I ran in the Angus Glen 10km this morning, and when I say "ran", I mean I enjoyed a leisurely 10km Sunday morning run on a gorgeous fall day. I have actually been working quite hard at getting back my running and cycling fitness since the crash in August. I would even say that my running form isn't too bad, and I was really looking forward to testing myself today to see just exactly where my fitness was at. I made the game day decision to run with one of my oldest, and dearest friends, Cassie.
Since doing some inclined leg press exercises in the weight room on Tuesday, my left glute/hamstring flared up a bit and progressively nagged at me all week. I did some speed work on Thursday as a tune up for today, and that resulted in me seeing an RMT later that day for some treatment. Needless to say, I've avoided running these past two days with the hopes of this "niggle" clearing up. After warming up with drills, 20 minutes of running, and strides, the pain was still "stabby". I remember trying to run through similar pain two years ago during the Sporting Life 10km, and that resulted in a torn hamstring and a DNF. I'd like to think that I have become a much more mature athlete over the past two years, so I refused to make the same mistake twice, and decided to run for FUN. After all, I didn't want to waste a perfectly nice day and event to run, or the chance to run with Cassie, and eventually the task of pacing another friend to a 2.5 minute PB.
I must say, it is rare for me to run a "race" like this, and to have a completely different perspective other than must race to PB, must race to win, must beat myself into the ground, and must leave it all out there. As fun as today was, I'll be racing to WIN in a few weeks at a cross-country-esque 5km (for charity) in New York. It is supposed to be a toughy, with the first mile straight uphill, the second hill straight downhill, and the last mile flat. I'll be ready to go in a few weeks, and I'm looking forward to it already!
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