reflecting

6/10/08
Tuesday

Reflecting on my running season which unfortunately will be cut short this year. My bone graph surgery will be scheduled sometime between now and August. My hope is to postpone it until after the B to B and possibly after the 9 miler at Bradbury. We will see as I have to work with the hospitals schedule.

I am a little disapointed as I had planned a half or possibly full marathon in October. I am sure I will not be ready for that as I have almost two months of no running after surgery. I am sure I will be able to run some though. Not quite what I had in mind this year but still happy to get the surgery over with.

My plan was to use the x-country running as a means to get in better shape for the B to B and create a good base for some speedy 5 and 10 ks. Not to mention that I love running off road. I don't know that the X-C runs have givin me anything in the way of speed on roads, but surely I feel I have better endurance. I think a good test will be the LL Bean 10K. I should feel relatively strong during the 4th and 5th
mile hills.

One of my highlights so far this year was the Pineland challenge 25K. Though I was not as prepared as I should have been, I am so glad I ran that race. I gained a different perspective of distance trail running and it was so great to do something not only different but something a lot of people haven't done.

I am in awe of how organized and well run the race was. I am toying with the notion of gearing up for the 50K next year. The timing would work out as I will lose a couple months of racing this fall. The rest will allow me to start fresh and train through the winter for the 50K.

If I don't run the 50k, at least I can try and PR my 25K time. Now that I understand the demands of the course and the distance, I think I can gear up my training and be much happier with the results.

I am getting quite excited about the Bradbury Scuffle. This is a new XC race and it is fun to be part of something new. Of course most of the trail runners in this race are amazing and surely will be resting with their feet up by the time I cross that finsih line. I suspect I will be quite slow compared to these experienced trail runners. My goal is to finish with out any tripping injuries.