TEXAS Paul - Out to Pasture - Healing

A hot evening in Florence, TX.  Lynn and I drove over to Florence HS for my run and found the high school band on the football field practicing their marching maneuvers and a few students on the track.  Lynn walked while I ran.

I ran 3 miles steady at a 7:45 pace and then as I started the last mile there were 3 high school boys running and they were about 20 meters behind me as I started my last mile.  I ran 3 laps at a 7:20 pace and then the boys tried to catch me as I started my last 300 meters.  As I approached the curve for the last 200 meters the boys made their move to catch me and so I picked it up and raced in the last 200 meters.  They fell back and didn't make it past me, fun. 

I got to sweating like a pig and felt like even though it was just 4 miles it was a good workout. 

Went to Brushy Creek after work and did two miles warm-up, being careful because the bottom outside of the right heel is tender, feeling like it is bruised. 

Then we did drills and then the workout with 3 loops adding up to 2 miles.  The right heel seemed to take the workout pretty well.

Tonight at home I'm putting the right foot and heel on ice as I watch the Republican National Convention.  Waiting for Sarah Palin's acceptance speech. 

A nice run today.  We had planned to do 18 miles but I talked Karen F. and Karen H. into just going 15 as I was being careful with the right foot/heel tenderness.  We met at 6:00 AM with Steve S. and Jason K. and headed out on the 10 mile Longhorn Dam route of Townlake.  After 4 miles when we got to the 8 mile marker we ran hard for 3 miles to the 5 mile marker.  This is a great push in the middle of a long run.  Then we finished the 10 mile loop and then Karen F. and Karen H. and I did the 5 mile Congress Avenue loop.  The right foot behaved quite well, but when we got to Maudie's for breakfast Karen had them bring me a bag of ice so I nursed the foot while we ate.

After breakfast Lynn and I went to the Container Store and then I used the gym pass that Karen H. had given me and I went in and used the pool and swam for 500 meters.  It really did feel good to get in a swim.  I need to be ready to swim 800 meters in two weeks at the Inks Lake Triathlon.  What a great start to the weekend. 

Prednisone update.  It has been 2 1/2 years since the Polymyalgia Rheumatica muscle disorder struck.  Most of my race times have suffered pretty much during this time.  The prednisone medication dosage was 15 mg at the start of the treatment, then settled down to 10 for several months, then I gradually worked the dosage down 1 mg at a time.  A couple of times I tried to take the dosage down to 4 or 5 mg but the pain in the neck and shoulders and back would get too severe so I would bump it back up to 8 mg.

Over the past 2 months I could finally feel deep inside my muscles a change for the better and I gradually dropped the dosage down to 5 mg and then down to 4 mg and for the past week down to 3 mg.  So far so good.  I'll stay on 3 mg until after the St. George Marathon on October 4th.  Then drop to 2 mg and see what happens.  This is good news.

What a nice night at McNeil High School track.  After my warm-up miles the group got started with our drills.  There were between 55 and 60 of us there tonight, amazing.  The temperature was 95 degrees with medium humidity so it really did feel alright to run. 

I'm still being careful with the right foot heel bruise and/or plantar tendon stress, so I put a 2nd insole insert in both of my running shoes.  It felt like I was running on soft rubber cushion.  No issue at all tonight with the right foot.   

Donnie had us do Yasso 800's so I ran 4 of them in 3:27 each.  Then did a cool down mile and then the stretching with Donnie and the group.  A nice night.  The goal is to do a total of 10 Yasso 800's at that pace and it should project a 3:27 marathon as long as you are doing your other marathon training distances. 

Still on only 3 mg. of prednisone medication for the PMR.  The neck and back and shoulders are managing the pain very well.  I know the true healing is taking place.  Proof of that is the improved Pikes Peak Marathon time almost an hour faster than last year.  Lots of good news.

A great night at Brushy Creek.  Temp in the low 90's felt great.  I got in some warm-up miles and then we did drills.  There were 21 of us there tonight, a nice bunch.  We jogged across the dam and then did the hill loop workout.  This is always a great workout.  My loops took 5:09, 5:20, 5:07, 5:04, 5:10.  Then we ran back across the dam where I got in the water park fountains and got washed off, felt great. 

I had double shoe insoles again tonight to protect my right heel, and it worked because there were no problems with the foot. 

With Hurricane Ike coming into Texas we will have to see what we do with our Saturday run as the hurricane is supposed to be close to Austin by Saturday morning.  Wait and see.  Gustavo said tonight he would like to start joining us on some of our Saturday runs. 

Hurricane Ike was slamming Houston Saturday morning but it only sent light winds over here in Austin with high humidity and temps in the 80's at 6:00 AM.  

I met Tom and Karen F. and Karen H. down at Town Lake and we did the 10 mile loop up and back from Mt. Bonnell and then we did the Congress Avenue Bridge loop of the Town Lake trail.  Then we got cleaned up at Deep Eddy showers and then over to Maudie's for breakfast tacos.  Lynn did her walk of the People Bridge loop.

The right foot plantar tendon and the right heel are tender again after this run but they seem to be holding okay.  Next Saturday we are doing 22 miles so I really need to be careful with the right foot.  Again I had double insole liners in the shoes to soften the impact. 

Still a great run and a great way to start the weekend. 

What a nice evening in Austin, TX with temps in the low 80's or high 70's, just a beautiful evening with a moderate breeze to even cool us more.  Just a nice evening.  I got to McNeil HS early hoping for an early start but the McNeil HS women's track team was on the track so I did my warmup mile out in the parking lot. 

