Bring It On!

Is July really over already? Wow. Is today seriously August 1st? Wow.

I had a running first this week, for the first time since I started running almost 2 years ago I tripped while running up on the boardwalk, scraping and bruising up my knees. I was worried that it would affect my long run Saturday, and it sort of did and sort of didn't. When I fell on Thursday I noticed a little strain/pull in my right calf muscle, but I didn't really pay much attention to it because it went away shortly after I finished my run. (Even though it was a little uncomfortable, I did finish my run, though I cut it short) Saturday I met up with the Niketown group to do an 8 mile run. The run was loops around the Bridle Path. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a dirt/sandy/rocky path in Central Park that's off the "main road."

I immediately was a little concerned because it had been about a week since I had even run in Central Park, and the last time I ran on the Bridle path my calves were cramping up because even though it may be less stress on your joints, it's a lot harder to run (especially uphill!) when you're running on sand or uneven surfaces.

It's a little over a mile from where we start in the park to the part where we broke off onto the Bridle Path. That whole time I was feeling great, more importantly my knees were feeling great. I was really excited to kick this run in the butt!

Then about 3 miles in I stopped to walk. Running on sandy rocks was getting really tiring. When I picked back up to run again I noticed this dull pinching pain in my achillies/soleus. Long story short, I kept pushing myself to run, even though it hurt, I didn't think my form was being compromised, so I just walked up the hills (caused too much pain to run them) and ran as much as I could. Finished my route with 7.84 miles and knew it wouldn't make sense to try and push myself even farther to the full 8.

Despite limping around the rest of the day, I feel really good about the run. Why? Because I felt as if this pain wouldn't have shown up, I probably could have coaxed myself to do an extra mile or two. I felt great--not one part of my body felt sore. I feel like my body is prepared and everything just seems to click. I'm sure it seems silly to run 8 "long" miles and think you can tackle the marathon, but I feel prepared, I still feel excited.

Next weekend is 10 miles, and the week after that is 12, then 14, then...well...let's just take it one week at a time.

August, bring it on!