It's kind of pointless to continue calling this the "Return to Running" recap like I was before, because I pretty much feel like I'm starting over from square one! I hadn't run in a few months prior to Monday.
I don't know what possessed me on Monday, but the weather was a little bit fall-like and I had the urge to go run. Before I could talk myself out of it, I hurriedly threw on some running clothes and my Garmin and headed out.
I know I always have some sort of plan for running (whether I follow it or not) and I usually have an agenda, whether it's lowering my heart rate, getting faster, or running farther.
Well, I'm stating right now that I have no agenda. My biggest goal is to run three miles, three times a week until I'm confident that I'm running regularly. No matter the pace or time or heart rate, my only goal is to hit three miles. That takes a lot of pressure off! And since I'll be coaching cross country again this year, I want to be able to keep up with the kids.
I discovered a cool new feature on the Garmin Connect app that allows you to add your runs' stats to your photos. I figured that would be super efficient on my running recap posts.
On Monday, I ran outside. It felt hard! My legs were tired and my throat got very dry to the point that it hurt to swallow (I definitely need to drink water before I leave the house to run). I did one of my favorite routes and I was happy that I managed to do pretty well! It was hard, but do-able.
I was actually really surprised by my pace--I was sure I'd be logging 13-14:00 minutes per mile. Still, it wasn't easy!
My second run was today. I was tempted to skip it, but when I was complaining to Jerry that my stomach just doesn't seem to be shrinking right now, he reminded me that I was in my best shape when I was running. That kind of lit a spark in me--I am eating really well and getting my shit together (I was hit with bad news a few times over the last three weeks and it's been emotional). I think that getting back to running will help me to feel a lot better about things (or at least forget for a while).
Today, it was miserably hot outside, so I chose to do the treadmill. There was quite a bit of dust on it! The first mile felt like *forever* and I waited and waited to hear the beep that signaled a mile. Finally, I looked at the Garmin and saw that I'd run 1.32 miles--I guess my auto lap wasn't turned on (usually I get a notification at each mile).
I varied the speed quite a bit as I was running--faster and slower--to make it feel hard but not TOO hard to where I wouldn't want to do it again. I was so hot when I was done! But I'm really happy that I'm still able to run three miles. I honestly wasn't sure if I could.
Congrats!! Hopefully you continue to feel good.
ReplyDeleteGreat work!! I feel like I'm always rebooting. Good to know I'm not alone.
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