Real David H.

7.2 miles … that’s all I have to get to 1,000 running miles for the year. Sure, some of those miles are power hikes up a mountain or walk breaks during the marathon, but it’s all grueling time on my feet. I won’t let a few miles ruin the celebration of hitting this milestone. For the record, I’m well over 1,000 exercising miles anyway if I still counted walking miles, which I haven’t done in a couple of years.
The question is, when will I run again? A few days after the Richmond Marathon, I actually feel really, really good. There’s some soreness remaining, but I can handle steps just fine and walking provides a lot of relief. It’s kind of crazy to think that I’m so close to 1,000 miles and it all comes down to literally taking it a mile at a time until I get there.

As for “what’s next” with running, there’s a part of me that wants to sign up for a 2011 marathon and do it all over again. Honestly, though, I don’t want to go through that commitment again right now. If I could heal up quickly and have no problems running in a few weeks, I would consider upgrading my Shamrock race, but those chances are slim. If you’re in Vegas, don’t bet on those odds. And I would say right now that there’s a small chance the Shamrock Half won’t happen.

Whatever I do next comes down to how my body reacts to running again. I was hoping I could do a 2-mile turkey trot next week and the Christmas Classic in Bedford on Dec. 4, but I really can’t say either way what I’ll do. Racing isn’t important right now — getting healthy is. All year I have recovered very well after each race and after most of my long runs, so I just have to listen to what my body says.

So go ahead and ask me “what’s next?” All I can say is I don’t know, and I’m fine with that. For a few days anyway.