Adventures in Onionism

After the Black Canyon Double (still no swag!) I started training fairly consistently. I've done six consecutive weeks of 50+ miles of running, and 10 total with at least 45+. I hired a coach for the first time ever. This week, with only 30 miles of running, is my lowest since the first week of March, when everything was covered in snow. Everything is good, except for the fact that I'm a little bit injured. In more detail, I decided to hire a coach because I really want to break 24 hours at Western States. I delayed more than I should have, but finally pulled the trigger after listening to a podcast with Jeff Browning, who is kicking butt in his early 50's and sounded like a great coach. I was a little leery of his anti-carbohydrate leanings, and it seemed a bit expensive, so I looked around a little more and decided to go with Gary Robbins' Ridgeline Athletics, since I met Gary at Barkley and he seemed like a great guy, and I'd had the idea last year around Tor tha...

Not much, is the answer. I still can't run up a hill to save my life. I tried yesterday, and every stride with my left leg hurt, enough that I was likely taking visibly uneven and limpy strides. So I'm sitting on the couch like a lot of other people. (Literally right now I'm sitting on the ground on my front porch.) I wasn't signed up for many races anyway. Once I realized I was injured I didn't sign up for the March 50K or DC Rock N' Roll marathon as I had planned, the latter of which was canceled anyway. I started teleworking (government speak for working from home) 100% in early March, on my own initiative before it was really allowed since I didn't want to ride Metro and it makes almost no difference in my work in the short-term. Then it was quickly allowed, then encouraged, and finally nobody's-allowed-in-the-building mandated. Initially we weren't sure GF was going to be up here in DC, but she was visiting for the weekend, luckily brought a b...

This year isn't starting off very well, neither for me as an Elizabeth Warren fan, nor for me as a runner. I strained my hamstring in the very race I wrote about in my last post where I laid out this year's plans. I rode my bike to and from the Al Lewis 10-miler, and felt fine, but then later that day when I was sitting on the couch, I felt much sorer than usual, and it hasn't gone away. I managed to do two big runs the following weekend: Saturday I ran the JFK 20K and then ran 13.5 miles home afterward. Sunday I ran the Waterfall 50K out on Massanutten with a two-mile shortcut in the middle of the race. I nearly shat myself and had to divert into the woods on the 20K, so my time wasn't going to be great regardless of injury, but I was only running 8:10-8:20 miles, and definitely still felt the muscle strain. Out on Massanutten I was OK jogging downhills and road sections, but flat sections were tough because Massanutten is so rocky that you have to lift your leg higher...

My knee may prevent any serious racing for a while due to ITBS (including the 100-miler I'm signed up for this weekend) but I got my grant application in on time, and my dog is better looking than yours. So I've still got that. The perfect hour Pounce Mellow Chew Vertical Chew Fierce Chew Fangs