Longmont 10k Turkey Trot

After the Eerie Erie I decided I was ready to start really running again. I was planning on recycling the running program I did last fall - perfect since one of my runs per week was with a group and I never did what was on the plan anyway. I ran Monday and Wednesday after Erie and by Wednesday decided that my Tibialis muscle (runs up the inside of leg under the tibia bone) was unnaturally sore. Actually, I had begun to notice it about 3 weeks ago (from today) but as it neither got worse nor better, I ignored it. And as it had been 2 weeks at that point, I decided to give running a break for a week to see if things got better. Things did not get better, nor did they get worse. And I'm starting to wonder if I'm an injury-hypochondriac or if I'm just really in tune with my body and extra cautious. And speaking of injury - my calves are still a little tight (as in, I feel my heels in the morning, but it doesn't hurt exactly) and I can't tell if that's ok, of if it's a sign that there's still a problem. Anyway, that wasn't exactly clear but I have another appointment with my masochist massage therapist tomorrow and will have a better idea what, if anything, is going on with my lower legs.

By this week I was ready to run again and did a couple short runs in my old Asics. On Tuesday I did a warm up followed by 4 x 400's and it was awful. Well, awful as in hard and painful and not fun. I guess doing 18 sec striders and then jumping into 1:50 intervals is a big jump. Thursday, I just reverted back to my old 8 x 30 left foot strike striders. My lower legs did not feel any different with adding running back in, so I decided to do the Longmont Turkey Trot.

Saturday's temperature was just about perfect for running - somewhere in the mid-30's to '40's. Since I was able to hold an 8:35 pace for the last 2 miles of the Eerie Erie, I wanted to push myself a bit harder this race to see what I was capable of. The course was pretty flat and fast (no dirt roads like Erie) and I was able to hit my first mile right where I wanted it - 8:52. Around miles 2-4 a guy started pacing off of me in right in my blind spot and it helped me bump up the pace a little. I hit miles 3 & 4 around 8:30. I started to get really tired around 5 1/2 miles and I didn't have the kick that I like to have at the end of a 10k, but I didn't drop off too much either.

Mile Splits:
1- 8:52
2- 8:45
3- 8:35
4- 8:33
5- 8:51
6- 8:45
.22- 8:12

All that added up to a new 10k (real 10k - my watch even had it at 6.25 miles) PR - 54:26. Which I'm very excited about, except that next time I'll want to beat it, and it will be hard. Sometimes I think I really enjoy the idea of racing, but when I'm out there doing it, not so much. This race was pretty much a suffer-fest, but as always, after the post race endorphins kicked in, I was already planning the next one.