Taper begins

This tree seems to think it's Autumn already.

I am very angry at my shoes. The only reason why 15 miles took me so slow & I had to walk so many times is because the bottom of my feet were burning. They were rubbing in not a good way. I have developed blisters on my feet that I have never gotten before wearing any other brand of shoe! Even the previous model of the same shoe before this one. I am sooo not happy. I'm wondering if my shoes are in fact NOT narrow like they should be. So I think what I'm going to do is go back to my previous shoes and run in those from here on out during my taper. I only have 354 miles on them. They could potentially last me until approximately 450 miles. I have a few maintenance runs during the week, 12 miles and 8 miles for my long runs the next 2 Saturdays before Race Day on October 4.

So my run today was decent enough. Except as I mentioned by the end, I had to keep walking because my feet hurt. Not because I was tired or achy or sore but my feet were burning. When you're on your feet for this many hours, you need them to hold you up otherwise you will fail.

Wow, so I can't even talk anything about this run because all I can think about is my GD feet! I only wonder how things would have turned out if my feet were not bad. Would I have been able to keep up the pace??

I did get some of the typical aches and pains of taper paranoia. My left shin, left knee and right hip hurt. They went away. I started to have my doubts with even completely 11 more miles after this 15 miles. Would I be able to do it? What was I thinking? Why do I do this to myself? How can I even think of doing 2 more next year?

At 7 miles I stopped to have some Watermelon Sports Beans. At 14.5 miles, I filled up one of my water bottles at the spicket near the front of the condos. And then at 14.8 miles, I passed someone watering her plants so I yelled out I'll take some of that and she turned the nozzle toward me and I ran over to her and my front and my back got sprinkled on. Felt soooo good! I had goosebumps for the rest of the run!

Something interesting did happen at about 4.5 miles or so. I was coming up to a walker facing me with 2 dogs. Behind him was a woman on a bike coming towards him. I warned him of her behind him that way he could tie up his dogs and let her & I pass without bumping into each other or him. After she passed, I said to him, "They never tell you when they're coming up behind you." He just smiled and nodded. I then heard the woman on the bike say something but I still had my earbuds in and Steve Runner was still talking so I didn't know exactly what she said but it sounded like "I ___ told him I was behind him." Don't know if that was "did" or "would have" or what but I don't care. She was not happy and I'm not happy with bikers at all. She saw me again when I stopped for my jelly bellys and again she said something to me but I had my back to the bike path cause I wasn't sure of the way I was going to go after I ate them but I ignored her. No idea what she said this time around.

This week, I didn't want to run. I was apathetic about EVERYTHING it seemed. Work, waking up, eating, running. So not like me. I forced myself to run on Wednesday morning and I squeaked out 3.5 miles. Didn't even blog about it that's how apathetic I was even with that. I had cereal every night for dinner. Didn't feel like cooking and hadn't gone grocery shopping in a while. Apathetic about running. That is sooo not like me!! Luckily I think it was all hormonal for it seems the apathy is now gone but the cereal phase certainly is not! I'm addicted to the stuff it seems!

This song is gonna be my mantra; for more reasons than just running:

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 857 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +7 ft Date: 09/12/09 Up/Downhill: [+538/-531] Time: 08:38 AM Difficulty: 3.5 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 73 F temp; 68% humidity 73 F heat index; winds NE 6 Performance Distance: 15.01 miles Time: 2:28:36 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 54 /mi Calories: 1595 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 24 -0' 30 6.4 +0.3 +27 ft 2 9' 18 -0' 36 6.5 +0.4 -17 ft 3 9' 36 -0' 18 6.2 +0.2 -10 ft 4 9' 27 -0' 27 6.3 +0.3 +36 ft 5 9' 25 -0' 29 6.4 +0.3 -36 ft 6 9' 36 -0' 18 6.2 +0.2 -10 ft 7 10' 06 +0' 12 5.9 -0.1 +39 ft 8 9' 52 -0' 02 6.1 +0.0 -16 ft 9 9' 56 +0' 02 6.0 -0.0 +17 ft 10 9' 48 -0' 06 6.1 +0.1 -16 ft 11 10' 05 +0' 11 6.0 -0.1 +6 ft 12 10' 39 +0' 45 5.6 -0.4 +23 ft 13 10' 50 +0' 56 5.5 -0.5 -23 ft 14 10' 37 +0' 43 5.7 -0.4 +7 ft end 9' 59 +0' 05 6.0 -0.1 -13 ft Versus average of 9' 54 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 15 miles, DeKalb Nature Trail, feet, shoes, taper

