This is what slower feels like

It's a time of involuntary rest here at S.R.S.

There was no running of the Great Pumpkin Challenge Saturday, and I won't be participating in the Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon/Squirrelly 6-miler next weekend either.

Somehow, between running a great, hard race last Sunday morning over the cross country trails and going out for a recovery run Monday evening, my left knee has become injured. I think it's a joint problem. The knee cap aches if I put even slightly more weight then regular walking on it -- say, if I'm walking down stairs or moving quickly to get in or out of the car.

Running is nearly impossible. Both times I went out this last week, I walked outside into the cold filled with energy and excitement.  As I start to warm up my legs, my lungs decide they want to go along for the ride too. I am smiling into the air, so grateful and joyed to own this one simple thing, the ability to move myself forward into space. "This is going to be a great run. I can feel it," I think.

I hardly go 3/4 of a mile on an 11-minute pace before the knee pain flares up. When I try to push through it, I begin to feel nauseous, so I walk and then start jogging again. The mysterious pain returns like a nag, getting worse with every step.

There are some frustrating moments when the pain, combined with fears of not being able to race or even get myself home from this brief outing bring me to tears in the middle of the street. Passing motorists see me clutching my knee and cursing out all that is weak within me, right there at the intersection. I give up and gingerly slog the rest of the way home, or call for a ride. I feel such loss. The other day I ran an 8-minute mile with a pack of all sorts of beautiful people in the brilliant sunlight.  Now I am limping alone through the dark.

What seems like a host of other life happenings, in addition to this ill-timed injury, converged toward the end of this week and threw me into an emotional tailspin. Here's hoping that some rest and QT with family this week will help me get back on track.

The pros and cons of age 25

I've 25 now and that means lots of new things, some of which are:

1. Cheaper car insurance. I really worked the system this month and knocked $100 off my premium through sheer genius negotiating. I don't know if this is necessarily a matter of age, but we'll just chalk it up to wisdom from years of experience.

2. Mechanic at shop makes me consider never again leaving the house without putting on mascara by asking me randomly "Do you have class today?" while I'm waiting for my car to get an oil change. Guess he took my "just rolled out of bed and schlepped over here, and I don't care what I look like because this is my day off" appearance for that of a college student. Great. Just great.

3. I'm increasingly having to make room in my budget for gifts for friends who are getting married, and the proper attire to attend these matrimonial ceremonies. [Decided not to insert inappropriate comment here. Foot remains outside of mouth.]

4. I'm getting nervous about continuing to use my SUNY Brockport ID card to get discounts when buying stuff. The photo is now more than seven years old...

5. But most importantly, what 25 really means is that I've moved into a new age group division in running races. Instead of being the oldest in my bracket, women 20-24, I'm the youngest in the 25-29 division. Which means my chances are better for placing in my division.

Yesterday, I placed 3rd out of 8 in my new age group in the 5K Saratoga National Cross Country Classic. Too bad I didn't stick around long enough after the race to hear about it first-hand. A pancake breakfast was calling my name. But it was still super exciting.

My time of about 26:18 was my personal record in an official race, just a few seconds faster than the Fasig Tipton 5K in August. But if it weren't for those winding, gravel-covered hills in the Ferndell area of the state park, I think I would have shaved off 20 seconds and hit my goal, which was to finish under 26 minutes.

Ah well. Mile two was a killer, and I stopped to walk once after the hill. That's what got me.

Overall, it was the most enjoyable race I've done out of the six I've ran since April.

Everything came together: the weather was perfect, I was dressed exactly right so as to be not too warm or too cold, I ate breakfast and was hydrated, I wasn't really nervous because I had trained appropriately, I wasn't tired because I took off work the night before, I had time to warm up because I actually got to the park early and I had the great support of AB to park the car, hold my bag of essentials while I raced and catch me at the finish:

What a guy!

Alas, all wonderful 3-day weekends must come to an end. I'm icing my hurting knee in preparation for what will hopefully be a solid, sunny week of running in preparation for Saturday's Great Pumpkin Challenge.

It doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop

After mulling over some sage advice from AB, who is a much more disciplined and established athlete than I, I've decided to ease up on this week's 17-mile goal.

While I didn't think 5 miles more than last week sounded like much -- it could all be done in one extra day of running, after all! -- another way of looking at it, as AB pointed out, is that it's more than a 30 percent increase in mileage from week to week. 

That sounds like a lot. And it makes sense. There's no need to risk injury when there are several races coming up. Add to this that it's been raining like Noah's ark is ready to float out of upstate New York, and I don't feel too bad easing down on the miles.

Like tonight -- I was planning for a couple easy miles, but when I got home around 10:30, it was cold and rainy. So, I opted for a glass of wine instead. Getting drenched during Monday night's 3.6 mile adventure, followed by a solid 3.3 miles under clear skies Tuesday was enough for one week -- at least until tomorrow.

I'll aim for a 14-mile week instead. Fortunately, Thursday's forecast after 1 p.m. is all sun/clouds and no precipitation.

Unfortunately, I'll never be as hilarious as this guy while running in the rain. 

And in honor of breast cancer awareness month and one inspiring, proactive blogger, I'll sign off with a little pink to lighten the mood.

Weekend rundown

Hours worked: 14

Miles ran: 2.74

Cups of coffee: 3 

Loads of dishes/laundry done: 5

Hours of sleep needed, to recover from last week: 26

My plan for this coming week is very ambitious: Since I did not do the Pit Run today, and in preparation for the upcoming races in the rest of October, I will attempt to run five out of the next seven days.

My whiteboard currently looks something like this:

Monday: 4 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 2 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: Rest

With the itty bitty run I did earlier this evening, my total mileage for the week ended up just shy of 11 miles -- once an unthinkable number. My big training goal was striving for a 9-mile week just a couple months ago.

Now that a few, albeit nonconsecutive, 10- to 12-mile weeks are under my belt, it's obviously freaking cold out time to stop complaining about the weather and take my training to the next level.

Operation 17 Miles This Week has officially commenced!