Sunday, October 24, 2010

St. Crispin's Day

Today is October 25, St. Crispin's Day.  For those of you who need your St. Crispin's Day Speech fix (and really, who doesn't), here ya go:

The Marathon Training Update

Hail my running brothers and sisters! Week....ummm...huh.  Maybe, I ought to back up a bit.  Almost 2 weeks ago, I had me a little car accident on my way back home from Knoxville.  Long story-short, I got distracted, over-compensated, spun my car, and ended up on the shoulder, lucky not to have ended up in the bottom of a cliff.  My car was totaled but I miraculously walked away relatively unscathed.  I say relative as I did not have any broken bones, but after a trip to the orthopedist and an x-ray later, he determined that I had some build-up on my tibia that indicated I might develop a stress fracture, if I continued running (I also have an injury to my coccyx.  No point to that.  I just like to say coccyx).  He prescribed 2-4 weeks off.  I mentioned my upcoming marathon to him and mentioned that I could miss it due to a stress fracture if I wanted.  Thanks doc.  Why don't you pass me the bacon and pie right now?  Well in my running exile, I dutifully (if not resentfully) rested my legs, and cross-trained on occasion (why is doing the elliptical so sucky?).  Thankfully I hadn't canceled my Y membership, so I was able to get in some weight work (do NOT ever sit down on a weight bench with a 40 lb weight in your lap and an injured coccyx!)  and low-impact cardio (seriously, why is the elliptical so sucky!?!) After 2 weeks of being pissy and mopey, I went out for a run today.  I hit the track (I assumed that it would be easier on my legs) and did an easy 3 miles.  While my pace was good (8:23/mi avg), it felt like I was running through mud.  I was breathing hard and I cringed at every little ache.  Still, it was good to be back out running again.  After I finished, I came home, had some breakfast, and took a cold bath (just in case).  So my plan for the rest of the week is to go easy and re-build my mileage somewhat before I start my taper.  With 3 weeks to go until my marathon in Chattanooga, I'm throwing out my original goal of 3:25 and just hoping to finish with my legs intact at this point.  I may be able to recover and do even better than I imagine, but the realist in me says that isn't likely.  It's a somewhat disappointing realization after all my training, but I'm still going to enjoy it and have some fun.  Later kids!  Keep the faith!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

End of the Week Recap 10/3/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Week 10 of marathon training is at an end.  This week I ran 32.9 miles at an average of 8:37/mi.  I turned in 2:20 hrs of cross-training of golf and weights.  My weight came in at 162.2 lbs.  Not too bad overall.  The highlight of the week was my long run.  My training schedule called for a 20 mi run at an easy pace.  I was feeling pretty good yesterday, so today I opted for a long run at marathon pace for as long as I could.  Turns out that distance was 16 miles.  After that I cooled down with a sloooooow (walking slow) 3 miles.  I was glad to get that 16 miles out of the way.  The pace felt easy and I didn't have any physical problems until mile 15.5, when I felt twinges of a cramp come on.  Tonight, I'm tired and my muscles are tight, but otherwise, I feel pretty good.  Next week I'll probably try to post that 20 miler.  

Geek love:  I'm still digging my Droid X.  I've transcoded a DVD and it looks AWESOME on my phone!  I still haven't named it though.  The name should be smart and sexy much like my phone.  I got Spartacus:  Blood and Sand this weekend.  From what little I've seen, it reminds me a lot of 300 cinematically at least.  That's it for now.  Later kids!

P.S.  Today is my dad's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dad!

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