Another Lazy Sunday

Complete rest today.

Got a good drenching this morning. The convertible top of Robert's BMW doesn't keep out the water when the rain is strong and puddling, and I got a little soaked after church.

I spent the day doing nothing constructive. Cleaned the kitchen a little, but watched football and then got to see Vanderbilt hand Carolina their 2nd loss.

Quin and I walked the dogs, and later I did a some stretching and ankle/calf exercises. Oh yeah, I did change the oil on the van, so I guess I wasn't a total no-load.

Joan's taking the kids to Disney Land tomorrow. I have to work and take care of some budget stuff in the afternoon.

I'll get back to the training schedule too. Although, I have to remember that a rest day IS part of the training schedule, and not a break. For some reason, it's hard for me to remember that. Recovery is an essential part of training. It's just that I can't seem to avoid the feeling that a no-workout day is skipping.

I noticed this evening that the medial side of my left ankle, right under the malleolus, is a little bit puffy. I may have a tad's worth of fluid build up or inflammation from today's light ankle workout and stretch. I don't want to ice it since I iced it pretty well the last two nights and Mike said not to do it every night. If it shows any swelling after my run tomorrow, I'll ice it in the evening.

I haven't talked to Mike about this week's schedule. I had a drastic cut back in mileage this past week, and I think my ankle benefited from that. I want to get back on track with the mileage, but I don't want to overdo it and go back to square one with the ankle. With only 9 weeks left, there's little room for error.

I'm going to predict Mike's going to keep the mileage scaled back and just have me run 3 key runs this week: probably another hill interval session, something more tempo-ish, and a long, slow run in the 16-16.5 mile range next weekend. Those 3 should put me in the 30-mile range for the week. If I just do one extra easy or base run of 5-6 miles, or 40-50 minutes, that ought to get me to where I think I ought to be, and I'll be able to judge the ankle again and see if it's ready for pushing beyond 40. That seems to be a boundary of sorts for the ankle pain.

I'm hoping the gelthotic inserts aren't just a placebo. I'm going to stick with them in the older pair of K-Swiss and see if I do as well as I did last week with them, albeit on increased time/distance. If, after next weekend's long run, I'm feeling good, I'll stick with them.

Oh, and I've decided not to run in either Fr. Joe's or the Pure Fitness Thanksgiving Day race events. Instead, I think I'll just do the neighborhood 5K "fun run" being organized for an ALS charity. It starts and ends practically right outside my door, it's not expensive, and I don't have to think of it as a race. It's a "fun run." I'll probably try to time it and use it like speedy portion of a tempo run.

(Reminder: need to do thank-you cards for birthday.)