Friday, December 22, 2006

Waiting to Heal

After that one cold morning run where I got blood blisters in each toe, my right toe healed up just fine, but my left toe continued to bother me. I ran with it bandaged up a few more times, putting in 8 miles on Dec 13th and 10 miles on Dec 15th. The blister on my left toe then got infected and had to be opened up to drain it out. That's when I discovered a little piece of glass in it! Now that I know what was bothering it so much I think it will heal now. I have been nursing the open wound left over with hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin. Today, the 22nd, is just about one week since I had to cut it open, and although its a little sore still, I have been itching to get out and go running again!

I got me some super-strong bandaids to wrap around it so I think I will venture out today for a run. Its not raining today so at least I will be dry! This might be a good day to go down and run on the Portland waterfront. Its been several months since I did that. I'm sure they all miss me!

Ryan

Monday, December 04, 2006

Weekly Total Report

My total for last week was 29 miles.

Monday I ran in sleet and slush and got a couple of blood blisters on each big toe. My left toe has been the sorest. So I rested them a few days.

I went out Friday for a five mile run. My course took me through one section that was littered with lots of gravel all across the sidewalks, so I wore my new Vibram 5Fs for the last part.

Yesterday I went out for a 12 mile run. I ended up wearing my Vibram 5Fs again because of lots of gravel again in certain sections.

Vibrams aren't the same as running BF, but they do allow me to keep going at a faster pace through rough territory. I've noticed that while wearing them I tend to hit the ground harder with my feet. After wearing them through one section I took them off to continue going barefoot. I enjoyed the barefoot experience much more than I did wearing the Vibrams.

I noticed that my running pace has been very slow, around 10 minute miles. I prefer trying to keep it around 8:00 minutes or less. I don't know if its caution or me adjusting to the longer distances I've been trying to run. Or maybe old age. I just turned 53 years old a couple of weeks ago!

I went to a church Christmas party last night, "A Night in Bethlehem" dressed up in period garb. I decided to go barefoot. I told a few people that I had just come back from running 12 miles, an hour before the party. They each wanted to see the bottom of my feet! One couple had to touch them to see if I had tough callouses or not. They were surprised to see fairly normal skin, though a bit dirty. That "comes with the territory!"

Ryan