Arrived! But not suited and booted...

Got up at 2:45 GMT +2.  Got in the taxi at 3:20.  Flew to Frankfurt at 5:25.  Arrived in Dublin at 11:05.  Got on the train to Galway and arrived at 17:05.  Arrived in Clifden, my base, aroun 18:30.  Bought groceries, looked around.

It is very mountainous here, not America or Alps mountains, but clearly there are drastic elevation changes as well as rolling hills all over.  Looks very interesting.  We pick up numbers, chips, etc. tomorrow.  Get on the bus on Sunday at 7:15 a.m. GMT +0.

Lets see what happens huh.

Time to go

Over the past few days I have taken a series of light walks every day, never more than 4k just to keep the legs moving.  I have finished work, and I leave at 3:20 a.m. from my flat and take a taxi to Boryspil Airport.  I take a 5:35 a.m. Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and then on to Dublin.  I take a train from Dublin to Galway and then a bus from Galway to Clifden Station House Hotel in Clifton.  I should be there by Friday evening around 9 p.m. Kyiv time.

My race number is 39174.  Its time to go.!

Back down to earth

Got cold again.  Ran at night, the weather was about 2+C along with about 30km / hr wind.  All feels fine and it seems pretty relaxed with good posture and steps.  Happy with all of that. 

Nice work with GU also.  Took it 15m before run with water, seemed to be very useful for the exact time frame as advertised. 

We'll see if I run tomorrow.  I feel I'm about ready for just maybe two more days and then total rest and preparation.  This was a good run to get some sense back into it all.

Over confidence here we come

Nice smooth easy 10k today.  Still holding it back and at the same time enjoying this type of running to the point of thinking I can run this pace all day long; which of course is not true, but it is fun to think about as long as I don't get to the point of thinking it will never hurt at all.

Blood sugar good start and finish.  Shoes (Adidas Clima Cool Ride) is going to be the shoe for this run, its all pavement.  Change in socks is good for now, will bring two pair of each type in to Ireland. 

Rest of the week is planned already, sometimes that is good sometimes not so good.  One moment at a time now.  All the arises, ceases. Anything else is definitely bringing the over confidence machine right to the frontal lobe.

But, the last two runs have been really really nice.  "The flow".  See, over confidence See!

Where is that Barn?

Well, well.  Getting there I think.  10k today.  Good blood sugar, start and finish, nothing added before the run.  My GU arrived from abroad and now I have all I need for that.

The run was really really informative.  Smooth, really good footwork, nice quick steps very quiet moving along, great posture and easy to do the miles.  Just floating along.  Caught myself making sure I wasn't going to quick and over running the whole thing.

It looks like the taper is going fine.  It's really important not to get over excited by this run or any other between now and race day.  Mainly because they are short little spurts and nothing like the full patience that will be required over a little less than 6 hours of work.

I still don't have a plan for pace.  I think back and forth between 8:15 and 9:00 a mile.  Interesting.

One week to go, time change tomorrow, need to eat well and put the horse in the barn.

Information Booth

Ran at about time of the race.  9 ish.  checked blood sugar and did not medicine and then rechecked after the run.  During the run monitored everything, time, feelings, each area of the body, steps, form, shoes, how my body warmed up.  I felt like a computer at the Ford repair shop.

Took two days off as part of the taper.  Ran 8k today.  Information:  start slow, don't go straight into race pace, be patient, roll into it by monitoring early.  Even at the early easing pace it was not very slow.  So don't panic about the start, let it go, if it takes three miles to get going, it takes 3 miles, it takes 5 miles, so it goes.

Lots of information.

Worst Streets Ever

I steal the title today from the Simpsons when comic book guy ended an episode by saying "Worse Episode Ever."  Our streets are a complete disaster, really problematic.  Maybe I am making too much of it, but really it is getting difficult to find even pavement or concrete anywhere; there are pot holes, huge holes, moonscapes everywhere.  Very frustrating.

I tried out the new shoes today for 10km at mid morning.  An easy run at almost race pace, no hard work involved at all.  The feet still hurt from the bumps in the road but the shoes are nice.  The minimal drop does make you run more toward the forefoot.  The shoe is very responsive to movement and the fore foot padding seems adequate.  I would not say it is a trail shoe as my work in the sand/dirt of the gutters did not have much traction to it. 

In terms of how I am feeling, pretty good.  I feel the relaxation in my muscles as compared to exhaustion; could it be because I know I will only go 10km or is the taper doing what it is supposed to do?

Worst streets ever, worse than last year and it doesn't look good for the city fixing them.

The Prime Directive

Ran 10km this morning right at race time.  I had bad BS at 8:30 a.m., 304, took 4u, 92 at the end of the run.  This is telling for a couple of reasons, first if I take a 1/2 dose then I have about 10km before I need to dive in to some carbs of some sort during the race.  Based on yesterday and today, I can expect some sort of spike if I have good blood sugar to begin.  However, other data would indicate that if I begin well, I will need to take in carbs at least every 10km (see the 40k and 50k runs).

The run itself was uneventful:  BUT, my feet hurt on these crappy streets and I have nagging pain on my inner knee that is not a problem just there.  Also the right soleus continues to need the wrap.  I am this moment thinking it is because I bought shoes that were too big by a 1/2 size.  The last soleus problem Ihad was a result of that as well.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

I went to the Adidas store and got shoes that fit.  Adidas Clima Cook Ride.  It has a limited drop of about 7mm and is quite light weight but has a lot of front foot padding.  I will run in these the rest of the week and see what happens.

It is entirely possible I am violating the prime directive.  Don't change for the race.  But I think there is time to make sure this is a good decision.  If it isn't I will run in the Nike's that have about 600 km on them that are the right size.  But I won't wear the others at all (maybe on the plane)

To taper is to relax.

Beginning of a nice easy taper I hope.  10k today, toward the end things really felt loosened up.  I felt uncomfortable tired and tight in the beginning.

The one repeating problem is my feet.  They constantly hurt at a pace that isn't quick.  A lot of this has to do with the bad paved surfaces I run on and the limited amount of trail/dirt available to run on in Kyiv.  This problem always goes away when I find trails to run on in other cities.

Blood sugar 99 to start, 65 to finish.  I ran in the afternoon, but followed the BS throughout the morning.  Good and steady from 7 a.m. through about 9:30 but then there was a big spike at about 11:00 a.m.  Haven't experienced that while running so wondering would it have occurred if I was running at that time.

Hope to do a bunch of 10km's all week to get nice a relaxed and all the dings and niggles cleared up before heading off in about 12 days time.

Tomorrow should feel even better, I have always like tapering, it is so relaxing :)

Back to work YOU!

After lazing around for two days and perseverating about my right knee until anyone would think I needed serious counseling I got back to work, oops, I mean running.

Good thing about today was it is +10 C.  I've been watching the weather in Connemara and of course have found something else to worry about, the difference in temperature between Kyiv and Connemara; so I was very glad to see it suddenly warm up to Ireland's level.

I put on a long sleeve shirt and a jacket, hat and gloves, at the end, it was all soaked through and through, good, heat acclimation I like to call it.

Uneventful run other than to say all felt very good, no knee pain, the current knee pain is merely light bruising from the fall on Wednesday.

Yet another thing to "worry" about is acclimation for the liver for the time of day of the run.  Now over the next two weeks my runs need to be in and around mid or early morning in order to make sure that my system is used to working at this high rate at that time.  In the past I've had the Sunday long run early in the day so that should be of some help.  For example, today, I was 192 to start, took 1 u of insulin about 1 hour before I ran and finished the run at 195.  This indicates that if I had not taken the unit my blood sugar would have been somewhat higher than i wanted going through 15k on race day.  Given that there will be three very, very light days 5k, 3k 1k before the three days before the race, it is important to track these levels and the time of the run.

Review of the week, which I initially feel was crappy, it turns out I went 25k at the pace I wanted with two major hills, I ran a major unknown hill for about 2km in the dark after the 25k and I got a nice smooth 15k in on Saturday.  Not as negative as I thought.

Let the taper begin and back to work YOU!

Ouch, Ouch, Ouch

Flew home from L'viv this evening and attempted to go out on a nice little run to get lose again.  I only intended to run for a bit, an hour maybe.

So, why not run down to the track and run in circles for a bit.  The rest of the city is pretty free of snow and ice and it was +4 and had been the whole time I was gone so I figured it would be fine. NOT.

Got there and the way to the track was covered in snow and ice, I picked my way through toward the usual entrance that I always use.  Well, it had a sheet of ice on it.  I scrambled down and step on the track and took one turn and face planted violently.  At first I was scared I was actually hurt.  After reflexively turning off the watch I conducted the usual post fall inventory of pain.

I got up looked around and couldn't see anything but black ice everywhere.  Just a miss and I was really annoyed.  I decided to walk a bit and then jog and then work my way home and just get in about 20 minutes of running.

The real issue right now is the right knee.  It seems pretty painful and it may need a bit of a rest.  I'll see again tomorrow.

Ouch that was painful.

Helpful hints when running abroad

I didn't run yesterday.  Rest day.  Pain report, both knees, some soreness in the right soleus but no other pain.  Took a flight late Sunday night to L'viv, Ukraine to inspect one of our schools.  Today worked 12 hours and looked at myself in the mirror and decided I had to get a run in.

When running abroad without Google Maps, or even with Google Maps, take the local tourist map with you.  Take your mobile with you.  Take a little food with you.  Rule number one:  never panic.  Rule number two:  what goes up, has to come back down, its just geography.

My intention, run the stiffness and lack of activity out of my legs, take it really nice and easy and just get a run in.  Issue:  dark, I mean dark, unfamiliar city, not a lot of street lights and my major nemesis, cobblestone. 

