So a few days ago I switched my registration from the 5K to the 10K when it hit me that 1) I wasn't feeling 100%, and thus didn't think a 5K personal best was going to happen, and 2) I haven't run a 10K race in over two years.
What made this particular race interesting for me--and yes, the race has been run--is that I managed to get a 10K personal best despite having recently run faster during my training runs, despite having run 10 kilometres faster during half marathons, and despite not feeling anywhere near 100%.
It's odd to call it a personal best because I've done better on several occasions. Yet, oddly enough, because I never seem to train for 10K's or be prepared for them on race morning, I was able to snatch a personal best.
So when I say "unprepared," I mean to say that I've run once in the past twenty-three days. Now, in my defence, I did run a marathon on June 19th, so it's not as if I skipped too many runs. I should also add that I wasn't even sure what pace I should run--ultimately I ran about the same pace as my last half marathon--or what shoes would make best sense.
No, I just went out and ran. No headphones and no robot voice coach telling me my splits, I just ran. Obviously with my hip nagging me, I found it hard to maintain my stride. Here is probably where I should note that I had my hip x-ray'd yesterday, just in case; and as it turns out, it would seem that my problems are of a soft tissue nature.
Naturally, I have to decide whether I'm going to now take 2-6 weeks off from running to let my hip heal itself and probably kiss the Queen City Marathon goodbye (in which case, I'd have to switch to the half marathon) or live on anti-inflammatories, suck it up and keep running. For once, I may just do the sensible thing and cross train while I recover.
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