Catching up

I have been neglecting this blog. Actually, I've been neglecting my personal one as well. I haven't written much here because I haven't been running. I decided to take 2 weeks off from no running at all. Gotta give time for this IT band to heal and heal properly. I am no longer limping but there are times when I still feel pain, really more like a dull ache on the outside of my right knee. And it kinda hard to lay on my stomach and have my heel touch my butt, I can feel the knee tight then. Ryan Hall gave himself 2 weeks rest, so I figured if it's good enough for an elite, it's good enough for me! :-D

In other news, my right big toenail, the one that I also bruised in my 1st half marathon of St. Jude, is really bruised this time around! And no, I don't have ill fitting shoes. I never had a problem the entire training time. It's because of the hills. Below is a lovely picture of it. It's not as bad as it could be. I've seen black toenails before. At least I have a good part on the outside of the nailbed. So I don't think I'll lose it. It'll just come loose and be sore to the touch for a while. It'll take a good year to finally grow that out I bet!

Click to see bigger. You know you want to!

Now comes biking season. I finally have my entire road bike decked out. I have clipless pedals (even though they're mountain bike pedals) and finally bought shoes for it yesterday. I had to get them ordered though. I went to 2 different stores and finally the second one had several sizes that I could at least try on. They both wanted me to fit in a mens orginally. I kept telling them, no, it's gonna be too wide. Sure enough! One was too wide in the forefoot and the other pair in the heel. But eventually we found a brand and tried on size 43 and it fit. But I didn't like that model so I went with another model. One that would let me walk better since the cleats are recessed into the sole of the shoe. It's heavier but I can always buy another road pair later on if I need to.

Just tonight, I finally rode my bike for a decent amount of time. More than I did last time. 6.3 miles to be exact. I need to remember even on easy rides to NOT WEAR COTTON!!!!! But man, I forgot how good it felt to sweat! No knee pain, no thigh pain. Though I did only go 6 miles. But the good news is that I could feel my thighs working. And more good news, I averaged around 13 miles per hour for the whole trip. But while pedaling around 15-16. I couldn't do that with my mountain bike unless I was going downhill! This is going to be sweet!

I contacted Garmin about Phil, my 405. I looked on their website and it says that it's waterproof. Which says to me, that I can take it out in the rain just don't swim with it. So it should stand up to a little rain. Still to be safe I decided not to tell them about it (my luck they'll find this blog now). They wrote back to me telling me how to do a soft reset and a master reset if the soft reset doesn't work. Both didn't do a damn thing. The digital readout should fade and then restart. Well, they faded but that's it. And in order to get it back to normal, I have to plug it in and let it "charge" which really does nothing too. So I faxed them a copy of the receipt and they'll send me an RMA so I can send it back. This greatly disappoints me because....

...Next week I plan on going to Hilton Head, SC for a vacation with my brother. This is going to be great! Normally I'm not a warm weather person so it'll be interesting. Sunny and low 80's all week. But I also plan on starting to run again that week. I wanted to use my Phil to help me keep track of my miles but I guess I'll just go by time and estimate that I run at 9:30 min/mi for 30 minutes and 10 min/mi for anything longer than that. I know that's really stretching it and my times are faster than that but I'll play it safe. and I must remember to get up early to run before we do stuff that day.

I think I also have something wrong with me mind. When I go on a vacation, I want to do everything I can possibly do. Horseback riding, swimming with dolphins, hiking, parasailing, tennis, hitting golf balls, shopping, etc. But John mentioned that since this is a vacation he wants a few days to just kick back and read a couple books by the pool. That's gonna be hard for me but I'm gonna need to do it too. I think I have just way too much energy. Like I imagine a vacation in Colorado will be me outside moving THE ENTIRE TIME. Winter, Fall, Spring or Summer! I hope I can find a guy that will keep up with me!

