Red Hot Mess

Got out this morning, made it a block, and my left Achilles tendon was too tender to keep going. Went home and used the time to hang a freshly repainted door.

Saw my podiatrist in what should have been the follow up for last week's injury, which is now fine. He weighed in on this week's injury - inflamed Achilles tendon brought on by overuse. I could have (and did) make that diagnosis. He said rest, stretch and ice - as I knew he would. He also prescribed a week-long course of steroids. He said that should "knock out" the inflammation. A little more aggressive than is my style, but I'll give it a try.

He also gave me an orthotics prescription. He swears by them. I know a few folks here have expressed reservations to me about the benefits of orthotics and the possible harm of aggravating other injuries. The doc said that the Dr. Scholl's orthotic that I've been wearing in my shoe shouldn't lead to an Achilles injury as it raises the heel and thus reduces the tension on the tendon. I'll go get the orthotic, but still have some ambivalence on it.

The more I think about it, the more the overdoing a hard interval workout on a sometimes banked surface with hard turns is probably the main culprit, especially as its only my left (i.e., inside) heel that is affected. So as much as I liked those workouts, I probably should wait until they start working out on the track again before going up to Bryn Mawr anymore on Tuesday evenings.

And meanwhile my running now has officially become, to borrow an expression a good friend likes to use, a "red hot mess". Not much I can do, however. And I think that is the hardest part.

Two blocks, untimed.

Overdone

Another Tuesday, another Bryn Mawr interval workout. Looked to hang with the big boys again, who were on tap to do 12 x 800 meter lactate threshold intervals, meaning a target time of 2:45 with 30 second recoveries.

I knew I would have a hard time doing these, but I thought the same thing last week and made it through the workout. I don't remember the last time I did more that eight 800 meter intervals, with considerably longer recovery, so I figured if I could hang on for 8 then any additional ones would be blessings.

And that, my friends, is what I did. 2:46; 44; 44; 44; 44; 44; 45; 48 and I was giving it my all on that last one. When I was done with that one I knew I was done. But I latched on to group 3, which gave me about a minute recovery, and then did two more at their pace: 2:58 and 2:56. Those extra seconds made a big difference. They only had ten reps on tap and when they finished I called it a day.

Again, I ran with a great group of guys, a few from last week and a few new guys. Never would have hung on so long without them, and never would have done two extra if there wasn't another group on our heels. Chuck stepped up to group 2 this week, and any consolation I get that I gave my all is quickly deflated by the thought that Chuck did all twelve 800s. Damn him!

But seriously, having that kind of support is also a curse, as it drives me to run harder than I otherwise would. The price for that is that I've been hobbling all night, and my legs feel really wiped out.

My shoes also felt funny. I've been meaning to get new sneaks, and in the meantime I've been running in the lightweight trainers I ran with in Boston, a pair of New Balance something or others. They have relatively low mileage, mostly because I associate bad mojo with them from my Boston death march. I also had a Dr. Scholl's orthotic in there (advice of my podiatrist). The combination didn't work well. Hard to explain but I know shoes that aren't right for my feet when I'm in them.

My left achilles also gave me tsuris today, which either comes from the shoes/orthotic or from the tight turns and banked grass on the course today.

So what to do? Tonight I've been walking as little as possible and feeding my cravings for chocolate milk and cookie dough ice cream. Tomorrow I have to catch an early train to NYC, so if I get to do any running it will be in the afternoon and it will be easy. Then depending on things, I'll try to do the BN loop on Thursday. But right now thats questionable. My training is in a funk right now, and its all I can do to hang on.

Oh yeah, I did 4 miles easy this morning. Franklin Field loop to 49th St. That and this afternoon make for 11.5 miles total for the day.

No Pep. No Time.

Not much to write about today and little time to do so.

