Runs With Pugs

week in review

April 25, 2014 · By runswithpugs · Leave a Comment

TGIF!

I’m pretty well ready. This week has had some major ups and downs, and I am looking forward to a fun-filled weekend to celebrate the highs and distract myself from the lows.

The weather has taken a turn, and it’s been gorgeous. Towards the beginning of the week, temperatures were cooler, but the sun has been shining and we have been treated to the most glorious sunrises, sunsets and cloud formations. I love it.

I had two good training sessions this week. One on Monday, where I put in about 3.4 miles in honor of the Boston Marathon, and a speed work session on Thursday. Both went pretty well.

Instead of completing six 400m repeats with recoveries of equal length, I measured .25 mile distances and used those as my repeats. It was just slightly farther than I did last week, but for some reason, I could feel it. I am still struggling with my middle repeats, so I have to train myself to gradually build up my speed, rather than starting and ending at the top of my game and floundering halfway through.

In spite of it all, I am glad to report that my miles for April have exceeded those for March, and that I have run more than 700 miles since I began. So, at least in some form, progress is being made.

Next week should be the last week of less than interesting training. I am hoping to squeeze in three runs, but may end up with two. However, after that, it’s back to all systems go!

Is the change in weather from winter to spring having any influence on your training?

How did your week’s workouts go for you?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: marathon training, repeats, running, speed work, training

easter, boston and some thoughts

April 22, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 18 Comments

I don’t often post weekend recaps, but I’ve been out of the blogging loop for longer than I should have been, and want to play catch up.

First off, as I’m sure you know, yesterday was the 118th running of the Boston Marathon.

After last year’s horrific and devastating attacks, to see the athletes and spectators racing and cheering their hearts out was nothing short of momentous. I was moved to tears several times, and I couldn’t rip myself away from the coverage. After the elite women started and were a few miles in, I went out for a little run of my own, in solidarity (never mind, that in the time it took me to complete just under 3.5 miles, these women’s had effortlessly knocked out eight or nine – craziness), and was home and showered in time to watch the men’s wheelchair winners -Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa took number one (I didn’t get to see the women’s winner Tatyanna McFadden), the elite women led by Kenyan Rita Jeptoo (taking her third Boston title), and finally, the tense finale where Meb Keflezighi became the first American man since 1983 to take top honors.

There was so much pride, so much love, so much inspiration. I can think of no better word to describe it than “powerful.” This running community is strong and tight-knit, and pretty much unbeatable. Congratulations to everyone who was there. What a journey.

On Friday, little man had a day off from school. The weather was miserable, and we were trying to figure out what to do, when he informed us he wanted to go see the Easter Bunny. I kind of figured he would want to skip it, so I was thrilled that he asked.

As usual, he was a complete ham.

Afterwards, we went to lunch at a restaurant in the mall with Nana and Papa Bear and then headed home so we could get rested up for a nice dinner with friends.

Unfortunately, as we were getting ready to leave, I started not feeling very well. I sat down for a few minutes to collect myself and ended up getting violently ill. It was awful, and lasted from about 6:00pm through to 2:00 Saturday morning. At that point, I figured it was food poisoning rather than a virus (which was preferable, since it meant that no one else in the house would be catching it). Obviously, there wasn’t a lot of sleep for me, and Mr PugRunner was awesome in that he got little man up and out of the house for his early morning baseball game.

I attempted to rally so we could go over to Nana and Papa Bear’s house and do all the fun pre-Easter things like dyeing eggs and starting Sunday dinner prep, but Mr PugRunner advised me to stay in bed and rest. I was incredibly bummed, but he ended up being right. I was still dehydrated and exhausted, and got in several quality cat naps.

Little man spent the night there, and we had to be up super early on Sunday to get over there as well so we didn’t miss him finding and opening his Easter basket. It was rough getting up, but we were walking in their front door by 7:00am, and got to enjoy him collecting plastic Easter eggs full of goodies and his two baskets.

