Then what??????

I've run a couple times this week....but the times and distances were pretty pathetic, so I haven't felt like posting them.

I'm experiencing a new pain. It's in the "L" of my leg....where my foot curves up into my shin.

I'm good for about a mile, and then I can feel it starting. If I were to stop running right then, stand flat footed, and try to just lift the ball of my foot, keeping my heel on the ground...I'd fail. The tendon or muscle on top of my foot is screaming!!!!! If I keep running, it gets worse...and I start looking like Frankenstein, stomping down the road.

I try doing different stretches every so often...but nothing I'm doing is really helping.

There must be a stretch I can do before, or during, my run that will help. Some exercise that I can do while watching TV that will loosen whatever is ticked off. :-)

I need to get online and do some research.

Self diagnosis, always a good idea.

(giggle)

This weekend's half marathon is a flat lander's dream. The pain comes on flats and hills....but mostly hills. So I should be fine on Sunday.

And...speaking of the half marathon this weekend....

My first ever half marathon is THIS WEEKEND...aaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-)

I've been completely gung-ho about my running since May. I found a training schedule and have stuck to the running bits, almost exactly. I actually enjoyed getting up early and hitting the pavement before work. I couldn't WAIT to lace up those shoes, and head out.

But these last two weeks have been hard.

Really hard.

I can barely get myself out of bed in the morning. My times have been getting worse, not better. And I didn't even DO my long run this past weekend.

The honeymoon period is over...officially. For some reason, the joy of running has left the building.

"Paging the joy of running. Joy of running, please report to the front desk."

I have the same problem when I'm out running. I'll pick an object I know I'll pass along my route. "I have to make it to the _____. Once there, I can walk for 15 seconds." When I get about 20 feet from the object, my body gives up, and I start walking early.

It's 100% mental.

So, I'm guessing that having the half marathon actually right around the corner, within sight, my body is giving up and I'm walking early.

I'm not afraid of the half. In fact, I'm almost jumping out of my skin excited about it.

No, what I'm worried about is what happens AFTER the half. Since May, I've had a training schedule telling me what I need to be doing.

It doesn't tell me what to do after.

Sure, I need to rest a couple of days....and ease back into running slowly. I get that. But what happens then??

Do I need to find another goal....another object to run towards? A spring half marathon perhaps??

And then what?

Do I keep running half marathons, always working to PR?

Do I sign up for a fall marathon, and write a new chapter in my running life?

There is a series of books that I read....the main character gets up and runs a mile or two every am to stay in shape. She's another reason I started all of this. I want to be the girl that gets up in the morning and runs....accomplishing more by 6:00 that most people do by noon. It's a pretty "romantic" notion I think.

I'm usually more of a free spirit. I just go where life takes me. I play it by ear, with as little planning as I can get away with.

But for some reason I crave a goal, a plan, when it comes to running.

Running isn't easy for me. I really have to work at it. I'm slow, I'm weak. I'm never going to win a race, never going to stand on a podium.

And I'm perfectly fine with that. But running is work, and I need something to motivate me to keep going. I go to work everyday, so they will pay me and I can buy things.

I've lost almost 30 pounds running. I've gone down two full dress sizes. I'm healthier, I have more energy, and I'm much much happier.

But, for some reason, a tech shirt and medal is more motivation right now.

It's nuts! :-)