I have to post my crummy runs as well as my good ones. Today was in the latter category for sure. I went to the Art Museum area to cheer the folks running and walking in the Get Your Rear In Gear run. There were close to 4000. It was an awesome turnout. After that I met up with Julius for 5 miles together. Then I'd do 8 on my own (one loop around MLK/Kelly Drive).... or so I thought.
We began and almost immediately I felt stiff and off kilter. I chalked it up to not running in over ten days and hoped I'd loosen up soon. Julius was a step or two ahead of me the whole way. We were doing 3 and 1's and I was so grateful for the 1's. I was distracted from the stress by our chatter; we hadn't run together in quite awhile so we had a lot to catch up on as well as talk about the upcoming season for Phillyfit and our coachign duties. We ran through the crowds gathered for a high school rowing regatta and at 2.5 miles we turned around and headed back to Lloyd Hall.
I forgot to pack gus this morning (not sure where my head was at) but I had some granola bars in the car so I ate one of those while we walked around the front of the Art Museum and then I headed off to finish my miles. At MLK I decided to head left on the path along the river bank hoping that the change of scenery would perk up my run. It didn't. My legs felt stiff and heavy. I stopped to stretch them out but the relief was short lived. By the time I got back to the Art Museum area I was at about 7.5 miles and the pain in my legs from hip to ankle on both sides was just too much. I felt like I had run 20 not 7! I bailed on the rest of the miles and headed back to the car for a total of just over 8 miles.
So what are the reasons? Could be any number of things. I haven't run in 10 days. We did have that ATP workout at the organzier confernce but there wasn't much running in that; although we did a fair amount of other work. Still I've missed time before and not felt this bad getting back. I haven't been feeling well or eating well and the travel has probably put me off as well. Still the difference between how I felt today and how I felt after my 15 miles on the VF loop is strange. I was tired after the 15 but the muscle tiredness in my legs was nowhere near what I felt today. It's discouraging.
I have to focus now on knowing there are still 6 weeks left before Gettysburg. I have 20 planned for next Saturday and if I don't recover enough to manage that I still have more more chance at 20 on April 9. The weather this week is for cooler temps and possible precipitation but i'll just have to ignore that and get out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Keep smiling and keep moving.
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