Rain

It’s raining again and so I know I won’t be out in Bidwell Park today. With this weather to contend with, the training has slowed to almost non-existent status. And I must report that my right foot is bothering me once again. I really need to find a good shoe for those times when I don’t want to wear a tennis shoe for daily wear. I have pretty much decided that it’s my favorite shoes that are causing the problem. These are old shoes that I used to wear all of the time when traveling and since they don’t have a metal arch support, they are suspect. (Metal would set off alarms at the airport and so I enjoyed wearing these shoes and walking right through security) Now it’s time for me shop around for a substitute pair of shoes. In the meantime I will need to go back to using ibuprofen to relieve the inflammation.

As I stated, I haven’t returned to my walking regimen and I need to do that soon. I think we have a marathon to do in March (Phoenix?) and I know we have the Bidwell Classic half marathon in March as well. I need to register for both of those events and that will help with the motivation process and get me out onto the pathways of Bidwell.

Odd…I could have sworn that the Valley of the Sun was a full marathon? The website now shows it as a half?

And here’s the full marathon link…Marathon Guide

Falling Behind

As you may have noticed...I haven't had much to say here recently. And I'm not going to beat myself up over it. The holidays are upon us and I don't have the time to give to a regular training schedule. So I'm taking a break...without guilt! With the New Year will come a new training regimen and we're still hoping to do a marathon in Arizona (March) and a half marathon. (Bidwell Classic...also March?) Hmm, I better check and see if there's a conflict.

Another winter day in the park. I started off at a slow pace and kept it there for the entire time. 4.5 mph was a good workout and I wanted to treat my right foot to an easy walk. After about 4 miles, I felt some twinges of pain in the foot but nothing too serious, so I kept going. And instead of going around the park, I decided to exit the park and walk over to Teaz Me. As I stopped at signal and waited, I noted that I had gone a little over 6 miles in 1:21. Those are decent times and miles. (I should note here that I spent some of that walking time thinking about creating another blog...)

But I wasn’t prepared for the pain in my foot when I got up to leave the restaurant. I hobbled and limped my way back to the park and to my car, and by the time I reached the car, the pain was almost gone again. It’s time for more ibuprofen!

Back at it

I'm just back from a short walk in the park. I did a 5 mile walk and did it in 1:06...that would be a 13.2 minute/mile average, not my best effort. But I had a good excuse in that my right foot was still bothering me. I went out fast, doing the first 3 miles at an average of 4.9 mph and then I decided to save myself from any lasting damage and walked back in at a leisurely pace.

It was beautiful day, lots of sunshine and some frost. I think it was right around 33 degrees when I started and although I was wearing shorts and a light shirt, the fact that I had gloves and a wool watch cap on made for a very comfortable walk...except for the walk back when I had slowed down. That was when I felt the cold!

OK, that's a good start. Now I will take tomorrow off but will return to the park on Monday for a full circuit.