The Daily Log 10/30/08

Distance: 4.0 miles
Time: 44:58
Pace: 11:14/mile
Weight: 200lbs
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: Warm and sunny
Gear: Adidas running shorts, KC Royals wicking t-shirt, Nike Air Zoom Vomero Shoes
Hydration: None
Fuel: None
Medical: Right shin
Recovery: Stretches, Aleve, ice
Shoe Mile Count: 28.81 miles
Days until Marathon: 80

Rough run. My right shin was as painful as it's been on this go around. One of the patterns I've seen over the last few weeks is that I've often followed a very comfortable run with a rather painful one. Don't ask me why that is.

It didn't help that this route, a new one, was far hillier than I was expecting, including a very long incline over the first mile and another a mile or so after that. Flat courses are far easier on tender shins, naturally, so in retrospect, this turned out to be something of a mistake. I ran with Jill, and she too struggled with the course, and as a result, we ran very slowly. I was quite frustrated because the pace was so slow, I couldn't maintain a natural gait, not to mention that I was in some pain. All in all, a very low quality run.

I am not running again until Sunday. After that, I am going to switch to running every other day to give my legs longer to heal between each run, instead of doing the midweek trifecta. Something always breaks down by the third day, so I think that a change of strategy is called for. There's still 80 long days till Arizona, so caution has to be the name of the game at this point.

Two positives. No left leg pain, and my right calf caused me no discomfort either. All the pain was in one spot today. I suppose that means it could be worse, but, you know, would it be too much to ask that I have one pain free run? Or am I just too old and fat?