Sunday, November 23

I am a runner again. I hadn't run since November 7, so that was more than two weeks off. I don't think I have done that in the three years I've been a runner, except maybe when I was sick.

I wasn't feeling guilty about it or anything, and I wasn't panicking, even though I have a marathon next week. I was just noticing it, and wondering what it meant.

I think I was discouraged, because of the problems I'd been having with my right leg. When I got the expensive new orthotics, they weren't an instant fix, and that worried me. I wondered if I should plan on using them with a marathon coming up so quickly, or if that would even be wise? I think the uncertainty about that was keeping me from running.

Then my best friend told me that she was having trouble with non-running, too. She had been having this problem for quite some time. So we decided that this weekend, we would run together. We live 20 miles apart, so she had to drive up north a ways. (Next time, I will drive down south.)

I decided to get a new pair of the cheap Dr. Scholls orthotics, and use those until after this marathon next week, because that is what my feet are more used to. Then after the marathon ~ well, maybe after the one after that (two weeks later!) ~ I'll start getting my legs used to the new, expensive orthotics.

My friend is a much faster runner than I am, but she had not run since spring. She said she doubted she could go more than three miles (but I doubted her doubting). She likes hills, so I picked the hilliest short route in my neighborhood (at least, the one I perceive to be the hilliest.)

In the first quarter mile, I could tell that staying together would mean a very fast run for me and/or a very slow run for her. Nevertheless, we stayed together for the most part!

We did an out-and-back 4.4 miles (an extra 0.2 for my friend, because she ran ahead a bit at the turnaround point.) It took 48 1/2 minutes. That is a pretty fast pace for me, when you consider the hills. That would be about a 34-minute 5k, and if I did that well on a hilly course like that, I'd be very happy with the time. The weather was clear, a little breezy, and in the fifties.

I feel so good, having run. Sometimes, it is probably good to get away from running, so that when you start up again, you appreciate how good it feels!