Massage is Essential

I received a massage last night from someone I know, not always the case at the school, and felt great today on my 10.4 mile run. So far 26.5 miles for the week. 118.4 miles for the month. I feel great. I am running 6/7 days and hope to run 7/7 this week.
I hope to get 3 massages each month from one of the students when they get licensed and still go to the school 3 weeks out of 4. I always feel good and never get an injury when I get regular massages. Of course the cost will matter but I hope to have the money.

I Ran Every day This Week

30.5 miles total for the week, with speed work 2 days. Today I ran 5.3 miles with the last mile and hald at about 7:35/mi. Ankle bothered me some but overall I felt great!

Strength Training

I ran 5 days in a row; my plan is to run at least 6/7 days a week. I am doing more strength training and more balance exercises in the hope that I will recover faster and run better for Boston. 7.1 miles yesterday in 1:01.

Running More

Although I loved running a marathon a month, it did not allow me to run as much as I wanted to run.
Since Sunday I have only taken 1 day off and I hope to run tomorrow and run long at least once a week to prepare for Boston. I would love to run a 3:49 in Boston and that is my goal.
I had a great massage last night at the Massage School in Easthampton Ma but I may have pulled a muscle today. Hope not but I don't feel right. I may not do a lot tomorrow.

Mississippi Blues and Beyond

It was a cool day for the race, 34-50 degrees F. I wore a light Ice Breaker shirt (150) and compression shorts and socks. I ran as slow as I could for 5 miles and held back for 12 miles. Everything was fine! I picked it up at mile 16 and pushed at mile 18. But I ran out of sugar (even though I took 7 Gu's) by mile 24.
I finished 4:12:13 and felt good with my calves burning. Blues CDs, Red beans and rice, great metal and shirt. Rolling hills did make it a tough marathon.
Went to Vicksburg the next day and Bravo! for supper. Great day after the marathon. Mississippi gets 2 thumbs up!!!
New Orleans with my niece Gina, Keith, Annemarie and I was great too.
Big plans for southern marathons next year.
8.1 miles yesterday and feeling OK today.

Mississippi Blues Saturday

Well it was in the teens while running again today. 3.3 miles yesterday and 3.1 today. I'll take tomorrow off for the marathon which starts at 7 AM Saturday. We are staying less than a half a mile from the start so it should be a good warm-up and we won't be in a rush.
Legs are tired tonight; I hope they feel good tomorrow. No knee pain since Rehoboth.

Nine Days to Mississippi

I took a few days off since I was on my feet all day. Sunday I ran 12 miles on the rail trail and 6.2 miles on Christmas on the road. I felt great with no knee pain. PT, acupuncture and massage are all helping but it feels like some nerve pain in my left leg.
Still, all in all, I feel good and I'm ready to run a better marathon. I will take it slow at first without running too slow which seems to aggravate my pain.

Since Rehoboth

I have received 2 massages, acupuncture twice, seen an orthopedic ( my knees are as good as a 20 year old, no arthritis) and I'm now in PT to try and fix my left leg.
I ran 10.8 miles last Saturday, one week after the marathon in Saucony Hurricanes with Sole inserts. No knee pain. I have since run 3.6 and 4.1 miles since with no knee pain. Left IT band still too tight but I am feeling better about my chances of running better in Mississippi.

Rehoboth Beach Aftermath

It started well. A cool, cloudy day. I felt good at first but my knee hurt by mile 6. It went downhill after that. I felt like I couldn't run by mile 12. At 16 I started walking as much as running and then mostly walked from 19 on. I did run over the finish ;)
I really need to find some combination which will not effect my left knee. When I am not running it doesn't hurt at all.
After I received advice from one of the massage therapists and he said what I knew that it was where my IT band connected to the knee.
I see an orthopedic tomorrow and hopefully he my have a suggestion. If not I am going back to my podiatrist.

Final Week Before Taper

I ran three times this week 7.1, 6.1 and 6.0 miles and I will run again tomorrow. I have felt good; my weekly massage was great and it has helped me stay focused on next weekend. Hopefully, Rohoboth will be my fastest marathon of the year.

Manchester Road Race 2012

I warmed up for 10 minutes, went to the bathroom at DD and walked to the start. I was in the Under 40 this year for the first time. I was determined to go faster than last year, 39:02. There were a lot of young kids in my corral but they 12-16 year olds have been beating me for years in this race.
The gun went off and I kept up with the crowd. As we turned the corner I had to slow some but the pace was good for me. Hit mile one at sub 8 and I felt great. After rolling up the hill I came down fast and kept it up on the flat. I was never out of breath. My clock time was about 36:10 but my chip time was 35:47 beating last year by over 3 minutes. Right calf hurt some so I didn't push too hard at the end.
A very satisfying  run.
I'm ready for Rohoboth!

