So the 29th of July...

It was pretty ridiculous, and what's even more ridiculous is that I didn't plan on doing it when I first started. Initially I had only planned on doing 16-17 miles like I normally would have done on Monday (but I didn't due to me being sort of depressed and not really wanting to do anything, much less running for 2.5 hours). So anyways I head off to what has become my standard "long run" route, which basically consists of me running to Alyssa's house and running back.

I started kinda early (10-15 minutes before 4:00pm) so it was pretty hot outside, but I planned on meeting Madeleine for guitar hero or something later on in the evening, so I didn't want to be all gross when I met her and I still wanted to do my long run. So yea, it's 4:00pm, and I'm thinking "hey this isn't that bad" -- and it's not that bad (its maybe like 95 degrees outside), for AZ. But sure enough, 40 minutes later I'm drenched and feeling pretty horrible. I figure I'll just suffer through it and once I make it to Alyssa's house maybe I'll chill at the Safeway nearby or something until I feel better.

So anyways I make it down to her house, and I was surprised to notice a different car there. It's a 2000 Chevy Prizm, brown. I rememeber Alyssa telling me a little while ago that she got a Chevy Prizm, but she didn't tell me that she was back in town. So now I'm kinda upset (maybe I'm not thinking rationally because I have no water, and I'm dying because of the heat). I know she doesn't owe me anything but still that kinda hurts.

So I'm angry now, and I decide 16-17 miles just isn't going to cut it. No, this is going to need an epic number of miles to make me feel better. I don't know if its because I'm vindictive, or insecure, or both, or something else entirely, but somehow I feel better when I run a lot because I feel as if I am "beating" people. For me it's like a huge "fuck you for rejecting me." I don't really know how I made that association in the first place but the net result is that I run a lot more when I'm upset. I think I wouldn't run much at all if I was happy.

So I text madeleine and ask her if she wants to go running, and somehow I accidentally guilt her into running 5 or 6 miles with me. The only problem is that the earliest she could start was around 6:45-7:00. It's like 5:10 or 5:15, I can't really remember at the time, but I'm only like 7-8 miles from her house if I just went there directly. So I would be waiting around for a good long time if I just went there directly. So now I decide I'll head over to Reid park, which is about 7-8 miles from where I'm at, but about 4 miles from her house. I get over to Reid surprisingly quick, even with stopping at Burger King on Columbus and 22nd to check if Janeth was working (she wasn't, but I grab some free water anyways), and decide that the 4 mile trip from there directly to Madeleine's just isn't going to cut it, unless I suddenly bust out the 11-12 minute miles.

Unfortunately this is about where my knowledge of the streets ends, but i figure I can just make it west to cambell and head north to speedway and then head east again and cut back down to broadway. It seemed like a good idea until I pretty much hit Aviation Highway and was basically forced to head north on Plummer (it wasn't a big deal though, because now I knew where I was). Oh well, but I just continued with the plan. Now mentally I had been keeping track of approximately how many miles I went (easy since they're mostly straight roads), and I figured (correctly) that 24 should be right around Columbus and Broadway. I got stopped by the light there, but now I realize that it was fortunate, since I looked at my watch and saw the 3:04:02 time indicated in my log.

This is important because up until now, even though I wanted to, I could never do '24 in the rain'; so basically I feel like I accomplished something, even though there's no rain.

Anyways, I run the last mile or so to Madeleine's and end up at her door at ~6:59pm, or 3:12:07 from when I started.

And that's pretty much where all the good news ends. I had to wait a bit for her to get ready and stuff so I loitered around a bit. BIG MISTAKE. I may have spent like 5 minutes max, but it was 5 minutes of not running, and I think my legs were like "oh so he's done now. initiate shutdown procedure." When I started running again, everything was hurting. I had her stretch me but it didn't help too much. I just decided to suck it up and keep going, because I still had like 6 miles left. Interestingly enough if I sprinted I felt a lot better (how does that happen?) but that is obviously not sustainable. I know I was going pretty slow because I felt like I was slowing Madeleine down the entire way. She said she understood because I had already done a ridiculous amount of mileage that day but I still felt bad. Somehow I made it up to the AM/PM about a mile away from my house, and thats when it all went to hell. Madeleine rolled her ankle on something right around there so I said we should just stop and take a look at it since I didn't want her to get hurt. Obviously I didn't learn my lesson about stopping after a long run if you still have running left. But personally I think it was worth it, since I would have felt way worse if she got injured from it. But anyways this time was even worse, and I couldn't even walk. I tried sprinting (since that still felt okay), but I was only able to get like 300-400m in before I couldn't sustain it anymore.

At that point, I decided to take a nap.

No joke.

I asked madeleine if she wanted to go back to my house (I had my keys) and get my car or something but she said she would just wait with me.

I have no idea how long the nap took but it was literally the best nap ever even though it was on hard concrete.
I felt good enough to walk and we walked back the last 1000 or so meters until we got to my house. I took a shower and then launched some fireworks with Madeleine before I drove her back. I apologized profusely to her parents (they were like "You really ran 24 miles before you got here? You didn't look like it!" -- I can't tell if that's a compliment) since I dropped her off at like 10:00pm as opposed to the agreed upon 8:30pm, but they seemed alright with it once I explained what happened. The run itself probably took an epic 4 hours or so (I didn't continue timing it after I got to Madeleine's).

