Feeling better

I woke up today to my foot feeling better -- just a little tender, but able to run. I did a warmup lap in the park, then ran a 1.2 miles down the airport road and back. I measured off a mile, which I ran in 8:23 going with the wind and 8:59 coming back against the wind. It felt very good -- the foot actually got better the longer I ran. It's a weird thing -- just some soreness near the achilles, but it doesn't get worse. It actually improves as I run, and then at some point, it will go away completely. I don't know if it is the change in shoes or what.

Then I ran 5 minutes back and forth on the soccer fields as kind of a cooldown for a 32-minute run. The 5K including the warmup was 26:30 -- which is outstanding, 8:33 a mile. My conditioning has come a long way.

Miles for week -- 14

Miles on new shoes --22

Turkey update

I ran 20 minutes on the treadmill Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and just seemed like I needed to because I was hurting -- left achilles area and knee.

Then I rested Thursday to save up for a good run Friday. And it was real good. I ran 45 minutes -- probably averaging 8:30-8:40 pace for most of it. I ran on trails in West Des Moines as we stayed with Jenny. Very strong effort, but then the knee and foot(feet) sort of told me it was a little too hard.

I got up this morning and they were sore, but as I worked through the day raking leaves and taking a walk with Tammy, they felt better. Now, at 8:40 p.m., they feel good. So I think this thing will go away soon. Tomorrow, I think I will just run on grass -- a pretty easy effort -- maybe 30-35 minutes.

Miles this week -- 10.3

Miles on new shoes -- 18.5

2 runs

41 minutes saturday, then 31 minutes last night.

My feet and knee have been hurting a bit, so I'm going to kind of slow down a bit.

Run through light rain

I wore my new shoes (Saucony Guide 2) tonight and did a nice run of about 3.8 miles around the 2.5-mile path, into the park 5 minutes and back, then around the .3-mile block at home. It was about 35 minutes of running, some of it semi-brisk. Nothing too fast. My knee is still sort of acting up and I need to take it a little easier on it. The shoes felt good. I ran through a light rain, but there was little wind and just a bit chilly -- 45 degrees or so.

Miles on new shoes -- 3.8

Miles for week -- 6

Slow, soggy

I slogged through 23 minutes on the Winfield golf course. It was raining, the wind was blowing 20 mph and higher, and it was 40 degrees. A nasty night. I needed a short, easy night anyway. My legs are still feeling the effects of the 55-minute run, which followed the intervals at Old Threshers.

Miles on shoes -- 294

Miles for week -- 2

55 minutes

Saturday was a 55-minute run -- the 218-34-linden drive loop (3.4 miles) followed by the trail loop (2.5 miles) then around our block (.3 miles). So I am thinking I ran more than 6 miles.

The knee hurt a little, the left achilles area (it's not the achilles, it's the area to the outside of the achilles) hurt a little from Thursday. But it warmed up and it was fine. The pace was probably appropriate for a longer run (9ish plus). It was good to do.

Miles on shoes -- 292. Now I retire these from running. They were possibly the best shoes I've ever owned. I made some amazing strides with them. My sister Kim got me exactly the same pair for my birthday, so I start with my next 300 miles.

Miles for week -- 14.5

Tough workout at Old Threshers

Tonight I ran about 14 minutes as a warmup the long way to Old Threshers. Then I ran three 800ish repeats on the gravel path (starting at the bottom and winding up at the end of the first road). I think it must be 800 or so. It's kind of a switchback trail and uphill in a couple of spots.

My times: 3:50, 3:36, and 3:23, with a couple of minutes rest between each one. Nothing too great, but I ran pretty hard. I concentrated on keeping it smooth and even, but it was hard to, especially in the dark. The other time I ran this workout I ran 4:00, 3:48, 3:36 -- 10-13 seconds slower per run, plus I had less rest this time. This was Sept. 20 -- so almost 2 months ago. This felt good. Strong. I recovered pretty well.

I ran back (the south route) about 11:30, so the total time was 40 or 41 minutes.

4-4.5 miles. Total miles for week -- 8.5

Miles on shoes --286