Four in a row!

So I finally managed to do my four runs in a row so I am officially back into the swing of running. Funny thing is I a going to Europe for 2 weeks and I know I will fall off my routine. So I have established my running just in time to slack off. But that is fine, I'll consider it a rest period and then ramp back up again.

Last week was the second week in a row that I ran five days on with two days off. Both weeks I ran over 35 miles. I am feeling really good, I think this is a good amount for me to be doing if not a bit more than I should be doing. I have been feeling so good about the running that I am considering another marathon. With a proper ramp up I can do it no problem. I have been concerned about my feet and several issues I have been having, but those have seemed to work themselves out for the most part. I'll see how they do with some long runs (15+ miles). This weekend my running partner and I did a nine mile run, the first 4.5 of which was uphill. We went from a running store in the 23rd St. shopping district up to Leif Erickson trail for another 3 miles before turning around and heading back. My running partner has gotten me into eating while running as an energy boost, the snack of choice has become peanut butter pretzels. What a great reward after 4-5 miles of running! 6-8 of them and I am ready to keep going. Now when I snack on them without running I feel guilty!

Today I headed into the rain. Our fall/winter weather is here. Rainy, windy. It wasn't that bad. I have been fighting a slight cold and I was questioning whether or not I should even do it, but I decided I really should. I was bundled up and had my rain jacket on. In teh 6.5 miles I did, I never felt like I got too wet, so I think I was fine. Plus I think it is good to run when you feel under the weather. Certainly not a super long hard run, but a base run is just what the doctor ordered!

Rain!

After a summer of dry heat it was a welcome change to have a wet run in the rain. The downside was it was still pretty warm and the combination made for a muggy energy sapping run. Still it was really nice and I totally enjoyed myself. It's funny, my shirt felt so heavy being soaked. I felt like I was carrying around a ton of bricks with me. The light was really cool looking, I forget how much I like the light on cloudy days especially in the morning.

My feet are feeling the effects of running too quickly after injury. They don't feel so bad before and during my runs, which is probably one of the reasons I have been pushing it. But after they have been really achy. Nothing aspirin doesn't cure, but it is definitely a reminder that I need to take it easy on these runs. My feet are probably saying don't run at all, but the rest of my body says ahhh go for it.

The first rains of the summer usually have a crushing effect on our yard making everything sag under the weight of the water. It also made the trails I run on a little treacherous with fallen branches. I had to stop several times and toss branches off to the side and out of the way of the next runner. I feel an obligation to the trails I run on to make it better for the next runner both in terms of a clear path and picking up garbage (especially in the canyon). I draw the line at dog poop though. I just can't see carrying plastic baggies with me on my run and stopping to pick up crap, that's taking responsibility a little too far. Especially when it isn't being reciprocated.

Six runs in a row with rain

One thing I do that I would recommend to every runner is to keep a dairy of your runs. Many people write everything down in a journal, I wish I did that actually so I could have a permanent (as permanent as paper is) record of my running. I use an electronic running diary that I got for free. It keeps a little database on my hard drive and keeps track of things like route, type of run, how I was feeling, weather, distance and time. It also keeps track of what shoes I am wearing which is great to easily pull up how many miles you have burned through. So, I bring this up cause I noticed that today was the sixth rainy run in a row I have done. Sounds like running in Portland in the fall. Today's wet weather run was a lot different than my nice drizzle yesterday. Today was colder, windier and the rain was coming down harder for about 3/4s of the run. I was bundled up with my tights, gloves, cold weather shirt and rain jacket. It felt great at first, but about halfway through I was too hot. First off came the gloves, then I had to stop to take off my cold weather shirt. I sometimes feel like a one-man band with everything hanging off of me, bandanna, water bottle, jacket or shirts tied around my waist, radio, hats, etc.

I use a site reporting tool on my blog that gives me pretty detailed reports about who visits, how long they stay, how they got there and search terms if they used a search engine. The two most popular sets of terms for arriving here are "bee stings ms" and "numb foot ms". I don't know that I will explore the bee stings more, but I am sure to write more about numb feet and my issues with it. It amazes me the global reach that blogs have, I have readers (well people who found the blog anyway) from all over the world.