It's been more than seven months since I've had to step away from running . While I've been able to do other things during this time, I've experienced strong and varying emotions every day that I haven't been able to run. It occurred to me only recently, while watching an episode of Jane the Virgin  (an excellent show that I was pretty skeptical about initially), that I've been grieving the loss of running. In the episode, Jane recaps how she went through the well-known Kubler-Ross five stages of grief in one day, over the loss of a relationship. But it was her highlighting of these stages that made me realize I'd been going through the same thing—except over months, and over the loss of running. It may seem trivial, especially given the grave and tragic world events occurring daily, to make such a big deal out of running, but we all still have our personal challenges to deal with each day, and I in no way mean to minimize the suffering of others in this ...

Date Workout Miles Avg Pace Monday, 8/4 Regular Run 5 9:18 Tuesday, 8/5 Rest 0 -- Wednesday, 8/6 Regular Run 9 9:50 Thursday, 8/7 Regular Run 6 9:35 Friday, 8/8 Rest 0 -- Saturday, 8/9 Long Run 15 9:56 Sunday, 8/10 Yoga in the Park 0 -- Total Weekly Mileage: 35 This past week of training was a tough one to get through--and it only marks a quarter of the way through my training plan. I had to spend a lot of time talking myself into running. I don't know where Monday's speedier time came from; this is typically a "recovery"run from Saturday's long run, so I expect it to be a little sluggish. But that's what I was feeling that night, so I went with it. Perhaps it had something to do with running in the evening that day as opposed to the morning, which I've almost primarily been doing lately. And since I haven't made any  real   efforts to do speed work, this can be my speed work for the week--especially because my faster pace di...

I've been dealing with foot pain since completing the Clearwater Marathon , over a month ago, and while I surely thought I'd be past it by the time the Gasparilla race weekend rolled around, I am not. My meager attempts at resting my foot (in between little trial runs every few days) have not been sufficient. So I decided this past weekend to let go of my hope to run the Gasparilla half marathon. It was a really hard decision, as I look forward to this local race each year. It's my favorite. The Gasparilla 15k was my first long(er than a 5k) distance race, and the half marathon has been a great PR (personal record) course for me in recent years . But I knew that if I ran it, I'd want to run hard and try to PR, and that would possibly seriously injury my foot and certainly set my recovery time back even further. So I emailed the Gasparilla folks to see if I could get a deferment of my race registration for next year, almost entirely expecting a firm "no" b...

For weeks and weeks I had been looking forward to doing my last long run of training before the Steamtown Marathon , just six days away now. It was only 12 miles, and compared to all the other runs I'd been through, it was sure to be a breeze. I was looking so much forward to it, in fact, that I slept right through it Saturday morning. Heard the alarms, but just didn't feel compelled to get up. So I didn't. By the time I actually arose, it was close to 9:00 a.m. Whoops. So I was left with the dilemma of whether to run the next morning, or to try for a long evening run (isn't that how everyone wants to spend their Saturday night?) I opted for the evening run, because I was afraid I'd have the same problem getting up the next morning, and I also just wanted to get the dang thing over with. It would mark a very significant point in training, or rather, the end of training. Plus, there was one more thing I wanted to do for this round of training that I hadn't do...

Last weekend felt sort of like a real weekend--like one that didn't revolve solely around training, or rather, like one that didn't start with a long run that drained the life out of me. Of course, it still started with a long and hard training run, but the training burden had been somewhat ameliorated since completing my last 20-miler the weekend prior. I still wanted to get another hill run in before the marathon, so Tim and I woke up at our usual 4:30 a.m. and grumpily drove about 45 minutes out to San Antonio, Florida. We met up with a few friends and started out in the 68-degree weather and darkness. The guys went off ahead of me and another friend, Cathy, and I was hoping to be able to see them long enough to know which way to turn onto the main road. I brought my handy flashlight that I'd bought for the Longwood run, but it only shined 10 feet out, and the guys were much farther ahead than that. Luckily, one of the guys stopped at the turning point and yelled ba...

