A little nervous

The half-marathon is less than a week away.

This is the same half-marathon I made a goal for myself last year, the one that started me running in the first place. I made it, and it was a great accomplishment for me. After, I thought how the half-marathon was probably a little too much to set out for myself. The amount of recovery time off I needed after each of my longer weekend training runs told me I was maybe pushing myself too hard. I'm not after a particular finishing time, I just want to keep running. At my age (and weight), injury to my knees or something else is the greatest risk to that longterm goal.

And yet, here I am running it again. That's the plan, anyway. It wasn't my plan at the start of the year, but my late summer I felt pretty good, and in a brave moment I clicked the registration link to sign up for the Santa Clarita Half Marathon once again. This time my training was following Jeff Galloway's run/walk method, rather than Hal Higdon's training schedule like last year. Doing the run/walk on a 4:1 minute ratio has meant I felt I could run farther . . . maybe even faster. I'll settle for farther, though.

A high point in the training came a few weeks ago (more?) when I set out on an 8-mile route . . . figured I might run 9 . . . and ended up going 10! I was invincible! The following weekend I ran the Worldwide Festival of Races, the Zen Run 10k all by myself. The fact that I was doing lots of traveling was a training complication, and the 10k fit into my schedule better than another big run. So far, so good.

The week after that I screwed it up. I had new insoles, new body glide, new fuel belt, and slept in to run mid-day when I thought it wouldn't be too hot. About half of those decisions proved to be a mistake, and I conked out after 6 miles of my intended 10-12 miler. No problem, I thought, I still have time in my training schedule. The first midweek shorter run went great, back with some new Spenco crosstrainer insoles like I've used for years, and I felt strong. But the similar run a couple days later yielded pain in my right knee. Uh-oh.

I cut that run short, took some NSAIDs, and rested it. I skipped my long run on the weekend. I skipped the short runs during the week. All the while I was nervous about this lack of training, and the fast-approaching half-marathon. Last weekend the knee felt better, so I took it out for a 6-miler. It felt ok, a little tight after the run, but the stretching at the first walk break really helped, I think. At the end I'm sure I could've gone farther than 6 miles, but I wanted to save the knee, and I'm supposed to be in my taper anyway.

The half-marathon is six days away. Two short runs, if I can squeeze them in on this east coast business trip. (Or maybe I'll just do the treadmill tomorrow.) I may not make it. Or I may have to push through some knee pain. Or who knows? I may do fine, even beating my time last year with a run/walking strategy. No matter what, I'm still a runner, so as long as I don't really screw up my knees, anything that keeps me moving is a victory of some kind.