I don't think I mentioned yesterday how much yesterday's run took out of me. Still felt that way this morning. None of the usual Club West Philly folks were running, so I was on my own. As soon as I realized that I didn't have much in the tank, I cut my planned 10 miler down to a 6-mile Warrington loop. This got cut down even further as I turned back early, going east on Cedar Ave. in deference to the total lack of pep in my legs. The only reason to go any further would have been to pad the mileage log.

Not to say that is not a worthy reason for plodding onwards. Just not today. 4.5 miles, no watch.

Doppel Looper

Back in the days when men were men and women were men and everybody got faster and nobody got injured there was a certain loop that gained a measure of popularity. Legend has it the it had Dutch origins, and those who ran it became members of an exclusive secret society with a nifty handshake. But now nobody runs it anymore and everyone seems to be getting injured. Coincidence?

I am talking of course about the Doppel Looper. Okay, so its a fancy name for two times around the Drives, but it was once a part of local running lore and is now seldom done. Today seemed like a good day to resurrect that fine tradition, as I got a ride out to Lloyd Hall and having two loops meant that I could bail after the first one if things started heading south.

Ran into Adam Hyman before starting (he just finished) and we got to trading info. I updated him on my injury du jour but he then pointed at my right ankle, asking me what that was. The ankle is pain and impairment free, but I was surprised to see how cankled it still was. "That," I said, "was last year's injury."

This summer's injury seemed alright. I've rested it up to today (I took yesterday off in addition to the days I was instructed to, mainly due to logistics) and with the blessing of my podiatrist got the okay to run long today. My left ankle and lower calf felt a bit funny at times, but other than that things felt fine. I turned the two loops into a progression run of sorts, splitting the course into four 4-mile segments and running each faster than the last - 32:09; 30:52; 29:11; 28:29. That and some extra at the beginning and the end made for 17 miles in 2:10:29.

I'll pick up my training where I left off and see how things go. The test will be Tuesday, when the plan is to go back up to Bryn Mawr for speed work on the grass. Then its back to the doc's on Wednesday.

Why Runners Dislike Going to Doctors

So here's the sequel from yesterday's post. I went to the doc yesterday because of my foot pain and he gave a diagnosis, the exact term I don't remember, which he called a "stress contusion." Basically a condition on the way to becoming a stress fracture. He commended me for coming in when I did and not when it was nice and fractured and:

1) sent me for an x-ray;
2) prescribed an anti-inflammatory;
3) called for the usual RICE;
3) recommended I get a custom, semi-rigid orthotic to mitigate future risk;
4) no running until Saturday

Given that what I have is clearly an overuse injury, I guess I should consider myself lucky to get off this easily. I was on pace for 300 miles this month, however, and I hate letting that go.

So nothing to report today, and I'll take a break from the blog tomorrow. I'll check back the day after tomorrow.

Ups & Downs

First, the ups.

After running an easy 4 yesterday morning, I did a double by going up to Bryn Mawr after work and running intervals with BMRC.

The workout was 4 x 2000 meters run on an 800m loop that goes around various athletic fields. I was faced with deciding whether to run with group 3, whose time goals were a bit slow for me, and group 2, whose goals were a bit fast: 7:00 to 7:10 (with 75 to 80 seconds recovery). I went with the faster group, figuring to hang on as long as I could. There were three of us - me, Jason, and Frank (who I ran with last Tuesday).

Long story short, I hung on: 7:02; 6:59; 7:07; 7:09. This is why it takes a village to train. I never would have had the guts to think, let alone try, this workout on my own. I never could have held this pace on my own. Hanging onto folks and getting their encouragement made all the difference here. I'm psyched.

11.5 miles for the day (including the morning 4). No overall time.

And now for the down. I'm feeling a pain in the arch of my left foot. I first felt it and associate it with running Tinicum and the uneven surfaces of its trail. It resurfaced yesterday afternoon on the grass at the Bryn Mawr field before the reps. I ran the workout and it didn't bother me then. Afterwards I felt it, however, and it makes its presence known now, especially walking on my toes or up stairs or when I twist my foot a certain way. I felt it in bed last night.

