Where I'm At

Today's Koala/Lukes Locker/Houston Striders 1/2 Marathon was an excellent opportunity for me to take stock of not only where my fitness is but also whether the two injuries I've been dealing with were behind me. This past week I didn't run at all due to continued discomfort in my right hamstring. I ran four days the week before last, for a total of 30 miles, culminating in an 11 mile run last Saturday morning. But none of those runs were tempo or speedwork and the 7:27 pace I held for the 11 mile run was an effort. So I knew I was nowhere near the fitness level I had attained over the 800 miles of training I did from May through August, but I didn't know exactly how much things had regressed. Now I do.

My pre-race estimate of where I'd end up turned out to be slow by five minutes so obviously I was in the dark. I really didn't plan to race today, just run, and therefore thought I might come in around 1:38 (a 7:29 pace). I honestly didn't think I had any sub seven miles in me, but miles one and two were both around 6:50 and didn't feel too fast. I had another one deep in the race, maybe mile nine or ten, right after a 7:04 effort. In fact, I sorta caught my second wind somewhere late in the 2nd loop, which was a pleasant surprise. Upon finishing I initially thought I had run a negative split on the back half but after reviewing the stopwatch (no Garmin today) I realized that I was just a bit slower in the 2nd half, though not by much.

Even though today's chip time of 1:33:05 (I think - I glanced at my watch at the finish but forgot to stop it) is nearly ten minutes off my PR, it was still five minutes better than my pre-race guess, and even better, my right leg wasn't an issue. Slightly uncomfortable and a little tight this afternoon, but at no point did it compromise what I wanted to do. Since this injury wasn't related to running I might have been able to run on it the whole time - who knew? I plan to begin training again this week in earnest, though my wife is out of town for a few days later in the week, meaning I'll have daddy duty for my two little cavemen and won't be able to train much Wednesday through Friday.

The only downside this morning was for the competitor in me to see all those guys well in front of me that I should be beating, knowing that if I was 100% I'd be giving them a run for their money. The interesting thing though is that I'm signed up for the Houston 1/2 in Jan., 12 weeks from today. Peel one week of for taper and I have 11 weeks to see how much I can bring that 1:33 down, provided my right leg truly is going to be okay to run on.

Slip Sliding Away

That's what my fitness level has been doing, slip sliding away. As I stated in my last post, if I don't have anything good to report I tend not to post.

The last six weeks have sucked for running. First I couldn't run for four weeks because of the pulled muscle/cracked rib in my side from the work I did out at Rice U. Then a couple of weeks ago my right hamstring and the muscle going across my glute were really tight. Not sore or painful just really tight, like I needed to do about two hours of stretching. I'm sure it was from all the work I did replacing the tile in our entryway and kitchen. Then this past Sunday I caught a cold and felt like crap the last couple of days.

The cold was better today and my leg wasn't too tight, and the pain in my side is virtually gone, so I laced 'em up and headed out around 7:45 PM for some miles. It's amazing how much fitness I've lost in just six weeks. I tried to keep a good steady pace and did manage to run negative splits. But I did 7.19 miles at a disappointing 7:27 pace. I've got some work to do. I'm signed up for the 1/2 marathon a week from this Sunday but don't know if I can even equal my underwhelming 1:28 last year. Probably not if tonight is any indication. I've got like, what, 10 days to get in shape? Sure.

What a shame. I was on a roll. But if there's any bright side, I was about at this point a year ago and still managed a 1:23 1/2 at Chevron Houston. But I don't see going to Dallas in December and trying to lower my marathon PR. Like I said, what a shame.