back in business

sorry for not posting for a while. i've been, well, resting. shocker, i know. but after saturday's painful start, i thought it best to do a whole lotta stretching this week. and so i did.

this morning, i wanted to run 10 - 11 miles. the logic here was that i ran 9-something two weeks ago, and next week there is a 1/2 marathon i wanted to run, and you should run at least a ten mile under your belt before you go for a 1/2. of course this all depended on the ol' quad.

generally my leg felt better and better over the course of the week. until last night, when it felt a little twinge-y (successfully psyching me out for a little bit). my boy made me a proper carbo-loaded dinner served nice and early (yeah, tasted good too) and i went to bed at a reasonable hour only a little nervous.

i got up at 6:30 to eat the peanut butter sandwich sweder made me and chugged some water and then it was back to bed to sleep for another hour. yes, its now crazy breakfast time, where the runs are too long for a quick snack before. so its get out of bed, scarf down some breakfast, and snooze for another little bit.

i was running late. couldn't find my hat. my gloves. erg - where are my socks! i hate starting a morning off that way so i tried to decompress a little as i hauled myself up the hill to the park. luckily, everyone was still making announcements so i had time to get settled. because we're in hill training, the rest of the intermediates would be running a 5-mile-loop with a 1.5 mile hill repeat, and a 3-mile-loop with a 1-mile repeat, for a total of about 10.5 miles. i had orders from michael not to mess around with the hills too much so i did not have to do the repeats. instead, i decided to aim for two 5-mile loops...10 miles total.

we were also supposed to be running in groups today but i didn't want to, figuring i'd need to make adjustments for my leg. so i started with a few people, but soon they were long gone and i was out on my own.

my over-all impression of that run was "good grief that took a long time." ug. i was slow. super slow. in fact the first time up the big hill i was convinced i could walk faster. but i was feeling okay. my injured quad was just fine - if anything i felt an over all creakiness that was probably a product of not having run since the previous week and some compensation going on for the weak quad. i finally ran into lisa somewhere in the 4th mile.

"roxie! how you doing?"
"i'm slow but doing okay."
"how's the quad?"
"it seems okay so far. no hill repeats for me i'm thinking though."
"yes i would say that's a good idea."
"so, i did 9 or so two weeks ago, and i was going to go for 10 today..."
"...good"
"so that i can run the 1/2 marathon next sunday."

at this point lisa made a face that meant well-i-don't-know-if-that's-a-good-idea.

i quickly chimed in with "well, depending on this goes, you know?"

"well, rox, i'm going to send the email soon, but i'm going to very strongly recommend that folks like you not push it too hard for the 1/2 marathon."
"people like me injured?"
"no, people like you right on the cusp mileage wise. there is the bronx 1/2 on february 10th that we'll all be doing, so there really isn't necessary for you to push it. especially for you where there's an injury you're trying to get over."

i must of have had a grumpy look on my face, or at least some sort of look because she did say "but of course, its your decision." i told her i really really would think about it. soon after i stoped for a goo and some water, and a stretch and was feeling pretty good when i headed back out.

so all the way to where the turn off is for the 5 mile loop, the devil on my shoulder was a-whispering...

"if you're not going to do the 1/2, and it seems like lisa really thinks you shouldn't, you don't really have to run 10 today. you could do like 8, and that wowuld be totally acceptible! especially since you've been hurt, i mean you don't want to push TOO much!"

it is hard to resist that little devil. but, one of the bonuses of running with team in training, and running for a reason beyond just you is that it kicks you in the ass a bit. when the little voice starts, you remember why you're running in the first place. who you're running for. and you also consider all the people that are supporting you. i started thinking about the first marathon, and how many people donated (180 by the way), and how supportive they all were. then the 8 versus 10 decision wasn't really a decision at all.

so i took the turn and tacked on an extra 2+. how was the rest of it? long. very long. i really thought i might be the last one on the course to come in today i was taking so long, but i wasn't. and while i was less than impressed with myself time-wise, i was rather pleased that i wasn't hurting, and i took the extra miles.

now the 1/2 *is* an option. if i want it to be. i've got some thinking to do.

today's mileage:: 10.5
mileage to date: 76.7