Did you miss me?! & Lots of Updates

Hello world. I’m back.

I don’t even know where to start…

Injury Update:

I’m sure you all know that I had tendonitis in my ankle. It was very upsetting. I was about to take my 16-mile long run that weekend, and things all fell apart during an interval run. I should have known better. I was feeling off that day, not balanced, and then I took off super fast, like 6:00min/mile sprints fast… (Ok, super fast for me…) And then I felt the twinge and ignored it. I was close to the distance goal I had set for this run. I learned my lesson, when you’re an athlete, your head can only tell you so much, it’s your body that you need to listen to. It is what it is, and now my punishment comes in the form of a deferral.

Marathon Updates:

Yes, with great disappointment, I will be deferring my entry to the Richmond Marathon to the 2014 race. There is no way I could catch up with my training in a month’s time. I’m still recovering and I think I’d be setting myself up for failure as well as another injury if I ran in the marathon. This is going to be so cliché and sound completely lame and completely cheesy but I want my first marathon to be great. I want it to be special and I want to do it in good health and with good spirits. I would be cheating myself if I ran it half-ready.

I haven’t quite decided if I am going to wait a year to run my first marathon, or if I’m going to run one in the spring. A seed has been planted in regards to running the Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon in March… but we’ll see. I’m sure I’ll let you know as soon as I decide.

Half-Marathon Updates:

The Crawlin’ Crab Half Marathon is THIS WEEKEND, this Sunday to be exact. Call me crazy, but I did decide TO RUN this race. I will be hitting the expo and packet pickup on Saturday and racing at 8:00am on Sunday. I didn’t want to defer this entry because I felt that I could finish this race. I ran 5 miles on Monday (the last day to defer) and didn’t have any ankle/tendon pain or soreness, nor did I have any pain or soreness the next morning, so I am confident that I will make it through. I have no shame in taking walk breaks if needed. I am certainly not expecting a PR from this race and I am not expecting to come anywhere near my previous goal of finishing sub 2:15. I will be happy just to finish this race.

Luckily, this course is significantly flat. The weather is supposed to be beautiful on Sunday, and a portion of this race is along the water. I have been told by Kristy from Breath of Sunshine that it is a great course “to recover on.” (She’s also running the race) I’m taking her word for it. Look for a race review sometime soon! And good luck to anyone else running The Crawlin’ Crab!!

Yoga Updates:

This was the silver-lining of this whole injury month. I have rediscovered my love of practicing yoga. I’ve been doing a lot of home practice and I bought ten classes at two different studios. One is a very “authentic” studio where some serious chanting occurs at the beginning and end of class, the other is an exclusively “HOT” yoga studio. I have taken one class at the first studio and hopefully will have a chance to start at the second one soon. (I have been battling a Sinus Infection for the past week and a half and didn’t want to be sniffling and coughing the whole class).

Other things:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  One of Trae and I’s favorite quick eats places, Tijuana Flats  is helping the cause.  If you donate $1 they will make your tacos and chips pink!  Here are Trae’s pink tacos and the cute pink ribbon chips…

This Bolthouse Farms Amazing Mango is my new favorite flavor.

I am so ready for fall sweater weather… I had to break out a big cozy one last Sunday… I was being lazy, but it felt so good.

Speaking of sweater weather… I cannot get enough chili these days.  One of my favorite Fall/Winter meals.

Saw Rascal Flatts… not my favorite band, but it was still a nice night out.

Enjoyed a date night somewhere new… Headed out to one of the Fishing Piers for dinner and drinks.  They had a great seasonal beer, Abita Pecan Harvest Ale.  It was really good, sort of tasted similar to Newcastle.

It feels good to be back and I’m sure this race in a few days will feel even better.  I have to confess that I feel somewhat lazy these days.  I was in such a good place right before the injury.  I had a schedule that I was very strict about, I ran with a plan, a set mileage for each week and now I’m finding every excuse to sleep in.  I need to just push myself and I’ll be back with it, I’m really hoping this race gives me a push in the right direction.  I think I need to feel the endorphins, the adrenaline and I’ll want to be right back to where I left off.

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What do you do to come back from an injury slump?  Or a running slump in general?

How do you find the motivation again?

How crazy am I for running this half after being in recovery for a month?