Still Running

I am still running, and running and running. I have to admit that I am not having the time of my life, but I am not hating it either. During the week we are now meeting as early as 4:45 AM to get in 7 miles before work.

We increased our mileage two weeks ago to 16 miles. The run was actually pretty enjoyable until mile 13. We had a long stretch without water and aid, and the temperature increased to about 90 degrees with the sun beating down. Needless to say that the remaining 3 miles were awful, and I really struggled to finish in a good mood. Okay, maybe I didn’t finish in a good mood, but I only hated the world for about 10 minutes.

Shortly after the run we found out that the coaches had decided to start the “back down.” Back down is when we decrease our mileage before the race and slowly start to increase again. So last Saturday we only had to run 12 miles. I know, I never thought that I would be saying “only” 12 miles, but it felt like a nice break.

Scooter had to take the week off. After the 16 mile run, which he finished without any pain, he burst a fluid sack in his knee and is unable to run on it for a while. But Natalie and I ran the leisurely 12 miles and headed to Barton Springs.

For those of you who are not familiar with Barton Springs, it is a natural spring here in Austin, that stays at a constant 68 degrees all year long. It was a nice change from the weekly ice bath. It stung quite bad when we first jumped in, but treading water for 10 minutes in the icy water felt nice, and was a lot less hassle than buying 20lbs of ice, and emptying the bags into a bathtub you know you are about to get into.

Scooter and I bought our third pair of shoes for the season, hopefully this will be the last pair, and I have started breaking them in. My shin splint is getting better slowly, but Scooter is still not yet running.

I sent out my emails for donation because they have started to slow significantly and we still have over $2000 each to raise. We have a fundraiser and washer tournament planned for September 9th that will hopefully get us a little closer.