Believe to Achieve

My run today was what I needed. Read below. But first--injection yesterday into my left L4 and S1 nerve space in my lower back.  The needle going into the skin of your spine makes one jump even though the Dr. says "don't move".  Ha!!  When he confirmed the S1 nerve with the tester-- Zingg!!! to my ankle-- the problem foot!! Ahhh the right spot.  Then he proceeded to tell me AFTER the injections that the anesthetic works for a few days and then the steroid takes up to 10 days to take affect!! 10 days!!!   If at that point I have relief or quite a bit thereof he wants to do ANOTHER injection as he says the pain relief from the steroid is cumulative.  But NO third shot.  After that it is electrical stimulation and an EMG (muscle/nerve test).  All afternoon the nerve to my ankle was trying to come to life-- lots of spider feelings. So I am hopeful that it was my back the whole time. 

So today-- I woke to my days thoughts-- hmmm I want to run up AF canyon.  Plan only 8 miles so I said I will run  4 up/4 down starting at my ICING place (where the Timp half gets on the trail at the mouth of the canyon).  I drove my kids to school and the carpool and headed up there (four miles from the school) and nonchalantly started running.  Nice canyon breeze and the smell of pine trees.  It was 8:10 am.  I am loving life.  Okay, not the purest amount as my RIGHT achilles (I had this problem for several years ending last year so I should be used to it) very tender but the more I climbed the less sore it was and then it stopped hurting all together about 1.5 miles up.  I was running easy and it was weird to see a faster mile on an uphill mile in the canyon then I see around the morning loops at my house before work.   Miles up  8:33, 8:21, 8:24, 8:22 (hey my marathon pace for Saturday going UPHILL :D).  I stopped for about 40 seconds at the top to let two girls who were running down catch up with me.  I wasn't in the mood to have them pass me downhill.  Mental crush even though I had no plans to run fast.  I was running at the seat of my pants you might say. The best kind of run because after saying hi to the girls (realizing they were running about 8mm) I took off running and while running changed my garmin out of hide mode and changed my settings so I could see pace (I am getting talented at doing this)-- 6:53 in the first .2 and I wasn't even breathing hard.  The uphill obviously got me ready.  So downhill miles were so easy that I just took it in stride-- 6:40, 6:27, 6:15, and the flattest mile in the sun....  the mile that goes by the toll booth and swerves several times and ends at my car across from the Cedar Hills trail was a whopping 6:06!!!  granted I picked it up the last 1/4 mile but I am in shock I could even run that well from the last two days-- SW Monday, Easy Tempo work yesterday but not slow that is for sure yesterday.   This felt easy except for the last mile.  6:06 I was sweating profusely with the sun gleaming at me and the cars wanting me out of the way.  But my WELCOME mat at my car was the COOLEST of RIVER spots.  The best therapy after a run.  I cooled off quickly with 13 minutes of icing.  AWESOME.  I meditated.  NOW don't you go thinking that I got any sort of subthree in me this year.  That is not my mindset this year.  Getting there in a comfortable piece is my goal.  NO PAIN at the starting line.  Kind of like today.  I felt NO pain running downhill (a slight soreness in my back at the injection site thatis all).  I felt like myself.  A little glimpse of last year.  AP for 8 miles= 7:23.  AP up= 8:26.  AP down= 6:22.  : D.    I have no idea why I ran the way  I did other than I will be running 26.2 miles at 8:24 pace-- this may have gotten some of the boredom out of that pace.  Okay I won't be bored-- I will be a cheerleader.  : D.