Been gone so long and premarathon nerves

I have missed you my blogging world.  With the delightful turn of the weather a few weeks ago, there was also a corresponding severe uptick in my work load at the University.  I think the last day off I had was when Lindsey was here a couple of weeks ago.  Not fun.  I have only sporadically been able to check on all your blogs.

I have been barely keeping up with my runs too.  Despite the stress and just being generally tired, I have been having some really good runs. I can run consistently at about a 7:30 to 7:40 pace.   If I can sustain that pace, I would PR at Lincoln on Sunday.

I really can not believe that the marathon is closing in so fast.  After this marathon I am going to take a breather from marathon training for a couple of months.  I will continue to run on a regular basis but instead of hauling my butt on long runs I am going to go on much longer cycling ride.  I like following schedules but I am not sure what I should do when I am not training for something specific.  My next marathon wont be until October.  Any suggestions on a running plan 30ish miles a week?

Well the weather is looking good for the marathon on Sunday.  Right now the weather is forecasted to be a high of 67 and 8 mph winds.  Kind of sounds super nice.  We will see if it stays that way.

I will be back with a marathon wrap up and here is a great song/video that sums up my feelings of Nashville.

Redo of a run one year later.

I am really lucky to be living in the Twin Cities.  There seem to be never ending trails to go and run and if you plan it correctly you could run on a different trail with different types of scenary every day.  In fact the number of trails in Minneapolis has been a contributing factor that moved us past Portland, Oregon as the most bike friendly city in the US (according to Bicycling magazine).

Today, I decided that I would revisit one of the first longer runs I ever attempted.  On April 24th of last year I ran from my house down the Trout Brook trail, down the Gateway, around Phalen and back to my apartment.  This is approximately 10.5 miles.  Looking back at my running log, it took me 1:40 at a 9:07 pace.  I remember getting done with this run and wonder "How in the hell can anyone run a marathon?"  I had started to doubt that I would ever be able to run a marathon let alone run a half marathon.  I was so tired could barely move after this run.

Well fast forward almost a year and I redid that same run, but this time I brought my camera.


Me running by a little pond on the Trout Brook trail


The trees along the trail are starting to sprout some leaves


An old Rail Road bridge along the trail


Getting a bit closer to Phalen


Passing under the roads to get to Phalen


Still no leaves on the trees at Phalen but it sure was windy.


Some guy fishing


If you look closely this is the guy who walks his cat on a leash as I mentioned in a previous post. Unfortunately there was no monkey man.


Finishing up the loop around Phalen.

I finished up the run in 1:22 at a 7:50 pace and had a lot more energy in me.  Not only did I shave off 20 mins from the run but it was barely a struggle at all.  Its amazing to see how far you can come with a little training.

Todays music selection is one of my from one of my favorite current stars of the Honky Tonk, Wayne "The Train" Hancock.  I chose this song not only because it is one of my favorites but also for the thunderstorms that rocked my apartment this morning.  Enjoy!

Last of the "long" runs until the Lincoln marathon!

Well I have not been doing such a great job at posting lately but I have kept up my running.   I was down in NE last weekend visiting Lindsey and we had a couple of good runs.  Saturday was a Easter family get together and we went for a 5+ mile run with her brother and sister (both running the Lincoln half).  The weather had been nice and warm but the wind was insane.  On the way back the cross wind was actually blowing my legs into each other.  On Sunday, Lindsey and I went for a 20-miler on the Billy Wolf and Rock Island trails.

This is us running across the Dam at Hydes Park (I think that was the name of it)
Just shortly after the above picture was taken we saw a kid flying a kite

On our long run, something curious happened.  My left foot went totally numb while I was running.  It stayed numb for a mile or so and then curiously disappeared (the pain not my foot).

Last week was a great week, the first week I had run 40+ miles since the beginning of January.  I typically have been running about 30 - 35 miles a week but wish I could run much more.

This week I got back to my 30-35 miles week.  I would have done more but did not get a chance to get out on Monday and Tuesday.  Most of my runs this week, I was running consistently at below a 8:00 pace and most of my pain issues have slipped away.  On my long run yesterday along the river, the numb foot started up again.  I looked online at a couple of places (here for an example) and they said that it is typically from a small shoe or overly tight laces.  I do not feel like my laces are too tight and it only occurs in my left foot.  I hope its not the shoes because I have fallen in love with my Mizuno Waveriders and they feel perfect on my feet.  Since I had these shoes, my PF and shin issues have pretty much disappeared.

The Lincoln marathon is three weeks away.  I am feeling pretty good about it.  There are two things that I am looking forward to:  One, the course is very flat compared to the Austin Marathon a couple of months ago.
Click HERE to see Austins.


Second, the Lincoln Track Club has tried to get the finish line to finish in the Huskers stadium since they started the marathon and finally was able to get it to occur this year.

And .... a video from Webb Pierce!  Happy runnings.