jeez. where'd the time go? i'm still running, although i missed a couple of training runs over the past couple of weeks. kris and i did run a 20 miler the other day and it went a lot better than the last one, thanks in no small part to my new shoes. 20 miles is a long way to run, not matter how you slice it, so i'm glad to report that i finished relatively pain free, with only a bit of lingering stiffness in my left hip.

at this stage, mostly i just have to deal with the inevitable head games that arise on the longer runs. outright boredom is always a danger and even moreso now that my ipod is dead. in any case, i'm happy that the long runs are over and i now get to enjoy the wind-down to race day.

well, i did end up being in motion for 20 miles today, but things got ugly after 17 miles. i think the root cause might be found in my not taking my own advice about shoes. i've said it before and i'll say it again - never, ever, ever try to squeeze a few more miles out of your shoes. i've been noticing a few more aches and pains on longer runs with my current shoes, which have around 250 miles on them and i should have just gone with my intuition and bought a new pair to break in for today's run. but no. i decided to try to get one more long run out of them.

things felt o.k. up to mile 16. maybe a little tighter than normal, but nothing overly abnormal. then something changed between mile 16 and 17 and i could feel my left leg tightening all the way from my lower back, down through my quads and finally in my calf. at that point i decided to walk between mile 17 and 18 since it's a training run and there's no sense inviting injury to my calf by being stupid. i thought i might be able to walk through it and pick up running at 18, but by the time i got to that point, it was clear that it'd be in my best interest to walk the remainder of the route. by left leg was overly tight and now my back was feeling a little tweaked. no acute pain, but i've learned in the past to listen very clearly to what your body is saying and don't try to be a hero on training runs. if the little voice says, "take it easy" then you better take it easy. so, i walked the last three miles and made a mental note to get new shoes, perhaps a therapeutic massage, and hope that everything returns to tip-top form.

after doing a few errands, i got home and took my shoes and socks off. first off was the right sock and i noticed a modestly large blister on my big toe. "ooooh. that's a modestly large blister", i think. next off is the left sock, at which point i let out a gasp at the sight of the biggest freakin' blisters that i've ever seen on the top and left of my big and "index" toes. yes, i took pictures but they aren't developed yet.

and on top of everything else, i think my ipod died today around mile 15. big bummer.

next week should be fairly fun, with a slight reduction in overall mileage. i think i'll stick pretty close to the recommendation of 4, 10 and 12 miles.

this week went so well, that i decided to break with the program and run a 15 miler instead of the regularly scheduled 12 miler for the long run. despite the fact that i started a little late and ended up running in the mid-day sun everything felt great. in fact, things are feeling so good that i'll probably go for a 20 miler this week instead of the the prescribed 16 miler. i'm really liking the 3 day running schedule, since it seems to really reduce the wear and tear you're forced to endure when your longer runs get over 12 miles.

i'm feeling great. i can't believe the chicago marathon is 5 weeks away. i wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds before race day, but otherwise i'm confident that i could probably run it tommorrow. hopefully i'm not angering the running injury gods by being so bold.