best news ever... right now.

since i refused to believe that i wasn't going to be able to run the instep 1/2 this weekend (due to the allegedly broken toe) i decided to go on a test run at lapham this morning.  i figured if it was TRULY broken i'd take a couple of steps and be in enough pain to know.

i got to the park to run the black loop at just after 7am.  there were quite a few cars there already which was surprising, but i guess not since it is labor day.  as i headed out i was acutely aware of all aches and pains.  notably there was nothing from my right foot aside from my second toe which was feeling a little irritated.  no pain whatsoever from my pinkie toe!  AWESOME SAUCE!

i was feeling a bit sluggish so i thought i'd just take it as it came and try to maintain and also run all the hills.  i simply wanted to see if i could do it at an even pace the whole way through.  i really felt like i was running pretty slow so i thought doing the little bounce jog up all the hills would be helpful in maintaining a decent finish time.  i figured i was fatigued from saturday's run even tho' i rested yesterday...

is that even possible?

so trying to keep an even pace and run all the hills it is!  it was actually quite manageable so i just kept it up.  i skipped the bathroom break and kept right on puttering along. nothing felt too out of whack except for the back of my right knee which i THINK might be my IT band, but the jurys still out on that.  i'm not entirely clear on what the problem is with my right leg.  i'm just hoping that after my race season is over that it heals up and goes away.

the weather was 95% humidity, wet from the rain the days before, and about 68 degrees.  the humidity is so awful that as soon as you start sweating it just drips off your skin and stays on your skin... there's no evaporation of any sort happening.  it's really quite disgusting.

when all was said and done i am happy to report that my foot was no worse for wear, and (barring any more injuries between now and saturday) i should be good to go for the race.  i am so relieved!  i was so upset saturday night i thought i was going to break down and cry.  i'm going through some personal things and this is just not something i need right now.  i need my running to be going right.

i really hope that i can get my speed up and my time down on saturday... not a lot but i'd like to get both loops down to 60min each if i could.  i know that's a lot to shave off but i think in a race setting it might be manageable since this is what i'm doing when i'm not REALLY pushing myself that hard.  i mean... i'm trying but i'm not TRYING if you catch my drift...   when i race i tend to push much harder than i do when i'm alone or running with friends.  when i'm alone i push myself harder than i do with most friend groups and then when i run with friends that are faster than me i push myself to stick with them so i'm pretty sure that i can run this faster than i have at my PR of 1:02 and some change.

i am interested to see what my body and mind can do on saturday... so cross your fingers and wish me luck!  here's to hoping i keep myself injury free between now and then.  ha!