Despite my plantar fasciitis, I am still racing and today I ran the Tucson Medical Center Half Marathon/5K. I ran the 5K portion. I briefly considered running the half marathon, but I decided to wait until I could find a podiatrist or get some treatment for the aforementioned plantar fasciitis, which is causing me quite a bit of pain. So, I will wait and run the half marathon at the Tucson Holualoa in December.
I had a really nice race. I ran on my own and felt really relaxed. I paced myself with a group of female runners, and although the Fleet Feet female runners overtook me at the end, I still beat some of my pacers, which made me feel really good. It was a pretty course, too, with great views of the mountains.
Most importantly, I took a whopping three minutes, 54 seconds off my time from my previous two 5K races. Granted, I had a potty break the middle of the first one, and the second one came after swimming half a mile and biking 12 miles, but I was still pretty happy with my time today. I placed 85th overall out of 157 runners, and 12th out of 25th in my age group.
I think that strength training is really making a difference in my running times. I have felt a lot better and a lot stronger in my runs lately. I am going to try shiatsu or acupuncture for my foot troubles and see if that helps. If it does, I will report back. Meanwhile I am basking in the warmth of having completed my 3rd race of the season. Come on, December 10th!
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