Today's Training (10.31.09)
AM Rowing 10K (38:34.7), 31 spm, AHR123/MHR129
AM Running 5K (27:42)
Eerie Erie Race Report
Ran with RG for Eerie Erie 5K. I made the decision to escort her during the race vs. entering the race - I didn't enter the chute, didn't partake in any aid or post-race food, and only knocked a couple of runners over (I was wearing headphones, pushing a jogging stroller, and running with an off-leash dog).
In only her 2nd road race, RG surprised me again. We had done a few recent 3M runs - 31:46, 32 something, and I figured that she could run faster than that in a race, but that a 30:00 5K was probably pushing it. I never saw any mile marks (someone said they saw the 1M mark later in the race), but I knew we were running at least a little quicker than in "training." The course was a little different from the last time I ran the race (due to changes in the downtown roads - mainly Briggs), but as we started getting closer to the finish, I started realizing we didn't have that much time left, and that RG was running pretty darn fast. It's new enough to her that as she ran the last couple of minutes of the race, and the fatigue started really setting in, she started getting upset - and I needed to up the motivation, as did a couple of nice nearby runners. She finished strong in 27:42. Wow. As the Eerie Erie's youngest age group was 12 & Under, she finished out of the medals in 4th, behind two 11 year olds & a 12 year old. She definitely got plenty of positive reinforcement from family, friends, and nearby runners, but it would have been neat for her to get a medal at the awards ceremony, which (per tradition) is still going on...
Ewen North won the men's 5K (16:31), and Nick Cady won the men's 10K (34:31). However, our Andy Ames officially ran 35:16, but apparently started well after everyone else, as I believe he was using the facilities when the gun went off. That's on top of riding his bike to the race. Good job Andy - and good talking with you after the race.
PM Running 7.9M tread (51:15), i=1, AHR121/MHR129
Running Totals: 11M day / 82M week (107M/L7) / 470M month - new high (last 2 months combined = 906M / 2410.1M year
Rowing Totals: 10K day / 70K week / 236K month
Today's Training (11.01.09)
AM Running 16.8M (1:57:42), AHR124/MHR131
(GZ will love this one) 20 laps of the .84M trail around Erie Lake. I managed to build through this run and gradually bring the pace down to 7:00/M. This trail is dead flat except for a brief section of up & down as you cross the dam at one end. I changed direction after each 5 laps (4.2M), with the following splits per 5 lap grouping: 29:59, 29:41, 29:02, 29:00. My left forefoot bothered me some - more like some of the neuroma related problems I had in the past - something to watch...
PM Running 8.2M treadmill (55:06), i=1, AHR118/MHR125
Running Totals: 25M day / 107M week / 25M month
One very annoying aspect of this morning's 20 loop run (and no, it wasn't the repetitive nature of the run - I run a LOT on a treadmill, so this wasn't monotonous) had to do with my water bottle. Nice benefits to such a run is that I don't have to carry anything, there's a porta-potty, I can drop clothing, etc. So I had a large Accelerade filled water bottle (one of the pretty nice Ultimate bottles) that I was picking up every couple of laps - when I was done drinking from it, I would drop it carefully alongside the edge of the trail. When I started the run, there was no one else out there, and there were at most a few people on the trail at a time. So after about 1/2 way into the run, the bottle disappeared, and I never (still) saw it again - despite looking for it every time I went by the area where I'd last dropped it. I talked briefly with another guy who was out there running, and he said that he saw it ("did it have red stuff in it?" - yes) earlier where I'd dropped it. So in addition to missing the fuel for the 2nd 1/2 of the run, I was frustrated as to why it disappeared. After the run, I checked the nearby garbage cans (nope), and scoured the edges of the trail & lake (nothing). This is a lake that was taking me less than 6:00 to get around, a lake where I can see the entire trail from any point on the trail, and somehow the bottle went missing. Did someone take it? And if so, why? I'd think if someone saw it there and said "this doesn't belong," they'd at least look around briefly for the likely owner. Oh, how 'bout that guy incessantly running relatively quick laps around the lake? Did an animal take it? Did the wind blow it somewhere I couldn't find it? Surprisingly irritating - still, 12 hours later.
5 comments:
20 laps. Yeah. I can relate.
The irritation with the bottle ... I think this is age. Remember when we'd look at our parents and they be all pissy FOREVER about something ... "damn newspaper boy never leaves the paper on the step" or "where is the god damn bourbon?" Same thing as you with the bottle.
So in addition to overcoming the loss of muscle mass, lower testosterone levels, and an increased likelihood for injuries, I have to deal with being a grumpy, old man? Crap.
When I was a kid...
Hi,
I came across your blog while researching sesmoid surgery, which I hope is old news for you by now! I love running too, especially longer runs and on trails, so enjoyed reading your story and impressed with all of your training. I'm considering the surgery myself (lateral sesamoid) and am glad to hear you are doing so well. Just curious, if you had it to do over, would you do the surgery? Sounds like you didn't run for about 5 months post-op, which is longer than I have been told, was that the first time your foot felt like it could handle running, even an easy jog?
Thanks in advance, such a tough decision with little information available!
LW - thanks for the interest and the questions. Sorry for my delay in getting back to you. I've been dealing with a different foot issue (a recurring neuroma problem), so I've been a bit out of the loop.
If I had to do it over again...I'm not sure at this point. Despite resuming my training at a high volume, I don't know how my foot will feel when I get back to tempo runs, intervals, hills, etc. Or how it will feel eventually on trails. So far, it feels the worst on varied trails, better on groomed/even trails, and best on the treadmill (thus, the high % of miles there). So I don't know - would my foot have felt better if I would have foregone the surgery and instead spent an extended period in a boot to allow the stress fractured sesamoid time to heal? Or would it have never healed?
I didn't feel ready to run until I did. I could have gotten out earlier, but my weight was a bit too high, and my foot didn't feel "right" yet. I don't think it still feels like it used to, and it may never will.
These are tough decisions, and it's more of the "experiment of one" type of stuff that we deal with throughout our running. What works for someone else might not work for you, and vice versa. So good luck with your foot and your running.
TGeldean, You are right, these things are definitely an "experiment of one", which makes it tough! Thanks for the reply and sharing your experience. Best of luck!
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