The Big Toe

So last week after my Q2 workout, I came down with a sprain in my big toe on my right foot. When I went out and did my 19 mile run on Sunday, about 14 miles in, it really started bothering me to the point that I really was worried about it. I had to pick up the pace at that point and go back to 7 minute miles, and for a couple minutes I really thought I was in a bad way. I had been reading about Turf Toe, and how it can put people out of action for almost a month. Upon further review though, the pain was on the top of my foot, and resonating it's way down to the toe. A little ice and some Advil, and after yesterday's 13.1, I am unconcerned about it. I think it was just a ding from all the miles I have been running.

I don't rant much in my blogs, mostly because I figure "what does anyone care what I think?", but I've never made any secret of the fact that I love Colorado, and Ft. Collins in particular. But here lately, as I get out and about on these longer runs, I am tending to notice some things, and they are some things that bother me about my little community. At the corner of Mulberry and Lemay, right out in front of the Home Depot/Wal Mart complex the past week or so, there has been a guy with a sign asking for money. Don't get me wrong, I am not here to say "I hate the homeless.", or anything like that. It's just that we never have had much of that around here. Ft. Collins actually has a decent sized homeless population, and about 3/4 mile away from where I work, there is a park where they are allowed to habitat, sleep, and such. The police allow them to stay there and don't bother them, and in agreement, they do not populate the neighboring parks and areas. And literally, there is pretty much never any trouble that comes from them, but seeing this really reminds me of areas in Denver that I have been to, and it makes me feel like my little town isn't quite so little anymore. I hope that makes sense...

6 days ago, I was on a 19 mile run, and as I came down to the last 4 miles or so, I was on Drake heading west. With the exception of College Ave, Mullberry, Drake, Prospect, Horsetooth, and Harmony roads ( the main roads here in Ft. Collins) almost every road in this town has a bike lane on it. I spend a lot of time running in bike lanes, mostly because it's asphalt instead of concrete, and because the sidewalks are either full of people walking, or, people on bikes????even though they have a bike lane. So as I headed west, there were 3 guys walking west and the sidewalk was only wide enough for 2, so one of them was pretty much walking in the street. A car honked at the guy to get out of the road, and had to go into the other lane to get around him. As the car drove to the next light, one of the guys picked up a rock and started running to try and get within throwing distance. I'm watching this happen, thinking to myself that if this guy hits that cars window with a rock and breaks it, I'm going to have to step in. I'm 15 miles into a run, there are 3 of them, but I can't just let it slide. So the light turns green and the Pontiac speeds away, unharmed. The guy goes to his knees, hacking because he ran about 300 feet and as I pass him, he looks sideways at me, and I utter "dumbass" as I go by. He heard me, but said nothing in return. Kids in general are idiots these days. When I was young, even up till I was just getting into high school, if I acted up, my dad whipped my ass. And good. Fear of an ass kicking didn't keep me from drinking, or smoking, or things like that, but stupid shit, like that kid, you didn't do because you knew there were consiquences for your actions. It doesn't seem to be that way anymore.

End rant.

Lower miles than I wanted this week, I did the 13.1 over the hills of Horsetooth on Tuesday, after doing the 19.1 on Sunday. I was about 5 minutes quicker over the HTH course than I was about 10 days prior, which was good, and I figured I would head out for a 10 mile run on Wednesday after work...well I got 3 miles and that was it. My thighs were pretty trashed from the hills. I took Thursday off and did my Q2 last night, totaling about 8.2 miles of interval work. At the beginning of this training cycle, I was running a lot of doubles, just getting miles. Now that we are within two months of the marathon, that will change for me. Praise Jesus for daylight savings. Most of my runs from now till the end of the cycle will be of double digit miles or more, with the possible exception of the occasional recovery run, or if my Q2 calls for less than 10. This gets my body ready for longer runs, plus it will probably give me an extra day off during the week, as I start doing some 22's and really get to the hard part of this training plan.

That said, maybe 5 or 6 after work to finish the week, then into my pickup and to the other side of the state. My sister is in failing health right now, at age 33 and I need to go visit, before I don't get the chance to again...