It’s been such a f*#ked up year

This year started off really well for me.  A PB of 7:53 over 3000m and a 3rd place at the US 15km Championships in March.  Throughout March and the begining of April I had some great training and was really looking forward to racing.  Of course that all went down the drain with a freak sciatic nerve injury.  By the time I got back to training at a decent level it was October.  I really liked where I was with my running this fall, building up mileage, feeling strong and running a lot of trails.  After the nerve injury and missing out on racing during an Olympic year I found I had a new outlook.  Running felt much more refreshing and enjoyable than it had earlier.  After a couple of workouts and a rabbit job of 16km at 3:07/km pace I felt I was getting my stride back and it was time to begin serious training again. 

And then I broke my foot at the begining of November and also ended my participation streak of National XC championships, I hadn’t missed one since 1998.  It’s been a tough year and I will still be dealing with a broken foot for the first part of 2009. 

I get another set of X-rays on Jan. 20th and after that I should get a better idea of what timeline I’m looking at to return to running.  I don’t suspect that I’ll be running before February, and at that point it will take a while to get my running legs back under me. 

I’m in South Africa right now and I wish I could be running the trails opposed to using a stationary bike.  It’s a shame that the weather is perfect for running and I have to be indoors.  I’ll post some pictures when I’m able.  My brother got married here on December 20th and since it’s a heck of a flight you might as well spend some time here. 

Happy New Years!