Taper Time

I went to Shelby Farms again today. MRTC was having a 10k run, so it was quite a busy scene when I pulled into the parking lot (of course, not finding any empty spaces!). I saw a few familiar faces pass by.

Finally found a parking space and did two loops of the Tour. I ran out of water on the second loop and, being a clydesdale...I became slightly dehydrated. I guess I will use my Camelbak next time. At least the weather was nice!

Time to taper for the race.

Shelby Farms

Ten miles at Shelby Farms felt great today! No problems with the plantar fasciitis or anything else. This was my first time running the Tour and I thought it was fantastic! I also ran around Patriot Lake and the Chickasaw Trail...boring, but at least the temps were under 90 degrees!

Yesterday's run was at Bert Ferguson Park, after dark. Only 6.6 miles, but I needed some time running in the dark to get the feel for it. The moon provided adequate light, so I didn't get to try out the new Petzl E-Lite.

Tomorrow is a early run at Shelby Farms again. Then no mas (or at least no mucho) until the race on Friday.

Run, Forrest, Run! Part Deaux

Another day almost pain free! I increased the mileage to six yesterday and did not have any problems. Even better than that, I had no problem holding a 10 minutes per mile pace the entire six miles...and it felt like I has moving too slow! I did notice a few hot spots on the balls of both feet and around the heel cup on the right. It would be a bugger to get blisters this close to the race.

Now it's time to ramp up the mileage to about 25 for the weekend and then taper for the race next week.

Run, Forrest, Run!

I had my appointment with the orthopod yesterday. The x-ray was negative for fracture or spur, which is good to know. All in all, the doctor did not tell me anything that I didn't already know (don't go barefoot, stretches, anti-inflamm meds, etc). He did give me a heel cup, which is supposed to help relieve pain.

Anyway...I finally started running again yesterday. I was relatively pain free, before-during-after the run. One may think this is attributed to the four Alleve that I took during the course of the day, but I hope that it is because I am healing. Three miles at a 10 min pace felt great! The fourth mile was a test in prep for the 24 hour race, so I walked half and "trotted" the last half. I am trying to time how fast I need to be walking and/or how slow I can run and still stay under 14 minutes per mile.

It feels great to be running again! Too bad that this Sunday starts my taper for next weeks race.

Depressed...

Well...only 11.5 miles last week. This is down from my weekly average of 55 miles. My bout of plantar fasciitis has sidelined me for the time being and it's driving me crazy! The last two runs have been disastrous. My gait is so off that it is affecting my shins, knees, and lower back. Taping my foot seemed to help for a bit, but no longer.

I have an appointment with the orthopod on Wednesday and hopefully he can give me the miracle cure. I really need this problem to go away...very soon! My first 24 hour race is in less than two weeks and I need to be 100%.

Someone say a prayer for my foot!!

I Forgot To Tell You...

As of Saturday, I have lost a total of 52 pounds! I am still 25 pounds shy of my goal, but still making progress.

Last May, I weighed in at a staggering 270 pounds. That's when I knew that something had to change in my life. With a family history of heart disease and diabetes, my chances of keeling over dead were pretty damn high...especially at 270 pounds! We joined Bartlett Rec and I started on the elliptical. This year, I moved on to running on the streets and trails. So far, I have run for more than 1100 miles just since January this year. My diet hasn't changed too much, so I can attribute losing 52 pounds on ultradistance running.

Go me!!!

More Pain

My damn foot is not getting better. I've done all the stretches, used arch supports and even decreased my mileage...still painful. Actually, Monday it felt great! Not so today.

I went for a short run yesterday afternoon since the weather was so cool. The foot was a little stiff the first 1.5 miles, but seem to feel o.k. after that. Around mile 6, it started really aching. I would walk in attempt to loosen it up, but it actually hurt less when running. By mile 7, my running form was really in the tank and I was hurting elsewhere because I was overcompensating for my right foot PF. My darling wife drove by me about 200 yards before starting mile 8, so I stuck out my thumb to hitch a ride back home. Luckily, she saw me (how could she miss?!) and picked my sorry ass up.

I guess I need to stop all running activities for a bit, which is putting me in a funk just thinking about it. I have the 24 Hour Tour d'Esprit coming up in less than three weeks, so I really need to be pain free. Of course, if I don't run to allow my plantar fasciitis to heal, then I may not be ready to run the 24 hour race. Maybe I will be o.k. for my weekend long run.

Muddy Run

Today's run at Stanky was great! Before I could get past the first mile, the rain started pouring down. The white loop wasn't too bad and the yellow was a little worse...but the blue loop was a bugger! It's been raining off and on for the past day, so there was a lot of standing water to run through and the hills were slimy and slick. I knew it would be impossible to keep my feet dry, so I just ran through the puddles like a kid and had a great time! I originally intended on at least two laps (16m), but since I was soaked to the bone, I called it a day after just one.

Lazy Me

I have taken almost the whole week off from running. Tuesday was only four miles and only nine today (so far...going running with the wife later). Other than that...zilch, zero, nada. Actually, I have a semi-great reason for my laziness. I have spent the last three nights at different car dealerships trying to wheel and deal. Now that I have purchased my car (2007 Maxima 3.5 SE), I can get back to business as usual! Anyone for a Stanky run at 0745 tomorrow?