Another Saturday, Another Long Run

Today was Saturday, which meant I had a long run today.

I woke up at 4:00 am. I don't know why I woke up so early, but I had a difficult time getting back to sleep. At 5:00 am, my 5 year old son decided he couldn't sleep anymore. Usually we make him stay in his room until 6:00, but there was really no point this morning, as he would keep me awake anyway.

We headed downstairs and I put a Yu-Gi-Oh DVD in for him to watch. (I feel really old because I just don't get that show.) I had a bagel and a cup of coffee. I get a little anxious about the long runs and today was no exception. I was tired and cranky and didn't feel like running at all. And it was FREEZING in our house. Somehow the air conditioning had been turned on full blast. So putting on shorts and a tank top was not appealing at the moment; I eventually had to go outside just to warm up.

I did make it to the high school where we start the run. I met one of my new running friends and she could tell my heart was not in it this morning. Today she had to do seven miles for the first time. I was trying to decide how many I should do; my shin splint situation was getting me depressed and I didn't have a clue what I should be running now.

It was very humid and almost 70 degrees at 7:00 am. As usual I let everyone go ahead of me and I brought up the rear. For some reason everyone seemed to be in a hurry - everyone blew by me pretty quickly. I think it was just my mood dragging me down.

After a mile or so I caught up with my friend and we chatted the next 5 miles. The time passed pretty quickly but we were going pretty slowly. My legs were sore and I was sweating like crazy. We marveled at how the others could move so quickly, and keep it up for so long. Some of these people had just started running a few months ago.

At mile 5 I told her I wasn't going to go 7 miles all the way with her; I was stopping at 6. I was tired, and my legs were especially tired. I think after I made this decision I got a second wind, and I told her I was going to kick it in and just get the mile over with. I picked up the pace and it felt SOOO GOOD! I started passing people and didn't feel anything in my legs (I think they were numb by this time) and made it back to the high school pretty quickly. What a rush!

After a little while two of my running buddies made it back. We hung out for a while drinking Gatorade and chatting runner girl talk. We all took off our shoes and compared our feet, since everyone apparently had different foot issues and two of us had new shoes. We talked about how to find shorts that don't cause chafing on the thighs, chafing so bad with a sports bra that blood was soaking through one woman's shirt (not me!), and using red nail polish to cover up black toenails.

By this time I had cheered up. I was having such a good time I didn't realize I was standing out there chatting for at least 45 minutes! When I got home my son asked where I had been and my husband was about to call me on the cell phone. I was just hanging out with my new runner girl friends, I said.

As for my shin splints, I have decided that I will stop paying for PT after the next Tuesday session. If what Joe said was true, I just need to strengthen my muscles so they won't be too worn out, and they can just give me exercises for that. Nevertheless, because I'm bowlegged, my lower leg muscles will be fatigued after a run, probably no matter how strong they are. I think I just have to live with a certain amount of pain. The pain is not debilitating, and it is not making anything worse in my legs and won't cause any other injuries as long as I don't overdo it. There was a woman who was talking with us who had a much worse condition (arthritis I think) and she ran the half marathon. She was talking about having to slide down the stairs on her butt the next day. (I told her the secret of walking down the stairs backwards). I probably could have done the race and been in a little better shape than her (maybe); after a few more months of work, I should be in much better shape to run the next race.

All in all I had a good run today. I'll probably be in pain for the next few days, but I will tell myself that my legs are getting stronger, and I am doing the next race no matter what, so there's no point in being depressed or angry. I just gotta do it.

Now I gotta go ice and veg while watching Alias.

Daily Running Log: 5.86 miles on the bike trail. 12:30 m/m pace.