No More Lone Wolf.

I've been running pretty consistently for almost 30 years now and have always been a "lone wolf" runner.  I ran solo almost all of the time.  In the last year or so I have opened myself up to running with others and I have to admit that I am enjoying it.  I still really like running on my own and having that time to collect my thoughts, but the social aspect of running is starting to grow on me.  It also seems like a little bit of "social running" begets more "social running.  For example, Saturday morning I was out doing my usual recovery/easy run on my usual trail through Purgatory Park.  Its the same trail I've been running for almost 10 years now.  I rarely see anyone else, let alone find someone to run with,  but on this Saturday, I was cruising along, minding my own business, when some guy is suddenly right on my heels.  He slows down a bit and warns me he is passing on my left and we exchange salutations.  We get to talking and the next thing you know we've run 4 miles together and are gabbing like old friends.  (BTW, thanks for the run Ted)  Today I ran with someone for a few miles and it helped me stay on my pace.  Lesson learned, it pays to run with someone who is a LOT faster than you. (Thanks for the pacing effort, Rob)  I then finished off my run, with a short stint with one of my marathon clinic students.  As we are running past scenic Lake Minnetonka, some woman yells out to me, "Hey, this is the third time I've seen you on this trail today!"  I guess you spend enough hours on the same trails and you are bound to get recognized.  Any way, I still run about 60 to 70% solo and that seems to be a pretty good balance.  Besides I wouldn't want to tarnish my reputation and be mistaken for a "people person!"

I survived my big week and the foot is feeling pretty good.  It was my second 90 plus mile week of the training cycle and it was a pretty good confidence booster.  I did some speed work early in the week and finished off with 20 miles, 14 of those were of the marathon pace variety.  I have some races coming up in the next few weeks so I can test my fitness level.  A 10K on Labor Day, a 25K on September 11th and the big Old SOD Days Heart of the Prairie 5k on September 17th.  I don't want to get too bold, but I think my time on the Heart of the Prairie 5k may have a 2 in it!

Congrats to my Marathon clinic crew, who all were successfully tackling their first 20-mile runs of their training cycles.  These guys are as devoted as they come and are really an inspiration.  Nice job everyone!

Happy Running!

Speed Kills

No, this is not a post stating how fast I am.  It is a post to announce that I returned to some speedwork this week with little or no foot pain.  I ran just shy of 80 miles this week and my plan had a bit of a twist.  Rather than run a short recovery run on Saturday and a longer, tougher run on Sunday, I ran a 10-mile tempo run on Saturday and 18+ easier miles on Sunday.  I liked the combination and was happy about my performance on Saturday's run.  All in all it was a step back week and I will get back at it this week.  With my foot feeling better I'm ready for another 90 plus mile week and am flirting with the idea of breaking 100 miles.  There will be a big fitness test on Sunday, with another 20-miler, but this one includes 14 at marathon pace.

With only 6 weeks until race day and the upcoming week having a couple of key runs, I thought it would be wise to get back to well planned week.  It started with the injury, but I let the components of my running plan fall apart just a bit.  With the increased mileage and busy work weeks, I have not found the time to do all my conditioning and core work-outs.  Menu planning has taken a backseat, so the diet has suffered.  I've been finding myself rushing in the morning, stressing about not enough time in the day and since stress is a real energy drain, a little bit of planning seems like a good idea.  I want the next six-weeks to be relaxed and motivating.  It really is crunch time.

I made the mistake of indulging in some of my son's musical collection.  As a rule he has good taste in music, but he is 17, so I shouldn't be surprised by some of his selections.  I didn't even know the songs; I just downloaded them without sampling first.  Of course, the first song that came on my MP3 player this morning was this little gem.  Quite an eye-opener at 6:00 am Sunday morning.  I am issuing a warning here for anyone reading who is under 18 or easily offended by obscenity, Nazis, demonic screaming and mayhem. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWggPLXeOkU&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=AVGxdCwVVULXfHVh9tJzBAJWUVE-8Z1jzW

About half way through my run this morning this song from Mischief Brew came up.  Again, one of my son's favorites.  If you know my son, this song explains a lot.  I'm ready to explore Mischief Brew a little further, but I think I will leave Bring Me the Horizon to the kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMvqsZqtgkk

Happy Running!

My Week Ends on a High Note

The ups and downs of an injury like Plantar Fasciitis are very frustrating.  One day you can virtually pain free, but the next day you can barely walk.  I did take a day off this week (doctor's orders) and I felt much worse after that, go figure.  So, after a lousy run Friday (I was suppose to do 14 with 7 at HMP) I rebounded Saturday with a decent GA 9 miles and believe it or not I ran 24.6 miles today and still had gas left in the tank!  I ran 3 miles at or about 8 minutes, than 7 or so easy with one of my clinic members.  After a few more miles solo, I met a local runner at Freeman Park and ran few miles with him. (Thanks Rob and nice meeting you)  I then had to get home and managed about 10 more miles at or below 8 minute pace, so all in all a pretty good work-out.  After a ice bath for my foot, everything seems to be in good working order tonight; I certainly wouldn't want to run on it, but I'm getting around pretty good.  In regards to the foot treatment, here is the regimen that appears to be working:

• Strassburg Sock at night
• Ice Bath
• Lots and Lots of stretching
• Ultrasound
• Sombra - an all natural analgesic made with Aloe and capsacin.  Yeah, it's the stuff in peppers that make them hot.  After a foot massage in the morning and a generous application of this stuff my foot feels great.
• Smartfeet inserts
• More ice

I'm pretty much use to putting my running shoes on and heading out the door, so this time consuming regimen is getting a little old, but if I can keep moving, I'll do it.  This week I get to back off a bit and the following will be one of my last chances to hit a 100-mile week.  We'll see if my body holds up.  Mentally I seem to be back into things.  I have to admit that the past two weeks have been discouraging, but I feel like I have my head around things and will be happy no matter the result.  I'm still not prepared to adjust my goal, but a blog called Chasing 3 hours and 5 minutes, just doesn't sound as good!

