All the news, etc.

I've been a bad blogger. Thanksgiving and whatnot. Sorry.

So, the news. Lets start with the good news first, shall we?

I am on Week 3 of the Six Week Challenge and the running portion is going just super. I ran four times Week 1 for a total of 13.6 miles, four times in Week 2 for a total of 15.8 miles and two times so far this week (Week 3) which puts me on pace for 15.8 once again. I got up this morning and ran even though I was really not feeling it. More on that in the bad news.

The other good news is that I seem to finally be blister free. I did a 6.5 miler on Sunday, and I had no blister problems at all! Huzzah!

Ok, so on to the bad news. My blisters seem to be history, but the original problem that I got the orthotics for seems to be coming back with a vengance. I've got a lot of pain in my calves and my shins right now, especially when I go down stairs. It wasn't too bad this morning, after a day of rest, but I noticed I was slowing down a little on this mornings run. Of course, this could be due to bad news number 2: I've been eating like a pig. Seriously, oink. Part of this Six Week Challenge was supposed to be eating properly, and I lasted for about one day. Then I went to a training meeting, which was totally stocked with every kind of goodie I like. Chocolates, bagels, muffins, cookies. I didn't eat all that, but I got started, and it's been downhill ever since. I've been deluding myself that since I've been ramping up the miles, I can afford a few extra calories. This is total bs. I'm porking up again and that is not good for me or my goals. This morning I almost slept in because I still felt full from the night before. I had to give myself a major pep talk to get out the door. I know in my head that if I don't want to feel like that at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, I've got to stop the madness. But I clearly have a hard time doing what my head is telling me.

Just this one day, I'm going to eat properly, no extras, no junk, so I can have a good run tomorrow. Then let tomorrow worry about itself. Right? Right.

I'm going to see if a little lard busting can alleiviate these calf problems, if not, its back to the pedorthtist.

Pain and Suffering

The ankle pain is back. I went for a short but fairly fast (for me) 2.24 miler yesterday morning and the whole rest of the day I could feel it in both ankles, shooting up the insides of my calves. No one has really ever been able to explain what this is to my satisfaction. I thought that the orthotist had my number, but considering he is now in posession of my inserts for something like the seventh time, and I still have the problem, plus I've got the gross and extremely painful blister problem, I'm feeling like I've got some problem no one has ever encountered before, and I'm basically screwed.

So he's going to adjust them today, I should be able to run with them tomorrow, and then we will see if I need a complete remold. Which I probably will. *Sigh*

People have a lot worse problems than this, I know. And be be brutually honest, I wonder if my inability (more like refusal) to lose twenty pounds is a causation here. I can't help but think my ankles would be less stressed if I weighed 130 instead of 150.

Tomorrow. If I can just get through today, perhaps I'll feel less despair, perhaps my orthotics will magically work, perhaps I'll be a real runner.

A Short History of Blisters

Right now, I have two main physical issues that could possibly keep me from reaching my goal of running the Long Beach Marathon in October, 2007.

1. Pain just above my ankles, on the insides of my legs, both legs.

2. Blisters.

The first one came first. I ran for approximately two years, with varying degrees of sucess, but mostly injury free until around Fall, 2002. Somewhere in there I developed ITBS, probably from running on the road a lot. Not knowing what it was, and being a total jackass who has to be dragged to a doctor, I kept running on it. It became so aggravated, I was not only hobbled as far as running, but I could barely walk. Finally, I went to the doctor, who sent me to a PT, who straightened me out around December 2003. I started back to running, slowly and smartly. Five minutes a week, ten minutes the next week. By May of 2004, I was up to eight miles. Eight hilly miles. I was in really good shape. I got married a week later, overate on my honeymoon but also did some running, some hiking, some kayaking.

The week after I got back, I tried some speedwork at the local track. It was over 100 degrees F. I don't know what happened, but ever since that day, I have not been able to run more than two days in a row without getting a shin splint like pain in my inner leg, right abovet the ankle. I've been to two primary care physicians, two orthopedic surgeons, had x-rays taken, etc. Finally it was recommended I get some orthopedic inserts. I was elated. Friends of mine had gotten these and claimed they changed their lives.

They actually do seem to have somewhat resolved the ankle pain issue. But they give me blisters. I've been back probably six times now, and I went again on Friday. Yesterday, I went for a 6.5 mile run. Guess what? Blisters. I should be feeling elated that I am up to 6.5 miles, but all I can think is about the next run, and how I'll have the blisters for longer, and it will hurt more. Or what if they get infected? And most of all, how could I ever run 26.2 miles if I get blisters after 4? I can't, that's what.

So, I put a call into the orthotist this morning. Of course, he is closed on Monday. I don't know what he will have to say to me tomorrow.

Day 2, Week 1

No, its not really going to be like that. The title just references the fact that I've given myself a six week time frame to sort of prove that I can train for something seriously, for a somewhat sustained period of time. If I can eat (mostly) properly, and run four times per week for six weeks, I should know at the end of that six weeks where I am at in terms of fitness.

This six weeks ends right before Christmas, which is going to make for a not so fun filled Christmas season, but I'm already in grad school, so it's not like I'm having a rip roaring time anyway.

Besides those goals, I have a running related goal, which is that I want to slowly ramp up my "long run" to eight miles. It's at five miles as of this past Sunday. I've done that two weeks in a row, so this week will be my first six miler in years.

I ran 3.12 miles this morning.

In the begining

I wonder how many of the blogs on blogger or on the internets start with "In the begining." Probably a lot. I'm not going for orginality though. I just want to get things on the record. Far, far too many times in my life, I've accomplished something, or had an experience, only to regret I hadn't done a better job of recording the process for posterity. For myself.

Part of the reason for that, I think, is because I rarely think that things are going to turn into anything when I start them. Is this setting myself up for failure? Maybe. Is it not wanting to jinx it? More likely. Is it laziness? I'm sure there is a healthy dose of that in there.

Anyway, the thing, the process, the journey I'd like to document here is my first marathon. Possibly my only marathon. Possibly my spectacular failure at getting anywhere near that goal, as I am prone to overeating, overtraining, foot problems, ITB, shin splints, and periods of extreme sloth.

Right now I feel good. I'm running better and faster than I ever have before. That's not to say I'm running as well or as fast as basically anyone else who owns a coolmax shirt, just good and fast for me. And I haven't run well or fast for at least 2.5 years. There is a whole history there of injuries, weight gain, job changes, stress, and other assorted bs. But that's for another day.

So what happened today is, I looked at the website for the Long Beach Marathon. I just cruised around it. I didn't register, I just gathered some information.

It felt pretty good. I immediately wanted to tell everyone who will listen that I'm running a marathon. But I am sick. Sick with the fear that I will jinx the whole deal. So for right now, I'm telling the internet.

Oh, and I ran 2.24 miles this morning.