Started out nice and easy and immediately encountered cobblestone or stone sidewalk, pick 'em.  I chose sidewalk, but still I had to cross cobblestone streets several times.  When I don't google map a city I usually choose to run in a straight line and then see what happens.  So I ran in a straight line till the road ended and I decided to turn right.  I started up a hill, okay fine, but the street was sort of street and sort of a pot hole infested car crushing festival.  No cars though, strange.  I crested the hill and still no cars, but lots of Orthodox Cristian Icons on the side of the road, interesting, didn't stop to look but kept running and in about 500 meters I started going downhill and could see and actual street with lights on it.  Good, geography lesson learned.  Got to the bottom took a right.

And proceeded to go straight uphill for two kilometers, I thought this thing would never end.  At this point I am channeling Caballo Blanco from "Born to Run", "why take two steps when you can take three?"  This thing twisted and turned and twisted and turned and I knew I was in trouble when I kept hearing cars down shift to get up this hill.  It never ended, but of course it did and that is when the real fun began.  I ran out of sidewalk.  Choices, cobblestone road or dirt on the side of the road/curb.  I choose dirt.  Thus begins a journey in the dark with no streetlights, no headlamp trying to pick my way down a slight downhill that I think will eventually become a big downhill.  Oh no, I run into a park, I look left and see the most beautiful view of an ancient city L'viv.  (wasn't destroyed by the Nazi's, still has all its buildings, old buildings).  This requires a stop.

It also requires taking out the map and seeing how the hell do I get back down.  I take out the map and see that I have run to the top of Vysokyi Zamok.  Translated High Hill, duh!  Well looks like I have to go back the way I came to find a street to get down.  I pick my way back again, at least I had seen it once and took a better path this time.  Finally found a way down and worked my way back to the hotel.

I only ran 7km but it was a truly interested 40 minutes.  Rules 1 and 2 came into play, and the map saved me. 

I love running in strange cities without Google Earth!

Oh my!?

25k early in the morning and I'm flying to L'viv Ukraine this evening to do an inspection of a school there.  The goal was to go at race pace or something close to it and see what happens after three 15kms in a row.

A very interesting run.  Blood sugar again not great in a.m. 281, 3u, 98 at the finish.  I stopped at the halfway point for 500ml of water and a small Snickers bar. 

First things first, for some reason, probably because the plan was to go after it, I was very tight for the first two miles.  I did eventually relax, but more on that later.  Secondly, the weather was miserable, 25-30 km winds with rain/snow coming down constantly.  Sometimes wind at my back, sometimes from the side, sometimes in the front, I guess it all evens out in the end?

The final tally was 8:29 per mile.  The first 1/2 was quicker because the wind was at my back.  Also, the final 5k included two extremely difficult hills that I thought were going to stop me dead in my tracks.  By about mile 11 I would say it was taking a lot of work to stay in it and I had the mantra "give it a little more" going for the final 4.5 miles.  The first big hill was vicious and I thought I was losing time badly, I then thought about the fact this isn't the race, this is race knowledge we are working on.  Same for the second.

Race knowledge?  I believe that 8:30 is achievable, still don't know about 8's.  I also got a good feeling today for what tired legs feel like and areas that may suffer from the hills and how that pain will come up.  I also got some interesting knowledge about relaxing.  Oh my!  I was tight to start.

in, but not done

Did 15k mid afternoon today.  Starting to warm up.  It was 4 C today.  I intended to do 25k today and tomorrow but didn't, obviously.  Unfortunate, but its done so can't really take it back now can I.  Try again tomorrow. 

Blood sugar again about 265, 2u of humulog, 125 at the finish. 

The run itself was good, fairly smooth, good pace, no real issues to speak of regarding the legs.  The hills did start to get me in the last mile but I don't know if that was just getting it over with or actual tired.  Should find that out tomorrow when the long run is done.  However this long run is only 25k.

At this point I feel strong but am beginning to think about pace and strategy for Ireland.  The information I have is water every 5 miles until we get to 13.1 miles and then we joint the marathon group and at 26.2 we join the 1/2 marathon group.  Two things here.  One, there should be ample water, I'll bring my own GU and Snickers.  Two, alot of people to run through, around?  Is this a good thing or bad?  Interesting.

Initial strategy:  8:00 to 8:15 for as long as I can hold it.  If I did hold it that is between 5:15 and 5:24 total. 
Secondary:  to do that I must find a group of people doing that pace.  There should be around 150 people doing the Ultra, need to stick with them if I find them.

I intend to see what the legs have in them tomorrow and that will be the last thing over 15k that I do.

As they say, after that it will be "in the can"  but I won't be done.

Back in, and back on

Got back at it 20 hours after the last run.  Went 15k.  Time was pretty close to yesterday.  Pain was minimal and there is some niggles in the knees, but after easing into it things went nicely.

Blood sugar 263 to start, 3u Humulog, 126 at the end.

Read a great article by AJW on irunfar.com and tried to write back to him about my experience.  I think the article was timely for me.  I realized that I've come a long way with the previous injuries and overcoming the diabetes.   I also received some nice words from my father regarding the training and I think it is time to start thinking about a race plan now.  Just the beginnings. 

It is all a matter of how much you want to hurt in the end :)

Back into it, back on form, at least for today.

Holidays, observations and monitoring

It is International Womens' Day.  This is a national holiday in Ukraine.  No work for a majority of the city, inf act, most of the city also has Friday off.  Good days to get in mileage in Kyiv.  15km today at around noon.  Very little traffic, pretty good paths, weather about -3C not much wind, Blood Sugar 175 to start. 

In my mind, I've had this great plan all week that has crumbled nicely by not running Monday or Wednesday.  Today's run actually fit in the plan.  Goal has been to get at it at or below race pace.  Today that was done.  This is the monitoring part of this blog. The foot work, turnover and pace were consistent, during the workout there was only one quick period (last about two minutes) where I felt that I might be a bit tired in the legs which then led to panic that this was only a 15k run, blah, blah, blah. 

Really, just take each run as they arise and then cease.  Continue to try to remember that.

Sad moment for the day, I saw a dead dog in front of one of the police stations at about 8 miles in.  Since it was mid afternoon I kind of wondered why, since it was in front the police station, no one had gotten it off the street.  Of course that is how Kyiv works.  Dead people stay on the street for a day, why not a dog.  Not the best selling point for the city, our police department that is.

I work tomorrow, but others don't so maybe a morning run would be nice a quiet?  Monitor some more, observe some more.

Its both I think...

15km this a.m. before going in for a long day that finished at 10:00 p.m.  I really felt compelled to get out there and run regardless, again, I was hesitant and took a bit to get right.  Also a very weird blood sugar day for this run.

The run itself was uneventful except that we are back t running on snow pack and ice in a lot of places.  But, interestingly, this did not slow the time, which was exactly what it was last Sunday.  I am a great believer in breaking through plateaus and believe the 50k did just that in terms of the daily 15k.  Given that the weather was -6C for the run, and the ground conditions, I think there is some weight to that idea.  I am also sure I am not the first idea to say that.

Blood sugar was not good.  Woke at 7:00 a.m., BS was 115.  Woke at 8:30 and BS was 120.  I took no medicine and coffee with honey.  Finished the run and the machine wouldn't even register a number, it just say HI.  I've had this before and I was not surprised that it happened.  I get this about every 8-10 weeks where this is a one day occurrence with the liver, I think.  But it was definitely HI, I took 15 units, my ratio is usually 25 to 1 unit when coming down and 15 to 1 when carb counting.  That 15 units did not even feel like I needed to eat for 2 plus hours, that included a 2km walk to the office, plus a 1 km walk to the Apteka to buy test strips.  Anyway, the remainder of the day was uneventful with BS.

I got out, I got ride of the disappointment, and also listed to my body from yesterday, but my body fought back a bit with the diabetes.  It is always the winner.  So it goes.

Letting yourself down? Or listening to your body?

I did not run today.  I spent most of yesterday trying to figure out why I felt so horrible after what was basically 15k at a fairly simple pace.  My left outer thigh was really tight and continually cramping.  I took a nap in the afternoon, something I haven't done in ages.  I then wrote in the blog about thinking I had let it go too long.  What do I do next? 

Not run today.  I still have soreness in that right outer thigh, a place I never have soreness.  No cramping, I've had lots of water.  I came up with about 10 excuses, but really there are none.  My body had no desire I guess.  What does that mean? 

We've had more snow.  It has gotten cold again.  Tonight's low promises to be -11C.  I have hopes of running in the a.m. before the whole day of work begins.

Did I let myself down?  Or did I listen?  I think I let myself down.  Hope to find out tomorrow.

Paying a price

May have let it go a little long.  Today I ran faster than yesterday, which is not surprising given that the roads and paths are clear despite last nights 3 cm of snow.  It all melts away quickly now and because there is less of it, people seem more inclined to get rid of it also.

But, I got the 'ol upper inner right leg cramp that I get when I try to come back to the same spot after a lot of days off.  In addition post run I am really dehydrated, especially for just 15k, and I have muscle cramping.

This is not permanent damage but yet another lesson on this journey through training for this thing.  In the end I think it won't be too big a deal.  Same thing tomorrow.

It is devastating outside from an infrastructure standpoint however.  Now it is clear, you can see huge holes everywhere.  You can also see them trying to repair the huge holes on the really high traffic streets, unfortunately, they are doing it in the wet and 1/2 snow 1/2 rain and they don't block it off so the cars just tear it up again the next day.

Remember my cartoon caricature of the heat coming out of that man hole?  Well that area is cut away and filled in with broken up read brick!  It is also cordoned off so that cars can't drive on it, but they are and red brick is now going all over the road and chipping the paint on cars.  I'm not sure I understand the engineering behind the approach, but I guess you use what tools you have right?  If there is no tax system and people do not focus on the needs of the group as a whole, the whole system tends to pay a price in its infrastructure.

