Bryce Canyon, Revisited

Anyone catch the reference in the title? Hint: it's a movie title.

Anyone (besides Jenna) see that movie in all its homoerotic glory? No? Okay then, moving on.

I have signed up to do the Bryce Canyon half marathon again. We'll see if it happens this year. I mean, I'm planning on it, but my body doesn't seem as capable this year as it was last year. I feel like I'm one bad hill run away from another round of stress fractures, and it's making me a little frustrated. But it's pointless to dwell on things beyond my control, so let's talk about what I've been up to.

Today I ran 4 miles. It's hard in Tucson to find any routes that aren't FULL of very steep hills the entire way. I found a running trail I actually really like, but it makes me really nervous to run it by myself because the last time I ran it, I was not alone. No it wasn't the snakes and lizards that bothered me, but the bobcat. I won't be doing that trail again until I've got some pepper spray I can take along with me.

So I've found a route that's exactly four miles and it's right next to the house. It's what I've been running more often than not. Sometimes I run it just fine, and other times I walk at least a mile of it (I've noticed it has everything to do with heat). Today I was able to run the entire thing, but I did need to stop and stretch my calves a couple times. I also forgot a water bottle so the last mile and a half were pretty brutal. But it made me happy that I didn't have to walk at all. I'll choose to focus on that.

The thing that has me the most down is my shin pain. It's not stress fractures, but it's pretty bad shin splints. I don't mind them, and I don't care about running through the pain. I'm just so nervous I'm going to re injure myself because of what happened last year. That was a pretty big blow. That fear keeps me from really pushing myself. In a way that's good, but in a lot of ways it is keeping me from reaching my running goals.

The Bryce race is in July, so I've got the next two months to train and I'm sure I'll get there. Wish me luck!

*I have no idea how long I took, so I have no stats. But now that I'm back to blogging, I'll start taking note of distance and time. Also, I've gained about 12 pounds since the musical I was in ended, so maybe I'll even track my weight and measurements like I did last year. We'll see...........