Much Better now.

Recently I had been struggling with my training. I say recently but it has been going on for over a year now.
2013 started well for me. I PR'd at the Austin Marathon, Ran well at the Possum Kingdom 55K, and had a great race at the Golden gate 50K near Golden Colorado. After that the bottom fell out. Was it overtraining and too much racing for me? For a year though, I could not get into a rhythm. Burnout! That had to be it. But what could reignite the flame? The friends in our group kept me going. I enjoy their company as much as I enjoy running. I still could not get into comfortable training. My legs felt weak, worn out, tired.
The Dallas Marathon is on my schedule this year, December 14. In the back of my mind was the thought of training hard to be as close as possible to my PR. Six months out and I attempted to train seriously. Four months out and still no improvement. Two weeks ago I hit rock bottom. Pain in my hip, sore throat, sinus headache, stomach virus! I was not able to run for almost two weeks. I contemplated giving it up. Confiding in my brother and sister. Sister said listen to your body. Brother said, slow down, take a break, think about it. I did. At REI  bought a par of hiking shoes. From now on its all about enjoying hikes in the woods.

(I started this post 4 weeks ago and thought, "who cares/" Does anyone really care to read my blog?
On this morning's attempt to run thoughts were flowing in my mind as usual.  I want to write about them after every run but don't. Today I thought I would. It's a form of meditation and my Grandkids may one day read my online journal. Well, now to finish my original post.)

Things got better! My sinus headache was gone, stomach felt better and I was running again. I can't quit running. Can I?  Naw.
Going into the Hillotes half marathon on Oct. 17, a race I registered for back in August, I felt well rested. My mindset was "just enjoy the run." This course is very very hilly. Although I had not run in the area recently, I knew this course very well having trained regularly on it some 10 years ago. The course's first big hill is at mile 1.5. My friend Arturo and I exchanged pleasantries. A mile later Arturo and I were running together and ran together the rest of the race. I began using him as my pacer. At one time I told him to go on because he seemed to be running more comfortably than me but he insisted we stick together. We did and what I thought would be a 2+ hour run turned into a 1:51:00 finish! I felt so good and ran so strong! Very surprising. Attributed to beginning with that mindset, "just enjoy the run." Plus running with a friend helps a whole bunch too.

Arturo and I at the Finish
 

My spirits were uplifted. My Chiropractor straightened out my hips. I felt good about running again and good going into the Cactus Rose 100 miler on Oct. 25. I was not running the race but had to be there to pace my friend Elizabeth the last 25 miles.
That story will have to wait until my next post. Another buddy is on his way to pick me up. We're picking up some other pals and going to the Texas Longhorns football game!