Another F***ing Injury

Well, I suffered another mild injury this week. On Thursday, I pulled a groin muscle playing softball. All year, it's been one setback after another. I guess it's good that I haven't had any serious injuries, but it's so frustrating that I can't seem to get any consistent training. This is how my week played out:

Sunday: 10 miles
Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: Scheduled off day
Wednesday: 15.5 miles
Thursday: 0, injured during softball game at lunch.
Friday: 0, injured
Saturday: 0, injured
TOTAL: 35.5 miles.

I did go out for an easy 5 miles on Sunday. I finished the run okay, but my groin was pretty tender. I'm going to wait and see how I feel tomorrow before I decide if I'll run or take a few more off days.

Weekly Updates

May 6-12
Sunday – 14 miles
Monday – 0 miles
Tuesday – 12 miles
Wednesday – 10 miles
Thursday – 15 miles
Friday – 10 miles
Saturday – 5 miles
TOTAL – 66 MILES

May 13-19
Sunday – 0 miles
Monday – 10 miles
Tuesday – 10miles
Wednesday – 5.2 miles (lunch) & 7.2 miles after work
Thursday – 10 miles
Friday – 7.5 miles
Saturday – 10miles
TOTAL – 60 MILES

I forgot to post the miles last week. This will catch me up on the off chance that anybody ever reads this.

I had to drop out of the Rock and Roll Marathon, although since I never actually registered, that’s really not the most accurate way to phrase it. I have some family issues that I need to deal with at the end of May/early June, and I just cannot commit to traveling that weekend. I knew this was coming, I just didn’t know when, which is why I had waited so long to register. It’s not that big of a deal, since I really wasn’t anywhere close to marathon pace.

As of now it looks like the focus will be on a spring marathon (Napa again?). I’ll use the summer to build a proper base and then begin a proper training cycle in the fall. That’s what I did for Napa 2006, and I ran well (3:06:39 if I remember correctly) on a wet, windy day. With another good training cycle and cooperation from the weather on race day a sub-3:00 is definitely possible.

Weekly Update

Sunday – 8 miles, was supposed to be 20, but I just didn’t have any energy
Monday – 20 miles, including last five at marathon pace (7:00 min/miles) – Good run
Tuesday – Rest Day
Wednesday – 10 miles, including four half mile repeats at 6:00 pace (tempo run was scheduled, but 20+ mph winds put an end to that)
Thursday – 8 recovery miles
Friday – 15 easy miles – Another good run
Saturday – 10 easy miles
TOTAL: 71 miles

Today was supposed to be 17 miles, including 14 at marathon pace. However, since I’m not happy with the base I started this training cycle with and considering that I haven’t gone over 10 miles at marathon pace, I was shooting for 12 miles at pace, and then would see how I felt. The weather was hot for this area (over 80 degrees), but I still went ahead with the schedule. The first seven miles went okay. The wind was light today and was only a factor in a few spots – where buildings would create sort of a wind tunnel. Anyway after the first seven miles at pace (nine miles into the run), I started to struggle a bit. I logged a couple of miles over 7:00 minutes, but was still under pace because of a cushion I had built up in the first few miles. At this point, I hit the turning point of the out and back and got what wind there was at my back and managed to stay on pace for 10 and a half miles (12 miles total), but I was done. I had only stopped once for water and that was at the 5 mile mark. Seven hot miles later, I stopped for more water and ended my miles at MP. I ran slowly for another half mile or so to the next water fountain, got another drink, and decided to call it a day. I finished with 14 miles, including 10.5 at MP (pace was based on a 3:00 marathon).

I have four weeks until the Rock and Roll Marathon, and quite honestly I’m not near ready to run to my potential. While my heart wants to go for sub-3 and see what happens, my head knows that I’m not ready. My PR pace is 7:07. My plan at this point is to go out at 7:00 pace and hope I can go the distance and land a PR.