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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Brutal!

Well, my dear running mate is in Idaho spending the holidays with family, so I'm on my own this week and next. I was hoping to run with Heather a couple days last week, but she was sick. We may be able to this coming week, though. Being that we just got a brand new baby, this week I've been doing some afternoon running. Ugh. Not my thing. It's hard getting up in the morning sometimes, but it sure as heck beats running in the afternoon. I think my performance is only at like 75% of what it would be in the a.m.

At any rate, I ran 4 miles on Monday and Wednesday, and Friday was starting to feel like I might be fighting off the cold that 4 out of our 5 kids have right now. I figured if I was going to get a long run in this week, I better get it done. I really haven't run by myself in months...the 4-milers were doable, but much less enjoyable without someone to talk to. But, I brought my MP3 player, and it wasn't too bad. Yesterday I planned 7.1 miles. Not really a "long" run compared to some of our other runs, but considering I was going by myself, I didn't want to be too ambitious. So, I got my water belt ready, grabbed my MP3 player, and Chris dropped me off at my aunt and uncle's house in Rocklin. When I was about to start my run, though, I realized my MP3 was out of juice. Not good planning on my part. So, the next 7.1 miles were left alone to me and my thoughts as I literally chased my own shadow for what seemed like miles upon miles.

It was only in the 40s when I ran, but it was sunny. The first few miles I felt great. I had a fabulous downhill part between miles 1 and 2, and then it was pretty flat with a few small hills the rest of the way. At about mile 5, though, the muscle in my inner thigh/groin began to get aggravated. I can't remember if I've mentioned it on here before or not, but for the last month or so, any time I get above about 4 miles, this muscle starts hurting. I'm not sure what it is, but I hope it gets better soon.

The last few miles were seriously brutal. I couldn't think of anything to think of besides the anguish I was in, and was tempted to just start having a conversation with myself out loud just so I could get my mind off things. I kept thinking about how there is NO way I'll get through a half-marathon on my own...I barely got through 7 yesterday! What the heck am I going to do?! The race is only a month away...I'm gonna need to figure something out. Maybe if I would have had my MP3 it wouldn't have been quite so bad...

At any rate, I did end up making it home. My knees were burning a bit last night, but I'm recovered today. And whatever muscle that is in my inner thigh is back to being normal again. I am hoping to do 9 miles next Saturday...we'll see if I can mentally get myself there. =)

2 comments:

J said...

Keep washing your hands! Hopefully you wont get sick! Great job on finishing the run - sometimes runs can just be bad, hopefully the next one will be better!

Robin said...

Hang in there :)