Manchester and Beyond

I took off the 21st and 22nd. I almost never take Saturday off; I love running long on Saturdays. I was tired and my legs hurt. I am always hopeful that an extra day off will help. 

Sunday the 23rd I was able to run 14.4 miles; 13.1 in 1:47:55 an excellent time for me. 

Monday I ran 4.1 miles in 33:52 at 7.3 mph for 8:15.6/mi. My legs HURT! 

I took Tuesday and Wednesday OFF.

The 72nd Manchester Road Race and my 19th was a beautiful day. I got there early enough to warm up. I felt good the whole race and came in 824th out of about 11,000 in 34:06; a little slower than last year. I got to run with a friend, Linda Yamamoto and I got to see a friend, Simone Warner, after the race.

I ran Friday and Saturday; 6.2 miles on Friday and 11.0 miles on Saturday. My left ankle stopped me from running 3 times on Saturday. I feel fine and my ankle is OK but I need to take some time off AGAIN! 126 miles for the month is kinda low. But I'm on pace to run 1950 miles for the year.

Down Time

My legs are tired.

I have been running OK but this cold weather and wearing crummy dress shoes to work have taken a toll on my legs. Here is what I have done since the 11th:

Nov 12   6.2  miles      49:56   7.4 mph  8:03.2/mi.  

Nov 13   4.1  miles      33:47   7.3 mph  8:14.4/mi.

Nov 14   OFF

Nov 15  10.4 miles  1:23:30   7.4 mph  8:01.7/mi.

Nov 16  10.0 miles  1:24:00  7.1 mph  8:24.0/mi. legs tired

Nov 17   5.2  miles     42: 40  7.3 mph  8:12.3/mi.

Nov 18   OFF Too tired right knee and left calf hurt

Nov 19   5.2 miles     41:15    7.5 mph  7:56.0/mi. legs felt GOOD!

Nov 20  4.2 miles     33:58    7.4 mph  8:05.2/mi. tired

This has been a tough week. I'm going to ramble here a bit. I know I will have to cut back on my massages. I just don't have enough money. I'll miss talking to Shannon too; my legs really feel so much better after getting massages and I love her advice! Shannon has been good to me. She has given me more time than I have paid for which has been a blessing. Before I met her I had not run any marathons. Now Houston will be my 18th in less than 5 years. I am still amazed! If I had the money I would get 2 massages a week. It seems like my wife and I have lived our whole lives together with little extra money for things that help make life enjoyable.  Although I have enjoyed a lot of good quality beers. ;-)

I have run so many marathons in the last year because I feel that time is running out for me. You only have so many marathons in your legs, especially if you run as fast as you can. I try to run fast but I always have in my mind that too fast will limit the number I can run. Usually I hold back some to see how I feel until the last 6-10 miles and see how I am doing. I'll go for it then! I'll certainly miss the speed that I have so I want to run as much as I can while I feel good. Well enough of that. 

The Manchester Road Race is on Thanksgiving Day. The 72nd running. This is my 19th year. This is my speed race for the year since I don't run many short races in the year. 

I'm listening to the UConn Men's soccer team play Fairfield so I'll end this so I can concentrate on the game. Cheers. TGIF

Back at IT!

I took last week off. 3 marathons in 9 weeks. That is the most I have ever done in that amount of time. Taking a week off seems to be the right amount of time for me. I have read that you can take as much as 2 weeks off and I have also read that you should take a week off even when you don't run a race but just after a certain amount of time of hard training. I prefer to run a race then take time off. 

My bunyon on my left foot has changed my foot. You probably only have so many marathons in you and definitely only so many at a faster speed. This year I have found that the second day I start running again I have thoughts that I may not be able to run the same or my future plans may have to change. BUT my feet today seem OK. I did run too fast yesterday. I don't set a certain speed I just go out and run. Here is what I did the last 3 days:

11/09   4.2 miles in 34:04  at 7.4 mph for a pace of 8:06.7/mi.

11/10   5.3 miles in 40:49  at 7.8 mph for a pace of 7:42.1/mi.

11/11   4.2 miles in 34:21   at 7.3 mph for a pace of 8:10.7/mi.

The 7:42 per mile was too fast. My legs bothered me all day. I ran slower and shorter today and felt OK. My thighs hurt some today and my right ankle BUT after I stopped running everything was OK.

No matter what time I go to bed I wake up between 4 and 5 AM. Tomorrow I hope to run a slow 6 miler.   

 

Manchester City Results

Here are the results from the Manchester City Marathon; I was 122 out of 434:

122 Keith Almeida             56    138 M   2/27    Enfield CT              3:38:37   8:21

The day started cold (30 F) and windy.

My left ankle "popped " at mile 9. I stopped and tied my left shoe tighter and ran a little slow for a while. At mile 12 I started to talk to a guy, Andy from Columbus OH and continued to talk nonstop until almost mile 22. It helped get through all those miles.

I actually had a kick at the end and ran past someone in my age group about 50 feet from the finish. I felt great afterwards!