And whew

I got this email yesterday (click the image if you can't read the text). The Hangover Half has been postponed until January 7 because of our extreme, life-threatening cold temperatures. So relieved.

Well crud

I grabbed this screen shot from Weather Underground around 10 this morning. As you can see, we've got extreme cold forecast for the weekend, and that's on top of the bitter cold we have right now (temp was 2F when I drove to work this morning). And don't forget the snow. It's only two inches but super slick.

I just checked the weather again and now the forecast calls for snow on Sunday (bad news for the trail for the half marathon) and the low Sunday night is -6. That's a minus sign.

Not liking my chances for running this half, I'll be honest. 

Harder than it looks

When I was 32 and still a professional musician, I developed tendonitis in my right thumb from playing. I went to physical therapy, and my PT said you need to stop playing to let this heal up, otherwise it’s going to get a lot worse and you might not recover. I said well I’m in the middle of a lot of rehearsals and a bunch of concerts, I will see you in May (it was February).

And those concerts were the last I ever played.

My thumb did indeed get a lot worse. The tendonitis spread to the back of my hand, to my elbow and up to my shoulder. I couldn’t even sign my name on a check for about five months—I lost the grippy motion you need to hold a pen or pencil. I went to PT religiously, did all the rehab exercises, tried to play again and nope. Flat could not do it.

I still have issues with my right hand. My handwriting is so bad I can’t always read it. I’ve had to learn to use a mouse with my left hand so that I can give my right hand a break. It’s been 25 years and this is my normal now.

Patron saint for runners--
thanks Mom!

So I’m taking this piriformis issue seriously. I got a recommendation for a PT place that works with athletes and went for a screening last night. Holy cow that hurt. She did a piriformis release on both sides and that was incredibly painful. But it helped. She also gave me a couple of exercises and dynamic stretches to do. They hurt, but I can tell it’s not the “OMG stop you are damaging yourself” pain. I go back next week for a full evaluation.

In the meantime, I’ll hold off running until next Tuesday. That gives me a full week of no running. I’m still planning on running my half marathon, I know logically I have all the fitness and conditioning I need. But mentally it’s hard. I’ve also had to acknowledge I won’t meet the 200k distance challenge for December (I use Strava, which is sort of like FaceBook for runners and cyclists and you can sign up for all sorts of challenges every month). That’s hard too, because I hate not meeting those kinds of challenges.

But the reality is if I don’t stop and heal up, then I run the risk of a more serious injury. I’d like to think I learned something from that career ending injury 25 years ago
.

In which I am learning about the mental side of running

A week ago, I ran in the local Jingle Bell 5k race and did pretty well. I set a new personal record for the mile (7:29) and a new personal record for the 5K (25:48)—I came in 91st overall, and second in my age group.

But because I’m not very experienced at racing, I also strained my left hamstring a bit. It’s been a bad enough strain that I cut back my running this week because otherwise I’m concerned I won’t be able to run in the half marathon on New Year’s Day.

And that’s the mental part. I know logically that I’m fit, I could run a half today (well assuming my hamstring cooperates) but mentally my brain says otherwise.

It’s been a real challenge not to get clenched over skipping days in my training plan. This week, I skipped Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and today. I’m going to try a short easy run tomorrow morning, but I’m deliberately taking a loop that will let me cut the run short if I’m still hurting.

Update on Monday: Well I ran a nice slow mile, and still had a fair amount of discomfort. I'll wait until Thursday to try again. 

On a happier note, here are some photos from the 5k last weekend.

Before the race--yes, we are in a cave.

I'm the female blur in the light blue shirt.

Yay, I did it!

Finisher's medal and age group medal

October running recap (so I don’t forget)

Finisher's medal

• Ran my first race in nine years
• Got new running shoes—this is my first time wearing Saucony shoes (I got Kinvaras). They are ridiculously big but that’s what it took to not smash my toenails because I have long toes. But they are big everywhere else—heel to the ball of my foot, side to side and top to bottom. So I’ve got inserts in them to take up space, and I am wearing my thickest Baluga running socks just to take up some of that room. I’d love to find running shoes for narrow shallow feet with a long toe box but the current fashion is wider shoes with super wide toe boxes, and those just hurt my feet.
• Ran my first ever 10 mile run. I was pretty pumped up about that.
• Ended my mile a day streak on October 25 (I started on August 11). I ended it because (a) the streak was becoming the master of me, and (b) my son is right and I do need a rest day. 
• Ran 114+ miles in October and had my most miles ever in one week (37.8).
• I decided to run a half marathon. I would have loved to run it this month but I’m out of town for every local half in my area. So I am aiming for the Hangover Half on January 1. The only reason I would not run it is if it’s below 20F (I have some lung issues) or if we have a lot of snow and ice on the ground. I’m not interested in slipping and breaking any bones.