Catching Up

It's been a rough few weeks.

After the run at Golden Gardens, I had a series of physical breakdowns that had me sidelined for quite awhile. My right foot, right glute/hamstring and left knee/IT band all ganged up at the same time. Wight the advice of one of the running coaches, I decided to sit out for a couple weeks to let things heal up.

My foot and right hamstring came back quickly enough, but my left IT band continued to plague me. There were days I couldn't even manage 30 minutes on a treadmill.

At the end of April, I tried a long run at the gym instead of going to the organized group run (knowing that I'd not be able to complete it). I got 50 minutes before I had to stop. Taking that as a measure of improvement, I decided to do the next Saturday group run on May 7th. We ran part of the Burke Gilman, starting at Matthews Beach heading south towards the U-District. I did pretty well through the first 40 minutes or so. I made it to the water stop, turned around and headed back. I was going glacially slow and focusing on my posture as much as I could. As I passed 50 minutes, I counted this run as a win. I got to 60, 70 and then 80 minutes. I had gone farther than I thought I could, so I was pretty happy. Of course, as soon as I decided that the run had been a success, my IT band came calling and my knee gave out at 85 minutes.

Walking back to home base, Shelby, one of the coaches found me, and walked with me for awhile. We talked about my IT issues and he offered to "dig on me" once I got back to home base. He is a pro coach and runner, owns a running shop and has a degree in this stuff. He knows his shit. He had me lie down on the ground, fold my left leg over and proceeded to dig his elbow into my left glute. Good Lord, the pain was insane. I either had to cry or laugh, so I was kind of giggling like a fool. He told me to get a lacrosse ball and use it do the same thing on my own.

I got the ball and added it to my daily foam roller routine. It hurt like hell, but it was worth it. I slowly increased the time I could go before the pain caught up to me.

The following week, we had a longrun out at Lincoln Park, 160 minutes. I made it 140 before my knee gave out. I did a walk/run mix to finish out. I ended up doing 13.94 miles in 2:48:47. An amazing piece of progress. I also realized as I finished the run that I had just complete a half marathon. I was pretty pleased with myself.

Probably too pleased.

The weather got much nicer and being that it was Ride to Work week, I decidedmto ride my bike to work on Thursday and then again on Friday. My legs were tired, but I didn't feel any pain.

Yesterday, we had a group run at Genessee Park. A "short" 110 minute jaunt. I felt confident that I'd be able to do the whole run. I was wrong.

I made it to the second water stop and turn around point in good time, right at about 55 minutes. The route is kind of hilly with long, gradual climbs and one abrupt climb. Going out, I did fine. Coming back, not so much.

As I got to the first long downhill, my knee gave out pretty quickly. I'd gone about 60 minutes. I tried stretching and doing the run/walk thing, but I couldn't run for more than a few minutes at a time. I was cursing a good clip every time my knee gave out. I was able to hobble through until the last part of the course which was mostly flat tending to a slight uphill. I was able to keep my run going and finished the last 10 minutes or so without stopping.

Next week is our longest run - 3 hours total. It's out at Redhook and the Sammamish River Trail, which is mostly flat with a couple small hills. I'm hopeful that I can get a better result. I definitely feel like my energy and stamina are there and I would be able to do the marathon if it weren't for my IT band.

We are 5 weeks away from the marathon. I'm going to complete it one way or another. I'd like it to be running the whole way.

Thank you all

I sold all my miles and have been humbled by the response. I thank you all for donating and I will proudly wear your names on my jersey come race day.

On the day of the race, I will have my pace app publish my progress mile by mile to my Facebook page so that you all can keep track when your mile comes up.

Thanks again, and I can't wait for race day!

4.9 — Golden Gardens 80 min.

This run went pretty well, but part way through I started feeling some pain in my left knee just about in the same spot I had been feeling pain in my right knee awhile back. Then my right foot started to hurt. I was able to finish the run, but knew that I'd be feeling it later.

