Lake Murray Run, 2/22/09

Between vague directions, freeway closures and my complete inability to navigate, Saturday's team run did not happen. Well, I'm sure it happened for the rest of the team, but my AM workout consisted of driving around Carmel Mountain for an hour and then cleaning my bedroom.

Sunday I got up bright and early to run Lake Murray before it got too hot, but opted for waffles with my nieces instead. They were yummy.

From there I was off to Lake Murray. The lake is an out and back course resulting in 6.4mi. I decided to run it without my Garmin so I wouldn't feel pressure to speed up or slow down, and could just run based on how I felt. This was a good idea.

My bad idea was running without water. About 2/3 of the way through the first leg, I had to explore some Little League fields until I could find a water fountain.

The other good idea I had was to run with my phone. It took me roughly 35min to reach the fence (not including the 5min I spent searching for a water fountain). This is roughly 10min/mile. At the halfway point, a friend of mine called and we agreed to meet for Thai food following my workout. With curry on the horizon, I finished the second leg in 28min, shaving 7min off my time. Negative splits are a wonderful thing, and Thai food is a great post workout reward.

In all, the run went fairly well. I still have consistent pain along the outer ridge of my right foot, but it's nothing that is preventing me from running just yet. I'll make time to deal with it formally later, but for now it's just lots of ice, ibuprofen and stretching.

Really now...

My second go at marathon training has, admittedly, been half-hearted. Blame it on frequent travel, cold weather, nagging injuries or fear of failing (again), but I've been nervous about jumping into this with both feet.

I think this paragraph is supposed to start out something like, "... Until now!" Unfortunately, that's not the case. I am still nervous and apprehensive. Last season I was somewhat neurotic about hitting weekly mileage goals; this season I live for my rest and cross-training days. I've convinced myself that hills are the devil and again find myself back home in Tierrasanta, home to significant elevation changes. I don't think I'm being entirely paranoid about those hills, either- after 5mi last Sunday (coupled with moving all weekend long), it feels like plantar fasciitis is setting in again. An aside: is it just me, or is "plantar fasciitis" the most awful, unglamorous, ugly name for an affliction ever? Gross.

In any event, I'm slogging through training this week in hopes of forcing some excitement back into my workouts. Monday's 4mi were done on the treadmill while it rained outside. This morning started at 5:00am and included weight training, core work and speed intervals on the elliptical. I'll be heading back tonight to spend some more time on the bike and Stair-master. Twice-weekly sessions with a personal trainer have also spiced up the routine and given me other goals to shoot for. Saturday will be the first time I run with the team this season.

I had a dream on Friday night that I ran San Diego RnR in 4:34. I don't really believe that dreams like that come true, but I am hopeful this is an indicator that my subconscious is passionate about training more than my conscious self is-- I also really hope the subconscious desire take over and I get excited soon.

Until then, I guess it's just one foot in front of the other.