Hobnobbing & Hurting

Well, after my accidental 7.52 run I felt pretty good. We had a great time the remainder of our trip visiting with my dad and brother and some of Terry’s family. We got to attend an invitation-only movie screening in Portland Saturday night and a party afterward. We spent some time visiting with some of the actors and filmmakers in attendance since Terry’s brother-in-law is the author (and subject) of the book on which the film is based. (I’ll try and post pictures later.) The movie, Music Within, is being released by MGM this fall in a number of large cities, so if it comes to your town I highly recommend you see it. It was enlightening and touching and boasts a fantastic cast. Click on the link to the right to visit the site and view the trailer.

We came home Sunday and I was back in the saddle running on Monday with Gabe and his cross country team. Then by the time I finished my run on Tuesday I was in some pretty serious pain from shin splints. Apart from one blister, this was my first brush with a training setback. I did a lot of reading about treatment and prevention of shin splints, so decided not to run the rest of the week. I did some strength training on Wednesday with my faithful friend and neighbor, Alicia, then worked out on the elliptical on Thursday -- I love that machine! I could have worked out on that thing all day! -- Friday was my rest day, so by Saturday’s team training session I was feeling much better.

Saturday morning I arrived at the park just before 8:00 am to meet the team and do our 8 miles. It was the absolute COLDEST day in months! I’m talking see-your-breath cold! We had a short clinic about nutrition, then prepared to head out. I stopped off in the bathroom and when I came out, everyone was GONE. I ended up having to run like a mad woman to catch up with a group of four women who were running similar intervals and at a pace I could live with.

We jumped into a 5 minute running 2 minute walking cycle which was more running than I have been accustomed to. That combined with the speedy running I put in trying to catch these gals in the first place made for a tiring first half. Right around the half way point, as I was struggling up a loooooong steady slope with Francine, we dropped our intervals back to 4 minutes and 2 minutes. Then once we turned around, headed back down the slope and began the second half of the run, everything got SO much easier! It’s a freakish phenomenon that the last 4 miles of an 8 mile run are easier than the first 4. But I finished strong and my shins are doing fairly well. And thank you to Francine for being my running buddy this time. It was so great talking with her - our conversation made all the difference. She was so encouraging, being someone who has been through training and done a marathon with Team in Training once before. And still she came back for more!