Unlike my other posts, this one is being written the morning after my run (on may 6th). This is because I was so exhausted, mentally drained, and full of tacos last night that I could not muster up one ounce of energy to type out my thoughts. I am feeling much better today and already feel like I have accomplished much more than I did in the entire 24 hours provided to me just one day ago.
Maybe it is quarantine or maybe I am just in a slump, but I felt so sluggish yesterday. If I could have, I would have slept the whole day away. Alas, there was work to be done and a run to be completed so I skipped the bed (except for an afternoon nap) and slowly trudged through the day. I have been feeling very unmotivated by work. This isn’t too surprising as I work in finance which has the least amount of appeal to me that you can possibly imagine. I am grateful for my job, I adore the people I work with, and I appreciate that I work in an area of finance that allows me to be creative (writing, marketing, and design), but it has not felt very fulfilling over the past few years and this pandemic has only made me question even more: what am I doing with my life?
It should be apparent by this little rant that my run yesterday was not just needed for my physical health, but desperately needed for my mental health. In fact, I was so eager to get outside and leave my thoughts behind me that for the first time - I had very little, if any, anxiety stirring in me before I left the house. Instead, I quickly dressed, laced up my sneakers, and headed out the door.
My hope was to experience the high that I had the day prior and while I did feel the same ease about half way through the run, yesterday’s run was still a challenge. While I did reuse the Week 1, Day 3 training on the C25K app, I decided to pace myself versus following the pace of the app. I found myself ready and willing to start running about 30 seconds before the app told me to and averaged 90 seconds of running with only 60 seconds of walking in between. The first 8 minutes of the run sucked per usual (which I am starting to accept might be the case for all future runs), but as I rounded the 10 minute mark, my breathing regulated and I found myself gliding into the run more easily. With this being said, I cannot ignore the fact that my legs were sore from the inside out. With each step, I could feel the soreness radiating all the way to my ass. All the pre-run stretching in the world could not save me from the aches that shot up and down my legs as I made my way around the neighborhood.
I am not sure if yesterday’s run was a sign that I need a rest or if that just comes with the territory. I still finished the run having spent more time at a running pace than walking and my FitBit had me beating my time from my previous runs by a long shot. (I should note that I am not at all interested in racing or putting emphasis on timing, but I do find it helpful to see my mile to minute ratio as a guide for how I am improving at the sport of running.) When I looked at the map, I realized that I cleared 2.2 miles and the majority of the map was covered in a running pace with only a quarter of the route being done at a walking rate.
So, as hard as yesterday was on my body (not to mention how exhausted I was by 8:30 last night), I feel good about the progress I am making. Keeping it slow and steady so I don’t end up with injuries or regrets. I even found myself telling Aaron that I didn’t want to have to skip a day running - possibly pushing my progress back - because of my soreness. Ever the supportive husband-to-be, he encouraged me to continue running, but to listen to my body and walk if I needed to.
Today I am thinking of taking a run that includes a new route and is done at my own pace rather than with the app. I am interested to see what my statistics are and how I fare just going at it on my own. Fingers crossed!
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