Sunday Oct 7, OFF
Had an orchestra concert the night before, and feeling pretty run-down in general, felt like time for a day off (first day off since Sept 16)

Monday Oct 8, 4 Miles, 175′ 29:57
Really short loop through local neighborhoods. Overslept, and had to begin my days practicing, so only enough time for a few morning miles.

Tuesday Oct 9, 7 Miles, 410′ 49:32  More of a typical morning road-run, almost all of the vertical gain is in the second mile, which makes the course a little funny between what it looks like on paper, and what it’s like to actually run it. Average time overall, maybe a tad fast, feeling pretty good.

Wed Oct 10, AM  4 Miles 175′ 29:15 Again, short on time, I really need to get better at this time management/using my damn alarm clock thing during the academic year.
PM 3.2 Miles, 20:48 Always good to get out and run a 5k-ish semi-hard… for some reason this is always an honest judgment of my overall fitness… Really not going to complain about the time, especially since I managed it without really breathing heavy at any point (and exhausted from a full days rehearsing/practicing)

Thurs Oct 11, AM 5 Miles 740′ 37:36 Powerline run. Felt like I was huffing and puffing the whole way through, in fact it seems like every time I go out, unless I’m deliberately trying to run “easy” I’m exerting some substantial effort. It turns out, after looking at my watch, and then subsequently my log book that I’ve been running hard, feeling crappy, and dropping seconds/minutes from my courses every week. Apparently my brain/body are still under the impression that I’m still slow after the injury, which isn’t really the case anymore. PR on this course is in the 36:xx range if I’m not mistaken, which puts this effort in as rather respectable. Maybe this recovery thing is working out after-all (and now I can start taking a couple of “easy” run days?)
PM 5 Miles 360′ 42:34
The “easy” Thursday night run is back. Ran with the highlands hashers and Jason for a really relaxed 5 miler.

Fri Oct 12, 3.2 Miles, 22:12
Feeling tired, and beat up, plus I had to cart myself into the city for the afternoon. Felt like a good excuse for an easy day.

Sat Oct 13, 10 Miles 550′ 1:14
Typical around-town 10 miler in the early AM, frost and all. First day that I’ve had to wear tights and a jacket all season… it’s tough to remember that I’ve run hundreds upon hundreds of miles in this weather…. I guess I’ll get tougher… or something. Wheels fell off pretty hard due to some indigestion, but it’s still early in the training period, so I’m not overly concerned yet.

Totals: 41.4 Miles, 2410′

I’m still relearning how to run, and stay on top of my academic commitments, which takes a lot more diligence and energy than I remember from the spring, but is gradually becoming easier. Even though I haven’t posted here in about a month, my running has been pretty consistently between 40 and 50 miles per week, although at times my physical recovery feels… sluggish. For now, I’m trying to dial in my diet a bit better, and organize my runs with some more foresight, with the hope that I can gradually increase my mileage while avoiding injury, and  overall burnout….

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…