Well, it's a new year and I've decided to give blogging another go. If all goes well in terms of my training and racing, I'll stick with it. If things go south, which unfortunately is where my running has resided for quite a while now, I may pull the plug again, because documenting struggle after struggle not only gets old after a while but also doesn't make for interesting reading (not that any of my posts necessarily do). Also, life has gotten busier for me over the past couple years, so weekly posts may or may not happen. In other words, guess I'll just have to see how things go.
2015 was probably my worst year running-wise since I started consistent training my sophomore year in college in the fall of 1992. While I ran a few more miles than I did back in 2010 when I broke my foot not once but twice, what I did run was slow and rarely fun. Furthermore, I managed to both run and win a race in 2010 whereas I never even so much as toed the line this past year. I simply never felt I was fit enough for it to be worthwhile. That brought to an end a streak of winning at least one race every year since 1996, a fact that was extra disappointing because it left me one year short of 20 in a row.
So what's happened since I last posted roughly four months ago. Well, in terms of running, a lot and not much at the same time. In the way of good things, I've managed to get my motivation back and I at least have the desire to be competitive again. Another reason why I never raced in 2015, even when I figured I might have been fit enough a few times to win a lesser competitive race, is I simply didn't care. Running was more something I dreaded than anything else, so it was pretty easy for me to take a day (or three) off if the weather was bad, I was extra busy at work, etc. For those who know me, that's certainly now how I've operated throughout my running "career," and I'm past that now and ready to do some work.
Another good thing that's happened is I've enlisted the help of a coach, getting guidance from Mike Cox. Mike is the head XC/track coach at Concord University in Athens, WV, and he and I have been friends going back to the mid-90's. Mike certainly knows his stuff and has quite a running resume from when he was competing, running as fast as 13:54 for 5k and qualifying for the Olympic Trials twice in the marathon. I felt I needed an outside opinion as well as someone to hold me accountable, and Mike graciously agreed to help me out. The fact that he and I have run quite a few miles together over the years and he knows me well was an added bonus.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm actually coming off a minor injury that led to me missing 8 out of 10 days in the second half of December. I'm still not sure what happened, but I began having heel pain after a hilly 14 miler and it's still not quite 100%. It could be plantar fasciitis and it could be a bruise to the fat pad of my heel, but either way it's been a hindrance and something for me to keep an eye on. Right now it's manageable and seems to be headed in the right direction, and hopefully it will stay that way until it's nothing more than an afterthought.
Ok, that's enough for now. I got in 40 miles this past week and will be looking for significantly more this coming week. Right now I'm just getting my legs back under me after a lackluster December thanks to the aforementioned heel injury, but I did a little faster running this past week and hope to return to a more normal schedule soon. Stay tuned, and Happy New Year!
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