Speaking of guys, there's something new in that department too but it's not going to spring into anything. He's not into the sports/active thing. But because I miss companionship & flirting with a male counterpart, I'm hanging on. My heart is just not that into it. Everything will be compared to my previous relationship, I'm afraid. Someone who had the EXACT SAME MTN BIKE as me. How's that for a sign?

Categories: biking, feet, running is my boyfriend, toenails, vacation

Day Two & Three of Operation Fix Foot

I did my MRI on Tuesday. The nurse had me change into a pair of shorts and then I had to take off all my jewelry (belly button ring included). Then she asked where it was on my foot that hurt. I pointed it out and she put a pill taped to that area so she can line it up right. I just had to stick my foot into this tube and she stuffed sponges of different sizes around it to keep it still. Everything was fine until near the end. then I got into a coughing spell and no clearing my throat and small coughs could get rid of the nagging feeling I was having in my lungs and throat. And then my toes started to get so cold and frozen and painful. I couldn't move my toes at all in the time it took to do the MRI so the circulation started to leave my foot. She said that a STAT was put on the MRI and I should hear about the results tomorrow, if not late that night.

Well, Wednesday I didn't hear anything. And when I finally got back home from my business trip to Springfield, it was late. So I called on Thursday morning and heard the message that my doctor was not in today. I was like great, that means I won't hear back until Friday so then I won't get an appt until the week after. Well, luckily, her assistant called me back and told me the results on the phone. I didn't have a stress fracture! YAY! Good news! So I called the assistant and we set up an appt on Friday with a colleague to get fitted for orthotics and because of the rush, they should get that by next Friday. I jus couldn't wait for the appointment and get going on it!

So today I go in for the fitting and the assistant was asking me questions about what brings me in here, I tell him about the marathon training and that it's in 3 weeks. He then mentions that it takes about 3 weeks to get the orthotics back. I was like wait, hold up. There's no point in doing this then. Holly told me that it was only going to take a week and that I'll get them by next Friday. He paused and said that she should have talked it with him. I said well, could you figure this out because there's no point in even doing this if that's the case because after my marathon I plan on taking a long break which will heal the bruise. He left and I took off my shoes and socks and sat all the way back on the table so that just my feet hung off the edge.

When the assistant got back, he arrived with the doctor and the doctor said that he discussed it with my orthopedic doctor and they were putting a rush on it like they do the NIU athletic players. Then the doctor started to put the plaster on my foot. He said I have a very high arch and so he was going to lower the arch a bit and give me more support. Then he said that he could feel the metatarals joints in the ball of my foot so he'll work with that and get some relief for that. He had the assistant read the MRI report and it was all confusing but I heard the phrase no stress fracture and no muscle tearing or fluid buildup. After the plaster dried, the doctor left and the assistant pulled them off. He said that he'll get them filled and the PO on them tonight! I was happy to hear that.

The doctor said that it'll take me about 3 weeks to get used to having them in my shoe. And that i shouldn't do any long runs in them and that if I do run, only go for a few miles around 2 and if they start to hurt then I must take them out right away.

I haven't ran at all this week just because I can feel the pain even when walking and now when I'm just sitting on the couch. So I haven't run. I got 20 miles planned for this weekend. Tomorrow's supposed to be cold and overcast and snowy. So I'm going out on Sunday I think. I plan on doing 5 out and then 5 back and then 5 back out and 5 back in that way I'm only 5 miles away from my car if anything should happen.

Categories: aches and pains, ball of foot pain, feet

Day One of Operation Fix Foot

Today I went to see an orthopedic. Met with her assistant first and explained the situation. Told her all what I bought, even brought in my running shoes with the insole.

