This break did not just consist of myself deciding not to write or not wanting to write. I have started multiple different posts and have gone as far as pretty much completing them. But I decided not to post any of them, and instead just scrap them. Why I did this involves many of different factors that I don't think is really necessary to get into at the moment.
The one factor that I would like to address however is the fact that none of the posts were about anything to really be happy about. Since October, there has been little to be happy about when it comes to my running endeavors. Even when something good came along, it was always followed shortly after by something that would just take all of the wind out of my sails.
And that was the main problem. The last thing I wanted to do was to flood this blog with a bunch of sad posts about how nothing is going right and how I should keep trying. I'm not trying to gain any sympathy from anyone, and I think complaining is probably more counterproductive than productive. But it's pretty hard to keep a blog updated about your running endeavors when I haven't been pleased with them for the last five months.
Nevertheless, I am finally here now writing about how my running has been since my last update. I might as well get it out of the way now, since there is still a long outdoor season to go through and I can't stand this blog being inactive for that long.
I think a good start may be going back to November and talking about the end of my second cross-country season in University. I had a pretty good season compared to my first and if there was no such thing as championships, I'd be pretty happy with it. But as it turns out, that's not how it works.
An under performance and lack of experience running the 10k race distance at OUA's mean't that there was no Usports Championship for myself. In addition, having the worst performance that I've ever had at a National Championships in my final Junior race ever was not ideal. It wouldn't have been a huge stretch to say that this month was the most heartbreaking of any since I started running. And that would be saying something, since heartbreaking might be the most accurate word to describe my running career so far.
But that's only one half of the school year and there is still a whole season of indoor track to comeback and show that these setbacks are only temporary, right?
It started off well. Eight second PB in the 3000m with minimal track training in December, I'll take that. I was super motivated to show what I was capable of and with the experience that I had gained, I was for sure that I could complete the goals that I set out to do.
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| G$ observing his specimen |
With lateral pain in my midfoot, I found it hard to do the easiest of runs without needing to stop. I failed to do any consistent running for a little less than three weeks, which compromised myself to the bike for the mean time. If this had happened early on in the season, it wouldn't have been too bad. But right in the middle of the season, I missed three potential races where I could've ran what I believed I could've ran.
I finally got running to an on and off basis after those three weeks and actually was able to get a couple good races in, with indoor PB's in both the 3000m and 1500m. But these were still not really close to what I was looking for and after only doing two workouts on the track in about five weeks, were extremely unsettling.
I understand that injuries are a part of running and should be expected, and I was probably due for one with the luck I've had so far. If there is anything to be taken away from that, it might be the confidence that I know I can run much faster if I can get significant training in and stay healthy.
So pretty much, the only other thing that I'm happy about this winter is that I can third in the Trackie.com prediction contest for Usports. I'm happy that I was able to use my skills in picking the top three seed times and the random upset every once in awhile to the best of their ability. It's a shame I didnt make a March Madness bracket...
At the moment now, I'm starting to get into the swing of things with base workouts in preparation for the upcoming outdoor season. I'm not really going to go in with any expectations. As I have learned in the past, expectations mainly only lead to disappointments.
TL;DR- Haven't ran fast in awhile, and that is what I want to do.
-Simone