I have to have a blog title?

You can tell it's the end of summer when it can be 50* and pouring rain one day and 70* with full sun the next around here. Today's easy run was quite warm. I ran with a buddy at his 'hundred pace' as we went up and down Cedar Butte, then partway up Rattlesnake and back. My lack of recent training is really making itself known. My legs were dead the last couple miles. They better start coming back soon, as my 5 week marathon training plan starts this weekend!

What a great day today! I went out earlier than my normal (I'm not really a morning person). It was already 70* out and sunny at 7:00. I did ~4 miles easy up the Iron Horse trail, then turned it up about .5 mile before turning around and doing the next three gentle downhill miles at MP followed by a cool down  mile. My feet are bothering  me a little, but at least my back is nearly better!

Wore Inspire shoes to see if the extra 'stability' would help L foot but it didn't seem to. Easy pace run.

Since there's no classification for hills I picked 'easy miles' however they were anything  but easy! I ran the ROB (Rattlesnake Over and Back) run this morning for the first time since this spring. I was slower today than I was back then even with snow on the trail! Gaaa! Where's my fitness?

24 miles with 6,000' elevation gain/loss and it's lucky the last was downhill. Without gravity I'd never have made it home. I'm totally thrashed now, and I'm headed out to go dirt biking.

Easy pace 8 miles. I went dirt biking the last couple days. I bruised a rib or two when I fell hard on my tool bag which makes it rather painful to breathe hard!

Today was a 'run how I felt' day. I would have liked to get in 15, but I ended up with a 13 mile progression run starting at 9:00 mpm and ending at 6:50 mpm.

AM
Easy recovery run. Ribs still very painful. Feeling tired - HR high for so easy of run. L arch and soleus still sore, R glute better.

PM
4 easy on the TM.

Easy recovery pace run today. R arch/ankle is worse today, and after a big accidental hug last night so is my cracked rib :D

I might try and do a 10k on Sunday instead of another long run just to see how bad my conditioning is. Unfortunately the only 10k I can find is all the way in Tacoma.

Wow, my last 10k was such a stunner and huge PR (back in June). Since then I've run a tough 50k, strained my back and missed a little running, tried picking it back up and sprained/damaged my left (usually good) ankle/foot, and last Monday - Labor Day - I broke a rib as a result of a dirt bike fall (crash?).

Since I'm supposedly running Chicago in four weeks I figured I'd find out how out of shape I was by running the Tacoma Bank to Bay 10k. I'd never run it before, but it is billed as a fast 10k. I ran most of the course for a warm up and found the race starts at about 50' elevation, goes up to 140' elevation, drops down to 0' for a while, goes over a high bridge for another gain of about 40', then repeats all the above after the turnaround - not my idea of a fast course, but not necessarily brutal either.

My left foot mostly bothers me on downhills, but my broken rib hurts with any jarring motion, any bending motion, or any deep breathing. Not that I'm using that as an excuse : P

I ran as hard as I thought I could, and even picked it up to 5:30 pace for the last half mile to bury a couple guys before the finish. I ended up with a very disappointing 39:30 - my slowest 10k since at least 2005 I believe.

 So with 4 weeks until Chicago I guess my MP will be about 7 mpm - arghh. I can't believe I've gotten 2:30 slower over 6 miles in 3 months! I may run a 50k (Cle Elum Ridge 50k) this coming weekend (with 7,000' elevation gain/loss). My slowness won't matter much there, and past results indicate many of the fast people typically don't show for it. Thanks reading!

11 miles on my road bike with Cherie - an easy recovery workout I guess.

I took advantage of weather that bested the weatherman this morning for an easy GA run. My HR is still a little high, but this could just be from last weekend's 10k too. I still haven't decided if I'm going to run the 50k this weekend. I think the smart thing to do would be to run a 20+ on the flats as a more specific workout for the upcoming Chicago (flat) marathon. Maybe I'll be smart this week :)

Today's easy run in the muggy warm weather was ok. My rib is down to a dull roar with occasional spikes. I'm experimenting with different shoe types and inserts/no inserts to see what may make my left foot/ankle feel better. Today I put some SoftSoles in my Riders. It seems like inserts make the foot worse. Tomorrow I'll try a 10 miler or so in the Kinvaras to go the opposite direction (less support).

Part two of my left foot pain experiment. Today I ran in my Speedstars which are a lightweight trainer to see how  my foot felt in them. It didn't seem to make much of a difference - the foot still hurt.

