dns? dnf? GTDC!

in my post reach the beach depression i did something stupid: i ran. you might think "stupid? danielle runs all the time, why is that stupid? omg running is the best thing on the planet ever!" (what, you dont think that too?)

well its true- i dont always make smart life decisions...

a week before reach the beach i went out and ran a marathon. bye myself, on a training run, 24 minutes faster than i have ever run a marathon before. for fun. that was stupid.

the week of rtb was my highest training mileage week EVER (54 miles). i was 10 miles short when i got home and went out and ran those miles on sunday. not recovery miles either, we went sub 9's. that was stupid.

i only took one ice bath and barely stretched after all the super speedy miles i logged during rtb (and being cramped up in a van for the weekend...).

you guessed it: stupid.

so i guess i shouldnt be surprised when at mile 2 during a slow 14 miler on tuesday (slow = 8:50s. oops) my hamstring decided to lash out its true hatred towards my recent activities. if ive done anything smart in the last few months it would be what i did here: i continued on until i got to 3 miles (who stops at 2?!) and then walked home. cursing myself the whole way.

after consulting twitter all my running best internet friends, it was decided i needed to rest. REST?! I DONT DO REST! but i knew i was gonna be in trouble and i couldnt manage to hurt myself EIGHT WEEKS out from epic #bigpimpin marathon. hrumph. fine. ill rest. but i dont have to like it. (and trust me, i was not a happy camper for the past 4 days. good thing im not drinking or it would have been bad... read: i ate a lot of junk food).

but i did do a lot of this:



*includes a lot of swearing*

and katy brought me this:

*wow, this hurt BAD*
(side note: in the directions it pretty much says "if it hurts doing this you know you need it". right.)

and i was really jealous when sarah and brendan got to go running a really long way at night (faves) so i left them a really cool care package on my front porch while i sulked around the house and complained about how i wanted to be running went to bed.

<3

so tomorrow im supposed to do my first ever 25k- at the pineland farms trail festival. oh yeah and its a trail race (which ive never run a trail race before either...). smart life choices, remember? on wednesday i had decided i wasnt above getting a DNS (did not start) or at least try running and if i have to DNF (did not finish), so be it. there are a few loops on this course which would allow me to start out the race and see how i felt and be able to back out and not be stuck in the middle of the woods somewhere.

BUT... the finishers medal is... wait for it... a COWBELL!! (!!!!!!!!!!!) i want to runnnnnn. so after 4 days of rest, ice, compression, and (sort of) elevation, i did a trial run today to see what the verdict for tomorrow would be (figuring i would do some recovery miles, ya know... 10 min pace or something:

 

oops. but this means im healed right?

my hamstring/broken butt muscles didnt hurt AT ALL. my feet, however, were SO mad at me. and my ankles got pretty sore (my chiropractor works on my ankles the most, as those are both so fucked from the damage i did through years of soccer & basketball and is the main source of all my knee and back pain). so i came home and immediately filled the bottle returnables bucket with ice and water and got in.

brrrrr

and to pass the time i brought out a book and worked on my tan. multi tasking at its finest.

so the DNS is out of the question. the DNF? im really hoping to avoid that... and since its my first time at this race distance and my first time on trails im not above walking/taking it easy.

lets hope tomorrow i can add a sweet finishers award to this pic:



operation

GET THAT DAMN COWBELL!