Start time: 10/25/07, 8:00am
Location: Thomas Jefferson Community Center
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:37min/mile

The plan was to run earlier in the week before Thursday, but Monday through Wednesday I had such a horribly bad shoulder/neck pain that even moving my head hurt. So it wasn’t until Thursday that I felt good enough to actually run again. I went to the gym and used their indoor track; the first mile I did at a 9:00, and then without trying to the next three shifted up to 8:30. I felt good, no foot soreness, big thumbs up.

Start time: 10/27/07, 2:30pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 8:49min/mile

I finally picked up new inserts for my shoes, put them on, and decided to run a 10-12 miler. Before I even started, though, my right foot felt a tiny bit sore. Hmmm. After about a mile things seemed ok, and my pace felt good. (8:41, 8:58, 8:42, 8:52) Four miles in, though… the foot started hurting. Oh, hell. I turned around and headed back; the hurting never got any worse (yay) but didn’t get any better either (boo). At least the pace stayed the same, so that’s better than nothing. (8:47, 8:46, 8:55, 8:47)

So now I’m wondering, maybe it’s the pair of Brooks Beast that I got back at the start of September that are the problem? I was wearing an older pair of shoes for my last two runs (that were also an earlier model, I think) and the foot problems weren’t so bad. At this point I’m thinking I will go to the podiatrist again this week, and also go back to the old shoes through race day. Fingers crossed.

Start time: 10/21/07, 8:00am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 8:58min/mile

After the last run and my foot problems, I did indeed see a podiatrist, who diagnosed the problem as a tendon strain in the arch of my foot. For two weeks, that meant no running while I let the foot heal, although the elliiptical (being non-impact) was deemed ok so at least my legs were still getting exercise. With all that in mind, I was a little nervous about today’s run.

The bad news is that the foot was a tiny bit sore at the start and end of the run; the good news is that it was nowhere near as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago. None the less, the podiatrist had said that if it was still bothering me to go back and they could inject it with a steroid to try and speed up the healing. So I will probably do that in a bit.

Other than that, though, the run was nice. Dave was sitting out because of heel problems but came by to see us off (the final long run for the group of the season), and Laura, Dvora, and Erika were all there. As a nice surprise, halfway through the run we ran into Paul (who had not realized until the morning that since his partner had the car he was without transportation) who then ran with us for the rest of the 8-miler. A nice way to wind things down.

Start time: 10/7/07, 7:00am
Location: C&O Canal Towpath (and a touch of Rock Creek Park and the Capital Crescent Trail)
Distance: 22 miles
Average pace: 10:15min/mile

The last big run of the season, and it was… eh. (Well, aside from Bruce Springsteen’s “Radio Nowhere” being stuck in my head, which was a nice accompanyment for the run. Thus the post title.)

We ran three miles up in Rock Creek Parkway, then another mile to get to the Capital Crescent Trail, for another mile and a half. All was going well with me, Dave, Dvora, and Paul. Then we hit Fletcher’s Boathouse, where we were supposed to switch up onto the C&O Canal Towpath. Only thing was, Dave decided he didn’t want to run it. (Turns out he’d already arranged for his boyfriend to show up on the Cap Crescent on a bike for the path back in.) The big problem with running Cap Crescent is that all of our planned water stops were on the C&O Canal, and after you pass a water fountain at CCT marker 6.5, there’s no more water all the way to what would be your turn-around at CCT marker 1. So that’s 11 miles with no water, unless you abandon the trail when it goes through Bethesda and buy some. And today’s high temperature would be 90 degrees.

