Sunday, January 17, 2010

Saturday Group Run

After 12 months off, I rejoined the group for a Saturday long run. It wasn't exactly long - we decided on an 8 mile loop as most people were "recovering?" from last week's Fat Ass. The loop is pretty much 4 miles of gradual up and then 4 miles of down.

The up didn't go particularly well for me. The group shot off and I struggled to keep up. After the first mile, my right achilles was burning. After months of taking time to warm up, I just went with it and hoped for the best. DUMB. My mind waged a mental war the entire 4 miles up and I'm certain I wasn't fun company. Once we reached the top, M and T were waiting, which was nice of the them, but I hate the thought of making people wait.

We headed back down, which felt great. By this time I was warmed up, and I just wanted to fly on down. Even more so when we hit the pavement. This recent enjoyment of road running has planted a seed in my brain. It's a rebuilding year anyway, so maybe I should go with it and train for a marathon?

As for today, the ankle is again sore, but I'm not feeling pain. The plan is to ice, stretch and rest it today, and try an easy run tomorrow. As much as I like group runs, I won't make the same mistake again. I'll either have to run to our meeting place to warm up, or start ahead of the group. As slow as I am right now, the second option might not be a bad one!

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