Mo' Jo: Bisbee Is Coming.

Distance: 30 miles (in several runs)
Pace: MUCH better. Am changing name to Mo' Jo (short for Moderate)
Injuries: 1

Greetings, wine and running fans! So last Saturday, I was hanging out with TST watching her kid play soccer, and she had on an awesome tank top that I should have taken a picture of. It said, "RUN NOW WINE LATER." She was mildly concerned it wasn't appropriate for a kiddie-event, but basically every parent who walked by complimented her on her shirt. We at Running on Wine are apparently not alone in our love of post-run wine.

I've been running quite a lot lately. I tried trail running. This came to an abrupt--and I mean abrupt--halt when I managed to fall two steps into the run. I wasn't really awake or into the run, but I had gone anyway. We walked up the concrete path to where Trail 100 starts at Dreamy Draw, and then said, "Let's go!" I stepped off the concrete onto the trail , started to run, and caught my toe on a rock. BAM. I slammed my hip into the ground and scraped my shin, elbow, and hands. So that run was sort of a bust. I had to tell the other runners to go on without me while I reassured myself that my hips and knees still worked.

I needed a different run. One with fewer rocks. My office is three miles from my house, so I started running to and from work. I have learned that it is perfectly acceptable to run three miles holding a Tupperware container with my lunch in it in one hand and my iPhone in the other. I work in a very small office and am my own boss, so the dress code is pretty lax around here. If I want to wear sweaty clothes, that's fine, says the boss. The office is a converted house, so the bathrooms even have showers. Why wouldn't I run an extra six miles a day?

"I know why," says one uninvited speaker. "Because I am going to blow up on you." Well, welcome, Achilles tendon, to the Injury Party.

I consulted the Bible of Running, aka Runner's World, and it said, to no one's surprise, that the Achilles can get inflamed from increasing mileage too quickly. Guilty. Moreover, I've been really trying to increase my pace. I've been running more like 10:30s, which is still slow for many of you, but for me represents an increase of like 1:17 per mile (approximately). (I got that from Nike Run, which has been sending me happy little messages like that.) To increase my pace, I've been trying to speed up my cadence and also quit striking with my heel.

For example, yesterday we ran the Bridle Path for four miles. I took off like a shot (in my mind). Felt great. Run run run. You would think I would have learned by now that starting off too fast leads to a great deal of pain later on in the run, but no. I have learned nothing. Coach caught up to me around the end of Mile 2 when I was beginning to think about lying down in the roadway and said, "So, started off too fast?" I would have told him off but I couldn't breathe. But after we turned around, I felt good again and tried my best to haul ass back to the car, focusing on my cadence and keeping my weight on the balls of my feet. It's been really fun to see better times on my Nike Run app.

Really fun! But then I had to limp down the hallway to the coffeepot when I got out of bed this morning. Ah, man. Rest and ice, rest and ice.

Observant readers will note that this post, titled Bisbee Is Coming, has absolutely nothing to do with Bisbee. But I'm getting there. We're going this weekend for the Bisbee 1000, a four-mile race with a thousand stairs. I've been running stadiums with Pixie and E to get ready. I actually love that workout but wish my calves would not cry for an entire week afterward. We are planning to be dressed as hippies. Last year, there weren't that many people in costumes, but we are undeterred! Unfortunately, TST is not able to go to Bisbee, so you'll have to get the race report from me. Maybe we can get Pixie to do a guest post. See you in Bisbee or in next week's blog!