The other day, I sent my Garmin Forerunner 305 to be refurbished or replaced.  Seeing how the face fell off to unveil its completely corroded innards, I believe it’s beyond repair.  Once it’s returned to me, I’m looking forward to knowing how far and how fast I’m running again.

Since I’ve become so attached to my Garmin over the years, I’m pretty lost without it. Maybe it’s the holiday hullabaloo, but I can’t seem to remember when I last ran.  Normally, I just look at my stats when they’ve downloaded to my computer and it’s all there.  But with no Garmin, I have to remember to track my runs on Map My Run, but I never remember to do that and my absentmindedness leaves me with absent runs.

Part of the problem is also waking up and determining if it’s a run day based upon the pain in my feet due to my plantar fasciitis.  Some days, I can walk and other days I can’t stand up with falling over.  The last two mornings were definitely “I can walk” days which immediately became “I am going to run” days.

I remember I ran last Thursday because I ran 3 miles for Julia with the Suncoast Striders and my friends, Jackie and Faith.  It was Julia’s birthday and she would have turned five.  Faith and I wanted to be there for Jackie and remember sweet Angel Julia.

My flaky brain and pathetic feet just need to get with the running program again because Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon is only two months away.  That’s 8 weeks to improve my half
marathon performance.  Eight weeks to rev it up to Rock ‘n Roll!

Yesterday, I ran an easy 3 miles.  Today, I decided to take on some speedwork to help improve my overall time.  Boy, did my body balk that idea!  I ran one easy warm-up mile and then attempted four ¼ mile sprints.  After the first ¼ mile, my hamstrings started to hurt and then I got stitch in my side.  My body was not onboard with the whole revving it up idea.

But it could also be the baker’s dozen I’m carrying in my backside that’s weighing me down and holding me back, because there has been a lot of baking and a lot of tasting going on here.  So much so, that my backside is starting to look like a Snickerdoodle.

However, the sprints got easier after the first one.  Easier is the wrong word choice because the sprints were certainly not easy by any means.  I mean, I think I took the first ¼ mile sprint a little too hard and I didn’t push quite as hard on the second, third and fourth sprints.  I pushed myself, but not to the point where I got a cramp in my side.  (If only I had my Garmin to know exactly how fast I ran!)  After all the sprints, I finished my speedwork with a mile cool down.

Overall, the speedwork felt good.  My legs hurt, but in a good way.  And thankfully, I can walk.  Hopefully, tomorrow morning will be an “I can walk” day too so I can run 6 miles with Tracey of Suncoast Running.  And hopefully, the rest of the week will be filled with more “I can walk” days so I can run and rev it up some more.  Now if only I can remember when I do.

*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*