Not very regular running note

I am in the home stretch in my marathon training. I feel like I'm being held together with wire and duct tape at times, but I keep moving forward. My left quad and hip flexor have been sore since the Rudolph Run December 15th. I skipped my Thursday run in hopes of some repair, but it didn't really help. At minimum I need to get my long runs in, and today was an 18 miler.

It had rained all night and morning, and the wind was blowing pretty steadily. I thought about the gym for about a nanosecond, but 18 miles is just too long on a treadmill. So I headed to the Burke-Gilman trail. The Burke-Gilman is a great trail in the Seattle area that runs from Freemont, north around Lake Washington then connects with the Sammamish trail to finish in Marymoor Park in Redmond. The trail is actually about 26 miles, so I suppose I could do my own marathon there.

On this long of a run, I not only need to carry fluids and gels, but I need to stop for a refill at some point. Occasionally we have had friends meet us with supplies, but normally I'm self-supported. Today it meant doing a 9 mile out and back heading west, a quick stop at the truck, then another 9 miler heading east. The trail was pretty quiet, I'm sure because of the weather and the Seahawks were playing at 1:30 (thank you Tivo!).

Overall it went O.K. The rain pretty much stayed away, though the wind was strong at times. For the first 4 or 5 miles, it felt like I was running with a charlie horse. It loosened up for a bit, but tightened up again toward the end. The last 3 miles were tough as I was sore and out of gas. I tried a walk break every mile to try to keep loose, and I think it helped somewhat.

Post run I walked for a bit (good), got in my truck and stiffened up (bad), and came home for a cold bath (good). The cold bath seems to help my muscles recover a bit better, but is not as tempting in the winter as it is in the summer.

The bath is in the "wife's" bathroom. Separate bathrooms is awfully nice. I won't give a number (for fear of the wife suspending blogging privileges) but there are an awful lot of bottles lined up in the bathtub. When we shared a bath in the past, I have set off a domino chain of these bottles. Not a great way to start your day.