My sneakers, a hundred miles shy of retirementFlights getting booked...hotel rooms reserved...race entries submitted. Now there is nothing else to do but run (and raise money.) We had a well deserved Recovery Week...ONLY had to run 8 miles last saturday...I can't believe I just said that like it's not a long distance. Even though the distance wasn't much compared to the weeks before (12, 14, 15 miles) my body sure felt like I had run a lot more. Maybe is was the route...more hills....or maybe my body just remembered what it's getting used to feeling like after more than an hour of running. Either way, it was a good run...and a nice break.
The weekend before that, we did 15 miles around Palos Verdes. The first 6 miles were on a new route...I do love not having expectations for a route...I get butterflies when I turn a corner and see a HUGE hill I've never tackled before. And I got just that. Behind Malaga Cove there is a beautiful neighborhood...amazing coastal views, ocean breezes, gorgeous homes. Of course, the price of an amazing panoramic view was a monstrosity of a hill. I didn't get to enjoy much of the view, because i spent a lot of time staring at the pavement in front of me, which seemed to get closer to my face with every step. Once I reached the top, it was an immediate relatively steep downhill wind to PV Drive. A lot of teammates took advantage of gravity and flew down the hill...top speed. I know the saying "Uphill hurts, downhill kills" so I took it easy going down, which is harder than you'd think! I noticed some stiffness in my ankle, which I attribute to running on the far right of the street where it is sloped for rain drainage. What a blessing it would be to be able to run down the middle of the street! :) (I look forward to that on raceday.)
I find the last mile or two the hardest for me...particularly on this day. I was experiencing pain in my midfoot arch area. Everytime I pushed off with the right foot it screamed at me. I found the strength to get through it once it dulled a bit, but even then, when I was less than a half mile from home base, I slowed to a walk. There was a teammate behind me. She said "I'm gonna catch you!" when she noticed me walking...i laughed it off and hoped she would pass. Instead she pulled up next to me and said, "Com'on, lets run it in." I sucked it up and felt good about getting the nudge from her. I realized I was mistaken before when I said I didn't need anyone to run with. I can get through the stronger times alone...but when I'm hitting the wall...and giving up on myself, having someone to run with is SUCH necessity. I suppose finding someone to run with when the going gets tough won't be too difficult, with the 20,000 participants at Nike this year. Let's hope!
The weekend before that, we did 15 miles around Palos Verdes. The first 6 miles were on a new route...I do love not having expectations for a route...I get butterflies when I turn a corner and see a HUGE hill I've never tackled before. And I got just that. Behind Malaga Cove there is a beautiful neighborhood...amazing coastal views, ocean breezes, gorgeous homes. Of course, the price of an amazing panoramic view was a monstrosity of a hill. I didn't get to enjoy much of the view, because i spent a lot of time staring at the pavement in front of me, which seemed to get closer to my face with every step. Once I reached the top, it was an immediate relatively steep downhill wind to PV Drive. A lot of teammates took advantage of gravity and flew down the hill...top speed. I know the saying "Uphill hurts, downhill kills" so I took it easy going down, which is harder than you'd think! I noticed some stiffness in my ankle, which I attribute to running on the far right of the street where it is sloped for rain drainage. What a blessing it would be to be able to run down the middle of the street! :) (I look forward to that on raceday.)
I find the last mile or two the hardest for me...particularly on this day. I was experiencing pain in my midfoot arch area. Everytime I pushed off with the right foot it screamed at me. I found the strength to get through it once it dulled a bit, but even then, when I was less than a half mile from home base, I slowed to a walk. There was a teammate behind me. She said "I'm gonna catch you!" when she noticed me walking...i laughed it off and hoped she would pass. Instead she pulled up next to me and said, "Com'on, lets run it in." I sucked it up and felt good about getting the nudge from her. I realized I was mistaken before when I said I didn't need anyone to run with. I can get through the stronger times alone...but when I'm hitting the wall...and giving up on myself, having someone to run with is SUCH necessity. I suppose finding someone to run with when the going gets tough won't be too difficult, with the 20,000 participants at Nike this year. Let's hope!
No comments:
Post a Comment