And my right hip and hamstring really hurt…<br/><br/>When running every day becomes a chore rather than something to look forward to, there is a problem. It actually pushes the activity over in to the “addiction” category since I know each run is just as detrimental as it is beneficial. Recognizing this, I have decided to give up my plans to run the <a href=”http://www.steamtownmarathon.com/” target=”_blank”>Steamtown Marathon</a> next month; my body simply isn’t happy with me, and needs a good break from heavy mileage.<br/><br/>I will be running the <a href=”http://www.parkshalfmarathon.com/” target=”_blank”>Parks Half Marathon</a> next weekend, but after that, your guess is as good as mine as to what training and racing hold for me in 2009. I’ll surely do my usual winter races, but that’s just a few 5Ks. <br/><br/>I’ve currently been not running for about a week now, but still have a fair amount of pain even while sitting down and still… pretty sad that I would do this to my body. Luckily, with each day I keep away from the pounding asphalt, I do notice it get a slight bit better, so clearly nothing is permanently damaged by my stupid self trying to run away from injuries since April (note: it doesn’t work, don’t try it).<br/><br/>Am I happy? Not entirely, but somewhat. I didn’t get my <a href=”http://www.bostonmarathon.org/BostonMarathon/Qualifying.asp” target=”_blank”>Boston qualification</a> done, but I had a stellar 10-mile early in the year, and if I can run under 1:30 in the half marathon this coming weekend, I’ll actually be pretty ecstatic; it was one of my goals for the year. The extra free time every day and lack of an “I need to do this for an hour and then shower when I get home” is nice <img src=”http://www.iammike.org/cutenews/data/emoticons/smiley.gif”/><br/><br/>You may think I’m crazy for attempting to run a hard race on just 1.5 weeks of injury rest, but having run two marathons now, a half almost seems like child’s play. The distance doesn’t bother me, but the speed-work that I haven’t been doing, and my injury cropping up could slow me down considerably (I would stop if I began to hurt… I’m getting smarter as I go). Should be an adventure at the very least!<br/><br/>As far as marathons go, I’ll be able to stay in shape with biking and swimming for the next few weeks and then may go out for a longish run and/or a track workout to gauge my recovery. If that goes well, I may look at <a href=”http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/index.cfm?SRed=1&amp;” target=”_blank”>a January</a> or <a href=”http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=489100213″ target=”_blank”>February race</a> in the South. Who knows, perhaps I’ll feel great in just another week or two and may still have a chance at the <a href=”http://www.runcim.org/” target=”_blank”>California International</a>, one of my original interests.<br/><br/>This also enables me to complete the “bike 100 miles in a day” goal that I’ve been talking about for a few years now, but have never gotten around to. Don’t expect any big hoopla; I’ll likely just wake up one nice weekend morning and decide to do it. I plan on taking it easy, stopping for food and friends, and budget time for repairs, but it shouldn’t take much more than ten hours or so. Maybe two weekends from now?<br/><br/>Note: Steamtown rules. My entry is automatically forwarded to next year… Mark your calendars!<br/>