Shatty Sat

Saturday started out pretty good, then got really bad. I did a bad, bad thing. But first, I did a good thing. I brought the camera out to the lake and snapped a few photos of the lake at Furman that I keep running around.

I got a decent parking space -- not always easy

This is the Bell Tower at Furman. It's a local landmark in the middle of the lake. It might have been the most photographed thing in Greenville until they built a walking bridge over the falls in downtown.

There is an ampitheatre on the far side of the lake. They have free concerts here every tuesday(?) night during the spring and summer. Very cool, and a great family get-out-of-the-house thing.

There are always plenty of waterfowl on the lake. I saw several different types of ducks, geese, even a few swans. Very cool.

We shoot with a Nikon D40 digital SLR. It's not one of the small, cute point-and-shoot things, so it doesn't fit in a pocket and can be very cumbersome to carry around. That's why I took those before I started the planned 22 mile run.

Then everything started to go downhill. I started the run and forgot the iPod Shuffle. So I had to do the first lap with no tunes. The students were back, Furmas has about 2500 students, and they do a Jan term, like a 6 week semester in Jan and Feb. So it was neat to see some students floating around. An intramural soccer game broke out behind the ampitheatre, and an intramural beach volleyball game started up beside the parking lot. So I still had plenty of distractions. But I was very glad to stop and pick up the shuffle when I finished the first lap.

1: 1.28 mi, 13:55, 10:50 pace included warm up walk

The second lap was uneventful, just took it kind of slow. My time included the time to stop at the car, locate and plug in the shuffle. The third lap I went up the hill on the backside to say hi to my grandfather's in memoriam garden. Ended up being the only time I took on the hill.

2: 1.32 mi, 14:08, 10:43 pace
3: 1.63 mi, 17:51, 10:58 pace

Lap 4 was uneventful, but I did hit my highest max speed (according to Garmin) during that lap of 8.0 mph. Lap 5 is where the fun started. I walked more than usual, but everything still felt ok. I was sort of taking it easy just be sure I would still have some gas left in the tank. Lap 6 and 7 were also slow, but controlled. I was really trying to stay in my form, and hold out for some of the later miles.

4: 1.33 mi, 15:24, 11:35 pace
5: 1.30 mi, 16:55, 13:00 pace
6: 1.30 mi, 16:10, 12:26 pace
7: 1.24 mi, 15:27, 12:30 pace

Now at this point, I'm 9.4 miles in. And somewhere in mile 9, my knees started to revolt. They just started with a low roar, and ended up screaming for mercy. My shins felt great the whole time, they are usually the source of discomfort. But this time it's the knees. I got in 3 more laps:

8: 1.31 mi, 14:19, 10:55 pace
9: 1.31 mi, 17:40, 13:30 pace
10: 1.34 mi, 19:40, 14:43 pace

Totals: 13.35 mi, 2:41:31, 12:06 pace

and THAT was the end of my day. So no 22, only made it 13.35 instead. I know the smart thing to do was to call it a day instead of trying to push for the entire 22 and risk hurting myself more. That last lap was mostly walking. I would try and run, make it maybe 15 paces before crumbling in pain. I just walked back to the van and called it a day. Lap 9 was pretty bad, but I didn't think the pain was going to stick around like that so I went back out for another lap.

Now this really has me very upset. GAAAAA!!!!!!! 18 weeks into a 20 week training plan and I get the first thing painful enough to really be called an "injury". Damnnit! We've got 3 weeks to go until the marathon and today (Monday) I'm still having way more knee pain in both knees than I ever would have anticipated. I don't think I'm completely derailed, but my 5 hour goal might be shot. And that's dissapointing.

Oh, and then we dropped off the kids with my folks (planned) and got some dinner. Came home, rolled into bed just in time to turn on the tv and catch.... finaly Jeopardy? yep. I went to bed at 7:45 pm on a saturday night. 'cause that's how you roll when the kids are away. Actually, we watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Love Guru before finally calling it a night. but that still seems funny.

So mentally and emotionally I know I've got the 26.2 in me. I know my nutrition and hydration plan is tested and effective. I know from doing the 20 miles 2 weeks ago that I can aerobically cover the distance. But thanks to a little discomfort after that 20, I only ran once for about 3.5 miles in 2 weeks to save the impact stress. So I guess I needed more intermittent runs to maintain the physical stuff.

Next saturday is 12 miles, then 8 miles the following saturday. Then it's the marathon in MB. So I'm going with RICE, and a brace on each leg for the next few days. Time to go back to the chiropractor. And I've got to get in touch with Coach Katie to see what I'm going to do for the next 3 weeks. I'm not afraid to wear a brace during the marathon if that's what it takes.

I did have a great masters swim this morning. Bright and early, 5:30 am. There were only 2 other people in the pool with me. This was a big surprise because last thursday there was like 40 people in the pool. It was a blast, I did a couple of miles and worked on my form and bilateral breathing. maybe 50 laps in the 25 meter pool. I was surprised, my knees really hurt during the swim. Swimming is non-impact, so I didn't expect any knee pain. But boy it was really noticable.

So Saturday was Shatterday, as it all went to shat. What a shitty run. But I'll recover and I'm trying to keep my spirits high. I got plenty of code to write today. Have a good one!