We had the most lovely day. My cousin was visiting on break from college and it was great hanging out with her. We chatted and laughed and little man played with his new Lego set and Spiderman action figure. We were hoping to spend some time in the pool, but it was cold and gray so that was a no go. Mom made a yummy ham dinner and I put together a coconut cream pie for dessert. We were stuffed and tired by the time we drove away, but it was a wonderful holiday.

The next few weeks are going to continue to be busy. Little man is turning six next Tuesday and we have some fun surprises planned for that. As a result, my training sessions will continue to be pretty basic until after Mother’s Day. I’m focusing on three and four mile distances and speed work, rather than pushing for long runs. April will probably be my last low mileage month for the year, because I will need to do some serious marathon training.

I can’t believe it. I will be running the Walt Disney World Marathon in January of next year. I’m still not sure I’ve finished processing yet. It seems so far away and so unattainable, and yet, why not? I plan on training and listening to my body and doing ally he right things to stay healthy and injury free. I’m being selective with my race calendar so I don’t overdo it, even if it means missing out on fun events. I’m not setting any goals other than to finish on my feet and with a smile (tearful, if need be) on my face. I’m terrified but excited to be doing a great race in the company of some wonderful friends. I’ll definitely keep you posted on how I’m doing over the next few months. I’m going to need all the support and advice I can get!

If you celebrated, did you have a nice Easter weekend? Any special traditions that make the holidays more memorable?

Have you ever had food poisoning? Did it ruin you for a particular food item or restaurant forever?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: boston marathon, easter, family, first marathon, food poisoning, holiday, training, wdw marathon

presented without comment

April 16, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 20 Comments

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: first marathon, marathon, OMG, runDisney, what have I done

one year ago.

April 15, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 6 Comments

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: boston marathon, boston strong, in memoriam

race report: the flavor run

April 14, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 17 Comments

This is a sponsored post. I received a complimentary Flavor Run race entry for myself, and several others to giveaway on this blog for promotional purposes. All opinions are my own.

Two of the inadvertent benefits of running are getting to try new things and explore new places – both of which came into play when I got the opportunity to participate in the brand-new Flavor Run in Nocatee on the first weekend of April.

Having never run in the Nocatee area, I was pretty pumped. The neighborhood is beautiful (and flat) with lots of lovely homes and paths to see along the way. And the idea of a color run where the dyed powder actually tastes (and smells) of fruit (which is what The Flavor Run is all about) was definitely intriguing.

Packet pickup took place at the Nocatee amenity center the Friday before the run. It was very small and very easy. The volunteers manning the booth were extremely friendly and helpful. They loaded me up with a (women’s cut) event t-shirt, a very pretty customized bib, temporary tattoo and a flavor/color packet of my choosing (I went with grape). The pre-run email had asked that participants bring their own bags to help keep the event as green as possible, and so I loaded everything up into my big purse (paper bags were available upon request.)

I then moved over to the merchandise table where I was able to pick up a white logo tank for the morning. For some reason, I was having the worst luck finding a decent white top at a reasonable price (I didn’t want to spend a lot just in case all the color didn’t come out). Problem solved. They were also selling shades, shirts, water bottle and tutus.

While browsing, I met John, who had been my contact for The Flavor Run. It was great getting to put a face to the emails and I was pretty impressed that he was rocking a tutu. I got the little final details about the start line and parking (I’m a lunatic about parking) and headed out.

I finished making my last tutu of the season and got my things ready to go.

For some reason, I was up and and on the road super early on Saturday morning. I excepted it to take me about 20 minutes longer to get to the race start, but it didn’t, so I camped out in my car in the parking lot across from the run set up. I was thinking about getting out of my car to take some pictures, but an incredibly dense fog rolled in, pretty much obscuring most of the visibility. I stretched my legs with a walk to the nearby Publix to use the restroom and then started to keep an eye out for Kristin, and L and A, who would also be participating.

As luck would have it, L and A were parked two spots away from me! A had brought her parents and her little one and we had fun just chatting and catching up as we waited. When Kristin arrived, we started posing for our pre-run pictures.