I'm never doing that again. Time for some tempo runs.

log 27.07.2008 - 30.07.2008

27.07.2008	0.00	off day
28.07.2008	6.00	broadway and back easy [47:18]. Didn't really feel like running today. Didn't really feel like doing much of ANYTHING today.
29.07.2008	24.00	alyssa's to craycroft and back. She's back in tucson now (i saw her 2000 chevy prizm parked in the driveway...) but she hasn't told me yet. Oh well... here's my '24 in the rain' (finally), sans the rain. Took 3:04:02. I'll let you guess where I went fastest. So I went from there to madeleine's house...
29.07.2008	5.50	..where I ran a ~6 miler (we stopped running before we got to my house) with madeleine immediately after. Literally immediately. We started right after I got water. Took a while and I sorta died (she had to slow down for me) but that was understandable since I just ran 24 miles. That makes today's mileage a ridiculous 29.5 miles. Here's the mega route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2125437
30.07.2008	5.00	recovery, to speedway and back. I actually feel like this is only 4.5 or so miles but I haven't bothered to map it out yet. Took 38:34. What? I was ridiculously tired.

log 24.07.2008 - 26.07.2008

24.07.2008	9.50	recovery day! Wrightstown in reverse, untimed. Legs are super heavy, but i can tell tomorrow is going to be awesome. Also, I suck at mini golf.
25.07.2008	17.00	Matt's and back, pretty good, but felt really tired around mile 14 and it didnt really go away until mile 16. left my watch at home so i wouldnt book it and hurt myself.
26.07.2008	5.00	75 miles this week in singles in addition to 43 hours of work. Awesome, but I'm tired as hell. Definitely not doing this next week, i think 55-65 is my ideal in singles. Ran easy to speedway and back along kolb, 39:42.
Total	75.50

an update on the foot for those concerned

"So anyways, the pain in my foot is pretty much all concentrated into that little tendon that's right under and to the outside of the ankle. I have no idea what it's called, and I know that's a horrible description of where it is, but I don't really know how to do better. Anyways I think it happened after the 18 mile run to Alyssa's, but I just sorta blew it off cuz it was 18 miles, and I figured my legs were bound to be a bit sore. Then I ran that 4:49.9 mile on it, and that was probably no good, although I only noticed that the day after when I went for a run. It's been pretty on or off since then, although there doesn't seem to be a correlation with running. But I don't know since I didn't take time off. I realize that my stride is set up exactly right so I don't even notice it at all except if I'm going really slow (and I mean really slow, like 9 minute miles). Even when I ran the mile I couldn't feel it when I was running, but I definitely felt it the next day. The only time I'll notice is if I roll my ankle (and this usually happens about once every run). In fact that's the only way I know I'm not fully healed yet; rolling my left foot feels a little different than rolling my right. So yea, basically right now it seems pretty good. I'm taping it up while at work and basically whenever I'm not running for good measure, and I think it's helping."

-from an email I sent to kangway

log 20.07.2008 - 23.07.2008

20.07.2008	0.00	off day, had a ridiculous 9.5 hour shift, but its okay, i'll get overtime for it. Also i am owed 2:15 (that's HOURS:MINUTES) of break, so I just text at work now and sit down when I feel like. Seems fair.
21.07.2008	19.50	ran to alyssa's house (reverse route+, url: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2101066); took 2:32:02 including stops, which is surprisingly quick for how I felt going into it. Damn I need to get this girl out of my system. Also, got 3 honks and one laugh (wtf?).
22.07.2008	12.00	rincon and back, the special way in reverse. I was timing the run, but partway through i noticed my watch went back to "00:00.00". must have hit the reset somewhere :(
23.07.2008	12.50	tried today, but at least my legs feel normal (as in uninjured). This is the heaviest week so far, and I can feel it, despite running a decent time of 95:32 (I was running the 8 minute mile for the first 3 or 4 miles and picked up). Did this route, which I haven't named yet: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2107961

