I know it's been forever... I've been traveling like crazy for work and I just haven't had the time/energy to write on here. I read a good little article this morning to motivate myself for the upcoming long runs in my VERY near future and I thought I'd share it with you.
Runners World has a great assortment of articles from everyday runners and this particular one describes a man's first long run. I really enjoyed reading it because I've been in that man's shoes. I have gone out and suffered through runs, gone on when I felt like it, and always had a distance that I'd think "some day".
I have completed two half marathons (one in a decent/ok time and the other in a depressing time since I got very sick halfway through). I have to say that I also didn't prepare well for either of them. Life somehow seems to get in the way. I mean, I could run okay for the first half or so but after that, I would lose steam.
This time around, I started out with super high hopes of following a strict training plan and then.... I ended up traveling EVERY SINGLE WEEK for the last 8 weeks. Next week will be my first week home without travel since the middle of February and the next week will be FULL of travel up until my race trip.
Needless to say, my training has once again suffered greatly. I was in decent shape in January but once the travel began (and the getting stuck in snow storms, etc.), it all went downhill. It's so hard to get back into the swing of things once you take off a few weeks! I have increased my speed, which is wonderful, but when it comes to the endurance, I'm still miserable.
And, my former injuries are not helping the situation. Each time I hit around 3 miles, my IT band cramps up and I'm miserable. I've tried some different therapeutic options and I'm hoping I've found something to get me to the finish line at the end of the month.
Basically, I'm saying that I'm not ready. At all. Since my race is in 25 days, I guess it's time to REALLY buckle down which means that this weekend, I'll be tackling a 7-miler along with upping the number of short runs during the next couple weeks. Next weekend, I'll hit 9 (10 if I'm feeling really good), and hopefully my legs won't give out of me before the end! Haha.
Sometimes it helps to read others' stories so I know I'm not the only one in the boat and the article today really helped motivate me to go out and there and just do it. (That and the new shoes I should be getting tomorrow!).