Morning-of packet pickup was available, but they had run out of bibs, which is why Kristin is wearing a flower lei – the provided alternative.

Thanks to A paying attention, we heard that the start time was delayed from 9:00 AM to about 9:30. I’m not sure if there were some glitches in set up or if it was to let some of the fog burn off, but it was fine. I was worried that it was going to get a little hot at that hour of the morning, but not much to be done but enjoy the music and the people watching.

In the field where the start/finish line was positioned, there was face painting and a shaved ice truck, and people, both participating and not, were hanging out with their families, and in some cases, pups. It was a really nice, local vibe. And it smelled fantastic! People were already tossing their fruit-flavored packets to get colored up, and it was like being in a Skittles factory.

Before too long (and definitely not as late as 9:30) we were ready to get started.

John was up on one of those towers, emceeing the event. He thanked everyone for their patience, briefly described the course (I was going on the plan of “follow the people ahead of you” since I was completely unfamiliar with the area) and let us know that this was actually the second ever Flavor Run to go down. Kind of like history in the making. And then we were off.

We ran all through the Nocatee area: main roads, around the pool, along the outskirts of some of the subdivisions. There were flavor stations situated along the way, manned by very enthusiastic volunteers. Color was kept off the main roadways, so to get our share, we had to cut through grassy areas. I remember that orange was first, but not sure about the order thereafter. I will say that someone had done some landscaping and fertilizing in the community so it was nice to have the fruit smells to help cover up the less pleasant odors.

Kristin and I ran ahead for a bit, but then we fell back and L and A caught up to us, and we continued on that way for the duration. It was nice to walk a bit, run a bit and chat a lot.

At one point, we cut into the woods, via the paved walking/biking paths in the community. I am calling this the closest thing to trail running I ever need to get. There were trees, and spooky sounds in the woods and a little wooden bridge.

And a four foot long black snake, just hanging out near the foliage. I did not take a picture because I was too busy sprinting for my life. Like Indiana Jones, I hate snakes.

After more color, a nicely stocked water stop and (blessedly) houses instead of woods), we finally saw where the road would wrap around to the finish line and we picked up speed so we could cross through the last color station and hit the finish line!

We collected our medals and headed to the tents in the middle of the field, where volunteers were cutting up and plating delicious fresh fruit.

I don’t think anything tasted quite as good as those two chunks of watermelon I scarfed down. I really wish I could manage oranges, because they looked delicious, too.

We hung around for a little bit, enjoying the music, before deciding to go back to the cars to clean up.

Where we got a very special treat from A’s parents. They had offered to grab donuts for us while we were running and A turned them down. Halfway through the course, when it was just really sticky and hot, I was joking with her about how it would be really nice to have not only donuts, but some beer to help cool down.

I have now learned that A does not mess around when it comes to beer. She pulled off the course immediately, called her mom, and made it happen. And yes. The combination was divine. (Thank you for being so sweet!)

This was a really nice event. I loved that it was a little smaller than other fun runs I’ve done – it made for a comfortable, neighborhood feel. This was very family-oriented and perfect for kids. We have saw some adorable pooches getting in on the flavor fun.

The idea of the flavored powder was excellent. I didn’t get any in my mouth so I can’t vouch for the taste, but as mentioned earlier, the smell was great. The “flavor fairies” weren’t quite as aggressive as volunteers at other color runs I have done, so we didn’t walk away with every inch of skin covered – but this wasn’t a bad thing. I liked how they were pretty careful not to nail runners in the face and head. It’s also hard to hit everyone thoroughly in wide open spaces. If the volunteers close ranks a little bit in the future, they will have a better chance of getting more flavored color on everyone. Also on the note of color, it would be nice to have an organized flavor toss post-race, like they do at other events. We ran with our flavor bags, but never came upon an opportunity to make use of them.

