7.5: the total number of miles I’ve run since the Long Beach Marathon on October 9th. Yeah, I know that’s pitiful.

Following the marathon, I took the recommended 2-3 days off. I was pretty sore, but don’t think it was as bad as post-LA Marathon soreness. Still, I took the elevator down a flight of stairs to avoid stairs and sitting hurt. I also started limping due to the bum hamstring prompting co-workers and students to ask what happened. I just shrugged it off. After a couple of days, the soreness subsided and I began to walk normally again.

On Wednesday, I took off for vacation to New York. I’m usually pretty active during my vacations or work trips. I packed my running shoes, clothes and Garmin in hopes of getting in some miles in Central Park like I did last year. However, that was easy since Sean lived in Harlem and the park was a little over a mile away. This time, we stayed at his parents’ in Long Island and I wasn’t motivated to run in the suburbs. All I did was take a short walk around the block. On Sunday, we drove in to Manhattan so Sean could play a game with his former football team. During the game, I ran along the Hudson River for 3.5 miles. It was a good run, free of hamstring pain or cramping. Before the marathon, the hamstring pain kicked in 15-20 minutes in to an easy run.

I returned from NY on the evening of the 16th. The next few days I kept making up excuses not to run. I was tired. I needed to stay at work late to complete reports. It was dark when I got home from work. I was still a little worried about the hamstring.

Mainly? I was just lazy. And a little burned out despite the injury-induced super taper.

My body told me it did not want to run a few “easy” miles. Rather it wanted to lay in bed and keep reading Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot.

I considered showing up for the La Puente Main Street Run on Sunday the 23rd. Late in the week, I nixed the idea. I’d be wasting $30 trying to run a 10K on a hilly course and being reminded that I’m out of shape. I did go to La Puente that morning, but rather than run I had brunch with my family at a Mexican restaurant. Machaca was a better idea than a 10K.

Earlier this week, I made more excuses and put more 0s on my training log. Yesterday, I finally went out for a run. I’ve only taken a 10 day break before, and that was because I had thrown out my back. It was a tough run. I tried to keep the pace easy, but it still felt hard and I took short water breaks at the playground. As I finished up, I was glad I hadn’t done the 10K. I’m not sure I would have been able to run it without walking the water stops (at least).

I’m upset with how my fitness level has dropped off so dramatically in less than 6 weeks. I can only blame myself and hope that with smarter training I’ll get back to where I was or even surpass it.

I have a few races coming up. I’ll likely run the local YMCA’s Turkey Trot (10K) on Sunday November 20th. The course is pretty easy and my sister wants to run it too. Last year, she pushed me to a PR and also won herself a turkey. On December 11th, I’ll be running the Holiday Half Marathon in Pomona. I signed up at the LA Marathon expo in March. I took advantage of the temporary $30 deal offered to runners who had already signed up for Long Beach. I couldn’t resist the price. This week, I added the Carlsbad Half Marathon on January 22nd to my calendar thanks to some peer pressure. [This is a whole other post.]

While I enjoy running, I don’t enter races for fun. I’d like to improve my current PRs in the half and 10K distance. I know it’s doable, I just need to quit slacking off.