Winter Is Upon Us

I am not a fan of the cold. I deal with it by avoiding the outdoors as much as possible this time of year. This year though, I’m forced to drag myself out there A) because I don’t own a treadmill, and B) because I cancelled my gym membership since I rarely used it. I’m kinda regretting that last decision, but I guess it’s worth the money saved which enables me to spend more on warm gear for the winter!

Truth be told though, I haven’t run much the last few weeks. Not because I’m being a pansy and trying to avoid the cold, but for actual health reasons. Two weeks ago I was starting to get sick. My ears were plugged up and my glands started swelling in my neck a bit. It never turned into much more than that though, which was strange since in the past, those were tell-tell signs for me of a full-blown cold coming on. After I got out and ran a few times, it eventually went away… How bout that!

On Friday I went to see an Orthopedic Specialist for this continual problem I’ve been having in my right ankle. Figured now’s the time to take care of it since it’s the “off-season”. Based on the spot of the injury, he was pretty sure that I had a stress fracture, so they took some X-Rays. Negative… not a stress fracture. So I was told to take it easy a little bit longer, then to start building up slowly again with the use of some inserts and see how things progress from there.

So that’s where I’m at and that’s why there hasn’t been much writing as of late. I’ve been doing a little bit of strength training during this downtime, but not much else. I’ll get back to running here in the next day or two. Hopefully by then the temp will be at least up in the 20’s or so. Cuz right now, I don’t know if I’d be running in these single digit temperatures, even if I was able to.

On a side-note, I’ve been working on a race schedule for 2010 the last few weeks. I put in for the Squaw Peak 50 last week. It sounds like they’ll probably end up doing a lottery so I’m not sure yet if I’m in. I’m also putting in for the Speedgoat 50K. My training is focused on the Buffalo Run 50 miler right now, though. That’s gonna be my first test to see where my fitness is at, and to see if I’m capable of performing well in the other races. Just a few more days before I kick things back into gear!