You must be swift as the coursing river (as long as it's the Lazy River) - comments welcome

[WillRunForPizza]

Can I just say how tired I am of the weather we've been having lately? There's the horrible humidity, and then the daily evening thunderstorms have been a real pain.

The humidity this summer has just been ridiculous. I have actually appreciated the thunderstorms because they cool off the sidewalk a bit, which is kinder to my dog's paws. But I can see how they would be less pleasant if you were trying to run then!

A few years ago, I was running the Valley Trail (not paved) in Rock Creek NP and people ran by me going in the other direction in a mustard costume and hotdog + bun costume. It was a few days off of Halloween, though, so I guessed it was a fun run related to the holiday.

Today on my hike, my husband and I passed a runner going in the other direction who had taken a twig with leaves on it and was wearing it wrapped around his head like a crown of laurels. The only thing we could think was that he was hoping it might distract the annoying insects.

Maybe I need to pay more attention to people's outfits to catch random sightings like that! Can't imagine trying to run on trails as a hot dog...

 

[avondale]

My husband and I were talking on our hike today, and we were saying we don't remember having a stormier summer for a very long time. We've been living here since 2004. We always get thunderstorms in the summer, but usually it's a few days in a row and then we get a break with just sunny weather (maybe hot) or even just a few rainy days. But this continual high humidity and daily thunderstorms over a prolonged time seems new.

A few years ago, I remember us having a lot of storms over like a month in the summer, because I actually got caught a few times in thunderstorms where I ended up calling him for a pick-up (yeah, I can't live those down), but it wasn't even all summer.

But I'm whinging again. I'm just glad I'm not trying to seriously train through this summer - between the killer T+D and the storms throwing off schedules, it would be really stressing me out.

 

[Herding_Cats]

LOVING that you are officially chasing that unicorn qualifier this year!

 

[WillRunForPizza]

July 14 - 20, 2025
Marathon training week 2 | 98 days until Marine Corps Marathon
In which of course it had to be the other foot

Monday
Yoga

I was very, very tired on Monday morning, but I did feel better in the afternoon/evening. I did a teeny tiny stretchy yoga.

Tuesday
Easy/strides: 7.1 miles (9:25), avg. HR 151, max 182, 86% Z1-2, T+D~150
Upper body strength

New shoes, who dis?

I decided that my old Noosa Tris had come to the end of their healthspan, so I brought out my new Noosa Tris (same model, different colors) and felt pretty good! The cooler (ha) weather and cloud cover certainly didn't hurt either. I did have a bit of soreness in my peroneal tendon, though.

Wednesday
Workout: 4 x 4 x 1 min CV/1 min + 1.2 miles steady
9.7 miles, avg. HR 164, max 189, T+D~155
Lower body strength



My peroneal tendon was a little sore whenever I got up, but it was okay on the run. Strava AI says I averaged 6:47 pace for the "on" intervals, which might actually be a bit fast given the conditions but works. I was really tired by the time I got to the steady finisher, though. And then really tired the rest of the day too.

Thursday
Recovery: 5.6 miles (10:54), avg HR 141, max 161, 99% Z1-2, T+D~155

It was hot and humid and my legs were tired.

Friday
Easy: 4.6 miles (10:08), avg. HR 146, max 166, 99% Z1-2, T+D~150

Everything was going just fine until I ran down a little hill - a hill I have run many times without issue - and rolled my ankle. I quickly determined that nothing was broken but decided that *not* running any farther was my best choice. (I did walk home, though, so...)

I put some ice on it but still started to see a little swelling around lunchtime. Claude helped me identify the swollen part as the extensor digitorum brevis muscle. And of course it's my other foot. Claude also told me that it was okay to take ibuprofen to reduce some of the inflammation, so I did that along with the icing. (Yup, I'm getting my medical advice from AI now. )

Strava AI, on the other hand, not so helpful...


No, Strava, I stopped because I rolled my ankle. I did not roll my ankle and then go for a run.

Saturday
Pilates

Well, it could be better and it could be worse. I have in the past rolled my ankle to zero effect whatsoever, and that's definitely not what happened here. But I didn't break anything either. My foot was still sore, with some mild swelling and bruising around the affected area (the small muscle with a very long name). Walking was mostly okay, except when I landed at the wrong angle/landed too hard/my foot otherwise just felt like complaining. I continued with the NSAIDs and icing and wore my compression socks.

Between feeling sorry for myself and wanting to give my foot as much rest in the immediate aftermath as possible, I had skipped my core workout on Friday. But I figured after 24+ hours, I probably wouldn't make it worse as long as it didn't hurt. This routine actually worked out pretty well and had a bunch of hip work, which was good because I was supposed to do my PT exercises but would have had difficulty with many of them. I did add on calf raises, mostly for my left leg (normally the problem child). But they actually went okay on my right side too. Who'd have thought?

Sunday
Ride: 2 hours, 24 miles, avg. HR 133, max 164, 99% Z1-2

My foot felt significantly better in the morning, with just a little soreness overall and a more painful twinge or two walking the dog. However, I figured I should make sure it had a chance to heal a bit more before I went for a long run. I decided to bike instead.

