Sunday, May 9, 2010

A Race for Hope and my lost mojo

Last weekend I ran in A Race for Hope here in Washington, DC to honor a high school friend who is recovering from a brain tumor.

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It was awesome seeing familiar faces that I hadn’t seen in a while, and it made me miss home. Although I would never be happy living there again, it’s the people I miss the most.

The weather was HOT and HUMID. 90+ degrees and just sticky and gross does not make for perfect running conditions, but I was there to support a great cause. I figured I’d just run and see how it went.

My friend Maureen told me she was going to fly (her words precisely) and that her goal was to place for the honoree, so I didn’t expect to keep up with her. And I’m glad I didn’t try; she ran the 5K race in 21:06! She wasn’t kidding! She rocked it! 

The rest of the group walked. I honestly considered just walking to enjoy the time with everyone but I also thought it would be a good idea to see where I was speed-wise.

As soon as I started running I was thirsty. Why didn’t I bring anything to drink? Oh, because its a measly 5K! I think after training for this 1/2 marathon, I’ve been neglecting the importance of water on the short runs too.

Anyway, I ran my little heart out and PR’ed by 38 seconds with a time of 25:40. I was very proud of myself, even though I got smoked by Maureen. (Oh and while I was running my 5K, I realized that my Garmin is off. So all of those quick miles I’ve been running are very misleading. My Garmin said I ran 3.52 miles in 25:42 last weekend, and that I kept a  7:47 pace when in reality I ran 3.12 miles in 25:40 at an 8:16 pace. That’s a huge difference. So now I’m not even sure how far and how fast I’m actually running, which is kind of a pain in the ass. Not that I expected perfection but it’s decieving to think I’m running faster than I am.)

That was last Sunday. A week ago today. I have been fighting with myself to run (and blog) ever since.

I took Monday off because I was a little sore  from the race ( I can run 10 miles and be fine but be sore from a 5K??) and then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were struggles. Honestly, after the 5K, my foot was in a lot of pain. It felt like my stress fracture from last year. That was the number one reason for giving myself a day off. Tuesday I used the elliptical and did some core work and arm strength, and Wednesday I ran. And I struggled. Bad. I had no desire to be out there and I cursed myself out with every step I took.

I made it a point to run with a friend the next morning with the hopes that I’d change my tune. No such luck. I cursed and huffed and puffed, and we even took a few short walking breaks during our short 3 mile run. I had nothing in me. I don’t know what happened but I’ve completely lost my running mojo.

I don’t know what to do but I need to get it back and FAST. My 1/2 marathon is next month. I put so much energy and effort into training for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and now I have nothing left. HELP! I need to get out of this funk!  Any ideas?