Running Update

The last time I posted I was running with the early morning crowd. This ended sometime in September when Andrew developed what we assume is a bunion on his right foot, and he put away his running shoes for an indeterminate amount of time. Shortly after this, I stopped getting up for these early morning runs too.

There were several reasons I switched my schedule. While I love running with a group and the motivation it provides, I was feeling more dread and frustration than motivation. At that point I was getting up an hour early to eat breakfast then drive to a neighborhood to run in the dark and the cold while trying to keep up with runners who were easily faster than me. Plus, my heels and arches had begun to ache, and I was concerned that if I kept pushing myself to maintain this much faster pace on concrete and asphalt after only recently switching from trails, I would be joining Andrew on the running bench.

This was the start of a very sporadic running schedule in regards to time and place. Some of my runs were with my friend Megan and her dalmatian, Ace. We would run a route that took us through neighborhoods and streets near our complex. We tried running in one of the larger parks but after having some junior or high school kids squeal their tires and try to talk to us we decided that was not a good fit. I did not want to run the morning crowd route since it crossed several major streets and was highly trafficked later in the day. Ideally I wanted to find something resembling trail running. I figured that the combination of new running shoes and a softer running surface would help me feel better sooner.

Then my upstairs neighbor Mike told me about a park off of 19th Street that had a 0.7 mile gravel jogging track and a 0.8 mile runner-made wider loop of dirt and grass. I ran my first run there on my birthday, October 13th. While nothing like Huntsville State Park, it had its perks. I liked the scenery of the playa lake with trees in and around it, the location in a nice neighborhood not too far a drive from my complex, the size, and the variety of people and pets. It even had some minimal lighting as dark approached. Since then most of my runs, by myself or with Megan and Ace, have been at this park. I also walk there on days I do not run with my friend Natalie and her dog Bailey.

I varied a little when Megan, Ace, and I ran in the park and the neighborhood surrounding it recently. The older houses with their trees crowded close to them made me miss runs in the Avenues of Huntsville. Still no hills, but I miss the trees more than the hills anyway. And then Saturday I ran with Kelly at a place called Ransom Canyon that had hills (*gasp!*). So yes, they apparently do allow some variation in landscape near Lubbock.

Today I ran in the 19th street park for 4 miles, following the runner-created trail while listening to my ipod. I forced myself to stick below a 12 minute pace for most of the run (I had been running as slow as a 13 or 14 minute pace recently) and see how my feet would handle it. Finally my feet are starting to feel good again with no twinges.

For now I plan to keep running with various friends and on my own at least 3 days a week so I can be ready to run a few races next semester. Fun times.