Much like I did today.

At some point you just have to take the first step

And out the door you go.  15k today, finally, on a Saturday.  First things first, the paths, roads are in pretty good shape.  I would say all but about 1% of the run was clear of snow and ice.  Very positive.  Secondly, once I got started it really felt very nice, there were two or three very mellow moments where I was just stepping along nicely and it really felt natural.

Hill work went well, the only odd thing is I began to get a little tired in the legs in the last two kilometers.  I hope that is not a precursor to having let it get out of control and gotten a little out of shape. I don't think so, I think it was just five days off.

Blood sugar is another issue.  High BS this a.m., took 7 u, woke late, High BS a mid day, took 1/2 the amount in order to go for the run, and still High BS when i finished the run.  Took another 7u and will test again.  This could be a variety of things.  One, the endocrine effects wore off and without running, the low intake of insulin does not satisfy the body need; two, eating crap (more likely), even when getting in a lot miles if you take all this refined sugar processing is really just not good, but if you stop running for a few days, more than two in my opinion, refined sugar begins to win the battle for BS supremacy. 

Tomorrow it is officially 4 weeks to Connemarra.  Just getting out and taking the first step after the 50 makes me happy.

Fascinating Five Days

Just fascinating.  The whole week has been fully of feedback, failure, and information.  I have not run since the 50k on Sunday.  I have analyzed the run repeatedly and come to the conclusion that it went really well.  It turns out I ran the first 25k quite well and the final 25k I lost some time, specifically 9 minutes off an even split, but there was being lost and other types of issues.

I didn't, don't, have the bilateral outer tendon pain I had for two days after the last 40k, all I have really had was some tightness for two days in my thighs.  But that isn't the most interesting thing.  I never intended to run on Monday or Tuesday, but I haven't run Wed or Thu and don't know if I'll run tomorrow.

I didn't nap on Sunday, but slept very well that night and found myself physically tired on Monday.  That eventually went away.  By Tuesday I didn't feel physically exhausted, but I began to feel what I would call mental exhaustion.  I could not get out the door, every excuse I could find, I have used.  Every twinge that is just a body twinge, nothing important, has been an excuse.  I believe that mental exhaustion is about finished but I'm not sure at all. 

My blood sugar has been fine, so that hasn't been to disturbing, though my diet has not been impressive.  We are 30 days out starting tomorrow.  Certain things will need to get focused.  I hope the goals I am setting here tonight will be helpful over the next four weeks. 

I intend to focus on race pace and below race pace on the 15k's over the next week and then make a decision about Saturday-Sunday next week 10 and 11 March before I head to Lviv Ukraine for an inspection of one of the schools.

This mental exhaustion is really interesting to work with.  I'm very proud to have run 50k with no support by myself and feel that running with people with support is going to be a very different experience.  The thing I am thinking about is preventing mental exhaustion from becoming fear.

All that arises, ceases....  A fascinating five days of thinking.

Long and Lost, but still Long

Sunday, must be time for the long run.  Woke at 7:20, blood sugar a terrible 370, a testament to why you shouldn't eat jam with blinny late at night.  There is a blinny festival going on, it is part of the pre lent gorge yourself that happens all over the world, ours comes with jam, thin pancakes and all you can eat.  I took 4 units of humulog and settled in to the morning internet read of the news and two cups of coffee.  I was 324 when I headed out the door at 8:30.

I changed up the pattern this time. I intended to take on water and/or GU/food every five miles and see what that was like.  Also, I only have/had one GU left and went with my catch all of catch alls, Snickers bars.  We have something called Snickers Super here which is two smaller snickers (not the regular size) in one wrapper.  I packed to Supers so I had four.  Took money, test strips, insulin, mobile phone, keys, etc.

I will say that the first piece of information I gained is that I have gotten used to the pack.  I barely knew it was there today.  At 5 + I stopped for water (750 ml) and tested, BS 106, so I took a GU and headed on.  I stopped for water again at 10 +, no BS reading but ate a Snickers and had 500 ML of water.  At 25k I did water, tested, BS 154, Snickers.  Went through the 25k in about 2:17.  I had to make myself remember it was a training run and that I was only half way done and needed some patience.

I stopped again at about 40km for water and Snickers, BS was 105.  At this point I was really starting to feel it.  My right upper leg seemed to be feeling it more than the left.  I still felt I was putting one foot in front of the other pretty efficiently though.  To get to this point I had run down the Dnipro River road for about 4 miles or so.  It was kind of disappointing because there used by to be a bunch of boat restaurants down there so there were businesses, now there is nothing and as a result no work done on the paths and that put me back out on the street.  From 40 to about 43 km I was supposed to go uphill and then go uphill again from 46-48 km.  Ha.

Missed my turn, basically ran uphill for about 7 km off and on, with some downhill, completely lost, though all on the same road.  I should have turned on Lecy Ukrainy, instead I stayed on the road and ended up on 40 Richa Zhovtnya (40th anniversary of the October Revolution) and I was so far gone it was ridiculous.  I really knew I was in trouble when I passed a park that said Praga, 400 meters later I stopped and considered my options.  I chose taxi home.  The guy said 50 UAH, that is a lot of taxi ride in Kyiv, I must be seriously lost.  I took it.  I swear the entire ride, up till the last 5 minutes I had no idea where I was in the city.

When I got back I mapped it out and it turned out to be 50kms and it also turns out that if I had chosen keep going I would have ended up in Bila Tserkva in about a day.

Its funny how with experience you kind of figure out that the distance is done.  When I google mapped this "lost" route it turned out to be about 55 meters longer than 50km.  Did the whole thing in 4:43 and change so I am very satisfied with that.

Lessons learned, Snickers are okay, no problems, water every 5 miles is a very good idea, however, less water but more often might also be the trick.  Testing is still problematic, very hard to do on the run, impossible in fact, but must be done.  Also, have to eat something, at this speed the body processes well and low BS is a real possibility without food.

Saw the ice fisherman again today.  They are about done though, they are down to the last hectare of iced water on the river.  The bigger concern for all of us are the roads, there are serious collapses all over the city.  I had noticed this on the 15k's, but on this run there were a lot more and many of them were very serious.  Hope it gets worked out.

Today was a whole lot of long, getting lost was just so strange, uphill forever, but still 50k is long, isn't it?

Wet Socks and pondering diabetes.

15k about mid morning today.  Blood sugar 224 to start, 124 to finish.  Looks like this run just processed what was in my body.  At 6:30 a.m. I took 3 units of Humulog.  With that blood sugar reading before the run I didn't take anything before the run.  I would guess based on past experience that if I had gone 20k I would have been at a low blood sugar at the end of the run.  Something that always needs to be remembered.  Sometimes it feels like a non stop experiment but that may be part of the charm.  I guess I could sit around and do nothing and just slowly take enough insulin to kill a village every day.  Not interested.

Ran nice and easy today to see what nice and easy pace is like currently.  Good feedback on this.  Paths are even better today but still about a km was mushy yuk.  Wet socks, not good at 2C.  It turns in to par core out there jumping around puddles to avoid wet and then jumping from side to side to avoid walkers and moving around to avoid the left over ice.

I am monitoring a soleus muscle issue.  I didn't wear the brace today and it hurts a little more tonight.  I will need to wear it every run now until it goes away.

Wet socks and more statistics to analyze, good.

Ice melts!

Well, it happened...  Over the last few days I have watched Euronews and seen picture after picture of the freeze that came over western Europe melt away.  In some places the areas went from -20C to +10C in one day.  One quick scientific discovery to share with all of you, Ice Melts; and, when it does, the rivers just appear out of no where, first they start as little streams of water, then they become torrents of water going anywhere that they want to.

Today we had our first day above 0C since the horrible freeze.  After taking yesterday off I couldn't resist the opportunity to run in shorts for the first time in well over 45 days!  I tried a bit of an experiment.  I went for non road, walking paths only to test out how much snow is gone off the paths.  Turns out a good portion of these paths are now runnable.  Unfortunately, well over a kilometer of them are not.  This kilometer was broken up over the 15k but still, it slowed the pace considerably.  Also, because the paths are runnable it also made for very technical "trail" running. 

A good work out.  Blood sugar 100 to start, Cola and honey, 60 at the finish.  Unfortunately it was a dropping 60, on my walk back to the office I had to stop for some quick carbs, but it passed.

Really great to be in compression shorts and running shorts, felt very free and loose.  I thought for some time about how good a shape I was in during this run.  I have no doubt I can finish Connamara, that isn't the issue, the issue is dangerously becoming how fast.  That, in the end, will come down to how much I want to hurt.  Don't know yet.  I've been able to go deep in the past, but that was 20 years ago and early in my diabetes days.  I've run 2:49 for a marathon with Type 1 Diabetes, I will never do that again but I wondered today if I could go 3:10 if I really worked at it.

Thinking too far ahead.  Oh yeah Ice Melts.

Morning Traffic/Melting snow

Managed to run in the a.m. today.  15k.  At about 9:30 a.m.  It got warm and the weather was at about 0 C for the run.  Really great weather!!!!  Really sloppy conditions, that much snow melting that quickly creates a wet track to say the least.

Blood sugar 121 to start, 187 to finish.  That is not surprising as that was a waking blood sugar reading and there was no insulin until after the run, it isn't surprising that it went up.  However, if one compares to the Sunday morning run it looks like a change.  Last long run (40k 10 days ago) insulin was lower than that testing twice during the run.  I think that is a result of running at a lower speed, thus burning fat stores, not glycogen.  Today I was again at a quicker pace (a full minute quicker per mile) and possibly the endocrine system did not burn fat but glycogen and then pumped that into the system and it didn't distribute because it had no insulin to work with.  Maybe, I'm not a doctor, of medicine...

