A Few Good Miles

So lets see what's up since the last time I updated? A few weeks after the Grand Rapids half marathon I started having gall bladder attacks, so I had to have that chopped out. By the beginning of December I was back on the treadmill, where I spent most of the month easing back into things. January saw my return to the roads. On January 17th I ran the Frozen Foot 5 Mile Race in Traverse City, 50:13. I was hoping to be a little quicker but the snow was pretty fresh, we got at least a couple inches during it.

February brought more miles and a sudden realization. Since August, I have/had been bothered by a pain that I had always thought was sciatica. Well, while reading another runners blog, where she talked about her ITB pains, I realized my pain matched that exactly. I did a little googling and decided that's what I have/had. Through stretching, running closer to the center of the road, stretching, ibuprofen before long runs, and stretching I have reduced the pain to only day after run appearances at it's worst. I did not take any days off of running but I have held myself maxed at running no more than 3 days a week since. I rode the exercise bike a few less times to give myself more rest days as well. Anyway that all continued through March. The end of March we took a road trip to Georgia where I did get to run a couple times.

When we got back it was a week before the Martian Half Marathon and I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be prepared but I couldn't do anything about that. The race turned out to be an absolutely perfect day. Weather was sunny with a slight chill in the air for those not running. Pacing couldn't have been better. Very little pain. It felt pretty darn awesome, tough to explain. Finished in 2:11:26, 10:02 pace, something I honestly thought was at least a year away. I'm not used to being this much faster on race day. I felt so good after the race that I registered for the Grand Rapids River Bank Run 25K, which is coming up on May 9th. This coming weekend is the Kalkaska Wood Memorial 10K which will be the first race that I have run twice.

Weight wise, over the last four to five months I have gained about 10-15 lbs from my lowest. This is a result of a return to poor eating habits. I've recently rededicated myself to smaller portions, more water, and less nighttime calories, so we'll see if that doesn't start creeping down again.