Deep down inside I knew that even though I had been doing water running (though not for the past month ...), I knew that I was going to be sore after my first run on pavement. I didn't want to think that I would be sore, because I tend to think that I'm still the runner that I was previously (in my mind, I still can run a 5:00 mile - granted, that was MANY years ago). Yet reality is that I will soon be 42, and life catches up to us. So as good as it felt to run for the first time in many months on Monday, I certainly felt it on Tuesday.
Tuesday morning I trudged myself out of bed, and forced myself to go to the gym. Once again, it's often that first step that is the hardest, and as soon as I stepped out of bed I felt the soreness. I was sore in places that I had no idea I would have ever been sore in! But the beautiful thing of the pain was that it was pain that I new that I had a part in causing - that pain was not the result of the surgeon's blade; that pain was not the result of Uncle Arthur (Ritis) coming for a visit; that pain was pure, well earned pain. And though it may have caused me to walk a little awkwardly, people were used to seeing me walk weird in dealing with my foot healing. I made it through my circuit in the exercise room, and then I found my way back to my beloved pool. Though my feet never touched the bottom, I imagined myself running a beautiful trail along a river. As is always the case, the longer I went the better I felt. It's so good getting back into a routine.
Yesterday I went the second mile. Literally. I ran a mile, which was my second mile of the year. Mad props, right? I know it's not big deal, but it means the world to me. I was able to slow my pace down a little bit - though it was something I wanted to do anyway, the soreness would not allow me to go as fast. Still, ran that mile in 9:42, and really felt like I could have keep going. The main thing is for me to build back some sort of core that I can then build upon, so I don't want to do too much too fast. This is a marathon; not a sprint. But it sore/sure does feel good to be back on the road.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
First (s)mile in a while
This morning I did something that I have not done this year. This morning I did something that I have not done since Thanksgiving of 2012. This morning, I put on my running shoes and I went for a run.
Every journey begins with a single step. Today, I began my journey again as I ran my first mile since I had surgery on my foot on May 15. It's been close to 10 weeks now, and the realization has hit me that while my foot still has some pain, we believe that this is the level of pain that I'll just have to endure until medical science figures out a better solution. I was so excited, and even though I knew that I was only going to go one mile, I still couldn't wait to hear the beep on my Garmin Forerunner signaling that it had connected to a satellite and was ready to track my run. And once it beeped, it was like the starting gun went off - and off I went.
As I started running, I got to thinking about how a couple of years ago I would have thought it to be silly to go out on a hot, humid July morning and only run 1 mile. I would have thought, What's the point in that much sweat for just one mile? However, in light of not running any miles, I was thrilled to feel the sweat. I was trying to pay close attention to my stride and my foot strikes - and I never would have given that much consideration to either of those before. Yet I know that if I begin to favor that foot too much it will impact other parts of my body, so I wanted to make sure that I ran with a balanced, even, smooth stride. I focused on making sure that each stride was as close to equal length. I focused on my arms and making sure not to swing them too far across my chest. I focused on keeping my shoulders square and keeping my head from bobbling around. And I focused on my breath. Though I've been intentional to try to build up my cardio, I've not been the most faithful to all of that since the last time I posted. But in the midst of all of the things that I was focusing on, I was able to have a great first run. The energy I felt when I was done was amazing - it was just a reminder of how much I love to run.
In the end, I ran 1.1 mile with a 9:24 pace. I anticipated that it was going to be more like a 10:30 pace, but I think I was just a little too excited. I'm not going to run every day - tomorrow morning I'll be in the gym. I don't want to go crazy overboard with all of this, but I'm very excited to at least be back on the pavement. And so far no ill-effects from the run - my foot feels as it has for much of the past couple of months. That's not to say that it feels great, but it's manageable.
Every journey begins with a single step. Today, I began my journey again as I ran my first mile since I had surgery on my foot on May 15. It's been close to 10 weeks now, and the realization has hit me that while my foot still has some pain, we believe that this is the level of pain that I'll just have to endure until medical science figures out a better solution. I was so excited, and even though I knew that I was only going to go one mile, I still couldn't wait to hear the beep on my Garmin Forerunner signaling that it had connected to a satellite and was ready to track my run. And once it beeped, it was like the starting gun went off - and off I went.
As I started running, I got to thinking about how a couple of years ago I would have thought it to be silly to go out on a hot, humid July morning and only run 1 mile. I would have thought, What's the point in that much sweat for just one mile? However, in light of not running any miles, I was thrilled to feel the sweat. I was trying to pay close attention to my stride and my foot strikes - and I never would have given that much consideration to either of those before. Yet I know that if I begin to favor that foot too much it will impact other parts of my body, so I wanted to make sure that I ran with a balanced, even, smooth stride. I focused on making sure that each stride was as close to equal length. I focused on my arms and making sure not to swing them too far across my chest. I focused on keeping my shoulders square and keeping my head from bobbling around. And I focused on my breath. Though I've been intentional to try to build up my cardio, I've not been the most faithful to all of that since the last time I posted. But in the midst of all of the things that I was focusing on, I was able to have a great first run. The energy I felt when I was done was amazing - it was just a reminder of how much I love to run.
In the end, I ran 1.1 mile with a 9:24 pace. I anticipated that it was going to be more like a 10:30 pace, but I think I was just a little too excited. I'm not going to run every day - tomorrow morning I'll be in the gym. I don't want to go crazy overboard with all of this, but I'm very excited to at least be back on the pavement. And so far no ill-effects from the run - my foot feels as it has for much of the past couple of months. That's not to say that it feels great, but it's manageable.
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