The melting snow is everywhere you go.  Its falling off buildings as ice, it is creating small rivers on the roads, the only place it isn't melting is the places on sidewalks where it was never taken off and now it is turning in to slush.  Really nice stuff, slip slide, slip slide, repeat.

The morning traffic was a little crazy.  However, I thought it was quite manageable and not particularly dangerous.  The hill work went very well again. 

Overall I'm pleased with this one for the hills, the time, the effort to run the time.  Pain register not that bad.  I ran without the support for the soleus, the feet were fine.  But tonight there is a bit of pain in the soleus so I will use the strap tomorrow.

More melting snow tomorrow as its supposed to be above 0C!

Setbacks? Positives? Cartoons?

Only 15k today.  Weather was -7C at the end.  Getting more pleasant every run.  Time/effort/footwork all quite solid.  Why not 25k?  I can probably provide 20 excuses.  None make up for no 25k.  Is that a setback?  I tend to think yes, but then think no.  Why?  I did run 15k at what I perceived to be at about 75% effort at a pace that I want to run Connamara at.  From the perspective of status, the run informed my fitness.  Certainly the more long runs there are the better, but I've done some reading that I would agree with (an excuse?) that you need to test what the pace feels like on these under 50 mile ultras. 

Blood sugar was 266 to start, I took 2U of Humulog.  At the finish blood sugar was 202.  I have to say that my philosophy on blood sugar and exercise is probably a lot like everyone else who is a type 1 diabetic and gets a lot of exercise.  Every day is different and what doctors say and what you can do are two very disparate things.  I can say that I actually get most best workouts in at the 225 to 175 range.  Of course you doctor will tell you that blood sugar should be around 85-100 all the time.  Unless you are on a pump, and the Veterans' Administration is not the most progressive care giver, then that is pretty tough if you are running a lot of mileage or what ever exercise you might be into.  I say type 1 diabetes is a daily experiment of one where the data is compiled over time and hopefully is useful when you need it most.

Today I saw a truly bizarre thing.  At around 10k I made the turn on to Oranzhereina St.and in the distance I could see this huge wide column of steam that was spreading out over the road and the trees.  It was about 300 meters in front of me.  I was running a slight upgrade and you couldn't see anything on the other side of this column of steam.  Suddenly a car came through from the other side like something from Stargate and then a car passed me and went into the steam, I assume it came out the other side.  Once I got within about 50 meters I saw to KyivEnergo trucks and the usual five or ten men about age 55 standing nearby.  At this point is when I saw the craziest thing.  The steam was the result of a man hole cover they had taken off the street and there was so much leaking heat from the poor infrastructure that the steam was literally being pushed out of this pipe like a fire ball due to the pressure inside.  Incredible.  The loss of heat and cost of the lost heat, in just this one area must be tremendous.  I saw a photo essay on Kyiv Post that showed this very thing happening all over the city. (loss of heat through poor infrastructure, not the cartoon fireball I witnessed today).

After that I looked at every man hole cover I ran over, each one of them had a tiny stream of steam coming out the little vent where they put the crow bar in to lift them up.

I guess can be like a cartoon.

Ah, warmth

-7C at the start of this run.  Really makes a difference the warmer it is.  Very pleasant smooth piece of work.  I felt very comfortable today.  Thinking about it, maybe it was the weekend, maybe it was the fact that it is warmer.  Blood sugar was 175 to start, 143 at the finish over 15k.  The time was the quickest I've run since December. 

On a down side I did not go 25k as I intended.  Its done so get over it. 

Hill work wasn't the best it could have been, but it I got up the big one and moved along afterward.  I believe I might be getting in to pretty good shape and that feels pretty good, especially when there are no real things to deal with.  I loosened up my shoes today and the feet felt better also.  I read a blog once a long time ago where the guy barely tied his shoes and waited for his feet to expand during the run.  Basically I'm not tying them tight and letting my feet expand in to the shoe.  It worked today, it may not tomorrow.

I need to relax in to this experience and not get to up or down about whether the next one is not very good.

Supposd to be -6 or -5 C tomorrow.  Ah warmth!

A heat wave out there...

-9 C at the beginning of my run today.  Almost a heat wave.  Very, very sloppy stuff out there.  Things were wet and wild.  Blood sugar 113 to begin, took on some honey and piece of chocolate, blood sugar 123 when I finished.  Some might wonder what the difference between today's insulin readings and yesterdays were.  First and foremost it is the timing of the shot.  I took 4 U of insulin at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, walked from my in  company class 2k to my house at 4:00 p.m., measured and took honey and chocolate.  That 4 units was done I believe.  Today I took 6 units of insulin at 11:00 a.m., walked home at 1:00 p.m., started running at 1:45.  The difference here is 3.5 hours v. 2.5 hours.  In insulin processing terms that is a lot of time.

15k today over the usual route but in the reverse direction, meaning the first 5k is a gradual long upgrade.  Very sloppy and scrappy.  Tight everywhere but felt I was moving a bit quicker.  The big hill worked out well again at the half way point, the rest of the run was about smooth and my feet killing me.  The outer part of my feet at the pinky toe feel like they are on fire; and the stone bruise continues to be bothersome if I have to get on uneven hard ground (also known as Ukrainian roads at the moment).  The overall time of the run was 3 minutes faster than yesterday.

Also, I've put on a wrap for the right soleus muscle.  This muscle runs on the inside of the shin.  I had this problem o the left leg last year and bought this wrap and used it to relieve pressure/stress during the run and after about 2 months it went away completely.  I felt this pain coming on last week so I decided to go straight to wrap to prevent any serious problems. 

I have some tiredness, but overall good to have the week over.  It is supposed to be -6 C and -4 C on Saturday and Sunday, maybe I can wear shorts for the two 25kms.

Its a heat wave!

Still more information

Got 15k done today.  It was a struggle to make it happen but I did.  I also ended up walking about 8km today in dress shoes, something that needs immediate adjusting.  Since I've moved I walk about 2k to school/office and back and on Tuesday and Friday mornings I walk about 2k to an in company VIP that I teach.  I need to come up with something about the shoes.

I ran about 4 p.m. today.  It was till light, it is getting dark around 5:30 now.  I knew that today would be a learning experience but I just didn't know what I would learn.  Pre run blood sugar was 154, I had a piece of chocolate and bread and honey.  Post run blood sugar was 280 and that means I didn't process well at all and that the 154 was an end of uptake not mid or beginning, i.e. the insulin had already run its course that I took during the day.

Posture was good, foot work was good, but I could feel the tiredness in my mind and my legs.  The mind tiredness didn't last long though because the city is still a complete mess but I managed to get mostly road time to avoid the horrible sidewalks.  When I couldn't I was reduced to well below 11 minutes a mile.  Also, the traffic is terrible because the roads are all missing about one lane to work with because of the snow plowing, or lack thereof.  So the mind got focused pretty quickly.

My legs, on the other hand, seemed to be pretty annoyed with the whole thing.  I made a conscious effort not to push anything in order to maintain some sort of stride and rhythm.  The stride rate was a consistent 90 on the road, not on the sidewalks which were just like snow trails except for the Ukrainian women in high heels everywhere.

Interestingly, working the big hill resulted in getting real smooth and real quick going over the top and the last half of the run was a good pace, form and rhythm.  I've notice that this is beginning to happen with every run and hope this means the hill work is paying off.  I need to research on the good sites what it means to "warm up" before an Ultra.

The left outer knee has a twinge but nothing painful but I will need to focus some ITB stretches tonight.

Hope to get another 15k in tomorrow.  Like I said, more information today, probably tomorrow also.

And three days later...

Very interesting learning experience.  I intended to rest on Monday, and it is Wednesday and I am still resting.  But not for reasons I thought. 

Monday post 61km for the weekend I had nagging pain on the anterior of both knees.  I had a day of worrying that my ITB was in bad shape or I had the dreaded tendinitis, which I of course, because I am foolishly my own doctor, believe is just ITBS. 

I did a lot of walking on Monday and over the day both knees really loosened up.  There was no nagging soreness in any other area.  The drawback was that it was seriously snowing all day and so it was a slip and slide day which caused some slight twinge in the inner thigh.

I really intended to run Tuesday but the knees still had a bit, so I let it go thinking I would make it happen on Wednesday.  But I also noticed I was still very tired and had the feeling I was getting sick.  I wonder if this was breakdown or post long run stress, both, or something else.

Wednesday had good intentions, but was destroyed by work.  Probably for the best, because I seriously felt run down.  However, I also felt I had not eaten correctly over the last couple of days.  At home after work I really hit the protein hard, along with vitamin C fruits.  As I write I actually don't feel the same as when I did when I was at the office today.

Like I said lots of lessons.  One, have to eat correctly afterward, not only before.  Two, the rest day on Monday is mandatory and Tuesday isn't so bad either.  Three, the endocrine effects for my Type 1 diabetes do last a long time, I am still processing everything I eat, including processed sugars quickly and with less insulin that usual.  However, there has been no effect on my long term Lantus (15 u every night at 9 p.m.).  No dosage change there, but dosage of Humulog is at about 75% of normal even this Wednesday, on Sunday and Monday it was a full 50% less.  Also, there were no liver spikes as I call them, when you BS suddenly jumps.

I really hope to get in 15 Thursday and Friday and then do 25k Sat and 25k Sun.

Good progress

-19 C to start the day.  Woke around 10 a.m. started my run today at about 11:20 a.m.  The word for the day was patience.  I learned a great deal out there today.  My goal was to complete the run but also to keep the clock going at all times.  The other goal was to run the correct route.  I did.

