Pushing it - just a little

Thursday was a rest day. It was not originally supposed to be, but after having a good 2.59 miles on Wednesday with the group, I was a little sore and we were playing it safe.

But on Friday morning, I joined the group for a treadmill workout. I was scared. I know on any given day, the treadmill impact hurts me worse than anything. The nerves do not like it. But, I wanted a workout and I wanted to be with the group.

I ran a couple of laps to warm up. I got on the treadmill with a lot of trepidation. We began.

I started off slow. We were doing 5x5s. 5 minutes faster, higher intensity, then 5 minutes slower, low intensity - and doing it 5 times. On the first one I went with a really slow pace. Then on the next one took it up a notch. I increased the speed each time. Even on the last one, I wasn't up to my fastest pace, so I still feel like I took it easy. I felt like I could have done more and gone faster, but that was not the goal for the day.

When I started on the track for warm-up, I felt the spot on my leg. I tried to stay calm and just feel it out. It was more of a dull ache than sharp pain. After a couple of laps it was okay and I wasn't feeling it. On the first 5 minutes of fast on the treadmill, I felt it again. I finished that 5 minutes and started the 5 minutes walking briskly. Then when I switched back over to the faster pace, I was okay. It didn't hurt anymore. Thankfully, coach waited until then to ask me if I was having any pain. I told him about the pain during the track laps and first 5 minutes, and he thought it sounded more like a muscle thing and said to keep rolling and stretching.

I wasn't in pain at the end of the workout, but I definitely felt tired. After we stretched I headed out and felt a renewed confidence that, even if it hurt, Tahoe was happening.

I iced at home and took some Aleve. It hurt a lot this evening, but I still think I'm going to be okay. I was supposed to do my long run tomorrow, but we may push that until Sunday, just to be safe. There are some new OCR classes being tested out this week at the gym, and since that is right up my fun alley, I want to be there for 1 or 2 of them. Tuesday is my last day with the run group before Tahoe. I don't want to miss that either.

I have so much to do to get ready for Tahoe. At this point, it's funny that running doesn't have to be on the priority list. If I get in some miles, great. If I don't, that's okay too,

I can't believe race day is 1 week away!