Two-Day Marathon

Sunday, February 27, 2011:

Four miles on the indoor track at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. They have open running/walking on Sundays, and we took advantage today. This was the first run since Wednesday and Thursday’s 2-day 25-mile run. Two problems:

• Today the left hip hurt a bit for the first mile or two. I can’t decide if it’s in the hip joint or a ligament that attaches in that general area. Anyway it went away, though I suspect it will be back.
• Since Thursday I’ve felt an occasional pain deep in the right thigh. It’s brief, random, and not repeatable. It’m concerned that it might be in the femur bone. Myeloma does attack bones, including the femurs. As it happens, though, I am scheduled for a full-body PET scan in about ten days, so we will soon know if the right femur is in trouble.

The pain isn’t disabling when it appears. Easy runs are on the schedule this week. Short and soft.

Thursday, Feb 24:

Not quite a marathon. 24.8 miles in two days, 14 yesterday and 10.8 today. Like yesterday, I ran out of time or I might have run 12.2 today, which would have made it the full marathon distance, but it’s probably just as well. I seriously pushed the injury envelope as it was.

No injury, though, at least none noticed yet. The left hip grumbled a little again, probably oncoming arthritis, hopefully coming only very slowly. Was there a little pain in the left hamstrings? Not enough to be concerned about. It’s a masterpiece!

Wednesday, Feb 23:

This was intended to be a three-hour run in full marathon mode, running the usual 10 minute/mile pace. Everything was going fine, but unknown to me, the “softball guys” had scheduled the Bubble for batting practice starting at 10:00 am and I ran out of time. I stopped at 2:20:00, amid a shower of softballs. Some of those guys can really hit, too! About 14 miles.

Happily, there were no pains except maybe a little ache in the left hip. I was a little tired afterward, but not more than normal I think. I could probably have finished outdoors, as it was a nice, warm day, but decided instead to come run again the next day.

Tuesday, Feb 22:

Forty minutes, four miles, again in the Stillwater Bubble. After three full days off, I felt great, plenty of energy. Looking ahead to an 18-mile run the next day, however, I took it easy and ran the usual 10-minute/mile walk/run pace with no sprints or other bother. Just puttin’ one foot in front of the other.