64 and out (Part the Third)

Installment #3 (Contains Weeks 7 - 9)

Day 44 (12/20/2009): 9.3 miles, 1:20:47 (8:41 min/mile) Stables to Rose Bowl Perimeter
Wanted to enjoy some sunshine before I head back to the frigid East Coast for the holidays, so did this somewhat longer run. I felt a little less than fresh today, so just went easy and focused on keeping my upper body relaxed. A little slow, but totally felt good. A nice run.

Day 45 (12/21/2009): 6.8 miles, 1:02:57 (9:15 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
Out of the sunshine and into the snow storm. Literally the day after a massive snowfall, nothing is plowed, but no excuses here. Ran in the streets until the River Path after which I went tromping through the unplowed snow. Parts of it were kind of okay and packed down, while other parts you just sank in up to your knees. Felt like I was doing calisthenics a lot of the time, but on the upside the snow is the ultimate soft surface, no complaints there. Phew, a little exhausting but I made it!

Day 46 (12/22/2009): 7.3 miles, 1:05:37 (8:59 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to Western Ave.
Tried to escape the unplowed River Path by taking a longer route to get to a more populated segment. Noooo luck, this part was also unplowed. Running in the snow is hard, but spirits are still high, there's something very internally calming about being out there in the 20 degree weather tromping through snow white landscapes.

Day 47 (12/23/2009): 11.5 miles, 1:38:51 (8:36 min/mile) JFK Street to Harvard Bridge
Finally hit the jackpot of moderately plowed street! Or maybe we runners have spent the past two days packing down the snow to a neat trail like consistency... At any rate, I was so very elated to see such a nice running surface that I ended up going much farther than I had intended. It was especially cold today, I was feeling a bit chilly under my 4 layers, but overall it was pretty awesome! This is my longest run so far both time and distance, but I was so blissed out it went by pretty quick.

Day 48 (12/24/2009): 6.9 miles, 1:00:20 (8:45 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Today I wondered why I never want to start my runs, even though I've thoroughly enjoyed every single one here so far. The cold doesn't even bother me at all... but every morning I still go through the same routine, where I dawdle eating breakfast, and have to convince myself to step out the front door. Today I got some extra encouragement to get out there, as the mail man arrived as I was dawdling by the front door, and so I couldn't NOT run after I told him I was about to head out. It was a nice run, took it easy.

Day 49 (12/25/2009): 7.7 miles, 1:07:48 (8:48 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to River Street
Merry Christmas Everyone!!! It was even warm enough to wear my lighter red jacket. I actually felt kind of tired today, like I was dragging my feet a little bit... but received some encouragement from a nice family that I ran past twice.

Day 50 (12/26/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:35 (8:59 min/mile) Smallest River Loop
Bah, its a little warmer, but drizzly and overcast.... not cool. I definitely prefer the crisp piercing cold under bright sunny skies. Fortunately, I've already run 49.5 (!) miles so far this week, so I treated myself to a short jaunt, probably through the last of the deep snow since the drizzle was starting to reduce it to mush. Felt kind of lousy but not too horrible.

Week 7 Musings: This was really an unexpectedly awesome week of running. For starters, I ran almost 55 miles, for the first time in YEARS. The snow was challenging, but overall not a terrible thing... and its presence shielded me from a lot of pounding on the pavement here. I think it also psychologically gave me the mental allowance of slower paces, so every run I did was truly comfortable and fun. In addition, while I didn't always want to get started, there was never a question of whether or not I would run... it felt much more normal and stable than 10 days ago, when there were genuine moments of doubt, where I just wanted to call the whole thing off.

Day 51 (12/27/2009): 6.9 miles, 57:58 (8:24 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Feeling better today, but rather overdressed. It was ridiculously warm, which had the unpleasant side effect of exposing quite a bit of mud on the previously frozen trail section. Almost lost a shoe there, but was overall pleased with the run. An hour stroll on the golf course with Dad afterwards.

Day 52 (12/28/2009): 7.7 miles, 1:05:49 (8:33 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to River Street
I'm actually missing the snow a little bit. The pavement is showing through now, and it doesn't quite have that nice soft trail-like feel anymore. Felt not so great in the beginning but better towards the end. Picked it up a bit once it started raining in the last 5 minutes or so.

Day 53 (12/29/2009): 6.9 miles, 1:00:17 (8:44 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Wow, wind makes cold disproportionately miserable! I chose the Pond loop because I thought it would be more insulated from the wind than the River path... but not so... I've never seen the pond surface so choppy. It was pretty brutal, especially returning home facing a headwind heading uphill.

Day 54 (12/30/2009): 6.5 miles, 51:33 (7:56 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/San Marino
2 days, 2 hours of sleep and 3 flights later, I am NOT a happy camper... NOT AT ALL. Night run back in Pasadena did not improve my mood, as I was supposed to be driving up to the Bay today. Thought I was cruising off of my hatred of connecting flights and Chicago O'Hare Airport, but came back and realized that I wasn't going as fast as I thought I was and that made me even more irate.

Day 55 (12/31/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:54 (8:35 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
I'm still exhausted from my traveling ordeals, but I got up to run in the morning and felt a little bit less downtrodden afterwards. Felt alright, a bit tired but cleared up towards the end. Drove up to the Bay today instead, feeling extremely well traveled in the past few days.

