Two Miles Too Far

Sometimes the St Croix Valley Runners meet on Sunday for an ad-hoc run that is longer than Saturday’s customary five-mile run. Today I joined this group for an 8-miler which I knew would be slow - perfect for recovering from TCM and preparing for the next marathon.

I felt a slight pain in the left achilles’ tendon toward the end, after about the sixth mile, so I walked part of the last two miles. Something new. Could that be from different shoes? I doubt it, but it is possible. Anyway it didn’t hurt after the run, and there will be no more running until Tuesday at least, perhaps even Wednesday.

Because I’ve had some trouble with my right knee recently after a run in the Nike Lunarglide shoes, I wore the Brooks Launch shoes today. The knee does feel better today than yesterday, so maybe that helped. Or maybe the foam knee covers under the tights made the difference.

7.8 miles in 1:23:00, pace 10:38. Beautiful day for running, 34 degrees and cloudy. It’s a masterpiece.


We recently discovered kefir, an alternative to yogurt at 3/4 the price. It's full of probiotics, like yogurt, tastes about the same (to me), but is runnier, which goes fine on a bowl of oatmeal with fruit & berries.

Twin Cities Marathon

Could there be better weather for a marathon? Temperature was 46 at the start and partly sunny, 50 at the finish and cloudy. For a mile or two I wondered if I should have worn a short-sleeved shirt instead of a long-sleeve technical shirt. Then the sun disappeared, the wind showed up, and I was happy with my garb. TCM has a very rigid 6-hour cutoff, no grace, and some of my favorite people would never make it, which is a bad point about TCM. But it has three good points: Excellent spectator support, even better volunteers, and a truly beautiful course. Today the fourth good point was the weather, perfect for a marathon.

Pace: I tried to run two minutes, then walk one minute. Hills made it difficult to do that with precision, because I see no sense in running up a hill when I’m walking some of the time anyway. But mostly it worked.

Finish: 4:50, better than the 5 hours that I had considered an outside acceptable time, but 12 minutes slower than last year. Ah well. I did enjoy this one though - only running really hard in the last two miles or so. The second half marathon took four minutes longer than the first half. Lots and lots of high-fives, especially little kids. They love it, and I wore gloves so everyone was safe. For several miles I ran with a new friend, Dave, who was going about my speed and seemed happy enough whenever I suggested walking for a minute. He sent me on ahead at about mile 18, but finished soon after I did.

Highlights: Supreme Court Justice Alan Page playing his tuba. Nuns in habits holding up a sign saying "Kick ass," except "ass" had been crossed out and the word "sin" written beneath. Three bagpipers. Spectators yelling "Go Don" hundreds of times - I wore my name on my shirt. Getting dropped off at the race by my sweeties, then seeing them after the finish to get picked up to go home. Expressing gratitude to several Team in Training runners, who are raising money for research that may help cure myeloma. YAY TNT! Seeing friends among the spectators. Running downhill, any hill, but especially the downhill finish. Seeing Steve Kalina run in full marine garb, with a backpack, to raise money for Toys for Tots.

Gear: Visor, long-sleeve tech shirt, gloves, watch, shorts, undershorts (w Vaseline), foam rubber knee covers (for warmth, also w Vaseline), Wrightsox 2-layer sox (no blisters), Brooks Burn shoes. Five gels (4 w caffeine), five 440-mg salt packets. Up to mile 20: at every aid station, take either a gel or a salt packet. Drink more water than thirst suggests. After mile 20, scratch and crawl to the finish any which way, take whatever salt and gels may be left over, with lots of water. I did need two potty stops, one taking five minutes and the other much shorter. I started with a short-sleeved cotton overshirt, but ditched that at about mile three or four. Ugly shirt anyway - no loss.

Injury: None. At all. Yay! Slight pain in the right knee fairly early on, resolved by itself when I moved to the center of the road. Slight pain in both hips from dancing to band music - lesson learned - resolved itself. Some pain in the right hip flexors, but not enough to slow progress. That seems to be chronic, but never a big problem. A little pain in the right Achilles or the calf just above it - gone now. That’s it! Quads are a little sore, but that’s to be expected - I ran down every hill. NO CRAMPS! Cool weather, salt, and good hydration may have prevented the cramps, which effectively torpedoed my Grandma’s Marathon (finish temp 93).

