Back in the game: the 2010 Cold Turkey 10K

As previously reported, I had a mole removed from my shoulder a little over a week ago and the doctor instructed me to "take it easy for 6 weeks." I interpreted this as "take it easy until the stiches are out and then start pushing it." So, last week was my week of taking it easy, and I took to it a little too well. I was not supposed to lift weights or strain my shoulder in any way. Thus, Group Power and boot camp were both out. Another complication was the fact that I spent Monday afternoon- Wednesday morning on a business trip away from my usual gym. Within these restrictions, I still planned to go to a couple spin classes and use the treadmill at my hotel. I hoped to work out 4-5 times over the course of the week.

What did I actually achieve? One spin class. That's it. I am a creature of habit, and changes to my routine knock me out of whack really easily. When I couldn't do my usual classes, it became all too easy to just sleep in. On Friday, I got the stiches out and everything seemed to be healing fine. Yet, I still spent Friday evening and Saturday just lying around.

Sunday morning, I was registered for the Striders' annual "Cold Turkey" 10K. Given my lack of exercise last week, I was a little wary of this race. Fortunately, it went pretty well. I went into the race hoping to beat my 10K PR of 1:07. For the first 3 miles, I ran every mile faster than the one before. At the 3-mile mark, I was at 31 minutes and realized I had the potential to beat the previous record by several minutes.

Then, during the 4th mile, I started feeling the stiffness in my right knee that hit me during mile 13 of the marathon. This was a very unwelcome surprise, especially since I ran a 5-miler the week after the marathon and had no pain at all. By mid-way through mile 4, I was still keeping up a decent pace, but I was really struggling and worried that the knee would just give out. During mile 5, a first-time 10K runner from the Striders'  training class started chatting with me, which was a pleasant distraction and got me to the 6-mile mark. I had hoped to push it during that last mile, but wound up just focusing on maintaining my pace and finished at 1:04. 

So, all in all, I'm happy with the results of the race, but definitely concerned about the knee. It was a little stiff and sore for the rest of the day, but it feels fine now. The same thing happened after the marathon. I'm going to try running on it later this week and see what happens; I'll make a doctor's appointment if it flares up again. I have two more races left this year: MCRR's "Turkey Burnoff" this weekend and the Striders' Anniversary 15K on December 12th. I'm really looking forward to both of these races, especially the 15K, which will clinch my "Ironman" award for running all of the 2010 Striders' Champ Series races. I really hope the knee cooperates with my plans.

This morning, I intended to resume my usual 6am Group Power class. Then, I stayed out late last night seeing the new "Harry Potter" movie in IMAX and drinking specialty cocktails at the Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore (fun!). Late night + cocktails= sleeping through the 5:30am alarm. I woke up at 7:30 and resolved that I had to go to the gym, lest I remain off-routine and sleep in for another week. So, I used some personal time to take the 8:30 GP class and go to work a couple hours late. Even at the later hour, it was a bit tough to drag myself back into the gym, but I was happy once I got there. It feels good to be back in the game!