It Doesn't End Here

What with the move and my aching knee, it's been ten days since my last run. I was bound and determined to run my regular route one more time before we move, and I got it in this morning. The day was sunny and humid, like so many others I've weathered. Went the full 6 miles, with a few walks to balance the humidity and lack of running recently. Along the way I thought of a few memorable things that happened over the years, things like thinking too much about work and idiot people, running intervals on 96th Street, my footprints in the concrete in front of our neighborhood, the 2x800 runs where I felt like I was going to puke, the stick-thin girl who blew by me on mile 18 of my 20-miler, seeing Miss Soni and talking with her about her races (inspiring!), and the way this part of town has changed in the past ten years. No tears here, but lots of memories.

This is where I trained for eight marathons and probably an equal number of halfs. Thousands of hours of running, music, podcasts, sports drinks, and gel packs. But it doesn't end here. The story will continue in Texas on new routes yet to be mapped. This is the end of an era (kind of) and the beginning of getting back into shape and into some new races. Thanks KC - it's been fun and sweaty.

Clouds and Ice

Yesterday rain was in the morning forecast, so I set the alarm for later rather than getting up and not being able to run. My left knee had been aching for the past few days and it seemed like a good time to rest it anyway. By afternoon I was ready for some physical activity and decided to test out the knee. It was cloudy and humid, just like most of the weather the past few weeks. As I ran east on 96th Street there was a small river running down one portion of the sidewalk. Have I mentioned we've had a lot of rain. Due to humidity and not wanting to push the knee too far, I reined it in at 4 miles.

The ice came later when I was sitting and watching TV with The Wife. My knee ached and so I put an ice pack on it. That helped, and today it's mildly achy but not as bad as the past few days. Another ice pack might be in order. We'll see how it feels later today and I'll decide whether or not to run tomorrow.

Made It - Somehow

This morning was cloudy, warm, and humid. Add those conditions to my sub-par night of sleep and I was looking at a bad run. Well, it was bad, but not the worst run ever. I thought between miles 1 and 2 that I might be best served by stopping at about mile 3 and calling it a day. I walked a little at mile 2 and still felt like I was slogging through thick mud. When I passed my possible cutoff point I kept going, mainly because I'd crossed the street earlier, a subconscious trick I've used before. Then for some reason when I turned south onto Shoal Creek I felt a jolt of sudden energy that kept me going, and going, and going. Yes, I ran the whole 6 miles, but I wouldn't have bet money on that anywhere in the first half.

On a finishing note, I finished up the Hardcore History series on Blueprint for Armageddon, which was the outstanding five-part podcast on WWI. I listened to the last episode my previous four outings after downloading it when I found it was available. Not only are all HH episodes great distractions, but I would have to say podcasts don't get any better than this one. The great thing is that they're very re-listenable, and I will go back and listen to previous episodes and series all the time. Blueprint is one series I plan on revisiting soon and going straight through now that there's no time lag between episodes. So good.

Summer Arrives

Too much going on last week, including rain on Thursday morning and then a trip to Manhattan (of the Kansas variety) for the weekend. Yesterday Dad was here in the morning and I had an 8:30 conference call, which means today was my first run in a week. Also, summer is here. It was warm, sunny, and humid. I went slow for 6 miles and produced a lot of sweat. That's okay, though, since I like the warm weather. Plus it felt good to get out for a run after being off for seven days and also knowing that running over the next few weeks will be sporadic during the move. If I can get through the next month without eating and drinking too much I'll be okay. We haven't even started packing in earnest and I'm ready to be done with it.

Another

It was another night where I woke up in the 4 a.m. range and then took a while to get back to sleep, and another 6-mile run. I felt about as sloggy as I did yesterday. I made it, again with the walk up the hill by the golf course. It was cool, cloudy, and breezy, but not horribly so. I finished up the day with a new house and a new truck. A mediocre run ended well.

New Shoes

I was a little excited about this morning's easy run since it was my first chance to run in my new Asics Gel Nimbus 17 shoes. I tried them on a few days ago when they arrived and it was like tying little cushiony clouds to the bottom of my feet. The run itself today was a little different story, though.

I went 4 miles on my nice easy day, and it was apparent from the early going that the shoes were a little tight at the midpoint on the outsides of both feet. I've had that pinched feeling before and it's not a good one. If my run was for a longer distance I would have turned around and returned home to change shoes. As it was I felt kind of slow and sloggy anyway, and having my feet hurt didn't help. I'll wear the shoes around in non-running situations to break them in better. Hopefully that will help because otherwise the shoes really were nice and soft. Tomorrow, though, I'll wear my old pair.