Then I got x-rays done. First one was from the side. And then the second and third one was from overhead. I stepped on the pad and the nurse said "Wow, I thought I had narrow feet until I saw yours!" She asked if it was difficult to find shoes. I said yes, but only dress shoes and then everything in those slips in the heel. She agreed and asked if I have a high arch, told her yes that I recently found out about! She was just amazed and mentioned it again as I put my socks and shoes back on.

Back to the exam room where the assistant brought up the x-rays. That's where the picture came from. I managed to sneak one in before she came back and requested that I take off both shoes and socks. While waiting for the doctor to come in my feet got very very cold though and the office had wood floors so it very comfortable.

Then the doc came in and started asking questions about my running and when the pain first started happening. Explained to her that I trained for a half marathon last year and no pain. She asked if this was my first marathon, I said yes. After all that introduction question she got right to it.

She asked if I can point out where it hurts. I said yes and showed her the bottom of my foot and pointed to the bone under my third toe in the ball area. Then she asked me to stand up. She mentioned the fact that my third toes splayed out and asked if that has been all my life. I said yes that's why I don't like showing off my feet. Then she asked me to get up and down on my tip toes a few times. I asked if I had to cause it was going to hurt, my feet are bony and this is not carpeted. She laughed and said yes you have to. So up and down I went, finally a bit of 'ow' in my right foot. She asked me to turn around so she can see my feet from the back.

Then she had me sit on the table so she can touch my feet. She grabbed them and remarked on how cold they were. I said you should feel my hands! Then she touched the top of my left foot first and said "You weren't kidding, your feet are bony!" I laughed. She grabbed the back of my ankles, the sides looking for any swelling and asked if I noticed any. I said no. Then she grabbed the toes of my left foot and pushed them back. I told her that if she did that to my right foot, it'll be painful. Then she went to the right foot and started with my ankles again to the top of the foot and then to the ball. She had her thumb on top and a finger on the ball of my foot and just started hitting all the bones. As you can see, there are a lot of bones in the foot, which I didn't know! She went to the bone and then the joint and then the bottom of the toe. She asked if I could feel any pain. Each time she went to the joint area of my third toe, it hurt but she was careful not to push on it too much luckily. So that's good. I did ask about my bone in the top of my left foot but she didn't really pay any attention to it so I'm not going to be concerned about it.

She said that the x-rays don't show a fracture and won't show a stress fracture so she wanted an MRI for me. And if the MRI didn't have a fracture either than we'll just have to go with having her colleague show me how to tape of the toe and getting some padding in the form of a custom made orthotic for my shoe. And if there is a stress fracture then no running until it heals. She did say that because of the lack of padding on my feet that is more than likely the reason for the pain. She couldn't explain the reason why it's not on my left foot. She also mentioned my 2nd and 3rd toes are pretty much the same length which usually doesn't happen. She said that if you look at my joints, you'll see that they're the same spot and usually you see a curve downward like with the other toes. She said that could be a problem as well.

I asked how soon all of this could get done because I have a 20 mile this Saturday. She said that she'll see if they have any openings for an MRI today. She came back and no they didn't but we'll get it going soon she said. So I checked out and then walked down the hall to the MRI receptionist where I made an appt for 1p tomorrow! They had one open for 9a but I didn't want to go to work and then come back to DeKalb and then back to Malta. Then she tried to make a follow up with me but she's not in on Thursday and it takes 24-48 hrs for MRI results and then she's off all of next week. I freaked! So the receptionist called the assistant and told her the plight and she said that they're going to make a "stat" on the results and then she wont' need to schedule a follow up if there's not a stress fracture but will just schedule me with Dr. York the colleague.

I'm a bit nervous about the MRI tomorrow. If it has a stress fracture then no more running. I don't know what I'll do. Tomorrow I'm also supposed to run 5 miles but I won't be doing that, I don't think. I'll be travelling to Springfield anyway and staying in a hotel. So I may bring my running clothes, just in case. Then 10 miles on Wednesday. Hopefully by then I would have heard something about it. Anyway, so we'll see what'll happen tomorrow. I'm claustrophobic but this is just my foot so no need to get in a tube. YAY!

