Demons

This week it wasn't so much me being apprehensive that limited my mileage, but commitment to family activities. All in all, it was still another pretty good week. On Tuesday I ran with Ben Puhl, who used to run or Rochester Century and now the U of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. All runs from Thursday on were in Memphis and shorts! On Saturday and Sunday I went out to Shelby Farms which is where the division II south east regional was held. Good soft surfaces and good footing. It would probably be a really good place to go for long runs or workouts in season because you can have hills if you want them or stick to relatively flat ground.

Mon. 60 mins - 8.5 miles
Tues. 84 mins - 12 miles
Weds. 45 mins - 6.5 miles
Thurs. 70 mins - 10 miles
Fri. 40 mins (10 mins up, 20 min tempo, 10 mins down) - 6.5 miles
Sat. 70 mins - 10 miles
Sun. 1hr 45 mins - 15 miles

68.5 miles

I am still a little bit apprehensive about amping the mileage with the way my foot has been. Some days it is good, others it bugs the shit out of me. So basically what I am saying is ice and drugs have been my two best friends. Monday I planned on going longer but felt like shit partly because I had two finals before and was up pretty late studying. The next two weeks should be good for me. I am going to be in Memphis from the 20th-28th. This will be a good opportunity for me to get some good training on softer surfaces and better weather.

Mon. 42 mins - 6 miles
Tues. 63 mins - 9 miles
Weds. 77 mins - 11 miles
Thurs. 63 mins - 9 miles
Fri. 66 mins - 10 miles (15 mins up, 30 min. tempo, 20 mins down)
Sat. 63 mins - 9 miles
Sun. 98 mins - 14 miles

68 miles

Another pretty good week. The tendonitis in my foot just seems to stay the same so I will keep taking the drugs and icing. Although most of my training is between 6:30 and 6:40, I log all of my mileage at about 7 mins a mile unless it is a tempo, intervals or on the roads. This is something I have done since high school, it is similar to "Badger Miles" but not quite the same thing as they round everything up to the nearest 5 minutes (45 mins = 6 miles or 65 mins = 9 miles) and don't log half miles. Here is what my week looked like.

Mon. 54 mins - 8 miles (on the roads)
Tues. 70 mins - 10 miles
Wed. 49 mins - 7 miles
Thurs. 70 mins - 10 miles
Fri. 52 mins - 8 miles (7 minute warmup, 30 min. tempo - 6:00, 5:49, 5:52, 5:51, 5:42 and enough to make 30 mins, 14 mins down)
Sat. 45 mins - 6.5 miles
Sun. 92 mins - 13 miles

62.5 miles

Monday made me realize how lucky I am just to be able to run even if it is in Grand Forks. As I was leaving the locker room I saw one of the girls on the team reading a piece of paper. She didn't really say anything to me so I asked her what was wrong. She started crying and said they won't let her run anymore.

You don't need to talk to Renee Aune about running to know she is passionate about it; all you need to do is watch her run. Unfortunatley for Renee she has been plagued with injuries throughout college: anemia fall of freshman year, stress fracture in lower leg winter freshman year, stress fracture in femur spring freshman year, stress fracture in other femur summer between freshman and sophmore year, fractured heal spring sophmore year and another lower leg stress fracture this fall. Despite all of this Renee has been able to post times of 11:06 in the steeple chase and around 5:00 for the mile indoors. Needless to say she is the most talented runner I have ran with in college. It sucks when someone as talented as Renee is no longer is able to run, but it is much worse when someone as passionate as her is unable.

The picture above is Renee running just in front of the NCC cross country champ at the pre-regional meet this year in Wayne, NE.

Update:

I wrote this post about a week ago but have not had the opportunity to talk with Renee. I do know that coach working with the people in the training room to find a way for her to run. There are many quotes related to running, some I like and some I don't. In this situation, Steve Prefontaine puts it best: "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift." The gift is simply being able to run. I have seen Renee Aune run enough times to know that she never 'sacrificed the gift'.

The weather basically turned to shit this week but overall it was still a good week. Friday we went out to the roads and did 8 minutes up, 30 minute tempo all at about 6:00 -5:45 and then 14 minutes down. My foot is still sore on some days and I think I will try taking the anti-inflamatory for a few days in a row and see if that does anything for me. Next week should run me somewhere between 60 - 65.

Mon. 51 mins - 7 miles
Tues. 47 mins - 7 miles
Wed. 35 mins - 5 miles
Thurs. 61 mins - 8.5 miles
Fri. 52 mins - 8 miles
Sat. 44 mins - 6 miles
Sun. 74 mins - 10.5 miles

52 miles