Rillito River Run

It's been a while since I last wrote anything, and that's because I've been trying to figure out what direction my training should take as well as dealing with what I called the unholy trinity of pain. As far as direction goes, I have settled upon distance over speed. Once I get my long runs in the 20 mile range, I'll think about doing some speedwork. After my 13 mile run and 6 mile hill workout two weeks ago, my right hip, achilles tendon, and plantar fascia forced me to rest and seek out some kind of treatment. Last week, I logged a whopping 3 miles. The good news is that the hip and plantar fasciitis seem to be okay for now. The achilles tendon is still delicate, but the research I did says that the culprit for this pain is the hill workout that I did.

I did two short 3 mile runs on Monday and Tuesday. I rested on Wednesday and, because of a potentially busy weekend, decided to give a long run a try today. I decided to run along the Rillito river--a route that I read about from other runners here in town. I arrived at my destination at 10:00 am and stretched very lightly before setting off for what I was hoping would be a 14 mile run.  The temperature was in the low 70's, but the winds were really blowing. 

I set off alongside the tall green trees while looking at the skies reflection on the gently flowing water.  Umm, no.  This is someone else's reality.

I live in Tucson.  Here's what we call a river.  Unfortunately, and for at least another year, this is my reality.

I've been looking at ultra running sites and really feel the itch to try a 50 mile race.  One of the tips the ultra runners consistently gave was to walk the hills.  I figured I'd give it a try, but couldn't pull the trigger early on.  I was afraid that my body and mind would get used to walking and start to look for excuses to do it even when there wasn't a hill.  I waited until mile 4.5 to walk up a steep incline.  I did the same at mile 5.5.  I must say that my body felt pretty good after taking these walking breaks and so did my achilles tendon.  The problem came later when I was getting tired and saw a long steady incline ahead.  My body saw the incline and wanted to walk, but I overruled it.  You can't walk every incline and come out with any kind of decent time.  After that, I told myself that there would be no walking of inclines, but steep hills would be okay.

Not having run this route before, I had no idea how far or where it went.  When I started out, I took a right down the path only to discover that it dead ended after a mile so when I arrived back at the car, I had gone 2 miles.  I kept going and when I was coming up on 6 miles, I started wondering if I should turn back because I didn't want to outrun my water supply.  I was wearing my Camelbak which holds about 2 liters.  I figured that if I ran another mile further before turning around that when I got back to the car I would have 12 miles in the books and could decide whether or not to keep going.  That's what I did.  I turned around after 7 miles and headed back to the car.  Just as I was coming up to mile 10, I noticed the toes of my right foot were telling me that they weren't happy.  At 10 miles, there happened to be a table just off the path so I stopped to take care of the toes.  Fortunately, I was carrying a bottle of Body Glide, so I took the sock off and lathered the toes.  I also drank the last of my water.  I forgot to mention that the temps had picked up and I had been running into a ferocious headwind since turning around.  I wasn't happy with myself for running out of water.  The car, with plenty of fluids, was a mere 2 miles away, but I had been conserving the water for quite awhile, so I was pretty thirsty.

I trudged on and after around a mile, saw a snake coming out of a hole in the ground on the side of the path.  The portion that was out of the hole was around 4 feet long.  I must say that I don't like snakes.  My wife says I have an irrational fear of them.  This is exactly the kind of scenario where runners get bit.  You're tired and thirsty and your concentration level is fading.  You don't pay as much attention to your surroundings when all of a sudden, you get too close and startle a snake you never saw.  Now you've been bit and have to determine if it was a rattlesnake or not.  I made it back to the car and downed around 60 ounces of fluids.  I then got back on the path and knocked out another 2 miles to hit my goal of 14 miles for the day.  I was pretty happy with the time--2:13:05--but even happier that my hip, achilles tendon, and plantar fasciitis seemed okay.

I was pretty stiff for a while, but went outside and shot a few baskets in the backyard to loosen up.  I still have to keep on eye on the achilles, but so far so good.

The 50 mile race I'm thinking about is the Old Pueblo 50 Mile. The 2011 race hasn't been announced yet, but I think it's held in early March in Sonoita, Arizona.


Click the link below to see the map and splits for today's run.
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Not A Fun Run

Today's run was the furthest of the year: 12 miles in 1:57:44. It took me about 4 miles to loosen up and start to feel good. The next 4 miles felt okay. The last 4 miles were tough. I battled negative thoughts
right from the start. Thoughts like: this doesn't feel too good, let's cut it short and it's really hot, there's no way we can do 11 miles. 11 miles was the goal for today, but lately I've been beating the mileage goal. It didn't help that the first half--6 miles--were all basically uphill. It also didn't help that I went out at 12:45. I think the temps were in the mid 70's, but it felt warmer.

I beat the excuses the same way I always do. I tell myself that the runs that are the most difficult to do are the ones that I gain the most benefit from. I've been dealing with allergies or a cold for the last week. I decided it was allergies so I wouldn't have an excuse not to run. This was the most physically difficult run of the comeback. Not only was it the longest, but the temps were not ideal which led to me feeling very thankful upon reaching my front door. If I could have gone further, it couldn't have been by much. This was not my typical enjoy the scenery and feeling type of run--this was a grind. The 13 mile mark is also where I've hurt myself in past training which caused me to shut it down. For now, I feel good. The feet feel better. I had to put vaseline on my toes before today's run due to their less than pleasant feeling over the last week.

I ran three days this week for a total of 26 miles. I don't plan on running tomorrow, but you never know.



Click the link below to see the stats and map of today's run.
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