So I bagged my run this morning and went online instead. The symptoms are, thank God, not consistent with a stress fracture or plantar fascitis. But beyond that, I can't find anything that it might be. So I made an appointment with the podiatrist I saw for my toenails; appointment is today at 1.

And I'll leave you with that cliffhanger.

Short Pasta

Met with Jody and Erin to do our usual run around West Philly. Iris was along for the ride and staying cool with her summer wardrobe. Weather seemed a bit cooler today, dunno if it was because I was out earlier or the heat has broken a bit. I guess I should look at the weather forecast. We made it about to 48th St. when Erin said she was done. This was the point when Jody and I were supposed to dissuade of this but we said nothing and just ran back around and called it an easy run. I needed one of those.

4.5 miles on this route in 39:31.

Bridge Run

In case you were wondering, Camden is still there. I know to some that may be disappointing, but it's true.

It was another end of the week when I had a few extra miles I wanted to put in. Having to get out on a Sunday morning before the heat gets insane means getting out before the traffic as well. This latter is the key condition for being able to run over the Ben Franklin Bridge.

I ran down Spruce Street from Taney Park to a few blocks past Pennsylvania Hospital. Yesterday's run notwithstanding, there is a ton of money along that stretch. But this money has, in general, aged better than yesterday's money, and the architectural tour of houses on this stretch, interrupted by such buildings as the hospital and the Kimmel Center, keeps my mind occupied on the run out. Its also shady along this stretch. People love their street trees here, in contrast to South Philly where you don't see street trees because people are afraid it will lead to birds shitting on their cars (its true, I read it in the Inky).

You lose that shade once you get on the bridge, but you gain a nice breeze that keeps things cool. Crossing into NJ I passed over Campbell's Field, where the scoreboard was on and read 82 degrees at 9:02.

The way back, along Callowhill and Chestnut Aves, get a bit more dreary and an awareness of how hot it is, and the city's function as a heat island, set in. By the time I got back I was pretty much drenched in sweat. Glad to have an ice cold pitcher of tea waiting for my return. Red Zinger.

Total for this loop was 12 miles in 1:42:09 - 52:45 out to Camden and 49:40 on the way back. 70 miles for the week.

Verdance

Deirdre and I headed out to the suburbs this morning for something different. We went to Bryn Mawr to see if anyone was running at 8 (there wasn't) and instead we did a little warmup of about 3.5 and got back to the store to see if anyone was running at 8:30. We had better luck then, as five people showed as well as a guy on a bike to do the 9.8 mile Tennis loop. Looking back in my old logs, I see I used to run this loop regularly on weekends in 2002 and some in 2003, when I got to know a lot of folks up there.

It is always a culture shock to run this loop, because it goes by some incredibly huge houses and the affluence there is quite the culture shock when you're used to running the streets of SW Philly. Its also a different kind of running - negotiating narrow shoulders on the roads and whizzing cars who think they are entitled to the whole road. It puzzles me how people are so obsessed with safety related to inner city running when running out in the burbs strikes me as far more dangerous.

There is far less building going on now than there was on that loop six years ago, when the economy was much more booming and whole lots were getting leveled so that larger houses could be erected. This was always nice because construction sites always had porta-potties that, in the suburbs, never get locked. The verdance of the area was still there however, and a leafy canopy shielded us from the sun for at least two thirds of this loop. This is a huge plus for a hot morning like it was today, and almost compensates for all those hills.

And the company was good. Along with me and Deirdre there was a woman Mary, a guy Max who I met last Tuesday, and a high school kid. About two thirds of the way through the loop me and the kid picked things up a bit and I figured since the mileage would be a little light today I might as well ride the testosterone. This is where doing all those BN loops pay off, as I held out pretty well on the hills. I did choose to cool down the last half mile where the kid kept going to the end, as a result I finished the loop in just over 70 minutes - not my fastest time for this loop but doing a pretty good clip. I was drenched in sweat on the ride home.