Packets were great. I love my t-shirt (not tech, but very soft and comfortable), and I thought giving a medal was a nice touch, especially for some of the younger participants. I like bling in any form, so even though this wasn’t a competitive race, I appreciate having a medal to commemorate the occasion. I also really love the bib that accompanied this race.

Event communication was great – lots of pre-race emails with full details and even the late start was announced and participants were kept in the loop as to what was going on. There seemed to be plenty of water and post-race refreshment available. It was definitely hot and it would have been nice to start at 8:30 instead of the planned 9:00, but it was manageable.

Thanks to the volunteers and organizers for an active and fun Saturday morning. It was great running in a scenic location with some friends and getting to experience something a little new and different.

Is The Flavor Run coming to your area?

Have you ever run an event that was brand new?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: community, flavor run, friends, fun run, Nocatee, race report, running, sponsored post, training

the need for speed

April 11, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 6 Comments

Between the Gate and this week, my longest distance has been about three miles and I have been completely forgoing my speed work. It’s been a good break, and probably much-needed, even if it was frustrating to feel like I had lost all the ground gained over the last year.

I had a good weekend and my foot was feeling decent, so on Monday, I told myself I could go for four miles if my foot was holding up well. It was. So I did.

And I was a happy, happy girl.

It was definitely tough but it felt so fabulous to prove to myself that I was making actual, real-live progress.

Wednesday came, and I wasn’t really sure how I wanted my running session to go. I need another week before I move up to five miles, but reverting to three didn’t excite me. I remembered that my speed work had been in a state of neglect and wondered if it would be worth an attempt?

As I’ve described before, I run a 6:00 stretch at what is supposed to be half-marathon pace, do a recovery walk of 3:00, then a 5:00 run at a faster pace, with a 2:30 recovery, all the way down to a 1:00 sprint. It’s a pretty draining exercise, so I thought maybe I could cheat a little and start at 5:00, before working my way down, just to see how my foot tolerated it.

On the one hand, I felt exceptionally guilty about not doing it the right way. On the other, it felt really good to run my heart out. To make up for losing the extra 6:00, I pushed myself a bit harder on the 5:00 stretch than I would have normally.

Here’s how it went down:

5:00 – .47 miles (10:38 pace)
4:00 – .41 miles (9:45 pace)
3:00 – .32 miles (9:23 pace)
2:00 – .23 miles (8:47 pace)
1:00 – .13 miles (7:42 pace)

That last minute was brutal, but nothing good comes without effort. Hence the big ol’ grin.

Another week down!

My foot is feeling ok. It’s actually virtually pain free when I’m running (at least, so far), but takes a few minutes to get going the following morning. Nothing a little stretching and rolling can’t fix.

As promised, I haven’t registered for anything through about the next month or so, but I am starting to look at filling in some races this summer to get me back on track. We shall see how it goes.

How has your week of workouts been?

How is your summer race calendar looking so far?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: comebacks, injury, race calendar, recovery, running, speed work, training

rest day

April 8, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 20 Comments

Resting is not my thing. I’m not good at it. I don’t like it. It makes me feel guilty and unproductive.

However, sometimes, like today, it’s a necessary evil.

I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Between school and baseball and getting back into training and other obligations, I’m flat out tired. I had a project on the calendar that was going to take a few days of work, but I found out last night that it was canceled, freeing me up for other things. This morning, when I woke up, I took one look at the torrential downpour outside and realized that I would not be getting out of my pajamas unless absolutely necessary.

I feel awful about it. There are tons of things and can and should be doing. I have to work on plans for little man’s upcoming birthday, do some serious spring cleaning, run some errands and organize closets. And yet, I’m sitting on a couch, watching Man of Steel, and not really making much of an effort to do anything more than that.

Ok. I did build the raised garden box for our backyard, but I am emphatically not going to pick up soil or trellises for the tomatoes. Maybe tomorrow.

We all need a break from time to time. I’ll be back on track tomorrow, but for today, I’m just going to try to enjoy a little bit of doing nothing.

