a barrel of this

I haven’t run for some time because of some problems with my feet which became annoying enough when I wasn’t running to seek out a new orthopedist. The last ortho told me that my running career was over and that I had impact arthritis. It was high time I found someone who understood runners. I hardly think I have the feet or body for that matter of someone at the end of their running days. Fortunately, I read an article in the latest issue of Runner’s World that contained a quote from a local sports orthopedist, Dr. Stephen Pribut. I was able to make an appointment via email and had a diagnosis and possible solution the next day.
Turns out I have some bones in the bottom of both feet around the inside curve of the ball of the foot. I’ll need orthotics to relieve the everyday pressure of walking around to allow the bones to heal. Dr. Pribut took a cast of each foot last week and I should have the orthotics in four weeks. I probably shouldn’t be running until then but, I was going a bit stir crazy and the cold weather finally relented a bit this weekend so out I went. The pads in my running shoes do help but, I did over due it a bit today.

I’ve learned that riding the bike isn’t quite the same as running. I’ve been on the bike at least every other day for 20+ minutes but, it just doesn’t get my heart rate up enough I guess. I felt winded while running today. I’ve been looking into ways to generate power while riding the bike. Maybe if the lights flicker when I slow down I’ll be compelled to keep up!

Snow! Today was my first run in the snow (as an adult). It has been snowing steadily for a few hours now and I wanted to get out there before it got too thick to run through. Something about snow just makes the city seem much friendlier. A few people said hello to me which normally doesn’t happen. I ran past a number of other runners today also out enjoying the snow. It was a blast!

Besides some sore knees I felt good. Running in snow is a bit like running in sand. Not great for your knees but good for everything else. The snow made me run a bit slower and more deliberately than I would normally but, all in all this was a lot of fun.

Okay, today I made up for lost speed. I kept roughly a 6:45 pace for this run mainly because I only had a short amount of time between meetings. Today was also my first run in what can be considered cold weather. It was 33 degrees when I left the house and the sun was setting. I saw two other runners and one had a scarf pulled up over his mouth and nose. I’m sure I’ll be doing the same as the temps drop. It might actually snow tomorrow in which case I’ll be making use of the snowshoes we have in the house. Cannot wait.

Inexplicably I seem to be slowing down. I’ve been cross-training by riding my bike attached to a trainer in my basement for around 20 minutes a day. Yet all of my runs have been slower since I started doing that. I think I need to increase the resistance on the bike trainer and make it a tougher work out for my lungs. My legs are fine but I keep running out of gas.

Truthfully, I could have done more today and I had planned to go 7 miles. But, I started out to late and didn’t bring my new head lamp. I’ve also been having problems with the foot pad I inserted into my root shoe. The tape dissolved and now the foot pad painfully slides down into the arch of my foot after just a few miles. I’ve got to get that sorted out before the next run. Duct tape to the rescue.

Despite what the map shows this is a complete loop. The forerunner again had trouble contacting a satellite until I stopped to stretch. I’ve also noticed that the new 205 forerunner thinks my pace is considerably slower than the 201 did. This is not only annoying but it extremely discouraging. So, pace down, pain up. Great.

I’ve still got the 10k at Haines point in mind for next month. We’ll see if I can’t pick up the pace by then.

My brother-in-law recently pointed out how he dislikes driving to the start of a run. I don’t much like it either so I decided to start seeking out runs that started or ended from my front door or with a metro ride. Today I wanted to attack the Capital Crescent Trail from the other direction. So I left with just my metro SmartTrip card and took the metro around to Foggy Bottom (which is the stop for my hated alma-mater). I bolted away from there and into Georgetown to start my run.

But, since I wasn’t too keen on riding the metro post-run I had planned to loop back home. I had hoped to depart from the C&O canal path and run through Glover Archibold or Battery Kemble park back to Rock Creek park and then home. As you can see from the map that didn’t turn out so well.

I knew I was in trouble when I saw signs for the Beltway. Really this turned out to be a brutal run not because I was lost but, because I am stubborn like a mule. I knew I had missed the bridge to go over the canal and Clara Barton Pkwy because I was running on the trail and not the pavement. Despite being able to see the bridge I had crossed under I stubbornly decided that going back just one mile was the wrong course to take and that surely I’d have another chance to cross.

That chance didn’t come until I had reached Glen Echo which is well into Maryland. My back-up plan had been to follow the Capital Crescent Trail to at the Bethesda metro and take that back to the Cleveland Park metro where I could run two more miles home. But the connecting trail had also long since passed me by and I knew Glen Echo was north of Bethesda by a few miles. I ended up stopping and asking for directions and eventually made my way back down Mass Ave and picked up the CC trail.

