Running is hard. Oh, you knew that already? Well, now that I’m running again, it’s hard to swallow how hard my old “normal” pace is. I used to regularly run 6 miles on the treadmill at 7.0 speed. Not happening right now.
>>>> New here? Here’s why I’ve been off running.
I totally accept that I haven’t run much for 5 months and I have to work back up. I just hope it comes sooner rather than later.
I’m running the ZOOMA Annapolis Half-Marathon (sign up & run with me!) on May 31st. I’m not worried about it because I know I can run a half no problem, though it will be slow — purposefully so. I think it will be good to get myself back into longer distances.
>>>> Here’s what you can expect from the ZOOMA Half!
Right now, my concern is that I’m still running more on my right side. I just got done with 6 miles and can just tell that my right calf and quad are feeling it and my left aren’t. I thought surgery was going to fix this because pre-surgery my left leg really couldn’t work correctly. Perhaps it’s just because the left leg is still much weaker and will have to work up. I hope.
Today I actually tried running with the 3:2 breathing method. I think it was actually doing me some good but I definitely couldn’t read my magazine while doing it. I don’t know how anyone can run more than a couple miles without something to read on the treadmill. Music only takes me so far. Anyway, I’m going to try out the 3:2 method for real next time I run outside.
For now, I’m feeling good, it’s a beautiful day and all the possibility in the world is before me!
Have you ever recovered from a long-term injury? How did you get back to “normal?” Any favorite glute, quad, core exercises I should do? Are you doing the ZOOMA Annapolis Half-Marathon?
I love the 3:2 breathing method and do it every time I run outside. I also say "comf ter bull" when I exhale to remember to remind myself that when its hard I am comfortable 🙂
As for running on your right, you might find that you even out in a few months, but you might also find that you always run a little more on the right. As long as you're training with intention and staying on top of your stretching/injury prevention/crosstraining, it might not matter.
Yeah it's a lot of thinking while running (both with the breathing and intention on the left side) so it will be tough for a bit but I bet it will get easier after a few long-ish runs doing it.
I'm also back to running after 8 wks off due to a stress fracture. I'm back to 3 miles and it is so hard to stay on my recovery plan and not do too much too soon even though I feel like I can. I'm signed up for Zooma too but not sure which distance I'll be doing yet. Hope to see you there. Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner
Awesome! I may need to do a shorter distance for ZOOMA, didn't realize that was an option. I hope you are covering well…good vibes your way!
Thanks you too! I will check in with you before the race maybe we can meet up. I think we have some mutual friends. #runstrong
I recently started again with going running (after a 6 month Pause) and found the start also a bit hard. However now that I do it again for several weeks I started to feel much more comfortable with my body and also like running more. Its just a matter of conditioning yourself to like it 🙂