Wheres the Reset Button?

It's only been like 10 months, so i thought it was time to post again.

This year was supposed to be the turnaround year. The year I recovered from last year's stress fracture. The year I had an amazing showing at the Houston Half Marathon. The year I was supposed to have a great marathon in NYC and hopefully get to a sub 3:45, or maybe even a 3:30 time. The year my coach, Vince, would finally help me reach that next level of my running ability, and be able to hopefully qualify for boston in the next couple of years.

Fast forward to april, and I got the half marathon time - 1:39. I cracked the 1:40 barrier that i wanted to hit. My winter running was going good, and I was doing a lot of maintenance runs with friends who were training for boston just to keep the sticks limber and moving. I did a few 5k's (PR'ing too - 21:30!) and other races, but otherwise was taking it easy until the first week in april, for Cherry Blossom, which has grown to be a race that I want to make a tradition (I mean, I get to see the family and spend time with friends who live in DC). Last year, this is when I found out about my stress fracture. Up until April I had felt fine, and through the race, I felt real good. I PR'd the 10 mile race in 1:13 and would recover over the next few weeks before starting my marathon build up in late May. A week later, a light pain still lingered in my shin. Not a good feeling, considering the year before. Another MRI, and its over again.

Sometimes you wish your body was like the Nintendo we had as kids, that when things weren't going right in the game, you'd press the reset button and it would be back to the beginning. The doc put me out for 8 weeks. Cross training was my new friend. Damn reset button - where were you!

8 weeks later, back to running. Took it real easy. Or so i thought. It's now been 3 months and I am still struggling. Not having the "fun" that I had when i started, and not even having the fun that I had in Houston - where although I had a side stitch for over 6.5 miles of the 13.1 mile course, I still loved the fact that I held strong and held my pace under a 7:38 with the exception of one mile. Today, I went for a 5 mile recovery run that felt like I had 2 lead weights on my legs. Had to keep stopping - my calf was stiff, my ankle stiffened up cause the calf was stiff. I had one of those moments where I just stood there in the pouring rain and thought I really wanted to call it a fond farewell to running.

Call it overreaction, but the past 4 months of my running life have been pure hell. My right leg, from the hip down has gone gimp on me, and maybe its time to focus on getting that working 100% before I decide to push it again. This 2009 New York City marathon may be my last marathon for a while.

I learned a lesson from my friend Phil. Building up for him from sprint and half iron triathlons over the past 3 years had him pulling a 11:47 at this year's Ironman. Although if he were 10 years younger I bet he'd be under 11. Just f-ing with ya Phil (im sure you'll read this). Maybe I need to step back, press reset, and build back up. I've got years in front of me, and although I wanted to qualify for Boston soon, there's a pretty good chance that it will be there when I do finally qualify (although most of my friends will be really old by then). It seems pretty safe that in the 150th running of the Boston Marathon, you will see me there.

So maybe that is the right idea, and starting november 1, I will step back from training for marathons and focus on the half marys and smaller races - and get the body in prime shape. This hip and leg and ankle on my right side will finally feel strong and good, just maybe.

Maybe I should just go on Ebay and buy an old nintendo just so i can press the button.........