I may have myself a little problem considering that the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon is coming up in four days. During a hike on Saturday I twisted my right ankle a little bit. It hasn't been excrutiatingly painful, but has been a bit uncomfortable.
I've taken it easy since then and I've been icing it a few times a day. I'd been doing lots of hiking over three days and rode the exercise bike, but hadn't actually run for a week. Then I went out for a five mile run this morning to see how it felt.
Um...not so good. It still feels tight and achy. But my ankle isn't black and blue so I'm determined to kick butt. I'm shooting for under two hours.
This quote makes me happy and thankful for my challenges. They will make the finish line of the St. George Marathon even sweeter:
"Top results are reached only through pain. But eventually you like this pain. You'll find the more difficulties you have on the way, the more you will enjoy your success."
- Juha the Curel Vaatainen
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
12 Weeks To Marathon
Monday, July 6th 2009: 30 minutes on exercise bike.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009: Around 5.5 miles at track. I went to the speed workout Tuesday with Elizabeth and "track guru" Dennis. Dennis does wierd things. He has strange exercises and methods. But the fact is that he is an older guy and can still run long and fast so I figure he must be doing something right.
I timed a few of my 800's which were 3:35, 3:32, 3:38, and 3:44. I was pretty happy with those times. I want to work up to between eight and ten of the 800's (two laps around track) before the marathon.
Wednesday, July 8th 2009: 2.7 miles in 24 minutes. I went a little later in the morning and didn't feel so hot. I think the heat zapped me and my body still didn't feel totally recovered from the 18 miler last week. Ugh.
Thursday, July 9th 2009: 9+ miles hiking at Pioneer Trek. Mel and I helped coordinate a pioneer trek for our ward youth which was a great experience. The first day we hiked around 8 miles as a group. My feet were a little achy but nothing too bad. Our base camp was around 1/2 mile away from the rest of the group so I did that walk back and forth many times over the three days.
Friday, July 10th 2009: 5 miles at Pioneer Trek. Not quite as far on the second day of the trek but the hills still got my blood pumping.
Saturday, July 11th 2009: 4 miles at Pioneer Trek. By the third day my body was feeling weak and run down and my walking got sloppy. I was walking down a really steep hill and not paying close enough attention and rolled my right ankle.
I think it's just a moderate sprain, definitely not extreme. I've had much worse sprains. It just feels sore and weak and tight and I think if I run on it over the next few days I'm sure it will make things worse. I plan to ice it a lot today and ride the exercise bike on Monday to give it a few days rest.
1 week to Bryce Canyon Half Marathon!
"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder
Tuesday, July 7th 2009: Around 5.5 miles at track. I went to the speed workout Tuesday with Elizabeth and "track guru" Dennis. Dennis does wierd things. He has strange exercises and methods. But the fact is that he is an older guy and can still run long and fast so I figure he must be doing something right.
I timed a few of my 800's which were 3:35, 3:32, 3:38, and 3:44. I was pretty happy with those times. I want to work up to between eight and ten of the 800's (two laps around track) before the marathon.
Wednesday, July 8th 2009: 2.7 miles in 24 minutes. I went a little later in the morning and didn't feel so hot. I think the heat zapped me and my body still didn't feel totally recovered from the 18 miler last week. Ugh.
Thursday, July 9th 2009: 9+ miles hiking at Pioneer Trek. Mel and I helped coordinate a pioneer trek for our ward youth which was a great experience. The first day we hiked around 8 miles as a group. My feet were a little achy but nothing too bad. Our base camp was around 1/2 mile away from the rest of the group so I did that walk back and forth many times over the three days.
Friday, July 10th 2009: 5 miles at Pioneer Trek. Not quite as far on the second day of the trek but the hills still got my blood pumping.
Saturday, July 11th 2009: 4 miles at Pioneer Trek. By the third day my body was feeling weak and run down and my walking got sloppy. I was walking down a really steep hill and not paying close enough attention and rolled my right ankle.
