Thursday, July 26, 2012

hot Florida running

I'm still in FL with a side trip to Vegas.  In FL it's just hot and humid.  In Vegas it's roasting oven hot.  That is a heat that just beats you down like a sledge hammer.  In FL it's the humidity that knocks you down.  I'm not sure that I'm crazy about either of them.  Fluids, and plenty of them, are mandatory.  And preferably early, very early, morning runs.

After the funeral I had to go for a run - I couldn't sit.  Even though it was 7PM, I hadn't eaten well all day, and I'd had several rums...  I had to run to release the tension.  What started out as a 3-4 miler turned into a 10 miler.  I got 5 miles out and then realized that I should probably turn around and head back.  Not only that, but the sun was close to setting.  I was actually very comfortable beating the crap out of myself (it was hot and humid) and releasing the tension of the day felt good. I did find new energy when I turned around - I guess the subconscious thought that the "end of this madness is near" kind of helps.  But I do have to admit that I was pretty bagged during that last mile.  I was done.  I did not have another mile in me.

During my cool down and stretching I could tell that I came really close to over-doing it.  My leg muscles were doing their twitchy thing and feeling weird.  But the best part is that "spent" feeling after a hard workout that just feels so good.  The odd part is that I only did 10 miles ("only"), yet it felt like 20 - mostly I am sure because of the heat/humidity and the fact that I ran in the PM without having prepped myself food-wise - and I'm sure that the rum didn't help.  It had also been a really weird day.

My left foot (plantar fasciitis) hurt like a bad bitch after I finished running and stretching. I don't remember it bugging me during the run, but after... oh yeah.....  After my shower and eating something, I could barely stand to walk. I even took 3 advil (something that I rarely do).  I was seriously worried that I had totally over done it and I would not be running again for a long time.  But in the AM it was actually more or less ok.....  go figure...  Granted I took the time when I woke up to stretch and manipulate my ankles before popping out of bed - and even then, my first steps were very ginger.  It was tender, but didn't hurt as much as I expected it to.

Discretion being the better part of valor, rather than run today, I did a 3 mile walk.  And during my walk I committed to exploring new running shoes.  Something just isn't right with my shoes and I am convinced that I just need to find the right shoe to go with my orthopedic inserts...  jeesh - there goes another $100...

But I'm not getting my long miles in - I need to be in the 16-18 mile range right now with a 20 miler coming up soon, and I'm not even close.  I'm worried about being conditioned enough to run the marathon.  ugh.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

13 weeks to Grand Rapids Marathon and Plantar Fasciitis

13 weeks to go to the Grand Rapids Marathon.  And a new injury of sorts to slow me down.  I've developed plantar fasciitis on/in my left foot.  Plantar fasciitis is a fairly uncomfortable inflammation of the connective tissue on the bottom of the foot and is apparently more common than I realized.  There is no real fix for it; I'm told that not running would really help it get better faster, but that's not going to happen.  Aside from that, the fix is a lot of stretching.

But I've got 13 weeks to go, I need to amp up my miles, and once again I am behind.  I'm behind because I've been baby'ing my foot a bit.  I had a good 11 mile'r last week, and I need to get a 16'er in this week.  I'm in FL right now and it is hot and very, very humid. I did 3.5m last night and then 8m this morning (it was so humid that by the time I was done I was absolutely and totally soaking wet with sweat).  My foot is sore as hell now, but I know that it will pass. 

I'm in FL because my Dad passed - and the runs seem to be very therapeutic. I've had long conversations with myself about my dad, conversations with my dad, or sometimes just I just ran mindlessly.  The last two runs, the 3 and the 8 miler seemed to go by so fast...  At one point on one of my runs I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I missed a turn and wound up confused about where the hell I was.  Once I realized that I had missed a turn I backtracked my route and obviously made it home.

13 weeks to go... I haven't signed up for the marathon yet.  Am somewhat worried about being able to go the distance.  We'll see.  I'm not sure when I'll sign up (or not), but we'll see.  I hate not being 100% healthy.  it sucks.  But maybe that's part of the test.