Ups and Downs

Went to the gym again on Wednesday and managed about four miles on the treadmill. Halfway through, I hopped off to walk a little and assess the pain in my left leg. It was really more of a soreness than a pain.

I exchanged my sneakers at the store and am now running in a more neutral shoe.

On Saturday, I headed to the shore for my long run. Nine miles and it was a total bust. I measured out 4.5 miles with my car and parked. The plan was to run the 4.5 miles and then turn around and head back. After a good twenty minutes of procrastinating on FB and Twitter, I hopped out of the car and was off. Unfortunately, I was running into a very cold, strong wind. This, combined with the soreness in my leg and an uncharged iPod, made for an unpleasant one and a half miles. After thinking it over, I called it quits and jogged back to my car. With the wind at my back, this was a far easier run.

Sunday was do-over day. I found a new location-- with less wind and no snow-- and I managed a tough 9.6 miles. My leg was still sore, but again not pain exactly-- just an annoying, distracting soreness. About halfway through, I was going purely on desire. It was not fun and it certainly didn't feel good-- until it was over that is. I ran for almost two hours and as I expected, the soreness in my leg was worse a few hours later.

Starting to have second thoughts about the marathon distance. I'm not doubting that I can do it. I know that I can. Just starting to feel like I don't want to. Running for almost two hours at a clip and feeling sore all the time just sucks the fun out of something I used to enjoy.