How I got here...

(Response to an email from my coach checking in about how things are going with everyone, personal goals, etc.):

Hi Ken.

This will probably be more info than you wanted, but here goes...

I ran about 6 miles on my own on the trail on Saturday morning. It wasn't a very good run. I had shin pain for the 1st 1-2 miles, so I had to stop several times to stretch. That helped and the rest of the run was pain-free. I had stomach issues though after that and had to take a detour over to Barton Springs to go to the bathroom. And, my cardio just sucks right now. So, it was another bad run in a string of bad runs lately.

Since we ran the half-marathon in San Antonio last Sunday, my mileage for last week was 30 miles. I think I'm going to follow the beginner schedule right now since (a) I'm scared of pushing too hard since my lower leg pain hasn't gone away completely, and (b) I'm terribly out of shape compared to where I used to be.

My running history - I started running with my 1st 5k in Nov. 2004 and then ran the Freescale half-marathon in February a few months later. I joined Rogue in May, 2005 and started training for Chicago, but I got injured (bone stress injury in right tibia) and I was out for 3 months. I diligently cross-trained during that time to develop my fitness. I started training again in September, 2005 for Freescale and ran a 4:08 in my 1st marathon last year (2006). I then went through the 5k/10k PR class and saw huge gains in speed - my 5k and 10k PR's came last Spring (5k 22:59 and 10k 50:23). At that point, qualifying for Boston seemed like it was within the realm of possibility if I trained hard enough (my 2-mile time-trial last May was 14:06). So, I trained for Chicago again last summer with a goal of qualifying there, but I got sick the week of the race and had a horrible race (I probably shouldn't have even run). With the disappointment of that race, I immediately jumped into the Performance Project with Mac last November to train for AT&T. But, mentally, I needed a break after training so intensely for 1+ years, so I stopped training right before Xmas and ran minimally in January and February of this year. I started training again with Mac's Performance Project for the 5k/10k PR class in the Spring and regained some speed (5k 23:26 in April). Mentally, I felt like I was ready to take on marathon training again and joined Ruth's Boston Qualifier Fall Marathon group with intent to run Columbus in October. But, I had been dealing with shin splints intermittently all year and they seemed to get worse, to the point where I just stopped running completely in July and August. I've been going 2x a week since September for ART with some improvement. But, I've also lost a lot of fitness over the past 4-6 months, which brings me to where I am now.

My only goal right now is to get to the start line of a Spring Marathon, probably Big Sur or possibly Flying Pig. I'm not focused on a specific time goal right now - I just want to get healthy, get back into good running shape, and then re-focus on a BQ later.

Hope this helps! Thanks for asking.

Melissa