Not every run is going to be stellar. Sometimes they are going to be harder than others, sometimes your body will give out when your brain wants to keep going. This is something that I will and every runner will have to face from time to time.
Saturday was not a good run. I woke up not wanting to run at all. I got up, thought about going back to sleep. Then I changed into my running clothes and I even considered climbing back into bed. I was tired from working the night before, and I was also worried about working a 8 hour shift later in the day. I paced around my apartment for a few minutes, and eventually I got in my car and drove to my running spot. I knew that I would feel super guilty if I didn't go, and I also knew that running 12 miles on my own would be that much harder to make up by myself so running with my group would be best. Our CARA group meets at Montrose Beach at 6:30 am on Saturdays. The weather was PERFECT running weather, low 70's (very unseasonably cool for July). When I found my pace group I immediately felt better. I was chatting with the new friends I making and I knew that committing to the run was a good idea. We started running and I felt great! I'm doing the run/walk program and we do a 5:1 ratio (run five minutes and walk one minute). The five minutes of running were going by so smoothly, I was easily chatting with my groupies. We were talking about the marathon and I mentioned that I'd be happy in finishing under 6 hours. Janet, my pace leader, assured me that I could do it in 5:30! That sure gave me a boost of confidence. Then around mile 8 I felt a tiny pain in my knee. I decided to drop to the back of my pack and take it a little slower. I told my group my knee was bothering my and that I'd catch up. I never caught up, it only got worse. I felt a horrible pain in the side of my knee and also in my hip. I knew it was my IT Band. I decided to tough it out and continue "running" at a snails pace. At one point my foot hit the ground and a spike of pain ran through my whole knee that made tears fill my eyes. I hobbled over to the side of the path and I felt like crying. I wanted to cry because it hurt and I wanted to cry because I felt defeated. A girl in my group passed me and asked if I was ok and if she should send someone after me. My pride told her no and that I'd be ok. I pushed myself to finish. When I could I ran, but I walked a lot of the last three miles. I wanted to give up, but I had to get to my car anyways, so what choice did I have? When I finally finished, the girls in my group cheered for me and that felt really good. Janet asked me what was going on and I explained where the pain was. She reassured me that it was fixable. Ice and foam rolling and I'd be as good as new. My night at work wasn't as easy. Walking up and down stairs was unbearable, and I hobbled around work most of the night. I got home from work, foam rolled again and went to sleep early. At the end of the day was I glad I went for that run? Yes and no. I was glad it was over, but I wasn't glad I was hurting all day. I did have a mental battle in my head most of the day. Am I ready to run a marathon? What if this happens race day? All I can do is continue to train and trust my body and not let one bad training run get me down. Next run will be better.