Categories: aches and pains, ball of foot pain, feet

The weather matters

18 miles in 3:04:25 (avg pace 10:15 min/mi). Problem is, that's not how long I was out on the path for. It was probably closer to 3:30 or so. Knowing I started sometime after 9a and ended at 1:00p doesn't help.

I looked at the weather this morning and everything looked fine.

I decided to go with my UnderArmor Cold Gear wear (not my Hot Gear). So I had on my tights, and my turtleneck shirt. I also wore my fleece hat to keep my head and ears warm instead of my visor because it's so overcast I won't need it. Last minute I decided to bring my Target Champion running jacket to wear until I got up to the path. I'm glad I did for I wore it on the run as well. It was a bit cumbersome to wear it over my hydration belt but it had to be done. Around mile 2 I regretted bringing it, around mile 10, I was glad I did. It was snowing for the first half of the run.

Problem was that I didn't look at the wind factor on the far right. I only paid attention to the temperature. I got out there and I could feel the wind. Hmm, OK, well, it seems to be coming from the west and it'll die down as the day goes on. 9 miles out there. Turned around, BAM, a force of wind totally knocked me back. Uh-oh. I'm 9 miles from my car. I should NOT have done this.

I let this friend know every time I go for a run in case anything happens and I don't text him when I'm done, he knows something's up and to go contact someone. He said that if I ever get into trouble I could call him and he'll come pick me up. Problem is that now I want to rely on him all the time. Today was one of those days that I thought about it, I really did.

I carried on with my run though. By this time the ball of my foot was crying out. Unfortunately, this second half, I stopped a lot. I even walked a lot too. I tried walking instead of stopping but it still put pressure on my foot. So I stopped that and just went with stopping and rest my foot, not standing on it and then running agian. You'll be able to see all that once I upload the Garmin data with my other laptop which I'll be getting on Tuesday evening. Then once I got over like 13, I was running 1/2 mile and then stopping, then running 1/2 mile and then stopping. I tried changing up my stride, thinking that maybe something with the way I take off or land on my heel but nothing seemed to help. Maye by that time it was too late. The last .7 miles I did all in one take though. Whoo doggies.

The wind made me stop a few times. OK, a lot of times. When you're tired and weak any strength of wind will knock one over. At one point, around 3.5 miles LEFT, I had to bear down and force to go through it, it was very tough out there. I couldn't understand also how it was getting COLDER. It was supposed to warmer throughout the day. Again, if I would have seen it, the website would have told me why it was getting colder, the wind was picking up by about 5mph! Towards the beginning of the second half there wasn't that much trees surrounding the path so no protection from the wind. In the last mile left there is also this part that is wide open, no trees just little wild weeds. I had to barrel my way through that as well.

It was just downright cold out there all the time though. I could see my breath the entire way. In the second half, I put my gloves back on and had to curl up my hands inside my gloves around mile 14 because they were so cold. My nose ran like I was supposed to, all the time. My gloves & jacket sleeves are covered in snot now. My cheeks were frozen too. I should have brought a neck gaiter but I didn't think of the WIND. My eyes were bloodshot terribly when I ended, they were also very very dry. When I blinked in the second half, my vision looked funny.

Also, there was a problem with my left foot and that tendon. I managed to fix it by moving the tongue over to the side so that it wasn't on top of that tendon. But at one stopping point, I readjusted my shoelaces and it started to hurt again. So I adjusted it again but it still felt funny. I dealt with it.

This path that I run on for my long runs is a limestone path, not the greatest. I'm always getting tiny rocks in my shoes and when you're done with a few miles those tiny pebbles feel like boulders. Today was definitely no different since my left shoe was very loose at the top to let that tendon breathe. Plus, it's so out and back, 9 miles one way and 9 miles back the same way. So boring. Though I did see a squirrel carrying a tiny little ear of corn across the path and scampered away when I came by. When I came back, the ear of corn was still there, a few kernels missing. :-)

At one point, I started to break down and cry and scream at the wind "Why won't you go away!!!" I was so angry. I wasn't feeling bad in terms of energy or cramps. Just my feet and the wind was giving me a hard time. I had a Gel at mile 6 and another one after 12. Drank both with water and also in between those times had Gatorade. Grape Gatorade takes like Grape Kool-aid, I like it! This foot thing is starting to worry me though. I hope that the doctor can find something wrong with it and fix me. I don't look forward to running anymore.