Do you have days where you just can’t get yourself going?
Does bad weather completely suck away your motivation?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: rest day

race report: color me rad 5k jacksonville (2014)

April 7, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 6 Comments

This is a sponsored post. I was given a complimentary entry to the local 2014 Color Me Rad event in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

After participating in (and loving) the 2013 Color Me Rad 5K event in Jacksonville, I was really excited to be able to have the chance to do it again, this year.

Last year, Color Me Rad took place in October, but had returned to the area in March of 2014. I don’t think this was much of an issue as the weather is pretty temperate in both months.

Another change for 2014 was the course. Last year, the run would through the parking lots of Everbank Field, before diverting into the concourse of the stadium and around the actual football field. It was a neat way to finish up a fun run, but due to the massive construction going on, a change of route was necessary. This year, the run began in Metropolitan Park, right across the street from Everbank Field.

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Packet pickup was also located in Metropolitan Park, and was held on Friday before the race from 2:00-7:00 PM. I was planning to be there on the earlier side, but due to a change in errand schedule and a bad accident on I95, I arrived close to 5:00PM. There were two lines: one to either register on-site or to get your bib number, and then a second to pick up the rest of your bag: gender-specific event shirt, RAD tattoo and sticker and sunglasses.

The lines were both pretty long, but there were a lot of volunteers working and it moved rather quickly. The biggest hiccup was that the server seemed to keep going out, probably because of the weather and high traffic. It happens.

I had to pick up packets for myself and my three friends, and that was easy enough – they had given me their signed waivers beforehand, so no problems there.

I didn’t stop to really check out the merchandise. I already had a bandana and a tank, and I didn’t need anything else. There were plenty of cute shirts and accessories, though, both for the actual run and for souvenirs.

I went home, dropped off the packets to my teammates and prepped my things, praying for no rain.

We were up nice and early. My friend K was picking me and other friend S up at 7:15 so we could be there by 8:00, in time to find parking and take pictures. (It was both of their first official, organized run, and they had to experience all of it to the fullest). I had also discovered that I had been given the wrong size event shirt, and when I asked for help on the Color Me Rad Facebook page, they told me to just bring it back to registration in the morning and they would happily switch me to the correct shirt. (Yay!)

This year, parking at Everbank Field was $7 per car. Plenty of advance notice was given and while it was annoying, sometimes it happens, especially when using a sports venue. As long as we had a spot within reasonable distance of the start line, I was happy.

We finished getting ready in the parking lot and then walked over to where the crowds were gearing up for the run. We had to scramble to get our pre-RAD photos – volunteers with color bombs and the new color blasters were stalking through the crowd, trying to give preliminary hits of brilliant hued powder to participants. This was another change from last year, where all color was reserved for the finish line to ensure that everyone started out as close to a “blank canvas” as possible.

There were plenty of backdrops and inflatables set up for photo opps. We promptly took advantage of as many as we could.

The weather was holding, but threatening. I suggested that after we used the restrooms (in a real building!), we move to the start line. Color runs usually let a certain number of people go at a time, to ensure that there isn’t any overcrowding at the color stations along the way. Since we would be walking and running, my hope was that we could at least get finished and enjoy the post-run festivities before the storms hit for real.

It was a good plan.

As the 9:00 AM start approached, more people crowded in at the start line and the music pumped louder. A few volunteers came to the start, armed with fire extinguishers, full of what we could only assume was color. One of the volunteers spotted me, still all in white, and pointed. As the air horn sounded, he ran up to me and blasted me full on with purple.

Epic. S said I looked like a purple minion. She wasn’t wrong.

The course was nice. It was flat and wound through the streets surrounding the stadium. The color stations were evenly spaced and well manned, and the volunteers in charge of throwing color were enthusiastic and fun. After our initial burst of purple, we were doused with yellow, orange and green, and then we came upon a station where liquid blue was sprayed on runners (I circumvented that one. It was drizzly and I just didn’t want to be even more wet).

