down time sucks

I'm getting totally anxious about this race. I'm no where near where I wanted to be. Taking 4 days off for a suspected injury did not help. I really don't want to be the LAST person to cross the finish line, but I'm really feeling like that might be the way it will happen.

details, details

On my last run (documented in the last post), I ran quite a ways. It was good. For the last block, I even had enough juice to sprint. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but I felt a pop in my foot. No problems at the time, but from Thursday to Sunday I had some sharp, stabbing pain in my foot in the same location as that pop.

I talked to a track coach about it, he thought it might be a strained/sprained ligament. That sucks.

Today I'm better. Tomorrow I will run. No more sprinting.

is the word for this plateau?

I can't do week 4. I did it once, on the first try even, and now I've tried it 6 times since and can't do it. Two weeks of utter frustration. Argh.

So, on Monday I tried just running without intervals. I did an 8 minute mile. Impressive time. Unfortunately, I didn't/couldn't run another step. No good when the race is only 2 1/2 short weeks away and I need over 3 miles of running to finish...

This morning I took Liz's suggestion and focused on going slowly. I ended up at about 2 miles (3 1/2K). Maybe this is the answer to my problem. I just used gmap-pedometer to figure out how far 5K is and I think I will start covering that distance everyday (it is actually only 2 1/2 blocks longer than my route this morning). Then my body will at least be accostomed to the amount of energy it takes to go that far. I can also get a better sense of my pace and speed.

a new page on cool running

Given my recent discussions with Amanda, I think we might need to make this page our new best friend.

Humidity sucks

Did you know humidity makes your sweat stop working? Generally, sweat cools you by evaporating, but when it is way humid, the sweat can't really go anywhere...so it sits on your skin and makes you feel sticky. And you don't cool down, so you are overheated and sticky.

No wonder running sucked this morning!!