I have been working hard to build good habits for fitness but I honestly have not been running very much. My longest run in about 2 years was on September 15th when I went for just over 5.5 miles. That's not a lot, I will admit. And with only six weeks left for training you might think I'd be concerned. But I'm not.
One reason is I have been doing a lot of swimming. Until very recently, running hurt a lot. Feet, ankles, and knees all hurt when I tried to run. It would take me nearly 20 minutes to get to a point where I could amble along at a 12 min/mile pace. This isn't running. Swimming over 2500 yards 4x per week has compensated.
Another is that my inflammatory arthritis has been brought under control. A steady rheumatology protocol has brought the pain down considerably over the past 18 months. I don't like taking meds but this has worked wonderfully. And it has all been under the watchful eye of my neuro-oncology team at Duke.
And finally, I know what 13.1 miles can be like. My first 1/2 marathon was in 2000; the Rock 'n Roll half in La Jolla, California. The night before I was at a San Diego Padres game and my roommate and I had a few beers and thought it might be cool to run the half marathon the next day. Conveniently the race started at the Del Mar race track which was across the street from our apartment in Solana Beach. We woke the next morning to the sounds of the race beginning, so we raced off to the starting line. We begged for safety pins along the way, passing runners coming the other way who had already started the race. There is a mighty hill in that race that ascends along the Pacific Coast Highway towards Torrey Pines. This was a tough climb, but it was nothing compared to how I felt on the home stretch. There was beer at the end, though, and it was a great experience.
Since then I've competed a few more 13.1 races along with 6x 26.2 marathons. I'm pretty confident that along with my good friends in Memphis this one will be fun!
The plan for tomorrow, Tuesday, is for me to run for an hour of track intervals. 4x 400, with an easy 200m walk between intervals.
Thursday's plan is a 45 min run nice and easy, nice and slow.
More to follow, stay classy...and thanks for stopping by.
DZ
One reason is I have been doing a lot of swimming. Until very recently, running hurt a lot. Feet, ankles, and knees all hurt when I tried to run. It would take me nearly 20 minutes to get to a point where I could amble along at a 12 min/mile pace. This isn't running. Swimming over 2500 yards 4x per week has compensated.
Another is that my inflammatory arthritis has been brought under control. A steady rheumatology protocol has brought the pain down considerably over the past 18 months. I don't like taking meds but this has worked wonderfully. And it has all been under the watchful eye of my neuro-oncology team at Duke.
And finally, I know what 13.1 miles can be like. My first 1/2 marathon was in 2000; the Rock 'n Roll half in La Jolla, California. The night before I was at a San Diego Padres game and my roommate and I had a few beers and thought it might be cool to run the half marathon the next day. Conveniently the race started at the Del Mar race track which was across the street from our apartment in Solana Beach. We woke the next morning to the sounds of the race beginning, so we raced off to the starting line. We begged for safety pins along the way, passing runners coming the other way who had already started the race. There is a mighty hill in that race that ascends along the Pacific Coast Highway towards Torrey Pines. This was a tough climb, but it was nothing compared to how I felt on the home stretch. There was beer at the end, though, and it was a great experience.
Since then I've competed a few more 13.1 races along with 6x 26.2 marathons. I'm pretty confident that along with my good friends in Memphis this one will be fun!
The plan for tomorrow, Tuesday, is for me to run for an hour of track intervals. 4x 400, with an easy 200m walk between intervals.
Thursday's plan is a 45 min run nice and easy, nice and slow.
More to follow, stay classy...and thanks for stopping by.
DZ
