Lesson #1 - You Don't Have to Finish

I met my running group on the track today for a workout I've never done before...partner 800's.  It was so much fun!  The first group runs a lap at an easy pace, the second group joins the first group and they run together for 1 lap at goal race pace, then the first group stops and rests while the second group runs an easy lap.  When they are done, the first group starts the process all over again.  It was so fun!  I was feeling good and hitting some nice solid paces.  Then on the 5th round, my knee felt funny...a few steps later it felt very bad.  I stopped and walked, tried to run again, and gave up.  I knew at that point that I would have to drop out of the workout.  I definitely would have damaged my knee if I continued.

I had knee problems when I ran track and cross country in high school.  My junior year of high school, the state cross country meet fell on my 16th birthday.  I injured my knee in the first half mile of the race...and still finished!  I was in so much pain and did so much damage that I was on crutches for weeks and eventually had to have surgery.  Stupid, right?  Well, it was always drilled into my head that you always finish a race...so I did...even though it was to the detriment of my physical wellbeing.

So today's workout shows how far I've grown. I can actually stop a workout even though every ounce of me wanted to keep going.  But I would much rather be able to run my long run on Saturday instead of being dumb today and being out for 2 weeks.

Plus I still ended up running over 2 miles of speed work.  That's pretty darn good this early in my training program!  I am so focused on getting myself back into shape and eventually breaking that 2 hour barrier in the half marathon!!!  So I'm looking at the big picture instead of stressing out over one workout.