I'm back for 6 miles this morning

That 26 mile trail run took it's toll on me. My legs felt ok but my back was really sore around my sacrum for 3 days. The yard work on Sunday didn't help I'm sure. I got in an easy 6 miles this morning and man it was cold today and there was an even colder wind!

Due to poor consistency over the past 10 days my mileage for March only reached 168. Total milage for the year is 444 (I thought you would like that Ron).

I found a couple of interesting websites to post.

Here is the Running USA Annual Report for 2009.
Number of annual marathon finishers still in the rise.
Stats I found intersting:
A record 88 US marathons had over 1000 finishers.
I have run 2 out of 5 (Boston and CIM) of the marathons with fastest median times.
LA is 3rd on the list of slowest median times.
Last year Twin Cities was 9th largest marathon in the country (8474 finishers).
CIM was 16th largest marathon in the country (5848 finishers).

There is also an exclusive club of three men who have run a sub 3 hour marathon in 5 different decades. If she runs a marathon this year, Joan Benoit Samuelson would be the first woman in this club (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s). If I were to join this club I would have to run a sub 3 hour marathon at the age of 61 (unlikely). I think I would be ecstatic with three decades. That would put me at 41. My problem is I ran my first sub 3 hour marathon at the age of 25 in the middle of a decade (2005). You have a better shot if you are younger and run your first at the end of a decade.

Finally, here is an article from the NY Times in which a cardiologist/triathlete says, "If you have a sports injury (repetitive overuse), DON'T go see a doctor." He has a lot of good points.

My advice, know the red flags and monitor your recovery times. If you need help with a problem that isn't improving, a physician or physical therapist that is a runner is probably a good person to talk to. HINT HINT