One week to go! (21M)

The relay is almost here... I'm really excited about it too! I haven't run "with" a team in a long time and I'm definitely looking forward to the thrill of that race day pressure. It's an entirely different game when others are counting on you compared to when you toe the line solo. Lots of doctor visits this week as well, so hopefully we can starting putting the puzzle pieces together.

Sunday, December 2nd
30' with Jake on the Katy Trail around noon (no Garmin) + 8 x 20" strides, 40" rest
COMMENTS: Nothing new really to share on this one. I definitely didn't feel as spry on this run as I have the past two days, but I think running in 80 degree sunlight with wind has a little bit to do with that. :) My leg was a bit of pain, but decided to try some strides anyways since I hadn't dropped pace in a week and a half or so. Probably about a 1/2 mile worth of strides before I called it.

Monday, December 3rd
Squats, pushups, and abs before work
30' with Jake in the neighborhood during lunch (no Garmin)
Cortisone shot after work
COMMENTS: Ran for the FIFTH straight day today! Woohoo! :) I had to stop about a mile and half in to stretch, but managed to finish out the full run anyways. Nothing fancy or fast today, just a plain jane run... nothing wrong with that though! Visited my orthopaedic doctor this afternoon to reevaluate my pain. He says the place I'm complaining of pain is actually where the lateral meniscus is (or something like that), so I'm getting an MRI tomorrow just to be sure everything is okay. I also went ahead and got a cortisone shot. I know what I can and can't do as far as running goes right now, so masking pain for a few weeks won't cause me to do further damage... hopefully all it does is makes the race on Sunday feel better! :)

Tuesday, December 4th
Rest day

Wednesday, December 5th
4.5M with Jake in the neighorhood during lunch (no Garmin)
COMMENTS: Ran with Jake during lunch again. I'm really excited by the amount of pressure the cortisone shot has taken off my knee. I still have a good bit of pain as I mentioned to Jake before we started, but it's more like a 4 compared to an 8 now!! ;) My ankle is now more of an issue than my knee, but I had that checked today and he does not think it is anything serious. We're doing a few more images to see if we can "prove" any specific problems, but it will probably come down to a cortisone shot for that one as well.

Thursday, December 6th
5M with Jake in the neighorhood during lunch (no Garmin)
COMMENTS: Took until 1.5 for my knee to get to me today... I'll take that! We started too fast for my liking and that combined with some emotional stresses early in the run made for some rough breathing. Because of that I skipped out on the 30",30"s I had wanted to do. Jake and I timed our fourth mile based on where we usually hit the mile mark and it was 6:26, so I would not be surprised if all five were sub 7:00. I don't think we really picked it up at any point, just started quick so it took a while to get used to the pace and settle in.

Friday, December 7th
10' run on the trail at DBU
COMMENTS: Felt more pain than I've had for weeks on this run and decided it was not worth prolonging it with the race on Sunday. As much as I really, really hate cutting a run short, I have to be smart right now. The pain was across the top of my knee, smack dab in the center of my thigh, in my groin, and in my hip. Not pleasant at all... Kind of like a bunch of hinges that need to be greased and then jamming a square leg into a round hip hole.

Saturday, December 8th
25' of 90" run, 30" walk in the morning
COMMENTS: I wanted more than 15 minutes of moving and being outside, so instead of just running two miles sluggishly (I ran right after waking up), I decided to mix it up and do a run/ walk mix. It worked pretty well and kept my heart rate elevated for the full time without me running extra miles. Still quite a bit of pain in my leg this morning, but I am more than confident in myself to finish my leg of the relay strong tomorrow. The power of running for a team is amazing! I will say that as soon as this is over, I'm going to have to change something...