So...I don't really bike. I mean, I do, but as a means of transportation, not as a workout. I doubt I've ever biked for more than an hour. It was uncharted territory. Aerobically I expected no issues, but I wasn't sure how my legs would do with this very different stimulus.

I'd rather have been running, but there are a few advantages to biking. I packed two water bottles filled with Skratch in an insulated bag with ice packs, plus a few gels. Cold water: definitely a plus.

On the minus side, I don't actually have a bike. I use the Capital Bikeshare bikes, which weigh probably 50 pounds. (You think I'm exaggerating. I am not.) They have three gears, and the first one doesn't count. I wasn't going to be setting any speed records even if I were a great cyclist (lol).


The world's slowest bike, courtesy of the Capital Bikeshare website

They also don't have one of those cupholders that you see on the...um...middle...bar...thing? so every time I wanted a gel or something to drink, I had to stop, get it out, consume it, put it away, and then start again. I also had to stop every 30-45 minutes to check the bike in at a station to avoid additional charges. So...yeah. Not fast.

But otherwise it was okay. My quads got really tired, but like I said, no issues aerobically. Since I've never run 20+ miles, I discovered some new VA trails and got turned around a few times when they intersected with roads, but I made it back, so it's all fine.

My foot actually felt better afterwards, which was a little surprising. I came up with a theory: higher aerobic output increased blood circulation faster healing. So I guess it all worked out.

Totals
Running: 4h 25m, 27.2 miles
Bike: 2h 7m, 23.7 miles
Strength/mobility: 1h 36m
Total: 8h 8m



Not the ideal week, but considering my foot feels almost normal two days after rolling it, I can't complain too much.

Coming up


I'm hopeful that I should be able to have a fairly normal week next week. I may actually try to bike again tomorrow (though probably not for two hours), since it seemed to help my foot. Normally Monday is my rest day, but Saturday was kind of already my rest day. But I may also be sore from by far my longest-ever bike ride, in which case biking may not be my best choice. Stay tuned to find out.

 

[avondale]

a hill I have run many times without issue - and rolled my ankle

I think this is sort of like the statistic that "90% of car accidents happen within a mile of your house" or whatever it is - you run it so frequently that you're just there a lot. I've done this, too. I'm sorry to hear about it. Sounds like you did get some swelling from it - but no bruising?

I've had ankles rolls that range from the "dang, that hurt....but ok, now it's fine" to the "FFFFFFF**&#$@# that hurt a lot" and literally seeing a blinding flash of light with the pain. My unsolicited advice is to be careful coming back. One of my worst ones that happened (July 4, 2021) - compounded by the fact that I did it 2 miles out on a rocky trail, so I had to walk on it all the way back to the car. I started running again too much too soon (on trails) and ended up spraining it three more times over the next few months. Not a fun sequence of events.

I hope it heals up quickly for you! With your general road running (even surfaces), I would expect it to get better pretty fast.

I use the Capital Bikeshare bikes, which weigh probably 50 pounds. (You think I'm exaggerating. I am not.) They have three gears, and the first one doesn't count.

LOL. I always thought they looked like behemoths - maybe the weight is a discouragement for theft? And I didn't even know they had gears. You know, people ride them all the way up Rock Creek Trail well into Maryland and disperse from there, so we do run into them in odd places.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

I think this is sort of like the statistic that "90% of car accidents happen within a mile of your house" or whatever it is - you run it so frequently that you're just there a lot. I've done this, too. I'm sorry to hear about it. Sounds like you did get some swelling from it - but no bruising?

I've had ankles rolls that range from the "dang, that hurt....but ok, now it's fine" to the "FFFFFFF**&#$@# that hurt a lot" and literally seeing a blinding flash of light with the pain. My unsolicited advice is to be careful coming back. One of my worst ones that happened (July 4, 2021) - compounded by the fact that I did it 2 miles out on a rocky trail, so I had to walk on it all the way back to the car. I started running again too much too soon (on trails) and ended up spraining it three more times over the next few months. Not a fun sequence of events.

I hope it heals up quickly for you! With your general road running (even surfaces), I would expect it to get better pretty fast.

I had a bit of swelling and bruising, but it faded quickly. Definitely being cautious coming back - missing a couple of runs in week 2 of marathon training is not a huge problem, but continuing to miss runs later in training would be. It worked out well that I have a hill workout this week, because that should be a little gentler on it (though I can always skip it if I need to).

I always thought they looked like behemoths - maybe the weight is a discouragement for theft?

I think that and it makes them pretty tough to damage. Who knows what trials people are putting these things through.

 

[avondale]

I think that and it makes them pretty tough to damage. Who knows what trials people are putting these things through.

I was once about 3/4 of a mile into a pretty hilly and technical run in Silver Spring and came upon a rental scooter, sort of hooked over a big tree root on a bit of an upward climb. I was thinking, "You managed to bring it this far, and this is where you gave up?" Those things are not light, either.