Moonwalk

I woke up this morning to meet Ash, Jon, Ben, and Fife for a 12 mile long run at 10:30.

I didn't even make it out of the parking lot. My lower legs are so sore I can hardly use them for anything, which is a bit of a predicament considering I run on my toes. To make matters worse the fitness center is completely locked up for the weekend, so I couldn't get on the bike to cross train. I ended up having to take a complete rest day instead, which is resulting in the usual endorphin withdrawal symptoms. Now it's week two of regular track practice, and instead of getting back to full health I've broken my OTHER peroneal and beat up my knee, just when I'm supposed to be passing 70 miles a week. Russ is increasing our training every week and I'm once again going backwards. I'm going to be very, very angry if we get to indoor conference and I'm in worse shape than I was on Christmas.

It's not just me either. Danny still isn't back to running and Muffenbeck also took today off due to a sore leg (although he indicated that getting hit by the weight yesterday wasn't the cause). And though he did run the 12 miles this morning, Jon was also complaining about his knee hurting and later Ash told me he "did something" to it. I know Russ has us staying off the indoor track completely in order to avoid injuries, but I'm pretty confident that the reason I can't run right now is because we haven't done a single actual track workout since last May. My body wasn't prepared for even that slow 5:08 mile yesterday since it isn't being trained for running on the track. After a week in the training room, two ultrasounds, five ice baths, one hot water whirlpool and plenty of therapuetic stretching I'm hurt worse than I was to begin with.

And yet, despite all these setbacks, I've still got one thing going in my favor. Every time I get hurt, every time I fail to finish a run, every single minute I spend on that bike letting some shattered body part rest, the monster gets stronger.