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September 30, 2004
It's Been a While
I have not consciously neglected my blog, but maybe I have on a subconscious level. While I seem to be doing remarkably well mentally and emotionally, I must admit that I do miss running more than I anticipated. The break was nice . . . for a week. It has now been over 4 weeks since I planted one foot in front of the other, and my foot is still swollen. One of my friends is a doctor and he suggested getting a cast, but I think it's a bit too late for that. Plus, I have already lost all of my running fitness so I keep asking myself the same question: does it really matter if I come back a week or two earlier with a cast than without it? I kind of don't think so, but I may be wrong. My only goal is to run (NOT RACE) a little turkey trot 4 miler Thanksgiving morning. I have managed to run it almost every year since my freshman year in college and I am anxious to run it again this year. I think that is a reasonable goal, but I need to at least be running by mid October! I have some serious doubts about that one. Perhaps a New Year's Eve 5K would be a better and more realisitc goal.
The good news is that I am no longer limping around campus or the neighborhood! The pain is still present, but it is tolerable. I have also adopted biking as my alternative to running and I have been lifting weights at least 3 x a week...I think I even saw an arm muscle the other day!! I would love to have my veins start popping out . . but I am leap years away from that.
Not too much has been going on these days. I lead a rather boring life that entails going to school, TA-ing, working out (3-5x/wk), writing, doing homework and when I have time, sleeping. I have actually never been happier - I LOVE school and I have made some wonderful friends! Honestly, a sore foot and a few weeks of missed running is not that big of a deal :-)
I have also been thinking about my training approach and I have made some good decisions (at least, I think they are good). I am going to tune out all the "noise" (other runners giving me advice) for a while and focus on what I know my body can handle, and what I have had success doing before. I am going to rewind to my premarathon training in 2002 that resulted in my 3:04 - which seems more and more like a "one hit wonder" time these days. I am going to run 6 miles in the morning Monday - Friday, 8 on Saturday and either rest on Sunday or run 8-15 miles. I had so much success with that regime, no matter how monotnous or unexciting it may seem. Yeah, there was no speedowork, but every run was done around 7 minute pace and I never got hurt. I did not get hurt until I jumped my mileage....I also got a lot slower. I should have learned my limits by now - every time I run over 60 miles/wk, I end up getting injured (I have a LONG history with injuries!)
Who knows? It's all one big experiment to me :)
The presidential debate starts in 30 minutes!!!
Posted by bridget at September 30, 2004 06:11 PM