What to do?

I am currently unsure of what my strategy should be. My good friend Tom Brown teaches science at Dearborn High School and teaches girls cross-country there. Because of this, he also serves as my de facto running coach. And this morning, he told me, "Looking at your times and distances it sounds like you are in the running doldrums. I recommend a week off with no running. I think you are headed for an injury." I highly respect his advice, and am strongly tempted to heed it. But, on the other hand, it will set back my weight-loss efforts for a while, and, I fear, imperil my hopes of running a half-marathon this coming June 5. So I am currently trying to weigh my options and decide what to do.

Shamrocks & Shenanigans

I ran another 5K race this morning, and it was one I have run the last two years also. But in 2009, feeling strong, I was pushing myself a bit harder than was prudent, and I fell on a downhill stretch, cutting up my knee and drawing blood. Though I wasn't badly injured, the race officials were (naturally) quite alarmed, and called over an ambulance unit that was standing by, in order to check me out. I declined their offer to take me to the ER, but accepted a ride to my car, several blocks away. So last year I was eager to run the race and banish those memories, which I did, finishing in a little under 34 minutes. Today, I knew I couldn't touch my 5K personal record of 29:14, but hoped to somehow break a half-hour, though I didn't really expect to. Conditions were tolerable - cool (at about 35 degrees), but not cold, and cloudy. And by my watch, I finished in about the time I thought I would, at 32:17. I guess the important thing, though, is to have done it. I wore a t-shirt Michelle and I found at Meijer a couple of weeks ago - a green shirt with white lettering that read "Lucky and Charming." So it was amusing, on the 2-loop downtown course, to hear a volunteer yell out to me, a few minutes into the race, "WOO - Lucky and Charming!" And then on the second loop, later, that same person called out, "Here comes Lucky and Charming again!"

The picture is from a point where I was struggling to top a large hill a little more than halfway through the 3.1 miles.