Rebuilding

I haven't been running regularly at all, except for going out on the weekends with my husband. I've introduced him to my favorite trail which is a path through the woods where the leaves are turning color. I only run 2 miles now, so that means that I follow him for a mile, and then walk while he goes to the turnaround point and comes back, at which point I follow him again. I like the feeling of running and gliding along with a thick carpet of leaves beneath my feet. That's the enjoyable part.

Getting back into running regularly on the weekdays has been a huge challenge. I think I'm going about it all wrong. I finally Googled up articles on returning to running after injury, and I now believe the best way to do this is to start by walking 30 minutes with a 5 minute run, gradually increasing the length of the running portion, and then increasing the run to walk ratio, until I'm running 30 minutes. This should take about 4 weeks. I'll see how this works out.

Just to make it more challenging, my treadmill broke. This means no indoor running in the comfort of my basement, even if I'm staring at my insulation. I've been getting up in the wee predawn hours to jog outside, armed with a headlamp and dressed warmly, although the temperatures keep dropping. My biggest surprise is that I'm not the only one stirring at this hour. I see about three other cars warming up and getting ready to go to work.

Right now, swimming is the best thing that I've got going. It always makes me feel like a million, like running used to. After swimming, I'll get in the car and drive to work in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and it won't bother me. Ohmmmmmmm! I actually decided to cut back on swimming and gradually build up. I'll warm up, then swim about 800 yards working on my flip turns. Then I'll do another 500 free at a very relaxed pace, almost a cooldown, until I've been in the water for 40 minutes or so.

I'm reaching to the finish line with CAE studying. I've got one more domain to tackle and a final exam with my online course. I also need to produce notes for my study group on D10. After that, I'll begin taking practice tests and reviewing everything as I head for the finish line.

With the half marathon, I was completely unprepared for any alternate outcomes. But with the CAE exam, I've met *more* than a half dozen people who didn't pass the test the first time around--really bright people--and I'm mentally prepared for either outcome. And as I head into the final stretch, I have this feeling that 2008 is going to be redemption year -- the year that I try to accomplish what I don't accomplish in 2007.