Retired

R.I.P. Saucony Progrid 6 Ultimates--my first shoes picked based on how they worked with my feet dynamics and not based on how they looked. After close to 400 miles, they made one last 11 mile run with me on Saturday, September 14, and now they are heading to Goodwill most likely.

11 Miles...

That's how far I ran today. I haven't had any really good running the last two weeks (or workouts of any kind for that matter) while battling my bladder/kidney infection. So, I was fairly reluctant to head out for the week's long run. Eleven (11) miles is a long way on your feet. I decided to skip my antibiotics (which make me nauseous) until after my run. I am fairly certain I would not have made it all the way back home. Sure, my pace was slower than I'd like, but I did it--all 11 miles--2.1 miles less than I will run in five weeks in San Francisco.

I stayed motivated thinking about: the 1000+ calories I was burning, the fact that I had run 5.5 miles away from home and had to get back somehow, a desire to (finally) get in a good workout, and a little Dean Karnazes quote from a Starbucks' cup:

"Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl when you must. Just never give up."

I Am Injured (Sort Of)

I am not actually physically injured--the briefly appearing shin splints of a few weeks ago are gone and there's no knee/hip/IT band issue--but I have a pretty unfortunate and nasty bladder/kidney infection (basically, a UTI gone VERY bad). If you have never had one, you are probably: (1) male or (2) very lucky. I had a couple of mild ones during frosh year of college (which, is sadly 12 years ago now), but had not felt the burning, stinging pain in over a decade.

Well, this one sort of crept up on me. And, I am set to run basically 11+ miles tomorrow. Imagine running 11+ miles while you constantly feel as if you have to urinate, your bladder feels constantly full, there is a burning/stinging sensation in your lower abdomen/urethra, and you cannot drink cranberry juice fast enough.

Now, imagine that same scenario, but replace "running 11+ miles" with "sitting at a desk and typing so you can earn a paycheck and because you have a hearing in Court today which you cannot skip"--got that image? Well, that's me, right now as I type.

My plan is to let my meds kick in and lay low tonight, have an easy and short run tomorrow, and try to log those 11+ miles on Sunday. We'll see how it goes.

Found and Lost

Last week, a girl named Natalie who works at Madeleine's (my daily stop for drip coffee before work) told me that my running and training for Nike had "inspired" her, and she had decided to train for a half-marathon herself. Natalie is about 21 (that's my uninformed guess) and is apparently fairly active (she plays soccer and she certainly looks fit). I certainly never guessed that I would inspire someone else to run--as I am not as fast as I would like and my gait is still a bit spazzy--but it certainly helped me find some motivation to keep training and fundraising.

Despite having "found" motivation, I got lost during yesterday's run. Literally. I was down in Walla Walla, a town with which I am not too familiar, visiting Andrew Roberts.* While Andrew was working, I went for my scheduled training run--believing that I could take a decent loop from his place and end up back there after about 4 miles.

That was a mistaken belief. I headed out--maintaining a good pace and exploring the residential portions of Walla Walla--but, after about 4 miles, I realized that I had no idea where I currently was and where my current location was in relation to where I wanted to be (back at Andrew's). I ended up running for close to 3 more miles before I finally found his place. Incidentally, I was within a few blocks of the house for the majority of the last 3 (additional) miles, although I managed to keep missing the house. At least I got in a good workout before stuffing my face with Mexican food later that night.**

*Andrew was my running partner for the "vomiting-up-pancakes run" from early August.
** I need the carbs for training. Don't judge.