Set back

Hello friends,

My apologies for my lack of presence over the last week. I've been dealing with many life issues that have stripped from me the motivation to blog with any substance -- so I didn't. Now that those life issues are seemingly resolving, I feel that I can return to report what has been happening in my running life. Shall we start with the past 3 days?

Friday was long run day this week, and I logged an easy 12 miles. And when I say easy, I mean (another) one of the hardest "long" runs of my life. The humidity continues to be unbearable in Richmond, and actually took a turn for the worse last week. I can't remember ever sweating so much so many days in a row due purely to humidity (the temperature hangs around 75-80, nothing terrible).

I was more or less forced to run my long run in my Precisions, since I had neglected to dry my shoes from the previous day's effort, leaving them soaking wet and heavy (from sweat, mind you) -- unappealing for a 12 mile run. With my new attitude towards experimenting with minimalism, I was not terribly upset by the idea that I would put in a substantial amount of miles in a less substantial shoe. As I said before, the run was quite difficult, but I didn't experience any discomfort from the shoes themselves. Until later.

I now find myself staring at my third consecutive day off, which I have determined as of this morning will be happening today. My left Achilles remains flared up right at the heel, a product of running in more "minimal" shoes that are admittedly too old (I bought those shoes for the race that I qualified for Boston in, Richmond 2007). Having just written that sentence, I now realize what a complete moron I am for still having those shoes in circulation. I work at a running store for God's sake, where I preach daily the importance of not letting a shoe go past it's lifespan (3-6 MONTHS). Now that they are over 4 years old, I think it's safe to retire them.

All of this being said, I am now experiencing a minor setback. I am not, however, depressed. Last Friday I registered and was accepted into the Boston Marathon in 2012. This is my main long term goal at this point. Since the race is in April, I have a very long time to build up properly and regain my fitness. A small bit of inflammation in my Achilles is no need for alarm before October has even started. Better to be smart now, treat the injury, fix the problems that lead to the injury, and pick right back up where I left off. Gosh, I've gotten so much smarter and more mature with old age...

GO SKINS!