Discovery: I can do my post-race stretches IN our new extra-wide shower, which contains a grab bar. Why have I never figured this out before? It’s not very green - takes more hot water - but it sure did feel good today. That’s definitely going to happen again. Oh yeah. Almost as good as beer.

Splits: 10:21, 10:18, 42:01 (4 mi), 21:26 (2 mi), 11:05, 10:52, 10:27, 15:27 (potty stop with a line at M'haha & Cedar), 10:47, 0:32 (0.11 mile to ½ marathon mark), 10:59 (0.89 mi), 10:54, 11:19, 10:49, 11:41, 23:20 (2 mi), 11:29, 12:05, 11:01, 10:46, 10:28, 12:14 (1.22 mi), total 4:50:20, pace 11:04. It’s a masterpiece!



Post-race afternoon "brunch." The pancakes are blueberry, gluten-free. Syrup is maple, organic. Also organic egg & nectarine.

Six Miles in the Park

Another warm run in the park today, 6.25 miles in 1:04:47, pace 10:22. Temp 77 degrees and rising, with a full sun. Jim picked me up and we ran together, though it’s an easy jog for Jim. To underscore that, Jim finished the Lumberjack 10-mile race a full 30 minutes faster than I did. Imagine. Three minutes per mile faster.

I find my speed to be limited mostly by breathing these days, and have to drop to a walk when my breathing rate goes too high. That happens a lot now, though I don’t really mind it. Today’s pace was also affected by the heat, a too-recent breakfast, and no doubt by yesterday’s 10-mile race. But it’s plenty good enough considering the hilly, soft, grass & dirt trail. All good.

I did feel a twinge behind the right knee today, possibly one of the cruciate ligaments. It spoke up sharply yesterday as I rolled out of bed, and muttered a little after the 10-mile race was finished. Today it complained softly as we started the run, but then quieted completely and has been silent since. I think I slept on it wrong, and it will heal by Tuesday.

Now, a few hours after today’s run, I feel a twinge in the right achilles’ tendon. Huh. Hope that’s a short-lived thing. Tomorrow is a day off from running, and a day of stretches and upper-body resistance training.


Lunch: Leftover free-range bison with carrots, rice, and herbs, gluten-free pasta with organic broccoli or maybe Jim's broccoli, organic sweet potatoes with a litte pineapple, organic ranier cherries, organic mustard.

Eight Easy Miles

Eight miles on the Gateway Trail. Longest run remaining before the marathon. I had planned on ten miles, but worked very hard in the yard yesterday afternoon and decided to take it a little easier. I ran easy and walked now and then, especially for a minute or so right after finishing each mile. I enjoyed the run - saw wild turkeys, nesting geese, an eagle overhead, and a muskrat in a lake. Low fifties with a strong crosswind. One long-sleeved shirt was perfect. I didn’t wear gloves but that might have been good too.

For a brief moment after a short, steep downhill I felt a little twinge in the left Achilles tendon so I decided to cut the eight miles to six. But when that was finished I realized that I’d have to wait for my sweeties to to return anyway, and the Achilles pain had disappeared, so I went ahead and ran two more. That was plenty though - I was tired. Taper will be good.

Splits: 9:20, 8:51, 9:50, 11:06 (phone call), 10:03, 7:14, 3:31, 9:57, 9:38, total 1:19:31, pace 9:56.



Breakfast: Gluten-free oatmeal with dried cranberries, blueberries, organic walnuts, organic nonfat milk, organic strawberries. That is one HUGE strawberry, one of many from Trader Joe's. The season is upon us.

30-Mile Week

Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s the biggest week of running for me since January. Inching forward. Today’s run was six miles at a modest pace, designed to be gentle on the left achilles tendon that complained a little after Tuesday’s run. It worked - that tendon was a little stiff at the beginning of the run and fine afterward. No complaints going down the stairs - the acid test. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Splits: 9:01, 8:56, 8:57, 8:56, 8:57, 8:56, average pace 8:57.

My resting heart rate was 40 again this morning, compared with a normal of 46 to 50. It’s the medicine. I’ve alerted Mayo by email and will see my PCP doc this afternoon about other things, so I’ll bring it up with him too. But I’m not too concerned - the beat is steady and strong, and during the run it averaged about 132, which seems normal for that pace.