Thai Massage

Today I'm getting my first Thai massage. This is suppose to lengthen my muscles. It was recommended to me by Abby a massage student at the Easthampton Massage School. I'm excited, I hope that some of my tightness disappears. My official time for OBX was a little lower, 4:07:59.6 still 3rd in age group.

OBX Marathon

Keith picked me up at my Hotel at 5:10 AM and we drove to Mentao HS to catch our buses, mine to the full and Keith to the half. Plenty of potties at start but a little cool for the garbage bag. I wore a singlet with Saucony sleeves and CEP compression socks. I started and my left leg hurt after about 0.5 miles. I ran on the grass as much as possible. There was plenty of grass. Then we hit a trail for about 2.5 miles. Very nice. I met 3 people running the Richmond/OBX double. I also met a couple who ran a marathon/month. They told me of a trail marathon in Seattle area which I am checking out.
After 15 there was little grass to run on so I slowed some. But by mile 20 I was OK as long as I kept my shoulders way back and had my right leg land more toward my center. I was trying to get my right leg to do more work and I was reasonably successful. I had a strong finish with a long up hill over one of the many bridges in OBX. Overall I was happy with a 3/26 finish in age group and a 4:08:21 time, 356/1189 overall.
4 in 4 months; I didn't think I would make to this point but I only have 2 to go to get my second star in the Maniacs.
This was my 15th state.

Outer Banks

I have taken a lot of days off from running since Hartford. But the massage and acupuncture have helped get me back on track. If only the bunion would give me a break. I tapered well this week and I'm ready to run! Hopefully, I'll have a picture to post next week. Here comes number seven. I have never run this many in one year but I feel good and will take it easy.

Since Hartford

I have spent a lot of time resting, getting acupuncture and massage and lately have gone about 30 miles on the elliptical. Since Hartford I have run only 27 miles. My bunion and left IT band have hurt and kept me from running more. I received the Sole orthotic at work on this past Friday and it feels great but does not stop over pronation. I ran 4.6 miles yesterday with the Sole and felt great. Today I ran 4 miles in my old custom orthotics and I still feel fine tonight. I am getting 2 hours of massage tomorrow and needles (acupuncture) Friday and I will decide on the flight to Raleigh whether to switch to the half in the Outer Banks. Today I feel great but I want to run well in the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving, it'll be my 22 or 23 Manchester race and right now I get a card to be near the front. I'm not sure if my body can take a 7th marathon so soon after Hartford.

Tomorrow the Hartford Marathon

Well this is my sixth marathon this year and second in three weeks. My sciatica has flared up and so I have rested a lot this week after 24.8 miles last week. Legs are a little tired and I would like to increase my mileage between marathons so I need a different strategy for the rest of the year. I hope for healthful results tomorrow, under 4:00 would be nice.

Rochester Marathon

Nick and I had a blast in Rochester. Nice small city and a lot to do. Went to church at St. Mary's Catholic Church, wonderful music.
The start of the marathon was low key and one small hill with a lot of down at first. Then rolling hills. My bunion started to hurt and then we reached the trail next to the Erie Canal. This was great my speed picked up and I felt much better. It lasted until mile 15 and then I was able to run on the grass next to the bike trail for a lot of the race until about mile 23+. My feet held up and I pushed the last 3 miles. I came in 204/564, 3/7 in age group at 9.00/mi. pace. 3:55:54 my fastest marathon this year. My feet were fine after the race and they feel good today. I will definitely come back to Rochester, it is now in my top 5 marathons.

8 Days Until Rochester Marathon

I've had to take a few days off since my legs were too tight. The Saucony Ride 5 do compress too much and I'm trying to decide on the Glycerin vs. Vomero. Overall I feel good. I just signed up for the Rehoboth Marathon December 8 this morning so I am set to run a marathon a moth through January.

Santa Rosa

The Santa Rosa area was great! My wife and I had fun the whole weekend.  We saw the Redwoods at Armstrong Redwood State Reserve, seals, sea lions, Fort Ross, the Golden Gate Bridge (we traveled across it twice) Burbanks' gardens and Charles Schultzs' figures in Santa Rosa. The Courtyard by Marriott was very nice.  My race results were: 4:05:55, 10/60 in my age group 357 overall 62.3% age grade. I really wish
I could have kept my pace at 8:34/mi. but I just couldn't sustain it. By mile 20 I was struggling.
I am trying to run 6 marathon in 6 months to get another star in the Marathon Maniacs. 1 down and 5 to go.