#44: A Beginning

First up, Happy New Year! 2011 was good but I'm sure 2012 can be even better... that is if the world doesn't suddenly end and we all die horrible terrible deaths!!! Because if that were to happen, it would only be slightly better than 2004 and of absolutely no comparison to 2011 (I'm kidding of course... 2003 was way worse!)

2011 was a good year for many reasons, many of them related to running (many of them not!). To summarize: I ran my first ever marathon (STWM) in a respectable time (2:49) and also set impressive PB's at pretty much every distance I attempted. I also got to know a tonne of awesome people (many of them associated with Longboat) and participated in some amazing team events like the Cabot Trail Relay and Simcoe Shores. I was also mostly injury free. That was until I developed a problem in the final 2 weeks of December...

And so during the past 3 weeks, in which I wasn’t running at all due to a persistent foot/ankle issue (posterior tibialis tendinitis), I had a great opportunity to spent time doing what runners do when they’re not actually running; that is... THINKING about running!

You’d think that during the busy holiday season with friends and family all around, plenty to eat and drink and lots of travel and running around to do, that I’d have let running slip to the back of my mind and just let it go for awhile... well apparently not! In fact, not being able to run may have only made thinking about it far more intense. What follows below is a fairly funny but also amazingly accurate portrayal of...

What runners think about when they’re NOT running...

When was my last run? how did it go? too easy? too intense? how far did I go? was it too long? too short? what was my pace? too fast? too slow? what was the purpose? speed? endurance? aerobic? recovery? did I stretch enough before? after? do I feel a pain in my anterior tibialis? could it be shin splints again? how does my butt/ calf/ hamstring/ ankle etc etc feel? maybe I should do some stretching right now? when is my next run? how many hours away is that? what am I going to do? how far/long? how fast? what am I going to wear? should I do laundry? where are my running tights? where should I run? what route will I take? it that too long? too short? what is the purpose of this run? do I need to do more speed work? should I go to the track? how many miles have I run this week? how many do I need to run this week? this month? this year!? am I hungry? when did I eat last? what did I have? was it too much? too little? when should I eat again? what will I have? am I drinking enough water? when did I last go to the washroom? when should I go next? was it a number 1 or 2? what did it look like? am I eating enough fibre? too much? how much do I weight today? how much did I weigh last week? how much do I want to weigh? if I lost 2 more pounds; how much faster would my 10k time be? what’s the weather like right now? is it cold? what about the wind? what will it be like when I run today, tomorrow, Thursday? what’s the long term forecast? how about for my next race? when is my next race? where is it? how am I getting there? what should I eat before? will so and so be there? do I think I can beat him/her this time? what will my time be? what should it be? what could it be? am I training hard enough? what else should/could I be doing? am I cross training enough/at all? should I do more core work? how many sit-ups can I do? how many miles have I got on my shoes? is it time to get new ones? what kind should I get? how much do they weight? how much will they cost? are they on sale at running room? what else do I need from running room? how old are my racing shorts? is it time for a new pair? what about socks? should I get some more socks? what colour? is my garmin charged? where is my garmin? where is my OTHER garmin? did I upload my last workout? where did I put that usb cable? was that mild discomfort in my right knee? I wonder if I should be concerned about that? when was the last time I saw a physio? what was the problem then? it’s gone for good right? I wonder what will go wrong next? should I start increasing mileage again? how many should I run before the marathon? am I really ready for the marathon? what if I hit the wall? how many gels should I take? how often? what kind? what flavour? wasn't it the raspberry that caused all those stomach cramps the last time? what was that half time again? what pace is that? what speed?

This is no word of a lie. This is what really goes on inside our heads. It's not this busy/bad all the time, but it can be. I'm sure I'm also forgetting a whole bunch of other random thoughts too. Some might think this is crazy, and you're right! The line between passion and problem can be a very fine and fickle one.

Well, that's my first post of 2012. It wasn't a great one, but I had nothing else going on at the time. I'm hoping that as my injury continues to heal, I can start to actually run a whole lot more and think about it a whole lot less.