The first 10k were into a slight wind and along Permohy Prospekt.  I stopped for water at about 6.5 miles and speed walked until I had finished the water and started up again.  The next 4 miles went quicker than I remember last time.  In general I felt pretty good but kept reminding myself to be patient and not expect it all to happen quickly.  I made the turn in the woods and headed back toward the city.  This was weird after a bit.  It was a good piece of work but about two miles down the road the police tried to stop me but I kept running.  I'm not sure if it was because I was running or if I was running on the road.  Anyway, they didn't stop me and about a mile down the road they stopped a car and said hello so it didn't turn out to be too bad.

I didn't take any water on these two sections so when I was back in the city I stopped for water and tested my sugar, which was 65, I took one GU and water while I was speed walking, I wasn't walking while testing, but I did keep the watch going.  The whole thing, testing, water, GU, drinking all the water while speed walking took about 4 minutes.  That was about 25 km in.

It took a bit to get going with any sort of smoothness this time, but eventually I did get going nicely again.  No idea of the pace but at least it felt good.  I made the turn on the road that I made the mistake on before and ran on the other side of the road from last time.  I thought I had it right but in fact I almost missed the turn this time, luckily I looked over the bridge and spotted Petrivka market so I knew I was supposed to be on the other side of the road.

On Moskovsky Prospekt it was really unpleasant, a lot of traffic and it was moving very quickly.  I tried to keep my head down and just try to get to the next turn.  I managed to do so and headed toward Podil.  Here I learned some things.  I kept expecting to the see the bridge and found myself wishing for it and worked with my mind to stay in the moment and be patient.  That seemed to work, I really had to focus on this for the last 8 km.

Here I saw an incredible sight.  There must have been 50 people ice fishing on the river.  They were everywhere with there holes and poles.  Just incredible to see.  I wasn't the only one out there in the cold doing something they liked to do.

Finally got to Podil and headed toward the Kyivski Descent.  Focused hard on the hill and went straight up and through Kyrshchatyk and up the hill of Shevchenko.  This was a pretty good piece of timing because with the 20k from yesterday this would be the hill set for Connamara as well.   I felt like I was really starting to get tired.  Going down the hill I started to lose a bit of form and was pretty ragged.  I turned left and headed for home with about 800 meters to go.  Over and over, stay patient.

Things learned, patience, of course.  Secondly, it is okay to take water and GU and speed walk.  Finally, over two days I got pretty much the whole race in.  Blood sugar after run was 60, need to monitor all week to see where that goes from day to day.

Really good progress.

One of those days...

Haven't run in two days.  The weather is just tough on me mentally.  With the move and trying to figure how to get from point A to point B and fit runs in and with new projects at work, all at the same time... by today I had one 25k, and two 15km's back to back and nothing else.  I am beginning to get a bit worried about preparation.  It is now 49 days to connemara.  I made some adjustments to this weekends plan and went for 20k today and will see if I can get 41k tomorrow.

When I woke today the weather was -18C, that is 0 F.  However, it was beautiful outside, really very sunny and bright and it just looked like there was potential out there.  I am assuming that tomorrows run will require that know what it feels like to already be deep in the tank, I'm still planning for the race of course and I do need to know what some things feel like.  I still only wanted to go out there and run a nice relaxing job today, running on streets as much as possible.

Accomplished!  That 20km was one of the nicest runs I have had in a long while.  It was just wonderful!  There were times where the sun was so great that you felt it was spring.  There was never any hard work, just running nice and smoothly, staying on streets, not too bothered by traffic.  Just an amazing experience.  There were several different hills to work on and each was achieved, still thinking about that final hill in Ireland.

Post run, ice coming out of my hat.  -18C = 0 F it was really strange how that occurred.

Blood sugar was high in the evening, but that was from the carbs I loaded for tomorrow.  I took a quick 6 units at about 6:30 this morning and I was a nice 175 before the run, I had two spoons of honey and out the door.  This run there were no stops, no water stops, just the run.  At the end, the temp was about -15C and my sugar was 215.  Took 4 units, ate nuts, berries, apples, and water within 30 minutes.  Will take water the rest of the day.

The thing to remember is that all that arises ceases.  But today, was one of those days.

On the Road Again

My apologies to Willie Nelson.  Today I decided to stay on the road the whole time and see what happens.  While there was interruptions from traffic, there was no interruption in my rhythm and that felt really good.  Last night did a lot of massage on the foot and the foot was much better today, along with staying off the snow pack/ice pack I think that definitely helped.

It is still very cold.  Today it was -14C while I ran.  The roads themselves are fairly clear which allowed me to stay on them. 

I worked the hill really well today.  Also, I went the direction that requires a gradual uphill for about 5km.   While I was running both of these stretches I was really fixated on that final "hell of the West" that is in Connamarra. 

My blood sugar has been very good for both of these runs, 135 to start, spoon of honey, 127 to finish today.  Some four hours later, still very good at 135. 

Good to run on the road, makes up for yesterday.

Positive or Negative?

Yesterday I rested.  Today I ran.  Just can't tell you if it was a good experience or not.  On the positives, any day you get a run in I think you should consider a good day.  Any day you get the mileage in that you wanted, in this case 15k, that is a positive.  Given that the weather was -15C with a windchill of -24C and I didn't fall or get frostbite, another positive.  I ran the big hill really strong today, a positive.  In some places the roads were really in good shape, a positive.

Many parts of the city are still uncleared which has created an ice/snow pack that is like running on rocks.  It has created serious pain on the outer point of my right foot and it feels like stone bruise on the inside ball of the same foot.  I have battled bilateral atypical neuroma of the metatarsus in the past but at this point running on these "rocks" makes it less than enjoyable.  A negative.  My schedule today was just horrible, I taught an 8:00 class and then did my management duties until about 1:00 p.m. then taught from 2 to 3:30 p.m., then walked the 2km back to my new flat and then went for a run.  Two trips to the Circus Mashrutaka stop gave me about 4.4km of walking in dress shoes for the day, plus the 15k run.  A negative, or is it a positive?

The run itself had stops and starts the whole time.  A lot of traffic today, a negative, several times I came to complete standstill just to navigate around some snow/mush or when traffic was doing something insane.  I saw two Ukrainian men argue in the middle of the street, one car pointed north, the other car pointed south, bumper to bumper, neither would move, about 50 cars behind each of them.  Didn't look like anyone was going anywhere.  Makes me glad I don't have personal transportation.

Running with the traffic continues to be beneficial when I get on the roads.  I'm trying to stay on the roads as it allows me to get some rhythm, but sometimes you have to run on this snow/ice (rocks) pack, a real downer.  Just can't say, positive or negative?  Did I run, yes, must be positive?

A Nice Surprise

We had more snow.  Overnight though "they" got to work and it turned into a rather pleasant piece of work.  A few areas were in terrible shape (one I will refer to lower down), but the majority of the streets and walkways had turned into runnable areas.  25km was the goal today and it happened.

Temp was -9 C with a light wind (nothing really but when you ran into it you knew).  I didn't run until 11:30 so there was more traffic than there usual is on a Sunday and that added to the fun and excitement.  Again I took the run with the traffic approach; but, I also ran against the traffic today a fair amount.  This is just a fascinating thing to me.  Even more data collected on this today especially about motorist behavior. 

Far more people honk at you here if you are running in to the traffic.  You can see inside their windshields that they are not happy to have to slow down for you or that you are running in to traffic, one of them.  On the other hand, running with the traffic not one person honked at me and I again had a lot of room (3-4 ft) when cars went by me.  Conversely, running in to traffic I think I had at least 15, probably more, cars honk at me.  One might ask, well then run with the traffic, right?  The problem, as I thought it through after the run, is training, I instinctively head for what I feel is the safe side of the road.  I would much prefer to see it coming than not...

Today the second half was clearly faster than the first.  Once I got to a more deserted road I really worked hard for about 3k (this was about 15k in to the run), and all the significant hills are on the second half of this run and I worked all of them hard.  I have adjusted this route from when I lived on Shulavska and it now starts at the new flat and ends about 800 meters from the flat down by the Circus, ends on a downhill.  The overall time was tolerable and I felt very strong the whole way.

Blood sugar was 133 to start, I took some Coca-Cola before I went out.  I stopped at 67 minutes to take on water and one GU.  At the end of the run I was 110.  I was very hungry afterward so I had some walnuts, sunflower seeds, water, some dark bread and some ice cream.  But also took 7 units of Humulog to offset that.  Post two hour was 194, not surprising, took 3u to get it where I want. 

It is very interesting about the city itself.  Like all big cities some places get more good treatment than others.  Today, just before water i ran for about 400 m over a 6 inch ice glaze that was left over from the last snow three weeks ago and I was wondering if the folks in that district of the city had fallen or were there injuries in this area or not. 

I would say roads were better than sidewalks today, but sidewalks were not as bad as I thought they would be.  By the way, over 110 dead from the cold in Ukraine.  Making news everywhere, I sad statement of the country.  We have about two more weeks of serious cold.  But today was a nice surprise.

Requiring some patience

-15 C and snowing since yesterday.  I didn't run yesterday because it was still -20C but it has warmed some, and with the snow it feels warmer.  Unfortunately, it is really messy out there.

Started my day by moving flats.  Had to move the broken treadmill, something that was very unexpected, down three flights of stairs and on to a truck.  I have some low back tightness this evening as I write in my new flat.  I also ran 15k from the new flat, I had already google earth'd the routes.  More on that in a bit.

We've had about 15 cm so far, about 4 inches I think, no roads cleaned, no sidewalks cleaned, it was tough out there.  The weather wasn't the problem the footing was something else.  I fell twice today, underneath all that snow is ice from when we had the freezing temperatures.  You really had your choice, sidewalk and try and get a rhythm or streets and slip and slide on snow that had been compacted and ratted up by tires.

