My first run back

Ok, I've done a little on the treadmill, but this was my first "real" run back. 

And it was highly unpleasant, but oh so wonderful.

I made a couple of critical mistakes.
1.  I ran in the middle of the afternoon.  Which is never a good time for me.  Just after lunch, too.  And I had milk at lunch (yay acid reflux!  yuck!)
2.  I was under-hydrated.
3.  It was 80 degrees.  My face was SO red!!  I looked like a clown.
4.  I ran my hill course.  It's one of my favorites, but it's a tough route on a regular day.
5.  I went WAY too fast.  I finished 2 miles in about 24.5 minutes... oops.  It's like I forgot how to run slowly.  Gonna have to work on that.

But, the good news is, my leg feels fine.  I'm going to give it 2 days of no running and then try a 3-miler with Alisha on Saturday.  Flat course, greenway, should be good.  Also, it will be a lot cooler which is always welcome.

So, despite the side stitches (wow - been a while since I had those!) and the red face, I still had a great time, and I'm very happy to be running again! 

Sarah

Yo yo!

Hey gang!  I'm back!  Things have been wild so I havent been too inspired to blog.  Also, this injury thing kinda got me down - hard to write a running blog when you can't run!

That said, I'm back to it.  So, I sort of spaced and missed my check up to get cleared to run.  (Doh) but, never fear, the interwebz are  here!  Let's face it, I knew what he was going to tell me...

"Well, it looks fine on the xray, and it's not hurting you, so just take it easy getting back into it."

And, let's also face this, that 10 minute appointment just wasn't worth $250.

So.  I ran a couple of laps at the YMCA to test it out.  1/4 mile.  Nothing serious.

Then, a mile of mostly walking on the treadmill.

Then, 2 miles - 2/1 intervals.

It still feels great.  No pain!  Not even after the fact after (more facing it) putting a lot of pressure on the spot - just to be sure!

So, things are looking good.  I'm going to try an easy 3-miler with Alisha on Saturday.  I'm about to bust to run the thanksgiving race in charleston again this year - it is one of my favorite 5ks of the year - I will not miss it!!

Still loving spin class, weight-lifting, and the new ellipticals at the YMCA.  Alisha put together our half training program for the spring, and it's very heavy on cross training - yoga after long runs (I thought that was a genius idea!) spin class for maximum cardio, and weight lifting to make us infinitely stronger.  It's intense, but diverse.  Excited!

Enough about me - let me tell you that you have to go to my friend Regan's blog... she just finished her 2nd half-marathon - and PRd it by 29 minutes!  She's pretty damned inspirational.  Way to go, R!!

Happy Fall!
Sarah

PS, my thanks to North Carolina for the AMAZING fall weather.  It has been glorious!!!

A couple of random things...

That wouldn't have happened before.

Today I talked myself out of the gym.  I was totally resolved to skip it and take a nap.

But I went and did 60 minutes on the elliptical.  My fitness pal tells me it was about 600 calories.  And since I had it set on level 10 hills, I believe them.  So tonight I'm having thai food.  yum.

Also, the other night we went to the theater.  (Rock of Ages - super-fun!) I decided to get a brownie.  They're usually pretty tasty.  Well, I took a bite and it was only, well, meh.  A little dry, nothing special.

So I bailed on it.  I abandoned a perfectly good brownie.

And finally, I forgot my coffee before the gym last week, so I was going to hit starbucks for a latte.  Looked up the calories... so not worth it.  So, I went to Panera for a good cup of hazelnut with a tiny bit of half and half.  Delish.  I bought Halloween cookies - 3 of them.  One for each of the people in my suite in the office... but not one for me. 

Here's to making small decisions.  They matter.

Sarah