Less Than Two Weeks til 13.1

Running has sort of been a drag recently. Part of it has been knee troubles. I am so sick of the 1 in 4 chance that I am going to go for a run and feel my IT band inflame that even getting out there is pretty intimidating. But I think the burnout I'm feeling has a lot less to do with the injury and more to do with the lack of external motivation. Don't get my wrong, I'm enjoying the health benefits, etc.,. but last year I felt like there was this bigger cause. I better get out there and do my training runs because the race had very little to do with me and had more to do with the cause I was raising money for. I was able to summon strength in the idea that I was working to beat something that my sisters faced down for 20+ years. The half marathon I am doing this fall does not have that same incentive. I'm running for the sake of running...racing for the sake of racing. I'm completing a half marathon that I personally find interesting and exciting...to a degree. But I miss having the external incentive. I wish I had Tina next to me, pushing me to keep going and telling me I'm doing well. (FYI - a shout out to Tina who will be cruising through the Philly Marathon this November!)

So here's the game plan. I'm going to go enjoy this run as much as I can. It's a trail run right during leaf peeper season in Albany, NY. Cool - the sights should be amazing. It will in no way be a PR run, comparing to the 2:07 posted with Tina in Spring '08. But it will hopefully spark the excitement to get me ready to engage in winter training for a spring marathon with the intention to raise money for the CF marathon. So...time to get fired up!