This past Sunday was a race morning for me for the first time in well over a year. These mornings are occasionally a little unnerving for me, but I had very little anxiety leading up to this one despite all the emotional and physical ups and downs I've felt in the past 15 months. All that time was leading up to this point where I was putting the same racing singlet on that I wore at Grandma's. I couldn't deny the feeling that I was a different runner with a hugely altered sense of appreciation for the sport and being able to be a part of it again. I thought about all I've had to do just to put this singlet on again, and with real purpose I wanted to prove to myself that I still have a whisper of the ability I had last year.
I drove to the race with Ali, registered, and spent a few minutes chatting with other local runners and friends. I warmed up for about 25 minutes, got back to the start, did some strides, and felt pretty ready to go. This race was small, and that was a big part of the appeal for me. It was close, low key, familiar (I did it in 2013) and not a 5k, which is always nice.
I started the race a little quicker than I was planning, but I felt surpassingly comfortable settling into low 5:00 pace. I checked myself down once or twice to avoid getting too carried away in the beginning stages which certainly helped me maintain a consistent speed through the middle miles. I knew nobody in the race would be threatening the lead, so it was really a solo mental battle between myself and my hips. I felt a little twinge of pain in my right groin/hip area about 2 miles in, which persisted through the finish line in varying degrees. For a moment I considered stopping, not because it was too painful to keep going, more that I was afraid of it getting worse. Luckily, it didn't, and stayed manageable, which has been the story over the past couple months.
According to my watch my splits were 5:16, 5:22, 5:07, 5:13 for a 5:14 average. Truthfully I think the course was a little bit short, as my total distance came out to 3.98 miles. Despite the potentially short course I found it amusing that my average pace for this race was exactly the same it was at Grandma's. It was a great day and amazingly fun to be back out there on the race course. Turns out racing can be fun and not always be stressful.
Continuing with the rest of my week, I put in a 6 mile tempo run on Tuesday (~5:35 average) and felt strong but still pretty tight in my groin and hip, which bothered me a little, comparable to how it felt in the race. As a little cherry on top for the week, I ran a two hour out and back negative split today (Thursday), this came after some all-out hill sprints the night before. I covered about 20 miles and averaged 5:35 pace for the return journey. Each hard effort I feel noticeably more efficient and speedy.
There's no doubt things are happening quickly. I have seemingly gone from nothing to being in pretty reasonable shape within a very short time. I knew I could be quick about it, but I never expected this kind of turnaround for myself. I don't want to jinx it, but theres' a real possibility that this buildup might actually seem easier for me to handle, mentally and physically. I don't know if this is because I'm just a year older, I understand the training system I'm in that much better, or what, but based on what's been happening over the last few weeks I'm really surprised by my body's ability to respond to training stresses whenever it's necessary. I wonder if deep down my body internalized and is beginning to recall what I was doing 18 months ago in regular training. Maybe I'm just that much closer to my so called "physical peak." Either way, I better not get too carried away and hurt myself again. That would be devastating.
Speaking of which, my plan is to dedicate even more time that I currently am working on core strength and stability. I can still sense some discomfort on my right side, although it's been consistent and hasn't worsened. As it stands, it's pretty manageable, but it would be the ultimate setback if it got considerably worse. I also worry about my mental ability to go out and deal with it on a daily basis. Either way, I want to really shore things up with that area soon, whatever it takes.
AH
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