This morning I ran the Tampa Bay Lightning Bolt Run 5-miler . This is a smallish race that takes place in downtown Tampa, starting at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, home ice to the Tampa Bay Lightning (did I mention Tampa?). I ran this race last year for the first time, and I remember it well. I didn't have much of a time goal prior to the race, but when a runner friend asked me my goal, I decided to go for a 45-minute race. I came in at 44:59, and that was with a lot of help from another friend Lyle, who is also a Team in Training coach. I remember that it felt tough almost the whole time, my legs burned, and I wasn't sure I'd make my goal. So this morning, a little less than one year later, I only knew that I wanted to PR, which I was on target to do pace-wise since my recent Gasparilla victory  (victory is a relative term, of course). It was a cold morning (for Florida), in the low 50s, which is a perfect running temperature for me. I've been taking things pretty easy...

This past training week was a rather solid one. I got to run with a variety of different people and was finally pushed beyond the effort I've been putting out on my own. Week 3: 1/7/13 - 1/13/13 M:  5.66 mi (P)  +  yin yoga (XT) T:  4 mi (E  + P) W:  CrossBoot (XT) R:  3.1 mi (E) F:   hot yoga (XT) Sa:  10 mi (LSD) Su:  yoga in the park (XT) Weekly mileage: 22.76 Key: (E) = Easy; (P) = Pace; (LSD) = Long Slow Distance; (XT) = Cross Training On Monday, I went back to my running group "roots" at Flatwoods/ Hunters Green (we run Flatwoods Park during Daylight Savings and then move to the surrounding Hunters Green 'burbs after Daylight Savings, as Flatwoods is closed by the time we meet to run). These are the people whom I consider my main running family. Even when I've taken breaks from the Monday night runs, these folks have all still had a presence--sometimes at other events, sometimes just on Facebook--and have been suppo...

It is officially a new year! This is exciting in theory, but I realize it doesn't really mean very much in reality: the clocked ticked and the day changed just as they always do. But the new year does present two significant opportunities: (1) to look back at and evaluate the events of the prior year and (2) to plan for a new year of goals. As I look back at the goals I set for last year , which were all running-related, I feel like I accomplished a lot. I didn't really run barefoot, but I feel okay about that :) So here is a new list to look forward to, which includes running goals, but also others: Run a sub-2:00 half marathon. Train for a marathon without getting seriously injured (i.e., don't overtrain). Appreciate the diversity of friends I have and don't be overwhelmed by them :-D Keep my home, car, and office clean. Keep one eye open for new job opportunities but the other focused on current job(s). Enroll in yoga teacher training. Practice playing pia...

This morning I ran four miles at about a 10:30 pace. It was not easy, and I did feel some residual pain (not from the calf injury , but from shin splints), but it's four miles I couldn't run a month ago. I'm grateful for that. I actually started back running several weeks ago, after a nine-week break, and I had about three successful four-to-five-mile runs, and then on my next run I felt pain in my left leg and thought it was my calf injury letting me know it was still there. I was pretty disappointed about that, but then when I was telling a friend about the pain, and how it was a little different than what I'd experienced before, he said it sounded like shin splints. Now, I'm no stranger to shin splints, as I'd trained through them for the Chicago Marathon, but it simply hadn't occurred to me that I was feeling something new; my mind just went straight the injury. And because the soleus muscle (which I'd injured) is really close to the tendon where ...

Yesterday morning I did something I hadn't done in exactly one year and one day: I attended an Ashtanga yoga class. For a number of reasons--chief among them the priority that marathon training took in my life, but also the lack of offering at my preferred studio--I stopped going to a regular Ashtanga class. But I often missed it. So I was very excited that "my" yoga studio, Bella Prana , announced last week that they'd be offering Ashtanga classes twice per week. Further, I'd taken my only Ashtanga classes with the two instructors who happened to be staffing the new classes, so I had two happy reunions to look forward to. The Sunday class was taught by Eric Wheeler, who is special to me because he is the instructor who ignited in me a deeper interest in and appreciation for yoga. Way back in the days when he taught at the USF Rec Center (2005-06 or so), I would attend his class with the intention of getting a physical practice, but he helped open my mind to yo...