Lets just say it was slow, slower than ever.  But still 15km and a lot of leg work with one long hill and two steep hills.  Back to the new route, it is not good but it has a brutal hill at the very end.  I may consider trying something different.  The area I am now living in has a lot of steep slopes as it is nearer the city center and the city center has always been on top of a hill that slopes hard toward the Dnipro River.

Blood sugar was very good at the start, 131, and 261 when I finished, I expected that though, I was not generating a lot of foot speed and I had an orange and an apple before I went out.  For the entire week my body has processed synthetic insulin really well, a definite indicator of the work the 40k did on my endocrine system, I hope.

I read that blog from iRunFar.com (AJW's Taproom) thought about it most of the run today, it was a very trying piece of work out there.  Not like trail running I believe, city running.

-22 C

Now that really is ridiculous.  No run.

Cold, Cold, Cold

-19 C!  At the time of the run it had actually warmed up.  I ran at about 2:15 in the afternoon.  I feel good.  I was not tight, maybe two days off helped.  I ended up taking yesterday off also as I had to cover for another teacher who was sick during the time I would normally run and then decided not to chance it at 9:30 at night.

Went 15k today.  Again, the streets are in good shape but the sidewalks are hit and miss.  A lot of ice at this point.  It being so cold there isn't even the kick up of ice chips.  It is just really really cold.  I wore the same gear as the last three runs.  The ski mask was covered in ice and ice down the front as well as ice within the top jacket.  Still, the gear is working fine for this weather.  It looks like it will warm up over the weekend so it will be -10 or so.  A heat wave.

I am pleased with the turn around and am thinking about my past marathon experiences and long runs and the kind of pain associated with them after the run.  If I remember correctly the real pain is after the actual race now the training runs.  Still, with 40k, no pain is a good sign.

A few more days of this weather, just need to battle through and put in the miles.  Patience.

The Day After

I feel pretty good.  Of course I am tired.  However, there is no soreness in the legs, walking up and down stairs is no problem.  No leg issues, or feet issues.  All and all, very satisfying.  I got a good sleep last night and hope to do so again tonight.  I am not running today as I did 15k Saturday, 40 k Sunday, so will not risk it.  Still very cold here.

Blood sugar has stayed very sharp all day.  Tested regularly, the effects on the endocrine system are as expected. My system is processing everything quickly and with less insulin. Information that must be used throughout.  About 60 days to go before Connamarra.

Moving forward without dogs, just cars

I woke at 4:00 a.m. with high blood sugar, took 7 units.  I woke at 7:35 when the alarm went off and high blood sugar still, 7 more units.  Went back to bed, woke again at 9:15 and checked the weather.  -16 C, no wind, lots of sunshine.  Seemed like a good idea to run 40km.

I wore the same thing as yesterday. I wondered whether to wear the fluid belt that has 4 8 oz bottles but I decided if I did it would freeze and when I wanted water most it wouldn't be available and I might have a mental melt down.  So I didn't wear it.  I did pack in a Jansport fanny pack, money for water and possibly a taxi, insulin with needle, glucose tester and needles and 3 GUs.  Off you go boy, see what you can do!

The first part of the run was acclimation, required 5 miles out Permohy Prospekt and then a right turn on to Adkamestechka.  I ended up spending almost this entire run on the roads, not the sidewalks running with the traffic.  Being American I was always taught to run against the traffic.  One of the teachers at our school asked me why I run against the traffic in the office and I said that is how we are taught, interestingly she said that in Ukraine your taught to walk/run with the traffic.  So I tried it.

This is my first observation about this run.  Running with the traffic I got a lot more room from cars, buses, mashrutkas, trucks than I ever do when I run against the traffic.  Initially I was really nervous about it but then I saw that I was getting real space from drivers instead of what I usually deal with doing it the other way.  So, 4 hours of running with the traffic.

The run began with 232 Blood Sugar.  I stopped at about 9 km to check Blood Sugar and was at 115 so I took GU and had 500 ml of water and then got going again.  The next part of the run called for a long stretch (about 7 km) of rolling hills out into the forests.  I never really felt I had any sort of rhythm, much like yesterday, the ski mask was covered in ice by the time I got to the turn on to Velika Killseva.  This turned out to be an uphill for almost a km and then rolling hills for another 7km or so.  It ends with a long downhill which I felt I really needed.  I turned right back into the city and stopped for water and testing at 22 km.

I thought this would work out, turns out it was the beginning of the end for me.  Recall I have one 30km in the bank and 16 days of 15km a day and yesterday I ran 15km as well.  I tested, BS was 133, drank two bottles of water, 1 litre in total and got started again.  Tough lots of things tied up in that short period of time.  The lesson there is to walk and drink and test so that things don't tie up on me.  Mainly legs and hips.

I got back in a groove and stayed on Polyarna for about 1.3 miles and the turned on to Bohatyska where I was supposed to stay for 2.2 miles.  At this point I had rhythm, I think, but on retrospect what I had was good forward progress without many problems.  But,....

I made a wrong turn and ended up heading the wrong way toward Obolon.  When I discovered it I had to work hard to stay in the game and not call a taxi.  I stopped again for water and tested, BS was 100 so I figured I was about 30 km in so I took one more GU and one water and decided to carry another water with me.  This stop proved problematic as there was ice everywhere and I couldn't get going very well for about 200 meters.  But I did.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to get back to where I am supposed to be and make some decisions about how the best way to get home is.  I entertained the notion that maybe I would run more than 40k and that thought actually excited me.  I found my way back to Moskovskiy and instead of taking a left and heading toward the river I went right and headed toward my part of the city.  Small detour though, I took another wrong turn and ended up in Petrivka which is like a massive area for selling whatever you can sell.  I ran down a street for a long time where people just laid out their belongings on blankets and tried to sell them to people.  This was, unfortunately, the worst part of the run, it was a back street, never cleared so it was a mixture of ice and snow/sand.  At this point I can feel the hurt coming on and there is one more rather big obstacle to come.

I got through this section, took a U-turn and ended up on Moskovski and knew this would turn in to Ohleny Telniy and that it would be a 2km uphill slog very soon.  At this point things were beginning to become very tired.  I continue to have good forward progress and felt like I could keep moving, I took some water, which was becoming ice in the bottle and put my head down and headed up the hill.  Very tough, but my thoughts were actually on the 3km climb in Connamara that come at the 58 km of that race.  I got up the hill and headed for Permohy for the run downhill home.

By now I'm starting to get some cramping in the upper inner right leg but nothing on the left, then one small cramp in left calf and I really don't have any stride or strength to speak of but I am still moving forward without difficulty.  I am also wondering how far I've run.  I end up back at the house and shut it down with the watch saying 4:00:41.  Okay, let's go find out how far I ran.

Turns out it was 40km this way also.  Not a fast run but a run that is done that also introduced some things to think about for longer runs.  Need to consider drinking more and drinking while walking (i've never been able to drink and run I just spill it and choke on the water).  The GU worked quite well, but my endocrine system was not happy when I got back, Blood Sugar was 263 and after 10 units and two hours it finally came down to 88.

About the clothes.  Everything was soaked, the clima cool was soaking wet which made the rain gear pants wet which made the clima cool jacket wet, the second jacket was covered in ice on the inside from the wet underneath.  The book socks worked incredibly well, never felt like I had cold feet.  I was concerned about my pinky finger on my right hand at one point, it really felt like it was in trouble but getting out the forest and back in to the city (out of the wind i think) seemed to solve the problem.  I was shocked how wet and covered in ice I was at the finish.  Everything on the radiator now :)


Fascinating about the running with the traffic, who would have thought.

Rest, restart,

I took three days off from running.  The weather took no time off.  We are having a hard, hard freeze.  Last night went down to -19 C (that is about -3 F I think).  No wind though and that is a real positive.  This morning it was sunny and about - 15 C.  So, of course, seemed like as good as time as any to get back in the saddle.

I went 15k today and by the time the run was over it was about -12 C so it warmed right up!  It might have taken me longer to dress than to run, but I jest.  For clothes the following inventory:  thick socks plus winter boot socks plus the good ole Nike Lunar Glide +3, pair of compression shorts, with a pair of running tights over that, then a pair of adidas sport pants and then a pair of adidas rain gear pants; adidas cool max winter shirt, adidas mid weather jacket, adidas winter jacket, ski mask, three pairs of gloves, watch and we're off.  If a car had hit me I would have bounced down the road :)

Turns out I was about 80%r right on the layers, I did get a cold belly and found out afterward that the adidas coo max winter shirt was soaking wet and that doesn't usually happen with that shirt.  Before I go out tomorrow I need to think of what to change, maybe a cotton shirt under that shirt?

Two great moments, back to back, within one minute of each other.  There is a stretch that is a big downhill underneath some railroad tracks and back around to a road that is straight uphill, right near the US Embassy/Consulate.  I'm coming down this hill and I see a very large sunny area up ahead, usually this area is flooded with sewage because of a pipe problem, or it has been for the 3 years I've run there.  Today I figure it will be frozen.  It is.  However, with the sun the area has guests, 8 dogs.  They found the sun and are seriously taking advantage.  I am an afterthought to these guys.  We both enjoyed the sun.

I turn the corner and go up an incline that is half dirt half rock and right now all ice and come up on Kyiv's ubiquitous man, the drunk Ukrainian and his friends (of course its 11:00 a.m.).  Well these three have tight a childs sled (soviet kind, not safety first made for WalMart kind) to the back of a car with a rope.  They have two guys screaming at each other on this little sled, and their friend unsteadily walks t the drivers side of the car, gets in and they go for a ride on this sled.  Luckily for me I saw it from the back, I sure wouldn't want them coming back up on me. 

