Date Workout Miles Avg Pace Monday, 9/22 Regular Run 5 9:15 Tuesday, 9/23 Regular Run 8 10:28 Wednesday, 9/24 Rest 0 -- Thursday, 9/25 Regular Run 7 9:57 Friday, 9/26 Rest 0 -- Saturday, 9/27 Long Run 18 10:01 Sunday, 9/28 Rest 0 -- Total Weekly Mileage: 38 Last week's theme was simply to "get it done." My runs have been slower lately, but I'm getting through them and my foot seems to me handling the mileage, so I'm OK with the decreased speed. I also ran most of my runs, except for the long one, in the evenings, which my body wasn't adapted to. Monday's run was one of the last runs of my mini vacation (at home), and perhaps that had something to do with the better pace. I was also coming off of a pretty short long run a couple days back. I guess conditions were just good for that run, which I did once more at Upper Tampa Bay Trail, after visiting with my nieces. On the Tuesday run, b ecause I was on my last day of mini vacay, I was...

Date Workout Miles Avg Pace Monday, 8/18 Yoga 0 -- Tuesday, 8/19 Rest 0 -- Wednesday, 8/20 Yoga 0 -- Thursday, 8/21 Regular Run 5 9:38 Friday, 8/22 Rest 4 9:26 Saturday, 8/23 Long Run/Yoga 12 9:43 Sunday, 8/24 Yoga in the Park 0 -- Total Weekly Mileage: 21.5 So, this was my break week. But it doesn't look exactly like a break week. I made it through four days in a row (including the Sunday you don't see) without running (and check out all the yoga!). And then I tried a lower-mileage run on Thursday morning to assess where I was, pain-wise. It wasn't too bad, but my foot still hurt afterward as I was walking around. I'd made an appointment to see a sports massage therapist after work on Thursday, not having very high hopes for treatment--not because I didn't think the guy was good, but because I didn't think massage was an effective treatment for my particular problem (bursitis, or metatarsalgia). So I spent a half hour with Pete Pfannerst...

Flatwoods 18 Over two weeks ago, I had decided I wanted to do my 18-miler at  Flatwoods . Perhaps it was the previous weekend's tough (and steep) bridge run that had set my mind on the flattest possible terrain. Tim and I had gone to Crossboot the night before, which could have meant heavy legs and sore muscles for the morning's run, so I didn't have high expectations for a stellar run. The main running trail consists of a paved seven-mile loop plus a few extra miles to get from the two park entrances to the loop. The park also has dirt trails that cut through the wooded areas surrounding the paved trail, but I mainly run on the pavement. The park is actually called "Flatwoods Wilderness Park," and I've heard stories about some such wild things that exist in the woods. I've seen lots of deer--I actually saw three beauties cross in front of me Saturday--otherwise I've only seen snakes, rabbits, squirrels, and birds. But I've been told that eight...

For weeks and weeks I had been looking forward to doing my last long run of training before the Steamtown Marathon , just six days away now. It was only 12 miles, and compared to all the other runs I'd been through, it was sure to be a breeze. I was looking so much forward to it, in fact, that I slept right through it Saturday morning. Heard the alarms, but just didn't feel compelled to get up. So I didn't. By the time I actually arose, it was close to 9:00 a.m. Whoops. So I was left with the dilemma of whether to run the next morning, or to try for a long evening run (isn't that how everyone wants to spend their Saturday night?) I opted for the evening run, because I was afraid I'd have the same problem getting up the next morning, and I also just wanted to get the dang thing over with. It would mark a very significant point in training, or rather, the end of training. Plus, there was one more thing I wanted to do for this round of training that I hadn't do...