Making It Through

The bad weather ended early and it was clear by the time I headed out for my late afternoon run. Once again, the wind was brutal. The schedule called for 8 miles easy. I completed the run, but not without issues.

Since the Schuykill Banks loop usually isn't windy, I ran that to start out. That worked out well. Early on, I was very worried. The area below my right knee cap started bothering me. It was sore after yesterday's run. I didn't know if I'd even be able to complete the run. After about a mile, it loosened up and was fine. I iced it afterward. Hopefully it won't be an ongoing problem.

I debated running the loop a second time to stay away from the wind. I caught up to a runner at the final uphill though. I had to pass him, since it isn't often I get a chance to do so this time of year. I blew by him on the uphill and he must've turned around shortly after.

The wind was rough as I then headed along Kelly Drive. It was still a pain, but actually not as bad as I expected. It wasn't as bad as yesterday. I was able to back off a little and keep a nice pace. I thought about turning around, but saw some cute girls up ahead. I decided to pass them around the Columbia Bridge, rather than turn around and run the Schuykill Banks loop again.

After that, I just kept going. The wind died down and I felt good. There was an accident on the other side of the river and the road was closed. Other than that, not much interesting happened. I just cruised along.

As I hit the last mile and a half, I really started having problems. Although my kneecap was fine, my right ankle became very tight. Every now and then, some pain would shoot through it. I tried backing off even more. I survived, but really couldn't have run much longer.

I lifted a lot yesterday with ankle weights. I'm pretty sure that is what led to the ankle problem. I stretched it out a lot afterward and then iced the ankle. I hope that helps. I either won't lift at all tomorrow or I'll do less of it. My chest was pretty sore from doing push-ups too.

I've run for 6 straight days and put in a new high of over 53 miles. I'll greatly appreciate the day off tomorrow. I might lift a little. I definitely need to strength train more frequently. I have to balance it with running though. Sunday is a hard long run. That'll be a good test of my fitness. Hopefully the weather holds up and my body does as well.

8 miles - 1:03:52 (7:59 pace)