January's Total

I know I have my Yearly Miles To Date posted on the side of the blog, but with all that's going on I never addressed my January mileage...especially in regards to the Diabetic Runner Challenge. Even though I feel as though I didn't get in as many runs for January as I would have liked to, I don't think my mileage is all that shabby considering the circumstances. Previously, my month for highest mileage was October 2007, at 51 miles....Well, my mileage for January 2008 matched it. Not too bad. That was refreshing given that November and December my mileage had significantly diminished. But I guess my mileage would increase given the fact that I'm adding in longer weekend runs. That definitely helps. I can only hope my mileage will continue to increase at this point. As for the Diabetic Runner Challenge, I'm on track for meeting my goal. Holding that 10 miles/week over my head definitely puts my head in gear on those days I want to run a shorter route or too tired to run at all. Unfortunately those "too tired days" have been plentiful, especially this past week, and the 10 miles/week thinking didn't help much. Even still, I made my monthly goal.

As for my long run today. Bah. Not all that great. I was going good at 4 miles, just easing into my comfortable pace, and my IT Band decided to become a nag. In addition, a new knee pain surfaced throughout the run. I stopped a couple times to stretch it out and continued on. I kept debating whether to head home or continue and came up with the decision to continue on. Being uncomfortable during runs is nothing new, I just deal with it and move on. Usually the problems subside after awhile. I had hoped to complete the same route as last week, but wasn't so lucky. I kept pushing myself to keep going but by mile 7 my body was officially saying, "Alright Heidi, it's time to stop." I obliged and cut the route shorter and ended up with 8 miles even. I can't say I'm all that disheartened with today's run. I've been lucky enough to have awesome runs the past few weeks and I'm realistic in knowing that not all runs are great. So I knew I'd get a wrench thrown at me sooner than later. In addition, what can I expect given the last time I ran was Tuesday and my running schedule hasn't necessarily been consistent. I'll just continue on....