boohoo neuroma

Well, either my 7.5 miles on Sunday or the long week of 25 miles plus 3 days officiating at the Mayakoba PGA golf tourney inflamed my (Dr. Google diagnosed) Mortons neuroma hugely. I've never had trouble walking - just running over 5 or 6 miles and I just tough it out and it is pretty much gone by the next day. From the research I'm doing, however, it looks like this is the WrONG way to approach this injury. So I've got a piece of foam stuck between my toes and I'm trying to keep the foot bones off the nerve and hopefully decrease the swelling. Cause really, I'm just looking at my next run. Damn the torpedoes, I'm all about the run these days. I guess if worse comes worse, I can try aqua running (though I'm not sure that will really do any good).

So I'm looking at shoes and orthotics and hoping the swelling goes down enough for a short (4 mile) run tomorrow. I need a better pair or shoes though and I'm hoping I find a mule to bring me a couple to try on.

Last week was my highest mileage week - 25 miles of running and another 4-5 of walking. The best fix for the neuroma seems to be cryosurgery and there are only 3 doing the "gold standard". One in AZ, one in FL and one in TX (Rio Grande Valley). Just 4 days away by car. Might be an option if the orthotics, et.al., do not work.

Boys Africa

Read on Timbuktu http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0522_030527_timbuktu.html
Read on 3 ancient African cultures - A Glorious Age in Africa
Follow links http://www.africaaccessreview.org/aar/Bibliographies/African%20Kingdoms/Timbuktu%20Manuscripts/mali_2009.htm
More on Africa http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/specialprojects/africa_access/AA_Research_Projects/Mali/mali_empire.htm
Read on Dogon culture http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0529_030529_dogon.html
Read on salt-hauling camel trains http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_saltcaravan.html
Follow Mr. Dowling's AFrican history links
Research Mansa Musa

Chilly penguins

So, today I had my longest run, 8.5 miles. I'm not as over-the-moon as last week because I kind of knew I could do it from last week. I'm not sure how much more I have in me at this point - I was thinking, about the 5 mile point, that maybe I could do the Guad 21K on the 21st, but by mile 7 I knew that stuff like that is for young kids, not old farts like me. So I'll keep looking and maybe I can find a 21K closer than Monterey by the end of April or so. Stuff down here happens so quickly that I wouldn't be surprised if a 21K just popped onto the calendar with 2 weeks to go.

I was REALLY happy with my HR (136 average) and the fact that I kept it slow as I wondered if I'd be able to run this at a 12 min/mile pace. My HR has been much higher this past week, but I'm thinking now it was just heat-induced. I'm very happy with the 11 min/mile pace and really very happy with 8.5 miles. I think I was a little high at the end but my feet hurt so bad I'm not sure. :) It has been a little warm here lately (between nortes) and we've had a couple days of high 90'sF with the heat index. I was hoping the rain last night would bring cooler weather for this morning's run but I had no idea a norte was coming in. It was FRIGID this morning!

It was FREEZING this morning - 70F and 69% and I seriously considered gloves. As it was, I had tights and a long-sleeved shirt over a drythingie shirt. It was perfect. I froze once I stopped running so if it is ever this cold again I'll know to run directly to the palapa instead of stopping at Don Pepe's. All in all, I'm very pleased, I had energy and I know I had more in me. I'm going to stay at 8 miles for hte next couple weeks, I was really very fine through mile 7. Ball of the foot pain began about mile 6 and was bad that mile then went in and out the rest of the run. After run, right ankle was VERY sore. Weird.

Next week I'm going to start Art's base mileage plan at week 10 but I'll probably make that 7 mile run an 8 miler. http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/m_mile.html I also think my Asics are about done. I've only got 80 miles on the Nikes so I think I'll start using those more often and find someone to mule me down a new pair of shoes. I can't decide if I want Brooks Gylcerin, Defyance or New Balance 1063's.

SEVEN BABAY!

Two weeks ago I tried running in Playacar (cement roads) and suffered and blew up horribly. I posted at Daily Mile and the consensus was that I was probably dehydrated. It was a warm day that day and I had no electrolytes with me - just a scoop of Cytomax before I left home. I remembered that around 6 miles I was trying to run and my hamstrings, from my ass to my ankle began to cramp up so I stopped. I felt really awful afterwards, I've run 10Ks so I was pretty sure it was physically possible but I was really wondering if I'd ever be able to run anything longer than a 10K. Also, my (Dr. Google-diagnosed) Morton's neuroma reared its UGLY and DEAFENING head around 5 miles and I was DYING from the pain, so that made it really hard to run also.

So today I had another 7 mile run to attempt. I honestly had no idea if it was even possible, but I was going to try. I took a camera out, a waterbottle with water and a prepared bottle of Poweraid. I've got to say, i was loaded down for the first .5 mile. It was COLD this morning - 84F with 48% made for a really cool start. I wore shorts, dryfit shortsleeve and long sleeve over it. I have to thank Angela, one of my neighbors for muling down some running stuff for me. I got 4 Nike Tempo shorts and 5 dryfit shirts off Ebay and now I feel like a REAL runner. Before I was using the boys cotton shorts and Tshirts.

Took off the long sleeve at about 1.5 miles in. This was almost 3 complete out-and-backs of JanTen and I'm shocked at how lovely the run was. Up to the 5 mile point I was still wondering if I'd make 7. Used the Asics and loosened the forefoot laces and had burning ball-of-foot only around 5.5-6 miles and then It Went Away! I couldn't believe it. I've NEVER had that pain LEAVE during a run and now I"m really encouraged that maybe I can run long runs!

I'm really so psyched I actually made the distance after failing horribly last time. the weather and electrolytes really made a difference. I barely made my last (Friday 4 mile) run but today I totally could have gone longer. I had a bottle of Poweraid the first 5 miles and then switched over to water. No idea of my max HR but I finally felt like I was settling into a pace somewhere around 4 miles and I really never looked at my watch for splits or HR info. It was an AMAZING run. I could get used to running in low humidity. :)

I brought a camera along and tried to take some pics as I ran...

moderation...when will i learn?

I think I figured out how people can talk themselves into more mileage too soon. I was sick on Sat and Sun and about every couple hours I'd try to convince myself to go for a (reduced mileage) run even though just doing dishes and laundry was exhausting me. Today I had a reduced mileage week on tap, but since I didn't do the 7 mile long run yesterday (or the 10K I'd had planned) I figured last week could be my rest week and I'll repeat last week's mileage this week. I'm just in a base mode anyway. So I was supposed ot do a 2 mile run this am, but was feeling so good I made it 4.

I've also been snacking VERY POORLY with cookies and brownies (made them for the palaperos, but they got very few in comparison to how many we ate) and have gained about 2 kilos over the last week. Some of it is cycle-related - oh, I guess I shouldn't be doing Ashtanga tomorrow, but I'm so crim I will probably ignore that also.

I think I will try for the Feb 7th 10K in Merida (I loved the feeling of running the last one so much am dying to do another) but we'll see how it goes.

Resting HR holding steady at 48-49; weight up to 75.6 today. Ugh. I didn't even wait for the fat % as the scale was bad enough.