Starting over.. again..

This seems to be a recurring theme, whether I'm talking about working out or cutting back on my drinking after rough month.

Last Thursday was the first time in over a month that I ran at work. A running club started here a few months ago and there was a lot of enthusiasm, but few participants. Eventually the "club" was down to three regular runners - the two that organized it and me. We were supposed to meet Monday and Wednesday night at 5:30 until one of the leaders started class. The date was changed to Tuesday and Thursday. One of the leaders left the company, the other started having classes Monday and Tuesday, and I started class on Monday and rugby practice on Thursday night. Eventually everyone stopped running.

Back in 2003 and 2004, I ran regularly at lunch. I set up a recurring "meeting request" in Outlook and the reminder would pop up every Tuesday and Thursday at 11:30am. Then my running partner would stop by my cube and get me. The hardest part was going downstairs and getting in my running clothes. It was nice having that. I would also run with my now former boss. He was the one that got me involved in ultra running and was a great pacer. Running negative split mile repeats for a 5K really helped me get faster and lose weight.

I also hit the gym yesterday after class. First time I've been to the gym since... well, I think I went a few time last month. It's not that I haven't been lifting, I've just been doing stuff at home with my dumbbells, medicine ball, and stability ball.

And then this morning, I biked on my rollers for the first time in probably 6 months. It was an easy 20 minutes, but it was just like.. well, just like riding a bicycle. Rollers can sometimes take a little getting used to, but I had no problem staying upright. It helps that I have them positioned between a brick wall and the sofa so if I do fall, I either have a somewhat cushy landing or I get scraped up. Let's just say all the scars on my right elbow and forearm aren't from childhood antics..

I'm not going to make any bold predictions on my training, but it's nice to slowly get into a routine again. I'm starting to look at my tentative racing schedule for next year and I need to get a move on, but I don't want to rush back into training. I'm dealing with some nagging injuries, aches, and pains that I want to get sorted out. It's better to deal with them now before they morph into something worse forcing me to take more time off.

This also might be the first time since I started running marathons in 2000 that I won't run one. I'll see what I can do, but I don't want to risk injury to keep a streak.

This is so unlike me, too.. what's all this "training" I'm talking about??