Just Call Me "Tom"

Today I entered yet another race lottery, this time for the unique 'Bull Run Run' in April. This 50 mile race, which began in 1993, takes place on the beautiful & tough Bull Run Trail in Northern Virginia. The run's unique character includes a Civil War theme that respects the battles that occurred on the Bull Run site many years ago. One of the coolest aspects of the Civil War theme is all runners select which side (North or South) they'll be "fighting" for during the race. In the end all points are tallied up depending on finishing times and a "winner" is declared.

Since the theme of the race is to honor those who fought in the battles of Bull Run, I have entered the lottery under the name 'Tom Griffin': my great-great-great grandfather who actually fought for the North 160 years ago in the real Bull Run battles. I should note, since I don't want to cheat to win the '179+ year-old' age group during the race, I entered the race with my actual age and not Tom's. I'm already looking forward to lining up with my fellow troopers from the North....if, of course, I'm lucky enough to win the lottery. That said, it can't hurt to have the luck of Irish Tom Griffin on my side this time!

As for my running/rehab this week, I'm happy to report my knee has finally healed up after 3 weeks of babying it as much as possible. I've got a couple weeks to try and ramp up the training a bit before a quick taper prior to the Iron Horse 100. I'm beyond happy that this course is mostly on a grassy trail, as my knee should hold up fine on such a cushy surface. I still have no clue what type of shoe I'll wear, so most likely I'll just pack 3 or 4 options and make my decision when I scope out the terrain in person the day before. Of course, since the weather will be much warmer down there, no matter what shoe I pick, I'll just be happy I won't need to add ice screws for the race!

Inauguration Infestation

After my run today, I can confirm the media predictions that DC will definitely be packed with millions of people for the Inauguration on Tuesday. Even today - two days before the ceremony/parade/balls - I was forced to run in the street on my way back home as the sidewalks were overflowing with proud Obama supporters. Dozen and dozens of buses have been hauling folks in all weekend, and it's only going to increase during the next couple of days. Elizabeth and I took the car out for one last grocery/supply run last night, and now we're locked into our street until Wednesday (we live 1 block from the Capitol building). Since this is my first inauguration as a DC resident, I'm looking forward to watching the sea of people flow by my window on their way to the ceremony and parade. ...and since it'll be 18 degrees out when they open up the Mall to the public in the morning, I'll be very happy I have a nice warm home so close to all the action.

In terms on running, it's been a very frustrating couple of weeks for me as I try to deal with an annoying knee injury. I originally hurt it while trying to do too much speed work too quickly in anticipation for my first regular marathon in a few years. Now I remember why I originally decided to quit running those things - I always end up getting hurt when doing speed work. How stupid of me to forget. Anyway, in order to keep my knee under control, I've been forced to "run" on the non-impact elliptical machine at the gym for my weekday workouts. Even though it's been insanely cold lately, I'd still rather run outside than be stuck in the gym, but I don't have much of an option. After each of the past two weeks in the gym, I've been able to get out on the road for one long run a week (35 miler last week, 40 today). Last week was a rough one, but this week I think I've finally turned the corner as the pain was managable most of the way and the knee isn't swollen now (a couple hours after the run). Since there was some definite swelling last week after my run, I think the lack of swelling now is a sign of progress. Hopefully after another week on the Helliptical everything in the knee will be good to go.

Regardless of any healing progress at this point, I'll definitely be heading to the Iron Horse 100 in less-than-stellar shape. The good news is I was never planning on running that one "fast" as much as just using it to practice running at a steady 9 min/mile pace to work the plan for my next 24 Hour attempt. Lucky for me, at this point 9 mins might be about as fast as I can run a mile anyway...my my, those running gods are wise in their ways!

Cleaning up my mess...

As you probably noticed, I'm in the middle of switching up the style of my blog a bit for 2009...

Thanks for pardoning my mess during construction!