Freethinker ~ Freerunner

I ran 4 1600's at a 7:00 minute per mile pace, which is somewhere between my 5k race pace and my half marathon pace.  I jogged for 1 minute between each set with one warm up mile and a little over half a mile jog to cool down.  

I ran an easy 5 this morning in 32 degrees at an average pace of 7:57.  I closed out this week at 40 miles.  I haven't done that since last July, which was also the same week I began to notice the pain in my arches that eventually forced me to take several weeks off and miss the Route 66 Marathon. 

Like a boss!  I ran two hours today with the last third at a faster pace on what Hal Higdon calls a (3/1) workout.  I averaged about 7:55 for the first ten miles, then I dropped down to about 7:20 for the last five and half.  I feel very accomplished in the sense that I was able to stick to the plan by even pacing the first ten, and then still had enough left to run the last five at a faster pace.  So many times in the past I've run out of energy by then end because I spent it all up front.  

Kevin and I ran Turkey Mountain today.  It was a beautiful 60 something degrees, all be it very windy.  Kevin ended up bailing out at 4.3 miles and I decided to keep going.  I wanted to hit my planned seven miles.  Kevin had run his long run yesterday and was therefore spent.  I was having a great time by myself running on one of the trails that I had not run on before.  I was about one mile from my finish when my left foot came down wrong on a rock and I heard a snapping sound as my ankle twisted outward.  I could tell immediately that I had suffered a mild sprain, although not bad enough that I was able to jog and eventually resume a bit of a run until I got back.

I stretched a little bit back at the car and could immediately feel the loss of range of motion, not good.  The good news was that I did not appear to be swelling.  I drove the twenty five minutes home and began icing it fifteen minutes on and fifteen minutes off.  About twenty minutes ago I decided to wrap it.  I probably ice it a little more tonight and see how it feels in the morning.

I have the Grassland Run in exactly eleven days and I anticipate given the severity of this particular sprain I will be 100% recovered by then.  

I decided my left ankle was healed up enough to resume training this morning.  I can only feel remnants of the sprain in the slight tight feeling when I roll or stretch it inwards in the direction of the roll that caused the injury.  I don't believe it will affect my running going forward so long as I don't land on any uneven surfaces and roll it to the same side again too soon.  I will be cautious for sure.  

This morning I ran 6 800's at about a 6:50 pace.  I feel good and am looking forward to my last long run this Sunday before the Grasslands Trail run in Texas next week. 

I ran an easy four this morning just to prevent the soreness from setting in from my 800's yesterday.  Tomorrow morning I run for two hours as my last long run before Grasslands one week from today.  

I ran this morning with Kevin and Mike.  It rained on us for about the first hour and ten minutes and then it let up.  We started at 5:30 so Mike could join us.  It felt like 4:30 with the time change.  I was so worried I was going to oversleep that I set multiple alarms.  I ended up waking up at 4:30 on my own without alarm assistance.  I believe I have been gradually conditioning myself to become an early riser.  It has been a goal of mine for the past year or two to become an early riser.  I believe early rising is a characteristic of more organized and productive people.  

We talked a little bit about the GOP primary and it was determined that each of us voted for different candidates and none of those candidates were Romney.  Kevin voted for Gingrich, Mike for Santorum, and I for Paul.  I believe this pretty well represents Romney's problem all across the country. He is leading in the polls and winning most states, but not by large margins because he has been unable to close the deal with the various factions within the Republican party.  A liberal politician named Elliot Spitzer observed this morning on This Week that the Republican party is split into three segments; the religious, the mainstream corporate, and the libertarians.  His analysis was that Romney has thus far been unable to pull all three of those together because the three segments don't get along so well.  He may be right about that, but I still think that the three more than likely will unite against this President's failed economic policies and vote for the nominee (Romney) in November.  With the independent voters who will hold Obama responsible for high gas prices and an economy that is not recovering fast enough, he will more than likely lose the election.  I will admit I'm less sure about this prediction today than I was six months ago, but I'm not changing my mind just yet.   

We also discussed the casino that is in the midst of construction near our running trail.  I said that I sort of feel sorry for the tribe who got the appropriate permissions to build, but has since been stonewalled by an opposition group of citizens.  Mike was less sympathetic to the tribe stating that he believed the casinos were connected to the Chicago mafia.  I should have said that I oppose on principle Indian tribes special rights to build and operate businesses which other citizens can not.  I usually try to keep running conversation light so maybe that is why I did not speak my mind, but after I got home and thought about it I decided that was my default position and I should have just said so.  I read a great letter to the editor in today's Broken Arrow Ledger making this very case.  The letter said something to the effect that if you are for certain races or ethnic groups having special rights which other groups do not have you are for racial discrimination.  I concur.  

I ran six miles at a moderate intensity (7:36 pace) in my New Balance 1260's followed by one mile at a lighter intensity (8:55 pace) in my friend Kevin's Vivo Barefoot shoes. 

This was my first experience running in a true minimal shoe.  This shoe has absolutely not padding whatsoever.  It is basically just a rubber sole to protect your feet from being impaled by rock and other sharp object in the road.  It felt really strange with my feet slapping the asphalt streets and the concrete sidewalks.

I may experiment with it a little bit more after the Grassland race on Saturday.  

Today was a very productive day.  Alisha and I worked out for about half an hour at the gym on upper body weights and some leg exercises as well.  After we got home I ran my seven miles.  Immediately after that we trimmed our bushes in the front and back yard.  We also put up three shelves in the garage and did a little organizing out there. 

It is currently 83 degrees and feels unbelievable like a summer day.  We just grilled some burgers so I must end this post and go eat. 

I ran a 30 minute tempo this morning and felt pretty good.  I now have three two full days and three nights to recover for the Grasslands Race on Saturday.  

Splits: 

7:38

7:25

7:03

7:05

This was a St. Paddy's Day race in Forth Worth, Texas.  I ran it this weekend because I was in Texas for another race that I ended up not being able to run.  Long story.  Perhaps I will fill in the detail later, but as for now I'm going to finish unpacking as I just got home.  

I am in the midst of my two week rest from running.  I will have hopefully the last of only two more dental surgeries tomorrow morning.  I should be fully recovered from surgery by the time my two week rest is over.  

Tonight I swam laps at the gym for about 25 minutes.  I think I swam about 900 yards, but I wasn't really keeping track that closely.