Monday, February 1, 2010

Back on Track

So what happened?  I went skiing for three days and on day 2 I busted my wrist.  Slowed down my training and Blogging a little.  Training is back on and the blogging not so much but I'm doing my best.  Just one more obstacle to get around on the road to Boston I guess.  I might post a photo of my hand the day after the fall.  Depends on how gross it looks when its enlarged.  

Moral of the story.  Think about your priorities before you strap on your skis.  Boston is hard enough with out a broken wrist.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Cold Tuesday Night

Today's run was identical to yesterdays run only I finished about 30 seconds faster.  Which means absolutely nothing in the big scheme of things.  Still not 100% acclimated to the cold.  I can really feel it in my chest.  Hopefully this will subside in about a week or so.   Foot seems ok and no real aches or pains so that's always a good thing. 

Tonight being Tuesday night we had our Group Training Session for the Spring season.  We had everyone doing a bit of a "test" as we like to call it.  What it boils down to is having everyone cranking out a good 5k so that we can get a good base line or snapshot of what their workout and race paces will be.  We had a great turnout and everyone looked really good out there.  Which is great considering that it was only 22 degrees out.  Not the most fun weather to run hard in. (Even less fun to be standing around not running at a checkpoint. Well done Coaches and TC's. And bagwatchers too!)   My hats off to everyone that came out and worked hard tonight!  This season of TNT runners has been very impressive with both their attendance at every practice and their desire to work hard each week.  I'm very excited to be one of the coaches of such an awesome group of runners!  

Today's run: Flat loop in Hoboken 33:03  cold and clear.  Felt ok.  No big complaints. 

Monday, January 4, 2010

Where Have I been???

So about 3 months ago I decided I would start a blog.  A blog that would help me track my training, keep others in the loop about what I am doing and possibly start up discussions about workouts, training practices, etc...

So what happened?   Well I'll tell you.  After a summer of low mileage and easy running.  I decided that October and Nov would be best spent as a base building stage of my training.  Start early and build my mileage for Boston slowly.  Sounds like a great plan right?  It was a great plan.  But something went wrong.  That something was my right foot.

Now I've had injuries before.  Most of the time its nothing too serious, and a little rest and rehab and I'm back out on the roads.  And usually my injuries are due to simple over training or lack of cross training... or both.  But I was good to my legs this summer.  I took it easy, I gave my body a well deserved rest, and kept my mileage low.  My aches and pains were gone,  my legs had back that spark that I couldn't seem to find last winter.   And around the same time I started this blog my right foot started to hurt.  Nothing too bad, mostly when I walked around barefoot, or in dress shoes.  Worst part of the day was getting out of bed and walking to the shower.  After that everything slowly feels better through the day.  So I shut down the training, gave my foot plenty of rest and time in a bucket of ice.  And finally, I had my orthotics rebuilt, and the doctor said I have Morton's Neuroma. (Its an inflamed nerve in my foot and it hurts, but at least it has a name) 

So here I am 3 months later.  It's cold outside and I'm out of shape and I'm feeling better but not 100%.  I'm running but slower than I like but that's how the cookie crumbles.  Better to run slow then not at all right?

So things are back on track, so to speak.  I'm going to do my best to keep up with this blog and my training.  Its still my hope that one drives the other.   I hope you check in regularly and feel free to respond to anything I post.  I'm happy to hear from all of you.  

Also, as an assistant coach for the NYC Team In Training chapter I'll be talking occasionally about how our participants are doing and how their season is going.  And just as our participants are fund raising to find a cure for cancer, so am I.  I've set my goal high and I need your  help to achieve it!  Please take a moment to check out my fund raising page and make a donation. (I know parts of the web site say Paris Marathon but I promise I'm running Boston.)

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nyc/paris10/pstartz

Today's run:  33:29  easy pace,   Flat loop around Hoboken.  29 degrees  clear low wind.