Did you hear that “whooshing” sound?

I’m sure it was the whoosh heard ’round the world.

After Sunday’s if not overly confident post, at least not backing down post, I woke up Monday planning to do my long run of the week.  Eight and a half miles.

That’s when the big whoosh happened.

The sound of all the air escaping the good ship Grammadog’s sails.

I’m blaming it on our weather.  We went from highs in the 70’s with low humidity to highs in the 90’s with humidity so high you didn’t even have to carry a water bottle when you ran.  Just open your mouth and suck it in from the air.  Yeh.  It’s that humid.

No running got done on Monday.  I was disappointed with myself to put it mildly.

It never rains but it pours.  Monday night my “not frequently heard from, but always at the worst possible time when it is” asthma kicked in.  Miserable, I took refuge in my air conditioning and went to bed.

Tuesday brought yoga and swimming in the morning.  I was feeling better.  Both went well.  I turned in the fastest time so far this year for a mile swim.

There’s hope.

Tuesday afternoon was cycling with the club.  It’s the same route every time-convenient for me to keep tabs on how I’m improving over the course.  I will guarantee you it was pushing 100 degrees in the sun out there on the pavement.  I was afraid to look at the temperature on my cyclometer.  (Our recorded high for yesterday was 93 degrees in ambient air)

I baled on the ride two miles short of the turn-around and started back for the parking lot.  Five miles to go, I seriously didn’t think I was going to make it.  Ugly.  Now, not only was I disappointed with myself, but I was beginning to have doubts about AmeliaMan.

Hope flew out the car window on the way home.

Today was run time again.  I had planned to make up the long run from Monday.

“The best laid plans … ”

The eight and a half mile run melted in the heat and humidity to five and a quarter, and a serious chunk of that was walking.

I’ll get through this.  I’ve done battle with the dragon named Doubt before,

(here: http://grammagoesrunning.com/2013/02/08/the-dragon-named-doubt/)

I’m just praying it’s not 90 degrees and 90% humidity on the beach in Florida on October 13th.

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Rest works….

Our weather broke out in sunshine yesterday afternoon, and I decided it was now or never.

Alarmingly, it was beginning to look more and more like never.  Not only was the knee still twinge-y, but I was beginning to not care.  

I went out the door with “somewhere around three miles” in mind, but ended up doing four.  A far cry from the thirteen plus I’d run just three weeks ago, but four more than I’d run since.  (Well, there were those couple false starts on the treadmill, but that’s all they were-false starts-a couple miles, mixed walking and running.)

It sure was nice to be able to go out and run neekid!  No hat, no gloves, no turtleneck, no tights, no jacket.  Just shorts and a tshirt…and the Garmin, of course.  I even forgot my phone.  (That kept me close to home, since I didn’t want to have to crawl too far home if it all didn’t work out.)

It was….OK.

Just……..OK.

The knee tightened up later, but wasn’t horribly uncomfortable, which means I probably picked up again at exactly the right time…not so soon as to have done more damage, but before I lost all my conditioning.  

Speaking of which…I’m shocked by how much I did lose in three short weeks.  It wasn’t a struggle to do four miles, but I didn’t want to go much further.  I’m guessing my age, and the fact that I’ve been riveted to my desk for the last three weeks finishing my other project, really took a toll.  And eating everything that didn’t eat me first.

Qualifying for Boston is definitely out for this spring.

Possibly for the entire year.

I’m going to concentrate on building a solid mileage base, getting stronger, and improving my pace.   I have very serious doubts (thank you Mr. Dragon) as to whether I could have run a Boston qualifying time, even by June.

It was, in the end, probably too soon.

And speaking of dragons, next year Loch Ness Marathon for sure.  I know, not technically a dragon but you get the picture.  Loch Ness is a commitment with Carole, whose fault this all is anyway (lol Carole), and I’m not letting her out of it.  

I don’t think the knee injury was over-use (o, hell no, I’ll never admit that).  It was clearly a result of running on the snow and ice.  I was fine until then, and that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

So now, there’s a new “Plan”.

Back to basics.

Get stronger.  Get longer.  Get lighter. Get faster.  Get a few races under my belt, hopefully placing well.

And yes, do a couple triathlons.

Hope you all have had much success these last few weeks.

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The dragon named Doubt….

One thing that has become painfully obvious to me is that unless I can drop another minute per mile off my pace there will be no Boston qualification at the Cleveland Marathon.

Doubt has been clinging to my shoulder every run.  Can I do it?  Is this all for naught? Have I been too ambitious?  Is this too soon?

Doubt can eat you up.

The dragon named Doubt

I’ve always thought of training as “teasing the dragon from the cave”.

As if in a real-life video game,  dragons lurk along the path to achieving a goal.  Some you know are there…sore muscles, tiredness…but some are unexpected.

Each dragon hides in its cave until you venture by. Then, roaring and belching fire and smoke, it makes it’s presence known.  At first it stays hidden from sight, issuing its challenge from the darkest recesses of its cave.  You know it’s there, but you really don’t know how big it is, or if it will actually come out and make a fight of it.

Approaching the mouth of the cave teases the dragon out, causes him to expose himself, and you get a better idea of what you are up against.  Just how serious is this monster?  Can it be overcome? Sometimes an avoidance maneuver is called for-this is a particularly nasty dragon who has never seen defeat in battle.  Passing the mouth of his cave with caution and a liberal application of good sense is the only way to continue down the training path.

Sometimes the dragon is big…..and scary……..and loud…………and persistent.

This dragon leaves you weak in the knees and wondering why you ever chose this particular path to travel.  After all, it would be much more comfortable nestled into your favorite easy chair, warm and snug.  Who needs this?

Then you remember why you are on this path.  You have a goal.  Something really important you want to achieve.  And this damn dragon is doing his best to keep you from it.

You are going to have to do battle with this beast.

So you fight.  Using every weapon at your disposal.  This isn’t a fair fight, it’s a fight to the death.  Either to the death of the dragon, or the death of your goal.

I’m doing battle with Doubt.  I’ve seen how big and powerful he is.  He pours out his wrath before and during every run.  The last couple weeks, he’s had the upper hand.

Yesterday we battled again.  I won.  After four miles of hills I ran the last mile of a five miler at a minute under the pace I must run in Cleveland to qualify.

A small victory, but a victory for now,  none the less.  He’ll be back.

Go ahead Doubt, make my day.

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