Good Running and Ankle Pain is Gone

Yesterday I had a good medium-long run. I ran 14 miles at an average pace of 7:53. I ran a bit slower for the first nine miles and picked up the pace to below 7:40 for the last five miles. My legs were tired for the first couple of miles, but once I warmed up and got into a rhythm, the pace got faster without increasing the effort. Today I ran an easy five miles at recovery pace. In the past week, I've noticed that my easy pace and recovery pace are getting a bit faster without an increase in effort. I know this is a combination of losing some weight and logging more miles, but the reason is unimportant. It's another great confidence boost. The quickening pace added to logging my highest mileage ever, and I can't wait until race day.

The question is what race will I run. The race I was aiming for (Pacific Shoreline Marathon) has sold out. Now I need a new target race. My original plan was to run the Pacific Shoreline Marathon on February 5 and then bounce back and run the Napa Valley Marathon on March 5. I think what I'll do instead is run the Pacific Shoreline Half Marathon and then try to blow the doors off the Napa Valley Marathon. Of course this is subject to change. I'm not going to register until after Christmas. Money is tight this year, and it's not fair for me to blow a decent amount of cash on a race just before the holidays. In the meantime, I'm going to follow my original training plan until I confirm my plan.

As a follow-up to Tuesday evening's ankle pain. I iced the ankle Tuesday night. When I woke up it felt fine. Still I iced it on Wednesday morning, and it felt good when I went to work. After last night's 14-mile run, I was walking the last quarter mile to my house when the pain came back. It was a sharp pain every time I put my left foot down. However, today it's been fine. I didn't feel any pain or even discomfort during my run today or since then. I guess I'll just pay attention and continue to hope for the best.