We ran some and we walked some. There was an excellent crowd and the participants all seemed to be having loads of fun, despite the less than pleasant weather. There was a lot of great music along the way and it kept the party atmosphere going, and a water stop at about the halfway mark, where volunteers handed out mini bottles of H2O.

This year, we were handed our included-with-registration color bombs before we crossed the official finish line, rather than after. It definitely cleared up the congestion the finisher’s chute faced in 2013. We ran throughout the last color station, smiled for the photographers and then navigated the color-splattered crowds to find S’s daughter and mom, who had come to the finish line to celebrate her first 5K.

The after party was a little bit smaller than I remember, but still lots of fun. I noticed an absence of food trucks, but we did get bottles of water and protein/granola bars upon completion. There was music and dancing, and plenty of color tosses.

I ran into my good buddy – the one who had blasted me with purple from the fire extinguisher as the run began – and got him to pose for a picture with me.

You can tell he took great pride in his work that day.

We were all absolutely drenched in color.

You can tell by our faces that we had the best time. And even better than a fun day? S and K absolutely LOVED their experience.

I’m so proud of both of them for completing their first 5K, and I hope to see them out there again at other events in the future.

Once again, Color Me Rad put on a wonderful event. I loved seeing so many people out there, even with the threat of storms, running, walking, pushing strollers and breaking a sweat with smiles on their faces. I remember a time when I used to get together with friends at night, have a few drinks, and sleep in the next day. Now, we get up before the sun, load up on water, and run for fun. It’s quite a change, but it’s an awesome one.

A special thank you to all the volunteers, police officers, and organizers for another great year!

Do you find that your social time is more based on entertainment or on physical activity?

What are your favorite runs to do with friends?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: color me rad, color run, community run, ever bank field, fun run, Jacksonville, race report, running with friends, sponsored

the solution to my shoelace problem

April 3, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 17 Comments

One thing I have noticed about myself, since I started running, is that I am very particular about the things on my person when I head out for a training session.

The toes of my socks have to be positioned just-so. My ponytail can’t be too high or too low or too tight or too loose. my Armpocket has to be in one certain position, and my Garmin band must be precisely buckled on the right notch.

If any of the above are incorrect, I find myself struggling to get into my groove until I’ve fixed the situation.

It’s a rare kind of amusing and annoying.

The biggest thing I have struggled with, though, has been my shoelaces. For whatever reason, I had the hardest time getting them laced right the first time. There always seemed to be some form of discomfort over my arches, which would lead to me stopping, adjusting, tugging, fixing and fiddling with my shoes. Some days were better than others, but the issue was always there.

I had been researching different ways of lacing to help give me some relief, and planned to try some new techniques after the Gate, when I came upon something very interesting at the expo of the same race.

In the back corner of the room, a tall gentleman was holding a sign that read “shoelacessuck.com”. Of course, sharing that exact sentiment, I made my way over and found myself at the Riplaces display.

I was very interested as one of the men at the booth explained the concept to me: my $15 purchase would include 60 “bands” (high-quality, continuous, bungee-like elastics – 12 each of five different sizes) and seven “core” pieces (plastic pieces to which the bands would attach). It was up to me to choose the size of Band to thread through each set of opposing eyelets in my running shoes to create a comfortable tension at each point of my foot. And of course, once all the Bands were in place, there would be no need for tying or untying anything.

It sounded like the answer to my shoelace problems.

I wanted to mull it over so I wandered off to look at other booths. I had seen other systems that involve elastic-y laces and gadgets that keep bows from untying, but nothing so individualized as how Riplaces were explained to me. At $15, I certainly had nothing to lose, so I returned and picked out my colors: teal Bands and gray Cores.

I had to wait to get my new inserts before I gave my new purchase a try. The inserts would change the way my feet sit in my shoes, and it was important to make sure I had the right fit.

There is a really fabulous YouTube video that explains how to “riplace” your old shoelaces with this new system, using the bagties that hold the different sizes of bands together as a sort of needle to thread the elastic through eyelets. I will admit that I skipped this step and managed the whole thing with a safety pin.

