seven long miles

Had a very hard day yesterday; very tiring.

Seven long miles, extending my new five-mile route by two. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the five-mile-route turnaround point is a place I've been before: the end of the Shore Road, where it joins with the BQE. So continuing on, to extend the route, I found myself jogging a flat, straight path right on the waterfront away from Manhattan toward the Verazzano. What a great stretch! I think it will be good for some speedwork in the future. Yesterday, however, it was a bit rough to run.

I had pain throughout the run, especially up through the fourth mile; I had to stop and stretch several times, so it felt like I was doing the run in spurts of 3/4 to one mile. I have a theory that now that I'm getting adjusted to the custom orthotics, the temporaries, which are still in my running shoes, are causing problems, instead of helping. I dealt with hip pain, knee pain, shin splints, and a little plantar fasciitis. I nearly gave up on the run several times, but pushed on, promising myself to go short on Friday if I have to so I can run Saturday's 13 miler as planned. After the fourth mile, however, the pains started to go away and I had a nearly uninterrupted jog back home.

The turnaround point for the new 7 mile route is along Shore Road across from a large high school, about 1/3 mile short of the Verazzano Narrows Bridge. I believe the running/biking path continues for several more miles and will have to find out on Saturday. The route is all flat, though (minor hills in one spot), so I have to remember that it's not good training for a typical New York race. It would be great training for Las Vegas, Chicago, or Phoenix tho!

The rest of the day was hard, too. I iced, drank Recoverite, and took a shower. I was out of energy and suspect my uneven diet as of late is partly the culprit. Juggling four shows is playing hell with my ability to train effectively. After the run, I went to a production meeting for one show, then a run-through for that show, then a production meeting for another show, finally getting home in time for John Stewart.

I can't wait 'til Thanksgiving. It will be my chance to get out of New York for a while, run in some warmer temps as a brief respite from the colder NY temps, and just generally decompress. In the meantime, I have three more shows to open, the Staten Island Half to run, a 5K for Cystic Fibrosis to run the weekend after, and an apartment to finish moving in to.