Three weeks away from race

In the past two weeks I've run another 23 miles, but the nagging pain in my right leg is getting harder to ignore. After the long run in the freezing rain I've only managed to run twice each week.

One of my runs was Saturday, 11/5. I got up early to meet the team at Fletcher's Boathouse on the Potomac River in Georgetown at 8am. I got there a little late and found no other Team Challenge runners there. I figured they had already started running, so I warmed up and got on the trail. I'd been looking forward to this run since it is right under GU and along the river. I got a thrill looking up at alma mater as I approached the Key Bridge from the north and then ran along the riverfront to the Kennedy Center before heading back up to Fletcher's.

It was a great day for running. The sun was shining and it was a bit chilly. The weather was nice enough to draw some people out, but cold enough to keep the trails from over-crowding. The course I chose heading south was a good challenge, too. I started close to the high point above Fletcher's Boathouse and turned around at the Kennedy Center right along the water. That meant that I was running up hill most of the way back. I like it that way. It's a way to maintain the challenge throughout the whole run.

When I got back to my car after a one-hour run I checked my email to see if there was a clue as to why I hadn't seen any of my Team Challenge Teammates and found out that earlier in the week, the training session had been moved to the Custis trail in Arlington. Oh well!

The morning wasn't a total loss. I drove into Georgetown and had breakfast at Booeymongers -- a GU student favorite. I hadn't eaten there in years and I drank in all the atmosphere while I ate my breakfast.

Two days later I recorded another first, I ran in the morning, then went into work. I hadn't tried this before because it's usually too dark to run before 6am, which I need to do, since I have a 1:45 minute commute into work. But, we had just fallen back into standard time, and it was now a bit brighter earlier in the morning. I ran the two short laps in my neighborhood while I waited for the sun to rise before taking the big lap down to the elementary school and construction site at the perimeter of the neighborhood -- 5.2 miles in total.

The time was on my mind. I kept thinking about what I would have to do when I got back to the house and wondered if I'd be able to catch the 7:35 bus or have to wait until the 8 o'clock bus. Even though I was distracted, I ran a pretty good pace 9:32/mile.

However, since I was in a hurry, I did not ice down nor rest after the run. I got home, stretched a little, took a shower, ate breakfast and ran out the door to catch my bus (8am). It may have been the lack of icing and rest, but more likely just the accumulation of wear and tear on my body over these last few weeks. My usual soreness after running continued to intensify through my bus ride and the mile-long walk to work and throughout the day. The dull pain in my ankle turned into sharp pains in my glute and the top of my foot. I was almost limping for the next couple of days, but definitely in some pain.

Because of the pain, I skipped the Wednesday workout. By Friday I was feeling better and working from home, so I decided to run 6.2 miles. After this run the pain came back more intensely. So much so, that it was hard to sleep Friday night.. I couldn't find a comfortable position and moving from one position to another was painful. The most comfortable position was standing up and staying still. Of course, it's hard to sleep that way.

By Sunday the pain had subsided some. I got up out of bed without wincing, but still I decided to skip the evening run with the team. It was to have been the longest run yet -- 2 hours. At the current pace I've built up to, I would have run about 12 miles -- just 1.1 miles short of a half marathon. But I feel good about being able to complete that distance right now as long as I'm healthy, so I think taking a few more days off is in order.

Wednesday, November 2nd
running time in minutes: 45:25
total distance: 5.2 miles
mile pace: 8:44

Saturday, November 5th
running time in minutes: 59:56
total distance: 6.4 miles
mile pace: 9:19

Monday, November 7th
running time in minutes: 49:37
total distance: 5.2 miles
mile pace: 9:32

Friday, November 11th
running time in minutes: 1:01:58
total distance: 6.2 miles
mile pace: 9:57