I did have the CC trail loaded into my forerunner. However, it doesn’t give you much detail and it certainly doesn’t tell you that the next chance to cross the canal is at least five miles north. It only gives a torturously giant arrow pointing back the way you came.

The entire run is captured for posterity and to remind me to pack a damn map next time (as well as water, a few dollars, etc.).

Today I finally got to run over the Rock Creek trellis bridge along the Georgetown branch trail (also known as the interim Capital Crescent trail). I had been close to it on previous runs and in fact I parked and started from where I had turned around in the past thinking I was far from reaching the bridge. It is not clear how to get to the bridge from below but on the way back it is dead simple. There is an excellent map of the Capital Crescent Trail that I used to navigate to the start.

Now I’m trying to work out how to make this a loop instead of an out and back run. I’d really like to get down to the C&O canal in Georgetown. I could certainly do a loop that involved the metro but I feel self-conscious riding around the metro all sweaty post-run. Plus, I have to admit that since I took a blow to the head while walking alone in Silver Spring from the metro I’m none too excited about running there for any stretch of time. That was ten plus years ago but I’d still prefer to stick the mostly empty trails.

Speaking of head trauma, I should note that I’ve been plagued all day, including the run, by some very odd pain. This pain starts at the top and back of my head and travels down to my jaw. It feels like there is a large spike being driven into the top of my head and my jaw is sore. It could be a migraine but it comes and goes. It was happening before I ran and it came back about half way through so I stopped and walked for a bit. It could also be dehydration as I’ve been doing a poor job of hydrating after the usual holiday celebratory drinking. It would not have hurt to bring along my water bottle today. I suppose it could also be something bizarre like brain swelling, a parasite (if you watch the doctor drama “House” apparently this happens all the time ), etc. Who knows. I’m taking two ibuprofen and hoping it goes away (but noting it here in case I keel over tomorrow from a tumor induced seizure and “House” needs to solve my case before it is too late!).

On the technology front, the perl script I had been using with the old forerunner to split routes by day doesn’t seem to work with the new 205 model and thus no map image for today’s run. Therefore I’ve posted the run to trail.motionbased.com which is the companion web site. Garmin has yet to release their Training Center software for the Mac but, they had said they would do so during 2006 back in January. Hopefully the software will be announced during MacWorld which starts in ten days. I might be able to fix the perl script but it looks like GPS Visualizer will also split the file. I’ve been using GPS Babel to pull the Garmin XML files off of the new forerunner so I’m no longer dependent on my work Windows laptop (in fact now I could probably return that paper weight).

My friend Space was in town for the holidays so we went for a run in Rock Creek Park. Unfortunately, about half way through he slipped a bit in the mud and twisted his ankle. He tried to walk on it for a bit but it was clearly badly sprained. I high-tailed it back to the car to drive around and pick him up. The park trails are treacherous when it has recently rained. Had I know that his ankle was sore to begin with I would have suggested we stick to the pavement. We were not moving particularly fast and we had already traversed steeper sections which just serves to demonstrate that one can spraining an ankle is all too easy.

On the up side, I received a new Garmin Forerunner 205 from my Dad for Christmas. I’ll do a full write up of it soon but, on this maiden voyage it performed wonderfully. It picked up the signal fairly quickly and kept it for the duration. The red line in the map is connecting where we stopped and I turned the unit off while we walked to see if Space’s ankle would recover. This wasn’t exactly the route that the previous unit had trouble with but, I’ll test it out there soon enough.

Well this was a big disaster. I intended to go out running for 30 minutes then head back home for a meeting. 50 minutes later and I’m running in the pitch black darkness wondering if I’m my boss will forgive me. I determined that the bridge that I had found a while back was not in fact the real boundary bridge at all. So I went looking for it. This would have been a good time to consult a map. I ended up getting sorta lost and forgetting that this was supposed to be a short run. I will that find that damn bridge eventually.

Today was a warm day but, I didn’t have much time so I just went down to the track. Lap times:

1. 1.02 m, 6:09
2. 1.00m, 6:12
3. 1.01m, 6:47

Probably not the best idea to get back into things by doing “speed work” (it was more like a tempo run with breaks between each mile). I’m anxious to get going again but the social obligations of the season make it a bit difficult to find the time. My right foot continues to bother me and the chiropractor has acquiesced to recommending me to a orthopedic doctor. The scar tissue scrape just wasn’t cutting it for me.

I cut this run short to enjoy some time walking with my lady. It has been bitter cold here this week.