Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Enough of Winter Already

From the very beginning, when I first decided to sign up for Team Diabetes and Rome, I knew that the most intense training would take place in the dead of winter. I knew it, I dreaded it, but I was committed to just do it. To be honest, it hasn't been as bad as I imagined, but it is more difficult that my marathon training was last year. What a difference two months makes. I only have about three weeks of training left, but when I got to this point last time, the snow was gone and we were doing our last long runs in t-shirts and shorts. Best of all, we were running on clear pavement.
My last three runs have all been in pretty miserable conditions. Friday morning, I ran my 10K steady and fast, but the icy footing robbed about 5 minutes of time. It took me 59 minutes instead of my usual 54. There was some waiting around at traffic lights, but mostly the uneven footing slowed me down. And it was darn cold. Sunny, but really, really cold. Sunday was cold, too, but not as cold, and the sun was strong enough that you could almost imagine it was a hot summer day. The cold didn't bother us but again the footing made our 27K feel like 32. We were supposed to run 29 but I had calculated wrong. I've decided not to worry about the 2K. Our route was very hilly - it included that progressive uphill climb from the Champlain Bridge to the farm - and the snow on most sidewalks was so slippery that my hamstring and glutes were killing me Sunday evening.
I just came from running almost 8K this morning. The portion through the farm was severely cold. The kind of cold where you're sure your ears are being frostbitten and your chin freezes up so much it's hard to keep talking. Perhaps that's why Frederica and I didn't chat as much as we usually do. That and the fact that we'd both had difficulty waking up this morning.
Enough of winter and enough of my venting. It's just got to get warmer soon. Speed work on Wednesday night and our last 32K on Sunday. This time, Peter gets to map out the route.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Where has February gone?

January dragged like the proverbial molasses, but February has flown by. I've been forgetting to post to my blog, but believe me, I've been running. The hill training is over and speedwork has begun. This past Wednesday, I was to do some fartlek - if you're a runner you know what that means, if you're not, you're thinking I was doing something noisy and smelly. Fartlek is speedplay, varying the speed in a random way throughout the run. However, I ran more of a tempo run with the Running Room marathon group. They are just beginning their training for the National Capital marathon in May. It was a good fast run, though.
Peter and I have worked our way up to 32K and we're going to climb to it again in the next two weeks, then taper for the big race. We're getting on that plane a month from yesterday. This is starting to seem very real now. We've met some of the other Team Diabetes participants who will be going with us on the trip. They seem like a lot of fun; we're going to have an amazing time.
February brought new shoes, improvement in my ankle, and a real mix of running conditions - snow, freezing rain, puddles. I've got to get out in the snow for a fast 10K this morning, then rest up for Sunday's 29. Four more weeks - the countdown has begun.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Did I do the right thing? Ankle Woes

Yesterday morning I came pretty close to skipping the long slow distance run. I was up, dressed, fed, and ready to roll but awfully worried about my sore ankle. I knew trouble was brewing, but my ankle didn't really become an issue until Tuesday morning's run when I realized that it hurt terribly whenever I stopped running and shifted my weight onto my right foot.
I skipped hill training on Wednesday, my 10K on Friday, and then tried it out on Saturday morning. I'd tentatively planned a 10K, but shortened it to 6 when I found my ankle was still hurting.
Everything I've heard and read says to be sensible and let an injury heal before it turns into something worse, in my case, maybe jeopardizing the Rome race. Even so, I got Peter to wrap it in a tensor bandage for me and I went out the door. I also took a couple of Motrin for the journey.
In the end, the ankle issue didn't impede my progress. We completed our 29K and I can't say my ankle feels any worse. In fact, it may feel better. However, I do realize that I've got to do something about this. I'm going to see how it feels on tomorrow's short run (6K) and then I may have to get it looked at. In the meantime, I'm trying to replace my shoes. Not an easy task. No one has my Brooks Ariels in stock.