Hmm. Where to begin? Probably yesterday. I was planning on eating a pretty small dinner, so I had a nice lunch (Vietnamese noodle bowl with veggies and tofu) instead. Then I find out that an out-of-state friend is in town, and wants to have Mexican food at El Patio (the opposite of a “small dinner”). So I go and have a large dinner, because I’m pretty weak at not eating a lot at El Patio (which is why I only go there once a month or so).

So the alarm goes off at 5 this morning and I still feel stuffed. I would say bloated, but there’s something that-time-of-the-month about that word, so I won’t. But that’s how it felt anyway. I admit that I was tempted to curl back up in bed, but I was good … got up, got out, and headed off to the trail instead. I was thinking about doing the 10 mile loop from MoPac out to the dam and back rather than my normal Tuesday 7, and it was a great morning for it - down to 50 degrees for a change, perfect running weather.

When I get there, it was a bit cold (glad I wore my long-sleeved shirt), but it felt perfect as I started to run. My plan was to do the first mile at 4/4 breathing, then 3/4 to Lamar and 3/3 up to Runtex. Stretch and get a drink, then start again at 4/4 up to Congress, 3/4 to I-35, 3/3 up to the dam and back, 3/2 down to Lamar, then finish up at 2/2 for some good negative splits. That was the plan, anyway. As to what really happened…

I started out with a 10:00 mile, then clocked a 9:45, then for the last quarter mile before Runtex I clocked an 8:00 pace. My legs were feeling pretty good, but my gut was a different story. Remember what I said about being bloated? Well, I had “runner’s gas” in a bad way, if there is such a thing. I also had to use the restroom, so I ended up taking a 6 minute break as I stretched, got a drink, found the restroom, etc. I wasn’t feeling particularly good, but not overly bad either.

Started up again with an easy 10:30 mile, then got more serious heading up Riverside with a 9:00. As I approached the I-35 bridge, I was feeling a lot less confident internally, so I hung a left and went over the freeway, then down the hill on the other side. At this point I started getting more little twinges from my right ITB again. So I stopped and stretched for a mintute, then headed back West.

Not good. As I was running along the lakeside, I got another twinge from the outside of the knee, a bigger one this time. If this had been a race I would have kept going - it wasn’t huge - but it did make me a little concerned. I stretched a little, slowed the pace down and ran carefully - then another one made me give it up. That last mile of running averaged an 11:00 with stretching, and I walked the last mile and a half in rather than take a chance.

So - more ice, more stretching, and I’ll see how its doing on Thursday when I do my speedwork. Hopefully the shorter stretches won’t give it a very hard time, and will aid with recovery.

Distance: 7.3 total, 5.25 run
Pace: 10:00 average

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