Pleasantly happy with the run.  The streets are in much better shape and running on them was actually not bad, they've knocked back most of the snow, the sidewalks are okay in places, but in the usual places what was once like sand, is now ice and looks like Monument National Park in Utah in some places.

The three days off allowed my body to rest and re energize I think and we'll see what happens tomorrow.  I wonder how those dogs are?  I wonder if those drunks broke anything?

16 for 210, not cricket

My body and my mind finally cashed out with the weather and the conditions.  The temperature is -14 C, everything is ice that was slush yesterday.  I would say that it isn't safe, but a part of me thinks I am weak and undisciplined even though I don't have crampons to run in this stuff.  It is supposed to get even colder over the next few days.  With the kharma abuse I gave myself no option but to chance it, don't want to do that or to not run.

I managed 16 straight days and 210 km I can take that for now.

Almost groundhog day...

I really thought today's run would be like yesterday's.  Snow everywhere, up to my ankles just being patient.  Turns out this was only partly true.  Patience was required but I spent a lot of timing running freely today.

In parts I felt very comfortable.  There is still a bit of an issue with a stone bruise on the ball of my right foot but massage might help that; giving it a try tonight.

Don't get me wrong, the city is still under a lot of snow, but the roads have gotten pretty clear and if you care to chance it you can run on them, you still can't really run on most of the sidewalks; again, like deep sand at the beach.

It was really interesting to be running at about 0 C with so much snow, it created a very heavy fog that was kind of cool to look at in combination with the trees having so much snow on them.  That is when I didn't have my eyes focused two feet down in front of me or on oncoming traffic.

Most traffic in Kyiv will make way for runners; there are three types who won't.  1.  Buses, they just don't care.  2.  Marshrutkas (these are like mini-buses) over crowded, driven by maniacs and always seem to be tilting to the left or the right; they are a real danger, when I see one coming, I find the nearest quickest escape route.  No. 3 is a little tougher to predict; this is the speeder.  Every country has them, they speed in dry weather, wet weather, snow, ice, it doesn't matter, they are just using the car as a weapon ( I admit to being guilty of this at a younger age ).  The only way to tell if they are coming is the roar of the engine. 

No groundhogs sighted.

A conversation from all over the world

Weather man:  this weekend should see light snow with about a total of 1 inch of accumulation.
Reality:  One foot of snow over a 48 hour period.

Happens everywhere.  Absolutely no reason we should have it in Ukraine.  Of course I think there were very few people running in it in the dark this evening.

A truly slow boat to China today for 15km.  Over 10 min a mile, just trying to slog through some foot high drifts in some places, and then cleared sidewalks in others.  This time, the ratio of plowed to unplowed snow on the sidewalks was about 20/80 with unplowed your big winner.

No crampons, just the Nike Lunar +3's so you can imagine what that was like.  Good exercise though.

A lot of patience, a lot of very small steps, a lot of concentration but also relaxed while doing so and really sort of enjoying the run as a whole. 

Weathermen, when they are off their game, they are really off their game.

Unsuccessful, again

Woke to snow that had been falling all night.  About -1 C.  Early in the day.  I wanted to start early in hopes of not having too much traffic to worry about.  That part of the plan worked out fine.

The snow is still falling as I write this hours later.  The run was slow and deliberate, very slow, very deliberate.  The roads were slippery, the sidewalks were four inches deep in snow, in some places I came to dead stop just to navigate my way around areas that were a combination of ice/water/snow/mud/oil/etc.

My blood sugar at the start of the run was 142, nice I thought.  I packed a BS meter, three GUs mobile phone, keys, test strips and 20 UAH (Ukrainian money) to buy water in an intention to go the 35km today.

Unsuccessful.  Not because of desire but because of safety.  I couldn't run the sidewalks, and the streets were tough also and the traffic was starting to get a little crazy.  The first 15km was slower than I have run in years, just because of the footing, safety and keeping balanced.

I hope to do the 7 x 15km again this week and go from there.  I do have a little perseverance regarding the long run.  I take solace in the fact that I have this last week and hopefully this week of good base but I need to get back on track with the long run.  I hope next week I can come up with something a little more useful.

Perhaps I need just was one route for the distance?  The two loops lets me see the house, I've never liked that very much and always been a one loop guy.  My brother once did a 20 miler and past his house four times, I don't think I could do that.

Still snowing, not even pretty anymore.

Patience, Patience, Patience

Woke to some real snow coming down.  Interestingly my attitude to that was more of, it is what it is.  I have no treadmill to work with as an excuse so that set the tone for what turned in to a very good run.  Ran about 11:00 a.m.  By then it was above 0 C but still snow. 

My mind set was run slow, good foot work and keep moving forward.  However, the streets, while very wet, were in good shape and surprisingly several sidewalks had been cleared.  Still there were about 2 km of very bad footing.  I changed the steps to a more outward (like wearing snow shoes) step in one of them and started to laugh out loud while doing, I thought I might look like a gorilla running down the street to someone in a car.

In the second area of bad footing, I felt myself get very tight in the shoulders and I relaxed and really just went through things nicely.  That was a very enlightening 2 minutes; taught me a great deal. I hope I can manage to remember that experience in the coming months.

The running turned out to be quite good and I finished up nicely.  Again, showing the patience and positiveness keep things going nicely.

This has been my best mileage week in years.  Very happy with 7 straight 15k days in this weather.

Kharma

Well, never talk bad about your equipment.  We had a lot fo snow today and wind, etc. so I went for the treadmill again, watched a movie again.  This time I put in the first half of Apocalypse Now in and started running.  I started out very slowly today as I was definitely tired and had aches in pains in the upper left leg interior, a stone bruise that has been killing me in my right ball of my foot, the usual inability to get my body positioning right on the treadmill.  I eventually got things worked up to a point where I felt comfortable after about 7 kms.

Unfortunately, at about 9.2 km the machine exploded, not literally, but sparks flew and everything shut down.  This is the second time this machine has done this.  It looks like it may be fatal, don't particularly want to struggle through a language barrier getting it fixed or dealing with what is a unique maintenance experience here.  Maybe I get a new one, we'll see.

I decided to put clothes on and go outside and finish the rest of the run.  Very rough out there.  Ran up to the track, "the Match of Death" track, very famous from WW II.  But it was practically unrunnable so I went back on to the streets which were very messy so I was sprayed gratuitously by cars with snow and mud.  But I did get the rest of the run in.

Unfortunately, I felt very tired at the end.  I went back to work, suddenly I had difficulty focusing and my arms started to hurt.  I knew what this was, high blood sugar.  I took some insulin, about 10 units and still after about 30 minutes I didn't feel well at all.  I tested and my sugar was 446.  When I started the run, some two hours earlier it was 142.  This is not something that happens, it has only happened two or three times to me.  In thinking about it I think it had something to do with endocrine adjustment to mileage but they may just be bullshit and I just had high blood sugar from exercise and maybe didn't eat properly or hydrate properly.  Anyway, I took 12 more units and as I write I am 84 but very tired from the whole thing.

Never talk bad about the equipment.

Treadmill - ugh

Super cold today.  -10 C at mid afternoon and instead of dancing/skating on ice I went for the treadmill.  Let me just say I do not like my treadmill; I have tremendous mental block against my treadmill; I think it is not a very good treadmill; I think all kinds of things about my Ukrainian treadmill.  However, it is an absolute necessity if I want to run most of the time.  In fact I will have to use it a lot over the next 45-60 days.

Today was 15k on the treadmill and as usual it was extremely slow.  In the past I have listened to music, put a towel over the time/distance indicator and just tried to work on my posture and my foot work.  Today I tried something different.  I watched a movie. 

"Everything is Illuminated" is a movie directed by Lieb Schreiber based on a book written by the main character of the movie, Jonathan Safron-Foer.  I just finished reading the book so I wanted to watch the movie again anyway.  I have now seen the movie 4 times.  It was more interesting for me than the last two since I had just finished the book.  I now believe the book is more interesting.  But if you just watch the movie it too is quite good.  The story centers around a New Yorker who goes to Ukraine to find the village where his grandfather was born and moved away from during WWII.  It really is a good story, watch it if you get the chance.

Anyway, the movie itself is about 96 minutes.  The run itself was rough again, not ragged but mentally rough and I was pleased that I forgot about the time many times because I had a movie to watch.  I didn't run very quickly but that might be a good thing because I feel tired and at the same time pleased that I've done 5 15k's in a row now. 

I still don't like that treadmill.

Ragged and progress, the dichotomy

Ran at mid afternoon today.  Snow still falling in lightly.  Just seems to get weirder and weirder.  The streets are in pretty good shape, but unfortunately the streets seem a little slimmer with the snow thrown to the side.  The sidewalks are 50/50 but that might have made the run quicker.

I felt ragged out there, the start was tough with a slow 3k uphill that the first half had snow on it so trying to find the small steps and good footing was not very successful.  Snow cleared off in a couple of places so it go better but I felt ragged the whole way everywhere I ran.  Just kept trying to stand up straight and use good foot work.

By the end it was 6 minutes quicker than the last two days.  But felt rough, probably a combination 4 straight 15k days and the roughness of the terrain at this point.  Positive sides were the good work up the hills and concentration.  I managed to get some good speed going toward the end and hit some snow patches that were like sand and noticed that if I have good rhythm going and hit a bad patch of snow that my steps are very efficient, quite small and really good.  Interesting that I can't do that at the beginning and it takes about 1/2 the run to get to that point.

Something to think about.

Back to Back snow work

It snowed quite hard and now we have at least 7-8 cm of accumulation in some places and much more in low lying areas.  This has proved to make yesterday and today's runs very interesting.

One of the interesting things about Kyiv is the lack of snow clearance.  Of course once people start to walk on snow, and it isn't cleared, it starts to react to pressure like beach sand.  This is dangerous for someone like me who can occasionally show a real lack of patience.
 
