My journey as a marathoner...

This week I made an important decision regarding running next year. I talked to Coach G, and I have decided not to come back to school, as I will be graduating next month. This was a really hard decision for me because I feel like I have left behind a lot of unfinished business with college running, including a lot of goals I wanted to accomplish, races I wanted to win and records I wanted to break. But...life goes on and now I must move on to the next phase. As of now, I will still be coached by Coach G. In addition, he will continue to be my right-arm-man guiding me to hopefully another great chapter in my running. He has taken me from being an injured 4:32 miler in high school to some things I would have never dreamed of. We have set some realistic goals for training and racing for next year that we are both very excited about. From now on my goal is to find a good running club that will help me fulfil my goals just like UML has helped me. Regarding my cross training, this was a gr

I 've finally had my first x-training week under me. Back in high school when I pulled my hamstring, I was forced to be out for 2 weeks. During that time, I cross trained and was able to maintain good fitness. Two days after coming back from injury, I ran a quick 10:09 2-mile which stood as my high school PR. All this thanks to this beautiful machine here: The elliptical has great benefits.It helps in keeping good running form by using your arms, burning more calories than other cross trainers and choosing the appropriate resistance and incline to target different muscles. What I think is most important about it is being able to set workouts that get me in the "training mood" Phase 1:Rehab: Week 1: 8.5 hours, core work, form drills Monday AM: 30-Min Bike @158HR + core PM: 30-Min Elliptical @ 200SPM + 30 Min Pool Tuesday AM: 30-Min Bike + form drills PM: 60-Min Elliptical w/ 10x(1min hard @ 250SPM, 1 min easy) + core work Wednesday: Bike 60-Min w/6x(3min hard @ 160HR, 2

The title of this entry is a quote I received in my email box from Dr.Pete yesterday. That's the line I will live for starting tomorrow. I have charged my ipod, scheduled my cardio and core routines that I will be doing. In the next 6 weeks, I hope to accomplish something I have not done yet in the month of April - EXERCISE. Nothing beats the feeling of getting in a good cardio workout.I am now mentally rested from the news about the injury and I am looking at the positive sides such as designong my short term and long term goals and visualising the benefits. Also, I want to thank everyone who has been very supportive. The battle starts tomorrow and I am just excited again. Wish you all a happy easter and good luck in your training as well.

The last few days I have been doing a lot of thinking about my future. Graduation is coming up really quick (May 30th). Now that I know for sure I will not race on the track until possibly 2010, a lot of things have been running through my mind. Do I come back for another year of school? Do I go into the workforce and be a part time runner? or Do I try to find a good post collegiate running program and go after my dream 100%. All these options have numerous advantages and disadvantages and I am almost sure I will not be able to make a final decision until June. I am trying to pile up and analyse as much data as possible to make sure I take the path that will be best for me.

So I was supposed to find out about my results on Friday. Dr.Sigma decided to instead call our team treiner, Artie, and tell him the news. While I was in the track office today Artie came in and talked to Coach G and I. The good news: my hip is fine. The bad news: my left sacrum is fractured from the impact of the fall. Dr.Sigma specifically told Artie that I am not allowed to do any running for 8 weeks. If I do, it will cause significant neurological nerve damage and the injury will get worse. I did some research on the " sacrum ", according to wiki, this bone is inserted like a wedge between the hip bone and the base of the spine. I guess the only good news, is that I didn't break my spine. So now, my outdoor track season is officially over because I will not be able to start running until June. By that time, there won't be any races to hop in and time to get into shape is very short. In addition, I am going to have to rethink of a lot of things here. I am a senior