Now that we're well into spring, I may as well post about winter. That is, Florida winter. So here's a three-in-one. I missed the Gasparilla half marathon--the local race I look forward to all year. And it was for a silly reason. I had trained well and felt good the week prior to the race, but at a bootcamp class the Wednesday before the race, I did an exercise the totally killed my hamstrings, only I didn't know it until the next day. And they weren't just sore; I could hardly straighten my legs to walk, let alone use my hamstrings to propel me on a run. But feeling this kind of extreme soreness is not unusual for me after this particular bootcamp class; it's certainly happened before. So I thought by the time Sunday rolled around, I'd be fine. But then as Friday passed, and soon Saturday, I was far less confident that I'd be healed in time to race Sunday. I did everything I could think of to expedite healing: massages, smelly muscle rubs, foam roller, st...

I'm happy to report that I'm back in training. I've been cautiously adding some weekly miles back in since around Thanksgiving, and I finally feel back to normal. Coming back from the injury was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I was hoping to be able to start training for the Gasparilla half marathon, on February 24, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to take on the training. After two successful long runs in the past two weeks, though, I feel confident I can go forward with my plan. Here's how the first two weeks went: Week 1: 12/24/12 - 12/30/12 M: 4 mi (E) T: rest W: 5 mi (E) R: rest F: hot yoga (XT) Sa: 7 mi (LSD) Su: Ashtanga yoga (XT) Weekly mileage: 16 Week 2: 12/31/12 - 1/6/13 M: 3 mi (E) + yin yoga (XT) T: 3.1 mi (P) W: CrossBoot (XT) R: 3.1 mi (E) F: hot yoga (XT) Sa: 9 mi (LSD) Su: mini core workout (XT) Weekly mileage: 18.2 Key: (E) = Easy; (P) = Pace; (LSD) = Long Slow Distance; (XT) = Cross Training In oth...