Adarq.org

- run 42:37, 7.02 km
legs a bit dead

went out to do my long run this morning and posterior medial right knee immediately started clicking with a bit of pain. not severe but enough to make me stop a block from my house and turn around and walk home. felt obviously like something not to push through. very odd. gonna do a bit of research now and hopefully try again later today.

EDIT: knee was okay this evening, thank goodness.

- run 1:27:25, 15.51 km
full of energy, cruising. knee not 100% but no pain or discomfort. no clicking. wonder what that was this morning.

also, scrabble tournament report: i went 4-3 in my division, which was the lowest one. really should have gone 5-2 but lost to my dad for the first time in my memory. but can't be mad, since going in i thought he might be my only win, lol. i now have an official scrabble elo rating of 809, which is in range for a strong beginner. the tournament was a big success, more than 30 people came to play, everything went smoothly, and we raised around a thousand dollars for a charity that helped my family out when my brother was really sick. also, i won $20 for having the highest-scoring single word in my division (browser, for 102). all in all, a great day.

- run 50:58, 9.00 km; 3 strides in final 2 km
suddenly warm, like 61F/16C. knees felt okay, legs a little dead feeling.

- run 51:44, 9.09 km
just above freezing, sun coming up, nice morning for a run.

- run 1:42:42, 17.45 km
middle ~8 km on trail, including some rooty/rocky sections. legs a bit tired for the final couple km. tried out a few different gels, liked all fine except the hammer raspberry. blech. funnily enough, that was the only one that didn't make me burp a minute or two after having it. but no actual GI discomfort, good sign.

total mileage this week: 56.89 km (35.34 miles), 5:12 total time on feet. plan is to build toward 80+ km per week and/or 9 hours time on feet over the coming months, and then hopefully be able to maintain that going into the fall. if i'm able to do that and stay healthy i'll sign up for another half in septemberish. staying healthy will be goal number one.

i've signed up for two ultras, the first of which will basically be a dry run for the second: the patapsco valley 50k in late october and the JFK 50-miler in late november. JFK is the oldest continuously run ultra in the US, so that's neat.

- run 1:00:35, 10.00 km
watch clicked over exactly, precisely at the bottom of my front steps. very satisfying. a little sore in upper hamstrings and glutes and pecs, no surprise.

- run 1:07:51, 11.42 km
did strides 4 x ~5-6s on the track near my house, at the tail end. a little uncomfortable in the old knees.

- run 2:03:04, 21.10 km
meant to do 12 miles-ish but got lost several times since i wasn't familiar with most of the first third of the route i took. ended up hitting exactly a half marathon about two blocks from home so i called it there and walked the last couple hundred meters.

legs a bit tired post-run but not bad. nutrition seemed good, i had three gels at ~20 minute intervals and then a cereal bar in two parts, also at 20 minute intervals. 490 kcal total, with about 80g of carbs. seems like a good intake, tolerated it all well. i won't use bars for the half, just gels and sports drink, but good to practice eating for longer distances. drank about 430mL of water, which given the high humidity probably wasn't quite enough, but pee came out clear after the run so it's not like i'm dehydrated.

left calf and left heel just a wee bit tight at different points, but nothing worrisome. need to be careful with adding distance after my big jump over the last month, when total weekly mileage has been:

w1: 29.57 km (was traveling this week)
w2: 51.08 km
w3: 56.89 km
w4: 62.87 km

feel good now, but i won't add much if any weekly mileage between now and the half at the end of april. may try to hit 40 miles (64.38 km) one week.