Trial run

Got me some new kicks. That's what the new shoes look like there to the right, though I'm rolling in the silver and black (the awesome Green and White Michigan State edition wasn't in stock).

As per the advice of the doctor who examined my ailing left foot, I purchased the Saucony Hurricane 10 for my next two months of training. I took them out for a trial run today and I can immediate tell a difference, as I should -- my Brooks had over 400 miles on them.

I ran three miles on Monday in my Brooks at a 7:30/miles pace and had some minor discomfort afterward. Today was a speedwork day and I decided it was an opportune time to try out the Hurricanes. I tried to get up at 5 am, but that wasn't happening. After hitting the snooze a bunch of times, I was out the door at roughly 7:30.

I planned on running 8 miles outside this morning, but even at that hour it was too stinkin' hot and humid to stay out there long. For what it's worth, I did log six along the St. Petersburg waterfront and then finished up with two on a treadmill indoors. Outside, my splits were 9:10/6:34/11:07/7:13/11:12/7:07. Inside, I did half-mile splits of about 4:15/3:15 for two miles.

Immediately after the run, I felt a tiny bit of discomfort in my left foot, but not enough to say running today was a bad idea. During the run, I felt fantastic -- minus the heat -- and sitting here after being done for a while, my foot is presenting no issues. The big test will be to see how it feels later tonight and when I wake up tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

My Left Foot

Things have unfortunately slowed down for the past two weeks, thanks to a stinkin' foot injury. I've been having some discomfort in my left ped ever since I ran my first-ever 20 miler two Sundays ago.

The run went well, though. While in Traverse City, Michigan, visiting some old college friends for the weekend, I got up early and logged a cool 20. Did so in almost nine minutes per mile on the nose, including a few stops along the way. So running-wise I managed probably around 8:40ish pace, which is strong.

But, my feet were killing me the next day and, two days later, I could barely put any weight on the left one. It died down over the first week, but I tried running in Boston and had to stop after one mile. That was more than a week ago. I ran three miles this past Friday and it felt fine during the run.

Some pain kicked up about an hour after that, though, so I decided it would probably be advisable to see a foot specialist. The good news was I didn't have a stress fracture. But, he did say I had peroneal tendinitis. I can still run short distances and keep up the cardio on the bike.

That's what I've been doing. The week after the run, I ran that one terrible mile, and did an hour (20 miles each time) on the bike a few days. This past week, I did an hour on the bike (22 miles) on Tuesday, 45 minutes (17 miles) Wednesday, ran three (6:55/8:15/6:38 splits) on Friday and then on Sunday I tried to mimick a long run, going for two hours on the bike, logging 41 miles in that time.

Today, I'm catching a flight to Florida for the Jays' series against the Rays. I'm going to buy some new running shoes -- the ones I bought in March have 400+ miles on them now -- for training and maybe a raceday pair as well. Not sure what I'll attempt running wise. I was supposed to log 20 this Sunday, but I can't dive right back into that distance after two weeks off.

So, things could be worse. I could have a broken foot and not be able to run the marathon. I just need to nip this in the bud now and get back on target here. I have to try hard not to overdo it. My lovely wife stopped me from going to the gym to try running earlier in the week and good for her. Someone's got to keep me in check.

That's it for now. Let's hope this foot heals quick...