The run that wasn't....

Another day, another Saturday of waking up uber early for my Team in Training group run. Today it was 12 miles for half-marathoners and 18 miles for the marathoners. Easy peasy, so I thought.

 

I got up and notice the roaring of the wind. Great. I kept my fingers crossed that it would die down by the time I got to Vienna. Yeah. Wishful thinking.

 

I got dressed and kept looking at my stuff on the table. Surely, I was missing something but I couldn't think what it was. Soooo off I went. I get to the Parkway/Minneville intersection and realize that I didn't grab my Camelbak! UGH!!!! I was running 12 miles today, I NEEDED my grape-flavored Nuun water.

 

I made an U-turn and hauled ass back to the house. I should have known that today's run would be crap since this is how I started my day. I get home, run into the house, grabbed my Camelbak out of the fridge and restarted my drive to Vienna.

 

45 minutes later, I arrived and it was still windy with crazy gusts and so coooold. After a few quick announcements, we were off. We were running on the W&OD Trail today. I started off running with my teammate Allison but after a few stops to wait for passing cars, I lost my pace and rhythm. I ran alone and just felt off.

 

At the turnaround point (mile 4), I just felt like crap. The wind was so cold and it I felt like I was all over the place. 20-30 mph gusts are no joke. I kept trekking along in the freezing cold and then my hip starts to hurt.

 

IT band strikes again!! Then as if things couldn't get any worse, my knee starts hurting. I thought o myself...seriously!? what else is going to happen! My running form was way off, I was over-compensating and it was causing my knee to ache. I stopped to walk a few times and decided that I would call it a day at 8 miles.

 

It was so hard for me to make that decision. I felt like a quitter but preventing injury is more important. I want to be able to run strong next month.

 

Not a happy camper :(

 

I beat myself up for most of the drive home. I know exactly why my IT band flared up. I skipped yoga (both days) this past week AND I haven't been foam rolling. I'm actually surprised it didn't start hurting sooner.

 

While I was driving, I received a message from one of my coaches, Mary. She was checking on me and it made me feel a lot better. Our coaches are truly awesome.

 

Next week is a fallback week at 6 miles. I am hoping to rock it. Oh and it would be nice if it was a smidge warmer.

 

Lessons learned: no more skipping yoga and foam roll daily!!!

 

Did you run today? Are you dealing with snowstorm Nemo?

 

*********************************************************************

 

Approximately every 4 minutes a person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every 10 minutes a person loses their battle. I am running 13.1 miles to help find a cure. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to my fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/rnrusa13/nattie1218