Going in circles

Do you see that? Do you see what 'he' did to me? I can't even run in a straight line, my achilles is now permanently seized up and can only go in one direction, constantly turning, wincing, gesturing at the ghost across the Bay. In fact the pain has spread to my neck and I can barely turn my head to look up, let alone lift my arm high enough to shake my fist.

Ha! Just kidding; or at least sort of, as I do have a very stiff neck that came out of the blue this morning while simply stretching and brushing my teeth. And this is the day after my annual checkup with the doctor where I got a clean bill of health. Go figure! Today's amazingly winding twisting run was done on the cart paths of our local golf course; now closed for the season. A total of 6.5 miles of ups and downs and twists and turns make for an interesting run on a cool cloudy day with patches of ice still not melted off the paths at noon.

It's been a rather easy week so far with only 3 runs of 6 miles or so each. I was quite tired on Monday and very glad to have a rest day after that rough ride that was Sunday. I think there is something to be said for not doing back to back weekend 20+ long runs. This weekend I'll be taking a break and not going much more than 2 hours to give the legs a rest. Besides it's still over 20 weeks to Boston and no hurry to kill myself just yet.

Tues - 6 miles slow and draggy; still feeling the effects of Sunday. Medical exam with low blood pressure and resting HR of 45 which prompted my doctor to ask "You're still running?"

Weds - crazy winding path route of 6.5 miles but my extremely stiff sore neck made it a real 'pain in the neck' if you know what I mean.

Thurs - neck better today and just did a simple 6 mile loop going at an easy pace. No watch either which is unusual for moi.

Plans are for a longer run on Friday and easy run on Sat to bring the weekly total to about mid-50ies. We might even see the sun again this weekend, although it did peak out for a few minutes today. Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends (think I still have one or 2) and readers.

Oh, BTW go check out the Chasing Kimbia site where they are having a writing contest of sorts. The 7 finalists have submitted essays and we, the readers, get to vote and help choose the lucky winner who will get to spend several weeks in Kenya living with and writing about these amazing athletes during their training for a spring marathon. Read the great essays and cast your vote!