long overdue update

Uh, hi!  It has been a looooong time since I posted here.  And, I'm considering new posting habits now that I've started back.  It's way easier for me to upload the data from my GPS to TrainingPeaks and just make quick notes there, rather than type up entries for each day.  So - I might be doing weekly overviews, race reports, goals and other things here, but I'm going to be less posty about daily workouts here, unless it was a breakthrough workout that I need to remember something about.

My last run, before this week, was Saturday 5th October. (and I did two runs that day)  Not long after that, I feel into a really crummy depression and just didn't feel like running for a week.  Then it got hot again - and I was still feeling crummy and that added to my desire to cease all running.  So - I look up at 3 weeks has gone by, then damn...a month!  Pretty much all I did when I wasn't working during this time was sit, eat & play video games.  Not.  Good.

Then, the weather got nicer again, and I also decided to come back out of my shell.  So - here is what I've done so far this week - then goals and stuff.

Sunday - I did a 4 mile walk with my friends Brenda & John.  It was a wonderful trip around Town Lake - and such a great time.  

Monday - day 1 of a cleansing fast. no workout today- I need not explain more. ;-)

Tuesday - My frist run in a while!  I was really really worried about how much of my fitness level I had lost during this break.  I was absolutely shocked, first of all, that when I was stretching, I had maintained a lot more of my flexibility than I thought I would have.  The same was true once I started to run - I warmed up relatively quickly and enjoyed a nice, easy run on the trail.  (mostly flat, some technical)  I did 4 miles, ran into lots of nice folks who wanted to chat, and met lots of friendly dogs.  So nice to be back, and I was surprised that it felt so good this first time back out on the trail. So - fears averted, and while I could tell that some of my old pizazz was gone, most of it was still there.

Wednesday - it was  a little warmer today when I went out, and I went out deciding that I wanted to do a little more distance today, so I thought I'd try for 5 or 6, depending on how I felt.  I was shocked that my legs were not sore *at all* from my first run back yesterday.  However, my lower abs, right where they attach to the bone, were SO sore when I started the run, I wasn't even sure I could keep running.  This is something perplexing to me - my damn lower abs hurt SO much of the time when I run. It drives me crazy.  I need to work on them, but here's the deal, when I do, running is IMPOSSIBLE - they just hurt to damn much, and when I run a lot, they are too sore to work out.  It's a Catch 22.   Also, warmup took FOREVER today compared to yesterday.  I didn't feel that great until close to 2 miles in to this run, normally it only takes about a mile when things are good.  But - there are good days and bad days, I was determined to make the best of this one, even if it wasn't a good day, so I told myself it would get better, and it did.  I decided 5 would be good enough for today, so I turned around at 2.5 to come back in, and my trip back in was awesome.   A couple of hours after this run - maaaan my quads were sore - but I stretched and took a hot shower, and they seem better for now.

Goals - I'm about 90% sure I'm going to sign up for the Bandera 50k in January.  I'm not planning any further ahead than that right now - I've learned my lesson about planning crap out too far in advance.   I'll think more on it, and then visit more goals after I knock that one out.