Anyway, here is a quick overview of what has happened since my last update. I ended January similarly to how it had gone when I updated at three weeks, with consistent runs throughout the week and I ended the month with just shy of 46 miles run which put me well ahead of my mile-per-day goal also ahead of my ultimate goal of 500 miles, as 46 miles per month would mean I would end with about 550 miles. However, things took a turn for the worst in the month of February, it started with a bout of food-poisoning which put me out of commission for a couple days and then another 4 or 5 days of no-running. This was followed by some of the coldest days in New England over the last 50 years. We saw temperatures below zero with high winds causing wind chills of -40 and these days corresponded with the days that I have time to run. So, after almost 2 weeks of no running, I finally got out for an early morning run in Boston around the Prudential Center (a route I posted in my last blog post), I went for 4.26 miles, but hurt my knee about a mile in (and stupidly kept going for 3 more miles), by the time I was done my knee was throbbing and after I cooled down found it hard to walk. After a couple of days, my knee felt fine, but decided to not push it, so I took a week off. One week later, I went out to run again (with a knee brace on) and re-injured my knee about 2.5 miles into a planned 5 mile run -- this time I turned back and ended my run at 3.21 miles as I mostly walked the last half mile. That was the last time I ran in February as I decided to take 2 weeks off to rest my knee this time. That is just under 46 miles in January and just over 7 in February, meaning that after 2 months I had logged 53 miles, putting me under my mile-per-day pace and way off my goal of 500 miles.
After a miserable February, I knew that I had to turn things around quick before my year-pace fell too far behind, so on March 3rd I completed a 5.5 mile run with a brace and ended without pain. I rest for a few days and then on March 7th took that and started my climb back to 500 miles -- running with a brace for the next 2 or 3 weeks. I ran 2 mornings a week and 1 or 2 evenings a week trying to put as many miles behind me as possible. I want to point out 3 particular runs in the month. The first is that I have expanded my Prudential Center route by going to the Boston Common and then crossing over Storrow Drive and running by the Charles river. I had always seen people running between Storrow and the Charles, but had never incorporated into my routes because it does not allow me to easily turn off and cut a run short -- that has now changed as I really enjoy this run. Below is the first time I did it, but have done similar routes that are 5 and 6 miles as well. The part in question is at the top (you know .... by the river):
The next run I want to mention is the 603 Running Club's Hampton Pub Run (603 is the only area code in the state of NH in case you did not know). I have done the Portsmouth Pub-Run a few times but had never done Hampton. I really like this run and the group that runs is small and very friendly, plus it starts and ends at Smuttynose, one of my favorite breweries. It is a beautiful run that crosses a river twice - once through a covered bridge and goes through a farm. I would recommend it. So I am hoping to do this run more often:
Last, I did a run on something called the "Rail Trail", a trail that follows some railroad tracks that go back to the mid 1800's and have not been in use for almost 50 years, so the state used the rails "right of way" to transform it into running and biking trails. So you can run across NH on these trails with very little interference from roads and cars. I went on a run on a portion of this trail with a group of friends who were going to go 3.5, 8.5 and 12 miles. The plan was to run 6 miles out and 6 miles back. At the 3.5 mark there was a road that some parked on, so some just ran to that road and did 3.5. My plan was to run the 6 miles out and then do the 2.5 back to that other road and get a ride to my car. This would have been my longest run ever (beating a run last year of 7.5 miles); however, at the 7.5 mile mark the person who was going to give me a ride realized she had dropped her car key and lost it, so I ended up doing the full 12. It was a great accomplishment for me and really helped me get my pace up. When March ended I had run just under 64 miles. Seven miles versus 64, truly a tale of 2 months.
April is off to a more typical start (more similar to January), I am back over my mile-per-day pace, but am still behind my 500 mile goal. As of this posting, I am on pace for 460 miles. However, I am signed up to run my first ever Half-Marathon tomorrow -- the Great Bay Half Marathon and if I complete it, then I will be back on pace for 500 miles.
I promise my next post will no be in 6 weeks. I will have a full update of my run in the half marathon tomorrow, good or bad, as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading!
Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteGreat work at Great Bay Half Sam!
ReplyDelete