Getting back to Boston

Southside/Hardscrabble loop this morning, once I quit sneezing. Hips were a little sore after last night's progression 10K, but they loosened up in about two miles. Achilles again behaved itself with no ill effects from last night. Still gonna ice it some for prophylaxis. But I think I kinda dodged this bullet. Now will it hold up for 20 with Kathy on Sunday? Only one way to find out.

Intervals at Ben Geren. It was supposed to be 15 X 1 minute at 5K pace. Most of them were faster than that. And I felt like I was going to pass out at the end of most of them. Seriously lightheaded. Was that because I didn't eat much, or because it was 80 degrees, or what? Dunno, but I got through it without hitting the ground. Legs did fine, it was the lightheadedness that scared me.

Almost four hours at Ben Geren with Kay, Lalita and Kathy M. Glad they kept my pace slow. I don't know if I could have finished 20 if I'd kept my pace at normal levels. It hurt, and I had some chafing, but I got through with enough energy to push the last half mile or so at maybe 9:00 pace. Overall average with 4:1 Gallowalking was 11:11. It was good to have some company. Not sure I could have gotten through it solo, either. Now, nap time.

Easy 5 after work. At least the first 4.5 were easy.Then I splatted on the sidewalk by McDonald's. Note to self: sometimes the street is safer. Picked myself up and dragged home. Still just over 10:00 pace, which is what I wanted.

Out at 5:15 with the ladies. No face plant this time. Pace was a little faster than last night but still comfortable, and legs were OK considering the 10-hour double.

Leg is starting to act just a tad infected. Alissa put bacitracin on it and wrapped it. I'll give it another 24 hours of rest before I think about running again. It's a bit red and swollen with some scant serous drainage.

Road rash got infected, so I took the last five days off to let it semi-heal. Probably could have run at least a little, but it was a hard week at work, so the extra rest was nice. Got out today at Ben Geren with Kathy M, Kay and Lalita. It was breezy and spitting rain, but never rained much at all, so it will probably open up later. Also supposed to get quite cold. Run went OK, was able to pick up the pace a bit to 9:40ish.

Speed night at the track, and I found myself leading a group of maybe 6 to 8 people running 400s. Which was OK, since it forced me to slow down and not overdo it. We ran the first 7 at just under 8:00 pace, then I decided to blast the last one, and Randy McIntosh blasted it with me. I ran it in 1:35, which is the first time I've gone under 100 seconds in a long, long time. Too bad I can't run 5Ks at that pace. With warm/cool and recovery jogs, did 5+. Nice workout, but not so much that I left my race behind out there. Just sharpened up a bit for Spa.

Good run from Marketplace with the ladies.Easy 10 minute warmup, moderate for 10 minutes, push it hard for 10 minutes, then ease up back to the car. Did approximately 5 miles with 1.25 or so at pace. Temp was 29 and windless, and it felt good out there. Shorts and a long sleeved tech shirt were fine. Headband and thin gloves took care of those issues.

Nice and slow with Sherrie R. this morning from Marketplace.

Well, maybe not so easy. Sherrie once again pushed the pace early, then a bunch of us hammered it for the last half-mile or so, led by Cindy, who said she was "feelin' it." I guess she was. Tammy and I barely caught her before we got back to the car.I felt pretty bad last night, coughing and wheezing. I assume that's a result of all the drainage. I'm still draining and the chest is tight, but not like last night. Just hope I don't come down with the crud before the race -- or after, for that matter. Can't afford to get sick,.

Over the mountain at Hot Springs this morning. WEather was perfect. Run was pretty good, except that my breathing issues got me on the climb up West Mountain and I walked for 100 yards. Other than that, I would have finished with a faster time than Survivors Challenge. As it was, my challenge was that Staci passed me with a half mile to go and there was no way I was going to let her beat me. So I accelerated and wound up beating her by 12 seconds.

Went to awards (plenty for WAR but none for me), then Staci, Mary Jo and I drove back. Just enough time to change and head to Rogers for tonight's date. 

Progression run at the WAR room with Rose and Lionel. I hadn't planned to do any progressing; low and slow would have been just fine. But Rose kept getting faster, and we accelerated to keep up, and for the last mile and a half I just put the hammer down to get through. Wound up with a 9:24 average after starting out at 10:30 pace. Believe me, I could still feel West Mountain (and still can, 12 miles later).

6+ with the 5:15 gang on Phoenix. Took yesterday off with soreness and a full day of work, so this was a nice recovery run at a decent pace. Then we gabbed for a half hour afterward. Got up to 100 miles for the month with 10 days left; still will have to step it up to get to 1500 by NYE. But I should be 

Easy 5 after work. SHS was locked up, so drove back home, ran two laps around the mall and stretched it out around the neighborhood to get to 5. Ran by McDonalds for the first time since my nosedive, and darn if I didn't stumble again in almost exactly the same spot. Maintained my balance this time, though. I've concluded there are two bad seams on that sidewalk and the nighttime lighting makes them darn near invisible. I think I'll stay off that sidewalk, at least northbound at night, for a while. Anyway, up early tomorrow for 11 before work, including the Thanksgiving Day 5-miler from Maybranch. I'll run over there, do the fish, then run home.

Early 11 before breakfast. Ran over to Maybranch Square to join the fun run, did 5 with them, then ran back home. That was plenty. Glad I don't have a rounding list today so I might get a bit of a nap. Pace was 9:40ish, a little faster than I intended.

Easy 4 with Kathy L.Now off to the LSU game. Alone :(

Did the interstate run with Rose, Kay and Randy. Left the Casa, downtown, across the Garrison bridge to Mobilehoma, then retraced our steps.Had to leave them behind because I'm working 1.5 shifts today, which I learned at about 7:15. Good run. They enjoyed the course. Hilly, but not horrible, different than their usual run. Weather was cold, clear and great for running, even if I did break out the tights for the first time. As usual, thought of Jen while running by Northside.

Slow with Kathy M. and Lalita, their last "long run" before Memphis.Kathy is in fullbown taper madness, which is funny i f you know the symptoms. Legs took a while to loosen up in low-30s temps, but finally felt pretty good. Now to go to work and get slammed.

Speed work.Ran to SHS, did 3-mile tempo run at 7:40ish pace with Don Edge, then ran home, all in the dark. First tempo run in a long, long time, and it went OK. I'd planned to do up to 4 but wasn't sure I was up to it after no tempos for months and months. In retrospect, glad I cut it off at 3 tempo miles. Still a good workout, but I wasn't just totally obliterated and had some life in the legs running home. Plus I'm running with Sheri at 5:45 in the morning...

Dark and early with Sheri and May. And cold. I have no idea where she was taking me, other than I went under the freeway twice at an underpass I didn't know existed. Kept it nice and slow, which was good after last night's tempo run; I was still quite sore 11 hours later.

MLR, did the same loop twice. Garmin and Mapmyrun agreed on the distance of the first loop but not the second (they were identical), so I'm going with that distance: 6.06 X 2. Time for first loop was 57:xx; overall time was 1:51:14, so it was at least a 3-minute negative split. Felt pretty good. I overdressed for the first loop (tights, long sleeves, gloves, headband) and ditched all of those after the first loop for shorts and a short sleeved tech shirt, and was quite comfortable on the second loop. Maybe, just maybe, I'm getting back in gear.

Easy 5 with Kathy L., threw in some hill sprints at the end just for the heck of it, because I haven't done any in ages. They went OK. We'll see if I pay for them later. Kathy's still having trouble with that ankle and may need an MRI to see why it's still swelling. But she seemed to get through today all right. We'll do another 4 or so Sunday unless it swells again.