Ouch

This hurts much worse than last year's marathon. I don't know if it was because my training in the last couple of weeks was curtailed due to my knee injury, or something else, but this one was a lot more painful. The day was beautiful, although it started off a little cold, but it was manageable. I found a trailer where a generator was running before the race and stood beside it for about 15 minutes before the race began, talking with a guy who's trying to do a marathon in every state. This was his eleventh.

The early part of the run was okay. But about mile three I could feel a few things weren't completely right and knew it was going to be a long day. And it was. Fortunately, the course here in Tulsa was nice and flat, and even the hills toward the end were pretty easy. Since this was Alan's first race I stayed with him. Until he left me.

About mile 19 he was starting to walk every so often, which was killing me because any time we walked I started to tighten up. When we'd get to the water stops I'd drink and keep walking and then wait for him to catch up at which point I'd start running again. It seemed to work pretty well. After mile 22 we did our routine and I walked, and walked, and walked. I turned around and he wasn't anywhere in sight. I waited a minute, still didn't see him, and then walked back toward the water stop. I didn't see him anywhere and figured maybe he got ahead of me somehow. I ran through Woodward Park, where there were some hills, which I figured would slow him up, but still didn't see him. In one of the nice neighborhoods past mile 23 I thought maybe I had left him behind and missed him, so I stood by the side of the road and waited for 15 minutes. No sign of him, so I guessed maybe he'd caught the trolley to the finishing area.

As I finished Michael was standing by the chute and told me his dad had already finished! His story, if you can believe it, was that when he was at the water station a pace group passed us and he didn't think that was very cool, so he took off. I never saw him, and he thought I must be ahead of him. The bad news is that he now gets to hold it over my head that in his first marathon he beat me. Game on, Poole.

Again, not my best running day, but I finished and got a big ol' medal. So did Alan, and even though we now hurt like a couple of old men, it was successful.

No More Runs

This was it, the last tuneup before race day on Sunday. I did an out and back 4-miler at a very slow pace. I don't think the iPod is calibrated, though, since it said I was doing a sub-9 minute pace. Unless I'm way off, and I was running against a very stiff wind the first half, that pace hardly seems likely.

The next two days will be rest days and travel to Tulsa, and then Sunday morning is the big day. The knee isn't 100%, but considering how it felt a week ago it's much further along then I would have guessed. A couple days' more rest certainly won't hurt.

One More Run

This week has been a little frustrating. My knee has been sore since Saturday's run, but nowhere near as bad as before I switched shoes. The girls have been sick again, and yesterday I could tell I was fighting off whatever they were trying to give me. The family was gone yesterday afternoon to co-op and I was home for the holiday. It was a cold, gray, drizzly day but I knew I needed to get out and run. So I got all gussied up in my gear and opened the front door and...decided that I didn't really want to run. That's never happened before. I turned around, put on some warm clothes, and ended up going to bed early.

Today I woke up and thought about calling in sick, but knew if I did my chances for this weekend's race might be in jeopardy. I went to work and ended up getting better as the day went on. I was ready to roll when I got home and the sky had even cleared out. It was still bitterly cold, but I went 6.5 miles anyway. And now I feel much better.

Skipping Autumn

Went right to winter, it seems. I was going to run this morning but decided to wait until later in the day when it warmed up to 39 degrees. AccuWeather says the wind is blowing 9 mph, but I can tell you it's more than that. Bundled up in layers and with gloves and ear protection and headed out for my 10 miles. I can tell the right knee isn't 100% yet, but at least it doesn't hurt as bad as it did when wearing the new shoes. How it feels tomorrow will determine how much I run this last week before heading to Tulsa for the race.

Out of Retirement

I brought the old shoes out of their short retirement since I finally figured out what was causing the knee problems. In Chicago I started using my new pair of shoes, which of course have a nice tread, as opposed to the worn sole of my old pair. This has happened before, although not to this extent. I realized that the new shoes were causing a change in my gait, which transfers up the leg to my knee, causing the irritation. So today I went for a 3-mile run just to get my legs back in their previous frame of mind, as it were. From here until the marathon I'll be using the old shoes. After that I will break in the new ones appropriately.

In Knee-d

So yesterday I went to the doctor about my right knee. I wasn't in their office computer system any more because it's been over two years since I last saw my doctor. That should tell you how serious this must have been for me to schedule an appointment and actually go. When I woke up Sunday morning I couldn't put any weight at all on my right knee. It got better during the day with several applications of ice and ibuprofen, but by yesterday it was still hurting. I've had knee pain before, but not any that lingered that long.

After the doctor said it looked like my kneecap was tracking wrong and advised me to run on the other side of the street, eat more protein in the form of string cheese and fig newtons, and continue the ice and ibuprofen treatment, I walked out with my knee feeling better already. Today I felt better but could tell it wasn't 100%, but after four straight days of no running I knew it was time to get out and test it.

The run went well, although there is a steady 20-mph wind dropping the temperature a good ten degrees into the 40's. I went 6.5 miles and the knee feels good for now. The real test will be tomorrow morning when I wake up and try to walk. I'm hoping things are on the upswing so that I can run 10 miles on Saturday.

Foggy Run

Lots of fog this morning, which was kind of cool. It was so quiet out, and sounds like a police siren were amplified that much more by the fog. Never did need the sunglasses.

I went 15 miles, and my right knee has that swollen feeling I had last year when I ran my second 20-miler. I took an ice bath when I got home. Let me just say for the record that I most definitely do NOT like ice baths. It was ten minutes of pure torture, but I hope with that and the ibuprofen that my knee will feel better. And the nap I'm planning should help, too.