Saturday, February 14, 2009

I'm Running Out of Patience

Today's Run Stats: Farmington Canal Linear Park; 42 degrees; 2 miles; 19:51; 9:50 per mile pace.

It's getting more and more difficult for me to keep my pace slower than usual, plus only run shorter distances. At least I can run 3 miles each day for the next 2 weeks. Today I was "chicked," as some of you fellow bloggers call it. I made the one mile turn on the linear trail just before a slow running female. About a tenth of a mile later, she passed me. The competitive part of me wanted to run after her and pass her, especially since I'm estimating that she was doing about a 9:30 mile. The sensible part of me didn't allow me to. So, I ran behind her, running at a 9:50 per mile pace, a minute and 10 seconds faster pace than my podiatrist wants me to run. As I completed my run, I watched her heading up the hill on North Brooksvale Road, her turquoise top and black running pants fading away in the distance. I was jealous, so jealous I wanted to cry. I almost punched the "Lock 12" sign, but thought better of it, because 1) It's a nice sign; and 2) It would have hurt like hell! Dammit, I want to run up hills, I want to run 9 miles, like Carlee did today, I want to run faster. Instead, I run slow and steady, hoping that my left heel doesn't "pop" and cause further problems. I keep reminding myself that it will all be worth it when the warmer weather arrives and I'm back to a normal running routine. For now, maybe I will have the school I work at make me a shirt with a disclaimer that says: "It's my podiatrist's fault I'm running so slow." By the way, I've heard that yoga might be good for injury prone runners like myself. Anybody out there do it? If so, please let me know your opinion about it. I'll try anything that may help me. Besides, I need to become more flexible in more ways than one!

3 comments:

Anais said...

Hey there!

Yoga is great! And there are many different kinds to suit various needs...My favorite is Bikram Yoga - in a hot room, 26 poses which you do twice. After class, I always feel amazing!! :)

Lisa said...

yoga definitely is worth a try. Even just doing a couple of the poses might help you stretch out that area even more. Try the downward dog (google it so you can get the proper form). It really stretches the heel and achilles well.

The good news is that you don't have any pain. You'll be good as new in no time.

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of that t-shirt. I bet you can think of some other ones; there's definitely a market for them!