I’ve ordered my 18th pair of Brooks Burn shoes now, probably my last, as they are discontinued and supply is getting scarce. Brooks says their replacement is to be called the “Ghost,” available June 1. Same weight, for neutral runners, new technology. Do you suppose there’s a shipload of them on its way from China already?




Today's post-run breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins and cinnamon, blueberries, mango, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic lowfat milk, banana, Dove dark chocolate, organic pomegranate juice.


Today's lunch: Bison sausage, organic rutabaga, organic parsnip, homemade organic sauce, organic broccoli, shredded parmesan cheese.


Tonight's salad: Organic romaine, cucumber, organic pecans, blue cheese, avocado, pineapple, organic red wine vinegar.

Another Four Miles

NSPCC indoor track, four miles in 34:24, pace 8:36. Slow at first, felt better as time passed. Maybe a little warning from the left achilles tendon, but I hope it was just a little cramp. Fine now. Hoping for a 10-miler later in the week. Building back ...

Splits: 8:59, 8:40, 8:38, 8:06. It’s a masterpiece!

Some recent meals below:

Breakfast: Irish oatmeal, banana, Dove dark chocolate, dried dragon fruit, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic walnuts, blueberries, nonfat organic milk.


Lunch: Organic wild-rice and brown-rice macaroni with organic mixed vegetables and a homemade jarlsburg cheese sauce, cantaloupe, pure organic pomegranate juice.


Dinner: Fish boil a la Door County with wild-caught haddock, sweet potatoes, onions, & melted butter, organic brown rice pasta with cheese sauce, asparagus, excellent porter.

Masterpiece Already

Thursday, February 28:

I started off rather gingerly on the NSPCC indoor track, but experienced no pain, so I accelerated to a modest 9 min/mi pace and finished four easy miles.

NO PROBLEMS of any kind! Adductors, achilles tendon, and knee all silent. I expected the adductors to start squawking at any moment, but it almost seemed as if everything got smoother as I went along. Today the track was counter-clockwise, as the UWRF track was when the adductor injury occurred, but this track is banked slightly on the corners and that may make all the difference. I do believe that I can start building up to a decent weekly mileage again, but avoiding UWRF on counter-clockwise days for a while. And as Kel suggests, I need to set up some regular exercises and stretches for those adductors as soon as that can be done without pain. Her blog has some ideas.

Time 36:48, pace 9:12, splits 9:49, 8:59, 9:00, 9:00. Breathing: five footfalls per full breath nearly all the way, then four. I feel great!

Tuesday, February 26:

I ran half a lap (1/27 mile) and felt some pull in the left adductors, so I stopped and burned up 500 calories on step machines and rowing machines, avoiding the elliptical this time to favor the achilles tendon. Next time I need to bring a butt-pad for the rowing machine because I don’t have enough built in and the machine has almost none. Ouch.



This morning's post-run breakfast: Organic oatmeal, Don's fruit/berry/nut mix, macadamia nuts, organic blueberries, banana, organic fat-free milk, Hershey's dark chocolate, pure organic pomegranate juice.


Yesterday's lunch: Organic salad greens, organic celery, organic low-fat cottage cheese, macadamia nuts, avocado, pistachios, cantaloupe, organic red wine vinegar.


Yesterday's dinner: Wild-catch Alaskan salmon with organic yogurt, clementine, organic peas. Back for more salmon & peas and I had an organic apple too.

Now What?

ANOTHER injury! Yikes.

Thursday, Feb 21:

North St Paul Community Center indoor track today, chosen because the direction is clockwise on odd-numbered days. I wanted to give the injured adductor muscle the best possible chance (see Tuesday, below). Alas, five steps and I was done. It hurt, and any more running would clearly have made the adductor injury worse.

Apparently the injured muscle is not used much in normal walking, because that doesn’t hurt much, and I was even able to use the elliptical machine without pain. But it sure hurts when I run, for some reason. Even little bitty running steps hurt; I tried that. I also tried a resistance machine that I think is called the “torso twist,” with no problems going one direction, but when I switched directions YEOWCH that was the end of the torso twist for today.