I said that I thought this was a bad move, and if everyone else wanted to run Cap Crescent, I’d just catch the next group (who had just run by while we were discussing this) and stick with the C&O Canal. Water, Gatorade, and support in case of disaster? I knew which sounded better to me, anyway. Dave and Dvora took off on the Cap Crescent, while Paul and I stuck with the C&O Canal. (Dvora had a CamelBack water pouch so we knew she’d be good.) Now the canal’s towpath is a little gravelly and rocky in places, but the further out you get, the better it actually is. As it is, we had a nice run the rest of the way out, and for about halfway back. Up through mile 16, we were averaging around a 9:45min/mile pace. Paul was starting to slow down at that point, though, and I walked for a little bit to eat a gel… and then when I tried to start back up, my right foot started cramping again.

Oh, great.

Now, the cramping wasn’t as bad once I’d been running for a bit; it was when I was walking that it actually hurt the worst. The problem was, I was also starting to run out of energy; the sun was high in the sky and it had really heated up fast. Paul decided he needed to slow down and told me to go on ahead, so I pushed on as best I could, a bad combination of taking a walk break, cringing, then slowly running again until the cramping went away and picking up speed… until I needed another walk break. Nothing like your time suddenly dropping by about a minute-and-a-half per mile.

I did finish, though, and I’m going to make an appointment with a podiatrist to see what exactly is going on. As it is, I think this week I am going to just scrub any running plans.

And last but not least? I was wearing a sleeveless running shirt because of the temperatures… which ended up chafing my arm pretty badly. Nice big red stripe for those who care to look. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!

Start time: 9/30/07, 8:00am
Location: National Mall
Distance: 8 miles
Average pace: 8:54min/mile

Today was an easy 8-miler, the last run before my final long training run of the season. More importantly, though, it was the last run before Laura heads off to Portland, Oregon to run the Portland Marathon. I remember years ago saying, “You should run a marathon!” and her response involved a lot of laughter. This year she’s been out kicking butt and taking names; I have no doubt in my mind that her finishing time will beat my personal record for the distance, because she is just that good. It’s been a real pleasure to train with her—I can’t wait to hear how she does!

(Same problems as last time with the right foot. Time for ye olde tennis ball stretches!)

Start time: 9/26/07, 6:15pm
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:01min/mile

My schedule called for a 12-miler on Thursday, but with book club that just wasn’t happening. Instead I shifted it to Tuesday, with the idea to get the bulk of it run in the morning and the rest in the evening. When I woke up Tuesday morning, though, my legs felt stiff and sore so I decided not to run and went back to sleep. Upon waking back up 90 minutes later, though, they felt fine. Hmph.

After work, I decided to pick up something in the 6-to-8 range and then just call it a day. Heading out, the first three miles were slightly uphill and also heading right into the setting sun. It was an unpleasant run at best, with me feeling too warm (it was almost 90 degrees) and less than thrilled. (8:51, 8:36, 8:55) When I hit the turnaround at marker 8, I decided that perhaps 6 miles would be all I’d get in. By the time I made it back to marker 5 (and my car), though, I’d convinced myself to run at least a tiny bit more, even though I was definitely slowing down a great deal. (8:46, 9:00, 9:08) So, onwards I ran. I hit marker 4 (9:12) and then decided I could pick up another half mile before finally turning around, which would be a grand total of 9 miles, perfectly respectable. As I was closing in on that turn-around point, though, I could sense there was a runner right on my heels, so I turned a bit and said something like, “Sorry about that,” assuming that he was trying to pass my slow butt.

As it turned out, he was drafting off of me to keep going, so we ended up running together for another half mile. His name was Justin, and he’s training for his first marathon this November in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. It was nice to talk with him, and while he dropped back a bit before I hit my turn-around, it definitely made me speed up for what was my eighth mile. (8:54) From there it was a slow uphilll trudge back to marker 5 and my car, and I was glad to stop when I did. (9:17, 9:25) Considering I was expecting to get no more than 8 miles in after work, picking up 10 was a nice surprise even if a bit lacking in performance by the end.

Additionally, I had a brand-new sort of foot pain; a strange sort of cramp on the left side of my right foot. Hmmm. I’m skipping spinning today to let it rest; hopefully that will do the trick!