Apologies

For those of you who still wander over to see what I am doing I apologize if I have not been commenting at your place much. Actually I haven't been reading much either because (a) it is baseball spring training time and my addiction came back and I read all about it all night, instead of reading running blogs; and (b) the one blog I have kept up with is a friend who has been working the Olympics in Turin and keeps posting great stories and pictures of himself with the American athletes. You can go see for yourself if you want. Ask for Derrick.

Oh ... and my sister is coming to town Thursday to join me at the Coldplay concert Saturday. Fourth row, my friends. No nose bleeds for me. I may need earplugs though.

Practice EVERYTHING you preach

That was one of my problems. I didn't. In my book, Rule #1 in marathon training is don't change anything once your training is in full swing (~ ten weeks). Follow the training schedule. Don't change shoes. Don't introduce weird food into your diet. Don't paint the house/lay sod/go ice skating three weeks before the race, etc. Well I was very conscientious in that regard but now as I continue to diagnose my left side problem I remember a few more things I DID change. I mentioned earlier that I unlaced one hole in my shoes. I also tightened the laces a little more around my foot. I am thinking that is what made my foot hurt. The metatarsals were too cramped in my shoe and causing aggravating injury to muscles. I also stopped eating yogurt about four weeks before the race which was my main source of calcium after I switched from a high calcium multi-vitamin to a different one with only 20% daily requirement. At the time I made those decisions it did not register with me that they would have adverse effects.
It's always something. And the farther you run the more the little somethings become big somethings. And the next thing you know, it's a problem.
Oh, and it was winter time so I was off my diet of ice cream cones.

Today I followed Runner Susan's advice and ran easily. And short. I did just 3 miles at just under 10 minute pace. Very easy. And nothing hurts at all. That was satisfying.
Gosh; that's twice this week I've gone for a run. I must be coming back folks.

The ankle did it in the billiard room with the ...

Stick.
Today at my visit with Sherlene (the massage therapist) we (I) diagnosed all my possible causes for the left side trauma. They included insufficient calcium supply, running with laces tied a hole too low, preliminary arthritis, overcompensative running for another problem, etc. Then I traced all my left side aches backwards in time and now remember that the first place to hurt was my left ankle which, this morning, had horrible flexibility after yesterday's run. It stiffens up a lot and was the root cause of me dropping a hole on the shoe laces, which probably led to the foot aches and the hip pain. My hip was not tight today while the ankle was a wreck. So I am writing the alphabet in cursive with my left foot as I type and it is amazing how often in cracks as I keep it loose. Meanwhile I'm raiding the vitamin drawer for calcium since I never drink milk or other providers of the bone and muscle builder.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I rolled out of bed, pulled on my shorts, shirt, socks and shoes. It was in the low 60s and smelling like spring. Oak trees were shedding leaves off their limbs (a Florida fall) as new growth pushes hard. Azaleas are blooming. It was a fine morning to run. I heard the birds singing and chirping, the distant sounds of traffic moving to work and the sound of rubber hitting the pavement beneath my feet.
Ahhhhhhhhhh...
I ran five miles rather briskly, by comparison to my marathon training times. I made it in 44:01. It was at mile 3 that the muscle in front of my hip started chatting with me in a very cross tone. My foot was fine. I felt the ITB tendons connected at my knee burn a little. So? I got in a run and it was wonderful.
Tomorrow I'll be back to Sherlene and I'll have to have her write down the name of the muscle at my waist that's so annoying and see what home exercise I can do to pamper it/repair it.

Running Soothes Stress

I know that by the evidence in my voice. When I reach a high level of stress my voice disappears. Today was a clear example of that. I had to re-record a few voice messages I left because I couldn't get my voice to cooperate. Running bleeds that stress right out of me.
What I need to do is run. My foot felt normal all day. I went for a 20 yard jog tonight in my running shoes and it felt so good. Just shoe-horning my feet into my running shoes felt so good. I am sure there is a word for a man in desperate need of a good time but it escapes me right now. Perhaps I'll think about it on the road tomorrow morning when I go for a run.