October 29, 2005
Well Now, Where Was I?
Hi all, I'm back! You may (or may not) remember me from before. I blogged here months ago while I was training (unsuccessfully, but that's a whole 'notha story) for a marathon. Afterwards, I disappeared into the proverbial blogging abyss for reasons not worth pondering here. But suffice it to say that I am back, and excited to be here again. There's a certain positive, supportive energy that circulates among the eliterunning.com women (and men) and their readers that's difficult to find elsewhere. I'm pleased to be a part of it again!
So, who am I? My name is Meghan, I'm 27 years old, I live in Wyoming (You may remember me as living in Texas; I just moved to Wyoming about 5 months ago.), and (obviously) running is one of my main hobbies. As an adult, I've run several marathons, lots of half marathons, and some races at shorter distances. However, compared to many, I am inexperienced in this field. I'm not remarkably fast; in fact, my blogging at a site called eliterunning.com is about as oxymoronic as you can get. But, I love to run and I enjoy racing. Additionally, I've found that during the bouts of decent training that I have had, I have experienced good race results. And I sincerely hope that there is a lot more in me from where that came from.
In addition to running, I'm a big fan of lots of other outdoor activities. Hiking, road biking, and backpacking are highest on the list. I'm lucky enough to live and work in Yellowstone National Park, which makes my home about as close to a grown-up playground as anyone could experience. Right outside my door is, in my opinion, some of the finest wilderness and recreation areas in the United States. Between the national park proper, which encompasses 2.2 million acres, there are equal amounts of other federally managed lands, much of it national forest. As I mentioned, I just moved to Wyoming, so much of this is still brand new to me. Prior to Yellowstone, I lived and worked at Big Bend National Park in Texas. However, I am well aware of how lucky I am to call Yellowstone National Park (and previously Big Bend) my home.
As for my running and where it is right now, I've spent much of the last ten months either injured or recovering from an injury, and this time has been rather discouraging. But, I do think that I've learned a lot during this time. And while I wish I could say that I'll never get injured again, I know that's not likely to be the case. At least now I believe that have the tools to deal with injury in a healthy way.
Speaking of being healthy, that's what I am right now. I've been running healthily for about two months now. I'm not in particularly good shape; my base for that time is a measly twenty to twenty-five miles-a-week. Thankfully, I feel that I've sustained some of my aerobic capacity through road biking and hiking, and I'm grateful for that! However, I am not in good running shape! I know that I am my own best and worst judge, and I'm aware that I may be assessing myself harshly. But suffice it to say that, above everything, I feel fortunate to be running healthy and I know the rest will come with time.
The plan? A grand scheme? My goals? I've been mulling this around for several weeks. I'm just coming off of a very busy fall wherein time for my running was highly limited. I now have window of opportunity of indefinite length where I have enough free time to dedicate to some more serious running. The only problem is that winter is on the brink here, and along with that comes some difficult training weather. Hence, the issue at hand: Do I use this window of free time to train hard, and suck up the harsh winter weather? Or do I wait several months for winter to break and the weather to grow more mild before I train seriously for anything? At this point, I haven't quite figured out what to do yet, but I'm leaning towards option 1, because I'm healthy and my available free time is too tempting.
So, I guess that's a bit (No, that's a lot more than a bit, if you made it this far, you get a gold star for your dedicated reading, thank you!) about me. I hope you enjoy this blog!
Posted by Meghan at October 29, 2005 6:01 PM
Comments
Go for option 1.
Nice to "meet you" by the way :-)
Posted by: Thomas Soerensen at October 30, 2005 9:43 AM
woohoo! welcome back, m! glad you're back with eliterunning.com and off of blogger. i'd say option one, as long as you're injury free. knowing your shins and ankle, i'd back off at the first hint of reinjury.
oh, and get some of those yaktraks. those are supposed to be awesome for snow/ice running.
Posted by: jeff at October 30, 2005 12:08 PM
Welcome back! I really enjoyed your blog and wondered and worried where you'd gone (you know, that mountain lion story). Glad you're recovered from your injuries.
Posted by: Lizzie at October 30, 2005 4:31 PM
option 1, welcome back !
Posted by: liz at October 30, 2005 6:40 PM
Yay, I am so happy that you're back!!
Welcome back. I also vote for Option 1. Get some really good cold weather running clothes/gear, and you will be fine. I am excited to read about your exploits on eliterunning again.
Posted by: Barb at October 31, 2005 10:25 AM