Living down to expectations

So, guess what. I missed several runs and I didn't write any posts. I didn't even keep up my end of the bargain for the very first post. In my defense, before this week, I've had some legitimate reasons for not running. Two days before my introductory post, I strained my hamstring. It may have been a factor in my timing for launching this blog. I want to stay motivated through adversity. That was the 23rd of November.

It was one of those days where I really didn't want to go out in the cold on that track and put in the effort I needed for a quality workout. Knowing that I needed to keep my speed up for a 10k on December 5th, I was determined to stick to my workouts. I felt very stiff (I have difficulty maintaining a consistent stretching routine, but that can be a whole separate post), but I was able to keep my goal pace anyways. I did the first three mile repeats in 5:27, 5:30, and 5:29. On the third, I was on pace again, but after the 1200m mark, I pulled up with a shooting pain in the hammy.

Not to go into the details so much, I went through two weeks of on and off running. I missed days, but even on days I ran, I either went short, slow, or even substituted the elliptical at the gym. So this is a very long winded way of saying, I appropriately missed some days in there to let my left hamstring recover. It worked. My leg is back to normal now. It may have slowed me down in my desired performance in my 10k, but it's worth it. I'm not sweating these races too much now.

Honestly though, my injury should not give me a free pass in this space. I had several days where I could have shared some insights into what I was feeling and the dilemma for runners like me who want to train every day and not lose any fitness gains, versus the need to actually recover for better long term performance.

Alas, this is the story of my life and could be the running story of this blog. I need to step up and put some serious effort into a consistent training schedule. I'm having some foot pain (possibly, plantar fasciitis), so I don't plan on doing any more real speed workouts until next year. I plan to throw in some strength training now as well. Let's see if I can stick with this a little better. Slight improvement is the only thing I can ask for, right? That's the beauty of life. In most cases a little more effort should lead to improved results.

--Gotta Run