September 2011
16 posts
3 tags
Marathon Training, Week 5: In Which Dr. S....
Ah, the smell of wet plaster in the morning…
Today was visit #3 to my PAMF podiatrist, Dr. Saxena.
The briefest of recaps from visits #1 & 2:
I have a moderate case of MTSS that is most likely caused by over-pronation that isn’t being corrected sufficiently by stability shoes & semi-custom orthotics.
A few weeks of TheraBand exercises to strengthen the small muscles in...
3 tags
When Life Gives You Lemons, Why Not Kill Someone...
I didn’t kill anyone with lemons this weekend but I kind of wanted to.
Last week I blogged about my follow-up visit to the podiatrist, & how he was not pleased with my progress re: the MTSS from hell. The next step was custom orthotics (a preventive, potentially permanent solution) and air casts (a hopefully temporary way to stabilize my lower legs & let the existing damage heal in...
1 tag
Week In Review: Sept 19 - Sept 25
This is my weekly training journal. Including it in the blog gives me a little extra accountability in the mileage department & helps me stick to my schedule. :)
7 Weeks to Clarksburg Half Marathon
10 Weeks to Cal International Marathon
After finishing my long run Sunday feeling pretty trashed & with a painful tendon in my left leg, I decided to take both Monday and Tuesday off....
2 tags
Link: Dreams, Goals, & Expectations
I only recently started occasionally reading Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano’s site, Run The Edge. For the most part, they tend to post light-hearted / funny / goofy stuff related to running, so it’s pretty amusing to read. Recently, though, Adam posted a more serious piece entitled Adam Goucher: Olympic Dreams. It’s a beautiful post that you should definitely read for yourself,...
3 tags
Marathon Training, Week 3: In Which I Attempt...
I’m not in the habit of carrying fluids or energy / nutritional supplements when I run. People often seem surprised by this. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying I don’t find it pleasant to be able to quench my thirst during a run. On the other hand, I am a lazy ass muthaf**** and will do pretty much anything to avoid carrying things in my hands while I’m running.
...
1 tag
Runner Boobs
It is a pretty sweet day in the blogosphere when I can read two awesome sports bra posts in the same day. At RunnersRambles, I learned about the Zensah bra, and at XLMIC, I learned (or re-learned, actually) about the Moving Comfort Juno bra. (And also about how the first sports bra was two upside-down jock straps stitched together by a frustrated runner. True story. That’s it right there....
1 tag
Week In Review: Sept 12 - Sept 18
This is my weekly training journal. Including it in the blog gives me a little extra accountability in the mileage department & helps me stick to my schedule. :)
8 Weeks to Clarksburg Half Marathon
11 Weeks to Cal International Marathon
Monday: 6 miles easy. This was a pretty good run except for the uphill sections, which I ran a little too fast. Which is also par for the course. I...
1 tag
The Track & The Long View
I have a love / hate relationship with the track. I love the soft, predictable surface. I hate the killer headwind on the backstretch (“Carl”). I love never having to pause for stop lights or dodge strollers and dogs on thirty-foot leashes. I hate the monotony of running circles.
One of my favorite things about running at Kezar Stadium, though, is the people watching. To wit:
For...
3 tags
I Do Not Wish to Become Bionic. Or Destitute.
On Monday I went back to the sports podiatrist in Palo Alto (remember? Runner? Boston qualifier? Duathlete? Podiatrist to the Stars? That’s the one).
Something I’m learning about doctors is that they always have really high expectations for your body. Typically I will go to have a thing treated, then go back a few weeks later for a follow up; they’re like, “So how’s...
2 tags
The Long Run (Part 1: The Physical)
Ah, the long run. The sacred weekend ritual of the distance runner. The indispensable cornerstone of any training cycle. The long run.
Long runs do so many amazing things for us. I’m thinking a lot about that lately because, since coming back from many months of little or no running thanks to an injury, I actually haven’t done all that many. For several months I was under strict...
3 tags
The Reason
I am slowly circling the long-awaited and much-anticipated (well….by me at least) post that will reveal once and for all why, after at least ten years of swearing I would never run a marathon, I’ve finally decided to give it a shot. This shit is crazy complex and I want to make sure I get it right. Or some reasonable approximation thereof.
When I think about trying to explain why...
1 tag
Week In Review: Sept 5 - Sept 11
This is my weekly training journal. Including it in the blog gives me a little extra accountability in the mileage department & helps me stick to my schedule. :)
9 Weeks to Clarksburg Half Marathon
12 Weeks to Cal International Marathon
Tuesday: 7 miles (3 wu + 3 x 1600 @ 10K pace w/ 400 recoveries + .25 cd) Today was the Day of Redemption for last week’s Track Session from...
2 tags
Marathon Training, Week 2: In Which I Refuse to...
I’m only officially about two weeks in (on top of a solid four months of base training), but I have to say I’m pretty excited about the marathon plan I’m using. By & large, I’m following the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project approach. You can read more of the details in this article, but here are the highlights:
This is probably not a good 1st marathon program for most...
1 tag
Committed.
I have a confession to make.
If you’re super-observant, you may have noticed that for sometime part of the sidebar over there looked like this:
If you’ll glance over, you may notice a distinct change (aside from ticking off races).
So….yeah:
Holy balls, Batman.
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First, let’s get a few...
1 tag
Week In Review: Aug 28 - Sept 4
This is my weekly training journal. Including it in the blog gives me a little extra accountability in the mileage department & helps me stick to my schedule. :)
10 Weeks to Clarksburg Half Marathon!!
Last Saturday, I ran my last 10K for the year (Summer Breeze in San Leandro). Now, it’s back to half marathon training — ten weeks to Clarksburg Half Marathon on November 13!
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5 tags
Obscure Local Races: Clarksburg Country Run
You know how your conversations about running tend to go, even if the other participants aren’t necessarily runners. Eventually someone asks you if you’re training for something. For me these conversations have gone kind of like…
“Oh, so are you training for anything?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a (few) 10K(s) coming up, then a half marathon in November.”
...