My HR was nearly marathon pace HR but my corresponding pace was about 30 sec/mile slower than MP. That's what I get for two months of recovery pace running I guess!

I can't wait until after Chicago so I can take two, three, or more weeks completely off to try and heal my foot. I'm ready for it! Then I can begin the build-up all over again.

Today I got an easy run in before the rain and the Huskies game. If I and my foot make it through tomorrow's last long run I'll try and cruise down the hill to 10/10/10 with lots of biking and less running.

This would be my last 20 before Chicago, but since I haven't been able to follow a true plan, and since it went so poorly, I  may try another next weekend. This was my slowest 20 in a couple years, but my HR was way high, and I'm not having  much luck in finding a reason why. It can't be overtraining, because I really haven't been training :)

Anyway it's good to have it done! Now I've got three weeks to decide how to take on Chicago - as an event to be absorbed and enjoyed, as a test of will to push as hard as I can and take what I get, or perhaps to pace my wife to a BQ (I'm not sure she'd enjoy that and probably wouldn't let me :) ). Life is such an interesting thing to be a part of with its unknowns, challenges, rewards, and oddities!

AM: Today I tried to find the course (without a map) for this Saturday's 4.6 mile trail race on Snoqualmie Ridge. I did pretty well for the first third, then lost it at the road. Anyway it was a nice run on very smooth and soft trails - very unlike the technical and steep trails I'm used to. I have a bone scan scheduled for tomorrow morning for my left foot. If it's negative (and I think it will be) then I'm probably looking at posterior tibial tendonitis which isn't much better!

PM: Tried again with Shawn to find the course. We found more of it!

I got a bone scan done on my foot today, but won't get the results for a couple days. I'm 98% convinced I don't have a sfx but instead a strain or tendonitis of the attachment of the anterial tibialis tendon. I'm not sure that's any better though :)

I did an easy 8 miles this evening in some old Montrail stiff trail shoes. It was a very easy pace, and I felt like going longer, but I decided to take it easy on the foot instead. I can be partly smart :)

Any day you can run is a good day, and I ran 6.3 easy, easy  miles today. I may run a local 8k trail race tomorrow morning - and the weather is supposed to be very nice, so I'm looking forward to another good day!

Wow, what a nice weather day! Shawn and I went to this event for some speed work on soft trails. About 90 people showed up for this first time low key event. After  my poor outing a couple weeks ago at a 10k I wanted to try and get another handle on  my fitness. A hilly trail race on very soft footing however is not the best way to get such an evaluation :)

A couple faster guys showed up, but I figured I should still be able to get a top 5 finish. We warmed up on the course with a 3.5 mile run, then lined up at the start line in a grassy field. At the gun I took off way too fast - in fact I was in the lead for a couple hundred meters. All that did is put me in oxygen debt for the hills, and I gave up several positions and felt whupped. I eventually steadied up and got going again though, and by the two mile point was in 3rd place. There was someone right on my shoulder for a half mile or so, but he finally fell off after a hilly section. From there on I was running by myself for the rest of the race.

I finished strong and fast the last 3/4 mile or so, but I was disappointed with  my slow time once again. I averaged only 7:00 mpm, and the course had less than 300' of elevation gain/loss. I should have been able to average at least 30 seconds per mile faster than that I feel. I somehow have lost a tremendous amount of fitness over the last couple months. I'm really looking forward to getting past the Chicago marathon in a couple weeks and hitting the 'Reset' button. I think I'll try and take the rest of October off from running then begin with a much reduced weekly mileage with a day per week on the track and start building back up again.

Wow, what a wet run! I had an appointment in Bellevue for 11:00 am, so I planned on stopping off in Issaquah to run 17 or so miles on the Eastlake trail. I brought a change of clothes and a gallon jug of warm water for a little post run 'shower' too.

By the time I got out the door I was late. I figured I'd perhaps only have time to get in 14 or 15 miles, but instead I ran faster! I started out at 7:40 and progressed to a last mile of 6:38 and was able to squeeze in 16 miles in 1:58. Then I stripped to  my shorts in the parking lot and took  my quick 'shower' before racing off to my appointment. I was 2 minutes late however :/

It felt good to run a little faster for once though!

AM ~4 miles very easy

PM 2 miles warm up, 3 x 1600m at 6mpm pace with 800m jog recoveries, 1 mile cool down for just over 7 miles

I had a nice pleasant and easy 5 miles at lunch time right as the weather turned from fog to bright sunlight.