Call it 13+ miles total in 98:02.

Hasenpfeffer

Ran another Tenicum. Even at 6:30, it was hazy hot and humid such that the sun was a red ball, the sky was pale blue, and there was little difference between sun and shade. I set a pr for most rabbits seen in a morning, all shapes and sizes, and I ran from a tag team of flies that always seemed to be chasing me. The flies were playing games with me, as occasionally one would land to bite, always on my back, but more often it was my imagination that would simulate this pricking sensation and lead me to slap myself. There was also a medium sized turtle on the path, rare for this time of year.

Such is the minutiae I become aware of when there isn't much stake in the run. I started out slow, very slow and sped up to half-fast by the end of the run. Total run was 10 miles in 91:10, first five in 50:03 and second five in 41:07. The course lends itself to that, for I am a slow starter (first mile in 10:03, exact same mile was also mile 10, which I ran in 7:58) and once I'm warm the segment that Reba calls the "interesting part" starts, which demands caution due to its overgrowth and old woodchuck holes. After yesterday's workout, its good to have such a course in the repertoire.

This heat does not leave me relishing tomorrow's long run.

Hammering the Nip

It's Thursday, which means I hit the BN loop this morning. I was dreading this workout last night already, and it took me a little longer to get out of the house this morning. Wasn't feeling it this morning but gave it a rip. Didn't do too bad - both segments went a little quicker than last week. MLK 4 in 24:45 (vs. 24:53) and the Belmont Plateau came in at 17:09 while passing the BN checkpoint in 9:14 (vs. 17:15/9:23). This is a marginal improvement but it is an improvement.

Now I've got that legs-been-worked-over-with-a-baseball-bat feel. 13.5 miles in 1:42:08. Feels like I'm training.

Catching Up

Been a few days, this post will be to catch up.

This morning I ran a Tenicum. For those who want to read into that, please do. It feels good to be back on that loop. Run was easy but not necessarily slow; I left both the watch and the iPod behind. Got rewarded instead with hearing bullfrogs, which have got to produce among the most resonant sounds anywhere. Otherwise, jungle like conditions both in temperature and in the level of overgrowth everywhere.

Yesterday I ran a double. A easy 5.5 mile Cobbs Creek-Warrington Ave loop in the morning (46:48) so I wouldn't have to worry about getting in mileage on the afternoon run. Then after work I went up to Bryn Mawr Running Co. to do intervals. Bob, the owner, organizes this on Tuesdays and the turnout had to be about 30-40 people. From the store we all run out to a nearby set of athletic fields, where an 800 meter loop is measured out. Bob then announces the workout of the day to be lactate threshold runs - 8x800 with 35 second recoveries. We then divide up into groups by ability and I found myself waffling between the 3 minute and 2:50 groups. 2:50's with that little recovery scared me.

First rep in 2:58 seemed slow, so I kept pushing the subsequent reps a little more to 2:51; 2:50; 2:46; 2:47; 2:49; 2:47; and 2:43. At the end I was hurting but not dying, altogether I surprised myself at how good I felt doing them. I think a big help was doing these reps as a group, having four others to work with once I settled into the 2:50 group helped alot. Having speed work be a social thing is also a novelty for me, I can't remember the last time I did intervals with anyone else. I tried something new and it worked. Worked to where I'll see about making it up there again next Tuesday. Guessing the total mileage to be 6.5.

Monday I took a day off.

Now I'm caught up again.

Tougher than the Rest

Slept in today. I fear, however, that what I gained in sleep I lost in sweat. "Tougher than the rest" could be a reference to my not seeing any other runners out this morning, but it is also one of the songs on Springsteen's Tunnel of Love album, which was the soundtrack to my run.

Lansdowne Sycamore loop, got my weekly karmic energy boost from the tree. Felt strong despite the heat, ran a little faster than usual. 10 miles in 82:20.

