This would normally have been a mileage posting, but a gnarly stomach bug seems to have taken all of the zip out of my step, and excepting Sunday 11/20 (6 miles, 48 mins) I’ve hardly run a step. I think I’m on the upswing now, but I thought similarly a couple of days ago, and ran (~5 miles) only to return home and several hours later deal with the after-effects of this lingering sickness. The past few weeks have definitely solidified November as my worst mileage month of the year, and despite the fact that illness, and the lingering metatarsal discomfort are the main reasons for the drastic reduction in mileage, something tells me that taking such a light month is probably advantageous in the long run. It has, however caused me to re-evaluate my racing strategy for next year, where I was looking for 50k’s in January, and 50 Milers going through Feb, realistically, and competitively speaking, I really can’t expect to pull enough miles to race those distances with that as a timeline. SO, instead, I’m looking for trail marathons/50k’s in the March-ish range, and to segue into 50 milers come May-ish, which should allow me to regain the fitness I’ve lost over recent weeks, and return to regular daily mountain running at a reasonable rate.

The additional time off has, in addition to letting my foot heal, allowed me to evaluate the running I had been doing, and the discomforts/injuries that have resulted from it. So with some luck, and a few changes to my routine,(some lower leg stretching, core work, and increased attention to my weaker (left) side) hopefully my return to big miles will prove more comfortable, and increasingly consistent

Otherwise, having been laid up on the couch for the past week, I’ve found myself wanting little more than to go for a solid run, and get back to work practicing, so much that whenever I pass my pile of running shoes by the door I can’t help but pause, and look at them for a few moment (soon my friends, soon we’ll be again together). I have, however, been able to determine which Gatorade and Pedialyte flavors are best (avoid anything florescent), as well as think of alternative titles for this post, such as: “The idiots guide to weight loss, the stomach virus edition” or “Ways to avoid Thanksgiving: Illness excuses”

Pedialyte… It’s not just for ultra’s anymore (okay this one may be a bit contrived)

We’ll get to run again soon…..

Oh, and here’s a video from one of my favorite New Jersey bands, as you can see, not everyone in the state is bent on being Snooki or The Situation…