roadtorobusto

Had my first running related injury since the half marathon I ran a year and a half ago, in the same area of my foot. I’m going to head in for some treatment (massage therapy) to see if it’s something minor, but after my last run I think I pushed myself way too hard (3.01 in 23:52 for a 7:56/mi).

As a result I had to take the weekend off, missing my 7 miler on Sunday, and I’m hoping that I’ll be ok by Tuesday — right now just pushing myself through typical treatment (R.I.C.E ldo) and hoping that I recover quickly. If it doesn’t feel good in a week I’ll probably head in and see if an MRI can tell me something useful about what I keep doing, as I’ve gone in for Xrays on this before and it’s never told us anything helpful diagnostically.

So I had a post worked up talking about why I didn’t make it out to run today; I’ve got another few hours worth of work to get done and Kate is heading in for an MRI tomorrow, so I’m going to be in hanging out with her rather than in the office. Just as I was about to hit “publish,” I realized that today’s scheduled run (a 3) shouldn’t take more than 30min to clear, and no matter how busy I am, if I’m going to run this marathon I’m going to have to get used to clearing time.

So I did.

And wow, I’m glad I did. I decided to go for a hilly short route, just a tad over 3 miles, and I took Echo along with me. We started out at what felt like a fast pace uphill, but I wasn’t keeping a great eye on my watch, so I wasn’t sure. By the time we hit the crest of the hill at 1.5 miles in, we were only about 14min into the running, meaning I had averaged a faster than 9:30 on the hillier portion, where I normally hold around a 10, and with a hair over 1.7 left to go, we (well, mostly I) decided to press.

Finished with the fastest time for me of the year, 3.22 in 28:04, for an 8:42 pace.

Like I’ve disclaimed many times over, this is nothing special for a good runner, but I consider myself a dedicated runner more than a good runner. Maybe someday speed will be my goal, but for now I’m just focused on the run itself, having a good time, and being consistent — and after today’s mini-challenge, I’m glad I did.

Running, I less than three you.

Cloudy and gray all day, but tolerable — but the second we decide we want to jet out for a 5mi run (today’s group run @ Greenlake), it starts to pour. Oh well, we’re committed.

We burned the pace for the first 2 miles or so as a run with me+Kate+Lindsay, then tacked a few people on for the last 3 miles at a more casual/comfortable pace, which is pretty normal for Tuesday groups. Overall I ended up putting in a 5.07 (technically I was assigned to a 3, but I was feeling good today) in 47:07, for a 9:17 pace.

At some point I’m sure I’m going to have to be a bit more by the book (when it says 3, run 3, damnit!) but despite the weather, I was feeling it too much to hold back for a shorter run today. Happy with the results and the way I feel; now it’s time to go enjoy some omnoms.

Best run of the year (so far) IMO. Flat course from Ballard out to Gasworks park and back — 6.5 miles in 59:46. Started with insanely high sugars (thank you, Chipotle) but I think that may have actually helped fuel me. I started out around 320 (normal human range is 80-110 or so, FWIW), and took a small bolus of insulin. By the 2.5 mile mark, I was feeling my sugars crash, so I crammed in about 25 carbs, and though my pace slowed from miles 2.5-3.5, I picked it up and burned the last 3 miles at a sub-9 pace, which is a decent clip for me. I’m sure I’m going to feel it tomorrow, but holding 9:11 over 6.5 is worth it to me; it’s nothing to brag about by runners standards, but it’s definitely a boon to my confidence.

Next week is a 3/4/3/7. I’ll probably aim for T/W/Th/Sat this time around and not skip the shorter run. Holla.

I need to start mapping my routes a bit better. With nasty weather outside and a stomach full of not-so-good running food (eggs+salsa = bad idea, even 3 hours before), we (Kate, Lindsay and I) bolted out for a 5mi run. Unfortunately the route we mapped in our heads was a bit short, and we ended up with a 4.74 miler, just a hare short (like my 4mi attempt yesterday).

Definitely a tough run as Kate and Linds are up to the 5/8/5/16 portion of their training, so while it was one of my longer runs it was one of their shorter runs. They set the pace at a steady 9:19 (44:11 for the course) despite a horrible headwind for the first 2miles and some decent hills in the latter part.

Looking outside now it looks like we finished just in time, though, as we completely avoided rain and it’s pouring and blowing about 25mph outside right now — had we tacked on another quarter mile I’d probably be soaked and chilled to the bone. I’ll take it.