Life as a klutz

I have big feet and I tend to trip over them. That isn't the real problem, though. It has been documented that I am actually a klutz as long ago as 1968 when I rolled down my grandma's basement stairs as a toddler. I've fallen up and down those exact stairs many, many times in the ensuing 40-odd years (as well as many other staircases, sidewalks, dirt paths, etc.).

I've twisted my ankles so many times I can't even count. In my first 10k trail race, I twisted the living snot out of not one, but BOTH ankles. And finished the race. I pretty much go through life assuming that at some point I will spontaneously fall down for no apparent reason whatsoever. Avid readers of this blog will recall my infamous invisible stump accident during a trail race in 2010.

I'm nearing the end of marathon training. This week is a cutback week, so I am only supposed to run 41 miles. I have three more weeks of build up, including two more 20-milers, before I taper for three weeks. I ran 10 miles on Monday. I will not be running any more miles this week. I'm not too sure about next week, either. Or the week after that. My trip to Tucson in December may end up just being a vacation.

I didn't really sleep last night, so I decided to try to catch at least a nap before work and told myself that I'd run today's 10 miles after work. It turns out that you should always stick to your schedule and NEVER NEVER EVER deviate from it, because it is hideous awful bad luck. Sleep or no sleep, I should have run this morning. 

On my way out the door to work, I fell down my back hall stairs. I managed not to scream, but it hurt. A lot. Left ankle rolled completely, as it is wont to do. I got up after a couple of minutes and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer. I iced all the way to work, took 4 Ibuprofen when I got there and kept icing with my foot on the desk all morning. Bearing weight was getting to be too much. I called and scheduled an appointment. They will see me at 4:15. I lurched very slowly to the parking lot and drove myself home. My roofer took one look at me and said, "Hey, are you on the injured reserve list?" I lurched to the basement, got my much-loathed crutches, and crutched upstairs after popping 4 more Ibuprofen. Even moving my foot a tiny bit elicits whimpers, because let me tell you folks, this really hurts. I took off my shoe (whimper), the ace wrist bandage I put on my ankle at work, and carefully peeled off my sock.

My ankle is as big as a tennis ball. I've never had an ankle swell up much at all, and I roll them often. I don't think this is good.

< many many many expletives have been deleted from this space >

Long runs in the morning

Yesterday, I ran 13 miles before work. This morning I ran 12 miles. Tomorrow I will also run 12 miles. I am a little tired.

Funny thing about doing my runs before it even gets light out is that they end up feeling sort of surreal. I (eventually) get to work and the day progresses and it's as though the early morning hours didn't really happen. My one foot feels a little creaky and my eyes are tired and I really want to nap, but the reality of "I spent two hours of my day running" doesn't hit me. Well, at 8:30PM when I'm already comatose, then I suppose it hits me.

On the rare occasions when I run after work, the run stays with me more. I'm thinking all day about "having to run" after work, making sure I don't eat too much or too late in the day (I'm not a good eat-before-running person). I worry whether I will be too worn out from working to finish my planned mileage. I perseverate a little, maybe.

It's almost like having a totally separate life.

Every day I run 10 miles

Well, not every day. But four times a week, it seems that I am out at 5am, running 10 miles, because 10 miles is now my easy run. Except on Saturdays, when I run 15 or 18 or 20 miles. Such is the schedule of a marathon runner. Then there's sleeping. And eating mass quantities.

It has been an interesting year for running. This may be the most I have ever run in a single year. Summer was really hot and really humid, which is not the best running weather for me. It suddenly became fall this week, just as I was getting a new roof installed. Waking up to 25 mph winds and temps in the low 40s was fun, then this morning it was 30 when I got up. Luckily I tested out my warmer running gear yesterday (when I also ran 10 miles). The light rail was not very crowded at 6:10 and it's a quick trip to the Metrodome, where both the TC 10 Mile and the marathon start. About 9,000 people registered for the 10 mile and 7600 or so finished it. The race is along the river, where I do nearly all my runs. I usually choose the more down hill direction, however.

I wanted this to be just slightly faster than yesterday, which came in at an 8:59 pace, each mile slightly faster than the one before it. I was aiming for an 8:30 overall pace, which I exceeded if you count the 10.11 miles that my GPS measured. Splits below. Sheesh, St. Paul is hilly. Looking at the elevation chart explains a lot about the slow down in miles 6 and 7!

Mile 1-8:10
Mile 2-8:01
Mile 3-8:37
Mile 4-8:16
Mile 5-8:34
Mile 6-8:47
Mile 7-8:48
Mile 8-8:31
Mile 9-8:40
Mile 10-7:59
bonus 0.11-(7:24)