running: the dawn

I am a huge football fan.  It started when I was very young living in Alaska and the only games we would get on TV were the Chicago Bears.  Then we moved to Kansas City and I caught Chiefs fever.  I love the strategy, the rules, the plays.  It’s all fascinating.  Occasionally you will see the Quarterback at the line of scrimmage calling out a new play.  He yells up and down the line the new set of numbers.  This indicates that he has read something in the defense that calls for a new action plan.  Calling an audible.  Changing the play.  Seeing the potential obstacles and adjusting accordingly.

Yesterday that is just what I did.

Lately I’ve been somewhat mileage obsessed.  I’ve been so internally driven to keep my mileage high during these peak weeks before my taper.  I am addicted to challenging myself and seeing how much I can do.  I enjoy pushing to the next level and achieving things I used to think too impossible.  So, it makes sense that I’m drawn to the marathon…it also means that I sometime irrationally care more about the achievement then I do about listening to my body.

Tuesday my recovery run was abysmal.  It was five miles of drudgery.  Usually there is a level of restraint that is necessary to keep my legs from going too fast, this time it was all I could do to keep picking up my feet each and every time.  I didn’t do any of the miles faster than 11 minutes!  Which is shockingly slow even for a recovery run.  I had a strange ache behind my right knee that didn’t go away after the first few miles.

I tried to combat the idea of needing more rest.  I know that I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately (partly because my husband is out of town, partly because there have been the craziest thunder storms the past few nights).  I even tried to take a nap yesterday thinking that my body just needs more time to recover/repair.  To no avail.

By 5pm yesterday I knew my only hope for getting some miles in was if I could talk KT into running some with me.  After texting my invitation (aka plea for help) she texted back that she was tired, hungry, grumpy, and cold.  It was then that I called the audible.  I said, “Let’s go grab dinner!”  We went to a fabulous Thai restaurant.  She had red curry I had yellow.  Then we decided to stop by Dick’s Sporting Goods to see if we could find some visors for the race.  We said more than once, “This was WAY better than just running!”  It was good for our bodies (yay glycogen!) and our souls.  We were able to catch up on life goals, summer plans, and jobs.

So, I’m not going to get 50 miles in this week.  I would say that I’m “ok” with that, but it would be a lie.  I still wish that I could have gotten the high mileage just one more time. But I’m working on being “ok” with it.