Jumping the Gun

Yes, it's been a few days.  OK a week. Things were busy... and then didn't go so well.  I was excited on my birthday (last Wednesday), I did my even split of run walking and made it to spinning.  I felt fine.  And was excited at the time to blog about how good it felt.  That the progress was rewarding and that I was looking froward to trying my Friday run/walk outside.  And that I didn't have to practice spitting, that never left.

Friday went alright.  I had a hard time controlling my speed both during the run and walk parts.  I was too fast at the runs and too slow at the walks.  And I had a hard time making sure I didn't miss the switches.  I was looking at my watch constantly.  Was I going too fast, too slow, was it time to switch, how much time was left, could I make the light.  It was hard.  And I didn't think that I really enjoyed it.  But knew that it would get easier as I transitioned into more continuous running.  Then Ray and I went out of town.  I wore heals on Saturday  (probably not smart), used the elliptical at the hotel (which is notorious for making my calves tight), and didn't stretch as often as I should.  That is a really long way of saying that my foot wasn't feeling awesome.  But the spot (that was the problem) didn't hurt when I applied pressure.  So, I did my run/walk on Monday afternoon.  3.5 min runs after 1.5 min walks, did the warm-up, the stretching, the cool down, the stretching and my foot felt ok.  Until a few hours later.  The spot hurt.

Could I possibly be cursed by week 3 of these schedules.  Could I really have to take 2 weeks off again?  What was it that was too much for my foot?  The pavement, the speed, the lack of stretching, the heals, the elliptical?  All I know is that after some profanity crossing my mind, feeling sorry for myself for a night and a few tears I was ok.  Could I be that used to this mess?  That I can get over it that quickly?  It doesn't feel easier.  If anything I want to run more now then I did a month ago, hell more than a week ago.  But I guess that will have to wait.  And I guess I have my answer to "what next"?  Starting again...

Running for 2 Minutes

My knees during the run portions yesterday.  Not sure what that was about but hoping that it was a one day thing.  I'll find out tomorrow during my birthday run walk.  All else is good, my arch feels tired every once in a while and I can tell that it isn't just like my left foot but it seems to be doing ok.

I've had no revelations about what might be next.  I thought about doing some math (ICK!!) to figure out how long it would take me to increase my mileage at 10% over the next 6 months (October).  But I'm kind of afraid to see how little that might be.  10% isn't a lot... Should I go week by week?  Maybe a month, that seems reasonable but it doesn't really give me a long term goal.  I do good with goals... well running ones anyway.

Sigh... anyone want to do math for me?

Day 3... What if this works?

Day 3, all is going as planned.  I should be happy, right?  I feel good about my foot.  It is fine, feels better instead of worse.  I even wore heals on Saturday night!!  But for the first time I thought about what would happen if I get through the next 3 weeks successfully.  What after 3 30min runs?  Building by 10% each week, to what?  I don't do well running when I'm not training.  But do I risk making a plan... picking a race?  I don't know.  I honestly don't know what to do.

Can I resist the pressure to go fast?  To increase mileage more than 10%?  Can I be that disciplined?  And restrained at the same time?

The progress: I went to spinning Friday night, then again Saturday morning and did my walk/run with no problem.  Well my legs were tired but I was only running for 1.5 mins and it was kind of nice to feel that.  Although it was from the spinning, the simulation was good enough.

Whats next:  Tomorrow is 2 minute runs and Wednesday is 2.5.  Half running, half walking... and my birthday.  Almost seems like it's more worth celebrating than turning 31.  Ok maybe not ;-)

Day 2

Yesterday went fine.  I say fine because I honestly didn't expect to be a tiny bit out of breath after running for 1 minute.  Really?  It was 1 minute!!  I know nothing compares to running and it has been a long time, but I was shocked.  Hopefully my lungs can take a minute and a half runs tomorrow.

