Fall is in the Air



(Nothing beats running in this)



What a perfectly cool, mid-morning run I had today. Fall has definitely landed, full force, here in the Pacific Northwest. Went out for a 4.5 miler and chose to stay on a local trail - excellent decision. There is something about running alongside nature that makes it so much easier and a lot more enjoyable. I kept a pretty even 9.40 mile pace the whole time - which for me is darn good!

It was nice to finally get back on my feet. I've had an issue these past few weeks with what I think is a pinched nerve on the top of my right foot. The only thing that makes sense to me is perhaps I laced up a little too tight one day. Checked a few online resources to help justify my self diagnosis and I'm hoping we are all correct. Since it flarred up during last Sunday's 5 miler, decided to give it a rest and stuck to my trainer this past week. Felt good to get some miles in on the bike, but I hate to lose any running time.

Took off this morning and the foot felt fine - heck, even my ever bothersome hip was happy to be on the path. Around mile 4 the aching started to flare up again - aarrgghh. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Maybe time for new shoes, not sure. I only have about 350 on my Brookes now, and was hoping to get in at least another month or so. Ah, such is the life of an endurance enthuse....if it's not new shoes, it's tires, or wheels, or bike shorts, or bathing suits, or goggles...you get the idea.

In other news, researching potential training plans for Boise. Crap. Little intimidated. Example of what my peak week will likely include:

6750 yards of swimming/6 hours

145 miles on the bike/7 hours

20 miles of running/5.1 hours

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= 18 hours/170 miles

On their own, each discipline sounds easy – but jam 18 hours and 170 miles into 1 week? On top of a full time job, swim practice and school events for the kid and any sort of family time.…..guess you know how much “free” time I’ll be enjoying these next 6 months. I’m exhausted (terrified) just thinking about it! If this is what is required to train for a half IM – I can’t even begin to imagine what a full looks like.

"Calm down, ding dong and just stay focused on your half marathon. You'll have all sorts of time to worry about what's next when this is over." - says the rational voice in my head. (I really need to listen to her more often...but sometimes I just don't like her level headed ways)

One race at a time…..