20 miles is next weekend. I think I'm just going to do 5 miles out and 5 miles back, 5 miles out and 5 miles back. Just in case anything happens though I hope I won't be tempted to quit when I see my car. This will also help me with doing gel intake; a total of 3.

Now tonight for 6 hours I have to stand on my feet and volunteer at a fancy black tie dinner for the Foundation at the college. I have to wear nice black slacks and a white shirt. I will wear my trainers though. I will not wear any sort of heel. I don't care what they say. Why did I volunteer for this??

I also recommend not crying the night before a big run or the morning of either. It doesn't help with the energy and the disposition for the run.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 875 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 11/08/08 Up/Downhill: [+285/-285] Time: 09:25 AM Difficulty: 3.3 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 18.00 miles Time: 3:04:36 Speed: 5.9 mph Pace: 10' 15 /mi Calories: 1821 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 13 -1' 02 6.5 +0.6 +23 ft 2 9' 26 -0' 49 6.4 +0.5 +7 ft 3 9' 46 -0' 29 6.1 +0.3 -10 ft 4 10' 14 -0' 01 5.9 +0.0 +10 ft 5 10' 04 -0' 11 6.0 +0.1 -13 ft 6 10' 14 -0' 01 5.9 +0.0 +3 ft 7 10' 15 +0' 00 5.8 -0.0 0 ft 8 10' 58 +0' 43 5.5 -0.4 +9 ft 9 10' 28 +0' 13 5.7 -0.1 +42 ft 10 15' 11 +4' 56 4.0 -1.9 -43 ft 11 12' 25 +2' 10 4.8 -1.0 -10 ft 12 19' 44 +9' 29 3.0 -2.8 0 ft 13 14' 23 +4' 08 4.2 -1.7 -3 ft 14 12' 42 +2' 27 4.7 -1.1 +6 ft 15 16' 59 +6' 44 3.5 -2.3 -4 ft 16 13' 43 +3' 28 4.4 -1.5 +10 ft 17 11' 39 +1' 24 5.2 -0.7 -10 ft 18 11' 45 +1' 30 5.1 -0.8 -17 ft end 9' 43 -0' 32 6.2 +0.3 -3 ft Versus average of 10' 15 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 18 miles, ball of foot pain, cold weather, feet, Great Western Trail, windy

Anxiety and feet

Tomorrow is 18 miles. Needless to say I'm a bit nervous about this run. It's been a few weeks since I did anything that long and that was 16 back in October. I was supposed to do the 18 miles last weekend but after my half marathon and the heat, I just couldn't do it. So I'm doing 18 miles this weekend and then the following 20. That's putting a lot on my body but I need to get these miles in!

I'm putting a pile together just like I did for my 15 mile run. I'm getting my clothes, food for morning, fuel for during the run, iPod, Garmin, shoes, accessories; everything all ready to go. I don't want to forget anything or rush either.

But I do have 2 small problems of course that comes with training. My feet. I mentioned a few blogs ago that the balls of my feet are starting to bother me. Now it's specifically the right foot.

I googled "ball foot pain" and found some websites that mentioned metatarsalgia. It got to be so bad that it hurt walking on it! So after my 5 mile run on Tuesday that I went out and bought some ball-of-foot pads from Dr. Scholl's. I put it under my insole of my shoes and wore them on my 10 mile run. Well, it didn't help. Especially at 9.5 miles, I was saying the pain outloud.

So then on Wednesday night, I bought more pads and this time full foot insoles. I emailed a local runner on Wednesday night and she wrote me back with a doctor suggestion and I made an orthopeadic doctor appt that very day. Unfortunately, they couldn't get me in until Monday morning.

I didn't run on Thursday night to test it out. It was rainy and I hurt a top tendon on my left foot by not tying my shoes correctly. So I'm resting and icing that injury.

