I can't believe the day is almost here. Just one more run with a walk break left to do this week, then next week I get to graduate to a 20 minute run. That's it. Just run for 20 straight minutes. No walking.
I feel like a kid whose training wheels are about to come off her two wheeler.
Oh, the things you find on Pinterest when you search "training wheels."
I look forward to the freedom of just running, but in the meantime, I'll savor these one minute breathers while I still have them. I've completed two sessions with two 15 minute running intervals each, and both felt good. I had some tightness in my hip going into the first run, which hung around until just after my first walk break, but it was smooth sailing after that. Yesterday's run felt as good as it gets. As I've said before, I think my knee just loooooves it some heat and humidity. My paces are showing some consistency, with a warm up in the 8:30-8:45 range, and my last mile coming in under 8 minutes. This really gives me hope that the speed I worked so hard to gain last year will make its way back in time for the fall race season.
As for that fall race season, I have yet to commit to any race other than the Wicked 10K (only because I signed up for it before I was injured). I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to run a 10K no problem by the end of October, and I'm putting no pressure on myself to PR that race. There are several races throughout the fall that I have my eye on, but I'll hold off on signing up until I get a better idea of how this knee will react to some regular, non-rehab running. I've got some big goals for myself, but I don't want to set myself up for failure (or re-injury!!!) by going for it before I'm ready.
As for now, I continue to work on my #1 goal of getting healthy. I can't believe that almost five months later, this stupid IT band is still all consuming. And I really can't believe that despite dealing with this issue for so long, I still haven't completely ruled out running another marathon. Not anytime soon, but someday. I wasn't fully aware of it at the time of the Shamrock, but I ran that race with a pretty significant injury, and I finished it in a respectable time (for a rookie). My screwy little brain can't help but wonder what I would be capable of if I had the opportunity to run a marathon at 100%. I must officially be a runner if this is how my brain works now.
So I keep those crazy thoughts way in the back of my mind, safely stored to ponder another day. My #2 goal for this summer has been to be more social with my running, and I have made great progress. I did that J&A Racing group run back on National Running Day in June, and I have since made two new running friends whom I really enjoy (Kristy at Breath of Sunshine and Sara, who just started blogging at RunLifeRunLove). It's a bit of a leap out of my comfort zone to reach out and ask people to join me on a run, but I'm so glad I have. And I've realized that the worst thing that can happen is they say they can't (or simply don't want to). It doesn't mean I can't run. I means I get to run by myself! Can't lose. It can only be a good thing to have more people in my life who get this weird little runner mentality I've developed over the years. Who other than a runner could I have this conversation with?
Yes, that 5:15 was referring to am, not pm. So while I have my established small circle of friends who understand the regular crazy, I'm now making some room for a few more who understand the runner crazy.
I feel like a kid whose training wheels are about to come off her two wheeler.
Oh, the things you find on Pinterest when you search "training wheels."
I look forward to the freedom of just running, but in the meantime, I'll savor these one minute breathers while I still have them. I've completed two sessions with two 15 minute running intervals each, and both felt good. I had some tightness in my hip going into the first run, which hung around until just after my first walk break, but it was smooth sailing after that. Yesterday's run felt as good as it gets. As I've said before, I think my knee just loooooves it some heat and humidity. My paces are showing some consistency, with a warm up in the 8:30-8:45 range, and my last mile coming in under 8 minutes. This really gives me hope that the speed I worked so hard to gain last year will make its way back in time for the fall race season.
As for that fall race season, I have yet to commit to any race other than the Wicked 10K (only because I signed up for it before I was injured). I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to run a 10K no problem by the end of October, and I'm putting no pressure on myself to PR that race. There are several races throughout the fall that I have my eye on, but I'll hold off on signing up until I get a better idea of how this knee will react to some regular, non-rehab running. I've got some big goals for myself, but I don't want to set myself up for failure (or re-injury!!!) by going for it before I'm ready.
As for now, I continue to work on my #1 goal of getting healthy. I can't believe that almost five months later, this stupid IT band is still all consuming. And I really can't believe that despite dealing with this issue for so long, I still haven't completely ruled out running another marathon. Not anytime soon, but someday. I wasn't fully aware of it at the time of the Shamrock, but I ran that race with a pretty significant injury, and I finished it in a respectable time (for a rookie). My screwy little brain can't help but wonder what I would be capable of if I had the opportunity to run a marathon at 100%. I must officially be a runner if this is how my brain works now.
So I keep those crazy thoughts way in the back of my mind, safely stored to ponder another day. My #2 goal for this summer has been to be more social with my running, and I have made great progress. I did that J&A Racing group run back on National Running Day in June, and I have since made two new running friends whom I really enjoy (Kristy at Breath of Sunshine and Sara, who just started blogging at RunLifeRunLove). It's a bit of a leap out of my comfort zone to reach out and ask people to join me on a run, but I'm so glad I have. And I've realized that the worst thing that can happen is they say they can't (or simply don't want to). It doesn't mean I can't run. I means I get to run by myself! Can't lose. It can only be a good thing to have more people in my life who get this weird little runner mentality I've developed over the years. Who other than a runner could I have this conversation with?
Yes, that 5:15 was referring to am, not pm. So while I have my established small circle of friends who understand the regular crazy, I'm now making some room for a few more who understand the runner crazy.
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