Blister

A week ago I ran six miles with Mira on Kennesaw Mountain trails.  Much of it is covered with large gravel, and there are portions that have huge ruts from rain washout...  Somewhere during the first three miles I began to feel a stinging sensation and burn on or around the bunion on my right foot.

Assuming I was developing a blister, I tried to compensate as I pushed ahead.  By the start of the third mile I really didn't feel much irritation, so I assumed my sock had twisted and then somehow self corrected.

At the end of the run when I pulled my trail shoes and socks off, this is what I found:



Apparent blister, without a bubble on the edge of my callous under the bunion

 

After cleaning up and tending to the "wound" it appears to be a typical blister

 

It appears to be a blister, but it never drained and once my socks were off and I was cleaned up, it never hurt - all week.  By Tuesday this week, the pink had turned blackish purple.  Still, it never bubbled or broke like a blister does, so I began referring to it as a blood blister.  It wasn't tender to touch and other than being as ugly as the callous it is partially hidden beneath, it was not a concern.

Today I ran four and a half miles.  By the start of mile three I could feel a rub and little stinging sensation in the same spot.  I'm not a heel striker, but I don't really land on the ball of my foot either.  I do however have a degree of roll through the landing and push into the next stride.  On video my right foot lands normally for 4 out of 5 strikes, and occasionally, only occasionally do I overpronate.

Again, there is no bubble and no leak.

 

 



It would appear I have a pronation problem after all.  I thought the week of rest was appropriate and when there was no discomfort whatsoever, I thought I was good to go.  It seems I am sadly mistaken.


 

Race Number D 1286

I went this morning to pickup my race number for the Atlanta Marathon.  The number is D 1286. The bib will forever remain as pristine as the moment they handed it to me.

I knew as I approached the table of volunteers passing out bibs that attempting this race right now would not be in my long term best interest.  I've spent a good deal of time this past week reflecting on my goals and the processes I've chosen to achieve them.  This particular race was never "the" goal, rather it was a means to achieve the goal of qualifying for Boston.  The race tomorrow won't move me toward Boston.  Actually, if I pushed myself to run tomorrow and finish, just for the sake of finishing, I would potentially cost myself  more than I would gain. And so it is, I will take Mira to the mountain in the morning and push myself to "run" more than last week, to drive up the hills that I walked last week and to be pleased with the progress.

I am hanging this race number from my desk as a reminder of where I am going and how far I have come.  I am convinced that the mere act of entering this race has turned my conviction from "wouldn't that be a nice thing to do" to "done, I'm doing that, I'm going there".  I appreciate this bib, perhaps more than any of the other bibs I have collected.

I'm not disappointed, I'm proud of my personal growth and enjoying the evolution of what I'm really capable of.

 

Six Miles with One Dog and Fifteen Deer

Mira impatiently digs at her mat while I change shoes and get ready for our run

 

We did the six mile loop from the Illinois Monument at Chetham Hill, to Kolb Farm this morning.  The weather was perfect, with enough bite in the air to keep my dog comfortable and on task, but not so much so that I was chilled in the heavily forested areas of the trail.

At a large meadow before we reached Kolb Farm, where the grass was tall and the sun was shining brightly through the trees, I paused to look for deer and catch my breath.  There were none, so we plunged back into the woods and began climbing toward the din of traffic on Powder Springs Road.  The three miles on the West trail from the monument to the farm was hard for me today, very hard.  It is obvious I have not been cross training as my hamstrings and quads were crazy tight before we finished the first mile and that wasn't a very difficult stretch.  Then the bunion on my right foot began to burn and sting.  It felt like something had sliced the tender skin under the callous.  I pushed through and slowed to accommodate my short breath more than the foot, but continued to drive on as soon as I thought I could.   I discovered much later, at the end of the run a large, ugly, blister between the callous and bunion.  All in all, we made the three mile mark in thirty-seven minutes.  That is my new personal best for the distance; road or trail. 

Not long after we left Kolb Farm for the return to the Illinois Monument via the East Trail, Mira stopped dead in front of me.  To our side, barely visible through the sun streaked forest stood two deer.  Beautiful, silent with ears flicking this way and that listening in all directions; all the while staring us into submission and breathlessness.




