Monday, January 9, 2012

Danger of running alone...and TAPER time again.

Like many of you, I have been heartbroken and sick over the news of the Montana runner who is missing: Sherry Arnold.  I cannot stop thinking about her.  Every time I turn on my laptop I hope to see good news and I fear reading the worst.  I hope that she will be found and that she will be alive and well.  I run alone 95% of the time.  There is a trail near my house, it is in the city, not in the mountain or a park.  For the most part, it is safe and houses are on at least one side of it so if someone screamed they would be heard.  There are some sections of the trail where I don't feel safe when I am alone, it goes under a major freeway going to the East and to the West, it goes through a few miles without houses around or in a not so great part of town.  Since my young and fast running partner is on maternity leave (happy news!), I have changed my route.  I get out of the trail at mile 2 and take a long busy street instead and just stay on the sidewalk.  I don't like the sidewalk and the many stop lights BUT I feel better this way and so does Bill.  That street is one of the busiest in town, lot's of gas station and restaurants and traffic.  It is sad to think that solo runners are not safe out there.Keep Sherry in your thoughts. 

Thank you to everyone who offered advices on my last post regarding fuel and plantar fasciitis.  I appreciate all your comments.  I want to especially thank JILL.
Do you follow the blog Run with Jill? You should!  She has had to deal with foot injury last year and she learned a lot about how to fix the problem.  She took the time to send me 2 long emails over the weekend with advices and exercises that I can do to fix my PF problem.  That was NICE and GENEROUS. Thank you Jill!

Taper time is here again. 
I don't like taper week.  I become completely paranoid about getting sick. I drive my family nuts asking every 10 minutes "are you sick?" "do you have a booboo in your belly?" (that one just to the kids obviously ) "did you wash your hands?".  Yes I am a real pain in the butt.

I also wonder if I prepared enough.  I tell myself I will go to bed early every night during taper week and I usually don't because I am an idiot.  Like last night...bedtime should have been 10 and instead I turned the light off at midnight. 

I was worried about my last long run because of the pain I had in my foot last week.  I decided to do my 10 miles on Saturday instead of Sunday because we were supposed to get nasty winds on Sunday.  Friday I iced and stretched and rolled on the tennis ball (aouchy).  I was ready mentally in case I needed to cut short if I had pain.  I did not have to do that.  I did the 10 miles. I wore compression socks to help with Achilles pain and it did.  I don't usually wear them to run but now I am considering wearing them on Sunday.  I took one salt stick before leaving and 1 every 3 miles.  I still had salty sweat but not as bad as last week so I am doing that on Sunday. 

Yesterday I went back for 3 easy miles. No pain.  I iced and did exercises for PF and I will continue to do that all week.  Today, rest day, went to the dentist.  They wanted to do some deep cleaning treatment instead of regular treatment and I said no because I don't want to have something done that would cause me pain before my half marathon.  Dentist said "Oh OK, we want to make sure you win!"  I said: "Win? No chance of that happening!" So she said "Then why do you do it then?!" I said "Because I can!"  She thinks I am crazy.  Nothing can keep me from getting this on Sunday:
and this on Super Bowl day:

and also my Beach Cities Challenge Medal!!! I cannot wait to get that one! I saw it and it is huge and really nice!



Back to school today!!! I may have done the Happy Dance!!!!

See I added another race to my list? PCRF Cinco de Mayo race/ 10k.  I am on TEAM GAB! If you are local and are looking for an early May race do this one! They have 5K, 10K and Half Marathon.  The cause: Pediatric cancer research.  Visit Gabby's mom's blog to know more about her!

Went to see Mission Impossible 4 yesterday.  Rebekah, my fantastic babysitter gave me an early birthday gift (it is possible that I am turning 43..yikes...on Wednesday) and watched the kids for us so we could go see a grown up movie!  It is awesome.  The best of the 4!
This Tom Cruise guy is CRAZY


14 comments:

Terzah said...

Love those medal photos! Keep the wipes flowing and the handwashing going! We are sisters in taper this week.

Kathy said...

Good luck and don't drive your family crazy with your taper! I hate the news of our missing sole sister. Breaks my heart. I started running my longs with a group which makes my husband so happy (me, too, of course). Sets his mind at ease that I'm not alone while pushing my limits. If I'm not in a well viable area I always with my dog.

Boston Bound Brunette said...

I hope your foot feels better!! I run that same trail that you are referring to but never alone. If I can't run it with my running buddy I don't do it alone. Good luck at the 13.1 LA Run. I wanted to do that one but I have already broke the bank with all of the races for 2012 so far. I am already getting nervoud about the Surf City Marathon!! I also went to see Mission Impossible 4. It was pretty crazy!! Take Care.

Kate Geisen said...

I run alone in the dark a lot, but I have a big dog who keeps me company. And I stick to our neighborhood for early/later runs. There are no guarantees, of course, and I've been thinking about and praying for Sherry since I first saw that news.

So excited for your race! Sending healthy vibes your way. :) And, yes, Jill is awesome. :)

beach mama said...

We are fellow Capricorns. Happy birthday! Mine is next Wed on the 18th.
I hear about Sherry and have been praying here in NJ.
Good luck on your races! I am looking forward to reading your recaps.

a runner said...

Take care of that PF. Be good to your body :) Taper time always makes me loony :P You will have some awesome racing!

Anonymous said...

Some serious hardware up for grabs...

macnic said...

Great news on your foot. Good luck with the taper and race!

Cotter Crunch said...

oh my goodness, so sad. That is scary news. I never run the trails alone anymore because of that. I've had men follow me. I also never run with an iPod. Better safe that way!

Hope the taper goes well, rest that heel!

Laura said...

Taper up so you can rock it!!
The story about Sherry is so sad and scary...I hope it all works out.

Unknown said...

I get so 'sick' paranoid too! I can't wait to hear all about your race. I might be doing Surf City too - just found out I might be out there for business and this is one I've been wanting to do… will keep you posted!

I've been sick about the Sherry Arnold news too. It's so scary. I run in residential areas but even still, we are all so vulnerable out there when we're alone.

Lindsay said...

I hate having to worry about things I shouldn't have to worry about. Whether we run in neighborhoods or fields, unfortunately we always have to "be on the lookout" for the crazy people. I, too, hope that Sherry is found alive and well. I never understand why criminals do the things theydo!!

Christine said...

I heard about Sherry and this is so horrible. I do hope they will find her soon! I hardly run outside alone, but if I do, I also run on busy roads and with cell phone and pepper spray. So scary!

Glenn Jones said...

That PCRF race is a nice race. I've done the 1/2 marathon before - uses a lot of the same course as the Southern California 1/2 marathon.