Between races

“I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have than to have things I am not able to appreciate.” **Elbert Hubbard**

I’ve been a real slacker since my last half marathon, but my running is back on track so I think my blogging should be too. :-)


Recovering from the Outer Banks Half Marathon was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I really pushed my limits for that race which, when added to the fact that I was tired before I hit the start line, and then didn’t rest enough after the finish, made for several weeks of feeling like something the cat dragged in. It was worth it though!


I also made a real mistake in not letting my calf fully heal before trying speed work again. I’ve had a couple of instances of stepping down off of a stool or something similar and re-injuring it, in addition to running sprint intervals. I’m fine if I run at a consistent pace of 9 minutes per mile or less with a proper warm up, so I decided to enter a 5k with my track club last weekend. I’m sure I would have been fine if I had stuck to the plan: warm up, go easy, and enjoy the run. However, I waited too long to start my warm up so it wasn’t long enough for the cold conditions, and then I decided to add a 100 yard sprint to the end of my warm up. This was MONUMENTALLY stupid as I managed to pull my calf before the race even started. Irritated as I was, I ran it anyway and managed to do almost an 8 minute mile for the first mile and then spent the rest of the race limping back.


In the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten in a few 3 to 5 mile runs, one 13 miler, and one 10 miler with a couple more weeks to go, so I won’t be totally out of shape for my half marathon on the 27th. I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to approach that one though. Between 12 hours of jet lag, an increase of 1,000 ft. of elevation, weather change from 30 degree days to 90 degree days, and probably not getting in a lot of miles for the next couple of weeks, I will probably just take it slow and easy and enjoy the run. Mostly I’m looking forward to a few weeks of 90 degree days!


I doubt I will do any more totally barefoot runs for the year, so I’ll go ahead and state that my barefoot mileage for the year is 258.5! My running total for the year is approaching 800 miles.
I did not run the Atlanta Half Marathon. It was a huge disappointment to have to give up my trip, but I needed to take care of my dog and frankly I wasn’t up to running another 13 miles that soon after the Outer Banks race so it wouldn’t have gone well anyway. I’ll settle for 3 half marathons in a year, assuming nothing gets between me and the race in 2 weeks. I’m happy with my totals and do not need to compare them to anyone else’s. I’ve made great strides this year and met several goals earlier than expected and even met a couple of new ones I hadn’t considered at the beginning of the year! I’ve battled a bit with RA flare ups, but mostly I have been able to keep it under control. I still have that 25 minute 5k to beat and the long term goal of a 4 hour marathon that is probably still a couple of years away. I have more than enough to look forward to in the next year, including my husband returning from Afghanistan and lots of fun races with friends. It will be very cool to see the elites of South East Asia pass me on the Marathon course in a couple of weeks. How many sports are there where you can compete on the same course at the same time as world competitors!