Later, I was feeling it big time. In the time to took to drive home, everything stiffened up and I was hobbling around for the next couple of days. I'm taking a short hiatus from running to let things heal up a bit. I'm skipping the next Saturday run on the 16th and hope to back at it on the 23rd.

Run stats: 1:21:53 min. | 8.24 miles | 9:56/mile average pace

4.2 — Genessee Park 110 min.

This was officially the longest I have ever run in my life (so far as I can remember). I ended up doing closer to 120 minutes because I didn't turn around soon enough. I had to map out the run once I got home because my GPS lost signal towards the end of the course and I couldn't rely on the results (it had me doing 5 minute miles... not so much).

I got in just about 12.5 miles in just under 2 hours — almost a half marathon. I was feeling it at the end. There was a steep-ish section of the path under the I-90 bridge leading down into a parking lot that really got to my knees. This was with about 1 mile left to go, so my last mile was pretty slow. I did my stretching afterwards and got a massage too. I'm kind of stiff, but I'm not in any real pain which is a win on its own.

The best part of the run came after when I went to breakfast with a bunch of folks. This was the second time I've gone to the post-practice breakfast and it was the highlight of the morning. To be honest, everyone is very nice and ready to talk and share what they are doing, why they are running, what their experiences have been — I need to do more I think to take part in this element of the Team in Training experience. I've been happy to run my own pace and not go to the food-related gatherings mostly to avoid eating stuff I don't really need to eat. But, I'm monitoring my diet still and I can accommodate the calories. I need to be a bit more social.

Run stats (est.): 1:57:17 min. | 12.5 miles | 9:37/mile average pace

3.26 — Redhook 90 min.

We were greeted by these motivational messages near the end of the run.

I'm starting to feel like I don't have anything interesting to write about if I don't have an injury to talk about.

The run went fine. I kept up a fairly even pace and felt good throughout. I tried out a new fuel belt with the 4 mini water bottles on it. I drank one every 20 minutes and it did have an impact on my overall energy level I think. I skipped the water stops and tried to go off the water and gel packs I carried with me to try and get used to using the water bottles and getting them in and out of the belt while running. My goal is to run the marathon without any pauses. I know that might not be completely realistic, but that's my goal.


And cheerleaders.



I did feel a slight twinge in my right IT band and knee towards the end of the run. I've slacked a bit on my stretching and foam roller usage — just a little reminder to not get cocky and to keep up the work.

Run stats: 1:29:35 min. | 9.22 miles | 9:43/mile average pace

3.22 — Greenlake 40 min.

Day 2 of hill training. Tonight's run was basically a repeat of last Tuesday with a slightly longer distance on the hill portion — more up and more down. I got in one fewer laps than the first hill night, but I also think I pushed harder and was able to go faster on the up sides.

Again, no pain and no problems, except the tightness in my calves.

Run stats: 43:37 min. | 3.95 miles | 11:03/mile average pace

3.19 — Cedar River Trail 70 min.

The weather once again decided to play nice with us. It was cold and a touch on the windy side at times, but no rain. The trail itself was gorgeous and well maintained. I will definitely be back this summer with the wife and our bikes to take a ride here.

I started out on this morning's run at a relatively slow pace. I was following a group of people, chiming in on the conversation at times, and basically getting warmed up properly. After about 20 minutes or so (just about the time my toes thawed out), I decided to speed it up a bit and headed out on my own. Everything seemed to be in working condition, so I tried to slowly increase my pace through the rest of the run time.

For the most part, I was able to keep it up and got a negative split on the end of the run. I never got going so fast that I felt like I was pushing too hard, but I wasn't settling back and taking it easy either. The only ill effects I felt at the end was some tightness in my calves (my enormous, enormous calves). Some stretching and foam roller work took care of that.

The running is getting easier and the injuries are evening out. All good news as we get into the meat of the training schedule and start hitting some significant run times. Next Saturday is a 90 minute run and all the rest after that except for one, I think, are more than 100 minutes. Sounds daunting.

Run stats: 1:12:22 min. | 7.32 miles | 9:53/mile average pace