Both today and yesterday I got in 15k but it was not very quick that is for sure.  I spent a lot of time worrying about footing and trying to figure out how to run properly through long patches of sand like snow that has been beaten down (see above).  By the end of today's run I developed a nice small step rhythm that allowed me to step firmly into the snow and not slip and slide.  Yesterday I kept having to real myself back in as I would over step from what I would call impatience and start to slide around, a sure fire way to get hurt.

I estimate that at least 50 percent of both runs required this type of foot work.  Other times it was running on hard pack.  It is really unfortunate that the rule that people with sidewalks in front of their buildings need to clear the sidewalk is completely ignored here.  I seem to have found all the places in town where people don't do it; and, since there is no penalty for ignoring the law, it won't be cleared until it all melts away.

From a positive point, staying in the moment and focusing on posture and this foot work seems to be keeping me from getting frustrated. In addition, this route has a lot of hills and that is good and will come in very handy for Connamarra in April.

I was able to think about some of the frustrating things about running in Kyiv these last two days as well.  Not just the unplowed snow, that is what it is and has to be worked with or I will never develop any abilities in longer running.  On the other hand, I've been trying to order GU or any other type of gel for about the last month.  It is not available anywhere here.  I went online to try to order it and found an online site that said they had it.  I had to order it and then they would call and deliver and then I would pay for it.  Unfortunately, they didn't have anything like that even though they said they had it and it was in stock.  First the place said they didn't have it in Kyiv and they had it in another city in Ukraine.  Then they called yesterday and said they didn't have it at all anywhere and that they would not be delivering.  They didn't even bother to offer any other products that they sell.  Just "we don't have it", no customer service, no sales, just нет.  This is frustrating, the lack of sophistication in customer service can be very disappointing and it is something you meet with on a daily basis.

I'll try and get 15k in all week as I said before.

A setback?

Snow, lots of it, at least it felt like it.  Intended to go 30k, didn't happen.  We had a fair amount of snow over night.  Weather people said less than 2 cm would come down, looks like we got about 7 cm.  It was quite a slog in places.

I really struggled mentally today.  I wanted to do the 30, I worked through it several times, had myself convinced to turn and start the second loop.  For the last 3 miles of the run I was back and forth in my mind.  'this is how it is, good and bad, have to work through the bad, yes the sidewalks are horrible, the roads even worse, nothing plowed, lots of slipping very small steps.' Then go to where I would turn around , take some water and a GU and do the full 30. 

Turned around and low and behold my water place was closed and there was no water when I wanted there to be water.  I shut it down immediately. I am now surprised that I couldn't just slog on and find another water place.  At least I learned something about that.  There wasn't pain there wasn't anger, there was resignation of the conditions.

It is important to take many things from this to make sure that I continue to move forward with training.  I read a great deal last night of various training plans and I think that also affected me as many suggested a week of steady distance without the long run.  Hmm, mental, mental, mental.

I'll try 15k all week and see what that does.  I did 105k over the last 7 days and that would 105k also, then go for 35k next Sunday.

Lessons learned?  Many.  Try to take them with me on the next long run.  I did not show patience today, at all.

First Snow? Sort of

Ran about midday today.  Usual 12k outdoor route.  We had snow overnight, but nothing much, when I woke it was still on the ground, a light covering, but within 90 minutes it had melted off. Once I stepped out for my run the snow had begun again.  It started light but got heavy but only for about 5 minutes, while I was going up a hill.  I thought it was going to stick for a bit and began to think about how my long run tomorrow might be if it was snow covered.

By mid run it was clearly not going to stick around.  It turned out to be just snow but not anything that stuck on the ground.  I spent the run working on posture and small steps whenever I could.  The overall run seemed to be its usual speed but in fact it was quicker than usual.  I chalk that up to running in the day time.

Today's weird running adventure:  political protest.  Part of my loop for almost all my runs is on Dehtyariv'ska St. and is either up hill or downhill depending on which way I go.  This is near the end stop for bus 31 or the Lukyaniwska metro stop.  It also happens to be where the government kept former prime minster Yulia Tymoshenko for about 4 months.  In front of the jail were protesters of varying numbers for the whole time.

Well, today, it was snowing and there were police everywhere as I headed toward the prison so I was pretty sure someone was making some noise.  I began to hear loudspeaker "speak" as I went by.  I looked to my left by the jail and there was a man in front of a microphone doing his Hyde Park Speakers Corner gig with about 5 people watching, 4 of whom were photographers.  Unfortunately, to my right were three police officers screaming at me to run on the sidewalk not on the street, I think one might have been telling me to put some long pants on (I do get some strange looks from people in winter here).  I just kept running.

Day time runs are always much more fluid than the night time runs in Kyiv.  I think it is primarily because it is easier to see where you are going and steps are easier to take so therefore it is not as ragged.  I've read on many sites that night running is always slower for what would seem to be obvious reasons (steps, confidence).

As I've said Kyiv's roads and sidewalks are a lot like trail running except it is all concrete and pavement, still a positive would be that it does require that you always work on your foot work.  :)

Daytime treadmill but with positives

I managed to get 12k on the treadmill during the middle of the day.  That in itself is not particularly interesting.  More interesting was the handling of the various things that came up during the run.  I've mentioned in the past I like to listen to music during the treadmill runs and that I don't handle the machine well at all.

First and foremost, the music didn't work well at all; in the past I would have not handled this well and come up with some kind of reason to bale out on the run.  I worked through it and I think some of the work with following the breath and mindfulness were very useful for this. 

The other point is that I am not exactly running quickly, or what I used to call quick.  Part of my approach to this preparation is about patience and I was pleased that patience was more prevalent today given the "non-standard" way the run played out.  I like things to be without hiccups and this had hiccups and I worked through it.

3 days post long run

Monday, as we all recall :) was my long run of 30k.  I've managed to run every day since then so that is a positive.  Tuesday was on the treadmill.  It got really cold very quickly that day so I went for 12k on the treadmill with the music off my Vkontake page.  Vkontakte is the Russian/Ukrainian version of Facebook without the ridiculous amount of people talking to me since I'm American and no body knows me but my students and my co-workers.  But you can download music and have a music page and that is what I use for the treadmill.

I have never had much success with a treadmill.  I always feel I'm having to work a lot harder at it than when I am outside on the roads.  I've read differing opinions on this on the web.  Some people think its easier, others think it isn't. For me there is a marked increase in effort to run on the treadmill.  As a result, I've managed to develop a dislike for those workouts.  However, in graceful fashion I rationalized that the treadmill would allow for consistent slow pace for recovery from Monday's long effort.  It did.  Of course the positive is that and the fact that I didn't have to run in the dark on the streets/sidewalks.

Ah, but I did Wednesday and Thursday.  Both 12k runs had all the fun and adventure of Kyiv that you can ask for.  Bad sidewalks, bad roads, wild dogs chasing you and lots of dark with no street lights working.  Actually the Wednesday run wasn't bad, but Thursday was a struggle and I really never felt comfortable on the entire run.

We still don't have any snow on the ground here, but now you see some patches of ice where there was rain and then it got cold.  Important to stay focused on those, last year I did a serious ice slam and cut my chin up real good on the pavement/concrete.

Along with wild dogs chasing me toward the end of the run I also saw a drunk guy get thrown out of a car by his friends on an extremely busy road near Shulavska Metro.  Incredibly dangerous because 1) they just stopped the car in traffic and threw him out; and 2) they threw him out in to the middle of the street, not the curb.  Unfortunately, I couldn't help much, I yelled to get out of the street, but my Russian is not great.  I stopped to make sure he made it to the side of the road then kept running.  Kyiv is a big city, there is not a lot of helping your fellow man here just like in most very large cities.

Anyway, Wednesday was weird and today I felt like I hit every pot hole, crack, bump, gash, uneven spot on the run.  Just one of those runs.  What is the title of that book from iRunFar?  "Relentless Forward Progress"  that is all I can work on with runs like that.

Long Run Monday

It's Monday, flew back from London yesterday.  Did not get a run in yesterday, probably for the best, it may be that my legs needed a rest for a bit.  Though they did not get much help standing in line at Gatwick Airport.  For some reason Ukrainian International Airlines did not have a good week with my flights as regards ground service.  Both in Kyiv and in Gatwick the lines for check in were extremely long and extremely slow and as a result both flights left very late.  At least I got a break coming back in to Kyiv in the passport control.  I was third in line and he only asked in that unique way that Ukrainian passport control as "Why are you here."  I felt like saying for the great customer service, but I went for the truth (director of studies of language school)which really should have mean that they check my passport for VISAs stamps, etc.  Instead, he did nothing, he stamped it, didn't even ask me where I was staying.  I have never had any consistent set of questions (like the typical questions you receive going in and out of the EU) asked of me by Ukrainian passport control going in or out so don't think they you can guess what they are going to ask you when you come in, just answer the questions.  Don't think they are going to smile or be friendly or anything, unfortunately, passport control is not the best representative of Ukraine and of course, it is the first experience you have with the country if your are flying in.  Its too bad really.

We are off today, Monday, so I got the long run in today.  Two loops of the 15km course.  A good time as well.  Clearly the hill work I did in London was useful as this loop has two significant hills, though much longer than in London, but they were not particularly tough having worked hard on how the form should be and I think I am making real progress with the smaller steps and posture.

Not too many dogs today.  The weather was 0 C. It was supposed to snow, but it never did.  BS was 223, I took 1 unit before I left, I took water and GU at 15km and at the end of the run the BS was 210.  I did sense some right leg tightness toward the end.  I also put the orthotics in today to replace the form fitting product that Nike provides in the Lunarglide 3+ product.  Useful.