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July 12, 2005
PAIPB
Today I ran past the US Marine Corps War Memorial (aka Iwo Jima). It is right next to Fort Myer. I am glad I wore a shirt b/c I ran past about 200 marines (almost exclusively male) setting up for some event at the memorial!
Usually at some point in every race I question whether or not I should walk-I haven't yet-but the thought does usually cross my mind. However, I never feel that way on training runs. I did today though. I was thinking, "Oh wow, I am in horrible shape. This is ridiculous. This is hard. I am slow. I need to walk." But I didn't. I sucked it up. At the car the cause of the problem occurred to me. I was hot. At 6 AM it was 86 degrees, feeling like 89. It was humid. It was disgusting out. And I don't run my best in the heat. I am pretty sure that was the problem. But I ran by Iwo Jima, past Arlington National Cemetery, and along the Potomac. It was pretty (the scenery, not my running). I ran for 38:33 minutes. I HAVE to do something about the blisters though. They are NOT good.
Other than that I was just thinking about what I would like my running goals to be. I don't really have any right now. I have almost achieved one-recover from my calf strain and recover from my knee pain. (I just need to find good running shoes and I am all set). I have the tri coming up but I have to admit I am not as motivated by that as by running. (As can be seen by the lack of biking in my training). Maybe after I do the tri that will change but it's hard to say right now.
I wrote paragraphs and paragraphs about some goal ideas which included specific time goals, speculations on what I thought my chances of achieving each goal were, and in which I introduced new temporary acronyms (such as PAIPB-Post April Injury Personal Best). I decided to scrap the paragraphs until they start to make some sort of sense. After about half an hour of writing I just stopped being interested in all the numbers. I figure that a goal will just hit me when I hear about a good opportunity or race that I am excited about. Why force it?
So I am not going to worry about goals for a few more weeks (though there are some ideas floating around in my head-as a sneak peek, I am thinking Austin marathon in February!-though I am open to other winter marathons). I am honestly happy just to be running. I don’t need a goal for right now. I am in a summer racing series (next race on Thursday night) so that kind of keeps me doing some faster running. Other than that I am just going to hang out until after the tri on July 24th. Yeah running!
Posted by Audrey at July 12, 2005 08:20 PM
Comments
Well I for one would encourage you to come to Austin! We have a great marathon and a great city ...
Good luck with coming up with those goals. I know it's a bit stressful, but isn't it exciting to have open all those possibilities?!
Posted by: jenandmats at July 12, 2005 09:02 PM
Hey, ditto on the Yeah Running, Audrey. But what did you mean you ran in a skirt? Is that one of those technical running skirts? Skorts? Something like that.
Posted by: Jon in Michigan at July 13, 2005 09:19 AM