Back in the saddle...

After about a 6 week running hiatus, I am back in the saddle again. I think it was good to give my body a chance to heal and rest, but I really didn't plan on taking that long off. I had some personal stuff going on and was super busy. Anyway, I am starting off slow in an effort to AVOID INJURY!!! But I will say when I ran 1 mile on Christmas Day I thought I was in big trouble. It is so hard to start over again, which should give me big motivation to never stop running! Having said that, I'm happy with how it's progessing and getting easier every day. It won't take long to get back in shape. My legs are still strong, and could go all day. It's the lungs that need to keep up!

I've decided to post only miles run and not all my other workouts to keep it simple. I ran about 500 miles in 2008 and would like to be closer to 700 or 800 this year.

Still here!

I'm still alive! I haven't updated this page in a while, but I promised to be better about it!! I've now signed up for the Mini Marathon in May, and the Drumstick Dash again this Thanksgiving. So time to get back to some serious training. No more injuries, no more excuses!

Race Report (Sort of)

I did something yesterday that I've never done before, and hopefully will never do again. I dropped out of the race.

First, I ran into some bad traffic on the way down. Completely unexpected, so I missed the start of the race. I thought I could cross over the start with the walkers, but by the time I got parked & up to the start line, everyone had gone. Very disappointing. So I went ahead and joined in with the crowd and started running at what turned out to be the 2 mile marker. And it just so happens that I was running with much faster runners, so I was running too fast a pace to maintain, which is never good. I finally slowed to a more sustainable pace, and then of course, everyone was passing me, which is never good psychologically. As I continued to run, my knee started hurting again. I started thinking about running another 8 miles, and crossing the finish knowing I had not officially run the full 1/2 marathon. I also was concerned about my knee, and the fact that I had just overcome my back injury, and it still isn't 100%. So I made the decision to pull out of the race in order to prevent another injury which could take me out of running for the next few weeks. I wound up running about 5 miles. Plus I just don't think my heart was in it.

Based on the way I feel today (physically), I made the right decision. My knee still hurts, my ankle on the same side hurts, and the very low part of my shin on the same side is extremely sore. Psychologically, I'm pretty bummed out. But I think I need to get healthy & healed first. I knew I wasn't really prepared for this race. My training had been haphazard, and then I was recovering from injury, so perhaps I shouldn't have even gone down there. I will never again enter a race I'm not fully prepared for. I will also be back at that same race next year and will KILL it.

Half Marathon???

I'm going for it! My back is still a little dicey, but I ran 5 miles Wednesday night and felt pretty darn good, so I am going to attempt the race tomorrow morning. My NEW goal is just to finish the darn thing, running as much of it as I can. I am not too hopeful to get a new PR, but the course will be less crowded than the Mini was in May, and it's going to be nice & cool tomorrow morning, so you never know what will happen... on the flip side my training & diet has been not nearly as good as it was for May, and then I'm recovering from injury, so it's hard to say...

Race report to follow...

Another quick post

i hurt my back and i'm hoping i recover in time for next weekend. We'll see what happens...

quick post

Just a quick post to state, yes, I am still alive. Just really busy. Only a week and a half before the half marathon. HUGE huge huge blister on my big toe which is a pain (literally) and quite annoying so close to the race. Other than that, I'm on track for the half!

Is running contagious? and other random thoughts

First, my daughter, now 2 people at work have started running! Craziness...

My daughter is doing well. She is only doing about a mile each run, but her time has improved drastically and she is at about a 10:00 mile. She said it is getting easier (they always say listen to your mother, right?). Anyway, she did the mile in gym today and it was 12:50! What?!?! The problem is, during her training runs at home, she runs the whole way. At school, she runs with other people and starts out way too fast, then has to walk some of it. She actually admitted that's what happened today, and that she KNEW she was running too fast. So I said, well... then didn't you tell yourself, gee I better slow down? Then there was some discussion about her convoluted theory on getting too fast and then getting a worse grade. Some kind of junior high logic that I didn't quite follow. Still, it's so much fun to see her starting to be able to feel her pace. And her speed... ugh, it's mind blowing. She will very shortly be running too fast for me to keep up with her. Honestly, I hope that she does beat my butt! She is the one person that I feel no need to compete with, and I can honestly be happy in her success :) My husband, on the other hand... it burns my hide that he's passed me up (on speed anyway-- i still got him on distance).

Lastly, on a sad note, my lower back is killing me. I'm not sure what I did, but it's been bothering me off & on since Saturday. It felt better Sunday morning, so I ran my 9.3 miles, and then it started hurting again. Supposed to do 5 some time this week and 11 on Friday, so I really need it to get better. Half marathon is right around the corner!!