Sometimes you’re up; sometimes you’re down. I know I should
enjoy the fact that I’m up right now, but it comes with a little bit of guilt
because my training buddy is down.
We were doing our long run yesterday up the Waverly road,
and while I was feeling fantastic, Alex was suffering with every single step.
It was one of those things. He’d been having trouble with his Achilles’ tendon –
swollen and sore – but he felt like he needed to get this one in because he’d
missed the last two.
Turns out, it was a bad idea. 13k in, we hit a bad patch of
road, something tweaked in his tendon (which was already painful) – and that
was it. I ran ahead to the nearest
payphone and called a pickup for him, and he hobbled 2.5k to a gas station to
keep warm.
It’s such a shitty feeling to watch someone else in pain and
frustration and not be able to help. I didn’t want to just leave him and keep
going, but that’s exactly what he wanted me to do – and exactly what I would’ve
wanted him to do if our positions had been reversed. Beyond calling my wife to
come pick him up, there wasn’t much I could do. So I kept going. I abandoned
the poor guy.
And the thing is that I had an amazing 35k run. The overall
average was a 4:12/k – and I did most of the second half of the run under 4:10,
including a bunch of ks under 4:00. I hadn’t planned that kind of pace, but my
body naturally fell into a faster rhythm. And today I feel fine. I’m going to
run slowly today, but I don’t feel banged up. It’s great.
But I can’t help feeling a bit sad for my buddy. I know it’s
not the end of the world for him, but I know how frustrating it is to have that
kind of pain dogging you all day for weeks. And I’m going to miss him on my
runs. It’s going to be hard readjusting to running most runs solo – I’ve come
to rely on him to get me out the door some days. In time, he’ll be back – but it’ll
suck without him.
Such is life.
I need to stay positive about my own running and be grateful
for as long as the good miles continue. And I wish him a speedy recovery.
nice run!! if you continue at that pace for 7 more kms, you were going to crank your marathon PR what a beast!! keep on the good work!!
ReplyDeleteWhereas, I hope that Alex recover quickly , i am having shin splints, but I am stubborn and dont want to rest, did not bother me at all in todayñs 10 miles!! No races coming up?
Thanks, Cesar! I was very happy with that run -- I could hardly believe how easily the pace came.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear those shin splints are coming back, and I totally understand not wanting to rest. Maybe they'll be okay if you keep your calves loose. Great sign that they didn't hurt over 10 miles. Keep it up!
I may do a 25k race in March -- use it as a marathon race pace run. Not sure yet. Any races on your schedule?
Thanks! Here are 2 races the next weekend and the next after that , both 5ks!, however, are on Saturday afternoon and I work at that time, so I cant run them, I would like to race them, so I want to know if I have improved since December!! I think I ll have to wait till May when there is a 10k on Sunday, the only free day I have- On june we have a half marathon held on Sunday as well, I might run it as well!! I dont have too many opportunities-take care Doug!
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