Sunday ...

   As I have mentioned many, many times before in this blog ... Sundays mean only one thing during training - The Long Run.  While our running group had a solid 20 mile run planned today which encompassed the last few miles of the actual marathon course ... I had spent most of the end of the week trying to figure out exactly what my Sunday workout was going to consist of.  At the recommendation of Renee, we decided that it would be best to incorporate some "on the road" running into the workout since the actual marathon is rolling up really, really quickly.  After some discussion, we decided the best thing would be to run to the Y (~ 2 miles), workout on the elliptical for 1-2 hours and then run back home.  This would give me the workout time I needed for a long run while also working in ~ 4 miles of actual running. 
    I woke up around 8 today, well after Renee had taken off to catch her bus that would take her 20 miles west of Boston where her run would be starting.  After I woke up, I had a peanut butter sandwich and did some pretty intense stretching.  I wanted to make sure that I stretched a lot since I was going to be running more than I had in a while.  After my stretching, I took out the new Asics and put them on.  Regardless of if they would help the problem, they looked and felt pretty good.  As the temperature was pretty mild today ( low 50's), I actually headed out for my run with shorts, a t shirt and a wind breaker. 
    The run started off pretty well and was definitely much better than the 1.5 miler I completed three days earlier.  I ran down west 1st street and was doing pretty well.  I bet I got at least 1-1.25 miles into the run before I felt even a twinge in the knee (for that 10 minutes I thought that maybe the shoes had worked a miracle).  I was able to complete the two miles to the gym without any real problems although my knee did start to have a twinge or two towards the end.  Once at the gym, I spent about 5 minutes stretching some more and then hopped on my designated elliptical.  On a side note, I have literally not seen any other person use this machine in the past 4 weeks ... I am starting to think the Y should just donate it to me because nobody else uses it.  Once on the elliptical I punched in my normal settings ... Time = 60 minutes, Weight = 203 lbs, Resistance = 9 ... and started pedaling away. 
   The elliptical workout didn't start out well because my head just wasn't in it.  It was really the first mild day in a while and deep down inside I really wanted to be outside running.  I kept pedaling, but I really just couldn't get invested in the elliptical today.  After about 10-15 minutes, I decided that it was enough and that the rest of my workout for the day would come on the road.   I did a couple more minutes of stretching and then headed out back towards home.  The run home went pretty well, the knee had a twinge but no where near how it felt just three days earlier.  Next thing I knew, I was back at 13 Emmet and had tallied up 4 total miles for the day.  I decided to switch out my phone, which I use for music at the gym, for my smaller ipod and head out to continue my run.  I figured that since I had already clocked 4 miles for the day, if I was able to run down and around Castle Island I would be happy ending with a total of 8. 
    The run down towards Castle Island went well.  Since it was windy throughout my run, I knew that Castle Island would be interested since the winds are easily 15-20 mph faster than they are in Southie or the city.  What I have learned from my many runs around the island is that the key is to look at the flag when you get there and plan your run so that you have the wind at your back when you are on the far part of the loop (I learned this the hard way over the summer when I tried running against a 30 mph, lets just say mother nature won that battle).  Since the winds were blowing towards Logan Airport, I decided to go counter clockwise around the loop.  I was probably about 6 miles into the run when my knee really began to ache.  I completed the remaining two miles alternated between running for ~ 0.5 miles and then walking for 10-20 seconds to let the knee loosen up a little.  Regardless of how it went, I completed 8 miles today. 
     Overall, I was happy that I got a relatively good run in.  I am not going to lie, my ITB was extremely sore after the run, but I have come to the conclusion that this is just something I am going to have to deal with for the next 45 days or so.   The rest of the day was spent with a pretty hefty bag of ice on my knee.  I included a picture which shows how both Renee and I felt after our Sunday workouts. 
     Looking ahead, I think my plan for the remaining weeks of training is as follows ...
1) Continue my weekly workouts on the elliptical with maybe a few 3-5 mile runs sprinkled in there over the upcoming weeks.
2) Complete the L Street long run on Sunday 3/13 which is scheduled to be a 14.7 miler.
3) Aim to do as much of the L Street long run on Sunday 3/27, which is a 20 mile run that mimics the first 20 miles of the actual marathon course.
4) Taper after that run, which will give the ITB about 18 days or so to recover before the big race
5) PT, PT, PT, PT ....
     Again, this isn't anywhere close to how I picture my training would go back when I started this endeavor in November.  Honestly, I had dreams of running every L Street long run and showing up completely healthy and injury free on April 18th.  Unfortunately, a wrench got thrown in that plan, so I am kind of making things up as I go at this point.  I figure as long as I can get these two long runs in over the next few weeks I should be alright to go from a training standpoint ... I hope.

Post Sunday Workout Icing.  Renee icing her feet / ankles after completing an 18 miler, which consistent of a small ankle tweak after stepping in a pot hole.  And me icing my knee after an 8 miler, which was my first run of any real distance in a few weeks.