8 and 20

8 - Thursday I got up early after a decent night's sleep (thank goodness Project Runway was not on Wednesday night) and laced up my oldest pair of Kayanos. I had eight miles to cover and I thought there were plenty enough miles left in those AK1s as I call them. In mile 6 my left calf started screaming. Whether it was the old shoes, lack of cross training at the gym on Wednesday or something else, I was a hurtin' puppy.

All day Thursday and Friday my upper inside calf was tight. I massaged it, Icy hotted it, rolled it and ibuprofinned it. My bestest massage therapist friend in the world gave me a telephone assessment so I stretched my adductors good and hard yesterday and this morning before running 20.

I feared the worst. I almost cancelled when my car wouldn't start after work yesterday. I needed to go buy Gatorade and beer! I jump started it and found it had an electrical problem. It sits at the shop as I write.

20 - I had breakfast early and met up with Susan and Patty on Park Avenue at 5:40. We hadn't run together since April. They were glad to do something different than what they have been doing and I was happy for some new company.

I led them on two 10-mile loops around town. Patty fell of our pace at about 8 miles so I pushed Susan as hard as I dare. There were plenty of water, Gatorade and Gu stops along the way. We chatted the first loop and worked hard and mostly quiet the second loop.

Our time was 3:33 for 20 miles. Good for her. Fine for me. I sprinted into the finish area which gave me confidence about the MCM finish and further training.

The adductor doesn't hurt too bad. I stretched well. I took another ibuprofin.

A cheeseburger lunch with a beer made my day complete.