The first of fifteen deer seen on the trail this morning

We were separated by small creek from this one who decided to join our run for a very short distance

And so it continued for the next mile and a half, we'd jog a bit and then come upon more deer, usually spotting two at a time.  Once we came across a foursome.  We saw fifteen deer at final count today.  Interestingly, Mira never made an effort to pull or take on a "chase" attitude.  She has a funny habit of watching them for a moment, but as soon as they turn and leap deeper into the forest out of view, she lunges forward down the trail.  It's at these moments I have come to appreciate the drive of a working dog who has learned well what her job is and gives great commitment to the task!

Mira watching deer, note the slack in the lead - she never pulls to chase a deer

There's no slack in the lead now, the deer has turned to disappear into the forest and she's intent on getting back on the trail and back to work.

The second three miles took forty two minutes, but there were many pauses for deer watching, so it may have been another personal best for three miles without all the stops.  Overall, the run was my best time for a three mile split, and also the six miles total.  Regardless of time, today was a definite personal best in the wildlife category.
 

Weed Wackers That Go Bang In the Night

Mira was on this evening. It was warm and we jogged under cloud cover and elevated humidity compared to the previous run this week, but she was ready to go and kept the lead tight.  I was impressed with her.

After we finished the run, I grabbed a random newspaper that had been tossed into our grass on the way down the driveway.   My truck is parked on the right side of the garage and it's pretty large.  There's a small path between it and Dave's car on the right.  We keep the recycling bin on the passenger rear side of my truck and I rarely leave much clearance between the two.  There's also a small area between the bin and the door that "houses" the various yard tools that we don't have hanging; including the oversisized, "industrial" weed wacker.

Mira rarely waits for the door to go up before pulling to get into the garage, there are cookies and a good massage waiting for her on the other side of the door after all!  Tonight was no exception and as I dodged right to toss the paper, she charged forward between the car and truck.  I missed the bin, the paper bounced between the tools and eventually the weed wacker lost it's fight to remain upright and slid down the wall dragging two shovels with it under the truck.

I'm 5 feet 2 inches tall - the truck is approximately 79 inches wide.  Somehow, some way I managed to wrap myself around the back side of that truck with one arm flailing to try and save the weed wacker and the other arm (with the help of a 6 foot leash) trying to keep Mira from charging ahead fully spooked.

Yikes!  I never did like yard work...



 

The Start of A New Season

We had cool weather this morning!  It is amazing how 55 degrees in October feels fresh and crisp, compared to 55 degrees in April that feels dingy and humid.  But it's October and I am happy with mornings in the 50's!

We did an out and back on Kennesaw Mountain this morning.  Starting at Burnt Hickory Road to the Illinois Monument and back, all in all just over 5 miles.  I've been working on obedience with Mira with the intention showing in AKC obedience and earning a BN title.  I had proof today that the effort and focus on "stay" was paying off.  The picture below was taken during our rest at the top of the run.  I dropped the lead and stepped away from her while I poured some water and took her picture (I acknowledge my timing is off since I caught her blinking).  There were a pair of Golden's just above us who were having a jolly good time with their owner, and she didn't once bother to get nosey about it.  Huge strides for us :)  Consistency is paying off!

 

 

She took a minute to pose for me at the monument before we started back down the trail...

 

 

I also made some progress in the "confidence department" this morning running downhill on the trail.  I have far more confidence and trust in Mira as a running partner than I would be able to place in any of my other dogs, even my nearly 13 year old Maddie.  Mira is calm, she's not so full of prey drive that every squirrel looks like the perfect chase, and most of all she seems to care that I'm on the other end of the leash.  There was only one part of the trail today that I didn't trust myself enough to keep up a jog with her.  Near the bottom, there is a serpentine that is pretty narrow.  There's lots of loose rock/gravel and ruts from rain washout.  I just can't bring myself to jog that small stretch with a dog on lead yet.  Someday, Mira, someday we'll get to chase the trail all the way to the bottom, I promise.