Injurious

Running

Somewhere in the last couple of weeks I convinced myself that since I run soooo slow that I can run everyday as fast as I can.  I decided I didn't need "easy runs," that every day could be a tempo, or interval run.

This philosophy manifested it self at the end of a Wednesday recovery run last week.  I was crossing the street when I saw a truck barreling down on me and I picked up the pace.  I looked at my watch as I continued this effort down a sidewalk and saw that I had broken into a 6 minute 40 second pace.

It didn't last.  Soon I was slowing down, huffing and puffing back into recovery speed of 11 minute miles.  Still, determined to repeat this, I pushed myself again and again for the rest of the run.  The next day, only having time for a short run, I went flat out through my 5k route from home convinced I could finally crack my 30 minute barrier for 5 kilometers.  That didn't happen as it took me 30 minutes and 30 seconds to complete the run.

That was two days in a row of hard running.  On Friday I laid all out again on a 10 mile run.  Twice I broke into the 6 minute range with a best of 6 minute 29 second, ever so briefly.  I thought I might be on track to break 100 minutes for 10 miles which would be great for transforming my half-marathon time.  At the end of this run, within a couple hundred feet of my house, something in my right leg gave out.  The pain was in my lateral knee and I couldn't keep running.  I got home in 102 minutes and 43 seconds.

For the next week I tried to limit myself to recovery runs.  I was still able to run, but I foolishly pushed myself on my 9 mile runs on Wednesday and Friday.  Yesterday at mile 4, doing only recovery running, my knee gave out again. 

I'm going to take a couple days off from running.  I can't remember the last time I took any days off from running.  I hate not running, almost as much as I hate treadmill running.  Here is my plan for the next three weeks.

Dates	M	Tu	W	Th	F	Sa	Su	Total
9/29-10/5	0	2.5	4	2.5	6.35	5.35	9.22	29.92
10/6-10/12	3.1	5	6.3	5	9.2	4	13.7	46.3
10/13-10/19	4	5.9	9.2	5.9	9.2	5.3	13.7	53.2

I'm hoping my knee will not cause problems for me.  I'll stop any of these runs if I feel the slightest twinge.  It's not actually my knee.  The pain shoots up the side of my leg all the way to the gluteal region.  It doesn't really hurt to walk on it.  I think it may be the iliotibial tract, which suggests an issue with the Tensor Fascia.

I signed up for the Monterey half-marathon, so I am really hoping to get back to running my regular Sunday long runs.  I will be grateful to just run and complete the race.

Culinary

I recently decided my pizzas were tasting too smoky.  So in the latest effort I only used lump charcoal, no almond wood. 

The sauce was a mixture of our garden tomatoes puree from the freezer and a can of tomato paste  since the puree was too watery, and I started too late to cook it down to proper thickness.  For seasoning I added a 1/4 teaspoon of Turkish Oregano and French Thyme, both from Penzey's.

For the dough I used the following recipe:

1.      400 grams of bread flour

2.      8 grams of salt

3.      4 grams of sugar

4.      260 grams of water

5.      0.8 grams of active yeast

I slowly add items 2-5 to the flour in my stand mixer while mixing at slow speed.  I then mix at medium speed for 5 minutes.  Finally, I test it with "slap-and-fold" kneading to verify that the gluten is well developed.  The whole batch goes into a bowl coated with olive oil and then into my wine fridge at 65 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.  The next day at around 11am I divided the dough into two and worked it into balls.  These went back into olive oil coated bowls and into the wine fridge.

For toppings my wife helped me put together:
Mozarella
Asiago
Italian sweet peppers
Yellow onions
Garlic
Canned olives
Chopped basil

 It was seriously the best pizza I ever made - a vegetarian pizza!  The crust bottom was crisp and no smokiness.