No run since Friday. I’m sorry for those of you who have had to be around me in the last few days, I haven’t run in nearly a week. If you have ever spent any significant amount of time I, like many runners, get cranky if my feet don’t hit the pavement ATLEAST a few days a week.

At the moment I am planning to run the 5/3 River Bank 25k, I have a goal (to beat last year’s time) and a training schedule to maintain (I loosely follow the one given to us by 5/3, though I’m neither an expert nor a novice, I simply float nicely between the two.) So last week Wednesday I was looking further into the week to mentally prepare myself for the miles ahead, I had been feeling a bit run down, tired, but still strong with my runs. The long run, I decided, called for 11.

Because I have the schedule of a college student/sales associate I have the flexibility to run long on Fridays, and therefore enjoy my weekends a bit more. Having already logged 21 miles in by Thursday I was approaching one of my highest mileage weeks (and still having a day off!) Going 11 was a must to get there.
8 miles in and my metatarsal gets shooting pains. 9 miles, it feels better. 10 miles and I want to cry and all I can think with every step I take is stress fracture step stress fracture step stress fracture. This is a scary thought. I finish my route and ice and take something immediately after hydrating and stretching.

OUCH!

I ice and rest all weekend…well, apart from the hours on the floor and the high heels from Saturday night. But I do rest, I cross train Sunday, but come Monday I felt like I was ready to start running. But I didn’t. I crossed trained. Tuesday, I crossed trained. Today, I want to run. I have to run. The sunshine has been taunting me all week. But, I’m headed to the gym after I finish up some homework. Tomorrow? Sunny, sunny Thursday, will I be outside basking in the rays, soaking up the vitamin D, prancing through East Grand Rapids with all of the other healthy walkers and runners?! No, I’ll be in the dungeon basement on the bike or elliptical listening to bad pump-up music. Why?

Because I want to run on Friday. I want to run slow and steady for 10 miles in hopes that a week off has helped my foot. I want to be able to run for a long time in my life, hopefully as pain free as a runner’s life can be. A week off is nothing. (I’ll keep repeating this in hopes of believing it myself; you can keep repeating it to me as you tell it to yourself!)
There is nothing worse looking back on race-day when your running shoes are resting in the corner, and you are in jeans cheering on your friends because you didn’t take a bit of time off early on.

Listen to your body. It usually knows what’s best.