Welcome Back, Legs

Today's Run: Temperature: 58 degrees. Road: 3.1 miles; Splits: 9:16; 9:03; 8:40; :47; 27:46; 8:56/mile pace. I NAILED THIS RUN!

Bye-bye stone legs and stomach cramps. Hello, running legs. Welcome back from your well deserved 9 day vacation. Hugs and kisses for Irish Cream for helping me get back on track. I'm back. My legs have regained their mojo. My stomach has decided to quit cramping, hopefully forever.
Since running the Hartford Marathon, I've been fighting a stomach virus. It started the day after the marathon, disappeared Tuesday to Thursday, and reappeared Friday night and Saturday. A trip to the doctor on Saturday along with some medications has hopefully taken care of the virus permanently. I wasn't thinking left brain logically at all lately. Fellow blogger Irish Creams' advice of "stick with what the man says. After all, Galloway has seemed to work very well for you thus far! Why change anything?" made sense. Yes, I still have a two week taper plan of Galloway's that I will follow. I've committed the past six months to it. Why would I change anything?! Also, more Irish Creme advice: "Because wasn't the reason you ran the marathon last weekend because he prescribed a 26-mile run-walk-run?" Ummmm, yeah I kinda had forgotten that! I did run the Hartford Marathon as part of the Galloway training plan. Thanks Irish Cream for setting me straight. So since it was pouring rain yesterday and I was still not feeling 100%, I did my scheduled 5k run today. It was 58 degrees, but with the sun shining it felt a lot warmer to me. Definitely warm enough for my summer running attire of shorts and a short sleeved shirt. I was short on time, so I reluctantly decided to do a road run that was 1.55 miles out and back, and GASP, starts with an uphill run. I walked outside my home into the crisp fall air, squinted into the sun, took a deep breath, started my Garmin, and off I went. A minute or so into my run, things felt bad. My legs felt heavy. My stride was off, and my breathing not right. I was running into a slightly cool breeze, and my upper body was cold. I trudged up the hill, reached the top, and still wasn't feeling so confident. I did a quick mental calendar check, and realized I still had 13 days until the NY Marathon. No time to panic yet, I was thinking. Almost two weeks to get back my mojo. Five minutes later, Garmin beeped, and displayed a 9:16. Not bad...I was expecting worse. Then around mile 1.2, things changed. I was warmer, running smoother, breathing easier. I was feeling good. Even though the wind was in my face, it actually started to feel like I was gently being pushed. Weird, but true. I had regained my rhythm. Mile 2, 9:03. I was disappointed that I hadn't run a sub 9 minute mile, but encouraged by how easily I was now running. It really felt effortless, and I know I could have pushed myself to go a lot faster had I chosen to. Mile 3 split was an 8:40, to which I reacted to by yelling out "I'm back" as Garmin displayed it. (Yes, my neighbors probably think I'm nuts if they heard me). I sprinted the final 1/10 of a mile, and I was home. Final time was a 27:46, for an 8:56 per mile pace. I was expecting to run a 9:15-9:30 pace. Yes indeed, I'm back. Now I just need to stick to the Galloway training plan to the end, and throughout the NY City Marathon. All of you will remind me of that, won't you?!