A New Beginning...

Hi there! I realize it's been a while. Sometimes it's a little hard to explain, but whenever things seem to be going badly, I have a tough time blogging. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I feel like I don't have anything to contribute, or if I feel that since the blog is now mostly training reports, but since I haven't been training, I just haven't blogged. I realize I have my daily twitter posts sent automatically to the blog, but that really doesn't count.

So anyway, I'm back! Or it would appear that way anyway. A little background for those who haven't been following along, and for those who forgot, but about 5 weeks ago I was supposed to be running 6 miles. I ran with my son on his bike, and my pastor running with me. He'd been having some back issues, so was only going to do 4 miles. The plan was to do the 4 miles, then backtrack and do 2 more.

Not even 30 seconds into the run, I stepped off the bike trail and twisted my ankle. I went straight down on my knees and hands, tearing both of them up.


My son and I went back to my pastor's house, where I got cleaned up before heading home. I knew I'd twisted my ankle, but that really didn't hurt as much. It was only later that I realized I shouldn't be running on it, so I decided to take a week off.

That was on a Saturday. The following Saturday, I went to the REI gear sale, and picked up a tent that was missing a pole, with the thought that I might have a replacement at home. On Sunday after church, I was walking out to the shed to look for a replacement, when I stepped in a hole that the dog had dug, and OVER went my ankle.

I don't think I've felt pain like that in years. I was trying to reach down at my foot to pull the sandal off, because it was literally swelling before my eyes. All I could think of was, "CIM is off. CIM is off. Oh crap, CIM is off." CIM, of course, being the California International Marathon.

10 minutes after I re-injured my ankle, this is how it looked.


I wasn't able to wear a shoe for a week, and even then, for only brief periods. It's a good thing I had the sandals, because they became my friends for a while.

Anyhow, it's been 5 weeks now. Last Tuesday I started slowly, and started running. On Tuesday, I ran 2.5 miles. It felt alright, but I was swollen in the evening. I iced it, and the next day felt pretty good, so I ran 5 more miles. I repeated the cycle the next three days. I had wanted to run this weekend, but with Angel being at Women's Retreat, I couldn't leave the kids alone. Either way, I was running! 17.5 miles last week.

Looking at running plans, combining some of the concepts in the FIRST plan with Hal Higdon's Intermediate I plan, I came up with what I think will get me successfully to CIM on December 6.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	cross	2.5 m run	5 m run	5 m run	5 m run	5 m pace	8
2	cross	2 m run	5 m run	2 m run	rest	5 m run	12
3	cross	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	rest	6 m pace	15
4	cross	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	rest	7 m pace	18
5	cross	5 m run	6 m run	5 m run	rest	8 m run	20
6	cross	5 m run	6 m run	5 m run	rest	6 m pace	13
7	cross	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	rest	3 m pace	10
8	cross	3 m run	4 m run	rest	rest	2 m run	race

I'm feeling really good about the plan. I've put most of the mileage on the weekend, with the midweek runs for maintenance. In FIRST and Higdon, those midweek runs are at tempo, but at this point I'm just trying to run without being injured and build up the mileage necessary to comfortably run 26.2 miles.

So I'm back. I plan to blog my training once again, the ups, the downs, and odd things in between. Wish me luck! And pray for me. Please pray. :)