Whatever works, right? I was impatient and wanted to get the job done stat.

The end result was heaven.

I took them for a test run and it was wonderful. I loved not having to tie my shoes. I loved that I finally had that extra bit of give over my cranky arches. I loved that I could feel the extra freedom of movement from the elasticity of the bands. And not once did I have to stop to adjust anything to do with my feet.

I do have feet on the larger side (I wear a size 10 in my Mizuno Wave Inspire 10s), and I used the three largest sizes of bands in my lacing. I do wonder if one larger option might become available – I can see them being a bit too snug for someone with a bigger, wider or higher foot than me.

In the meantime, though, I am enjoying the fact that I have one less thing about which to be particular when I am running.

Do you have any things that cause you annoyance when you’re running?

Do you use any kind of nontraditional laces in your running shoes?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: injury, recovery, review, riplaces, running quirks, running shoes, shoelaces

back at it. again.

April 1, 2014 · By runswithpugs · 25 Comments

Today was the day.

After resting for a solid two weeks (and then for 10 days prior to running the Gate), I really couldn’t wait anymore.

I can admit that taking off a few days, even a week, can be a healthy and refreshing change, but I was getting edgy and antsy. Fortunately, I had a few things working in my favor to keep me from heading back early to the pavement. We were on vacation and our schedule was way too packed for me to think about getting out, and when were home, the weather was pretty miserable with cold temperatures and nasty downpours.

My foot had been feeling better. I’ve been pretty good about stretching my calves and rolling my arch and heel over a variety of spherical and cylindrical items, and it’s been ok. Uncomfortable, but not necessarily painful. When I had talked to the people at the running store, they advised to come back for inserts if things didn’t dramatically improve, and so I did.

I spent about 30 minutes in the store last week, discussing what inserts would do to help (provide much needed arch support) and trying on several different pairs. I could feel a difference immediately, and decided on the Superfeet High-Impact Performance & Comfort insert. I liked the additional cushioning in the toes that the other inserts seemed to be lacking. (Also of note, this product is, according to the website, “vegan and free of latex, nickel sulfate, formaldehyde and preservatives”). I headed out with my purchase, and instructions to start out slow, be aware that things would feel a little unusual for a while and to bring them back in 30 days if nothing was getting better.

Yesterday was the moment of truth. Depsite that fact that I was nervous and really quite happy lounging on the couch and watching Iron Man 2, I pulled on my running clothes, laced up, and headed out. I figured I would give myself a very easy three miles and see how it went.

The truth is, it was discouraging. I think, had it just been some discomfort in my foot (which, inserts or no, would have still been there), I would have been ok. But my legs felt dead, my stamina was shot, and I had made the mistake of putting on a long-sleeved shirt, which ended up being a little too warm.

Of course, all of these irritations opened the door for a flood of negative thoughts. I felt like I was starting from scratch again, and I hated it. It’s disheartening to feel like all the hard work I’ve done to this point has to begin all over again.

What’s worse is that I’m supposed to sign up for my first marathon in two weeks. I had been hoping to register with strength on my side, nailing my long runs and feeling great. Instead, I’m back down at sluggish 5K distances, and having to rebuild from there.

It’s frustrating, and I wonder if I’m doing the right thing by committing to this race. I want to do it, but… Well, there are so many “buts”.

All I can do is press onward. I’m not the first person to struggle with an injury or setback and I won’t be the last. And this isn’t the first time I’ve been sidelined, and I came back from before (although I had much less of a base last year than I do right now, so less was lost). A lot is going to depend on my attitude and positivity and I just have to focus on the big picture: the marathon.

So, here’s a big post-run smile.

Each time out will get better, just as it has done before. My plan is to sign up for a local 5K towards the end of May and then use the summer to start my training and participate in some fun events if I feel like it. My fall and winter is pretty full and I am excited to get to that point on my calendar.

In the meantime, spring seems pretty much here.