62 miles total for the week. I'm happy with that given my midweek hiccup.

Run for Twinkie

My dear cat Twinkie passed away last night. He was 12 and had been getting sicker over the last two weeks or so. The vet said yesterday that he had various tumors throughout his body, and I thought it best to put an end to his pain. He was a good cat.

I got Twinkie at roughly the same time I started running. After a bit I thought of him as my own portrait of Dorian Gray, for as I got fitter he got more obese. I can of course share lots of memories about him, but I'll spare you all but how for years he would faithfully meet me, early in the mornings, in the bathroom as I got ready for my morning runs. He would jump into the clawfoot tub and wait for me to turn on the faucet so he could drink. Recently he couldn't make it into the tub anymore, so lifting him into the tub and turning on the faucet became as regular a pre-run ritual as lacing up my shoes.

I'll miss you Twinkie, and John, Deirdre and I decided this morning's run would be dedicated to you.

This morning's run was the kind when, at 8 am, we all agreed we should have started at 7. Hot and humid. We took a variation of John's water fountain loop through Fairmount Park and East Falls. All the usual things about how much easier a long run is with good company apply here. Save a couple of patches where my stomach did flips, I felt strong today and we took the last 3.5 miles down Kelly Drive in 25:51 (including a fountain break). Blame that on Deirdre, but also chalk it up to my feeling stronger. But I'm glad its done.

16.5 miles in 2:08:00.

Penance

Got a new running partner this morning, which doesn't happen everyday. Cute girl to boot.

Helena didn't look too psyched to be there. She came in a stroller, pushed by her dad, Jody. So the Club West Philly census now stands at runners 4; strollers 2. We had a plenary session this morning. Helena has a cute lower lip she sticks out when she's had enough, and that happened at about Woodlands Cemetery. The rest of us proceeded with a pasta loop up to 51st St, and at Baltimore Ave we headed east again as Erin and Iris had enough. That left me and Deirdre.

Purgatory is having to run with Deirdre the morning after doing a tempo run the night before. This is nothing against her company, in fact if I didn't like her company I'd have every excuse to let her go. But instead we kept running through South Philly after we lost the cavalry. Through Point Breeze, which is another one of those pockets of Philly that usually seem folded out of sight, and then back home through Grey's Ferry. I wanted to get in an easy 85 minutes, which is usually ten miles for me. For my sins I got in 85, but this morning it came to 11.5 miles.

And tomorrow me, her and John Dubs are planning to run long. God help me.

Bubbly Toes

on the feet of a queen of the hearts of the cards
and her feet are all covered with tar balls and scars
~Jack Johnson

I didn't run yesterday but I did see the podiatrist.

Ira is just too far away to go see for messed up toenails. So I went online to the Blue Cross providers site and started looking. Called up a Univ. of Penn. Hospital System podiatry practice and the earliest they could see me was July 31. Then I called a podiatrist at Mercy Hospital, on 54th and Cedar, and they could get me in the next day. The receptionist asked why I wanted to see the doctor. I told her the clinical diagnosis was "really gross toenails".

Gross toenails are, however, in the eye of the beholder. The podiatrist that fate handed me was really good, took the time to explain why my toenails were the way they were, said the problem was pretty easy to fix, and then went about to fix it. The receptionist came in to see how gross the toenails really were and I could see she was disappointed. She expected grosser. Which is why I could never be a podiatrist.

So the doc fixed me up and said I was free to run. And my eyes got as big as my bubbly toes. He wrote me a prescription for some anti-fungal nail lacquer and so now when I hang out and BS with Kevin after dinner I put cotton balls between my toes and start doing my nails. Well, I don't really use cotton balls.

