I was planning to run my half marathon yesterday. It is the one I did two years ago after having Megan and my goal for this year after having Lauren... but as you've read, my body didn't cooperate quite as well this time around. I had some trouble with my knees and hips early on, and solved that by getting new shoes. But... one of the pair of new shoes I bought didn't provide the right kind of support and I've ended up struggling with achilles tendonitis.
So instead of gearing up for my half (including my long 12 miler), I've been laying low and trying to let the foot heal. One thing that I've gotten better about since I've become a Mom... is recognizing that 1. I'm a Mom first... and if running on an injured foot is going to leave me grumpy, and gimpy, and unwilling or unable to take care of my kids the way I want to, then I should probably find some other activity for a while and 2. I have to roll with the punches (so to speak) because things rarely go the way you envision them in your mind... #2 is something that I'm handling alot better these days.
In the spirit of rolling with the punches - running the Winderemere half marathon just wasn't in the cards. Although, I wasn't really ready to accept that until I was standing in the Expo with my registration in hand. I was getting ready to pull out the checkbook and thought... "what am I doing?..." I knew I wouldn't be able to race it, I didn't even know if I would be able to run it. My longest run in three weeks had been 4 miles and my heel started hurting about 3 miles in. So, finally, I accepted the writing on the wall and put the checkbook back in my purse.
Today, Carl ended up having his work day cut short so I was able to get out for a run. It was a short one - only 4 miles... but finally, the feet felt good. I didn't have any pain or tugging in the achilles! yay! But also realized how thankful I am that I didn't run the half yesterday. It was a struggle to get in the 4 miles - I felt sluggish and tired... I could tell that it has been a few weeks since I've logged some miles.
So, on to the next goal... picking a different half to do this summer! There are several around to choose from. One is in 4 weeks and the others are 7 or 8 weeks out. I'm hoping the feet stay healthy and I can finish out my training plan. In addition, I'm really, really tempted to adjust my time goal - my training runs have been coming in faster than my current goal, so I'm struggling with whether I keep my "conservative-getting-my-body-back-after-baby goal" or one that requires a little more reaching... I don't have enough races under my belt to know if I've got the mental toughness yet for that, but am also feeling like maybe I'm giving myself to easy of a target. Thoughts?
2 comments :
Dream big and goal big...we never know what we are capable of doing unless we challenge ourselves. Don't just settle! You were meant for more and if you don't fully succeed this time, you tried! The next time will be better. I totally believe in Goal Big!
You made a good decision; I just decided to race the 5k in Coeur d'Alene instead of the half. I have more details on it on my blog if you're interested. I think you should look up the McMillian Pace Calculator and enter in a recent race time or run a "magic" 1 mile since I know you are 5 months post baby (you are doing phenomenal running by the way, it's taking me14 months just to get back to were I was post baby) to see what you should be running your half in as well as training paces. It's a great tool and fairly accurate. I was looking at the See Jane Run Half in Seattle on July 15 or Seattle Rock in Roll is June 23, I've been debating which one to run but still not sure. Maybe we will end up running the same one :)
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