Iron Horse Trail - 19 Mile Run

Last Saturday I ran 19 miles on the Iron Horse Trail. I began the run around 9:15 am in Danville, ran south through San Ramon, then turned around and ran north up to the south side of Walnut Creek, and then back to where I started. I finished the run sometime around 12:40. The last hour or so of the run I did my best to run underneath the shadows of the trees along the trail, but many stretches of the trail were soaked in sunlight. Below is a map of the route I took.

I have not widely broadcasted that I signed up for the Inaugural Half Moon Bay International Marathon on September 25, 2011. I signed up a few weeks ago just prior to the event selling out. I have been superstitious about the marathon distance after getting injured back in May, and now I've been experiencing soreness in my right foot since the 16 miler. But, the reason I ran 19 miles is because I am training with my eyes set on running the Half Moon Bay marathon.

I originally planned to run 18 miles, but around mile 10 I started thinking that my last mile jump was from 13 to 16 (3 miles) with a lower mileage week in between. If I wanted my longest run prior to the Half Moon Bay marathon to be 22 miles, it would not be a good idea to do an increase of 4 miles for my next run (18-22). But, if I ran 19 miles, I would have consistent 3 mile increases in mileage (16-19-22). Hopefully, I'll be in a position to run the full 22 miles. From a confidence standpoint, it felt great to finish 19 miles last weekend. A year ago if someone told me I was going to run 19 miles in August 2011, I probably wouldn't have believed him/her. A year ago this time, I hadn't even run 10 miles yet.

For the 19 mile run my pace was 9:54 - with a moving time of 3:07:22. But including all my breaks for water/GU/stoplights, the total elapsed time was 3:20:09, meaning all of my breaks put together totalled 13 minutes, making my actual pace around a 10:30 pace. I'm pretty sure the majority of the breaks occurred in the last 6 miles. My Camelbak was running low on water so I started to stop at the water fountains.

The weekend of September 3/4 is the 22 mile run --the longest run prior to the marathon. After that I get to taper my mileage prior to the marathon. I'm anxious to get the 22 miles done with!!

Quick Update

I am very excited today because while I still have some slight soreness in my foot, I do not think it is anything serious. Earlier in the week I was really nervous that I had a new injury to deal with, but the bruise has gone away and the pain has significantly decreased.

I took a few days off this week and iced the bottom of my right foot to help the inflammation go down. On Tuesday night I just rode the bike at the gym. Yesterday morning I ran a quarter mile to see whether I experienced any pain during or after. I had absolutely no pain at all! Last night I rode the bike and then ran just 1 mile (per Dr. Jess's orders) at the gym and again had no pain during or after! This weekend I had originally planned on running 13 miles, but I will probably only run 6-9 miles just to give my body a rest. The weekend of August 20/21 is when I'll run my first 18 miler and I want to make sure I am feeling strong for that run.

Sonoma 16 Mile Run

Last Friday, August 5th, I went on my first ever 16 mile run! We were away for the weekend so I had to find a route in the area we were staying. The route was in the town of Sonoma. I coasted through vineyards, farms, a little bit of high-traffic roadway, and then the lovely downtown Sonoma and residential area around the town. I averaged a 9:48 minute/mile, faster than I thought. I was actually aiming for a slow 10:00 to 10:15 min./mile pace.


Unfortunately, Sunday morning (almost 48 after the run) I woke up with pain in the bottom of my right foot. I cannot remember whether the pain started Saturday or not because I spent most of yesterday wine tasting and the effects of the wine may have dulled the pain. I do know that I had no pain in my foot during my run. Here is a photo of the bruise that formed on the bottom of my foot:


When I apply pressure to the spot where the bruise is located, it is really painful. However, I am able to walk with basically no pain. My foot ached on Sunday but hasn't really ached since then. There is only pain when pressure is applied directly. Sunday night I read some scary stuff online about tears to the plantar fascia and so I made an appointment with Dr. Jess for Monday (yesterday).

Dr. Jess looked at my foot/ankle and said she cannot be sure yet whether I tore the plantar fascia. She told me not to run for a few days, then run just a quarter mile and see how it feels the day after. If the pain doesn't spike or get worse, I can run a mile after another two days. She said I cannot do a long run this week. I will see her again next Tuesday. I am desperately hoping that the pain will resolve itself quickly and that I can return to doing long distance runs in a week or so.

I'll report back soon. Cross your fingers that this damn thing goes away!