This morning's run...

Ugh...

Did 12 miles this morning. Not too long. Felt OK, except that the blasted ankle was really sore. I think I'm going to take 2 -- or maybe even 3 -- days off. Hopefully (is that a grammatically correct word?) that will fix the problem. Of course, taking days off isn't really taking days off. I still have to be on my feet teaching and working at REI. I won't run, though. We'll see.

The run was still an "ugh" because of the conditions. It was pretty chilly. About 38 (someone said) at the start of the run. And raining. I woke up around 3:00 this morning and it was raining. I hoped it would stop before the run. It did. We met up just before 7:00 and chatted for a minute before starting out. Then, just as we were jogging out of the parking lot, it started raining again. Not hard. Just a cold drizzle. But it never stopped throughout the run. We were all soaked within minutes. Upper 30s and rain. I was wearing a long-sleeved jersey and my regular running shorts, but no jacket. I did manage to have something over my ears, and I had a light pair of gloves on. So that helped, too.

It's true that you produce a lot of heat when running. So I was not as cold as it might seem. But over time it seems to get worse. By the time you've gone 10 miles soaked in the cold, the wind starts to get to you. My legs started to get cold, and a little numbish.

(James Taylor on now. I actually bought that CD they have at Starbucks. I'd heard some cuts off of it, and some of the old songs sounded really good, and almost new. I guess I was feeling weak, and picked it up. It really is good. I wonder if I'll ever watch the DVD included in the set....)

There weren't many people out there today. Some. Just fewer than normal. Not surprisingly, I guess. We joked a bit about how we were real hardmen (and woman). That was at the beginning. After we'd been going a while, we weren't joking about anything anymore. We did continue to talk some. Training runs are supposed to be done at a conversational pace. We usually manage that. I probably actually train too fast, though. That's not something I worry about. It may actually be a problem, in a way. Otherwise why would ALL the training guides say train at least 30 seconds per mile slower than anticipated marathon pace. Most even say 60 seconds. But that's not what I do. I sort of go my own pace, which is always faster than my conceivable race pace.

(Can't forget "Chemtrails.")

Yes, that's bad. Apparently. To me, the problem seems to be that it makes it harder to go out slowly at the beginning of the marathon. When I go the pace I should go, it feels so slow. I'll have to exercise significant discipline at the start of the race, in order not to die (Not literally die, of course. I guess that's no longer assumed, because the thought's crossed my mind, given the guys who died in Chicago and the Olympic trials.) by the end. It's also going to take discipline to cut down my running enough during this tapering period. It just seems like not running would cause me to "lose it" over 2 weeks or so with no long run. Everyone says that doesn't happen, though.

Well, I've actually got more to think (and therefore talk/type) about, but I'm going to stop for now.