I don’t know what’s next. Some time off, obviously, but how much? Until it doesn’t hurt to run I guess. Meanwhile the elliptical, stairs, weights, and most other upper-body resistance machines don’t hurt. Wonder if I’ll be able to run the Human Race.

Tuesday, Feb 19:

It seems like I’m complaining about something in every log entry these days. Today it’s a brand new injury to a muscle or tendon at the top of the inner thigh. One of the “adductor” muscles, I believe, or the gracilis, all of which are used to pull the leg inward toward the other leg. Conversely, for a runner rounding a corner, these muscles would pull the entire body toward the leg which is on the inside of the corner.

And I think that’s what happened. I ran almost four miles on a flat indoor track Sunday, all in one direction to spare the outboard knee. Then today I ran almost six more miles on a different flat indoor track in that same direction. That’s about 150 flat corners, and apparently that’s all it took to strain a muscle. Somewhere in the fifth mile it started to hurt, then it calmed down, and then with three laps to go it suddenly hurt too much to run. I finished the last half lap in a walk and stopped. It doesn’t seem like a major injury - just a very localized pain that should heal quickly. We’ll see.

The good news is that neither the achilles tendon nor the knee complained at all today. In fact, this was my longest run since January 16, over a month ago. That makes it a masterpiece, regardless of other problems. I am hoping that the adductor problem will resolve quickly and I can build back up to 20 mile runs.

The OTHER good news is we found (thanks to friend Jim) another place to run in the winter. For east-siders like us, the University of Wisconsin River Falls (UWRF) is not that far away, and allows community members (anyone) to use the indoor track for large parts of the day. Here is the schedule. Click on Knowles Calendar. Cost is $3.50 per person, and parking is $0.50/hour. You can get a one-semester or two-semester membership as well, in which case I believe that parking is free. Click here for membership information. My injury today was not the track’s fault; it’s a good track. Counter-clockwise on odd-numbered days, clockwise on even.

Monday's dinner: Organic chicken, organic brown rice with organic tomato, organic spinach with dried cranberries, organic carrots, onions.

Oh Happy Day

Sunday, Feb 17:

Gosh it feels good, bouncing along on the rubber indoor track at Bethel University. Today my only race was the 800 meter, and I finished within one second of my PR, one way or the other, at 2:50 or so. I went out WAY too fast, a 37-second first lap when the average ended up 42.5, but that didn’t seem to hurt the end result. The race is four laps of 200 meters, and the third lap was undoubtedly the slowest, but I think I drove a little harder on the fourth. I don’t know the actual splits, except the very first one. The good news is that if I can run 2:50 with a bad strategy and without training much in the past few weeks, I may be able to do quite a bit better. Is 2:40 possible? I may have to follow a rabbit with a better sense of pace than I have.

Even better news is: No pain in the left achilles, and no pain in the right knee, which has started to lock up on occasion. Even going downstairs, the acid test for both, there is no hint of trouble. Regardless, I’m going to visit my very wise primary physician ASAP about the knee. I may not have a lot of time left to run, so I’ll probably treat this aggressively, if treatment is possible.

Unfortunately, the primary objective of this race was not to make a PR but to discover my maximum heart rate (HRMax). I may have gone about it wrong, by warming up too much beforehand. During the race I saw the heart rate monitor (HRM) showing 189, but I have seen that before when it wasn’t making good enough contact with my chest, so I don’t believe that number. Immediately after the race it still showed 189 until I pressed the HRM strap against my chest, and then it showed 155. I don’t believe that either, because I’ve seen it higher in races; I believe the max is somewhere around 167. By the time I held my wrist and counted my pulse for 30 seconds, it was back down to about 105. But still I want to measure my HRMax, because certain training goals are calculated from it, so I will have to come up with a new plan.

I probably warmed up too much today for a good HRMax measurement - almost three miles of warmup, mostly easy jogging. Better to surprise the system a little more? And for sure I’d like to find some sort of contact gel or paste for the HRM, so that the contact with my chest doesn’t dry out while standing at the start line. I could do the running outdoors, of course, but it’s nice to use a track because a tumble or other injury event is more likely during speed work, and tracks are softer. Perhaps I’ll wait until spring, when outdoor high-school tracks will be available. Or find another indoor track where I can do this on my own. Or dreadmills? That’s possible, because the pace is only about 10.5 mph, but I really don’t like the dreadmill at that speed. Suggestions invited.

