Many friends have wished me luck on my " Marathon" and I usually correct them. It is not a marathon in the true sense of the word. I began my running with the 5K, thinking that was a good place for me to start, and I found that I am a sprinter at heart, and I loved the distance for speed. It is challenging in that if you go all out a the start, you will be "finished" before it is over. My aha moment was at a 5K in Tampa before my inter cranial bleed when I met a friend that runs with me every time out. "Morton" presented on my running scene, after I was intent on a prize on a cold damp early morning around Tampa Bay. I realized they were not going to award prizes for the age groups, but for the first 3 men and women to cross the finish line. As a competitive 50 something year old, it fired up something in me and I went all out. So far out, that I set a personal best time, even though the last 8 yards or so seemed incredibly long and nauseatingly hypoxic and felt like slow motion. At the time, the 24 mins was a huge accomplishment for me, no medal was given for it, and I had begun a journey with "Morton" to take home instead as my souvenir. Morton's Neuroma is a common annoyance of runners. It is a painful condition that effects the ball of the foot (my left) most often in the area between the third and fourth toes. It begins feeling like you have a small pebble in your shoe. It involves a thickening of the nerves leading to your toes, can and often causes sharp burning pain in the ball of the foot. Switching shoes can help. Some companies sell pads to tuck under the ball of the foot in your shoe. What helped me most was cortizone injection. I was concerned I may have caused a stress fracture in my foot and when the pain did not go away, I sought out a great podiatrist. Dr. Neil Burrell in Beaumont. This was not the first doc I had seen for this , but this injection session was a miracle for me. This latest injection hardly hurt going in, and the relief has lasted so long, I can't remember the month I had the appointment. It was 2014, I think! That damn memory!! But the pain is all but a memory now.
Running hard on concrete is not the best for the body. Thats why my choice of running surfaces is a crushed granite track. My friend " Morton" is a reminder for me of the importance of pace. That race I nearly didn't finish cause of my lack of pace control Since then, I have learned to pace. My pace is my pace that is comfortable to me. I can breathe, I feel fine when I finish. That is my usual training pace. I have it easily between 9 to 10 min/mile for 3 to 5 miles. I put in a few speed training spots ( where I run as fast as I can from one point on the track to another, then slow back to training speed to recover. When I catch my breath, I do another. I can tell where I am pace wise by checking my iPhone Nike program, or listen to the verbal cues via the earphones. At a steady 9 min mile I know I cannot medal in the Games. I know I need to be as close to an 7 to 8 min mile pace to have a chance. I am realistic. Running a 5K in 22 mins. is not on my horizon. I will be a winner if I finish, meet or beat my personal best, and if by chance the luck, conditions are in my favor, may have a chance at the top 5. My Nike Prep Program starts on Monday, with intense training up until the few days before the race. But in the mean time, I have allowed myself a chance to recharge and rest up. Next week begins the ramp up to the race. Rest is part of the training. This will be another challenge, as to terms of our home sale, we must be out for buyers needs two weeks before the race. We agreed as another buyer may not come by in this market in our current neighborhood. We will rent until after the race. Too much change, too much stress not good for the race, and we have planned on this for too long to walk away. This will challenge our brains to stay focused, stay relaxed and be our personal best!
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