Retreat

I returned to running on Wednesday just as I planned. I woke up jet lagged at 3:30am and went about the Fox Den unpacking and doing odds and ends until the sun came up some 3 hours later. I donned some pants to keep the injured area warm and shuffled 7 miles. It felt so good to get back out on the streets...like a nicotine addict just back from a deserted island taking a long drag. I tried to stick mostly to trails and refrained from "opening up the valve" near the end of my run and instead kep the pace easy.

On Thursday morning, again after waking up too early, I drove to the Cabin John and ran a new trail I recently discovered. Antler-less deer bounded ahead and left a thick musky scent of scat and urine which cut through the frigid morning air like a hot knife on butter. I got in another 7 miles and felt just fine.

I had contemplated racing the Cardinal 5k on Saturday. It was a stupid decision given my current state of fitness and the fact I'm borderline injury, but I wanted to give myself a shot of racing juice since I was scheduled to run the Veteran's Day 10k a week later. On Friday I ran the race course (just 2 miles from the Fox Den) but felt exhausted, beaten up and frankly demoralized. My left leg had lingering affects of who knows while jet-lagged finally began to overpower me. I lumbered through work and then promptly passed out at 8:30 and slept for 10+ hours. I naturally decided to nix the race, and running altogether on Saturday.

I am hopeful that I'll feel better tomorrow but fear as if I'll pull out of the Veteran's Day 10k as well. I'll continue to retreat until I get healthy so that I go into USATFXC fresh...or at least fresher than I am now.

I shall retreat until I advance.