I have been waiting/training all summer for a few races this fall. Tommorow is the first of these. It is the Salve Regina's Ninth Annual 5K Mansion Run/Walk. I hope to do well. There is one thing, however, that might hold me back.
My last training run (this past Wednesday) went terribly. I planned to do three half-mile intervals at 3:07, but I ended up doing one at 3:17 and a second one at 3:33 before I called it quits. At the finish of my cool down, I had an annoying heel pain. Later in the day, my arch cramped up severely. I was able to massage it out, but it still didn't feel right. This morning, I did a quick search and found my symptoms point, most likely, to plantar fasciitis. I am still planning on running tommorow, but after that, I think I will take it a bit easy for a week or two and see how things feel. From everything I read, though, I should stop running until there is no pain, then run easy with stretching and gradual build-up of miles. That sucks!
Anyway, assuming that my foot heals fast from my Wolverine-like mutant healing factor, I have a bunch more races I plan to run or am thinking about running. Here they are, ordered by date:
- The Fall 2008 SNA 5K By The Bay Road Race - Friday, 10/17/2008, Newport, RI, 5:00pm.
- 20th Annual Jamestown Jack-O-Lantern Jog 5K Run/Walk - Sunday, 10/26/2008, Jamestown, RI, 1:00 pm
- Aquidneck Land Trust 5k Race for Open Space - Saturday, 11/08/2008, Portsmouth, RI, 10:30 am
- NewportFed Pie Run 5 Mile Run/3 Mile Walk - Thursday, 11/27/2008, Middletown, RI, 8:30 am
There is also a 10K in December that I am planning on running. Part of me wants to start running some slightly longer races than the 5Ks which I love so much. Mostly, it's because I know I can't keep setting PRs with every race. Eventually, I will have to fight for individual seconds. Depending on my foot, I may have trouble with a PR tomorrow, although I'm sure the rain will help. I know I don't want to be out any longer than I have to.
I really wish I could train like an elite athlete. I trained pretty hard decently this summer, but only three days a week. Between spending time with my wife and baby and working, I just don't have the time or energy to do much more. That said, I feel myself getting slower these days. I think a lot of that thinking has to do with my previously mentioned crappy speed workout. That said, I realized that 3-minute half-miles are still much slower than my 8th grade 1-mile run that I did at 5:13.
I was thinking about what I did to run that fast. What it comes down to, is I was a kid who could run fast. I didn't train, or exercise. I didn't even really participate in any organized sports where runnign was involved. I just used my blazing fast, fast-twitch muscles that I was born with. Had I been pushed in the direction of high school running, I probably would have done well, but I was certainly not interested in it.
Now, I find myself attempting to regain a shadow of what I had when I didn't care that I had it. In other words, I really hope plan on running a 17 minute 5K in my life. At this point, I may just have to accept sub-20 minutes as a realistic goal. Any faster than that will require a much greater commitment to running than I can give. I love running, but I'm just not "in love" with running.
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