February killed my running mojo and as a result March was my lowest mileage month in a few years.
Total Miles: 80.51
Total Time: 12:04:26
Average Daily Distance: 2.6 miles
Average Pace: 9:00
I realized that despite my tendency to offer up advice to others I'm not very good at following it, there's still a lot that I don't know about running smart, avoiding injury and dealing with injury. I'm continuing to learn things about myself and what running means to me. I've often said that I run because it's fun, and when it's not fun I won't do it. Running wasn't much fun in the month of March so I barely did any.
At the end of February I decided that there was no way I could continue to train for the 95 mile West Highland Was Race so I officially withdrew. That was tough. Since 2006 I've been free from any significant injury and my running has consistently improved, so this is the first time in years that I've really had to pull back and rethink how I do things. My achilles problem really isn't a significant injury, but it's an ongoing pain that has definitely been holding me back.
That said, my achilles has started to improve thanks to the help of Dr. Jamie. He got me to the point where I should be able to complete the recovery on my own, my problem is that stretching and doing strengthening exercises isn't fun, and I don't like doing things that aren't fun. So it's my own fault that this has dragged on longer than necessary.
Another thing I've learned is that when I don't do much running I get out of shape. When I'm out of shape running becomes less fun and I'm less inclined to go out and remind myself how out of shape I am. It's a vicious cycle.
At the end of this month I feel like I am definitely making progress with my achilles problem, I'm starting to get more enjoyment out of running again and I am determined to get back to where I was before. It's going to be quite a while before I'm in ultra running shape again, but there are plenty of shorter distance trails to be run around here.