Back to today’s race, though. To my surprise, I’m very much taken by this sort of racing. Who’d have thought that circling a 200-m track could be so enjoyable? I’d like to find a way to do more of it, if my old bones and ligaments can take it. All the more enjoyable today because friend Jim joined us at Bethel, and ran a very nice 5:53 mile. In a couple of weeks, I believe that he could run a mile in 5:35 to 5:40. Oh yeah.

Saturday, Feb 16:

North St Paul Community Club, three miles in 25:04, pace 8:21. This was intended to be an easy three miles, and it was, but I felt very good and ran a litle faster than the 9:00 pace I’ve used of late. Splits 8:38, 8:19, 8:07. No pain in the left achilles, which is very good. My right knee did sort of “lock up,” though, in the very last (fastest) lap, and I stumbled and hopped for a few seconds before it cleared up again. I’m sure there is a piece of cartilage sliding around in there. I need to find out (1) if it can be taken out or fixed somehow, and (2) if that should be done now before the knee joint chews itself up.



Don running the 800m.


Last night's dinner: Wild-caught sole, organic sweet relish, organic blackberry preserves, shredded mango chutney, fresh-squeezed organic lime.


Recent salad: Organic salad greens (under there somewhere), cantaloupe, organic baked blue-corn chips, pineapple, Sunshine's homemade guacamole, organic brazil nuts. This photo turned out a little more suggestive than the salad seemed in person. Anyone want to offer a title for it? Salad fantasizing about dessert?

Five Miles, No pain

Stillwater Recreation Center (Bubble), about 5.4 miles in 45:15. Ran with friend Jim, first time we’ve run in the bubble together. Enjoyable run, especially since the achilles tendon pain did not appear at all. I haven’t felt it since Tuesday, and even that might have been in my mind. I think (hope?) that it’s on the mend. The distance is an estimate, based on a measured pace of 8:23 for two of the laps.

Nevertheless, easy does it. Three more gentle miles at the club tomorrow, and then an 800 meter race on Sunday. With warmup and cooldown, that will probably be another three miles on Sunday. Tuesday, if all goes well, I’ll run 6 miles.

I did have a little trouble with the right knee at the Bubble. I think there’s a little something floating around in there, because it comes and goes, but I swear it’s not always in the same place. I suspect that the many flat corners at the Bubble caused that debris to shift a little, and when I stepped up the pace for the last lap it suddenly brought me up short. Better now.



Recent dinner: Wild-caught Alaskan salmon, organic sweet pickle relish (tartar sauce w/o mayo), organic parsnips, organic sweet potatoes, organic rutabagas. I went back for more.

Four Easy Miles

North St Paul Community Center overhead track, four miles in 35:44, pace 8:56. The idea was to run four easy miles without pain, and it happened! Maybe just a little twinge going down the stairs, nothing more. I’ll try five miles on Thursday, 45 minutes at the Stillwater bubble.

Splits: 8:57, 8:54, 8:56, 8:57. According to the heart rate monitor, my heart rate peaked at about 140, higher than expected, but that was probably due to the stomach competing for resources to deal with a very recent 16-oz latte. Breathing was five footfalls per full breath, indicating an easy pace. Four footfalls would indicate a more normal pace.



This morning's breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic blueberries, banana, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic walnuts, organic fat-free milk.


Sunday's salad: Organic salad greens, cucumbers, organic blueberries, macadamia nuts, clementine, organic pumpkin seeds, blue cheese, organic balsamic vinegar.

Lessons of the Week

Sunday, February 10:

North St Paul Community Center overhead track, walking, five miles in 1:09:00, pace 13:48. This was a test, to see if walking would hurt the Achilles as the elliptical machine did. It’s my perception that the calf muscles driving the Achilles actually extend and contract over a longer stroke while walking than while running, so I expected that the tendon would begin to hurt after two or three miles. Surprised again: It wasn’t so. I could barely feel it after the full five miles, and even then I need to use some imagination.

But it’s a good lesson. For what it’s worth, I can walk very briskly without annoying the Achilles, and for at least as much distance as I can run without annoying it. That could turn out to be useful information.

