Run like you stole something

Sat: 5/30/09
8 mile run (1:00:00)
Wow, where do I even start on this run. First, on a positive note, this was the farthest distance my own two legs have carried me since July of 2008. On one hand it make me pretty excited but on the other I realize that's pretty pathetic. All and all my foot felt decent, although as I was telling my dad, I think the fact that I spent 6 of the last 9 weeks in the boot has really messed things up neurologically for my foot. It really feels like I don't get the push-off that I need and I am hesitant to really be forceful with it. I hope with some time and work with it I will get it better.

Where does the fun on this run start you ask? Well, as I was trying to think of a place to run with some trails I decided to take a look at mapmyrun. I noticed that their might be some trails in a park about 4 miles away. Deciding that 1. I would actually run 8 miles and 2. It would be better to run there to see if there were in fact trails before driving to them, I mapped out the most direct route to the park. Mapmyrun.com really needs a feature that rates how ghetto an area might be because on a scale of 1-10, this route was a 12. Within 10 minutes I was the only white person for blocks and the boarded up row houses and abandon shopping carts should have prompted me to turn around. Instead, I opted to soldier on. I think I witnessed two drug deals and a few other criminally minded activities. It would have been worst had I been wearing my short, split cut bright blue running shorts with no shirt instead of my basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Oh wait, scratch that, reverse it, I looked like a fool. I think the best comment was "oh lordy, I thought that cracker be running around in his underwears". I only got 1 "run forrest run" but it was promptly followed bu "stupid is as stupid does whitey"...yes my friend, stupid is as stupid does. Needless to say, I never found the trails and I made it back safe with an hour of pavement pounding under my belt. I look forward to a run tomorrow with Melanie in the safe haven of small town Connecticut.

Druid Hill Park

Fri: 5/29/09
6 miles (43:00)
Ran a pretty hard pace today or at least what felt like a hard pace. Was going to make a stop in DC for some running companionship but the logistics didn't really work out. Unfortunatly, Melanie's grandmother passed away in the morning and I will be taking my second trip to Suffield in as many weeks. I went out later in the afternoon after the thunder showers had passed and gave the humidity a chance to die down. I ran into druid hil park, which unfortunatly does not have any trails that I know of but does offer a nice break from the streets. Overall, I felt pretty good although I don't actually know what kind of pace I was running.

Slow ride

Thur: 5/28/09
6 mile run (46:00)
Toured the inner harbor with Melanie in the early evening. It was pretty humid out but a light intermittent drizzle helped keep things from getting out of control. We ran pretty easy and I felt good for the most part. The foot handled the cobblestones sections better than I thought it would and I was happy with the 46mins we put in despite it being at 8min mile pace.

Wed: 5/27/09
Off
This was an impromptu day off but probably well needed. My foot was a little sore yesterday after the run and it felt tight all day. When Melanie texted and said she would be home late and to run without her I decided to bag it. Good, smart and safe decision.

Ketchup

Tue: 5/26/09
5 mile run (40:00)
Ran with Melanie in the evening when she got home from the hospital. It was misty and 60 degrees, perfect running weather. We really didn’t have a route planned, just ran around the beautiful *cough, cough, that’s a lie* city of Baltimore. It was a good time to catch-up on our respective days. Wow, we sound really old and boring.

Mon: 5/25/09
5 mile run (40:00)
It was the quintessential New England early summer morning in Suffield, CT and Melanie and I decided a run was in order. Since I am pathetically out of shape and she hasn’t run since she started her sub-I rotation at the hospital we were perfect running partners. She took me on Hill St, which is very aptly named. It really was a pretty run and despite the fact that my heart was about to come out of my chest on the uphill I really enjoyed myself.

Sun: 5/24/09
Another day off, mostly because we had a lot going on with graduation and a trip to meet the parents for the first time. The afternoon was highlighted with this conversation: Melanie: “Mom, where’s dad?”
Melanie’s mom: “He’s at the gun club with your brother, target practice I think.”

Sat: 5/23/09
Off

I ran from Barnes to Wickeden at 4am, does that count?

Fri: 5/22/09

Off

Planned day off. Melanie and I drove to Providence for Campus Dance. We were amazing navigators and make a great team. We left at 2pm and got to PVD at 10pm, 5 mins before Ben and Owen who left at 10am.

Thur: 5/21/09
6 mile run (42:00)

Officially moved to Baltimore/DC today. I will be living with Melanie for the month of June while I try to figure out the job/school situation and find a place to live. Since I hit the capital at 5:30, which is prime rush hour time, I decided to make a stop at Jilane’s place and go for run. It proved to be a great idea as the traffic on 95 to Baltimore was a 90min delay. Jilane and I dipped into Rock Creek and warmed up 15mins before she started her tempo effort. It was really difficult to judge pace as we weren’t on a marked path, there were lots of people to dodge and she had the Garmin. I was very happy to learn that the first mile was 5:59 but Jilane was not impressed since she had 3 more miles. The second mile we got on pace and ran 6:20 or so and then I proceeded to jog easy back home. The foot was a little sore afterward but I was happy to run as fast as I did.

