A whole new world

I know, I know.  I *still* haven't gotten my full WDW Marathon Weekend recap post up.  And, I know.  I haven't written anything since then.  A lot has happened.  Here's the short version:

Apparently, I sprained my ankle at the margarita stop near the end of the marathon and didn't realize it until after I was home.  I had some foot pain and after x-rays ruled out a fracture, the ortho sent me into PT.  We worked on a bunch of things-- glute strength, manipulation of my foot, and eventually a video running analysis.

Here we are, 9 weeks post-marathon.  I am back to running with some changes.  One of the things that was clear in the video was that I over-stride and heel strike.  To help correct that, my PT had me running with a metronome to increase my cadence.  In the video (and looking back at my Garmin data), my average cadence was around 150, sometimes even lower.  I am now comfortably running around 165.

And, it's a whole new world.  My average pace has plummeted.  

Three weeks ago, I tried to do a 3 mile run with a friend who was a bit faster.  My average pace for 1.5 miles was 10:35.  I was working so hard to I thought I was going to puke and I actually stopped and let her run on ahead.  It was too fast.  Or, was it?  Yesterday, I ran 3 miles at an average pace of 10:07 AND I ran negative splits.  (10:16, 10:07, 9:57)  It wasn't an all out effort at all.

If I continue to run at this pace, I will clearly need to re-evaluate my race goals.  Even when I was setting 5K PR's 2 summers ago, I was not running these paces.  I'm still not "fast" by racing standards around my area, but I'll take it.

I am also cleared to start speedwork, conservatively.  This month is all about strength, cadence and base building.  Feeling optimistic about a fabulous fall racing season!