So, uhhhh what have I been up to?

Nothing, honestly. Well, that's not totally true, but I haven't been running.

The Story:

I ran one too many times on my old shoes. I developed tendonitis of the flexor tendon on my right foot (thats your 'big toe' tendon, kids). It was painful to run, painful to walk. This happened Feb 26. On March 2, I had signed up for a 30K race--or 18.6 miles if you're not into that whole metric system thing. I still had tendonitis. The week prior to the 30K, I didn't run at all except for that Tuesday where it started to hurt. I did get new 'everyday' shoes (New Balance 992), and new running shoes (New Balance 768), new cushion insoles and new powerstep arch supports. That wasn't a cheap trip to the store, btw.

I still ran the Whitestone 30K, with my new 768's and the last 14 miles being a little painful. Time? 2:27:17, third in my age group. Booyah.

I still have a marathon to run on March 30, in Knoxville. The TV people have been tracking our progress (see: www.knoxvillemarathon.com/RaceInfo/MarathonMinute.cfm for the internet coverage)....I NEED TO RUN THIS RACE! I NEED TO RUN WELL AT THIS RACE!....

So, since Whitestone on March 2, I took about a week and a half off of running. I've gotten on the bike a few times, iced my feet every night, and have taken it easy. This past Monday, I did run a mile at the gym, and felt pretty good. Yesterday, March 12, I went out and ran 6 miles in 48 minutes. I got a cramp, my hip tightened up, I felt a little winded at the end, but my feet felt fine. Go figure.

Today my foot is a little sore, not anything bad (I hope). The next two Saturdays are training runs on the marathon course itself, this Saturday is the first half, and next Saturday is the 2nd half. I am running in both of those for sure. Don't know about weekly mileage, maybe easy 3-4 mile runs 2-3 times/week until March 30. I plan on taking some real time off after March 30, probably about a month to heal up and get ready for the fall marathon. Probably Chicago, maybe NYC. Who knows.