Time to taper

I mustered my 20 miler on Saturday and it was not easy. There were changes in the barometric pressure through out my run so I was dealing with pain early on. It would go away but as soon as the clouds would move in I would definitely feel some discomfort in my knees. I ran my slowest training time ever. I averaged about a 12 minute mile pace. That sucks, but I did it. I just hope the weather will be kind by the time the marathon rolls around. Today I have plans to whip out my resistance bands and do my UBW. I am starting to get itchy about weight training again. I haven't weight trained in a few weeks now, just resistance bands, yoga type stretches and miles upon miles of running. The next 3 weeks will be my taper distance running, until the marathon. Even though it looks like I'm prepared for this first (and probably last) marathon, it's still an unknown factor for me. I need to start thinking "this RNR Marathon will be a ton of fun" instead of "26.2 miles is long."

Figuring out my arthritis

Yesterday I felt speedy on the gym's recumbent bike :) ... The forecast said rain but my joints weren't feeling so bad and I'm not quite sure why. I'm still figuring out what really aggravates my arthritis and what doesn't. So far, weather is the largest factor determining pain, and the second is being sedentary -- I do better when I stay active. I wish I could figure out how to harness and control barometric pressure just for my knees... Now, wouldn't that be something! I'm currently taking glucosamine-condroitin, MSM, Sam-e, calcium-citrate, and a multi-vitamin. Yesterday I purchased Rush-Tox and I'm adding that to my collection of supplements. The marathon is just a month away now and all I want to do is finish it. Prior to the diagnosis of arthritis I was convinced I'd run the marathon in well under 5 hours. Now it's a matter of participation and making it to the finish line on my own. I'm trying to do everything the books say to do in marathon training, but I won't exactly know how it will be until I get there...

Running Tunes

No running today since I did a tempo run yesterday at the gym via the treadmill. Today I did "housewifely" things (I don't like that term "housewife" since I didn't marry a house) --- I did laundry, vacuuming, general cleaning -- which is your basic maid service. I came across some CD's I forgot about and decided some of the songs would be good running tunes... My MP3 player now has "Diamond Dogs" and "E-Pro" by Beck, "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson, "What is Love" by Haddaway, "Fell In Love With A Girl" by The White Stripes, and "The House Is A Rockin" by Stevie Ray Vaughan. This officially puts my MP3 player at 103 songs, which is almost nothing compared to those who have Ipods. 103 songs will keep me from getting bored for a little while ;) I need to start entering my running distance and times and daily food intake here... It's off to do UBW with resistance bands...

LSD runs

My 8 LSD mile run scheduled for yesterday turned into a 12 miler instead. The weather was perfect and my knees weren't giving me any problems, so I just went with it. I have an 18 mile LSD run scheduled for this coming Saturday and there is no reason why that shouldn't go well, either. I've backed off the speed and number training days so my knees are happy and I'm able to run without that awful pain I had just a couple of months ago. I'm looking ahead to after the marathon, as I'll probably go back into BFL again.