Under the Gun

Just back last night from 13 days spent in the eastern part of the country, and I'm here to tell you, it is different from the West. For one thing, the East has about a zillion more trees--they are everywhere, not to mention the zillion shrubs. And the parts I was in seemed to have a zillion fewer cars than we have out here. Lest you think I'm disrespecting the West, I'll point out that parts of the East are so humid that just leaning on a stone wall (of which I saw many) will plunge you into a sticky sweat.

None of the above is to the point. The point is my running life right now, which has me feeling, well, under the gun. For the last three or four weeks, I've been having pain in my lower back, my left hip, my left glutes, my left IT band, and so on. You get the idea. The odd thing about this chain of pain is that I don't feel it much when I run. So I run--and unfortunately, after I do, then I feel the pain. 

Just some of the greenery I ran past in New Hampshire.

Taking it easy, i.e., running 1 minute, then walking 1 minute, seems to have done some good. Laying off three days in a row because of vacation plans and then plane travel also seems to have helped. But the result of my cautionary behavior is that I feel undertrained. I've had good medical advice and feel as if I will completely recover from this--but probably not within the next two weeks! 

Thus, I'm feeling pressure: Sunday my favorite nephew and his favorite wife (wait, that doesn't sound so good--he only has one wife and she's a star) will be in town. We're all three signed up for the Summer Breeze 5K on that day, and I'm unbelievably excited to run it with them. But three weeks from that day I am scheduled to run a half marathon in celebration of my big decade birthday. (I'll be 70, okay? Please stop gasping and just read on.)

I'm train-ing, but not enough.

I am reasonably sure I will be able to run / walk 13.1 miles, but am afraid I will be abysmally slow. Up to this point, I just haven't done the required training for the 5K, let alone the bigger race that will follow it. That means this week and next I will need to eat right, sleep lots, and--oh yeah--do a couple of long runs. I believe I can do those things. I believe all will work out well. But any runner who has ever known she is undertrained for a race will immediately understand why I am feeling under the gun.