I did it! The positive result of endless perseverance and determination finally came as I crossed the finish line at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. It has been quite a journey to reach this summit. My story follows. In 2013, I was going full force, running about 750 miles total for the year – more than double what I did in 2012. I had completed 3 half marathons, all
October 4th, 2014
Taper Time!
After the 21 mile run, I started tapering for Chicago. Overall, I have been feeling pretty good and running 4-7 miles a few times during the week. Last week I had a great 13 mile run on a country road on a cool morning. It was one of my best runs this year. The photo is of a homeless “foster neighboorhood dog” that sometimes accompanies me on my runs when
September 27th, 2014
Chicago Training Continued
I was so busy this week that I am just now updating about last Sunday’ s run. I set out to attempt 22 miles, not knowing how my knee/ankle would respond. My previous longest run has been 18 miles. It was a long run! I’ll just summarize – I made it 21 miles. My knee was great and my ankle okay. But I must have had fueling/drinking issues because I
September 15th, 2014
Report on Navy – Air Force Half Marathon
Race weekend began with packet pickup and the Expo being held at Nationals Stadium, which was very cool since I’ve never been there. Of course, there was no game going on that day. The expo itself seemed to be pretty small, but I don’t usually spend a lot of time looking around them anyway. The race started at 7AM, and I was there around 6AM to meet one of my
September 1st, 2014
Two weeks before Navy-Air Force Half Marathon
Things are looking up! First, an acceptable 5 mile run last Wednesday on hills, which did involve some ankle soreness. Then yesterday, a 10 mile run with no knee pain and just mild ankle pain. The main issue with Sunday was that it was HOT! I ran with a friend and we both suffered through 90 degrees with humidity. Our pace was way off because of the heat. But actually
August 25th, 2014
On the Road to Recovery, Again.
It has been over a week since my last run of 7.75 miles. On that run, I had to walk the last couple miles due to ankle and knee pain. As a reminder, I injured my left ankle, which I believe is causing my right knee also to hurt because my right leg is working to compensate for the left ankle. Chicago is 7 weeks away. The Navy-AF Force Half
August 25th, 2014
A Great Run and Then a Horrible One!
I’m way behind on posting my runs! I will get you up to date on what’s happening. I have made it halfway through my training for Chicago, but the back half will be more difficult. Unfortunately things have not been good lately. I finished July with 112 miles run, and while that is not a crazy amount, it is the most I’ve ever run in a month. Things were going
July 12th, 2014
Yet Another Pair of Running Shoes!
The Altra’s and Newtons I have are fantastic shoes. But with the recent foot pain, I must still be adapting to them. I decided I still need another shoe, more traditional, and the Nike Structures are not it! The Nikes feel odd to me now. I researched shoes and found the Brooks Pure Flow 3, with a 4 mm drop and lightweight, this shoe still has a relatively low drop
July 12th, 2014
Was I ready for this?
I ran 12 miles in my Altra’s, as my training schedule suggested. I’m happy to report that I had no knee pain, but the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire. Also, I had a pain on top of my foot – painful to touch or flex my toes. The Altra’s don’t have a lot of cushion in the front part of the shoe, so I was
July 4th, 2014
New Discovery on 10 Mile Run
Going into this 10 mile run, I was not sure what to do. My last run was with a loose knee strap made by Cho Pat, and my knee bothered me. So this time I tightened that strap up so that it was pretty snug and off I went. The first 5 miles were great, and I thought my issue was a loose knee strap – until the knee started