When we finally got the track I started my Yasso 800's with a goal to do 10 of them at 3:30 each, which would predict a 3hr 30min marathon in St. George.  My Yasso times were 3:29; 3:25; 3:28; 3:24; 3:24; 3:27; 3:22; 3:23; 3:24; 3:20.  So if the prediction model works this should predict something between 3:24 and 3:29 for St. George.  I would be elated with a time in that range.  Hopefully with the healing I have seen with the PMR so I have been able to keep at the 3mg per day prednisone, and the energized race I had at Pikes Peak 4 weeks ago, this bodes well for St. George.  Time will tell. 

What a week at work, extra busy and wrapped around Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) work.  I ran our Jail-a-thon at work and spent lots of time on my feet and didn't get the hydration that I need to do, and on top of that I didn't get in a run since Monday.  When I left work last night with sore legs and feet I suspected this 22 miles today might be tougher than it should have been.  I hate it when I'm right on stuff like this. 

So, I met Karen F. and Karen H. and Tom H. this morning at 6:00 AM and we did a 17 mile loop up Mt. Bonnell and then on up to Far West Blvd and over to Shoal Creek and down to 45th street and then on over to the University of Texas past the football stadium, then past the state Capital and then down to the Town Lake Trail and back to the start at Mopac.  By the last 2 miles of this 17 mile segment I was really feeling it in the legs.  Oh well, then the goal just became the quest to finish the 22 miles with the Congress Avenue loop of Town Lake.  It wasn't pretty.  Karen F. and I reminisced about a 22 mile run in February a few years ago when she had to bait me with the vision of a cup of hot chocalate.  Today we were just glad to get it done. Over the past 10 years we can count the number of bad runs I have had on one hand, it just doesn't happen, but it did today.

Last Monday after doing the 10 Yasso 800 meter runs I was really feeling good about what I expected to do with this 22 mile run.  Oh well, two weeks of taper to St. George which needs to include some great hydration and some consistent running this coming week. 

I got to McNeil HS track early and got in 4 miles warmup before the group started at 6:00 PM  for drills and accellerations.  We had a big group again with about 55 runners.  The temperature was in the mid 90's with high humidity at the start and by the time I left for home it was 88 degrees.  Worked up a good sweat tonight.

My goal tonight was to get in the distance and not worry too much about speed, so it was a medium effort night.  After the frustration of the 22 mile run on Saturday this was a decent night of running. 

After my running I did a routine of push-ups as I'm on the schedule from the push-up plan on the link:  http://hundredpushups.com/. 

A georgeous evening in Austin, TX at Brushy Creek park.  I got in 3 miles warm-up before the group met and did drills.  There were 18 of us here tonight.  Then Richard had us do loops on the .6 mile trail, each one faster than the one before it.  I did 4:29; 4:23; 4:19; 3:59; and then I did a mile of cool down and then did the push-up routine.  When I started out with my first warm-up mile the legs felt heavy, but the more I ran the better it felt.  A pretty nice night.

I met Karen F. at Town Lake at 4:00 PM this afternoon and we had a great 7 mile run on the I-35 loop.  Temp was 94 degrees at the start and 91 at the end.  Just an awesome run. 

What a difference a week makes.  Today I met Karen F., Karen H., and Tom H. at Austin HS track, near Town Lake and we did 8 speed interval miles.  It was actually a cool almost cold morning with temps in the low 60's or high 50's, wow did it feel nice.  About half way through after mile 4 Steve Stu. showed up and ran with us.  These mile interval times will seem very slow to runners like Kory but for us these were just right this morning.  My target was to go at 7:30 miles, but I ran 7:28; 7:23; 7:26; 7:24; 7:19; 7:23; 7:23; 7:13. 

Karen F. had an absolutely great day as she said she felt better doing these repeats than she has felt in many years, and Karen H. surprised us by keeping up and having the best interval workout of her life.  Tom hadn't done mile intervals before and really enjoyed this one.

During our last mile interval Steve Sis., my running coach 3 years ago for Pikes Peak who has become the women's track team coach at the University of Texas, showed up at the track with about 12 or 14 women from the UT women's track team.  It was fun to watch them do some running and watch Steve coach.  I talked with him for a minute and he asked how my Polymyalsia Rheumatica was doing and he was glad to hear the report that I'm feeling lots of improvement and am down to 3mg of prednisone a day.  It was also fun to tell him that I got 2nd place this year at Pikes Peak, since when he coached me 3 years ago I got 3rd place in my age group.

Then we ran the 3 mile People Bridge loop on Town Lake and then went over to Maudie's for breakfast.  Just a great start to a beautiful weekend.  St. George is only a week away, should be fun.    

A nice evening in Austin, TX at McNeil HS with temps about 92 when I got to the track and about 85 when I left.  After 3 warmup miles we did drills where we counted 73 runners in the group tonight, the largest group we have ever had at the track, awesome. 

For the workout Donnie had us do 10 each 200 meter runs with a 50 meter recovery each.  I ran with Tam and Tom until Tom had to leave for work.  We ran our 200 meter intervals at paces between 5:36 / mile pace and 6:10 pace, just a fun night.  A fun and invigorating workout.  After the workout I did my push-up routine and really felt good. 

We only have 5 days until St. George so it was good to have a workout where we pushed it and felt really good with it.