A Race for the Hardy

Hence not for us :-) We three showed up at the Get Your Rear in Gear 5k, picked up our shirts and bananas, and left for the club. Hard rain and 40 degrees is just no fun. I ran 5 miles at the club in 40:52, pace 8:10. No pains at all, though I did feel a little rubbery-legged for part of the way. That’s not an unusual feeling, probably due to too much coffee and too little food; it doesn't seem to slow me down.

I actually feel a little bit stronger, now that I’m temporarily off the thalidomide, so my pace seems a little faster. But tomorrow is a long run, so there was no hurry today and I tried to hold back.

Wore the new Brooks Burn shoes to check them out. My 15th pair, they are fine. Splits: 8:31, 8:08, 8:01, 8:06, 8:06. Breathing mostly four footfalls per full breath.

Lovely Day to Run

indoors. Three miles at the club in 24:07, pace 8:02. Nice run, started out slow but got faster and faster. This was a warmup for tomorrow’s Get your Rear in Gear 5k. No pains at all. Splits 8:29, 8:04, 7:33.

Tibia

If I can ever run a whole marathon at this pace, it will be a new 3:35 PR for me. Maybe Grandma’s, with a tailwind? :-) Enjoyable run today, 6 hilly miles in 49:07, pace 8:11. It did feel like a lot more work than yesterday’s 6 miles though, and because of the hills it probably was.

I felt a subdued version of Tuesday’s odd pain at the inside top of my shin bone (tibia) for a few steps early in the run, but that quickly disappeared. Hmmm. Nice to have my sweeties out there today running the same neighborhood loops. They actually ran a 10k, a little farther than my run.

Lake Woebegone is entirely clear of ice now, has been for a couple of days. Will we see the wood ducks soon, as they perch in the oak trees and scan for suitable nesting holes? I hope so; they are really quite spectacular. But it’s early.

Happy Run

Hooray! No pain in the left leg! After yesterday’s painful, aborted run, I had visions of walking the next marathon with a cracked bone. But today the pain was gone. I wonder how that happens. Six miles in 50:04, pace 8:21.

Eagle Momma and I went to the club to run, because it was raining, and so that I could cross-train if running didn’t work out. Boring, as always, but a comfortable place to run nonetheless. Today I focused on the pleasurable feelings as I ran, the wind going by, the metronomic motion of the body, the swoosh of passing a walker or being passed by a faster runner, the steady rapid breathing. It’s easier to focus on the work involved, but more productive to think about the positive feelings.

Splits: 8:37, 8:20, 8:16, 8:19, 8:20, 8:12. Breathing mostly four footfalls per full breath, sometimes three. That is fast breathing for today's workaday pace, but not unusual when, as today, I’ve eaten just before the run. The pace felt very natural, and is just the speed I’d like to run between water stops in the next marathon.

Labs Today

The urine-collection jar was up to 2.4 liters this morning, more than usual, when the 24 hours were up. You start counting odd things when you have cancer. Then after the blood draw, the nurse wrapped the puncture site with gauze instead of using tape, because their tape is so good that it brings some skin with it when I later remove it. This works better. I'll have results next week.

Last night I took the last thalidomide capsule for a week or so. The next step depends on what the doctor sees in the labs. That's good - it's powerful stuff, even at the low 50-mg dose that I take, and I will appreciate a week off.

Ouch

Running:
No run today. I started out to do an easy 5 miles and immediately felt a pain just below the left knee and a bit to the inside. It might have settled out after a while, but the pain was pretty sharp and in a very specific location within the bone. It feels fine when I'm not running. I'll try again tomorrow, and if it persists I'll see the doc about it. I wonder what a shin splint feels like?

Myeloma:
Peeing in a bottle today (24-hour urine collection), blood draw tomorrow. Last thalidomide tonight, for at least a week. Lab results will be available next week, but I won't see the cancer doc for another month.

Brag

Sorry, my ego made me do it ...This surprise arrived by Fedex today, behind glass in a nice frame. I think it's one of the coolest age-group awards I've ever seen! Kudos to the Austin Marathon. I didn't pose for the photo, either; they took it along the way somehow.