I have had a love/hate relationship with running for the past couple of weeks. Five-miler in New Johnsonville: hate. New three-mile PR: love. Attempted 3 miles on a treadmill: HATE. A completely kick-ass seven-mile run Sunday: LOVE!!! I've only run that distance one other time, and that was last fall when I was training for my first half mary. I finished my seven Sunday 10 minutes and 19 seconds faster than I did just a few months ago! So I guess the truth is in the numbers, folks. I may feel like I'm not getting anywhere, but apparently I am. My goal all along has been to finish my half in April 1 mile/min faster than I did in November, so 13 minutes faster. I gained almost that much time in only a little over half of the distance!!! It looks like I may need to up my goal a little bit.
Unless...
Was it just a total fluke? Was it luck of the Sevens? It sure felt like the stars were aligned in my favor. The weather was perfect. Seriously. PERFECT! I'm talking the shorts-and-long-sleeves kind of perfect. I'd had a great night's sleep the night before. I was on a new route, so the change of scenery made the time fly by. Plain and simple, it was just a good run.
I'm on for eight this weekend. I can't wait!
BUT FIRST!
I think I need to be making a trip to Nashville for some new shoes Saturday. I'm feeling the slightest twinge of pain in my right foot. The same pain that I had during my training last year that turned out to be tendonitis. It was nothing serious, really. Just aggravating as hell. It completely subsided with two weeks of no running. I've never had an actual fitting done at an actual running store, and I think it's time.
So I've encountered runner's gut, I'm looking forward to long(er) runs, and I'm fixing to drive two hours to have someone analyze my foot and my gait. Am I an official runner now?Labels: I love running, pain, running, shoes