The Daily Log 12/1/08

Distance: 15.23 miles
Time: 2:27:16
Pace: 9:40/mile
Weight: 196lbs
Terrain: Mainly flat, but some moderate inclines
Temperature: Very cold, somewhat breezy in less built up areas
Gear: Long-sleeved Adidas Climacool shirt, Adidas Running Fleece, Under Armour Running Hoodie (first 5 miles only), Reebok stocking cap, Adidas long training pants over Adidas running shorts, Nike Air Zoom Vomero Shoes
Hydration: Water, Strawberry-Kiwi Vitamin Water
Fuel: None
Medical: Left calf
Recovery: Stretches, Aleve, ice
Shoe Mile Count: 140.15 miles
Days until Marathon: 48

Unlike last Sunday's race, where the miles seemed to fly by, I felt every minute of this one. It was very cold, somewhat windy, and eerily silent, at least for the first hour and a half or so before pre-work traffic picked up. I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it at all, but it was definitely a slog.

The first few miles were OK, though yesterday's snow and a cold night had left a few icy patches that I had to weave around and I almost slipped a couple of times, which was rather stressful. At around mile 6, the underside of my left knee began to throb, and continued to do so, on and off, for the remainder of the run. Afterwards, I determined it was positioned more in the high calf, though it could still be related to knee ligaments, I'm not sure. Whatever the specific area, it's somewhat tender now, and will require some careful monitoring for a few days. I don't think I've actually pulled anything, but certain types of motion are proving a bit painful, so it's certainly possible I've picked up a minor strain of some kind. Obviously, tomorrow is an off day, but if it hasn't entirely cleared up by Wednesday, I might skip the recovery run that day to give it a little extra time to heal.

The good news is that, aside from that and a little blister on one of my toes, there were no other areas of concern. The two "usual suspects" - right knee and left heel - were virtually unnoticeable, so I suppose every cloud....

Pace-wise, I started very slowly, logging the first mile in just under 11 minutes. I was amazed I'd run that slow, but I think a combination of me wearing a lot of clothes, trying to get used to the cold, and also purposely attempting to rein myself in were the main reasons. The first five miles I ran with my hoodie on, and while I wasn't heating up too much, it was very heavy and I finally discarded it when I looped back to the house, a good move. I felt a lot freer only wearing the much lighter fleece over my running shirt, and I think my pace picked up as a result. By the end, I'd come in right on target (9:35 to 9:45 pace was the goal).

I ran a familiar 4+ mile loop 3 times, with two 1 mile loops to make up the distance, and although the course is good for long runs because it isn't too terribly hilly and is reasonably pretty, there was certainly an element of monotony by the third loop, and that lack of concentration led me to perform one of my patented "tripping over a paving stone" manoeuvres. Once again, I got lucky. A stumble and a swear word were all that transpired, but again, a pulled muscle or heavy fall were only narrowly avoided.

On the Spirit of the Marathon movie, one of the runners profiled said "these things really beat you up". Now I'm doing truly lengthy training runs, I am really starting to see what he means. I was just exhausted at the end of this one, and slightly discouraged by the fact that it's still 11 miles short of what I'll have to run in Arizona. I know all the training programs say that's perfectly normal, that with slow buildup in mileage, by the time you race, you will be prepared to run that far, but right now, it seems very daunting.

Anyway, 15 miles is a heck of a distance, I'm happy I completed it, and perhaps most importantly, I will only have to run further three times before the race. So while I'm not on the downhill portion yet, I am at least getting to where I can see the peak.