Runfessions – February

Gather together, runners. Let us runfess the running sins we have accumulated over the course of this long, dark, cold month. I am joining Marcia’s Healthy Slice for our monthly Runfessions.

Last week, I wrote about my very successful visit to an orthopedist, who gave me stretches, exercises, and a new diagnosis to help combat my hamstring injury. He told me when I could stretch so that my raised leg is straight and at a 90-degree angle with my body, I would be ready to try running outside again.

In that post, I described how I almost cheated on my doctor’s orders and ran, even though the angle is slightly over 90-degrees. Dear Readers, this week, I must runfess that I actually cheated and ran outside, even though the angle is still a little bit over 90. What can I say? I am weak.

I also must runfess that I am not remorseful in the least. My hamstring feels good, even great. More to come on that topic in a future post.

Buoyed by that unexpected success, I must runfess when my Marathon Maniac friend Nancy called me and asked if I wanted to run the Marine Corps Marathon with her again this year, I was intrigued. Now, I have a rule that I don’t run a specific marathon more than once. There are a lot of good marathons out there and I like to try new events rather than repeating the same ones over and over, but I am considering breaking my own rule.

The reason Nancy wants to run MCM again is that we have a mutual friend, Dennis, running this year. Dennis has run MCM 30 times. Yes, he has run 50 marathons, 30 of them the MCM. Seven years ago, he swore he would never run another marathon, but the siren call of the marathon is irresistible, and it eventually got to him. He’s back. Nancy envisions us crossing the finish line together with Dennis.

Both Dennis (who is 76 years old) and Nancy have run the race so many times, they have an automatic entry to the very popular “People’s Marathon“; I do not. I would have to enter the lottery and take my chances, unless…

Unless I enter and run the Marine Corps 17.75K race held near Quantico next month. Finishers of this race get automatic entry into MCM. 17.75K is a little bit over 11 miles. The only time I have run this distance since I ran the 2018 version of MCM in October was in the Phunt 25K Trail Race in January, and that was more of a run/walk than an actual run. You know I signed up for the race, right?

The 17.75K race looks like a lot of fun. I love the distance. It’s mostly on a gravel road, which I enjoy. I figure this gives me a month to make up my mind about the marathon. Moving on.

My final runfession involves breakfast. The picture above is not my typical breakfast. Usually, I eat yogurt, fruit, black coffee and maybe a handful of granola. Lately, however, I have been doing a fasted workout most mornings. That means I go into the rec center, workout on the elliptical for a while, maybe take a Body Pump class, shower and come home before I eat breakfast, usually around 11:00.

I must runfess that this schedule is at least partially due to some unwanted pounds that have been showing up around my middle. When I described my schedule to a friend, she exclaimed: “Oh, you are doing an intermittent fast.” Yesss…that is exactly what I am doing, an intermittent fast. I am inadvertently doing something that has an official title. I thought I was just trying to eat less food in the most painless way I could imagine.

I have two more pounds to go, then the intermittent fast is history. Until the Lenten season. I wrote last week about a Lenten fast I will be doing each Friday. Maybe you will read about my Sundown Lenten Fast foibles in next month’s version of Runfessions.

Thank you for witnessing my runfessions, friends. See you next month, when we will once again unburden our running souls.

 

I am linking up with Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5