After another day of worrying about my injury and whether it will heal in time for me to run MCM, I was feeling defeated. I left work thinking that all I really felt like doing was going home and lying down for the whole night. And eating. Lying down and eating. My other option, since I'm still not ready to go back to CrossBoot, was to go to a yoga class. But even that seemed like work, and I just felt like giving up. I thought about how I'd feel if I chose my first option, and I knew that would potentially make me feel even worse than I already did. So, while stopped at a traffic light (of course), I used my phone to register for the yoga class at my studio, Bella Prana  (there's now an app for that!). I knew that if I registered, I wouldn't back out. So I arrived home in time to change and get to class a bit early. I hadn't taken a class from this particular instructor, Greg Hass, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The class was a Flow Level 2 class, which was...

Last week was a fairly strong week, except that I really started to feel persistent pain in my left lower leg, mostly in my shin (anterior and posterior) and high Achilles. If felt the worst of it Thursday, when I attempted a 5-miler but instead cut it short to 3. I wanted to preserve my legs for my 17-mile long run on Saturday. I'm sure it didn't help that we did tons of sprints at CrossBoot on Wednesday night. I've been so proud of myself for making it out to two CrossBoot classes per week, but I'm afraid my legs are just not handling the speed drills very well, on top of my long training runs. Monday I ran 4 miles before CrossBoot, because I didn't wake up in time to do it in the morning. This was my first run since the previous Saturday's 20-miler, and I really felt the pain in my leg. Then we had a rather leg-heavy CrossBoot class, but I didn't feel much pain during or after the class. On Tuesday I ran with a couple of buddies in the evening....

I've been in somewhat of a summer funk lately. It hits me every year with the onset of summer: work slows down dramatically, running gets tougher with the onslaught of heat and humidity, and I feel overcome with restlessness and a lack of focus. I blame it on idle time--something I've never been good at handling--and summer just seems to encompass idle time, does it not? While I've never quite figured out how to beat these blues, I've found recently that focusing on breathing is helpful, both in stillness and in physical activity. This is no great discovery; the benefits of breathwork and conscious breathing have been heralded for decades in Western society (and since Ancient times in the East), largely alongside the rising popularity of yoga, which in its most basic form is a focus on the breath. However, as a lifetime asthmatic with numerous environmental sensitivities, I've always struggled with breathing. Not focused breathing or breathing exercises, but merel...

In the past couple of months I've added some new things to my fitness regimen that I hope will help get me through a summer of marathon training. While I have biked casually over years on my cruiser, I recently bought a true road bike that is taking my cycling to a whole new level--ready or not! Additionally, I've attended several hot yoga classes, which I was previously against, but my mind (and my practice, literally) is opening up to it. My bike, a women's Specialized Doce Elite, sat in my home for a month before I took her out. I did get her fitted for my body and comfort right away, and for free, thanks to the good folks at the USF bike "shop ." But once the time came to actually ride, I felt like I had no clue what I was doing. Even though my hair stylist (from whom I bought the bike) went over more operating and safety information than my brain could possibly retain, road bikes are so much more complex than cruisers. The gears, the tires, the brake...

I've been going to this yoga class in Tampa's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park for many months now, and I've often wished I'd taken pictures of the park, the setting sun, and the people. But I never do, because I don't want to disrupt my practice. But this evening I did the unspeakable: I took my phone from my purse just as we were going into Savasana (the shame!) and snapped two quick pics of my view. This may just look like a square, but it is actually a cutout of the pavilion I was lying under for this evening's practice. When looking straight up, I didn't notice all the people around me, and it felt as if this opening to the sky were just for me. It was my own personal window to nature above that blocked out all visual distractions surrounding me, as if to say, here is your focus. Nothing else matters. And this is the gorgeous skyline that we get to see--usually from a much better angle--during every Sunday yog...