Happy Birthday!

I turn 52 years old today. I have been enjoying running, but on January 7th I suffered a stress fracture on my right foot and I am currently wearing an aircast boot. It has been a very cold winter, so I guess it is ok to take a break from running for a few weeks. 

Superbowl game tonight, Denver Broncos against Seattle Seahawks.  Assen and I are cheering for the Broncos. 

One week after wearing the aircast boot

My foot feels a lot better.  Actually, both feet feel better after taking all this time off from exercise. No PF, no achiles tendonitis, no pain. I am not wearing the boot when I am at home. I am not convinced I need to use the boot all the time. I believe my foot needs to get stronger by walking normal, that is barefoot. 

It has been really cold these days. It is snowing right now. So, I feel it's not that bad to take some time off under this weather. 

Air-cast Boot

Went to the sports medicine clinic yesterday and talked to the doc to take care of the stress fracture. My foot is not getting any better. Of course, my foot was not bothering as much when I was visiting the doc. I was wearing a hiking boot and the foot was feeling better. The doc looked at my foot and started pressing on different areas. He found the spot where the pain is.... ouch! painful!

He recommended no exercise (no bicyclicng, no elliptical machine) and wearing an air-cast boot. But, I can swim as much as I want (without the boot, of course). 

I wore the boot all day long on Friday. My foot felt well rested at night when I removed the boot.  I hope it is working. I am supposed to wear the boot for two or three weeks. I wonder if my foot will be strong enough to run again.  I know I will have to start easy and build up endurance. 

Stress Fracture on January 7th

It's been more than ten days since my right foot injury. The top of my right foot started hurting while running on the track. I don't think I was running too hard when it happened. It was only mile 2. I noticed pain on top of the foot and decided to walk and see if the pain disappeared, but it didn't. I have been exercising in the elliptical machine since it does not put any impact on my feet. I am sure I am working some other leg muscles and I hope to be running better when I get back. Just not sure when this will happen. All my symptoms indicate 'stress fracture.' This happened to me about a year and a half ago on my left foot. I am glad this is not recurring on the same spot. This time is the other foot. 

Jingle Bell Run 5K

Race started at 9:00 AM on Saturday, December 7. It was a very cold morning, close to 2 degrees F. I warmed up just a little bit before the race. A beautiful girl sang the national anthem before the start of the race. Lots of people were wearing Jingle Bell customs. Ran the first mile or mile and a half next to a lady (apparently #68). Passed this other young guy too (#100).  I counted about eight guys before me in the first mile, but I guess I was able to pass four people, because I ended fourth place overall. Finished in 21:21 min (official time). Got a nice medal too. James Toomey got first place overall (17:59 min) and was awarded a nice trophy. Happily, all my friends received medals. Results Link. 

One Mile Prediction Run

Black Friday. Lots of people get up early in the morning to go shopping, but eight people in Iowa City. We got together at rW-downtown at 4:30 - 5:00 AM. Ran 1.5 miles to the track in City-High and lined up to run 1 mile. I had to guess what my time would be. My 1-mile PR is 6:06.  But, I had no idea how fast I could run this morning. I just said 7:00 to say something. Got ready and went. Four laps. Finished in 6:36.  I was happy with the time. Fastest runner finished in about 5:00 min.
I wonder. How other runners my age, or older, can run a lot faster. It all means, there is a lot of room for improvement. I will keep running intervals once a week and try to do better.

Negative Splits

The importance of negative splits. The website for the ING NYC Marathon is allowing to select a runner and see how he ran the marathon, mile per mile. I checked the winner of the ING NYC Marathon Geoffrey Mutai. He also won this marathon and the Boston marathon in 2011. Mutai runs negative splits. Meaning he tries to run each mile either at the same pace or faster than the previous one. Here's his mile splits:

Distance	Time of Day	Elapsed Time	Est. Finish	Pace/Mile
5K	09:58:53 AM	0:15:42	11:55:24 AM	05:03
10K	10:14:06 AM	0:30:54	11:53:33 AM	04:59
Mile 8	10:22:56 AM	0:39:44	11:53:19 AM	04:58
Mile 9	10:27:46 AM	0:44:35	11:52:57 AM	04:58
15K	10:29:17 AM	0:46:06	11:52:45 AM	04:57
Mile 10	10:32:37 AM	0:49:25	11:52:40 AM	04:57
Mile 11	10:37:53 AM	0:54:42	11:53:28 AM	04:59
Mile 12	10:42:46 AM	0:59:34	11:53:14 AM	04:58
20K	10:44:57 AM	1:01:46	11:53:22 AM	04:59
Mile 13	10:47:44 AM	1:04:33	11:53:16 AM	04:58
Half	10:48:17 AM	1:05:06	11:53:23 AM	04:59
Mile 14	10:52:30 AM	1:09:19	11:52:54 AM	04:58
Mile 15	10:57:25 AM	1:14:13	11:52:50 AM	04:57
25K	11:00:14 AM	1:17:03	11:53:10 AM	04:58
Mile 16	11:02:26 AM	1:19:15	11:52:57 AM	04:58
Mile 17	11:07:05 AM	1:23:54	11:52:29 AM	04:57
Mile 18	11:11:48 AM	1:28:37	11:52:10 AM	04:56
30K	11:14:52 AM	1:31:41	11:52:03 AM	04:56
Mile 19	11:16:33 AM	1:33:21	11:51:55 AM	04:55
Mile 20	11:21:37 AM	1:38:26	11:52:08 AM	04:56
Mile 21	11:26:23 AM	1:43:12	11:51:56 AM	04:55
35K	11:29:55 AM	1:46:44	11:51:45 AM	04:55
Mile 22	11:31:03 AM	1:47:52	11:51:38 AM	04:55
Mile 23	11:35:42 AM	1:52:31	11:51:22 AM	04:54
Mile 24	11:40:38 AM	1:57:26	11:51:24 AM	04:54
40K	11:44:43 AM	2:01:32	11:51:19 AM	04:54
Mile 25	11:45:26 AM	2:02:15	11:51:18 AM	04:54
Mile 26	11:50:29 AM	2:07:18	11:51:28 AM	04:54
Finish	11:51:35 AM	2:08:24	11:51:35 AM	04:55

I guess running like this requires excellent training and mental control. He definitely was running his race. I would like to do my long runs like this. Interestingly, our Sunday run was pretty much negative splits. Trying to keep the pace or running each mile faster. This kind of training will definitely build endurance. There is only one second differences between certain miles. One second... This guy is a running machine!