I think it's just a moderate sprain, definitely not extreme. I've had much worse sprains. It just feels sore and weak and tight and I think if I run on it over the next few days I'm sure it will make things worse. I plan to ice it a lot today and ride the exercise bike on Monday to give it a few days rest.
1 week to Bryce Canyon Half Marathon!
"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
13 Weeks To Marathon
Monday, June 30th 2009: 30 minutes on exercise bike.
Tuesday, June 31st 2009: 4 miles in 35 minutes. I went on a dirt road that had some pretty good hills. By the time I got home my body was sweating like it was going out of style.
Wednesday, July 1st 2009: 4 miles. Mel wanted to get a run in but we didn't have a chance until 10:30pm. It was still ghastly hot outside so we ran the first two miles, but then decided we didn't want to be on a run anymore. We wanted to be on a walk.
Thursday, July 2nd 2009: Rest. And got some new shoes! My first pair of shoes crossed the 400 mile mark which is the recommended usage. The Saucony Guide seemed to work well the first time so that's what I got again. I'm not a fan of the $95 price tag, but I figure it's still cheaper than a gym membership.
Friday, July 3rd 2009: 18 miles in 3 hours 4 minutes (+1 mile cooldown). Ever since I started running, I planned to run home from work as one of my long runs. Finally Friday was the day.
I work at the dialysis center in St. George across the street from the hospital, so my route home would take me through 3 cities (St. George, Washington, and Hurricane) and cover some ginormous hills. I brought my water belt, and set water at the 5, 10, and 15 mile mark to refill.
I started the run in St. George at 4:30am, and the temperature was already 77 DEGREES!! Ugh. I started sweating my guts out by mile 2. All in all, I was feeling okay for the first 5 or 6 miles. Then I reached the hill going up to Coral Canyon. Mercy, that's a big one. I took a few walk breaks up the hill and just went slow.
Eventually I reached SR-9: the busy road that leads from Hurricane to the freeway. Initially I was a little worried about running on such a busy road. But by mile 10 I wouldn't have had my feelings hurt if a car accidentally swerved and put me out of my misery.
The sun came up making it even hotter and I felt like I lost track of time. Is it 7:30am? Maybe. Is it 2:30pm? Could be. I was getting tired by mile 13. I was hot and thirsty, and decided to drink the rest of the water I had with me since there was more coming up in 2 miles.
The sun came up making it even hotter and I felt like I lost track of time. Is it 7:30am? Maybe. Is it 2:30pm? Could be. I was getting tired by mile 13. I was hot and thirsty, and decided to drink the rest of the water I had with me since there was more coming up in 2 miles.
But then something terrible happened. Suddenly I was at mile 16 and had passed the water spot! I had been so thirsty for two miles before that point that the only thing keeping me going was that water spot. And somehow I ran right past it, not realizing until a mile later!
Logically, I can not conceive of how this happened. The only possibilities I can think of are:
1) I was too busy suffering to think about what was going on around me
2) I had heat exhaustion and my brain wasn't working too well, or
3) Complete and utter stupidity.
Either way, I wasn't feeling too great. Thankfully Lin's grocery store was a mile or two ahead so I stopped there to partake of cold, nectar of the Gods from their drinking fountain. I was in the store less than two minutes, but being in the air conditioning and getting some cold water helped me feel much better.
I finally made it to the 18 mile mark in 3 hours and 4 minutes with an average 10:12 pace per mile which I was happy with. According to my watch I burned around 2200 calories. And here's the kicker: Total Ascent: 1944 feet, Total Descent: 1122 feet. The uphills on the elevation map are frightening.
I can assure you I will never miss a water spot ever again.
Saturday, July 4th 2009: Rest. Eat. Cake. Cookies. Fireworks. Cake. Ice cream.
Saturday, July 4th 2009: Rest. Eat. Cake. Cookies. Fireworks. Cake. Ice cream.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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