log 06.07.2008 - 19.07.2008 and an apology

06.07.2008	0.00	off day (not by choice, i started to run but my left leg's tendon felt really bad, and decided to call it after like 5-10 minutes of it not going away). Decided to make this a "recovery week"
07.07.2008	12.50	not to be too ambitious I ran to my HS practice, did their practice, ran to matt's and had him take me home. Foot still hurts, but I managed to average 5:59.79 for the first 5.5 miles (because I thought I would be late). I am sad.
08.07.2008	9.00	decided to scrap today's summer track meet in favor of a long run to the meet..but it was done before I got there and matt took me back. Foot was okay as long as I didn't land weirdly.
09.07.2008	5.00	Speedway/Wilmot loop. Went slowish but foot still hurts :(
10.07.2008	14.00	ran to my HS practice, did their practice, and ran to burger king (arts sister works there and took me home :D). I am faster than anyone else there by a ridiculous margin even with the additional ~10 miles.
11.07.2008	6.00	Easy 6 to broadway and back in 43:54; the foot is feeling better, but definitely non-optimal as of right now. Decided to not make this a "recovery week" since I'm close in mileage anyways.
12.07.2008	12.00	12 to rincon and back a slightly different way. Took 93:14 including stops, route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2072942
Total	58.50
13.07.2008	0.00	off day
14.07.2008	15.00	ran this route to get to himmel park with a lot of additional mileage while swinging by the school to see the kids at practice: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2079628 pretty fun and we played frisbee at the park after and ate eegees. Danny drove me back home. I've decided this foot problem is not going to go away but it doesn't affect me when I'm running so I'll just deal.
15.07.2008	10.50	didnt run in the meet because I am afraid of messing up my leg. But ran to the meet and had maria drive me back. Also "warmed up" with matt, for a mile when I got there, although I was already plenty warm. Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2083134
16.07.2008	4.50	easy run with matt after a hellboy marathon (both 1 and 2 in succession) to cloud and pantano. Took 38:08, but we weren't going fast at all.
17.07.2008	12.00	ran to rincon and back the special way, untimed
18.07.2008	12.50	ran to maria's and back, but went pretty slowly because of residual tiredness from yesterday. Also, of the last 24 hours, I have spent 16.3 at Target. :(
19.07.2008	9.50	destroyed some n00b during my run along wrightstown for a mile along speedway. I think he was trying to race me, but I'm not too sure. Took 68:14
Total	64.00

Also, I'm sorry to Garrett and Kangway, and my other readers who think I should update more often. I actually haven't been on teh internetz lately so I didn't see your comments. Work + Running = No time to do much except sleep. I'll try to update more often from now on.

log 22.06.2008 - 05.07.2008

22.06.2008	5.00	sore from yesterday....good job me. Easy 5 to speedway and back + 2 loops round the neighborhood leaving and coming back. Couldn't go very fast.
23.06.2008	9.50	still sore actually, but much better. Ran harrison (19.06.2008) in 74:10. weird pain in chest, could just be hunger though (its happened before). Standing around for 6 hours at work actually makes my legs hurt. I find that funny, because running 17 miles seems like it should be more painful, not less.
24.06.2008	7.00	Ran 6 easy in the morning (to broadway), then worked. Summer meet: mile (5:02, 3rd). Lost to state champion in the 1600 and the state champion in XC (they ran 4:52 and 4:57). Not bad for 103 degree heat. Didn't run 3200 because i was at janeth's birthday party instead of the meet.
25.06.2008	9.50	ran to udall for frisbee, then ran for over an hour until people showed up. They never showed. Looked at cell phone and saw i went to the wrong park. My bad... probably did like 9-10 miles, but no idea of actual distance or time.
26.06.2008	12.50	12 in the rain. Took 96:08 including stops. Ran to maria's and back; saw her driving near her house. Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2025484
27.06.2008	13.00	awesome run when it was almost cool outside to madeleine's and back. Took 99:47, but didn't feel bad at all during any point despite running the 12.5 yesterday. Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2028206
28.06.2008	0.00	off day
Total	56.50
29.06.2008	6.00	ran to broadway and back...nothing too exciting except i picked a pretty bad time to run. Oh and I saw the U of A runner driving when I was at broadway and kolb!
30.06.2008	18.00	ran to alyssa's house in tucson and back, although she's still in flagstaff. Took 2:27:19 including stops, although this was more of something that i just wanted to do for myself than for workout. Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2040233
01.07.2008	1.00	summer meet: mile (4:50, 3rd). Awesome mile PR in horrendous conditions (really windy), got beat at the line by some random 25-30 year old and another who ran 4:43. I had NO kick because of yesterday. But still pretty happy.
02.07.2008	9.50	ran wrightstown at "night", meaning 4:00 in the morning, untimed. Left leg actually kinda hurts for some reason. Improvement from last years birthday where i just went to work and slept the day away. As usual madeleine actually remembered and gave me a pretty good present :)
03.07.2008	12.50	ran to maria's and back when it was super windy, and didnt go very fast (untimed). But leg feels a lot better today
04.07.2008	0.00	off day
05.07.2008	9.00	ran to himmel park and had matt take me back home...raining like a mofo by the time i got to tucson ave, but it was a nice change
Total	56.00

So the mile...

I think I just broke 4:50 in the mile, setting a massive 8 second PR. Details were sketchy since there was no automatic timing, but I had myself at 4:49.90, Noah had me at 4:49.86, Copeland had me at 4:49.97, and my 'official time' came back to me as 4:50 (they round to the nearest second though, so there is still hope). This is with NO speedwork and after 18 miles yesterday (I'm sorry Kangway! I just had to though...you'll see when I update), so I had no kick (which is why I got 3rd instead of 2nd...oh well), but it still amazes me that I ran a mile PR without training specifically for it. I hope this bodes well for next cross country season, and hell maybe I can pull out a 4:45 like I wanted to by the end of the summer.