Failure

OBJECTIVE
16 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.68 mi. @ 9:07/mi.

6:05 AM

Started from the Y with Bob Bond and Gordon this morning. Bob's been having a problem with his back so they were going for 8 miles. I figured I'd run the first 4 miles with them and see how I was feeling. Specifically my toe - which I'm fairly certain I broke last Sunday. It's black and blue and very swollen. I haven't run since Sunday because of it.

It was good to run with Bob again. Conversation has a way of passing the miles away much more efficiently than thinking! We covered the first 4 miles around 8:37/mi. pace. Bob and Gordon turned back. I was feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace and headed for Spring-Cypress Road. My thought at this point was to push for 10 miles then see how I was feeling. Unfortunately by the time I hit 8 miles, my left IT band was absolutely screaming. I had failed to wear my IT band strap today even though I've been wearing for virtually every run for the past month. My IT band has not given me any trouble lately. Evenso, it was a complete oversight on my part in failing to put it on.

There are always "crossroads" while running. These are the times you have to make a decision. For me, they always come up during races and also occur during training runs. I was at today's crossroad. In the past when the IT band issue has manifest itself, I've always "pushed on through". The result has been that I've ended up having to take some time off to recover. Today, I just shut it down and walked in the last 2 miles. It nearly killed me as several ChampionsFit runners passed me while I was walking. I kept telling myself that this was the right thing to do and that this approach would allow me to keep running rather than having to take time off. ... time will tell.

PRE RUN
Oatmeal w/skim milk, water & multivitamin

IN RUN
Accelerade & GU (Mint chocolate)

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, GrapeNuts cereal w/skim milk