Okay, so weird run yesterday. I was supposed to go running with a friend, who essentially blew me off as I ran to her house and waited in front of a lot of dark windows for about 15 minutes. But she has 3 kids so I didnt want to go pounding on the door to get her up and wake up the whole family. So I ran by myself - completely demotivated to do the 12 that I had planned, but still hoping to get 8-10 out of it. Around mile 4-5 though, I started getting some weird twinges of pain in my ankles - both of them in the same spot. It was on the outside, right above the ankle bone. I ran on it a little to see if it would subside but it didnt. So I walked for a few minutes and then gave a really good stretch to my lower calve/achilles area and the pain went away. But I still cut the run short at 6 miles just so as to not push it and really injure myself. It was just a pain I had never had before, so it kind of freaked me out a bit. I am off not for my run at the gym and a bit worreid about it - hoping that I dont get it again. I might just stick to the treadmill today instead of battling ups and downs of the hills near my gym.

That is a bummer. Do you think barefoot running had anything to do with the pain?

I'm not really sure. I have only done really one per week for the last three weeks, but I think I am going to skip it this week to see if that gets rid of the weird pains I have been having. i cant tell whether I should give it up completely or maybe do it more often to get my body used to it. My run at lunch went fairly well. I stayed in and ran on the treadmill just to be safe and avoid hills because lately I have been finding that doing hills can stiffen up my right shin a bit for a while. I did just over 5 miles and it felt pretty good. My right knee was stiff afterwards. i was just a little bummed about yesterdays run because I had planned on it being my first 50 mile week this year and I missed it by just a few miles.

I survived my cold and managed to keep my mileage where I wanted to keep it. Yay. I still have been avoiding my long runs though. I need to get in a few long-long runs before my 1/2 in May (yes, I know it's still February). Anyway, I see no reason to think I won't get my runs in all week this week. Good luck running with the boys around Ojo!

I'm finally feeling motivation creep back into my body and mind. I'm 9 weeks out from my first race and I think that's enough time (if I stay on track) to feel good about my training and post a decent time.

Jugdish - sorry to hear about your cafl but glad to see you got the runs in on your cruise (jealous that you were somewhere warm though). Young1 - I am about 4 weeks out from my first race thsi year - a 4 miler to raise money for Diabetes. Right now I am just trying to keep my mileage up and will run it without any real speedwork to prepare just to get a baseline for this year's season. I am still getting that stiffness/soreness in my right shin. It shows up about a mile into my runs or so,and then lasts about 2-3 miles but then loosens up and feels fine for the rest of the run. Weird. I think I will probably try to ice it up tonight and keep the ibuprofen flowing to reduce swelling.

Jeff, For better or worse, here it is. One double which I am half way through today. I will be doing one long run on Thursday of 12 Miles and the rest will be done at easy pace. I may throw in strides one day or a progression run depending on how I am feeling. If everything holds up, this will be my highest mileage week ever. I am optimistic. I rarely end up sticking exactly to my schedule, usually end up doing some mid-week shuffling to account for how am feeling. Monday - 9 Miles Tuesday AM - 5 Miles Tuesday PM - 6 Miles Wednesday - 6.5 Miles Thursday - 12 Miles Friday - 6.5 Miles Saturday - 9 Miles Sunday - 7 Miles Ryan

I had a good run today to celebrate my birthday. day 63...

Happy birthday!