The ankle's fine!!

Congrats to those that ran this weekend.  If you met your goals, great!  If you did better than you thought you would, FANTASTIC!!  If you didn't do as well as you hoped, there will be other races, and other days.  Remember, when life throws a garbage can at you, take it out like you're a linebacker.

I went to the Y this morning and started the C25K VFF style.  This is in an attempt to shift my foot strike.  My barefooted running friend CatChowder1 cautioned about trying to push too far too fast, and I assured the young lady that I wouldn't.


So it was almost oddly comforting to be at the Y this morning.  Last year at this time, I was just trying to get back into running and was doing the Couch-to-5K program to get ready for the Jingle Bell Run.  And then I got sick, and then Turkey Day came up and that blew that out of the water.  I restarted with more determination after that "race" and got ready for the Shamrock Run in March.  I did the 5K and cheered on the 15K runners as they started and determined that I would run that race next time.  So here I am, the end of November, and I am doing the C25K to get ready for the Shamrock Run.  This seems like a humorous movie staring Andie MacDowell and Bill Murray, but here I am.

The folks at the Y remember me, I guess if you make a habit of leaving a building in a kilt people remember you.  I got lots of "hi's" that I hadn't actually expected.  I ran for 60 seconds and walked for 90 seconds for about 19 minutes or so, then stretched.  Depending on how the calves react to this treatment, I will progress through the program a little faster than 9 weeks.  That is one difference between this year and last.  The main differences between this year and last are marked though.  Since last year I have run a couple of sub 30 minute 5K's, two sub-60 minute 10K's and a Pikermi.  I have had to lay-off training due to an over-use injury, and met a lot of really cool runners that poke and prod me to greater goals.

I can honestly say that if it weren't for JGF*, I would never have even considered training for the Portland Marathon.  I would have resisted the pokes of my neighbors just because I am a bull-headed individual.  But, she suggested that I go visit the loop, and it was there that the insanity took hold.  But it was also there that I started talking with folks like C2, who is currently on the DL and will be back to running in a couple of months; ERG who just crushed a Pikermi in Eugene; CatChowder who just ran her first trail Pikermi yesterday and is prepping for another in January.  The list of the insane there reads like the userlist, because, well, it is.  I count myself as one of them now.

The people that have chosen to follow my blog as a result of the connections made there are all unique and interesting.  I look forward to hearing from you in the comments and reading your blogs.  It is great to get that encouragement from someone who has gone through the training, or is in the middle of their own training and getting to compare notes.  Some of you keep blogs in both the Loop and outside.  Others, just in the loop, but make forays out into space to see what is here.  Others still, just have a home in the Loop and don't actually comment out here.  I read them, and I take a little away from each and everyone.  If this sounds like a lead up to a big "what I am thankful for" post in a couple of days...maybe.  It does have that feel to it doesn't it.

*oops, I had too many people on my mind this morning...