Jul 27

FIT:
A bang-up (in a good way) run, although I think I may need a rest day tomorrow. I was going to take a rest day today, to recover from the race+long bike+strength, but I was itching for some movement today. My left back (as always) was sore due to the bike... something is slightly awry with the seat, I think. I know there's a good possibility that my legs just have assymetries in strength of various connective tissue and muscles, but I think the seat's messed up. And my butt is always funny feeling afterwards. It's a recumbent bike, so it should be just like a normal seat, but maybe with the way you're kicking out, it makes things different.

Aaanyway, it left my joints out of sorts a bit. Well, it could be that or the race. It was different, because my TAs weren't swollen at all, even after the sprint, but they kind of felt dead and unable to generate any power. Walking around, I had to kind of go on my heels a bit and claw around, since I didn't have enough power to toe-off.

But I wanted to move today. I figured maybe 3-4 miles, at a moderate pace. I was nervous, since when I ran the day after the race, I had to stop at 3/4 miles because my knees started hurting. I didn't know if the same thing would happen today, since my TAs still seemed kind of dead. I just did those carefully, though, and speeding up and using different muscles sure did help. I felt good and speedy, too, maybe because I was primed by the race, so I ended up keeping up a good pace through 5.0.

5.0 in 38:49, 7:46 ave. 82 degrees, wearing sox, n3's w/ stab. mp3 until the last mile, when I needed to concentrate and not risk hitting the wire and sending the expensive mp3 player flying off the back of the treadmill and into the mirror. Splits> 8:15, 7:48, 7:47, (24:39 5k... pretty good), 7:34, 7:23. I'm happy, happy. Glad of the even just the distance, especially, though, after a tough few days. Since I was stressing my joints and barely making it through joint-wise, though, I'll probably need rest.

Watch News:
Oh, my new watch came today. High quality, metal face, sturdy, lots of functionality, but HUGE. It said unisex, but... either it's false advertising or it means nothing. I've had unisex watches before, and they're half the size of this mega one. It means that I probably will go with the Garmin in races especially now, since this thing is a bit heavy, that why not add just a little heaviness and get pace and distance functionality. But this watch will do just fine in training runs, and the big face will only help there. I'll look funny wearing it around on a daily basis, but I probably won't care too much. We'll see.

Marathon News:
Today, the lottery opened for the Chevron Houston Marathon. I want to go ahead and register so bad, just to have my foot half in, and to start getting pumped. I'm already pumped, but putting your name in takes it to a new level. I thought about staying up til midnight last night to register, but that would've been ridiculous, since the lottery's open for 2 weeks, and there's no benefit in putting in your name earlier rather than later. If I don't get in, Disney is my backup. Houston>Disney because it's cooler (temp-wise), faster, more serious, and harder to get in, now that there's a lottery. Disney is still good, since it's still big, fairly fast, and fun. We'll see. I hope my training season goes okay, with no injuries. Making it a year without injury, that would be a first. A single year, the fact that a single year would be a milestone is telling of my running career, but that's what it is. Hopefully, I learn more each time and have learned enough to stave off overuse injuries, though. Maybe this will be the year. As for a BQ, I'm not going to be overly optimistic. Just finishing in 4:50ish should be doable and reasonable. 4:40, though, seems like it's so within reach, compared to 4:50!! Aaaah.