run without stopping.  I know I have been slacking on getting my product reviews done, but for now I will give both these great items two huge thumbs up.

     
    So where do I go from here?  Well I can say without a doubt this was my first, but defiantly will not be my last marathon.  When the next one will be remains a big question.  I was thinking before Columbus that if I finished the race and wanted to do another one it would be the Medical Mutual Glass City Marathon that I am one of the ambassadors for.  However, now I need to see how long my recover takes, because 7 days after that race I will be at my SoleMates reunion running a half marathon with them.  The way I feel 4 days after I am sure I could do the race, but I don't think it would be a PR attempt by any means.  The other thought I had was if I ran the Toledo half instead and the Indy half that next weekend I would qualify to join the Half Fanatics club which is on my my to do list.  So needless to say the decision to do the half or the full in Toledo is up in the air at this point.  For now, I think I am going to run the Monroe half in a couple weeks and do another turkey trot on thanksgiving.  Then I am going to concentrate on some speed work this winter and finally get down to my goal weight.

Wednesday Weigh In & Long run??

     I am not really sure what happened this week, I thought to myself, after what I saw on the scale this morning.  The reason is because I have drastically decreased my running mileage and increased my food consumption as well.  I haven’t gone overboard with my food, but I have increased the caloric intake with the majority of that increase coming from high carbohydrate foods.  I have added a lot of potatoes, brown rice and pasta to my diet this past week, mainly to load up on the carbs for the marathon.  To be totally honest I figured I would be up a couple of pounds because of it.  I’ll gladly take the drop, but sometimes the body really doesn’t make any sense to me.  Anyway, a loss is a loss and I will celebrate it like all the others, and keep working towards my goal!

10/15/14 official weigh in

178 lbs

Change: -1.5 lbs

Total loss from heaviest: 139 lbs

Current BMI: 27.8 (overweight)

Change: -.3

Not much of a long run, hahaha!  A three mile super easy pace run would be my last of my marathon training schedule and last run before Sunday's race.  Normally I post about my Wednesday run here as well, but since I will be posting my last training recap tomorrow instead of Sunday I figured I would just post it there. 

Marathon Training Week 14 Recap

     

      This week has seen a lot of changes to my usual routine that I have been maintaining.  Sunday I was originally scheduled to run a local 15K race that I won a free entry to, but unfortunately that race was cancelled.  When one door closes, another one will open because I found about a cool 5K happening the same day so I headed out to that one.  All I have left is one 6 mile run and two 3 mile runs next week.  I am starting to get that nervous excited feeling, more excited than nervous, but I am sure that will change the closer we get to Sunday.  This week also saw a sad day in my life with the loss of our beloved chihuahua Stinka.  It was hard to say goodbye, but it had to be done to end his suffering. 

Sunday:

     I decided late Friday night to participate in a 5K that my sister was volunteering at.  My sister got involved with a charity group called The Arms Forces that raises money and helps veterans with "invisible" wounds like PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), brain injuries and any other non visible injuries.  My sister isn't a veteran, but she is a stroke survivor and has been looking to help those that are going through the same issues that she has had to face.  This group put together a 5K that took place on the runways of the Toledo Express Airport.

*********Click Here for the race recap!*********

Monday:

     A normal rest day for me, but after my 5K yesterday, a day of rest was totally welcomed.

Tuesday:

    Not a lot to truly tell on this one.  It was a 4 mile run at my easy pace, and to be honest it was a little hard to keep my pace slow, and I guess that is a good problem to have.  The weather was nice, a little on the cool side, but made for an enjoyable run.  I did have my first close encounter with a deer today.  The moon was pretty bright and I had my headlamp fired up, so about a half mile in I see two glowing eyes that were almost as tall as me about 25 yards ahead.  I could tell they weren't human, but it caught me off guard.  I clapped my hands a couple of times real loud and all of a sudden they vanished.  I caught a glimpse of a white tail hopping away from me just before it turned into the corn field and disappeared.  That was the only heart stopping part of the run I had to deal with.  When I got back to the house I stretched out and did three sets of 20 pushups.  Yeah that's right I did 60 freaking pushups!

Wednesday:

     I stayed up a little late last night watching tv and I really was feeling tired.  I gave myself the opportunity to sleep in about twenty five minutes later than I normally would despite the fact I was scheduled to run a race pace 4 mile out and back route.  I decided in the grand scheme of things one mile isn't gonna make or break my training and I didn't want to leave myself with less time to get ready for work.  When you have a puppy you need all the time you can get when getting things ready for you to leave.  I know this is a training journal, but there really isn't anything to report on this run.  I felt good for all three miles and was able to keep my pace splits nice and close.  
 

Thursday:
     Taking a taper period rest day :)

Friday:

     I went for my final double digit run of my training.  I used this run as my test run for all my equipment and what I am planning on wearing.  I set up my route to be mostly flat with only one overpass because my right foot is still slightly bothering me and I didn't want to over do it.  I did want to get one more longer distance run in that was right in my race pace window.  By the time I was able to get out it had warmed up considerably.  I felt pretty good for the whole run, but my inner thighs were feeling a little tight.  I got a little lazy on my stretching the last few days so I am gonna guess that is the problem.  Anyway, I held my pace pretty well except for my 9th mile.  I got a call and wasn't paying attention to my pace as I let it slip.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to speed up and save that mile, but no worries, its just a training run.
  

Saturday:

     No run scheduled today since I am cutting back during my taper.  I have 3 more runs early next week and that will be it for this training journal.
 

Week 15 begins now

* For quick access to my entire Marathon training journal click the "Marathon Journal" tab just below the Running In The Fat Lane header