Runnin' in Mud...

A little background:  In August of 2007, I was diagnosed with a sacral stress fracture and a "stress reaction" in the pubic symphysis area (osteitis pubis).  Needless to say, I was not able to cross train and lost a good bit of fitness during the 8 weeks that I was off.  In October, I slowly built up my mileage, but was really paranoid about another reoccurrence, as these were my FIRST injuries, ever.  I always thought of myself as pretty durable, despite doing some ignorant training early on!  I was soooo eager to resume racing and signed up for my local half-marathon to take place on March 16, 2008.  My PR was 1:26:57 set on this same course in 2006.  I vowed to obliterate the PR, but I didn't know how difficult/frustrating it would be to come back from an injury.  In the past 6 months, I have been so paranoid about every little ache and pain.  It was also during this time that I have had a few knee (patella tendon) issues, which is something brand new to me.  Despite it all, I finally raced in Feb. of this year (a 10k in 39:30).  I was pleased, but knew I had work to do.  I knew that I had another month of training, but the knee became more irritating to me.  I was very conservative and would ice, take days off, etc.  I did not build much, if any, fitness during the last month and I knew that a sub 1:26:00 was probably out.  Race week was not typical.  I missed several easy runs/strides due to a yucky cold and work related "things."  Race day came and I still did not know what pace to run.  The weather was absolutely perfect (48F and partly cloudy).  I went out by feel with the 1st mile (net downhill) in 6:33.  The 2nd mile (net uphill) was 6:51.  It was at this point that I knew that it wasn't a PR kinda day.  A 6:33 pace/mile would get me a sub 1:26:00, but after the 1st stretch of hills, the legs, already, didn't feel snappy.  [Side Note]:  Since the injuries, I have made diligent efforts to run on softer surfaces.  My softer courses have ZERO hills on them and I recalled many times telling myself that I needed to do some hillwork.  It never happened.  6 months of virtually no hilly courses didn't prepare them for the rolling nature of the 1st 4 miles of the course.  I felt every one of them.  In the past, I had always considered myself a good hill runner - not today!  I never gave up and continued to press along, running the 3rd mile in 6:48 and the 4th in 6:45.  From 5 miles to 10 miles, the course is pancake flat.  Miles 5 and 8 were some of my faster miles at 6:40 and 6:36.  It was at 7.5 miles that I told myself to pick it up and attempt atleast a sub 1:28:00.  My right calf muscle relented and began to twinge.  I knew the feeling, but pressed on.  It never really fully cramped, but I did slow a bit.  6:40-6:48 felt quite comfortable and I probably could have gone a few more miles at that pace after the race.  It seemed that my legs lacked the turnover that I wanted them to have.  Perhaps, I was rusty?  After mile 10, the course goes back into some rolling hills, which I still maintained pace.  The last turn has you running up a 300m slight incline to the finish, which is downhill.  My finish time was 1:28:20.  I was 4th in my AG and 37th overall.  I was somewaht pleased with the race and it has only rekindled my desire to run fast again.  Many times, when I don't finish in the time that I had planned, I attempt to take positives in other ways.  Positives:  1. I didn't "blow up!", 2. From mile 4 onward, no one passed me and I passed 15 runners., and 3. I ran a negative split of :16 and ran solo much of the time.  The spring will bring many other attempts to PR at the 5k and 10k distances and then bring a base building period in the hot, muggy Memphis weather.  In hindsight, I know that I should have done more HM pacework.  Running hills also would have helped.  Thanks for reading and sorry for rambling with this novel.