Cowboy Hazel

When looked at as a whole, I'd have to call October a good month. But, it definitely didn't finish up as good as it began. Things seemed to be rolling when I hit Chicago but then quickly fell apart. The PR mileage weeks faded into weeks spotted with extra recovery days in response to a long list of ailments. Maybe I pushed too hard. Even though the finish wasn't stellar, I'm happy with the fact that I beat my old monthly mileage best with 241 miles, and that I got three 20+ milers in.

The last of those was a rough 24 miler yesterday. I just never was able to get into the groove. It was a constant struggle to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Then, at mile 17, I got this horrible chest cramp and had to stop and walk for a quarter mile. I never recovered from that – my pace fell from around 7:20s to 8:30s and basically I was just in a controlled fall the rest of the way home. But I finished it at least.

Now I just have to survive the taper and hope it leaves me feeling a little stronger. I got a new, bigger foam roller and so now I'm able to do all the exercises from this summer at physical therapy. That along with lots of icing will hopefully do the trick. Or so I hope...