Wahooooo! Back at it: First 2 runs!

I’m baaaaaaacccccck!

My first “official”/”real” run was a measly 2 miles on Wednesday, March 2.  I didn’t time it because I was terrified it would be over 9:00 pace!  It was 100% pain-free and I rejoiced and reveled in that, but it was harder than I expected.  Oooof!  I ran this on the indoor track at the YMCA before a cross-training workout, so it was still kind of non-real since it wasn’t outside -- but I wasn’t sure I would be able to run pain-free since I hadn’t yet, and I didn’t want to bundle up to go outside at 20 degrees just to walk back inside after a failed run attempt; I’d done that once already.  I became hopeful my return was coming!

On Saturday, March 5 I was ready to try a real outdoor run!  I was so excited, yet so terrified at the same time!  I was excited to run pain-free and to resume training – or even just to resume easy 5 milers occasionally.  I was so scared that my tendon would hurt again and I would have to stop (or worse, the injury wouldn't be healed and I would make it worse and need additional time off), and I was so terrified of how much fitness I had lost.  I vowed not to look at my watch and to run by feel.  I also planned to run by feel on distance, but definitely no more than 6 miles.  After a thorough warm-up of plyometrics and leg swings, I was off!

I wanted to run on dirt to ease the impact, and the most convenient way to do this was on the YMCA’s half mile dirt loop (this also allowed me to call it at any time necessary, and to easily go cross-train after what I knew would be a relatively short run).  I started off at an easy sustainable pace, and really tried to make myself not look at my Gamin, but failed.  I looked down, saw about 7:35 pace, and breathed a huge sigh of relief.  7:30 pace was still easy - maybe I didn’t lose everything after all!  I snuck a peak at my watch about every lap, or every half mile, and my pace was generally hanging out in the 7:20s.  This was a pleasant surprise!

This was all good and well for about 3.5 miles.  Then I started to get tired, so I decided to stop at 5 miles total.  In the end it was 5 miles at 7:19 pace, and honestly the last mile was far harder than I thought it “should” have been.  The run was a controlled effort, but not easy peasy like I wanted to it be.  I was actually ready to stop at 5.

I had to remind myself that it was my first real run in 6 weeks, AND I was on antibiotics and Prednisone.  It’s not like I should be setting PRs!  But I did cross-train my tush off while I wasn’t running, so wanted something in return for it.  In the end, I finished the run EXTREMELY thankful to be pain-free, but also a little worried about my fitness level.  Patience is not my strong suit!

My first week back was 25 miles (16.5 of them on the AlterG treadmill), and I was also far too obsessive about cross-training.  Weekly re-cap:

February 29 – HIIT bootcamp and elliptical a.m.; elliptical p.m.

March 1 – 8.5 miles on the AlterG treadmill at 80% body weight and spin bike 22 miles a.m.

March 2 – 2 miles untimed on the indoor YMCA track, HIIT bootcamp, and elliptical a.m.; spin bike 19 miles p.m.

March 3 - 8.5 miles on the AlterG treadmill at 80% body weight a.m.; elliptical p.m.

March 4 – spin bike 20 miles and elliptical a.m.

March 5 – 5 miles base pace (7:19), elliptical, and strength a.m.

March 6 – 3.5 miles easy (8:30 - first run on pavement and was very tentative), elliptical, and spin bike 16.9 miles a.m.