It's been a long time since I last posted so here is a brief recap of what I've been doing...
After the Rock n' Roll USA Half I continued to race almost one race a weekend. I completed two more ten milers and four half marathons! I strived to achieve a PR at each race and sadly did not follow the proper recovery plan after my races...barely any resting and minimal stretching...my poor choices lead to me having to hobble the last 10 miles of the Zooma Annapolis Women's Half on May 31st as I battled with an all too familiar and horrible stabbing pain in my lower back that shot down my leg and up my back...I had once again aggravated my piriformis muscle and was now suffering from piriformis syndrome once again (third time). After Zooma my doctors recommended I stop running for a while until at least two months no running or until I could run pain free thereafter. How long was I actually out? Well after the two month I went for a run got about a block and almost died from the pain. After that I decided I really needed more time off if I wanted to run again. Now we are at the end of October 2014 and I have once again been running for almost a month and a half with no pain but also with a lot less speed and endurance.
 |
| Trying to roll out my super irritated and painful buttocks after finishing Zooma Half |
 |
| Despite my pain my hardheadedness and determination allowed me to finish what would be my last half of 2014. I finished in 01:57:26. |
Apparently after you stop running for an extended period of time your VO2 Max goes down significantly so here I am now all flustered because I can't get below 8 minute miles for my regular runs and have a hard time getting to 5 miles something that was all so easy 5 months ago...oh well time to suck it up and start building up again! I've been using the Nike+ training app "Coach" feature to get myself on a training schedule...I am following the Half Marathon for Beginners program as the intermediate one proved a bit too hard for my current state. For the remainder of 2014 I will be training and building things back up to my pre-injury level and will participate in several 10Ks and smaller races as I prepare for my next half Rock n Roll DC in March 2015 and the other many races to follow that...this time I will scale down the number of races I do and most importantly I will stretch and listen to my body so I don't end up sidelined for almost a third of the year.
Here are some pictures of the other 5 races I did in Spring 2014....until next time! Happy Running!
 |
| 2014 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler! Such a beautiful race course and great weather that day. Finished in 1:19:06 and will be back hopefully in 2015 to try and beat that time. |
 |
| The 2014 GW Parkway Classic. A fast and flat point to point course along the GW Parkway from Mt Vernon to Old Town. Finished in 1:20:07. I have to admit I'm not a fan of running the GW Parkway as I love hearing the crowd cheer you on and on the Parkway this is lacking. I also don't like having to get to the race extra early to take a shuttle to the start....I'm a bit high maintenance ;) |
 |
| Nike Women's Half Marathon DC 2014! My favorite race...sadly it was just made known they will not be returning to DC next year. After having run the race the first year in 2013 and this year and having it been my favorite race both years I am very disappointed. I got my half marathon PR this year finishing in 1:42:10! |
 |
| 2014 Marine Corps Historic Half. A beautiful fun race through my college town of Fredericksburg, VA. Will definitely do it again sometime. Great crowd support and very organized like all MCM races. Finished in 1:47:20 |
 |
| Cincinnati Flying Pig Half 2014! I love traveling to races as it allows me to see a new city while doing something I love. With this race I got a wonderful running tour of Cincinnati with amazing views and a lot of hills. I will definitely be back in the future. I finished in 1:46:30. |
