I had my third shot yesterday. This one brought tears to my eyes! It was painful. The anesthetic wore off by about 3pm and I have some bruising. Today it was sore and tender.

Tomorrow- Runner's Den 10k. This is my 45th road race! I can't believe it!

I am also getting over an upper respiratory infection that I have had since Saturday. It's been pretty mild (I started zinc the day I developed symptoms) but there has been no running since the Alamo due to the illness and my schedule. I got home Monday night, taught my class Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday were conferences, and, Friday I had an all day meeting. I felt pretty run down all week. And my eating has been pretty bad too.

If I run tomorrow and Monday I can end January with 50 miles.

My four day trip to San Antonio included a 3.5 mile run. My hotel was a mile and a half west of downtown so I decided to run to the Alamo, just to say I did it!

I overshot my route and ended up running to the Alamodome first, then I figured out where I was and turned around and ran on over to the Alamo. I checked it out, walked around downtown for a little while, went to the Riverwalk and did some more running, then walked the 1.5 back to my hotel.

Because of meetings I couldn't get another run in, and I ended up with a cold so I'm just taking it easy until my symptoms go away. Hopefully I can get some miles in on Thursday, Friday (maybe), and Saturday, depending on how my foot feels.

I'll do a longish (5-7 mile) run on Thursday, get my shot on Friday, maybe run, and then do 2-3 on Saturday. Sunday is my 45th race, the Runner's Den Classic 10k.

On Monday I did a 9 mile long slow effort. I felt pretty good. I had energy and my foot didn't bother me until about mile 5, and it wasn't that bad. I was swelling up a bit so I stopped at AJ's where I usually refill my water and snagged some salt. I downed about 1.5 teaspoons. I couldn't tell if it made a difference but the swelling didn't get worse. Miles were slow- about 13:30.

Tonight I ran 4 miles at a quicker pace. I did have to stop at 2 miles to relieve the pain in the foot. I did 12:30 miles tonight. I am having a little problem with my right hamstriing tightening up. I stretched it really well and am applying heat to keep it loose.

Tomorrow morning- 8:30 am- neuralizing injection #2.

I had THE BEST volunteer assignment at the PF Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon today. I saw history made, up-close and personal. I was the assistant to the announcers at the marathon finish, and had the honor to see Haile Gebrselassie SMASH the half-marathon world record by 21 SECONDS! He came in at 58:55, and the previous record was 59:16.

According to letsrun.com, "Haile Gebrselassie shattered the world half marathon record by 21 seconds Sunday while running the last half of the Rock 'N' Roll Arizona marathon.He also broke the 20-kilometer world mark en route. It marked the 19th and 20th times the diminutive Ethiopian has broken world records in his career."

And I was right there. To see it. Haile is such an inspiration. He runs with a crooked arm because as a child, he ran to school 20 miles one way with his books under one arm. He has done so much for Ethiopia and it seems like half of Ethiopia was there to see him make history.



After the awards ceremony, Haile climbed up on one of the giant PF Chang's horses "guarding" the finish line and the crowds went crazy!


















It was truly an honor to be part of this momentous occasion. I guess I picked the right year to be injured!

I finished the week out with 10.8 miles. On Wednesday I had my first sclerosing injection to kill the neuroma in my foot. The next day I was in pretty bad shape. I guess I am one of the 25% who experience brusing at the injection site. So Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's plans for running were shot. Well, I have at least three more weeks of this so now I know I need to front-load. I have bruising on the top and the ball of my foot hurts if I am on it a lot. Dr. G warned me about this. He said it gets worse before it gets better.

Today I volunteered at the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Arizona expo. I did half marathon number pick up at the back of the pack. My people!

Tomorrow I volunteer at the finish line. It is supposed to be a high of 63, cloudy, some rain, and windy. I hope I get to see Haile tomorrow. He is attempting to break the world half marathon record of 59:16!

I did 7 miles yesterday on the bridle path- 2.5 miles on the packed dirt, then one mile from Bethany to Camelback. I got a botlle of water from AJ's and turned around. I felt okay until about mile 5 and then my energy just dropped. I felt every little pain in my body and I became very tired. My foot really hurt as well. But I finished!

I see the foot doc on Wednesday to start the neuralization shots.

Midnight Madness went great. It was my third time running the race, and as always, I enjoyed it. My time was good for not even trying. Well, I tried, of course! I ran the whole thing straight through and kicked it up a bit at the end. My offical time was 35:19. With the weight gain and the injury, I can be proud of that accomplishment. Even if I'm slower than I was a year ago, I still enjoy getting out there and doing the best I can do on that particular day.

My first run of 2006 was 5 easy miles down the bridle path. I sure do like running there. The houses are so pretty, and the surface is forgiving. I take my iPod Shuffle, load it up with some great tunes, and off I go!

I also scored a steal of a deal at the Brooks Outlet Store at Anthem. They are going out of business and I scored 4 pair of shoes, 5 pair of shorts, 3 pair of tights, a tank, and a wind vest for under $200! At retail prices, 2 pair of shoes costs me almost $200. And since I am heavier than most runners and a forefoot striker, I can blow through a pair of shoes in 150 miles, which in a low mileage normal training cycle is 2.5 months. So that was great.

I have decided to commit to the 2/19 Desert Classic Half Marathon. Upcoming races are:
1/29 Runner's Den Distance Classic 10k
2/11 Year of the Dog 5k
2/12 Character Challenge 6k
2/19 ARR Distance Classic Half Marathon

I have a run of 7 miles scheduled this Sunday. My foot still hurts. First the ball of the foot starts to feel really hot. Then there is a buildup, usually a combination of tingling, pain, and numbness. It's not so bad to make me stop, but I've been down this road 3 times now and I know it will just get worse. I can actually feel the nerve snapping in there between my metatarsals. It usually doesn't hurt. It just feels weird. But yesterday after my 3 mile, I moved my foot, felt it snap, and an electric shock went through my foot that made me say, "yowza!" It's time to get the neuralizing injections. I'm calling tomorrow.