Damn, it was a good day

Wed: 5/20/09
5 mile run (39:00)
Today's run was one of the best runs I have had it almost 10 months. This morning my foot felt the best it has since I had a cortisone shot in mid-June last year. It made me pretty giddy and optimistic to say the least. Today, I had also planned to up my run to the 35-40 min range and see how it went. The weather was gorgeous, mid 70's with no wind and very little humidity. You don't get these days very often in Charlotte. I opted to take the Freedom Park bike path for the run since it let me soak in some more of the sunshine. Overall, my legs felt a little rough and I had off and on bad spots, but the foot felt great. I consider this a big step forward!

I was runnin'

Tue: 5/19/09
4 miles (32:00)
Was a little stiff when I started today. Could be the day off or the lifting I did in the evening last night. Went to the trail behind the high school and went back and forth twice to keep on the soft surface. My foot felt good but my legs were pretty tired. Been pretty busy lately trying to get things figured out for the move and get packed.

Mon: 5/18/09
Off
I took a planned day off after running for a few days in a row and going “pretty hard” yesterday. Honestly, I think the foot might feel better after the days I do run easy but that could just be my wishful thinking taking over.

Really, two updates in a week?

Sun: 5/17/09
4 mile run (28:00)
Met up with a new coaching client of mine this afternoon. I guess you would call him the typical running novice in that his running etiquette with people is undeveloped even though he is pretty talented. I was content to run as easy as possible but he was one-stepping me the whole way and at first I just thought I was in pitiful shape. However, half way through the run he said that he was really hammering. I backed off considerably but he continued to press the pace. In any case, my foot faired well and I am sure my body benefited from the harder pace. I am not exactly sure where I am going to go progression wise from this point. I know I need to be conservative and safe but I also know I need to increase what I am doing. I do know I have a workout scheduled for Saturday afternoon, 3 x 400 w/chug a beer rest, 800 meter sprint (because there I no way I am not puking).

Sat: 5/16/09
4 mile run (28:00)
Ran down to the trail behind Myers Park high school today for the first time since the summer. I wish it were longer than 5 mins since it's a really beautiful place to run and the soft surface is a nice break. I am really excited to be moving to the DC area so I can have much better running options, not to mention sweet running partners. My foot felt pretty decent, no noticeable difference from the past few days. Off and on throbbing during the day that feels more like a deep bruise. However, there is no pulling on the fascia itself, which is my measurement of success or failure at this point I guess.

Holy crap, Jeff updated his blog

So, my running blog has sucked pretty much from the day I started it. However, that is because I basically got hurt about 4 days after I started it and I really don’t have the need to keep a personal journal. Basically, for those that don’t know, I destroyed my Plantar fascia in July last year (let’s be fair, it started in October of 2007 but I am a stubborn idiot). I had a surgery in August but in my dumb ass attempt to try and run a race in Japan, I basically went from 0 to 80 miles a week and got hurt again. I had to wait until February to have the next surgery because of insurance and medical reasons. I also went and saw Dr. Saredella of Providence fame to have a new procedure in addition to the previous surgery. It all went well and I took 2 more months off to be safe.

I guess I should also tell people I have decided to leave my coaching gig in Charlotte. Let’s just say that the head coach and I did not agree professionally and I needed a change. I will be moving to DC to transfer my masters to Johns Hopkins school of Communication, which is a really great change academically and course content wise for what I want to do. As for work, I haven’t figured that out yet but I am hoping to get the online coaching gig going full steam so if you know anyone that needs a coach, give em my name.

In any case this is the start of my running again, or let’s hope it is…

Fri: 5/15/09
4 miles (30:00)
Todays run went about as well as yesterdays. It was mid 70’s and 95% humidity. No matter how much I try, is till suck at running in the heat and humidity. My foot felt pretty similar to yesterday and I am cautiously excited to get back into something serious.

Thur: 5/14/09
4 miles (33:00)
3 days off when you are fit just feels good. 3 days off when you haven’t run in 4 months sucks balls. My foot was a little tight at the start but felt good after 5mins of running and felt good all day afterward. I am optimistic.

Wed: 5/13/09
Off
My log is starting to look pathetic again. I still wasn’t sure about my foot and I had to drive back to Charlotte. I was going to run in the evening but Melanie convinced me that the smartest idea would be to take the day off. I have no idea how she got through my stubbornness but whatever she did it worked.

Tue: 5/12/09
Off
Pretty much the same thing as yesterday. Plus, my foot did not feel great after standing around in dress shoes most of the day yesterday.

