I know, I know…

I have been so lame with posting.  I’m so sorry.  And thank you to all who have e-mailed to check on me.  Yes, I am alive and well in Texas.  Okay, semi-well.  I have basically been sick and/or hurt since I got here.  That is why I didn’t post.  I had already posted a few whiny posts before I left LA, so I didn’t want to add anymore.  But the truth is, overtrain in the the 108 degree heat the first week you arrive, add altitude, step in a hole and strain a tendon, and then refuse to rest, and you end up in a big mess.  If one of my clients had done this, I would have gone ballistic.  Of course, I thought I knew better.  I thought I should just push through it, completely underestimating my level of fatigue and stress from my last month in LA.

What I really needed to do when I arrived back in Texas was to rest.  To take time to adjust to the heat, the altitude, and the time difference.  To slowly lean into my new schedule and environment.  But I was impatient, pushing for Nationals in September, trying to really hit it hard these last three months before the race.  Instead, I have spent six weeks off the rails. Yuck!

So, I am trying to reign it back in, come up with Plan B, get well and move forward.  I had a long talk with Howard Nippert last week, and he talked me down from the ledge.  He reminded me that there are always other races, and that no performance is going to benefit from overtraining, especially when a runner is sick and hurt.  That is what makes Howard one of the best runners and running coaches in the country – he knows when to tell runners “enough is enough”.  I love Howard!  Just having him tell me to “chill” made me do just that, and amazingly, I’m finally on the mend.

As scheduled, we did head to San Francisco with friends for the marathon, but I just ran to the Golden Gate Bridge and back to my hotel (11.5 miles).  I knew I would pay for it if I pushed myself through 26.2 miles, so I accepted that it was just going to be a fun trip, and let it go. Tim, Grant, and Spencer, on the other hand, ran the half-marathon (the boys’ first ever!) and had a blast!  I was so proud of them.  It is a really hilly course, and they all finished strong and happy.  It made the whole trip worthwhile!

So, I’m now on a revised training schedule, trying to shake off the last vestiges of my cold while slowly ramping up the miles again.  I hope to be back in full training mode in a week or so, but I will take it slowly this time.  I HATE learning lessons the hard way!

Happy Running!