Still learning

I completed my second Half Marathon on Sunday after recovering only 3 weeks ago from Bronchitis.  Needless to say, my performance was not what I was hoping for, but under the circumstances was better than I could have asked for.  My game plan was to try and stay with the 2:15 pace group for as long as I could and hope that I could still beat my original finish time of 2:27:51.  At the 9 mile mark my legs started to give me some real problems and I tried to stretch as best I could and keep going.  This was when I finially lost the pace group.  I only fell off my pace by about 40 seconds per mile.  It felt so much slower than it was strangely.  My legs after the race went into full rebellion and completely stiffened up with my right knee giving me some real problems.  It is still tender.  I haven't run since the race, but I did swim a few laps in the gym pool last night.  The legs are feeling a little better today, but I'm not sure if they're good enough to run on.  I will have to see how I feel in the morning. 

I had a good conversation with a fellow athlete at the gym about VO2 training which has me thinking and curious enough to by the book Flash recommended by Jack Daniels.  It's something to keep me busy while I'm letting my knee heal, and so far has some really interesting information.  I plan to start training using my Heart Rate Monitor to try and build some endurance before I start trying to increase speed again.  From what I've read, this will prevent me from over-training and the injuries that come with it.

I'll try and update this more often so I can document the progress.  Happy Running!