Reality Strikes (Again?)

So far this year, I am averaging about 47 miles a week. That's not too bad.

All of the miles, however, are pretty slow. We're talking 14 minute pace. I am, nonetheless, still out there logging the miles. 

I've been in Orlando the last three days. First and foremost, most of the places out around the attractions; the resorts, the convention centers, are terrible places to run. No trails, no sidewalks, no bike lanes even. So, in order to get in some miles you either a) take your life into your hands (which is actually just a saying because what you're really doing on these highly trafficked roads is putting your life in other people's hands) or b) you run the hotel grounds, or, I guess c) you stick to the fitness center treadmill. All sucky kind of options if you ask me.

Anyway, I opted for the so called "running track," basically a sidewalk through the hotel grounds. Originally this loop was about 1.5 miles but with a plethora of hotel construction, it has been significantly altered. 

Sunday afternoon, upon arrival, I could only tolerate the loop two times. Then, I headed out to the danger zone to get in a total of 7 miles. Monday morning before teaching an all day class, I ran just the loop, in the dark (who invented daylight savings time, anyway, and why do we still need it?). This morning, another combo run.

All runs were uneventful until this morning.

Being struck with the massive amount of oxygen down at sea level, I got just cocky/confident/stupid enough to quicken the pace. That was a mistake. Knee pop after knee pop after knee pop. Now, I've had runs like this before but not in a LONG time, so frankly, the whole thing was a bit annoying. But also...... a reality check.

My 14 minute miles are comfortable and they get the job done when it comes to the running fix. They don't, however, work if I ever plan to race again (or even do workouts to test my fitness). If that is ever going to happen, it'll be because I had the dreaded knee replacement.

I've avoided even thinking about this mostly because I have little or no interest in having foreign objects placed in my body for any reason AND.... who says they will achieve the desired result? But now, firmly realizing that in order to run any faster, something has to change, I find myself a hair depressed about the whole thing.

Is there an answer here? I actually don't think so. I mostly just want to take what's been in my head today and express it in another, less inward way. So, thanks for being on the receiving end.

Run on.