Running with friends

This past week has been really busy. Busy in a really good way. I had a close friend from Germany in town who stayed with me for a couple of days and then another friend from Hungary via Boston visiting for the weekend. Coincidentally, both of these friends are runners. Earlier in the week we went out for a shorter run in the morning, which is always a great way to start the day. The weather was relatively warm and sunny, and after two laps around the Reservoir, we jogged home and my leg felt great even on the pavement. A couple of days later I felt really strong and the weather was beautiful, so I braved the road again in the park and ran most of 7 miles (~11-12 km) on the pavement. Maybe this wasn't the best idea, but it felt great at the time.

I was already signed up for a 10K race for Sunday, which would be my last of 9 races to qualify for NYC Marathon 09. I knew that no matter how, I had to cross the finish line for the race to count. The time doesn't matter so I figured I can walk or even crawl on all fours if I had to. Also, my friend from Boston was coming pretty much for this race - I might or might not have convinced him to run in it - and so I knew I had to do it no matter what. He arrived the day before and so we did some walking around the city, and I think I was wearing shoes that were too flat and the tendonitis I had had a month or so ago in my posterior tibialis tendon started acting up again. I started getting worried, changed shoes, but I still had to work and walk and it wasn't getting better by the time I got home in the evening, so all I could do was ice it and try to hope for the best.

Of course I was super stressed about this and could barely sleep at all last night, but my leg surprisingly felt better this morning, and so I was all ready for my first race since the shin injury. Luckily, the shin splints haven't come back yet, I am doing things differently now with more warming up and stretching and cross training so I hope that it's really making a difference.

The three of us - me with my two friends from out of town - braved the freezing morning. Fortunately the snow from last night had melted and the road was dry, but the wind was pretty strong and the temperature must have been near freezing. Once we started the loop around the park and warmed up, the run was actually pretty nice, and when we hit the 4 mile mark, I felt really strong and despite knowing in my head that I shouldn't, my legs and my heart told me to take off. I started a bit too early and right before one of the bigger hills, so at the end, even though I felt like I gave it all, I ended up finishing just outside my goal of 1 hour, at 1:00:05. Nothing to be upset about considering I had been out for almost 2 months and I was running with a bit of tendon pain. I realize now that no matter what I do, whether it'd be fencing or running, I am just a competitive person. It's a personality trait and it's not going to change. I could never jog across the finish line unless I was in a lot of pain, and if I don't give it all I have on the last couple of miles, then I don't feel good about the whole race.

At the end, all that matters is that we all had a good time, made it home before freezing, and warmed up with a huge brunch and some well-deserved Bloody Mary's and got to spend some more time in the wondering in the city before my friend was heading back to Boston. The area around my Achilles is a bit tender and sore now, but I am still hopeful; it's nothing like the pain in my shin was. I am going to rest for a couple of days and then we'll see. Miami is 7 weeks from today, which is still quite a bit of time considering that I am now up to 7 miles or so.

Now I am exhausted; my friends have left, which I am sad about, but it's nice to spend a night lounging on my couch and doing nothing. It's been a great week and I am glad I got to share the race and some running with my friends. Unfortunately, Rachel has been out pretty much since I started back a few weeks ago, with a stress injury in her foot, so we hadn't run together since September. Hopefully, we'll both be ok for Miami and that would be a great occasion to reunite as running buddies.