checking in/SJRNR

Today was the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon.

I wouldn't say I ran it, but it sure was a lot of fun!

I've become the coach I didn't want to be--detrained, unorganized and unmotivated in terms of my own training and workout schedule.

On the other hand, coaching is rewarding. It's been wonderful to watch the fall team progress. A great thing about working with the "everyman" population of Team in Training is that they continually amaze me and more importantly, themselves. Their changes are not about a podium spot, a better PR, or even a finer physique. It's about discovering (or sometimes re-discovering) the athlete they always were. It's about adopting (and usually keeping) a new lifestyle. It's about about finding out they CAN run all the way around the track, or clip in and out of bike pedals, or transform from a total non-swimmer to an open water stud!

Today I ran the whole distance with two great ladies from my team, Kathryn and Meredith. We had a blast! It was smiles and high-fives all around from miles 8-13. Neither of them had ever run farther than 7ish miles in their lives! They did awesome, and though they kept telling me at first that I could go ahead if I wanted, the truth is, I couldn't have gone faster. They've been doing speedwork; I have not. They have been swimming, spinning, and biking regularly. Even if I were in the same shape I was in back in May and June, I'd much rather have run with them anyway!!!

I felt great fitness wise, and of course, mentally. I wasn't nervous about this one; it was just for fun. As for tissue integrity....starting at about mile 6 or 7, my left knee started to complain a bit. IT band was not happy--I haven't been giving it the appropriate attention lately. No surprise, this has been a challenging week. Amazing, I heard barely a peep from the calves, which were hurting so much during my two runs earlier this week that I had to cut them short by a mile or two. So overall, did okay. As of my last couple rides, the post-WF knee issues seem to have completely resolved themselves with diligent rolling and stretching.