Hi, Hi! Good morning! I am in the best mood because after a few not so fun running days, I was able to get back in the groove today. A few weeks ago I decided that maybe I'd start training for a half marathon...maybe...the plan was to follow a running routine that I found online and find a race. I found one, but it happened to be 8 weeks out so the running schedule was a bit crazy in order to fit in plenty of miles before race day. Since I really wasn't 100% sold on whether or not this was the right time to try to train for something like this, considering most schedules are 10-12 weeks, and I already feel pretty busy in my personal life, I decided I'd give it a shot and if I got sick of it or burnt out I'd take a break and re-think the half marathon. Guess what - made it through 1 week! I actually did over the number of suggested miles because I thought I was superwoman apparently, and completed two 4 mile runs, two 3 mile runs, and a 5 mile run.
Well.
By Sunday, my hips and ankles were throbbing so bad I pretty much hobbled my way through the last mile. Too much. Not sure if I'm just not ready for it, if it was the adjustment period from upping my mileage by approximately 6 miles that week, if I wasn't eating enough of the right energy foods...honestly I don't know anything other than I needed a break. I wasn't quite convinced that I should rest until after my 3 mile run Monday. Things didn't feel right. So Tuesday I went to the gym and stayed off the treadmill. Wednesday I used as an off day and slept a little extra. Today I decided to give it another go.
I woke up, had some iced coffee with hazelnut almond milk, stretched, and off I went. The first couple minutes my hips and ankles still felt a little stiff, but it wasn't long before everything loosened up and I started feeling good. I was planning to do my three mile loop, but when I started nearing the 3 mile mark, I decided to keep going. That and I may have gotten a bit off course due to my excitement which ended up taking me a good 2.5 miles out of the way. Oopsie! I didn't mind because I was feeling great.
As I reached the house I was feeling super grateful that my body was feeling good. The rest, foam rolling, and stretching seemed to work.
Thanks to these guys today for holding out.
Foam Roll!
I'm still not sure if I'll attempt that half marathon just yet. I'm going to see how I feel a month out from the race date and then decide. I do know, listening to your body is so important. Over the past couple years I've been pretty good at paying attention to how I feel and really listening what my body is telling me. Once you get into a workout routine, you know when something just feels wrong and you need to rest...so don't overdue it because you'll end up getting burnt out, or worse, injured. When it stops making you feel energized, it's probably time for a break. Now, if you're not yet in a routine, then I say push it out to an extent. It takes at least a month but maybe a couple before things start feeling good.
After stretching and foam rolling my hip flexors, I had this delicious breakfast. I've been trying to eat a little more post workout so today I had a whole wheat english muffin topped with peanut butter and honey, earth balance butter and jelly along with a green berry smoothie. Filling and delicious.
I hope everyone has the best day! I'm off to work!
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