Run, Write, Run: Respect the Recovery

The other day, while running a loop craftily named TL8--that's "town loop 8" and the name pretty much says it all--I was thinking about how important recovery is to a training plan. I complimented myself on how I've slowly become better at following this concept, but also reminded myself that I need to continue to incorporate it. I need to view it as an equal partner with work and not as an unwelcome guest.

Perhaps this was merely mental prep work, as I've been out of commission the past few days. I felt a twinge under the ball of my foot. Normally a twinge would not make me alter my plans, nevermind temporarily hang up the shoes, but it was in the same spot and similar in feeling to a prior injury that kept me out for over 4 months. I was planning on running a track race today, but it just wasn't winning on the risk v. benefit scale. I'm hoping a few days off clears it up and am thinking it will. Unfortunately I'm not sure what caused it--perhaps running on snowy roads, doing some speed work, some slippery uphills--from my understanding it could be any, none, or a combination of these things.

That being said, my run was really nice. It's a great rolling loop that is mostly on back roads, many of them packed dirt and lined by the woods. There was a decent snowfall this last week and the trees are still covered in snow, so it made for a pretty run. I love feeling a part of nature and definitely felt it during this run. Bonus!