The Chances

How a 250+ Pound Couch Potato Got Healthy

Friday, December 19, 2008

Today was interesting, to say the least. When I got up this morning, it was extremely cold, colder than yesterday. Once the sun came up though, it wasn't too bad.

I thought I'd be able to run around noon, but instead ended up waiting until about 1:30. The upside here is the temperature had risen to a whopping 44 degrees, which I realize was higher than the 38 I had expected to run in, but still.

Once out there, the wind was as bad as it was yesterday. I had an excuse not to run yesterday, because it was a gym day, but today? No excuses. I wore tights and a compression shirt along with shorts and a regular technical shirt over, which took care of the chill, but there was just no escaping the wind. So, no records today.



Just looking at the splits, you can tell where the wind made me cry like a little schoolgirl. My triumph today was the fact that I got out there and did it.



As I was getting to the end of the run, I noticed the big toe on my right foot felt like I had a hotspot, possibly a blister. That wouldn't be he end of the world, it's happened before, just a bit annoying. When I got my shoe off, there was nothing wrong with my toe. I reached my hand into the shoe, and found the problem. I immediately pulled out the Superfeet insole, and this is what it looked like:



The toe of the insole had been folded completely underneath itself. What I was feeling in my toe was actually the dropoff from the front of the stinkin' thing. I must have been running with the thing like this for a while, because I haven't had the insole out of my shoe for at least a few weeks. I'm lucky nothing too bad happened to my toes!

Another thing I did today was pose a question on Twitter: would it be too much for me to do a half marathon in March, and then a full marathon in May? Everyone answered "yes", but I'm still debating on it. I'm already signed up for the Shamrock'n Half in March, so that's a definite.

Originally the idea was to do the Humboldt Redwoods half marathon this past October, and then spend the next year training to then do the full marathon the following year, but with all the training I did for Mt. Whitney, it meant I was hiking & backpacking on weekends instead of long runs. I just didn't feel I was doing the right kind of training for the job.

When the date arrived, I was doing a long run and said to myself, I think I can make the distance, and went for it. While I wasn't a speed demon, I went ahead and did it, and finished in 2:30. The following Saturday, I did it in like 2:15, then proceeded to do the same mileage and then some for the next 5 or 6 Saturdays in a row.

My point is that I'm definitely ready for an official half. The full marathon is a possibility, but I'm still nervous about it. Yet, when I think about it, I don't think I'll ever "feel" ready for it and feel like I should just take the plunge with it.

So how about it? You have access to my training logs here and on MapMyFitness.com. Up until the last week or two, I've been averaging 28 to 30 miles per week. The longest I've ever run is 14 miles, but I'll also have 3 months of training before the half, and 5 months total before the full.

I await your opinions.

2 comments:

Glenn Jones said...

Greg - You are more than ready for a half. Most of the prople out there running a half are onydoing 20 to 25 mpw.!

Unknown said...

That insole will definately affect your feet. Ouch!