Killing It!

I really love running. Especially right now.

In mid-January I broke the 4th toe on my left foot - clean fracture. From mid-December through the injury I had been running at least once every two days and my New Year's resolution (which I never make) was to hold that pace all year.

Needless to say my injury put a severe cramp in my style. I would be sidelined for six weeks. I was immediately restless that I could not go outside for a run. I had a two week trip at the end of January and so all of my training ground to a halt. I had planned to run back in Kansas and on the beach and Florida. Instead I spent those two weeks hobbling around in hiking boots to keep my toe stable.

This time off was of course the right decision, as hard as it may have been not to run. The silver lining is that I dusted off my bike which I had not been in over a year. I started commuting to work to get some easy miles on the bike in. I rode around West Seattle and enjoyed some lovely rides with great views.

Best of all was how quickly my passion for running returned as soon as my six weeks were over. I eased back in - tried to take it slow. First a three mile run (of course the evening of my follow-up visit with my doctor), then four, then five. I scheduled a 10k to push myself to get miles in. I got back on the track as soon as I could to start working on speed. I've taken the shoes off and gone for a couple of barefoot runs.

The point here is right now my training is clicking on all cylinders. I hit a PR on my 10k by nearly three minutes. I am on pace for my June marathon and hope to run very strongly. I'm confident I'll be able to ramp up my long runs in a slow and steady fashion.

I am loving running right now. And I want to be able to come back to this post whenever I need to in order to remember how good it can be.

I hope your training and running is going just as well!