Wednesday

Great weather here. It was 62° after work tonight when I ran- which I did at Lake Heath, in the dark, using my headlamp. Sweet run.

So today was 1 mile swim, then 6.4 mile run. The swim was a little faster than usual... I got some new goggles and can see the other lanes more clearly. So I was doing my laps, and then noticed that someone a couple of lanes over had the audacity to swim faster than me, and I could see him, so I had to speed up. I hate it when that happens at the pool. It's worse if they're in the lane right next to me... that's the absolute worst. So I sped up on laps like 17-25 or something, that's why my time was better today by about 90 seconds.

Wow, tomorrow is Thursday already. Time flies. Probably another mile swim, then 6 mile or so run later. We'll see.

Scott Matty

I'd just like to offer my deepest sympathies and heartfelt prayers to the family of Scott Matty, the local cyclist who was killed while riding on Sunday morning. What a tragedy.

I've had close calls both while running and while cycling. Please, those of you who are reading this, be careful. And be careful driving when you see cyclists and runners.

Monday

Felt pretty good tonight. 68° for the run, very nice, in the dark, with my blinking red light & headlamp, etc... 6 miles at 8:38 per mile. I could probably go faster on my nightly runs but I like to start out slow on the first mile. Afterwards I did have a painful cramp in my butt, which is a new thing, so that cramp combined with the odd calf & arch cramps I've been getting at the pool, and I think I need to watch my diet a bit more.

I swam a mile at lunch today, too, so that contributed (maybe?) to the cramp. Who knows. Shower & food & some CeraSport w/ protein and I'm good to go.

Saturday - Long Run Day

31° this morning at 5:30am... so I ended up running from the River Club to Fort Benning & back, by myself, for 20.5 miles @9:29 pace. I wanted to take it easy and test my foot out, and it felt good throughout the run. I think it's OK, but I'll keep using the insoles for awhile anyway, just in case.

I did renew my membership in the Columbus Roadrunners today. I didn't run in the Super Bowl 5K , but I went by the race after my run.

let's see...

I'd like to drop from 179 lbs down to about 175 by the end of February.

I got a new pair of swim goggles on Friday afternoon... can hardly wait to test them out in the pool on Monday. Photos & a review soon. It's funny how I swim so much, but have gone through a bunch of $8 goggles. I have used the Speedo Sprint & the Speedo Ultra anti-fog for years and years. My pair of Speedo Sprint is scratched and can barely seal now, so I needed some new ones badly. I fall into a rut of just using the same thing over and over. So these are new, and more expensive, and I'm excited to try them out.

I think I'll run a couple of laps around Lake Heath tomorrow after work, so I'll wind up w/ 44.3 miles for the week.

Thursday

Didn't get to do anything at lunch, so I ended up running once I got home, around 6:45 pm. It was 43° (felt like 35°, according to weather.com), and a little breezy, but I dressed appropriately. A few raindrops, but a nice run nevertheless. Went a different route so I could get hills, so it was probably 5.9 miles instead of 6.05 or whatever (I wasn't wearing the Garmin, lesson learned).

My foot is feeling much better. I've been using my old, tried-and-true Sorbothane rigid arch insoles religiously, moving them from one shoe to another starting when I get out of bed in the morning, and it's making a difference. At first I could literally feel a tendon or something snapping every time I took a step with my right foot, right in the arch area.

I'll run probably 3 or 4 miles on Friday, then go for a 20 mile run on Saturday morning. Saturday will be the test, for sure. I'm just gonna take it slow and easy and see how my foot feels. It's supposed to be clear and cold (31°) on Saturday morning.