Played It Safe

   This was the first Sunday in a while that I didn't have a long run / workout planned.  I figured it was the important to try to give my knee as much time to recover as possible before my big 20 mile run next week.  As I mentioned in my last post though, Renee and I decided to sign up last minute for a 5k St. Pattys Day Roadrace in South Boston.  In order to get a decent workout in, Renee and I decided that we would do a 4-5 mile run before the race.
   The weather was perfect when we set out on our run.  It was sunny, barely any wind and the temperature was in the low 40's.  We headed out and followed our favorite 4 mile run down around Castle Island.  The run started out great and for some reason when Renee and I run together we tend to run at a pretty fast pace (probably because neither one of us wants to feel like we are holding the other one back).  We took off and started running at a 8:40-9 min / mile pace.  Before you knew it, we were down by Castle Island.  It was down here that my IT band started to flare up again.  I decided to continue with the run hoping that it wouldn't get worse. 
   As the run went on the weather warmed up and before I knew it my hat, gloves and jacket were all off because I thought I was going to sweat to death.  As we rounded Castle Island and started heading down Columbia my knee started aching again.  It was at about the 4.5-5 mile mark that I decided to stop. 
    It was less than ideal since I was planning on running 8 or 9 miles today, but I really wanted to make sure I went into the 20 mile run as close to 100% as I can.  Unfortunately, this meant that I missed out on the 5K race, but I didn't miss the St. Patty's day party afterward!  Looking ahead, next weekend is going to be a huge weekend for me.  The 20 mile run that we are participating in is actually the first 20 miles of the course.  This is good because it will familiarize me with the course and could serve as a huge morale booster if the run goes well.  Fingers are crossed that everything will go great!

Renee & I on Emmet St at the beginning of our run.  Unfortunately, stopped after 5 miles and never made it to the race.  Renee, however, ran the 5k in in 28 minutes!