Day 56 (01/01/2010): ~5.5 miles, 45:56 (~8:20 min/mile) Random Golden Gate Park
Happy New Year Everyone!!! Celebrated a traditional Korean New Year with Randie, including stuffing my face with delicious kimchee first thing in the morning. I felt really full and a little queasy as I drove back to Piedmont to meet up with KB to go on her inaugural New Years run. Good times with tour guide Ian Shapiro along trails and paths in Golden Gate Park. Dan Feldman showed up too, it was drizzly but super fun. I felt like we were cruising, and I managed to keep the kimchee in my stomach, so all in all a good time. (FYI, I do not like overestimating mileage, so I have said 5.5 miles though its very possible we were going faster)

Day 57 (01/02/2009): 7 miles, 58:55 (8:25 min/mile) Napa cabin to golf course
Joined by KB on the bike, feeling great. Maybe it's because I got my first good night of sleep in 5 days. Napa is really pretty, but the concrete yesterday and today is bothering my ankles a little bit. I love new terrain, and not knowing what's coming up.

Week 8 Musings: Traveling has been exhausting this week, but overall I'm feeling positive on the running. Me being who I am, I should have known that it would be easier for me to increase mileage rather than pace. I'm feeling good about being able to run longer than 5 miles per day consistently now. I'm looking forwards to doing some more structured training when I get home in a few days.

Day 58 (01/03/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:01:33 (8:40 min/mile) Similar route to yesterday
Did a sweet little bike ride with KB (~25 miles) along absolutely gorgeous roads, then a very similar route to yesterday, except I was just too curious and went to the end of the mysterious dirt road. Saw some neat little trails into the hills but they were fenced off :(. Running kind of felt stilted and awful after cycling, but gradually I got back into the swing of things and finished off feeling not bad. Sprained my ankle on the way home though... arghhh.

Day 59 (01/04/2009): 6 miles, 51:00 (8:34 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Got home late from the Bay yesterday and felt kind of deathly today. Work feels like an extra bummer after a long period of freedom. Couldn't wake up early so went on this night run. I took it real easy but was sort of appalled about how slow it was. Things just didn't feel right today, my stomach hurt and both of my feet were bothering me in weird ways (numbness, tingling, burts of sharp pain).

Day 60 (01/05/2009): 6.2 miles, 49:12 (7:56 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
Another bad morning and another night run. Malaise continues, but I felt like this run was sort of cathartic. Felt really good starting on the grassy median on Huntington, and picked it up on the hill. I was trying to convince myself that my L foot didn't hurt... and it seemed like the speed helped.

Day 61 (01/06/2009): 6 miles, 49:28 (8:19 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
I'm in a rut... haven't been able to get up in the morning once this week, and work is really getting me down psychologically. Forced myself to run semi-decently today but my L foot is still bothering me, its a combination of weird tingly numbness and a dull ache... in the back of my mind its either a stress fracture or a neuroma, but I just don't want to deal with it yet.

Day 62 (01/07/2009): 8.9 miles, 1:11:37 (8:03 min/mile) Random Pasadena (shortened)
I wanted to do the same route that I did a couple weeks back at night that was so zen and peaceful. I'm desperately trying to settle my mind and my body but its not working. This is the day that I knew it was over... even though I wouldn't stop running for a few more days. The run started out feeling great, I was cruising at a good clip until somewhere along the way my stomach started to hurt horribly and then my R quad started cramping up. It took my R quad seizing up painfully for me to finally realize that I've been favoring my left leg all week. Limped back early up Marengo in significant pain. L foot is not okay... the dull ache is deepening and it's visibly swollen in the proximity of the metatarsal joint.

Day 63 (01/08/2009): 6 miles, 47:50 (8:02 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Last night run after allergy shots. The pavement is really irritating my foot, but I feel like I ran 8 minute miles out of force of habit. I can definitely tell that my gait is altered now, and my right quad still feels bad to remind me of it. I'm still vaguely hoping that I can run on the trails over the weekend and my foot will improve without having to take a day off... but we'll see.

Day 64 (01/09/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:08 (8:42 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Back on the trails, which helped a little bit, but I could still feel my L foot ache a tiny bit with every step. It's less painful and feels more like its just swollen and numb. The rest of me feels lousy too, R quad is still angry at me, which essentially means that both of my sides are out of order. Not looking good.

Week 9 Musings: I'm going to try running tomorrow with KB and Susan, and if that's still bad, I think this is it. The swelling just won't go down in the L foot, and I can feel the dull ache deepen when I do my calf stretches, which I know from my previous stress fracture is a REALLY BAD SIGN. I'm pissed though because I feel like I'm finally within a stone's throw of getting back into shape. 8 minute miles is starting to feel easy, and I did some relatively good runs even limping on one leg. I'm also a bit uneasy not knowing exactly what the problem is, but I know that I need to be mature about healing it, even if it means a premature end to my running streak.


My running streak ended the next day after I realized that my foot still hurt after 3 miles. 64 days it is, 9 weeks and 1 day, I ran 40+ miles each of those 9 weeks, which should, if nothing else give me a solid base to work off of, should my injury clear up in a vaguely timely manner.