sweat

This mornings easy shake out run produced something, I've only seen once this cycle. Sweat! Surprised me really. Knew it was warm when I started out, low 60's and a really strong wind. Took forever for my legs to loosen up. Indoors on the treadmill is probably the only other time I was aware of any sweat during a run. Most runs this cycle have been cooler than 50 degrees, to downright cold. One things for certain, if we have temperatures close to 70 degrees come race day, I'll wilt.

Still watching the weather to see what race day will look like. Probably around 50 degrees, warming to low 60's by the time I'm finished. I can deal with that, almost a carbon copy of race day in Cincinnati, perhaps even some rain to truly mimic the day.

Last week's training was a disaster. Only ended up with 47 miles, partly because I took one day off. Slogged easy a couple of days as well. Somehow, I irritated the outside of my heel. The off day actually made it worse. It swelled to about the size of a half dollar. Finally seems to have gone away after a few easy days. The one big thing that seemed to have helped was some trigger point massage. I'd really forgotten how tight my calves get, it hadn't really been an issue this cycle. It must have been the trigger to the heel pain. Some stretching, some massage and everything loosened back up. Not before some tense moments this week. The trigger point stuff was new to me. I've used self massage in the past to loosen up my calves. The stick works well, also.

I'll start my carb depletion tomorrow. Three days of high protein and little to no carbs. (Atkins diet, pretty much) Then on Thursday and Friday I'll start carb loading. Really just back to my regular diet, just a few more carbs than normal. Try to emphasize some liquid carbs, not necessarily beer. Don't really expect to lose any weight, maybe a pound or two. I'm already at 151 pounds, same place as the Flying Pig. Hardest thing will be avoiding to much weight gain with the reduced mileage.

Not even going to list any excuses going into this marathon. The training is about where I wanted it. More miles would have been nice, but its a fine line between more miles and staying injury free. Only thing I've noticed different is the mid week easy runs with the fast guys. (easy for them, about 20 seconds slower the marathon pace for me) That didn't really happen this cycle.