November 2012 in Review

11 months down, one to go!

Mileage Recap

A year ago - November 2011: 148

January: 181.21

February: 86.84

March: 6

April: 89.59

May: 128.43

June: 137.72

July: 200.1

August: 177.48

September: 230.85

October: 270.09

November 2012: 152.91

Interesting thing #1: I ran more miles this November than last November even though this month I only ran 17 times and last year I ran 21 times.

Interesting thing #2: A third of this month's mileage was done in a single day. Crazy.

Cross Training Recap

109.55 miles road cycling
1 boxing class

A pathetic month of cycling for sure but for good reason! For one, its not worth putting the extra strain on my knees. Secondly, its freaking cold out man! Do you know what you don't do when you cycle? Warm up. 30 degrees, no thank you.

I finally had the energy to go back to boxing. I went three days before JFK, which meant that I was monumentally sore the next day and even still a bit sore at the starting line. I think I needed the extra core strength though.

What went well

Um duh, I ran 50 freaking miles! Looking back JFK still seems so surreal, like an out of body experience. I wish I could ingrain it in my memory more, but when I think about the last five months I start thinking less of the actual race day and more about all of the training miles I put in. That's where the work comes in. Waking up early 6 days a week to run in the summer humidity or the crisp fall breeze. Trudging through 20+ miles every weekend. Sure, I'm proud to have crossed the finish line, btu I'm also proud of the 20 weeks leading up to it.

What didn't go well

The knee thing. Luckily I have actually "enjoyed" not running much in the past two weeks. I put that in quotes because I'm actually not sure if I really don't care about not running or if I'm just too busy to care. I have a feeling that next week after I turn in some of my papers and have a breather that I will be dying to run again and be super dramatic if I can't.

The rest has been good though, both mentally and physically. Imagine if I trained for two big races a year and put in five months of training for each. That's 10 months a year in training. So a break is nice every so often and I appreciate not feeling like I have to get up and run at 5 am before work.

That said, I did run one whole pain free mile this morning. I diligently rested my knees all week. I even stopped crossing my legs when I sat down to remove any stress on the knee cap. I iced, I stretched, and adding quad strengthening exercises. All in all the knees feel good. Running one mile probably isn't enough to tell whether they are really good to go, but its a start!

December 2012 Goals

I've got nothing planned for December. Its wide open, which I really think I will like. I think I am going to start a new training cycle in January so I want to relax this month as much as possible. Goals are to:

• Continue resting when I feel my body needs it
• Core work, stretching, and PT exercises every night
• No specific mileage goals
• Start finalizing spring 2013 racing schedule
• Enjoy many holiday treats
• Get to the pool
• Go to a yoga class

High Word Count Not High Mileage

So I'm having some knee issues. Surprisingly (or fittingly) its not the knee I effed up at JFK and continued to run 40+ miles on. That knee feels great. It's the left knee. It's always the left. Silly weak left side.

Anyways, I had my first post-JFK run last Wednesday, four days out from the race. I ran 4 super slow miles (11+ minute miles for real son) and felt pretty good other than some fatigue in my legs. The next day, Thanksgiving, I set out to tackle 6 miles at no particular pace. The first 4.5 felt incredible. The last 1.5 I wanted to die. Both of my knees where screaming with sharp pains and it even hurt to walk around the rest of the day. On Friday I tried to run and made it half a block before turning around. On Sunday I felt better and I was having no problems walking so I tried to run again. I felt pretty good until mile 1.5 and then the discomfort started, which turned into more discomfort, which eventually turned into pain. FAIL.

Normally not being able to run irritates the shit out of me. My mood goes to crap. I start threatening in my head to quit my job and sit home and sulk. Luckily this is not my first time to injury ballpark. I think the first injury is always the worst. I was out for a full six weeks in the spring, gained a bunch of weight, got depressed, and overall was not a happy person to be around.

Obviously I hope that I'm not sitting out for 6 weeks this time, but if it ends up being one or two I can't get that upset about it because 1) I did just run 50 miles and should give myself a break and 2) "Luckily" for the next 14-15 days I have some other things that need attention. Things that really have not been getting attention due to JFK training. Those things would be homework. Specifically two 25 page papers, a 30 minute powerpoint presentation, and a final exam that needs studying for.

I take absolutely no pleasure knowing that I will definitely be spending at least the next 8 days of my life sitting in front of a computer working on these (goodbye weekend), but I'm treating it like an unwelcome 25 mile run: It will suck. It will feel like its taking forever. I will get frustrated and want to take a break. But I will do it.

Hopefully after all of thats over my body will feel fully recovered and allow me to start racking up the miles again. Until then its research, write, ice, stretch, roll, research, write, and repeat.

The Run When I Felt Invincible

It was exactly two years ago this Thanksgiving that I went out for a run in DC and ran 4.6 miles - the farthest I had ever run. At that time I had been running 2-3 miles a few days a week for two months. I was still a brand new runner. For whatever reason Thanksgiving Day seemed like the perfect time to try and break the 3 mile barrier. I remember feeling challenged, but even more so I remember feeling liberated. Like I was breaking through my own body's expectations. Going outside the box. Pushing my body and mind and enjoying the hell out of every second of it. A part of me felt like I could run forever.

Very few runs have left a smile on my face that big and on that day a very tiny seed was planted. A seed that a few days later lead me online looking for half marathons in the spring. Before that I had never had any desire to race or run any longer distances. I guess you could say that November 25, 2010 was the day the crazy started.

Last year a few days before Thanksgiving I ran my first marathon in Philly. This year, I entered the same holiday having just completed a 50 mile race. Lately its been easy for me to lose sight of the meaning a single mile can have. My perception has changed. The mileage bar has been increasing. But regardless of whether you're breaking through your 3 mile wall or your 50 mile wall, the overwhelming feeling of pride and satisfaction is the same. You did this. You succeeded. You finished.

I've got some big plans for 2013 and I look forward to this time next year when I can look back and remember where it all started.

Run long and be merry my friends!