Happy Running!

On the mend?

It's been a long week.  Monday I took my first day off since mid-May.  My foot was really screaming and I made the wise choice.  I also took Tuesday morning off and ran an easy 5 miles with my marathon clinic crew for 5 easy miles Tuesday evening.  I'm also happy to report that two of my clinic participants successfully completed half-marathons this week-end in respectable times of 2:05 and 2:07.  Way to go Jess and Kirk!  I started wearing Superfeet Tuesday and keep them in all my shoes. Also I wear shoes all the time that I am awake.  When I'm sleeping I wear the night splint.  This combination seems to be working, along with the massive amount of stretching and massage I have incorporated into my day.  Wednesday I ran 8.5, Thursday I did a recovery run of 8 and Friday I tested the waters a bit with 12.2 mini progression run.  I did manage to run the second half faster than the first half, but fast is a relative term.  Saturday I ran a very easy six-miles and Sunday I was ready to really to test out the foot.  I warmed up with a couple of easy miles than "raced" the Como Classic 5k.  I was happy with the result, 19:02 unofficially, but the best news was how my foot felt.  After a short cool-down, I did a few laps around Lake Como for a total of 15.5 miles.  The foot tightened up around mile 12 and got a little achy, but nothing I couldn't handle.  The upcoming week is a big one, with lots of speed work and finishing up with 24 miles on Sunday morning.  I was planning on setting a weekly mileage PR, but lets see if the foot cooperates.

Even though progress has been made in regards to my foot, I can't leave well enough alone.  On Monday, I see a chiropractor who specializes in the Graston Technique.  They call it  "instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization."   So the doctor takes a tool that looks like a curved butter knife and starts breaking up scar tissue to allow the effected areas to move more freely.  He assures me its not too painful, but I'm a bit dubious about that claim.  Here are his selections of torture devices or erhh, I mean "tools" he will be using.  Anyway, it's worth a shot.

It was a disappointing week, so much so that most music on my runs was not sounding good.  However, at around mile 9 on Sunday there was a breakthrough; I forgot about the pain in my foot for a few moments and totally got lost in this song.  Not really sure why, but it worked!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq344ks1ieg

Happy Running!

That Was Some Doctor

I went to see Dr. Johnson at Tria Orthopaedics yesterday.  I kinda expected the usual stuff, "stop running so much," "you're not getting any younger" or "stop, now!"  Dr. Johnson was different.  Not only is he a "running injury specialist" (what a country) but a serious runner as well.  How serious?  He will be running his 30th TC Marathon. (for those of you scoring at home that's all of them!)   He also has run most of  Grandma's Marathons.  We're not talking slogging either; his PR is sub 2:50!  So anyway, I tell him my self-diagnosis (which was correct BTW) and he says, "Well, since we're in mid-training for TC Marathon, we have only a few options left.  Since quitting now isn't one of them, here is what we can do."  Anyway he gave me a bunch of exercises, stretches and suggestions, most of which I already know about, but the cool thing is that he gets it.  Isn't this what doctors are supposed to do?  Understand their patients.  His last words of advice were, "it's up to you how much pain you want to run through."  How cool is that?

So, I ran 5 miles with my marathon clinic last night and it hurt, but not bad.  I ran 9 miles this morning and it hurt, but again, not so bad.  My big problem is running anything faster that 8 minutes per mile right now.  My heel really starts to bark when I pick up the pace, which is a big fat bummer, because the speed-work portion of my training started yesterday.  Per doc's suggestions I got a pair of the Superfeet inserts and I've been wearing them for 1 full day and my foot is already feeling better.  Perhaps its the placebo effect, but I'll take anything right now.  I'm going to get a good night's sleep tonight (in my splint) take one more recovery day and try some tempo work on Friday.  If this goes on for more than another week or so, I will seriously have to rethink my goal.

Got my new pairs of Mizuno Enigmas yesterday, so not only did I run in my new Superfeet, but also ran in my new shoes.  They are a bit more shoe than I am use to running in, but the price was right. (Mizuno gave me a pair to test out!)

I have two dilemmas. The first is do I race my scheduled 5k at Como Park this week-end?  It's part of the Grand Prix and I only have two mulligans left.  Second dilemma is on September 17th there are two races on the same day that I want to run.  One is the City of Lakes 25K, which is also part of the Grand Prix, and Heart of the Prairie 5 miler which is a race in my hometown.  I ran it once before, but that was 35 years ago.  Hopefully I'll be healthy enough to make a choice.  Speaking of the Grand Prix Race Series, I have to toot my own horn.  I am currently in 4th place overall.

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MDRA Place	Name	Age	Total Points	Meet of Miles	Frigid 5k	Human Race	GiG 10k	NP Half	BK 5k	Gr Mar	Rice St Mile	Como 5K	Rochester 1/2	Victory 10k	City-Lakes 25k	TCM	Rocky 6k
1	Kirt Goetzke	50	6197	821	0	861	925	1000	885	919	786	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Jim Clark	43	5261	875	0	875	896	889	869	0	857	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	George Fulp	49	5218	518	0	778	746	833	770	811	762	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Rick Larsen	49	4964	750	0	833	851	861	836	0	833