homestretch

its almost like a second ankle

After my last 20 miler a few weeks ago I didn't write about my foot hurting because I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  I was wrong on that assessment.  I had to take about 5 days off of running during what should have been week 16 of my 18 week training plan.  Not the end of the world, but not ideal either.  I figured whatever it was would go away with some rest.  After it not seeming to get better I went to a podiatrist and he said that it is a specific muscle that in inflamed.  The muscles wraps over the top of my foot down to my toes.  When it really starts to get bothered my whole foot hurts.  The only remedy at this point is ice and ibuprofen since rest is not an option.  Honestly I don't feel it on my runs now, but the longest run I have done since my 20 miler has only been 4.66 miles.  When it first occurred it was mile 18.5.  At that point it felt like stabbing pains shooting up my leg.  I'm hoping this is not a problem on my marathon as I really want to run unhindered.  At least if it does hurt I know what it is and hopefully I can man up under the pain.  I really really want to beat my time from 4.5 years ago and I don't want this to be an excuse if I don't.      

last hard week of training

This is thankfully my last hard week of training before I begin my taper.  Following my training schedule is just proving to be more and more difficult as life keeps trying to get in the way.
A great example was this last weekend Shelly and I went to my hometown for a baby shower and also for my grandpa's 89th birthday.  On Sunday morning we planned to meet my mother, mother-in-law and grandmother for breakfast around 9:00.  The only problem is that I had to pack up the car with all of the baby stuff that we had received the day before, along with Scooter's crate and all of our luggage.  Of course that was after I had showered and gone my on 12 mile run.  I set my alarm for 5:30 and thought I had given myself enough time to squeeze it all in.  At around mile 8 I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to get in all of my 12 miles.  I am kind of sick of my long slow runs anyway so I wasn't heartbroken even though I want to stick as close to my plan as possible.  I was able to get in 10.4, but that extra 15 minutes I saved was the difference in us not being late.
The rest of the week has not been any easier.  Fall on the central coast of California is one of the most beautiful times of the year, especially because the fog seems to lift and we get really clear warm days.  I was expected to do some training in some warmer weather this time of year but this week it has been in the 90s!
Because of this I pushed my 10 mile run to 7 oclock on Tuesday night once the sun had gone down.  The bad part of this was that I was starving when I got home and ate bbq chicken and salad for dinner.  It's not that I pigged out, but just eating anything like that 2 hours before a run is going to make me feel sluggish.  That coupled with the weather and just being really stressed out over a lot of things led to one of my worst runs in a long time.  I "finished" it, which was a victory of some sorts, but I was just plodding along very listless.  Thankfully my wife decided to stay up (staying up for her these days is anything past 8PM) and make me a chocolate milk because she knew how stressed out I've been lately.  It's amazing how something like a glass of chocolate milk and my wife staying up until 8:45 can put me in such a better mood.

holy crap I'm sweaty

I knew the weather today would be no better than the previous days so I got up at 5AM to do my interval runs of 8x800 meters.  Besides having to stop halfway through to poop (this is my greatest fear in this marathon, seriously) it was a really good run.  Again the bad part is how hot it was outside, even for it being 5:30 by the time I stepped out the door.  As you can tell from my picture, if I look this sweaty after a run that early in the morning, it must be freaking hot out.  Overall it was quite different in terms of my pace and energy compared to the Tuesday run.  
Depending on weather my last 20 miler will either be on Saturday or Sunday morning.  Then hopefully it is easy street for a few weeks before the actual race itself. 

5 more weeks until race day

Another week is in the books and I have only 5 more until race day!  I don't feel like writing tons so I am going to write it in the style that my students love the most, bullet points.

• I found out I am in the very front of the 2nd wave of the marathon in corral 22.  I am on the blue track which means only the pro's are on the blue track ahead of me.  Long story short, when I start I won't have tens of thousands of people in front of me, only the few hundred that might be in front of me in my wave since the pros will be way ahead of me.
• The IT band is a nuisance, but manageable.  It hurts the most to walk up and down stairs.  
• I got a new pair of Zoot compression calf sleeves that I really like.  They are basically the same at my Zoot compression socks, but I can wear my toe socks with them.  
• I ran a 45 minute tempo run on Wednesday and peaked running at 7:08/mile for 1.25 miles.  I felt great and could have gone faster and longer if I needed to be.  This got me thinking about running a 5k and going for sub 20 minutes(which I've always wanted to do).  I've never ran a 5k competitively and if my body is up for it I want to run the Turket Trot in my hometown Thanksgiving morning. 
• What a difference it makes in my pacing while running by turning my Garmin watch from "pace" to "lap pace."  I would always feel like I was speeding up or slowing down trying to get my right pace.  Now after about a quarter mile I tend to be right about the pace I should be running and it does not make me feel like I always have to fluctuate my speed so much.
• I have now lost a total of about 6 pounds in all of my marathon training and weigh 164.  As I started my training I wanted to be around 160 for my race, which I might get to, but I am happy with where I am at and will be happy even if I don't lose anymore. 
• Since my race is a Sunday morning, I've been think about how I can check to see the injury report for my fantasy football players so I can change my lineup if need be.  I've come up with two solutions.  The first being, run an hour and a half faster than I originally planned and get back to my iPhone before the games start.  The problem with this plan is, well, it's impossible.  My second solution is to give my password to a friend and have him do it for me.  Probably the most feasible.  Maybe I'll tweet Matthew Berry for ESPN and see if he'll help me out.  

Thanks for reading!