Foot:  Fine.  No pain.  Arch feels tired after the walk/run.
Ankle:  Way less popping this morning.  And less stiff too.  Maybe I don't have the ankle of a 80 year old.

Day 3 tomorrow.  It will be my first attempt to do 2 things in one day.  That is if my muscle strain doesn't bother me at spinning tonight, I'll do another spin class in the morning and then do my walk/run.  3.5 minute walks and 1.5 minute runs.  Don't fail on me now lungs... or foot... or anything else for that matter.

The Background... (and a day after Day 1 update)

Over the summer last year I started to have foot pain. First only after long runs. Then during and after long runs. Then during and after any runs. So I stopped running. Yes, I could have stopped sooner, but I am a runner.  It's just not what we do. Really, I did stop for a few weeks but I went right back to it and it wasn't any better so then I stopped. August 23, 2010 was the last time I ran. Four miles. Then came the saga part, because a runner that can't run is a mess! I won't go into details about the crying, whining, feeling sorry for myself (as if the world was really over... gasp) and feeling "why me".

I did 7 weeks of PT for my plantar fasciitis. Week 1, not so bad. Weeks 2-4, real bitchy. Weeks 5-7, pissed and uber-annoyed.

I also did 3 sessions of Shock Therapy (insert joke hear about my mental state). At this point I'd given up. I desperately wanted to just not think about it any more, but I had to stretch and blah, blah... Running wasn't even on my radar.

After that I was done with PT. Fixed. Cured. Left on my own. But I wasn't 100%. I would have twinges and tightness and pangs randomly. So the weeks then turned into months. At this point I would also get extremely aggravated when anyone referred to me as a runner. A runner runs and I wasn't doing anything close to it and hadn't for 6 months. In fact it was 7 months and 2 weeks.

I did start my walking program that theoretically (I wasn't a believer) would lead to the return to running program. Four weeks to gradually increase my walking to 3 30 min sessions. Well I couldn't get through the 4 weeks the first time. I got to the 1st 30 min walk and my foot hurt. I have no idea why, if I did something or not. I was defeated. There was more crying at this point. I honestly thought that I would never get back.  But I started again after 2 more weeks off and was able to complete it.

That gets me to where I am now.  Ready for 1 min runs.  I write it knowing that it seems silly compared to where I was a year ago but can't help wishing I didn't have to wait till tomorrow.  So, Day 1 was a success.  No pain while running (or walking).  No pain this morning... a little tightness, and my ankle was popping like I was about 90, but stretching and the foot roller fixed that.  Yippee for me.

Day 1: The beginning (hopefully not the saga)

Yes Day 1!!!  
I ran more today then I have in well too long (more on that later). And it went well, so well in fact I'm struggling not to get too excited about it.  Yes, it's a good thing. Yes, I'm happy.  But I know all to well that there still might be set backs.  That I might not make it through the 4 weeks without pain... I might not even make it to tomorrow without pain.  That I may not run a half marathon again, or ever run a full.

But I do know this:

1. I was way happier to run for 30 sec then I thought was possible.  And I'm pretty sure that I looked crazily happy during those 30 secs and the 4.5 min walks in between.
2. That my bladder is way out of practice too!  Who knew?  I  had too go after the 1st 30 sec run.
3. That being injured may have made me a more patient runner.  I actually didn't want to run more than the 30 sec at a time... I expected to have an urge... was this day 1 bliss?  Or could the result of this been more valuable then I ever really want to admit?
4. That I really did find the value in cross-training and plan to go back to spinning, etc. as soon as my muscle strain (completely unrelated, but annoying injury) is healed.

Well, I guess time will tell with #3.  I also didn't mind the warm-up, stretch and cool-down, stretch portions.  But I am positive that was due to day 1 bliss.  It will get old, probably sooner then I hope.

The plan:  

• Stick to the warm-up, stretch and cool-down, stretch.  No cheating it.  Period.
• Day 2 is Thursday and I up it to 4 min walk, 1 min run cycles.