Saturday morning I woke up on my own around 5 am, checked Facebook (because I'm addicted like that), and spotted this right away:
Oh yeah. That's right. I was supposed to be among those crazy people, ready to tackle 50 muddy miles bright and early. Except then I got injured for 6 weeks. And then I had to start from scratch with one mile runs. And I had to give up my 50 mile debut that I had waited an entire year to run. And it certainly stung a little when I got this automated email later on in the day:
Boo hiss.
Truth be told I didn't really care too much on Saturday about the fact that I wasn't trudging up and down hills and wading through stream crossings. Instead of sulking at that post at 5 am, I got my butt out of bed, hit up the river path near my house and had myself a nice little run. Then I got on a bus to New York and had another fitting for my wedding dress, and then I hung out with my sister all afternoon before catching a train back to Philly. A fair trade I'd say.
But this post is really not about how sort of sad I might have been to miss Saturday's race. This post is about the decision I made on Friday to NOT run the 20in24 Lone Ranger on July 14th. While a week ago I was all gung ho about it, I started to "notice" my shin on Thursday morning. I can't say it hurt or I was in pain, I just noticed it, versus the last month when it's not felt any different at all from my right shin or my knees or my quads.
At the reappearance of these feelings I sort of freaked out and got super sad. Not sad about the fact that I might need to take a few days off, but sad that this feeling might ruin my Lone Ranger race dreams. And then I thought about what exactly my Lone Ranger race dreams were. Long ago when I signed up they were to run for the whole 24 hours and to hit between 75-100 miles. Do I really think I could still pull that off in six weeks? Definitely no.
Secondarily, after I got injured I vowed not to follow a training plan for awhile. But truthfully I sort of have been. I don't really want to run 20 miles the day before my wedding. And I don't want to worry about fitting in a long run on my honeymoon. And I don't want to have to rest on Mondays on Fridays. I just want to run.
So what did I feel after I finally made the decision not to do Lone Ranger? Relief, actually. Sure, I will be sad on the day of the event, but even if I were running, it was never going to be the race I originally wanted it to be and that would be disappointing. And if I couldn't run it the way I wanted, there's no sense in re-injuring myself to try and train for something I'm just not ready for.
Instead on July 14th I will run Midnight Madness, part of the same event, and a race I ran last year.
And then I'll race in the fall, and hopefully be in tip top long run shape again. For now, I'm going to enjoy my run-when-I-want-to lifestyle. Which meant that I happily embraced 6 miles on Saturday and 8 on Sunday instead of 12 and 10 like I had originally planned. No disappointments, just happy miles. And which means today after work I'll go out for a nice jog. Even though it's Monday :)
Oh yeah. That's right. I was supposed to be among those crazy people, ready to tackle 50 muddy miles bright and early. Except then I got injured for 6 weeks. And then I had to start from scratch with one mile runs. And I had to give up my 50 mile debut that I had waited an entire year to run. And it certainly stung a little when I got this automated email later on in the day:
Boo hiss.
Truth be told I didn't really care too much on Saturday about the fact that I wasn't trudging up and down hills and wading through stream crossings. Instead of sulking at that post at 5 am, I got my butt out of bed, hit up the river path near my house and had myself a nice little run. Then I got on a bus to New York and had another fitting for my wedding dress, and then I hung out with my sister all afternoon before catching a train back to Philly. A fair trade I'd say.
But this post is really not about how sort of sad I might have been to miss Saturday's race. This post is about the decision I made on Friday to NOT run the 20in24 Lone Ranger on July 14th. While a week ago I was all gung ho about it, I started to "notice" my shin on Thursday morning. I can't say it hurt or I was in pain, I just noticed it, versus the last month when it's not felt any different at all from my right shin or my knees or my quads.
At the reappearance of these feelings I sort of freaked out and got super sad. Not sad about the fact that I might need to take a few days off, but sad that this feeling might ruin my Lone Ranger race dreams. And then I thought about what exactly my Lone Ranger race dreams were. Long ago when I signed up they were to run for the whole 24 hours and to hit between 75-100 miles. Do I really think I could still pull that off in six weeks? Definitely no.
Secondarily, after I got injured I vowed not to follow a training plan for awhile. But truthfully I sort of have been. I don't really want to run 20 miles the day before my wedding. And I don't want to worry about fitting in a long run on my honeymoon. And I don't want to have to rest on Mondays on Fridays. I just want to run.
So what did I feel after I finally made the decision not to do Lone Ranger? Relief, actually. Sure, I will be sad on the day of the event, but even if I were running, it was never going to be the race I originally wanted it to be and that would be disappointing. And if I couldn't run it the way I wanted, there's no sense in re-injuring myself to try and train for something I'm just not ready for.
Instead on July 14th I will run Midnight Madness, part of the same event, and a race I ran last year.
And then I'll race in the fall, and hopefully be in tip top long run shape again. For now, I'm going to enjoy my run-when-I-want-to lifestyle. Which meant that I happily embraced 6 miles on Saturday and 8 on Sunday instead of 12 and 10 like I had originally planned. No disappointments, just happy miles. And which means today after work I'll go out for a nice jog. Even though it's Monday :)
Sounds like a good decision. I'm pretty sure that fully enjoying every moment of your wedding weekend and honeymoon is way more important than a race anyway. The races will always be there!
ReplyDeleteYou are all grown up with all this smart decision making! LOL. Better to take time off now so you can run forever!! P.S. Where are you going on your honeymoon?
ReplyDeleteCosta Rica!
DeleteReally smart! I did the Lone Ranger last year coming off of a foot injury and probably shouldn't have. I was able to get in 50 miles before I had to quit, but they were painful and completely unenjoyable miles. I wish I hadn't pushed myself to do them! Good job listening to your body! And I may be doing the midnight race, so I may see you there!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes! Run Midnight Madness! I need a buddy in the dark!
DeleteIt's awfully hard to bow out of a race, isn't it...? Sorry about that but it sounds like you made the right choice (and I hope that the shin doesn't turn into a monster, urgh...) Have fun with your nice happy run later, sometimes it is nice to go with the flow with out a ton of pressure and expectations!
ReplyDeleteInjuries are so frustrating, love that you found something to perk you up though and you will kill that ultra once you are full speed based on your new cross training!
ReplyDelete