Heart rate was measured several times on this walk, and varied between 94 and 98. I actually started to feel it in the quads toward the end, but I think that after a little training I could sustain a 14-minute walking pace for an entire marathon, finishing in 6:08 or so. Might be useful information some day. Next: Jog four miles on Tuesday, bring the heart monitor.

Friday, February 8:

North St Paul Community Center elliptical machine, 300 calories in 21:45. Today’s lesson: The elliptical machine is at least as tough on the Achilles tendon as running. I think more so. My last run was Monday, today is Friday, and the Achilles began to hurt in just 21 minutes. Hurts going down stairs, too, which is my personal acid test. I had somehow expected that the elliptical would not re-injure the tendon, perhaps because it didn’t bother the plantar fascia at all. I learned an important lesson.

And now I know why Monday’s 5-mile run was more painful than the identical 5-mile run two days earlier. I used the elliptical machine on the day between! Duh! Took me long enough to catch on.

Monday, February 4:

Plans go awry. Since I had such a pleasant and pain-free run on Saturday, I had hoped and even assumed that Monday’s run, after a two-day respite, would go even better. In fact I planned to run six miles, expecting no pain. But the Achilles tendon was stiff for at least the first full mile, and then began to hurt at the very end of the fifth mile. I ran one extra lap (120 meters) just to be sure, and it was indeed time to stop. No sixth mile, and the tendon hurt going down the stairs, which is the most sensitive indicator of this injury. Nuts.

The pace was deliberately a little slower than the “natural” pace that muscles wanted to run, five miles in 44:51 (exactly the same as Saturday’s time), pace 8:58. Splits 8:57, 8:57, 8:58, 8:59, 9:01.

So now what? Take a week off? Two weeks? I’m getting close to that decision. With plantar fasciitis and some other pains it’s OK to run without fear of compounding the injury. But this is different; a ruptured Achilles tendon trumps all running and most other leg exercises. I’m not going there.

The trouble is that it doesn’t hurt AT ALL until I run, and even then not until I’ve run some distance. It seems that the only way to determine whether it is healing is to re-injure it! I need to be able to run 26 miles on it, and so far have only managed five.



Today's breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic reduced-fat milk, dried banana, organic blueberries, organic walnuts, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic medjool date, dragon fruit.


Yesterday's lunch: Organic swiss chard with organic red cabbage, cranberries, and pistachios, organic apricot jam, clementine, organic roasted cashews.


Friday's dinner: Organic corn with rice pasta and tomotoes, organic blue-corn chips, guacamole by Sunshine, organic refried beans, asiago cheese. Seconds, thank you!

Five Sweet Miles

Yay! Today's five-mile run at the North St Paul Community Center was pain-free! The naughty Achilles tendon seemed a little stiff in the first third of a mile, but smoothed out for the rest of the run. Even walking downstairs, the acid test, it was entirely pain free. This time I was successful in holding the pace down to nine minutes per mile, actually 44:51 overall for an average pace of 8:58. Close enough. And I resisted the urge to ramp it up for the last mile.

Adam left good suggestions on the previous post: (1) No stretching of the Achilles, and (2) Maybe take a whole week off. He may prove to be right; thank you Adam. I'm sure that THREE weeks off would cure the Achilles - that's what it has taken me in the past to heal a serious tendon injury. It might take less than three weeks for a younger person but, alas, I am at that age where every new day is a gift, and there is no going back. Healing takes longer. I still do calf (Achilles) stretches, but very gently and never to the point of pain; I doubt those stretches do much damage and I hope they will help it to heal correctly. And I have stopped using the Strassburg Sock night splint, which pulls on the Achilles gently enough, but all night long. I used ice and heat (5 minutes, ten minutes, three cycles) after Thursday's iffy five-mile run; that may have helped. I'll do that again today.

Thursday I expected to be able to run five miles pain-free and couldn't. Today I was determined to stop at the FIRST sign of pain, and was pretty sure that I would have to do that, but I didn't. Bottom line: I sure don't know what's going on!

Nevertheless I think I'll go back to running every other day, ramping up slowly. The runs will be on a track, at NSPCC or the Stillwater Bubble, so that I can easily quit at the very first sign of pain. If all goes well, five miles (again) on Monday, then six or seven Wednesday and hopefully more on Friday. Fingers crossed.



