So We Trained

I developed a plan for training for the half marathon coming up in mid-September, really I did.  It just had no wiggle room, and reality intruded.  (This is when I fell the first time.  I was so busy taking pictures during a "Run with a Kenyan" run on the Mall during the African festival there that I tripped on an uneven sidewalk and went down hard.)

I had a base already of around six miles.  In my twenty-week plan, as I used to do when coaching, I ran the weekly long runs "up the scale" from six miles to thirteen by race day, with step-backs every three weeks for consolidation purposes, as the following chart shows, each number representing miles for the long run on the weekend:  6-7-8,-7-8-9,-8-9-10,-9-10-11,-10-11-12,-11-12-13,-8 (taper)-race.  Plus of course running the normal shorter runs of 2-6 miles two to four times a week.  (One of the short runs during the week.  We turned down the offer of a free Yo-Yo because it didn't seem like a good running snack and we didn't think the package would stand up to four miles in a sweaty palm or pocket.)

But naturally life intruded.  We've been really busy at work, doing more with less.  Lia, my running buddy & race partner, has children who need care, of course.   Our other race partner had setbacks which impacted her running.  I fell while running in DC and bloodied myself.  I fell while running in Portland and bloodied myself.  My knee swelled up on a long run and I took a week off.  I developed bursitis in my left knee, possibly as a result of the torque my leg underwent when I tripped while running those two times I fell, and I took another week off.  I started running with a knee brace in addition to my ankle brace and gobbled ibuprofen before each run.  (In Portland, I crashed into an unexpected mid-street curb that put me down.)

But WTH, I lined up on race day.  And despite the set-backs and anxiety that I wouldn't be ready, the journey to the starting line, those twenty weeks of preparation involving both highs and lows, was worth everything to me in my return to running.  (Ready to Rumble on Raceday.)