Thursday, June 21, 2007

The Final Detail

I registered for Marine Corps Marathon on May 9th, the day that registration opened. Registration has long since closed. I booked my hotel the following day. I've had one last detail left. Wednesday, I finally booked airfare to Reagan National Airport. It's a done deal. Now I just need to get a couple of 20 milers under my belt and on my feet and I'll be ready to go.

Nothing to stellar to report on the running front. Tuesday was another easy 3 miles in Via Verde. I'm getting really good at easy 3 milers. It seems to be my fall back distance when things aren't going well. I clocked a whopping 8:50 pace, which is slow compared to where I was 6 months ago, but about on par with everything since my foot started acting up. The easy pace seems to keep the pain in check. I'd rather run slow for a while pain free than faster, in pain and risk not running at all.

Wednesday I had taken a vacation to run an errand. I turns out my errand was done by about 8:15. I had a whole day to myself to do whatever I wanted. My wife was at work as was #1 son. #2 son was at summer school. It was such a beautiful morning and my foot had been feeling pretty good so I decided to make my way over to Bonelli for my 5 mile loop. I wore the Trance for stability rather than the Cascadias. Again I kept the pace really easy. The hills really kicked my fanny. I walked up way more than usual. My lack of consistent high mileage training, the extra couple of pounds and temperatures in the low 80's all kept me moving slower than I used to. I was super happy to out there though and my foot didn't seem to mind it either. I was a little horrified when I stopped my watch to see 56:27 for 5 miles (11:17 pace).

I enjoyed a couple of weeks of relatively pain free running, but I'm a little afraid to push things up notch just yet. I almost ran today to get 3 straight days of running but ended up putting that particular hurdle off till next week when the marathon training is scheduled to start. I'm still toying around with plans but I'm pretty sure I will be taking a low mileage, just make it to the finish line approach to MCM.

Saturday I will accompany Tyler (#1 son) on his second 5K race. He asked me to find a race to do while he was home on break. He is hoping the break the 30 minute barrier this time out. The way I've been going lately, it may be me that is the rate limiting factor this time out. I'll be sure to let you know.

13 comments:

Jason The Running Man said...

Hope the foot heals up 100% for you! Have fun with the 5k and I'll be pulling for your son to get sub 30!

Wes said...

I remember when we talked about the "easy" three milers :-) Have a great, fun, race with your son. I'm sure he'll be breaking that sub-30 in no time. Hope you can keep up ;-)

Unknown said...

I'm having a similar situation with coming off the pleural rub...

Don't let the numbers freak you out... you know that they are just temporary.

Hang in there and be consistent!

Anonymous said...

good luck to your son!!!

SoberMommie said...

Congrats on the pain-free running!
And have fun running with your son in the 5k.

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

Keep the painfree running in the forefront, don't overdo things early as we are apt to want to do. Good luck to you and your son in the 5k. I want to see one of those sub 30 minute 5k's soon too.

Anonymous said...

i know you must be feeling a little frustrated with having to hold back a little, but i applaud the discipline to keep it in check. you take the time to focus on your son's running, which is an awesome examples to all of us dads. great job, buddy!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Darrell said:I'm getting really good at easy 3 milers...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nothing wrong with that as you recover... You will be back soon enough!

Have a great time this weekend with Tyler...we want some Pictures:-) ahhhh the demands of bloggers-lol

Joe said...

Cool to have another 5K with Tyler...that's really wonderful.

I know the discouragement, Darrell...I felt it all last winter. Hang in there...keep the daily rhythm of running, if not the distance. You'll pull through.

Susan said...

Thanks for the comment!

I'm glad you got an unexpected day to yourself. Those are few and far between.

MCM - wow! I agree with most; keep doing whatever it takes to be painfree. Soon MCM will be but a memory; and that is much better than missing it due to injury!

IronWaddler said...

Glad you are getting some pain-free running in. Good luck to your son in his 5k.

David said...

I am happy to hear about your foot pain easing up. Mine is too. It's amazing what rest and stretches can do for you. I will never miss doing calf stretches again. PF is chronic so we have to keep stretching. Another concern - I hope your shoes aren't too tight and have a lot of toe box room.

My boys will both be home for the 4th. I have challenged them to run a 5K race with me. The younger one will probably sleep through it even if I buy his entry. The Army one says he's going to run it in full BDU with boots and a 35 lb. pack. With that kind of handicap, I think I can beat him this time.

Ryan said...

How great - best of luck in DC! Hope the run went well with your boy!