5:54

I broke the illusive 6 minute barrier last Friday at the track. Afterward, Coach assured me that I'll be ready to run sub-40 for the 10k at Raleigh Relays in March.

It was slightly raining and there was a high school girls field hockey game going on while I was running around the track so I'm sure I was labeled "creepy" by the parents in the stands. Of course, it's also possible that they didn't think anything of it until I started screaming "I'M NOT CREEPY! Just running a one mile time trial by myself in the rain. . like you've never gone 3 days without shaving!" All this while shoving a moon pie in my mouth of course.

On Saturday I went to a Metallica concert which has absolutely nothing to do with this blog post except that I'm hopeful I can recruit Jason Smith to join in on the fun. The dude ran a race in snow shoes. That's a total Dusty Spikes move!

Dear Eli

Dear Eli,

I was somewhat amused to learn last week on Sportscenter that you have been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. How the hell did you manage to get an injury that normally plagues 30 something year old runners? That makes about as much sense as Usain Bolt getting a concussion or Michael Phelps suffering from turf toe. I'm not familiar with the training regimen of NFL players but I find it hard to believe that you've been running 1000 repeats in Van Cortland Park on your day off.

I got some really bad news for you Eli. .. YOU'RE SCREWED. I don't care how much time you spend rolling that F*$king golf ball under your foot, this is one injury that is NEVER going to go away! Get used to popping 20 Advil a day and sleeping in a night split for the next 4 years. I'd also suggest getting your personal assistant (or 3rd string QB) to purchase a 500 pack of paper cups from Costco which you'll be using for ice massages. I'm not even going to bother talking about orthotics to "correct your biomechanics".

On a positive note, you will definitely have periods of no pain in which you'll be convinced that the PF has finally healed. This usually occurs around the time when you're either close to giving up and retiring or you've started to get used to the pain. Enjoy this period, the PF will ALWAYS return.

If you want to talk to someone who has been through this shit, stop by the Running Company in Manhattan and ask to speak to Ben Cooke. Beware that he might suggest that you play football wearing a pair of Nike running shoes "designed by NASA scientists."

Keep in touch,

Jason

Breaking Point

I've been fighting some type of a hamstring/back injury for 3 weeks now. Before that, I was battling shin pain and plantar fasciitis. I blame it on the fact that I actually ran back-to-back 20 mile weeks. I know this sounds like extreme training but I was in the middle of reading "Running with the Buffaloes."

I think I remember Tom Jeffrey telling me that he never ran more than 80 miles/week because that was the point that he started to get injuries. Apparently my new breaking point is somewhere between 15-20 miles/week. If all Dusty Spikes writers were filling in the mileage log still in Godwin Hall, Pat Anderson would be the high mileage guy.

Tis the Season. . .to be dumping in Purcell

It's easy to have crazy "I miss running" thoughts in the Fall. The leaves are changing. There's a crisp smell in the air. It's just cold enough that you need to wear a long-sleeve shirt while running but you can still get away with shorts. . . very short shorts if you are a Sophomore in college or older.

This is also about the time that we started running 8 x 1000 in Purcell. I would estimate that about 80% of my workouts in Purcell went well . The other 20% were HORRENDOUS! It's been a while since those dreadful 1000s but from my experience, Purcell was a horrible place to dump.

Here's how my most brutal dumps went:

• Repeat 1 and 2: You know pretty early on when a bad workout is coming on. I usually realized it when I was already hurting on the 2nd one.
• Repeat 3 and 4: Around the 4th one I'd start falling off the pace
• Repeat 5: Okay, now I'm really in trouble and just trying to hang on as long as possible. After this 1000 Coach would recognize the disaster and say "Jason, drop to group 2". *Usually I'd be joined in group demotion from someone else having a bad day (any flashbacks Pat?)
• Repeat 6: On this repeat I've already lost momentum, confidence, and took a blow to my pride by being demoted a group. I'd usually be able to hang-on to the new group on this one by the skin of my teeth.
• Repeat 7: On the 7th one, I'd once again start falling off the pace. This time, I'd get the deployment orders. "Jason, start cooling down".

Getting fired from a workout was always a mixed feeling for me. Part of me was relieved that the misery and humiliation was over. The other part of me was always hoping that I was going to get a 2nd wind .. which NEVER happens at Purcell.

*Note: If the workout was a complete disaster and multiple people were dumping, Coach would form an entirely hybrid group made of people dumping ass. This was great because miserly loves company 2) increased chance of coach eliminating a repeat or 2 3) you get to dump without true group demotion.

Did you all have the same experience?