Mon: 5/11/09
Off
I really didn’t have the time to run today since I was basically homeless for the day. I was out apt and job interviewing most of the day with my home base being the Panera in Silver Spring, Md. Wasn’t a very productive day for places to live or for jobs. I interviewed at a company in Arlington but I was doing it mostly for practice.

Week Total: 22 miles (HOLY CRAP!)

Sun: 5/10/09
4 miles (30:00)
Melanie and I made the last minute decision to drive up to Penn to watch the Heps. It was great to see a lot of people I haven’t seen in a while and remember how fun competing at the Heps was. We decided that the best use of our time, since we were lazy and slept in and watched tv all morning, was to run after the races before the drive home. We ran on the bike path right by the stadium and the way out was quite windy. Melanie was hauling pretty good and I was getting pretty tired. I used the excuse of “I want to make sure I let my foot heal” so I could turn around with the least amount of embarrassment. I iced all the way home and it felt decent.

Sat: 5/9/09
4 miles (30:00)
Drove into Dc late last night and got to run with one of my all time favorite running partners, Ms. Jilane Rodgers. I have been to Dc to visit her quite a few times since she moved last summer but this was my first run in the nations capital thanks to my injury. We departed her place and dipped down into Rock Creek Park. It was a really nice easy run and good company. You can read her typically over detailed blog for more.

Fri: 5/8/09
Off
Planned day off after being an idiot yesterday

Thur: 5/7/09
7 mile run (50:00)
Well, I pulled a Jeff Gaudette on this one. I decided that 6 miles would be a great idea (there is a reason I shouldn’t coach myself) and decided to accompany Meagan on her jaunt. Unfortunatly, she underestimated her loop and we ended up running closer to 7 miles. My foot and legs handled it about as good as I could have hoped.

Wed: 5/6/09
4 miles (30:00)
This run was much the same as yesterday. It was pretty warm and muggy at McAlpine and my foot felt the same. On a good note, my legs weren’t really sore at all.

Tue: 5/5/09
4 miles (30:00)
I took the team out to McAlpine and decided to put some miles in myself. The logistics aren’t ideal since I can’t heat and it’s tough to ice afterwards. This is one of the reasons that I don’t think coaching really works with my running routine and style. The run itself was good. My legs were a little less sore from Sunday and my foot was pretty good most of the way. It still acts weird. It won’t hurt at all during the run, or sometimes it will be a dull sharp for like 2 secs sometime in a run. Afterwards it hurts on and off, sometimes more than others. It’s a very confusing rehab process.

Mon: 5/4/09
Off
No run today. Partly planned after yesterday but I also drove back to Charlotte and I didn’t really have the time. I consider it good planning.

Sun: 5/3/09
6 mile run (45:00)
Oops, the 6 was definitely not planned. My legs were super soar from my “race” yesterday and I was hoping to get a little shakeout in. My foot responded decently to the run yesterday. It was sore on and off throughout the rest of the day but when I woke up this morning it felt good. I think the 7hr drive from 10pm-3:30am to Baltimore might have helped. In any case, Melanie took me for a jaunt and I got lost in the time and realized that we had already gone out 15mins. The options were to turn around or complete the loop around the pond. She wanted to do six and I just figured, eh, what the hell. My legs were straight up beat afterwards but my foot felt decent. In other news, Holly ran 18:37 for 5k today. I can honestly say this was one of the best moments in coaching I have had yet. The girl’s PR last year was 20:22 and she is one of the hardest workers on the team. She ran the perfect race, just running 6:04’s the first 2 miles behind Meagan. (The goal was sub 19 since her indoor pr was 19:09). Her fault all year long has been going out way to hard. In XC when she was still running 20mins for 5k she was running her first 800 in 2:50. I made her run one more lap at 90’s during the last mile and told her to let it rip. She ran 87,86,85 and crushed her pr. It was so exciting to see someone want something so bad and get it. I was so proud and made me realize how much I love coaching.

Sat: 5/2/09
3.1 mile run (23:30)
First run since about January and it was pretty nerve racking. It was almost like I didn’t remember how to do the whole running thing. On Wednesday night, after my final, a group of fellow classmates and I went out for some drinks. The professor mentioned that they were all doing a 5k on Saturday and that I should join. I politely declined but they added in the extra incentive of breakfast afterwards and I quickly found myself uttering the words “sure I’ll do it”. So, I toed the line at this “race” and started in the 9min mile pack. Meagan and Tanya were also there to join me and my initial fears of getting last in the group were put quickly to rest as we dropped a blazing 8:30 first mile and left the rest of our group in our wake. The next two splits were 7:30 and 7:06 which, for someone who hasn’t run a step in 4 months, is pretty decent I think. I immediately looked for some ice and put it on my foot just in case.