Ramping up before ramping down

Just two and a half weeks until the marathon and I'm ramping up for a big mileage week. Since I was set back last week my final long 20 mile run will be this coming weekend. Then I'll taper down to the marathon. So far my hip is feeling fine. I had a really great 10.76 mile run this morning at a 8:49 pace. Pretty good clip for me. It was chilly, about 42 °F, and windy (20 mph). But I felt pretty comfortable after a mile or two. I'm excited to finally run my home town marathon to its fullest. I've also signed up for the Manitoba marathon in June and the Twin Cities marathon in October.

Iliacus or Psoas?

These two muscles are located in the front of the hip joint and I think I have strained one of them. Unfortunately it is at the wrong time with just four weeks left until the Fargo Marathon. I think I was a bit overzealous on Thursday running 10.5 miles at an 8:14 pace. That evening my hip was really annoying me and on Friday I could not even walk without extreme pain. Well the muscle is healing and I managed to get out for a very easy 2 miles today. I could tell I'm not 100% but it has improved a lot. I'll take it easy this week and will probably have to push next weekend's 20 mile run back a week. That should still give me two weeks to taper before the marathon.

21 miles under the belt

As my marathon training is ramping up I've had some great weeks, mileage wise. On Sunday I ran my first 20+ miler of the year. It was a nice slow 21.4 miles at a 10:28 pace. This on the heels of a rather fast 11.3 miles at an 8:41 pace on Saturday. I'm a little concerned about my heart rate though. During my Sunday run I experienced some tachycardia. My heart rate shot up to about 180 bpm and stayed there for about 15 minutes or so. This has happened before but never in the middle of a run. A few times over the last couple years when I started my runs on a cold morning I'd have a rapid heart beat. Last year I wore a 24 hour monitor and my doctor could find nothing wrong. I may have to have it checked out more thoroughly. Last thing I need is to drop dead on the course.

I know I'm a slacker

Ok, first of all I know I have slacked off about writing on this new blog. I promise as I get closer to the Fargo Marathon on May 17, I'll be updating much more frequently. The other thing I have been slacking off on is getting up in the morning to run. I've been doing pretty well on the weekends, but I am officially SICK and TIRED of the cold weather. This weekend it will be 60 degrees warmer than it will be tomorrow morning and that only reaches the freezing point. I think I'll try to run in the evening tonight when it's warmer (close to zero).

That being said I have been traveling for a couple of weeks and had some good runs on the road. A couple weeks ago I was in Albuquerque and had a couple of very nice runs in the high desert. I actually saw coyotes running along the trail. And last week I got in a good workout while in Pittsburgh. The hills there were quite steep and I definitely used some muscles I'm not used to.

I will get this blog in shape soon. Just be patient with me.

Stinging Cold Saturday Run

Welcome to my running blog. This is my first post and certainly one worth talking about. I had an absolutely fantastic 8 mile run this morning. It was crystal clear and the sun was shining brightly. Around here that usually means an arctic blast has settled down from the north. Today is the coldest day of the year. Most people would shy away from running in such extreme conditions but I find it very refreshing. The key is to cover your skin and wear lots of thin layers to trap as much insulating air as possible. By the end the steam was just pouring off of me and you can see the ice was forming three layers in. What a blast!