I haven't been sleeping great lately and couldn't get up this morning. I haven't had a good run since Sunday, so if I didn't get a good run in this afternoon the momentum would really start to reverse. Ran the Bloody Nipple loop after work. I was describing this route today as my growth chart. Each week I can use it to draw a mark on the wall to see the progress I'm making. I had some fuel to burn today, and made the most of it. The 4 MLK miles in 24:53 and the top of the BN in 9:15 on the way to the Belmont Plateau in 17:30. Compare that to what I ran last Thursday, and you'll see why I'm happy.

13.5 in 1:41:44.

The Problem with PM Runs

I'd gladly lose me to find you
I'd gladly give up all I got
To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop...

I planned to run a double. I ran a Cobbs Creek/Cedar Ave loop this morning. I was going to head out to the track after work (really, I was) but a better opportunity came up. I won't divulge specifics, but it did involve sunshine and Margaritas. No regrets, an easy day. 3.8 in 34:47.

To make a virtue out of this, my toes have been really gross lately. Again, I'll spare you the details other than to say they're not about to fall off and I am seeing a podiatrist tomorrow morning.

Long Run

Minutes seem like hours... Hours seem like days.

A long run today. But today the time part of the time-space continuum was stretched like a funhouse mirror, and the miles seemed to really drag on for ever.

Had a very restless sleep last night so I purposefully slept through my 6am run, figuring I'd make it up this evening. Like I always say, any mileage works a lot better in the log than a dnr. Predictably, I didn't feel like running this evening, so I made myself a deal that I would do a Franklin Field loop and push it out west as far as I wanted. Also predictably, once I got going I felt like keeping on, so I headed all the way out west to Cobbs Creek before turning to go home. The result is a river-creek loop that was 7 miles, in 61:59. But it seemed like I was out there forever.

One of the nice things about running in the evening is the opportunity to open a frosty adult beverage upon finishing the run. And then another one.

Training Wheels

20,000 roads I've been down, down, down... and they all led me straight back home to you. ~Gram Parsons

Wanted to go somewhere different today. Pondered driving out somewhere but finally settled on running out across the Ben Franklin Bridge and back. This is a Sunday morning run, as that is about the only time that traffic won't make this route unrunnable. But I headed northeast, down Lombard St. and up Sixth to the bridge. Its a rush to slowly ascend over Philadelphia and then to cross the Delaware on a pedestrian walk that puts you above the crossing traffic. Then its an ascent into Camden, with the perfectly cut diamond that is Campbell's Field. Turn around, and do it all again on the long run home.

12 miles; 1:44:44 on this route. This gives me 78 for the week, and with that and three hard workouts this makes my first real training week of the summer.

The Long Run

I suppose this weekend for me is not so much celebrating independence as much as thinking about what it means. A bit too heady to be calling for fireworks.

Its an occasion better suited for lacing up my shoes and getting going. Gonna leave here running, cause walking's much too slow.

Ran long this morning. John Dubs and I dragged Dierdre screaming (okay, more like complaining) up Kelly Drive, and as soon as we passed Falls Bridge the mood started to lift for all of us. Conversation started picking up, and so did my running momentum. We crossed over Green Lane and ran up the first bear before making our way down onto the railway bed I've mentioned wanting to explore. The tracks were gone, but the large gravel that replaced it was less than ideal for running. And the bed went less than a mile before it hit the Cynwyd regional rail station and we had to go back to the roads. But hey, try out new things, sometimes they work better than other times. It did get us running through the middle of Bala Cynwyd, a leafy, almost Main Line suburb that I'm not too familiar with. Then it was back through St. Joe's University and onto more familiar terrain. This week I ran strong and John not so, with Deirdre of course always willing to go another 3 or 4.

Total loop is here, the start and finish are not accurate as I parked on the other side of the Spring Garden Bridge today. I'm calling it 16.5 miles in 2:17:33.

