Hungry for More

I know I said that I wasn't going to run a 5K this weekend. But I changed my mind and I'm allowed to do that. Bobby Brown says that's okay.

Not the crap Britney Spears version

Another fellow grad student is running it, so I figured it would be fun. And it would keep me in on a Friday night. I need to get back in the habit of not going out on Friday nights, especially when I start training in December for the Cleveland Marathon and the Illinois Half Marathon.

But for now, the focus is on building myself back up, both physically and psychologically, so I'm ready for training. Right now, maybe even more so than physically, I'm not mentally ready to run long distances.

There. I said it.

Part of me is a little scared that if I run further and faster than before, I'll injure myself again, not be able to work out, put on a ton of weight, and just be generally miserable. Part of me is shocked and frustrated that running 3 or 4 miles right now carries the same feeling that running 15 miles felt like before I injured myself. I also think that, whilst I was injured, I didn't really absorb how big of a shock not running for so long would be to me. I'm sure my internal monologue was saying something like, "I've done this before, I've been injured before, but I'll bounce back quickly and be even faster and stronger than before..." Not quite!

And I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about it, too.

So I'm taking it day by day. I know last weekend I was disappointed that I couldn't handle a longer run and had to bail early, so I was building this weekend up to be better. But my runs this week have been sub-par (surprise, surprise). I think that this 5K will be good for me. I already know I won't be running it fast. I felt some twinges in my heretofore injured areas yesterday and today, so I don't want to test that too much. And I don't have my new shoes yet, so I know why my knees are aching and my legs are a bit more sore than usual. So that being said, I'm just looking to get a run in on a Saturday morning. Early. I've got a lot of work to do this weekend.

And I can't wait to go check out Body n' Sole with MicaPie tomorrow! New running shoes are a "need" now. Shoot...they were a "need" a few months ago. I'm long overdue for a new pair. And maybe some other items since my financial aid finally went through.
The further I run, the more ice cream I can eat...