August Miles!

So August ended this morning with a run that was both strong and fast, but painful.  The blisters on my achilles are getting worse.  But my plantar fasciitis is getting better I think!  I've followed a couple pieces of advice pretty closely -- stretching before waking up, stretching after a run and trying to avoid going barefoot whenever possible.  I think I'm even going to put those orthotics into my house shoes so I can wear them instead of gym shoes in the house.  I also have a new lovely gel kitchen mat that my hubby got me for my bday, so even on days like today when I forget that I'm not supposed to be barefoot and I stand in the kitchen, it's not as painful as it used to be.  I think I'm going to cancel my follow-up appt tomorrow with my ortho.  The main reason for the appt was to determine if I wanted to get a cortisone shot in the next couple weeks to carry me over the marathon, but from what I've heard, it would be painful and I don't think I'll need it.  Right now, I have all the pain I can handle with putting that liquid bandaid stuff on my heel blisters. 

I ran on my own this morning from about 3.5 until 8.2, but I wasn't far back from the back half of the group and since I'd done race pace on Sunday as well, I had a pretty good excuse.  I also think I found a buddy to run with on Saturday at the race I'm doing.  As much as my ego needs a PR or an age group award right now, I know it's not the right thing to do -- going for it with my feet in the current shape, with the current temps, and with 18 the next day, it would just be a mistake.  But one of the guys in my weekday group is also thinking of doing the race and we talked about running it easy together, which would be great.  I hope the plan works.  I'd still like to place if possible, so maybe I can hang with him for the first few miles and then kick toward the end.  Because I think I'm going to hang out after the race for about an hour (because my hubby is going to add miles at the end of the race for his long run this week), it would be nice to get an award while I wait!  It will all depend on the competition though, because even kicking toward the end won't be enough if I start out easy and there's a decent sized field. 

Anyway, August numbers are set now.  August 2010:  184.8 (barely beating last Aug., a mere 2.3 ahead).  YTD:  837.9.  Miles needed to meet 2010 year-end goal:  462.1 (which works out to 115.5 per month, or about 27 per week).  August is traditionally my highest-mileage month of the year, but Sept. should be solid and should drive those average numbers down a bit.  Assuming I do my expected Sept. runs (allowing me to skip all Saturdays except this one, figuring 4.5 on Wednesdays, 0s on Mondays, and 1.5 on Fridays), I should be at about 155.  Last Sept. was just under 170, so maybe I should add in some more miles on Saturdays, but I'd rather just make up the deficit in October, when I try to make a dent anyway in the extra 15 miles I want this year.  And I think there will be a few days where I go over a bit. 

MTCM is one month away at the end of this week!!!  I think my husband is as excited as me to have the race be over.  He does most of our vacation planning and wants to nail down the dates for us to go to Europe in the spring, but I've asked him to hold off until after MTCM just in case I hit a BQ.  Unlikely as it may be -- again, the mental strength isn't there for me.