Today's post-run breakfast: Organic gluten-free pancake, organic blueberries, kiwi, organic medjool dates, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic maple syrup. This was both breakfast AND lunch.



Last night's dinner: Free-range bison roast, organic sweet potato, organic salsa, organic gluten-free pasta with cheese and a little kale, onions roasted with the bison. Seconds on everything, thank you.

Achilles Is Back?

North St Paul Community Center indoor track, 67.5 laps, five miles in 43:34, average pace 8:43. I’ve been trying to build mileage carefully to get past a problem with an Achilles tendon. Unfortunately, though, I did feel the tendon today a few laps from the end of the run. I started out shooting for a pace of 9:00, but my legs wanted to go a bit faster today, so I gave up and let my legs set the pace. In the last mile I pushed just a little harder, and probably shouldn’t have.

It’s not bad though - the pain is entirely gone already. I’ll try five miles again on Saturday, and be ready to quit early if necessary. I had dreams of 20 miles next week, but maybe not, we’ll see. Meanwhile I’m using cold and heat as I write this, and don’t exactly know what to do about the Strassburg sock “night splint.” In theory, that should stretch the Achilles and hopefully avoid injury caused by tension in the Achilles. But I’ve been using the Strassburg Sock almost every day for months now, to avoid another round of plantar fasciitis in that same foot, and I’m not sure that the Achilles is failing in tension. It might be failing in compression, because when it hurts, I notice more pain going DOWN stairs than up. Furthermore, it might be easier for the tendon to heal WITHOUT tension applied. Perhaps I’ll skip the Strassburg for a few weeks and see if it seems to make a difference one way or another.

Only 12 miles this week and only 101 for the month. Splits: 8:58, 8:44, 8:40, 8:42, 8:29.



Post-run breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic fat-free milk, kiwi, organic medjool dates, organic walnuts,m organic blueberries, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, banana, Hershey extra-dark chocolate. Yummm.


Salad: Organic romaine, organic medjool dates, stuffed olives, organic pecans, organic blue-corn chips, Sunshine's homemade guacamole, dried organic strawberries, raspberry vinegar.

Four Pain-Free Miles

North St Paul Community Center indoor track. I forgot my watch, which makes it difficult to count laps, so I ran 36 minutes at a pace that surely moved me at least four miles, probably about 4.2. Most important: No pain at all in the Achilles. On track for a five-mile run Thursday. That’s only a 12-mile week, but easy does it, next week will be better.



Monday's breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic fat-free milk, banana, organic giant blueberries, organic walnuts, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, Hershey's extra dark chocolate. As good as it looks!


Saturday's salad: Organic salad greens, cucumber, avocado, organic braeburn apple, roasted organic cashews, organic medjool dates, blue cheese, raspberry vinegar.


Saturday's dinner: Wild-caught Alaskan salmon, seasoned, organic pickle relish, organic lemon, organic green peas. Not shown: One gluten-free beer. There are actually at least three good brands available here now.

Ouch: Achilles

New problem: Achilles tendon. Wednesday, Jan 16, I ran for three hours in the Stillwater Bubble, occasionally checking my pace for a lap to be sure that it was still at 9:00 or faster. So I’m sure that I ran at least 20 miles, the first of many scheduled long runs in preparing for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. In the last couple of miles, however, I felt a cramp in my left calf, or thought I did. Then in the very last two laps I could tell that it was not the calf but the Achilles tendon just below the calf muscle. I finished carefully, but perhaps should have skipped those last two laps.

It seems to me that the Achilles tendon needs to be treated with a great deal of respect. A person with a high tolerance for pain can go ahead and run on a foot with plantar fasciitis without much fear of making it a lot worse, and some people even run with knee pain without fear of an immediate end to their running. However, the Achilles tendon can actually rupture, causing a very serious problem which will make running impossible and even interfere with normal life. I don’t want to mess with it. I tried to run again today (Friday) and it still hurt a little. Not good. If it still hurts next Monday I’ll try to get into see my internist about it. Meanwhile I have a race this weekend, but may decide to sit it out because it’s a short, intense race that would put maximum pressure on the Achilles.


Recent breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic fat-free milk, banana, Don's nut/fruit/berry mix, organic medjool dates, blueberries, organic walnuts.