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October 04, 2004
Happy Monday Run
Even though today was an easy recovery run day, it was the best training run I've had in a long, long time. I was excited to escape the office and soak up the sun and cool breeze. I had little more than an hour to spare before my chiropractic appointment, so I parked in a commuter lot adjacent to the W&OD Trail and headed toward Fairfax County. Starting off, my legs were a bit dead from Saturday's long run and my left ankle still ached. I planned to do a ~8 min/mi pace, but my enthusiasm carried me into the high 7:40s. No point resisting.
Usually I dread mile markers on W&OD, but today they kept me from getting too comfortable. When I turned around at a little over 4 miles, my step gained some spring in anticipation of getting back to my car. I ran miles 4-6 a bit faster, then pulled in the reins for mile 7. Remember, recovery run not race. It ended up being ~8.5 miles in 66 minutes...slow but fun and mostly pain free (minus the ankle). Then, news flash...it suddenly hit me that my hip wasn't hurting! The right side of my hip had been in constant pain since earlier this year. And then I also recalled that it didn't hurt on Saturday either.
I relayed this excitement to Dr. McLaughlin. He thinks recovery would have happened sooner had the wedding and honeymoon not curtailed my training. With this, he said that if the positive trend continues, we'll cut back my visits and move to online coaching after the Army Ten Miler. I told him that I don't expect a PR there but that my longer term goal is to run another marathon in January or February (just fast enough to qualify for Boston). I hope that I can stay healthy. I've never had a coach who's designed a plan only for me, and I'm thrilled at the prospect of good things coming from it. Dr. McLaughlin has done numerous marathons and Ironman triathlons, so I value his professional opinion as well as many other local athletes including Alan Webb. So, we'll see - I shouldn't be overly optimistic just yet.
Well, time to ice my ankle and sift through junk mail before getting back to work.
Posted by Leilani at October 4, 2004 07:35 PM