Blog

15 miles 92:37

Daytona Sidewalks

Did my usual 15 mile sidewalk run in Daytona with a thunderous backdrop of cars driving 180mph in a circle.  I felt pretty good despite having drank the night before and staying up all night.  (3/26 for the yearly count).  It was a fun night and I didn't mind paying for it this morning and I actually didn't suffer much on the run.  Since the race wasn't an all out effort I wasn't sore at all.  I'm thinking I'm going to try and get in a solid track session on Tuesday. 

10 miles 60:34

Daytona Sidewalks

Just the normal 10 mile run.  I felt pretty good.  Nothing worth mentioning.  I was still a little upset over backing off and not running too fast this weekend until I saw the prerace article with a picture of me in last years race http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/SPORTS/702170462 and then compared it to the post race article with a picture of me at the end of this years race http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/SS07/702180408 .  Clearly for this years race i was a little more comfortable.  I'm guessing the difference came in the first mile where we went out 20 seconds faster last year than this year.  I remember really digging into the well early last year and this year I didn't at all so that's kind of nice.  Maybe I'm just lazy. 

Embry Riddle Track

Wanted to get in some speed work with the mile track race coming up this weekend so I went over to Embry Riddle and did 800 (800rec); 4X400 (200rec); 4X200(200 rec) in 1:58; 61,61,60, 61; 29, 29, 28, 28.  I was just hoping to hit 2:00-2:03 on the 800 so when I cruised to a relatively easy 1:58 I was pretty pleased.  It's a fast mondo track and I'm looking foward to running what I think can be a fast mile time this weekend on it.  Today's workout has me thinking I can run a lot faster in the mile than what I thought a few days ago.  Hopefully the early pacing is good and I can finish strong.  That type of speed for a full mile is something I haven't attempted since 2004.  Literally, I haven't raced anything shorter than a 5k since 2004.  But at least now I've got some confidence in what I can do.

10 miles 62:29

Daytona Sidewalks

My plantar was killing me today.  I felt like I was running with a limp early and even when it loosened up after a few miles there was still a good deal of pain in every step.  This was my slowest 10 miler of the year by 30 seconds.  I had intended on doing a double day but decided to scratch the second run and instead I dumped a couple of bags of ice in the bath tub and had a little cold tank time. 

0 miles 00:00

Living Room

The plantar was a little looser today but apparently from my altered form on the previous day's run i was getting pain in the 3rd metatarsal bone area which is immediate cause for concern.  As the day went along everything started to feel better but there was still a slight pain in that area so I decided not to push things and to take the day off completely.  I iced it up real well and took some anti inflammatories and will reacess tomorrow.  If it's feeling better tomorrow then I'll assume it's not bone, which it probably isn't anyway, and I'll go ahead and race on Saturday.  If it's hurting on tomorrow's run attempt then I might be taking a few weeks off.  Lets hope it's the former.

4 miles 25:12

Daytona Sidewalks

The foot felt a lot better today so I took it for a run.  I noticed there was slight pain when I focused on it but it felt good.  It's still the type of pain that worries me but since it got significantly better in a day I'm going to go ahead and race on it tomorrow.  I figure either it's just a mild strain that will be fine or it's mild bone that will take a month to heal.  At this rate though I'd be training on it anyway going halfassed so I might as well put pressure on it and if it's hurt after the race I'll be forced to take the time off.  That might not make too much sense or it might be briliant.  Especially with my schedule and not having a big money race for 5 weeks and the late spring track season.  We'll see how the mile goes tomorrow.

ERAU Invitiational Mile 4:06.49

Daytona Beach

This is the shortest distance I've ever traveled to run a race.  I got in the car and drove to the track and the same song was still playing on the radio.  Quite a nice change from my normal commute to the far corners of Florida.  I only got in the race because Tyrone Bell was coming over to run it and he was bring his buddy Scott to rabbit us.  So why not.  The track is a super fast mondo and I could really use the speed work since the last time I raced anything shorter than a 5k was in July of 2004.  The foot had been hurting but it felt good warming up and there was only moderate plantar pain which was easy to run through.  Race time weather was pretty hot, mid 70's, with the track temperature feeling much hotter.  The race was supposed to go off at 11:25 but I didn't get the memo that it was a running schedule and we actually started at 11:10.  I was literaly on my 3rd stride when they made the anouncement "all mile runners need to be on the line."  The early start wasn't too bad though as it just felt a lot like the timing that my workouts start out with.  I think I'm rambling on about prerace nothings because there's not too much to say about a 4 minute race.  Or is there?  Scott did a great job of rabbiting.  We were out a little quick the first 209 meters (30) but settled in nicely from there.  We went throught the 409m in 59-60 with Scott leading the way followed by Tyrone then me then, well, it was quite some time before the next guy.  We kept moving well but between 600-700 meters the pace slowed a little.  It wasn't a big drop but it was enough to take us over 60 second 400 pace.  We went though the 809 in 2:00-01 with the rabbit dropping out and Tyrone taking over.  Tyone led till about the backstretch when I could feel him falling off pace a little more and I could tell I still had a quicker pace in me so I made my move around him on the back stretch.  A move which I immediately regreted as soon as I did.  Why?  Because I just made a move right into the head wind.  I fought through it well on the back stretch going through the 1009 meter mark in 2:32 then continued through to the 1209 meter mark in 3:03.  I was pushing pretty hard the last lap but the upper body was really locking down and my lungs were burning.  The back stretch was a battle but after I got through it the last 200 went by quick.  I could hear Tyrone a few steps behind me the whole way but he didn't close the gap that I opened up at the 1k mark down any.  4:06.49 for the mile.  Not too bad.  The last time I ran a mile was in 2004 and I ended that season with a 4:08.8 performance in Portland.  That was a pretty uninspired effort though.  I opened that season in Seattle on the track in an even less inspired 4:14 which I followed up 2 weeks later with an 8:02 3k.  So hopefully this 4:06 is the start to some good races on the track.  We'll see how Friday's 5k at FSU goes.  Hopefully the plantar and foot holds up, afterwards the plantar was very sore but the metatarsals were good which I think is much more important.