Like I said tomorrow's 18 so we'll see how things go. My tendon still hurts when I walk and have my shoes tied today. Who knows.

Eh, I give up. Training for a marathon is too much.

Categories: aches and pains, feet

Feet Problems & Half Marathon

Today's post is about my feet and this weekend's half marathon.

I have funky feet. Here's a picture of them both. They're pretty much the same, luckily. My toes are the problem though. I have hammer toes like crazy. I crack them, started doing that once in a while with my ex-boyfriend but now I'm doing them myself just by bending them! My middle one is a little longer than them all. During my half marathon last year, I ended up having a bruised big toe nail on my right foot. It hurt a lot. I thought I was going to lose it! I think that was because my shoes were a size too small. You can still see something discoloured on my right big toe.

Recently since training for my marathon, my feet have taken much more of a toll. I have two problems that I'm now encountering that I haven't had before. My middle toes are now sore on the very top of the toe. They also have some dry skin along with the soreness.

If you look at the first photo again you can see that my pinky toe kinda turns and sits under the toe next to it. Well, curved in such a way that it didn't bother me before. But now I have a blister under that toe caused by the rubbing of the pinky toe.

This blister has only appeared in the past couple weeks. It's not really puffy or anything, more like just there. Today on my run I wore a bandaid around my toe but it just got turned around by the time I was done. But I guess that at least it was protected a bit. *shrug* Really don't know what else to do.

Then there's the balls of my feet again. I tied my shoes nice and tight and they still burned a bit by the time I was done with my 5 miles. I'm hoping it's because of the sensitivity from yesterday and the fact that maybe cause I wore the same socks. I marked them, just in case.

Half Marathon talk
This weekend is a half marathon. It's funny. I worked so hard and so long last year for my half marathon and here I am doing it so blasé as if it's just a training run. And in all actuality it is, plus I'm doing another 5 miles after it! --Or at least I plan on it!-- Best part is that I get another medal! I like medals!

Packet pickup is on Saturday, so that's good. I can lay everything out in preparation for Sunday morning. Tricky part will be waking Brent up. And wondering what he plans on doing by himself for 2 hours. I'm sure he'll be fine, if not a bit bored. :-)

That's another thing, I don't know what pace to run the race in. Should I go for a slower pace knowing that I've got another 5 after OR should I try to beat my 2:03? It'll be fun to beat 2:03 but actually, I think that 2:03 is a complete farce and I don't know if I'll ever be able to get to that time again. I think what I'll do is just go out and run the race. Not really putting a limit on anything. It's gonna be good weather in St. Louis for the race though, if a bit warm.

Below is my route. Pretty straightforward. I think the fun part will be Forest Park. The hand drawn map on their site didn't seem like I went that big in Forest Park. But once I laid it all out in Google Maps, I was like whoa, I'm traversing all through Forest Park! I think it'll be fun. I'm bringing my own hydration belt just in case they don't have that many water tables. I haven't seen anything on their website about it actually. Seems like a smaller race (it's put on by the Running Club which only has 1000 members) so that's why I'm really not expecting much.


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And yes, I finally did a negative split today on my run. Look at the last mile. I think that was because right before the 4 mile mark, I saw 2 deer (does actually) on my bike path. Made me very happy. Then at the 4 mile mark, I turned around and headed back in the same direction and saw the other one cross. I missed my running buddies! I haven't seen them this year yet! And yes, that's another 9:03 avg pace for 5 miles. I wish I could hold that for 13 miles! HA!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 859 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +17 ft Date: 10/30/08 Up/Downhill: [+200/-183] Time: 05:08 PM Difficulty: 2.5 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 57 F temp; 45% humidity 57 F heat index; winds S 10 Performance Distance: 5.00 miles Time: 0:45:13 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 03 /mi Calories: 495 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 53 -0' 10 6.8 +0.1 +23 ft 2 9' 02 -0' 01 6.6 +0.0 -16 ft 3 9' 12 +0' 09 6.5 -0.1 +6 ft 4 9' 21 +0' 18 6.4 -0.2 +23 ft 5 8' 34 -0' 29 7.0 +0.4 -20 ft Versus average of 9' 03 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 5 miles, feet, Google Maps, pictures, St. Louis Half Marathon

Cold weather running

Who on Earth was that woman out running this evening? Cause it sure as hell wasn't me. I don't know what got into me. Maybe it was the garlic & cheese pizza bread Red Baron single that I had at 2:30p that helped me out!