Pizza Dreams

Had the hardest time getting out of bed this morning. As I had the day off, this was the day for this. But just lay in bed with my thoughts and then just drifted off into mini-dreams from which I'd wake myself only to lapse into another one. I'm in a Uhaul truck and the more I try to work the controls the more the truck shakes side to side and front to back. The obvious interpretation there is that I'm feeling a bit out of control. I'm trying to get into Tinicum through a black, heavy iron door placed in the middle of a big black facade. I push hard and open the door a crack but not wide enough to get my scrawny butt through... I wake up and realize that all I needed to do was go around the facade and I'd have been in. Maybe they stem from the Italian food I had last night - a gastronomically upscale version of pizza dreams.

From dream diary to running blog, the carb loading did little to power my run this morning. Ran my Lansdowne Sycamore loop. I hope I look as good as that tree when I'm 300. Got out late, and got to run through block after block of Locust Street that was shut down for block parties. Kids on bikes, playing ball, women chatting, guys with guts starting up grills. Crossed the creek into Lansdowne and caught up with the parade. Firetrucks, soldiers, and onlookers sitting curbside in beachchairs. Back into Philadelphia and down Kingsessing Ave and it became block parties again. My favorite part of this is seeing what the people look like who live along the routes I run, who are rarely outdoors in the morning hours that I run by.

Other than that, this 4th promises to be a quiet one, as I spend it with a guy who looks at this day as one commemorating the loss of a bunch of upstart colonies.

10 miles in 85:36.

Good Morning

Defeat is not falling down; defeat is not getting back up.

I saw that on a guy's t-shirt just as I was cresting the Bloody Nipple hill. Wonder if it was meant for me.

Yes, the old BN. I ran my first BN loop of the training cycle. This is the perfect tempo course. You got 3.5 miles warmup; 4 miles flat, measured bike path to hammer; about 3 miles of hills and whatnot to sustain effort; and then about another 3 miles to cool down. Over the course of a training cycle my performance on this loop becomes a yardstick for the progress I'm making.

The post I wanted to write today was already written on January 24th. Same modest goals of sub 7 pace for the MLK part and sub 20 minutes for the BN part. And like I did on that cold winter morning, I pretty much shattered these goals in today's late morning sun, at 26:19 and 18:18(9:45) running them faster and with substantially less than 100% effort. The key for the rest of the summer is to get those times down.

This is shaping up to be a good week. 13.5 miles in 1:44:56.

The Morning After

If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will...

The problem with a hard evening workout is that you don't think about the fact that the morning workout is then 12 hours away. I've had it in the winter when you finish your workout in the dark and then get up to run again the next morning when its still dark.

I finished yesterday evening in the light, and it was light again when I trudged over to Erin's at 6 am. Met up with her and Jody and did another variation of what I'm now calling the pasta loop. And, to answer a particular reader, that would be cooked pasta. Running that little half-mile to Erin's when my head is groggy and my legs are sore is now second nature. But the soreness in the legs never really left, and by the end of the loop they started to feel like they did last Saturday. I had wanted to tack on some miles after we finished the loop, but thought the better of it. That was wise, but now I feel like I'm behind in my goal for another 70 mile week. This, my friends, is the tyranny of long-distance running.

Almost 8 in 66:38.

Detroit Iron

Feeling high octane this evening. After a 4 mile morning run out, back and around Franklin Field this morning, I laced up my shoes again this evening to return to FF, this time for some track work.

I don't know if I was already pumped and put on Jimmy Thackery because of it, or I put him on and got pumped. Either way I ran down to the track this evening feeling like a tank. Ready to go high octane. Put 800s (400m recovery) on the menu, figured I had time to do six of them before they shut down FF at 7:45. Set the bar for the reps at 2:50, figured that pushed things a bit from last weeks track workout.

Wheels kept rolling. 2:47; 2:45; 2:47; 2:47; 2:48; 2:47. Gate almost hit my ass on the way out as the security guard closed up shop.

Love days like this, when I feel like master of the f'ing universe. I'm in better shape than I thought I am, although I have much work still to do.

11.5 miles total (4 in a.m. and 7.5 total in p.m.), no overall times available.