Running stats:
Miles run: 218
Elevation gain: 12,769
Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month): 59, 39, 47, 64
November mileage should have increased from November, not decreased, but alas, the training plan became completely unraveled due to setbacks as noted below.
Primary running surfaces: Trails (146 miles), roads (74)
Primary running locations: Charlestown (105 miles), then Westerly (44) and West Greenwich (26)
Other disciplines:
Walk / hike: 7 miles
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Miscellaneous:
This month did not go well, as I had a number of setbacks during the month:
Nov 1: Trail fall. Started the month off with a trail fall. Finishing up an 11-mile Arcadia run with Brady, I was on a very non-technical section of JB Hudson trail when all of a sudden I tripped and went down. Landed on my chest on dirt in the middle of the trail. Oof. Got the wind knocked out of me. Brady of course ran back to check on me. What happened? A fallen tree limb sticking out into the trail. I should've seen this.
Nov 3: Bleeding. Planned 21-miler with 10 x (1 minute on, 1 off). Felt fine until about 13 miles in, when I unexpectedly just felt sluggish. Stopped 15 miles in to pee, and felt very lightheaded as I unexpectedly peed out a lot of blood. Rested a while, and then cut the run short as I jogged the mile and a half back to my car. Don't know if this hematuria was due to some internal injury from the fall two days ago, or the hard run today, or a combination of both?
Nov 8: Bad fall. Similar to the trail run a week ago today, I fell with about a mile to go and got the wind knocked out of me. But that's where the similarities end. This was a really bad fall. Running downhill on Sammy C's trail, when I got my left foot caught under a root. If my foot came free, I probably would've just fallen forward and banged my knees up, but that root would not release my foot. With my foot still stuck beneath the root, my body twisted around hard and I came down hard on rock, landing first on my upper back, then hitting the back of my head and my right forearm both into rock. With the strain and pressure on my foot, it actually tore my shoe until released from the root. This was extremely painful and I lay on the ground for quite a while. Brady ran back right away, licking my face, and whining for me to get up. Not that he could do much for me, but his loyalty and attention was certainly appreciated. I groaned as I touched the area of my head that hurt, and felt the blood running through my running hat. Ugh. Finally and very slowly got up and hobbled back to the car.
Took 48 hours off, then tried running but too painful. Three days later I was able to run-walk, but still painful.
Nov 14: Broken rib. Six days post fall, this still hurt nearly constantly. Went to the local urgent care to get this checked out. After an x-ray, I found out why it hurt so much: I broke a rib! Ugh. Not that they can do much, but at least I knew this now as well as that I shouldn't be reaching, twisting, lifting greater than 5 pounds, and should only be running easy. Well, that's it - no racing Li'l Rhody.
Nov 20: All clear. Another six days later, coming up on two weeks post-fall, had a follow-up with my new PCP. (Side note: happy that he is a runner. He said he's run Blessing many times, but now runs less and enjoys running the Ocean Road 10k.) All restrictions are now gone, except that he cautioned me to listen to my body and adjust accordingly. Progress!
Nov 27: Shin splints? Dull pain running down the inside of left leg below knee. Symptoms certainly resemble shin splints. I feel like I just can't get a break this month. Took three of seven days off, elevated my left leg when possible, and avoided hard surfaces. Hopefully I get lucky with recovery.
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Races:
None. An unintended streak comes to an end. After 31 straight months of racing at least once (since April 2021), I backed out of all planned and tentative races this month. Will be back at it in December.
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Miscellaneous:
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| Not that I ran much in November, but it seemed to be New Shoes Month! Starting off here is my 2nd pair of VJ Spark. The "Best Grip on the Planet" moniker is no joke. Just love these shoes. Even wore these during my Quebec Mega Trail 50K, despite the shoes being rated for "short distance", but the lightweight just works well for me. |
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| NB Rebel 3. My go-to road shoe. Love these shoes. This is my 3rd pair of the Rebel 3, after multiple Rebel 2 as well, but these hold up better. |
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| NB Elite v3. Carbon fiber. I haven't worn these yet, but I really liked my Elite v2, which I wore to a PR in Detroit at 2:47:57 a year ago. Hoping these last me through middle of next year in road races, as they're not cheap. |
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stopped at one of the campsites explaining summer scouting at Camp Yawgoog from my youth perspective about 45 years ago |
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| Yammering on about something. Brady got tired of listening to me and went into the water (Yawgoog Pond). |
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| I love this log bridge personally, but truth be told as hike leader it made me nervous that someone might slip or fall into the drink. |
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| Thanksgiving dinner at our house. Ironically the first time the four of us were together all year. (Jana took the photo). Nice to spend the holiday with my Mom as well. |
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| Nov 29: Big River Management Area, at the dam at Capwell Mill Pond |
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| This is at Carr's Pond, and appears to be some long abandoned water pipes that led to a dam and raceway. Pretty neat. |
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Monthly highlight: Finally getting back to a long run with 16+ miles at Big River on November 29.
Monthly lowlight: Yeah, that's pretty easy. The broken rib and ensuing pain and running interruption. Pretty much killed my marathon training, but small in the scheme of life. Onward.
I know the pain of the cracked rib. Not fun!
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