I ran 9 miles tonight and it was no problem. Well, the last 2 was tough (I'll explain later). But my average pace tonight was 9:03 min/mi. Let me repeat, for 9 MILES! Sure I of course had my positive splits but for the first 5 miles I was under 9 minutes (fastest of mile 3 at 8:41)! With my slowest mile being of course my last and that was at 9:35! One of these days I'll go out there and do a 9:30 min/mi for my first mile. Geez, I wish I knew how to slow myself down!

The last 2 was tough because of three reasons. The bottoms of my feet were hurting, specifically the balls of my feet. After the run, I looked down and saw that my shoes weren't tied tightly so they could have been flopping about and my socks rubbing so that's what caused the rawness that my feet are now feeling. The second reason was my left hip flexor was giving me problems. I never had that happen to be before. About a year and a half ago it was my right hip flexor that I had physical therapy on. So that was a bit odd. Almost 2 hours after the run, I'm still having problems with left my leg at my hip, especially when walking up stairs. Third reason: it was cold!! Starting out it was 51 degrees according the bank but once that sun disappeared lower than the trees I could feel the effects of the cold on my face, specifically my face and upper thighs. I even put my gloves BACK on after taking them off around the 2.25 mile mark! I did see a guy near the end of my run in just short sleeves and shorts. CRAZY! The bank when I finished said it was 46 degrees. So it dropped 5 in the 1:21 I was out running. Hmm, may have to bring a neck gaiter next week.

I had on my leggings, a thicker short sleeve dri fit St. Jude Heroes shirt, my visor along with an ear band to go over it. I didn't bring my sunglasses even though the sun was shining, because I knew I wouldn't need it at the end of my run and they would just be bothering me. Though it hard to go south and west at the beginning of my run. The sun was low enough in the sky that the visor didn't help. I did bring 2 bottles with me (water & gatorade) however, I didn't really use it until mile 6 or so. And then it was only Gatorade. But I'm still glad I brought it, just in case. I just didn't want to disrupt my pace, I think is what I was going for. I also brought my snot rag but again, I didn't use it even though I needed to. It's hard to get it tucked back in my belt sometimes while running.

I mapped out my route today at work. I didn't have any problems crossing the main roads of Hillcrest, 1st or Lucinda towards NIU, surprisingly. I wanted to cross Lincoln Highway but I knew better than to do that. So I only managed 4 miles down there and then had to double back and make up the final mile on another part of the bike path. I wish there was a way to get over those roads though without having to stop or watch for cars, like an underpass. That would be awesome. Oh well.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 853 ft Location: DeKalb, IL Elev. Gain: +23 ft Date: 10/29/08 Up/Downhill: [+213/-190] Time: 04:46 PM Difficulty: 2.8 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 46 F temp; 32% humidity 46 F heat index; winds NE 5 Performance Distance: 9.00 miles Time: 1:21:34 Speed: 6.6 mph Pace: 9' 04 /mi Calories: 907 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 46 -0' 18 6.8 +0.2 +33 ft 2 8' 44 -0' 20 6.9 +0.3 -33 ft 3 8' 40 -0' 24 6.9 +0.3 0 ft 4 8' 54 -0' 10 6.7 +0.1 0 ft 5 8' 56 -0' 08 6.7 +0.1 0 ft 6 9' 05 +0' 01 6.6 -0.0 -3 ft 7 9' 23 +0' 19 6.4 -0.2 +39 ft 8 9' 18 +0' 14 6.5 -0.2 -26 ft 9 9' 35 +0' 31 6.3 -0.4 +13 ft Versus average of 9' 04 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 9 miles, cold weather, DeKalb Nature Trail, feet