No pain, no rain, no gain... 12 miles – 12/29

So far we've been pretty lucky, having nice weather for all of our group runs.  Saturday morning our luck ran out as the forecast called for rain, and rain it did.  The schedule had us running 12 miles.  After running 10.5 the previous week I felt confident that I could run the extra 1.5 miles this week.  Considering the weather, the run began well.  A little over halfway through the run I started feeling some mild discomfort in my right achilles area.  It wasn't debilitating, but it was sore.  I managed to finish the run in under 2 hours which I thought was pretty good.  I made sure to stretch the sore achilles area well and headed home.  At home I iced the area and rubbed some Arnica on it also.  This morning when I woke up my achilles was a little swollen.  After doing some research on the internet I worry that I may have the beginning of achilles tendonitis.  This would be bad because I'd have to rest it for a while.  I'm pretty frustrated as I feel like I was just getting into a groove and running well.  To have to rest now would be unfortunate, but I'd understand.  I emailed our trainer and will wait for his response.  Hopefully it isn't as bad as I fear.  I'll keep you updated with any news.  For now I'm going to continue to ice it and rest :C(

On the road again – 12/26

Visited family over the holidays. Got some nice running clothing and gear as presents, so I figured I'd try them out. Ran a very hilly 6.5 miles yesterday. Hills are never easy, but I feel that my body is getting more accustomed to them. Made sure that my body was better hydrated this time. I feel my pace is getting faster, and these 6 mile runs are getting easier. I'm looking forward to this Saturday's group run. I'll let you know how it goes in my next post.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and I wish you the very best this new year.

Heartbreak Hill – 12/22

Just want to start out by saying Happy Holidays to all!

Every Saturday morning, as part of our training, I have a group run with the Run For Research Team. The team meets at the Fitcorp on Beacon Hill by the State House. This past Saturday (12/22) was our 4th group run, and my first time running the infamous Heartbreak Hill. After meeting at Fitcorp we all jumped on the T (Green Line) and headed west to the Woodland stop. The ride was a lot of fun because it gave me time to talk to other first-timers and veterans. It also unfortunately gave me too much time to think about the dreaded Heartbreak Hill, which I'd have to conquer in our run back into the city. As we exited the T, we all quickly stretched and began our run. Fortunately it wasn't as cold as previous group runs. It was pretty impressive seeing the group take off down route 16. About a 1/4 of a mile into the run we started up the dreaded Heartbreak Hill. Earlier in the morning I learned that Heartbreak Hill or "Newton Hills" isn't one hill, but a combination of four hills. Heartbreak Hill begins at about mile 16 of the marathon and ends at about mile 20 or 21 in the vicinity of Boston College. It was a pretty difficult beginning to our run, but I conquered the beast. I was elated when I crested the hill because I knew for the most part that the rest of the morning's run would be downhill. I felt pretty good as I ran through Boston College, Cleveland Circle, and Coolidge Corner. I felt like my pace was faster than previous runs and I was pretty excited about that. As I entered Kenmore Square (about 1.5 miles left to run) I felt some pretty sharp pains in my calves. I fortunately was able to run through the pain and finish our 10.5 mile run. As I stretched with some team members I learned that the pain in my calves was probably from being dehydrated. I think I'll probably drink more water ahead of our run's.

But I did it... Heartbreak Hill for the first time, and definitely not the last!

Welcome friends and family

Thanks for visiting Run Run Ryan, my blog about running the Boston Marathon with the American Liver Society's Run For Research Team. Look forward to my upcoming blogs during the holiday season!