Up in the Air

"The slower we move, the faster we die.
Make no mistake, moving is living."
-Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), "Up In The Air"


Weight: 156

The above quote (and movie title) really have absolutely nothing to do with running... not if kept in context. But they sure seem appropriate for where I'm at right now.

I haven't even seen the whole movie. The way movies work in my family/life, is the only movies we seem to see in the theater are kids movies... something we can do as a family. So when it comes to seeing non-kids movies, we wait to see it on DVD.

And when it comes to watching DVDs that my kid will either not be interested in, or I don't want her to see, it means I watch what I can while people are asleep or away. I got halfway through the movie this morning before my daughter woke up. This line caught my attention.

Because in a way, it DOES apply to running (or excercise, or health). The couch potatoes typically are the health risks, and the health nuts typically are not. The runners are in a little better shape than the walkers, and the elite athletes are in remarkable shape. Move... move faster... live longer.

Before I started watching this movie this morning, I went out for my 'long run' (yes, i was up early today). I'm tweaking the training plan a little, and had 11 miles on my schedule for the day...

That didn't happen. And I'm feeling like my upcoming Half, and my perfomance in that race, is a bit 'up in the air'.

I only got 6 miles of a run in. Remarkably slow. Nothing felt right. It wasn't even close to right. It's easily the worst run I've had in a while. My entire lower body felt fatigued and my lower legs were in pain. It only took about a half mile and I knew it was going to be a bad run.

My left Achilles is getting the first hints of a twinge again. That alone makes me want to 'pull back' a little, but my right foot has been bothering me and keeps feeling worse. It's been a nagging pain on the top of my foot, that is somehow connected to my big toe... and today, the pain was more than I wanted to push through just for a training run.

So, I'm 3 weeks from the Half marathon. Next week I've signed up for a 5K, which I would like to run with an honest effort, but do not want to hurt myself. There isn't really much of a taper before a Half Marathon... but I'm thinking I might need to 'shut it down' between now and then. Nothing (other than the 5K) at more than easy effort, and nothing more than about 5 miles. No more than 3 runs a week.

This is NOT how I want to be going into the race. I really want to PR, and I really want to have a good race. I want to feel good and healthy and happy while running... not endure 2 hours of pure misery.

Speaking of pure misery - root canal scheduled for Monday. At least, I hope it's a root canal scheduled. I know, that doesn't make sense. It's like hoping your girlfriend works as a whore on dollar night. But I know there's a problem with a tooth, and I just want it fixed. I don't want Monday to be an 'initial consultation to schedule a root canal down the road'. I don't have that kind of time.

It's feeling like the wheels are falling off. Or better to say the engine light just went on. I'm hoping that being lighter on the gas and a car wash will either fix the problem, or at least get me to the next paycheck when I can afford to really look into it and fix the problem. Sometimes, that engine light goes on when the gascap isn't screwed in right. Cross your finger for me.