My first run in weeks :D
After staying away from running for six weeks, I decided to give it a try at Christmas Day. My injury has been feeling good for the last two weeks so hopefully it stays that way!
Last week I visited a training group to see if I can join them in the new year as part of my marathon training and I was a little bummed that I could not join their fun-looking relay game. The trainer was happy for me to join and invited me to start training with them from the 2nd of January onwards. YAY! I’m really looking forward to it, but also a little nervous. It’s a group with relatively fast runners and I haven’t been running for six weeks.
As I don’t really feel my injury any more, I decide that a short 5K run should be possible as a quick test. On Christmas Day, I have some spare time in between family activities. After a great breakfast with my family, I put on my running shoes and head towards the door. Oh shit, forgot to put on the Garmin. Putting on the Garmin. Oh shit, totally empty. Apparently, my mind is also out of shape today! Luckily, I always bring my charger in my running bag so a quick 30 minute charge gives me enough battery for now. Let’s go!
I do my warm-up in my parent’s street and after 10 minutes I feel like I’m good to go. Turning on my watch and running! For the first kilometer, it feels like I’m flying and I decide to take it down a notch, I have been training a lot, but my running fitness is mostly gone. Turns out to be a good decision because after 2K, I feel like I’ve just run half a marathon. Gosh, what happened in the past weeks…
I take a quick break at 2.5K and then continue with the other half of the training. Luckily, the exhausted feeling subsides a little and I can finish my run with an okay feeling. No issues with the tendon in my foot just yet, so that’s good!
Two days later, the tendon is still fine, so hopefully I can continue to slowly build distance and speed. It seems like the worst has passed for now. What I didn’t expect, is the not too mild muscle soreness in my calves! Oh boy, whenever I try to walk I feel like an old lady. As it turns out, cycling and boxing doesn’t necessarily use the same muscles in your legs… So foam rolling is my favourite activity these days, and I’m slowly getting less sore.
Maybe tomorrow I will go for another 5K run, see if I can control the pace a little more from the beginning. For now, I’ll have to accept that I am a lot slower than before my running break, and I’ll have to trust the process of getting better and faster. Luckily, from next week on, I’ll have a trainer to help and guide me. Looking forward to it!
Running Ella 