You Win Some. . .

Yeah, the next line is "you lose some."

Things were going just too well. The miles were adding up and then. . . blammo! it all falls to pieces.

The Columbia Metric was just eight days from yesterday and I had my last long run scheduled -- a 12 miler. I ran the 5 on Thursday and recovery was a bit slower than usual. In fact, I would have expected no recovery needed at this point in my training. There was no unusual pain on Thursday, but I felt some on Friday -- just some aches, no big deal.

I had thought about running, but instead, I exercised my credit card at the mall with all the other crazies making my pitch to keep the retailers in business for another year. The boys and I spent three hours raking and bagging leaves, so that was good for the day.

Yesterday, I was doing everything I could to delay the run, mostly annoying Deb whose plans changed with every half hour I put off getting the shoes on. Finally, I got moving around 12:30. I put on all the newly acquired cold weather gear I bought at Dick's Sporting Goods, perfect for the 40 degree air temp, and hit the road around 1.

Down the road I went to again climb Toll House Road. The wind was stiffer that last week which made it tougher to climb without a break, but I was able to make it with just a short walk. Then, around to a 5 mile up and back on Columbia Road. At a mile down or so, 3 1/2 total, I started to feel the ankle pain once again. I began to walk to see if the pain would go away, but after a quarter mile, it only felt worse so I turned back for a two plus mile walk home, the whole way thinking about next week's run and preparing myself mentally for it not to be.

The run was going so well, too. Looking at my splits, the first three miles were 11:21, 11:29 and 11:50. I don't think I would have been able to hold that sub 12-minute pace for the remainder of the run, but I was feeling really good.

Having been through this before, I headed to the house, took a shower, some anti-inflammatory drugs and got a bag of ice for the ankle. I suspect that my increased street running has done me in. This was my third street run in eight days and probably the most in such a short time.

Today, my ankle feels better, but this seems to mirror my injury from last time. I'll give it another couple of days and try it on the treadmill to see if the race is out, though I'm not counting on running it at this point.

Bummer!

Today, as my ankle pain had subsided, I joined up with a friend for a coffee ride. This would be my chilliest bike ride, with temps in the mid-40's, and perfect for a mid-ride coffee stop. (We were to be joined by another rider, who called shortly before it was time to go to let me know it was too cold. I'm told that when someone bags a ride or run because of the weather, you're entitled to give them a hard time. In this case, since it was my dad, I guess I'll just let it go.)

Sheldon is also a new rider and is part of the regular Sunday group. He has really embraced his new wheels, as have I and we're pretty close in our speed. At about 5 miles, we stopped for coffee at Iron Bridge, which is more known for dinner, but the coffee wasn't bad and the conversation was good. Then, off we went to the back roads of our area for a very nice 21 miles. I think I'll need a bit more cold weather gear for my feet, hands and head, but otherwise, the temps were not bad. I think I'm good at least for another 10 degrees down!

So, that was my weekend. I'll be checking out the ankle over the next couple of days, but if I can't run, so be it. Guess I'll get to ride with the guys on Sunday after all.

L'Chaim!