The Kind of Run I Needed

The head cold is gone and a very busy past couple of days are now behind me, which made this run feel great. With the recent rains, it was fun wading through the creeks and splashing through the mud. Also felt great to climb the hills and glide down on the descents. Perhaps best of all... no bugs.

The PF, while still present, hasn't been too bad lately. I felt it some towards the very end of the run, but it wasn't bad. I really think stretching the feet is helping. Something I haven't been doing which I should be doing is icing. I'm going to start that today. I'm hoping that combined with the continued stretching and taking NSAIDs will put it away for good.

Saw two forest rangers out while running and stopped to chat with them a bit. Very friendly guys.

Ran 7.4 miles @ 8:54/mile pace.
Trails and fire roads.
Very hilly.
Lower 70s, partly sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.

Super Short

Today's run almost isn't even worth mentioning. Just ran the first and last leg of warm-up and cool downs with the XC team, and one 400m lap over hilly and technical terrain thrown in.

I've had a head cold the past few days. Yesterday it was at it's worst, today it's still present but much better. Probably wise I took yesterday off and today was easy. The PF has been very minor the past two days, almost not even noticeable. That's good.

Next two days don't look good for training. I have grad school tomorrow evening and we have a XC meet on Friday afternoon/evening. I could run in the mornings, but given the cold and waning PF I think it's probably wisest I don't run again until the weekend just to help the body along. Plus, this grad school class looks like my toughest one yet and I want to be awake for it. My straight 'A' streak will likely come to a halt if I don't keep on top of things. After this one, I have just two more classes and I'll have my Masters in Educational Leadership.

I really look forward to eventually getting my training back up. I don't think I'm too far off from that, perhaps this time it'll be for real. Good thing, as I'm starting to go a bit nuts.

Ran 1.6 miles @ ~7:20/mile pace average.
Paved roads and trails.
Moderately hilly.
Upper 60s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.

Cross Country

Today I began assistant coaching with the high school cross country team. This is a great gig that I really enjoy and we have a really great group this year. Today I ran the warm-up with the team and then tacked on an extra mile. Then I helped time the team as they did mile repeats. Followed that up by running the two mile cool down. All in all a good little workout.

The PF felt okay today. I'd rate it as moderate. I didn't notice it during the run, only during the day when I was teaching.

Ran 5.0 miles total.

#1: Ran 3.0 miles @ 7:27/mile pace.
#2: Ran 2.0 miles @ 7:46/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 70s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.

This is War

I have begun waging war on my plantar fasciitis. It will most likely be a long battle, but today was a victory of sorts. I had very little discomfort when I woke up this morning and had a successful, pain-free run this afternoon. There will be good days like this, but I also realize there will be bad days ahead. I'm not out of the dark yet. Probably far from it. However, today was one of those good days to enjoy.

I think today might have went well in part because of some aggressive therapy. I'm quite pleased with an idea that I had that seems to be working out. Yesterday, I devised a way of tying long, wide Ace bandages to stretch the foot out. I looked at splints used for plantar fasciitis and also the Strassburg Sock, and the concept on how they work is pretty simple. My "Ghetto Plantar Fasciitis strap" seems to mimic the same principle. I'm hoping this will work out, but only time will tell. So far, so good though.

Note in the below picture how the bandage is wrapped around the ball of the foot, and the strap comes between the big toe and the other little piggie next to it. This can get uncomfortable after a while between the toes, but you don't have to go between the toes. However, I think this does give a little bit of a better stretch since it's coming over the top of the foot (skull added for dramatic effect):

More of a side view:
I wore these all evening yesterday and also to bed, though they did become a bit uncomfortable in the middle of the night and I took them off. I also wore them around most of the morning and afternoon today as well. I'm getting better at tying them comfortably.

In addition to this, I've been taking Ibuprofen and also rolling golf balls along the arch of my foot. Yessir, I'm taking beating this thing quite seriously, especially since I don't want to cut back on my mileage too much and I feel if I can go into overdrive in other areas I can hopefully make up for it.

As for today's run, I put the pedal down a bit and flew along the transfer station route at a good pace. The bridge just down from the transfer station was washed out, I guess from the five inches of rain we got last night from what was leftover of tropical storm Hanna. No biggie, just waded through it. There were some ATV guys on the other side who looked somewhat impressed I was doing that. They were very friendly and all, but c'mon guys, it's only water.

Ran 5.6 miles @ 7:21/mile pace.
Paved and dirt roads.
Very hilly.
Lower 70s, sunny.
Shorts.

Plantar Fasciitis

Just as I felt I was getting back on track, now I've come to terms that I've most likely developed a case of plantar fasciitis. Ugh. Felt it coming on about a week and a half or so ago. Frustrating for sure, but I'm determined to lick this thing. Unfortunately, that means cutting back on my mileage for a while. I'm also going to do lots of stretching and put myself on NSAIDs treatment. I'm also considering the Strassburg Sock.

That aside, today's run felt great. Every other part of my body and mind is raring to go, just the stupid heel/foot discomfort from the plantars. We ran at Pineland Farms. About 10 of us in all. I mostly ran with Ryan and Jim, who were great company. All three of us are running the MDI Marathon next month, which will be fun.

Ran 13.4 miles @ 8:51/mile pace.
Trails.
Very hilly.
Mid-upper 60s, overcast, light rain.
Shorts.

Another Good Run

Today I ran the same route as yesterday (railroad bed trails near the school) and it also went well. I'm finally feeling a lot more like my old self again. Runs of this distance are simply feeling easy once more. Cool.

It is with regret that I take a rest day tomorrow. Thursday evenings I have grad school. I could get in my run in the early morning, and I may do that soon. But as I adjust to the new schedule, I'd prefer not to do too much. I'd like to be somewhat alert for the first day.

Ran 8.2 miles @ 8:20/mile pace.
Trails.
Slightly hilly.
Upper 70s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.

After School Run

Students don't return until tomorrow, but today was a teacher work day and it still felt nice to return to a schedule where most of my weekday runs will take place in the mid-afternoon. I'll begin helping coach cross country next week, but still have this week to do my runs on my own.

I had totally forgotten that I still owned a Forerunner 201 and had loaned it to Neighbor Kate a while back. We'll just share it until I get my 305 back up and running. I tried to call Garmin's tech support today, but the wait was over 30 minutes according to the robot-voice lady, so I hung up and will try again tomorrow, but during the morning hours.

Today's run felt great. Hamstrings felt pretty darn good, almost a non-issue. However, the bottoms of my feet have been aching the past few days. That went away a few miles into today's run however.

Aside from that, the run went pretty stellar. The pace felt effortless and my energy was great. I think I'm finally starting to turn the corner on my prolonged recovery, but I'll still proceed with caution.

Ran 8.2 miles @ 8:01/mile pace.
Trails.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 70s, partly sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.