From Gasparilla to the Sidelines

Update on the Gasparilla 15K-- it was a blast. My time was 1:30:01, which equates to a 9:40 min mile. I was very pleased with that, and actually just had a great time running that morning. The weather was beautiful, cool and slightly breezy, with some clouds to keep the sun from being a nuisance. There were only about 4000 runners, which made for a pleasant, non-crowded race way. I told Adam after I finished that was probably the most fun I've had running. I put a lot of pressure on myself before the half marathon, and this time, I was just coasting. Plus, 9.3 miles is a lot more fun than 13.1!

Two weeks after Disney I strained the shin muscle of my left leg, probably from running on bum shoes. It's been agitated since, but it would always stop hurting after I got going. Lately though, it's started irritated and stayed irritated, and I've finally admitted that I need to stay off of it, probably for at least a week. It's going to be hard to do, considering how I've followed such a strict running regiment for the past, oh, call it 8 months. But, the risk of doing further injury is too great, and I don't have any long distance races pending. Now is the time to get it healthy again so I don't damage it to the point that it'll take a long time to heal.

Unfortunately, I'm bowing out of the Sarasota half marathon next weekend. I really wanted to do it, but with this leg the way it is, it's just not worth the risk of further injury. I had two great races at Disney and Gasparilla, so this Sarasota race really doesn't mean that much to me. I'll just rest and look forward to a walk-in-the-park 10K March 16th.

Isn't it awesome to look at a 10K as a walk in the park??