Hello. How are you doing today?

So let's see... what's been going on in my training world?

Well... it's been up & down. One day I'll be feeling great & like I can take on the world. Other days I feel like my feet are made of lead & that my knee or my ankles are going to give out. Today is one of the latter days. It's very frustrating, especially since last week was so good. My Tuesday night training w/ the team went great. I ran more than I ever had & felt great afterwards. I could've gone on longer but it was already 8:00 pm & it's really not a good idea to run in the park any later than that, especially alone (which I would've been because I'm the only walk/run person on Tuesdays & all the runners were finished by then).

Wednesday I rested.

Thursday was another great day. I decided to walk/run w/ the dog & we did about 3 miles. I ran for about 1/2 of it. I felt GREAT! Of course it was probably because 1/2 way thru we stopped off at the dog park so Moe could have a quick romp with his buddies, but dammit, I still ran a LOT.

Friday was another day of rest. I needed to conserve my energy for the big distance training Saturday morning. I did 10 miles. I'd been worried about it all week... I wasn't sure I could do it. But I worried for nothing. It went SO well! I was in such a zone. The team went out of the park & ran thru the city, but I stayed in the park w/ another teammate who had been getting over the flu. She didn't feel well enough to tackle 10 miles outside the park & she asked me to keep her company. I walked w/ her for about a mile or so, but it wasn't "doing it" for me & I told her I needed to run. She said to go ahead, that she'd be fine, so I ran. I'm able to go about 1/4 mile at a time now, which is a HUGE improvement for me (when I started this, I could barely run 20 ft). I finished the 10 miles in about 2.5 hours. My coach was so proud of me. Hell, I was proud of me! Sure, it was tiring, but it was still a bit of a rush. Of course, not long after I got home I crashed for a few hours, but I was hardly sore at all by the end of the day.

Sunday was a day of much needed rest (I'd gone to a party Sat. night was out very VERY late) and Monday was yoga.

Then came the next Tuesday night team workout last night. It SUCKED! I started out great. We were doing quick drills (1/4 mile slow, 1/4 mile fast, 1/4 mile slow, 1/4 mile fast, etc.) I was all set to do the full 4.5 miles, but after about 2.5/3 miles, I started to get a sharp pain/cramp right up my middle toes on my left foot. I couldn't complete a full stride w/out severe pain so I had to stop. I hate it when shit like this happens. I got home, stretched some more, soaked in an ice bath, & took some ibuprofin. It felt fine by bed time & there was no pain today. I figured I'd be good to go tonight, but we had a big lunch today at work (celebrating a friend's birthday) & I ate WAY too much. I had no energy tonight, although I tried. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. I haven't had a single good workout this week & this worries me because Saturday is another big day... 12 miles. I don't want to peter out 1/2 way through. I want to do good.

We'll see what happens.