I wanted to stop over-thinking everything I could the week of the race, so I stopped really paying much attention to recording or worrying about exactly how much running I could get in. In this span, I ran twice or three times, including a nice pre-race run in Austin the day before with the crew in town for the race.
My sesamoid continues to be a bit sore. I was walking around for a bit during the day and I could feel a dull ache after a while.
Time: 69:00
Distance: 10.25 mi.
Map
Montrose Park, which connects RCP with Georgetown (and a shameless plug for my Flickr photostream)
Easy morning run in some light snow. I was definitely in the overthinking-the-pain mindset that Jordan and I talked about recently, in which it is difficult to know how much a small injury is nagging because you can't get your mind off it for one step. I think I was completely pain free in my left sesamoid until 50-55 minutes and then it started to get a little bit sore. The run took me south in RCP through Montrose Park around Georgetown and all the way back up. I cut out of Rock Creek Park a little bit early and ran back by way of Columbia Road rather than finishing up Klingle Road when I started to feel some soreness in my food.
I ran with a mix of eclectic hip hop on shuffle. This included Ratatat's two volumes of remixes which have some nice twists on rap classics (from the era of when Kanye was a rapper and older), and the new N.A.S.A. album The Spirit of Apollo which features performers ranging from Ol' Dirty Bastard to Tom Waits.
Time: 135:00
Distance: 20 mi.
I managed to find company for all of my last long run before the Austin Marathon. I met up with Max at the beginning of the run, and we picked up Rosen at about one hour into it. Max dropped off around 90 minutes and I ran with Jon most of the way back to his house. I first went West in the park, then once we picked up Jon up and down Beach Drive.
I felt fairly good throughout the run, except for at about 100 minutes when my left sesamoid became quite sore in a very short period of time. I definitely had to alter my stride and foot strike to keep the pressure off of it. I can't think what might have brought this on, other than the more minimal midsole of the Lunatrainer catching up with me after having worn it for the last week. I hope this is not the case, as the shoes have seemed great so far.
Time: 80:30
Distance: 12 mi.
View Larger Map
Well, the weather is finally cooperating for a few days--it was about 50 degrees and I headed out this afternoon in a t-shirt and shorts. I ran just outside the Beltway through what I believe is called the "Rock Creek Regional Park." The bike path through this area continues from the top of Rock Creek Park along Beach Drive through Chevy Chase, MD and farther north. I started at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Beach Drive in Chevy Chase and did a simple out-and-back run on the winding and somewhat hilly bike path. There are a smattering of distance markers along the way, though none of them seemed to form a coherent measure for the trail.
Clown shoes?
I also finally started running in a new pair of kicks, courtesy of the OK Runner. The Nike LunarTrainer is essentially a beefed up Free with a new "LunarLite" midsole that is supposedly more durable and distributes weight more evenly across the bottom of the foot. I like that the upper is wide and flexible and that it has a wide midsole base. Weighing at under 9 oz (25% lighter than the Nike Elite 3s I have been running in), it might just be a trainer for the next month as well as my marathon race day shoe. Unfortunately, the shoes aren't miracle workers, as my legs felt pretty dead today, and my left sesamoid was a little sore.
Time: 90:00
Distance: 13 mi.
After an errand in Rockville, MD I was looking for somewhere interesting to run. After ruling out an inexplicably snowy Rock Creek Regional Park in Rockville, I stopped at Wheaton Park in Silver Spring, MD without much of an idea what to expect. After doing a few short loops in Wheaton Park, I found a connection to the Northwest Branch Trail, which runs 3.5 miles south to US-29. This made for a very nice out-and-back section and combined with the Wheaton Park trails was a great, almost completely soft surface, 13 miles. The run felt a lot like an east coast version of Austin's greenbelt, with a few rocky and technical sections. If I did this run again, it would probably be best to start at the parking lot at US-29 and run up to Wheaton Park and back.
My legs were a little tired by the end, and my left sesamoid is still getting a bit sore after about 50 minutes of running.
Time: 88:00 (?)
Distance: 12.75 mi.
Map (approximate)
Today's National Weather Service wind-chill advisory states, "If you must venture outdoors, make sure to wear a hat and gloves." Well, I decided that two pairs of gloves were probably in order as the temperature was 12 deg. F, feels like -1 deg. F as I was heading out the door. Despite my being bundled up, I was pretty cold and honestly, a bit miserable, throughout the run. My legs felt stiff the whole way, my face was frozen, and my left sesamoid was sore by the end.
I was happy to find a good loop through the Archibald and Glover trails, the Chesapeake and Ohio towpath and back through Rock Creek Park, though, which could become a regular jaunt.
Time: 69:00
Distance: 9.5 mi.
Map
Easy afternoon run with Jon Rosen (after whom the classic Rosen Loop is named) and Matt Lacey. Jon just got back from Zanzibar, and it was interesting to hear some of his stories from his time there. Man, I want to travel. Matt was in the middle of a 2 hour run and started from his house. This was a good recovery run, though I didn't feel too bad after yesterday's effort. My right sesamoid is a bit sore, which I will keep an eye on.
